“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preached another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” 2 Corinthians 11:3, 4.

The Scriptures describe the condition of the world just before Christ’s second coming. James the apostle pictures the greed and oppression that will prevail. He says: “Go to now, ye rich men. … Ye have heaped treasure 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, cried: 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. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.” James 5:1-6.

This is a picture of what exists today. “Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standees afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth failed; and he that departed from evil makes himself a prey.” Isaiah 59:14, 15. Even the church, which should be the pillar and ground of the truth, is found encouraging a selfish love of pleasure. When money is raised for religious purposes, to what means do many churches resort? To bazaars, suppers, fancy fairs, even to lotteries and like devices. Often the place set apart for God’s worship is desecrated by feasting and drinking, buying, selling, and merrymaking. Respect for the house of God and reverence for His worship are lessened in the minds of the youth. The barriers of self-restraint are weakened. Selfishness, appetite, the love of display, are appealed to, and they strengthen as they are indulged. –Testimony Treasures, vol. 3, pp. 327, 328.

Questions to think about:

How is the moral and the spiritual condition of the churches and the majority of church members today?

Do we concern ourselves today about our personal spiritual condition?

Are we ready to represent Christ by giving a good Christlike spiritual example not by words only, but by the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit within us in great measure?