Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 12, 1861
INFIDEL OBJECTIONS.
Unwearied efforts are made at the present day to undermine the Christian faith of the young and the thoughtless. Infidel tracts are extensively circulated, and societies formed, that the institutions and restraints of Christianity may be swept from the land. But there never yet has been an argument adduced against Christianity, which has not been triumphantly refuted. Notwithstanding the efforts which have been made by unbelievers in all ages of the church, Christianity has been advancing with a steady and ever-increasing power. It has triumphed over all former opposition. Voltaire boasted that he could overthrow it. And if there ever was a man who could have shaken Christianity to its foundation, Voltaire was the man. He was the idol of his nation. The theaters of Paris, and every literary circle in the empire resounded with his praises. Whatever he wrote was at once communicated to millions of minds. He was possessed of a memory almost miraculous in its powers of retention. His command of language was perfect. His powers of sarcasm unrivalled. The peculiar circumstances of the times were remarkably favorable to his enterprise. He summoned all his powers to the work.
Voltaire is now dead. Christianity still lives and thrives with ever-increasing vigor. Every day tells us of her triumphs; every hour proclaims her victories. The sarcasm of Voltaire, the sneers of Gibbon, the sophistry of Hume, were alike unavailing. Christianity still lives. Modern infidels are retailing, at second-hand, the objections which have already been refuted, and which have proved powerless. We have no fears for Christianity. Her omnipotence is proved. The only thing to be feared from the efforts of infidels at the present day is, that they may blast the hopes of many families, and bring down the gray hairs of many parents in sorrow to the grave. They may succeed in undermining the foundations of virtue in the bosoms of not a few of the young and the thoughtless; leading them to cast off the fear of God, and to restrain prayer, and thus, perhaps, to come to all the horrors of the infidel's death-bed, and be undone forever. It is for them that we write, that they may be guarded against the seductions of vice, and against the sophistry of those who would betray them.
Again we say, we have no fears for Christianity. From a lowly origin it has risen to greatness, and has spread over a large portion of the globe. Wherever it has appeared, it has been the dispenser of the choicest blessings. Every weapon that has been lifted against it has proved of no avail. Where can you find infidels more powerful than Hume, and Gibbon, and Bolingbroke, Rousseau and Voltaire? Where can you find persecutions more violent and bloody than that of Nero or Domitian? If Christianity could have been overthrown, it would have been done long before now. But the lash of the satirist, the sophistry of the philosopher, and the sword of the persecutor have been alike ineffectual. In defiance of all opposition, religion has been steadily advancing, and her progress is now more rapid than it ever has been before. If what we write may be instrumental in saving any young man from the downward path of sin and woe, our object will be accomplished, and our reward will be great.
The Old Testament is the great storehouse of infidel objections. Most persons are less acquainted with the Old Testament than with the New, and are therefore less prepared to contradict bold assertions, or to detect incorrect statements and sophistical reasonings. We shall now answer a few of the most plausible objections which are urged against the divine authority of the Bible. Commencing with the first chapter of Genesis, we shall take the objections in the order in which they arise, and shall endeavor to present the arguments of the infidel in all their strength, assured that Christianity has nothing to fear from the most determined attacks of her foes.
Objection 1. Of the history of creation it is said by Palmer, "One thing is remarkable in the account: that there were three days and three nights before the creation of the sun, which is the sole cause of day and night. This proves that Moses, or whoever wrote the first chapter of Genesis, was neither a good world-maker nor a good astronomer."
Answer. This objection infidels have urged for many centuries. But unfortunately for them, the light of modern science has disclosed that the sun is not a great globe of fire, as they have supposed. Dr. Herschel's telescope has completely annihilated their argument. It has shown to the satisfaction of every scientific man, that the sun is a solid globe similar to the earth and other planets, and that the splendor which it emits comes from a region of luminous clouds with which it is enveloped. Thus modern philosophy has shown that the Mosaic account is minutely, and even scientifically accurate. The matter of light is a substance altogether distinct from the sun. It was called into existence the first day of the creation. On the fourth day the sun assumed his station as the great light-bearer. This is the precise word which Moses uses.
