Many of our editorials of the past two years have alluded to the increasingly serious character of the times in which we are living. They are marked by conditions that surely should awaken unbelievers to a sense of their need of a Savior, and stir up all Christians to a more faithful and devoted living for Christ. The world has never before witnessed such preparations for catastrophe as now. Men in their blindness are marching steadily forward to a mad, horrible climax.
Terrible as was the atom bomb, this was not fully realized by men in general. Now comes the prospect of a hydrogen bomb which is variously estimated to have destructive power all the way up to one thousand times greater than its predecessor. Its lingering death-dealing radioactivity would make large sections uninhabitable. Science has been able to create in an atomic explosion the tremendously high heat of the sun's burning so that it is now thought possible to use that heat to set off the lighter elements of hydrogen and helium. One might be inclined to say, "What bath man wrought!" But how much more appropriate to apply the words of Hosea, by the Spirit of God, to Israel, "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself." They by their own doings had brought about their destruction; and what shall we say of mankind? of science? Is there not a parallel?
It should be noted that these tremendous developments in death-making devices have only been possible by the efforts of the men of science, men of giant intellects, and of great learning. (Their achievements have not, of course, been limited to ways and means of destruction; they have made life more pleasant for sin ruined mankind in many ways.) But with all their natural ability and acquired skill, these men have been noted as a class for their daring infidelity. They have scoffed at the God of the Bible, ridiculed inspiration, derided the account of creation, and substituted the vain hypothesis of evolution for a sure foundation; and withal, they have had the effrontery to inculcate their shocking unbelief in the minds of the younger generations who have sought wisdom at their mouths. In short, God has been shut out of His own creation by His own creatures whom He had endowed with those very intellects. Surely it is true that "the world by wisdom knew not God.(We must add, however, that there have been notable exceptions to this rule of blind infidelity among men of great learning.)
Now would it be any wonder if God would allow His puny creatures who have despised and slighted Him to finally wreak havoc and destruction on themselves through the very ability of which they boasted, and which their fellow men lauded and acclaimed? It is not a flattering picture of man that Zophar the Naamathite gave long years ago: "For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt." Job 11:1212For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt. (Job 11:12). "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom," but, alas, they have not known that, and in the end it will be discovered that there is no true wisdom where the fear of the Lord is not. Although success may attend their research, everything is basically wrong when built on the wrong foundation. The fear of God which leads to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only sure foundation; everything else is sinking sand.
But shall we decry these men of science as though we who trust in the living God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are better? Ah, no. For "such were some of you" (1 Cor. 6:1111And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)). "For we were once ourselves also without intelligence, disobedient, wandering in error." Titus 3:33For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. (Titus 3:3) (N. Trans.). Let us rather praise God that He opened our once-blind eyes and gave us to believe His Word and find our treasure in Christ Jesus our Lord; but let us keep a clear perspective of the world and its present state, and of its coming doom.
The portents of our day are ominous, but let us neither faint nor be weary. We are the children of God—the God who is still above all—and not one thing can happen to one of His own without His permission. He may hold back the awful cataclysm while the Church is here, as He held back the liquid fire from Sodom while Lot was in it. The world is fast ripening for judgment as a wheat field ripens for the reapers, but we need to remember that every one of His own is dear to Him. If in His wisdom He should allow some to be snatched away instantly to be with Christ, by any catastrophe, it would only be to be suddenly with Christ which is far better. Nothing can ever touch the believer's life which is hid with Christ; and nothing in heaven, earth, or hell can ever sever him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Col. 3:33For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3); Rom. 8:38, 3938For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38‑39)).
And one thing is certain, the coming of the Lord is not far off. We look for the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior for our bodies. Very soon now we shall hear His shout and be changed and caught up to meet our Lord in the air.
But what manner of persons ought we to be while left here? Should we look or act like the world which is madly going down hill to destruction? What kind of conduct became Noah while he built his ark according to divine directions? Would it not have ill become him to have enjoyed the world's pleasures and acted as though all was well with them, when he knew what was coming? He preached righteousness and warned of judgment to come. He lived in a serious time when it was all-important that he should render faithful testimony to God before a very wicked generation. He had the divine testimony and was responsible for it before the world; and so have you and I, fellow Christian. The present religious exterior—the "form of godliness"—has not changed this. We are here to represent our absent Lord and to warn of judgment to come, and part of our testimony should be negative; that is, it should consist of separation from the world—its pleasures, aims, politics, schemes, etc. Sometimes a negative testimony is a very powerful one.
When the prophet of Judah was sent to Bethel to testify for God against the idolatry practiced there, he was neither to eat bread nor drink water in that place (1 Kings 13). His testimony was partly in the negative form by entire separation from everything there. This is always resented by the world (and often by worldly-minded Christians) and every effort is made by them to have a faithful Christian relax his entire separation. The prophet of Judah learned this to his ruin.