The Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 6
November 14, 1854
RH VOL. VI. - ROCHESTER, N.Y., THIRD-DAY - NO. 14
James White
THE ADVENT REVIEW,
AND SABBATH HERALD.
“Here is the Patience of the Saints; Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.”
VOL. VI. - ROCHESTER, N.Y., THIRD-DAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1854. - NO. 14.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY
At South St. Paul -st., Stone’s Block.
TERMS.-One Dollar a Year, in Advance.
J. N. ANDREWS, R. F. COTTRELL, URIAH SMITH,
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JAMES WHITE, Editor.
All communications, orders, and remittances should be addressed to JAMES WHITE Rochester, N. Y. 109 Monroe Street, (post-paid.)
Leading Doctrines Taught by the Review
The Bible, and the Bible alone, the rule of faith and duty.
The Law of God, as taught in the Old and New Testaments, unchangeable.
The Personal Advent of Christ and the Resurrection of the Just, before the Millennium.
The Earth restored to its Eden perfection and glory, the final Inheritance of the Saints.
Immortality alone through Christ, to be given to the Saints at the Resurrection.
ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.1
THE RICH MAN’S CHOICE
“And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved; for he had great possessions.” Mark 10:22. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.2
O, had he known that harps were hushed Amid the angel throng, Or heard the strain that would have gushed Those shining chords along; Or seen where waved his crown of life, The fadeless and the fair, Would he, within that hour of strife, Have stood and pondered there? ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.3
That fearful hour - that silent kept The seraphs of the sky! With wily care the tempter swept His panorama by; Before him passed broad lands and fair, And coffers piled with gold; But for the gorgeous visions there, Perchance a soul was sold. How could he stand? how could he pause? How for one moment weigh The things that should have been as straws, With life’s long blissful day? He knew beyond the shining gate The proffered “treasure” lay, O, how could mortal hesitate? - He sadly “went away.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.4
On Judah’s hills, the green and fair, Is hushed the voice of yore, But still the tempter spreads his snare, Just as it spread before; And ye who earthly riches hold, And heritages fair, Oh, barter not for lands and gold, Your priceless treasures there. [Selected. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.5
THE ATONEMENT
BY J. M. STEPHENSON
(Continued.) ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.6
To be the only begotten Son of God must be understood in a different sense than to be a Son by creation; for in that sense all the creatures he has made are sons. Nor can it refer to his miraculous conception, with the virgin Mary, by the Holy Ghost; because he is represented by this endearing title more than four thousand years before his advent in the village of Bethlehem. Moreover, he is represented as being exalted far above the highest orders of men and angels in his primeval nature. He must therefore be understood as being the Son of God in a much higher sense than any other being. His being the only begotten of the Father supposes that none except him were thus begotten; hence he is, in truth and verity the only begotten Son of God; and as such he must be Divine; that is, be a partaker of the Divine nature. This term expresses his highest, and most exalted nature. Neither the Father, the prophets, nor the apostles apply a higher term to him. The Son of God himself never claimed a higher title. The Jews accused him of blasphemy upon this high claim. John 10:36. This claim also excited their rage to the highest degree. John 5:18. In this glorious and dignified character he is presented as the true Messiah and Saviour of the world; and as the great object of faith, and the author of eternal life. John 1:18, 36; 6:69. In this character he is presented as the glorious object of worship by all the Host of heaven. Hebrews 1:6. In the last clause of the previous verse the Father says, “And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son:” and as has been shown, these passages refer to his primeval nature. And in this character he is represented as the Creator of the worlds. Hebrews 1:2, 3; John 1:1-3. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.7
But in the last place, on this point, What was the origin of this nature; or in other words, the origin of the Son of God. It is admitted by Trinitarians that the pre-existence, simply considered, does not prove his eternal God-head, nor his eternal Son-ship. Says Watson, a standard writer of the Trinitarian School, “His pre-existence, indeed, simply considered, does not evince his God-head, and is not therefore, a proof against the Arian hypothesis; but it destroys the Socinian notion, that he was a man only. For since no one contends for the pre-existence of human souls, and if they did, the doctrine would be confuted by their own consciousness, it is clear, that if Christ existed before his incarnation, he is not a mere man, whatever his nature, by other arguments may be proved to be.” This is an honest acknowledgement plainly expressed. And in reference to his nature, it has been shown to be Divine; and being such, it must have been immortal. Indeed this proposition is self-evident; for he who is Divine, must be immortal. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.8
We cannot suppose that Christ was mortal, and, as such, would have been subject to death, had not the plan of redemption been devised; he must, therefore, in his original nature, have been deathless. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.9
The question now to be considered, then, is not whether the only begotten Son of God was Divine, immortal, or the most dignified and exalted being, the Father only excepted, in the entire Universe; all this has been proved, and but few will call it in question; but whether this august Personage is self-existent and eternal, in its absolute, or unlimited sense; or whether in his highest nature, and character, he had an origin, and consequently beginning of days. The idea of Father and Son supposes priority of the existence of the one, and the subsequent existence of the other. To say that the Son is as old as his Father, is a palpable contradiction of terms. It is a natural impossibility for the Father to be as young as the Son, or the Son to be as old as the Father. If it be said that this term is only used in an accommodated sense, it still remains to be accounted for, why the Father should use as the uniform title of the highest, and most endearing relation between himself and our Lord, a term which, in its uniform signification, would contradict the very idea he wished to convey. If the inspired writers had wished to convey the idea of the co-etaneous existence, and eternity of the Father and Son, they could not possibly have used more incompatible terms. And of this, Trinitarians have been sensible. Mr. Fuller, although a Trinitarian, had the honesty to acknowledge, in the conclusion of his work on the Son-ship of Christ, that, “in the order of nature, the Father must have existed before the Son.” But with this admission, he attempts to reconcile the idea of the Son’s being “properly eternal,” as well as the Father; two ideas utterly irreconcilable. The idea of an eternal Son is a self-contradiction. He must, therefore have an origin. But what saith the Scriptures? They speak right to the point. The apostle Paul says, speaking of Christ, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature.” Colossians 1:15. Notice, 1st. This cannot refer to his birth of the Virgin Mary, in Bethlehem of Judea, because millions of creatures, in connection with this world, had been born previous to that time. Cain and Abel had been born more than four thousand years previously. 