The Only Solution

TimeWatch Editorial
February 04, 2016

It is truly amazing to see the general lack of informed response to the many difficulties that surround us today. Those who do respond at all seem convinced that political or economic adjustment will provide a sufficient answer to the issues we face. The economic uncertainty that has hammered the global markets at the opening of the year 2016 began long before. The Federal Reserve of the United States has been engaged in a project named Quantitative Easing. What is Quantitative Easing? It is the policy of the Fed to pump large quantities of money into the market, in an attempt to stimulate growth. The rate at which this has been done during the past three to five years is approximately 85 billion dollars per month. That’s right, per month. The growth that has been observed then has been temporary and generally a mirage, since it has been bolstered by a fraudulent background. Now that the printing of dollars for the Quantitative Easing program has been cut back general uncertainty has returned.

Another issue that has challenged mankind today is the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots. Some have described it as the death of the middle class. Comparatively, the wealth of the richest 1% is now equal to the wealth of the other 99% combined. These privileged groups are the beneficiaries of incredible tax-breaks, allowed to place their money in tax-havens overseas, and receive large tax returns having paid not one penny in taxes. Meanwhile, the burden is carried by those who have little, who are paid little in exchange for their labor. There are those who are genuinely angered by the condition of things, and who express the need to revamp the political system in such a way as to address the inequities of the situation. Unfortunately, even if these persons were allowed the opportunity to change the system, soon greed and lust would also find a way to continue the inequities. The problem therefore is not political in nature, but of the heart. Listen to how the times are described in the book Counsels for the Church, page 37.

“The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails. The enemy has succeeded in perverting justice and in filling men's hearts with the desire for selfish gain. "Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter." Isaiah 59:14. In the great cities there are multitudes living in poverty and wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of food, shelter, and clothing; while in the same cities are those who have more than heart could wish, who live luxuriously, spending their money on richly furnished houses, on personal adornment, or worse still, upon the gratification of sensual appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and other things that destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase the soul. The cries of starving humanity are coming up before God, while by every species of oppression and extortion men are piling up colossal fortunes.” {Counsels for the Church 37.3}

So what is the counsel received as to the means of correcting these imbalances? See the same book, page 314.

“The government under which Jesus lived was corrupt and oppressive; on every hand were crying abuses—extortion, intolerance, and grinding cruelty. Yet the Saviour attempted no civil reforms. He attacked no national abuses, nor condemned the national enemies. He did not interfere with the authority or administration of those in power. He who was our example kept aloof from earthly governments. Not because He was indifferent to the woes of men, but because the remedy did not lie in merely human and external measures. To be efficient, the cure must reach men individually, and must regenerate the heart.” {Counsels for the Church 314.4}

It will be difficult for some to accept the position taken by Christ in these matters. The activist mentality has driven many to public protest and political aspiration. But all this has proven in the past to be of no avail, and will also proof true in the future. Libertarianism, Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, are all beset with varied elements of the same greed driven corruption, there is but one solution.

“Again and again Christ had been asked to decide legal and political questions. But He refused to interfere in temporal matters. Christ stood in our world as the Head of the great spiritual kingdom that He came to our world to establish—the kingdom of righteousness. His teaching made plain the ennobling, sanctifying principles that govern this kingdom. He showed that justice and mercy and love are the controlling powers in Jehovah's kingdom.” {Counsels for the Church 314.5}

It is the heart that is in need of restoration. That will occur only through the work of the Holy Spirit. Things will worsen as we go forward. Let us be prepared for what is to come. Adventist Home puts it best.

“Satan is marshaling his hosts; and are we individually prepared for the fearful conflict that is just before us? Are we preparing our children for the great crisis? Are we preparing ourselves and our households to understand the position of our adversaries and their modes of warfare? Are our children forming habits of decision, that they may be firm and unyielding in every matter of principle and duty? I pray that we all may understand the signs of the times, and that we may so prepare ourselves and our children that in the time of conflict God may be our refuge and defense.” {AH 186.2}

Cameron A. Bowen