Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Every outward ordinance, and every holy principle at present seems more or less contaminated. The minds of men are more in the love of self and the world, than of the Lord and their neighbour, and those who may still hold fast to the great doctrine, God is love, cannot tarry in the plain of evil. The church has nearly come to its end. It is neither clear nor dark, but in the evening tide there shall be light. There will yet remain a few in whose minds truth will find a resting-place; and many whose minds are open to receive truth, whensoever and by whosoever it shall be fairly presented before them. Yes, the Lord will never leave himself without a visible church on earth, and we have the sure word of prophecy for assuming that on those who fear the Lord's name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings. But here it may be necessary to state, that a church may have actually passed away, as far as it regards its spirit, and yet its outward form may linger for some time afterward; the body may be present, though the soul that animated it may be withdrawn. It may have a name to live, but be dead nevertheless. Thus externally, the Jewish church is in existence to this day, but its glory is departed, and its existence is but by name. The Romish church, as to externals, is also in existence, and to this day boasts that it sits a queen and is no widow. But its judgment is accomplished and Babylon is fallen-is fallen! The protestant church exists in conventional forms, and outward observances, but its vitality is gone, and its existence too, as we shall presently see, is but by name.

But we will now turn to the signs, by which the last time of the church is to be known :

(1.) The first sign which is given of the last time is a general uncertainty as to matters of faith, as well as principles of life. Men will scarcely know what to believe, or how they are to live, from the prevalence of false doctrine as well as of evil.

66

2. But the most important sign is the destruction of christian love and charity. There shall be wars and rumours of wars. But these wars are as much spiritual, nay more so, than natural. They are wars and contentions of doctrine. One sect shall rise against another; one false

doctrine shall be opposed by another false doctrine and there shall be a famine, not of bread, but of hearing the words of the Lord, and the whole state of the church shall be shaken and unsettled. The consequences then to follow are, the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars, and the shaking of the powers of heaven. Love of the Lord and of the neighbour decays and ceases; or, in the words of an apostle, the love of many shall wax cold. For men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of Godliness [a name to live], but denying the power thereof. (2 Timothy, iii. 2-5.) Such is to be the state of the church in the last days, as it regards its love. Can there be a more awful picture, a deeper degree of spiritual degradation ? Nor can its state, as it respects truth, be described as any better. Well may the apostle preface this description by calling the latter days, "perilous times." Times when men will be in the utmost danger, when it indeed to maintain consistency. But to church as it respects its faith, we again quote the apostle, "Many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils." In other words, the doctrines of religion once exalted in the will as principles and motives of action, will become mere opinions, speculative points about which to quarrel and contend, but no longer received as doctrines to guide the conduct, or influence the life. Such, then, is a description of the fallen church. All love or charity suffocated. All truth or faith perverted, and doctrines used principally to promote discord.

will be hard describe the

3. There can scarcely be a doubt in any reasonable mind, that the present time is what is termed in Scripture the latter day. Men are looking, some for the destruction of the visible universe, some for the personal appearance of the Saviour, some for an extraordinary manifestation of truth. Public opinion is divided; nor do any seem to know where genuine truth is to be found. It is

certain the tribulation HAS commenced.

The opinions of men ARE UNSETTLED, and a general expectation of some extraordinary event prevails in the christian world. There shall be wars and rumours of wars."

66

Let us cast our eyes around on the so-called christian world, and calmly observe what is passing. When was there a time when such a universal breaking up of old systems in the religious world appeared? Look at each establishment and the result is the same. In England, the episcopal church; in Scotland, in Scotland, the presbyterian Church; in Germany, the Romish Church; all seem in a state of commotion. In France, there is scarcely one spiritual truth to be found; in Italy, it is quite as bad, if not worse. The Mahomedan sects are in like manner dividing, and even the Jews are contending with each other, some for their traditions and others against them. And yet in this state of contention and division, the various parties are sending out their Missionaries, and compassing sea and land to make one proselyte. Where, then,

*The religious idea transmitted by this remarkable people, has given them a more abiding and extensive influence in the world's history, than Greece attained by her classic beauty, or Rome by her triumphant arms. Maho. medism and christianity, the two forms of theology, which include nearly all the civilized world, both grew from the stock planted by Abraham's children. On them lingers the long reflected light of prophecy: and we, as well as they, are watching for its fulfilment: and verily all things seem tending towards it. Through all their wanderings they have followed the direction of Moses, to be lenders and not borrowers. The sovereigns of Europe and Asia, and the republics of America, are their debtors to an immense amount. The Rothschilds are Jews; and they have wealth enough to purchase all Palestine if they choose: a large part of Jerusalem is, in fact, mortgaged to them. The oppressions of the Turkish government, and the incursions of hostile tribes, have hitherto rendered Syria an unsafe residence: but the Sultan has erected it into an independent power, and issued orders throughout his empire, that the Jews shall be as perfectly protected in their religious and civil rights, as any other class of his subjects. England has established many missions for the conversion of the Jews. The presbyterian church in Scotland, somewhere about 1843, addressed a letter of sympathy and expostulation to the scattered children of Israel, which has been printed in a great variety of Oriental and Occidental languages. In Upper Canada, a society of Jews converted to christianity, have been organized to facilitate the return of the wandering tribes to the Holy Land.

