The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 243

The European Union in Prophecy
things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Luke 21:28,
30, 31.
But as the spirit of humility and devotion in the church had given place to pride
and formalism, love for Christ and faith in His coming had grown cold. Absorbed in
worldliness and pleasure seeking, the professed people of God were blinded to the
Saviour's instructions concerning the signs of His appearing. The doctrine of the
second advent had been neglected; the scriptures relating to it were obscured by
misinterpretation, until it was, to a great extent, ignored and forgotten. Especially
was this the case in the churches of America. The freedom and comfort enjoyed by all
classes of society, the ambitious desire for wealth and luxury, begetting an absorbing
devotion to money-making, the eager rush for popularity and power, which seemed to
be within the reach of all, led men to center their interests and hopes on the things of
this life, and to put far in the future that solemn day when the present order of things
should pass away.
When the Saviour pointed out to His followers the signs of His return, He
foretold the state of backsliding that would exist just prior to His second advent. There
would be, as in the days of Noah, the activity and stir of worldly business and pleasure
seeking--buying, selling, planting, building, marrying, and giving in marriage--with
forgetfulness of God and the future life. For those living at this time, Christ's
admonition is: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged
with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon
you unawares." "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son
of man." Luke 21:34, 36.
The condition of the church at this time is pointed out in the Saviour's words in
the Revelation: "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." And to those who
refuse to arouse from their careless security, the solemn warning is addressed: "If
therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know
what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:1, 3.
It was needful that men should be awakened to their danger; that they should
be roused to prepare for the solemn events connected with the close of probation. The
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