INTELLIGENT and unbiased people are awake to the conditions of lawlessness, violence, and crimes of every kind that exist in all parts of the world. They see that these evils must be met and conquered or the whole of mankind is doomed.
Every vexing and distressing problem of criminality and oppression that has been known to all past ages is entering into this modern conflict. The seeds have been sown, and the time is rapidly drawing on when intolerance and the inflammable condition of society will add the relentless horrors of persecution to the crimes that are already cursing the world.
The foregoing is not a presentation of theory advanced for the sake of argument; it is a statement of fact for consideration.
God foresaw these masterly efforts of the powers of darkness, as they make their supreme efforts in the closing moments of time to sweep as much of humanity as possible into the horrors of eternal ruin. And against this great hurricane of evil the divine Father utters a warning, befitting and commensurate to these last desperate efforts of the agents of sin. Read and carefully ponder the following vitally significant words:
"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:9-12.
What God Has Done
In this time of great intellectual and spiritual light there is no occasion or excuse for mankind to abandon itself to the crimes and sins of the age. God has caused unsurpassed light to shine in this generation. Everything that the tenderest love could suggest to divine foreknowledge has been done to warn and save men from making wrecks of themselves through the prevailing wrong-doing of the day.
In view of these things is it astonishing that God's wrath, as noted in the foregoing text, is poured "into the cup of His indignation"? Divine kindness has been exerted to the limit to save men, but this has all been spurned, and Satan's methods of doing wrong have been chosen instead of God's plain path of right.
In the early days of the present generation the printing-press placed the Bible in the homes of all who would receive it. In the same days God also raised up men to become students of the prophecies of His divine Book. These prophecies disclose and lay bare every sin and danger of this time. Clear and distinct notes of warning have been raised in every part of the world, and these warnings have not been given in the words of man's choosing, but have been read from the pages of Scripture in the very words of Jehovah Himself.
Every one of the tender arts and emotions of the Father have been brought into play. The significance of the cross, and the depth of love that permitted the Son of God to endure all the sufferings of Calvary have been poured upon the people of this time from that bosom which is the wellspring of every endearing affection. The rising flood of evil has been steadily met and resisted by the Light of the Ages; and the secure haven of God's own protecting power has been kept in distinct view by the lighthouse of His Word. Step by step the darkness and the miseries of wrong have been met by the light of the Sun of Righteousness who has arisen with healing in His wings.
The Fruitage of Man's Sowing
Thus has God made His supreme protest against the mightiest final efforts of the prince of darkness. And thus does our Father make it clear that the result of despising His protest is to be required to drink of that just and righteous wrath "which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation."
Wrath without mixture is wrath untempered by mercy. God's last great protest for this time makes it plain that every one who resists His light and His affectionate and righteous entreaties will press to their own lips the cup of the wine of His unmingled wrath. God's Spirit sends the conviction deep into your heart, regardless of your resistance, that these things are so. The possibility of your joining in the pleasures and occupations of an eternal existence depends upon your attitude to these convictions.