2nd. The following verse makes his birth antecedent to the creation of all things in heaven and on earth, including all worlds, all ranks and orders of intelligences, visible and invisible. “For by him.” By whom? Ans. By the first born of every creature. The pronoun him refers to this being for its antecedent. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” Verse 16. All things in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, evidently include all the orders of created intelligences. Now, he must have been born, i.e., had a real intelligent existence, before he could exercise creative power. But all the works of creation are ascribed to him as the “first born of every creature;” hence the birth here spoken of, must have been previous to the existence of the first creature in heaven or in earth. To be such, it must refer to his Divine nature, unless he had two distinctive natures before his incarnation; for which no one contends. But the 17th verse fixes the priority of the birth here spoken of. “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Here the pronoun he refers to the same person for its antecedent, that the pronoun him does; and both refer to “the first born of every creature.” And the “all things, he is” before, in this verse, are evidently the “all things” named in the previous verse. Hence the point is fully established, that it is the Divine nature of our blessed Redeemer which is here spoken of; and that this nature was born: and in reference to his order, he was “the first born.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 105.10
Again, in John 1:1-3, 14, we have the same class of evidence. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” “In the beginning,” evidently refers to the commencement of the series of events brought to view in these verses, which was the creation of all things. This gives “the only begotten of the Father” (see verse 14) intelligent existence before the first act of creative power was put forth, and proves that it is his Divine nature here spoken of; and that too, in connection with the creation of all things. In verse 14, this Word, who was “in the beginning” “with God,” who “was God,” and by whom “all things were made, that were made,” is declared to be the “only begotten of the Father,” thereby teaching that in his highest nature he was begotten; and consequently as such, he must have had a beginning. Associate the many occurrences of the term, “only begotten Son of God,” with the person, nature, and time, brought to view in the foregoing verses; and if any doubts still remain, in reference to the Divine nature of the only begotten Son of God having had an origin, you may compare them with those texts which exclude the possibility of his being eternal, in the sense of his never having had a beginning of days; such as “The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords,: who only hath immortality.” 1 Timothy 6:16. This cannot be understood in the sense of none having deathless natures, or being exempt from death, except the Father; for Christ at that time was immortal in this sense: so were all the angels who had kept their “first estate;” it must, therefore be understood in the same sense, that we all understand, his being the only Potentate; not that there are no other potentates; but that he is the only Supreme Ruler. There cannot be two Supreme Rulers at the same time. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.1
Again, where it is declared, that there are none good except the Father, it cannot be understood that none others are good in a relative sense; for Christ and angels, are good, yea perfect, in their respective sphere; but that the Father alone is supremely, or absolutely, good; and that he alone is immortal in an absolute sense; that he alone is self-existent; and, that, consequently, every other being, however high or low, is absolutely dependent upon him for life; for being. This idea is most emphatically expressed by our Saviour himself; “For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” John 5:26. This would be singular language for one to use who had life in his essential nature, just as much as the Father. To meet such a view, it should read thus: For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath the Son life in himself. If as Trinitarians argue, the Divine nature of the Son hath life in himself (i.e., is self existent) just the same, and in as absolute a sense, as the Father, why should he represent himself as actually dependent upon the Father for life? What propriety in representing the Father as conferring upon him a gift which he had possessed from all eternity? If it be said that his human nature derived its life from the Father, I would answer, It does not thus read; or even if it did, I would still urge the impropriety of the human nature of the Son of God representing itself as being absolutely dependent upon the Father for the gift of life. Would it not be much more reasonable, in such case, for the human nature of Christ to derive its life, and vitality, from its union with the Divine nature, instead of from its union with the Father? I understand this passage according to the natural import of the language: “For as the Father hath life (i.e., existence) in himself, (i.e., self-existent,) so hath he given to the Son to have life (i.e., existence) in himself.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.2
I know I will be referred to the declaration of our Saviour, I have power to lay down my life, and to take it up again. John 10:18. Read the last clause of this verse: “This commandment (commission - Campbell) have I received of my Father.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.3
I will conclude the evidence upon this point by quoting one more passage. Paul says, “And again, when he bringeth the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” Hebrews 1:6. He must have been his Son before he could send him into the world. In verse 2, the Father declares that he made the worlds by the same Son he is here represented as sending into the world. His Son must have existed before he created the worlds; and he must have been begotten before he existed; hence the begetting here spoken of, must refer to his Divine nature, and in reference to his order, he is the first-begotten; hence as a matter of necessity he must have been “the first born of every creature.” Colossians 1:15. “The first born of every creature.” Creature signifies creation; hence to be the first born of every creature, (creation) he must be a created being; and as such, his life and immortality must depend upon the Father’s will, just as much as angels, or redeemed men: and as the Father has given his Son to have life in himself, so his Son will give this life to all his children. His invitation is to all, “Come unto me and I will give you life.” The glorious promise for all the pious dead is, that their lives are hid with Christ in God, and when he who is their life shall appear, then shall they appear with him in glory. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.4
