Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-05-04

Righteousness as q hen covers her chickens
with her wings, they would not let him. They
rejected the Lord of glory. Just 60 it is yet
Multitudes reject the Saviour and 60 down to
endless woe.
BAGS WITH HOLES. .Haggai, 1:8.
The manner and customs of people change,
but human nature is, in all countries, the
same. Were this not true, no body Of the
present day could be induced to read Horace
or Juvenal, nor would an American or Eng
lishman of the present day see any. beauty in
Shakespeare Men are the same, find them
where you may; and God always deals with
them in the same manner. AS the Jews sin
ned fifteen hundred years ago, so men sin to-
day; and as God dealt with the Jews at that
time, on account of their sins, 80 will he deal
with sinners in this and every succeeding age
of the world. The Jews forsook God and be-
came idolaters. God drove them into bon
dage in Babylon. Again, God, in mercy,
moved the hearts of the heather Kings, and
the captive Jews were granted permission to
return to the land of their fathers. Still, the
Jews were slow to discharge all their duties.
The house of God was suffered by them to
"lie waste" and every man "run to his own
house." They said, "The time is not come
the time that the Lords house should be
built" They plead as an excuse, the desola-
tion of the land, and the poverty to which
they had been reduced by the captivity. The
land was desolate. Strangers had devoured
it, their cities had been laid waste, and with
great truthfulness, many of the people could
plead poverty.
Is this not the case with US to-day? We
plead poverty. The late war has made US
poor, we say, and it is true in most cases.
Change the names and locality, and we would
conclude that in the first chapter Of the
prophecy of Haggai, God is addressing us.
Our people claim that they are too poor to do
any thing for God. 1t takes them struggling
to make provisions for their temporal COM
fort. 1t is no time, we say, to build church.
es; to send the gospel to the heather, to pro-
vide for the destitute in our midst, or to de-
vote much time to the service Of God. Wait
until we make a few good crops, get out of
debt, and get an abundance Of the comforts
of life around us, and then we shall build up
the Lords cause in the earth. Thus we think
and say, at least by our actions; and so
thought and said the Jews 6v's hundred years
before Christ.
As God is an Interchangeable God, We may
expect to be dealt with as the Jews we're.
God usually, if not always, Furnishes the same
sin in different individuals in the same way.
If this were not the case, we dare not make
any practical use of Gods providential deal
ings. We could not judge of the future by
the past. If God did not punish the sinner,
to some extent, in this world, we might fairly
conclude that he is an impotent God. If sin
was not always punished in the same way, we
might conclude that God is not just. From
the dealing of God with the human family,
we see that it is his eternal purpose to punish
Justly the violator Of his law We may con-
clude that as God punished the Jews for neg
lecting the house of God, so he will punish
| us.
Evidently, the Jews, after the Babylonish
captivity, we're very irreligious. They had
mingled with the heather and learned Of them
their way. War never makes pious nations.
We hazard nothing in saying that we are
very irreligious people. Many Of us are
lukewarm, and not few are positive neglec-
tors of God. How did God deal with the
ancient Jews when they did as we are doing ?
If we knew what chastisement was inflicted
upon the Jews we may conclude, with GER
tainty, what chastisement may be visited up
on us. For their neglect Of duties, God with
held temporal blessings from his ancient peo-
pie. The land that once flowed with milk
and honey, brought forth stiutingly. The
people sowed for much and brought forth lit
tie. When their fields brought forth abun-
dainty, and the crops were gathered, God
blowed upon the granaries and the wheat and
the corn wasted away. The laborer placed
his hard earned wages in bags, but the bags
had holes in them; and that for which he had
toiled and labored ran out The people were
cursed in their fields Poverty stared them
in the face. They planted great deal aud
expected large crops, but God sent the drought
and the crops were cut off: Even what was
made, seemed to do them little good. The
people eat and were not satisfied; they clothed
themselves and were not warm.
This is the way that God will deal with us
if we continue to neglect him. In fact, he
has already commenced to chastise US in this
way. Every harvest our farmers are disap.
pointed. "The crops were not good last year."
is the universal cry. O, how poor multitudes
are growing! They have been depositing
their gains in bags that were full of holes;
and all has run out. "The heaven over US
has been stayed from dew and the earth has
been stayed from its fruit" Every one has
cause for this state of things. The true cause
is the fact that we are living as a people in
the open neglect of God. Our motto is, "all
for the body and nothing for the SOUL" The
daughter Of Zion (the church, is left as a
cottage in vineyard, as lodge in garden
of cucumbers, as besieged city. The result
is, as we see it daily. Our "silver is turned
to dross." Our fields bring forth briers and
thorns. Our land is full of confusion and
misery.