Earlier text: MORTAL OR IMMORTAL? WHICH?TENT MEETING AT OCEOLA, IOWA.
By M. E. Cornell; M. Hull
It is impossible to give a definite report of this meeting, as to the number who have decided to obey the truth, on account of the sickness of our company during the last and most important part of the time, so that we could not visit those interested. However, we have the assurance that several have decided to keep the Sabbath. Our regular hearers were mostly from the country, and we learn that a good impression is made on many minds. Nine were baptized. Hundreds were gathered at the water-side, and while the services were performed, and an exhortation given, solemnity seemed to pervade the whole assembly. May the Lord give the increase, is our prayer. Bro. Brinkerhoof was with us part of the time, and assisted in preaching the word. Bro. B. was never a professor of religion until he heard the present truth. He had studied law under his uncle, and was ready to be admitted to the bar when the truth found him, and he now feels willing to give himself to pleading the "higher law"—the law of God. Bro. B. will be duly set apart to the ministry, and as such we heartily commend him to the sympathies of commandment-keepers where he may travel. Eld. Winans, a good scholar and one of the first Methodist preachers in this country, gave us a challenge to debate the Sabbath question. Bro. Hull accepted, and a day was appointed for the discussion of the question, Resolved, That the seventh day of the week, beginning the count with the commencement of the making of the world, is the only lawful weekly Sabbath. It was estimated that over a thousand persons were assembled to hear the arguments, and the unanimous decision of all, so far as we could learn, (except a part of Eld. W.'s own members,) was that our position was triumphantly sustained, and that Eld. W. did not argue to the question. Good order was observed by the audience, and a good spirit manifested by the disputants, and we believe a general spirit of investigation was stimulated by the effort. When truth and error are held side by side, the honest and unprejudiced can discern the vast difference that exists between them. We are now in Knoxville. Have had three meetings here. Last evening about five hundred were present, notwithstanding three other meetings at the same time. The interest is rising very fast, and we hope for much good here. Since writing the above our congregation has increased to above eight hundred, and some say over a thousand. The country people are just now beginning to come in, and there is a prospect of a good work. O Lord, revive thy work.
M. E. CORNELL.
M. HULL. Knoxville, Iowa, Sept. 5th, 1859. Since we received the above the following has come to hand from Bro. Hull, written from Knoxville.—Ed. DEAR BRO. SHIRTS: Through the abundant goodness of our heavenly Father, I am permitted to address you. The present truth is onward in this place. So far the interest is very good here, the best we have seen in any place this year. The tent is crowded every night to overflowing. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Lutherans, and Disciples flock out en masse to hear the truth. There are a few who have never heard us, who make it their business to circulate all manner of false reports about us. But thus far they have overshot the mark. They have loaded their gun so heavy that the effect has been for them the wrong way. The stories are so large that the people will not believe them, notwithstanding ministers are foremost in circulating them. One Presbyterian minister told his congregation that he knew all about us; that we were Mormons, and still had our spiritual wives; that we were abolitionists, down on education, and would stay as long as we could get sap-heads to hear us. But this attempt to put us down only made him appear ridiculous, and caused his best brethren to lose confidence in him. The Lord has given some freedom in presenting his truth, although my health has been so poor that I have not been able to do justice to any subject as yet. I hope for more physical strength in the future. I shall have to quit the field unless more bodily strength is given to me than I have had for a few weeks past. Brethren, pray for me.
M. HULL. P. S. My address for the present is Knoxville, Marion Co., Iowa. Fiery trials are God's furnace, by which he purges away the dross of his people: "This is all the fruit to take away sin." UNITY OF THE CHURCH.
