its rumor. And never have the rumors been more numerous, persistent and portentous than now. The basis for permanent peace does not exist any where in the world. The collapse of modern peace hopes began with the failure of the Hague Peace Conference in 1907. It was confirmed by the ill- conceived Versailles Treaty in 1919. It was doomed by the debacle of the League of Nations a few years later. It was sealed with the failure of the bilateral Covenants for the arbitration of war instituted by Secretary of State Kellogg in 1920. It was made im possible by the rise of Communism and its diplo macy of duplicity. We live under momentary threat of nuclear war and its “ sudden destruction.” Jesus was right, as history and current events prove. Famine and pestilence have been concomitants of war, and earthquakes are natural phenomena that are a continuing part of world experience and a world managed by the curse. All these signs are marks of an age. They indicate the throes in which a disordered natural order of things must exist. They are symptoms and charac teristics of an age, but not the marks of the end of an age. In verse 6 Jesus speaks of “ the end.” This is also mentioned in verses 13 and 14. This is the end of the age and not the end of the world. The age or course of time is our present age which will be climaxed with the return of Christ. When this end comes it will end war, famine, pestilence, earthquake, pov erty and injustice. In verse 8 Jesus speaks of “ the beginning.” This is the beginning which is the opposite of and follows “ the end” just referred to. It is described here as “ the beginning of sorrows.” This can mean but one thingr, the period of the Tribulation. It will occur after the Rapture which removes the Church. It will be a time of divine judgment upon the nations. It will reveal the true state of human nature, for dur ing this period the restraints of God will have been removed and man will express himself in all his naked propensities. It will be a time of the apoca lyptic judgments revealed in Revelation 6 to 18 in the seals, trumpets and vials. The first sign is described in verse 14, “And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world.” You will understand that this will not be a new gospel. There is but one gospel in many phases. In our age it is the Gospel of Grace for the indi vidual. The Gospel of the Kingdom is for the new day and the nations. Today the grace gospel is preached as an individual witness. Then the king dom gospel will be preached for a national witness. The second sign is described in verse 15, “When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation.” This refers to antichrist whose historical precursor was Antiochus Epiphanes of the intertestament period. The abomination is the desecration of the restored Temple in Jerusalem and will mark the beginning of “ Jacob’s troubles” described from verses 16 to 31. Both of these signs are tribulation signs and do not concern the Church in its present position.
the alternatives of truth and error and the narrow and the broad way. Neutrality does not exist. No middle ground can be found. It is an either/or situ ation. The days of Noah are historical and were the pro ducer of a great moral disaster and the forerunner of a great divine judgment. They were a time of social degeneracy, universal evil, physical excess, general lawlessness, thoroughgoing godlessness and utter spiritual indifference. The days of the coming of the Son of Man are prophetical, and will produce conditions that will parallel the historical days of Noah with their law lessness, immorality, irreligion and apostasy. Jesus is saying that we will arrive at a social con dition which has been before. As it once was, so shall it be. This means that the moral, social and religious trend of our times will bring us to a time of social disaster requiring divine intervention by judgment. As an ancient condition precipitated the Flood, so a modem condition would precipitate the return of Christ. The purpose in both instances is to save the race from self-destruction through its own inherent evil and give it a new beginning in right eousness. There are abundant evidences to confirm the con viction that the conditions which were before the Flood are being reproduced today. These are to be seen in the social and moral character of our times. When these shall have run their course, they will bring about that collapse which will necessitate the intervention of God through Christ’s Second Coming. People are here divided into twos and are de scribed as the one being taken and the other left. These are those remaining in the world at the time of the Rapture which will remove some and leave others. People are pictured as being at their domes tic tasks and pursuing the ordinary events of life. Intruded into these tasks and events will be the di viding process of the Rapture by which some will be removed to the rewards and blessings of grace and some will be left to the judgment of the Tribulation. The first attitude is “ watching” and is described in verses 24 to 47. It is the self-chosen attitude of the righteous who are expecting the Lord’s coming and have withdrawn from the degrading and defiling orgies of the world and are waiting for the Savior to return. The second attitude is that of revelry and is de scribed in verses 48 to 51 in which there is a total disregard of divine laws and warnings. The people of this attitude pay no heed to the word of prophecy of the Lord’s coming and say, “Where is the promise of his coming?” In this attitude of self-chosen in difference and aggressive evil they occupy them selves with the excesses of the flesh and thoroughly unfit themselves for responsible living. They are ripe for antichrist’s program. They emulate the pre- Noahic principles of deism and immorality, and make necessary the climactic events centering in the Lord’s return. No one can doubt the significance of the utterances of Jesus in this discourse, and none can escape the conviction that much of its prelude ha ; been and is being fulfilled in our own times. 21
VI. Two Days (verses 36 to 39)
III. Two Periods (verses 6 and 8)
VII. Two Classes (verses 40 and 41)
IV. Two Signs (verses 14 and 15)
VIII. Two Attitudes (verses 42 to 51)
V. Two Choices (verses 23 to 28)
Here is the inevitable alternative facing everyone. It is between the true Christ (verse 23) and the false christs (verse 24). It is also perpetually present in
APRIL, 1961
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