This objection is thus blown to the winds. And yet, founded as it is in ignorance, it still holds sway over the minds of the ignorant. It happens that Moses was the good astronomer, and that Palmer and his coadjutors were the dupes of objections founded on ignorance. It happens that Moses in the very infancy of science, and before the powers of the telescope were known, had attained a degree of accuracy in astronomical statements which surpassed the knowledge of those who are enjoying all the light of the nineteenth century. It is the recent perfection of science which has proved the scientific accuracy of the Mosaic account. How tremendously, then, is the objection rolled back upon the objector, and if he be susceptible of shame, how must he be confounded, to learn, that with all his boasting he has been urging the argument of ignorance and folly. And if he will allow himself to think, how must he be perplexed to account for the fact that Moses, without the advantage of modern science, and without the perfection of modern art, was so far in advance of the learned men who have lived even within half a century of the present day.
Sir Isaac Newton, whose mind was as familiar with suns and stars as with household things, would have laughed to scorn the man who should adduce such an argument against revelation; and yet it is still circulated by the ignorant and the designing, to build up the cause of infidelity.
There is no geologist of more distinguished reputation than Cuvier. He says the Mosaic account of the creation of the world, "considered in a purely scientific view is extremely remarkable, inasmuch as the order which it assigns to the different epochs of creation is precisely the same as that which has been deduced from geological observations."
Where did Moses obtain this knowledge? Did he borrow it from the Egyptians? They were not acquainted with the science of geology. It is the laborious research of many centuries which has enabled learned men to come scientifically to those conclusions which Moses has stated with so much simplicity in the first chapter of Genesis. Again we ask, how are we to account for the fact, that thousands of years ago, the leader of a half-civilized nation had attained a degree of knowledge about the structure of the world, which is now only discovered by the observation of centuries, and the intense study of the most gifted minds? The man who can account for this on common principles, must be credulous indeed.
The Christian has a very simple and satisfactory answer: "He who made the world could reveal to Moses how it was made. It is a fact of deep interest that science, when matured by a series of careful observations and legitimate induction, teaches us precisely what Moses had taught more than three thousand years ago."130
Objection 2. "It is said in the Bible that Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament; but it is impossible that he could have written them, for in his day the art of writing was not known." This is a bold assertion, and if true, a very formidable one. Let us inquire into its truth.
Answer. Not long since, the French army invaded Egypt. A corps of scientific men under the patronage of the French government, accompanied this army to examine the hieroglyphics, and to explore the far-famed antiquities of this land. They found in the pyramids—the sepulchral chambers of Egypt's embalmed kings—many manuscripts written in the time of Moses, and one in particular which was written two centuries before his day. These manuscripts were found with the mummies and funeral relics which were deposited in the tombs of the pyramids. They were read and their contents published to the world.
And yet infidels have been asserting for centuries that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch, because people did not know how to write then. This matter-of-fact discovery of the French philosophers has forever removed the argument from the mouths of intelligent men, but it is still bandied about to do its work among the ignorant.
Objection 3. "The creation of the world, according to the account of Moses, took place but about six thousand years ago. But the science of geology affords abundance of evidence that this world must have existed millions of ages."
Answer. The first chapter of Genesis, in its details, is not an account of the original creation of the globe, but of its adaption to its present purposes, and of the introduction of man upon its surface. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." When was "the beginning?" Does Moses say it was but six thousand years ago? No such thing. Moses says not one word upon the subject. For aught we are told, it may have been millions of ages.
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." How long had the earth remained this shapeless mass of inorganic matter? The Bible does not inform us. For aught we can tell, it may have been through the long lapse of many ages. Moses simply informs us that the earth had been created "in the beginning," and was in this situation when God said, "Let there be light."
But here again science appears in attestation of the truth of scripture. By a process of investigation of petrified bones and organic remains, which it is not necessary here to endeavor to explain, the most eminent geologists are satisfied that the human race cannot have existed on this globe for a longer period than that asserted by Moses. Thus science, instead of contradicting the Mosaic account, gives whatever influence she has in its favor.
Objection 4. "Modern astronomy teaches us that the world upon which we live is but one among unnumbered millions. As far as the eye of the telescope can penetrate into the regions of infinite space, we find suns and systems strewed with a profusion which no combination of numbers can express. This world is one of the most insignificant of them all, and compared with the rest, is but as a sand upon the shore of the ocean, or as a single leaf amid the countless myriads of the forest. It is, therefore, ridiculous to suppose that this insignificant world with its puny inhabitants, should attract so much of the attention of God as is represented in the Bible."
