The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1912-06-13

perceive That the Church Il to be dealt
with first because It is the Divine
declaration that the Church shall
share with Jesus In judging the world
in disciplining> the world, giving to
the world purgatorial experiences,
which will be helpful and uplifting
The GrtRt Time Of Trouble, which
our Lord declared should be expected
at about the time Of the completion Of
the Church, will be a time Of special
discipline upon the world-the begin
ming Of the worlds purgatorial expo
rience. Hearken to Jesus words,
watch ye disciples), therefore, that
We may be accounted worthy to es-
cape all those things coming upon the
world" Describing those things our
Lord said, mems hearts will be fail
Ing them for fear, and for looking
after those things which are coming
upon the earth, for the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken" Many of
us believe that we are in that very
time now. i
Tho Churches Have Lost Their Power.
Surely mems hearts are failing them
as they look about and see the surg
1ngs Of socialism and anarchism, and
the threatening Of these waves Of the
sea-" that they will ultimately swallow
up the present social order OF things.
MANY of the rich and great are looking
to the Church at this time, hoping that
as OF yore ecclesias1cism will be able
to control the masses. But ali, it will
be different now; for, as the Master
said, "The powers Of the heavens will
be shaken"-the ecclesiastical powers
will be shaken. From every side the
cry goes up that the churches are be-
coming more and more empty, that col
lect1ons are falling off and retrench-
ment must be the order Of the day or
, ruin will result.
st. Peter refers to the coming trou-
: BILE, under the symbolism Of fire, and
! declares that not only will it consume
the "earth," the social fabric, but the
heavens" also will be on fire and
. shall pass away with a great noise"-
! great commotion. Not the physical
!, earth will burn, but the social earth;
| not the physical heavens will burn, but
the ecclesiastical heavens
The great and the rich have been so
/ bustly engaged in amassing wealth
that they have not noticed until re-
Gently that the churches Of all denomi-
nations have lost their power over the
masses, and now their hearts fail
them for fear" as they come to per-
ce1Ve the weakness, the nothingness Of
ecclesiastical power as compared with
the strength Of socialism and anarchy
amongst the masses. No wonder their
hearts fail them for fear. Poor peo-
,, pie! How we wish we could make
clear to all the glorious prospects
which the Bible holds out--that out Of
this the most awful trouble Of the
worlds history, God gracfously intends
to bring the greatest blessing magma
BILE, the one for which we have been
praying so long
We are sure that the present Pope.
Plus x, who has taken such active
measures to repulse the higher critical
and evolutionary theories in the Cath
Ollie, church, would fully agree with our
sentiment when we say that many Of
the great and rich of our day have
been unwittingly helping forward in
the overthrow Of religious faith and in
the awakening Of socialistic infidelity.
They have given freely Of their mil
lions to the great colleges Of the land,
which in turn have fostered unbelief in
Gods Word, and indirectly unbelief in
a personal God. Their influence has
extended to all the principal pulpits Of
Professionalism and is rapidly percolat-
ing through the various strata Of Pro-
tcstant church membership. Thus the
churches and their treasures are being
, emptied and the number Of unbelievers
is being augmented daily, hourly.
Tho Worlds Purgatory Begins.
If time permitted we could marshal
many texts Of Scripture showing that
the time of awful trouble now impend-
I Ing Is In the nature of a Divine judg-
ment upon the people Of our day-be-
| cause we have not more wisely and
more generously used the present in
ventions and, blessings that have come
to US as foregleams Of the Messianic
Kingdom-because Of our sefishness.
! In this trouble, according to the Bible,
there will be general reckoning and
settlement Of accounts between Justice
and Humanity aside from the weak
| nesses and imperfections Of heredity,
which will be excusable and forgiven
| through the merit Of the Redeemer's
sacrifce).
The settlement Of accounts now will
leave the slate clear for the New Dis
| pensation. Furthermore, the plow-
| share Of trouble will prepare mems
hearts all over the world for the en-
lightenment and blessings which the
glorified Redeemer will shed abroad.
Since all human hearts are hard, self
fish through the fall, it seems quite
necessary that all should be broken,
humbled, but the glorified Redeemer--
both King and Priest Of that New