Who Will Put the World Right?
George Cutting
Table of Contents
Put the World Right? - How, AND WHEN? AND WHY THE DELAY?
THINGS on earth are not what they ought to be, and all will own it.
Broadly speaking, only two remedies have ever been proposed. One is God's, the other is not. One is by heavenly means agreeable to God's will, the other by earthly means agreeable to man's will.
GOD'S way is to meet man's sinful liabilities in righteousness, and his every need in overflowing abundance.
MAN'S way neither honors God nor fully satisfies himself. The task is totally beyond him. His remedies fail through ignorance of the malady. The real mischief is within, and his great aim is to cure the outer skin.
Take a figure. A certain lovely island, we will suppose, enjoys a most delightful climate. Its soil is unusually fruitful, and its minerals exceedingly abundant. But it has more than one serious drawback. In the first place, the charming spot is sorely infested with leprosy; and the disease appearing means certain notice to quit.
Beside this, a most baneful influence exists, to which all the inhabitants seem peculiarly liable. Its working is hidden and mysterious, but its effects are painfully evident and very various. Sometimes a defiant, quarrelsome spirit gets the upper hand and affects nearly everybody, from the heads of government down to the boys in the street, and even leading to open violence and bloodshed.
Liberal relief-funds may alleviate some of the consequences; but none can get rid of the influence itself.
So with this poor world. Not only has man no universal remedy for disease, and no means of barring his door against the approach of death, but an evil influence exists. "The prince of the power of the air" has to be reckoned with-"the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2). Man's wit is no match for the subtle influence of the father of lies-"a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44).
To put the world right, therefore, there must be a change in man himself. His conscience must be purged, disease removed, his lusts checked, violence stopped, death arrested, and Satan excluded. Who but God can do this? and who but God decide how it shall be done?
Yet man, inflated with the sense of his own ability, sets himself to the achievement!
The MATERIALIST must, to the highest degree, have mental culture, physical training, technical skill, scientific research, safe navigation, and productive land-cultivation. Moreover he must secure such broad-minded legislation as will secure contentment at home, goodwill abroad, and put the horrors of war beyond human possibility.
The RELIGIOUS MORALIST has his own plans. His great idea is the recognition of one universal brotherhood, and every man brought to acknowledge it.
But let every true believer seriously consider what this means. The universal acknowledgment that spiritual brotherhood is by natural birth is really the universal acknowledgment that what Christ taught was not true! He plainly said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." "YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN" (John 3:5,7). And again, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3).
These religious moralists profess to make Jesus their example, yet flatly deny His word! Perilous inconsistency!
They reason thus: When we can all agree to do to others as we would have others do to us, and to love our neighbors as ourselves, we shall have reached the happy reign of peace and goodwill-the desired millennium!
But to adopt this theory is to beg the whole question. He who sets out to put the whole world right must of necessity be able to put himself right. If, "by takng thought" I cannot add one cubit to my own stature, how, by the same process, can I add one to yours? "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jer. 13:23). The young ruler (Mark 10:21,22) found, to his sorrow, that a flaw in his own goodness left him outside the kingdom; yet through Christ's merits, a dying robber was made meet for it. The ruler's love to his neighbor fell short. To sell all that he had and give to the poor was too much for him; "for he had great possessions." But "ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich"-"rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom"-"heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (2 Cor. 8:9; James 2:5; Rom. 8:17). Only through the Holy Spirit's work in us, and the Lord's goodness in dying for our badness, can the kingdom be ours.
For nearly six thousand years man has had the chance of trying to make the world what he would have it. Has he done it in the past? Every page of history answers, No!
What about the present? Let us make inquiry.
Not very far distant from the great battlefields of Europe, a great International Peace Conference was held which aimed to influence and control the world for peace! Yet spite of all their professed principles and peaceful speeches, a quarrel soon started amongst civilized nationalities, and again millions of men found themselves in the midst of the most ghastly conflict the world ever witnessed or imagined!
Find, if you can, the grand total of results. Let the havoc of property, the agonies of the suffering, the groans of the dying, the sobs of the bereaved, with every attendant misery-mental anguish, painful forebodings, and the midnight sighs and tears in tens of thousands of once peaceful homes, make their united declaration. Are these the evidences of a world put right? NO!
The truth must be admitted. Man can put right neither himself nor his neighbor. "Their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known" (Rom. 3:15-18). The task is beyond him.
