THE FINAL HOUR.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 108, 7 April 1932, Page 10

THE FINAL HOUR.

At the United Evangelical Church on Sunday night there gathered a very large number of people to hoar an address delivered by tho pastor, Mr Wesley E. Richards, on the subject, “What About tho Final Hour?” Reading from Dan. 12 and Rev. 3 1-6, Mr Richards went on to draw attention to the importance attached in the Bible to the final hour of this age or dispensation of God’s dealings with humanity. It was clear, stated the speaker, that the hour frequently mentioned in the book of Revelation mostly referred to a brief period of time which the context would make clear. Therefore in Rev. 3 3 we had the statement, “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know- what hour I will come upon thee.” It was quite plain here, stated Mr Richards, that those who were watching may know what time Christ w-ould come again. While we had the plain statement in Matt. 24: 36 that no one would know the day or the hour when Christ would return, the explanation was that the book of Revelation was a book which employed symbols representations of something else for which they stand, while Matthew was not a book of symbols and the day mentioned in Matt 24: 36 was to be literally understood that of a day of 24 hours. That it was very apparent that we were in the last symbolical hour, or time preceding the great world staggering event of Christ’s second coming, was becoming abundantly clear from many quarters to those who were watching, emphasised the speaker. Going into detail, Mr Richards introduced several quotations from reliable sources indicating that major tragedies were upon us. The London Times wroto of China’s recent catastrophe that “it was the worst flood in human history; the disaster affects one fourth of the human race.” And then there was a terrible breakdown in moral standards. The published comment of Prince George concerning novels of tho day ought to awaken and shock the heart of all respectable people. That it should bo possible for such novels to bo disseminated as described by the Prince and others is surely astounding. Only this week, stated Pastor Richards, there were published cables concerning crime waves in England and America. While we had the famous Russian ace’s grim prophecy that the fate of the nation that loses the next war would bo'virtual extermination owing to horrifying development of air fighting machines. Much more evidence could be put in, concluded the preacher, which would at least indicate that wo were in tho last time, and that Christ’s return may be expected at any moment.