Please consider the following quote: Please consider the following quote:
"We are indeed in the midst of perilous times.
I have but little to say of world conditions and of the problems
that confront us as a result of the war. The church of the Lord
knows that it must continue, regardless of things material or
things worldly in their nature. Involved as we are, it certainly
seems that our attention ought to be the more earnestly centered
upon things of spiritual importance."
How true! Partisan politics do not diminish the
verity of this statement. We are in the midst of perilous times.
Agree or not on how it is being waged, one must admit there is
an enemy that seeks the harm of westernized countries, especially
America. Fear looms more than it did a decade ago. Though courage
compensates, peril plagues the people.
Further truth is elucidated in the quote's follow-up
observation. Whatever the world condition, whatever material concerns
may be, whatever occupies the time and resources of man's physical
nature, spiritual considerations should always be foremost. While
this is not more true in time of peril (God wants us serving Him
in good times and bad), it is more apparent. When life's uncertainty
of the body shouts to waken the complacent, the alert cries for
attention to the soul. In times of peace and prosperity, few may
look to the Lord. When one doubts the day-by-day extension of
his life, and/or the far-reaching plans of his existence, he is
more likely to look beyond the temporary to the eternal.
This lesson Paul noted in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9:
"For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our
trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond
measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9
Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should
not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead." Paul
learned by his persecutions that human existence was not to be
trusted; rather, the Creator of humans was.
The church needs to continue about the business
of spreading the gospel during perilous times. The Christian's
battle is not with carnal weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4) but with
knowledge and persuasiveness (2 Corinthians 10:5; 5:11). The only
hope for the world is still Jesus Christ. If the church lays down
her spiritual arms of knowledge, truth, and loving zeal for the
lost, from whence will the only real answer to man's troubles
be sounded? Indeed, as per the quote above, "... it certainly
seems that our attention ought to be the more earnestly centered
upon things of spiritual importance."
Would you like to know who made the quote? The
gospel preacher N.B. Hardeman spoke these words in November of
1942. [N.B. Hardeman, Hardeman's Tabernacle Sermons (Nashville:
Gospel Advocate, 1976): Vol. V: 116.]
Remember what was going on, then? -30 Tarrytowne,
Washington, WV 26181.