Portland gazette and Maine advertiser., 1817-06-10
MISCELLANY.
4 testimony against War-Ao. 4.
Continued from our iast.)

4 testimony against War-No. A.
Continued fran our last.)
From whsnce come wars and fighting, among
YOU D faith 81. James 9 Come they not hence
even of YOUR lufls that war In your members"
Now, If wars and 6ghtings coms from mems iuas,
does il not follow that when thofe Iuifs are iub
daed wars aud fgh,iog, will ceafe of courfe From
this text think il may be fairly argued that wars
& ightngs are uft as zwfal as the indulgence of
thofe hateful paiiions from which the Appetite fzys
they fpring, bur no moresc. Ifwar 10 right then
the ulls alto are right which prodnceit The
Prophet Isaiah speaks ttus-" And il fhall come to
PAT, in the Iaft days, shst the mountain of the
Lords houfe fhai be ell2oliihea in the soPaos the
noun sins and fhzll be exalted above the hills
and all nations hall flow unto IL, And many
people ihall go and fay, come yes and let us go up
TO the mountain of the Lord, 10 the hcufe of the
God of Jacob and he will teach US Of his ways
and we will walk in his paths for ort of Zion
fhal 90 forth the law, and the word of the Lord
from Jerufziem. And he fhal judge among the
nations and fhall rebuke many people; and they
fhal bea, their fwords into plough fhares. and
their r. ears iato pruning hooks nation 1sll NOT
lift up fword agan nation, neither fhali they learn
war any more The Prophet then cries put in
ecfiacy--" O houfe of Jacob, come ye, and let US
wax in the light of the Lord This pHage
d ubtlef, has reference TO the future glory d the
Church. When this happy time arrives nc one
doubts bur shat wars will ceafe to the ends o. the
earth but isit not proper that as tar as the ilirt
of thofe days 10 now felt. it ihould produce the
fame effec. If the millennium, to which he
Prophet referred. will be peaceful and happy by
the copious effu6on Of the fpirit & the coniequns
fubiugation of the world to Chrilt. fhoEa-s rot
the pouring out of the fpirit have the fame effect
on individuals cow | ask you, my hearers, 70
think of this single argument, and fay if it has n
fome weight. The light Of the Millennium viii
probably be gradual like the rising ofthe morning
One after another will imbibe its f2irit, Gill the
kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms
of Chrin, and there will none be found to hurt or
delfroy throughout the earth
TO be Continued
There are sentiments prevailing BY many in this
land, that the scriptures of the Old Testament are
of little or no Importance, and therefore not 70 be
regarded, These sentiments are dishonourable to
God, and wounding TO the christian religion, and
can be propagated by none, except the faithful SER
wants of Satan.
To support these afirmatons, will produce the
most rrefragble arguments. Ii they bsar not
suaded, though enc arose from the dead" Luker
is, 81 Here we observe, that the writings Of
Moses and the Prophets, contain the whole OF the
Old Testament. They contain the Creation ofthe
world, the deuge, by which the old world was des-
troycd, the wonders, signs, and miracles, winch
God wrought in Egypt, in delivering Israel from
the land of bondage, they contain the delivery OF
the law at Mount Sinai aud the amazing relations
which we have afterwards in that sacred volume
Again, our Saviour said unto the jews, (" Search
the scriptures, for in them We think ye have eter-
nal life and they are they, which testify OF me-
John 5, SO. BY the scriptures here, our saviour
intends the scriptures of the Old Testament, be-
cause when he was upon earth, there was no other
writings called by that name. The New lesta-
ment was not written till upwards Of twenty years
after his Cruciixion Consequently. the scriptures
which Christ mentioned must be the scriptures OF
the Old Testament The reason which he gave Tor
it is, for in them ye think ye have eternal lie,
and they are they which testify of me-" Iteternal
life, and the predictions with respect to our oav-
ours coming into the worldare not sufficient 10 IN
duce people to believe the Old Testament to be d.
vine then, may we forever dspair of their believ-
ing it, though Moses, Samuel David, Job Daniel,
and all the Prophets should arise from their graves
and declare it. Again, the apostle Paul saith,
that all scripture is given by Inspiration, Y nm
g. f6) and is profitable for doctrine, e. 70 eonhrm
the truth for reproof, i. e. to convince OF SIN,
righteousness and Judgment, and to contute error !;
for correction G. to reform the moral department
of the human race and ii is added, for instruction
in Righteousness, l. more fully TO enforce ihe oen-
eits derived from them. And If all these observa-
tions are divine, then language is wanting 70 ex-
press the decisions ofsuch as deny them But we
add further, that in Joshua 2l, &c, : Aud Joshua
wrote these thing in the Book of the Law OF God"
Here We observe, that there was book just after
the death of Moses that was called the book OF the
law ofGod-without any manner OF doubt, Moses
wrote this book. This book has been called the
word Of God from the days of Moses TO the present
moment. 1t contains the law which God gave 70
Moses, by the disposition OF angels TO SIX huhdrru
thousand men, besides women and children. A.
was delivered in such terrible manner that Nloses
exceedingly feared and quaked. The scriptures
are expressly called the word of Sod, 1. Cor IL,
Sc. /" What. came the word Of God out from you,
or came il from you only ?" In the testimony OF
two or three witnesses every fact is established
in our jurisprudence. And shallnot so many sacred
testimonies as we have produced, be sufficient 70
our present purpose Will not the candid reader
see, that all, who speak lightly OF the holy scrip
lures dishonor God wound the religion OF Jesus
Christ, deceive themselves. and others! Certain
ly all such (vhether they are sensible OF u or
not) are doing The work OF the devil, the srchdc
ceiver of mankind.
There is another principle aNlully peFmcious'
spreading in the country, Wv. " that We came
into the world. just ike piece Of white paper"
II this proposition is true, then il is equally Ger