The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-11-21

nanity, ana leads ie anthen. GIo
to cod me Highe nd "a earth
5ipeaces good VIII toward men
The Scriptures do not inform Of
where Satan WILDE during the period
OF his bondage. during the period Of his
restraint from doing eyl-during the
Thousand years of Messiahs Reign: 1t
merely informs us that at the conclu.
sion Of that period he will be loosed
again, that he may bring a trial and a
test upon the human family. ~thenHper-
feet in the flesh. Their number. we
are told, will be as the sand of the
seashore-a world full. They all will
have enjoyed the full benefit Of Mes
siah's Reign-Restitu1on to all that
was lost-to full human perfection,
The earth, brought to perfection. will
be as the Garden of Eden-the Garden
Of the Lord. Paradise restored
Why VIII Satan Be Loosed?
The Bible answer is that God de
sires to prove. TO test. all of the hu-
man family. They will have had a
knowledge of sin. a knowledge of
Gods goodness, a knowledge of human
recovery from sin and death. But the
question which God would decide with
them is, Have they Sc learned the les
son of the sinfuIness Of sin and the
bitterness Of its results that they would
} hate sin and love righteousness-that
they would be obedient to God, trust.
ing Him where they could trace Him
and where they could not? Any who
after all the experiences they will have
passed through would not be absolute
~ loyal TO the Lord to the very core
in word, in deed and in thought, would
not be ACKNOWLEDGMENT not be
worthy OF eternal life, which God pur-
noses only for those who have demon
strated fully established characters in
harmony with the Creators.
All Will Be Tested.
AS 10 the nature Of the test We are
not informed. We are merely told that
Satan will be loosed that lie may tempt
all mankind. We may be sure that
the temptations will be along the lines
OF full submission to the Divine will.
The Scriptures imply that when Mes
slab shall deliver up the Kingdom at
the close Of the Millennium the govern
ment Of the world will become a Re
public, in which ench person is a king.
and one Of these kings chosen by vote
to be the Administrator OF the affairs
Of the Government.
Let lis suppose as an illustration that
mankind would be expecting such a
change of government Mt Il particular
time. Let us suppose that God had nj
lowed them 10 misunderstood some fea-
ture OF Ills Plan and thus to expect the
change Of government at the wrong
time. Here would be an opportunity
for IL test upon all. A question would
arise which would tend to cause a d.
vision amongst all mankind. Some
might be inclined to say, The time for
the change has come. and it should he
made: and those who are retaining
the government are III error. So be-
lieving, they might make n demand
upon the Gnrthly representatives of the
Divine Government that transfer
should be made, and that the world
should become q republic instead OF re-
manning a theocracy.
Others Of mankind might say. Nay:
we are debtors to God for all that we
have. We may have misunderstood
the time or some feature Of the Divine
purpose in respect to the time OF the
change In the government of the
world, but we are veEy Happy. very,
thankful to God. very appreciatiye of
the blessings VIC are enjoying. If God
wishes 10 make n change in the gov
eminent, well and good. If God wishes
that the present government shall hold
over Indefinitely. all well and good.
We refuse to join with those who are
proposing n demand for the transfer
Of the government.
Something Of this kind would seem
to be implied in the fgurative express
sions OF Revelation 900. THE camp Of
The saints AMI the Beloved City" would
seem to rppresen; tie earthly phase of
the Kingdom. ana he cat0M2asslng OF
tile can't, wUu!l Sla::l 10 imply Il pro
test. Saeh IL division Of sentiment
would show clearly how many Ind
! runySleamcl to,rommit everything to
God a1idGto ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Di-
vine supervision Of their affairs. and
how many, after all the great lessons
Of sever thousand years, would still
be inclined to take matters into their
own handS-world-wide.
Destruction Of Satan and All Gods
Enemies.
The denoncment here and elsewhere
pictured Is that there came down fire
from Heaven and devourcd them-Sh-
tan and all those who took the side Of
self-will and who indicated Il measure
Of disloyalty and unfaithfulness.
Many are the Scriptures which seem
to tell US Of the final destruction of
Satan; as, for instance, Romans 1920,
which declares that God will ultimate