Earlier text: 2097.—Long HairSocial Conditions of This Time
By A. O. Tait
THIS is a time of high moral profession. Uprightness, integrity, honesty, and all the rest of the good adjectives are used to describe the ideals of what men think of themselves. The man who will stand for upright principle against the offers of bribes is cheered by the multitude anywhere. The profession of Christianity is by no means unpopular. Indeed, there are so many in this country who make a profession of Christianity that it is called a "Christian nation." And this same profession is made by the leading nations of the Old World as well. It is remarkable that, despite all this high profession, the great majority are, nevertheless, sadly lacking in the possessing of the things that are so strongly applauded. The owners and operating managers of all the great corporations are, as a general rule, well educated, and they can talk fluently of the good virtues that men should possess. Indeed, to hear the earnestness with which they talk on these themes one is impressed with the thought that the man must be truly good who can extol virtue and honesty so highly. In many instances these men who talk so fluently of righteousness hold their membership in some influential congregation of Christian professors. They attend divine worship regularly and make the outward show of piety. But these selfsame men are brought before courts of justice, and unimpeachable evidence shows that they have corrupted legislatures, bribed city and federal authorities, and otherwise followed the devious paths of genteel outlawry. But, notwithstanding this evidence of criminality that all will admit to be true, it is practically impossible to bring these men, or the interests that they represent, to suffer the punishment that justice demands. It is perfectly clear that the simple facts of the situation are these: The money power of the country has thrown out its lines so extensively that it has every city and important town under its control; this control is secured either by the direct use of bribes or else by obtaining positions for men that they covet more than money. This condition has obtained such a magnitude, and so many persons have come to be financially or socially interested that when justice is sought, influences are immediately brought to bear to have the prosecution dropped; the railroads, the coal mines, the oil wells, the steel and other manufacturing industries, the lumber business, and every other line of trade that involves large capital, have woven their interests together in trusts and combines until it is quite impossible to touch any great financial interest of the country without bringing to its aid every other company and corporation. Thus has the vast combined wealth of the country arrayed itself in one mighty combine and it is working so that it is a great engine of corruption. It is corrupting legislatures, and city and town councils, courts and juries, until the consciences of men are being educated to think that it is not so bad to be bribed or to bribe, especially if it can be done in some gentlemanly appearing way and not be found out. This boasted morality that men claim for themselves, while at the same time they are engaged in such iniquities, is making a vast army of hypocrites. And iniquity covered by hypocrisy is not the substantial material that will enable nations and peoples to endure. In this connection a very pertinent scripture may be quoted. It is a graphic description of social conditions that the apostle says will be seen at a particular period in the world's history, and it is well to think of it carefully as you read it. It is a text that is often quoted, but it is so comprehensive in its presentation of the social situation of this time that it should be studied more and more. It reads: "But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof; from these also turn away." 2 Tim. 3: 1-5. Notice particularly what an array the foregoing scripture gives. Men are "fierce," "traitors," "without self-control," "without natural affection," "railers," and so on thru the list; and permeating the whole catalog of evil attributes is self-love and the love of money. Such conditions of heart and mind are just what have always existed in the world among ungodly men. And there would be nothing particularly surprising to find the world's people doing such things at any time or place in the world's history. But this text is not talking about the out-and-out worldly person. It says that the people who are guilty of these sins are "holding a form of godliness." They belong to the church; they mingle in the singing of sacred song, and their voices may be uplifted in the house of God in prayer. But while making all this pretense, the text says that they are "no lovers of good;" they are "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." Their love of self and love of money make a splendid foundation for bribery, and everything connected with the whole grafting process. And the apostle plainly says that the "last days" shall be made "grievous" because of the prevalence of this mass of evils, masquerading in the revelries of pleasure, and seeking to hide the hypocritical conditions under a "form of godliness." When a person candidly studies the foregoing scripture, in connection with the conditions that actually exist in the world today, he must be impressed with the fact that the "last days" are surely here; for if the conditions of hypocritical sins that are now so plainly in the world are not fulfilling this prophetic utterance, pray what would be the depths of degradation