Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-09-20
[ Orisinal.1
THE DROUGHT.

For some wise purpose Goa has seen nj 10
withhold from us the rains of heaven, and
the result is our crops are cut short. Those
who reject the doctrine of special provi-
dence will say, no doubt, that God had moth
ing to do with it. That the clouds are not
directly controlled by God, but follow laws
long since established, which are never, on
any occasion, or on any account, suspended
or reversed by God. The best that can be
said for such theory is that it makes God
an idle spectator of all the suffering that his
creatures will be called upon to endure as a
result of this fixed law.
The truth is if there is no special provi-
dence, there is no providence at all. The
whole cannot be preserved without preser-
ing the parts If there is no special provi-
dence, it is impossible to discover what our
Saviour meant when he said, "tWo sparroWs
are sold for farthing, and one of them shall!
not fall to the ground without your father.'
Matt. 10: %.
The Scriptural mode of accounting for the
droughts with which our country is SO fire.
ouently visited is certainly the most salts
factory. This is to regard sin as the procu-
ring cause of all our calamities. Where
there is no sin there is no suffering. God
has no pleasure in the suffering of any of his
creatures, consequently he has no delight in
turning the heavens into brass and the
earth into iron.
1t would be rash to mention any particu-
lar sin as the cause of our trouble. No doubt
as a nation many sins may be laid to our
charge Prominent among our national
sins is Sabbath breaking. No one will deny
this. 1t is a deplorable fact that, asa nation,
we have long since ceased to remember the
Sabbath to keep it holy unto the Lord our
God. Sabbath breaking was prominent
- nf Tho IaUc nf old onH for
this sin God chastised them sorely. AS a
nation we need expect nothing but God's
displeasure so long as we continue to desc
crate the Sabbath.
Another sin with which we as a nation are
chargeable is worldly mindedness: The
rush is to get rich. We have no time to
serve God. 1t is right to be dillgent in busl-
ness, but we are also required to serve the
Lord.
Another of our sins is ingratitude. Last
wear our fields brought forth in great abun-
dance. but we were not grateful to God tor
his goodness Our hearts were filled with
pride and we wasted the bounties of Gods
providence in gratifying our vile lusts.
Another sin with which the American ma
ton is chargeable, is the sin of secularizing
the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
professed people of God, or majority OF
them, nave 1or years peell ltDcllllS W e!lhit
nate from the Church everything that is Of
fensiye to the world. The result is that the
Church and the world, by mutual agreement,
have met and embraced each other. The
professed people of God in fearful numbers,
have given up their practical religion and
adopted instead thereof many of the prac-
tices of the world. The lines which sepa-
rate the professed people of God from the
world are so indistinct as to be discoverable
only on close and scrutinizing search. Like
Israel of old 1--WE have mingled with the
heathen and learned of them their way"
The wonder is not that God SO atfiicts us,
but that he is so gracious to us: The peo-
pie of God are commanded to be separate
from the world. Not nominally separate,
but actually separate and distinct, in all its
ways, from the world. In open and defiant
opposition to this command, the members