The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1865-12-21

llS TEARS, anu dgOuleS, anu DlOOu. MAY
it not be that such is our lot,-such the
place we hold in the grand purposes of
God? We do not know with what world
wide consequences the late Revolution is
pregnant. Could we see as the great
God, whose eve sweeps over eternity and
whose mind grasps in moment the whole
of the past, the present, and the future,
we might learn that after all, though ours
is life of suffering and heavy burdens,
it occupies an honorable place in the his
tory of the world, is best for the inter-
ests of coming generations, and best for
the glory # God.
WhateFer, though, may be the design
of God in those dispensatiOns Of his
Providence. by which our country is now
affected, We know enough TO vindicate
them toour reason and our Conscience.
enough to prevent us from drifting into
a cold, dark, cheerless infdeEty. Nay,
it were a shame to us Christians, if we
can only be saved from gloomy skepti-
tism. 1t were a reproach to oourreligiOus
intelligence and our religious experience,
if we cannot 90 further, and draw from
the fountain of Divine truth those abun-
dant consultations which it is intended to
pour into the aching and desponding
breast. Comfort We, comfort We my
people, saith your God. These words
God offers to every saint, and the sub
stantial realities which they contain 1
wish every Christian to receive into his
soul.
Brethren, will you reject them? VIII
you cast away this heavenly mamma, and
prefer to feed upon the husks of earth?
/ Or, viii You sit down at the table Of the
Lord, and taste the celestial food that
his wisdom has prepared! l. wish to
comfort you-to comfort you in deed and
in truth-not merely to save you from
infdelity, or preserve you from too deep
a despondency, but to fill you with Di-
vine consolation, to lead YOU in trusting
confidence to an intimate communion
with your Heavenly Father, and to make
you feel that, whatever he is to others,
to you at least, he is, as he claims to be,
the "Fathcr of mercies and God of all
comfort.
Before suggesting, however, the grounds
of comfort which the Scriptures furnish
( to us all under our present misfortunes,
it may be best to indicate that prepara-
ton of heart which is necessary to Il re-
ception of the consultations of the Cos
pei.
/. We must accept the results of the
late protracted and bloody war as the
will of Providence, as one of his inscru-
table purposes which time has developed
and established.
Many Christians-some even who be-
'long 10 the GaFinisric churcheS-do not
lay firm hold of the idea of Divine Prov
idence as unfolded in the Scriptures.
They acknowledge that nothing can hap
pen without his permission; but they
do not believe that all events are so
bounded and controlled by his superin-
tending presence, that they are really
ordered by Him and utter an expression
of His will. While, therefore, they ad-
NIT that the terrible conflict, which for
so many weary months was desolating
Southern homes and hearthstoneS, was
permitted by Him, they deny that it can
in any other sense be said to be providen-
tial. With such views, no solid founda-
ton can be laid for faith, hope, patience,
submission, and all the other Christian
graces which are essential to a we'll
grounded, stable peace of mind. Let
war with all its horrors be regarded only
as the work of man; and such a sense of
wrong will weigh upon the spirit as ef-
fectually to drive away the ministering
angel that comes to comfort. Read the
story of all the crimes that have been
committed, of all the injuries that have
been perpetrated, and of all the rights
that have been trodden under foot for
the last four years; and if Providence
has only permissive agency in them all,
the heart will naturally chafe with an
indignation so intense and with a revenge
so bitter, that it has no room to entertain
feelings of softening and soothing kind.
But let us realize the Bible truth, that
bloody fields of battle, and burning
houses, and devastated lands, with all the
: untold miseries that follow in the tracks of
war, while they originate in the wicked
ness of man, are vet as infallibly guided
by a experimenting power, to the accom-
pGshment of his sovereign purposes, as a
bark upon the seas by the helmsman' 5
hand: then if our hearts have been melt
ed by the grace of God, there is room
for the operation Of a submissive spirit,
with all the blessed results that submis-
sion imparts
,. We must learn from our hearts to
forgive those who have brought such ter
rible calamities upon US.
A vindictiye spirit, that boils with
wrath against those who have injured US,
is not only at war with the precepts OF
Christianity, and with the example Of its
Divine Founder, who even under the ag-
onies of the cross bre655Led Q prayer for
forgiveness in behalf of his bitterest enc
mics; but it is destructive of all mental
tranquility, and is an cfectual bar to the
ENJOYING of those abundant consultations
which the Gospel is intended to furnish.
Men may say that the forgiveness OF in
iuries is too hard an exaction to demand
Of frail humanity; but hard or easy, ii
is demanded; and of one thing we may
rest assured, unless in this regard, we
listen to the voice of Christ, we must for
ever remain strangers to that peace Of