By John Nevins Andrews
DURING our recent tent-meeting at Parkville I listened to a sermon by a Methodist minister on the unity of the church, which was, however, designed as an attack upon us. It seemed to me that he was endeavoring to set aside the text on which he was professedly preaching, rather than endeavoring to set forth what it taught. But of this the reader can judge. I present the text, and the leading ideas on the occasion. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." John xvii, 20, 21. "I have no sympathy for the whining deceivers that cry out, 'Union, union,' to get sympathy. Individuality is stamped on the minds of men, as well as upon their faces, and consequently in no church do the members all think alike. A certain persecutor endeavored to make everybody believe as he did. But finding it impossible to make two clocks go alike he relinquished the attempt to bring men to see things alike. God never designed that the members of the church should agree exactly in doctrine. To use a common expression, no two minds are cast in the same mould. Those who cast out devils, and followed not in the company of the disciples, did a good work. "The apostles did not think alike, and after Christ's death one said, 'I am of Paul,' &c., and another, 'I am of Christ;' and the one who claimed to be of Christ was the worst and meanest of all. There always was, and always will be, differences in doctrine and usage in the church. I will show the bond of union in the evangelical churches; and those who do not agree in these things are not entitled to that name. "1. We all agree that water baptism is necessary; but all admit that the thing is more essential than the mode. 2. Another strong bond of union is the belief in one God. 3. We all believe that there are three persons in the Godhead. 4. We all believe in the fall of man. 5. In total depravity. 6. In the new birth, and in the actual creation of a new heart. The carnal mind is taken away, which is enmity against the law, and the believer delivered from the sentence of the law. 7. All believe in sanctification. 8. And all believe in future rewards and punishment, which latter is eternal conscious being in torment. God will punish a reality and not a shadow. Destruction would be no punishment, for once we did not exist, and to be reduced to the same state again would be no punishment. 9. All evangelical christians agree in a general judgment, not one thousand, or ten thousand years long, but one day. No evangelical christian is disreputable enough to deny that the judgment will be in that one last great day which God has appointed. "How can christians best unite? Some say, abolish all but our church. But the evangelical alliance advised that each church should stick to everything in its organization and church government. Union is not by all seeing alike, but by being of one Spirit. No other union ever can be. The Romish church is an example of the folly of union. Yet it is made up of sects within a sect. And this church has given us many pernicious errors. "Divisions of the Jews caused them to watch each other, and thus the Bible was kept pure. The same thing is good now. Union would have ruined the Christian religion. Divisions have advanced the work. Thus Methodists can gain access to a certain class that Baptists and Presbyterians cannot, and so each denomination can reach some that the others cannot reach. These different churches are like the states of this Union, all with separate constitutions, yet all united under the constitution of the United States. Such a union as this convinces the world. When we cross the river of death we shall sing, Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" J. N. ANDREWS. ASSOCIATE NOT WITH THE WICKED.
By E. B. Saunders
We do not mean by this to exclude ourselves entirely from the company of evil doers, for then must we needs go out of the world; but we mean to avoid all unnecessary society and fellowship with wicked men. It is an old saying that “a man is known by the company he keeps;” and if we who profess to be preparing for translation, who expect to be found without spot and blameless, are fond of the company of those who love pleasure, and if we gather with them on their festivals unnecessarily, then we may expect to be judged with them. Also we virtually deny our Lord before men, for the world would not know by our actions that we pretended to be the meek followers of Jesus, but would naturally suppose us to be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,” and those who are acquainted with us, and know our high profession, would say that our godliness was only a mere form. While we thus deny Jesus before men, we cannot expect him to confess our names before the Father, and we shall be left to weep and mourn when it is too late for repentance to benefit us. