The Portland daily press., 1864-11-01

Il
reign over them, bring them, hither and sla
inem before me-" In the parable of the hus
banoman, who abused and even slew the mes
senger sent to receive of the fruits, he saw
DE shall miserably destroy those wicke
men, and let out his vineyard to others.'
This is Christ at once the Prince of peac
to all who bow to his sceptre and a man Z
war, with flaming sword to consume his ad
versaries. This is the Lamb of God and tn
Lion OF the tribe of Judah.
just such Peace, with those who are II
rebellion against US, every minister and Chris
tian professor longs and prays for, with yearn
ing heart. But to make peace or be at peac'
with rebels In arms still prosecuting their wort
OF ruin, neither the word of God, nor the ex
ample of Christ requires, or admits. On thu
other hand, it is true of created beings as Ol
the Uncreated, just in proportion as one louei
the right he viii hate the wrong. They arr
opposite poles of the magnet-one cannot b,
excited without the other. As man reyeres
the name of God he will abhor profanity. and
not tolerate 1t in his presence. As he loves
the truth will he abominate a lie-as he love.
loyalty, will he abhor rebellion and seek il.
overthrow. sidr FT
But after exhausting all the resources o
love and Kindness, human and divine there
has been In all ages and Is still, vast amount
OF evil unsubdued-a multitude deaf and blind
to every such Consideration. For them, Gov
ernment must be instituted and the magis-
'trate appointed-and the magistrate must
bear the sword. This prepares us to INQUIRE
Ii. What is the office of the sword, under
the government of God?
The design ofhis government, in this world
ID two fold. l.; The Reformation and discip-
line of his people. q; The maintenance of
MS authority In opposition to evil. For these
purposes, where all gentle influence fail, he
has three great Providential agencies, famine
pestilence and the sword. ssr fss,T aai
The records OF Sacred history show, that
usually God chastised his people by the sword.
La few instances the blackwinged pestilen ce
was sent forth, destroying thousand at stroke
In larger number of cases famine was sent
upon them; but In ten cases to one Of these,
the wicked, which are sword in Gods hand
were left to assail them successfully. Thus,
when they did evil In his sight, the Lord sold
them into the hands of INDIAN, Moab, Amalek
Edom, the Philistines, Apyria, Babylon, Egypt
etc. till they repented. a4
But the great and only purpose for which 1t
is right for people to resort to the sword, is
to repel the aggression of evil, or to destroy
its power. The principle of evil, incarnate or
not incarnate, is aggressive. Never content
with present possessions, 1t Is constantly en-
croaching and If left unoppossd, would annihi-
late all good, and hold grand pandemonium
on earth, as it does In hell. To prevent such
dire calamity, God has ordained that this
deadly influence shall be resisted and eventu-
ally crushed. 1t is not by gentle remonstrance,
that the devil in man or out of him is to be
overcome. Mild measures are to be exhaust
ed first but when they fail, the stern alterna-
tive OF force ie to be employed.
No truth Is more clearly revealed by history
sacred and profane, than these two PROPOSE
tlons that wherever good has been established
in the world, evil comes in-for its destruction; !;
and that, when this evil becomes intolerable
God removes 1t, notify gentle means but by
violence, by destruction. Witness the period
from the Creation to the Flood. Man made
holy-evil entered Eden-the race degenera
ting-sin reigning till the forbearance of God
was exhausted, and he said, "The end of all
flesh Is come before me :" and he swept them
from the earth with deluge, except one hous-
hold, who were righteous in his sight. Then
again the world commenced in comparative
righteousness, but from Noah to Abram what
degeneracy! Iniquity again filed the earth,
and patriarchal dynasties were dashed In
pieces. Then God called Abram and made a
new covenant with him, with new revelations,
and consecrated one chosen seed to himself,
and when the iniquity of Gentle nations was
full, he blotted them out of existence by the
scourge of war till Phenicia, Egypt, Chaldea,
Babylon, and all contemporary kingdoms, were
destroyed. b os5
But the history Of his chosen people is most
on this point. Commencing with
the father of the faithful, the friend OF God.
they continued through many chastenings and
much long suffering till the coming Of Christ.
The Prince of Peace himself at last walked
among them and taught as none ever had.
Clothed with Almighty power and breathing
infinite benevolence, he would have gathered
them, as hen tgathereth her chickens, but
they would not. Then what did he do? He
wept over them in their infatuation, but de-
clared, "Your house is left unto you desolate.n
''Wo unto you The blood of all the prophets,
which was shed from the foundation OF the
world shall be required of this generation"
That was the peace he brought and proclaimed
for incorrigibie sinners. Now mark the full
hlment The Jewish nation is assembled at
Jerusalem for their national festivals, when
the Roman legionss, under Titus, surround
the city. The gates are shut. Not one can
60 In or come out. The amiable Titus en-
treats them to surrender, but the infatuated
leaders refuse. Their st0res are exhausted,
and famine begins to gnaw upon them. They
8at their dead horses; they eat their children;
they perish by thousands Of starvation. The
putrid BODIES breed pestllence which sweep
away otner tnousanas. Internal oissentions
arse "A norror oi norrors Nus m uhe CITY, TIL
more more lhan a MILLION tU are eead. Lne waiis are
plohel uomni .elnple iuiL VI nuMan Delngs
1ulneu S,li slu sno NuesoM uSs'loyeui anu tne
llnce u Leacs l9ohs ca.ln,y ~ uoNn rom ms
~ sauty auu seIs ~ ai
~ pS"o .no ;sas ,sm unuo. sns gospei
~ - = sase !. ledunes s LopSn.auvo -, VI uanas.Un.
Anu AN. ,as, W. 70 .u11e wno oy naSpaacsu sympasny
y, WV. ~ peyona sne Aofo
IN T Sneir & co%m.seraslon. % .so ...,
Lsen =, ~ neases sae satns pllnc,pies plssali'
.u,:1 -I.n onse Srsel yu snu sSusn. " aSeou-
piisn tne @ same aesclucIion ~. y mas wrougnt on
eartn. Inen 1nere was war IN heaven !,
Mlcnaei and MS angels warring against the
Dragon ana MS angels. Inen tnere was
contlscatlon and eternal Danisnment. NO
thought OF relaxation OF the vigor OF the cam
paign TIL rebellion was suodued, and any who
had whispered desire for the cessation OF
nosuilties TIL rebels were overcome, would
nave been hurled with them from the battle
menus OF neaVenl
Cnrisuanity was established IN ITS purity,
DuS now soon SATAN nag entereo fhe churcn
ana maze IL 2 Gen OF corruption Tor hundreds