BEGINNING OF THE END! CHAPTER
FOUR PLANET IN REBELLION Increased
technology and faster commerce cannot solve the problems we are
encountering now. “Perhaps the next few summers may lengthen into a few more summers of opportunity. Again, no man can say. But let men search the Scriptures and ponder the facts of science, the vagaries of world politics, the economic, emotional and industrial condition of the peoples—conditions pointing sharply toward finis, soon or a little later.”—Wesner Fallow, Professor at Andover Newton Theological Seminary, in The Christian Century, September 25, 1946, p. 1148. More
fundamental than what we have already discussed, moral conditions have not
improved; they steadily worsened until the mid-1960s—and they have been
hurtling downward ever since. •
Before 1960, no one in the civilized world could legally abort their
children. Today, nearly every national government on earth is encouraging
the killing of unborn infants. Millions and millions of small Americans
have been killed—far more than have died in all the wars the U.S. has
fought;—yet the industry that carries on this mass destruction is one of
the most protected in the nation. •
Prior to 1950, other than cigarettes and liquor, relatively few addictive
drugs were sold in the Western world. Today, a mania has seized the public
to purchase whatever they can to destroy their minds. •
Before the 1930s, prostitution was illegal in nearly every Western nation.
Today, it is legal or quasi-legal in many parts of the world. •
Before 1950, America had relatively few lawyers. Today it is one of the
fastest-growing industries in the nation, and everyone is suing everyone. •
Before 1980, it was easier for politicians to withstand bribery; but today
elections are so expensive that politicians do what their masters tell
them. That is why so much legislation is passed which hurts citizens. The
little people are not offering the bribes that the big power-brokers are.
“For sale to the highest bidder” is on the walls of many legislative
assemblies. •
Before 1975, there was no legalized gambling anywhere in America, outside
of Nevada. Today there are large casinos all over the nation, and nearly
every state has an official lottery. State governments publish ads
encouraging citizens to gamble away their savings! •
Before 1985, it was easier for the Federal Trade Commission to control
stock market manipulations. But computers have made it possible for
millions of stock trades to be made so fast that the situation has become
unmanageable. Millions of computers throughout the world have standing
“sell orders” which kick in when the stocks reach a certain point.
Sudden intense downturns result. •
Fifteen years ago, you never heard of car jacking, children shooting
fellow students and teachers at school, or some of the other horrible
atrocities occurring now. • The
evening news is about sex and scandals, bullets and body bags, terror and
tragedy, wars and rumors of wars. •
Today’s headlines are far different than those in the 1950s. Instead of
funny events at county fairs, we read about terrorist networks, sudden
genocide of hundreds of thousands, and bombing of large U.S. buildings, •
Millions of land mines have been planted in the ground throughout the
world. Thousands are maimed or killed by them each year, even in lands
where no war is occurring. •
High-power guns are regularly being distributed freely to nationals in
Central America, South America, Africa, the Balkins, the Near East, and
Southern Asia. The entire planet is arming itself for a showdown. The whole world seems to be going
crazy. We stand aghast and wonder what will happen next. We
search for the cause and it is obvious to those willing to consider it:
Men and women have forgotten God.
They no longer acknowledge Him as supreme in their lives. Many do not even
believe there is a God. They have swallowed the lie of evolution. Even
many Christians who love God are taught that they do not need to keep the
Ten Commandments! Little wonder that the moral fabric of society is
unraveling. Men are told that the only laws they need to obey are man’s
laws! God, they are told—doesn’t have any, any more! The basic problem is that the greater part of mankind today is in rebellion against its Creator. They refuse to submit to His authority. We may
try to excuse it any way we want, but this is the reason mankind seems to
be hurtling toward moral extinction. Our planet has a disease. That disease is sin. In order to solve the problem, we must first identify sin. What is it? The
Bible says sin is the breaking of God’s law. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.”—1 John 3:4. Men
refuse to obey God’s moral Ten Commandment law. It is as simple as that.
And we all know it.