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning,” and in the record of the dealings of God with his people anciently, we find that not one person of those nations that were driven out before the children of Israel, was permitted to remain among his people; and the reason given was this, “lest they make thee to sin against me.” Ex. xxiii, 33. Now if there was danger of a few unbelievers making a nation to sin, how much greater is the danger of a nation of unbelievers making a few righteous to transgress in these days of peril and apostasy. When Jehoshaphat had helped the wicked king of Israel, Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him, and said to him, “Shouldst thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.” It is natural for us to company with those we love; and the converse is also true, that those we company with we love; and if we company much with the world, that is, go to their parties, pic-nics and gatherings for pleasure, our deeds, which speak louder than words, show to men that we love the world and those that hate God. But the humble followers of Jesus can ever say with David, “I have not sat with vain persons, neither will go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.” Ps. xxvi, 4, 5. Let us heed the instruction of the wise man. “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. . . . Walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path.” “Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them;” but choose the company of the truly wise, for “he that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Who are fools? not those that are incapable of understanding, alone, but those who have knowledge; (see Prov. i:) those who despise wisdom and instruction; those who will not turn at the reproof of the Lord, when he is about to pour out his Spirit; those who set at naught the counsel of the Lord; whose destruction is about to come like a whirlwind; or briefly, those whom the Lord is about to destroy—the wicked. Reader, are you a companion of such? If so, forsake them lest you too be destroyed. “Who shall abide in thy tabernacle?” Is it those who love the world? He “in whose eyes a vile person is contemned.” Ps. xv. While we seek the company and friendship of the world, and our lives pass along smoothly here below, will not the record in heaven stand thus against our names: “Guilty of spiritual adultery; professing to be married to the blessed Saviour, they lived in wanton pleasures with the old man of sin.” O let us not love the world, nor seek its pleasures, for “the friendship of the world is enmity with God.” Do not love the friendship of the world, lest you be found the enemy of God. James iv, 4. SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
By J. Clarke
“The Methodist Conference having jurisdiction over north-western Ohio, has for some time had in contemplation the founding of a female Seminary in the northern counties of their bounds. We understand that preference will be given to some thriving point in the Maumee country, easily accessible, and healthy in location, and which will hold out sufficient inducements for the present, and support for the future. Defiance is looked upon with favor already by the Methodists having the matter in charge, and the location could be easily secured if our citizens would but make a reasonable effort. To consult and ascertain what can be done to this end, is the object of the meeting called for next Saturday evening, August 13th.—Defiance Democrat.” “What say the citizens of Perrysburg to putting in a bid for the location of the Female Seminary at this point? Certainly Perrysburg can present claims equal, if not superior, to those of any other locality in the North West.—Perrysburg Journal of Aug. 11th, 1859.” To the casual observer, there is nothing in the above extracts to cause remark. Surely there can be nothing objectionable in establishing schools, nor in a wish on the part of those towns to invite what would evidently add to their prosperity and attractiveness. The feature noticeable in the above extracts is one of a general nature, applicable to our whole country, and the professed christian world; viz., a desire on the part of the world to avail themselves of the advantages of a prosperous, wealthy, and of course popular church, (and this is more or less true of most existing churches,) and a willingness, too, on the part of the church to receive the patronage and support of the wicked world, even throwing out inducements to the public, which are well understood by those interested, so that the location of a denominational Seminary, or other institution of learning, is looked upon by those owning property or real estate in the neighborhood, in some degree as the location of a railroad or county seat, as adding to the value of property, and in elevating the tone of society. Now there can be no possible harm in any honest endeavors to give an impetus to business, or to enhance the value of property, or to elevate the public mind to a higher tone of intelligence and manners. On the contrary, such endeavors are praiseworthy and excellent. But what are the facts in the case? Simply these: the professed church of Jesus Christ upon the earth, has somehow or other got in favor with the world, so that the world allures her by such endowments as they can present, and on the other hand the world has somehow got in favor with the professed church of Christ, so that she smilingly receives the aforesaid endowments, and gives her patronage in return. But what of this? says one. Is it not pleasant and profitable, in a secular as well as spiritual sense, for such peace to exist? Would you like to see the church at swords points with the world? Sir, here is the principle, the point at issue. Christ and Satan are as opposite in character as light and darkness. They have never made any treaty of peace. Satan wages perpetual war with Christ, and when Christ's followers unite with Satan's disciples, it shows