The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-09-08

rEgn1eOub, Nnn0ly. On Ut
who love Righteousness and hate In
iquity WIN be welcomed to associate
themselves under Messiatfs standard,
whether they be rich or poor. ihfflen.
tial or otherwise,
AZ Seen In Former TimssA
However strange It may appear to.
US now, a serious mislnterpretation Of
this very prophecy OF the Second
Psalm was made by our well.intentton.
ed f~orefathers. And that mislnterpre-
tation brought into the world a vast
amount Of trouble and persecution.
1t came to be generally believed that
the Redeemer would not, come TO set
up His Kingdom, to bind Satan and to
bless the world. A new theory rose,
gradually eliminating in the year 800
A. D. 1t claimed that the Church, be.
fore experiencing the resurrection
change at the Second Coming Of
Christ, was already the Kingdom OF.
God and fully authorized to reign. I'm
der this theory, missionary, work was
carried on with q vengeance. The
sword, the thumb.screw, the rack and
the stake. as we'll as the national wars,
were all considered proper agencies
for the enforcement Of the Christian
faith. This Second Psalm was espe
clally appealed to as the authorization
for such unchristian conduct.
1t was claimed that, although Jesus
was absent, His Church was author
lied to reign over the kingdoms of the,
earth, and to bring them into subJec.
tion. All kinds Of intrigue and scnenls
ling were considered to be juStihable
Ito the accomplishment Of the Divine
purpose: that Messiah through the
Church should conquer the world; that
the nations might he broken with u,
religious sceptre Of iron and dashed
Ito pieces, or plotted! against and torn
i'm pieces by their subjects, as might
he possible. The kings and the
Judges of.the earth who recognized the
IChurch as Messiah's Kingdom were
accounted wise. They must serve with
fear and literal trembling. On many
occasions verse u was quoted as a
wnrning to kings and TO princes that
they must keep in line with the be-
lhests Of the Church-kiss the son, a.
lclnImed' vice-Herent Of ChrIst-lest le
be angrysnnd they perish by the way.
As Revelation 20:1.5 tells us that the
Reign OF Messiah's Kingdom ia to be for
q thousand years, and that during that
time Satan Is to he bound, SO 1t was
claimed that this ecclesiastical system
must thoroughly bind and dominate
Satanic power, as represented In every
thing that opposed it, In full harmony
with this misinterpretntion were some
of the facts.
For exactly Il thousand years Ec-
clesiashclsm p~rospered and ruled the
world-from A. D. 800 to A. D. 100.
The spell which had held Europe and
much Of the world for ten centuries
was broken by Napoleon. When he
carried the Pope q prisoner to France,
the world wondered. Could 1t be that
the spiritual power of Christ's King
dom was ineffective against the great
General, Napoleon? What idit mean?
The answer came promptly enough
that this was merely another fulfil.
ment OF Scripture-tle lOosing Of Sa-
tan at the end Of the thousand years
RevelatiOn 20:7-10.) The prediction
was mnde, and fully believed. that
very 1901 tho adverse conditions would
pass away, and the ecclesiastical.
throne be re-established In greater
power and glory than ever before. But.
instead, EcclesiastIcism has wdalcd.
In September 1870 its last support gave
way in the French defeat Of Sedan.
Forthwith the King Of Italy took away
the last vestige of temporal power.
Awakening Of Bible Students.
Since then, Bible students, and In
deed the whole world, are awakening
to the fact that no real Millennium
Of blessing was enjoyed during the
thousand years of the past. We see
instead that it was q period Of great
darkness, superstition and ignorance.
Furthermore, the whole world is be-
looming convinced that the blessings
that have come to us during the past
century are not Of Satan. but of God,
Indeed. we are learning more and
more to appreciate the fact that all
these wonderful things of steam pow
er and electricity, wifi their hundreds
Of applications. for the advancement OF
science and the blessing Of humanity
are forcgleams Of hetrue Millennium,
Moro and more we are realizing that
we are In the dawning of; that New
Day, and that the present time Of sci
entifc development and enlightenment
is but Il preparatory epoch, making
ready for the coming blessings of Mes
siah's Kingdom. The Scriptures indeed.
describe the present as "the day Of His