Section
7
Coming
Events and Signs of the Times
Chapter
76.
The
World's Conversion
1.
WHAT did Christ say would be the condition of the world at His second
coming?
"As it was in the days of Noe, so
shall it be also in the days of the Son of man." Luke 17:26. See also
verses 27-30.
2.
How was it in the days of Noah?
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. . . . And the earth was filled with
violence." Gen. 6:5-11.
NOTE.-In a
sermon delivered at Savannah, Ga., Dec. 2, 1912, Bishop A. W. Wilson
(Methodist) said: "Old Rome in her worst days never harbored such
conditions of vice as are prevalent in our highest social circles. Never
at any period of the world's history has the moral stratum been so thin or
so low."
3.
How did Paul characterize the last days?
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall
come." 2 Tim. 3:1.
4.
What did he say would make those times perilous?
"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without
natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying
the power thereof." Verses 2-5.
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5.
Are things to grow better or worse before the Lord comes?
"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving,
and being deceived." Verse 13.
NOTE.-"Even
to the end of time there will still be occasion for the same complaint;
the world will grow no better, no, not when it is drawing toward its
period. Bad it is, and bad it will be, and worst of all just before
Christ's coming."-Matthew Henry, on Luke 18:8.
6.
According to the parable of the wheat and the tares, how long are the good
and bad to remain together?
"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the
kingdom; but "the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy
that sowed them is the devil." ""Let both grow together
until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in "bundles to burn them." Matt. 13:38,39,30.
7.
When does the harvest come?
"The harvest is the end of the world." Verse 39.
NOTES.-Thus
it is plain that the wicked (the tares) live with the righteous (the
wheat) till the end of the world. There is, then, no time before Christ's
coming for a sinless state, in which all men will be converted and turn to
God.
Harper's "Book of Facts," edition 1906, article
"Religion," classifies the population of the globe religiously
as follows:-
Buddhists
Brahmans
Mohammedans
Fetish-worshipers
Jews
Various
TOTAL |
400,000,000
250,000,000
180,000,000
150,000,000
8,000,000
62,000,000
1,050,000,000 |
Roman
Catholics
Protestants
Greek Church
Various
TOTAL |
175,000,000
110,000,000
90,000,000
25,000,000
400,000,000 |
From this it
will be seen that only about one fourth of the world's population are even
nominal Christians.
8.
For what purpose did Christ say the gospel was to be preached in all the
world?
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for
a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt.
24:14.
NOTES.-He
dill not say that all would receive the gospel, but that the gospel
was to be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations, and that then the end would come.
Commenting on Rev. 20:2, Dr. Adam Clarke says: "Probably no such time
shall ever appear , in which evil shall be wholly banished from the earth,
till after the day of judgment, when, the earth having been burned up, a
new heaven and a new earth shall be produced out of the ruins of the old,
by thy mighty power of God; righteousness alone shall dwell in
them."-Clarke's Commentary, edition 1860.
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9.
When is the "man of sin," or "mystery of iniquity,"
called also "that Wicked," to come to an end?
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume
with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming." 2 Thess: 2:8.
10.
How long was the little horn of Dan. 7:25 to make war with the saints?
"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed
against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to
the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed
the kingdom." Dan. 7:21,22.
11.
How will the day of the Lord come upon the world?
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord
so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and
safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not
escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5:2-4. .
NOTE.-There
will be but two classes in the world then: those in darkness, who are
looking for a time of peace and safety, and those not in darkness, who are
looking for the day of the Lord,-a day of waste and destruction,-the
coming of Christ and the end of the world. See Jer. 7:1-19; Dan. 12:1;
Joel 2:1-11; Zephaniah 1.
12.
What will some who are in darkness say when they hear about the Lord's
coming?
"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days
scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the
promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 2 Peter
3:3,4.
13.
What will be popularly taught in the last days?
"But in the last days. . . many nations shall come, and say,
Come, and let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; .
. . and He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar
off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears
into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore." Micah 4:1-3. See also Isa.
2:2-5.
NOTE.-Notice,
this is not what the Lord says, but what the Lord says many
nations shall say in the last days. And this is the very message now
heard in every land,-a great world's peace movement; a call for all
nations to disarm, to go to war no more, and to profess religion.
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14.
What message indicates the true condition of things?
"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake
up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let
the weak say, I am strong." Joel 3:9,10.
NOTE.-On
this question of preparing for war, note the following:-
Armies
of the World
| REGULAR
STANDING ARMY (1909) |
NATIONAL
ARMY INCLUDING RESERVES |
Austria-Hungary
Belgium
British Empire
China
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
Norway
Persia
Portugal
Russia
Servia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United States
TOTAL |
409,000
45,000
250,000
60,000
14,000
630,000
617,000
28,000
264,000
225,000
40,000
30,000
24,500
30,000
1,100,000
35,000
100,000
62,000
140,000
350,000
89,128
4,542,628 |
5,840,000
125,000
1,050,000
1,000,000
68,000
4,350,000
3,000,000
178,000
3,200,000
600,000
500,000
95,000
105,000
175,000
5,200,000
353,000
1,000,000
500,000
275,000
1,500,000
208,054
29,322,054 |
Naval
Expenditures of the Great Powers for Ten Years-1902-11
| |
Expenditure |
New
Construction |
Great Britain
Germany
France
Russia
Italy
Austria
United States
Japan
TOTAL |
$1,761,500,000
737,695,000
660,695,000
556,730,000
301,145,000
154,070,000
1,150,680,000
288,505,00
$5,611,320,000 |
$589,875,000
351,010,000
236,430,000
164,280,000
82,750,000
74,165,000
367,050,000
76,155,000
$1,941,715,000 |
Thus in only
ten years these eight great powers spent over seven and one-half billion
dollars on their navies.
"The immense armies maintained by European countries have come to be
a terrific drain upon their respective nations."-Nelson's
Encyclopedia, article "Army."
Page 351
15.
While making these war preparations, what are men saying?
"They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." Jer.
6:14.
NOTE.-Every
one conversant with existing conditions in the world today knows this is
true. While the message or peace is being proclaimed, the nations are
arming as never before; wars are in progress almost continually;
international complications are constantly arising; and a world war is
reared as imminent, and constantly looming in sight. The world today is a
vast armed camp.
16.
But does not the Bible say that the heathen are to be given to the Lord
for an inheritance?
"Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy
possession." Ps. 2:8.
17.
What will the Lord do with them?
"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou
shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Verse 9.
"And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite
the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He
treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."
Rev. 19:15.
NOTE.-How
suddenly surprised those who have been preaching peace and safety will be
when the end comes is indicated in the text already quoted: "For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in
the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden
destruction cometh upon them." 1 Thess. 5:2,3. All heedless of
the signs of the times, and indifferent to the future, the world will come
up to the day of the Lord unprepared. As a thief in the night, coming with
stealthy, muffled tread, this day will take all unawares who are not
looking, watching, and waiting for their Lord's return. Instead or looking
for the world's conversion, we should be looking for Christ's coming.
THE coming
King is at the door,
Who once the cross for sinners bore,
But now the righteous ones alone
He comes to gather home.
The signs
that show His coming near
Are fast fulfilling year by year,
And soon we'll hail the glorious dawn
Of heaven's eternal morn.
Look not on
earth for strife to cease,
Look not below for joy and peace,
Until the Saviour comes again
To banish death and sin.
Then in the
glorious earth made new.
We'll dwell the countless ages through;
This mortal shall immortal be,
And time, eternity.
F. E. BELDEN.
Preparing For Eternity
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