that there is treachery somewhere. If the children of Beelzebub patronize Christian institutions, and sustain them, it is to seduce them; for it is certain that Christ has not changed, neither has Satan improved, except in slyness and cunning. Indeed! says another, that would be too much to believe, that Satan should have such a strong influence with the church. I cannot agree with any such idea, for should the church refuse to associate with the world she would lose her influence and position at once. Why, more than half our congregation are of the world, and they include some of the most popular and wealthy. True, sir. You are on the road to present wealth by gaining worldly favor; but Christ says that his kingdom is not of this world; and James says that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Again says Christ, Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And again, Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. But, sir, when the true church shall let her light shine as it is her privilege to do, she will condemn the practices of the wicked world by her example and precept. She cannot unite in schemes of usefulness with the wicked, for their ideas of utility are at antipodes, wholly at variance, as light with darkness. Of this Christ was aware when he said, 'Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and separate you from their company; and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, great is your reward in heaven; for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.' Here, sir, you see the Saviour has drawn the line, when he says that false prophets are in the favor of the world. He pronounces a woe upon such. On the other hand, the true prophets have had their names cast out as evil by the world, and history, sacred and profane, does corroborate this testimony most satisfactorily. Now unless you can prove that the world has improved in moral character since the Saviour's time, you must allow that the church has lowered her standard to such an extent as to satisfy the world that she has lost the Saviour's image.142 But say you, I think the world is improving in morals and intelligence; we have schools and churches in almost every neighborhood; missions to the heathen, and all kinds of benevolent and patriotic institutions and establishments. Sir, it appears from all the evidence spread out before us, that instead of improvement, there is a downward tendency in morals within the recollection of man, so that it is proverbial among thinking people, that this is an apostate age. Compare the men of the American congress of 1776, with the rowdy collection in the halls of Washington in 1859; compare the Wesleys, the Newtons, the Tennetts, the Edwards, of a former age, with the dwarfs of the nineteenth century; (I speak not of intellectual power, but of deep piety and unspotted purity of life;); witness the missionary societies, fairly endorsing southern slavery for a little more gold; witness the American Tract Society with its enormous power, mutilating the work of a living historian, such as D'Aubigne, and sending the crippled copy of that good man's book broadcast over the world, without even giving him notice of the matter; witness the same Society fairly endorsing (by its stubborn silence) that horrid moloch of American slavery. Again, notice the fall of our political morals since the adoption of the constitution. Who does not see in the Kansas perfidy, in the fugitive slave law, in the decision of the supreme court in the Dred Scott case, &c., a great moral fall? How are the mighty fallen! Paul said that in the latter days perilous times should come, that men would become lovers of their own selves. He also says that evil men and seducers should wax worse and worse. Now to suppose the world is growing better and better, is both contrary to scripture and other evidence, and in this corrupt age, for the professed church to seek to win the wealth, and favor, and endowments of the world, and the world in turn reciprocating the favor, is indeed conclusive and glaring evidence that the corrupt churches are the apostate daughters of the mother of harlots, who holds in her hand the golden cup spoken of in Rev. xvii, 4, 5. ALMOST HOME.
By S. C. Wellcome
O how pleasing the thought to the weary pilgrim who has been following his Master through sorrow and affliction, that he is almost home! that a few more days of trials and conflict here, and the Master who has gone on before shall return to take home his little flock to his Father's house! Or if he is not permitted to be alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, but must be laid away in the tomb, he rejoices in the hope that although he may moulder back to dust, Jesus soon will come and raise the righteous dead to life and immortality. Yes, praise God for the poor pilgrim's hope of a glorious resurrection beyond the grave! And this hope he has, for he is dead to the world and his life is hid with Christ in God, and when he appears, he will appear also with him in glory. Then why may not his heart leap for joy at the thought of his pilgrimage's being almost ended? While here he is continually tempted to sin; he has to struggle along through weakness, for he is a fallen being, a sinner saved by grace; he has a continual warfare to fight with the enemy of souls, and can only overcome through the grace given him by God. This indeed is