The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-11-04

2.-1A ] write unto you.
lRASIQR. Rgs&lD) for yourselves
n rs - Know perfectly
that the day Of the Lord SO cometh rs
thief In the night; for when they
shall say. Peace and safety. then sud.
den destruction cometh upon them. as
travail upon a woman with child, and
they shall not eschpe. But ye. breth-
ren. nre not in d,skness that that day
should overtake y0u rs n thief; We are
children Of the lIglt."-I ThessaIonians
Y, 10.
The common tendency Of the human
mind Is expressed by st. Peter. who
prophesles OF the present time that the
worldly will be saying. Where Is
the promise Of His presence? -. :
All things continue rs they were from
the foundation OF the world" lgnor.
ance of Gods Plan is to be expected of
the world. but the true people of God
have the promise Of Ills special In.
structlon SO that they need not be in
darkness respecting the Divine Pro.
gram. -.
Our world for six thousand years
has been the battle field between the
forces of light and darkness. truth and
error. righteousness and sin; the
Prince of Darkness. otherwise styled
the Prince Of this world" has led his
forces in person. and hns controlled
the masses and Is still controlling
them. The Prince OF Light Is repre-
scented In feeble way by ambassa-
doris who are specially cautioned by
Him that they must not use carnal
weapons nor cnrnal methods. but must
In mcekneSs correct those who oppose
them. They must be subject to .".the
powers TINT be" to the extent that
their consclcnccs will permit. and so
far rs possible live penceably with alI
men.
This experience of subsection to the
powers Of evil has been n hard lesson.
difficult to learn: n trial Of faith us well
as Of endurance. the value of which
has been difficult sometimes to appre.
ciate. But these must walk by faith
and not by sight II they would please
the Captain Of their salvation. For
centuries the prayer has gone up to
God from their hearts. "How long. 0
Lord!" Reason assures them that It
cannot be the Divine purpose to for
ever permit the victory of sin aud
death under the Prince Of Darkness.
Flowing, Sowing, Reapins.
God represents Himself as great
Husbandman. Each Age Is season.
and bears Its own crop. Each Age has
Its own time for the plowlng OF the
field. the sowing Of the good seed, and
the harvest work. AS Bible students
We have already noted the work nc.
complished in the Age which ended
with the food. the different work nc
complished during the Patriarchnl Age.
and the still different work accom-.
plished during the Jewish Age. which
lasted from the death Of Jacob. and
particularly from the giving OF the
Law. down to the death of Jesus.
Our Lords ministry Of three and n
half years was n harvest time to the
Jewish people in the close Of their Age
Of favor or "day Of visitation" He
said to His disciples. ~ send you forth
to reap that wherein, ye bestowed no
labor: other men labored and ye 'nre
entered into their labors.": (John ".
49,, The blowing and sowing connect.
ed with the Jewish Dispensation was
In the far past. The Egyptian bon.
dage served. to do blowing work. as
nlso lsrael's escape from that bondage
and the forty years of wandering In
the wilderness before they reached
Canaan. The giving Of the Law aud
the establishment of them ns people.
the lessons OF their sacrifices. and the
exhortation Of their Prophets. all con-
stltuted n seed-sowlng. narrowing and
cultivating experience. In the end OF
their Age Jesus gathered the ripe fruit
age of that expcrlence-those sunctl-
fed thereby and developed In charac.
Ter and obedience to God.
The crop gathered by our Lord and
The Apostles In the Jewish harvest
numbered thousands. These were gath.
cred out OF Judaism and from under
the Law Covenant into Christianity
gathered under Covenant applying
only to the Church which IL tho Ro,Iv