The Cause in Colon and Burlington.
By James White
FROM a short visit to Colon I am able to report a good state of the cause in that place. Some have fallen away whom we fondly hoped to meet in the kingdom, but those that remain are firm and united in the truth. Others are still interested and inquiring, and we trust the little company of believers will ever realize that in order to lead others to glorify God, they must let their light so shine that they may see their good works. These form the unanswerable argument. The church in Burlington has walked in some darkness on account of reproach brought on the truth by its professors. They have generally been remiss in walking up to the rule laid down by our Saviour in Matt. xviii. But they have lately been brought to see the necessity of action, and fellowship has been withdrawn from some whose walk was disorderly, and the result is that more brotherly-love and union exist now than have existed heretofore. Their meetings are spirited, and indicate that the church is rising from its low state. Two were baptized on the 23rd inst., and although it was one of the coldest days of the winter, it was a season of pleasure and profit to myself, and I trust to all. If the brethren and sisters wish to have agreeable and profitable seasons in attending to such duties, they must first remove the weights and stumbling-blocks, and thus ensure the smile of God and the presence of his Spirit. To administer the ordinances of the gospel to a cold, formal church, where the Spirit of God has been grieved away, is a task—a grievous burden to the messenger of the truth, and hard to be borne. J. H. W.