to which the world must be plunged before the fulfillment is reached?6 There is another condition that has obtained very generally in all of the large cities, and most of the smaller ones as well, that has a significance that is worthy of careful thought and study. It is horrible to contemplate, but it is nevertheless true that vices and crimes of the very worst sort have been turned into regular business enterprises. In our large cities may be found men who move in "good society" and who live in palatial residences, who have made their money and who support themselves and families in high style by carrying on a regular traffic in the most degrading of vices. They create vast estates and roll up big bank accounts by deliberately cultivating unspeakable vices among men and women, and then by collecting a toll at the filthy gateways of debasing, degrading indulgence. Some time before the earthquake and fire in San Francisco, the writer of this article, in company with several other men, was passing along the open public sidewalk in one of the regularly charted streets of that city. The twilight of the sun that had just set was still spreading its light over the earth. This street on which we were passing was no more than two or three blocks from the great business arteries of the western metropolis. A side street branched off from the one on which we were walking, and seemed to end abruptly against a row of buildings a block away. On both sides of this short street were low buildings or rather what seemed to be one continuous building, the front steps of which was the sidewalk, and doors opening onto the sidewalk every eight or ten feet. A regularly uniformed policeman was standing at the corner in the attitude of one who was carefully guarding the interests of some large public meeting, and the little short street was alive with a multitude of men who could be seen to pass in and out of the rooms that lined its sides. The spectacle was so unusual that one of the party asked what was going on. A little questioning elicited the information from the officer that each room on both sides of the street contained a prostitute; the rent that each room paid the landlord was five dollars a day (not five dollars a week or five dollars a month, but five dollars a day); and furthermore the officer was kept there under the pay of the city to guard the infamous abode of sin. The question was asked the officer, How can it be possible for vice to be thus protected and fostered right in the heart of one of the foremost cities in this land of boasted Christianity? How is it that the mayor of this great metropolis of the Pacific can be induced to close his eyes to such a thing and allow it to flourish like this under the uniformed protection of an officer of his own appointment, and especially, How can this be when the mayor prides himself on his respectable and refined home life, and on the fact that he moves in the best society? Why does not a mayor, holding such a position, and making such lofty pretensions, swoop down upon such a sink of iniquity and drive it like a reptile from the face of the earth? With a sneering tone, the officer replied, "O, it is because there is too much money in this thing for the landlord, and thru his money he has too good a pull with the administration. The money received from this business is divided up, and we are paid to let it alone." In addition to the seemingly fabulous rent that the landlord received from his long rows of cheap, poorly built rooms, the keepers of these places had to pay a regular tax to the captain of police in the precinct, and this revenue from the most debasing and degrading of sins was divided among the government officials of the city. In the investigation that is now going on in San Francisco the majority of the city council have confessed under oath that they have been guilty of such crimes as these. And not only have they confessed that they have levied a tax upon the houses of ill-repute, but gambling-dens, which serve for the headquarters of thieves and pickpockets and all the rest of the family of rogues, are protected on the condition that a tribute is paid out of their illegitimate spoils. New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and practically all the rest of the cities of the whole of this country, as well as the cities of the Old World, have had investigations of their conditions from time to time which show that this corruption is general. And it is not only general all over the world, but it is highly organized into one of the most perfect systems for making money. The political boss, a character to be found in every city, is the general-in-chief of this great army of vice-laden criminals, gamblers, brothel-keepers, and the like, and his services are sought at a good price by the "princes of finance." The balance of power is being centered more and more strongly in the large cities, and the big interests that seek to place men in legislatures and on judicial benches, so that they can the more perfectly monopolize the wealth of the world, have only to pay the political boss his "price" and they can have their men elected. Men who heed the chiming of the church-bells, and who with a sanctified dignity go regularly to worship at the house of Him of whom it is said, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness;" men who move in the most exclusive circles of the highest and most refined society; men who would shudder at the thought of being seen in the house of vice, or of taking their revolvers in hand to go out and "hold up" persons for their money, will deliberately