The Word of God is again laid aside, and man by his own power of reasoning draws conclusions contrary to the testimony of the Inspired Record. The theory of evolution is thus substantiated in the human mind; and as the antediluvians were, by their scientific research and wisdom, falsely so-called, unfitted to receive the message of the flood, so people to-day, by pursuing a similar course, are unfitting themselves for the message of Christ’s appearance in the clouds of heaven. When will man learn that there are things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and yet which exist as really as do those _few things_—few compared with the _many_ in the regions beyond—which fall within our range of vision? Before the flood, no peal of thunder had ever resounded among the hills, no lightning had ever played through the heavens. You who to-day have read the works of earth’s greatest authors, who have delved into the secrets of science, have you discovered the soul of man? Have you yet found the golden cord of faith? Should the Almighty question you as He did His servant Job, how would you pass the examination? To you would befall the fate of the generation of Noah. Four men built the ark. Such a thing had never been seen before. “How unshapely,” say they. “How absurd to think of water standing over the earth _until that will float_!” But in the ears of the faithful four whispered the still, small voice of God, and the work went steadily on. [Sidenote: Flood a result of wrong education] The controversy was an educational problem. Christian education was almost wiped from the earth. Worldly wisdom seemed about to triumph. In point of numbers its adherents vastly exceeded those in the schools of the Christians. Was this seeming triumph of evil over good a sign that evil was stronger than truth?—By no means. Only in the matter of scheming and deceiving does the devil have the advantage; for God can work only in a straightforward manner. The tree of life was still upon the earth, an emblem of the wisdom of God. Man, however, had turned his back upon it. Eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil brought death, and this the inhabitants of the earth were about to realize, although their worldly wisdom taught them the contrary. [Sidenote: Wrong methods of education cause the withdrawal of God’s Spirit]