which worketh by love, shall live with our blessed Father and King, God and Saviour, and the holy angels, in the new heaven and earth forever and ever. And you who would have none of his holiness, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift, the blessedness of heaven on earth, with a certain promise of a final heaven through all eternity, but would have your good, as you esteemed it, among yourselves and the devils, you shall also now be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, where there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, prepared for the devil, your father, and his angels, your brethren, and ye shall be tormented through the endless ages of eternity. Now that you are yet this side of that gulph of despair, and as a nation, have your heads above water, (or brimstone,) humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God; the words of Christ, which shall judge every one of you on the last day. I address you individually and collectively-1 say again, have faith in Christ and his words, to do them, to the saving of your souls; have faith and lay hold on the Omnipotent Arm of Jehovah and make your peace with him. Let every one of you consider and weigh this matter seriously, and then conclude whether ye had not better repent, believe the gospel and live holy and godly lives. The doings of every one of you contribute to make up the sum total of this nation, whether of righteousness or wickedness; righteousness exalteth a nation, but wickedness and iniquity degradeth it, and is the cause of every evil and destruction at last. And therefore, why continue in this dreadful course of rebellion? why not much rather repent one and all, and be at peace with an offended God; and should you even hold out as a nation a few years longer, hear the words and believe, "It is given unto all men once to die and after that the judgment." I refer you to what has been stated on this subject. Therefore you may put away the thoughts of death whenever they trouble and frighten you, but surely when the messenger himself arrives you cannot compromise with him; you cannot put him off until some convenient time; do ye not see clearly ye are dying mortals, liable to be turned to dust every moment, as your lives are in the hands of an angry God; and hear this, "the wicked shall not live out half their days;" and "the Lord will avenge him of his enemies." His honor must be vindicated, his justice satisfied, and his name glorified. 1 impress it on you again to repent, believe the gospel, live holy lives; if ye value your souls repent; if you value your wives and children or any thing else according to Godliness, repent; if you value this land, the institutions thereof, and this nation, repent; and above all if ye value the joys of heaven, repent and believe the gospel, "for there is more joy in heaven among the holy angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine just made perfect." And will ye not do something for the joy of others, particularly such lovely beings, and at the same time be benefited so greatly yourselves, be such infinite gainers as to be reinstated to the favor and exalted to the holy image of our blessed Jehovah; and then the sweet peace which ye shall have which passeth all understanding, which the world cannot give nor take away, and which shall endure and increase in heaven forevermore. If ye thus turn unto God through faith in our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, and put on the new man of holiness, show respect and reverence to the Deity, he will return unto you and honor you, and "set you on high because ye know his name;" and ye shall have trus peace, joy, and happiness, for out of God it is not to be found; this I know by experience, and many holy men have testified to the same before me, even Solomon, the wisest of men, after having indulged himself in the pleasures of the table, wine and women, horses and chariots, building of cities, and many other things to divert the mind; 1 say, after having experimented upon, and proved the efficacy of almost every thing under the Sun to aid the increase of his happiness, he returns to God and declares, that all that is contrary to a life of godliness is but vanity and vexation of spirit, and that to "Fear God and keep his commandments, is the whole duty of man." "For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." [Excles'. last chapter] And since then, my dear readers, how many individuals, how many hundreds of persons that have lived in sin and iniquity, have sought in a career of criminal indulgences, peace and comfort for their poor souls, but that were never able to obtain rest for their troubled spirits, until they found it at the foot of the cross, until through the atonement of Jesus, through faith in the Lamb of God and his blood, they were purified from all "filthiness of flesh and spirit;" were born again, renovated and thoroughly regenerated, enabled to lay off the old man of sin, and put on the new man of righteousness and holiness; became freely justified and sanctified through faith in Him who, through His boundless love to degraded man, became emphatically the propitiation for the sins of the world, that the blessed God "might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." Thus thousands were through the forbearance, goodness and mercy of God, and through our blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ, reinstated to favor and the holy Image of our Heavenly Father, became sons by adoption, and heirs of glory; even joint heirs with Christ himself of inheritances incorruptible, undefiled, and that never, no never fade away; eternal in the heavens. Thus these peculiar, excentric, as the blind world calls christians, people were endued from on high with the blessings of salvation; love, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, that peace that passeth all understanding, which is not to be found in the world; which the carnal man is a stranger to, and which confounds the worldly-wise in their wisdom, and the fools in their vain imaginations, particularly those who say in their hearts "There is no God." These holy champions of the cross, comprising a holy na tion, within many nations; a royal priesthood, zealous of good works, to glorify God their Saviour and King, and to benefit their fellow beings sojourning in this vale of tears, on the brink of eternity. They were therefore, emphatically the salt of the earth, the excellent of the earth, the lights of the world, and in their glory was manifest the image of Jehovah, and the world could take knowledge that they had been with Jesus, for none can impart wisdom and every grace like He, neither did they love their lives, but rather hated them for Christ's sake, so that they might keep them throughout the endless ages of eternity. They were decided heroes under the Lord of Hostsuncompromising patriots for the truth, who nobly stood in the most exalted cause and fought manfully under the banner of their King; permitted their blood to flow in purple streams for His glory, and the cause of truth, and their fellow beings' eternal welfare, and to confound the powers of darkness and hell; they could depart rejoicing, and some could triumphantly sing in the heat of the battle, with the apostle could say, "for them to live was Christ, and to die was gain," and that they would rather be absent from the body and present with the Lord, they being filled with the blessedness of heaven, could contribute to the glory of their Maker and Saviour, and the establishment of the true Church of Christ, vital christianity upon the earth; and to depart like men and not as fools die. All ages have been thus blessed by the Most High, have had some of these constellations sojourning among them, to illuminate the dark places of the earth; who in the wisdom and love of God through the salvation of Jesus, were as lights, as beacons to the wayfaring man, to the wanderers out of Sion, to direct their steps into the path of holiness by urging them to repentance and admonishing them to believe in Jesus for the salvation of their immortal souls. Consequently the true church, the church of Christ, flourished to a greater or less degree during every period from the foundation of the world, and the blessed Lord had a people with whom his honor dwelled, with whom his name abided; who were a joy, > a praise, and a glory to Him, and contributed to the joy of the holy hosts of heaven; the glorious angels are not ashamed to own the followers of Christ as their brethren, nor think themselves degraded by administering unto us, according to the will and commands of our Heavenly Father. " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." [Heb. 1. 14. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, therefore as for those that sit in "Moses' seat," their words are to be believed and examples imitated so far as they agree with the revealed will of God, with the "word and the testimony," and they in righteousness and holiness follow Christ. As St. Paul admonishes, "Be ye followers of me as I am also of Christ;" and also cautions Timothy to beware of men in sheep's clothing, which should abound in the latter days; his admonitory lessons are on this wise, “Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with an hot iron." And further, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their ownselves, 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, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away." [1st. & 2d. Timothy. After all this estrangement and departure from the living God, yet at the coming of the blessed Christ "will he find faith on the earth." However small the number may be, yet there will be some who will be the holy temples of Christ and watch unto the coming of the Lord and desire the King of heaven and earth to descend; "Even so come Lord Jesus." Do not these times indicate that the period is near at hand, |