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CONTENTS.
PREFACE, Pages 8-5.
PART r .
The American Crisis from a worldly stand-point. — Scrip- tural Views of the origin, uses and remedy for Na- tional trials, 7-105.
PART II.
The doctrines of Part I applied to the present condition
of the people of the Confederate States of America, 107—163.
PART III .
Suggestions in regard to the sins for which the people of
the Confederate States are now suffering, 165-213.
CORRECTIONS.
Page 22, line 13, for "constitutes," read, constitute.
" 27, line 25, for "dark," read, deep.
u 34, line 32, for "but a credit," read, than a credit.
" S7, line 20, for " Author," read, author. " i 55, line 26, for "lessons taught," read, by the lessons taught.
" 78, line 22, for " themselves," read, them.
" 79, line 22, for " and as is," read, as is.
" 90, line 20, for " lo, he is here," read, /o, he is there.
" 109, line 3, for "'ten," read., two.
" 109, line 31, for " defenders," read, defendants.
" 110, line 9, for " invited," read, inevitable.
" 110, line 29, for "inflictions which were never heeded,"
read, afflictions which were never healed.
" 111, line 5, for "considerations," fead, consolations.
" 112, line 1, for "Sceptre," read, balance.
" 113, line 15, for " muezzins," read, muezzin.
" 117, line 1, for " ungarded," read, unguarded.
" 117, line 4 and 5, for " Dispenser," read, I)ir,j.
" 117, line 27,* for "were," read, are.
" 118, line 10, for " have violations," read, hear violations.
" 119, line 18, for " bread of life," read, bread of eternal lift .
" 152, line 34, for " those," read, that.
" 170, line 33, for " this course," read, their coarse.
" 177, line 20, for " there," read, here.
" 183, line 27, for "casting into," read, fostering in.
" 212, line 8, for " curses," in some copies, read, courses.
" 213, line 2, for "wind," read, win.
W& The intelligent reader will make for himself, corrcctious of other errors caused by the want of an opportunity carefully to re- vise proofs as the work passed through the pr<
scriptural: yiews
OF
NATION AI TRIALS:
HIE TRUE ROAD
. I
iHK INDEPENDENCE AND PEACE
OK JHJK
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
I
• r.v
REV. ( . II . WILEY.
CICNDENT OF l'LBLlC SCHOOLS OF NOUTU CAROLINA.
as yet failed for our Tai» bolp : in our watching wo - WfA ' f(Jt a n.-Jion that could not save vs." — Lam. IV: 17.
'Come, lot u« return unto the Lord : for Ho bath torn, and He will h i lie hath pimtten, «nd He will bind us ap." — Ho at a. VI: 1.
i'Slthl
GREEN8BORO, \ LLIN0, CAMPBELL ft LLBB
1 8 6 8 .
•
ttPamlico, N. rth I
\ a\ 4 v; v
1
PREFACE
3f
The author of the following work has been prompted to its prep- aration by a single motive, a stern and increasing sense of duty to Uod and to his country. '
From the commencement of the American crisis he has looked te Bee the Church or some of its most distinguished member? lead the public mind to the consideration and application of those great Truths by which alone the convulsions and trials of time arc to be correctly accounted for ; and this expectation was not unreasonable in a community long enjoying the services of such a ministry as that found in the Confederate States of America, learned in the Scrip- tures, godly and sound in the faith.
But while the christian element of society has very generally re- cognized the doctrines which contnA the revolution through which the country is passing, it has not embodied them in any permanent, solemn deliverance, nor given to them that prominence which their paramount importance deserves ; and this has been owing not to any
at of knowledge or of religious zeal, but to the intense and ab- sorbing interest which all have felt in the immediate issues and th< passing phazes of a terrible struggle for national existence and in- dependence forced upon the country by an ambitious and cruel power.
Every patriotic member of the community h.. urning de-
sire to contribute something to the safety of tlfe state so unjustly and fiercely assailed — a desire in which the writer has largely .shared aud which has induced him to wish that he could, by some invention «r discovery, arm his suffering and devoted countrymen with such weapons of war as would render their courage as triumphaut as I invincible.
But while such thoughts have occupied his mind, Lc bus siiil felt
p h a w a ( i .
tfa his fellow ehristians, did
- • ,uall\
Word fG I, tl
parable re]
1 while bi b or anj of its groat lights in tl in to
on- If. the pablio will dojmBtioe to his motive — hut what
cntcrcil that over-rifle all - m.
irith utility, the great principles of revealed Truth which ex-
onal t« ; which famish; nn infallible remedy
—' apply il unstanoes of his b id to
rce them I a and sppeals m th< the
\Ad\i -. ; • i tl
He expressly i i of wishing I
barge which irillmo ; r< I at Ij mortify him will he that of he: iter forth p and strange doc-
r be the spirit which may prompt thii ; tion.
• ing in Trnthi which have been made known i .ning,and
which will he responded to l>y the instincts of every christian heart. I ■ he a means of reminding hi( many bet- that all kn >W of, hut which in the confu- from the sudden and ferocious assault oppn the State was overlooked, i be will be must happy if fit'
batten qualified than himself, shall make more efficient and glorious ill-conquering lie has prepared the work he now offer* to the public at odd in- to the midst of other engagements that have severely tasked mind and hody ; and he is not ashamed to OOnfesS, with honest sira- ity, that he believes he could, with more time and Icasure, have
!• i: I v a c i: . \'
presented his subjects more analyticrillj and compactly, aud with fewer errors of stylo.
It is due, bowever, to add, that in tbe authors opinion, it would be sinful to aim at too much brevity, or to twoid all repetition ; for whoever will undertake to instruct a community on moral question ■> n:ust conquer (bat false pride which aims only to please the critical, must often indulge in repetitions, and must be ready to present the vtme important idea iu many different forms.
Much of the redundancy of the following work,was, therefore, de- signed : the Author's great aim was and is to do good, and all h<> *flks of the public is to receive his contribution to the deliverance if bis country in the spirit with which it is offered.
He feels perfectly sure that he points a gallant, devoted and bleed- ing nation to the only road to independence and peace ; a road not of 'iscovery, but which God himself has east up, broad and obvious, along which he has every where put way-marks so plain that h<- may run who reads. He has endeavored to heed this command • -Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see and ask for >ld paths, wherein is the good way, and walk therein, and ve shall find rest for your souls." Jer. C. 1G.
lie does indeed, offer his work to the public with emotions of in- M anxiety which cannot be expressed ; but none of these yearning thoughts concern his own fate as an author, while all are directed with trembling interest to the manner in which his dear countrymen 1 receive the counsels of Him who says by His Word and His Providences, " Give ye car, and heed my voice ; hearken and hear •r.y speech." Ts. 28. 23.
C. H. W.
SCli [ P T U R A I . V I E W S
OF
NATIONAL TRIM S.
( H A. T* X E 1* I.
./ yieiq of thi imerk '9 from a Worldly stand-point.
The UnH and' the Confederate States of America are
- waging with each other on,e of the most bloody and terr wars known in the*history of the human race.
The former power \r. the assailing party ; and is the subjugation or extermination of the latter.
The 'Confederate States are. contending for separate rational ex- istence and independence ; and this power is carrying on the > on its part, in a manner consistent with its professed object, i: stands on the defensive — it seeks onty to protect its own; and if, left to itself it would desire no advantage of its enemy. Tt bcli- that the existence of other distinct nations on the continent is nol
nt with its own rights and interest? ; and it is Willing accord to others what it claims for itself, the privilege of living un- der a government and laws of their choice.
The United States regards the establishment ot other indepei powers on the soil of North America, as an infringement oi rights and disastrous to its interests; and in aiming at the utter ruction of the Confederate States it professes to bcliev niggling f«>r its own existence.
Tt would have all its subjects to believ* that whatever men can value in time is at stake in the issue ; and it would place under bai of civilization and Christianity the pi whom it is malting
. as a race whoee extermination would be a deliverance to th< world.
In consistency with these profession- gathered up all it*
v i ,\ i . \ m
I them, with fori I and teal, at tin
I r\. r_\ fil
•ruel and lie * ific human heart
I vil under the mii,
ple 0f (! I and hence what-
| to bring calamity and ties! • •' |. i, died for a BWOrd upon the warrior, and upon
nd children— for battle in the open Bold, battle by tin
[■'battle bj the midnight torch, and battle by poison, famine and B4 -tilcnce.
Baoh is the present position of the contending parties: the pur- <>n eaoh side is simple, the issue is clearly defined and well un-
• raged in this strife trace it to political causes ; and like , all actors in a drama, their view is limited to the scenes through which they are passing and their immediate cause? and results.
defendants suppose they saw the beginning of the crisis in the rapid progress of a fanatical spirit in what IS DO* '-riled the United States, inimical to their peace and interest?; the SggreSE charge the convulsion to an institution of society peculiar to one
■n of a country that has been rent in sunder never to be united.
tn short one' ol tliticians find the solution of this awful
rulsion in African Slavery, and another in opposition to it ; and here again the issue between the parties is made np, is sharply de- fined, definite, single and. simple.
T! •■ views of the parties as to the means of <! is tremen-
dous contest are equally" plaid ; and while the purposes of the itiye belli- aain unchanged there can be no compromise^
the strife until one aide or the other fails in power to isoute its aims against the resources of tin r against
influence of foreign nat
The view from this worldly stand-point is full of darkness. N- satisfaotory or sufficient cause for such a gigantic struggle can levered — for no ono in full possession of his reason, and acquaint- vith the history of the world, can even imagine the possibility of any tion to the assailants for the loss of liberty and of hu-
man life, and for the tremendous expenditure of means which their efforts involve. All sensible persons know that success will place ressive power ia the same position with the . iled, for military conquest on such a scale inevitably implies the
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 0
■
conversion of the conquering nation into a colossal and jealous mil- itary despotism, the great mass of whose people must bclong,in per- son and property, to the chief of the .State, to enable him to hold his empire together. But the world knows that the permanent sub- jugation of a civilized and determined people, covering a territory as large, diversified and fertile as that of the»Confederate States, is ut- terly impossible ; and that if the armies of the invaders even had possession of the entire country there would be continued and for- midable insurrections in the regions over-run, and probably rebel- lions on the part of the enslaved and oppressed masses in all parts of an empire necessarily despotic in the extreme.
The moment the Confederate States ceases to exist in name, the spirit of hatred and rivalry which induced the people of the aggres- >ivc power to endure so many privations would be extinguished ; .;;nl these having then the disposition to consider, rationally, their situation, would become restless and turbulent, and ready to join hands with those who promised destruction to the central tyranny whose existence and integrity would be inconsistent with individual rights in miy part of the empire.
u . .-jt'rom the politician's point of observation no termination to the most terrible and exhausting struggle of modern times, can be discerned : the whole scene, from this position, is a dreary picture "f cauicless and endless desolation.
2
-' RI1/TIRAL VIEW*
OH \ P i i : R ii.
tCt Of th?
In On commencement of (A* Coi
the history of the Confederate States of . during I ] evolution, will find
• lint tin- honor of the nation do< quire any ingenious mar-
shalling <>r embellishment "f facts, Viewed without referenci
uis •<[' the people were really illus- snd tin' records of the past furnish no parallel, in politi . enthusiasm and endurance which have cl tied the inhabitants of the country.
■ the population seemed, instinctively and simulta- mprehend the position nf things — and every rani. . and all ages bav< performed their part with a de- ration and beroiam that would dignify purposes even less gem i tnd rifjble.
.•d chief desire was for the elements of worldly krengtb, God saeined to sj Drably all the prayers oh thif
-ubject.
.-kcd for a zealous and politically-united people — and He in- ipired the whole nation with.one heart and one soul in regard to its -mi, with the public enemy.
prejudices of rank, the antipathies uf old party combinations
. DC instantly obliterated from the public mind : and those
• a. re for the former I nion, and those who were against it were
divided DOW <»nly by an emulous desire to outdo each other in ef-
rifieefl fof the New Confederacy.
fearful of domestic discord, and especially o( servile in- surrections ; yet the bosom of Society has never been ruffled by any internal forces, while nut a single effort at armed resistance to law- ful authority has he< n detected among the slaves, except in those
places occupied by the forces of the enemy.
The widow has cheerfully given her mite to the general cause, and the very poorest have contributed tbeir earthly all in freely of- fori: rong arms of the husbands and brothers on which they
leaned ; and never in the history of slavery on the continent did the ruling race feel so little ag prehensionsfrom the African element of bo- riety as it has dene since it ha? witnessed tbe result of attempts by
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 11
i
a Ik stile and formidable power, with Immense armies on the soil, to seduce or force the negroes into rebellion agaifist their masters.
We were not without anxiety tbat the machinery of a complex political system formed by a confederation of Sovereign States, would at first be wanting in the energy and unity of purpose and action es- sential to the 'safety of the country at such a time;, but the General and State Governments, in their organized capacities, have been in nearly perfect accord with each other, and the whole machinery of authority has worked as smoothly as it is possible to operate any or- ganism dealing with and controlled by creatures with human pas- sions and infirmities.
We prayed for courage and military ardor among sur troops ; and we have had an army, gathered without difficulty from every rank and walk of life, animated with a zeal, heroism and contempt of danger and suffering, which ranks it with the best the world has ever seen.
We were afraid that the free citizens of a Democracy would not readily submit to the discipline necessary to the safety and succes;> of armies ; but while no mere worldly cause ever attracted to iU standard hosts of such a character as have been mustered into the Con- federate service, men of learning, men of wealth, men of ease, men accustomed to the exercise of every human right, men who left lov- ing and beloved families in want at home, mechanics, farmers, plan- ters, merchants, members of the learned professions, teachers and students, no soldiery have ever exhibited more uncomplaining pa- tience, more persevering endurance, more intrepid constancy amid every difficulty, danger and suffering that can b e f a 11 the human body, and wear out the energy of the human soul. •
In short, the whole community gave itaelf in heart, b<dy and es- tate to the new order of things ; and in behalf of this Government of its choice it has met the storm of a fierce and most cruel war with a unity of purpose, feeling and sympathy, an energy, zeal and devo1 tion, never before known, undsr such trials, in any temporal cause.
Rulers and iubjects, citizens and soldiers, men and women, labor- ed and sacrificed with one heart and one purpose ; and the loss of property, the deprivation of former comforts, the separation of fam- ilies, the exile from home, the exactions and oppressions of pitiless .tyrants and brutal soldiery in temporary possession of the soil, th> sundering of the most sacred ties of nature, the wasting scourges of the camp and the slaughter of numerous arid terrible battles only- served to draw the people of the Confederate States into a closer political uuion with each other, U deepen and strengthen their aV>
S< Rll'TT-RA!
hich they lim ■ • I ' ' ■ orldlj views of the
i**uc between them and their
• whole natio- '.ion and |
I od from :: | ■ : i t i v a 1 pou I
Href that :. [i },.. • ':■ : slj indi-
that tl • pty tl
Tlic ■'■ fboth the contend] -taked on
• war, ofpiiileei of o war to bit waged
rer i* ebl< I the other to defend.
inp then at the state of things in the |jg] ( of carnal philoso- \ lit «»ne hope of deliveranoe to the Confederate States thai their power of physical resistance will be ewe- • d until their ant: is. I, or turned from his pur-
pose by the fear of foreign Intervention. The ; >f the whole c inntry ii consistent with thi
anient and | bending
all their energies in the direction which, to human sagacity, alone promises success.
si hasnol tail pi measures to enlighten foreign
rernments as to the trne oharacter of the oontest, and tlieir in- early termination in favor of the Confederate Si
;latio:i have made tij> their mind 8 to syb-
ohccrfully to whatevei I to be necessarj to strengthen
military defenses of the country.
They can yield nothing to tlieir adversary without Banking otter
ship-wreck of all that is dear to freemen — they arc ready to snrrtn- • requirements of tlieir own can in their political .-ent inn-Tit.--, the most united people on the face of the whole earth—' in principle, the most 4©yal
own entheritu
thoroughly imbued with an uttoonwuerable spirit of re- , , arc str for the development of war-
like resources, they or 1 to brave and endure every affliction
1 tiny are ready to xicrifiee every cause whi I and armed tl
Human v ' , and human patriotism arc here
lit with human infirmity ;
1 impression that .something still is
■ting in the acting nf thin grand and solemn drama? Has every
bage I The statesman, the hero,
OF NATIONAL TRIALS 13
the patriot have nobly sustained their parts and will receive their just meed of praise from a gazing and interested world ; but has not the greatness of the tragedy been marred in the performance by Levying out the most important character of all? Has the christian philosopher taken his right position on this illustrious stage?
Has be been the real hero of the piece, tilling his own proper place to which every other is. subordinate, thu.> preserving the unity and .;,pleteness of the drama, developing its just ideas before the au- dience, and displaying the true relation of every sccrie and by-play to the one central and controlling plot of which every other is but a part and incident ?
Has mere political agreement succeeded in uniting society in all its ramified interests, and made it a perfect, consistent moral machine living and moving to one end ?
Has loyalty, by itself, here manifested in its most noble world- ly aspects, been sufficient to draw from the soil of the popular heart those manly, generous, self-denying and virtuous actions and senti- nents in all the relations, dealings and responsibilities of the indi- vidual necessary to give enduring life and stamina to a nation ?
Have wc not all felt a partial eclipse of that sun which alone can clothe the moral world with beauty and strength ? has not the whole machinery of state, perfect in its order and arrangements, suffered for the want of healthful energy and proper direction in those spir- itual, religious springs which constitute the vital forces of all com- munities?
There is a universal impression that this terrible tragedy has a deeper meaning than the mere political issues at stake ; and that human wisdom and human pow«r can do no msre to bring to an early close a contest which, to those who look at it in the light of worldly philosophy alone, is one of the most painful and inexplieable myste- ries of time.
No one dare to say that the Confederates have not succeeded for the want of the carnal appliances of State*; people, rulers and sol- diers have done and endured more than the most sanguine had reas- on to expect, and yet they seem as far off as ever from an object which all believed would bp accomplished with much leas sacrifice, enthusiasm and courage.
Me« of the world have a right to feel that they have done their part, and performed it well; but the clouds still thicken on the de- voted laEd,andthe tempest howls in fiercer fury through all its derB.
u What mi re CM wc d<> "' I ::)aii, the
14 tlPTUlAl I WH -
iten. •• Wl • u I fnl mystery ."* is lift ques«
tion in erery hcai ay, irho will show i^
fur-
nnt :m<l : n a true :ind aatisfactbr y answer
■• [tie drawn from :i souree that •
I it d ■ t lio Buffering and r to tlie origin an .11 tluir afflictions h U Hi
•juark nostrum of the author's own discovery: it is the rerybalmi ; whom II d and to whoi i Be Himself
• T hdaj if yc n ill hear III-* roies harden nol yonr hesflrti "
OB NATIONAL XKIAI.S. 15
C li APTEK III.
T7ie Jiibh View of Revolutions. — Tht absolute and universal Sover- eignty *f G<>d, am? it.s results.
We are taught in the Holy Scriptures, the only infallible Stan- dard of Truth, that there is one God, Almighty, of whom, and through whom and to whom are all things.
We are taught, also, that He created all things, and for His pleas- ure they are, and were created : " For by him were all things cre- ated, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisi- ble, whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him "
This God is a God far off and near at hand : and while He fills .leaven snd earth, creating and holding the worlds in order, there is not a sparrow that falls to the ground without Hia permission.
Every event that occurs, from the launching of a planot to the movements of an insect, is under His immediate and special control : and all things are directed by Him to His own glory.
All things, therefore, material and immaterial, animate and in- animate, visible aud invisible, must have a moral purpose and signi- ficance ; and hence nothing was made for itself, and all created beings, all matter, and all events, powers and dominions arc con- nected with one universal system of Providence, and are made to display the Divine perfections.
Among the attributes of the Deity are perfect goodness, aad per- fect and immutable justice ; and it has pleased Him to make a sub- lime display of these in the means He has devised to save members of a rebellious and fallen race from the consequences of their sins.
Our world has been the theatre of those most amazing evfcnts, the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Ohrist. the eternal Son of God ; and by this means the honor of Ged's broken Law n vindicated, and He can be just, and the juetifier
every sinner that believes.
From the time of Adam's transgression and fall this Saviour has been announced and preached as the Light and Life of the world : aud a Church has been established of the believers in Him, wl mission it is to preach the glorious gospel of the blessed God to ev- ery creature
Different means hare bed) adopted, at different times, to warn
-CRM'II 1AI Mf.
liere, and w<
that the
• - tiom
•i le ■ • God's Holy . tnd f'<r mjiking it a b 'lie human rutc
• A'*1 • iral meaning connected with
a tii.--j.liv of the Divine attributes all the events of time on cart!
