UNREST IN THE WORLD

ITS CAUSE AND ITS MEANING

If people in this world would fear God and obey His holy will, lead a life of prayer and follow Christ in His footsteps, love God supremely and his neighbor as himself, there would be no criminals. There would be no selfishness, no hatred, no malice, no suspicion, no desire for revenge. Hence, there would be no personal grievances, no family feuds, no race riots, no national animosities, no international perplexities. However, very few people, comparatively speaking, are converted and living the Christ-life.

THE STRAIT GATE UNPOPULAR

With reference to conditions that would always be found in this present world of sin, Jesus declared: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”—Matt. 7:13, 14.

The humble, self-sacrificing life of obedience to God has never been popular in this revolted world. At the time of the deluge, only eight persons entered the ark and were saved from destruction in the waters of the flood. When Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim, and Admah, those populous, pleasure-loving cities of the fertile plain, were wiped off the earth by fire from heaven, only three persons escaped with their lives, and today the Dead Sea marks the spot where those city dwellers scoffed at and mocked the messengers of heaven.

The Saviour, portraying, not alone for His disciples of old, but also for His followers in our day, the conditions which would prevail in this time, said: “As it was in the days of Noah, 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 Noah entered 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.

THE WITNESS OF THE PRESS

While the sinners of Noah’s day and of the days of Lot are buried under briny seas, the sins they committed have become all too common throughout the world, even in this enlightened twentieth century. Concerning the antediluvian world we read, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Gen. 6:5. Can we say less of the world now? Do not the headlines of the daily press bear witness of crime, political intrigue, national distrust, international complications and perplexities, lascivious pleasures, with their counterpart, divorce, and other phases of social unrest?

Of Sodom it is written, “Pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination.” Eze. 16:49, 50. Luxuri-ous idleness led to restlessness and unbridled passion, which in turn bore fruitage in the most degrading sins.

Look upon the world today. While Noahs and Lots are still to be found, and specific instances of piety and godliness may still be searched out, yet the vast majority give no thought to the hereafter, but are seeking, without thought of right or wrong, of God or heaven, only what this world can give.

“Unrestrained passion for pleasure,” said a certain writer, writing just before the late European war, is bringing a terrible train of evils into modern society. Along with it he put “the hunt for money without regard for means.”

Men need not deceive themselves into thinking that world conditions are improving or will improve, for the Scripture declares: “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13. The spirit of unrest and of lawlessness is strengthening its hold upon the hearts and lives of men and women. Few indeed are at peace with God, for rest of soul comes to those only who fear Him and keep all His commandments. Peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Gal. 5:22. Although Jesus pleadingly calls, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28), yet comparatively few experience this rest—peace with God and with man.

PERILIOUS TIMES

The drift of the age is not toward real peace, but away from it. The struggle for existence is constantly becoming more fierce. There are no longer new continents to people and develop. These were once the safety valves into which surplus populations could overflow and expand, but it is so no longer, and men now fight for “a place in the sun.”

Populations everywhere are not only becoming congested, but turbulent. Looking down to this very time, the apostle Paul wrote:

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

In view of present conditions, the phrase, “without natural affection,” speaks volumes. Increasing marital infelicity and the rapidly growing divorce evil are most significant. Efforts have been made by both church and state to control this evil, but without success. The restlessness of the age, with its unwholesome desire for change and its lack of a sense of personal accountability to God, overrides every barrier that men can erect, puts personal gratification above moral obligation, and selfisji desire before the rights of children and of the community at large. The facts are notorious, and the lesson can be learned by all who approach them with open mind.

SOWING TO THE WIND; REAPING THE WHIRLWIND

It is at once plainly evident that the cause of the world’s social unrest, upheaval, and turmoil is man’s rejection of the Word of God and the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Sowing to the wind, the world must reap the whirlwind. “Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Ps. 119:165. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Isa. 57:20, 21. Having cut loose from the divine anchor, the world is steadily and swiftly drifting toward the rocks.

In erecting skyscrapers, builders are careful to secure solid foundations and to use only the best materials. But as a result of sin, society’s vast edifice is made up of all sorts of people, the great majority of whom do not control their temper nor their tongue; and when feelings of hatred crystallize into public clamor, strife is inevitable. It is impossible that a clean thing should come forth from an unclean, or that peace should spring from hearts filled with bitterness and strife.

“O make me hunger more and more,

“And live on Christ, and Christ adore.”—Irons

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