The world see the very class whom they have mocked and derided , and desired to exterminate , pass unharmed through pestilence , tempest , and earthquake . He who is to the transgressors of His law a devouring fire , is to His people a safe pavilion . The minister who has sacrificed truth to gain the favor of men now discerns the character and influence of his teachings . It is apparent that the omniscient eye was following him as he stood in the desk , as he walked the streets , as he mingled with men in the various scenes of life . Every emotion of the soul , every line written , every word uttered , every act that led men to rest in a refuge of falsehood , has been scattering seed ; and now , in the wretched , lost souls around him , he beholds the harvest .
Saith the Lord : " They have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly , saying , Peace , peace ; when there is no peace ." " With lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad , whom I have not made sad ; and strengthened the hands of the wicked , that he should not return from his wicked way , by promising him life ." Jeremiah 8:11 ; Ezekiel 13:22 . " Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture ! . . . Behold , I will visit upon you the evil of your doings ." " Howl , ye shepherds , and cry ; and wallow yourselves in the ashes , ye principal of the flock : for your days for slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished ;… and the shepherds shall have no way to flee , nor the principal of the flock to escape ." Jeremiah 23:1 , 2 ; 25:34 , 35 , margin .
Ministers and people see that they have not sustained the right relation to God . They see that they have rebelled against the Author of all just and righteous law . The setting aside of the divine precepts gave rise to thousands of springs of evil , discord , hatred , iniquity , until the earth became one vast field of strife , one sink of corruption . This is the view that now appears to those who rejected truth and chose to cherish error . No language can express the longing which the disobedient and disloyal feel for that which they have lost forever--eternal life . Men whom the world has worshiped for their talents and eloquence now see these things in their true light . They realize what they have forfeited by transgression , and they fall at the feet of those whose fidelity they have despised and derided , and confess that God has loved them .
The people see that they have been deluded . They accuse one another of having led them to destruction ; but all unite in heaping their bitterest condemnation upon the ministers . Unfaithful pastors have prophesied smooth things ; they have led their hearers to make void the law of God and to persecute those who would keep it holy . Now , in their despair , these teachers confess before the world their work of deception . The multitudes are filled with fury . " We are lost !" they cry , " and you are the cause of our ruin ;" and they turn upon the false
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