Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1914-04-16

| LX sNAA t~AsSt
the coming IP3e
rousia-presencel OF the Son of Man
be; they shall be eating, drinking,
planting and marrying, and know not
Matthew 24:37, IS.
The Pastor was prompted to select
his text by reading an extract from a
recent sermon Of a Canadian minister,
who declared that 1914 would witness
the Second Coming of Christ. The
statement permitted the inference that
the minister holds the view common
to nearly all creeds-that the earth is
to be burned up and the human race
blotted out; and that Christ will come,
to see that none of the Church are
destroyed. ALI such expectations, the
Pastor claimed, are wholly unscrip-
tural, untrue and misleading.
Then the Pastor explained in full the
various Scriptures commonly supposed
to support such views. The wrong in
terpretations Sc prevalent, he claimed,
belong to the Dark Ages, when public
teachers seemed to lose all apprecia-
ton of fguratiye language; and when
Christ's references to Gehenna Fire,
which burned outside the wall Of Je-
rusalem, were understood to refer to
an eternity OF torture for all except
the sanity few. He showed that st.
Peters words, 1.-THE heavens shall be
on fire" and the earth and the things
therein shall be burned up refer to:
the very period which St Peter else.
where calls Times of Restitution and
blessing mot world-burning) to follow
Jesus Second Coming.
Both the Master and His Apostles,
the Pastor asserted, frequently used
the word fire as symbolical of tribula-
ton. Among the many Scriptures
quoted to substantiate his assertion
was st. Peters exhortation, Think it
not strange concerning the fiery trial
which shall try you"
The Pastor quoted many Scriptures
to prove that the earth is not to be de-
stroyed; that ''the earth abideth for
ever; that God created it not in vain,
but formed it to be inhabited This
last prophecy, he claimed, has not yet
been fulfilled; for immense tracts of
land are still ~unoccupied.
The speaker then discussed popular
misconceptions respecting the end of
the world and showed that these are
based upon a misunderstanding, due
to the fact that our Common Version
Bible uses the word world where the
q yyofH n OaE tntNpaE nr1o,, ne 4hircre, ,rn,,15
better express the thought of the origi-
nal. According to Scripture, the pres
ent order, of which Satan is ruler, is
to give place to a new order of things,
under control OF the Prince OF Light.
christ's Second Coming.
Next the Pastor demonstrated con
clusiyely from Scripture that our Lord
is no longer a human being. Nearly
nineteen centuries age the Logos left
Heavenly glory and was made flesh
God had pronounced a death sentence
upon man, from which the race coulo
not be released unless some one would
become their redeemer and meet the
penalty for them. This penalty was
death, not eternal torment, of which
the Scriptures know nothing. Our
Lord carried out the Divine Program,
and as q reward has been highly ex-
alted-"far above angels
The speaker then showed that the.
word coming is used to translate sew
eral very different Greek words. One
Of these Is Parousia, meaning pres.
ence, and used In reference to the first
stage Of our Lords Second Advent.
He will be inyisibly present. For a
while n will realize His Parousia,
except the Church. All earthly things
will continue as they haye-buying.
selling, marrying, etc.-for a while.
Later on will come the Epiplania-
the revelation, or manifestation-not in
the flesh, but IN d great Time of Trou-
BILE, s~ymbolically represented as fire.
We read, t1He shall be revealed In fam
ing fire, taking vengeance.
The Pastor understands the Bible to
teach that Jesus has thus been /
emit since 1874. The Second Advent be-
gan then. The wonderful progress in
the world since then Bible students
thus explain. They understand the
Bible to teach that this Parousia will
continue for d thousand years; but
that the Epiphania Will be due forty
years aftersthe Presence began. For
this reason they are looking very In
tently tn seewliat the year may bring.
Eyerywhere we see signs Of unrest a:
time Of trouble brewing. 1T looks as
though this year would mark the be-
ginning Of the flaming fire of judg.
ments which will characterize the I'M
auguration Of Messiahss glorious Reign
Of righteousness and life eternal