The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1912-06-21

faith structure Of wood. hay and stebble-
false doctrines and theories Of their own
and of other men-will be saved because
they built upon the Rock Christ Jesus.
But he adds, ''They will be saved so as
by fire''-saved through fiery experien-
ces. Search as we will we find no refer
ence to any such sufferings after death
and before the resurrection. Thus we see
that the Apostle is in full harmony with
what the Bible everywhere teaches, that
the dead are not consciously alive to ex-
perience either joy or suffering between
the time Of death and the resurrection.
They all ''sleep in the dust of the EARTH"
awaiting the awakening of their souls in
the glorious morning of the New Age.
st. Peter says. '"rbink it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you, as though some strange thing hap
pened unto you.' Here again he is not
speaking of purgatorial experience in
the present life. God could protect his
children from sorrow, woe, trouble, from
Satan's darts, but He permits these fiery
trials to test their faith and loyalty.
Did not Jesus have purgatorial exper-
iences-not to purge away ain, for he had
none--being 'holy, harmless. indebted
and separate from sinners''-but to DEM
onstrate his loyalty to God; as the Apos-
tie said, HE was obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross" And die
not the Apostles have purgatorlal exper-
L. oh
all need? But none are tried or tempted
beyond that they can bear-"My gaace is
sufficient for thee" The picture is, our
Lord sits as Refiner and Purifier OF sill
yer TO take from us the dross and to pur-
ify us as New Creatures in Christ Jesus,
and to make us ready for the Kingdom.
The Apostle declares Of the church, that
if we Judge our own conduct, criticize
ourselves for errors, we will not need to
be chastened with fiery trials by the Lord.
But if we become careless or neglect to so
do. the Lord will give us fiery trials, to
the intent that we may not be condemned
with the world.
In the above the word world, we under
stand, means all outside the Church, both
Jews and Gentiles. The Church is COM
posed, not of any sect or party, but of all
those who have come into covenant-rela-
tionship with the Father through faith in
the Lord Jesus, and full conservation of
their lives to walk in His steps. The re-
ward of the Church will be joint
with the Savior in His Kingdom, for
which we pray, ''Thy Kingdom come"
The Bible teaches us that shortly the
Kingdom will be established in the midst
of great ''time Of trouble" and that
through its blessed reign of righteousness
the whole world will be blessed with
light, with knowledge, with opportunity
a period which ST. Peter styles, Times
of restitution of all things" etc.
God has blessings in store for the world
under Messiah's kingdom, but the Church
is being dealt with first, because it is the
divine declaration that the Church shall
share with Jesus in judging the world, in
giving the world purgatorial experiences
which will be uplifting.
The Great Time of Trouble, which is to
occur about the time of the completion OF
the Church, will be the beginning of the
| worlds purgatorial experience. Hearken
to Jesus words, "Watch ye disciples,
| therefore, that We may be counted worthy
to escape all those t. ings coming upon
the world" Describing those things our
Lord said, "Men's hearts will be failing
them for fear and for looking after those
| things which are coming upon the earth,
| for the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken"
Surely mems hearts are failing them as
socialism and anarchism and the threat
enings of these waves of the sea-" Many
of the rich and great are looking to the
nominal church at this time, hoping that
as of yore ecclesiasticism will be able to
control the masses. But ali, it will be
different now; for, as the Master said
1.-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 becoming more
and more empty, that collections are fall
ing off and retrenchment must be the
order of the day or ruin will result.
st. Peter refers to the coming trouble,
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
great noise"-a great commOtion. Not
the physical earth will burn, but the So
cial earth; not the physical heavens, but
the ecclesiastical heavens.
The great and rich, in their haste for
wealth, have failed to notice that the
churches of all denominations have lost
their power over the masses, and now
''their hearts fail them for fear" as they
come to see the weakness of ecclesiastical
power as compared with the strength of
socialism and anarchism amongst the
masses. But the Bible clearly shows that
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