employ the "political boss," when they know very well what he represents. In order for the big financiers to keep their men in office they must have the help of the political boss; and in order for the political boss to be able to "make good" he must have his army of gamblers, and all the accompanying class of vice-laden evildoers that lie at the bottom of society. Hence it must be apparent to any one who thinks candidly on the situation that the whole social fabric has drifted into a plan of operation that makes it an object for men in the so-called higher walks of life to pass by debauchery with a wink, while others who are ranked as lower down in the social scale are organized into a perfect system for extending and increasing vices and crimes. You may say that the foregoing is a very dark picture; but you must also say that the picture represents fact and not theory. And, furthermore, dark as the picture is, yet is there great light beyond if you understand the meaning of it. The Father who knoweth all things, He who reads the future with absolute accuracy has known all thru the ages just what course would be taken by sin and sinners. And He has revealed beforehand that these conditions would exist, and He has assured us that when we see them we may know that we are in the "last days." In the seventeenth chapter of Luke the Lord tells us that the conditions that prevailed in Noah's time and also in the days of Lot will curse the earth at the time when Christ is about to return. The days of Noah and Lot are set forth in the Bible as two of the most corrupt periods in the world's history. And when these iniquities reach the place again that corruption becomes so general and so deep-rooted that no more people can be saved out of it, then the Lord Jesus will come in person in the clouds of heaven and put an end to it. This coming of the Master is the glorious hope that is before us. It is the one event that should thrill every soul. And every one who is not lost in the maze of sin will sooner or later see that the coming of Christ in person is the solution of all our social problems. Every nation that has become grossly corrupt has fallen under the weight of its own corruption. This has been the universal history of nations. And when the iniquities of the whole world have reached the place where corruption and degradation are so strong that nothing but destruction can result, then the end of the world must come in the second coming of Christ. The day of Christ's coming is more to be desired than any event that the world can know. And our chiefest personal joy should be to be ready for it when it comes. "CHARACTER is actualized aspiration. Man is the harvest of his own ambition, be that great or small, noble or ignoble. Whatever inspires a glorious or a groveling ambition blesses or blights the man in measure with itself." "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world thru Him might be saved." John 3:16, 17. “The breadth of a man’s heart is more to this world than the bulk of his head.” The Bible to Be Understood by All.
By Ellen G. White
“SEARCH the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me.” “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” “For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand.” By searching the Scriptures we are to know God, and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent. The Bible has not been given for the benefit of ministers only; it is the Book for the people; it is the comfort of the poor man. It is a great mistake for ministers to give the impression to the people that they should not read the Bible because they can not understand its sacred teachings, and should be content with the interpretation given by those whose business it is to proclaim the word of God. Ministers who thus educate the people are themselves in error. The Bible and the soul were made one for the other, and, thru the agency of the word and the Holy Spirit, God moves upon the heart. To him who receives the love of the truth, the word of God is as a light that shineth in a dark place, pointing out the path so plainly that the wayfaring man tho a fool need not err therein. He realizes that “the entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” The uneducated man, in earnest desire of soul, may in his humility and simplicity reap from the Bible far greater consolation than the learned or more exalted and honored man. He may never be able to present to another the same evidences of the inspiration of the word that a learned man could, but he can bear in his life and character a testimony of strength, showing forth in his outward demeanor the evidence of the power of the truth. God means that the poor and uneducated should have His word as a sure light and guide in the path of righteousness. If they are sincere, and desire earnestly to know the will of God, they will not be left in darkness. It is the privilege of every one to be wise for himself in reading the Scriptures. No man can safely trust his soul to the minister, or to men who are learned and talented. Jesus charged the priests and rulers, who were regarded as learned in the Scriptures, as being ignorant both of the Scriptures and the power of God. Those to whom God has entrusted talents are responsible for the use of their gifts, and should study the Bible as a book that may be understood. A single text has proved in the past, and will prove in the future, a savor of life unto life to many a soul. As men diligently search, the Bible will open out new treasures of truth that will be as bright jewels to the mind. The Witness of the Nations
By T.
