“When Ye See These Things”

ALMOST every day in this world of chaos and fear some startling event occurs to make us realize the uncertainty of the times in which we are living. Yet the full significance of these day by day developments can be appreciated only as they are viewed in the light of a general pattern of events which for many years past has been shaping the destiny of nations and of a world order—a destiny of deterioration, decay, and ultimate destruction. We need only to look back over the past year to see the meaning of what is occurring, and to note the increased tempo with which one staggering event follows another as a civilization crashes to its fall.

The Prophet Daniel describes this period as one in which there would be a “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1) The Apostle Peter speaks of it as a great conflagration. (II Pet. 3:7-13) Elsewhere in the Scriptures it is represented as a storm, and again as a whirlwind. Each of these symbolisms in its own way depicts certain aspects of this transitional period through which we are living, and all indicate a gathering of forces and an increasing intensity of trouble until the great climax is reached. Then the Lord will manifest his power through the establishment of his long-promised kingdom.

For those who know the prophetic meaning of what is occurring in the earth, the year 1948 was a most momentous one. As the reports of world-shaking events were flashed around the earth, the meaning of all of them was the same, for each one helped to spell out on the walls of this uncivilized “civilization” those fateful words which centuries ago were seen so vividly and literally by Belshazzar, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN”—that is, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” (Dan. 5:25-28) The plans formulated by human wisdom have failed on every hand. The nations have been seeking peace, but peace has not been found. They have been seeking security, but there is no satisfactory security. They take counsel together, but it comes to naught. The religious leaders of the world try to help, but find themselves helpless. Meanwhile the threatening clouds of a coming storm become blacker while the people wait in fear of what the morrow may bring.

Let us review some of the developments of the year and see if what we have said is true. Going back into 1947, to November 29 of that year, we recall that on that date the United Nations decided on a partition plan for the Holy Land. The Jewish people were jubilant over this, and great was the rejoicing of many others who thought they saw in it the fulfillment of God’s promises to restore the Holy Land to his people. That plan has yet to be put into effect. The Arabs are opposed to it. Great Britain has refused to back it up. The United States, co-sponsor with Russia of the plan, defaulted, and the Jews and Arabs were left to fight it out among themselves.

In May 1948 the new state of Israel was formed, and was quickly recognized officially by the United States and a few other countries. But the fighting didn’t stop. Toward the close of the year, with Jewish and Arabian armies engaged in battle in the Negeb desert, word was flashed around the world that oil had been discovered there. Now it is becoming more and more apparent that oil is at the bottom of the whole controversy over the Promised Land.

We call attention to these matters, not to give the thought that the Jewish people will never repossess the land of Palestine, but to emphasize that when they do, it will not be because the Gentile nations of earth have solved the problem for them. God will give Israel the land of Palestine, despite the selfish intrigue of powerful oil interests which high-pressure Gentile governments into a serving their own cause regardless of what happens to those to whom the land by divine right belongs.

Although the Gentile nations have failed to settle the problem of the Holy Land, God’s time has come for his people to return there in order that they might be the first to whom his kingdom blessings will be offered. In a small way we might think of what is occurring in Palestine as a kind of preparation for the new order. Most other developments in the world, on the other hand, have to do more particularly with the downfall of the old order, and in this picture communism occupies a very important position.

From one standpoint it might be said that the world today is rapidly lining up into two great camps, although there are many “sides” in each camp. In the one camp is communism—or the communists—and together with them what their enemies are pleased to call “fellow travelers.” On the other side are aligned most of the rest of the world, a world that is divided on almost everything else, but united in their fear of Communism and their determination to block its progress. The “hold communism” slogan has enlisted all sorts of groups, religious and political, in a common cause. But how goes the battle?

Early in the year, and in the face of pressure from the communists, the king of Rumania abdicated, leaving that country in control of the “reds.” Burma, long under the rule of Great Britain, was granted freedom, but is now threatened by communist domination. Czecho-Slovakia capitulated to the communists during the year. Eight million former supporters of the Catholic Church in Italy jolted the Vatican into a new fear by voting the communist ticket at their spring elections. And while the communists didn’t win the election, the anti-communist government that was elected is already torn by internal strife, with some of its most influential members swinging toward the left.

