p. 1 | Days of Peril

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 24, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 46.

Days of Peril.

The Scriptures speak of the last days as days of peril. Says the apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy, and all other Christian ministers as well, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." 2 Tim. 3: 1.

The reason of these "perilous times," as of all perilous times, is given in the next verse, "for men shall be lovers of their own selves." Selfishness is the root of all evil; it is the soil in which the seeds of all transgressions take root. Says our Saviour: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man." Mark 7: 21-23.

The heart which bears this baleful crop of evils is the carnal or fleshly heart, which minds the things of the flesh. It is this heart or mind of which the apostle speaks in Rom. 8: 7, 8: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." The prophet bears testimony to the same fact when he says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Jer. 17: 9. See also Isa. 44: 20.

It must be evident to all from the above scriptures that the real cause of all trouble, the root of all evil, the fountain of all corruption, is the human heart, mind, or affections, and purposes, and that this must be changed before man can come into harmony with God, or become righteous. This change man cannot make of himself. He cannot, in the very nature of the case, bring "a clean thing out of an unclean." With the foundation and moulding power of character corrupt, a good character cannot be formed. Corruption cannot produce incorruption. Thorns do not produce figs. The heart must be changed. The will must yield the corrupt heart to God, the only One who knows the heart (Jer. 17: 10), the only One who can change it.

To every soul who will yield his heart to God, the Lord will change it according to his promise:—

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Eze. 36: 26, 27.

No more is asked of man than the simple faith to put himself in the hands of Christ. He purifies the heart "by faith." Acts 15: 9. He, therefore, who yields up all to God, and looks away from self to Jesus, no longer remains "in the flesh," but in the Spirit. Faith pleases God. Heb. 11: 6. Hoping in God's mercy pleases him. Ps. 147: 11. Those who thus yield to God, who by faith receive Christ, compose the true church of Jesus Christ, in which Christ dwells by his Spirit by dwelling in each individual heart. See 1 Cor. 3: 16; Eph. 3: 17; Gal. 2: 20. Within such a church, where Christ reigns, there can be only peace and joy, the fruits of love.

But the perilous times of which Paul speaks do not come in the last days because the people of the world have carnal hearts. The world has always been thus. If we believe God, we must expect nothing else from the world but the fruit of unconverted lives. The perilous times come in the last days because all these evils are found in the professed church of Christ. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves;" and then the apostle proceeds to name eighteen prominent sins of the day, and tells us that these are among those "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." 2 Tim. 3: 1-5.

Here is the peril. The church of Jesus Christ, which was designed to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, loses her preserving power, and her light becomes darkness. He who is seeking God comes to her for instruction, but he finds self enthroned in the heart in the place of Christ, the mystery of iniquity instead of the mystery, or the power, of godliness. Is not this true of much of the professed church of Christ to-day? Where is the burden of souls? Where is the Spirit of Christ? Where are the sacrifices for Christ's sake? Where is the old-time devotion and integrity? These questions are worthy of consideration; and, reader, how do they apply to your own heart?