I ed with refer' !v;;nd onchi l
which wii i ■•■ • rid ite violation, and U
adopted foi the deliverance of those wlm l incurred its penalth i The entire history of the world turns on these points — in the-. . have an explanation of the mystery of time, to conform to the eendition ol
ttd te the system : and the la-
te procure food and clothing, the hostility of the cle- f the seasons, disease and bodily infirmities er< j punishmenti for sin. but disciplinary influei eeseatial by the depraved nature of man to restrain him, : that unbridled Licentiousness to irhioh he is prone, and whicl would hasten the extinction of the race.
In the same lighl we are to construe all national changes; thej i v.r the immediate result of obedienee to or violation of the fGod in the institutions and heart of the nation, and they are, also, intimately connected with the progress of the Church.
sbscure, or weak or remote a people seaj be, their axis*
I histerj are not independent or exceptional events, having
i with the one grand, consistent course of Divine Pro-
: and while the end of every change in the condition of
• thet avage or civilized, christian or psgalr, will be
BUUU to minister to the prtgn M of the mean- ofgTUOe, it will, also,
and .strictly in conformity with the immutnhle prin-
d( Divine Justice.
is the uniform doctrine of Scripture, all of which i* given by •i ; and this is, also, the tenehiag of the facts re- '1 in it. All history, as it appears on these inspired pages, is • I burehj and also, a series of moral and just retri- butions; and national sins and national afflictions aru well under- stood to bi always and inseparably connected as cause^and effect. Whatever the oharaoter ef the inoidents related — whether they urred in the ordinar of things, or whethtr by miraculou*
Of NAT ION AT, TRIALS. 17
displays of the Pivrhe power, they are so stated under the inspira- tion of &Ocl, that we never for a moment mistake their meaning.
From the high and unclouded summit of revealed Truth, the world and all that it contains, its material things, its actions and its revolutions are heheld as one moral system, under the immediate control of the Infinite Mind, and directed to His righteous ends-. nor is there a particle of matter, a living creature, a passion, ide. entity of any kind that exists for itself or by itself, or that is not in its origin and results, an integral part of a harmonious and cor ent plan which will he made to minister to the glory of the Divine Tower.
God, in the Holy Scriptures, is universally represented as the Vichitect and Proprietor ; and all the labor and passion of 9. whether thev be moral or natural, animate er inanimate, are made to minister to His righteous ends. By this 6ame light the meanest insect that creeps in the dust of the earth, is seen to be His creation, living and moving and having its being for His moral pur- poses— Hell and its reprobate hosts can only minister to His glo-" ry, anV " the clemen+s of society, human and angelic, and the whole luuving machinery of worlds and systems of worlds are the Servants of His will and the ministers of His pleasure.
When, therefore, wo read in the Bible of the* rise, progress and fall of nations, we arc never in danger of misunderstanding causes, relations or results : the Truth which beams from the infallible Word, makes all these so clear that he may run who reads. • We do not often see, nor do we care to know, the» intricate ma- chinery of state, the intrigues of individuals, of party strifes and the clash of rival and sectional interests of the various countries, whose history stalks before us on the page of inspiration ; and so npied are our minds with the true solution of events, and of their grand moral lesson, that, we forget those mediate agencies I result* which rank highest in profane or uninspired narratives.
^ i ire here introduced behind the scenes, and behold the Author of the Drama of Life, and the casting of the plot and arrangement f the i tor* — and we are not deceived or carried away by the per- inees and exhibitions of the stage. We do not behold occurrences as the result of the triumph or dc feat of factions, or of measures of administrative policy; nor wil! we be Led into the error f basing the power of a nation on its na- tural resources, or its weakness on the number or strength oi rif*'
3
fclPTORAI. i.'lfl
ken— we have hem : ngetk
»mto T. )." Ptffa Ixii, H.
Wo i to know what oonstitntes tl - ' lorn.*,
■ v,.nt it i* tin ': .is nations ; arvd we are »1-
k * B • ' ^reaiLess find decay exist "»■
tfce vitalf of a Stat*, and our w!. de attentin is absorbed witk
•■heir normal and inevitable dorelo] ment
As we -nrvrv the progre •; men end eommunitieSj wc under - x c part which each ; general
rd»H : and a!' dve about one central nnd eo»-
. nd thai is, that tlir whole series is ■ system of retri- ketionn, a moral lesaon, manifesting the innate -ity of dm,
Ike e\il and malignity of nin , aad the rightoousn'- /din'sa of
• od, who ip st ill sensing the wrath of man to praise Him, and advancing the general good of the world.
; in the taered t «x t , tho itragglee .1
■etional eapremaOy, belonging wholly to the do-
'maii. • f politioal history, and und<r the exelnnVe OOntrol of tempo- ral sgei iciee : but 1 - ill the ■: the Divine Hand, and we know that all are mutually dependent part^ of one harmoni-
oas system of Moral Eoenomj.
In the i n.-pi red narrative, many nation* and tiiilli i.s of peopl* pass before the reader, in vast processions, briefly and impressively displaying their virtue* aud rices, their varied fortunes and theii' final end ; but all this grand and solemn panoram:., with i t.-J thou- sand* of shifting scenes, and ita myriads of actors, i* clearly under- stood to be "ue 1 mneoted drama, ever directed \>y the and eke all-controlling, the never-suspended, end tha special Providence •f God to His own glory, and ta the extetttioQ of Hie kingdom of right , onaneeefaad peaee on earth.
In short, the noted volume diaoloiea by its /bet*, u well aa by ita Jo- fi ■'. that tiod is a Meral Being, that His whole creation ha* h moral purpose, and ihat all the events of time are mado subacrvient fte t L i « end — that every revolution and all the progress and history tf kingd' ins ar«- special providences, to be 11:. • • ' only by their
ralationf. to an immutable moral Law, displaying the righteousness •f the Supreme Ruler, and working together for the advancement of
His ever livii g Oharoh.
any ene abk for the proof of these positions'? Let him
aearch the Scriptures — they are all oited an a t*xt in point.
Nor is there any want of orthodox itaebinga on these subjects ra the religious Literatwre of the Confederate ?t.-»t<s ; and the author'*
O* HATIOtfAL TRIALS 19
ebject in stating these fundamental truths of Scripture* here — truth lAUght in a thousand familiar formulas, and known to the whole* wind of the Chureh — is to bring the reader to this as the proper starting point for a just examination of the circumstances of the times #
There is no difficulty in gaining the assent of any on© versed is tho Scriptures of eternal Truth to these poeitionsjis oorrect state- ments of elementary principles of the Divine Ecoaomy — but while we are all ready to receive and acknowledge certain great propoei ttons <»f the Divine Government as abstract truth*, it is hard for vx to give them a practical and living application to those events in which wo are personally interested, and which take stronghold '*4 the sympathies and feelings of our carnal nature.
The teachings of the historical part of the revealed Word must n« studied in the Scriptures themselves; nor is it at all necessary to quote here the numerous Texts which declare the being, attribute.'* and prerogatives of the Supreme Ruler. But fer the purpose before the author, it may be well to cite certain Texts which are specially tad peculiarly applicable* to the circumstances of the times; and he makes these quotations, not to add to the stock of religious knowl- edge, common to all the Church, but to bring before the mind of th e christian public, in their true relations anil connections, the fact* ef. the times and those eternal Truths by which they are to be stl- red^
PR0GY8 AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF FOREGOING DOCTRINES.
The first chapter of the Prophecy of Eeekiel illustrates the abow dootrines by visions more expressive than human language — and raos) \ ivid representations are not uncommon in the Holy Scripture*. When the inspiration of the prophet began he was a captive in ChaJ- dea ; and the universal Providence and sovereignty of God were act before him in the grand and imposing manner related below :
'• Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourtlf month in the fifth </ay of the month, as I was among tho captives by the ■river of Chebar, that tho heavens were opened, and 1 saw visions o <*od.
In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of kiog Jeheiachin's captivity,
The word of the L <rd caaae expressly unto Esekiel the priest, the I im of Buii, in the land of tho Chaldeans by the river Chebar; aad the hand of the Lord was there upon him.
\nd I leokf.il, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a ' cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness 'teat abeat
KtPXI HAL VIEWS
be fire.
. • the liken « I >ur living
And tlits v><i* their appearance ; they had tlie likenc .. And e> \\ fonr face.", and every one had four wi; [
An 1 their fee- l tight ' ' ; :mu th tlieir fee'
like the cole of a : and thej sparkled like the colour
[shed 1 n And tiny had <he hands of a man under their wings on the! «y four had their faces Mid their wings. e to another ; they tui went ; they wont every one straight forward
r the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, the Caee of a lion, on the right aide : and they four had the face • if an OX OB the left Side ; they four also had the face of au 8
Thus were their laces • and their wings were stretched upward; two lomrt of every one were joined one to another, and twooovered their bodies.
Aud they went every one Straight forward : whither the
. they went ; cm/ they turned nut when they went. \ - f . . r the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance KHH burning coals of fire, tmd like the appearance of lam; - it rent up and $um\ among the Living creatures; and the fire WS uud out of the fire weut forth lightning.
the living creatures run and returned sa the i OO of S
:' lightning. ••• I beheld tin* liring oreatnres, heboid one wheel upon the earth ! • the living creatures, with bis lour fa
the wheels and their work wcu like anto the cal- our of a beryl : and they four had one Likeness: and their appear- i, work »cai a* il wereawheel in the middle of a wheel.
When they went they went upon their four sides ; <tnd they turn- ed OO! win-:, tl ej Wi
As for their rings, they were SO high that they were dreadful ; and their rings were full of tnd about them four.
a the li\ing creatin l wenl the wheels went by them : e living ercati I up freni the earth, the
wheels were lifted u;
\Yhithersoc\er the spirit was to go, they weut, thither was fchsi> spirit tu go ; n heels were lifted up.OTer against them ; for
ibe spirit of the living creature teas iu the wheels.
OF NATIONAL TaiALS. Li
When those went, these went ; and when those stood, these stood ; and when those wsra lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them : for the spirit of the Irving ercalrurc was in the wheels.
d the likeness of the firmament upon the kead* of the living creature was as the colour ef the terrible crystal, stretched forth . er their heads above.
And under the firmament icrre their wings straight, the me toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that aide, their bodies.
And when they went, T heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, hb the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host : when they stood,' they let down their wings.
And there was a V"ice from the firmament that Mrs 'over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings-.
And above the firmament that "was over their heads WHS the like- ness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: aid upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man ■ore upon it.
H T saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it : from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins eVen downward, T saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so teas the appearance of the . brightness roundabout. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it. I fell upon my face, and I heard a roice of one spake." — Ezch'rl, Chapter let
The prophet first saw a whirlwind — an ap't illustration of t cnt revolutions and convulsions in the moral and physical forces of nature. There was a great cloud with the whirlwind, and clouds and darkness, to mortal vision, accompany the :uid commotions of
the world ; but there was also a fire infolding itself, and :> great brightness, indicating the wise and holy purposes of every dispensa- tion however violent and terrible it ma]
Out of the i- be brightness came the likeness of four living
creatures; ami in the appearance of thci ire a wonderful de-
scription of the pure and eaalted Intelligences that act as the m< gerg of Heaven and execute its will. • In every storm and whirlwind — in eve. -.ion :.; : '
b whether among animate or inanimate things, they eat.
li * HU.L VllWf
lij t!>«<e creetares, and Spot the **rth, was a wheel, with a wheel withio ; and their rings were M high tkat they wcro dreadful.
Tlie classical I :J • • im tana bj a
wheel ; .Till it is indeed the meat fit emblem i
• ind testing both p- .-ward and th* continual changes and
BTOrtornieg of things 1 v w!. ffnoted.
.V whwil within a whe> I » t»d<-
i the intri - stems moved bj variooeoBd
Apparently contradicts - i,1 i od orpnrpoM ; ami doubt-
i illustration is derived from tln> rial srieL
The mjSt mbinatioii of wheel' which the prophet caw w/a>
naplei unity ; and all the infinite and apparently contradictory
Yar*i' ... as system in the counsels of
<;0d. 0 bcol wi • nth, and thus oil the roll i roi ♦•'
thinga here ia port of the boob tea of C vilcnoe;
nnd the immenae and dreadful circumf* .Tract, of the r'.ne shows the
all-embracing extent of this ouc, uniform and pervading
The the wheels wore full of eyes: and thus we arc aiOBt
taught that the perpetual whirl and i hioh tie-
sate* one to-day and depresses him to-morrow, i-> nut a blind fatali- ty, bat :. uniform and intelligent moth <i, guided by infinite and STti- g wisdom. In this obm plicated bet perfect, plan there id iw BOOldent, noeaanei i o'ta, i .'..Me of foroOy aio reel ooafliot of machinery; but tlu Is, the rotations of time, evei i snJ the li\: toroA
ire ever found to be the result ut the < ne living power, the one ever- present intelligence bojOIld viho.se immediate guidance nothing ear
■ ifl o! these wheels S7M always straight forward : towhat- of the O0mp*00f they went, it, was never a boekword mt>- boa, bowOTOr tortuouw, oOnfiotiog and retrograde n.rvy aael*
. ;! eddying oorrenta of time's eventualities, they me bat
the oomplicatiooj of tb mod and counintcnt tone me of Provi-
dei.ee, thni gOOl continually forwar-i to tho aceompliwhinent. of Ibe
■ ndi of Lnfinits Wiodom.
I 1 by the wheelH, the rotations of time, were the living
befogs, or creatures, the intelligent and pure messengers who execute the DivtOf Will : and OV0I - ugloriouflfiriuaiiicnt, the bright
atm f holiness- the* oB^aaatea from the presence of the Su-
preme Maj< sty, and which, always gleaming as a halo o\er the heads of bi> u. luthentioatea their I'ivine mission, and displaystha
iit rijhteouHiiesa and justioo of God ia all theii mevemetttto.
Of NATIONAL TKUI>. 28
Above this was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of w sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of thr throne was the like- ness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 4
" And I saw," says the prophet, '■ as the color of araber, as th*- uppearance of fire reund about within it, from the appearance of hi< loins even upwards, and from the appearance of his loins even down- wards, I *aw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brjghtne?? round about.
As the appearance of tke bow that is in" the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This wo* the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."
It ia evident that'the Being here referred to U Christ, th« Second, .Mjual Person of the blessed Trinity, the everlasting and almighty Son of God; u the likeness, as the appearance of a man," and the bow, symbolical of a dispensation of grace prov* it, while the^Invisi- Me Father has never been represented by any similitude or image to mortal eyes.
Thus God, in the person of Christ, presides immediately over th* whole course of things ; and wherever the wheel of fortune or tles- tiny rolls, there is His throne, there His authority, power and pres- ence, for there is no destiny but the will of Gnu. and through Christ He works out His bright designs.
By these amazing appearances, this combination of imagas we have an inspired representation of the causes and workings of all cre- ated things : there is presented before us a model of the mechanism at' the whole moving frame of nature, with its complication of ma- chinery, and simplicity of design, its unity of purpose, certainty of aotion and ever forward" movement amid apparent collisions and ac- cidental explosions, with the single, unerring and almighty power 'hat controls and directs it to its destined work. Nothing happens utside of this single system : to its regular and normal action are to be referred all contingencies in the moral and physical universe. the earth-quake and tornado, storm and pestilence, the rise and fall e€ empires, the division of States, the phenomena of nature, tfcecrra- tioa of world* and the feeding of insects.
All existence, material or immaterial, is directly tinder the Throin ef omnipotence: wherever there is a display of force, animate <r inanimate, there i« the control of the' omnipresent and almighty Ood.
And how literally and beautifully doc- the wonderful vision «'f tfcakiel ipeak to our minds tha descriptions of other inspired writers ef the wavt of Providence! hew are th< - .
-ll'TlRAI. \ IEWS
ical •■ e tied Ti
e ptrfecl
rd . I irlwind, . • ml
louds ar<
<» and jud| of Hifl •':■■•• .'■ —
!M.« enemies round
M ad Truth nn- 1
i -. j v. 10. the | to i fallen world. Cing upon the Thr bowerer dark
altiei of I r nil the troubled
o i. the how of prom the benign and merciful i)ispeniati< • • Kingdom.
tlii.-* authoriU iratian of the ru!" of the Snproi . this Jay. and ot naider it in thine heart, that the Lord] H< I npon (lie earth heneath.'' claimc£o r»l< in spiritual* or what iscomi
-• 'I'airit. 1-ut in thoae whioh |re usually i
I • i .■: ;■ rational and responsible
• . hut' in all the material brnU the univ<
• ' • . ■'• ■ ' iah, (!'.'• i
•• I • b and creal I make peace and or<
do all those things " iilv. 7.
I in 11 nn is no ill" — and when, tl MS to be the
in Hi* ■
Etn nun all-seeing I '.
• ; om w bich confound
reature— -to thoae Providences which are no1 l "ii principle! i f human philosophy and whioh uneetth f human sagacity,
nos, " i^ a day of darkness" (v,
I to work out Hifl plans in a way
• tibni, l'V processes that render the
wis and under circumstances that
reil re sight in darkness and doubt.
OP NATIONAL TRIALS. 2b
Yet however dark, and mysterious and unexpected the event — however it may, in oi*r estimation, bring an eclipse over the whole world of science, and arrest even all moral progress, the obscuration is Hod's own special work, and the apparent darkness will minister to*the glory of Him who dwells in unapproachable light.
in A/nos Chap, iii, t's. 4, 5, 6, we have this language.
" Will a lion rpar in the forest when ho hath no prey? will .. young lion cry out of his den if he has taken nothing ? Can a biru fall in a snare upon the earth, when no gin is for him ? shall om take up B snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? Shr.1 the trumpet be blown and the people not be afraid? shall there be ovil in a city and the Lord hath not done it? "
meaning of, these passages is obvious : by such familiar il- lustrations God would impress on our minds that all judgements are his, that his Providence is special as well as geueral, that He dors everything on fixed plans, and is ever suceessful in all His underta- king:-.
In' the above verses, and in the quotation from Isaiah, He repres- ents 1 r ! : B.8 the author of evil ; the meaning of which is that ca- nt by Him, and while sin is the work of the Devil, even this has its allotted bounds and shall be used to add to the glory of the Universal Sovereign.
\« liens do riot roar for nothing, so God does not permit rev- olutions to happen without a moral purpose : and storms, convul- sions ant1 earth-quakes, like the roaring of the lion for his prey, arc tlie voice of the Almighty, pursuing His certain plans.
It is >:;id in dob, (v, 6,) " affliction cometh not forth of the dust. neither doth trouble spring out of the ground :" whatever the cir- m instances of the times, whatever the ageneios by which communi- ties or nations are scourged, the special Providences of Ood are there . and the malice of fiends, the inventions and actions of men and the fcrro? of brute matter will be made to work His will.
In the following passages we have a similar statement of the spe- ial dealings of God for moral ends, in all the phenomena of natur
" And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclain <i7i</publiah the free offerings : for this likcth you, 0 ye children < ' 1, saith'the Lord God.
And l also hare given you tleaoness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your place- : yet ye have not returned unt nic, saith the Lord.
And also I have withholdcn-the r.iin from you, when then yet thro to the harvest j and 1 caused it to rain up#li on<
4
►MMTRA1
wa- 0 in rained not wil I
but t] itli
vith > > 1 .1 - . • when
t rineyar : > • •
'he palmerw< I red them . ,np -aitli the Lord.
T hf • • r flio ninnner
•i with thi hive tat ■
1 ' Up
■ lith the
. 1 ef thrown tonal • I i an 1 < I ■ •-
I u a firebrand plunked on! of the yet
: • : • • i f. ir. 5-1 1.
mo, are the result and the y employed er ence of
more or U rait ef DiVine intervention,
i vil may be eonfin<
and tin' world — it may I I or terrible,
tip of fire, water, pestilenoe
or tornado, by creeping insi . or
ial dealing of God for Bin, it ice, utter* ' ' r i pur] • nd whirl ; as
will the linn's roar.
dootrinea of this chapter 1 ' I Jehovah elaimi the crawling things of the dt if Hil will — and in thi ' hapter ii) the M ! and earth Calls an aru:
-* //' •• ;' them invincibl irmal
the wisdom of men, except by the wrath of their Creator.
or farts can SO forcibly
following text froi i the Ora- 1 • •• B ■• <i id i repared d worm when the morning rose
• lay. and : that it withered .'' — lunnh.'w,!.
