June 15

The end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer. 1 Peter 4:7.

"The Great Day of the Lord is near; it is near and hasteth greatly." "It is the last time." The Book reveals that in the latter days men shall walk in the ways of the people living in the days of Noah, whom God destroyed because of their ungodly materialistic lives. Matt. 25. Such is the condition of the world now. The sins in the days of Noah are the sins prevailing now. The love of material things has taken possession of the hearts of men, making them to be "traitors, heady, high-minded, incontinent, fierce, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God."

The Bible also says that wars and rumors of wars and great calamities are to be signs of the approaching end. Nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There shall be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes. The tribes of the earth shall mourn, and the hearts of men shall be filled with fear of the things that shall come upon the earth. Lawlessness and revolution lift their monster heads, causing indescribable chaos.

God's holy Book furthermore tells us that great inroads will be made upon the Church by many false prophets, who will arise and deceive many. Matt. 24. Witness the desolation existing in the Church of to-day! So-called Christian churches resound with the soul-destroying error that man can save himself, can atone for sins with his own good works, wholly or in part.

Another sign of the end is the falling away from Christ, a universal rejection of God's Word, which is taking place to-day. Infidelity has become common; in all stages of society it is felt, waging war against the truth. "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on earth?" And iniquity shall abound, and the love of many shall wax cold.

Another sign of the approaching end is the preaching of the Gospel to all nations. Jesus says, Matthew 24:14: "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

Prayer.

Lord God, since the evening of this world is now drawing nigh and the day is far spent, we would ask for the grace of Thy Spirit that we may ever be watchful and with a living faith, fervent love,

firm hope, and holy walk wait for the blessed appearance of the glory of our Savior, when He shall come to judge the quick and the dead, that we may then receive Him fittingly and joyfully, enter eternal life with Him, and thus attain to the eternal day of joy and rest with all the elect. But while we are in this mortal frame, we pray Thee to grant us Thine almighty protection and to guard and preserve us from all harm and danger of body and soul. And let us work while it is day. Amen.

The time is short!

If thou wouldst work for God, it must be now;

If thou wouldst win the garland for thy brow,

Redeem the time.