Centre Hall reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1868-1871, 1871-01-20
Letter from the Loop,
I.oor, JAS. 9th 1871

nj Rock Grove. by Rev. Hurst, Text
Revelation, 26th Chapter 10th verse
"And he gathered them together into a
place called in the Hebrew tongue
Armngcddnn.'
FRIENDS, would rather speak toI
you in my notivetongue but by request,
| will speak Englishl although you
cannot expect ihe TO speak MS plainly
as would otherwise. There is n di
versity Of opinion at present, cnncer'
ming the signs of the times, and the
Specification of the scripture, ann
aware of the fact that my opinion doe'
NOT meet the appreciation OF the malori
~ of the people, but, | claim the right,
as laborer in the vineyard of my
divine master, 20 hold my ol inions sa
cred and give you the liberty To think
as you please Ifyou and differ that
does not make us better nor worse,
The above were his introductory re-
marks. and in order 10 condense the
matter rs much rs possible, | must
omit many things which he said.
The human family is divided into three
general classes, viz; Christian, Mo
hammedan and Catholic; 10 the Chris
tian church belongs the duty of en-
| Tightening the Mol,nmmedan, aud the
Catholic church, in her power sways
the scepter of seetionalism and wlelds
her influence in the Old World 10 the
detriment of the true principles Of
Ichristianity and the effects thereof are
even manifest in our own country. The
religion Of Jesus Christ is the only true
religion and TO il we owe all we have.
life, liberty aud all the blessings We
enjoy. The term Armageddon signifies
"a place of great slaughter. The ma
tives of the earth, Cog and Magng,
shall be engaged in terrible conflict,
Iall of them riding upon horses. a great
company, mighty army as cloud o
lcover the land il shall be in the latter
ldays, every mans sword shall be
Iagainst his brother, That the signs OF
1.-The times Indicate speedy dissolution
of things mundane, is evident from the
fact that prophecy is being fulfilled,
that nation is turned against nation,
the kings Of the earth are at variance
with each other, and every mans hand
is turned against his brother, and the
whole world is likely to be involved in
a general war. Earthquakes, wars
aud rumors of wars have come TO pas.
and | believe the sixth seal is about
being opened, that the heavens will
depart asa scroll that is rolled together
land the kings of the earth and all the
mighty men of valor, every bond man
and every free man will hide himself il
: the dens, and in the rocks of the noun
, tains, and say TO them, Fall on us and
hide us from the face of him that sit
teth upon the throne and from the
4 wrath of the land you may think ]
r do not know what Isny and people will
tell YOU not 50 believe me, but before
4 six months have elapsed you may be
hold these things for yourselves, and
4 realize that God, in his wrath will, in
: sist On the fulfllment of prophecy .
That this battle will take place il
: evident from the factthat God revealed
it to the revelator, the exact localit,
I of Amageddon is moi known. eminen
men are of the opinion that il is th'
: valley Of the Mississippi, but heliev'
Q the great battle will be before the cit,
: of Jerusalem, and it seems that all tn
contending armies are tending in tina
direction.
THAT the struggle will take plac,
soon is evident from the fact that mer
despite the labors of the ministry ant
! the influence Of the Christian church
! are growing worse, aud the world hat
become one vast sink.hole Of iniquity
/, II is a hard matter to find true chile
!. of God, men worship false gods anS
- unite themselves with the church from
!, motives of scliinterest Professors o
religion are not all Christians an,
- pretend 10 serve God from selfish mo
2 lives. Pride, too, has taken n seat il
i the church. Thirty years ago coul'
e tell Methodist minister by his clothes
c Distinguish Methodist now, If yol
s please, from a member of any othe
i denomination by his apparel. The,
Is all love fine clothes and live up to th
e customs of the day whether right o
5 wrong. They, too, instead Of preach
n ing Christ. preached war aud destruc
ton to the rebles by which our countr,
!. was divided and many lives lost, an,
h they told the people God would bles
e them for it, Other denomination
1t have n stiff system of formality b,
y which they pretend TO worship, thei
/ doctrines. Once in grace always il
7 grace, not being in accordance witt
? ? the letter of the gospel. can not hav
any good influence.
"Most preachers preach for none,
r exclusively now. Their immens
a salaries are but incentives TO preacl
for money and not for the good o
IS souls. have preached for nine year
: at a salary of about thirty.fve dollar
d per year and | live comfortably. Peo
r pie will tell you / come to preach 70
: money, but ] beg leave to be excused
Il Of any such motives. do not preacl
& for money. but as winter is near | neet
n money too and would be thankful j
It you gave me some" 4 collection wa
d held and the sum of forty cents wa
r received which was given him and b.
: went on his way rejoicing. These ar
: the principal points ofhis sermon ant
| now proceed to comment upon them
From the interest manifested in III,
7 cause which he has espoused, | believ,
: the man is honest and expresses Iii
: true sentiments. The Revelation i
: fraught with much mystery to man anC
columns of commentaries upon thii
subject have been written by eminent
ministers and no two exactly agree
Many useful inventions ware reserved
. for men whose lives were enveloped in
obscurity, and may il not have been
, reserved for this man, who now rises
|. as it were from some remote region, &c
explain the mysteries of at least some
portion of divine writ
{ But we find one objection to his
|, sermon. II was not reserved for any