Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another; and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, shall be saved. Matt. xxiv, 10-13. It is well known that seasons of great and general excitement, whether arising from political or other causes, are fraught with danger to the mental stability of many individuals. There are times when some dreadful epidemic seems to seize hold of the minds of men, when a blind excitement pervades all classes; and few escape the infection. Times of war and revolution are eminently such, and tend greatly to unsettle men's minds, to work them up into an unhealthy, feverish state, creating a morbid desire for an unwholesome stimulus. When events occur which powerfully effect the general mind, when nations are roused into energetic and unwonted action; when old-established and world-wide systems are verging on dissolution, then is the individual mind, even of the man of God, liable to be unbalanced, to lose, as it were, its foothold, and be silently but surely borne away, by the passion that sways the hour, into the gulf of forgetfulness of God; such times were impending when Jesus replied to his disciples' question, and the same warnings and injunctions given them, will apply to all similar occasions. "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." "See that ye be not troubled; in your patience possess ye your souls," that is, in patient continuance in well-doing, possess the mastery over your own minds: be not carried away by the prevailing spirit. Be watchful and prayerful. Such is the tenor of some of the injunctions, given in view of the approaching evils.126It will be evident to all who take notice of the course of public and political events, and who does not, in these latter days, when so many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased? that events of no common import are about to transpire. The voices of the prophets, with one consent, testify that national convulsions; famines, pestilences, earthquakes, &c., must precede the much-desired era of rest and peace under the Messiah. The proclamation of Joel rings in our ears, "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; assemble and come all ye nations, and gather yourselves together round about." We already see the greater part of the world in arms, and we look also for the crumbling to pieces of an old established system, corrupted from its original, divine simplicity, grown old in wantonness and crime, joined with the rulers of the world in an unholy union, that they might "eat up God's people, as if they were bread;" we look for the day when the proud shall be abased, and the Lord alone be exalted. But the overthrow of Babylon will be mighty, and how many noble beings will be involved in her fall? As it is said in the book of Daniel, "Many of them of understanding shall fall through seducers, who shall cleave to them by flatteries." Whether these things are at hand or not, the fact remains; a war spirit is abroad, a spirit of hatred and delusion. It is its contaminating influence that we fear—it is the demoralizing influence of familiarity with the ideas of war and bloodshed—it is the unhealthy excitement, the bitter party spirit, that is, evil, and causes evil to spread. Let it not be said there is no danger to Christ's disciples from these causes. There is danger; because "when iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Such are the mysterious and inexplicable sympathies which bind man to man, which forbid a separate and isolated interest, that we catch unconsciously the prevalent tone, and we know not till the mind is warped and unsettled, and thus, being in an unhealthy state, it is ready to receive and to conceive evil. The moral scourge is more destructive even than the pestilence. In extraordinary times, God will grant to his chosen, extraordinary help. Of this blessed truth we have many assurances; but our space forbids their transcription. The reader may turn to Job v, 17-24; Isa. xxxiii, 10-17; Ps. xxxiii; and many other passages to the same purpose. In view of the evils which are certainly coming upon us, and of others which may be near, how ought the believers in Jesus to be drawing closer and firmer, the bonds of christian and brotherly love, so that united, they may the better resist the insidious approach of disaffection to the cross of Christ. That, united, they may watch over and strengthen one another; and by keeping aloof from the spirit of the world, "build themselves up in the most holy faith," and "having done all, to stand with their loins girt about with truth, their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and their hearts filled with the love of God; praying always, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, as well as themselves." The time must come when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, when the veil which custom, reserve, or prudence has drawn over the faces of most of men, shall be torn away. Then will "the sinners in Zion be afraid," then will "fearfulness surprise the hypocrites," Isa. xxxiii, 14. The words of Jesus, "many shall be offended, and shall betray one another; and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold"—ring the death knell of many a fair profession. Let then the followers of Jesus, who are seeking for glory, honor and incorruptibility, bethink themselves, and in view of the dangers to which the tone and stability of the individual mind is exposed, from the stir and the excitement, and the party spirit, now working amongst the people; let them exercise caution, watchfulness and prayer; let them use self-denial, self-possession, self-control, and faith in God's promises; let them be earnest and diligent in every good work, that they may be marked out as people who look beyond the present world, and who recognize the hand of God in all events. Let them not be led away by the spirit of the time, but strive the more earnestly to live "soberly, righteously and godly, in the present world, looking for the appearing of the great God and our Saviour. And may the Lord direct their hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ." —Moncrieff's Expositor, Scotland.