1841 William Miller Evidence from Scripture & History - A2Z.org

nys, Deut viii. 16,17, "Who fed thee in the wildernee,
with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might
humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee
good at thy latter end, lest you should say in your hearts,
My power, and the might of mine hand, hath gotten me
this wealth."
Surely, my brethren, if we would read thi pass
and apply it home, we must see, unless we are n l f g
blind, that if we are in the wilderness at this time, the
object of God is lost upon us. We are not humble
enough to believe that God is the Author and Fbkher
of our faith, or that salvation is of God. Are we not mying,
not only in our hearts, but also in doctrine, words,
and action, that we can do great things; our might, our
wisdom, our handa, have gotten us this pat wealth
Do we not see our benevolence trumpeted forth in
everj publication of the present day, and om contribotions
spread far and wide For what 2 To feed the hungry
and clothe the naked Na, not literally, but mentally.
Yes, and do we not see that inatead of feeding the pblic
mind with wholesome food, with the sincere milk of
the word, we have almost surfeited them with our tvte
and spices, until the public mind has become so heated,
nothing satisfies unless it hae been highly spiced with
some agitated question to more inflame the public pulse.
More than three quarters of all our contributions are used
to bloat each other up in self-righteousnes and pride ; or
to pull each other down, with our excited queatione of
right and wrong. The moral code which God re to
man for hie happiness here and hereafter is demshed;
and Judge Lynch is the order of the day, as well in morals
as in our civil affaira Where in the word of God
are we commanded to have our gifb for charitable ptuposes
published, either before or behind ae, by a public
gazette or a brazen-mouthed trumpet 2 Yet at the present
day, we glory in our pride, and excuse ouraelvee in
the manner of doing it ; for the end, say we 'ostifies the
means. Why, then, did not our savior ju&#y the Pkieeee
in the same means for the very same object - to
make proselytes
The wildemem then, urrder existbg ch-