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

-m a desert land, and in the waste, howling wilhe
led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the
apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, Buttereth
over her young, epreadeth abroad her wings,
taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the L d
alone did lead him, and there waa no ""$ I@
him." If the above is a true description o God'a care
and protection of hie people in the wildemesa, d p
this must be a desirable state for the church.
Isaiah, in his vision of the church in the wilderness
eays, (xxxv, I, !2,) " The wildernese and the solitary place
shall be glad for them, and the desert ahall rejoice and
blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundant1 , and
rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of tba-
non shall be ejven unto it, the excellency of Carmel and
Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the
excellency of our God." If' the church had been in the
city, instead of beholding the glory of God, her eyee
rmght have been dazzled with the glory of the world,
an excellency of her great men, or with the gotla of the
men of the world; so that, while in this state of trial
and temptation, while imperfection is found m the
church, tl~o wilderness is a place of greater security
from inbred lust and outward foea
Perhaps we have been in the habit of fixing in aor
knhds quite a different idea of tlie wildemem state aC
the church, from what ideas I have ven, or froa rbat
might be proved by the wriw o h e propbeta and
apostles. Examine for yourselves, and see.
11. We are to learn tlie character of the church ahen
it may be said she is out of the wilderness
1st What does the church en'oy when she io out of
the wilderness I answer, de eqjoys -na,
privileges, and laws among the kingdom and p o M
nations of the earth; kink are her nw' fathers, and
gueena her nuniop mothem They 8 3 bow dorn to
thee, with their face to the earth, and lick up tbe dust of
thg feet," says, lsqah, xlix. 23 That is, the church,
a en In t h sltuahon, ~ ~ receives the courtly smiles of
tbe pt, and the sycophantic cringing of the politxai
dmqoye. But let tbe church hber, dthqh