all-sufficient, yet he is so prone to wander that he must watch and pray continually lest he be led from the narrow way. And then again his poor body is often diseased and filled with pain. Extreme suffering has a tendency to weaken the powers of the mind, and he feels that this world is full of affliction and disappointments caused by the fall, and therefore it is not his home; that here he has no continuing city, but he seeks one to come. He has an earnest of his inheritance, and he looks forward with fond anticipation to the time when the purchased possession shall be redeemed and Paradise restored, Jesus crowned King, and the earth wherein dwelleth righteousness shall be filled with the praises of God. Then sickness and sorrow shall have passed away; the pilgrims arrayed in robes of white shall walk the golden streets of the New Jerusalem. The long looked-for home is reached at last. to the Ecclesiastical System, under the Similitude of his own bodily presence. [Bro. Smith: For the benefit of the readers of the Review, I send you for publication, quite a singular address; but in it we find a plain description of our times, if we are permitted to judge from what we see developed daily.—Wm. S. Ingraham.] SATAN. To all classes of the Ecclesiastical System, that profess Christ's name, and prove traitors in his service:— I now address you as my sworn subjects, under full power of my authority, feeling much gratified to see my kingdom established on God's creation! Though I have been wounded by Christ, the invader of my possessions, yet I hold before you the greatness of my power, and the glory of my kingdom. I am the great and high prince, and god of this world. O ye sons of men! I am that great red dragon, that was cast out into the earth; even that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, that deceives the whole world. Rev. xii, 9. And this is no dream nor fancy; for I have actually done it, and still do it; for power is given unto me over all kindreds, tongues and nations. Rev. xiii, 7. And I continue my speech to my subjects. Unto you, O man, I call! and my voice is unto the sons of men. I am your god; and I warn you of my great enemy, Christ—that you be not obedient to any of the requirements of his contracted plan. My ways are broad and easy. I am high in heart; and teach the same to you. That in all nations you may set my worship in high places—that it may be adorned with all the splendid glory that belongs to the prince that offered Christ all the glory of this world. That your places of worship may appear beautiful unto men;—high and lofty; above all other buildings; in cities, towns and country villages. That you may incite and draw all men into the broad way, with the bells of popularity. And let my servants, your ministers, be men of the best gifts and talents; for so were your fathers, the false prophets. And be not like Christ's apostles, who were ignorant and unlearned men. Even his great apostle, Paul (they said), in bodily presence was weak, and his speech contemptible. But let it not be so with you. Fear not, I am your god; and I will uphold you by my spirit. For it is my will that you should have the praise of men, and receive from them titles of honor. For the ways of Christ, our great enemy, are contrary to all men, and even to nature itself, as you may see throughout all his precepts: for example, see 1 Cor. i, 26-29. "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen." This is no description of an accomplished member of society. Faithful subjects! when you execute the priest's office in my service, put on a dress suitable to your ministration, and let your bodily presence be amiable, and your speech affable, and your countenance grave and solemn. Salute the people with a comely behaviour, that you may glory in your own presence. For verily I say unto you, except your outward appearance of righteousness shall exceed that of Christ's ministers, you shall in no case deceive the world. O ye priests! if you will be my servants, indeed, and keep all your wickedness from the light, then I will send my wolf-like spirit, and it shall light on you like a dove, in the presence of the world: and I will cause the world to love you, to praise, honor and bless you, and give you a name above all common people. And they shall feed you, and give you money, and doubly reward you for all your trouble. And I will send my anti-Christian spirit into your hearts at all times when you are preaching, that you may be able to speak before the people with the tongues of men and angels. For I would that you preach all the letter of the Scriptures, that if there be any who have received Christ's Spirit, when they hear the scriptures issue out of your mouths, they may take you to be the true ministers of Christ, and so make your covetous life their example. This is the best snare to destroy the souls of mankind, of any net that I have ever yet spread. Our enemy, Christ, saith, "When ye fast, be ye not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast." But I say unto you, when ye fast, appoint a day by law, and read an open proclamation thereof, and command all people to attend; for unto kings and rulers I say, it is your wisdom and prudence to appoint days of public worship, which are not commanded in the Scriptures. And ye ministers at my service, I will that ye receive your order of worship by the commandments of men. For I am