0991. Fleshly Activities–bought and Sold
Fleshly Activities–bought and Sold
"They bought, they sold, they planted, they builded.
"Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed" (Luk_17:28, Luk_17:30).
The statement we are now considering, is spoken of the days of Lot. Much that was worse by far, might have been said of Sodom than this. Where is the harm in buying and selling, in planting and building?
Of course, commercialism holds a necessary sphere in human activities. Did not God command that the ground should be tilled? Did not God give order that the ark be built and the tabernacle and temple should be built?
There must be something in these words that marks a commercialism that outreaches the sane and necessary business demanded by earth living.
Perhaps there is something here like the tower of Babel that man sought to build–a tower which reached to Heaven, a tower of which the prime motive was: "Let us make us a name."
Perhaps there is something here like that spirit that possessed many in the olden times, of whom God said: "Woe unto them that join house to house, and lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!" (Isa_5:8).
That is it Commercialism gone mad. A world engulfed in the mad whirl of business; a people carried along by an unbridled passion for gold.
Did Christ speak advisedly? Is there a spirit of God-forgetfulness, while the world is busy here and there?
Enter the stock exchange where men gain or lose fortunes in a moment of time! How fast do the "get rich quick" schemes multiply! The world plunges, and rushes headlong into the traffic of the things builded, and of the things planted and grown. God is not in all their thoughts. They have said, "To morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant" (Isa_56:12). They say, "How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?"
"These are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches." "They set their mouth against the Heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth" (Psa_73:9).
Hear what the Holy Spirit says in Jam_5:1-5 :
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
"Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
"Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasures together for the last days.
"Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
"Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter."
Such are the conditions of the last days. When Christ comes again Babylon will be restored as the commercial center of the earth. In that day men will buy and they will sell. What? Hear God's account as written down in Rev_18:11-13 :
"And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
"The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron and marble, "And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men."
"As it was in the days of Lot." We behold commercialism in its ripened harvest.
Rev_18:3 : "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies."
Children of God, beware. Come ye out of her. If you fellowship her sins you must share her plagues.
Commercialism is under the curse. The cities of the nations shall fall. Babylon must be judged. Great cries shall be heard as the smoke of her burnings ascend.
Rev_18:9-10, Rev_18:15-18 : "And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliriously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning.
"Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come."
"The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, "And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
"For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, "And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!"
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR