Democratic messenger., 1905-07-22


mouths. The man who had the pet
dog was extending piece of bread to-
ward the dog. There he was stretch
ing forth his hand. and as DR.. Butler
said: The dogs mouth was opened
and his dead face had on il the ex.
preston: Give me some more. Come.
master. give me some more" Yes,
the lightning has speed swifter than
any seven leagued boots. 1t goes SO
fast that II seems to go everywhere
at once. and then 1t is gone.
When Christ shall come to earth the
second time he will not only come with
the glory OF the lightning. but with the
velocity of the lightning. He will come
quicker than the winds, quicker than
the gasp of your breath. He will not
come as an ordinary human visitor He
will fash before you as an electric
spark. Could the suddenness Of Christ's
coming be pictured more vividly: Some
years ago | was standing upon the ho-
tel piazza in Waynesburg. w. Va.
watching magnificent thunderstorm.
Suddenly great ball of fire seemed
TO alight upon the caves at the end of
the porch. With a jump | leaped clear
across the porch and into the hallway
of the hotel. Then, with nervous
laugh. ] turned in the hall and went
out again upon the piazza. Why" l
said To myself, IF that lightning had
ever hit me il would have struck me
before | knew it. In an instant
would have been dead" There was no
more need of my jumping than there
was need of the soldier boy of the late
civil war squirming behind the trench
es when he heard the shell singing over
his head. If that shell was to kill him
it would kill him before he could hear
it sing. The lightning comes in flash.
In il flash shall the second coming of
the Son of man be-"
The glory of the lightning is over
powering The suddenness of its ap-
pearance is startling But the univer-
salty of the electric atmospheric
forces and currents is just as sugges
tive in its divine Significance. How
this electric power gets into the at
mosphere no scientist has ever yet
been able to explain. There are many
theories. but theories are not necessa-
rily facts. The scientists cannot posi-
lively tell us why the electric sub
stances are in the atmosphere any
more than they can positively state
what causes an earthquake or why
Mount Nesuvius and gigantic XII
auca. the greatest of all volcanoes,
have their vomiting spells. But this
fact we do knOw-every where in the
atmosphere are these electric forces
Thus when two mighty storm clouds
drift toward one another one seems to
be filled with the positive forces of
electricity and the other seems to be
filled with the negative forces of cleo
tricity. Then these two forces leap to
gether Oh account of their atfinities
Then there is "a flash. and the explosion
soon follows. Thus we find the causes
Of electricity everywhere. When the
divine lightning shall appear at the
second advent. 1t will not be Christ
coming To any one place or to any one
people. 1t will be universal appear
ance of Christ. The second advent
shall be seen everywhere at once.
In Palace and Hut
Away up in the arctics among the
polar bears and the spoutng whales
and the obelisks of ice the Esk in
the untanned skins shall see him.
Down among the beautiful flowers of
the tropics. amid the scented air
within sound of the prima donnas Of
the woods. the black man of the At
rican forests shall see him. In the
temperate zone the king shall see him
at his palace door and the poor man In
his hut. Then ''the glory of the Lord
shall cover the earth. even as the wa
ters cover the seas Yes. yes; the
SECOND coming of Jesus Christ shall
not be hemmed in by any one race or
by any one people or by any one cline
Christ. like the electric forces in the
air. shall be seen everywhere at once.
Christ shall come as Il universal mas
ter, for God has given him name,
which is above every name; that at
the name of Jesus every knee should
bow OF things i'm heaven and things on
earth and things under the earth. that
every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. to the glory of God the |
Father
Christ will come TO earth No doubt
is there about the second advent. But
why Is Christ to come to earth? Let
us ask the lightning and ask Christ |
their missions. look up and cry, 20 |
lightning. what is thy mission?" III
hear it say: My mission is to empty |
yonder clouds of their moisture. See |
me strike. See the rain beating down |
into the valleys below. See how am |
purifying and clarifying the atmos-
phere." So when l cry. 20 Christ. |
for what purpose art thou coming to
earth:" | hear Jesus say: Il am COM
ing to claim my own. Yes. as the |
lightning shines ont of the darkness |
OF the night and the black cloud of the |
day. so out of the blackness OF your |
sins. man. am coming to bring sal |
vatiOn and eternal life
Cannot you and l take Christ at his |