FROM the lofty eminence of prophecy the apostle John was permitted to view the rise and fall of nations to the end of time. And when the last days of earth's career of sin are at hand he gives a graphic picture of the condition the nations would be in at that time. The prophecy reads: "And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign. And the nations were wroth, and Thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth. And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant; and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev. 11: 16-19. The scripture above directs our attention to a time when God takes His great power and reigns. Powers of evil are in the world now, but there comes a time when God will take to Himself the power that Satan has usurped and turned to purposes of sin. And at the time when our Father is taking this power to Himself, it is said that it is "the time of the dead to be judged," and the time to reward the servants of the Lord, and "to destroy them that destroy the earth." Thus does the text plainly reveal the judgment scenes that occur at the end of time. Now observe that when these judgment scenes are reached it is stated that "the nations were wroth." When the climax is reached, when God takes His power to reign, then it is that Satan stirs the nations into a condition of wrath. It is the time for the last battle between the forces of good and evil, and Satan stirs up the worst of furies in the mind of every person that he can hold within his power. It is the natural conclusion that such would be the case, and the scripture shows that the natural conclusion in this case is also the correct one. In harmony with the foregoing quotation from the book of Revelation is the following from the same book: "And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs; for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty." Rev. 16: 12-14. The sixth angel that poured out his bowl upon the great river is one of the seven angels that are commissioned to pour out the "seven last plagues." The seven last plagues would have to be at the end of time; "for in them is finished the wrath of God." See Rev. 15: 1. And at this time unclean spirits, spirits that are dominated by the impulses to iniquity, "go forth unto the kings of the whole world," to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God. Everybody knows that "the great day of God" is at the end of time. And this scripture shows that there is to be a war at that time. Here are two texts plainly witnessing to the same thing, and in perfect harmony. The fact should be particularly observed that the "kings that come from the sunrising" are to be in the marching columns of the angry nations that assemble for the war of that great day. As frequently shown in the columns of this paper, all the great lines of prophecy center in this time and show that the end is at hand. And it is a remarkable fact that the kingdoms of the "sunrising" part of the world have, within recent years, sprung up with a life and power that no one thought could ever be seen. Just when the nations of Western Europe are thinking that they will step in to divide up China among themselves, with a sudden bound like a tiger that had been held at bay, Japan springs forward and astonishes the world by her military powers and prowess. The nations step back aghast with surprise. They see that Japan, so recently aroused to possibilities of power, must now be reckoned with as one of the powers of the world. China, too, has recently changed her course and is awakening to the bugle call of the war spirit. She is modernizing her army and building herself a navy and thus getting ready for the final war. The prophecy has foreshown it, and we see the marching of events that are to meet fulfilment. Another very striking scripture upon the subject reads: "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 wakened, 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; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3: 9-14. The heathen nations are to be awakened by the war-cry among the kingdoms of earth when the day of the Lord is imminent. We see the preparations going on. This is the greatest age for advancement in the science of war the world has ever known. More deadly engines and instruments of destruction than the fancies of men two generations ago could have painted are now a matter of fact, and the rhythmic tread of the millions of men that are now held under arms all over the world in this time that is called the age of peace shows that the work is on of gathering the armies for the predicted final war. The "civilized" nations and the "heathen" nations alike are throwing themselves into line for the field of blood. It is sad to think of war; but it is glorious to think the time for the last war is almost here, and that the Lord will soon begin His reign of eternal righteousness. Those who are willing to accept the righteousness that the Lord offers to each may be prepared to escape the terrors of the nations' last cruel war, and amid the triumphs of immortality enter into the joys of an eternal and peaceful existence.
T. The Written Word.
By E. V. Shackelford
THE higher critics of to-day have questioned the inspiration and consequently the infallibility of the Holy Scriptures, but it would seem that a little reasoning on right lines would settle the question forever. First, when we consider that man is sinful by nature and that the whole race is in a sinful, corrupt condition, the necessity of an infallible standard of right is at once apparent. This very condition has called forth just such a standard. In the beginning, God conversed with man face to face. Gen. 1: 28. But man sinned, and while God has remained the same, sin has come between man and his Maker (Isa. 59: 1, 2; Gen. 3: 10), so that man can not stand in the presence of a holy God and live. So God, in love and mercy, has chosen to speak by His Spirit to His chosen servants who have written the communications, and they have been collected and preserved for man's guidance and help. Could not an all-wise God give an unfailing guide? Could He not see its necessity? Among all the great religions of the world, and among all the warring sects of the Christian religion, each declaring to the world that their own set of doctrines is the true and sufficient guide to faith and morals, the mind becomes bewildered and the honest heart cries to God for a sure foundation and a safe guide to life eternal. If God our Saviour would have men come to Him, He must show them the safe and sure way. This He has done in His inspired and infallible word. Inspired if infallible, and infallible if inspired. In this alone can we place our trust. E. V. SHACKELFORD. The Early Fathers.