\ » ber of the vilest and weakest family of living things,
who bllt an hour, and whose world a few inches of spar
the direct creation of Almighty Power — and the instinct that guides
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 27
it to the prolongation of its brief existence by preying on the nearest vegetable production, is an important link in the chain of special Providences by which- the world is taught, chastened, afflicted and blessed.
Of a similar import are the words of our Saviour, in 3Iathew, x, 29 — "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them shall not fell to the ground without your father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
Can human language be more explicit ?
But let us for a moment turn to a few passages of more geacrai import — and here we will first quote a verse found in the beginning of this chapter, begging the reader to mark how all-couaprehensm in statement and how full and perfect in detail is the language used :
" For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven.,and thai are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or do- minions, or principalities or powers : all things were created by him and for Him »— Col i, 16.
" The Lord hath made all things for Himself: yea even the wick- ed for the day of evil," Proverbs, xvi, 4— and to this agrees tho lan- guage of Revelation {Chap, iv, 11,) " Thou art worthy 0 Lord, t» receive glory, and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.''
" Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas and all dark places," (Ps. exxxv, 6) ; and to every work of His hands He says, as He declared to* Pharaoh, "and in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power." Ex. ix, 16.
He is a God at hand, and a God afar off; He fills heaven and earth, und there, is no secret place where any can hide from II is do- J'mniah, xxiii, 23, 24.
' the Most High that liveth forever, whose dominion is
an verlaating dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of tlie earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to His will in the army of heavcB and among the inhabitants of the earth ; ami none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, what doest thou?" — Daniel, Iv, 34, 35.
itipn, iii, 14, Christ declares Himself to he "the begin- ning of the creation of God'^that is, He is the cause, origin and author of all ; ami thus He is declared to be not only the son of Gobi, fad God, but the ultimate Bolutiongor reason for all tl f creation.
SCRIPTURAL VI1WI
In the same beok of Revolution. Ckaplt , v. 18, the insj«i red wri-
-aya, " And every creature which i« in Heaven, and on the earth,
Ynd under the earth, and such as arc in tic sea, and all that :vrc in
hem heard I, aaying, Blesrieg nnd h<>m.r, and glory, and power, he
Him that aitteth upon the Mir r>r. ami unto the I.:.mb forever
ind ever."
Thus all thing;* that are made, testify, in Kome form, to the glorv llim who riiptis »>vcr all : ami the veirc <if their praise directed the Lamb, connects the wht-le creation with a moral system, and •xalts the Saviour as the Maker, Proprietor and end of all.
He has the keys of hell and of death. Re* i, 18,) : :ill the work*
rcation and l'rovidencc, all the events of time and eternity here
•n inseparahle connection with I!in moral Hcvarnment, '-for of Him,
throvgh Him and to Him are all thtngs : to whom be glory for
•rar and ever. Amen." — Horn, si, 36.
Of NATION A J, TRIALS. 2t>
CHAPTER IV.
Bible Cute* of Aro)ional B evolutions, continued. — God's koto (it- tributes, and man's depravity, and the conseqvencrs.
It is a fundamental principle of the Christian system that God ia perfectly holy, just and wise ; and that a? His power is absolute, without limit, or impediment from any .*ouree or cause ; so its exer- cise is always righteous, without error, accident, eonfusion or injury.
But in one of the worlds created by the Supreme Architect, and under His immediate, absolute and perpetual control, there are vio- lence, trouble and suffering — why is this ?
If nothing had been revealed to the rational inhabitants of thi.« world but the attributes of its Sovereign, a proper belief in the*f womld require a solution of their troubles on the part of those con- cerned, in their own dispositions and actions.
But thk Divine Disposer has not left any room for doubt ; and He has given to man a full account of the origin and cause of death and of every human wo.
The first man, created in a state of holiness and happiness, re- belled against his Maker, fell from his sinless condition, and in- volved himself and his posterity in a state of impurity amd wretched- ness ; and all the confusion and afBictions#of time arc the lesult of ain, aid of consequent disobedience to the Divine commands.
Death was denounced to the federal head of the human 5 ace as the consequence of disobedience ; but it has pleased the beneficent siid almighty Ruler of the universe to suspend the full execution of the judgment pronounced on Adam and his deaoendants, that they might become the subjects of a system of grace, devised with a wis- dom, goodness and mercy that will fill all creatures with wuiidcr for ever
The bodies of men became immediately subject to death ; and all were to be exposed to labors and trials which were partly punish- ments, as they were the results of the acts of those oonetrned, but which were, also, a wholesome discipline, a wise and benevolent economy, designed to hold in check the passioftl of a del »ce,
to remind it continually of its fallen and dangerous condition, and to lead it to the glorious and infallible remedy for every di temper • f time.
.-< RII i : RA1, V1E\V>
A perfect Saviour was provid the inhal t a world
rui . 'jJ it w;. I ;u.
..fiV entanoe and remi -ins through the
nto:. • I ' ■ ine Hedei .til men,
j thousands of years.
nby Hin wh ui deeply revolto a account of the intci
' hrist, thi - thai all who will, may through
Kin Jtyoftfo L be prepared to enjoy a
aal holiness and felicity in j and henes while the earth re*
mains it will be character] different from thoae which
the"univ<
it the i and evil anuc in i sin against
. Immutable and ebaoluf ;i it, mingling in all its af-
fair.-, and whUe it fall development pf its ten-
dene to utter ruin, it is not punished with that strict justice which .rd and which i.- .: UC it.
rfeot plans of <Iod it will meet with adequate tvtribu-
tion« : hat where it i- 1 1 ntcd of it ha.- been atoned for
in the infinite sufferings oi . md where it ii not, it.- adequate'
and eternal reward La oulj lospended for d season that ita subject
pportunitj pting the salvation provided, and of
.in wrath to Oome. •
nil jrlain and divinely revealed theory of the mystery of time, all it- painful phenomena axe t mtcd for.
ielj onlt it to yield it.- fruits
for the subsi- human Life : the elements of Nat •
B of man, and his brie' I A by
aiual toi ;
into the the world v.'. id in ever) condi-
tion, be !■ mbjeof and sorrow; and very
r from thi- Btage oi j a prooesi from
latural life .-brink in ghastly terror. Life of burden and travail Lfl more than deserved by man for if his nature, and by his sinful and
it . discipline) dutely necessary I
. /in ripening, like int ■ ; kble rottenness, while it is a merciful and pi ' ad-
monition of the ■ "g, praoti< i mn
* remembrancer of, the pains and penalties of that • th whieh
i.-> | :' all the I kg sons of Adam.
.1 ju -t plan 6f (lod's dealings with man, in this
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 3 l
world, as an individual and an immortal being ; and the' same sys- tem is applied to him in his national capacity, with such modifica- tions as the circumstances of his position plainly require.
Nations, as Such, are purely temporal beings, and must, there fore, receive, in time, the full reward of their deeds : and though as public or political organisms they have no souls, they are composed of moral or responsible beings, and must be judged and dealt with according to the dispositions and actions of the persons who com- pose them.
They are composed of men, and man is a rational and accountable agent, everywhere, and always under the immediate Government- of God; and hence they will all be judged by the Divine Law, their sins being measured by the extent of their opportunities, and the wilfulness and stubbornness of their offences.
But while the Divine economy proceeds on this fixed and univer- sal rule towards men in their social and political capacities, it has, also, been so adjusted, by infinite wisdom, as to make it perpetually subservient to the interests of the Redeemer's Kingdom ; and though every national change or affliction will be caused by the disposition and conduct of the nations concerned, it will, likewise, be made to promote the cause of the Church on earth.
Convulsions are decreed as an element in the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ, because the character of nations and not the plans of God, render them inevitable ; and while they are thus the agents of the Divine Will in promoting the progress of the sjetem of grace, they are, also, the awards of tke righteous Judge for the sins of those concerned.
Here, then, is the certain solution of all the toils, mutations and sorrows of time : here is the divinely-given account of the origin and uses of every evil which befalls a people.
All national as well as all individual suffering, is the certain re- sult of .". violation of the Law of Cod — and the offence of the afflict- ed parties may be in his and their dispositions, or in both actions and disposittf
Tin affliction in a penalty, incurred by thr sufterc- ; but as tip nations exist and suffer in a world governed by :•. system of grace, and as they are made instruments in this system, the chastisements which their own conduct his merited, may be, also, a means of re- forming thesi, and of leading them to greatness and happiness by making them efficient promoters of righteoutneM and truth on earth is the whole and satisfactory history of the origin and usee of every national trial OJ" revolution thai ever has happened, or that
.r, in any part »f the world ; bm1 with these pro) -1 a number of munities, Eh >a« eitoftted like tha people of the
• *• ■ rate chapters.
In the mean ti ire ai;»l apply, n
their leng leptb, the { riptuml teachings ai-
tal I ii Maker and Guide of the unrrem
. d infinitely holy. ;,ad thr.t, therefore. Buffering
.ire everjwti re ind always regular and rpevirahle cause and efts
It would he :i moat deplorable and awful state of things if it were
lible fot an;, creature to Buffer without an adequate cauee in him-
: and if such :ni a< >uld occur, no rational being could
♦ ver again feel
[f such tl i happen, God would either be unjust, or less
tent; an<I either supposition it contrary to the whole S riptunt, and revolting t.. the rnttincta -if tli- Christ
• 'the Divine Nature ii interested in preserving every ire front undeserved injur y ; andifonemementarj ;
lis inflictcd„it would till the universe with sn< tain' and horror. Every being with moral sentiment would at the itais f> -l.M-k : for no one obuld feci secure, and no one illustration of the imperfeetion or injusl Dn ise Economy.
Tl:s case of the Christian, Called OB to -utter per.-i oiuiyiiH on ;u-
. Lodlj lif« in Hirist Jesus, i- no exception : the Chris* ich, i- i spiritual being, and in his heaven-horn nature eta
UOt he injured hv iihii or devil-.
M light afflictions, wbieh are hut for I moment, work ut for
him ■ far moi ling and eternal weight of glory ; and all that
world and of hell pan effect, will only enable bio mspiouously the divine origin of his faith, will hope ■ '■ I Ions that were doing him an in-*
and will -treBgthen the cause which he has espoui
required to Ml op the measure of Christ's afflic- tion- : 1 ut wheu lis sufferings are not mereiful ehastenings to -.\ori out ii. him th< ; iscssble fruits sf righteousness, they will glorify ! by furnishing an illustration of the hstefulaesf of sin. of the mere und forbearance of the Supreme Hulcr, of the superior and "A\ I the new life of the Christian, and he tha.s aji
effectual warning jn<1 ■ powerful :• j> j.« n 1 to a world lying in wicked-
OF NATIONAL TBI ALB. 33
Tims the- steadfast sufferings of the Christian, for liis Divine Mat - lor, are his most precious works: he is, by such means, made ai lufltrkttxs co-worker with God, ami enabled to add to his crown, i life many stars of rejoicing..
The Chureh also is a spiritual body ; and though it is establish*: id 'for a work of time, it is sdh o a discipline, whose origin a:. 1
< mis take hold of eternity.
Its outward organization and its elements of worldly power m.-y
':npa"r*d': but.it will not he in the power of cr6ated things touch the purity or energy of its divine life. This is God's hus- bandry : and the machinations of His enemies will only serve in end to distinguish its excellency over all the inventions of creature, to bum from it the tin.-ol -fbaser metals, to manifest before universe the righteous - and justice of its Head,
the malice, baseness and cruelty ef His opponents, and to enh;: the glories of those triumphs which await it in time and in eternity, and in which will participate, rn heaven, all who have served it by doing or suffering on earth.
ns, as such, can hate no remuneration in time or eter- nity for afflictions they have not deserved; and though a future generation might profit by the sufferings of the present, how will this compensate those who have died in darkness and sorrow \
Let no one deceive himself; any other theory for individual or national trial is dishonoring to God, and full of difficulty and hope- less gloom.
The extent, nature or instrumentality of the affliction does affect the truth of the propositions above enunciated ; and though .the party suffering may incur his trials and disasters in the prosecu- tion of an enterprise just in itself, they arc not the less the reward of his own conduct, and in such cases are sent on account of exist- ing dispositions or of past offences or both.
And as^already intimated, it is not because the Kingdom of < Ihrisl , fro« the phi1. . no- -ib revolutions and violent mutations
among the powers of the world, that they occur; and it is both surd and impious to claim that if our nation is not suffering as the Church, it is al leasl -undergoing trials as a high, privilege to aid in the progress of the Redeemer's <
God will certainly •' overturn, overturn, overturn until 1!
whose right it is," </.' .'7 ) ; but while the gr.
result of"//.-' i the i arth is thus made known, a suffici
cause fer ths troubles of everv people will alwi ind in th
5
VIBW
D :.U nations ai <t fall.
This i
BOW-
- In- tl • W ' blc of proof from the
fact :\r Word and Spiri
Tii i M of thU ''hapten, teMI
f) 1
• 1 holj men andei art. j strnctioi in ev«
f Dan i H «
» in tlio nig 1 be m
; ■ .jilo and . ■ I '
re to identified with tb u;.-
<ry. »oth'. for public spirit; and no doubt many men have d
eing biofa the) : n trolled. Hut thi re cm bt DO in ^Yith regard to the : ■ li 1 1; r •
Mod origin I I '.•• i countrymen.
//• would ha «rcr
U t«> ' • 1 ' ' Kile ;m<l
. ■ to the
: of worl y thing elM
the b. Tno. children of Israel, persecuted j and
ifc Danii j ' :id wretched,
.
bighi si I rs and dignities ,4 th t magniflc nl empire'on earth ; and while he
ji^j , ■ from the confidence and favor of this poto
ym »- langeroup fee
and to his life.
0F N ATI OX AT. TRIALS.
His personal merit and the favor of God were securing for lain, the most illustrious name and position on earth — and his family and national affinities could win for him nothiug but shame and hatred
On the one side were the highest prizeswhich can tempt worldly ambition to forget and despise kindred and nation ; on the other were the most disgraceful and terrible penalties which men can in- flict offered as the apparently certain reward for adhesion to- th<j cause of his people.
None of these things could move the steadfast heart of the illus- trious Hebrew from its attachment to the home and the cause of his fathers ; and as no man in modern times can expect to be his supe- rior m piety, faith and godly zeal, so none can hope to become mor-i distinguished for a display of unselfish -am] exalted attachment ike
intxy and people.
History and Analysis of UanieVs Pray-:.
When the Hebrew prophet uttered the prayer quoted bciow, afte" bn has been recorded for the instruction of after times, he had h In memofj hia captivity among a people who hated, oppressed mid despised his race without a cause.
He knevj by inspiration that ail the blessings in ^ore for the World were to come through the medium of his own race- and he was fully aware, from observation, that much as this nation had of- fended Cod, by their rebellions and idolatries, they were, as a whole infinitely superior to those by whom they were bated and afflicted Dg them were to be found theonly worshippers of the true living God; and if no other examples were to be found the prophet could see in himself, and in his fellow-captives, Shadrach. Meshach, and Abcduego, the most illustrious evidences of the sunc the Jewish faith and polity. The faithful anion* the descendants of Jacob were the only stars which shone upon the dark night of paganism and abomination in which the world wa* immersed; and tho*e who made war on the Jews and sought to de- .troy heir race and „ re actuated „ ^ fa h
he Religion of the God of Heaven as by dislike to the chiWren ,, Israel. I . „c instruments oy which the "chosen race were
■>>■ ^entious, cruel and abominable ; and su«k • - the empire. where Daniel had re- the general, incurable and indescriba- ble « o nation that the name of Babylon has been a-
- Himself, to represent all that « to and detectable in Hi* human enemies
It]
AD these thin, to I) I he wai
1 ' ' i
• ; D tl
Hut it 1 the
rophet's petit ' -■ ' I : istory,
II r nicnti
Be troubl
/Vi i/-r.
pro] ftt* :
!. Ti • of all their afflieti
Wta/Zhad himself. The kings, prinoes
the guilty, and all Israel I at G i ii righetoua in a|l ; . .. rhioh is cited
Elact of His Watching upon tl bring it upon Hi*
sple. • al the j Ian of God's judgments had been revealed — and tbat mystery in the fact thai the nrg-
l the bar
0 plainly j irred.
/' - •/;/, ft they art bat
> or characterize the motives of the
• : . - their judgment
ly to I I in: to Whoi ' presume
holt appeal i; for mercy t. r tb« riy1 [uences of then
II.' i d the merit i :
bed, Ii and long suffer-
iffered an insult to the I
hmenti then the Almighty w»t* to blame : if the mere amount of afflictions had made the chi orthy of Divine favor, then a change of c duet end dispttitioD was not important, and punishment or rer
Ok' NATIONAL TRIALS. ' ;', 7
to this end were unnecessary chasteniugs, and therefore, i'rom the Divine Hand.
Daniel asks for the deliverance of his race '• for the Lord's sake :" he prays for it in the name of God's mercy, and ft>T the sake of Hia own glory.
In short, the great points in the inspired prayer of this gi riot, this illustrious prophet, this holy man to whom the assur- was given direct from Heaven that he was greatly beloved. were that sin, wilful sin against God's holy aud reasonable law, and affliction, were inseparable cause and effect — and that delivci from merited Calamity was only to be expected when it was consist- with the covenanted mercy, the righteousness and goodness ( f God. This road would necessarily lead through the repentance and reformation of the people concerned ; arid it was only on such con- ditions that inspired men of old who spake as they were moved by the 'Holy Ghost, asked for the removal of the afflicting hand Jehovah.
Let the reador now carefully study the prayer recorded for his guidance ; and let him as ke reads keep ia mifld the circumstances and surroundings of its Author. He was one of a race scattered and peeled ; and had been born in a land which was then desolate from the successive and awful ravages of the enemies of its nation's Ood.
It and its people were an astonishment among the nations ; it* inhabitants, after enduring every calamity, bad been carried away captive by a " bitter acd hasty people,'* its temple burned with fire, its palaces despoiled, its women ravished, its children dashed in pieces in the streets, its kings and nobles degraded and cruelly maimed, its elders and princes dragged away in chains and reduced to slavery.
The prophet and his race had been dwelling among ' o had
desolated their land and desecrated their holy things; and for long years he had seen his people and their faith a taunt and reproach to the fierce, remorseless and depraved heathen into whose hand God jold them Yea, he had seen the most s ledicated
to the holy service of Almighty God, profaned by an i<! I and
debauched king and his profligate courth ourtcaans
in their filth; ' ile they blasphemed tl
they had conquered, insulted and op: 'il study of tl ation for the race whom his he I in all their trials
>rings w l bo dawn ; and ar-
BAL N IKWS
keels
hi.« people ai.<l h the groanii lit-
hli
I
thus hi»
I receive an in. urn!
* 1 0
tii:
• i i the son of A.haa u rns, of I of
. .1 aim of the Chaldeai
- ti.t-
HUD.i ";- Of flu
I he would accompliih seventy veara in I
le .-.:.
\ml • OBtO the
shes: a jaioo,
<lr> adfal ' uant
thenl '1 to thei . ciu-
| done
] ItTfJitf
ind frooi tliv j n <j •_ •
. which our prii < our fathers, and
•i all
gtth unto it unto a
! .. I abitante
. . r ofl',
.
0 1 dr kinks, to <>ui
e have si inst thee.
though W<.
: •! . Lord walk
b 1 . be propl •
1 • ;:.. lat even by departing, that
r< the ehi red upon
OF NATfO.VU. T.UALS. 39
us, and tlie oafh*that is written in the lay ■ f Moft - the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
And lie hath confirmed his words, -which, he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a groat i lor under the whole heatfen hath not been floBC as I ath been doi upon Jerusalem.
Vs it '. written in the law of -Most..-, all this e?il is cine upon u* ; yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we mi turn from our iniquities, and 'understand thy truth.
Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and I upon us.: for the Lord our Grod is righteous in all his works wbioh he doeth : for we obeyed not his voice.
. O L.ird our God. that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, am renown, as at this day : we hare sinned, we have done wicl i
O Lord, according to all thy righteousness. I heseerdi the t.hiue anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city J< thy holy mountain : because for our sins, and for the, iniquities of our fathers. Jerusalem and thy people ai to
'hat are about us.