with you, and will teach you how to prescribe rules of worship to the civil powers, that they may establish and protect them, and then receive them again from under their hands, and you shall be protected by them also; that we may all be combined under one system; I in you, and you with them, and they with me. It seems by the whole run of the doctrine of Christ, that he has adopted a system comprised of infinite principles and precepts, and then commands obedience thereunto by finite beings, and says he has chosen them out of the world. John xv, 18, &c. "If the world hated you, it hated me before it hated you; if ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Most obedient servants and ministers of the outer court! I have chosen you in the world, as I said unto you before; that the world shall love you, and reward you, and make you free from all public expense, with many other privileges, which shall enable you to train up your children in high life; even in my ways of pride, ease and luxury; by which means they shall become two-fold more the children of HELL than yourselves. And now let us hear a little more of the requirements of this narrow contracted plan. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you." Matt. v, 44. From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence even of your lusts, that war against the soul. 1 Pet. ii, 11. And even the whole of his gospel is to teach men to be of a meek and lamb-like spirit, and to follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man can see the Lord. And to bring into subjection all his passions: such as pride, self-will, wrath, anger, malice, strife, and to forbear one another in love; and to forgive each other as Christ hath forgiven them. Well may it be said of this strait and narrow way—"For there be that find it." For what character professing heroism would put his neck under this yoke, except such as professedly revolt from the law of nature? It is for these things that I now address myself unto the whole ecclesiastical system. I am the Devil, the great author of the depraved state of man; in which I glory; and which I rejoice to see the Prince of peace and his subjects striving in vain to reclaim. Most obedient children! I heartily address you, with great143boldness and confidence of gaining your hearing; for your eyes see and your ears hear, that it is your father, the devil, that speaks unto you through the impulses of nature, and by the motions of sin working in your members to bring forth fruit unto death. It would have been my first wish that my servants should openly confess the name of their master. But for the better accomplishing of my designs, I counsel that my plans be executed under a cloak of religion. For it is a mask of religion without, and a double portion of my spirit within, which eclipses the spirit of Christ, and cuts short the power of human reason, and puts pride in its place; that causes mankind to bring forth the fruit you now see and hear of all over the world. Agreeably to my counsel, in all cases resent insult from your fellows, and go to war with them, embody yourselves and march to the field of battle, with religion at your right hand; and appoint one of my servants, your ministers, a chaplain, to pray for your success. And there encamp, one against the other, and let my servants, your priests, on both sides, put a prayer to the God of heaven, that you may gain the victory over each other; cherishing the belief that all that die gloriously in battle, go immediately to heaven. And when you are coming together to do the work of human butchery, if a sense of the horrid piece of work you are about to perform shall fill your soldiery with terror—benumb their senses with intoxicating liquor, and put on confusion and distraction, under the name of courage and valor; and fear not, for I will be with you and fill your hearts with such vengeance, through the immediate influence of my spirit, that you shall be able to perform all my will and pleasure. And when you have sufficiently soaked the ground with the blood of your fellow men, and have humbled their hearts, and gotten your wills upon them, then return, and let my servant, your minister, lift up his voice before you (whose hearts are of one accord), unto the God of heaven, with praise and thanks for the victory; that you have been able to do such deeds as to bereave parents of their sons, wives of their husbands, and children of their fathers, whose bitter mourning and lamentation time and death only can wipe away. And then return home full of the glory of your own shame and tell your rulers you have saved their pride, gratified their ambition and saved a little of the trash of this world;—for which you have taken the lives of your fellow creatures, each one of which is worth more than all the treasures of India. For all such things belong to the religion I delight in. And now I address myself to all classes of the ecclesiastical system, as a father to his children; even to you who bow to all, or any, of my principles; against all, or any of the commands of Christ, our great enemy. That each one may fill his station in the performance of the establishment of the worship of my kingdom. Ye fathers, I exhort that you exercise yourselves in laying up treasures on the earth. And ye young men, that you likewise embrace every opportunity to get riches, which are an honor to a youth; that in the