God Himself will do it. He has appointed the Man; He has declared the decree (Psa. 2:6,7); He has "appointed a day" (Acts 17:31) and He has sent a multitude of the heavenly host to announce the final result-"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:13,14).
But in view of this great undertaking on the part of God, four great questions naturally arise:
By whom will He do it?
How will He do it? When will He do it?
Why the delay in doing it?
Let us consider each separately: BY WHOM WILL HE DO IT?
God Himself supplies the answer.
The Man of His choice has been before Him from the beginning. All God's foreshadowings in Scripture are in perfect harmony with His promises-"In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," was God's promise to Abraham (Gen. 22:18) and in his great-grandson, Joseph, we have a beautiful foreshadowing of that time of plenteous blessing. By God's ordering, Joseph was exalted; and all the nations round about, as well as Israel's sons, participated in the fruits of his exaltation. So when Jesus personally reigns.
Again. In the Shepherd of Bethlehem, who defeated the champion that defied God's people, we have a refreshing type of God's chosen King. Of him God said, "I have found... a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will" (Acts 13:22).
Of His coming Isaiah predicted, "Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God,... The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6,7).
Of Him David the prophet wrote (Psa. 22:28), "The kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the Governor among the nations." And again in Psa. 2:1-9, which speaks of His rejection at the hand of man, Jehovah thus addresses Him, "Thou art my Son;... Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." And all this is confirmed by the lips of the Chosen One Himself: "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand" (John 3:35). O happy day, when such a King shall reign!
'Tis JESUS, 'tis JESUS,
Made Lord and Christ above;
'Tis JESUS, 'tis JESUS,
Whose precious Name we love.'
This is the One chosen of God to put the world right, and He will do it.
`JESUS the Name to sinners dear,
The Name to sinners given,
It scatters all their guilty fear,
And turns their hell to heaven.'
He has already given abundant proof of His perfect competency. When here below, He spoke peace to the convicted conscience, and comfort to the troubled mind. He healed every form of human malady.
The blind, the dumb, the paralytic were relieved. Lepers were cleansed and the hungry filled. He commanded the fish, and filled the fishermen's boats. He hushed the storm, gave life to the dead, and bade even devils depart.
Gracious words, kind deeds, tender compassion, lowly meekness, and thoughtful consideration ever marked His sojourn with men; and He is still the Same-"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8). How suitably will kingdom-glories rest upon His brow; the scepter be placed in His hand (Psa. 45:2,6,9;145:8-16).
JESUS SHALL REIGN IN PERSON, and under His beneficent sway shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Yet holy jealousy in judging evil will not be lacking. "With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." "Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins" (Isa. 11:1-12).
How welcome will He be to His GROANING CREATION. "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.... His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in HIM: ALL NATIONS SHALL CALL HIM BLESSED.... Blessed be his glorious name forever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; AMEN, and AMEN" (Psa. 72:6-19)!
He shall reign from pole to pole With illimitable sway:
He shall reign till like a scroll Heaven and Earth shall pass away.'
The thousand years of Christ's glorious reign will be one undeniable witness that God's holy will and man's true happiness are inseparable. Earth and heaven shall take knowledge of it. Men and angels exultingly admire it.
Who but the willfully blind would miss such a day? What urgency, then, in the question, Shall I miss it?
Now proceed to the next inquiry-
HOW WILL HE DO IT?
He will do it by the exclusion of evil and the influence of good. One thing is very certain, when God comes in, evil must go out. When man is brought to repentance-that is, brought to judge evil in himself-God rejoices (Luke 15:10).
But when man's heart is hardened, and he refuses to judge sin, it is only consistent with God's holy nature that He should do it. He will "by no means clear the guilty" (Ex. 34:7). The King's first herald, John the Baptist, announced this fact, that if man is not brought by the Holy Spirit to judge evil in himself, the coming King will judge it. He shall baptize "with fire," as well as "with the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 3:11).
It is a great, but very common mistake, to think that the kingdom cannot come until the whole world is converted through the preaching of the Gospel. But conversion does not heal men's bodies; nor rid the world of Satan's influences. More is needed.
It is true that Isaiah (11: 9) tells us, "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," but he also speaks, in the same scripture, of one very important step toward reaching that happy state of things. The root of Jesse "shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked" (v. 4). Very clear proof that the whole world is not then converted. The fact is, and many scriptures make it plain, that the execution of judgment will assuredly precede the day of blessing. Where evil exists, judgment will sift. Everything distasteful to the Lord must be removed.
