Our straightforward and direct appeal to the people to turn their
backs on all that is human and accept all that is divine; on all
that is of earth, and receive all that is from heaven; to open the
Scriptures and receive all that came from the Lord, as set forth in
his own revelation; receive the religion of Christ itself, as he has
laid it before the world, in his own word, and nothing else, is so
manifestly correct, indisputably safe and right, that it can not fail
to strike the mind favorably. It is simply a plea to turn away from
all human religions, and except the only divine religion. This is the
sum and substance of the whole matter. We have thrown overboard all
that is human, and simply maintain what is divine. If the Bible can
be maintained over all human books; if the religion of Christ can be
maintained over all human religions; if the doctrine of the Lord, and
the commandments of God, can be maintained over the doctrines and
commandments of men; if “the right way of the Lord,” can be maintained
over the wrong ways of men, then the plea we have been making can be
maintained.
But we should not expect to revolutionize the public mind at once. Such
a thing is impossible in the nature of things, and is not desirable. We
could not maintain the position if gained in that way. We desire a
healthy and a reliable state of things. Sudden revolutions always
leave things in an unsettled state. A gradual change is transcendently
better. It is, then, not of impulse, sensation or emotion, but of
faith. When the testimony comes to the mind gradually, and the faith
becomes stronger and stronger, it finally rises to “the full assurance
of faith;” a settled conviction, and the soul is established. But the
leaven is working in the meal, much faster than many are aware of, and
the mind of the people is changing, and the way is opening more and
more. We have never seen a reason for a doubt about the righteousness
of the cause, and the possibility of maintaining it, since the day we
entered it. We are now as firm in the conviction that it is the only
true ground, and the only ground that can be maintained, and the only
ground on which all the true Israel of God can unite and stand, as we
are that the Bible is a divine book. In all this the past year has
furnished additional assurances.