They lie, they steal, they cheat. They kill, they covet, They reject
God’s authority and take His name in vain. They violate His holy day. If
we kept the Ten Commandments, all the other evils plaguing our
civilization would be solved.
Yet, oddly enough, although we are expected to keep the laws of man, we
are solemnly told by educated men that it is impossible to keep God’s
laws—and anyone who tries to do it is a “legalist”! Men
today are so deeply involved in drugs, pornography, gambling, drinking and
wild entertainment, that they cannot think straight. But in the early
months after the bomb was flown from Tinian Island to Hiroshima, many
feared for what the future would bring. “Scientists themselves now proclaim that their science has reached the point in its development where it becomes imperative to do something about man. They prophesy doomsday unless their warning is heeded . . “Christianity puts its finger upon that in man’s nature which science now gravely fears may cause his destruction and the destruction of the earth with him. Science and Christianity are now looking at the same thing in man. Science has no word for it, but Christianity has. That word is sin . . “Unless something can be done to destroy the power of sin in the heart of man, his existence in a scientific world will remain under the shadow of imminent self-destruction.”—Charles Clayton Morrison, The Christian Century, March 13, 1946, pp. 330-332. For a
few brief years after Hiroshima, there were men who were concerned about
returning our planet to obedience to God. “Something tremendous is needed to lift us out of our infatuation with doom . . It must set blazing beacons to light a different path. Does the Christian church know what this tremendous something is? We believe it does. Then why, for the sake of desperate, despairing men, is it not tremendously declaring it?”—Editor, Christian Century, November 19, 1947, p. 1391. But
such concerns are past. Man is not changing. His obsession with sin has
become a mania. The end is just ahead. God allows developments to work
toward a climax. He has often done this in the past. He did it in Noah’s
day when He sent a flood of waters and buried the wicked. He did it in the
days of Abraham when He destroyed the wicked cities of the plain which
gave themselves up to evil. When
men reach the point that they only live to do wickedness, then God steps
in. Christ
predicted that, when conditions in the entire world become as evil as they
were in the time of Noah and Sodom,—the end would come! “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man . . and the Flood came and destroyed them all. “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot . . It rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”—Luke 17:26-27, 28-30. We are
told that, in the days of Noah, “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.”—Genesis 6:5, 11. That is
exactly what is happening now! In the time of Noah, those conditions
existed worldwide. After nearly 4400 years, the sheer intensity of such
evil once again exists worldwide! A few days after Hiroshima, President Truman said that mankind could only be saved if it returned to obedience to what God had written in the Bible: “If men and nations would but live by the precepts of the ancient prophets and the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, problems which now seem so difficult would soon disappear . . Unless it is done, we are headed for the disaster we would deserve.”—President Harry S. Truman, quoted in Federal Council of Churches, Biennial Report for 1946, p. 109. Our
entire global civilization is today repeating the sins that destroyed the
world in the days of Noah.
Never before have we lived in such “perilous times.” “In the last days perilous times shall come.”—2 Timothy 3:1. Never
before has there been so much evil: “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.”—2 Timothy 3:13. In
the judgment, the harvest of the world, Christ will return the second time
and take His faithful ones to heaven. “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; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels . . 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: but gather the wheat into My barn.”—Matthew 13:38-39, 30. We are stunned as we consider the fact that a terrible climax is developing. Yet, according to Bible prophecy, God is permitting it to happen. Something immense is about to take place. We are
dealing with something very much larger than that which appears on the
surface. We have discussed the very real crisis in public health,
politics, economics, bioterrorism, and weapons of mass destruction. But
something far more fundamental is involved. God
is about to deal with an entire planet that has run amok in evil. The
world is warring against the law of God, the Ten Commandments; and the
effects are to be seen everywhere. We are on a collision course with
disaster because morality is at the depths.