The Rev. Soloman Michael Alexander, a learned Rabbi of the tribe of Judah, has been proselyted to christianity, and sent to Palestine by the church of England, being consecrated the first Bishop of Jerusalem.

Moreover, the spirit of schism appears among them. A numerous and influential body in England have seceded, under the name of Reformed Jews. They denounce the Talmud as a mass of absurdities, and adhere exclusively to the authority of Moses: whereas, orthodox Jews consider the Rabbinical writings of equal authority with the Pentateuch. They have sent a Hebrew circular to the Jews of America, warning them against the Seceders.

Mrs. Child, of New York.

shall we seek for that religion which is pure, peaceable, and thinketh no evil, which is full of good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy ? Where is that love

which is, or should be, the principal grace of the church, that love which should unite all in the bond of peace? Alas it seems lost! There is no settled belief, nor in this state of things can there be, for a true faith can only proceed from love to the Lord, and such a faith is almost unknown. The sun and the moon are indeed darkened; Love to the Lord and charity to man slumber, if they be not dead. It is indeed the last time, the evening of the Church, and there is but one thing to cheer and comfort those who are waiting for the appearance of our great God and Saviour. In the evening time there shall be light;" when all heat and light seems to have departed, when goodness and truth appear to have "sprung on the viewless winds to heaven again," even then the Lord shall be our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning shall be ended.

66

And now we may briefly concentrate this part of our argument, and conclude that the present time is the commencement of the latter day.

Few will venture to deny, that with considerably more worldly knowledge, the true knowledge of the Lord is meagre and unsatisfactory. As it respects the church, nation has indeed risen against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. The various sects divided against each other, and also against themselves, are not agreed even upon the fundamental principles of faith. One chooses one foundation, and another another, while amidst the clamour of hostile systems, the genuine truth appears lost, and that christian love, which should bind men to the Lord and to each other, has become cold and given place to malice, hatred, and all uncharitableness. The powers of heaven, whether with Dr. Adam Clarke we refer the expression to the ecclesiastical authorities of the church, or with others to its ruling doctrines, are indeed shaken. The respect and attachment towards those who exercise ecclesiastical functions is nearly lost amidst the struggles of the rulers themselves for power, and the doctrines which ought to regulate the life and conduct have become mere

instruments of warfare, weapons which one sect employs against another. The whole system of faith, as held by these contending sects, is agitated like the sea in a tempest, while the hearts of the pious and the humble do indeed fail for fear, not knowing where to seek for truth, or whether to resign open communion with any religion.

Amidst all this confusion we are justified in believing that the new light, which the Lord has promised, SHALL ARISE, when these desolations come upon the church. We are living in the very times that the prophets foretold, and it becomes us, as reasonable men and as christians, to look around us, lest the light indeed exist, but we see it not. The first advent of the Lord was foretold by the prophets; it was anxiously looked for by the Jewish people, yet when the Saviour actually came, and was born among them, they rejected, despised, and crucified him. So the light from heaven in the latter day may arise, may beam among us, may enter our very dwellings, and we, like the Jews of old, may see it not, or, seeing it, may despise and reject it.

The Jews vainly anticipated that the Saviour would come with the pomp and circumstance of an earthly conqueror, when, therefore, they saw a poor man, without wealth, without dignity, without learning, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" they laughed him to scorn and put him to death. Let us beware of imitating their conduct. The ways of the Lord are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts. Let us avoid forming a plan for HIM, and then refuse to hear him unless he conform to the plan we have framed for him. By such conduct the Jews ensured their own rejection, and by acting in a similar manner we shall remain ignorant, though knowledge be at our very door.

How

There is an idea which has crept into the Church (though on what authority it is hard to say) which, above any other, tends to close the mind against any spiritual manifestation. It is said, that spiritual communications have ceased because they are no longer necessary. such an idea was first introduced, or what has induced Christians to give credence to it, is indeed hard to say, for most certainly the New Testament lends no countenance to it. It does NOT tell us that in the latter day, ALL

« AnteriorContinuar »