720 T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S ___________________December 1926 lyimiinmiiiimHnimmiiiiiomiimimniHiHiiiiioiiiiimmciiiMiiiimoiiiiMiimDimmiiiiiDiiiimMiiraiMnMiHaimmimommiimaiHimnmaiM mu
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5 ^ CONCERN ING THE T IME OF THE GREAT TR IBULAT ION By SYDNEY WATSON * M.pmumMuniiiiniiMiinmmiiiiuniiimniiiiniimiiiiiHniiimminaiiimiiHiiaiiimniiiionHiHHiiiaiimniminiiiiiniiiiiaiiiiiimmnmmmi«OHHHwl •
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All this had been brought about much more easily than would at first appear, until we remember one or two factors that had long been working silently, subtly among the attendants—mere church professors—of the various places of worship, such as the insistence on shorter services, and fewer—for long before the Rapture the unspiritual had clamoured for a single service of the week, that of a late Sunday morning one. Then for years religious services (those of the Sunday) had grown more and more sensuous, unspiritual. Every real spiritual doctrine had first been denied, then expunged from the essay that had largely taken the place of the old-time sermon. Again, all spiritual restraints had now been taken away—the true believers, the Holy Spirit, every spiritually-minded, born-again pastor and clergyman. The new Religion (it could not be called a Faith) was a universal one. The powers of the Priest-craft had invented a religion of the Flesh, fleshly to a degree. Every type of indulgence was permissible, so that men everywhere gloried in their religion, “having a form—but denying God.” The performances at all theatres, music-halls, etc., had grown rapidly worse and worse in character—licentiousness, animalism, voluptuousness, debauchery, these were the main features of the newer type of performances. Salome dances, and even the wildest, obscenest type of the “can-can” of the French, in its most promiscuous lascivious forms, were com mon fare,on the varied English stages. But if the stage was filthy and indecent, what could be said of the books! There was not a foulness or obscenity and indecency that was not openly, shamelessly treated in the bluntest of phraseology. Thousands of penny, two penny, and three-penny editions of utter obscenity were issued daily. And the vitiated taste of the great mass of the people grew voraciously by feeding upon them. Marriage was a thing of the dead past. There had been a growth of foul, subtle, hideous teaching before the trans lation of the church. Marriage had been taught (in many circles) to be “an unnecessary restraint upon human lib erty.” “Women”—it had been written, "absolved from shame, shall be owners of themselves.” "We believe” (the same writer had written) “in the sacredness of the family and the home, the legitimacy of every child, and the inalien able right of every woman to the absolute possession of herself.”. All this foul seed-teaching of the days before the Trans lation of the Church, hurst into open bloBsom and fullest fruit when once the restraint of Christian public opinion had been withdrawn from the earth. The friendship between Ralph Bastin and Baring had grown with the days, and as they watched the rapid march of events, all heading towards ultimate evil, they talked of the possible finale, while they encouraged themselves in their God. One evening, when they met, Baring said: “I suppose there will soon come the time when no one (Continued on page 772)
Synop sis of p rev iou s In sta lm e n ts: J u d ith M o n tm arte, a w e a lth y a n d c u ltu re d Jew ess, e n g a g e s In e a rn e s t c o n v e rsa tio n With C olonel Y o u lter a t a house p a rty w h ere b o th a re g u e sts, a n d le a rn s som eth in g o f th e ex p ected m a n n e r of th e A n ti c h ris t's a p p e a rin g . . . . M any y e a rs la te r, th e s a in ts h a v in g been led to a n tic ip a te th e n e a r re tu rn of th e L ord, a n o ted p re a c h e r o u tlin e s hls view s a s to th e m a n n e r of th e A n tic h rist s m a n ife sta tio n . T he sa in ts a re e v e n tu a lly "c a u g h t aw a y to be w ith th e Lord, to th e c o n ste rn a tio n a n d so rrow o f some, a n d th e g re a t re lie f, of th e law less. T h e la tte r g iv e th em se lv e s w ith o u t re s tr a in t to ev ery fo rm of evil. MONTH had elapsed since the translation of the church. A new order In everything had arisen— Religious, Governmental, Social. The spirit of • lawlessness grew fiercer and fouler each day, it is true, yet there was a supreme authority, a governmental restriction, that prevented the fouler, the more destructive passions of the baser kind of men and women, having full scope. A curious kind of religion had been set up in many of the churches. The services were sensuous to a degree, and were a strange mixture of Romanism, Spiritism (demon ology), Theosophy, Materialism, and other kindred cults. Almost every week some new ode or hymn was produced, every sentiment of which was an applauding of man, for God was utterly ignored, and the key-note of the Harvard college “class Poem” for the year 1908 became the key-note of the Sunday Song of the “worshippers” in the churches: These religious services were held, as a rule, from twelve- thirty to one-fifteen on the Sunday, once a day only (with out any week-night meetings). They were held at an hour when, In the old days, the congregations would have been home, or going home, from their services. But this arranged lateness was due to the fact that there had grown up in all sections of society an ever-increasing lateness of retiring at night, coupled with a growth of indolence caused by every kind of /sensual indulgence, not the least of which was glutton» Music of a sensuous, voluptuous character formmra chief part of the brief Sunday services, and every itejp^was loudly applauded, as though the whole affair had YJfeen a performance rather than a professedly religious service. Most of the Interior arrangements in many of the old places of worship had been altered. The theatre style of thing—plush-covered tip seats, etc.—had taken the place of the old pews and the wooden seats. In many of these Sunday services, too, people of both sexes smoked at will— for smoking among women had become almost universal. There were'no Bibles or Hymn books; the odes, etc., were printed on double sheets, after the fashion of theatre pro grammes, and, like them, contained numerous advertise ments of the Sunday matinees and evening performances at the theatres, music-halls, etc. * “No God for a gift God gave us— Mankind alone must save us.” It was a curious situation, since it was “man” worship ping himself. Presently, the centre of worship would shift from man, to The Man of Sin—the Antichrist.
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