Return and come to Zion, O captive daughter; unloose the bands of sectism from off thy neck; cast aside the creeds and tyranny of man; cease the cold forms and frozen conventionalities, and seek the green pasture fields of Zion, where there are songs and everlasting joy, and sighs and sorrow come no more.
Matthew 13th chapter.
The parable of the Savior in which he likens the kingdom of heaven unto a man which sowed good seed in his field is also illustrative of the gospel day. The field is the world. The Son of man sowing the good seed is the glorious gospel work of the morning. The enemy that sowed the tares is the apostasy, which destroyed much of the good seed and sowed discord, contention, strife and superstition. The harvest-time is the evening time. The angels are God's holy messengers.
In the evening of time the Son of man shall send [pg 485] forth his angels or messengers, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. God is calling his people out of all confusion and darkness, separating them from sin and the works of man. Such is the work to be done in the end of the world.
Jeremiah 23d chapter.
In the fifth and sixth verses of this chapter is a beautiful prophecy of Christ. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.”
In the ninth verse the prophet tells of his broken heart because he foresees the dark apostasy. From verse nine to verse eighteen he speaks of the wicked doings of apostates.
In verse nineteen he describes the present holiness reformation that is sweeping over the land. “Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.”
Matthew 24th chapter.
In the third verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we read of the disciples questioning the Savior concerning the end of the world. They say, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall [pg 486] be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” In answering, the Savior in the sixth and the following few verses speaks of political upheavals. In the eleventh and twelfth verses he predicts the apostasy of the noonday. “Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.” That is why a child of God finds it so difficult to retain an experience of salvation in sectism. Iniquity abounds, and being yoked up with such evil companions he can not stem the tide of influence.