The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-05-18
Day Of the Lord
Lesson for May 20, 1862


These lines are typed in faith.
There is perhaps no more than
an even probability that they
will ever be printed. What with
all the preparations for total
destruction which are being
made in Russia and America,
and all the way in which a war
|again one of total destruction)
can be started by sheer acct
dent, one chilling sentence from
I Peter seems to fit the situa-
ton: The end of all things is
at hand.
Yet it is possible that these
lines will be printed; and if the
world lasts that long, we may
be thankful. But if the world
continues, fear will continue
too. and crisis will follow crisis
as far as eye can see. People
will be asking. as they are ask
ing now: Is this the end of the
world
No Timetables
We should remember that
while an atomic catastrophe
you could not call it war;
might well mean the end Of the
United States. the end of Russia
and of Europe, the end of all we
know as civilization. and the
plunging Of the rest Of the race
back into darkest barbarism, -
that is still not the clean sweep
to which the Bible looks for
ward. Second Peter and Jude,
for instance, both picture a to-
tai destruction not only of the
human race in its present form,
but of the earth itself. BY COM
parison with that. the disap-
pearance of a civilization is a
slight affair.
Now the writer's of the New
Testament. if you could have
said to them, 1T looks as if
civilization is on its last legs, y
would have said. "Of course
that's true" But they would not
have fretted or feared for mo-
! ment. When the End came, most
people would be terrified; but
they did not expect Christians
to be afraid. On the other hand,
the early Christian apostles and
teachers rejoiced in looking for
ward to the Last Day, day 50
all important that they some
times called it simply 1.-The
Day" However, no New Tesla
ment writer tried to set up a
timetable. They did expect it in
their lifetime, at first, but later
books q Timothy for example)
show that they realized the Day
would probably not come while
they lived. They left the WHEN
to God.
What Sort of Person?
We catch glimpses. in various
parts OF the New Testament, of
various ways people reacted to
the likelihood of an approach
ing End of All Things. Some
screamed for hills to cover
them chow modern that
sounds. some gave up all
ordinary business and spent
their time just talking about the
future, some mot the writer's OF
the New Testament but other
people painfully tried to piece
together mysterious prophecies
from the Old Testament SO as
to predict the very time. Second
Peter warns against too much
calculation. The Lords clocks
and calendars are not geared to
ours: a thousand wears ia lis
may be a day to Him, and also
vice versa. It may be later than
we think. or earlier, we don't
know. However. 2 Peter has no
hesitation about predicting the
End. You might almost think he
could see the nucl lie ar cata-
clysm: 1.-The heavesn will pass
away with a loud noise, and the
elements will be dissolved with
fire. and the earth, and the
works upon it, will be burned
up But now see how he goes
on from there. Since these
things are so. what sort of per.
sons ought you TO be?" The
end OF all that we know about
will not be the end of us. Death
is a deceiver even when millions
die at one moment.
The Christian Way
The writer Jude, who also
has some pretty grim things to
say about the End, concludes
his short letter with a beautiful
benediction. In one sentence he
sums up the Christian attitude
toward destiny. First, it is in
Gods hands, and we should not
forget this. Second, God will
keep His people y not neces-
sarily from danger or suffering,
but from falling" into sin or
dnCr,o,v-