Now therefore. <> hear the prayers of t!>
his E hy face to shiyie upon thy s-netuavy that
is desolate, for tho Lot
0 my <>od, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine cys, an held our desolations, and the nity which is calleil by thy name : t< r we do mot present our supplications before thee for our righteous- nesses, hut for thy great mercies.
0 Lord, hear ; 0 Lord, forgive ; 0 Lord, hearten and do ; d> not, for thine own sake, i) my God : for thy city and thy people uie • ailed by thy naafe.
And .while f was speaking, and. praying, and confessing my ind tha Bin of wy people Israel, and preseatin bo*
!bre the Lord my God for the holy mountain of m- Q
Yea. whil -caking in prayer, even the man Gabrie'1,v
I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being causod l^fl; touched me about the time of the evenii g i blation'.
\nd he informed iw. and talked with me, and said, 0 Daniel. I ,im now come forth to give thee skill and o
\t the beginning -of thy forth, and 1 am some to .-hew //« ■• : for thou art _ ed :
.fore understand the matter, ler tl • ion " — Dm
49 UW+L TI1WS
I'RA' v • IA1I.
' I : I
■
■ •
egan it met iah, full of zo:i 1 for ' -<'J and his i • band w:
•
rk lor a numl • oted \>\- tin
ii g with nntlri r and an : % difficult
this beard of i
before hia ! andT)r**iaely enjoined I
• iven belt
...
Tl: ' ' lhllil
' prayer al tpplicable, in the main, tt> thai ;:iiah
tinii is in\ ited to this emph •I and inspired man, — "both ! and my father's hi
'in
• I Haenaliah. And it came
■ fch year, bb f was in E . ananj, one ■•■ my bret hren, came, ii" and asked Asm i - ng the Jewi thai
•. ity, and concerning* J< ru lalem. • . The remnant that arc 1 oft of the captivity i . affliction and reproach i the \
hereof are bm
IS, thai 1 ^:it dowi I . , | and prayed before t lie
N ' ,0 Lord God of heaven, the great and ter-
ribli d mercy ft r them that love him
serve bis < Imenta .
♦ OF NATIONAL TRIALS 41
Lot thine car now be attentive, and thine, eyes open, that thoa
mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now,
and '.tight, for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess
dns »f the children of Israel, which wc hare sinned against thec :
'.tli i and my father's house have sinned.
Wc have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have nit kept the
commandments, nor the statutes, north1 judgements, which thou
-audedst thy serTant Moses.
Remember, 1 beseech thee, the word that thou comnuindedst thy
servant Moses, saving, //*yc transgress, 1 will scatter you among the
nations :
But '/ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments,and dp them ; thou ' there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the hea\ ' will I gather them f r<. m thence, and will bring themuut©
the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
thy servant? and thy people, whom thou hast re- deemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
O Lord, T beseech thee, let now thine car be atteutive to the pray. " it « r ;iut, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to/ fear'lLj i..#ue ; and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For T was the king's cup- bearer."— l.v.' Chapter .Xchcmiah.
PRAYER OS l.ZKA. •
Ezra was one of those who labored with hoi}' zeal for the restora- tion at Jerusalem of the religious polity of the chosen people ; "and he entered on his task some year.-- in advance of Nehemiah. Ue wan a returned exile, a leader of his people, full of wisdom and the Holy Ghost, and gave himself to the cause of his country and of the true Church with which it was associated with untiring patience and zeal, and "an unfaltering faith.
He was honored by Co I . ' . in the great work of re-
.rt of the scriptures written before his time. ; nd of ilishing a correct copy.
While he was laboring for bis nation and his Cod with a piety and fidelity whieh -. he hears of a trespass of his
people, and then, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, pourg forth the praver below.
Its recitals and confessions an characterized by the same spirit
'with those already quoted ; and while the immediate occasion of the
prayer was an offence committed about the time it was •ffered, it
narrates Triefly, but distinctly and emphatically, the system of Hod's
people, and the causes <>f all their calami! i
<;
; ■
I
.
I
h
t> to lift up j
|
I . •
us in o»r
boi.
#f Per ' .. . give Ufl a ": '
tt r, - idah ai.d
n .1 , .luni.
An-1 now, <) oaf God, what shall we say aftef thu '. I r w> foftttk* d thj command] . 4
Which thou 1 .'"t> (■'•'■ pfopeta, sajing,
Tho lnud, unto irl ipsa it, is an unclean land with th •
. ■ ins Ah raiALS. 4*>
. tho people of the laud , ' ■ I q
- ■
■ |
j
'
.
iMlA
1 1 . • : and David •
mid Bbto ;
(Jil"
i d untu them ; • the el Cara< 1 and
.
in a j blee* \i, 1-3. It i^ r t.i tl. iplea that the Jews v.. 1.
altar | ' • - - ' i < 1 » , u 1 1 < 1 , 19 true thai
raham and I o them, o
stitatod the visible Church 0n earth; and t" them were dommj
of B ing in the
: 1 1 «>i j : < S which tj pificd < ;i.'i! i lit.
I Lfl tli:it •
te tl th< i natii - : ipl til wu
I ■ • ■
doubt, :: I ia!cd fri
, \ I hold the truib in un- it manifest i.. them ; ■
i '>
ten . I
. bej gli i ified Bim not as imaginat and t
■ :y beeam • i u] tible God, into an image
y did not like to retain 1 1 Ige, < I 'in over to a reprobate mind, to ci^
things v
OP NATIONAL TRIALS. ' 4 i
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, coVetousneas, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, d malignity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, toasters, inventors of evil tilings, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, oo\ takers, without natural affec-
tion, implacable, unmerciful : Who, knowing the juc'gmc:
• rtliy of death, not only do the same, buthav< in them that do them." Romans i. 23 and 28
Hore is the inspired statement of the opportunities which ;ill tave
. to know God, and of the manner in which the idflla I ions
have used them; and in the next chapter oft) i book we are
rly informed of the method in which the Righteous Ruler will
■ eed in His judgments, to render to every pan acci hia
deeds.
•• For there is no respect of poisons with I
For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perUh •jti. aw 5 and as many as have sinned ■,■
:idge-i by the law. !■'' ; b( the (Jennies, which i.
in the law, these having ' mtr
■ Which shew the work •of the lav \,';>i'
;lsOj hearing v. , i.;]e
sing, or else excusing one another.' 1 1-1
The law here referred to is the DecalogiK \t- i;
in writing, manifest a sense of its comma! the hearts of men, Jirst, by those moral aoi uifyf by the op< •■ of. all moral acts in the W law, .or •
Si 1 nuiy ii<. ' a i ,ii law "
le to the the Jews, si - their
i eli they shall be lied." " WLeu th
i • have :> I
• h
.. i '■■■■.
>F NAXroXAi.
:'rorn all your ti
*
« I
; " Bi
• ■ ' l.,17. Act* 10. U.
unaudments are n 110. 151-
comtnandmen _ hieous." JDo 172. /'. 1.11. 2~'.\. /idm.
f all the earth d \ I • ' Job
7,8,6, 10 Prov.Q. 21,22. 2 >Oh
/v ■- "
. 0. 10. Hab. .1
i
.17.
afflict wi . .i'lnei;
11 and ff<
Ho Hii
• retun .-.-I live ?"
1 ,*' wliorffnrr doth a living man L'oruplftin, a ma;i for tbt- pmaichment ofhia siniP' Lttm. 3. 30, f r "God is King tho c.-.rt '7 7, and M the works df Hi -c verity
ft. 111. 7 Hosea 14. 9.
r ! *y% s
< . I V fc V .
Bill
• r*< . unit h ''• i< ajjt Utncd for
' I
» BJiti 10 11 . :i N
•iii' bow< be tl
' ■ . bit
r.- the jtidgm
ir. - in illustration of this p it <• ivera all the groan ! iM hardlv -'■(•in necessary to
• ( ';u aan • land tot!
1 tlii- d I ' • tl ' : the pow< r to | rforoi It.
'. fter •' od inspired nun, entered
, lition \vl, g :inT the town of \ >
-ami what »■ id
' ■ Did he c >naider ■ "• lasiooa
'■. work in which tin' Almighty
•!■• repulses . f I is arras from the people, :••• rward wit' as G
• ; promise 1 '
acers and with w
ad that tht> \ll-v, ■ rou^h suoh disasters for their final trius !! instruct! >1 :' the wa; Divine Mas! anything
: Heaven and ■ !-. ■
.I ich sould
• .«
sized' d«fi
\h'o disaster I .*•
H vcii.
OY NATIONAL TRIALS. 40
With such confessions in bis heart and on his lips, and while ho
I his elders arc solemnly honoring Ged by publicly confessing that their defeat was Ilia work, he is informed of the cause of difficulty, and directed what to do to prevent future and worse ca- lamities.
The time of the inhabitants of Canaan had come — the measure of their iniquities was full, and^God had chosen the Jews as the in- struments of His vengeance Upon a people, whose pollutions eou] | n longer be borne. But in the defeat at Ai, the Divine Arbiter was against the arms of His people, though lie was with their cause ; tor they had tinned against them, and He designed to chasten them that their trespass might be exposed* and repented of, and the n - ivented from plunging into deeper iniquities. One in the canqi of Israel had contaminated himself with the accursed thine ; and the people being blessed with a wise and godly leader, their reverse at Ai was made a means of arresting the progress of abomi- nations which would have caused God to desert them, and give the- t up to destruction.
Trnic *''" interpretation of a reverse in a way consistent with (the power, j u e and goodness of the Almighty, and .humiliating to himself and his people, led Joshua to success ; and no commander can receive a check in a cause more sacred or one in which he can have such authoritative J&jsuranee that God is with it.
The leader of Israel was not so foolish and so impious as to fear that u c >nfession of the displeasure of Heaven would strengthen his enemies, and injure his own cause ; he was well aware that if Je hsvah was for him, lie could not be defeated, and he was inspired to know that the honor of this perfect Being required every reverse td be considered as directly scut by Him, aud for the offeness oi those concerned.
nch a course he not, only did not weaken his cause, but he a- voided all further defeats ; and this example remains a selema, ei phatic and perpetual admonition to the nations.
The history referred to is recorded in the 7th chapter of the Book of Joshua, and is as follov.
" But the children of lata* I < sgimitted a trespass in the accused thing : for Achan, the son of Carmi. the ton of Zabdi, the son oi Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing : ami .rcr «f the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which i< beside B$tl - Oj en the eeei side of Beth-el, and Fpake unto them, saying., ♦lie country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. 7
UPMKAL ntWI
a rued to 3
■ ' three tl and
I men ;
f them ab»uf thirty and r thei
Sbel arim, and in - down : wherefore the hearts of the ] ilted,
.-inn ter.
I re the arl ontil the eventide, 1 the elders of
ul put dustPupon their beads.
Lord God, wherefore 'hast thoo at nil this peopl deliver na into th< hai
\,, n >uld to <!<)'l we ha<l been content, and
dwell ! 'an '
(I I. r.i. what shall hen I -rati turncth their baoks befor*
their
i all the inhabitants. of the land shall hear I shall environ lj and cut off our name from the earth.
• hat wilt thou do unto thy great nam I
the Lard aaid unto Joshua, Get thee a] liest
]■ thy fa< : bath sinned, .• have also trai
which ! c immanded them : (or they have even taken oftheaoeni
.1 liare also taken, and dissembled also, and they have j>u: .Ul >tuff ■ the children t>f T rael Could not ' their SU-
/ turned their Vaoks before their enemies, because they « neither will 1 !»• with you any mote, ■ rcep.1 ye <le- from among yu
,fy the peonle, and for thus saith the JjordGodof Israi thing in the midst of thee, 0 Iarael : thou canst not ^und before ♦him enemies, until ye tub; away ti.' from auKin-
you.
In the morning therefore jt- .-hall be brought according to your
(ril„ • shall hi-, thut the tribe which the tiOfd taketh bhall
the faeniliea tkeretf} and the family whioh th«
IiOrd shall take shall come by household*! and the household which
<he Lord shall take shall eo«M mau by man.
OJ NATIONAL TRIALS. 51
\nd k Bball be, <A*< be that is taken with the" accursed thing shall, be "burnt with fire, be and all tbat be batb : because be hath trans- gressed the covenant of the LqwJ, and because be batb wrought folly
in Israel.
So Jovhu. rofce uj* curly in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes ; and the tribe of Judab was taken :
And he brought the family of Judah ; and he took the faiuny Oi theZarhitc- tod he brought the family of the Zarhttea man bj man ; and Zabdi was taken :
And he brought bin household man bj man ; Mid Y L.,i. the son of Oarmi', the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judab. was taken.
And Joshua eaid untd Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory te the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him | and tell nu now what thou hast done ; bide it not from me.
And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned a- gainst the Lord God of Israel, and thus have I done :
When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and' a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it,
80 Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the teat ; and, be- hold, it teas hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord.
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan, the son of Ze- rah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his MM, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and hi, sheep and bis tent, and ftll that he h*d : and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
An,! "<*> Why hast thou troubled us? the Jiord shall
troul,i" '' l»7- And all l;r,.< 1 I .nod him with iDd burned thorn with Ore, after they had stoned tl
U" him a great I ;
be Lord turned from th ,QT'C
the,iaI'" I, The valley of Achor, unt. this
; }od may be wit
\*°l] arily againrt their armt ; and
1r0B' hat
howc" r yctroTer.-,
• ■ . '
This trn*h is ; I J I ■
and is so e*s^' Nature as it i- revealed
a CI nd perversity ef human nature. applying I > itself i
prid ■! i ■-« >n. >in all ag . 1 1 v. .. with whi
ir of eartl : and they think thnt i be Phari
of J ~ them I ligo from Heaven, that Is',
1 tlie laws of N.vtu V eould
•lie instrumentality of his fellow. .re likelj I hi- judgment than when he IS
ito agencies that bav< u i will, and eannot think, j<
-
i in- dole nation Of I ! ' of arthqvaks or, | estilem ia a solemn in ••'■ ioe
artial in (heir .'.._:. ' the way of a just interpretation;
immunity from whom the rains pf Tl v a are with' 1 will not acknowledge that
irhiob it rtgi tier or even
worse than ihc pmeioui i. of the
ruly wise, suofa partiality of nature is note
prhioh might ho at-
v the kind 'of eases put
.'"'and 26
;
strumentality of hia f ly like hi me whom
wrong and '
(rue
OP NATIONAL TRTALS.
springs of things, jund contracting his vision to the issue between liim and his fellow, he ca mot realize that the eyeqof the Invisible .■sweeps over a wider range, or that His all-cabracing Providence has made this controversy but an incident in another and more ira- it drama. If his human antagonist be unjust and < ruel, and the eoi'i'.e, 1 .
• tue of life and death, its immediate origin in the pa«sions of his ad*- -cry, and its issue as depending on his will and strength, wholly monopolize hi? thoughts ; and Ins philosophy running in this ex- tremely narrow channel of carnal wisdom is apt to limit the iuter- f the Almighty to these phenomena, when in fact the whole con- troversy and all its passions and contingencies, are thenisehvs but parti of a greater work of Grod, and all ministering to its results.
But if Grod always takes sides with us when unjustly assailed by ra- tional creatures, then lie has endowed with life and tka power of action '-eings whom He cannot prevent from inflicting wrong; and though He may. be defending us against these enemies, yet He created them, Mid thus is responsible for the injustice which they commit. Can any Bible reader entertain such an idea ef God for a moment . Can any one raised and educated in a christian land, believe in and re- s-pee! a Deity who will not himself afflict without cause, but who be- stows being and life >n others who can and will involve the innocent i:i undeserved suffering?
irutli is, that God often makes nations the instruments for g eacii other — and he does it not for the merit of the agency used but out of His sovereign will, and for reasons which *-ai, . orally be easily comprehended.
That this most important matter may be well understood, let a be cited. '
, .;.r, bitter and fierce, between two neighboring powers; and in tl il one party, actuated by malicious envy or the lust
of doruinatioi voked, the subjugation 01 destruc-
tioi n\ sailed, or defendant is simply endeav-
orii lintain; his national indi ancient dews
wer. often placed in this hitter situation ; and the nations who in vad I were their inferiors in mora! char
;
.ties by
the calm light of histor
1
1. ...
r former in tl n which I
. bile thc\ iblu,
ntatuat- ■hat . in- stru Elting 1 \
I
ment it La inflicted, whi I •without
- « -uly
w could t: fined ''.
oaneed \>y
, ; manner in which it eng . . will
i i '..ino displeasure; and in such
.
■ . .till in'': D, and ■
• ha I h nal
which it did . and which
, fur whi .1 mind can
king party.
A greet, > 'tew Bted . crt!<
into a ool ■ • . ism for t ':■ dc-
. . •,
charac-
un _
lidly to liht-n_\ : . id it I S I'llll
I ni,( '1
r the
and every step in iu t in mark* the heat
. heir worl
. . bhi and their i §■■-
I and
thr "ii all D I >anc
t'ur\. rwA
ill. s
et alone : they si their
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. :>D
own frontiers, and in defence of homo they fall b\ the thgusi while the burning torrent of invasion rolls its smoking 'course in all directions over the -devoted land, consuming peaceful villages, con- verting provinces that smiled with plenty into desolate wastes, and daily increasing thctmultitude of the homeless and houseless.
Who hurled these maniac legions with d insatiate fury
upon a nation desiring pear : provoking war?
Su b a phenomenon, beheld from a distance, has a moral which cannot be mistaken : and the people who have searched in vain a reason for their calamities in their conduct to their human ene- mies, must have incurred the displeasure of Heaven, in some etl way.
God is omnipotent and a God of Justice : why then does ht per- mit .. to suffer such cruel wrongs while defending a cau*e so righteous ]
Why are the1 authors of those calamities precipitated upon dire havoc of their own interests in their attempts to ruin those who are merely defending thomselves 1
As already stated) Buch a case has occurred : and when the pa'6- sionB which this dreadful crisis in the world's history has aroused, haVe passed away, the leadings of Providence will appear so palpa- ble that the chief wonder in regard to the strange era will be tin iaot that any among the people interested, with Moses and the proph- ets before them, could fail to improve the-lessons taught.
There is another reason why the Deity should choose to inflict tin- chastening which it designs on an offending people through the agency of another human power actuated by wicked motives; and that is, that the character of the latter may discover itself to the world as it ap] ears is the sight of Heaven, and thus justify in the eyes of all men the retributions in store for it For example, the Bal . had reached a depth of depravity of which the christian
lie could have had no i n 'out for its connection with, the
afflif ' d visible Church; and had we known of this great
ire only from the description's of profane history, we would have hat its total destruction was s world.
saw and marked the spiritual loathsomeness of this mistress of the nations ■ and he allowed the wickedness of the nation to d< velop itself in the chastening? which He designed for His own pecu- liar peoph . that thereby a double purpose might I iplished. h, tl justly afflicted for their -and at ; he same time the instruments of thi- I't were tllowod »4
SORIPTI
■ ■
and
I their tru, r and ju
Rg
I . ■! im- pioa ■ -. . U ■■ or B| but fie sa ■■ beir o i tujM
hear:- ripen ii itruetion, and 1I« turned tlu-ir : ■ iito
irork oat Hia own righteous | with •respect
. • events : i traverse b prarity ripening for death in I
:. nation, u!iiJ Ilo Beei ains ip i | >ple which He dc-
display i er. Aii'l thus the power to be cl imprest
\j a i of tin -ailing j
publicly ; • ■ - . ' • I. ird's
be right 14 rd which an ail
of infinite i... those i"i!-
•er: • ripture) i resented.
When a nation, standii >eo of it*, undoubted rigl l
nuj' led ' has no reason to conclude
this t'af with it in the ordinary f the word;
but the position el !»■ i P »w<
of by what scoura to them in thi . >f the- s*
gl*.
I; ■• . ,: ti tedj they may be perfectly thi displeasure.
I Heaven for their existing- diapoeitieoa, or for previou* and unre- pent and whether Gcd awil] be with their cause or not
df\ llyon the niauner in which th< Eliaadmonitii
ft igri thai good ' design a community
begiaaing of its national earear, and wlu-n infu] : for rehukea at inch times are best • tvsatad to produce pvop< ds, and reformat
the • times, are generally more thorough,
and ire al i - lasl ing.
Bui th> vuip m of !/•• /'■'•■ 9/ not be iteftaied; calamine* tat/u
• OF NATIONAL TRIALS. . 7
from Him, and are aent'for sin, and the lifted rod Mill not be /</• . <rside ti'l the offending party is healed or destroyed. PROOFS AN1> Il,T,lTSTRATIONS. ,Tbe Jewish nation wis scourged, at different times, by most of the powers of the world extemporary with them.
