Chapter The Consummation of human history
Section V
The Last Days, the New Truth, and Our Attitude
2. The attitude we should take in the Last Days
If we observe the progression of the history of the providence of restoration, we see that the new always begins when the old is about to expire. Consequently, the period when the old ends is the very period when the new begins. The close of the old history is the starting period for the new history.
Mankind is now at the point of intersection where the two sovereignties of good and evil are confronting each other. These two sovereignties, which started at the same point, have headed in opposite directions ever since, and have borne their own worldwide fruits respectively. People of this age fall into internal insecurity, terror and chaos due to the shallowness of their ideals and ideologies. Externally, they are afraid, as they face the threat of conflicts and struggles with terrifying weapons. In the Last Days many devastating phenomena will occur. As the Bible says:
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (Matt. 24:7)
It is inevitable that such misery should take place, in order that the dominion of evil be annihilated, and that of good be exalted. God, without fail, will set up the center of the sovereignty of goodness in order to establish a new age out of this misery. Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus were the central figures of their respective new ages. Therefore, we must find the central figure of the new history, whom God has designated, in order that we might be participants in the new age as God wants us to be.
The providence of the new age does not start after the complete liquidation of the old age, but is born and grows in the circumstances of the period of consummation of the old age, always appearing to be in conflict with that age. Accordingly, this providence is not easily understood by those who are accustomed to the conventions of the old age. This is why the sages of history who came in charge of the providence of a new age all became victims of the old age. We can give the example of Jesus, who, coming at the close of the Old Testament Age as the center of the new providence of the New Testament Age, appeared to the believers of the Mosaic Law to be a heretic whom they could not understand. Finally he was rejected because of their disbelief of him and was crucified. This is why Jesus said, "New wine must be put into fresh wine skins." (Luke 5:38).
Christ will come again at the close of the New Testament Age as the center of the new providence to establish the new heaven and earth, and will give us new words for the building of the new age (Rev. 21:1-7). Therefore, he is apt to be rejected and persecuted by Christians at the time of the Second Advent just as Jesus was persecuted and derided at his coming by the Jews who said he was possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons (Matt. 12:24). Therefore, Jesus predicted that first the Lord must suffer many things and be rejected by the generation at the time of the Second Advent (Luke 17:25). Therefore, those who, in the transitional period of history, are tenaciously attached to the environment of the old age and comfortable entrenched in it will be judged along with the old age.
Fallen men, being very dull in their sensitivity toward spiritual things, will generally emphasize the old truth in following the course of the providence of restoration. In other words, these people will not respond to and follow the providence of the new age even though the providence of restoration is bringing about the new age, because in most cases they are still attached to the view of truth of the old age. Those who can perceive spiritual things, however, will understand the providence of the new age spiritually, and come to respond to it, even though they may face discrepancies between the new view of truth and that of the old age.
The disciples of Jesus, therefore, were not overly attached to the Old Testament. Rather, they followed what they felt spiritually in their hearts. The reason men of prayer and conscience feel a sense of extreme spiritual anxiety and urgency in the Last Days is that, while they vaguely feel spiritual things and are willing to follow the providence of the new age in their hearts, they have not met the new truth that can lead their external selves in the right direction.
Therefore, if these men would only listen to the new truth leading them to the providence of the new age, they would be awakened in heart and intellect by spirit and truth simultaneously. They would be able to recognize perfectly the demand of God's providence for the new age. Naturally, then they will come to respond to it with untold happiness. Thus, modern men of the Last Days must try to perceive spiritual things through humble prayer.
Thus, we should not be attached to conventional ideas but should at all costs find the new truth leading them to the providence of the new age. We can do this by directing our external self toward a spiritual purpose. Then we must ascertain whether the truth thus found becomes one with our spirit, producing a true heavenly joy deep within our heart. By doing this, the saints of the Last Days can find the way to true salvation.
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