performance thereof your hearts may be raised high in pride, which always goes before destruction; and you shall be called the children of this world. And ye elderly women, that ye be upholders of pride in your families, that you teach your daughters the fashions of this life. For it is my delight to see your galleries filled with pride. For what can be more glorious than to see young women dress in the first fashions of the day? Verily I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory did not fulfill and gratify the lust of the eye, like one of these. And ye ministers of the civil law, I counsel, that you swerve not from your natural confederacy with the ecclesiastical system. That for the sake of your honor you strictly attend to your oaths; and put in motion all laws and modes of punishment, which may compel all kinds of people to submit to our precepts, which are in opposition to the rules of Christ. And ye merchants, that ye fulfill the saying that is written: "It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer, and when he is gone he boasteth." And ye inn-keepers, that you put the bottle to your neighbor's mouth, that you may look on his nakedness, to the advantage of your self-interest. And ye physicians, that you increase your wealth by your neighbor's calamity. And ye lawyers, that you be advocates of strife and contention. And ye Free-masons, that you propagate the works of darkness. And ye deacons, that ye grind the faces of the poor. And ye priests, that ye have a willing mind to receive a gift, though the giver be ever so poor. And that you bear in every point Christ's true description of the hypocrite. And if the light discover you to be of no beneficial use to the people in one place, follow your call to another; but let it be where the people are proud, and money plenty. But wisdom is profitable to direct, "For where the carcass is, there the eagles are gathered together." Now, you being all citizens of this world, are built upon the foundation of earthly things; where Satan bears rule, in whom all the building fitly framed together by which every joint supplieth, groweth into a compact body of sin: where you situate yourselves in your meeting-houses, to hear the sacred noise of religion, having your mouths filled with the fullness of the external worship of God, and your hearts with my spirit; unto whom is reserved the blackness and darkness forever, world without end. Amen. Given forth through the smoke of the bottomless pit, by the prince of the power of the air, that rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience. How can I my Saviour set forth?
How can I his beauties declare?
O, how can I speak of his worth,
Or what his chief dignities are?
No mortal can ever express,
Nor they who stand nearest his throne,
How rich are his treasures of grace,
For this is a secret unknown. Though once he was nailed to the cross,
Vile rebels like me to set frèe,
His glory has suffered no loss,
Eternal his kingdom shall be.
Oh! sinner, believe and adore,
The Saviour so rich to redeem;
No creature can ever explore
The treasures of goodness in him. Come, all ye who feel yourselves lost,
And see yourselves burdened with sin,
Draw near while with terror you're toss'd,
Obey, and your peace shall begin.
He riches hath ever in store,
And treasures that never can waste;
Here's pardon, here's grace, yea, and more.
Here's glory eternal at last. "EVERY useful work is beautiful in its season, but the more immediate exercises of religion belong specially to the sanctification of the Sabbath; and as the appointment itself is an external sign of the Lord's good will to sinful men; so our love to it, and delight in hallowing it, is a good internal evidence that he hath begun, and will continue, to sanctify our souls."—Scott's Observations on Ex. xxxi. "The covenant made with Israel was a marriage covenant; idolatry was considered as adultery, and the name of God is Jealous, so that every approach to that sin would provoke him to jealousy. The idols of the nations were not characterized as jealous; at least in any degree. They were not supposed to be offended by their worshipers' paying occasional, or even stated homage to other deities, provided the number and value of the sacrifices offered to them were not diminished. Hence arose what has been called an intercommunity of the worshipers of different idols with each other; who scrupled not to worship the gods of other nations, especially when among them. But this Jehovah, the only living and true God, would not endure. Hence conscientious Israelites were universally counted bigots."—Scott's Notes on Ex. xxxiv, 14. "Moses wrote in a book the judicial and ceremonial precepts that he had received; but God himself wrote the ten commandments, the substance of the moral law, on the tables of stone. This difference strongly marked the permanency and perpetual obligation of the moral law, and the inferior importance and temporary obligation of the ceremonial institutions; and even the judicial law, except as coincident with the moral law."—Scott's Notes on Ex. xxxiv, 27. The gospel is a proclamation of a free salvation for the chief of sinners, without money and without price; it bids them receive and live, embrace and be happy, obey and be holy. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." If God leaves us to ourselves, we are sure to work our own ruin; how humiliating is this!