7. A seventh mode of computing is that of the Laodicean lukewarmness. By a comparison of Matt. xiii. 47-50 and Rev. iii. 14-22, it will be seen that the last state of the “kingdom,” previous to the end, is world-wide evangelism, as indicated by the dragnet; and the last state of the church is deep-seated apathy, as indicated by the Laodicean lukewarmness. And those who hold this view contend that both conditions are to coexist as the end draws nigh. They point us to the startling fact that never before has the church shown signs of such extensive evangelization on the one hand, and such extensive deterioration on the other. Many regard this latter as the “falling away,” which is to precede the end (2 Thess. ii. 3).
8. An eighth road seems to end at the same goal—it is the development of anarchism. The hints in the Epistles to the Thessalonians, 2 Peter, Jude, and the Apocalypse, it is contended, all agree in showing us that, as the end approaches, there will be a peculiarly lawless spirit prevailing—an uprising of an organized resistance to all authority in church and state, a combination of forces to supplant all government, and at the same time an arbitrary attempt to compel men to limit even trade and commerce by a certain “mark,” that alone authorizes one to “buy or sell” (Rev. xiii. 16, 17). Those who emphasize this as a sign of the end point triumphantly to the recent and unprecedented growth of communism, socialism, and nihilism; and to the simultaneous growth of trades-unions and protective organizations, monopolies and trusts, which restrict all trade or labor to their “mark.”
9. The ninth argument presented for the near approach of the end is Irredentism or the drift of the Jews toward Palestine, and the rehabilitation of their national life. This is, as the advocates of this view contend, “the blossoming of the fig-tree” (Matt. xxiv. 32, 33), which marks the end as “near, even at the doors.” Certainly there is something very startling in the modern movement known as “Zionism,” and which has developed within the last five years, summoning these great conferences of leading Jews to the European capitals. Never before has the national spirit of the Israelites had such a revival since Christ ascended.
10. The tenth line of argument converges at the same point, namely, the Spirit’s withdrawal. There is a mysterious passage in 2 Thess. ii. 7, where we are told that there is some great Hinderer, whose presence prevents the final outbreak of the Mystery of Iniquity, and who must be withdrawn before the end of lawlessness can come, in the “reappearing of the Lord.” The advocates of this view contend that, by every sign, the Spirit of God is shown to have withdrawn or to be withdrawing from the church as a whole. It is maintained by very devout souls that there is left, in the church at large, neither spiritual worship, spiritual faith, spiritual work, nor spiritual life; that altho these all exist, they exist in a few elect individuals, and not in the church as a body; and that, especially in the matter of administration—the specific office of the Spirit—He is displaced by the spirit of the world, as evinced by the worldly men and maxims, secular oratory, artistic music, worldly entertainments, etc., which everywhere prevail.
Whatever grounds, above presented, may seem untenable or unsafe, one thing seems undeniable: there is a convergence of signs upon this our day, such as has never indicated any previous period as the probable time of the end. For example, if the Hebrew means Rosh, Russia, and this nation is thus in prophecy indicated as the “head” of the last great movement of history toward world empire, how like a fulfilment are all the present movements of that empire—the trans-Siberian railway, the encroachments on China, etc.! And if universal anarchy is to be the last great development of society, when was there a time when, both in church and state, there was such a development of lawlessness (ἀνομια)?
Upon this subject we can no longer, within these narrow limits, expatiate. But it may at least stir up the thoughtful reader to individual search into the signs of the times. What are the indications above the prophetic and historic horizon? If the signs of the coming of the Son of Man are indeed to be seen, it may well incite us to be among the watchers who, while others yet sleep, are awake and looking for the dawn!