Having investigated the original nature, glory and dignity of our Lord and Master; having gazed a few moments upon the face of him who is the fairest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely; having had a glance at the celestial glory he had with the Father, before the world was, and beheld that matchless form which is the image of the invisible God; and having looked with wonder and admiration upon this august personage, exalted far above angels and thrones and dominions, principalities and powers; we are prepared, as far as our feeble perceptions can comprehend, to appreciate that amazing love and condescension which induced our adorable Redeemer to forego all the glories and honors of heaven, and all the endearments of his Father’s presence. Although all his Father’s treasures were his, yet he became so poor, that, he had not where to lay his head; oft-times the cold, damp earth being his only bed, and the blue heavens his only covering; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief - scoffed at by the Jews, and mocked by the Gentiles; a houseless stranger, he wore out his life under the ignoble garb of a servant, and last of all “died, the just for the unjust,” and took his exit from the world under the infamous character of a malefactor. O! was ever love like this! Did ever mercy stoop so low? Well might the poet exclaim, ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.5
“O for this love let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break;
And all harmonious human tongues
Their Saviour’s praises speak.”
ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.6
In presenting this part of the subject I propose considering, ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.7
1st. Those texts of Scripture which represent the Son of God in his highest nature as becoming man; as actually becoming flesh and blood. The first chapter of John places this matter in a clear light. He says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 14. Notice, first. In the first verse, the Word and God are used interchangeably: “the Word was with God - the word was God.” Second, the Word, and the only begotten of the Father, are also used synonymously: “And the Word was made flesh, etc., and we beheld his glory, (i.e., the Word’s glory,) the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.8
By this we learn that our Lord did not lose his personal identity in his transition from God to man, from the Word to flesh: “and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” It is the same person all the way through; and Peter, James and John beheld the glory as of the only begotten Son of God, when they were with him in the holy mount. 2 Peter 1:17, 18. Third. “The Word,” “God,” “the only begotten of the Father,” was made flesh; not flesh made, and the Word put into it; or united with it, but “the Word was made flesh.” The natural import of this language is, that the only begotten of the Father, was actually converted into flesh, and as flesh denotes the real nature of the beings for whom he became a substitute, we may reasonably suppose that he became flesh; that the Divine nature was made human; nay, that the very substance of which he was originally composed was converted into flesh; otherwise he would not be a real man, a real substitute for man. To be such, he must represent man’s nature, as well as his condition. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.9
The same objections may be urged against the duplex entity of Christ, as that of man; nor does the Bible anywhere represent him as such a being, but invariably as a being having but one personality. If so, he could not have been Divine and human, mortal and immortal, at the same time. Hence he must have been Divine and immortal as a whole being, and human (flesh) and mortal as a whole being. But how can that be? Ans. By the power of God. Or according to the apostle Paul, our Lord was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power,” etc. Romans 1:3, 4. Third. As a real unit, being composed of flesh, he dwelt among them. Paul expresses the same sentiment in his quotation from Psalm 40. He says speaking of the advent of Christ: Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.” Hebrews 10:5. The pronoun me refers to his previous nature. Hear his language: “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.” Verse 7. Do not all these pronouns refer to his previous nature? And is not the declaration, “a body hast thou prepared me,” synonymous with that of the Word’s being “made flesh?” Then it would read, Thou hast converted me into a body, i.e. “a body hast thou made me;” “the Word was made flesh.” The body and flesh, in this case, would be convertible terms. This view is greatly strengthened by verse 7, where all the efficacy of the atonement is associated with the sacrifice of this body: “By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” And in verse 12, this very body is denominated this man: “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God;” thereby teaching that body and man are convertible terms in these texts; hence it would express the Apostle’s meaning in full to render the last clause of verse 5: a man hast thou prepared, or made me: “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:8. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.10
Again in Romans 1:3, 4. “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power,” etc. Here it is emphatically declared that “Jesus Christ our Lord” in his highest nature, i.e., as the Son of God, “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” David, as a whole being was flesh; hence he could entail no other nature upon his offspring; consequently when the Son of God was made of the seed of David, he must have been made flesh. In his Divine nature he was the Root (i.e., the Father by creation) of David. Revelation 5:5. In this sense he is both the Lord and Son of David. Acts 2:34. But all that was David’s Lord, before his incarnation, became his Son afterward. No intimation that any part of his original nature was excepted when he “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;” or when he “was made flesh.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.11
Also in Philippians 2:6-9. “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” That this verse refers to his highest nature will be admitted by all; and it is declared in the verse following, that in his nature he became man. Mark the explicit language: “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” That taking “the form of a servant,” and being “made in the likeness of men,” is synonymous with his becoming a real man, from the fact that in the very nature he described, he died “the death of the cross.” What nature died? Ans. The human. Then the exalted being brought to view in verse 6, actually became a mortal man, and died. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.12
