THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD
1. What two great things does God set before the children of men? "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing." Deut. 30:19. 2. What does Jesus say of the way of each? "Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction," and "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life." 3. What does He say of the comparative knowledge of each? "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. 7:13, 14. 4. What was the condition of man in the beginning? 5. What came into this field of God's planting? The "enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way." Matt. 13:25. "The tares are the children of the wicked one." Verse 38. 6. How long will God suffer these tares to remain? "Let both grow together until the harvest." Verse 30. "The harvest is the end of the world." Verse 39. 7. What power antagonistic to God's work will be prominent in the world, and to a certain extent dominant, until Christ comes? The Papacy, represented in Daniel 7 by a little horn which made war against the saints until the Ancient of Days came; represented in 2 Thessalonians 2 as the man of sin which stood in the temple of God, assuming to give laws for the church, and prospering until his destruction in the burning glory of Christ's second coming. 8. What, according to the Word of God, will be the character of the last days? "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Matt. 24:12. See also 2 Tim. 3:1-5, where the great perils of the last days are measured by the abounding sins among the people of God; Revelation 18, in which great apostate Babylon controls the whole world; the words of our Lord in Luke 17 and Matthew 24, which declare that the last days shall be as were the days of Noah and of Lot; and many other scriptures. 9. What is to become of the wicked? "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints." 2 Thess. 1:9, 10. See also 2:8, and many others. 10. What admonition does God give us in view of these facts? "Strive [agonize] to enter in at the strait [narrow] gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Luke 13:24. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2. NOTE. It will be seen by the above Scriptures that there is nothing whatever in them to indicate the conversion of the world, but that there is positive evidence to the contrary. The conversion of the world and a temporal millennium are dreams of the devil by which he would lull to sleep a world lying in wickedness. Let each of our readers make sure that the Gospel of Christ shall do the work upon his heart. Would it not rejoice your hearts if you were sure to live to see the coming of the Lord, and to see His glorious appearing and retinue? If you were not to die, but to be caught up thus to meet the Lord, would you be averse to this? Would it not be the greatest joy that you could desire? For my own part, I must confess to you that death, as death appeareth to me, is an enemy, and my nature doth abhor and fear it. But the thoughts of the coming of the Lord are most sweet and joyful to me, so that if I were but sure that I should live to see it, and that the trumpet should sound, and the dead should rise, and the Lord appear, before the period of my age, it would be the joyfulest tidings to me in the world. O, that I might see His kingdom come! It is the character of His saints to love His appearing, and to look for that blessed hope. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come." "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Come quickly, is the voice of faith, and hope, and love. But I find not that His servants are thus characterized by their desire to die. It is, therefore, the presence of their Lord that they desire; but it is death that they abhor, and, therefore, tho they can submit to death, it is the coming of Christ that they love, and long for. If death be the last enemy to be destroyed at the resurrection, we may learn how earnestly believers should long and pray for the second coming of Christ, when this full and final conquest shall be made. There is something in death that is penal, even to believers; but in the coming of Christ and their resurrection, there is nothing but glorifying grace.—Richard Baxter.