IS THE WORLD GROWING OLD?

Shannon News, 19 March 1926, Page 4

IS THE WORLD GROWING OLD?

IS OHEIST COMING NEAR? The above questions were answered in the De Luxe Theatre on Sunday evening by Pastor Paap in his address. As an introduction to the study of the evening •& number of scriptures were read, which the Pastor stated clearly proved that Christ's second coming had not yet taken place, but when it did come to pass it would be the most spectacular event the world had ever witnessed, and every eye would see it, and every ear would hear it, and all the world would know it. But no man knows the day, nor the hour, nor the year. That the. world would grow old the prophet Isaiah had clearly foretold, "Isaiah 51, verse 6: Lift up your eyes to the" heavens, and look upon the earth ben'eath: 1 for the heavens shall .vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner," etc., are as the Eevised Version, reads in the margin, "shall die like gnats." That the earth is growing old and the inhabitants have died like gnats the following facts would show: 280,000,000,000 human beings are buried in our •world. 46,000,000 have died, on an average every year since the days of creation.. 4,000,000 a month for all time. 5,900 died during the time of the meeting in the De Luxe on Sunday 'evening. . * ■ From Creation till the flood, a period of 1656 years, the average life of man was 927 years. Immediately succeeding the flood, the average life was reduced to 377 years, later it was fixed at 120 years. In David's time it was 70'years. To-day our average life is 35 years. • 'All things have > changed, not one thing remains as it was at Creation, not till 2008 years after Creation was it known 'that a child died before its father, and so unusual a thing was it that inspiration reeords the fact in Genesis 11, Verse 28. • To-day a '* large percentage of our children die before their parents. This is quite unnatural, contrary to G-od's plan and a indirectly of ' sin. Death has its throat grip on everything under the sun. * . There are over 2000 known diseases in our world, and 270,000 doctors and nurses fight them in vain. In the 14th century 25,000,000 people died in Europe, being,equal to 250,000 a year for each of the 100 years. In 1918 from 10 to 13 millions of human beings died of one disease alone, and no remedy has so far been found to fight it with, should it visit us again. We lost over 7,000,000, the pick and flower of our manhood, in the great world war. That was no survival of the 1 fittest. In 1905 bubonic plague destroyed 6,000,000 victims in India and about 12,000,000 in China. Tuberculosis is taking a fearful toll of humanity. Cancer, in England alone claims over 42,000 victims per year. .Surely we live in a land of death and tears. From 1914 to 1920, ho fewer than 875,000 children died from starvation and want in Western Russia and Poland alone, an average of 400 a day for the whole six years. In 1920 and 1921 China experienced the most awful famine in her history, j An area' containing 50,000,000 was affected, and millions died. In 1922 in Russia no less than about 10,000,000 perished through famine. "The conditions there rivalled any description of hell. Cannabilism was rife in several cities." 1 "There were no less than about 20,000,000 cases of typhus." • During the past ten years the world has experienced its greatest war, its greatest famine, its greatest pestilence and its greatest earthquake. More than 1000 cities built, by man have gone down in ruin for all time paly one city is sure and will remain

for all time, that is the '' city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God." We now. have 52,000,000 square miles of sea, and 18,000,000 square miles of land much of which is howling waste of wilderness and rugged broken mountain ranges, all contrary to God's original plan and creation, brought about by the "Fall" and "Sin" and the "Flood." W'e have 100,000 islands and 350 active volcanoes, all telling of a broken world, "stored with fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Before the fall the rivers of the world ran from mouth to source and watered the earth, now they run from source to mouth and drain the earth. Then the rain came up in the form of mist and watered the whole face of the ground. Now it comes, down from above, and on much of the earth's surface too much falls, and on other too little. All nature seems to have broken loose from its original bounds, and by storm, and hurricane, and tornado, and cyclone and flood, and fire works ruin at its will. Turning to another sorry chapter in human history we learn that in 59 years America granted in her law courts no less than 3,393,000 divorces. ■ While the population of the Australian increase at the rate of about 15 per cent., her divorces increase' at 65 per cent. I Sir Archdall Ecid, the noted English , doctor, says: "It would seem that ! about every other person in the United Kingdom has suffered from venerial disease. in some form, and that hardly a family has escaped." There were 6582 illegitimate births in Australia, in 191 S. The illegitimate births in. the United Kingdom number 50,000 annually. Surely as in Noalis' day, "The earth is corrupt before God." And these are all significant indications of a world in revolt from all morality, and of a wandering far from God and the standard of His Holy Law. Under Soviet Russia no less than 1,777,837 of her professional and intelectual people have been killed of recent years. Once more as in the days of Noah, "the earth is filled with violence." And the time would fail me to tell of strife and strikes between capital and labour, and the enormous loss of time and wages, in such countries as, Germany, America, Australia, Italy, and Great Britain.

In the days of the prophet Amos, chapter I, verse 1, earthquakes were of such rare occurrence that a quake was quoted as \ a land mark. To-day wc have no iess than 30,000 a year in our old world. We seem to have reached the time referred to by the Isaiah, the prophet, chapter 24, verse 20: "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkand shall be removed like a cottage, and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not ri.se again." All these things suggest that our world has grown very old and very corrupt and with old age and corruption come dotage, and decay, and dissolution. And according to God's word he is soon going to put this old sin-stained bull into His melting pot, and 'recast it and out of its purified materials make "a n'ew heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth, righteousness."

The hopes of the human family, for an eternal home for immortality, for eternal life, for incorruptibility, for salvation, for righteousness, all centre in Jesus. Outside of Him, and separate from Him. all must perish.