I will quote one more text on this point. Hebrews 2:14. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same: that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the Devil.” Here he is represented as taking part of flesh and blood, as, or in the same manner, children do. The obvious meaning is, For as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also took part with them in the same; that is, he was a being composed of flesh and blood the same as the children. This view is confirmed by the last clause of this verse, taken in connection with the verse following, in which nature, he is represented as dying; and as the result of which delivering “them, who through the fear of death, were all their life time subject to bondage.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.13
What nature “was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities?” Was it not his flesh, as the “seed of the woman?” What blood was shed “for the remission of sins?” Was it not the identical blood which had flowed through the veins of Mary his mother, and back through her ancestry to Eve, the mother of all living? Otherwise he was not the “seed of the woman,” of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David; but that he was the literal seed of Abraham is evident from verse 16: “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels;; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” The reason why he chose the nature of Abraham in preference to that of angels, is plainly stated in the following verses: “Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren; that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 106.14
Observe first. He is represented as taking part of (in) flesh and blood. Second. The same being is represented as dying to deliver them who were all their lives under fear of death. Third. The same person took not on him the nature of angels, but the nature, or seed of Abraham. Fourth. It was necessary he should take the nature of Abraham, 1st. To qualify him for being a merciful High Priest, one who from his near relationship to man, can sympathize for him as angels could not do. 2nd. It is necessary “to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. This implies that no other nature could make reconciliation. The nature of angels, nay his own original nature, would not be a substitute for man; would not make an atonement “for the sins of the people.” Man must die to redeem man. 3rd. It was necessary he should suffer, and be tempted as man, to be “able to succor them that are tempted.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.1
“Touched with a sympathy within,
He knows our feeble frame;
He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he hath felt the same.”
ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.2
Herein is our only hope, our only plea, Jesus Christ not only took our nature and died in our stead, but is now representing our nature, with all its infirmities, and with all its heart-rending woes in the upper Sanctuary. Yes, blessed be his holy name for ever and ever! he is now pleading our cause, before his Father’s throne, with all the melting love which caused his agonies of death. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an hight priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities: but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.3
Having shown by plain Bible testimony that the Son of God in his highest nature became man, “was made flesh,” I next propose to consider that portion of Bible evidence which represents him as a real man. In fact, everything connected with his history, from his birth to his resurrection, proves that he was a real human being. Read the prediction, “For unto us a child is born;” [Isaiah 9:6;] also its fulfillment. Matthew 1:20-25; 2:11; Luke 1, 2. From this account, of his birth, we learn that he was begotten by the “power of the Highest,” and was born of Mary, in Bethlehem of Judea, in the reign of Augustus Caesar. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.4
He came into the world as helpless, and as much dependent upon his parents for support, and instruction, as any child that had ever been born. He derived his sustenance from his mother’s breast, and his vitality from breathing the vital air. He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52. He had all the sensations flesh is heir to. He was susceptible of heat or cold, hunger or thirst, the same as any other man. If he fasted he was afterward an hungered; if he journeyed long he was fatigued. He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He had all the innocent human passions; such as desire: “And he said unto them with desire, I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.” Luke 22:15. Joy: “Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame,” etc. Hebrews 12:2. Fear: He “was heard in that he feared.” Hebrews 5:7, last clause; a peculiar human love: “The disciple whom Jesus loved.” John 13:23. Sorrow: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.” Matthew 26:38. And as a mortal, human being, he suffered, died, and was buried; and as a lifeless man he was raised from the dead, on the third day, by the power of the Father: “Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.” Hebrews 13:20. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.5
That Jesus Christ did not lose, or change his real personality, in becoming man, or in the transition from his Divine to his human nature, is evident, first, from the fact that the same term is applied to his human nature, which had previously denoted his Divine nature; and that too, in its most exalted position, and most endearing relation to the Father. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.6
The Father publicly acknowledged him as his beloved Son on the bank of Jordan. “And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17. At his transfiguration: “And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son; hear him.” Luke 9:35. “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16. Paul “preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.” Acts 9:20. Not only did the Father, the Son and the apostles, acknowledge Christ to be the Son of God, but the devils acknowledged him to be such. “Thou art Christ the Son of God.” Second. That he had the same personality, during his incarnation, that he had before, is equally manifest, from the use of the same singular pronouns to denote both natures; or in other words, pronouns denoting the same identical personality, in both natures. “A body hast thou prepared me.” Here the pronoun, me, represents both natures, before and after his incarnation: there being two distinct natures, but only one personality. Again in his prayer to the Father: “Glorify thou me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” I, before the world was, and I, who was then praying, refer to the same personality; but to the nature he had before the world was, and to the nature he then had. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.7
