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I* roni the Witness. 2 THESS. 2: 3-12. 3. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall come, except there come a falling away first, anti that man of sin he revealed, the son of perdition; 4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the tem¬ ple, of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things ? <». And now ye know what withoUleth that he might he revealed in his time. 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let. until he be taken out of the way. H. And then shall that Wicked he revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coining: '.). Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and ug wonders, 10. , And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might, be saved 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, hut had pleasure in unrighteousness. 01 E promoter HAVE HERE and head an of inspired the final pen apostasy; sketch of the the false Christ. Paul, writing as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, tells us what manner of person he shall be who will first try to play the tole of the Messiah and then assert himself in impious blaspemy against the Godhead. We have a considerable amount of di- rect. information and many interesting side lights in both the Old and New Testaments concerning this awful demonic man. Under the necessity for brevity we select a few of the salient points in the description before us, for a few suggestions. Apostasy in various degrees and in varying forms, has marked the history of the church almost from the beginning. But he must be blind indeed, who can not see that the clos¬ ing period of this age is to be characterized by the great final apostasy in which will be summed up, de¬ veloped and brought to full fruition all the elements which have entered into the movement away from God, in the whole history of the Christian Church. The central figure and inspiring cause of this climax of sin and lies and of its past and present manifesta¬ tions, is “the man of the lawlessness,” “tha son of perdition.” “Sin is the transgression of the law. ? > Thejjdivine law must be the absolute guide of all crea¬ tures. Satan rebelled, then led man to rebel and has since fomented unceasing rebellion against the gov¬ ernment of God, on the part of the human race. Law¬ lessness in the relations of human society is but the echo of lawlessness pervading man’s whole disposition with regard to God, Anarchy and Nihilism among men foreshadow a tremendous convulsion in which every bond of human and divine restraint shall be broken. The rebellion in Eden has gathered force tlirough the centuries and is rapidly becoming a mighty avalanche whose destructive course will be stopped b) the sudden outstretching of God’s omnip¬ otent hand. The awful Satanic man of the future will personally embody all the forces of lawlessness will be the head and center of the final and worldwide alliance against God. His headship will be both civil and ecclesiastical, his dupes and allies, both Jews and Gentiles. Incredible as modern rationalism in theol¬ ogy may find it, he will gather the whole world ex¬ cept God’s elect few under the banner of this mon¬ strous revolt. Obtaining by flatteries the confidence of the multitude “with signs and lying wonders” “after the working of Satan,” “with all deceivable- ness of righteousness in them that are perishing,” he will establish in all the earth the power of hell. In this strange and terrible personality we see both hu¬ man and Satanic elements. He will be truly a man, so thoroughly possessed and energized by Satan, the father of lies, as to be practically an incarnation of the devil. As Christ is set forth as the divine man, so the Anti-Christ is set forth as the Satanic man. The doctrine which teaches that the Pope of Rome is the Anti-Christ is a modern invention. True, Rome holds many Anti-Christian elements and has a con¬ spicuous place in past and present apostasy. Her fu¬ ture will be identified conspicuously with the great fi¬ nal apostasy. But the Church is symbolized in the Scriptures by a woman, the true church by a pure vir¬ gin, chaste and beautiful, and the false church by a harlot, vile and abandoned. The Holy Spirit never mixes comparisons. It is man’s meddling and mix¬ ing that has made confusion. The Antichrist is rep¬ resented as a man and not a woman, as an individual and not as a line of individuals—nor yet as a system or polity. The process of interpretation which makes of the Anti-Christ a system or polity would consist¬ ently make of the Christ a system or polity. If one is personal so is the other. Finally, the course of the man of sin will be ii rup ed by the sudde i coming of the Omnipotent Christ. Post-inillenialists tell us that Rome is Anti-Christ. Now if Rome be the An¬ tichrist this glorious spiritual millennium can never come while Rome exists. A curious millennium it would be which would admit of the flourishing of Anti-Christ. The Holy Spirit says that Anti-Christ will be distroyed by the brightness of His(the Lord’s) coming. The post-millenniaiist must acknowledge that the Antichrist will be an element in his millen- mum or that there will be no millennium at ail, either of which assertions Scripture directly contradicts. m RS. teriety, NATION, is an exponent with her of morbid the logical craving results for no- of coercion in the field of morals. HeV antics advertise the liquor business more effectively than could be done in any other way. Satan uses her semi-insanity to make reform ridiculous. Such work as she is doing plants the seeds of anarchy and strengthens the gates of hell. The liquor traffic is a monstrous evil. Every Christian must pray and work for its overthrow. But mob violence has no place in Christian tactics. Christ said to Peter, “Put up thy sword.” The mission of the church is, to preach the gospel of redemption, to seek the salvation of individuals. The kingdom of God, in the human heart is based upon individual re¬ generation. The ethics of the gospel appeal to those who are the subjects of Gospel grace. Applied to the children of this world they are a misfit. Christ calls his disciples to get out of the world for it is going to be destroyed. The devil whispers, Oh no, do not get out of the world, stay in it and make it better. Coerce people into being good and force your millennium to grow in a hot¬ house. m . p ERSONAL TESTIMONIES. t t The coming of the Lord is to me a most precious trnth and con¬ stant inspiration to work, Whoever neglects it has only a mutilafed Gospel, for it is taught as clearly in the New Testament as any other doctrine in it. I have felt like working three times as hard, ever since I came to understand that my Lord was coming back again.