T.baf agnations were inferior, in general moral character, to the [sractitds, had as these often were, we nave abundant reasons to bje- The modern student is sometimes misled on this subject by the tborougb exposure of the mural pollutions of the Jews in their history, the infallible Word of God, and by the want of a true • christian light in the Lit srature* of the heathen to reflect their spir- idition Had the state of society in the great idolatrous nafriuiid of antiquity h'je.n depicted by an inspired prophet, living g them, and thoroughly acquainted wfth their habits — or had their inner life and character been described by any one, whose standard of morals was taken from the Divine Law, the representa- tion would have filled the modern Christian world with disgust and_ loathing. But we have- a right to conclude that the descendants of ■ . in general character, the first race on' earth : KiRhX. Because they were God's chosen people, they were His \ Lsible Church on earth, were trained by Him, had His Word among 'hem, and were constantly instructed by inspired men.
SECONDLY. The jealousy with which the laws of their Divine King gn irded them against social intercourse with all other races, unless the litter would adopt their religion and become incorporat- i d with them, is a plain and impressive evidence of the greater de- pravity if every other people.
TuiunLV. Lverything left by the civilized pagans of antiquity which illustrates their religious, moral and social habits, speaks a uniform language of a depth of pollution inconceivable to the pres- ent Christian world.
FoUttSHLT. The Holy Scriptures, by their facts and doctrine.-. \ the same lesson: and there is abundant evidence in profane history of ;he treachery, ferocity, cruelty, sensuality and profligacy »f th< nati Da who warred upon the Jews. •
Ye! te these -'terrible of the nations," (rod often sold His people
thoir itna ; and this was done, while these very rods of the Di-
feng • Med up themselves against Him who wielded them.
Ml the pagan world hated the Jews, because it was in heart bit -
tile to the God nf Israel; but the righteousness i if the grca;
5 allowed those .vh" followed banners that openly defied Hi
snip about the holy City, and to offer in
\
W» T Hi- t li r-
It ■
v.,
- :iiul \»'
rrible thj i ■ ni,
. h ilitcd warfar Me.
But wb< a t!:t so id . they wei i
'■►'■. \ .
: ■ .
tole
i
tl] fd.
' . th< Old
pro] • btl ■ bo Jews, 1 '"r theiv
ling
• . in-
en?
en he told them 1 bal obe-
• tlnir lite,"' ami that tin4} i.t\'i-
i b« ban i bid laid then " fer their
, nu'l :il! • i Mega fro; feeble
r I I ft fl
{, | . orb all
• . Bgi ■ firiehi to : .
.if the 1«
tent with r]:. 1 lutheritj
I
iicableto
oi xatjona.l Trials. 69
some of the points in this ; and the reader is asked to eonsnlt the Book of Judges ; Eackiel xxv. 1:0, 31x 32 ; Jer. xlvii. 48, 49, 50, 51 ; Isuiah xxxii. 34, 47 : 10, 13, 1*, 15„21.
It i.i Dot necessary to add more ; but attention is called to the important teaching of the following brief quotations :
': They chose new gods ; there was war in the gates." — (Jk/d, t. 8.)
" 0 Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand j; mind indignation." — -{Is. x. 5.)
"Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man- that cxecuteth rhy .counsel, (iota a far country." — (/». xlyi. 11.) ''Thou hast, pet up the right hand of his adversaries." — (P(t. lxxxix. 42.)
li Deliver my soul from the wicked, which i:- thy sword: from men which arc thy hand, 0 Lord, from men of the world which havi their portion in thi-3 life, aftd whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure." — (Pe. xvii 13, 14.) (It will be seen here that the Psalrniet recognizes the wicked as the sword of <Jod — and states that they arc fed or sustained* by Him, until Ahey have done His will.)
This sword is sheathed when a man or nation is without oft'ent< before God — for '•' when a inan'd ways please the Lord, ho maketr. bis enemies to be at peace with him." — (JProv. xii 7.)
-i-|»lPTim\L V K\T-
< I I v i • T I C R VI.
Rational i United. — A ttriking
the trull rw of (he /
The Holy Soripl u il and other I
rebelled . Fell
tl . Rod are I nal chains lor evcrlasl
>e spirit! ; f i • u the I -. ami the
lies 1" ■■ and thi
1 ra - . bia nature all that is rile, false, cruel, destructive, • stable He \* in perpel G I, and th( ;.t of the
and bj ^;'. has b( en Intro - • to this wj rid by Adam'.- fall, and dwells in the ! ii permitted, foi n isi and I at here tl ' bis infernal arts.
B is allowed to be s tempter, not to make men Bit oera. bi • lop what IS in man, -and expose to a fallen ra.- its d '.itioi. and its need of a phai
. ahioh the. Prince of darkness is permit- to exercise ore* mortals, ia proportioned to tl depray- j j aad when men are .-aid to be aednoed by him, they are simply l< r the influence' of paaei ind which tli.' : has drawn out info action.
\rcli Bfiaohief Maker hate- all I i| mortals as a con-
. a( f his hostility to God : he and his legions have ncTet, in
... been harmed by any of t b<* children of a\dam, aad ■ dq with nnd\ ing malioe. Won irhat has the Chnroh «■■■• r taught in regard to this state ol
• ll.i- it held that when man sins under the influence of the tempt- be excused — and that God will not condemn1 him, part ? Saa i: taught that it ia inhuman to denounce sin and not I ex- ist he ia the victim of the causeless sjiile of
1 rod and B
It this were the doctrine af the Scriptural and of the Church,
tnaidered unpatriotic to believe that a nation, af«
. OF NATIONAL TRIALS. (1
ted bj enemies whom it Lad n< t injured, was blameless before I ; but no such idon has ever, for a moment, been entertained by orthodox believers in the Holy Oracles. Though Satan is man's enemy from the inherent malice of hi?
i'H'm reprobate nature, the victim of his arts is considered as justly
suffering the penalty of his sins ; and not even the most holy angels,
much less ei-ring mortals, are permitted *.» bring railing accusation?
against an adversary whom the righteous Judge permits for a season
e a tempter. •
For to assort that his power is iniquitous, is to condemn Him who
■mitted him to exercise it ; ?vnd all that is allowed to tkxi creature
despise this fiend for his sinfulness aud opposition to God, t->
resist and fly from him a.- tic enemy of all that is good and pure,
and to repel his arts by Hie means which God has taught are most
effectual to that ei
Men are allowed to contend with him ; but they must do it not with his own devices, but witl the armor which the Almighty Sov- ereign is ready to lend i<- all who would escape from error.
V nation MnnoK have more malicious, enemies than the duskjv legions of hoi) : and tin- worst people that ever '-xisted are infinite- ly belter than the Devil and his angels.
And if it is not unchristian nnd inhuman to hold that the mor- tals who are afflicted by their sins, that is by Satan's devices, are justly dealt with, how caff it be unpatriotic t-> say that a community wantonly assailed by malicious men is righteously chastened by the Almighty ?
Has God more control over devils than over men .' Has he less pity for those whom the Arch Fiend leads into dis- asters than for such as are afflicted through other instrumentalities ? c reflections bring us naturally to another and most impor- tant consideration; and that is, that the maxim about fighting the with lire, is the very coinage 'of hell
1 y stated, creatures are allowed to contend with the great
• retry of God and of all good bei ly commanded
do : but they must Sght in a v tent with tjie nature
sue, and of the prize at stake. Satan's object is to make
ther- like himself : thii accomplish-
■ that? even hi < inceire. T 1 e like him is ti
r, awful and eternal rain ; and there \ -rreat stake in til
— with him is the character which the party he wai me.
:rc — and this j • -sailed, 11
fin - ■ • ■; r of reilH de With*
Unman ai
I, this natier.ai
I . blc in tl.'
light of Heaven, and trb i of merited judg-
Oiost iiiij red.
[f a | ; we«n
; tl r ; and and
.
. ' ; • which a wi •'.'•■' and Lj runt
hi reduce u i
;.Ii for his cause— he oan wear ad in a di ■ ■ nnoouquej i d anal
. bnt when he become* the victim of : and rain The u bt bifl adtersarj with hit* own
lorn anti .:i 1 \vh: icufariiis nia .ate,
virt;. > ioked polity I | Ll the
I j tr i u ui [ •iitlui .-u.-j.-ot, and itsiintioi- i.iindp
. in another light. \ ■ . • i a the conduct < : all wicked lj i i at-
ari ol the minikti - ■ >o ho
on all thej deem Lj i the workiugi • trom
e lie lu .-t cmi-
1; ik . ; .* [.art oi' I I fforld
Ivini .re-
or NATIONAL TRIALS. A3
proofs ,v,I ministered to evil doers, and charges preferred agoing them, especially- ratling charges, at the throne of Omnipotence.
The good man will not fail, when acting according to his chris- tian instincts, to d< but not even the Archangel Gabriel dare .before God.
the clergy] r priests of the assailing party thus \u\-
pious lircct tl. Jehovah, their condor-
shftiild ' le, much less ;vn femalous
spirit : nee in kind against such denur.
tione betrays a want of tfue religious character, and a fearful flin^ with the attributes of Jehovah!
iirse and rail, their blasphemy will not jus- ourN : inciple ittvolved is not changed by 'the fact, thnt we
may I t have the gi the vengeai
of Heaven.
Doi ill who indulge in this kind of preachiftg justify then -
selves ":. the^gronnd. that they are calling for justice on the enemies of Go i ; rod such rtmd-mcn,in opposing nations, are separated no* principle, but Only by their own opinions as to \vhvh bjn claim to the privilege of wielding the thunder] Omflipotefr
Each acta as if (J od's jealous prerogative^ were to he delegated {•■ men ; -h claims the right for mortal hamls to seize the ligl '-
nings o* \'engeance, and to blast.- ver he
deem the Most High.
G<' I throne where He ha- vat in awful 1
from eternity ; nnr has He laid approprii I *!io first daring' finder.
;t His jut their n hurt only themselves n which
our ; and the iple who their hat.
are sal bo their horror of su< h
proc
Dor is no nation hut has among its spiritual guide!
defend tl ' ■ • and tbjeii bj
as may I • ■ ih-
trcngth of tbi and
a curse; and I struggling with
'; fortitui caps* ofjosti
tiblc and pernicious S« *< uld
u fr« )• wl ■ tried I
■ ible "ill > •
'nl ;*« Ion :
I !
PRi I as A.n i IATIONS. •
' -
s ■
ities — this godly 1 iway : ! •• • all tlii-.'" ! ■ •'
■ . i I ! I . .' .
— :itwl in . I I hi vill find in ch. ; I
I ,i i ' • strv I K
i ml mud,
\ I mighty '• n
■ ■ >\ ctta 1 1 id, let liini i d Job anawered the Loi Id, I :ii:i vik- : wli: it shall ' band upon hjy mouth.
:mav cl i • • • j but I
iv HI pi
•
■ hi ' I 4i( died :
I hem I i' r the 1 . • ■ lid keep ■' .
ks "•■ .-■ I bi . •.I - of the1 Lord; which he c their fathers by the band • f Most - "' Judgt liil -1 | ■' the stub • wdorfl ol the prino< • him to inqui ifovdor that wee (lout
in the laad, (Jed 1< ft bim, to try him, thai be might know all wtu in in ii. 31
••Ai mc Joiihua the high priest atanding before the
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. ' i
angel of the Lard, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist hi: .
And 'the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, 0 Safes even the Lord that bath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee i is not tl • ;; brand plucked out of the fire-?
Now Joshua was clothed with lilthy gain. cuts, and stood before the angel." — I Zrc/t ii;. 1-3L)
•■ B( sober, bo Vigilant* because your adversary the devil, as .. jig lion, w.tlketh about, .seeking whom he may devour : cm resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afhM - tiou* are accomplished in jqxlt brethren that are in the world." — 1 Peter v. 8-9.) -'• Whereas angels, wiiich are greater in power and might, bring no; . accusation against tliem before the Lord." — (2 Pet. ii. 11.)
■ • '. S Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he ut the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a , . ccuaation, but said, TLe Lord rebuke thee-'* — (.Judc 9.) •■ T >,geth vengeance, and recompense." — (Devf. xxxii.
. that ye be not judged. For w. ;. ivbal judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and yith \\}\.d measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." — [M
nerefore tkoa art inexcusable, 0 man, whosoever thou art that ]\u\'c .rherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thj-
self 5 for thou that judgest doest the same things.
But. we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth
isl them which commit such things. And thinke.-t thou this, 0 man, that judgest them which do such things, and decst the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment ci '—{Rom-, ii. U'j.) " Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that spcaketk evil ther, and judgeth his brother, spcaketh" evil of the law, and : th t lie law : but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doe law* ti l< a judge. Ther lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy • wh 3
another?" — (James W. 11-12.) ■• Bui Grod is the judge : be putteth down o»e, and settcth up ar> .thcr."— (I's. lxxv. " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God •aniiot be U mpted with evil, neither tempteth he .my man. very man is I ■"hen lif> is drawn away f hi- ow:
net i. 13-14.
0
W x-PTTT! HAL V1BW>
< • »f \ y T in i? v i f . Jfylteriova I'
Human nature is fallen ttkd < u<\-
icount that men often I towards them as mjstr: [inscrutable; a»d in
the blario for afflictions is ingeniously shifted froxi 'V..' sufferinr '•reatnri1 to the plans of the great Creator.
Poople du not sTip»>osc they are impugning the: wi^dniu, powee * • goodness of find, when they refer to His afflictive Hctcd on priuoiples not to be understood ; but they- do plain!/ by such language that the cau«e for these dis'- die-
i red by the mortals concerned, and is not u neoereary result •ircir actions or disposition.
Still, they are willintr to :M!mit that the Divin • I ions for His course in the promises — but it' H ..-. the* are i t-o be understood by finite minds, ::nd therefore tann«t ' Utplail OB any principles of human philaophy.
This explanation of the ways of Providence towards man is eat- 'remcly offcnsiTO to the .Supreme Ruler — and Indeed h is veil cal- culated to impair thf o/>nfidcnc» of His creatures in Him as a ftej- fcet Being.
y the least} it represents Him as allowing H ots to
r without knowing the cause ; and thus attributes \o His Got- ^rnme»t such radical and fatal imperfection as to reader the results •>f good and evil action wholly uncertain.
Tn fact this couro ©f reasoning removes all obligations CO obi*;. <:k>d at all; for if His dealings with His eroaturcs ere to be 8 iuotcd un rules not revealed and not to be understood, why should His written Law be regarded ? IT the Almighty Sovereign has tv.< •ystems of action towards nis subjects, the one made known and th' ither reserved in His own infinite Mind, aro not His srei tares in .-- most deplorable condition and without inducement to do good, or to abstain from evil? is there any distinction between good r.;A evil?
What is the purpose of a written Law if it alone is not to judge ?.ll the actions and dispositions of those to whom it is given ?
This whole idea of mystery is a *nbtorfrTge, a sinful InYenttal Of"
et NATIONAL TUIALS. *7
human pride which would degrade the Creator rather than confer a fault in self; !*nd it is in direct conflict with the plain teaching- ' - f that Word which has been revealed from Heaven as the certain, eternal and immutable rule of life and death.
God has beon " manifest in the flesh," in the person wf liis « . equal Son ; and it is to this Being, so known to as, by His own ap- pearance among us, and by His full aDd complete Word that " ail judgment is committed. "• There is not a mysterious invisible,' u» known power behind the Son, reversing His decisions — but " tfc- Father judg^ I an, but hath committed all judgment unto the
.Son^ that all uerj should honor the Sou, even as they honor the Rather. He that hoftoretb cot the Son, honoroth not the Father that sent Him."— {Jot- i» v. 22-29.)
To refer' afflictions, therefore, to a mysterious will of the Father, wet and beyond the system of Christ's Kingdom and fttiic, is a dis- honoring of the Father, even though we insert a earing clause to tie afieet^hat this inscrutable Will is righteous.
And this Sou emphatically says, "And if any man hear my and believe not, I judge him not : for I came not to judge the world out te save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth riot my WWls, hath one that judgeth : the word that I have spoken the same ihail judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of mysoh'- but the- : Father that sent me,He gave me a commandmen^what I should . -ay and what I should speak. And I know His commandment is We everlasting : whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the ftthci <aid date me, n I speak."— {John xii. 47-50 )
What can be more explicit ? God has no. other rule of action to- ward, 11 is creatures than that revealed in connection with and bv Hi, Son JertMChA*. and Christ Himself will not judge by arbi- trarj *,]!, but according to the commandment of the Father and Whxcb cpnmndment He has made known by Himself and His p'ropb- eto, as the Herd that is to judge all men, test all actions and dis-
^n ' and »™r<UH retributions. Iu this sure Word all that
a neeesaar, fo, man to know, all that concerns Am welfare in time «nd U fully and plainlj Btat(jd ^ eternal ^
*tedmjudg«ent: thi, is the rod of iron that smites all nations, the rule that accounts for all the mutations and afflictions of time Th,ro u „ Ul u in any of th^o thingg: the reasona wd •
pies oi all (,od's dealings with us are plainly stated, and "belong to u* aad to onr children."
FURTUEK T&00F6 AND ] LLUSTRATIOK8.
tt is to be noted that ia vho prayer of Daniel, quoted on pages
.■itt i ra:. \ if.ws
'1 hifl people hail from the laws i f <InJ —thai bh ■I that tl Jet ' thr
.••1 EL repudiates all idea of mystery, em] hatically recognise*
iting idoh 'lie tint? fulfilment
."hi- ■ fnl • h the same doctrine in the
y< r recorded fur our Instructii ; and it occurs in the inspired of other holy i
ings ball ng unto the Lord our. God : bid l's which ealed and f<> oui children for
do ell tfc ■"'• xxix. .
r he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law irael, which he commanded our father.-, that th«v should make • known to their ehildren : That the generation to oeme I tight know thern^ even the children h Bhould be born : who should' arise and declare them to their Iren: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the work* rod, but keep his oommandments " — \T.<. lxxviii. 5-7.) T the lair and to th- y: if they speak not according to
because there M no light in them " — Is. viii. 20.) ■ Surely the Lord Cod will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret
bis i ante the prophets " Lii. ' ■
'The secret of the Lord is with' them that fear him ; and he will
then his covenant." — (/V xxv. 14. ■11 mystery in the wayi ft »nlf with th( se who do not
I the voice of Hi.- W -. b as fear Him Ho reveals all
Hii ofdealin pe His judg-
.
OF NATIONAL TTUAT.S. G
C11A P T Jffi.K vm.
/j/^A' Views .'/' Natittyal trials, continued ,—r-The manual in vjhich National, trials art math ■<• \>, ov%ott the cayse of Chrmt on ttorth.
.It is important thfct the reader should not misunderstand the doc- trines of the preceding chapter.
God is not accountable to Hi* creatures for any of His ways ; and ;ie can 6t*j! Tl is hand and Bay wha,t doest thou ? But as a just :i:id good Sovereign He has revealed all that it is necessary for His subjects to know; and lie has set before men life and death, and' ilv indicated the road to each, lie has fixed the boundaries een right and wrong; and He has made known the plan and sons for His judgments towards eVery creature in all his relations. Every Christian is assured that all the dispensations in which he - interested are for his good ; and he ought, also, from the doe- irip.es of the Divine Charter of his faith, to believe that every na- tional tvial will display the glory of] God. and advance the cause c4' His Kingdom on earth - •
No one who exi rciees a true faith in the teachings of the Revealed Word can doubt what has been already stated concerning the origin and the general result of all national changes aud afflictions, nor does such faith need the corroborating influence of facts to sustain it. The best evidence to it is the Word of God which can-not lie; but the Almighty Disposer is ever confirming His truth before the eyes of II. s creatures, and at this age in the history of the worlds the ad- vocate of the Scriptures is enabled to answer the skeptical and to the faith of the weak ly pointing to the methods by which public trials promote the cuds referred to It is unnecessary to enu- merate all of these — but it is well to refer to somo in order to turn in the right direction the thoughts of th< repassing through
dark dispensations, ore them considerations which
' oiily afford light .-• ncnt, but, also, indi path
of^christian dut} .