Again, “Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.” Here the same he who was rich became poor. In this case, we have only one personality, yet two natures and conditions. But how could he change his nature, and yet retain his personality? Ans. Just as easily as our nature can be changed from mortality to immortality; from flesh to spirit, without losing our personal identity. Just reverse the process of making a mortal being immortal, and it would make an immortal being mortal. God can just as easily do the one as the other. In changing man’s nature from mortality to immortality, from flesh to spirit, God will simply change the mode of his existence, without changing his personal identity. Just so in reference to the Son of God, the Father changed his nature, and, as a natural consequence, the manner of his existence, without changing his personal identity. Hence, it is the same person, who had glory with the Father before the world was, who was born of Mary, in the days of Augustus Caesar, who was condemned by Pontius Pilate, crucified by the Jews, buried in Joseph’s new tomb, rose again the third day, and who is now exalted on the right hand of the throne in the heavens, a Prince and Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.8
(To be Continued.) ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.9
THE THREE WORLDS
THE past, the present, and the future. These are the three all-embracing divisions of events and things, through which human imagination and human research pursue their course. The past - dim, shadowy and obscure, the present - restless, changeful and inconstant; and the future - vast, portentous and uncertain; these furnish a field for the widest wanderings of those thoughts that roam throughout eternity - for the farthest stretch of human imaginations. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.10
But whether we inquire concerning the past, the present or the future, we find ourselves surrounded by numberless perplexities. History is brief in its extent, meagre in its details, and often contradictory in its declarations. Opinion, as it regards the present condition of earthly affairs, is vague, various and conflicting. And the veil of futurity hangs its gloomy folds over the obscure, the mysterious, the unknown hereafter. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.11
Surrounded then, as we are, by uncertainty and anxiety, longing for a more definite apprehension of human history and of human destiny, we invoke external aids to assist us in pursuing the object of our desires. Navigating this stormy and tempestuous sea, we desire a chart to inform us of our locality, and look forth for some guiding star to direct our course. Groping in a dark and devious pathway, we seek anxiously for some lamp which shall illuminate our footsteps, and conduct us to a peaceful termination of our wearied journey. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.12
That chart is granted us! That star we can see! That lamp is placed within our hand. It is the Word of God - the transcript of the divine will and mind - the certified and attested copy of the things “noted in” those awful “Scriptures of Truth” which mortal eye has never gazed upon, and upon which the hand of mortal was never laid. By this, alone, we thread the mazes of the intricate past. By this we correctly estimate the inconstant present. By this, too, we behold as through a glass the dim and shadowy future, revealed in bold and striking outline, thrilling us by its terror, cheering us by its beauty, or entrancing us with its sublime and resplendent majesty. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.13
The Word of God, in its historical records, its declarations, and its prophetic delineations, brings to our view three worlds, with which human destiny has been, is, and is to be connected. These worlds, existing in successive and consecutive chronological periods, distinctly separated from each other by unmistakable periods and processes of transition, are termed “The World that then was.” “The Heavens and Earth that now are,” and “The World to come,” or “The new Heavens and the new Earth.” To sketch, briefly, these worlds in their origin, progress, and course, is the object of the present writing. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.14
What occurred prior to “the beginning,” an account of which we find in the opening pages of Divine revelation, it is neither important nor possible for us to ascertain. Beyond that landmark, eternity expands its vast extent. There we may conjecture, but we cannot affirm. The silent depths of the eternal Past are unfathomed and unfathomable. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.15
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This is the sublime announcement of the world’s origin. “He spake, and it was DONE. He commanded, and it stood fast.” At His word, a flood of light burst in upon the heaving mass, that lay formless and unfurnished beneath the overshadowing wings of night. His mandate gathered the waters together, shut up the sea with doors, made the cloud the garment thereof, and the darkness its swaddling bands. He established his decree upon it, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.” His word established the earth in strength, and robed it in verdure and beauty, while trees of God’s own planting stood, in all the magnificence of Paradise, on every hand. Above, the stars and planets were marshalled at his call; by day, a flood of glory, and by night, a still, calm radiance fell softly on the new made world. At His voice, earth teemed with life. The noble forests and the verdant fields were peopled with hosts of living ones. Gay birds, of beauteous wing and melodious note, were waving their sun-lit pinions and trilling their gushing songs; and the blue and silent waters of the mighty deep were swarming with ten thousand things of life and joy, from the mighty leviathan to the smallest creature that played and gamboled amid the ripplings of the sparkling waters. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.16
And when the mighty work was accomplished, and a new province, created for the glory of God’s name, was added to His vast dominion - when the seal of perfection was set upon it all, then God created its ruler and lord. Moulded of clay, formed in the image of God, enlivened by the breath of the Almighty, and receiving at his hands the sceptre of universal dominion, he became the ruler over all the world. The gay phantom of universal dominion so often pursued by mad ambition, was here a sober reality. To Adam was committed the reins of government. Earth was his dominion, and all its multitudinous inhabitants were his peaceful and rejoicing subjects. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.17
“And the Lord God saw EVERY THING that was made, and behold it was VERY GOOD.” Our ideas of good are relative, not absolute. To the savage, his hut is good; it affords him shelter from the storm, To the peasant, his cottage is good; it is his joy-lit home. To the hunted Christian, the cave is good; it is a hiding place from foes. To the warrior, his castle is good; it is a tower of strength. To the king, a palace is good; it is the repository of regal magnificence. To the Hebrew, the temple was good; for a day in its courts was better than a thousand. But what must that be, when the infinite God, dwelling ARSH November 14, 1854, page 107.18
[Continued on page 110]
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
ROCHESTER, THIRD-DAY, NOV. 14, 1854.
EXPOSITION OF Daniel 7: Or the Vision of the Four Beasts
IN hastily preparing the articles on Daniel 2 and 7, we have followed the excellent arrangement of Geo. Storrs, in his work published in 1843, and, in regard to the four kingdoms, we have more or less copied his language. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.1
IN communicating instruction to the children of men, God is pleased to give “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little.” The Saviour saith, [John 16:12,] “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” Revelation has not only been progressive, but the same truths have been repeated again and again, under different figures, emblems, and forms of speech. As a kind parent enforces important truths upon the minds of his offspring, illustrating and repeating, to make the deeper impression, so our Heavenly Father labors to impress our minds with truths connected with, and having a bearing on, our eternal destiny, and necessary to establish the faith of his people, and inspire in them confidence in his Word. He has given them way-marks to determine the truth of his Word, and to mark the period of the world in which they are living. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.2
To illustrate: Suppose you were traveling a road with which you were unacquainted. You inquire of a stranger - he tells you that road leads to a glorious city, filled with every good thing, governed by the most lovely, mild and benevolent Prince that the world ever saw; that in that city there was neither sickness, sorrow, pain nor death. He then proceeds to tell you what you may expect to pass on the road, by which you may know he has told you the truth, and which will mark the progress you have made. First, then, he tells you, after leaving him, and traveling awhile, you will come to a monument that can be seen at a great distance; on the top of it you will see “a lion” having “eagle’s wings.” At a distance beyond that, you will come to another monument, having on it “a bear” with “three ribs in his mouth:” passing on still, you will at length arrive at a third monument, on the top of which you will behold a “leopard” having “four wings of a fowl” and “four heads.” After that, you will come to a fourth, on which is a beast “dreadful and terrible,” with “great iron teeth” and “ten horns.” And lastly, you will come to another place, where you will see the same beast, with this difference; three of its first horns have been plucked up, and in the place of them has come up a peculiar horn, having “eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth.” The next thing you will look for, after passing the last-mentioned sign, is the city of which I have told you. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.3
With these directions you commence your journey. What do you look for first? The lion. At length you see it. That inspires in you some faith in the person’s knowledge and truth who had directed you. Having passed that sign, the next thing you expect to see, as marked in the directions, is the bear. At length you come in sight of that. There, say you, is the second sign he gave me. He must have been perfectly acquainted with this road, and has told me the truth. Your faith increases as you travel on. What next do you look for? Not the city, certainly. No, you look for the leopard? Well, by and by you behold that, in the distance. There it is, you cry; now I know he has told me the truth, and it will come out just as he said. Is the next thing you look for the city? No, you look for that terrible beast with ten horns. You pass that, and say as you pass, how exactly the man who directed me described everything. Now your faith is so confirmed that you almost see the city; but, say you, there is one more sign to pass; viz., the horn with eyes, then the city comes next. Now hope is high, and your anxious eyes gaze with intense interest for the last sign, That comes in view, and you exclaim in raptures, There it is! All doubt is now removed; you look for no more signs; your longing eyes are fixed to gaze on the glorious city next, and probably no man now, however wise he might profess himself, could make you discredit what your director has told you. The city - the city, is fixed in your eye, and onward you go, hasting to your rest. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.4
Now, if we find, on examination, that all the events or signs that God has given us, which were to precede the judgment day and the setting up of his everlasting kingdom, have actually transpired, or come to view, what are we to look for next? Most clearly, the judgment of the great day! Let us, then, examine the chapter before us. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.5
Verses 1-3. “In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds [denoting commotions] of the heaven strove upon the great sea, [waters, denoting people, see Revelation 17:15,] and four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.6
These four beasts are explained by the angel to be four kings. Verse 17. In verse 23, they are said to be four kingdoms, which shows that the word king, in these visions, signifies kingdom. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.7
Verse 4. “The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given it.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.8
PICTURE
Babylon, as described in this vision, is here fitly represented by a lion, the king of beasts, denoting the glory of that kingdom, and corresponds with the head of gold in Chap. 2. The eagle’s wings represent the rapidity of its conquests, and the soaring pride of its monarchs. “For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, ..... [Babylon,] they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.” Habakkuk 1:6-8. The plucking of his wings may refer to the humiliation of the proud monarch of Babylon, [Chap 4:31-37,] or to the cowardice of Belshazzar, who, instead of driving away his foes like a lion, shut himself up in the city, feasting and drinking with his lords, till he was killed, and the kingdom given to the Medes and Persians. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.9
Verse 5. “And behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, [representing two lines of kings, one much longer than the other,] and it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it; and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.” PICTURE ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.10