Answer. This argument implies, first, the assertion that Christianity is intended for the exclusive benefit of this world. We cannot reply to this assertion better than in the eloquent language of Chalmers.
"How does the infidel know that Christianity is set up for the single benefit of this earth and its inhabitants? How is he able to tell us that the person and the religion of Jesus are unknown in other worlds? We challenge him to the proof of this said positive announcement. He may make his argument out of an assertion, which he has no means whatever of verifying; an assertion the truth or the falsehood of which can only be gathered out of some supernatural message, for it lies completely beyond the range of human observation."
But the Christian can go farther than this. In the Bible he finds positive evidence that the plan of redemption is not confined in its moral effects to this world alone. The inhabitants of other worlds look with interest upon the scenes which are occurring here. And in these scenes they witness such a display of the Creator's love as constitutes one of the high songs of eternity.
The Christian can go farther still. Even admitting the infidel's bare and proofless assertion, that Christianity was intended for this world alone, his argument remains still to be defended.
He says, "Since astronomy has unfolded to us such a number of worlds, it is not likely that God would pay so much attention to this one world, and set up such wonderful provisions for its benefit as are announced to us in the Christian revelation."
And is this the character of the infidel's God? Is he so exhausted with his many cares that he cannot attend to the wants of the creatures he has made? Is he such a languid, powerless being, that he has called worlds into existence which he has no time to take care of? Is the God whom the infidel professes to worship so overwhelmed with business and perplexed with cares, that he cannot be the guide and protector of his frail children?
Such is not the God of the Christian. The God we worship is not like feeble man. He rules over an empire, vast in extent, beyond the conceptions of any finite mind. Infinity is filled with rolling worlds over which his boundless monarchy extends. And yet there is no minuteness which can escape his observant eye. Again, to quote the language of Dr. Chalmers, "In a word, I am told by the telescope, that the Almighty is now at work in regions more distant than geometry has ever measured, and among worlds more manifold than numbers have ever reached. But by the microscope I am also told, that with a mind to comprehend the whole in the vast compass of its generality, he has also a mind to concentrate a close and a separate attention on each and all of its particulars; and that the same God who sends forth an upholding influence among the orbs and the movements of astronomy, can fill the recesses of every single atom with the intimacy of his presence, and travels in all the greatness of his unimpaired attributes, upon every spot and corner of the universe he has formed. Does it not add much to the perfection of the benevolence of God, that while it is expiating over the vast field of created things, there is not one portion of the field overlooked by it; that while it scatters blessings over the whole of an infinite range, it causes them to descend in a shower of plenty on every separate habitation; that while his arm is underneath and round about all worlds, it enters within the precincts of every one of them, and gives a care and a tenderness to each individual of their teeming population?"
What low and degraded views the infidel must have of the character of God. The God he worships is a powerless being, so distracted with care that he cannot attend to his children's wants.—Abbott's Magazine.
(To be continued.)
RICH AND POOR.
I saw a poor man enter where
The worshipers of God were seen,
His garments cheap and worn threadbare,
Yet all was tidy, neat and clean—
I saw him take a lonely seat,
And worship at the Saviour's feet.
I saw hard by, a family,
Dress'd out in satin, silk and gold;
Their look was haughty, proud and high,
Their gait was very stern and bold—
They scarcely deigned to look that way,
So poor was he, so rich were they.
I looked again by faith ahead,
And saw "the great white throne" on high;
I saw the living and the dead,
All hastening to their destiny:
The rich and poor were in that host,
And some were saved and some were lost.
I saw the man who years ago
Was dressed in tinsel, silk and gold;
But O, how changed! how full of woe,
What anguish did his looks unfold:
His lofty airs were fled and gone,
He stood a wretch, unsaved undone.
I saw the poor man clad in white,
Stand with the glorious seraphim;
Angels that glow in realms of light,
Were not ashamed to be with him—
O who would not prefer to be
A sinner saved, though poor as he?
Revolution in Italy
The following is from a letter of a correspondent of the Newark Advertiser, written from Florence, Italy.
