The Day of Wrath.
Most dreadful day! and is it near?—Yes; it hasteth! It hasteth greatly! What a description given by the prophet! Read it; and as you read, try to realize how dreadful will be that day:—
“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Zeph. 1:14-18.
Peace And Safety.
The attitude of the religious world toward this most important subject is worthy of more than passing notice both because of its effect upon the cause of truth and also because it of itself is a sign of the times. While it is true that many individuals in the different Christian denominations recognize with more or less distinctness the fact that we are living in the last days, with many of these [pg 080] it does not become a practical truth. Outside of these there are many who ridicule the idea as preposterous and outlandish; and in opposition to the message that Christ is soon coming, raise the cry of, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” Such teaching is alluded to by the prophet in Eze. 13:10, 11.
The groundwork of the peace and safety cry is the doctrine of the temporal millennium. This teaches that the world is now entering, or about to enter upon a period of universal peace and good will, that the moral tone of the world is improving, men and nations are learning righteousness; and the gospel of Christ is about to become the controlling principle in public and private life. And, further, this happy state will continue for one thousand years, which period of time the word millennium literally signifies. At the end of that time, perhaps, the Lord will come. However, if this doctrine be true, it will make but little difference to this generation or to the one living at the close of the period whether he does or not. The verses we have just considered which liken the last days to those of Noah wholly disprove this position. In addition to what Matthew states, Luke gives a still more forcible version of our Saviour's words:—
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom 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 17:26-30.
Paul writes in his epistles to Timothy as follows:—
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” 1 Tim. 4:1.