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Reaping the Whirlwind
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In the month of February of the same year, Professor Finney of
Oberlin College said: “In general, the Protestant churches of our
country, as such, were either apathetic or hostile to nearly all the
moral reforms of the age. ... Spiritual apathy is almost all-pervading,
and is fearfully deep; so the religious press of the whole land testi-
fies. ... Very extensively church members are becoming devotees
of fashion, join hands with the ungodly in parties of pleasure, in
dancing, in festivities, etc. ... The churches generally are becoming
sadly degenerate. They have gone very far from the Lord and He
has withdrawn Himself from them.”
Man’s Rejection of Light
Spiritual darkness is due, not to arbitrary withdrawal of divine
grace on the part of God, but to rejection of light on the part of
men. The Jewish people, by devotion to the world and forgetfulness
of God, were in ignorance concerning Messiah’s advent. In their
unbelief they rejected the Redeemer. God did not cut off the Jewish
nation from the blessings of salvation. Those who rejected the truth
had “put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”
Isaiah 5:20
.
After their rejection of the gospel the Jews continued to maintain
their ancient rites, while they admitted that the presence of God was
no longer among them. The prophecy of Daniel pointed unmistak-
ably to the time of Messiah’s coming and directly foretold His death.
So they discouraged its study, and finally the rabbis pronounced a
curse on all who should attempt to compute the time. In blindness
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and impenitence the people of Israel during succeeding centuries
have stood, indifferent to the gracious offers of salvation, unmindful
of the blessings of the gospel, a solemn and fearful warning of the
danger of rejecting light from heaven.
He who stifles conviction of duty because it interferes with his
inclinations will finally lose the power to distinguish between truth
and error. The soul is separated from God. Where divine truth is
spurned, the church will be in darkness, faith and love grow cold,
and dissension enters. Church members center their interests in
worldly pursuits, and sinners become hardened in their impenitence.