January 1926
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
16
God who sits up there amidst the stars He created and i n * moment can raise His hand and stay all the wild waves of human madness. But these men of earth— foretelling ter rible things— they are the pessimists! Christ tells us that, as the stage is set for the Antichrist, men shall “ hate.one another, and kill one another.” Never in the history of this world has there been such universa hatred as there is today— Jew hating Gentile; Moslem hating Christian; Catholic hating Protestant; Japanese hating American; Italian hating Russian; Turk hating Syr ian; Greek hating Bulgarian; Frenchman hating German; Peruvian hating Chilean; Chinaman hating Englishman! And, oh how they hate! What will the harvest be? Again, said Christ, “ Iniquity shall abound.” Need we comment on this? Men have ceased to talk of “ crime waves.” They now speak of “ the tidal wave of crime. Moreover, this word “ iniquity" may be translated “ lawless ness,” and “ the man of Bin” is called "the lawless tone.” Lawlessness! You don’t need to go to church to hear about it! Voices from all over the earth are talking about “ law lessness” ! , *' . . Tlio “ Falling Away” “ That day of Christ," says Paul, “ will not come except there come a falling away first«” The Greek word trans lated "falling away” is apostasy. An apostasy is a falling away from a position once held. Twenty-five years ago Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Congregationalism— all of them held tenaciously to the great fundamental doctrines,— an inspired Bible, Christ as God incarnate in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, blood atonement for sin, the resur- rectlon of Christ from the dead in the body in which He died. Any man that denied these was subject to excom munication. But now,— if we are not in "the falling away” — if we are not in the apostasy, then there is no such thing! The Harlot and the Beast Now in the book of The Revelation, Chapter 17, we have a picture that we certainly need to keep in mind as we con sider the possibilities of this man Mussolini. We are told of "the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Now, this great harlot pictured here is none other than the 'Church of Rome, We are told that this woman has “ committed fornication with the kings of the earth.” It is hot therefore a political power, for a political power would be numbered with the kings of the earth, th e Church is the Bride of Christ, and is for the King of Glory alone “ to have and to hold.” But one day, there was a union of Church and State, and for some years no one could be crowned king in Europe without the consent of the Pope. The Bride of Christ joined her self to the kings of the earth, and when she did that, she became the harlot, committing fornication. That is Roman ism. If ever the Protestant Church forsakes her calling as a separate and peculiar people on the earth, and enters into an unholy alliance with the political powers of this world, then Protestantism becomes likewise a harlot. John says, "I saw this harlot sit upon a scarlet-colored beast.” The “ beast” all through John’s great vision is the Antichrist, the head of all earthly empire. The “ harlot” rides upon the “ beast,”— what is all this but a prophecy that when the Antichrist comes on the scene, he will be domin ated by the Papal power at Rome,— the political power of the earth* dominated by the religious power of the earth. Now, the "harlot,” if she is not sitting on the beast by this "i time, at least has her foot in the stirrup! The Roman (Continued on page 42)
earthquakes. There always have been wars, earthquakes, pestilences and famines. Therefore, If these things are to be signs, then they must come together with a degree In which they have never come before. Within the last ten years, the world has seen the greatest war, by far, that it has ever known! Seven million men fell on the battle fields! The world has never seen anything like It! Over twenty- five million people are In their graves today as a direct or indirect result of that war! We call It “ the World War.” In the last ten years we have had the greatest famines the world has ever seen. Two and a half million of people died recently as a result of famine in China. Even now the papers report five million are menaced by famine in Russia. One of the two greatest pestilences the world has ever seen came in 1918. Over twenty million died of the “ flu." The world’s greatest earthquake shook Japan but two years ago. Almost half the earth quivered in that mighty upheaval. And earthquakes have been uncommonly com mon ever since. The Word of God says that this quaking of the earth signifies “ the removing of those things that are shaken!” Jesus said also that at “ the time of the end,” “ There will be upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity.” Do you read the papers? ( ! ) Statesmen everywhere are perplexed beyond measure. They confess that the world’s problems are beyond their ability to solve. Nations that are bankrupt continue to pile up munitions of war— seeing dark days ahea’d! They call council after coun cil, but seem to get nowhere. They hold “ Peace Confer ences” and cry, “ Peace! Peace!” but the dove of peace cometh not at their call. Again, Jesus said, “ Men’s hearts shall fail them with fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth." We could quote the statesmen of the world for hours, predicting dire things for the future! “ The collapse of civilisation,” is a commonplace phrase upon their lip«- Their hearts tremble with fear, as they stand before the nightmare of Bolshevism which seems to be threatening the whole world! Right here in our own cities, schools are being established for the teaching of Bolshevism! Organiza tions are being chartered in our own country for the express purpose of abolishing God and advancing atheism. “ Men’s hearts failing them for fear and for the expecta tion of things coming upon the earth!” Men are predicting awful things! And they are not “ pessimistic preachers” that are talking. Lloyd George fears “ a climax of horror such as mankind has never witnessed.” Thomas Edison fears that “ There is nothing to prevent twenty to fifty air planes flying tomorrow over London’s millions with a gas that can suffocate those millions in three hours.” Sir Oliver Lodge fears that "the human race is about to commit sui cide." Frederick J. Libby fears that “ Airplanes, poison gas and hatred, mixed together, are spelling the doom of civil ization.” Dr. H. L. Braileford fears «that "We have reached the twilight of civilization.” H. G. Wells admits that “ We have come to the crossroads, and no one knows the way out.” Sir Philip Gibbs confesses that “ No man, unless he is drunk with optimism, can deny that the world is very sick, and it may be sickness unto death.” “ Lift Up Your Heads” However, my heart is not failing me! I am expecting, before another twenty years goes by to see “ the earth full o f the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” I am expecting to see justice enthroned throughout the earth. I am expecting to see the desert blossom as a rose. I am expecting to see every ear unstopped and every blind eye opened! I am not a pessimist! For Lworship a Mighty
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker