of the enemies'
land, but rather that we should be pushing onward from victory to
victory, until we are established in the Capital of _His_ kingdom. Would
it have been expedient or a mark of courage in General Taylor, after he
had conquered the Mexican army on the 9th May last, to have retreated
back to the capital of the U. States, to place himself and army on the
_broad platform_ of liberty, and commence to travel the ground over
again for the purposes of pursuing and overcoming his vanquished foe?
No! Every person of common sense knows that such a course would have
overwhelmed him and all his followers with unutterable disgrace, no
matter how unrighteous the contest. Not so with this, for our cause is
one of the most glorious, tho it be the most trying that the sun ever
shown upon since God placed it in the heavens. Onward and victory, then,
are our watchwords, and no retreating back to, or beyond the cry at
_Midnight_! But to the subject. Did our Saviour ever meet with his
disciples on the first day of the week after the [39]evening of the day
of his resurrection? The xxi. ch. John says "they went a fishing, and
while there Jesus appeared unto them." In the 14th v. he says, "This is
now the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after that
he was risen from the dead." Now turn to 1 Cor. xv: 4-7: Paul's
testimony is, "that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, after
that of above five hundred brethren at once, and then of James, then of
all the Apostles." These are all that are specified, up to his going
into heaven. Now pray tell me if you can, where these men got their
information respecting the frequent meetings on the first day of the
week. The bible says no such thing. But let us pursue the subject and
look at the third text, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of
you lay by him in _store_, as God has prospered him, that there be no
gatherings when I come." Now please turn back to Dr. Dodridge's
authority, he says the argument is too obvious to need illustration,
that the money was put into common stock, and that this was the
religious observance of the first day of the week. Now whoever will read
the first six verses of this chapter, and compare them with Rom. xv:
26-33, will see that Paul's design was to collect some money for the
poor saints at Jerusalem, and their laying it by them in store until he
came that way; for it plainly implies that they were at home, for no one
could un