Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1912-02-15

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conqueror Of Medo- Persia. third, th,
belly of brass; and Rome. fourth, tn
strong kingdom, the iron and ella,
mixed feet Of the image. The mixtur,
of iron and clay represents the unholy
alliance of church aud state which WI
pass over noting that as iron and clay
will not blend, neither can the Chris
tian religion be made successfully {
political affair.
From Gods standpoint we have an
other view of these four world em.
pires as seen by the beloved Daniel. =
9t:S, etc. Here they are likened tC
our wild beasts, diverse from each
other, Babylon represented by lion,
Medo- Persia the bear, Greece the ieop-
ard, and the fourth beast representing
Rome was so ferocious and terrible
that nothing in the animal Kingdom
could be found by which 10 Hken it,
Glance now at the descending scale IT
these GENTLE governments Medic
Persia tsilver), though inferior con-
quered Babylon the head of gold, and
SO on until Rome, the mixture of iron
and clay, became mistress of the
world. This downward course Of
earth's government Is also seen in the
vision of the -four beasts in that a
lion is superior to a bear. and bear
| to leopard, and all to be less feared
than the fourth beast dreadful and
terrible, representing Rome This
beastly character is very noticeable in
the nations of Europe the remains of
the Roman Empire, as represented in
the ten toes OF the image. These gov
ernmente, and in fact, all so-called
Christian nations are bristling with
guns and swords ready to devour each
other. The national resources are
drained to increase these while the
people are restless, clamorous and
starving Now, what do we learn
from this Referring to what we have
pointed out. viz, that Satan is the
''god of this world" who 'works in
the hearts of the children of disobedi-
ence, taking men ''captive at his
will, z we are not surprised at the
downward course of human affairs.
We are not surprised by the failure of
men to establish a righteous govern
ment. one able to uplift and do justice
by all. though few men of noble
mind have given their lives to better
conditions Mans weaknesses are
enough in themselves to thwart his
best efforts to produce a perfect gov
'ernment, and Satan taking advantage
of these has made evil appear good
and good evil misrepresenting Gods
character and plan. Conceived in sin
and reared in iniquity, prone to sin
as the sparks to fly upward, so that
there is none righteous, we are not
surprised that mans course has been |
downward, "evil and that continual
ly."
But. gloomy as Is the picture may
appear, the cloud has silver lining.
Prince Satan is to be dethroned The
iron, the clay. the brass, the gold /
representing his divisions of empire)
are to be broken in pieces together
and scattered like the chaff of sum
mer threshing- floor No place shall |
be found for it. As a great milestone
cast into the sea it shall be found no
more at all This is declared in the T
vision, and in Daniels Interpretation
thereof above quoted. The stone which
was cut out of the mountain without
hands is to break and scatter to the
winds of Oblivion the beastly govern
ments of earth dominated by Prince
Satan through fallen human agencies /
4
is to fill the whole earth and stand for
ever. During this Gospel Age this
'stone" Kingdom is being formed,
'cut out, carved and fitted not by
human hands but by the invisible
power of God When complete it will
fall heavily and smite and destroy the
of this world, as shown in
the feet and toes of the image Not
the people, but the systems-symboliz-
ed by the image-are to be obliterated
that the people may be delivered. Our
Lord came not to destroy mems lives,
but to save them. --Jno. 3:17 This
Kingdom variously symbolized by
stone is ''The Church of the Living
God whose names are written in heav- |
an. /" As the Scrintures say, they are |
not of the world, though living in it.
The world knows them not. even as it
knew him not. The members of this
Church are not in politics. Even as {
our Lord and Apostles kept separate
from the world and lusted not for
1lace and power and accumulated no
SO these properly instructed
become of no reputation and learning J
;he lessons of life, they are content !
md subject. to the powers that be,
these to be of Gods ordina- s
ion for the present. They know that s
his ordination is for fixed time, the !
lines of the Gentiles, and they know |
hat these times will not expire until
lie come whose right Ii Is to take the
Kingdom. They know that this
mighty one, this stone cut out without i
'eing in hands. is not the Socialist
'arty, nor indeed, any human party, r
mt that it will be composed Of the f
.lorified Christ and His body mem b
ers. They know that their main bus o
ness is to mind their own business, {
evelop character and prepare to be I.
lings and priests in the next age c
yes, they know that the exceeding s.
readful beast which brake and stamp f
d the residue with his feet and wore &
ut the saints is to be destroyed, and T.
hat Christ will supercede Satan in f
he control of earth affairs, and that b
II dominions shall serve and obey \
i'm. They know that if faithful they a
hall reign with him ON earth a thous Il
nd years, hence they are willing to
bide his time. Finally they know o
nat Gods ''times and seasons" cannot
9 changed. Coming to the Word,
hey know that God has q time for ev-
rything, Ia time to SOW and time c
> reap, a time to pluck up and time t,