Communication from Bro. Hewett.
By O. Hewett
[BROTHER HEWETT has put into our hands a lengthy communication, in which he says many good things. From it we take the following.] “He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” Matt. xii, 30. By this we plainly see that there is a time when Jesus will be gathering in one, and others will be engaged in this same blessed work of gathering with him. “To every purpose which is under heaven there is a time and season.” Eccl. iii, 1. Said Jacob, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Gen. xlix, 10. We understand that names among God’s people anciently were significant of the character of the individual. Thus Shiloh, peace, abundance, peace-maker with God, quiet, in peace, safe, happy. God is the great creator, and his Son Jesus (Saviour) the express image of his person, is our peace, [Eph. ii, 14,] our peace-maker with God. Says the Son of God, “Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Matt. v, 9. Then if we are peace-makers, we are gathering with Jesus; and unless we are gathering with him, we are scattering abroad, contrary to the word and work of God, and Jesus will have to say of us, as he did to the first house of Israel, when he wept over them, and said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings.” Here let me learn. “Ask now the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee.” Job, xii, 7. The hen seeing the approach of danger, gives the alarm to her scattered brood, and they run or fly for their lives, and make haste to get under her wings. She perils her own life, she endures the storm of heaven upon her own body to save her precious charge. Who will not learn from this humble lesson to gather with Jesus and abide under the shadow of his wings. Ps. xvii, 8. “Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.” Now we would ask every soul to look at this figure, viz., “keep me as the apple of the eye.” What is there that we are more careful to keep than the ball or apple of the eye? This is part of one of the prayers of David, made in the Holy Ghost. Do we pray like this? yea, rather, do we live it out by doing unto others as we would they should do unto us? Now if we truly love our brother, our neighbor, as we do ourself, the same earnest desire for their well-being will be felt as we feel for ourselves. “Doth not wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her voice?” Well what does she say? “Unto you, O man, I call, and my voice is unto the sons of179men.” Prov. i, 4. “All the words of my mouth are in righteousness.” What is righteousness? “For ever O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” Ps. cxix, 89. “My tongue shall speak of thy word, for all thy commandments are righteousness.” Ps. cxix, 172. But say some, Jesus abolished those commandments. But the same old guide says: “Hearken unto me ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged; look unto Abraham your father, [“If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Gal. iii, 29.] and unto Sarah that bare you.” Why look to Abraham? For “I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.” But Lord, why did you do this to Abraham? “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Gen. xxvi, 5. “For the Lord shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Hearken unto me my people, and give ear unto me O my nation, for a law shall proceed (future) from me and I will make my judgments to rest for a light of the people.
My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath, for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.” Isa. li, 1-8. So we see that God commanded that his law shall not be abolished. Again, says wisdom, “My son keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments and live, and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.” Now we have seen that God loves them that love him, and keep his word, and he will keep them as the apple of the eye. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Rev. iii, 10. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” 2 Pet. ii, 9. “Whoso keepeth the commandment, shall feel no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.” Eccl. viii, 5. “He that keepeth the commandment, keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.” Under the law of Moses, the law of types, which God directed Moses to write, we find on all great and important occasions, the trumpet gave a certain sound, and all Israel were gathered to the sanctuary of God, where he held communion with his people, and directed them. See Ex. xxv, 22. And God has commanded us, by the mouth of his holy prophets, to remember that law of types, when we see the day approaching that shall burn as an oven, when all the wicked will be destroyed, root and branch. Mal. iv. And why remember it then? The reason is made perfectly clear by Paul's letter to the Hebrews, where he teaches that that Sanctuary was a figure of the one in heaven, of which the Lord Jesus is minister, and great high priest. Now if the New Testament testimony is the testament of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and as such, has been sent to all nations for the obedience of faith, if it is such, and we have received it as such, then we have set to our seal that God is true. John iii, 33. Do we receive the Lord Jesus as the only one by whom we can be saved? If we do, our only salvation depends on our obedience to him. Said the voice from heaven, “hear ye him.” And we have in plain words from the mouth of the Son of God, what will come to us if we hear and obey his sayings. See Matt. vii, 24-29. “And the word whom ye hear is not mine, but the Father's that sent me.” John xiv, 24. Now if we have received Jesus' testimony, we have also set to our seal that God is true. Here is a rule by which we can examine ourselves. In the typical Sanctuary were two trumpets made of one piece of silver, kept and blown by the priests. A certain sound gave notice to the people to prepare for the event, whatever it might be. Just so here; a certain sound has been given, and is still being given. Spirit of prophecy said, in making the vision plain, “the dream is certain, and the interpretation is sure.” The Lord is gathering and searching out his sheep on every mountain and hill where they have been scattered in the dark and cloudy day. His sheep hear his voice, and they follow him, and he gives unto them eternal life. O, he is the good Shepherd, he owns, having bought them with his blood; laid down his precious life for them, then he ascended up, and entered the heavenly Sanctuary, from thence his voice is heard. A gathering sound through the third angel, till we all are gathered into the unity of the faith, and are made one in Jesus Christ. Now how is this being done? It is not by power, nor by might; but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts. And in order to be gathering with Jesus, we must have our hearts right in the sight of God, that the Holy Spirit may descend upon us and do its office, viz., reprove us of all our sins, and secure a resting place in the heart and abide with us for ever. The sign by which Jesus was known of John, was that the Holy Spirit, descended upon him; and rested upon him. Nothing is prayed for so much, perhaps, as the Spirit of God; but we receive not, because we ask amiss, to consume upon our lusts. We love what we call a blessing; but, alas, when the reproof comes in to cleanse our hearts, and purify us so that the Spirit can dwell in us for ever; there is no rest for it, no more than there was for Noah's dove. O that we may all see, that when we refuse to suffer the Comforter, whom the Father sends in Jesus name, to do the work assigned it by God, we deny Jesus and inasmuch as we deny the name of Jesus, we have not the Father. “He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet, in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward.” What is the reward of a prophet? They will be rewarded with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in God's everlasting kingdom. Luke xiii, 28. “And he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward.” What is a righteous man's reward? Then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of God. Then shall he say to the righteous: “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom,” &c. Matt. xxv, 34-37. Even Balaam, who saw these things, cried out concerning the righteous, “Let my last end be like his.” But some say, you are self-righteous. Well we do not mean to be self-righteous, like the Pharisee. Luke xviii, 9-14. Jesus spake this parable unto certain that trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others. There were certain that were great sticklers for God's law, that when Jesus reproved them, were offended. They had not even the first principle of the law of God, the love of God, and were destitute of the second great principle, love thy neighbor as thyself. Jesus was then acting the part of a neighbor to them, in every sense of the word, like the good Samaritan. See Luke x, 33. Said he, who of the three was neighbor to him that fell among thieves? Suppose he that showed mercy, was the answer. Said Jesus, go thou and do likewise. Now Jesus was doing the work of a neighbor, and they hated him, and thereby broke the law, and were guilty of all. Our profession, like theirs, may be high as heaven, but without truth, in the spirit of love and meekness, we are like sounding brass or the tinkling cymbal. Self-righteousness and the doctrines and commandments of men we are leaving for ever. May God help us to look unto Jesus, who kept all his Father's commandments, and to walk even as he walked. He perfectly kept them, and in honor of that law, his blood was spilt. Blessed be God for ever. Hence he that turns and breaks the holy commandment, after receiving and tasting the heavenly gift, treads under foot the Son of God, which is crucifying him afresh. O. HEWETT.