“Verily Revolution is abroad in the earth! The whole world almost seems now a boiling caldron of human passions. And poor Italy! so far from being out of the woods, seems at this date to be in the very thickest. The tangled schemes of Napoleon, Cavour, Garibaldi, and Mazzini, threaten to entrap the very spirit of Liberty, while the war-dogs, scenting the battle afar off, are struggling to get loose from the leash of diplomacy. The coming spring is looked forward to from the four corners of the earth as the birth-time of great events, with which the present is pregnant. But, while Southern Italy is a prey to conspiracies of every sort, Florence seems comparatively tranquil, and self-assured for the future. The Tuscans can even enter on the Carnival with appetite for its pleasures, and have already enjoyed two of a series of the grand democratic balls given by the governor of the province, in the historic hall of the palazzo vecchio; the last is to occur on the 28th inst. and will be a fancy ball. Few of the Americans have taken heart and spirit enough to join these fetes; or, to open their own houses for parties among themselves. The chief excitement with them is looking anxiously for, and receiving in mutual sympathy the American mails.”
Guide-Boards Towards Heaven.
By Cuyler
IN our last article we offered a few practical directions to the seeker after Christ. Our aim was to point out the entrance-gate to the way of life. But when the seeker has become the joyful finder—when he has once fairly entered on the straight and narrow path, does his need of guidance cease? Can he find his way alone to heaven? No! More than ever he needs to say, Thou must guide me by thy counsels, if afterwards thou wouldst receive me to glory.
Let us run our eye along that heavenward path, and observe some of the pilgrims within it, and the guide-boards which the Lord of the way has prepared for their direction and encouragement. The first one that meets our eye is a timid doubter. He is one of a numerous household; as John Bunyan would phrase it, he came out of the land of Unbelief, and some of its black soil still sticks to his garments. He is the man who always sees lions in the path; their roaring frights him out of many a duty, and long ago robbed him of anything like a firm, tranquil assurance of salvation. His lips never yet could bring out the full round utterance, “I know whom I have believed.” He crept in at the entrance-gate, shivering as if an ague was upon him. His first prayer nearly took away his breath, and he never would have got in at all but for the motto over the gate, “Knock, and it shall be opened to you.” Public profession was another sore trial to him. He doubted his change of heart; he doubted his ability to be any thing else but a stumbling-block and a reproach to the church of Christ. He never can be drafted into any very severe or laborious service; for he is “laid up” a good part of the time, and when he sets out on duty, walks with a sad limp in his ankles. For new enterprises involving hard work and strong faith he has no stomach; he doubts “whether they are needed,” or, if undertaken, “whether they will succeed.” While happier Christians chant hallelujahs, he always sings bass; and has serious fear whether he will even join in the song of Moses and the Lamb. The best feature of his spiritual character is his tenderness of conscience. He hates sin cordially. He is a true disciple, for he fears God; he is not a buoyant, gladsome disciple, for he does not trust God at all times, and “rejoice in the Lord always.” I would like to point this timid brother to three guide-boards placed up on the roadside for the especial encouragement of such Christians as himself.
“My grace is sufficient for thee.” “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart.” “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
Now here is a single specimen of the divine counsels which God has graciously affixed to the good man's pathway, to guide him to glory. The king's highway is lined with them. They shine131on every hand. They look down from every turn of the path; they gleam out in dark places; they illumine the valleys of the shadow of death. The Christian never finds himself in a strait or an emergency but God has a “counsel” for him. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Unto the upright there ariseth light in darkness.
Are you perplexed, my brother, as to some puzzling question of duty? Then look up to the guide-board and you will read, “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of the Lord, who giveth liberally.” “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”
Are you sitting by an open coffin, or beside a new-made grave? Try to read through the fast welling tears these precious words which an oldtime saint traced on a stone by the wayside. “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” If you could read that blessed line in the identical language in which Paul wrote it, you would find that the words mean—a glory exceeding all excess. Oh! what are tears and groans and weary days of penury, and lonely nights of bereavement, to one who is looking not at the things which are seen, but to the things that are unseen! What is coarse raiment to her for whom the white robe is waiting?
But it is not only to the perplexed and the bereaved that God giveth his counsels. There are guide-boards for every man. The restored backslider—still lame from his recent fall, and still soiled with the mire on his white garment—readeth his solemn warning as he walks: “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Upon that same wayside another reads, “Be ye not conformed to the world; whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” What a pity the man had not looked at the guide-board before he went a few nights since to the opera-house, and from thence to a wine-supper! Worst of all, it was the night for his church prayer-meeting!