If a farmer intended to devote a certain field to the feeding of sheep; and, when he came to it, found goats there as well as sheep, the remedy would be very simple. He would take out every goat. And thus will it be when the Shepherd of Israel shall again visit His flock.
At His first coming He found every possible kind of evil in the land-Jewish and heathen-but, with the exception of using a scourge of small cords to drive abuses out of the temple, He interfered with nothing; submitted to everything. He came in lowly grace. He wept over the hardened state of the people, but showed not the least resentment; not even when wicked Herod imprisoned and beheaded His forerunner. And when the people had done their worst in wickedness against Him, He sent the Holy Ghost from heaven with a message of forgiveness, if they would only repent and receive it.
But when He comes again, it will not be in long-suffering grace, but in righteous government.
"The day of the Lord" will come upon the world suddenly-as a thief in the night. He will clear every bit of wickedness out of the Land, set up His kingdom in power, and reign in righteousness (see Matt. 25:31-46). The subduing power of the true "David" will precede the peaceful reign of the true "Solomon." Or, as another once put it, 'The sword of judgment must go before the throne of glory. The earth must be cleared of its corruptions before it can be a garden of holy delights?' "Every plant," said Jesus, "which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up" (Matt. 15:13). And in the figure of tares gathered in bundles for burning, He said, "The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matt. 13:41-43).
"Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more," will be the decree (Psa. 104:35).
The nations that have not previously heard His "fame" or seen His glory, to whom Jewish missionaries will be sent, will then be separated, as "sheep" from "goats," on the ground of how they have treated the King's "brethren" (Abraham's seed) (Matt. 25:24-46; Isa. 66:19,20). The "sheep" will be allowed to remain on earth for His "Kingdom," and the "goats" be removed by judgment. Even King Solomon foresaw this sifting (see Prov. 2:21,22).
Then will begin the day of blessing for Israel, and through them it will spread to the ends of the earth. "God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him" (Psa. 67:7). Here are some of
The Blessings of That Day.
Man's conscience will be thoroughly cleared of all that once troubled it. God's own righteous satisfaction in the perfect sacrifice of Christ will be the unchanging ground of the gracious announcement: "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Heb. 10:17).
Man's mind will be brought into full accord with the mind of God. That well-known petition will be joyfully answered, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." And the very One who taught them to ask for it will Himself give full effect to God's ready answer.
Man's body will be constituted for every pure, earthly enjoyment; and this will continue through the whole millennial day. His every disease will be permanently healed, and his youth be renewed like the eagle (Psa. 103:3,5). So that in willing submission to his beneficent Sovereign, the happy subject will have no more need to fear the intrusion of DEATH.
Man's neighbor will show him no hostility, not even begrudge him. "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" (Isa. 11:13). To love his neighbor as himself will be part of God's will for him; and this will be produced in him by the Spirit through the knowledge of the LORD Himself personally, and through the influence of His moral beauties displayed and admired in His saints relatively. The mighty influence of heavenly love will be felt on earth. Redeemed creation will bask in the light of heaven with its holy myriads. "When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe... in that day" (2 Thess. 1:10). "They shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest" (Heb. 8:11). "All thy children shall be taught of the Loan; and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isa. 54:13).
Then man's circumstances will be all that he could wish. His garners will be "full; affording all manner of store;" and "no complaining in our streets" (Psa. 144:13,14). Yea, he will be crowned "with lovingkindness and tender mercies" (Psa. 103:4). "Thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round thy table" (Psa. 128:2,3).
Still further, man's enemy will tempt him no more. An angel from heaven will bind SATAN, and shut him up in the bottomless pit; and his destructive, deceptive influence will be exercised nowhere on earth for the whole of the millennium (Rev. 20:1-3). No more enemies! No more wars! The Prince of Peace shall reign, and "all iniquity shall stop her mouth" (Psa. 107:42)! CANAAN, the land given by God to Israel, will be the joyful center of all this blessing. "Living waters shall go out from JERUSALEM" (Zech. 14:8). Happy land!
No reformed statute book will be needed: for there will be no fresh acts of parliament. "This is the covenant that I will make with them..., saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them" (Heb. 10:16). "I am the LORD, I change not" (Mal. 3:6).
When Will He Do It?
Perhaps no question has been the cause of more needless speculation than this one. Yet a little careful attention to the plain teaching of Scripture would have saved it all.
