| (Copyright) by John Jewell (London, England) |
|---|
| You may, or may not, be familiar with the example of the lobster in the pot. This has been used in times past as an example of how things, events, will creep up upon you until finally it is too late to change them. You fill a cooking pot with water, place a live lobster in it and turn the heat on. We assume the lobster could get out of the pot, but it doesn’t. It may feel the water getting hot, but it feels comfortable and so stays in the pot. The water slowly rises to the boiling point and cooks the lobster. It was killed because it didn’t understand gradualism! Similarly, people don’t realise how much the principle is a part of today’s world. It effectively entered the political consciousness through the efforts back in the 1920’s of Beatrice Webb, who along with her husband Sidney, was an early socialist thinker. In her presidential address to the British Labour Party Congress of 1923, she called it “the inevitability of gradualness.” Pavlov picked up on this and referred to gradualness when talking to Russian students in 1936 as an important condition of fruitful scientific work. We are familiar with the habit in today’s world of forever coining new words so we might use the word “gradualism”. It is also referred to, but in other words, in the bible. In 2nd Peter, chapter 3 verses 3 and 4 it says this: “knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days, scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying “where is the promise of his coming? For all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” Its speaking of gradualness, or gradualism! The Webbs saw the principle of gradualism as working in favour of the inevitable triumph of socialism. Pavlov saw it as a scientific principle. The bible, God’s word, sees it as a reality of the human condition. A reality that the world needs to be reminded of and warned about. That situations can develop in such a way that they will creep up upon an individual until it’s too late to do anything about it. Even then, most will ignore the warnings. A bit like a bus-driver who normally drives a single deck bus. One day, exceptionally but on the same route, he is driving a double-deck bus. He sees, as normal, the sign saying, “low bridge” and forgets he is driving a double decker! His mind is on something else. He might be listening to the radio. Everything has been lulling him into a false sense of security. The inevitable occurs and he and his bus end up jammed under the bridge with the upper deck torn away! A victim of gradualism. Gradualism tends to develop within human beings the state of torpor. Or you might say, intellectual or spiritual lethargy, apathy, dullness, and indifference. Ronald Wright in his book “A Short History of Progress” quoted an American secretary of the interior who told Congress not to bother with the environment because, in his words, “I don’t know how many future generations we can count on until the Lord returns.” Another quote was from Adolf Hitler on coming to power in Germany. He said, “What luck for the rulers that the people do not think!” Mr Wright in his book then commented: “What can we do when the rulers will not think!” Today, in every part of this planet all the professing Christian churches and, regrettably, a number of the splintered churches of God as well, here is a mass contemplating the navel! A mass ignoring of what is staring us in the face! A mass lack of thinking and awareness. Ronald Wright refers to today’s society, the world in which you, and I, live, as a “suicide machine.” And the rulers do not think! And it isn’t as though we haven’t been told! Jesus Christ told us clearly what the world would be like just before his return. In Matthew chapter 24 he said, “Many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Professing Christian groups and churches, including the Church of England and the Catholic Church, abound today and say they come in Christ’s name, but ignore everything he said. They embrace doctrines that are pagan in origin and have no connection with anything Jesus Christ did or said. Christ warned of wars and rumours of wars. He said that nation would arise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There would be famines, pestilences, earthquakes everywhere and at an intensity and frequency never known before. He said that these things would be the beginning of sorrows. Are these things now a reality or not! Or have they all crept up on us, so that we don’t realise we are standing on the edge! On the edge of world annihilation. I was once a witness to an H bomb test at Christmas Island in the Pacific. It was the last one Britain ever carried out. It was an awe-inspiring event. But, compared with the explosives at the disposal of certainly 10 nations today it was just a firecracker! There should be no such thing as nuclear weapons. We cannot fool ourselves and say, well, it would be unlikely that they would ever be used in war! They HAVE been used in war or have we so soon forgotten Nagasaki and Hiroshima! Today there are even more sophisticated weapons of mass destruction. Do you think they will never be used? Do you think war as a means of settling disputes between nations has