Men Teach that This World Will Yet Have Universal Peace—A False Cry Is Raised—When Will Wars Be Forever Ended?
By HAMPTON W. COTTRELL
THIS article came to hand just before the breaking out of the European war. The principles it presents make it very timely just now. Elder Cottrell is one of those who for some forty years have been teaching that universal war will close this world's history, and that at the time when the last great war is imminent, the mass of mankind will be saying, "Peace and safety." This war that is now on will calm down. It is not the last great war of Armageddon, but it shows the spirit of war that is in the world; and those who are wise will not look to this earth for peace.
EDITOR.
THE peace and safety cry from almost every pulpit in Christendom, and by many of the world's greatest statesmen, is attracting general attention. They inform us that the human race is standing on the very verge of world peace; that for one thousand years, any chance misunderstanding between nations will be adjusted by arbitration.
WHAT IS SAID OF THE TIME OF PEACE
In proof of this, reference is made to the following scriptures: "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Hab. 2:14. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, . . . many people shall go and say, . . . They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Isa. 2:2-4.
Surely when we shall have reached the time for the literal fulfilment of these texts of Scripture, we will be in the millennium, or a period equivalent thereto; but these scriptures standing alone are noticeably silent relative to the time of fulfilment, except that the latter text is specific in the declaration that in the days just prior to Christ's return, "many people" and "many nations" would be mistakenly announcing universal peace.
Note that God did not give the message that there would be no more war; but He did give notice that a peace message would be sounded during the very period of the world's greatest preparation for war, and that many would be lulled into carnal security thereby.
A FALSE ALARM
The message declaring peace, when the nations' greatest trouble is imminent, is declared by the Lord to be a false alarm, and of human authority.
The nations are to-day unwittingly fulfilling the following scripture: "In the last days it shall come to pass, that . . . many nations shall come, and say, . . . They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Micah 4:1-3.
But the world's dream of peace will not be realized, for God has declared otherwise. We read, "Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly." Isa. 33:7. Surely they will weep for disappointment.
Jehovah has said that the days just prior to the coming of the Lord will be perilous. Hear the apostle Paul: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." 2 Tim. 3:1. "When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh." 1 Thess. 5:3.
"WAKE UP THE MIGHTY MEN"
God has spoken to us as follows of conditions that would obtain in the world in the years immediately preceding the coming of Christ: "Proclaim ye this among the gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be awakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. . . . Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3:9-14.
In language that a conscientious Bible student can not easily misunderstand, the Lord photographed in this scripture the condition of things in our world prior to and including the very day of the second coming of Christ.
NO MILLENNIUM PRIOR TO HIS COMING
There can be no time for a millennium prior to the coming of our Lord; and one can not mistake the event of Christ's coming when it occurs. Hear the Master speak: "As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall6also the coming of the Son of man be. . . . And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matt. 24:27, 30.
"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him." Rev. 1:7.
"And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." Rev. 14:14.
Any description men may give, and any theory they may hold, relative to the coming of the Lord, different from that given by Christ Himself, is surely a counterfeit, and no one should be deceived thereby.
Hear the great Master say: "There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. . . . Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert [in the person of some assumedly great or pious one]; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers [a seance, where the spirit of Satan counterfeits the work of the Lord]; believe it not." Matt. 24:24, 26.
COMING IN PERSON
The coming of Christ in person as He went away, in full view of every eye, will be the culminating event to the Christian's hope. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of . . . our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13. It will also be the introduction of the children of God into the millennial period, which surely will be the sealed assurance of universal peace to follow, when righteousness will fill the earth "as the waters cover the sea."
The separation between the two classes of men—namely, those who accepted Christ as their divine Lord, and those who rejected Him—will have been made forever. The eternal fiat of God will have gone forth, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:11, 12.
NO SECOND PROBATION
There is no possibility of a temporal millennium prior to Christ's coming. And likewise there is no possibility of a second probation for sinners after His coming; for the Lord has said, "Let him be" as that day finds him. Now, and now only, is the time to make one's peace with God. Delay in hope of another probation is eternal loss.
The conditions in the political world to-day are an accurate fulfilment of those predicted by the prophet Joel for the last days, as above quoted.
Never before in the history of nations have there been such vast preparations for war as at the present time—which is just as our heavenly Father said it would be, notwithstanding the call for peace by professors of Christianity and rulers of nations.
Surely, in the present unparalleled preparations for bloodshed, plowshares are beaten into swords, and pruning-hooks into spears, in fulfilment of the word of our God.
SLEEPING SAINTS ARISE
When Christ shall come, He will call the myriads of sleeping saints to life, and with them immortalize the righteous living, and remove them from earth; and the wicked, who, on account of cherished sins, are not prepared to endure His heavenly glory, will cease to live, and will not live again until the thousand years—the millennium—is ended. The earth will be left desolate. Thus will Christ the Archangel bind Satan. 1 Thess. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-55; 2 Thess. 2:8; Isa. 13:9; Rev. 20:5.
SATAN IS BOUND
The events associated with Christ's coming compose the chain with which Christ binds Satan. Christ comes and speaks; the righteous dead arise glorified. He immortalizes the living righteous. He takes them all with Him to heaven. His glory wicked men can not endure. During life, they neglected the all-important thing of acquainting themselves with Christ and obtaining peace. He has all power in heaven and in earth. Matt. 28:18. He has the keys of life and of death. John 10:18; Rev. 1:18. He is the Archangel of 1 Thess. 4:16. He has
the key of the bottomless pit, and the chain, and will surely bind Satan and seal him in the pit. And there is no other power that can break the seal.
Then universal peace will be forever assured, except for a little season when sin must be accounted for and banished forever. Thenceforth men die no more. Luke 20:35, 36.
"The Father . . . hath committed all judgment unto the Son." John 5:22. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Gen. 18:25. "Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace." Job 22:21.
