What shall I say of the cities of Tyre and Sidon, of Nineveh with her hundred gates; of Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellence," with her mighty walls, her strong gates and towers, her palatial residences, her magnificent temples, her hanging gardens, the wonder and admiration of all who beheld them! Where are all these? Crumbled into shapeless heaps of ruins that are scarcely sufficient to show where they once stood—nothing left of them but their names. Where, too, are the grand empires of Assyria and Babylon, of Egypt and Persia, of Macedonia and Greece? and, lastly, where is Rome, the most stupendous political fabric yet constructed by the wit of man—where are all these? Where is their strength, their glory, their pride—nay, I ask more, where are the principles that formed the basis of their constitutions, the ideas by which they were governed—principles which they expected would forever perpetuate their institutions —where are all these things, as well as the empires themselves? Like the gorgeous temples, and cloud-capped towers of the cities we have named, they have dissolved into thin air, like the baseless fabric of an empty vision. Look at your maps of today, and you shall find no line or trace of them, not even of the boundaries which once marked the extent of their dominion. All is lost except their names and their history. As in the sight of God the mountains are as unstable and transient as the clouds, so nations rise and pass away. But seek out the causes of their dissolution, look well into it, and you will find that these nations no less than the children of Israel, both Jews and Nephites, were guilty of violating righteous principles, as they understood them, of refusing to repent, and of rejecting the counsels of God, and fighting against his truth. They were guilty of oppression, pride, licentiousness; they tyrannized over the meek and lowly; they wrung from the hands of the poor the wealth their labor created, that they might consume it upon their lusts. These abominations were the causes of their overthrow, and as one reviews the rise and fall of great kingdoms, republics, and splendid empires, he concludes that Byron might well say—
There is the moral of all human tales;
'Tis but the same rehearsal of the past;
First freedom, and then glory—when that fails,
Wealth, vice, corruption—barbarism at last:
And history with all her volumes vast
Hath but one page!
What lessons are here spread out for the reading of the nations today! True, they might be offended if one should tell them that there was danger threatening them for their wickedness, for they esteem themselves righteous; so did the people of the ancient cities and kingdoms I have named. It might be held treasonable, to say that the present governments, which encumber the earth, will pass away like the others have— like the chaff of the summer's threshing floor—for they think they have laid the foundation of their respective political fabrics on so sure a basis, that they will be perpetuated forever. So thought the Babylonians, the Greeks, and especially the Romans; but they have passed away, and have left nothing behind them, but their names and the lessons which their follies and crimes teach.
But I fear you have forgotten in this long digression the subject in hand—repentance. Of the things I would have you remember, this is the sum: True repentance is sincere sorrow for sin, accompanied by a firm resolution to forsake that which is evil. The legitimate fruits of such sorrow—repentance, is a reformation of life. And if, peradventure, through weakness of human nature one should fall into transgression, even after setting his heart to work righteousness, let him not be discouraged, but repeat his repentance, and I believe the experiences I have pointed out in these pages, both individual and national, demonstrate that God is good, and "goodness still delighteth to forgive." He is merciful and willing to pardon abundantly those who are sorry for their offenses, and will make a manly effort to reform. But on the other hand, those who mock him, and presumptuously sin, thinking to impose upon his long-suffering, have need to fear, both persons and nations, for all history teaches that it is a fearful thing to fall under the displeasure of the Most High.
[CHAPTER XXI.]
BAPTISM.
"Except be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."[A] Such was the statement of Jesus to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews, who came to Jesus by night to be taught of him. The statement of the Son of God created no little astonishment in the mind of Nicodemus, and he inquired if a man could be born again when he was old; could he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born. Jesus then gave an answer which was explanatory of his first statement: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."[B]
[Footnote A: John iii: 3.]
[Footnote B: John iii: 5.]
There can be no question about being "born of water," here alluded to, having reference to water baptism administered to those who accept the Gospel, and which, as administered for the first three centuries of the Christian era, represented, most completely, a birth. The candidate for baptism being led down into the water, had his whole person immersed in it, then he was brought forth from that element, and gasped again the breath of life. In order that the resemblance of a birth in this may be clearly seen, I would remind my readers that the infant, previous to its birth, and while in its mother's womb, lives in the element of water, and is nourished by the generous tide of life which courses through her veins and visits her heart. At birth, that life which was connected with the mother is severed, the offspring comes forth from the womb, from the element of water, and breathes the air, which then becomes essential to its existence—it is born into this world. The likeness, in a general way, between this natural birth and Christian baptism, as described above, is sufficiently obvious. In both instances the persons are brought from one element into another, from the water in which they existed into the atmosphere.
Many and various have been the views held respecting this ordinance, as to its necessity, its object, to whom it should be administered, and the manner in which it should be performed. Differences of opinion on this subject have led to schisms in the Christian world, and new sects have been formed, and that because of peculiar views held in respect to baptism. But with those who are willing to take as authority absolute, the teachings of revelation as contained in the Bible, and more especially the revelations of the Lord in these days, there need be no confusion in relation to any of these questions that have perplexed men in regard to this ordinance.