By Adam Clarke
BUT of these we may safely say that there is not a truth in the most orthodox creed that can not be proved by their authority; nor a heresy that has disgraced the Romish Church that may not challenge them as its abettors. In points of doctrine, their authority with me is nothing. The word of God alone contains my creed. On a number of points I can go to the Greek and Latin fathers of the church to know what they believed, and what the people of their respective communions believed, but, after all this, I must return to God's word to know what He would have me to believe.—Dr. A. Clarke Trust God to Work
By Mrs. D. A. Fitch
SOMETIMES there is no other way by which we can so effectually assist in spreading the truth as to stand out of God's way and trust Him to work. MRS. D. A. FITCH. THE church is the spouse of Jesus Christ, married to Him by individual faith as expressed in baptism. See Rom. 7:4; Gal. 3:27; 2 Cor. 11:2. Christ is to be the Head of that church in all things, and that church is to be His fulness in the earth. Eph. 1:22, 23. When a woman leaves her husband and unites with another man, she is called an adulteress; and so also when the church leaves Jesus Christ and unites with the world she becomes a harlot, guilty of spiritual fornication. James 4:4; Jer. 3:20. Has not the professed church of9Christ already done that in her union with the State over the matter of Sunday laws—a purely church dogma? Is not Christ sufficient? Is His promise of all “power” thru the Spirit of none effect? Are the broken cisterns of men to be compared with the Fountain of Life? Is the World Growing Better?
THIS is a question often asked, sincerely, honestly, asked. And the reply often is, Surely, it is greatly improved.
"Who is it that mourns for the days that are gone,
When a noble could do as he liked with his own?"
And all the rest of Mackay's poem is dragged into service as proof. "But it is true, isn't it?"—Yes, the times have altered in many respects for the better. There are many better laws, and better conditions in many ways prevail. The old-time slavery does not exist, and men are not executed for stealing a sheep. But this does not answer the question. No mere outward observations will answer it. The light which men have, the instruction and advantages of the times, must receive consideration, and, after all, to Christians, the Bible must be the determining factor. In the light of the Bible is the world better?—No; for the world has ever been at enmity with God. Says an apostle: "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" James 4:4. Now if friendship with the world (not meaning a friend to worldlings, but sympathy and union with world-principles, aims, motives) is enmity with God, certainly there is where the world itself stands. Therefore the injunction to the Christian: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." 1 John 2:15-17. That is the sum of the animus, the motive, of the world—"the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the vainglory of life." What will please the desires of the flesh, the superficial, the sensuous, the artificial, the merely pleasing, that is the world. It is that which contains its own corruption, its inevitable decay and destruction within itself. It looks to the present, the pleasing, the sensuous, the selfish, with little regard for the beyond, unless that future promises a larger return, a greater profit to selfishness. All this is foreign to Christianity in its very essence. Out of it has grown by a natural development, if such a thing can be in that which is essentially abnormal, all the evil deeds of the ages. These are set forth in "the works of the flesh" in Gal. 5:19-21; Mark 7:21-23; Rom. 1:29-31; 2 Tim. 3:1-5. It is the spirit of the world, the lusts of the world, which has led to the cruel baleful fruits of unrestrained tyranny in the past; to the judicial torture; to the enslavement of men; to all the brutality and vice of the ages. There is no conversion of this world. God has never promised to convert it. There is no intimation of such teaching in His word. It is the world ever. To His disciples, Jesus says: "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." John 15:19. Jesus prays for His disciples: "I pray not that Thou shouldst take them from the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." John 17:15, 16. And again He declares to a worldly governor, "My kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36. The manifestations of the worldly spirit have been much more evident in some ages than others, in some countries than others, in some districts of the same countries than others. There are various reasons, the chief of which has been the influence of the true religion and light from God, often perverted and filtered thru great moral darkness. The people of the world to-day pride themselves on the improved laws and methods and conditions prevalent in modern civilization, contrasting them with the darker past; but they forget that all of the better things have come thru the indirect influence of Christianity in remolding the lives of men. The infidel often boasts of his superior standard and moral conduct, forgetting that it has all come about thru the influence of Christianity. If the old regime of worldly idolatry had persisted, his wife and daughter might have been devotees of the licentious worship of Baal or Bacchus, while he might be offering his oldest son as a sacrifice on the altar of Moloch. The better manners of the world to-day are owing to the influence of Bible teaching; and wherein it is at all better is not a result of self-development, but an unconscious imbibing