Plain Truth 1962 (Vol XXVII No 08) Aug - Lcgmn.com

Page 32
his mortal hands the power to ABOLISH
all forms of human poverty and ALL
FORMS Of H UMAN LI FE" [emphasis
ours).
We have reached a turning point in
human histOry where we had better
StOp and ask ourselves-nor what men
say-but what are the DIRECT WORDS
OF GOD on the su ~ jecr of Di·vine i'ntervention
in hmnan afJai1"S?
Jesus Christ's Direct Statements
When Jesus Christ was here on earth,
His disciples asked Him m describe the
signs that should precede H is second
coming and the end of rhis world-or
age. St1tdy His answer in Matthew 24.
In verse 21, H e foretOld a terrible time
of trouble "such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time, no,
nOr ever shall be."
Most people who read this prophecy
say, "Yes, bur there have atwaYJ been
wars and troubles in the world-so how
do we know what to go by?"
The anJwe1' is comained in the very
next verse of this momentOus prophecy.
It reveals that a time is corning when
God will INTERVENE in world affairs
and shorten the course of events in this
age! He will do this as a Loving Creator
to prevent HUMAN ANNIH ILATION.
"And except those days should be shortened,
there should NO FLESH be saved:
but for the elect's sa,ke those days shall
be shortened" (Verse 22).
Here are definite statementJ in your
Bible in which Chrisr predicted a time
of trouble at the end of ~his age ro
which no other can be compared-a
time when God MUST INTERVENE in
world affairs to prevent man from blast·
ing himself inca oblivion with hyd1'oge1~
bombs and rockets.
Could this prophecy refer to any other
time than the present and the imme·
diate future? Has man EVE~-at any
time-had the means to comptetely
obtiterate htt-ma1~ life so that "no flesh "
would be saved alive on this earth?
The Apostle Paul was also inspired
ro describe the condition of humanity
of rhis end rime. In II Ti'11orby 3: 1.4,
he says that "perilous titTles shall come,"
and pred i ~lS that at this time mer would
be tlaitofJ, tr'l/.ce-b·reakers, greedy, coveting
the wealth and territories of each
other. This condition would not get
T be PLA IN TRUTH
better bur worse, for Paul said: "Evil
men and seducers shall wax 'W01'se and
worse, deceiving and being deceived"
(Verse 13 ) .
In spite of all our ('peace" conferences
and high ideals, the lust and
greed of carnal men is expressing itself
in worse and WO RSE depredations
against what peaceful society still reo
mains.
Men Reject the T ruth
Yet, even though most men can see
the "handwriting on the wall" and know
rhat this world is perhaps p lotting its
own doom, they scoff at the idea that
the Creator God should iI1terv~ne in
human affairs. Peter wrote: "Kpowing
this first, that there shall come in the
laSt days scoffers, walking after their
own lusts, and saying, Where is the
promise of H is coming? For since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue
as rhey were from the beginning of tbe
crear ion" (II Per. 3:3·4) .
Peter says these men are 1villingly
ignorant of the fact that God has A L­
READY intervened once in this wprld's
affairs to send a flood to destroy ~ corrupt
and violent civilization of another
day (Verses 5-6). How [rue {his is!
In our day above all others, countless
scientific findings in rhe fields of geol·
ogy and archaeology point conclusively
to the abJOlute reality of rhe flood of
Noah. But carnal men use every clever
device and artifice possible to hide their
eyes with this FACT.
Comrary to what these "scientific"
scoffers think, all things have NOT continued
as they once were. Man's basic
lust and selfishness is die same-only
perhaps a litde worse. But the phyJicat
means of exp·reHing that tust in war
and c01J.queJt helVe radiettily CHANGED!
New Scientifi c H orrors
Among all the fantastic ideas being
thought of to stop an enemy nation
from attacking with nuclear weapons
is the idea of the "ultimate weapon"­
the "DOOMSDAY M ACHINE." Such a machine,
some thi nk, would be the "ultimate
deterrent." H ere is the conception
of such a machine by one of the nation's
our-standing thinkers on military
researCh, Herman Kahn, physicist: Such
a machine "might be built within' a
Augusl, 1962
decade for perhaps ten to one hundred
billion dollars and programmed by
a computer to fire at the firs t flash of an
enemy attack, DESTROYING TH E WORLD
with radiation, heat or profound climatic
change," Kahn says there would be
"nothi.ng left to orbit the J1./.n but tbe
cinder of # pla11.et shrouded in an atomic
cloud." No nation, it is hoped, would
dare launch an attack in the face of
such a total threat.
Americans today generally refuse to
face squarely the issue of a war with
sllch horrifying weapons and call it
simply "untbinkable."
"\11' e rlt1tst think abottt the unthi.nkable,
or periJh,1J Kahn maintains.
He sta~es: "The ultimate solution
to Armageddon .. is some form of
arms control and 1'1tte of lclw, possibly
under a 1lIorld govermn.ellt."
T he ~EAL Hope of Civilization
Our leaders now realize that (he only
real hope of saving our civilization from
self-destruction is the eventual forma·
cion of a strong WORLD GovERMENT.
Bur all attempts at this encounter sus·
picion, distrust, ang hate. The hard fact
is that man has consistently failed, a·nd
will continue to fait 10 attain thiJ objective.
Men will NEVER achieve a successful
world government because the greed,
coverousness, and lust for power of
world leaders will alwaYJ keep them
from being willing ro make the sacrifices
such a universal govern.p1ent would involve.
The Apostle James says that these
same lusts are the basic cause of 1uar:
"From whence come wars and fighting
among you? Come they nOt hence, even
of your 11lstJ that war in your members?
Ye lttst, and have not, ye kill, and desire
[Q have, and cannOt obtain; ye FJGHT
and WAR, yet ye have nOt, bec({we ye
ask not" (.las. 4:1-2 ) .
H ttman llattt1'e haJ ?lot cbanged.
Men are still quite willing to spill
the blood of their fellows (Q satisfy their
lust and g1·eed. Do tre men of (his world
really know the WAY to peace? God
Almighty says of sinful men in general:
"The \Y/ A Y of pellce have they not
known" (Rom.3:l7).
We hear a loc of sentimental platitudes
about the hopes of achieving
(PletlJe COmi1l1J.e on page 47 )