A Trumpet Call To The Church!

    Christians, look up! "Be ye also ready!" (Matt. 24:44). "The time is at hand" (Rev. 1:3). "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh!" (Jas. 5:8).

    The Apostle Paul says that before the coming of our Lord there shall come a falling away first (2 Thess. 2:3). Evil men and imposters shall wax worse and worse, and there shall be perilous times that shall come in the last days (2 Tim. 3:1-3). The breaking down that is foretold of the visible church is of faith and is a denial of the power of God in Holy Ghost experience.

    We may expect great advances in the "form of godliness" (2 Tim. 3:5) in the last days. Faith will not get low through worldliness and the denial of Scriptures alone but through the remarkable imitative faiths which will work on in their deceptive power. One writer says: "These movements will become an unseen influence in the air around us; an atmosphere of ungodliness, peopled with evil spirits and heavy with the depression of hell. These evil spirits will do their utmost to injure, mislead, confuse and depress the children of the Lord. Our bodies will be affected; it will press on our minds and becloud our soul. There will be a surprising lack of desire and energy Godward, a spiritual deadness, a mental heaviness, lethargy of soul....

    "It will be difficult to preach the Word in liberty and power; it will be difficult to give attention to the Word when it is preached; it will be difficult to get down to earnest and continued prayer. It will seem as if things without us and within us have conspired to keep us from following Jesus all the way and to induce us to compromise. The worldly atmosphere around us will tend to draw us away from God and render prayer halfhearted and will deaden our spiritual senses to the glorious presence of the Lord. It will be harder to keep communication open between our souls and Heaven."

    Such as this is the atmosphere we must battle against as the days darken around us. Oh, let us be strong in the Lord and praise Him for bright exceptions and a spirit of blessing in some places! Let us keep filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in the Holy Spirit, in love and humble service. Let us pray for the Church in general to arise, shake herself, get right with God and seek to make the most of this, her day of opportunity, before her Lord and Master comes to summon her to give an account of her condition and labors before the Judgment Seat of Christ!     By  R. M.

    – Arranged from a tract, "Just Before HE Comes" from Old Paths Tract Society, Inc.