ear
Thy name, small and great; and shouldst destroy them which destroy the
earth." Rev. 11: 18.

[Illustration: A FAITHFUL AND WISE SERVANT

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." Matt.
24: 42.]

What we see then among the nations proclaims the approaching end.

2. Signs in the Social World

A New Testament prophecy of the latter days says:

"In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of
their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God." 2 Tim. 3: 1-4.

The "perilous times" have come, when, as never before, the world is
pleasure mad.

"Unrestrained passion for pleasure," said M. Comte, editor of the French
_Relevement Social_, writing just before the European war, is bringing a
terrible train of evils into modern society. Along with it he put "the
hunt for money without regard for means," adding:

"This is the theme which manufacturers, business men, men in
the public administration, continually harp on with ever the
same conviction and ever the same wealth of proof.

"The note is ever the same, and the conclusion identical: _Nous
sommes perdus!_ [We are lost!]"--_Quoted in Record of Christian
Work, July, 1914._

Many agencies for social and temperance reform are rendering the
greatest human service; but for lost humanity the only hope is Christ,
the divine Saviour. With an urgency born of the last call, His gospel is
sounding to a world on the verge of eternity. Yet with divine love
longing to save, the world sweeps on, less and less mindful of eternal
interests. Christ's prophecy foretold it as it is:

"As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them
all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:
37-39.

Who can look out upon mankind today without the conviction that this
scripture is being fulfilled? The drift is strong toward the world and
away from God; but we are bidden to watch and pray, lest the coming day
find us unprepared.

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