The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-08-17

AS they circle all the earth,
The signs and ~groanings promised
To precede a second birth.
I read His righteous sentence
In the crumbling thrones OF earth
Our King is marching on,
Nevertheless, this flaming forth OF
Messiah's Judgments. severely awful
as they will be, will be manifestations
OF the Love Of God and Of Christ. By
the consuming OF the dross in the fire
OF that tribulation, mankind viii be
blessed, transformed, uplifted, devel-
oped. This flaming fire In which
Christ and His Church, Gods Kingdom
In glory, will be revealed to mankind,
is elsewhere in the Bible spoken of as
the fire Of Gods anger. OF it we read
that the proud and all that do wickedIy
viii be as stubble, and that the fire Of
that time will consume them, root and
branch The hope, of course, is that as
they realize the changed conditions
they will drop their pride and their
~wickedness, and turn unto the Lord.
He will send the flaming fire of judg-
ments for the very purpose of consum-
ing the worlds impurities, and thus OF
blessing and purifying all who will
learn to love righteousness.
When Christ viii Come.
Again we were misled by our creeds
in respect to the time of Christ's Sec
ond Coming. Some of US declared that
He already had come the second time
n that His Kingdom was set up long
ago. Our Catholic friends claim that
the establishment Of the Kingdom took
place in the year 800, under Pope Leo
Ill, and that the thousand years OF
'Christ's Reign are in the past We
sincerely hope that they are in error;
for, If that theory be correct, Chrtst's
Kingdom has accomplished far less for
the world than the Bible statement
would lead us to expect. Professionals
have also held that Christ's Kingdom
has been established, that His Reign
began centuries ago; that the Church
Of England has been reigning, also the
Church Of Germany, the Church of
Sweden and the Church Of Russia
each claiming authority In the earth.
The majority Of Christian people are
much confused, bewildered; but Bible
students are Of late getting a better
focus upon this subject. They are
seeing that, according to the Bible, we
should still pray, "Thy Kingdom come;
Thy will be done on earth, as it is done
in Heaven" that we should still wish
for the Son of God from Heaven, and
that we should still remember St
Peters words respecting the Times OF
Restitution, blessing and favor, which
will come to the world at the Second
Advent Of Christ-Acts 8:19-21.
Admitting that those who interpret
the prophecies to teach that we are
now living In the time Of the Second
Advent Of Christ are not infalible In
their Interpretation, we must, neverthe-
less, concede that there are signs all
about US today which closely tally
with what the Bible tells us respecting
the condition of things which win OBJ
tain at Christ's Second Coming. Let
us note some of these: st. Paul told
OF the end Of the Age (also St Peterl
that 1t would be marked by a form OF
Goodness but lack the power; that it
would be marked by disobedience to
parents, by readiness, by high-minded-
ness, by love of pleasure, by unre-
liability. e Timothy 8:1-5.) Surely we
see on every hand what well
to these Apostolic prophecies Of the
closing time of this Age and the dawn
ing OF the New Age.
On the other hand, we have
prophecies which tell US Of glorious
blessings due to come to the world in
conjunction with Messiah's Second Adj
vent. Hearken to the Lords Word
in the prophecy Of Daniel. We read
that in the Time Of the End (of the
present order of things-in the time OF
the dawning OF the new order OF
things ID MANY shall run to and
fro;'' C) knowledge shall be I'm
creased" O. 1.-THE wise shall under
stand" ID There shall be a time OF
trouble such as never was since t1sre
was a nation"
Are we not at the time when the
whole world is on the move as never
before In the past7 Steamboats,, steam
and electric railways, etc, are only q
century old and are only reaching their
climax of efficiency. It would seem as
though God had proSpered human I'm
telligence along these lines Just at the
Opportune moment to bring in the run
ming to and fro at the appropriate time
in the end OF this Age.
How about the increase Of knoWl-
edge2 Is 1T not true that greater in
crease has been made in knowledge
within the past fifty years than even
before2 Not only is this knowledge
exempli6ed in tunnels, bridges, build
ings, machinery, electric lighting and
power, and in every conceivable device
for human comfort, but 1t is especially
marked in human education. WITHIN
the past thirty years free schools, yea,
compulsory education, have seemingly
been forced upon the people OF every
land, as though to fulfill this prophecy,
"Knowlsdge shall be increased"
What about the statement that the
wise shall understand? Many are per-
picked by these things and wondering
Iy are deserving the Bible and fiocking
to evolution theories, only to find them
unwise. The wise are those who hold
fast to the Word of God, and in its In
creasing light see new beauties. The
only satisfactory explanation OF the
times in which we are living is that
these are the days OF the Son OF Man.
Do not these things give the people
OF God a ground for faith that we