"Stormy Wind Fulfilling His Word"
THE despatches say that all England is "in the grip of a blizzard," and the snow is said to be five feet deep. There have been several deaths from exposure. There would be nothing especially remarkable in this, were it the only occurrence of the kind worthy of note in recent months. But despatches of the same date told of the tornado that visited the Gulf of Mexico, doing much damage to shipping and other properties; and if we follow the year 1913 through, we will find that it has been a remarkable period for great storms. There was the tornado in the early spring that swept up from the Gulf states almost to New York. This was followed a few days later by another destructive tornado in a near-by region. A little while later came the great tornado that worked so much destruction through the state of Nebraska, whole villages being almost completely swept away. These early tornadoes were some of the most remarkable of the year, but there were many other disastrous storms in many parts of the world. Among the worst in the tornado class was the one that visited Wales. Scientific men would seek to quiet our fears by telling us their theories in regard to these constantly increasing storms, but the Master has described in His word the conditions that would prevail in the world just before His coming. He has told of what would be occurring in society; He has told of the amassing of wealth, and the despairing cries of the laborers who have been defrauded; He has told of the prevailing iniquities; in a word, He has given many lines of unmistakable evidence by which we are to know when His coming is right at hand. Among these evidences, He tells of the earthquakes in divers places, and of the famines and pestilences, and of the fearful sights and great signs that shall be from heaven. Luke 21 : 11. He tells further of the signs that will appear in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and amidst the distress of nations, with their perplexities, there will be the roaring of the sea and the waves, which will cause men's hearts to fail them for fear while they are looking for those things that are coming on the earth. Verses 25, 26. The Old Testament prophets, as well as the New, have spoken of the stormy conditions that would prevail in the physical world; and according to these prophetic declarations, we may expect that hurricane and flood, earthquake and tornado, will increase more and more, both in frequency and in intensity, as we are drawing closer and closer to the great day of the second coming of Christ. If we know these prophecies, and if our hearts are at rest through the salvation offered by the soon coming Christ, the conditions of this time, in the place of bringing fear, gloom, and perplexity, cause the heart to palpitate with indescribable joys; for He who is coming, has promised His almighty power for the protection of those who will stand under His sheltering hand amid these portentous surroundings. No problem in mathematics, nor any of the deductions of true science, are any more accurate in their operations than are the fulfilments of the prophecies of the divine Word. We should know the meaning of the conditions of this time, and be prepared for the great event they portend.