• t. The d aa; ho of gn
the cause of ;' ■ he measure of idiq
will be full ai
■ •.'.me without previous warning; and it those wi d them*
"' 'heir 1 '
MWrvftAJ vn.vm 1
. Like ii. dividual;-. : ime of tl Lois, ;1.» j e .11 Buffet tl.i I . . • ell th< an repei ting
worker? is) iniquity
doom nei ithont aalple warning;
lied bj th< (•1'durat latur'.^ of th< • ocd
.<■<:. wh.> fear this fate are not those wlo ere in
tiering it; and i.- approach it u>uully preceded
wful del'. aeunoed against those who atl)
.••rt the truth, of bl . I (Mtll tbeil ' if.
ieve a lie. It is unnecessary {*■ tion of such » nation may ad- raooe the can pel; thefaoteof every case will be so pL
.heir iui i> i Public calami! erre te reform a nation ; and
are permitted to see this result, we need do further ex- i. D of their ■
II. again tfa feetations of the populsjr keen will fmruiek
..) the Christian patriot unerring signs of coming i and it" he
litioQ to tremble at the Wurd ot God, .,ud to look
of trouble, an openuees to the truth) and a
thi sins ofeelf, be may be assured that the trial*
• intended to improve its inoral condition, and that
..It ii hastening on. r. If a nation . r destroyed nor< reformed by it.-1
rial*, tbe righteousness of God is vindicated by solemn admon- repent : and when reproofs have been often administered) improvement on the part ol lasti c.d.
id of truth beholds impressive displays oi Divine goodaete earanoe, and the wei Bparedtoju broke
ath winch will surely couie. tiiti.r. A v -mmunity which Uou has destined to an Lmpoi isuse of the Gospel may) in tbe commenoement^oi i . adnoated by trials for its coming task. I, in the rightful ©X< Bis sovereignty, may end doec
individuals and nations lor peculiar positions ill ii.fiu- MMS) and niity; but, as lie rspeatedly assured the Jews,
finr i- I i f< r tl ■ righteousness of the instrumcntali'' ted.
hi t tl M must, therefore, b© trained for their work.
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 7]
If ft nation is seen to be teachable, it Trill bo pl.ved in such cir- •nmstanccs as will be likely to discover to itself its existing dispo- sition— and it? trials will be continued until it is turned from its errors and is brought to a higher standard of faith and morals than ;hat which generally prevails. These views arc clearly illustrate-! in the history of the Jews,
1( is obvious now that when the descendants of Abraham were delivered from the bondage of Egypt, they were of a lowoioral ty v< competed with that of the, rJeOplo who entered Canaan under the lead of Jp*hua: but even Moses hi raw If was not aware of the bas< itess of that generation which God liberated from the power of Pha- iratil its character was proved in the trials of the desert.
We know from history, as well as from the assurance of God Him- self, that the mere descent from Abraham did not constitute Jews u superior race; nor were thoy rendered worthy of their illus- trious career by the knowledge of the high destiny for which Un- designed.
The repeated assurance from a Divine source, that they we^e chosen for a great and glorious work did not it tbett for it, nor el- vate them to a nobler character; nor did all the amazing display* of Jehovah's power in their behalf, and of Hi? affection for them, serve to purge out the old leaven of their natures, nor to etrinp themselves with more manly sinews.
These important facts were to be discovered by the schooling of the wilderness; and it was not until after they had been long in- structed by God through His Word and His Providences, that the Israelites, a? a race, seemed at all superior to the idolatrous and corrupt nations who were eotemporary with them.
But G«d having chosen then' to a great destiny, educated them tor it ; and the first part of their training was designed to impress upon them their native depravity, their innate aversion to a holy life, their inability in themselv< I se or to follow out an illus-
trious career, and notwithstanding their ceremonial purity and the; ■ nearness, in name, to God, their fixed attachment to vices that would reduce them, if left to themselves, to the level of tLe heathen world.
The Sovereign of the universe may solect other eommuniti-'s for places of peculiar honor; and thong!-, do other nation, aa,aucb, w: *vcr occupy the pln*e of the Jews in the sen<c of being the chosen race, and of constituting th^ visible Church, yet in all age* rli-^ pawcrs of the world arc prepared to occupy positions which an made to rontrihate in a special manner to the *dv*J i emenl Redeemer's Kingdom.
NT-
Wne» a i infiuciM
rcil! .
men - • • here is 1
. imf J't>r their in/if! - .'
- .
■ninir fa!
\n*parinifi\
■
virtue ■ -mill when I
... preparing il I
. •■• purify, elet ate and ounobh • glorious fatt!rc ; if thej • ■ . but there r> abundant i
D 1.
. Jlw.V ,-luili .
. . ■ . .
D, I *
result of I . national uhari
• ton of their purpi
AND ii. i. I'M i:ai'I"
tbi« chapter are men b need^ no other confirmation than a knowledge of and t In following quotations sustain
"Thus taith the Lord <1<k1 rinto Jero lam, Thy birth aad thy ' by father vcm an A.moritt, i
Hittite.
r thy nativity^ in the day iUmi wraet born th\ navel \\;i-
ihet : il 11, no* swaddled at all. eye piti< aaj of il esa unto thee, to have
paaaioa ■ : but thou w it in the open field, to tin
■'.. ;. that thou wuit born.
And I bj thee, and *a* :''" polluted in thine own
OF NATIONAL TIUAl.S.
blood, I said unto thee when thou toast in thy blood, Live; yea, 1 --'•<1 unto thee ichen thou wast in thy blood, Live.
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon t: > i, behold, thy time mas the time of love ; and I spread my skirt over thee, and red thy nakedness : yea, I swore unto thee, and entered into a inant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water ; yea, I thoroughly washed away ' \ Mood from thee, and I a) ' nted thee with oil. T clothed thee, also with bm'idered work, and shod thee with bad ' skin, and T girded thee about with fine linen, and T covered thee with silk.
I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets on thy
. and a chain on thy neck. Vlid I put a jewel on thy forehead, and car-rings in thine ear?, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.
wast thou decked with gold and silver ; ancl thy raiment wns --'fine linen, and silk, and broidercd work ; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil ; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst into a kingdem.
,..j renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; tor it mil perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, *aith the Lord God." — Ezrkie' xvi. 3 — 14.
Under the figurative language used abo.ve, God would impress with inlinite force, upon the minds of the Jews their obligations'to Him for all that distinguished them from other nations. He chose them not for their righteousness- — but He clothed them with moral beauty, because He had selected them for His people.
And as they were without excellence when He set His love upon them, so were they without power or influence ; it was not because their virtue, wisdom or strength made them important to God that they were chosen, but He who set them apart for His service Him- self fitted them for their work.
"The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor chose you, because ye were more in number than any people ; (for ye rcere the fewest fall people.") — {Itevt. vii. 7.).
The people thus chosen were to be educated by the Word of God and by trials.
•' And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God thec these forty years in the wilderness, to hunjblc thee, an prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou would^: keep His commandment!, or no.v — (Dai!, viii. 2.)
1"
74
< i • \ i * i ■ I . i : ix.
77. < .//. — Tht mo*i doubtful east
(I.
■ ' • oational I
tery to many j who believe they see
evil than ofgoed in tne immedi afflicting
Jiuj , . and wh< ty from o vague I
that < ii>«i will accomplish Hi- beneficent ends by mean.- inscrutable to mortal vision.
That the unhappy double in which tl. I is involved may.it'
possible, be removed, Let an
teple whose springs of national life have felt the healing ur of Divine Truth, is involved in a defensive war.
The whole nation, as a body, i- under the influence of an ortho- dox and evangelical Church : the christian element of Society is stronjz in numbers, in learning, wealth and position.
...th the thousand civilising which spring from the
. bold of religious principle on tl r mind, all cl
joy the means of a sound education, 1 i.- regularly prcaeln d
-,., the whole nation by a learned and godly mini.-try. wise and ju-i
■ are faithfully executed, a diligent attention to the honest and
il arts of pea< .f nature to smile with beauty,
q abundance which disarms robbery of the plea ol
. and the wealth and leal of the Church ale founding and supporting seminaries filled with pupils in training for the Lord'
In tic midst of tki- Mat- 6f things Society is shaken to its foun- dations with the rude shock of war — of a war on the issue of which I sistence of the nation i talced, and whose successful pro>- tion will long and severely ts k all the energies of the country. War, in Christian nations al | | ears, under all eircumstan-
cralizing: it ttkef aw ay the restraints of law and of public opinion, relaxes the influence of education, removes large ■i from the softening power of female society and of - ations, and from the wholesome discipline of daily labor i of subsistence, sharpens the publlo appetite for un- healthy exeitemea and dissipation, seoustoms all classes to sccucs of fereoity and carnage, impoverishes honest men,
OF NATIONAL TRIALS.. "*
paralvzes useful enterprise, and open, a wide and uniting field for fraud, dishonesty, avarice, revenge, hatred and sensuaity. .
Everv reformatory agency of society seems to be embarrassed and to suffer-the operation* of the Church to be contracted and weak- ened, and the humanizing voice of law and letters to be hushed.
All the manifestations of Iniquity are fearfully increased : idleness and drunkenness become more general and are the fruitful parents of other vices, and profanity, oppression, robbery and murder a-
bouad.
Such arc the result- of #ar under any -iuuiiistances, if it is long Coatinued ; but in the. ca.se supposed, the contest is for national ex- nce, and the assailants in the strife, strong in numbers and re- sources, and filled with the ferocious energy of mad fanaticism, strike •it the vitals of the country !>y every weapon which- cunning can in- vent, and which malice can wield.
■They summon to their aid all the bitter passions of the human heart ; and thus they provoke to hatred and cruelty on the other side, and the struggle becomes a prolonged tragedy of unrelieved horr
Every step of its progress adds a still darker page to the history of human depravity and suffering; nnd such is the apparently rapid degeneracy of the times that each year of tho strife seems to bring the parties interested a century nearer to a savage condition.
What religious advantage can the spectator behold in such a struggle ]
How can the christian inhabitants of the nation so cruelly assailed discover more of good than of evil in a state of things which has de- ranged the whole machinery of Society, paralyzed nearly every moral agency, and forced a people devoted to peace, to abandon its benefi- cent arts, and to give themselves universally to the destruction of war P
If the nation is immediately led to repentance or reformation, tho
es of the afflicting Providences are obvious to all ; but when such results do not seem to follow, how can the christian philosopher con- sole himself for the calamities of the times except by simple relis hi the goodness and power of God, and a belief that Infinite Wis-
m will, in some way unknown to mortals, accomplish its benefi- cent ends from seeming evil I
Christian, under such circumstances, is nol always shut up to ray lea£ darkness; and he will find in the following considerations ample reasons for justifying the state of things imagined, and which boiaetimcs occurs, u a necessity to tie progress of the Gospel.
MBIPTUBAL VIKWS
PimsT. Thr word demoralize! appliod to those phenoi
I ich result fro: iften used in an improp
ttflict with fun. doctrines of the Revealed Word
The amount <ji orime ie iucreaa <i by war — but the towceot
unconverti.il human heart, is oo( rendered more capable of The Bum or' all sins is to lie alienated from God, and i; llion i" Sim ; and edition el \every man by natun .
and each one in thi^ state U capable of any iniquity which man ever perpetrated. ' "The!,- igt and de6-
perately wicked : who can know it ?" (Jer. rvii, 9.) "And I
that the wickedness of mai great in the earth, and that evr
cry imagination of the thoughts of bis heart was only evil contin- ually." {(I'.*, vi, 5.) "Behold. apen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother conceive me.'' | Ps. li, 5 i "God looked down from ■ en upon the children of men, to set.- if there were any that did understand, that did seek Gpd.
EVcry one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy : there is none that doeth good, no, not one." < Ps. liii, 2, '■ lie that trusteth in his OWD heart is a fool." (I'rov. xxviii, L'ti '• This it an evil among all thing* that arc done under the sun, that there is one event unto all ; )ca, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness i in their heart while they live, and a ti at they go to the dead.'' — AY. i.\. 3.
" For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." — M>ith.w, 19.
' Now the works of the flesh arc manifest, which are these, Adul- tery, fornication, uncleamuss. tasciviousneM,
Idolatry, witeh oraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife,
• ion heresies, Bnvyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such Like." (Gal. v. 10-21.) " For we our.-t I were sometime.- foolish-, disobe-
nring diven) lusts and pleasure-, living in maliee and envy, hateful, and hating one another." (7Y/u.s iii, 3.) Such is of the natural or unconverted man, as drawn by the of inspiration : and if the reader desires further light on this ader the following terrible passage : " What then? Ar- r than thrij? No, in no wise ; for we have before prov-
ed both ileS, that they are all under fiin ;
\ bit written. There is none righteous, no, not one : Tlo ; that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God.
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 77
They are all gone out of the way, they are together bee >me un- •vofiitable ; there, is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they hare sed deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips :
Whose 'mouth is full of cursing and bitterness :
Their feet nrr swift to shed blood :
Destruction and misery arc in their way.v;
And the way of peace they have not known : m
There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom. iii, 0 — 18.) This awful description of unconverted men, Jews and Gentiles, sav-' age and civilize!, educated and ignorant, is sustained by numerous other texts in the Holy Scriptures; but enough has been quoted to prove the assertion that every son of Adam, in his natural state, can i rguilty of the worst crimes ever committed by a member of his race.
The unchanged heart is a fountain of all iniquity ; and a thorough appreciation of this fundamental truth is the lirst step in every- judi- cious and useful effort to promote the welfare of the human race, and au essential pre- requisite to a just appreciation of the necessity of a Divine and crucified Saviour.
Now, in a nation that has long enjoyed the blessings which flow from the gospel, there springs up a state of things unfavorable to the full and practical recognition of the doctrine in question ■ for all but those who are instructed by the Holy Spirit are tempted by their carnal pride to attribute the advanced state of civilization, and the general prosperity, to human agencies, and to the more noble matures of the new races of men. A subtle but fatal form of infidel- ity even creeps into the bosom of the visible church ; and all literature begins to breathe the same spirit, so flattering to human vanity, so opposite to the teachings of revealed truth, and so dis- honoring to the economy of grace. If the "growth of the nation in learning and prosperity is more rapid than its progress in vital god- liness a deceitful and dangerous «ondition,of things supervenes ; and if this cnurse of affairs should not be interrupted by some Providen- tial intervention] the truly christian clement of society would soon be 1mm ied iu a mass of pernicious errors filling the influential posi- tions in the Church, and leading the people tc ultimate ruin.
3 h, for instance, has beea the history of the region once em- braced within the limits of the United States ; and the unexampled prosperity of the country, due alone to the vital godliness cf tl who ! iid the foundation of its g] . aided in the development
of doctrines the o; ; Q a just appreciation of whioh
the lasting peace of the nation depeo :
- ■ . ■ ; i . • i \ rxws
Religion is not an inheritance fn m man to man, but a Divine gift
smitted,
;." enjoyed hi \> \ by
, found in thi itv an argu.
rn pride at ihe ex] Truth of that
Kir. The new state of the world
alts were * i tained that li thii
Hen I triuni] id over the infirmities which had marl
: • r in all ether places, and in all pas! : and th<
■ i . 1 v did which found utter-
; riodicals, in 1 political and anniversary harang
liings of • and professed iJiilan-
, but it admit! I inl < wn strong-holds men who held)
- disgui ■-. principles that would lead to its betrayal.
natural human heart was the Bame it Lad en r been ; hut its
; instincts were held in check by law, by education, and by
te of public opihlOn formed when vital Christianity had a stronger
hold on the heart of the nation.
l>ut every thing was a sham ; the law- were made on the BUppbsi-
thal Divine 'Truth had a more powerful influence on the public
mind than it was really exerting ; im:; of the world crowded into
the Church under th«' same impression, and were careful to present
exterior, and teachers of abominable and motive heresii unite pains to wrap their deadly poisons
iu learned technicalities scented with the odor of approvi d Theology . 1: d education, custom, interest and public opinioh had built a covering over the mouth of the volcano, and imprisoned the- ■; ruction in the bowels of the mountain; and
i ihe people fondly imagine that the tlames are extinguished and ling their hopes on the very jaws ot death, God sends au ike which opens S mouth for the devouring element, and rkened with smoke and cinders, and the country deluge of burning lava. The nature of man is i id when convulsions open the
tred forth from hi- heart such streams of destructive iniquit riJ ar( ilenoed, all the ingenious theories of in-
fidel ii humarj ibility, are expluu-u and die-
grac< foundation doctrine oi man'- y is
all who have ee. The ren for ihe
n moved is infi mure
injurious ; and though society suffers by the Unlocking ! fath-
OF !i no • 79
tinned I that, inhabit thieve., the amount oi geo
Christianity is nor diminished^ ;i1"'d tin1 energies of the ph,UJfCh,r n to unwonted activity, are directed with a better Beoafc of the gi work before it, and of the only means by which it is to be accom- plished.
In such convulsions, the w: vs inherent in the heart
of man. is developed into action ; and while it is thus made a source of great suffering within the scope of it.- power, its melancholy and dangerous condition is impressively revealed, and the havoc which it .nakes of the best interests of society, exposes the quackery of those who had pronounced it whole, and prompts to an earnest desire for the medicine which alone can heal it.
Thus, we can discern an important and glorious use for those ter- rible forms of national affliction stated above : and the demoraliza-
l of these awful lessons is only apparent, being but an outward development of existing depravity, permitted by God for the sweep1- ing away of the refuge of lies, opening the eyes of the nations to the only hope of a fallen world, and impressing on the Church the par- amount importance of its only mission, to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the power and wisdom of God.
And cannot the American Christian, dark and as is the ordeal through which he is passing, see light in these suggestions?
How eloquent is the language of- the -revolution which shakes the continent and solemnizes a gazing world ! It is God's argument, overthrowing with irretrievable destruction^ the sophistriesof a peo- ple who had used His blessings for the perversion of His truth !
By this terrific explosion Jehovah declares that American Insti- tutions are not a new gospel * and the moral of the tragedy is not that republicanism is a failure, or learning injurious, or popular privileges pernicious, but that man is DEPBAVBD, and in his best estate, without the transforming power of a living Christianity, is worse than a beast of prey.
1st the woods the leopard knows hi* kiud, The tiger preys not ou the tiger brood ; Man only is the common foe of man.'"
This is B lesson of the American crisis, written in letters of fire, for the admonition of the nations; and marl; with what appropriate means does Infinite Wisdom oause ■ :;i!-" and bftpiowi philosophy to endennine iti owi inundations and disgracefully expose its own
lity !
SO VIEWS
■ . •
trim. Scriptural id
(th the du :
Bad actions ai
and t< There v.
growing impression thai I II tl the world were curabli
bum mi li of the troubl
edbyiguorai rnment. The phi!
region roi or the origin of iguorance .
' that these had happ( n- J ral nobilit; i . and it con ten
that .-it all events the people in i nc part of A.i in N ■•; 1, were now fully apprized of all that was n
world. And now this people, wtoo depended on po- litical t! tl rk i f Christ, ate, through the agency ernment, seeking to heap the most 'direful calamities f millions of their former fellow-eitii
tended that the great secret of human pro
the right of the people t« choose their own re ' : •>
make their own laws. are invading with fire and Bwerd half ;\ pqnt • for daring to .-elect its own form of government without their : and the community who held that personal bondage, «•■ oi i -savage was the slave and a civilised christian the ma-: an outrage on the dignity of human nature, are waging a bi terrible war with the avowed purpose of destroying or ensli • a whole chzistian nation. Those who could not bear to look on a gallows erected • foj the execution oi murderers, cannot Batiate r thirst for bloodj with tin crimson torrents that flow over bat- tle fields piled with the gashed victims of ruthless war — the believ- ers in buman perfectibility would deprive a large portion of the hu» man race of every right of nun ; and they who contended that Amcr- titutions were a new Gospel, perform with frantic joy, a dj war-dance over their grave, and wildly exult in the exchange of liber!), with peace and fraternity, for a despotism that gratifies
their lust foi | and spoliation.
The people who taught that rebellion against God was not such a depravity in the creature as t" render him incapable of good in him-
■elf, ivoring to prove that opposition to their authority Ik:.'
rendered a whole nation of men, women aud ehildren unworthy of life: and they who regarded th.' doctrine of bell as an invention of
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 81
bigotry, consider no punishment toe terrible or too long fur those who refuse their domination.
In short, those who would secure the peace of the world by reas ■. and philosophy, arc waging against the united appeals of all Chris- tendom, the most cruel, exhausting and irrational war of modern times ; and they who believed in man's innate power to sustain him- self and to reach his own best good, have been permitted to pre* t^e awful spectacle of a deliberate national suicide in the midst unexampled prosperity !