We have already seen that the Medo-Persian kingdom succeeded Babylon. It is clearly the kingdom here described. It was noted for cruelty and thirst of blood. The ribs in its mouth may denote the union of Media, Persia and Chaldea. It subdued many and populous kingdoms. Ahasuerus, or Artaxerxes, reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. See Esther 1:1. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.11
Verse 6. “After this I beheld, and lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.12
PICTURE
There can be no dispute with respect to this being Grecia; four wings denoting the rapidity of its conquest under Alexander; the four heads its division into four parts after Alexander died and his posterity were murdered. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.13
Verse 7. “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly: and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.14
PICTURE
Verse 8. “I considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.15
PICTURE
These verses will properly claim our attention, when we come to consider the angel’s explanation. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.16
Verses 9, 10. “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.17
We have here a most vivid description of scenes connected with the judgment. If not, it cannot be found in the Scriptures of truth. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 108.18
Verse 11. “I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.1
Nothing is said of “the dominion” of this beast being “taken away,” as is said of the others. The others lost their dominion after a time, but their subjects survived and were transferred to the succeeding governments, but the very body [subjects] of this fourth kingdom is destroyed, and given to the burning flame. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.2
Verse 12. “As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.3
Babylon, Media and Persia, and Grecia, successively lost the dominion, but the lives of the respective nations were prolonged, being merged in the succeeding governments. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.4
Verses 13, 14. “I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.5
Thus we see the kingdom of God is not set up till the judgment; hence no room for a temporal millennium before the judgment, and before the kingdoms of this world are destroyed. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.6
Verses 15-18. “I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall rise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.7
Mark well the fate of the fourth beast. He is utterly destroyed. And the saints of the Most High take the kingdom, and possess it, not a thousand years only, but forever, even forever and ever. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.8
Verses 19-25. “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.9
1. The fourth beast, or fourth kingdom. There is but little dispute about what is here meant by the fourth kingdom. No kingdom that has ever existed on earth will answer to it, except the Roman kingdom. That has been truly diverse from all kingdoms, especially in its forms of government, which were not less than seven - being, at different times, Republican, Consular, Tribune, Decemvirate, Dictatorial, Imperial, and Kingly. It was at length divided into the Eastern and Western empires; Rome proper being in the Western empire. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.10
2. The ten horns. Between the years A. D. 356 and 483, it was divided into ten kingdoms as noticed in remarks on chapter 2; thus the “ten horns are ten kings” [kingdoms] that arose out of this empire. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.11
3. The little horn. What is the character of the horn here spoken of? First, it speaks great words against the Most High; and, second, it makes war with, and wears out the saints. The same character is elsewhere described. See Revelation 13:6, 7. “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.” Daniel says, “he prevailed against them.” Now see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4. “That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” Daniel’s “little horn,” Paul’s “man of sin,” and John’s blasphemous beast, are clearly identified. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.12
It must be admitted that such a power has arisen, and that it is Papacy. The titles the Popes have assumed, of “Most Holy Lord,” and their pretensions to pardon sin, even before its commission, if we had nothing else, sufficiently establish the blasphemous character of that power. Pope Innocent III, writes - “He [Christ] hath set one man over the world, him whom he hath appointed his vicar on earth; and as to Christ is bent every knee in heaven, in earth, and under the earth; so shall obedience and service be paid to his vicar by all, that there may be one fold and one shepherd.” Again, Pope Gregory VII, says, “The Roman Pontiff alone is by right universal. In him alone is the right of making laws. Let all kings kiss the feet of the Pope. His name alone shall be heard in the churches. It is the only name in the world. It is his right to depose kings. His word is not to be repealed by any one. It is to be repealed by himself alone. He is to be judged by none. The church of Rome has never erred; and the Scriptures testify it never shall err.” Surely here is a power diverse from all others, and proud and blasphemous enough to answer the character of the little horn. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.13
It is said of this horn that he shall “think to change times and laws.” It is evident that the laws here spoken of are the laws of the Most High; for his work is to oppose God. The changing of human laws would not be here noted as a distinguishing characteristic of the man of sin. No: his distinguishing acts are against God and his saints. In fulfillment of this part of the prophecy, the Roman apostasy has removed the second commandment from the Decalogue, has changed the Sabbath of the fourth, from the seventh to the first day of the week, and has divided the tenth, to make up the number of ten commandments. See Catholic Catechisms. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.14
