Cowley's Talks on DoctrineCowley, Matthias F. (Matthias Foss)
Religion
Cowley's Talks on Doctrine
Cowley, Matthias F. (Matthias Foss)
Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines
This truth applies to every gospel dispensation, not excepting the
"dispensation of the fullness of times," the greatest of all. God
promised to send a holy angel and make a restitution of all things as
predicted by the ancient prophets, preceding the second advent of the
Messiah. The light has come. A new dispensation has been ushered in.
The Everlasting Gospel has been restored with its ancient gifts and
blessings, and "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent," whether
they be so-called Christians or infidels. Repentance is a principle
and not merely an expression of penitent grief. It involves, as
before stated, a reformation of life. In II Cor, vii:9, 10, Paul says:
"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to
repentance. * * * For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not
to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death." The
sorrow of the world may be illustrated by the conduct of the inebriate,
who, when intoxicated, commits acts of violence which mantle his brow
with shame and fill him with remorse in his sober moments. He expresses
sorrow, perhaps weeps in his agony, but again gives away to the tempter
and repeats his acts of dishonor instead of "fleeing temptation."
This kind of sorrow does not work repentance to salvation. We find
religious people sorrowing and sometimes confessing their sins, only to
repeat sin. This is the sorrow of the world and needs to be repented
of because it savors so much of hypocrisy, and consequently "worketh
death." On the contrary, true repentance consists, not in the outward
expression of grief, but in forsaking sin. "Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the
Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon." (Isa. lv:7.) Repentance is required not only of the
evil deed, but of the unrighteous thought. Every wicked deed is first
conceived in the mind, hence the need of casting away the evil thought
before it germinates into actual crime, which leads to prison, the
gallows and to spiritual death. Of the ruin caused by the talented, but
corrupt Aaron Burr it was truly said: "His brain conceived it, his hand
brought it into action."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account