We cannot, in this brief article, point to one hundredth part of the divine counsels inscribed along the road toward heaven. The church-member reads, “So walk as ye have Christ for an example.” The pastor reads, “Keep thyself pure; shun not to declare the whole counsel; make full proof of thy ministry.” The dear mother reads, “Bring up this child for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” Even the lambs of the flock can read with childish eyes, “Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” And all along the narrow, uneven, perilous pathway the great Lord of the pilgrims has stretched one solemn, vivid admonition: What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch.
With such blessed counsels doth our heavenly Father guide us. He guides over mountain tracks and through valleys of lowliness; guides us where our own foresight is at fault, and our own wisdom is but folly. He guides us in safety to the last, and then—what then? “Afterwards he receiveth us to glory.” Not yet. Afterwards. The guidance must be ended before the glory begins. Remember that. We must not grow homesick too soon. After a little more clambering of steep cliffs of duty, after a little more seed-dropping of the truth, and waterings of the seed with anxious tears, after the mission our Master gave us has been wrought out, then cometh the glory!
Good old David had but one short, all-comprehending word for this endless rapture. He sums it all in the single word “glory.” It is a rainbow word, composed of seven distinct hues of truth, all beautifully blended. A light that floweth out from the eternal Godhead—a knowledge which reveals all the hidden mysteries taught us by Jehovah himself—a purity which walks in white among the seraphim—a peace that passeth all understanding—a love born of the Redeemer’s wounds on Calvary—a joy forever unsullied by a single fear—a holiness as lustrous as that worn by the Bride of the Lamb. These are the seven colors that blend into the one dazzling and insupportable brightness! No earthly eye hath yet seen it. No earthly ear hath heard its unending swell of harmonies. No human heart hath conceived it. The glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Oh Redeemer! guide me with thy counsels, if afterwards thou canst receive me to such an exceeding and eternal weight of GLORY!—Cuyler.
Love of Money.
“To purchase heaven has gold the power?
Can gold remove the mortal hour?
In life can love be bought with gold?
Are friendship's pleasures to be sold?
No: all that's worth a wish or thought,
Fair virtue gives unbribed, unbought.
Covetousness is the mammoth sin of the age, the leprosy of the church, the gangrene of the soul. It eats out as doth a canker the life-blood of salvation! Farmers are covetous, merchants are covetous, mechanics are covetous, lawyers and doctors are covetous, editors and ministers are covetous, church-members are covetous.—Covetousness spreads far and wide, like an infectious disease, the deadly Bohon! It leads to every evil. It closes the door to hospitality, to deeds of mercy, truth, benevolence and love. It grinds the poor, traffics in the bodies and souls of men, takes robbery for burnt offering. It leads to quibbling, to screwing and jewing, to fraud and falsehood, to unjust usury. It takes advantage in trade, in buying and selling. It robs holy time, withholds from the missionary box, starves the minister, starves the soul!
Go to some of these rich, parsimonious, close-fisted church-members for a donation to some benevolent object, a contribution to diffuse light and life, to subscribe to some valuable book or periodical,—oh! what subterfuges are resorted to, what an effort to loose the purse-strings; it's like pulling teeth, or cutting the heart-strings! They part with their dimes as with their life's blood! They give like the miser, grudgingly, sparingly. “Soul, thou hast many goods laid up for many years, take thine ease.” The consequences of this undue love of gain are awful!
“Gold banished honor from the mind!
And only left the name behind.
Gold sowed the world with every ill,
Gold taught the murderer's sword to kill!
“'Twas gold instructed coward hearts
In treachery's more pernicious arts:
Who can recount the mischiefs o'er?
Virtue resides on earth no more!”
The Holy Spirit is grieved, takes his flight. The closet is neglected, secret prayer; faith is shipwrecked; family altars are broken down; religion becomes a form, a dead letter. Children catch this money-loving spirit, become little misers, grow up impenitent, conscience-seared, harder than the nether millstone! Thus the church, instead of being the salt of the earth, a lighthouse, a city set on a hill, soul-saving, it is an infidel manufactory, a false light, a stench, a hissing, “a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers;” the salt has lost its savor; the light that is in her is darkness, and O how great the darkness! “Thus iniquity abounds and the love of many waxes cold.” “O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.” “Let not covetousness be once named among you as becometh saints.”
