The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-08-25
The sign OF The SON
Continued From Page Two.

COnClnueQ FROM Page Two,
Not knowing or a second birth" and
all the glorious blessings which Mes.
siah's Kingdom is designed to bring Go
mankind, human hearts will be filed
with dread and apprehension. Only
those who r truly the Lords and are
rightly Informed respecting the Divine
Plan OF the Ages will be able to lift up
their heads and rejoice, knowing that
their "deliveranee 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,
1.-THE heavens being on fire shall be dis
solved" and 1.-THE earth also [shall take
freI and the works that are therein
shall be burned up" q Peter 3:10-12.)
Let US not make the mistake Of our
forefathers In supposing that these de-
scriptions mean a literal burning of the
literal earth. Let us, on the contrary,
realize that the symbolicaI earth and
the symbolical heavens are to catch
fire and pass away with a great COM
motion, while the physical earth will
remain practically al 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 glorifed Church.
It will be noticed that st. Peter men-
tons the FIRE as coming to the heavens
before 1t 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 cen coming nearer and nearer
to earth's affairs, with q view to purg-
ing them absolutely from everything
sinful, selfish, unjust.
We are told that the elements will
melt with fervent heat. We see the
Capitalistic element and the Labor ele-
ment separating, the one from the
other. We see the preparations for the
great cOnfagration, the great Time Of
Trouble. We sometimes speak Of it in
this language, saying, Things are get
ting very hot" They will presently be
SO hot that spontaneous combustion
will set In. And the fire Of that Day
will be so extreme and its results so
drastic as to fulfil the Masters words
that unless those days of tribulation
should be shortened no flesh would
survive.
But because of the Election, because
Of the Kingdom which will then be set
up, those days will be shortened
destroyed except that which is in
The world wide results Of that
flaming fire Of Divine judgments will
be corrective, preparing mems hearts
for the blessings which the Lord Is
prepared then to give. Thus it is writ
ten, when the judgments Of the Lord
are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants
Of the world will learn righteousness
It will be noted that st. Peter, in
speaking Of that Time of Trouble, men
that the MISREPRESENTATION
will be on fire first; and that later,
the e~arth-society and its political,
financial and social organizations will
be involved also. In harmony with
this, our text tells that this sign, or
for the revealing of Messiah
in flaming fire, will first be in the
Church. Furthermore, according to st.
statement, we are to expect
that the ecclesiastical heavens will pass
away with a great noise-a great com
.Otion-before the social order is fully
by the consuming fire.
The same thought is brought to nj
attention in Revelation, where q wide
distinction Is made between the
church systems, called Baby
on, and the true Church, which is
in advance to come out of
Babylon and to stand in personal rela-
donship to God through Christ This
call, which belongs to the end
Of the Age, before the judgments come
Upon Babylon, reads, Come out Of
her, Ny people, that ye be not par
OF her sins, and that ye receive
not of her plaques" The intimation is
that as soon as the loyalty obedient
nave been gathered out Of Babylon
some drastic trouble will come upon
her.
We should not apply this term "Bab-
to individuals, but to great sys-
TENS, outwardly having a form of
godliness, but really disappearing
the Divine character, the Divine Plan,
the true teachings Of the Bible. OF
course, the individuals identified with
the systems have more or less respon-
sibility, according to their official posi-
lion and their intelligence. In similar
proportion these individuals may have
in conjunction with the
tall Of Babylon. We do not under
stand the term Babylon" to be ap'
Piled S%cripturally to any sect or party,
but rather to refer to the general con
ylomeration of systems and denomina-
ions. Likewise, when reading Of the
utter destruction that Is to come upon
Babylon, we are to ~differentiate be-
tween the systems and the individuals
connected with those systems.
The judgments Of the Lord are not