—Dwight L. Moody. For many years I have found the hope of our Lord’s return my brightest joy and my most powerful inspir¬ ation for unwearied service. I have no expectation of the world getting better, prior to his return; but on the contrary, expect evil to become more and more pronounced. Conventional religiousness with nothing of the life of Christ in the soul I expect to a- bound at His appearing. It is a cold, selfish, worldly thing which will receive judgment at the hands of the Lord. I am looking for Him, and waiting either to be caught up to meet Him, or to shate in the blessing of the first ressurrection.”—Archibald G. Brown. “You ask me to state to you what I have found of benefit and blessing from the cherished hope of the pre-mtllennial coming of the Lord. In reply let me say that it is nearly fifty years since I first felt its power, and during all my ministry of now nearly forty-eight year, the “blessed hope” has evidenced itself to be indeed a doctrine accordiug to godliness. It has cast a peculiar light on the pages of the pro¬ phetic Word. It has often cheered me when circum¬ stances were dark and threatening- It has proved it¬ self to be an awakening doctrine. It has comforted very many saints and led timid and doubting believ¬ ers to full assurance. As for myself, it has stim¬ ulated me very greatly to do my utmost through the the grace of God to gather in sonls at home and abroad by home mission work and foreign mission work. Though I cannot say with old Jerome, that ‘the sound of the last trumpet is ever in my ear,’ yet I can say that from time to time, I have been stirfed up to new zeal and earnestness in the work of the Lcrd, from the consideration—so much the more as ye see the day approaching.—Dr. Andrew A. Bonar. 01 E HAVE READ with great interest a pam¬ phlet entitled “The Return of the Lord,” a^ examination and review by Prof. Wm. Stewart, D. D., Principal of the Bible Training school, Toronto, Ont. The subject of his review is a volume recently published by Dr. Calvin Goodspeed, entitled “Mes¬ siahs second advent a study in Eschatolgy.” We gather from this review that the book in question, is a rehash of the stock arguments and phrases of the post millennial spirituahzers. The spiritualizing brethren have a few pet objections and theories hand¬ ed down from father to son, based on proud human opinion or on a system of interpretation which they would not dare to apply to fulfilled prophecy. Sure¬ ly God’s manner of fulfilling prophecy in the past should furnish a guide to His fulfillment of it in the future. ^iWe quote from the introductory chapter of Prof. Stewart’s able review, two paragraphs which give the gist of the whole. The whole book is written from the standpoint of the partisan and polemic, not of the Bible theologian. The author seems to know nothing of the new meth¬ od of careful, scientific Bible study, which seeks first of all without any theorizing, to* bring out the exact meaning and contents of the sacred writers. We find him, therefore, indulging in the very beginning of the book in sweeping assertions, which are contradict¬ ed by the highest lexical authority and the best New Testament exegesis. Moreover, in his examination of certain important questions, as for example, that of “the two resurrections,” we And that the passages which teach most clearly the truth on the subject are dismissed without any attempt at exposition and with the barest possible mention, Indeed, the of the author are simply marvellous. Everywhere the writers of the New Testament set forth our Lord’s Return as holding a close relation to Christian trine, experience, effort, and hope; but we look in vain in the book before us for any adequate presenta- tion of these vital aspects of this great theme Above all, there is a very sad violation of the law of Chris- tian love. The author allows himself to become an accuser of his brethren. He charges ists with divididing churches, paralyzing missionary effort, and setting up rival institutions; and he makes what he calls their “schemeof interpretation,” responsible for the false teachings of • Annihilation- ists. Seventh Day Adventists and other materialists. It may perhaps be said, if this work is so weak in scholarship, so defective in method, so inadequate in scope, and so uncharitable in spirit, why should it receive any notice? My answer is, that an tion an examination and review will give the oppor¬ tunity not only of pointing out these serious imper- fections. but also of presenting the true teaching God’s Word, as explained and confirmed by the best scholarship, on such important themes as “the Two Resurrections,” “the Pre-Millennial Advent,” “the Coming Age and Kingdom,” and “the Blessed Hope.” Why will you continue to use that old sta* tionery that is badly printed on poorest paper that buckles and crimps when you fold it; your pen goes through, and your let* ters, try as you wHI, never look as neat as do those of your com* petitor whose neat and up*to*the*minute sta* tionery is printed by The Record. The Chinese begin dinner with deser t_ some ihing sweet—and end ff\ vam\eA \U ave TO ATTEND OUR % Our Hats are beautiful and cheap. We feel sure that we can please everybody, both in price and quality. We have a nice lot of Boys’ caps, Ladies’ belts; also a number of silk waists patterns, wash silks and taffe¬ tas that are reasonable in price, and the latest styles and shades. OUR TRIMMER IS HERE and we feel sure that she will be all that any one could ask. DRESS-MAKING up stairs, where we are fitted for the spring work. Mrs. W. J. RAMSAY, Mrs. G. B. PERTEET. it) AJD’vVbaxxKS * 1 TOCCOA. BRICK DOYLE STABLES, STREET SaVc afA.es. m t mi v\ Good line of turnouts of all kinds. Every facility for the accommodation ^ K of the traveling men and the public. Horses and Mules always on hand for Sale or Trade. M. JYt. PAYNE, TOCCOA, GA. General Merchandise L AND SHIPPER OF A EGGS ; V 3 gf|(J f ■ A! ¥ POULTRY. ■ j. Toecoa, Ga., Repairer oi and dealer in / {j 3 - \\\ as SSI k ind Bf‘c'v 0 c“r , y Snd 9ati aon - e ( o r rent. with soup. They are now at the