THE Dissolution of Parliament has made politicians very busy of late. Everywhere the war cries of conflicting parties have been heard, and the huge posters, still staring us in the face from the walls of city, town and village, bear witness to the fact of the whole country having been in the throes of a General Election.
Some dissolutions are of more historic importance than others, but none can compare with one that is yet to come. I refer to
THE GREAT DISSOLUTION
of the present system of things.
The day in which we live is man's day. Man assumes to be the owner of the world, and would fain push God out of His own creation. But man's day is to be ended. "The day of the Lord will come," we read, and then "the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10.)
All the plans and schemes of men will be brought to naught; all their works and inventions will perish; the world, as we know it, and all that it contains, will fade away.
“All these things shall be dissolved." (Verse 11.) In view of that great coming dissolution, of which God's Word so plainly speaks, let me appeal to the reader. Are the things which engross and absorb your mind among the things that shall be dissolved?
You may be an ardent politician; you may have your own opinions as to the doings of the late Government and the position of the present one; you may have decided views upon the Fiscal Movement, the Education Question, Alien Immigration, Home Rule, the Anglo Japanese Alliance, and a score of other matters, but remember, "ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE DISSOLVED.”
What would you think of an architect, who devoted his life to the erection of a massive cathedral in an island, which is periodically visited by violent earthquakes?
Or how would you regard a sculptor who lavished all his skill upon a figure in snow, which in a few days would altogether disappear?
Just as foolish are they who devote all their time, their ability, their energy, their wealth, to building up a system of things which will inevitably be dissolved.
You take pride, perhaps, in belonging to the British Empire, the greatest that the world has ever seen. But "all these things shall be dissolved." Are you a social reformer—a fervent advocate of some system for equalizing the conditions of life? Suppose that your scheme succeeds beyond your most sanguine dreams. It yet remains true that "all these things shall be dissolved.”
The truly wise man is he who devotes his attention to those things which will not be involved in the coming great dissolution.
Are there, then, things which will not be dissolved? Yes, there are the "things above" (Col. 3:2); the "things pertaining to God" (Heb. 2:17); "things which are not seen, eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).
These things are to be known only in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. Once He was here on earth, graciously taking part in human life, though Himself the eternal Son of God. In the midst of earthly things He walked in heavenly grace, and acted in heavenly power for the blessing of men.
But He has died out of the things in which He once took part. God has raised Him from the dead, and has set Him in heavenly glory, as the center of another world, a system of things which are altogether according to God.
Everybody, including both the writer and the reader of these lines, belongs to one of these two great systems:
(1) The system of THIS world, which is to be dissolved.
(2) The system of THAT world, which is established in Christ, and which will endure forever.
To which of these two do you belong, reader? Do you say, How can I tell?
That question is easily answered. Those who have bowed to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have believed in Him, are His. They are linked up by His Spirit with Himself in the bright and new world where He fills the whole scene. If dissolution comes to them in the shape of death, it makes no difference. He has Himself declared that He will raise them up at the last day. (See John 6:44.) They can triumphantly say: “If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God... eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. 5:1.)
To-day, in view of the coming great dissolution, a great election is taking place.
In earthly politics a dissolution goes before an election, but in the matters of which we speak the election comes first.
It is for you to elect as to your eternal destiny. If you make the wise choice, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in simple faith, you will be justified from your sins, delivered from this present evil world, and made a co-heir with Him of His glorious inheritance. (See Rom. 3:24, 8:17; Gal. 1:44Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4).) Yours will then be a bright and happy future.
If, on the other hand, the world and its politics, its pleasures, its pursuits are the things that absorb you; if your affection is thus set on "things of the earth," you will go from the scene where you sought your portion with no companions but your sins. In that bright universe of bliss, which will succeed the present world upon its dissolution, you will have no part. Yours shall be the outer place of weeping and wailing, and you will feel and confess that you richly deserve it.
But it need not be. Christ still waits in patient grace. God's long-suffering is salvation. There is yet an opportunity for you to turn confidingly to the Savior. Will you not do so? "Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved." (Rom. 10:13.)
H. P. B.