The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1899-06-23

would have had no application, But
spoken In those eventful DAYS to men of
Judea, his own brethren In the flesh who
we're expecting the advent OF the Messi-
ali, who knew the prophets and gloried
IN the Kingdom Of David, TO the men who
had crucified the Lord of glory, it was q
sharp arrow piercing to the dividing
asunder OF soul, and spirit, discerning
the thoughts and fntenUs Of the heart.
All parts of the sermon lead up to
Christ cruesfied, risen and ascended.
me facts, reasoning quotations, reproofs,
axhortag1ons, all point to one central OBJ
iect, the Lord Jesus Christ. Without
Christ as the subject matter and end of
the sermon it would go out in darkness.
But in the simple treatment of the Apos-
tie the Lord Jesus stands out to the
soul's view with great distinetness In his
work and office. He appeals to the mir
9eles wrought by Christ as proof of his
Divine mission. He points to his betrayal
ana passion. He proves his resurrection
from the dead by the testimony OF the
Twelve, and the signs and wonders they
we're witnessing. And he brings home
20 them the cruclfixiOn that they NAV re-
pent and turn to him for the washing
away of their sins and the reception Of
the Holy Ghost.
He oisplays striking knowledge of
Scripture. The descent of the Holy
Spirit. the death of Christ, his soiourn in
the spirit world, his ascension to the
right hand of God, bis office as Christ
and Lord are proved and illustrated by
the lnfallible warrants of the Old Tesla
ment. The hidden meaning of the word
OF God, its prophetic Weldon, its MOI
blessed revelations are all brought forth
to enrich his discourse and give depth
and solidity to his utterance. This
| teaches that thorough knowledge of
Scripture is needed for all who would
| meet with success in the work of build
i: & up the spiritual life of the church.
In the study OF this sermon there is
one pa sage that has given students es-
pecial difficulty. It has been easy to in
terpret the fret part in regard to the out
pouring of the Spirit upon young and
old. but the expression In regard to the
turning OF the sunginto darkness and the
moon into blood ha- not been so easily
explained. 1t has seemed to some as If
a description of the general judgement
and OF the end of the world was intend
ed in connection with the commencement
of the Christian dispeusation. II we
give the words literal Interpretation,
we must consider them in this light
But | think that the usage of Scripture
permits US to interpret them in a fgura-
tive way. The highly wrought descrip-
tons in the Old Testament seem to allow
such an application. The words sun and
moon seem to be used not literally, but
Of Kingdoms, monarchies and earthly
rulers. In Isaiah, 34th chapter, we have
description Of the punishment Of the
land of Idumea for their sins. 1t was a
land of idolatry. Il was country Otter
arrayed against the people of the Lord,
often delighting in the opportunity of H.
juring the children Of Israel. The pro
phet declares that they shall be punish
ed In giving description of their over.
throw he employs imagery substantially
Identical with that used in the text The
nations are invited to harken and then
the prophet goes on to say "And all the
host of heaven shall be dissolved, and
the heavens shall be rolled together
as scroll, and all their host shall
fall down as the leaf falleth from
the vine, and as falling fig from the
tree. For my sword shall be bathed in
blood, behold it shall come down upon
Idumea and upon the people Of my curse
to judgement"
In Ezekiel XXXII, we have similar
language applied TO the overthrow OF
Egypt. The command is to take ND a
for Pharaoh, and say unto
him: "Thus said the Lord, will spread
out my net over thee with the company
of many people. | will lay thy flesh up
on the mountains, and will fill the valleys
with thy lights, will also water with
thy blood the land wherein thou swimest
even to the mountains, and the rivers
shall be full of thee, and when put thee
out [ will cover the heaven and make
the stars thereof dark, will cover the
sun with cloud and the moon shall not
give her light. All the bright lights of
Ir1 u 1rLr- u
set darkness upon thy land" Here all
the array of apocslyptic vision is used
by the prophet to describe the over
throw of heather powers and empires
kings and rulers because of
their conspicuousness are compared to
the sun, and when overthrown it ia
LIKE THE EXTINCTION OF THE HEAVENLY
BODIES.
Now II we turn to Matthew "a, we
shall find similar language applied tu the
overthrow and conclusion of the Mosaic
Christ said to his disciples,
"Seest thou this temple, there snail not
be left one stone upon another The
disciples ask him, when shall these
things be and what shall be the sign of
thy coming and Of the end of the world"
Here are two disti ct questions.
L. WIN reference TO the obstruction OF
Jerusalem.
II. The coming of Christ and the gen.
era1 Judgement.
In speaking of the former he EMPLOYS
language almost similar to that already
quoted. Immediately after the tribu-
lation of those days, shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give
her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven and the powers of hea ven be
shaken" Then after these vivid descrip.
tons it is added, s"Verily / say unto you
this generation shall not pass away I'M
til all these things be fulfilled" A skei
tical acquaintance Of mine reading this
description once came to me and giving
Ii the most obvious Interpretation, said
that he found in it contradiction. The
general Judgement. he said, is plainly
represented as coming in the immediate
time of Christ. Evidently it did not
come, therefore the Scriptures are con-
vieted of Misrepresentation. II we bear
in mind that Christ ia here using the
symbols of the Old Testament to repre-
sent the destruction Of the Jewish temple
and nation, the apparent contradictions
will disappear. So with the words of
Peter quoted from the prophet Joel,
They should De interpreted aguratively
as indicating the passing away of the old
dispensation which for so many centuries
bad been the light of the world, and the
introduction Of the greater glory Of the
Christian church.
This is after all the great central