signs o f the times
C oncern ing th e return of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul reminds us of His imminent coming with these force ful words, “This know also, that in the last days perilous (or difficult) times shall come.” Now the next word which is listed before us in II Timothy 3:2 is the word “boasters.” We trust you are reading this message with your open Bible be fore you. Men who think little of God will think most highly of themselves. Today it is true as in the days of the Tower of Babel, men want to make a name for themselves; God is to be left out of the picture entirely! An interesting story is told about four ministers who were comparing notes as to how they prepared for their service in the pulpit. The first said that for every half hour he spent at the sacred desk, he would have to take, at least, another 10 to 12 hours in his stu dy. The second said that he painstak ingly wrote out his messages in long hand so that he might not forget any of the vital points. The next interjected that before he delivered his address, he would speak it aloud in the privacy of his study perhaps three or four times. Then the fourth minister smiled at them all — he had been known for his boastfulness — and his declaration was, “Why gentlemen, I have such abilities in speaking that I can get up and talk and think nothing of it!”
One preacher, rather worn with the bragging of this man ventured, “Yes, I’ve talked to some of the people in your church and they feel exactly the same way about it—they think nothing of it!” This is a humorous story, and yet it typifies how vain so many seem to be today. Actually, however, boasting is an open show of emptiness of life. What a picture this is of the bragging, boastful claims people make today. But the tragic aspect of it all is that there is a national boasting, closely related to this next word in the list which is “proud” or hautiness. But as a caution, “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” Men today are saying, either by lip or by life, “Who needs God? Look how far we’ve come without Him.” What a reminder of the fact that in these last desperate days perilous times have come. God doesn’t owe the United States anything. But we, in turn, owe to Him everything, all of the freedom we en joy, the security we have had, the fact that war has not touched our shores from foreign enemies since the early days of the colonies. Yes, these things should make us humble rather than proud. But as is prophesied by the Psalmist, there are men today who in essence say, “Our lips are our own; who is the Lord over us?” (Psalms 12:4). And again Jeremiah prophetically de-
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