THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE S S
44
February, 1936
The march of events is causing people to ask, “ Whither are we bound or, “ What next ?” “ What will be the ultimate outcome o f all this?” There is an answer to these questions, authoritative and accurate. The answer is so easy of obtainment that no one need be uninformed. Shame becomes us as a people and as a church for our inexcusable ignorance o f the climax o f the present course o f events. And shame be upon the preachers and theo logical institutions and churches which fail to impart this information to the public. The whole situation is clearly analyzed in the prophe cies o f the Word o f God. Yet the astonishing fact con fronts us that the majority o f Christians and ministers dismiss the study and teaching of prophecy as unimportant, uninteresting, and unnecessary. What an unwarranted impairment o f the usefulness and ministry o f the church in this hour! I gnoring B ible P rophecy This attitude has called forth the scorn and criticism o f such a man as H. L. Mencken, former editor o f the American Mercury, who declared: “ The silence o f the theologians is one o f the incredible phenomena o f these dangerous days . . . What I desire to point out is that the New Testament offers precise and elaborate specifications o f the events preceding the inevitable end o f the world, and that a fair reading o f them must lead any rational man to conclude that the events are now upon us.” I am in agreement with Mr. Mencken that a fair read ing o f the predictions in the New Testament concerning conditions prevailing when this present era comes to its close, will lead any rational man to conclude that these events are now upon us. Read Matthew 24 and 25, and Luke 21. So self-evident is this fact, that a newspaper syndicate, so I am told on good authority, has prepared articles now in the files o f leading daily papers, dealing with some o f the results .of Christ’s second advent. These articles are to be published immediately after Christ has taken His church out o f the world at His second coming, which event will bring to a close this present age. C oming U niversal D ictator Immediately after Christ takes His church from tb,e earth, a period o f dictatorship will characterize the gov^ ernment o f earth’s kingdoms. It is this universal dicta-
T oday ’ s march o f events captures the interest and con cern of every thinking person. The more thought ful and analytical the individual, the more serious is his concern. Events of a significant character are hastening forward with an irresistible momentum and remarkable coordination on a world-wide scope. One factor that makes the situation the more staggering is that we are living in a peculiarly leaderless world. The fact that we are rushing forward and going somewhere without any adequate hu man leadership is filling men’s hearts with grave apprehen sion, bewilderment, and uncertainty. T he R ace in J eopardy Sir George Paish, in The Way to Recovery, says: “ It is not the wreck o f a single nation that is involved; it is the wreck o f a world. Universal bankruptcy accompa nied by universal revolution will place in jeopardy not merely civilization but life itself.” Ramsay MacDonald says: “ If we cannot find a solution to the present crisis, it will be difficult to stay the flood before it has over whelmed the whole o f Central Europe, with consequences, social, political, and financial, which no one can estimate. Time is against us. Every day adds to the risk o f the col lapse which will be outside human control.” These con clusions were fashioned in the crucible o f deep mental agitation and keen analysis o f the present situation. In a recent issue of a Portland daily paper there ap peared an editorial strikingly significant in the light of these facts. The editor comments on an article by H. G. Wells, the burden of which was the expectation o f a world wide socialistic state and which discussed also the methods o f bringing this new scheme of things into existence. Both Mr. Wells and the local editor leave with the reader the impression that they expect the march o f events to result in a universal social state directed by the ultimately trium phant nation or arch-dictator. So striking are some o f the sentences in this editorial in the light o f predictive Scrip ture that they astonish one who is familiar with prophecy. It is interesting to note how journalists and magazine-story writers today, wittingly or unwittingly, express views in harmony with the predictions o f God’s Word.
*Pastor, Staub Memorial Congregational Church.
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