Perilous Times — J. C. Ryle
2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come! For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
The subject which forms the title of this paper, deserves very serious consideration. The passage of Scripture which heads this page is one which ought to make all Englishmen think.
Are we in “the last days” of which Paul speaks? Here is a picture of them drawn by the unerring hand of an inspired apostle. Do we see nothing like it in the world around us? Are we sure there is nothing like it in our own land at this very moment? These are very solemn questions. They ought to ring in our ears like the blast of a trumpet at midnight!
I am no prophet. I never forget that we are poor judges of our own days. I will not undertake to say positively that the end of the world is at hand. But I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that we live in very “perilous times.” I firmly believe that there has seldom been a period in the history of this country, when there has been so much to fill an Englishman’s mind with anxiety. Never, I am sure, has there been a period, when it was so necessary for every English Christian to stand to his arms, to be at his post, and to do his duty.
I. In the first place, I will show in what respect our times are specially “perilous.”
I am going to write things which will not please everybody. I am prepared for that. “If I yet pleased men — I would not be the servant of Christ.” Some will think me to be a foolish alarmist, and deny that there is any danger. Be it so. The faithful prophets are never popular. Wicked King Ahab said of the faithful prophet Micaiah, “I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil” (1 Kings 22. 8). None are so blind as those who will not see. Some will think me to be a gloomy, melancholy man, and charge me with ignoring the immense amount of good that is going on in the country. Be it so. Nothing is easier than to look at only one side of the account, and from that one side to draw a very wrong conclusion. No doubt there is a great amount of good, but side by side there is even a greater amount of evil. I stand to my point. Whether men will hear me or not, I say that here in England we are living in “perilous times.”
(a) The times are perilous in the matter of RELIGION. What are the facts?
Infidelity abounds. Multitudes of people in every part of the country seem to have totally cast off all religion. They go neither to Church nor Chapel. They openly sneer at the Bible, as an old-fashioned, defective book, and give God no place in their thoughts. Is not this perilous?
Romanism is increasing. Real Popery has revived, and extreme Ritualism is helping it. Multitudes of Churchmen are little better than Papists! They scoff at Protestantism and the Reformation. They delight in the very Popish ceremonial which our forefathers deliberately rejected. They avow their belief in the worst and most mischievous Popish doctrines, and boldly preach, teach, and defend them. Is not this perilous?
Indifferentism grows everywhere. Multitudes seem to care nothing about the distinctive doctrines of Christianity, and to perceive no difference between truth and error. Everybody is thought right — and nobody is wrong! It is thought that religion is “only a matter of words and names” — and it does not matter a jot what a man believes! Is not this perilous?
Religious divisions are painfully numerous. Every year they seem to increase and multiply. Between Church and Dissent — between High Church and Low Church and Broad Church — between Baptists and Pseudo-Baptists — between Plymouth Brethren and all other Christians — how vast the gulfs of separation! Yet division is a sure sign of weakness. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” English Christianity cannot stand much longer in its present rent, and torn, and convulsed condition. Surely this is perilous!
I go a step further.
(b) I say that the times are perilous in the matter of morality. What are the facts?
Look at the drunkenness of the times. In spite of Christianity, temperance, teetotalism, and education — we are a very intemperate people. The number of public-houses, gin-palaces, and beer-shops in every large town — tells a tale which cannot be mistaken. The sums of money spent in liquor and beer every year are perfectly astonishing! The testimony of judges and magistrates about the effects of drinking, as a main cause of crime, is enough to make one’s blood run cold. Is not this perilous?