Morning Star

AN ENDURING SUBSTANCE.

Not only is man himself a passing and short-lived creature, but change and decay is written as with a pen of iron upon every earthly thing. Nothing, whether great or small, animate or lifeless, shall withstand the withering hand of Time. The flower that glowed so beautifully yesterday sending out its budding glories amid the sun's gentle rays, is now drooped and faded. The grass which but to-day waved in delightful freshness the summer breezes, is cut down. The forest tree that seemingly but an hour ago shot forth branches, has fallen spreading ruin in its crash. Yea, the mighty oak that has stood for ages in undisputed majesty monarch of the hills, has yielded to Time's acknowledged potency, and is fast frittering to native dust.

Look at the works of man—Decay sets brooding over all these. He constructs the mighty ships that plough the swollen deep—they are dashed and sink from sight. The mightiest cities he has builded are razed to the ground. Kingdoms and empires have been which are not now. Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage—where are they?

Nay, rather leave the puny works of man, and turn thee to behold the works of God. The ocean and all its boundlessness of expanse, was not once, and again shall not be: and though mountain be on mountain piled, these with their everlasting hills must change, when time grows old and nature sinks in years. But be not confined to earth; survey the midnight glory. The moon that has held her course among the stars since first earth sprang from chaos, must 'turn to blood.' The stars also shall 'fall from heaven.' The sun which shows forth most clearly in nature the omnipotence of his Creator, excels in might. It shall long endure; and we may now, as we gaze upon it, say in the words of Ossian:

Thou thyself movest alone: thou comest forth in thy awful beauty, and the stars hide themselves in the sky; the moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave. Who can be a companion of thy course? The oaks of the mountains fall: the mountains themselves decay with years: the ocean shrinks and grows again: the moon herself is lost in heaven: but thou art forever the same, rejoicing in the brightness of thy course. When the world is dark with tempests; when thunder rolls, and lightning flies; thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds, and laughest at the storm.'

But firm as he is, he is moveable by Him who placed him there, and it shall be, when there will be no need of his light. The sun too, material, must sink in years; and when the world shall be on fire, and the elements melt with fervent heat, it must be changed. On whatever of earth the human eye chances to rest, all, ALL, is transitory, fleeting.

While all things around him are thus changing and falling to decay, the christian rejoices that 'in heaven there is a better and an enduring substance.' Whatever else fails the THRONE OF GOD is forever and ever. Take from him wealth and honor—dispossess him of all his estates—nay, by unmerciful destruction tarnish his character, than which few things are more valued,—you still leave Heaven his unfailing Friend, and he yet solaces himself in the hope of an eternal treasure in glory. Let the winds blow, let the tempests howl around—he is secure, for his foundation is on a Rock. Let earth shake to its centre, be the elements on fire, he is safe amid the general conflagration, for his trust is in JEHOVAH.

To this Refuge let the sinner flee; here let him hide himself. And let him not procrastinate, lest he shall have in vain to call on the rocks and mountains to cover him, and he at the last be found shelterless.