“Why should we lay up treasures here below,
Where moth and rust corrupt? Why fix our heart
On that from which so quickly we must part?
Why on an ocean where such tempests blow,
Embark so rich a freight? Why midst the snow
Of so unkind a winter, plant a flower
So fragrant yet so frail? Why build hope's tower
Where lightning's flash and whelming torrents flow?
But, if our highest energies are bent
In God and heaven a portion to insure,
Midst every change our wealth will be secure;
When the destroying angels forth are sent,
When melts away the starry firmament,
Our bliss unharmed, shall, e'en like God endure.”
[Golden Rule.]
The Pilgrim Communing with Himself.
“Our light afflictions.”—Cor. iv. 17.
PEOPLE are apt to complain of their trials and exaggerate them. St. Paul was a singular man in this respect. He talks about our light afflictions. He is right. Our afflictions are light—light compared with our sins, for no one ever treated us worse than we have treated our Heavenly Father. Light, compared with the sufferings of others. Light, because they are but for a moment, and then “there shall be no more pain.” Light, compared with the pain of Jesus, who says, “Cannot ye watch with me one hour?” Light, because they are useful. Poverty gives rise to faith, illness to resignation, injury to forgiveness; thus, sorrows are commuted into pearls, and enemies leave jewels in the way, which we may lay up with our treasures in heaven. Light, because they are wisely sent. They are selected as to number, kind, and quality. The Captain of our salvation understands every case, and knows what drilling is necessary to make a good soldier. Light, if we love and approach the hand that afflicts.132I must try then to derive improvement from my tribulations, rather than to complain of them. I must have a smile for every pain; a cordial blessing for every one that annoys me; and never more resist the good angels of affliction, which, though never welcome, are ever coming out of the unseen, laden with their weight of glory.—Presbyterian.
Great Men are Fearful.
The following speech was delivered by the celebrated historian, Sir Archibald Alison, a short time ago in Glasgow, on the occasion of swearing in some volunteers:
“I much fear that the horizon of Europe is overcast, and that a severer contest than has ever yet awaited us, yet awaits us in our own quarter of the globe—a contest which will strain to the uttermost the military and volunteer resources of the country. This very day we saw in the papers that Russia and Austria have concluded an alliance, offensive and defensive and that the Russian ambassador has left Turin. There is war beginning between the North and the South. The war in the South is headed by Napoleon—a man of great abilty, of great power, and who is actuated by one principle, which he has told us himself, for early in his career he said:
“ ‘I represent a principle, and that is universal suffrage; I represent a dynasty, and that dynasty is that of Napoleon; I represent a defeat, and that defeat is Waterloo.” He has got universal suffrage; he would fain elevate the dynasty to the power which it once held; and he is anxious to wash out the disgrace of Waterloo in the occupation of London. Then there is what is now going on in Europe. A gallant, brave and honest man—a great general, and an honest republican sails from Genoa, and overturns the monarchy of Sicily and Naples. Garibaldi, who does the whole thing, and fights the whole battles, the moment they are over, is dispossessed, and Napoleon through his vassal, the king of Sardinia, quietly steps in and takes the whole of the country that Garibaldi had won in a noble cause. He will tell Europe that he has given so much to Sardinia, that Sardinia is so powerful that he must get something to counterbalance it, and that something will be the island of Sardinia and Genoa, which will at once give him the command of the Mediterranean, and the entire command of his vassal Sardinia. I am afraid that a great war is rising on the continent, a war between the Northern and the Southern powers. You will see on the one hand Austria, Russia and Prussia; on the other side France, Spain and Italy. I do not know which will be victorious, but of this I am perfectly sure, that we have equal cause to dread the victory of the one as the other—that if the French are victorious we will be at once exposed to the dangerous policy of the first Napoleon; and if the Russians are victorious the whole of Europe will be flooded with cossacks. The only way for this country to preserve its position is, to assume such an attitude as to prevent the liberties of Germany and Britain being crushed by the democratic despotism of France or the Imperial despotism of Russia.
SAPPERS AND MINERS.
