The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1864-04-02

! ulNlnS luSElNt Ah ttIl- Ill., We udNc y mere ISEII-
bic hints of what is meant by retrIbutiOR.
Human history abundantly confirms and Illus
tratcs what conscience and reason would lead us
. anticipate, that a righteous God could not
leave it to be fairly inferred that he is Indifferent
10 the character of the nations over whom he
holds dominion. Human history is a fearful
/ commentary upon that awful utterance of retri-
butiye Justice The wicked shall be turned
into hell, and all the nations that forget God"
OF how many once proud empires have the
light and glory gone out in perpetual desolation
because Of the wickedness alike Of sovereigns and of
subjects How many of the magnificent cities which
men have builded have gone down beneath the dark
waves of oblivion, accursed Of God, because they be-
came such sinks of corruption : So sank those Eve
guilty cities, what time the fierce lightniDgs of JeIo-
vah's wrath kindled the pitchy plains Of Sodom. So
sank Thebes and Memphis wholly given over to idola-
try and 50 Babylon the Great has fallen" is a by
word among the nations, aud the massive palaces of
Egypt's and Assyria's kings have crumbled back to
Dust. How marked the judgments of God upon that
very city which had been the instrument Of Jerusa-
lens overthrow and the scene of Judah's captivity.
The cup Of Babylon's iniquity was full when, in a
drunken reyel, her princes prcfaned the vessels of the
Lords house by impiously using them in a heather
feast. That very night the army Of Cyrus surprised
and slew those guilty princes and long ago God
wiped out that sink OF corruption as a man wipeth q
dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. Surely,
% Lord, thou art known by the judgments which
thou executest. Thou hast rebuked the heather,
thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out
their name forever and ever" Thou hast destroy
el Cltlcc, tUelF mtmoEl II peIleDeu VIII l0en. NO
candid historian can relate the causes of the decline
aud fall OF en pires without taking into the account
the manifest judgments OF God against outbreaking
~iniquity. The prosperity and perpetuity of nations
depend not alone upon their commercial relations or
their political alliances, bu; chiefly upon the charac-
ter Of the rulers and the people. Moral causes affect
our temporal not less than cur eternal destiny; and
the seeds Of corruption are always seeds of decay.
We have not necessarily to go back to the times of
the theocraiic government to show how God drives
out the heather before a higher civilization; how he
blesses and builds up the nations that honor him and
curses those who are profane and impious. Modern
historJ is full OF the doctrine Of divine retribution.
On every page We see the proofs that the kingdom is
the Lords and ne is the governor among the nations.
Ii is in evidence that when the provinces of British
India rose in revolt, those cities and sections in which
Christian missions had been most fostered and where
God fearing rulers had held sway, We're most reliable
in their loyalty, while il was in those portions of tue
land where these influences had been least felt that
an outburst OF brutal ferocity swept away the iDno-
cent with the guilty. itself in turn to be visited with
a fearful retribution. And who that believes in q
God of providence and Justice, doubts that it is be-
cause of the many and aggravated sins of yonder
highly favored land, that now OF a long time the
scourge Of God has rested upon it, making so many
households desolate and SO many hearts sad.
And shall l hesitate to say that this people among
whom We dwell cannot hope to be exempt from the
working Of reiributive justice in the providence of
God. if they turn away from what they have been
taught, and from what their consciences approve, to
open anew the foodgates Of intemperance and vice,
and to reinstate the orgies and denominations of
heathenism. If ever wisdom, thoughtfulness and
energy in the rulers were requisite to save a people
from that decay and utter desolation which are the
legitimate fruits of ignorance, incidence and vice,
such wisdom, thoughtfulness and energy are needed
here and now. And who will dispute the sentiment
that a solemn obligation rests upon foreign residents
of every creed and nationality to use every legitimate
influence 10 check the encrOachments Of vice and the
tendencies to heathenism which of late have been so
painfully apparent. When idols are set up in our
high places, and the most loathesome rites are publicly
practiced, and officially permitted. it is time that
somebody should be bold enough faithfully to rebuke
the sin. What is the church worth that sets not its
face like a flint against every form Of error, and lifts
not up its standard against every incoming food of
iniquity What is the ministry worth which utters
not one word Of warning when thus the wrath of
God is defed' In every issue between ligh, and
darkness. between Christian civilization and the ele-
ments of barbarism, God save US from a muZzled
press and from n timid time-serving pulpit.
And this leads me to yet another application
which 1 proposed to make of the text. For, as L
have intimated, il has its lesson of warning and
instruction for churches as well as for nations.
That same jerusalem with reference to which the prophetic
TorJ Thav Ter bs y chosen peon,e whom he threatened
will, such severe discipline for their radical renovation. And
ever Sh haTe ' regard Z for is is Ii i4S f@ viii be- Dc soiciidus to Cleanse It
dish reh w q Il and turning it upside down. when any branch
OF the church becomes SO thoroughly tainted with woridlinsss
that it no longer exerts any spiritual influence upon the world
around it: when any organization assuming to lie a church so
shining in the midst Of the prevailing darkness, God wiz either
chasten and cleanse it, or he viii give it over to utter desola-
ton. IL is a vessel nied TOR destruction, any Otner OrSanlLa-
ton may become corrupt with comparative impunty. But
God. who is Jealous OF his honor, will not suffer his holy name
to continue upon the walls OF a corrupt church from which
vital godiness has well nigh died out, without making an effort
To Tsnovate that church, or in default Of success in retaining
it from backsaing,h he will consign il 10 such spiritual desc
Iation that his own elect shall b. in no danger of being deceived
by it or seduced into 1t: such a church was that at Laoaicea
when Christ the faithful ard true witness said, $50 then.
because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I UiH
spep thee out of my mouth" There is no honor in neu-
traity; no safety in IUketcarnnness. In doctrine and life,
precept and example, the true spiritual church has always been
q witnessing church decided and unequivocal in its testimony
against sin. And when anything claiming to I've the church OF
Chris. connfya- al uOuuiar vices and baptiZes public corruption,
a righteous God win disown IL. When in any issue between
virtue and vice. between truth and error, this or any other
cOwaTdly policy, prove itself neither cold nor hot. God will
either by his judgments bring 1t to shame and repentance or he
will spuTn it from him, as il were spewing it out of his mouth.
But, my bearers. it may be OF service for US to consider that
God visits his judgments not alone upon guilty nations aud
time-serving lukewarm churches, but also upon individual
transgressors- A church cannot become cold and corrupt save
as its members are worldly and wicked. There can be no
national guilt without personal wrong-doing. There are no
organic sins which do not involve individual responsibility.
Which one of US then, in the pienitude Of his pride will say,
the kingdom IL corrupt but 4 am NOT concerned the cHuch
IS cold, but I am not cuip16ie , DO we so consistently practice
virtue ami so faithfully rebuke sin that a righteous judge can
endorse the approval Of our consciences, with the plaudit. rel
done, good and faithful servant, Do We so closely follow
Christ through evil and through good report that we have no
fear lest a. the last a worse maledtction than that OF the text
for destructionl Let Us not mourn at any personal overturn-
ings. let US lament not any cleansing discipline which serves to
bring Us nearer TO him. II is better that these earthern vessels
should be emPtied and purified, ana turned npstfe docn
than that they should De filed with worldly corruption. II is
better to he ceansed than to he cast away and broken in pieces,
to be a vessel unto honor sanctihed. and meet for the Masters
Genuine heart religion. practical personal piety. is the conserva-
tive influence and the great renovating power which alone can
save the nation from decay, the church from deSolacon and
each individual from ruin.
j. vi. SMITH e CO.'S