And let us turn for a moment to the demonstrations of this doc- trine of depravity on that end of tl?Q continent where the Chur ! had still maintained a doctrinal purity.
Here orthodoxy of profession had taken the place of vital godli-
: and as the Church standards and philosophy still spoke a pure
guage, the display of infirmity has characterized the actions f
Ijviduals rather than that of public or political organisms.
And can any one look 'upon the scenes presented in the bosom of
9ocietyj in a gallant nation, heroically struggling for existence and
indej , and doubt that man is a hopelessly fallen being, »nd
always ui.'J everywhere, terrible to himself, without the sanctifying
power of a new life from above ?
Docs not the state of things present an overwhelming demonstra- tion of the truth and necessity of the Gospel?
What is here to corrupt men but their own hearts I They have not been led astray by theological errors; they have not been debased by their public cause, for it is noble and generous-, and demftnds for its success a virtuous and heroic people.
They have not been debased by bad laws or by corrupt political teachings; and they are placed in a position in which it is perfectly obvious that tbeir liberties, their property, their security, their peace among themselves, all their immediate and remote temporal interests depend on their union in feeling and sympathy, their broth • orly kindness and regard for each other.
They are, almost literally, one family : they are cut off from the sympathy, aid and intercourse of all the world, they are shut uj themselves, and under God, to their own exertions, a formidable and ferocious enemy pressing on all their frontiers, and their destiny- a nation trembling in the balance.
And what is the spectacle which their inner life presents? Threat- ened with famine and cut off from all the granaries of the world. 'hey have to be restrained by the strong arm of the law from CO verting the statt of life, every pound of which is pre
11
VJ UHOTU& V1KW8
ly poison : surrounded by the infuriate leeions of ■ power that lini to destroy their liberties and confbeata their property, tiny aid the public enemy and enhance the common danger? and trials, by prey- ing nn each other.
But why undertake to draw a picture of what every one sees and feels ? "What pen can do justice to that insatiate greed of gain which seems to have petrified the hearts of ■ large portion of the commu- nity, and has filled society with swarmi of devouring extortioner- speculators and thieves ?
What language can represent to foreign ears the dark and cheer- less condition of n society that has felt the blighting power of selfish- ness developed to insanity, and where men, cut off from the >yn.| I thics of the world, are never consoled for public trials by domestic charities?
Tt is not necessary to dwell on this state of things: suffice it v say, that when man had wrapped himself in assumed perfections and • laimed as his native glory the lustre which the Gospel had shed on his race, God disrobes the veiled idol of the nineteenth century -ets it before the world in all its inherent vilencss.
Man, :is a moral being, is seen in all America to be but a mass of leprous corruption — and it is found that there is no power in crent- ure skill to give life, health and beauty to this body of death.
This lesson of the times i« of infinite value: with the general wreck of human improvements, there hai also fallen a delusion that was surely leading to the undermining of those foundations on which tho better hopes of the world must stand.
The Chturob will be called back from many vain speculations and much unprofitable labor, to a more vivid, profound and practical apprehension of tho truth as it is in Jesus Christ — the true Chris- tian will have a more active realizing sense of his task in a world lying in wickedness, and stripping himself of all the dialectics of philosophical Theology, and oppositions of science falsely so called will go to his task with the Spirit of Paul at Corinth, knowing only Thrist and Him crucified.
The world must now fee that human skill has signally failed to heal the source of all human woes ; and the true messengers of that Gospel which ignores circumcision and uncircumeision as nothing, and proclaims individual regeneration through the graco of God in a crucified and Divine Redeemer, as the only hope of men and of nations, will find that this terrific storm has blown down many bar- riers that stood in their way. The vital Christianity of the age has not been diminished or impaired : and though the number of true
OP NATIONAL TRIALS.. 83
disciples may be small, they will hear and rally to the voice that speaks in trumpet tones from these commotions,
" Men of God, go take your stations Darkness reigns o'er all the earth ; Loud proclaim among the nations Joyful news of heavenly birth- :
Bear the tidings, Tidings of the Saviour's worth.
" What tho" earth, by hell excited, Should oppose the Saviour's reign ! Plead His cause to souls benighted , fear ye not the fac« of man ;
Yain the tumult, Earth and hell will rage in vain."
As the suVject is not yet finished, tke quotations freni Scripture are reserved for another chapter.
SCRI1
CHAI'T I i: X
'/'/. J J d- JX continued.
One method l»y which tin- m«k spql may be advam
revolutions as thut which now i America has just I
considered: and two others will noa ited for the consolation
and encouragement of the christian vim lives in these troublous
_ The order commence*! in the' previous will be prow
:is — and ire now come to a Set md use of wars in christian states. The nominal church is apt to become corrupt after n long career pf
.tli the wcrld and of influence over it. This is bj no mei
owing to the character of Christianity, but results wholly from the
avity of men.
When the gospel acquires such power in the heart of a nation as
• i influence public and private action, unconverted men crowd into
Church from worldly motives • and as religion is not inheritable
descendants of a christian generation maybe outwardly under
the same influence, and yet far different in inward life and charac-
And thus in the course of a few generations an apparently ortho% dox Church may be encumbered with a Mist amount of dead mate- rial ; and not only so, but a.- tin- Beemingly christian element ex- is its influence over the wealth, enterprise and learning of the i try, the weak and the fal.-e portion of the Church will begin to judge of its prosperity by the extent vi' its carnal appli- ances.
Li time all will begin to rely too much on worldly means; and
there will follow a most deceptive and diseased condition of things,
I one which the devout will deplore, while he will fear
od the reach of human remedy. Th< real gold of the Church will be hid in B vast amalgam of ba- ilded over ; and nothing but S chemical test from Cod Himself, or a furnace heated by Him, will separate the parts, and free the precious ore* from its vile admixtures. At such timet tl visible Israel seems to consider that it- rate and fortify Jerusalem by carnal art ; and re is a vast exj on its walls, bastions and towers, on its
• nsgogucs. The chief energies of the Church are devot-
OF NATIONAL TRIALS.
ed to the founding of seminaries, the construction and ornamenta- tion of houses of worship, and the writing of learned and polished essays for critical audiences; and while the vast majority of the hu- man race are sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, a Church, great in qurabers, wealth and education, considers that it is per- forming its mission to a dying world by assembling every Sabbath i - its costly and luxurious temples, listening soberly to w-ell written discourses, and contributing the hundredth part of its worldly in- come to the support of a few poor and faithful men who are laboring earnestly amid the wide destitutions of the domestic and for* field.
In the mean time religion is made as easy as possible to the mixed multitude who have honored God with their nominal adhesion to His cause ; and the lines if the Church and of the world so fade into each other that there is a large frontier ground which seems to be common to both.
The keen eyes of infidelity easily detect in the society of professed 1 elicvers nearly every vice of the outside world, only clad in more sober hues ; and it becomes a really doubtful question whether the argument drawn from the conduct of its .membership weakens or strengthens the cause of the Church.
Has not many a devout follower of the meek and lowly Jesus, ie America, seen and mourned over the reality of this picture?
Have not such, in contemplating the difficulties in the waj of their beloved Zion, often exclaimed " Return, O Lord, how long 1 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their chil dren.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be" upon us."
In the midst of this >tate of things, there is a shaking of heaven and earth, of Church and State : the day of the Lord comes,and the messenger of the covenant sits in His temple as a refiner and puri- fier ot silver.
But this day of the Lord is a day of darkmess and gloominess : it i j a time of quaking, the face of the covering cast over all people is destroyed, and the tower.- fall.
Many that shone as bright stars in the christian firmament, shoot from their spheres and go out in darkness — not a few of the grand pillars of the Church fall into ruins, and the earth is strewn with the wreck of Zicn's outward.bulwarks.
But though God sifts the Church with a seive, not grain
t ; and the storm which seems to have blown down thl Church, does but disentangle its vital element from the \-.,~\ mm i ring structures with which the world had hemmed it in.
S-i V.IPTURAL VIEWS
The convulsions of the nation sccui to be demoralizing because they shake every man who is wrongly placed into his right position ; while multitudes who wore the livery of Heaven are now array- ed with the enemies of <J"d, every true soldier of the cross is left, sud the army of the faithful, feeling more completely its depend- ence on it* Almighty leader, gathers morn closely around His stan- dard. Mad throwing away every encumbrance, and clothing itself in the whole armor of God, goes forth to battle and to conquer.
The foundations of a purer Church are always laid in troublous and though the new house will be inferior in earthly gran- deur, its; glory will exceed that of the former, and in it wiy the Ijord give peace to His saints, and from it will flow living waters for ttfe healing of the nation.
And are not such results more than compensation, to the christian mind, for all the apparent Wreck and ruin caused by war 1
TkntbLT. While such convulsions break from their hold the vast parasitic growth that had interwoven its entanglements with all the energies of the Church.and leave the really christian element unfet- tered by the world, renovated in spirit, and animated with a more just conception of its mission, they also shake down many barriers ,' prejudice and false philosophy that stand in its way, and open up a wider and more fruitful field for its labors.
This proposition will be best illustrated by a reference to facts opeQ to the observation of all the readers of this work ; and let the christian patriot of the Confederate States behold in its true light the condition of things about him.
Is this an unfavorable time for the presentation, or for the recep- tion of gospel truth 1
What difficulties has this revolution interposed in the way of the true work of the Church ?
The work of erecting sacred edifices has been arrested — the Semi- naries l:ui^\u8h,and men are not in a condition to go quietly through old routines, uqr to sit calmly and amuse themselves by grappling with the learned dialectics which, in times of peace, furnished them with a weekly intellectual repast.
The old and easy channels of commuaication between the Church :iud the very small portion of the world which it reached, have been interrupted ; the few shady high-ways over which the ancient ma- chinery of stated Committees and permanent Boards penetrated, on ■a smooth track, short distances into the least dangerous part of the •ucmy's country, have been destroyed.
A large portion of the well-dressed and well-behaved audiences of
OP NATIONAL TRIALS. 87
many fashionable Churches have disappeared : Choirs have been broken up, and organs and bells cannot be obtained.
A number of flashy preachers have felt a call to more ambitious occupations ; and many godly ministers, many faithful office bearers have been driven from their charges, and many hopeful flocks have been scattered, and are now homeless and houseless.
A large number of congregations have been dispersed, and a great many christians have been taken from their usual avocations, and have gone into the service of the country ; but is all this a loss to the service of Christ?
Let the account be balanced, let gains and losses be set against each other.
Xot a few who had a name to live, have joined the world ; and by this movement the camp of the faithful is purged of traitors, and dead weights are removed from the energies of the Church.
The mechanics of the Church have been greatly damaged : but the spirit of Christ was not in these ; and tou much reliance on them in the past was a serious obstacle in^he way of the more efficient means <>f God's appointment.
Old routines and established formulas of conducting public reli- gious affairs have been almost abolished ; but these were not only not the prescribed channels of Divine grace, but they were often a great hindrance to the direct, earnest and simple preaching of' the gospel to a world lying in wickedness.
The multiplication and ornamentation of Church edifices was not enlarging the congregations of perishing sinners, hungering for the Word of Life ; and in many places good men were giving their whole attention to piles of brick and mortar, while every street corner furnished^more opportunities of reaching the destitute than were to be found in the gorgeous tenements on which had been bestowed so much of the time, thoughts and means of liberal-minded christians.
Flourishing congregations have been scattered all over the coun- try, driven into exile among all sorts of people ; and by this means the good are mixed with the evil, the salt of christiauity, which was too much accumulated in store houses, is diffused where it is needed, and every grain with a true savor, is made to accomplish five times what it did before.
A great multitude of professing ohristiaaa have gouc iuto the va- rious departments of the public service; but if they were good men the spirit of Christ did not forsake them when they left their homes.
Let us select an humble christian as an example of maay — and let us contrast his spiritual life and work in peace and war.
IPTI RAl. vir.w-
He wac a consi ten! member of 'hurcb, enjo jing the
1 and alotrucnt m and while lie was ]
ttendance at "the bouse of worship, and ga've what
jury, this was about all he could "Contribute io
the Lord. 1 • did n :' muoh importance amid so many blaz-
ing li it paled his glimmci ing taper ; and in a community
customed to a certain unctuosity of manner in those who led in pub- lic exercises, he could not piny or speak before others to edification. 'I not practised to the mechanics of the Church, and could
waddle and present his ideas with th isg appr iVed tecfii which had become more important than the thoughts which they • led. This man goes into the ranks of the Corif •. .my, and messes
ana sleeps with rude men, from far- different sections, men who have privileges, and who nave never before been in i b u tin ■ contact witli n follower of Cliri.-'.
not afraid to talk and read to these daily companion* : h'.< little taper shines wiih a steady light in a dark place, and to t!
: ■ his blanket, and stand by his side in the storm of battle, or drink fr hn his canteen as life ebbs from their fainting hearts, ■lit-', in simple word-, the gloriojts gospel of the blessed ' with a power aud to a purpnge seldom reached by those who study in their closets the wants of a dying world.
And how many thousands of instances of this sort may have Oc- curred since the war commenced ! How many lfumble follower- the Saviour, whose lips were sealed at home -by the conventionalities of a eramping, artificial system, have been enabled to speak a word in season to those whom the Church, with- all its wealth aud learn- ing, had. never reached at home, and win. owed their contact wiih Chri a and their inter esl in their prayers and sympathies to
a revolution which had bente down all barriers of separation and commingled saints and sinners on its eddying currents 1
tl i true that this concussion lias, to a wonderful extent, shaken the population of a large country, loosing, as it were, every man from his station, and mingling the whole multitude into a roll- ing mass of humanity, the component parts of which, like drops of water in a boiling whirlpool, are ever changing places: but will the cause of the Church, in a land of which the professed christian ele- ment constituted a large proportion, gain or lose by this mixing process |
Would irt n ' .-< em that <Jod had breken, by this revolution, the
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. I
; • iiitd which the Church had cast itself, and had dispersed its membership to the four winds, thus forcing it to a more literal observance of the solemn and perpetually landing injunction tp go " into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
Crod's'firc is in Zion : but as His people had carefully walled it in with brick and stone, He has demolished their furnaces, and scat- tered the live coals far and wide oVer the dry leaves of the forest.
Those that do not kindle into new flames were never truly ignited — but every vital spark will still burn, and the warmth and light ;md purifying power of the celestial element will be diffused through all the dark habitations of the land
\ :'mu : a night of darkness arid storm has come upon the nation; ever before in the history of the country, did the true Chris- tian enjoy such opportunities of demonstrating, beyond all cavil. the Divine origin of the faith which he professes.
Many zealous followers of Christ have, doubtless, often wished that they had the power once bestowed on prophets and apostles of stepping the mouths of gain say ers and of convincing the doubtful by worl vies ; and God has now conferred on them the glorious
privilege of doing what, to the eyes of the world, will be as amazing as an interruption of the regular course of nature. They have but to walk consistently with their profession, in order to make miraculous displays before the unbelieving : to be honest while all others arc falling before the power of Mammon, when there is neither law nor publi« opinion to restrain cupidity from fraudulent acts and unjust -to exhibit hearts blooming with tender charities in an atmosphere cold and blighting as the polar blast — to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with their God, at a time when judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar, off", when truth is fallei, and he that departeth from evil maketh_him- self a prey.
At such a time a really good man is " as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water- in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
It is a time of darkness and tempest; and how sweetly shines upon the bosom of this night of horrors, the serene light of christian ex- ample !
The saints have but to trim their lamps and set them on their windows; and every passing way-fare r, out in this dreadful .storm whi«h has Mown out every other light, will feel and confess the ob- ligations ©f the world for the only illumination which cannot bcei- guisced.
12
9% SCBIl'l ; HV VIEWS
individual christians can, in the^c varii tomplish more than at ordinat , the Church bodj
placed nearer to the heart of the puhlic than in tin .ce.
The raendoua ahoek with which tb< trai has given
unwonted aotivitj to the popular n\ the spectators of a
tragedy where scenes of still i ii other,
are peculiarly susceptible of religious impressions.
The entire public of the Confederate State." has felt that God i? is storm ; • offered as a revelation fron;
the invisible world, attract st devouring attention.
The Wicked One has witnessed this hungering fur spirit food, and he is trying to sati#.to it with ashes : he beholds how thr furrows of the field are gaping for seed, and he is busily sowing ♦hem with pernicious errors.
i He ia turning those who would hear from the otl I, ''unto
them that have familial and unto wiaards that peep, and
that mutter ;" and scarcely asses that the arch-fiend is not
feeding the*eager multitude with visions of blind boys, and dreams *f queer old women, and prophecies of dying quacks.
Many are trying " lo here is Christ, lo He is here ;'' and breath Jess attention is elicited to such vile fabrications as stories of woe- itrful sights in.the Heaven*, and strange voices in the earth, and mysterious inscriptions on the products of aati
Foolish or wicked fanatics carnalize the Spiritualisms of Scrip- ture : sensation mongers tell of swords and chariots in the clouds, and of legends written by invisible hands bo the sand, and thou- sands listen with breathless interest to miseral lures which at ether timep would only excite contempt.
• All are eagerly enquiring " What is the will of Heaven:" and nil arfc ready to hear, with an attention never awakened before, the message of the Diviie Power.
In the meantime, the chosen head of the nation aid the leaders of the army, with wife and dovout patriotism, encourage the enquiring and bleeding population over whose interest' they watch, to look upward for light and help; and the lungs of all the ministers of the Confederacy oould not fill the ears that would listen, nor could -11 its presses supply reading matter to the eyta that would examine *,be answer from Cod.
The Church can stand upon its high place* and command the sol- 4^n attention of a whole nation whijc it proclaims the Divine Will : and will it not with the truth in its hand- ■■ ■ imong the eager and enquiring multitude and cry,
v : AVION AL TKIALS.
81
" 0 generatioi the word of the Lord." — (Jer. ii. 31.) IT
it does not, the fault will bo its own : if a glorious harvest is not reaped from these convulsions, it will be because the professed fol- lowers of Christ were n6t willing in the daj of llj.s power
"-, AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
This chapter and the two which precede it relate more to i'aeu than doctrines. They Qontajn suggestions as to the manner in which national trials,promoce trie oause of the Church, it having been pre- viously proven that, auch is, in j-art, their design ; and from the M ture of things these suggestions do not need illustrations from ike Divine Word;.
These suggesl ions sed on* the general principles of the Di-
vine Economy already discussed, and demonstrated'by enpious ex- • tracts from tSe E -!; Scriptures; but the very methods above indi- cated as . ch wars and civil eommoti . revolu- tions may be made tc subserve the interests of the Redeemer's King' ♦iom, are* repeatedly adverted to in the Sacred Oracles.
It is u te all the passages in point; but the read-
•i is. referred to is. &ijv. xxv. xxvi. xxvii. Do. ii. Do. xxxii. 14 Luke xxi. 25-28. Jer. xxx. xxxi! J/osea ;.. and many kind) tgefl ■
1/kB,:-:U!7';VCP ****** -^ced my people, sayW
■ eaoe: and ^«W.«4W ^oe; and one built up a w,,l. and if ahers daubed it with untempered mortar :
Say -unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it »ualiall: there shall be an overflowing shower ; and ye, 0 „Mt hailstones, shall fall; and a Bto. shaU r'oud / gMBt
Lo, when the wall is fellea, sllaIl it not be said anfco u the daubing wherewith ye have daubed Ut
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will even rend U with , tormy wind in my fury ; and there shall be an overflowing abowf .a aimo-angcr, and great hailstones in n* fury to consumed
So will 1 break down the wall that ye have daubed with untem- VZ" ^ to the ground, so thahhefo^d"
C ^it.shallfall,andye shall be cob-
"T. -ad ye shall know that I am the Lord.
• '"'"ron the wall, and upon them,
-Peredmor/or, and will eay unto v01, at daubed it»^LekieixiiL.
' - Irtrangone.wAvcAMat*^
'■'■>
tail and a destroying storm, . rer?
flowing shall oast down to the earth with the hand.
The crown of pride, the drunker hraim, .-diall he trodden
r feet : •
And the glorious beauty, which it i Q the head of the fat valley,
be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer ;
•i irhrn he that looketh qpon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand
teth it up.
In that day shall the Lord of hos of glory, and
diadem of beauty, unt if his pei ;
And for. a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that turn the battle to the get "- - l\ xxviii. 3-6.) " Judgment also will 1 lay to the line, and ri| ess to the
:imet : and the hail shall swoop away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." — (/* xxviii. 17.)
" Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth- forth fruit to himself: ac- ling to the multitude of hie fruit he hath increased the altars , irding to the goodnessof his I _'.-."
— (flosca x. 1.)
" And Ephraini said, Yet I am become rich, I hare found me out substance \ in all my labours they shall find Done iniquity in that ictrc sin.
And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of th* solemn feast.*' -( Hosea xii. 8-9.)
''And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, ami there will I plead with you face to fi
take as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God.
And I will cause you to pass under the rod and I will bring you
the bond of the covenant." — ( Ezek. xx. 35-37/) " When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." — (&. lix. \9.)
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 93
< ! 1 I AP T Kli XI.
'/tibU Views of A'ational TYiah — continued. The comparative sits off Nations not always to be judge. I of by thsir comp trativt
tion*, at any given tim<-. '
The compensations and retributions of Provideucc to temporal beings are not to be judged of bj isolated facts in their history. While sin is the eauso of all affliction, the greatest apparent sufferer at any given time, is not thereby proved to be the greatest offender; and when we would estimate the character of a community or polit- ical organization by its calamities we ought to know tho whole series nftefflictive dispensations of which it has been tho subject, and all the results of these Providential dealings, immediate and remote.
It is a plain inference of principles already stated that we h.n 4 n* right to decide on tho comparitive iniquities of a people from the trials they are enduring at any particular period: this judgement must be reserved to those far future times which shall see the fruits produced by these trials, and, also, the dealings of God with the nation in question, and with all its cotemporarics, to the eud»
It is for the ignorant, the proud, the self-righteous, the bigoted and obdurate, to assume to themselves superior virtues on account of their exemption, at the time, from the calamities that have oter- taken others; but tho instructed christian will understand that the feet of all uurepenting offenders will slide in due time.
When the Divine blaster chastens a guilty party, it should be any thing else than a source of self-complacency to His other who have broken His Law : and the meting oat of the reward of his deeds to one offending creature is an assurance to all the guilty -of the certain retribution In store for them.
And on the other hand, it is wholly unbecoming in those v, justly brought into judgement to refuse to know. they are offenders because there seems not to be a general inquisition; i» II jneiit <>f the righteoaeDesi and wisdom of G< d to suppose tin:' all who have violated His oomtaands ar< time,the corrections of His hand are not the resull f His displ ure.
To the Supreme Arbiter must be left the judgement of ea< the manner; vengeance is His. and lb' i Bii
dealing- by tie.' views f His .-ubjects.
b '.'.. foolish and dangerous in us to refuse t 1
94 riiwa
u
[
am, .:id n«ck deli YC ranee from
■ IV
I
is ttbt fore Him the . <ucb
in quatol |
to one infalli I
When ti tj arraig e liar «-f
this is not to interplead with each other : thej do
onft fur ■ i
ir lcI-u
I anj of H and when li repent-
ii.Milt, a horribly aggravation of guilt to point Hi!"
• riOMB
ioad«r i art already <iuotc . . LA6 uiauy
rt tn whi« j lead him.
. • . . jp pr w i"u> dim .'1 iei
ire quotation! from the iuspi I \Vi>rd
■a ill be add- '! I
■ i 11 i 111 i ... .'J miuglc . . :nt" them, Suj
.- u lie red
Ufa
. i fell, and * .■ all men tl It ia
ner-
ithing 1 . t, until the
will and tlu erj man
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 95 i
•' Why dost thoH strive against him ? for he giveth not account of aay of his matters."— Job, xxxiii, 13.
"'Moreover the Lord answered Job. and said,
Shall he that eontendeth with the Almighty instruct him':' Iip that reprioreth God, let him answer it.
Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
1'ohold I am vil«; what shall T answer thee? I will lay miit? hand upon my month.
Onee have I spoken ; but I will not answer : yea, twice ; but T pro- ceed ao further." — Job xl. 1-5.
u Woe unto him that etriveth with his Maker ! Dei the potsherd strivt with the potherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that faahioneth ii. What makest thon ': er thy work, He hath no hands '." l.sai ah, xh, 9.
" Who hatK directed the spirit of the Lor 9 his counsellor
hath taught him '.'
With whom ton!; he counsel, and who in*! tucted him, and tauglir turn in the path of judgement, and taught him knowledge, and shew- ed to him -the Way of andtrstanding ?" — haiih, xi. 13, 14.
"So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.' — Roman* , xiv, 12. ' "Peter seeing hini saith to Josus, Lord, and i# this nan
* ?
Jesus snith unto him, If I will that he tarry till i come, whal .•• ihmt to thee? follow thou me." — John, xxi, 21, 22.
■. \ i r m -
. (ll I'PTBU Nil.
]i',l.h fU ,\ ,.','• ' ','nt'cd. Wht
vail.
ray.
. Divio. I i oked 1
ill thus 1 • rises racr< jr for it ;
petitions toot up to Him without hoar into* oppi
• tly i all uporl tbe Dei1 ■. : i I
invocations merely
> • d I
hag Divii ■ ca in eur put \i
ifor; and other iuetan striking and to
can Id be adda
Bvery nation that goes t<> war commits it the Eai
and when tw< . kckno*
:..-l.- for mc • d e I tolj Bei
• i | ■ the appeals of b
deo that God will 1"' propitii ted by prayer, whatever i< thai Ur ii all adand bom red by |f> what*
• • pel itioner ; and tl be sluBion m iptnral and erroneous
M , are froai thi and feelings of the p< titiom r
the ■• ESply Majeetj \t Heaven : for they
i t1 ur npon means thi I :;re whollj II-:/- bl ribntee.
are offei i the spirit with whiob the)
r it is a melancholy il the pr aomini
ure nothi to the Divine Powi r.
, for the res i ins on which, ■ those who offer them ; for, wh
OF -NATIONAL TRIALS. \ii
• ver may be uttered by the lips, there is frequently an expectation of success from the merit of the petitioner or his cause.
IthIohI, it is not uncommon to hear, in christian lauds, such ex- pressions as these : " God tciil help, God is obliged to intervene for vis, for it is Hit cause, it is the cause of right and truth."'
This is -not the language of true Christianity j for wc have no right to claim the aid of the Deity in anything, but what lie has promised to tavor, and in the way he has appointed. He is pleased to have u> plead His promises, and He encourages and commands us to do it ; but He has not bound Himself to grant us success in any world- ly pursuit whatever, except in labors for our food and clothing.
His covenants are for spiritual ends; and in pursuing these He ma\ ibta it best to defeat earthly purposes "which we regard as oi the greatest importance, and strictly just and honorable.
He is the best and the only true Jndge of the propriety or utility ' of any enterprise ; and hence, an essential part of the prayer of faith is the perfect submission of the will of the petitioner to that of God. As the kingdom, the power and the glory are His, the prevailing re:: - v.ment for every petition must be the honor of Jehqvah
— ami in i .'.it He the best Judge of the means which will promote that end ?
But that common errors on this subject of prayers for peaee in time* of national trials may be better understood, let an illustration be borrowed from the political world.
In the Confederate States of America there are many honest- minded people who think that the present exhausting struggle would soon he terminated in an honorahle way, if their government woald sheathe the sword and invite to negotiations.
These worthy people overlook the fact that the existing Govern- ment of the United States has declared the sword to be the sole ar- biter of the conest ; and that it is upon this very point of policy that it puts itself or. the country, and opposes all parties that take a dif- ferent view.
There arc parties in the United States which believe that the hon- or and- interests of their country will be best promoted by negotia- tions with the people against whom they are arrayed in arms: but the faction which now beholds the purse and wields the sword ol that nation has solemnly t-taked everything on the issue of arms, de- < hiring that the only voice which it will hear from those on whom it it waging cruel and bloody war, shall be that of unconditional submission to the mercy of the conquerors. ♦
Of what trail, then, let it be kindly asked, are peace meetings in the '.'• be >tnt*?s ?
18
k'-RTPTDRAI. \ IMVh
With whom could eomn d negotiations 1 What could
tbev offer that would be ai
• •• w:-.r bav lly au-i plainly published tin
influenot rant an bonoi
peace to the assailed — and that is to be defeated in al! their persi.«- tent efbl • te the country.
. who attei d the peace n oc tings are mostly loyal eitisens, lated by • ■!•}■ motive*; their end i> the desire of all.
).ut they :i-k for it in a way thi Likely only to prolong th
. until there is. h change of rulers and of policy in the United
Now. while it i* bl to compare God with any treatare,
wc mav illustrate the position of mortals towmrda Him by facts in
human affairs: and in the meetings held in the Confederate States to terminate th*1 trouble- •■( the country, we behold the character of many well-intended but Unavailing prayers for the same desirable
;lt
has inlled lor war to accomplish special ends, and we ask
Him to give a peace without reference to Ilis designs : Be has fat* word and given It to the slaughter, and some of bhoee erned seem to think the sun st way to have it returned to the ■ abbard is to appeal to the Almighty to forego the purposes which the honor of His Majesty requires Him to accomplish ! Let us not be deceived i a mere prayer for peace, predicated only on the trial? or merits of the sufferer, is such an appeal.
Whoever or whatever is the instrument of a people's troubles,
u the Author: and lb sands wars to- admonish and reform the
national or to destroy them.
; eople of the Confederate Slates have suffered many cmel the hand of a remorseless human foe; but all their trial? Grod for sin, and they axe merciful admonitions to re- r. formation. ftsjl fci purposes an peiimitting these calamities: are those pur- poses fulfilled ? Was His object merely to inflict a certain amount lfferinp without any reference to moral results? Any such sup- position in dishonoring to the Hivinc Economy, and not to be tol- erated for a moment.
Arc Hi- 'lols ar. oniplishcil I arc ire ready to concede them '( • ||. eommands us te pray to Him in time of trouble ; but wc must ■ j-k for deliverance not for our sakes but for His, and this we can |>nt honestly do without wishing bo be made willing to perform Hi* fightBouc will.
Oil
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. ^
When His honor is vindicated, Ho will deliver-and Hi, name is globed .hen tho* Whom He afflicts are ready »*~*j* £ Justice and their own .inland to be turned it. the W>* tfcat
1 1 1 T* P C t S
He tells ti. fie make peac «WS Him, and We shall have peace j and He has plainly indicated the terms on vhich His ««^ with any people shall have an end.
Wher >He makes war, He publishes the e.mlitions on which li shall end ; He has sent all His prophets, as ambassadors to ;he na- tions, and in His Word! is :, widely disseminated proclamation thai all can understand
He either has control of the America Crisis, or He has not—ii He has not, why pi ay to Him for peace ? If He has, why nofhonor His power and His justice in a way to secure His favor'.'
The. prayer to Him for peace is an admission that He can end the ••uflict— anil this'adu.ission makes Him responsible for all the ca- lamities of the strife.
There is no escape from these conclusions; and then let. it be asked, have these trials been undeserved by those who have suffered theTn? \{ they have not been merited, the sufferers have no assur- ance that their petitions will be heeded by a Being who afflicts with- out reason j if they have been deserved, then it is- folly to aspect their discontinuance without a removal of the cause. Who* can stumble over propositions so obvious?
Let us not mock God : if He -cannot stay the fiery deluge that sweeps over the land, our cries to Him are a waste of breath — if He can, He will do it only en Mis own conditions.
When any of the inhabitants of tho Confederate States go, in their simplicity, to the earthly sovereign of the earthly instruments of their sufferings, he tolls them they can have peace on absolute sub- mission to him ; if we approach the Almighty Disposer as the real Author of the convulsion, do wo expect Him to be less exacting, less tenacious of His purposes than a proud, mortal tyrant/ The devoted people of the Confederacy can soon terminate all their trials by unconditional submission to God or to the President of the Uni- ted States : to whom will they yield ? One offers the peace of death, deliverance from his wrath with the loss of honor, liberty,, rij and property : the o the i proposal independence oi thftUniti and of the world, on condition that the country is nrht willing to be freed from the boodag
The Divi . ns to prevent ulti-
uint- r and subjugation ; and to be delivered from
tqumnus vnwa
vith the cause remaining, ia Kke r,:e conduct of a tek ohild whose chiefdesiri I from the distasteful
amediei with which its loving parent would life
: beholds in those whom Ha ehastena something more to be than the itrokei of Hi- rod j si 1 if He has taken a people •n hand to heal their mom! itb rain and sinful to ask
Him • until Hit en <1 ia accomplished
Tin time and Buffering necessary t<> this will depend on the pa- Ives; then is u appointed way by which they may be ■ I, and it is made plain to the dimmest vision. rod i* immutable, and prayera will at I change Hia purposes — !l alls on all to invok< His mercy and aid with the sol- :md emphatic assurance thai they ahull uol be disappointed. . ean these two thinga be ree >noiled together? Tf a person is in a boat on the water, and holds in his hands OUl '•able, with *ho other fastened to the shore, he can bring .-elf to land : he cannot pull the earth from its place, but his ef-
ible will drive his boat to the beach*. And thus it is with the prayers of those who rightly honor <i id (heir faith takes hold of the immovable throne of Jehovah, and thej • re brought within the pale of His covenanted mercies.
There is a fixed channel for Hia grace, always Mire ; and errinj; lortals, who would be saved from His justice, have only to throw themselves in this.
But what, it may be asked, is an afflicted nation to do U> entitle If to the favor aud protection of God ? How will it find the < hannel of His mercies ?
This whole work is int .:: answer to this qucstiou ; bnt
ii the meantime, the sum of the matter may be briefly stated here.
The people must, pray for peace ; but they must, in their hearts,
•nd with their voices, glorify Clod by acknowledging hia power,
gooemi - and justice. -
To do 'In- ia to recognize the Almighty as she Author of their confess the righteousness of His proceedings, because the sufferers hare sinned agsinsl Him : and to he ready to see wherein that they have offended, and to amend their ways.
is 'he prayer that will prevail : and when the Deity ia thm? ring people, then, and not till then, will their light break forth as the morning
The length and number of prayers amount to nothing: it is n«t for their repetitions thai the people are heard, but for their submit- mob, humility, contrition aud faith.
OF NATIONAL TRIALS. 103
PAOOHS AND ILH STRAT10XS.
The reader is referred to the prayers of Daniel, E«ra and Nehe miah, quoted in other parts of this work, and to the remarks made- upott them.
Other inspired petitions are recorded in tho Sacred Oracles for the instruction of after timesy ;md to some of these attention is uow directed. In Is. Ixiv. i3 a prayer of the Church in which occurs the sentence. > v. .">,; u Beheld, Thou art wroth, for we have sinned " — :irjd again (vs. <> >tnd 7,) it is said, "But wc are all as an unclean ?i,:ng, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; and we all do fads as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And f/tere is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up him- lelf to take hold of Thee, for Thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us because of our iniquities.''
It cannot be doubted from other testimonies of the prophets that the people did pray in a certain sense, in the times of their calami- ty, and freely use the name of God; but these were not accept petitioners, because they had not etirrcd themselves up to take hold of Jehovah's mercies in the appointed way.
The Almighty precisely describes the true state of things Himself in Jeremiah viii 6, '* I hearkened and heard, but they spake not .lit: no man repeated him of hi? wickedness, saying, What have I done ?»
Moses informed the Jews that every fate which awaited them v.ould come from God as the reward of their couduct; and he di- rects them how to pray successfully for deliverance in time of troub- le. " If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their 4'athers, with their trespass which they have trespassed against Me, ' nnd that, also, they have walked contrary unto Me : and that I, also. have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them -into the land of their enemies." — (Lev. xxvi. 40-41.)
Here God Himself expressly defines the kind of prayer from an "afflicted people which He will graciously answer .-
Fijfsr, It must confess that the sin of the sufferer baa caused bis trials —
Secomi! v, That God was the Author of the afflictions—
THIRDLY, That He had caused them in justice V. :i in Deut. iv. £9-81j Moses informs his people 'now to call upon (J '-id in time of trouble.
i thence thou shalt seek the Lord thv God, thou »lialt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and with all thy
'Mil.
1 1(2 . SCRIPTURAL VIKW-
ID tlum art in tribulation, and all these things aro come upon thee, frtn in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and •hall be obedient unto hi- voice;
•': Lord thy God t's a merciful God ;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forgot the covenant of thy t.ithersv | i -'..arc unto them."
.«• prayer of Solomon, at the dedication of the Temple, tin 1 all others arc taught the same doctrine in th< follow--
j words s
"Whett thy people Israel he smitten down before the enemy, he- v have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, . and pray, and make supplication unto •
: .
Then hear thou in heaven, aud forgive the sin of thy people la*
bring then) again unto the land which thou gave.-; unto
- 1 King* viii. 'Vl-'S-i.)
b xxxiii. 27-30, it is said, "He looketh upon men, and if
. 1 have sin I perverted that which u-as right, and it
profited me not :
i! deliver his *oul from going into the pit, and his life shall
the light.
Lo, all these thi'iyx workcth God oftentimes with man, To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the ' the living."
re, also, taught in Proverbs xxviii. 13, that '' lie thai; cot- mi- shall not prosper.: but whoso confeaaeth and foraaketb thcth shall have mercy."
[:i Jeremiah xzii. 9, God says of II is people when He Ls ready to upon them, " They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them."
. also, other inspired teachings : " For thou desire.-t not sac- rifioe; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God arb a broken spirit : a broken aud a contrite heart, Q God, thou wilt not despise." — (P*. li. 1G-17.)
rfThus Baith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth u where is the house that ye build unto me ? and where s of my i
'hingx hath mine hand made, and all those thiny*
be Lord : but to this man will I look, even to him
thai ' 'a contrite spirit, and tremblcth at my word." —
, c'k f«ake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise
• I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off." — (/«. xlviii. {J.)
OF NATIONAL TRIALS 108
" Therefore also no*w, saith the Lord, turn jc even to me with all jour heart and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning ; And rend your heart, and not your»garmcnts, and turn unto the Lord your God : for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." — (.Tool ii. 12— 13. > " Wherewith shall I come before- the Lord, and bow myself be- fore the high God? shall I conic before him with burnt offering;-, with calves of a year old ?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, >>,- wit! ;. i thousands of rivers of oil 1 shall I give my firstborn for my trans- gression, the fruit of my body/Jw the sin of my soul ?
He hath shewed thee, 0 man., what is good ; and what doth tbe Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God ?
The Lord's voice cricth unto the city, and the ///an of wisdom
shall see thy name : hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.*'
Mioak vi. 6-9,) " And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in them- selves that they were righteous, and despised others :
Two men went up into the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that. I am not as other men arc, extortioners, unjust, adulter- ers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, J give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breastx saying, God bo mer- ciful to me a sinner.
1 tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other : 'for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." — (Luke xviii. 9—1-4.
" I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." — (1 Tim. ii. 8.)
" Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodif* washed with pure water." — (Heb. x. 'I'l. \
" If we say th^t we have no sin, wc deceive ourselves, and I truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and in-t feo forgive u o sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteonsn.--.
If we fay that wc have not sinned, we make him ■ liar, and l word is not in us." — (1 John i. 8-10.)
I tnltitude of your i untt
i :!i the L^rd \ I am full tf '1 e 1 ur I • fferings of ratus, si
. :u:d I delight not in the* blood > f bullock Uml
■l come to a] p<-ai , wlu. lath required this .•'.
) hand, to tread my COU
• \du clean : put away tin- eii! of yout ioinga
•■ mine • - il ;
.1" well ; seek judgment, relieve t i-i <? oppressed, j itharlese, plead for the widow. • Gome no w, and let m reason together, with the Lord: tl jour sin* be as scarlet, they >lcil 1 be as white at a ; though tl.< •, be red like orimsen, they ahall be aa pro d." — (/». i 11, 12, hi- iv. ith the Lord of hosts, the tb^l of [arael ; Tut your burnt ring* unto your sscE&fioes, and eat flesh.
Lor I spake nut unto jour fathers, nor commanded thorn in the* ■ ay that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burn! ofTei acrificea ;
thin thing commanded 1 them, .saying, Obey my reiee, and 1
will be your God, and ye ahall be my people: and walk y<: in all
h* ways that I bare commanded you, that it amy be well unto
" - Jrr vii 2 1 —J " lie that turneth nwu> hi- mr from bearing tbe law, even bis
•r thall />c abomination." — (J'mv xxviii. i>. | '• Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings. I nil] not accept them .- neither will I regard leal peace offerings of
JO«r fat .bca.sts
Take thou away from m© the Boise "1 thj SOngl : far I will DM
U tin; melody of thy viola.
Hut let judgment run down us waters, and righteousness .-..' a ty .stream." —