It Is Best to Be Guided by Facts.
I N his second letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul enumerates the sins that will be prevalent among men in the “last days,” and that he says will make those times “perilous.” And following this enumeration he also states that “evil men and imposters shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13.9 To those who believe the Bible, the foregoing text will be taken as a statement of facts as they will exist. And when we view things as they exist in the world to-day, it is not difficult to be persuaded that the divine statement of fact is a strikingly correct presentation of prevailing conditions. The news of this country is filled with the accounts of the evil deeds that men are continually committing. One of the greatest problems of government to-day is how to keep in check the corrupting influences that are working in all the cities and legislatures of the country. And, following the instruction of the Guide Book, we know that these conditions will “wax worse and worse” till the end of time. Men will not only be deceivers, but they will also be deceived themselves. And in this deceived and deceiving condition they will continue in the downward course. This statement of the One who knows how to inspire true prophecies of the future, is direct and plain, and there can be no mistaking its import. And while we see these corrupting influences working in this country, we are constantly in receipt of reports of the corruptions of a similar character that are going on in the Old World. Just now the reports are telling us of the scandals that disgrace the Court of Berlin. Other cities in other parts of the old countries are also frequently mentioned in the same way, so that we can see that the course of corruption is general, and if we admit the facts, we can see that things are going just as the Bible says, “worse and worse.” As already stated, these things are to be the prevailing conditions of the “last days.” But by the term “last days,” do not get the impression that they are the last days of joy and happiness. They are the last days of corruption. They are the last days for the evil that is waxing worse and worse. They are the last days for tyranny, oppression, and extortion. They are the last days for sorrow, suffering, and grief. But they are the immediate heralds of the days of the glorious reign of Christ, in which there is fulness of joy. It is only when we look at these things from the world’s standpoint that the picture of the conditions that exist looks dark. But when we look at things in the light of the facts of God’s word, we see another picture that is so full of light and joy that this dark one is wholly obscured by the brightness of the brighter one. Then let us keep our eyes and minds on the facts. Not the facts of the world’s corrupting influences, but the facts of God’s word that tell what all these things portend.