"Light is Sown for the Righteous."
By H. S. Gurney
BRO. SMITH:—With humble gratitude to God I wish to acknowledge the truth as set forth in the article from the pen of Bro. Waggoner, under the head, "When will the nations be dashed in pieces?" My mind has been very much relieved on some points which have perplexed and held me somewhat in bondage in relation to expression of sentiment in full faith and decision; but thank God the mist is fleeing before the bright rays of truth. I find that I have not held correct views in relation to Christ's becoming the antitype of the Melchisedec priest. When in my mind I step back a few years and retrace our history to the present, I see a steady flow of light which may be compared to the rising of the sun; and "if we follow on to know the Lord, we shall know his going forth is prepared as the morning." God will reveal light and truth according to the necessities of his people, and none need to stumble who follow on to know the Lord, seeking righteousness and meekness, for light is sown for the righteous, and where there is a congenial soil it will spring up in abundance to supply a present necessity. Would a father give a stone to a hungry child who asked bread? Does our heavenly Father notice a sparrow falling to the ground, and is he less mindful of the most noble part of his creation for whom he gave his Son a sacrifice for sins? With what confidence we should come to a throne of grace, humbly acknowledging our weakness and dependence, want and desire. With satisfaction I review the late proceedings in connection with the cause of present truth. I hope we may ever maintain a spirit of sacrifice; it should ever be our great object to maintain the spirit of Christ, and overcome the world, flesh and the Devil. Whatever may be thrown in our way, no obstacles can be greater than Jesus endured, and he is the great pattern; and soon if faithful we shall see him as he is, when we shall be made like him, when he, the head of the church, shall return from the marriage, and introduce us to that inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that FADETH NOT AWAY. Thank God for an enduring substance. The moral and political world are affording unmistakable evidence of the near approach of the end. The eastern world are by no means relieved from trouble by the late treaty of peace with Russia. There are questions now agitating Europe which threaten a greater calamity than has just passed in the late war with Russia, and how much more favorable does our own boasted land of liberty appear? If in the present moral state of the world, and the awfully corrupted state of the professing church, we fail to see the signs of the times and an approaching end, with what kind of eyes do we look? Surely we cannot be looking with a single eye to the glory of God. These are perilous times, and if we do not watch we shall be overtaken as by a snare; but knowing the times and seasons we will watch, and by calling to our aid the unerring word of God, we shall shun the rocks and shoals of a dangerous coast, and enter the harbor of rest in the kingdom of God. Yours waiting to join in the song of deliverance and redemption.
H. S. GURNEY.
North Fairhaven, Mass., June 8th, 1856.