The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-11-24

.uo conceived the word Ar
uraseodon out of the ideas the ola
hen John saw in vision The -
ing OF the powers of satan ard ~
ileoIew Mesiddon had planted in ~
iiiind. Whether this last prea. 49,
VI the prophecy is to come before ~
thousand years of millennium. nuttino
.iie l'eVli IN chains and usherino IL
LAX reign OF Christ. as some believe
~nclher lt Is to come after the mil
and ChriSt'S second cominc
as indicated in the twentieth Co.,
. revelation, as many others believe
10 d uepate not to be settled nv as
sermons OF scriptural proofs 1t con
lentS me at this time to regard Ar
1iaSeddon as the eliminating and do
cisiVe struggle on this earth between
"a powers, principles and Influences
" evil rlght accurately described as
unuer the command Of the dragon
the beast and the false prophets on one
slue, and the powers. principles and
.I'iiuenCeS or God, as represe nted in
JesuS CHRIST n His divine IDEAL
the Kingdom of God on the earth
on the other.
Is This Armaseddon?
BUT the question remains, lis the
present war raging in Europe the
A~rmageddon that the Seer of Patmos
foretold?" From either view of tine
just IclclItu 10 the ans
Wer must be. No. Likewise, those
VINO take Armageddon literally to
describe a definite place in Asia. and
those who AXE it s~ymbolically to
mean n last conclusive conflict of
the moral and spiritual world without
reference to place, must agree that
the European war is not Armageddon.
me evidence may be summed up
briefly:
First-If Armageddon refers to a.
battlefield in Palestine. the wal now
confined to Europe is manifestly not
Armageddon.
Second-If the objective of Arma-
geddon is the capture and destruction
OF Jerusalem after it has been restor-
ed to the Jews. which aim OIL evil will
be brought to disaster. the European
| war is certainly not such a conflict.
not is hat it's objective or any part
OF it.
Third-The nations now engaged in
war may all be fighting against God,
but they are surely and intentionally
fighting and destroying one another,
while in the Armageddon Of Revela-
ton, the evil forces are all on one
side fighting together.
FOurth-NOthing in the lineup Of
nations, or any OF them taken alone,
indicates the similitude Of the dragon,
the beast and the false prophet. or
Babylon" which is supposed to rep
resent figuratively the nations OF the
Roman empire under one head: but
quite to the contrary. The countries
once under the sway of the Caesar
are badly mixed up in the present
war alignments.
But to my opinion. still more cogen1
are the facts that appear when we
consider Armageddon Is a clear-cu1
struggle between all the powers o.
evil on one side and all the powers
of God on the other. Only a part OF
the forces Of either good or evil car
be considered as engaged at this tim
in the European war. The Devil a
Armageddon should have all the de
ceived nations at his back The!
came from the four corners Of tn
earth, Cog and Magog, to gather then
together to the war" For they are
spirits which go forth unto the king
Of the whole world to gather then
together unto h war Of the grea
day Of God the Almighty Now, Their
are actually less than half the people
of the world involved directly in tn
var in Europe, n ~assuredly tn
neutral nations represent some OF Sa
tan's proper army and some Of Christ
also.
1t is equally apparent that the Eu
ropean war will not make an ENC Q
the Dew When II Is over He WI
be right there at work. nursing enmi
ties and stirring up strife and max
ing murderers, liars and drunkard
, still. This is a great war, issues Q
tremendous moral principles are a
| stake, and, as l believe. the gains I
mankind will be enormous, bu on n
reasonable grounds may we antlclpat
: as it's conclusion the an
final subiugation of municipalities an
: powers and the rulers of the darkne
t of this world, and spiritual Wlckednes
in high places which Armageddon
I prophesied to bring about.
Y When Is ArmageddOn.
: The conviction that Armageddon J
( 70 come in God's good time is IN
faith of the Christian. 1t is lmpos
sible to believe the Bible without Dc
lieying that it is Gods purpose I
n bring this world to a crisis, dehnlt
: and conclusive. somewhere IN the II
Y tire. This was the faith of the pa
trjarchs. the faith Of the prophets, tn
faith of the apostles. The seed OF VIZ
-. tin nrra - hh2t