The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1914-09-01

DOtD at nome anu dDfOdu Iue us
tors topic was from a text we have
never before heard discussed in the
pulpit-"Then shall appear the sign of
the Son of Man In heaven; and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.
and they shall see the Son of Man
coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory Matt 24:3O.
The speaker pointed out that various
suggestions have been made by schol-
ars respecting the import of this
prophecy by the Master. Some guess
ed that the sign would be Cross in
the sky. Others thought that it would
be Christ Himself. who would appear
in some wrathful form to humanity,
causing dismay.
The Pastor surmised that his hearers
had read the published reports of his
sermon of last Sunday respecting the
Second Coming of Christ In its two
phases-the Parousia, or invisible pres
ence, followed by the Epiphania. or
bright shining in flaming fire, or judg-
ment He asked his hearers to remem-
Der the findings of last week-that we
cannot say that the sign of the Son OF
Man In heaven will be His Parousia-
On the contrary. the Parousia of Christ
will not be known to the tribes. or
families, of the earth in general, but
will be known only to the most sanity
ones of the Church of Christ Conse-
quently. the sign of the Son Of Man
His Epiphania, or shining forth in the
flaming fire" of judgment, which the
whole world Of mankind will recognize.
The hearers were reminded that the
word sign is of broad meaning;
for instance. crepe is sign of mourn
ing; the Cross represents Christianity;
the Crescent, Mohammedanism. In
other words, sign is merely an indi-
cation. So when we read of the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven the
thought might properly be that some
thing will occur indicative of the pres
ence of the Son of Man-that He has
taken to Himself His great power and
has begun His Reign. Since the Son
of Man is to be revealed in flaming fire.
taking vengeance, it follows that this
sign must be some sign of vengeance.
some indication of righteous indigna
ton against wrong.
The question, then, arises. How would
such a sign, or Indication, appear in
the sky. in the heavens? The Pastor
replied that this is not the thought. On
the contrary, he urged his hearers to
remember that the Bible repeatedly
uses the words heaven. mountain. sea.
in symholical manner-the earth rep
resenting organized society; the noun
tains representing kingdoms, as the
the seas representing the restless
masses of humanity, continually seek
ing to swallow up the social "earth. .
In the same symbolic terms the heav
ems represent the ecclesiastical pow
ers of the world-churchianity The
sign appearing in the heavens, the
Pastor believes, signifies that the be-
ginning of Christ's judgments will fall
upon the ecclesiastical systems of our
day. The flaming fire of judgments
will first manifest itself in ecelesiasti
cal affairs and circles
Mankind will gradually become awak-
ened to the thought that a new Gov
eminent is in control, and that its pol
fov mill ha tho In w, of sai,,de,,,,,.4 Il. Al -
line and righteousness to the plum
met" Since unrighteousness is preva-
lent as a result of mans fallen condi-
lion, the consciences Of the whole world
will be awakened. quickened; and fear,
dread, will come upon all classes every
where. This win be not only because
they will see the primary sign of
Christ's righteous judgments in reli-
gious circles, but because they will see
Him COMMUNICATING nearer and near
er in judgment; and they viii recognize
that they. too, must shortly be in
because of Him.
Furthermore. it will be remembered
that all the families of the earth have
very crude and incorrect views of Mes
siah and of the object of His Second
Coming and Kingdom. The doctrines
of DEVILS" brought into the church
creeds during the Dark Ages. have so
made void the Word of God that the
majority Of mankind fear the Almighty
dread Him as their Almighty Foe. in
stead of realizing Him to be the God of
all grace and the Father of all mercies.
from whom cometh every good and
perfect gift
The eyes of the world have been
blinded to the goodness of God. Ter.
rible dread in the hearts of humanity
will lead to the wall Of fear as they
perceive Christ's righteous judgments
encircling all the earth
THE signs and groanings promised
To precede a second birth"
Not knowing of a second birth" and
all the glorious blessings which Mes.
siah's Kingdom is designed to bring to
mankind, human hearts will be filled
with dread and apprehension. Only
those who are truly the Lords and are
rightly informed respecting the Divine
Plan of the Ages viii be able to lift up
their heads and rejoice, knowing that
their "deliverance draweth Nigh
"The Heavens Being on Fire."
St Peter apparently described this
sign of the Son of Man in the heavens.
revealed in flaming fire His words are,
''The heavens being on fire shall be dis
solved" and the earth also [shall take
firel and the works that are therein
shah be burned up" z Peter 3:10-12.)
Let us not make the mistake of our
forefathers in surprising that these de-
scriptions mean literal burning of the
literal earth. Let us. on the contrary,
realize that the symbolical earth and
the symbolical heavens are to catch
fire and pass away with great COM
motion. while the physical earth will
remain practically as it is, and will be-
gin to undergo the transforming influ-
ences OF Restitution under the new
King, the Restorer of all things-Jesus
and His gIorified Church.
1t win be noticed that st. Peter men
tons the fire as coming to the heavens
before it reaches the earth, in just the
same order that Jesus stated the mat
ter. The sign, manifestation, of the
flaming fire of judgments will appear
In the heavens; and subsequently the
sign of the Son of Man in judgment
will be seen coming nearer and nearer
to earth's affairs, with a view to purg-
ing them absolutely from everything
sinful. selfish unjust