WG-08-9. THE BIBLE SOLUTION

9. THE BIBLE SOLUTION

IT is entirely safe to assert that, if any infidel or agnostic philosophy offered an interpreta­tion of the world which explained the facts so clearly as does this Scriptural explanation, it would have received and would have retained universal acceptation. Why, then, is the explana­tion given in the Bible so widely rejected? Here, again, we have an extraordinary phenomenon, and we must look into God’s Word to ascertain that this is another effect of the fall of man—namely, the inherited tendency of the natural heart to unbelief.

Yes, the vast system spread over the earth is a perishing system, containing in itself the seeds of decay. “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof” (1Jn 2:17). That fact is plain enough without the statement of Scripture. But what if it be also true, as the Scripture declares, that they who commit themselves to this system and its leader shall surely perish with it and with him! Are you, my reader, trusting for your safety to your good character, to your pure motives and kindly deeds; or are you perhaps trusting to the chance that it will all “come right somehow”? Is your heart occupied with the affairs of this world, its projects and ambitions, and are you for your future happiness looking forward to the working out of some detail of the world-system? This (unless Scripture lies in its central part) is the very purpose of that world-system; whereas the purpose of God is that our hearts should be occupied with the invisible and eternal things, and our outlook should be for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Tit 2:13). In Scripture, then, we find a complete answer to every question which arises in the mind con­cerning the presence, at all times and everywhere in human nature and human affairs, of sin, sickness, and death, and concerning the presence in the world of accidents, corruption, and decay. The answer to every such question is that this is not God’s world, but Satan’s. The characteristics which we observe in the world’s organization, and in the way in which its functions are discharged, are just such as would be expected in an organization planned and managed by a personage such as the Satan of Scripture is described to be— namely, a fallen spiritual being of consummate wisdom, the highest of all created intelligences, the head of vast powers and principalities, but coming short of the power and wisdom of Deity, and existing in a state of rebellion against God. The great truth that Satan is “the god of this world,” which is absolutely needed for the under­standing of the existence of evil in the world, and which Almighty God has revealed for the very purpose of guarding us from the manifold dangers arising out of ignorance of it, is missed by many who accept the Bible as the Word of God. These are consequently in much danger and in needless perplexity because of the abundant manifestations of evil and imperfection in the world. In the light of this important truth, all such perplexity disappears, since it is obvious that those grievous things, for whose presence we could not account in God’s world, are quite in place in Satan’s world.

We read in Scripture that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. He sends the rain and the sunshine, and gives the increase of the field and the fruits of the earth. But the world is Satan’s. His ownership of the world, so far from being questioned by Scripture, is strongly asserted and acknowledged. Satan displayed to our Lord "all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them (Mat 4:8), and offered to give them to Him upon one condition. The Lord refused the offer, but did not question the ownership. Conse­quently the world is still Satan’s. The Lord Jesus acknowledged this at a later time, saying, “The Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me” (John 14:30), and the last of His apostles, near the close of his long life, described the con­dition of affairs, saying, “The whole world lieth in the evil one” (1Jn 5:19, R.V.). The Lord Jesus declared that the world hated Him because He “testified of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). He did not distinguish or bestow praise on any of the works of this world-system upon which men pride themselves, but pronounced them all uncompromisingly and unequivocally evil. The man who dares do that is still hated.

It is well at this point to have in mind a further and very striking characteristic of this great organization which we call “the world.” That men should admire it is natural, considering the part which men have played in elaborating and running it; but each individual knows full well that the part he has performed has been largely forced. He has been only to a very limited extent a free agent, feeling always, and frequently recognizing, the force of some one, or some thing, unseen and yet potent in the affairs of the world. This is clearly recognized in that very common expression “the force of circumstances.” What is the force referred to in this conventional phrase? Our object is to identify the person or the thing by whom or by which is exerted the force that makes the world what it is, and that compels men and women to act as they do. Therefore, we take due note of the many evidences of great wisdom, ingenuity, skill and energy which are displayed in the conduct of the world’s affairs. We must acknowledge that, by these indications, the great ability of the presiding genius of the world’s affairs is fully established. But our observations do not stop there. The evidences on every side of want of foresight, and of failure to anticipate undesirable events and to provide for emergencies, are too numerous and too striking to be overlooked. They are also much too serious to be made light of. Nations arm themselves and make war against other nations; men oppress their fellows; society separates into hostile classes, whereof the upper stratum can always hear the mutterings of the discontented and oppressed beneath; trusted officials of financial institutions default or enrich themselves by fraudulent practices; commercial organizations thrive by systematic knavery; legislation is almost openly bought and sold; municipal corruption increases; and social morals decay with the increase of wealth and culture.