Millions of dollars of American money were expended to hold the lines against communism in Greece, but before the end of the year—toward the end of October, to be exact—martial law was proclaimed in that country in order to keep the rioting populace under control. And think of what has occurred in China during the year!

When Governor Dewey was interviewed an hour after he conceded his defeat in the presidential election, he said that the preceding weekend had been “one of the blackest in the history of the world.” As one everybody thought would be the next president, he evidently had been receiving confidential reports from diplomatic and military authorities, and in his own hour of gloom, as observed by The Christian Century, thoughtlessly divulged more than he otherwise would have said. The weekend referred to by Governor Dewey was the one during which the idea of “containment” of world communism had received two body blows—one at Athens, and the other at Mukden, the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek being driven out of Manchuria.

The year 1948 started out with high hopes that “The Marshall Plan” would put Europe back on its economic feet, and that this would form a bulwark against communism’s spread westward. Before the year ended we began to hear about another plan, a military one—“The North Atlantic Defense Alliance.” This plan does not look to economic recovery, but to military strength against armed force. Many experts are pointing out that such an alliance would virtually scuttle the Marshall Plan.

And so we find that every effort of the year to hold back the forces of disintegration failed to accomplish the designed purpose. The beginning of the new year finds the world nearer to the precipice, nearer to that inevitable time when there must be that final and terrible clash between the opposing ideologies, that great climax of Armageddon, the last spasm or birth pang of the old order, before the new order comes fully to birth. That new order will be the kingdom of the Lord.

Even the world’s religionists have failed to better the world situation. That great conference at Amsterdam, Holland, where the World Council of Churches was formed, amounted to little more than talk. Because the majority of delegates were not from America, the conference succeeded in passing a resolution which was as condemnatory of capitalism as it was of communism. Thus its influence became practically nil in this world of chaos.

In a desperate effort to warn the people against the evils of communism, the government-sponsored committee investigating un-American activities has issued a circular telling what will happen to American religious life if the communists gain an upper hand in this country. In this bulletin various religious groups are branded as fronts for communism, yet in some of these are to be found bishops of the Methodist Church, and numbers of high ranking clergymen. Bishop Oxnam of the Methodist Church was quick to label the bulletin an attack on American Protestantism. Truly the world today is a house divided against itself, and Jesus declared that such a house could not stand.

Let no one think that we are taking sides in this conflict, for we are not! We are merely identifying some of the opposing forces in this “Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty.” The struggle is already on, and a good description of it is found on page 541 of “The Battle of Armageddon,” which reads:

“The battle of the great day, like every other revolutionary war, has its stages of gradual development. Back of every indication of strife are the inspiring causes, the real or fancied national and individual wrongs; next comes a keen appreciation of those wrongs by those who suffer from them; then generally follow various attempts at reform, which, proving abortive, lead to great controversies, wars of words, divisions, strife of opinions, and finally to revenge and strife of arms. Such is the order of the Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty. Its general character is that of a struggle of light against darkness, of liberty against oppression, of truth against error. Its extent will be world-wide—peasant against prince, pew against pulpit, labor against capital: the oppressed in arms against injustice and tyranny of every kind; and the oppressors in arms for the defense of what they have long considered to be their rights, even when seen to be encroachments upon the rights of others.”

How will the battle ultimately go in this final struggle of the ages? Naturally both sides expect to win, but actually both sides will lose, for neither side is representative of that true justice and righteousness that will be established in the earth by the kingdom of Christ. We can, and we should admire the qualities of justice and righteousness wherever we see them, but all the good is not on one side. The desire of the masses, whether capitalists or communists, whether Catholics or Protestants, is for peace, security, happiness, and life. They will eventually learn that no system of human government, no ideology that is selfishly inspired, will be able to give them what they desire.

Learning this through the final failure of all human efforts, they will turn to the Lord, and then “the desire of all nations shall come.” (Haggai 2:7) Let it be our joyful task through 1949, and as long as the Lord permits, to tell the whole world these blessed tidings—the good news that a new King is present, even the King of kings, and that soon his rule of righteousness will be flourishing throughout the whole earth.

