Recently a new book came out in Canada entitled, “On Decline,” written by a man named Andrew Potter. In the book he takes up the question of why, since 2016, every year seems to have been getting worse for this world. Here is a sample of what he wrote:
“And so a pattern seemed to be set: a stable international order collapsing amid renewed Great Power machinations, populist retrenchment and decay among the established democracies fueled by fake news and Russian manipulation, terror attacks abroad and mass shootings at home, and the constant menace of looming environmental catastrophe. Behind it all, marking time like a drummer in a death march, was the steady beat ... reminding us that the old, familiar world was being replaced by something new and uncertain.”
December wrap-ups by the newspapers widely agreed that “2016 was the worst year ever. And yet every year since has also felt like the worst year ever, to the point where claiming the current year is worse than the previous one has become something of a social media cliché.”
He goes on to say further:
“The economic, political, demographic, environmental, and cultural foundations of our civilization are all under enormous stress, and our long-standing fail-safe — the essentially rational character of our problem-solving and decision-making — is in crisis.”
He then talks about some of the problems facing the world — wars, wildfires, volcanoes, locust plagues, climate change, droughts, floods, hurricanes, and finally COVID-19, with all the chaos and fear that it has brought into the world. He ends up by saying, “It’s time we accepted that we’re in a state of decline.”
The Reaction
Probably very few would argue that we are in a state of decline; it is the reaction to this alarming fact that varies. Some would say that we have had situations like this before, referring back to events like the so-called Spanish flu pandemic 100 years ago or the Great Depression of the 1930s. They would assert that the world survived, straightened itself out, and even got better. Others are drifting into despair or resorting to violence, as evidenced by the increasing number of suicides, brutal crimes and mass shootings in the world. Still others are taking the attitude, brought out by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:32: “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.” The future looks terrible, they say, so let us enjoy life to the full while we can.
The problem with the optimistic outlook, in the words of another, is that “one of the more salient features of our current moment is that everything seems to be going wrong at the same time.” The world has certainly coped with large-scale disasters in the past, including two world wars in the last century, but the present situation seems to be that of a relentless series of events, seemingly unrelated, and yet all combining to drag us inexorably downhill. There seems no end in sight, and the general cry is, “When are things going to get back to normal?”
The Warning
The title of this issue of The Christian is “Sorrow and Joy,” and what we see around us, as believers, merges these two thoughts together. At the moment God is, no doubt, allowing man to have a small taste (very small!) of what this world will face after the church is called home and the tribulation week begins. It will culminate in the Great Tribulation, the final 3½ years, when this world will experience trouble such as it has never seen before. What we are seeing now is God’s warning for those who will listen. In a coming day, during that tribulation period, the godly Jews will recognize the appearance of the Antichrist and will flee from Jerusalem to save themselves. Likewise today, those who are willing to listen to God’s warning, whether Gentiles or Jews, may come to Christ and be saved before the judgment falls.
For those of us who are believers, yes, we too experience the sorrow through which this world is passing, and we too suffer from it. We are not immune to these difficulties. Even among believers, lives have been disrupted, young people have had their educations and careers cut short, Christian fellowship has been restricted by COVID regulations, and travel has been greatly curtailed. Questions about the safety or otherwise of the COVID vaccines have divided believers, as well as uncertainties about how far to go in applying the scripture, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:2929Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29)). All this is allowed by our Lord to exercise our hearts and to draw us closer to Him.
The Sorrow and the Joy
I remember reading a letter written more than 100 years ago by a godly brother, long since with the Lord. In signing off the letter he said, “Your brother in the sorrows as well as the joys of these last days.” We share in the sorrows of these last days, and yet, are we to be discouraged? No, absolutely not! We share in the joys too! Truly, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psa. 30:55For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)). This is the world’s day, but the believer’s night. But “the night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:1212The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12)). We are “the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thess. 5:55Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (1 Thessalonians 5:5)). Yes, we may have to pass through some difficult and even uncertain times, but we know where it will all end! It will end in glory, a glory that will immediately eclipse all the sorrow and difficulties of the way.
More than this, we also wait for the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, “which in its own time the blessed and only Ruler shall show, the King of those that reign, and the Lord of those that exercise lordship ... to whom be honor and eternal might. Amen” (1 Tim. 6:15-1615Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:15‑16) JND). Today men are working hard to make themselves important in this world, and nations are striving together with one another, each one wanting to be the richest, the most powerful, and the most influential. But God has His plans too, and His purposes will never fail; what God has decided will always come to pass. God has purposed to honor and glorify His beloved Son, and at the end of that awful tribulation period, the Lord Jesus will come back to judge this world. At the end of it all, “the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isa. 2:1111The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2:11)). Well may our hearts say, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:2020He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)).
W. J. Prost