Marriage as an institution is about gone, sexual perversion has been given
a free rein, millions live only for the next uppers shot, and bribery and
corruption run riot. In the beginning, sin arose when Satan disputed God’s right to rule the universe. Satan told the angels that God’s law was unjust and should be abolished. But,
when Satan was kicked out of heaven, he came to earth; and, in the Garden
of Eden, he used the same approach. God had told Adam and Eve what they
could do and should not do. He was their Creator and they had a
responsibility to obey Him. The only way anyone can be happy is when they
obey God. But
then: Satan arrived and, disguised as a snake, told our first parents they
did not have to obey what God said. “You do not have to obey; you shall
not die. You will enter upon a new, higher experience by disobeying,”
was his message. “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”—Genesis 3:1-5. All
down through human history, Satan has repeated the same lie: “You
don’t have to obey God.” Throughout Bible times, and in the centuries
since then, he has lured people into disobeying God’s moral law of Ten
Commandments (Exodus 30:3-17). And
that is our core problem today. The same problem existed back in the days
of Noah: “Every man does what is right in his own eyes” (Genesis
6:5). Just
as it was back then, so it is today. When the crisis in lawlessness
reaches a certain point, God will step in. Men do
not realize what they are doing when they refuse to submit to God’s ten
rules, the Ten Commandments. That moral law is the foundation of
God’s government. It establishes His right to rule His creatures. If we
reject His law, we reject Him! Think about that a moment. God
wrote down His moral code in enduring stone on Mount Sinai. (It is given
in Exodus 20:1-17.) How much more permanent can something be, than
to have it engraved on stone—and written there by God’s own finger!
God gave the Ten Commandments to those who were His people at that time,
to be given to the world. The
situation has not changed. Today it wants you and me to obey that law and
urge it upon others. Look
about you today: God’s moral rules are rejected by nearly the entire
world. Even many Christians reject it!
They say they do not have to keep God’s law, for they have been saved
from it! Did
Christ die on Calvary so we can steal and kill and take God’s name in
vain? No, no. It cannot be. The truth is that God saves us from sin,
not from His law! How
does He save us from sin? It is through Christ’s death on the cross, and
His mediation on our behalf in heaven, that God saves us from sin. As
we plead with Christ for help, He forgives our past, and strengthens us by
His empowering grace—right now—to resist temptation and obey His
Father’s law. The
plan is a beautiful one. The Bible says sin “is the transgression of the
law” (1 John 3:4). What can be clearer? The problem is sin,
not the law! Why did
Jesus come to our world? The angel told the reason to Mary before
Christ’s birth: “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”—Matthew 1:21. Jesus
did not die on the cross to save us from God’s law. Jesus died to save
us from sin—from transgression of that law! If I intentionally drive through a stop sign, hit another car and kill someone,—how do we solve the problem? Theoretically, we can do it in one of three ways: First,
we can get rid of the law. We can do away with the rule which forbids
driving through stop signs. That would mean I am henceforth free to run
stop signs and hit more cars! “I am free from the law.” Second,
I can suffer the penalty myself. I can go to court, perhaps go to jail.
This is done to punish me for breaking the law and convince me not to
disobey it any more. The law stands, and the sin is punished. Third,
someone else can pay the penalty for me. But, although he may pay the
penalty for my past transgression, he is not thereby abolishing the law! I
am still required to obey it. Under
this third plan, which is God’s way of solving the sin problem in my
life, the One who paid the penalty for my sin, Jesus Christ,—also
helps me obey the moral law as, by faith in His righteous merits, I daily
walk with Him by faith. Christ did not die to take away the law, but to help me obey it. He died in my place on Calvary; and He lives today in heaven to strengthen me, by His righteous merits, to obey His moral law. Sin is the problem, not the law! Sin is rebellion against God; the law is the foundation of God’s government. There is a great difference between the two! Which
do you want to get rid of? If you want to get rid of sin, you are on
God’s side of the question. If you want to get rid of His law, you are
on the devil’s side. God’s
plan is for His earthly children to live clean, moral lives, in obedience
to the Ten Commandments. Christ did not die so they could keep sinning in
defiance of the law.
