Our Lord has vouchsafed us some knowledge of the end of the present system on this earth. That there will be an end is certain, on grounds of science as well as of revelation. When it will be, we are not told. It is dependent on certain contingencies, the free action of men, the filling up of the cup of iniquity, and the making up of the numbers of the elect. "But of that day and hour no one knoweth; no, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone" (Matt. xxiv. 36). Certain signs of the approach of the end have been given to us in revelation; but these are not for the purpose of enlightening us as to its exact date; they are for the encouragement of the faithful under the awful trials of that time. Certain physical details have also been described for us: "The day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works that are in it shall be burnt up" (2 Pet. iii. 10). Science demonstrates the likelihood of such a violent termination of the earth's course before its vitality and heat are exhausted. The words of Scripture, therefore, may be taken in their most literal and material sense. Of how little consequence is this earth and our immense solar system in the scheme of the universe! When all comes to an end, it will not even be remarked by possible observers on a distant star. How trivial are all our material works here! Nothing will endure but the spiritual results of our actions. Think chiefly of this.
II. The great movement of human life that underlies the surface, is the struggle between good and evil. As the end draws near, this contest will grow more involved and more ruthless. Human powers increase more and more, every influence extends more widely, and all will be drawn into the conflict. There will be "wars and rumours of wars. . . nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (Matt. xxiv. 6, 7). There will be no final perfection of the whole race on earth, no extinction of evil; but the forces of each element will be concentrated. Good, let us hope, will gravitate towards good; and those who wish to serve God will be forced into union by the need of making head against the combination of evil. The spirit of wickedness is personified under the name of Anti-Christ; it exists indeed under many forms at all times (1 John ii. 18); but, according to historical analogy, it will probably express itself fully in some society, or even in some one dominant personality. You are taking a part now in the preliminaries of that final conflict. Your present life and actions will tell then on one side or the other. See that they tend towards good; and do your best.
III. Again at the end of all things, the general features of the conflict will be as always since Cain slew Abel. The two lines of good and evil will advance logically from principles to conclusions. There will be no mundane triumph of good over evil, but Christ will be again and again rejected and crucified in His followers. They "shall put you to death, and you shall be hated by all nations. . . . False prophets shall rise and seduce many. . . . Many shall be scandalised, and shall betray one another. . . . There shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world. . . . The abomination of desolation shall stand in the holy place. . . . There will be danger that no flesh should be saved" (Matt. xxiv.). And at last the end will come, suddenly, when least expected, and cut short all the amusements, and the strivings, and the vain ambitions, and the accumulations, and the triumphant wickedness of this world. Is it in you to be faithful under such trials? Consider how badly you face the trials of these less critical times, how wanting you are in the dispositions of heroes and martyrs. (The above is today's entire meditation).