If, in the later days of autumn a little girl, who had been brought to England from Central Africa, were to ask, 'When shall I be able to see the beautiful fields of buttercups and daisies I have read about?' you would probably say, 'You must not expect to see them until spring.' `But when will spring come?' she asks. `Spring comes after winter; winter follows harvest; and harvest is not yet finished,' you reply. But let her press you to tell her the actual day, so that she may mark it on her calendar, you would have to tell her, that fixing the date was an impossibility.
So with the matter before us. "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming?" asked the Lord's disciples privately. Mark His answer: "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matt. 24:3,36).
But though the "day and hour" can no more be fixed than the exact date for daisies to cover the fields, Scripture does speak of the season to expect God's conquering King; and speaks as definitely as you can, when you tell the child that spring is the season that brings the daisies, and that winter always comes first.
A particular period of time, or season, is often spoken of in Scripture as a "day." So we may use the same term in comparing three well-defined periods.
The day of grace-depending on the presence of the SPIRIT-the day of the CHURCH, diminishing in brightness; the day of HARVEST, with indications of the approach of Winter increasing to the end. We may call this AUTUMN.
The day of doom-marked by the presence of SATAN-the day of wrath-the day of destruction [WINTER].
The day of Kingdom glories-"times of refreshing... from the presence of the LORD" (Acts 3:19) [SPRING AND SUMMER].
In the book of Revelation we have these three seasons in their order:
Autumn-The day of grace, when the Spirit is speaking to the churches (chaps. 2, 3). The church's decline is clearly marked. Love to Christ cools down at the beginning (2: 4) until the church at large has no room for Christ at all! "I stand at the door, and knock." Individual faithfulness is still appealed to (3: 20, 21).
Winter-[Saints, as "elders," are seen already in heaven (chaps. 4, 5).] "The day of wrath" occupies thirteen chapters (6-18).
Spring and Summer-"The King of kings" appears, and His 1,000 years' reign is established (chap. 19; 20: 1-6).
THE SPIRIT'S DAY commenced "suddenly" and will end suddenly. [Compare Acts 2:2; 1 Cor. 15:52.] It began with a "sound from heaven," and will end with a sound from heaven, the Savior's own voice. "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:16,17).
The whole church will then, once more, be "with one accord in one place"-presented "faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). There will His saints remain until the day of doom on earth is over. By this act of power He will prove Himself to be their Deliverer "from the wrath to come" (1 Thess. 1:10).
Like Enoch, without a sign, the church will be translated before the "flood" of judgment. Like Noah, Israel will pass through it, and sorely feel the storms of "winter," but the faithful will be preserved "to the end," and by given signs assured of the approach of "summer" (Matt. 24:29-34).
We now come to consider-
SATAN'S DAY OF WICKED OPPORTUNITY AND MAN'S LAST CHANCE OF PUTTING THE
WORLD RIGHT.
To understand it we must remember that God has made the fullest declaration of Himself in His beloved SON; that He has spoken plainly of man's absolute need of such a Savior, and of eternal redemption through His precious blood. He has made known that it is He whom He has given to be the church's Head, Israel's King, and the only One able to order this world for God's good pleasure, and His creature's real blessing.
But with all this light, and while still making very free use of God's holy Name, religious teachers have degraded the beloved. Son to the level of a mere man; and exalted man to some sort of divine being-as having "a bit of God" in him, which only needs development! They have scoffed at the truth of God's eternal judgment of sin, and insultingly counted the precious sacrifice of God's provided Lamb as totally unnecessary! They have ignored the regenerating work of His Holy Spirit; openly denied the authority of Scripture, and claimed the right to make the world what they want it, without any of Christ's interference! [Read Jer. 5:30,31.]
What is God's answer to all this? The "day of wrath"-the day of doom. In that day man shall be entirely given up to the working of Satan, and prove what his personal presence on earth will mean. Having set at naught the One who laid down His own life to save them, they will choose the "murderer" instead. Having done despite to the "Spirit of grace," they must prove, when the Holy Comforter has departed to heaven, what the spirit of lawlessness will do for them.
This day will be the most appalling period the world has ever known, or ever will know-a day of unprecedented delusion (see Matt. 24:21).
Satan, having been cast out of the heavens, will have a free hand on earth, and many features of distress the consequence.
The devil will have great wrath because he knows he has but a short time-his doom in the bottomless pit will be near (Rev. 12:9;20:1).