ended? Tell that to the families of the thousands of young Britons and young Americans who have died or were savagely maimed, needlessly in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thousands upon thousands of Iraqis died, all victims of a political war. A war that was based on an outright lie, for which there has not even been an apology! Tell it to the families of the young Israelis and young Arabs who have similarly died and suffered in the Middle East. Then there are the wars throughout Africa – another lethal war is constantly threatened between the two Koreas. And Argentina has not forgotten the Falkland Islands are still there and given the opportunity would soon invade once more. Especially as Britain no longer has an operational aircraft carrier and is steadily reducing the navy. Another example of gradualism is that of global warming or climate change. Certainly, five years ago, warnings were being given. The environmental alarm bells were ringing loud and clear, changes were already becoming apparent. And rather than global warming it was becoming clear that what was happening was a change to the world’s climate. Five years ago, the Arctic Sea ice was seen to have thinned by roughly half over the previous 30 years. Five years ago, it was also being forecast that floods would come upon major cities. It was also pointed out that London had, in the 70s, been within one inch of inundation and that unless the Thames barrier was urgently replaced or increased in size there would be disastrous flooding. It was also reported that the world’s forests were being destroyed, and more of the fish important to man’s diet were being lost. Five years ago, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution said that “the wrecking of the seas was the world’s gravest environmental problem after climate change.” What is the position now? Recently it has been emphasised that the Thames barrier must, as a matter of urgency either be upgraded or a new and larger one built. London, otherwise, can expect to find the central area subject to flooding. Five years on, cities are suffering major floods. Pakistan has recently suffered catastrophic flooding and now we have news of the dreadful flooding in Queensland, Australia, over an area which equals the combined land area of France and Germany. The latest news is flooding in the major city of Brisbane. Thousands facing the loss of home and possessions. Reports are also coming in of a number of deaths as a result of the floods. Last year there was severe drought in another area of Australia. Shortage of fresh water is now, five years later, becoming a problem. In December last year in southern California there were unseasonable heavy rains throughout the area. Heavy snowfalls also hit the New York area and further north, disrupting flights in and out of the nation. This followed unusually severe snow and extremely low temperatures which virtually crippled all transport by land or air in and out of Britain. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are becoming more and more frequent and severe. Over the past 18 months or so there have been a number. An eruption in Iceland stopped almost all flights throughout Europe and transatlantic ones. Within a very short time heavy snowfalls on the east coast of the United States stopped flights in and out of the whole area. Consistently these weather patterns have been described by meteorologists as the worst on record, worst in living memory or similar comments. The present floods in Queensland are described as the worst for 100 years. It is generally accepted that there is something exceptional happening. And from all the available evidence it would appear that the climate is changing. And changing as a result of what mankind has done to the environment. An article in an Independent climate supplement said this: “If we think we can stave off climate catastrophe simply by raising public awareness, we are deceiving ourselves – the truth is, only urgent and ruthless government action will do.” But do you imagine for a moment we are going to see urgent and ruthless government action either in the United Kingdom or in the United States. You know the answer. However, these things, along with wars, are only the beginning of sorrows. We are so used to gradualism. The old Australian cry of “she’ll be right, mate!” I’m afraid is not going to mean anything. There is so much happening now. Happening at the same time. Yet so many of those of the various churches of God to whom has been given an incredible understanding of prophecy have gone to sleep at the switch. Around this world, the governments, and peoples of the nations of this planet have got to wake up! Wake up and repent of breaking God’s laws. The churches of God have got to wake up as to what is happening and begin to preach the soon coming return of Jesus Christ. Without that being a reality, we are doomed to become yet another moment of incandescence in the universe, soon to blink out and become yet another dead planet. We have almost run out of time. We, individually and collectively, need to turn to our God – to repent of breaking His laws, while it is still day. The night is coming upon us very, very quickly. |
Views: 0