Delaware State journal and statesman., 1867-12-03

e"". lungs anu tne true nature OF religion,
and thus spiritual freedom is advancing, and
! therefore we say that progress is being made
IN the church, as well as in the State.
BUT my friends, we must see and acknow-
ledge that the progress we have made either
in the church or in the State, either as ma
! tons or as individuals, is not due TO human
intelligence or human power alone. We
congratulate ourselves on our success, on
the increase OF our power, on the improved
condition OF the masses, as to intelligence,
virtue and religion, but we must give the
glory unto Him who creates all things and
who rules all things There are two great
laws or principles upon which depend all
true progress In everythlng;. these are love
to the Lord and love to the neighbor. These
loves are formed within US; they are spiritual
loves not natural ones; we are not inclined
10 1--we IN the exercise Of them, but rather
TO love ourselves and the, world more than
the Lord and our neighbor. But Just SO
lar as we have come into the exercise OF these
loves, by overcoming evil and doing good.
30 tar have we made progress and gained
power. They produce harmony and peace
wherever they prevail, because they are
heavenly loves; they prevail In heaven and
produce joy and peace and bicssedness in
the minds of the angels. They not only
strengthen our desires to do good and en-
large our sympathies, but they actually in
crease our intellectual powers and give ua
greater ability to understand the laws of our
being and the laws of natural science. This
may not seem to be true; it may seem to us
that we can divorce the intellect from the
affections and find power in knowledge alone;
but this idea is opposed 10 all the teachings
of the Divine Word. l ft 10
The perfection of human life and the
secret Of all true progress Is in the marriage
union OF love and wisdom, because from this
union is produced something that is Of use.
The intellect never actsalone, nor can il be en-
lightened without some exercise of the affec-
tions. When thel love principles most active
the intellectual principle becomes most pow
erful for good; we cannot have light Without
some heat, and when the heat is strongest,
as in the time of Summer, the productions
of the earth come to perfection. rrsa
II is the love principle, then, that gives
the intellectual principle power for good; 1t is
the love principle that gives power TO faith,
it is the love principle that brings the truth
down into the lowest planes of activity, and
produces harmony and peace. and, conse-
quently, progress in all the affairs Of life.
Now it is because this great truth is becom-
ing better understood, and because men are
acting in accordance with 1t, that we are
making progress. ...l.etlor
The highest state of progress or perfection
in spiritual things, as foretold in Scripture,
is when the love principle is active, or
when the two great loves, love to the Lord
and love to the neighber, the latter springing
from the former, become the ruling motives
of'life. These two loves are often symbol
lied In Scripture by mountains and hills.
The Psalmist says: 1.-THE mountains shall
bring peace to the people, and the little hills
by righteousness. 'i-LxxTr, 3. "The noun
tains skipped like rams and the little hills
as lambs. n-oxIv, A. "Mountains and all
hills praise the Lord. ''--oxLvnI, o. And in
T-. =.
forth before you into singing. .n-Lrv, 12.
And in an opposite sense they are used to
symbolize the love of self and the world.
'The mountains shall depart and the hills
be removed. us. LIV, 10. EVERY valley
shall be- exalted, and every mountain and
| hill shall be made low. us. XII, 3. But in
the text it is written, "It shall come 10 pass
In that day that the mountains shall drop
down new wine and the hills shall dow with
milk" These words must be understood
! spiritually; in the letter alone they. have no
meaning ior u.s. 1t is impossible for the
natural mountains 10 drop down wine or for
the hills to flow with milk. But it Is possible
for those affections which regard the Lord
as the Author OF all good, and the Giyer of
all joy and peace, to produce states Of spiri-
tual intelligence. The new WINE Is the
wine which He promised His disciples to
| drink anew with them IN. His Fathers King
dom; it corresponds 10 that kind of truth
which flows from love, that kind Of truth
which is given to those who seek constant
ly to do the will of their Heavenly Father.
And as the hills correspond 10, the love of
the neighbor, or those affections which con-
stantly regard the neighbor's good, or the
happiness of others, SO the milk with which
they shall flow denotes the truth which is
given to all who are under the influence
of those affections. To every good affection
| OF the soul, the Lord imparts such truth as
| will enable il to come into activity. II is,
aswe have already said, through theaffections
| that the truth is hEought down into activity
/ and produces order, harmony and peace;
and every affection has its appropriate truth
to guide 1t and direct it. That wine and
milk have this correspondence is plain, from
the Lords invitation IN Isaiah; "Ho, every
one that thirsteth, come ye to. the waters,
and he that hath no money; come ye, buy
and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk with
out money and without price. NV, 1;
| where wine and milk, refer to spiritual
principles which nourish the soul. 1t is
SAID further in the text that all the rivers of
Judah shall flow with waters: which signifies
that all truths which flow into the minds of
those who are principled in love will pro-
duce spiritual Intelligence. II is written in
the 46th Psalm: "rhere IS q river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city Of God. -
This river is the same as the River Of Iife,
proceed out OF the throne of God and OF the
Lamb; it is the stream of Divine Wisdom
from which man must drink, that he may
become truly intelligent and wise, And the
fountain of which it is said that 1t "shall
come forth of the house Of the Lord and
shall water the valley of Slittim, y signifies
the doctrine which is revealed, by the Lord,
and which Illustrates those who are in
knowledge and science; for the valley OF
Shittim, or the river OF Shittim, is the lower
degree of intelligence, that which isaequlred
scientifically. We read in Zee, "In that
, day there shall be fountain opened to the
, house OF David, and to the inhabitants of
| Jerusalem, for sin and duncleanliness.-xm, /.
! Now the prophecy contained in the text
evidently refers to new and improved con
! ! dition OF the mind, when heavenly princi-
pies shall have their proper influence and
! shall serve to bring man himself into higher
degrees OF intelligence and love. And in
! fact, my hearers, this prophecy is now being
1 fulfilled, the new heaven and the new earth
! are. being established; there is a new state oil
/ things already hegun both In the internal
4 degree of mems minds and in the outer OF
natural plane. All the progress and change
r we have alluded TO is due to this cause.
4 In observing this day, then, as day oil
. thanksgiving to God for all His tender mer.
4 cies towards us, for His goodness and His
4 wonderful works 10 the children of men, y
q let us not only give thanks for natural com
/ forts enjoyed and natural blessings received
/ tor plentiful haryests, exemption from pes
+, thence, the pleasures of society and the
r comforts of home; but let us also give
4 thanks for the wider diffusion OF knowledge
!. for the descent OF new degrees of light, fol
q the prevalence of more liberal sentiments
a | for the growth of charity among men where
Il,