The nations will be angry, because of the fearful judgments coming upon them; and, above all, there will be the outpourings of the vials of God's wrath.
False Christian profession will get its doom. After the departure to heaven of the true Bride of Christ, a corrupt religious system is prophetically represented as still on earth under the figure of a woman in glaring prominence. Gorgeously arrayed, she is seen sitting on a scarlet-colored beast, "full of names of blasphemy." She is "drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." There can be little doubt as to her real identity-idolatrous, dominating ROMANISM.
Once she attached to herself the name of "The Church." She is allowed that name no longer. Why is this? Take a figure. We can say of a certain ripening cornfield, That is wheat; though the husk is still in the ear. But when the good grain is separated, we call the grain wheat, and the husk chaff. So with this corrupt ecclesiastical system. When what is false is no longer outwardly attached to the true (the true having gone to heaven), the false gets her true name. Her illicit connection with the world has earned for her the repulsive names of "great whore," and "mother of harlots." For a time she rides and influences the Beast, the political Head. (See James 4:4; Rev. 17:1-5.)
Just when she thinks she has reached the very pinnacle of her glory, her doom is sealed. The ten confederate infidel kings, allied with the Beast, will tolerate her no longer. They will hate her, strip her, burn her-yea, wipe her out of existence entirely (Rev. 17:12-16). So that, before the end of that "day" nothing that once bore the name of Christianity will be left making Christian profession on earth. A solemn consideration for all (Luke 18:8)!
This great political Head should be further noticed. He is spoken of in Scripture as "the beast," who has a powerful agent, the "false prophet."
Four great empires are spoken of in Daniel's prophecy under the figure of "beasts"-the Babylonian, MedoPersian, Grecian, and Roman. Caesar was the great imperial head of the last of these; but in course of time this empire waned, and became divided. At the end it will be revived under one mighty dictator as its head-"THE BEAST" just referred to. He will be represented and supported by "another beast," sometimes called the "FALSE PROPHET." Both will be empowered and authorized by Satan, personally (Rev. 13:2,11-13). Both will get their doom at the end of this day of destruction (Rev. 19:20).
In these two men there will be a sort of repetition of the two that stood out prominently before the minds of those who rejected Christ-Pilate and Cesar. Pilate was Caesar's representative, acting for him in Jerusalem; and to him the Jews cried out, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend" (John 19:12)! It may help in considering these two "beasts," to speak of them in these terms-as "Caesar" and "Caesar's friend."
This latter-day "CESAR" is introduced abruptly, but fits the fancy of the people exactly. He rises out of the "sea"-figure of disorganized masses of men, possibly the result of the preliminary "wars and rumors of wars" which the Lord speaks of just before the end (Mark 13:7,8). He will evidently be just the man they have been looking for; possibly some successful general or diplomatic statesman; but the dragon's choice!
Rapidly he reaches the very summit of popularity. All the world will wonder after the beast and worship him (Rev. 13:3,4). Incomparable, they will regard him-"Who is like unto the beast?" Invincible also-"Who is able to make war with him?" Then to an extraordinary degree he will be influential. Ten kings will come to one mind in putting "their power and strength" at his disposal (Rev. 17:13). Instead of a martial alliance of nations against one great aggressive power, as now, it will be a peaceful alliance of ten nations, under one supreme Dictator, set up by Satan. How natural the gradation!
But this apparently successful combination is marked by open hostility to Christ, and blasphemy against God! But what does that matter to them? They will blindly think they have got their own way at last and flatter themselves by saying, "Peace and safety" (1 Thess. 5:3)!
"CESAR'S FRIEND" of that day will be Satan's special instrument for inducing men to recognize "CAESAR" himself. He gets various descriptive names, "the son of perdition," "the man of sin," "the antichrist," "that Wicked," whose coming is "after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish" (2 Thess. 2:8-10).
Having set up a blasphemous political head over the Roman empire, Satan uses, through this unscrupulous wicked agent, every conceivable lying device to make men subject themselves to his ruling. "Caesar's friend" will set up Caesar's image, and demand that men shall worship it. He will insist on a death-penalty for refusing, and a distinguishing mark in hand or forehead for those willing to bow. That mark will be the only license to buy or sell in that day (Rev. 13:16,17).
By this time there will have been a great revival of one of God's oldest interests on earth, in view of fulfilling His promises to Abraham and to David, through the outgoing of a testimony announcing the coming of
Israel's Promised King.
