St. Tammany farmer., 1903-04-18

tiOn of God in Genesis 6:3, My Spirit
shall not always strive with man."
And the unrestrained power of Satan
which will lead him to ''sit in the
temple of God, and shew himself that
he is God" What this will mean is
limited at in the Scriptures, and is
referred to as the time of the tribu-
lation. The expression ''hell on
earth" will then certainly have its
full realization. Human wisdom,
human virtue, humanitarianism, So
ciology, fraternalism, philanthropy
and all the other lauded bulwarks of
civilization will have their boasted
strength tested. The deceitfulness of
the human heart will be laid bare in
the presence of the unrestrained
power of the arch deceiver, for there
will be nothing then to hold him in
check. The human arm will be shown
to be too short and too weak to
w.restle with the arts and devices
and skill of the devil. Man is not yet
ready to give up the task of over
coming and controlling the evil in the
world. He still thinks he can sue
ceed and will ultimately triumph, but
if one will be honest with himself and
read the newspapers he will have to
admit that there are no present indi
cations that success is any nearer
than when the Babelites sought to
build to Heaven and link the two in
lasting union. But in the time of the
tribulation the power of Satan
will be manifested and realized, and
man will see the utter folly of hop
ing to forge the chains which will
bind him. Christ forged the chains
during His forty days in the wilder
ness which alone are strong enough
to bind Satan, and when He returns
at the end of the tribulation period
to rule with His saints over the
world the chains will be put into full
use and Satan will be bound. John
in prophetic vision saw this when he
wrote: "And I saw an angel come
down from Heaven, having the key of
the bottomless pit and great chain
in his hand. And he laid hold on the
dragon, that old serpent, which is the
devil, and Satan, apd bound him
thousand years, and cast him into
the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set Q seal upon him, that he
should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be full
filed" That will mark the dawning
of new day for the world. But
the midnight must yet come bringing
in the woes of tribulation before the
millennial age can come.
E1HE Christians Midnight.-It is
lA9 bright with hope. 1t is filled
with joy, for its stiffness will be
broken by the shout of triumph of
the descending Lord; it will ring with
the heavenly voice of the archangel,
it will thrill with the awakening
trump of God. The bride longs for
the return of the bridegroom and re-
joices exceedingly when she hears his
hurried tread and feels his love clasp
about her. The church, made up Of
the true believers, by whatever name
or denomination called, is the bride
of Jesus Christ. She is expectant Of
her coming Lord. Her JOY will bo
complete when He does come and
takes her to be forever with Him.
Resting upon the promises of God, az
the midnight darkness draws near,
her heart can swell with music and
she can sing:
'"Thou art coming, o my Saviour!
Thou art coming, o my King!
In Thy beauty all-resplendent.
In Thy glory all-transcendent:
Well may we rejoice and sing!
Coming! In the opening east.
Herald brightness slowly swells:
Coming! Q my glorious Priest,
Hear we not Thy golden bells?
'"Thou art coming! Thou art coming!
We shall meet Thee on Thy way, g
We shall see Thee, We shall know Thee,
We shall bless Thee, we shall show Thee
All our hearts could never say!
What an anthem that Will be,
Ringing out our love to Thee,
Pouring out cur rapture sweet
At Thine own all-glorjous feet!
"Thou art coming! We are waiting
With a hope that cannot fail; "
Asking not the day or hour,
Resting on Thy word of power
Anchored safe within the veil.
Time appointed may be long,
But the vision must be sure:
Certainty shau make US strong,
Joyful patience can endure!