World Conversion

CARL BARTH, of Basel, Switzerland, told the delegates at the first assembly of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam that it was not the business of the church to convert the world, but merely to bear witness to the truth of the Gospel. While there was considerable disappointment among the delegates that neither the Roman Catholic Church nor the Russian Orthodox Church sent representatives to the conference, Barth said, “I propose that we should now praise and thank God that it pleases him to stand so clearly in the way of our plans.” Barth also applied Isaiah 8:10 to the conference, which reads, “Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught.”

A storm of protest broke over Barth’s head for his seeming unorthodox expressions; but after all, what he said was in harmony both with the Scriptures and with historical facts. It should be obvious to all that if it had been God’s will for the church to convert the world during the present age, it would have been converted. And perhaps until fifty years ago, the churches might have had some faint reason to suppose that they would yet accomplish this seemingly impossible task; but what has occurred since should be convincing testimony to prove that something has been wrong with the orthodox viewpoint on this subject.

This has been highlighted lately by the return from China of Journalist Robert Root, who reports on the outlook of Christianity in that country, where communism is becoming more and more dominant. In the old days of missionary effort no one could have foreseen that a time would come when missionaries would not be permitted to work in China at all, but such is the possibility looming up now. The worship of false gods seems destined to be replaced, not by Christianity, but by the unbelief of paganism and communism.

But this does not mean that Christianity has failed! It simply means that we have had the wrong viewpoint concerning God’s plan for the present age. The world IS to be converted by the church—the true church, consisting of all those who have qualified as genuine followers of the Master. But it will not be done through the instrumentality of the World Council of Churches, nor by any other humanly constituted organization.

World conversion by the true church of Christ is to be accomplished during the thousand-year reign of Christ, and the church will share in that great undertaking because its members will reign with him. The entire church will participate in it, including the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John, and all the faithful ones who have lived and died throughout the age. In order for this to be possible, divine power will raise them from the dead. Thus the age of world conversion will be inaugurated following a great miracle, the miracle of the resurrection of the church, to live and reign with Christ a thousand years.

Clergy Must Register

ANOTHER very interesting sign of the times in which we are living is a report from Argentina that the clergy there must all be registered. There is no clear indication as to just why this rule has been imposed upon the clergy, but it is supposed that it is connected in some way with the government’s efforts to keep track of any and all who may be engaged in activity against the present regime: Too much importance should not be attached to this item, although it does reveal how the world is changing. There was a time, back in the Dark Ages, when the clergy in Europe were the real rulers. That was when the church-state systems of the old Roman World were flourishing, and when the pioneer settlers of America were coming over here to escape the tyranny of that corrupt and oppressive system of government.

In this chaotic and fear-filled world of today people often speak of the good old days, and wish they could return. But such should remember the torture racks, the whipping posts, the chain and ball, and the dungeons of those good old days, and recall that during the hey-day of the church-state systems of Europe, eighty million people were murdered, many of them in a torturous manner, because they refused to bow the knee to the religious rulership of that time. Let us thank God that that phase of human experience is past; and while we can’t do much about the distressing conditions of the present, we can, and should, continue to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth even as it is in heaven.”

“Much Disputed” Everywhere

THE Paris sessions of the United Nations came to a close with little or nothing having been accomplished in settling the major problems of the world. A great deal of discussion went on there, however, which did not have to do with the world’s festering trouble spots. Some of this pertained to a proposed bill of human rights which was drafted by the United Nations Social, Humanitarian and. Cultural Committee. One of the interesting sidelights on this discussion tells of the rejection of a clause proposed by Brazil, which reads, “All human beings were created in the image and likeness of God.”