and restraint of Christianity. But the world is the world still. It has higher standards, but it is no nearer the standard now than it was to its standards three hundred years or three thousand years agone. Take it the last fifty or one hundred years, for instance. Are men more honest now than then? Can their word be depended on now better than then? True, their garments were rougher, their manners more uncouth, their words less refined and polished; but are their hearts now kinder? Are they more virtuous? Are their homes more hospitable? Are their daughters purer? Are government officials cleaner? Is the probity of business men more marked? Is there less shoddy in goods, less adulteration in food? Is life safer now? A thousand questions might be asked. These are sufficient. Answered in the light of the word and the awful, serious facts before us, it is putting it mildly to say that the world is no better. The great serious fact facing every soul to-day is not that the world is worse or better; for in the words of Holy Writ, "the world passeth away." Of itself it is ever essentially the same. The sad fact is that the world is in the church, by the consent of the church; and that God's arraignment against the world is against the church, because the church is the friend of the world. Do you want the evidence? Read, then, the two indictments of Holy Writ; the one on the left a description of the heathen world in the days of the apostle Paul; the one on the right Paul's prophetic description of the religious world to-day: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." Rom. 1:28-31. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away." 2 Tim. 3:1-5. What is the essential difference in these indictments?—There is none save that one was spoken of the heathen world in the first century, the other of the Christian world in the last days; for the eighteen different sins are among those who have a form of godliness which has power, but they deny the power in their worldly lives. We all know that these sins are prevalent. We know that they are fostered and some of them defended. And it is this which makes the times perilous. Moral standards are debased. Moral barriers are thrown down. The world is justified in its rejection and enmity of God. The worldling can not respect a religionist who has a lower standard of morals than himself. The great sad answer to the question is that the world is no better, and that the church and the world are arm in arm. And yet to these—backslidden Christians and pleasure-loving, gain-seeking worldlings—there is hope for each and all. Christ died to save you from the evil principles which will destroy. He invites each of you to leave the world and find in Him cleansing and peace and strength and everlasting life. We know the Master; we know He will not disappoint you. Social Conditions Then and Now.
THE condition of society just before the Flood is set forth in the Bible in a few brief sentences. Things at that time became so hopeless that the only thing the Lord could do to preserve the race of mankind was to sweep away all the wicked of those days by a flood. The social condition that made this necessary is described as follows in Genesis: "And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." "And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth." Gen. 6: 5, 11, 12. The imaginations of men became evil, and only evil. All flesh corrupted their way, and then followed the anarchy of violence. Such was the condition of things that led the Lord to overthrow the old world by the Flood. When like conditions prevail again, it must be evident to any one that the Lord would be driven to visit destruction because of it. When we consider the facts in regard to the vast amount of corruption of every description that is polluting the world, the question at once arises, How can such a course be continued without bringing visitation of destruction from the Almighty? It is not necessary to particularize in regard to the evil that is flooding the world. Every heart that has left in it the true sense of right and wrong is made sick by the daily recital of bribes and defalcations and robberies and murders, without mentioning the dens of licentious vices and unspeakable iniquities that are fostered without molestation in so many places. When the old antediluvian world became absolutely corrupt, the Lord in His majesty arose and destroyed it. And in like manner were the Cities of the Plain destroyed for their iniquities. And the apostle Jude tells us that these cities were set forth for an example. Then, following the plain example that the Lord has given, we may conclude that the only thing that can be before the world is its destruction. It is the only reasonable thing to expect. The prophecies have pointed to the closing days of time as a period of great violence and lawlessness, and this is to be visited with destruction from the Almighty Father. A contemplation of these facts may not be pleasant to the lawless ones, but they are true nevertheless, and right thinking men and women should seek the Lord and stand with Him in this time of the world’s peril. There is perfect safety with Him for every one, and those who see the danger should avail themselves of the Lord’s protection. There are vast multitudes who are so taken up with the affairs of this world that they will not see anything in this, and so they will laugh at it. But those who see the dangers that are threatened by the violence and the lawlessness of these times should know from the word of God what it means, and they should also know that the infinite power of the Creator’s protection is theirs for the asking.