He did not go through the agonies of Calvary so we could continue as
lawbreakers. However,
it is very important that we understand that, by ourselves, none of us
can keep God’s holy law. None of us—not one—can, by our own will
or strength, put away sin or resist Satan’s temptations. Christ
died on Calvary not only to forgive our past sins, but to enable us by His
grace to obey it each day as, by faith, we cling to His hand and, as
little children, walk along life’s pathway with Him! “Trust and obey,
for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and
obey.” That old song is true. We are
to take hold of His empowering strength, trust in His enabling
merits,—and live clean, godly lives. By His grace, we are to control
ourselves. We are to be “Christians,” Christlike. God’s
part is infinitely great, but He will not do His part without our part.
And our part is to choose Him,
to put our will into action, to resist temptation, and do what is right.
Trusting Him for help as we attempt to do this, Christ supplies the
strength to carry it through to success. He enables us to live clean,
pure, honest lives, and spend our time helping and blessing others. Thank
God, there is a way we can live like Jesus! We can be like the One we so
much love. And all the praise goes to Him for it. Forget
this idea of “sin and be saved.” Let’s live for something better
than that! Through the enabling grace of Christ, sin is not to have
dominion over us! We
need to learn, from the Bible, what is in the future for our world. But
first, because it is so important, here is a brief Bible study,
clearly showing that, trusting in Jesus, each one of us can live a
“Christian” life. By presenting it to you in outline format, you can
clearly see the principles as they are explained in the Bible, God’s
holy Word: THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION: GOD’S PLAN TO SAVE YOU FROM SIN Isaiah
59:2—“But
your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” Romans
6:23—“For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.” 2
Peter 3:9—“The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but
is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance.” Exodus
34:6-7—“The
Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” For God
sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but
he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than
light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved.” Luke
19:10—“For
the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Matthew
1:21—“He
shall save His people from their sins.” Isaiah
53:6—“All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Acts
16:31—“Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” 2
Corinthians 6:2—“Now
is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” John
1:12—“But
as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name.” Galatians
2:20—“I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” John
3:3—“Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.” 2
Corinthians 5:17—“Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.” Philippians
2:13—“For
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good
pleasure.” Hebrews
10:16—“I
will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write
them.” 1
John 1:9—“If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Philippians
4:13—“I can
do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” OBEDIENCE BY FAITH HOW GOD ENABLES YOU TO OBEY HIM Psalm
103:19—“The
Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over
all.” 2 - THERE CAN BE NO GOVERNMENT WITHOUT LAW Romans
7:12—“The
law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Romans
7:14—“For
we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Proverbs
28:9—“He
that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be
abomination.” 3 - GOD’S LAW WAS FOR MEN IN BIBLE TIMES Romans
3:31—“Do we
then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the
law.” James
2:10-12—“For
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also Do not
kill. Now if thou commit no adultery yet if thou kill, thou art become a
transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be
judged by the law of liberty.” 4 - GOD’S LAW IS FOR THE REMNANT IN THE LAST DAYS Revelation
12:17—“And
the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant
of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ.” Revelation
14:12—“Here
is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus” (also verses 13-15). 5 - THERE IS GENERAL REBELLION AGAINST GOD’S LAW Romans
8:7—“The
carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be.” Psalm
119:126—“It
is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law.” 6 - THERE ARE PROMISES FOR THE OBEDIENT Psalm
119:165—“Great
peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Isaiah
48:18—“O
that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a
river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” 7 - THE SACRIFICIAL LAWS WERE ABOLISHED AT THE CROSS (Hebrews
10:1-16) Colossians
2:14—“Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary
to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.” Colossians
2:17—“Which
are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” 8 - WHAT DOES THE LAW DO FOR THE SINNER? God
uses the law to do for the sinner just what needs to be done. The sinner
must realize that he is a sinner. The heavy hand of the law must be laid
upon him, and he must be arrested in his course. Notice the following
carefully: 1.
It gives a knowledge of sin. Romans
3:20—“By
the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 7:7). 2.
It brings guilt and condemnation. Romans
3:19—“Now
we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God.” 3.