ThERE is no mode of warfare which the powers of earth have found efficient in extending their conquests and accomplishing their purposes, of which the arch-enemy of all righteousness does not avail himself in warring against the cause of Christ, and its faithful adherents. No literal army is considered complete without a class of operators known as its sappers and miners. Their office is to approach by secret trenches and under ground excavations the fortifications and breast-works of the enemy, and either sink them by destroying their foundations, or blow them up by laying mines of powder beneath them. In the numerical strength of his forces, and the number and ingenuity of his devices, the great warrior against the King of Heaven and all his subjects, is not to be outdone by the wisdom of man. He, too, has what may be called his sappers and miners, who are incessant in pushing their fatal approaches to the heart of man. Loving, according to his nature, darkness rather than light, the great ruler of the kingdom of darkness oftener urges his aggressions by secret approach than by bold and open attack. A few thoughts upon his sappers and miners, the signs of their presence, and of the progress of their operations, may help us to watch against their approach and defeat the accomplishment of their purposes.
Look at that professed believer in the truth. The truth really believed will certainly show itself. A deep and inwrought conviction will work itself out and lead a person to act in harmony with his views. You can tell a live man from a frigid statue at the first glance. But how is it with that believer? He seems to falter. He does nothing boldly and bravely. All his movements are languid. The apostle tells us to run the race set before us; but he, at most, reaches only a walk. We are told to fight manfully; but there are only a few feeble blows struck by him. A mist of uncertainty seems to be enveloping his mind; and he, perhaps, makes a downright surrender of some of the outposts of his belief. What is the matter with that man? Those who walk in the light know that something is wrong. They see, beyond mistake, that the old sapper, Unbelief, is pushing his advances to the very citadel of truth in that man's heart; and unless his operations are arrested, his whole theory will soon crumble into ruins.
We all find an inveterate foe in this insidious miner. He watches each moment of carelessness in us; and ere we are aware, we find him sapping our confidence in the truth and the work of God. It is the sin that easily besets. We must arrest his progress by countermining; push out in vigorous investigations into the word of God, into careful examination, and re-examination of the truthfulness of our position. We shall thus re-assure our confidence, discover the secret approaches of the enemy, and compel him to an ignominious retreat.
But there are those in the fold of Christ who exhibit other symptoms. The mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus is the object to which the believer is to look, and to which he is ever to press forward. But there are some who do not seem inclined to look steadily toward the prize. Other objects appear to be attracting their attention. The tinsel and glitter of the world, and the voice of praise from their fellowmen, seem to take their eyes and ears quicker than the crown of life and the orders of the great Captain of our salvation. The society and communion of saints they do not find peculiarly attracting, and do not especially seek. They find agreeable companions in the world around them; and the prayer-meeting, that accurate thermometer of christian zeal, begins to be neglected. Is it not apparent what kind of an attack the enemy is making on such? Do we not see that the spirit of the world is undermining their religion?
We have this consideration to encourage us in all these matters: these enemies of our spiritual life cannot approach without giving evidence of their operation; and seeing this, we are without excuse if we do not set ourselves vigorously at work to arrest their progress.
But there is another old sapper and miner scarred and callous in the enemy's service. Whenever he succeeds in springing a mine upon us, he makes wild and fatal work. Let us therefore note some of the evidences he gives of his operations. Union is the strength of the church. There is no point on which the enemy is more delighted with victory than on this. The individual attacked begins to lose confidence in his brethren. He begins to look with distrust and suspicion upon them. Their supposed wrongs and failings are brooded over and magnified in secret, rather than made known to them, and an explanation in love and meekness requested. The unity of the Spirit and the bonds of peace are relaxed. Prejudice has full sway. The vision is perverted, and everything is distorted. The name of the old miner at work here is Jealousy. If suffered to perfect his operations, he springs, at some favorable opportunity, his destructive mine; and in the explosion that follows, all the bonds of christian union and love are severed, and the individual is torn violently from the church of Christ.
Such are some of the forces which the enemy keeps busily at work against us. There are many others which we need not particularly mention. Pride, the fear of man, the love of ease, the dread of the cross, and any natural besetment which we may unfortunately possess, all act well their part. Their secret trenches are being continually pushed against us. Their mines are often unexpectedly sprung beneath us. How often have we erected in our citadel some shining tower of good resolutions, and stationed ourselves in seeming security behind some firm determination; and how often has some sapper and miner of the enemy suddenly sprung a mine beneath them, and strewn the ground with their fragments. Thus are we robbed of our strength, if not overcome. We should learn wisdom from experience, and with redoubled energy strive to reach that position in which the aggressions and the victories shall all be ours.