Page 8 - 21 A Warning Rejected

present. Truly, the church should awake, and

search into the cause of this affliction; for as

an affliction everyone that loves Zion must

view it. When we call to mind how ‘few and

far between’ cases of true conversion are, and

the almost unparalleled impertinence and

hardness of sinners, we almost involuntarily

exclaim, ‘Has God forgotten to be gracious?

or, Is the door of mercy closed?’”

Such a condition never exists without cause

in the church itself. The spiritual darkness

which falls upon nations, upon churches and

individuals, is due, not to an arbitrary

withdrawal of the succors of divine grace on

the part of God, but to neglect or rejection of

divine light on the part of men. A striking

illustration of this truth is presented in the

history of the Jewish people in the time of

Christ. By their devotion to the world and