In rejecting this statement the Russian delegate on the committee said, and I quote again, “This proposition is much disputed in the Soviet Union.” However, this statement was also rejected by the representatives of Great Britain, China, and India. This proposed clause is the language of the Christian Bible. It is not difficult to understand, therefore, why it would be rejected by the delegates from the non-Christian countries of China and India. Nor is it surprising to learn from the Russian delegate that the proposition of man being created in the image and likeness of God is much disputed in the Soviet Union. In view of the true circumstances it should not surprise us, either, to learn that the British member of the committee voted against the insertion of this clause in the declaration of human rights, for the bishops of the Church of England have been saying for several years that Great Britain is now a pagan country.

A news item of this sort stirs up reflections along other lines as well. The Russians say that the question of man being created in the image of God is much disputed in their country. Well, they are at least being honest about it. As a matter of fact, however, it is much disputed even here in America. Yes, it is much disputed in seventy-five per cent of American churches. It is also being disputed in our public schools. When we get right down to facts we find that only a very small minority of the American people believe that, man was created in the image and likeness of God.

A considerable portion of Americans are either infidels or atheists. These, in the very nature of things, cannot believe that, man was created in the image of God, for they are not sure that there is a God.

Then there are the evolutionists—those who believe that man evolved from protoplasm by a natural law of evolution, and was not a direct creation of God, made in the divine image and likeness. This group includes about seventy-five per cent of our clergy, and as a natural consequence, nearly all the members of the churches under their jurisdiction.

And then, and perhaps this is most significant of all, the theory of human evolution is officially taught in our public schools, which means that the children of America are being taught not to believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God.

Because the theory of human evolution is taught in our schools and in most of our churches, the growing generation of Americans is being made ready to accept an ideology of unbelief in the Christian Bible, and this, in many cases, is the first step in the direction of accepting atheistic communism—an ideology which denies the existence of a supreme intelligent Creator and teaches that man, particularly a hierarchy of privileged dictators, can give to the human race all the good things which heretofore the people have been looking to God to provide.

What do the Scriptures mean by the assertion that man was created in the image and likeness of God? Some have interpreted this as signifying that in some mysterious way a part of God is implanted in every human being, and that this mysterious element of divinity continues to live after the body dies. Russians and Americans alike are well justified in rejecting this viewpoint as false.

What the Scriptures do mean by man being created in God’s image is that he was endowed with the ability to reason, and to know right from wrong. He was also given a conscience to guide him, and the ability to appreciate the virtues of justice and righteousness. Because man was thus endowed the Creator had a right to expect him to obey his laws, and to punish him if he failed to obey.

The Scriptures not only affirm that man was created in the image of God, but also that when he disobeyed divine law he was sentenced to death. The facts are in harmony with this, as attested by the universal reign of death with which we are surrounded. The Scriptures explain that Jesus was made flesh, and that he died as a man to redeem fallen man from the result of sin.

The Scriptures also teach that Jesus was to return to earth to establish a divine rulership over the human race, a rulership that is to last for a thousand years, during which the people are to be restored to the original perfection which was lost on account of sin. Today the divine likeness is greatly disfigured in most members of the fallen race. The kindness and mercy and love that are still manifested on occasions give evidence, however, that this likeness still remains to some extent.

But when the kingdom work of restoration is complete, these qualities, which are so potent in contributing to human happiness, will dominate in the lives of all, and the fact that man was created in the divine image and likeness will no longer be disputed, either in Russia, or America, or in any other part of the earth. May the hope of the coming of that glad day give us courage to face the difficulties of these chaotic times through which we are now passing.

This “Enlightened” America

VERY few strangers pass through here, and we feel that no one by the name of Jesus has passed through.” This statement is reported to have been made to representatives of the American Bible Society by those in a small settlement far back in the hills of Pennsylvania when asked if they had ever heard of Jesus. According to the report, not a single individual in the community owned a Bible, nor had they ever heard anything about Christianity.

To those who think, this almost incredible story will suggest a number of questions, one of the most important being what has become of the people in this community who have died before representatives of the American Bible Society found them.

The same is true of millions in heathen countries who have died, but the question is brought closer home to us when we discover that even in some places in the United States there is total ignorance of Christ. The answer to the question is that God has not limited the opportunity of belief in Christ to the present life, that there will be an opportunity in the resurrection to learn about the Redeemer, and through belief in him, to obtain everlasting life.

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