"When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." Isa. lix, 19.
The Enemy comes like a flood,
To capture, deceive and destroy,
With flaming professions of good,
The better, mankind to decoy.
He says he comes, all men to bind,
With Union's affectionate tie;
And prove to each sceptical mind,
The human soul never can die.
The people, for centuries past,
Have been so well charmed by his lies,
He fixes an ambush at last,
To capture them all by surprise.
Like a flood he sweeps over the earth,
His conquests and converts abound;
While naught but luke-warmness and dearth
In the churches, (so called,) can be found.
But what is the Standard, raised high
By the Spirit of God, to oppose,
Around which the saints who now sigh,
May rally and vanquish their foes?
It is the commandments of God,
And also the faith of the Son;
Here the saints, who are scattered abroad,
Will shortly be gathered in one.
To break the commandments is sin,
The doom of the sinner is death;
As proud as men ever have been,
The beasts and they, "all have one breath."
Eternal life none can enjoy
Till Jesus in glory shall come,
The wicked of earth to destroy,
And gather his ransomed ones home.
But Satan would not have men doubt
That in death they become 'as the gods,'
That they live, and are roaming about,
While their bodies are under the clods.
Would have them believe they may break
The commandments of God, and not die;
And whatever course they may take,
They'll rise to the circles on high.
If some are yet slow to receive
The doctrine, in terms thus arranged,
It will do just as well to believe
That one of God's precepts is changed.
If men in the face of the light,
On one of these precepts will tread,
With just as much safety they might
Pronounce the whole Decalogue dead.
But "all his commandments are sure,
Forever and ever they stand;"
The day of his Rest will endure
As long as the works of his hand.
With truth for our buckler and shield,
The wrath of the dragon we'll brave,
And never relinquish the field—
Our Captain is mighty to save.
The last mighty conflict, ere long,
Is coming—the time is at hand
When the ransomed will sing the New Song,
And on the Mount Zion will stand.
The Standard of Truth is unfurled—
The last invitation to "come"
Is now going forth to the world—
God's people will soon be at home.