The existing state of things will not always last. The end will come. The apostle assures us “that there shall come in the last days scoffers,” who will boastfully inquire, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” But the chariot wheels of the Coming One will not be delayed by the skepticism of the religious skeptic, or the scoffing of the religious scoffer.
The end will come. Prophetic fulfillments in the past, and the present signs of the times, justify the most literal application of these fearful words of the prophet to our time. “Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Joel 2 : 1. Another prophet, looking forward to the close of the present state of things, exclaims: “An evil, an only evil, behold is come. An end is come, the end is come. It watcheth for thee. Behold it is come.” “The time is come. The day draweth near. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.” Eze. 7 : 5, 6, 12.
The end to an unbelieving world will be terrific beyond description. But to the just it will be a day of glory, of release, and reward. With longing eyes and quickly beating hearts they will be looking forward to it. And when it shall have come, and their adorable Redeemer shall be seen coming down the blazing vault of Heaven, their glad voices will unite in the triumphant shout, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and we will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25 : 9. We give the following paragraphs from the Christian, under the caption of the end :—
“The fleeting nature of this word, and the solemn fact of its approaching end, has occupied the thoughts of God's people for ages past. Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied of a coming Lord and a coming judgment on all that are ungodly among men. Abraham was content to wander a houseless dweller in tents, in an uncertain world, looking for his permanent inheritance to the heavenly country, and the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Job foresaw the day when the heavens should be no more, and his Redeemer should appear and stand upon the earth in the latter day. David was a stranger and sojourner here, and foretold the time when the God of glory should appear in flaming fire. Isaiah exclaimed, ‘O, that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence.’ Daniel foresaw the dissolution of all the pomp and glory of a sinful world, and heard the solemn word, ‘At the time appointed, the end shall be.’
“Malachi predicted the coming of the day ‘that shall burn as an oven,’ when all the proud, and they that do wickedly, shall be given to the flames. Jesus foretold the time when the wicked, like the tares among the wheat, shall be gathered in bundles and burned, in the end of the age. Paul declares, ‘Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.’ John on Patmos exclaims, ‘Even so come, Lord Jesus!’ James exhorts the saints to be patient, because the day of their deliverance draweth nigh. And Peter says, “the end of all things is at hand.”
“Living, then, in a fleeting and uncertain world, we are to ‘pass the time of our sojourning in fear.’ All things which we covet, love, and long for, shall soon pass forever from our grasp, and every earthly joy on which our hearts and hopes repose, shall glide away like a forgotten dream. We must learn hence to hold this world with a loosened grasp, and to let no idolatrous love of earthly things becloud our spiritual vision and keep back our hearts from purer and more enduring joys.
“The Christian’s hope is anchored within the vail. Not here, but hereafter, will his desire be realized, his aspirations satisfied. He has something in view better than earth’s ideals, something that eye hath not seen nor ear heard, only as God hath revealed it by the Holy Spirit and in his living word. He has no lack of hope, joy, and consolation, but it reaches beyond the toss of earthly storms and the surge of earthly billows. ‘The end of all things is at hand,’ but he shall not be a loser by the change. His treasures are in Heaven. His heart is there also; and in due time he shall rest from his labors and reap his great reward. ‘Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ,’ what are the trifles of earth, the pomps, the pleasures, and the pride of a departing world, compared with the eternal gladness that is waiting for him, the eternal glory that he so soon shall share?
“But let not the vain and godless take courage at judgment’s long delay. Let not the scoffer exult in sinfulness and pride. ‘The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;’ the heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved; the elements will melt, and the works of man shall perish in the dissolving flames; and only for the saints of God shall home or hope remain, in that ‘New Heaven and New Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.’
“Let us make their blessed portion our own. Let us resolutely spurn the enticements of a sinful world. Let us take heed, lest like Esau, for ‘one morsel of meat’ we sell our priceless birthright. Let us watch, and wait, and hope, and work; and with the passing months and fleeting years, the changes, chances, convulsions, and tumults that rack the world, let us hear forever these words of solemn omen and of joyful cheer, ‘The end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.’”