The antediluvians stand condemned because they were willingly ignorant of
the Providential tokens and signs of the times. They set at naught the
teachings and warnings of Noah, and in exulting pride they rejected the
idea of a special Providence. Their faith, like many in this day, was
planted and nourished by the laws of nature, and the analogous
continuance of the same, not accepting the doctrine of a Divine
Providence. They cried aloud, “Where is the promise of His coming? For
since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation.”
Do you, like the Jews of old, demand more signs, when those given you are
not understood, or, if understood, they are undervalued? The prophets
have been lavish in portraying the calamities of the _last days_, or the
times into which we are entering. For the words _last days_ are the few
years preceding the battle of Armageddon. The calamities of these days
are of four kinds: First, social disorders; second, religious feuds and
wars; third, wonderful political disturbances; fourth, temporal or
physical disasters. Of the social condition of these last days, Paul
instructs us: “This know, also, that in the last days perilous times
shall come.” Then he groups together nineteen immoral attributes of the
social state of these last days: “Men shall be lovers of their own
selves, covetous, boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient (to parents
especially), unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce despisers, traitors, heady,
high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than God, formal in religion” (2
Timothy iii.). What, we ask, will be the state of society when the
social condition becomes such?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account