Looking backward through the eyes of history to the events of past generations, we observe that —while man has always tried to put the best face upon the social condition of his day, and has always given the most favorable account of his times—nevertheless, failure has been ever the record of the human race. Nations rise and fall; and whenever another fair experiment in govern­ment is attempted, under new conditions and with all past experience for a guide, it is only a matter of time before the very ends sought for—increase of wealth and power—show that they are but agents of destruction.

What can explain all this so clearly as the fact that the god and prince of this world, with all his transcendent abilities, lacks the power and wisdom of the Infinite? As we write these lines, the attention of the public is being drawn to surprising revelations of dishonesty in the management of large insurance companies, revelations which would certainly shock the moral sense of the community if the community had any residuum of moral sense to be shocked. One who looks at all beneath the surface of these shameful disclosures cannot fail to realize that they are but indications, surface eruptions, of diseased conditions which lie deep in human nature and human society. Once again, as in the days before the Flood, the Lord God, looking down from heaven, sees that “all flesh has corrupted its way upon the earth.” Is it not so? And is it not also true that the very worst and most significant feature of these revelations is that they produce little or no expression of deep or widespread public indignation? A few caustic editorials appear in the newspapers, and a few denunciations are heard from the pulpit; but the people, as a whole, are indifferent, unmoved, or what is even worse, are merely entertained.

Meanwhile, the blind and fatuous leaders of the enterprises of the age and the exponents of the much-lauded “spirit of the age” continue to prate of progress and improvement, of the conquests of civilization and of the great strides of science! Only the few who have sought and obtained wisdom from the sole Source of wisdom recognize that the state of things around us now is “as it was in the days of Noah.” And this is the outcome of the free application of human genius and intelligence, backed up by the amplest natural resources and aided by every factor which is supposed to make for progress!

What conclusion is to be drawn from it, and what remedy is to be applied? We hear “enticing words of men’s wisdom,” such as “legislation,” “education,” “culture,” “publicity,” “honest enforcement of laws,” etc. But who is so shallow and ignorant as not to know that these have all been tried, have done their utmost, and have failed? The corruption now appearing in the “highest circles,” where education and culture have done their utmost, where every experiment of legislation has been attempted, and where every natural incentive to honest dealing exists, has its source in the heart of man. It flows from that fountain of sin which sprang from the trans­gression of the first Adam, and which can be purified only by the fountain of life which springs from the blood of the last Adam.

What sane conclusion, then, is possible but this, that man’s experiment has been tried out to the very end? And what remedy remains, but that which the arrogant and unbelieving heart has always sought to avoid, but which God has always urged in such words as these: “Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else” (Isa 45:22)? And do we not see written large and clear upon the events of our day that but little time remains wherein to learn wisdom, to heed the oft-repeated warnings, and to turn unto Him before He leaves His mediatorial throne, before the day of grace is ended, and He comes again to shake terribly the earth? At this moment the chief executive of the American nation, in the course of a series of speeches, feels called upon to take notice of these things, and here is his comment upon them:

“The man of great means who achieves fortune by crooked methods does wrong to the whole body politic. But he not merely does wrong to, he becomes a source of imminent danger to, other men of great means, for his ill-won success tends to arouse a feeling of resentment, which, if it becomes inflamed, fails to differentiate between the men of wealth who have done decently and the men of wealth who have not done decently.

“The conscience of our people has been deeply shocked by the revelations made of recent years as to the way in which some of the great fortunes have been obtained and used; and there is, I think, in the minds of the people at large a strong feeling that a serious effort must be made to put a stop to the cynical dishonesty and contempt for right which have thus been revealed. I believe that something, and I hope that a good deal, can be done by law to remedy the state of things complained of.

“But when all that can be has thus been done, there will yet remain much which the law cannot touch, and which must be reached by the force of public opinion” (Speech of President Roosevelt, Oct. 2, 1905.) The fact, however, is that the conscience of our people has not been shocked in the slightest by these revelations, and the best that a well-meaning man, imbued with the so-called optimism of the time, can give us is the hollowest of conventional phrases, the futile suggestion (in which he can hardly believe himself) that something “can be done by law to remedy the state of things com­plained of,” and the reluctant confession that there will yet remain “much which the law cannot touch.” It is safe to say that not one intelligent person who reads this comment upon the most important existing condition of our national life will have the least confidence in the remedial effect of “the force of public opinion,” to which dubious agency our President commits this hideous and loathsome disease in the vitals of the body politic. It would be just as sensible to rely upon the force of public opinion to arrest and turn back the ravages of cholera or smallpox. But what else can be suggested? Would it not seem that men would be compelled at last to appeal to the power of God, if only because of the manifest failure of every other remedy? Will anyone say that it is the act of a rational and enlightened mind to look rather to the force of public opinion than to the return of our Lord from heaven to bring in everlasting righteousness? Are we not at last justified in receiving this as our “blessed hope,” and acknowledging that there is none beside?