Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1860-04-14

| lcufS anu -
soul Strong delSA doubts will rush upon the
lie, will, like fierce tex, that we may believe
Cold harrassing, cheerles9Ss' howl about US
priting anxieties filling ussn ussnes oil MIND, dis
and dread; bitter self-accusatioR discomfort
haps, by spiritual wickedness in lfYSh us per-
| like pitiless hail-storms which come HHaces'i
again and again, all teach us how real it L, us
the soul has Its winter as well as its summer
In relation to these spiritual seasons it is writ
ten; "And it shall be in that day, that living
waters shallgo out from mJerusalem;halfof of them
toward the former sea, and half of them to-
ward the hinder sea; in summer and in winter
shall it be."-Zach. xiv. 8.
Thrice happy are they who remember that
the living waters of the Divine Word will be
comfort and blessing in joy and in sorrow,
in sickness and in health, in summer and in
winter; but they should also bear in mind, that
to be protection in all seasons, the Divine
Mercy has provided us with spiritual cloth
ing.
The doctrines ofreligion when intelligently
adopted, and adapted to our particular states,
serve this important purpose. And when those
doctrines are, as they ought to be, full COM
prehensiye, and complete, applying themselves
to oall departments of human affection, thought
and life, they make u complete dress. Hence
it is said in Isaiah, ~ will greatly rejoice in
the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me with the robe of righ-
teousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as bride adorneth her.
self with her jewels. Xxi 10.
The doctrines which teach the true charac-
ter of the Lord, His infinite and unchanging
Love, His unerring and all-comprehensiye Wis
dom, His omnipotent and ever-orderly Power,
these form the clothing for the head. The doc
trines which teach and impel us to our duty to
our neighbor, from the clothing to the breast;
while those which teach tina: our religion
should be operative and descend to. inspire
and sanctify every word and evey deed of life;
these are the remainder of the spirits dress,
even to the 'shoes upon the feet"
With this view of the spiritual dress of the
Christian, we shall see the fullest significance
in many interesting portions of the sacred
Scriptures. When the prodigal son returned,
we are informed, "The father said unto his
servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it
on him; and put ring on his hand, and shoes
on his feet" Luke XIV. 90 whore it is manifest
that the clothing of a newly-penitent spirit
with those sacred truths which will form its
best robe, that assurance OF everlasting love
which conjoins it to its Lord as a golden mar
riage ring, and those true principles of virtu-
Gus practice which are the only basis of real
religion, are the shoes upon the feet
most important lesson is afforded to us by
the Divine Word in Matthew. 1t is said Of
those who came in to partake of the wedding
feast of the King of Heaven, Sand when the
king came in to see the guests, he saw there a
man which had not on a wedding garment
and he said unto him, Friend, how comest thou
in hther, not having a wedding garment
And he was speechless. Then said the king to
the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and
take him away, and cast him into outer dark
nes there shall be weeping and gnashing Of
teeth r-xxii. ll-l3. No one can imagine
that there was any sin in n particular earthly
dress not being had by those who enter the
Lords kingdom. But in a spiritual point OF
view, nothing can exceed the value of the in
timation it contains. The kingdom of heaven
in fact, everything heavenly, is the result Of q
marriage. Wisdom sweetly blends with love
to form the heavenly state 1t is not the king.
dom of faith alone, but of faith united TO chari.
ty No cold knowledge is tolerated there, but
must be conjoined with affection for what is
known. All is union in an angelic mind. Al
heaven is united to its DivineIIead, the Lore
Jesus Christ The marriage order reigns com
plete, and joy is the result. "Thou shalt nj
more be termed Forsaken; neither shall tn,
land any more be termed Desolate; but thot
shalt be called Hcphzibah, and thy land Beu,
lab; for the Lord delighteth in thee, and th,
land shall be married. LISA. xii. 4.
| Not to have on wedding garment, then, il
not to have doctrine which unfolds the glo
rious union of truth and love in religion, ant
in heaven. 1t is to be practically among thos,
who say, and do not.
| With these views of doctrines forming thu
clothing of the soul, we sec at once the i'm
portance of those illusions to garments which
are so frequently met with in the Old as wei
as the New Testament When thcprophet pre-
diets the advent of the Lord into the world
and thus opening to mankind the glorious doc
trine of Christianity, instead of the miserable
shreds of Jewish tradition, he says, "AwhkC
awake; put on thy strength, oh Zioni put OIL