The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-04-19


blinded the minds of them that be-
lieve not" e Cor. 4:4)--it has only
been by reason of the depraved condi-
ton of men. and their willingness to
be deceived, that Satan has succeeded
in overpowering them. Satan is
usurper. By reason of mans submits
sion to him he rules as tyrant, but
not by Gods authority. The reason
why God has permitted satan to ex-
ercise such great power over men, is
very interesting subject and one
which the scriptures answer very sat-
isfactorily, but we will not attempt to
explain here, as we are not studying
the why but the facts.
During "this present evil world"
God is not dealing directly with man
kind; neither is he Interfering di-
rectly with mans affairs. AS we have
just said, He is permitting satan to
rule. And satan being a liar and a
murderer from the beginning (Jno,
S:44), he has so arranged that under
his dominion, it is much easier to do
wrcng than to do right. Thus we read
in the Prophets "Now we call the
proud happy, yea. they that work
wickodnesS are set up lin power),
Yea, they that tempt God are even de-
livered." NAL. 3:15) While all who
live godly in Christ Jesus Gin this
present timc) shall suffer persecution
the opposition arising from the
world, the flesh, and the devil. e
Tim. 3:12)
The Prophet David, when describ-
ing the conditions under satan's do
minion, says, (Psa. 1850 II have seen
the wicked in great power, and spread
ing himself (out) like a green bay
tree"-preying upon the righteous,
pointing the finger of scorn in the face
of the foot-step followers Of Jesus
Christ.
But the Prophet goes further and
notes the conditions as they will eX-
list under Messiah's reign, and says:
| (verse 36) "Yet he passed away, and,
10, he was not; yea, | sought him, but
he could not be found"-in heaven,
hell, or purgatory. (Psa. 37:10)
Under satan's rule, darkness has
covered the earth and gross darkness
the people" lisa. 60:2) But under
Christ's reign "the earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of the glory
of Jehovah, as the waters cover the
sea-" (Hab. 2:14)
The scriptures assure us that sa-
tan's dominion is nearing it's close, in
"time of trouble such as never was
since there was a nation" (Dan. 12:D.
And by this great time Of trouble,
hA
brought to an end, preparatory to the
opening up Of "the world to come"
As the first world" or order of
things, as we have seen was termn-
ated by the great deluge, so "this
world" is to be destroyed by fire.
Such is the Apostle Peters statement,
"The heavens and the earth which are
now by the same word are kept in
store, reserved unto fire against the
day of judgment and perdition of un-
godly men--in the which the heavens
(the ecclesiastical ruling systems)
shall pass away with a great noise
(uproar and confusion) and the ele-
ments (the social, political, financial,
and religious elements) shall melt
with ferveny heat, 1.-THE heat of human
pdSSlOn, III Tie Llille VI LTOuDle). INC
earth organized society also, and
the works pride, rank, aristocracy,
royalty, etc. that are therein, shall
be burned up destroyed by the strife
and friction caused by the bright
shining of the Lords presence.) (see
Thes. 2:S Diaglott.; Peter 3:7, 10
12)
Some tell US that this is to be lit
eral fire, and that the literal earth and
heaven are thus to be burned up.
But we believe that such an interprc-
tation involves several absurdities.
First, the Apostle surely did not mean
the literal heavens which are separta-
ed from the earth by millions of miles
of nothing but space to take fire.
Second, the Lord declares, 1.-THE
heaven is my throne, and the earth is
my footstool" lisa. 66:D 1t would
not be reasonable to suppose that the
Lord would destroy His own throne,
nor even His footstooi which He de-
clares He will make GLORIOUS" lisa
COBB
Third, the scriptures declare "The
earth abideth forever" (Eccl. 1:4)
and again, that the Lord formed not
the earth in vain; He formed it to be
inhabited lisa. 1919.
But when we see that the fire, the
heavens, the earth, ETC., as used by St
Peter, are symbolical, then all is
reasonable; we can then see that il
is the same fire mentioned by the
Lord through the Prophet Zepheniaf
when He says that "all the earch (the
entire social fabric) shall be devour-
ed with the FIRE of my jealousy
(Zeph. 3:8). The Lord uses fire as a
symbol of destruction, and likens the
coming "time of trouble" as a great
consuming fire which will burn up all
the evil systems of "this present evil
world", and make way for the king
dom of peace and blessing.
The time Of trouble with which this
world will end has three phases, viz:
war, revolution and anarchy.
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