After the church is gone, Jerusalem will be the center of God's actions on earth. What was heard before in the Land will no doubt be heard again, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). Some will respond to it (see Zech. 12:9-14). Then Hosea states, "The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim." [Fulfilled today and for centuries past, to the very letter.] "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king" (Hos. 3:4,5). To deceive them at this time by a false Christ, will be Satan's great endeavor. Such miraculous things will this Pretender do before them, that, "if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matt. 24:24). And, alas, the many will be deceived, as the Lord has forewarned," Another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive"-wicked blasphemer as he will prove himself (John 5:43).
Those who wanted to catch the true Messiah in His words, once asked, "Is it lawful to give tribute to Cesar or not?" And you will remember His answer, "Render to Cesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mark 12:17). That answer the false Messiah will practically repeat, but in a most diabolical way; as though he said, If you would render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, worship his image; and if you would render to God the things that are God's, worship me-I AM GOD (2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 13:14,15).
What the God-fearing Jews are to do under such fearful conditions, Jesus has told them. (Read Matt. 24:14-16; Isa. 26:20; Psa. 57:1.)
When this desperate crisis has been reached, Satan's day will be near its end. For we read this wicked impostor shall be destroyed by the Lord Himself-destroyed "with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thess. 2:8).
Can it be said, that by Satan's personal presence and power man has been able to put this world right? Consider.
The restraining power of the Spirit, and the influence of every true believer will be gone. God's overruling of the governing powers (Rom. 13:1-6), exercised while His saints were here, will be withdrawn on their departure. Man's will, for a short season, will be allowed full license.
Into this solemn day will be crowded Satan's desperate rage, man's deepest iniquity, God's righteous wrath, the nations' bitter anger, the worst of all wars, dreadful famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and the most awful of all tribulations, together with the most sanguine of all battles, "Armageddon" (Rev. 16:14-16). Think of men crying to the mountains and rocks to hide them; seeking death, and death fleeing from them; and ask your own heart, Are these the evidences of a world put right? The very opposite!
When this day of doom is over, and every item of actual evidence is made manifest to all, men and angels will fully agree that man's last chance was the world's worst calamity.
Why the Delay in Doing It?
Two things have ever marked God's ways with sinful men-tender regard for those who trust Him; patient forbearance with those who oppose Him. Take an example of each. When God sent a special messenger to deliver Lot from Sodom, He said, "Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither" (Gen. 19:22). Again, God promised Abraham the possession of the land of Canaan by his posterity; but said that He would delay driving out its present occupiers for 400 years; and gave His reason, "For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (Gen. 15:16).
Similar reasons account for the present delay. First, "The long-suffering of our Lord is salvation." He is "not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:15,9). `He waits till He His bosom fill with all His sheaves.'
"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him" (Psa. 126:6).
"The husbandman waiteth... and hath long patience" (James 5:7). [Blessed, patient "Lord of the harvest," do Thou still give us grace to wait with Thee, and labor for Thee!]
The other side is a terribly solemn one. "That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thess. 2:3). God waits until iniquity (not of heathen Amorites, but of apostate Christians) has reached its full height, before judging it. But here a serious statement is made: "The mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way" (v. 7).
No doubt the great hindering power to full-blown apostasy is the presence of the Spirit of God, and the saints in whose heart He dwells. So that in the light of Scripture we Christians can say:
The World's Worst Cannot Come Till We Have Gone: nor Its Best Till We Come Back.
"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:4).
Iniquity will not reach its full height until "the man of sin" shall sit in the temple and say, "I am God." But the doctrine of 'a bit of God in every man' is a startling preparation for that day; and thousands are being prepared to receive the fatal lie by quietly listening to it (Prov. 19:27).
As Christians, we are not expected to put the world right; but we are expected to keep ourselves "unspotted" from it. How can we have fellowship with the world that more and more rejects Christ, and "love his appearing" at the same time?
"Watchman, What of the Night?"
"It is high time to awake out of sleep... The night is far spent: THE DAY IS AT HAND" (Rom. 13:11,12).
' Thou art coming, mighty Savior! "King of Kings," Thy written Name!
Thou art coming, Royal Savior! Coming for Thy promised reign.
Oh, the joy when sin's confusion Ends beneath Thy righteous sway:
Oh, the peace when all delusion At Thy presence dies away.'
"Yet There Is Room."
Arise And Make Ready.
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