It acts as a spiritual mirror. James
1:23-25—“If
any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth
his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed” (James 2:9-12). Without
the law, the sinner is like a man who is afflicted with a deadly disease
that he doesn’t know he has. Paul said, “I had not known sin, but by
the law” (Romans 7:7). 9 - WHAT IS THE LAW UNABLE TO DO FOR THE SINNER? The law
cannot forgive. Law does not possess the power to forgive those who
transgress its precepts. Only the Lawgiver can do that. Jesus died to
redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). The law
cannot keep the sinner from sinning because “the carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be” (Romans 8:7). The law
only shows the sinner where he needs to change; but the law, itself,
cannot change him. And so let us get three facts about the law very clear. 1.
It cannot forgive or justify. Romans
3:20—“By
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.” 2.
It cannot keep from sin or sanctify. Galatians
3:21—“Is
the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should
have been by the law.” 3.
It cannot cleanse or keep the heart clean (Romans 9:3, 7-8). The law
is limited in its ability to do all that needs to be done for the sinner.
A wound cannot be sewed up with only a needle. The thread of the gospel
must do that. 10 - WHAT DOES THE GRACE OF CHRIST DO FOR THE SINNER? When
the law of God and the Spirit of God have made the sinner conscious of his
sin, he will then feel his need of Christ and go to the Saviour for
pardon. The publican found it so (Luke 18:13-14). The woman taken
in adultery felt condemned and ashamed. She needed sympathy and
forgiveness, and Christ was ready to grant these to her. Then He said,
“Sin no more.” If we
confess and put away sin, He will forgive (1 John 1:9). This is
grace, or unmerited favor. This gracious love of Christ awakens love in
the heart of the sinner, and he then desires to serve and obey God. Here
are four elements of the saving grace of Christ: 1.
It forgives and justifies. Acts
13:38-39—“Be
it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are
justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law
of Moses” (Luke 18:13-14). 2.
It saves from sin, or sanctifies. Matthew
1:21—“She
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall
save His people from their sins.” 1
Corinthians 1:30—“But
of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 3.
It inspires faith. Ephesians
2:8-10—“By
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them.” 4.
It brings God’s power. Romans
1:16—“I
am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek.” Forgiveness
of sin and power over sin came through the exercise of simple faith in
God’s promises and a full surrender of the heart to Him. 11 - HOW DOES A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE RELATE TO THE LAW? 1.
The law becomes the standard of his life. 1
John 5:3—“This
is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 2.
He permits Christ to fulfill in him the righteousness of the law. Romans
8:3-4—“God
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” 3.
Christ writes the law in his heart. Hebrews
8:10—“This
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them
in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a
people” (Psalm 119:11). Men
in their blindness boast of wonderful progress and enlightenment, but the
heavenly watchers see the earth filled with corruption and violence.
We are living in the midst of an epidemic of crime, at which thoughtful,
God-fearing men everywhere are aghast. The spirit of anarchy is permeating
all nations, and the outbreaks of strife and bloodshed are but indications
of what is ahead. We
are living in the last days,—and are standing on the threshold of the
crisis of the ages.
In quick succession judgments are following one another. The restraining
Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes,
storms, tempests, fire and flood, disasters by sea and land are to be
seen. Science seeks to explain all these. The signs are thickening
around us—warning of the end and of Christ’s coming in judgment—and
are attributed to any other than the true cause. The sun
shines in the sky, passing over its usual round, and the heavens still
declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and
building, marrying and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and
selling. Men are jostling one against another, contending for the highest
place. Pleasure lovers are still crowding to horse races, gambling halls,
theaters, and worldly music,—even bringing it all into their homes. The
highest excitement prevails, yet probation’s hour is fast closing and
every case is about to be eternally decided. So far in this book, we have learned several reasons why a terrible crisis is just ahead of us. We
have also learned that, in the past, God has stepped in when morality has
reached the bottom.
He did it in Noah’s day, and He did it to Sodom. We all know that
conditions today are as bad as both those earlier crises. And we
have learned that God’s terrible judgments are sent to punish sin, the
transgression of His moral law. It has
become clear that the end is not far off. But the sheer intensity of
wickedness has reached such a massive amount, that if God does not step in
soon, man will destroy himself. Another
crisis—the last one in history—is just ahead of us. It is called the
Mark of the Beast. |