Condition of World and Church by Francis McLellan Wilcox

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 18, 1910

Condition of World and Church

By Francis McLellan Wilcox

THIS is the solemn hour of God's judgment. It is court week in heaven. Before this heavenly tribunal is passing in grand review the history of the human race. The destinies of men hang upon the decisions to be rendered, and by far the most practical and pertinent query for us to consider is the condition of the world to-day, and our relationship to the judgment hour. What is the situation presented in view of this solemn investigation now taking place? Is the world prepared to stand in the great day of the Lord? Will the nations of men pass muster in the eyes of the great Reviewer? Will the professed church of God stand the scrutiny of the great Judge? Let us glance briefly at the existing conditions.

Heathendom

Two thirds of the world's population are in the darkness of heathenism. They know no God of love; they have no faith in the blood of an atoning Saviour. Their gods are but the works of their own creation, the deification of their own sinful passions and propensities. As expressed by the apostle Paul, they are "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Such is the condition of those who sit in the darkness of heathenism in our own day as truly as in the days of the apostles.

So-Called Christian Nations

In turning to so-called Christian nations of the earth, to those countries which for long years have shared the blessings of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, we might naturally expect to find a better condition of affairs. Unfortunately such is not the case. Crime has reached a higher degree of enlightenment, and carries on its work with a certain delicacy and refinement; but it is still as vigorous, as insidious in its workings, as baneful and destructive in its results. In fact, among the western nations of the Old World and the nations of the Western Hemisphere crime has reached its highest scientific development at the present time.

Conditions in National Life

Intensity has taken possession of the nations of men to-day; wild dreams of conquest, the creation of large standing armies, the great increase of naval armament, the vying with each other to create or secure the most effective death-dealing instruments, the diplomatic play in formation of alliances and counter-alliances, only indicate the attitude of every nation of the world toward all of its fellows. Outwardly there is a portentous calm, inwardly a smoldering fire, which, Vesuvius-like, may break forth at any time, carrying carnage, bloodshed, universal war, and destruction among the nations of men. We sleep to-day in the crater of a volcano.

Closely akin to this national conflict is the controversy now existing between the social classes. Class is arrayed against class, organized capital on the one side and organized labor on the other. These confront each other in what promises to be the mightiest class struggle that the world has ever witnessed, compared with which the conflict between patrician and plebeian in ancient Rome sinks into insignificance. The growing conditions make this conflict more and more imminent. Every thoughtful observer, whether he may belong to either of these classes or not, must look with grave concern upon the outcome of this industrial conflict. We know not what a day may bring forth.

Another marked feature of national life is the corruption which exists in the national, state, and municipal affairs of the several countries of the world. Even in our own country of vaunted liberty and honesty, some of the highest offices are bought and sold. The votes of state legislatures are determined by party gold. Franchises which rob the people of thousands of dollars, are gained or extended as their owners are able to control the votes of those in official positions. The officers of justice close their eyes to crime, and too often connive with the law-breaker. True, there are exceptions to these conditions. God has many a noble man in high office who is using his influence against the great incoming tide of evil, and is trying to uprear the standard of truth in the midst of the gathering darkness. Yet the situation in national life presents indeed a sad picture.

Social Conditions

The condition of society to-day is aptly pictured by our Saviour when He likens it to the situations existing in the days of Noah and the days of Lot. In pleasure, in self-seeking, in vain, pretentious display, in eating and drinking, in wanton sin and licentiousness, in the mad, wild rush for gold and glory, the world is choosing its own way, and forgetting God. Note the great increase in intemperance, and the growth of its twin evil, licentiousness. The grog-shop and the brothel travel hand in hand. Insidious and insinuating, hydra-headed and adaptable, these twin evils are making their influence felt in all grades of society at the present time. The fairest of our maidens and the flower of our men become the prey. The satisfying of wanton pleasure in ministry to the appetite, the pride, and the passions is the spirit possessing the idle multitude at the present time.

The Home and Personal Life

The home is the bulwark of society even as society is the bulwark of the nation. With the nation corrupt, with society far departed from God, there may yet be hope if the home life be pure, if such a condition were possible. But in tracing the effect back to the cause, we find that the departure from the simplicity of home life in the world to-day is responsible for many of the evils enumerated above. There can be no truly Christian organization without Christian experience in the lives of those who compose the organization. Society can be purged of moral corruption only as the homes and the individuals which form the foundation of society are pure and undefiled. Chief among the dangers threatening the home to-day, is that of alienation. How many homes are made desolate, how many children left without the care and protection of parents, because alienation has done its deadly work! Divorce and separation result. This is a time when natural affection is fast waning. In many of our communities noted for their morality and home life, there is one divorce to every four marriages. The old-time simplicity of family life is fast departing.

The Condition of the Church of God

O, if the church of God would realize its responsibility in the midst of the growing darkness! If with clarion voice it would sound an alarm to the nations of men, rebuke sin and iniquity in high places, and raise a standard and beacon light for the succor of those who are now wandering in error's paths! But alas! the great church of God itself has become permeated by the evil influence which surrounds it. Religion to-day has become too much a form and theory. It is used too much as a profession for personal ends and material benefit. The vital breath of heaven, which once energized it for the conflict, has been lost; and the church which should have stood in the might of God, breasting the tide of evil, stands weak and powerless, totally unable to meet the situation. Above its altars an unseen hand has written "Ichabod."

The apostle Paul, in his letter to Timothy, thus describes the condition of the church of God to-day: "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, truce-breakers, 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. Here is an enumeration of eighteen different sins which would be found among those who possess a form of godliness but in their lives deny the power of the profession made. Step by step the church of God has been retreating. It has ceased to be an aggressive, uncompromising moral force against the hosts of sin. True, we hear of its philanthropy of slum work, of the erection of orphanages, of its efforts in the halls of Congress to enact religious measures; but what of its vital godliness, the personal piety of its members? Does it stand in the purity and simplicity of Christian living, meekly and humbly following in the steps of the lowly Jesus? or has it degenerated into a great social, fashionable organization? We fear too much the latter.

This, in brief, is the condition existing in the world and in the church of God. No optimistic outlook do these conditions present; and from a human standpoint the situation would appear well-nigh hopeless. Unpleasant indeed they are to contemplate; but we must not close our eyes to unpleasant things, but seek rather the remedy for bettering the conditions which exist.

And we are not alone in viewing the situation in this light; for even though Israel has fallen by its iniquity, God still has faithful children in every church and in every denomination; and these faithful ones, by whatever name they may be known, are burdened over the sins of Christendom. They deplore the conditions which exist, and mourn for the glory which has departed. With grieving hearts they long for a revival of old-time goodliness. Day by day their prayers ascend to high heaven, "Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach." Will God heed this cry? Will He abandon His children? We must remember that even in the darkest hour light breaks forth from unknown quarters. It was when all seemed lost that Jesus appeared as the Saviour of men.

The doom of Sodom and of Nineveh was not without offers of mercy. The morning-star of the Reformation appeared from an unexpected quarter, when all the world seemed hopelessly sunken in the superstition and darkness of the middle ages. God's opportunity is best afforded in the hour of weakness. The condition of the world and the church to-day demands that God should again speak. In the very nature of the case, there is demand for a message of reproof and healing. His true and tried ones in every church need to be awakened to the dangers which exist. The nations of men need warning of the impending judgment, and afforded an opportunity for repentance of life unto salvation. That such a message is due the world to-day, and that it will be given to the world in the loving and tender mercy of our God, let the succeeding articles of this symposium demonstrate.