The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-02-15

that stone was cut out of the noun
tain without hands, and that it break
in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay,
the silver, and the gold; the great
God hath made known to the king
what shall come TO pass hereafter;
and the dream is certain, and the in
depreciation thereof sure.
The student of history can readily
trace among the many smaller en-
pires Of earth which have arisen, the
four above described by Daniel. These
are termed UNIVERSAL EMPIRES
Babylon first, the head of gold,
verse SO; Medo-Persia, conqueror of
Babylon, second, the breast and arms
of silver; Greece, conqueror of Medo-
Persia, third, the belly of brass, and
Rome, fourth, the strong kingdom,
the iron legs and clay-mixed feet.
Three of these empires had passed
away, and the fourth, the Roman, held
universal sway at the time of our
Lords birth, as we read, "There went
out decree from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be taxed
Luke 2:1.
The iron empire, Rome, was by far
the strongest, and endured longer
than its predecessors. In fact, the
Roman Empire still continues, as
represented in the nations of Europe.
This division is represented in the
ten toes of the image. And be it not
ed, rtue to the prophets predictions,
these ten-toe nations are now dash
ing themselves to pieces. The clay
element blended with the iron in the
feet represented the mixture of church
and state. How true that has been,
even as yet, the rulers of these ma
tons claim to reign by Divine right.
This mixture in the scripture is term
ed MISREPRESENTATION. Stone is a
symbol of the true kingdom of God.
Babylon substituted an imitation of
stone-clay-which it has united with
the fragmentary remains of hte (iron)
Roman Empire. And this mixture
system-church and state-the church
nominal welded to the Kingdoms of
this world, which the Lord calls Ba-
bylon, confusion, presumes to call it
self Christendom-Christ's Kingdom
Do not the various nations at war
pray to the same God to help them
destroy their enemies? This is con-
fusion, Babylon. Daniel says "Where-
as thou sawest iron mixed with miry
clay, they shall mingle themselves
with the seed of men Church and
world blend), but they shall not
cleave one to another, even as iron is
not mixed with clay" They cannot
thoroughly amalgamate.
"And in the days of these kings
1.-THE kingdoms represented by the
toes, the so-called "Christian King
doms" or "Christendom,") shall the
God Of heaven set up q, kingdom
which shall never be destroyed; and
the kingdom shall not be left to other
people, but it shall break in pieces
and consume all these Kingdoms, and
it shall stand forever."-Dan. 2:43, Al.
The stone cut out of the mountain
without hands, which smites the Gen
tile powers, represents the true
church, the kingdom of God. During
the Gospel Age this "stone" kingdom
is being formed, "cut out" carved and
shaped for its future position and
greatness-not by human hands, but
by the power or spirit of TRUTH, in
visible power of Jehovah When COM
plete, when entirely cut out, it will
smite and destroy the kingdoms of
this world. And He whose right it is,
by virtue of the price paid, will set
up kingdom "that will give the de-
sire of all nations" The stone, dur
ing its preparation, while being cut
out, might be called an embryo noun
tain, in view of it's future destiny;
so, too, the church could be, and some
times is, called the kingdom of God.
In fact, however, the stone does not
become the mountain until it has
smitten the image; and so the church,
in the full sense, will become the
kingdom to fill the whole earth when
"the day of jehovah" "the day of
wrath upon nations" or "time of trou-
ble," will be over, and when it will be
established and all other dominions
have become subservient to it. Call
to mind the promises made by our
Lord to the overcomers Of the Chris
tian church: "To him that overcom-
eth will / grant to sit with me on my
throne" and he that overcometh
and keepeth my works unto the end,
to him will give power over the ma
tons; and he shall rule them with
rod of iron; as the vessels of pot
ter shall they be broken to shivers,
even as received of my Father
Rev. 1921; 2:26, 81; Pisa. 2:8-12.
Contributed.