4. The time when the little horn, or Papacy, arose. It did not arise before the ten horns; hence, it did not arise prior to 483, when the tenth horn came up. Three of the first horns must be plucked up before it in its rise. It came up among the ten horns, and three of those horns fell before it. It must have been established at the very point where the third horn fell. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.15
In the year of our Lord 493, the Heruli in Rome and Italy were conquered by the Ostrogoths. In 534, the Vandals, who were under Arian influence, were conquered by the Greeks, for the purpose of establishing the supremacy of the Catholics. The Ostrogoths, who held possession of Rome, were under an Arian monarch, who was an enemy to the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome; hence, before the decree of Justinian, (a Greek emperor at Constantinople,) could be carried into effect, by which he had constituted the Bishop of Rome head of all the churches, the Ostrogoths must be plucked up. This conquest was effected by Justinian’s army in the month of March, 538; at which time, the Ostrogoths, who had retired without the city, and besieged it in their turn, raised the siege and retired, leaving the Greeks in possession of the city; thus the third horn was plucked before Papacy, and for the express purpose too of establishing that power. [See Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.] ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.16
The facts answer well to the prophecy. Here is the letter of Justinian to the Bishop of Rome, A. D. 533:- ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.17
“Justinian, pious, fortunate, renowned, triumphant, emperor consul, etc., to John, the Most Holy Archbishop of our city of Rome, and Patriarch. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.18
“Rendering honor to the apostolic see, and to your holiness, (as always was and is our desire,) and, as it becomes us, honoring your blessedness as a father, we have laid without delay before the notice of your holiness all things pertaining to the state of the church. Since it has always been our earnest study to preserve the unity of your holy see, and the state of the holy churches of God, which has hitherto obtained, and will remain, without any interfering opposition; therefore we hasten to subject, and to unite to your holiness, all the priests of the whole East. As to the matters which are presently agitated, although clear and undoubted, and, according to the doctrine of your apostolic see, held assuredly resolved and decided by all priests, we have yet deemed it necessary to lay them before your holiness. Nor do we suffer anything which belongs to the state of the church, however manifest and undoubted, that is agitated, to pass without the knowledge of your holiness, who are the head of all the holy churches. For in all things (as had been said or resolved) we are prompt to increase the honor and authority of your see.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.19
“The authenticity of the title,” says Mr. Croley, “receives unanswerable proof from the edicts of the ‘Novellae’ of the Justinian code. The preamble of the 9th, states, ‘that as the elder Rome was the founder of the laws; so was it not to be questioned, that in her was the supremacy of the pontificate.’ The 131st, on the Ecclesiastical Titles and privileges, chapter 2, states: ‘We therefore decree that the most holy Pope of the elder Rome is the first of all the priesthood, and that the most blessed archbishop of Constantinople, the new Rome, shall hold the second rank, after the holy apostolic chair of the elder Rome.’” - Croley, pp. 114, 115. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.20
Imperial Rome fell about A. D. 475, and was in the hands of the barbarians. Thus it continued till the conquest of Rome by Belisarius, Justinian’s general, 536 to 538, when the Ostrogoths left it in possession of the Greek emperor, March, 538. Thus the way was open for the dragon to give the beast his power, and his seat, and great authority. Revelation 13:2. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.21
5. The length of time this power was to continue. Daniel says, “a time, times, and the dividing of time.” John says, [Revelation 13:5,] “Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” He was to make war upon the saints - the church; and in Revelation 12:6, we are told, the woman, the church, fled into the wilderness 1260 days; and at the 14th verse, that it was for “a time, and times, and half a time.” Here then we have the period of the continuance of this power given us in three forms of expression, which settles the point that the time, times, and dividing of time is 42 months, or 1260 prophetic days or years. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.22
6. Did the continuance of the Papal Dominion, as a horn of the beast, cease at the end of that period? From 538, 1260 years would extend to 1798. Did any thing transpire that year to justify the belief that the dominion of Papacy was taken away that year? It is a historical fact, that, on Feb.10th, 1798, Berthier, a French general, entered the city of Rome and took it. On the 15th of the same month the Pope was taken prisoner and shut up in the Vatican. The Papal governments, which had continued from the time of Justinian, was abolished, and a republican form of government given to Rome. The Pope was carried captive to France, where he died in 1799. Thus, he that led others into captivity, went into captivity; and he who killed with the sword, those he was pleased to call heretics, was himself killed (subdued) with the sword; i.e., his dominion was taken away by war. See Revelation 13:10. Verse 26. “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end.” See 2 Thessalonians 2:8. “Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.23
That the Pope was restored, or a new one chosen, is admitted. But that he has power to depose kings and put to death the saints now, is denied. When he was a horn on the beast, he deposed kings at pleasure, for centuries, and silenced heretics by the flame, the rack, prison, and the sword. Can he do it now? No. Nor has he been able to do it since 1798. Papacy is compelled to tolerate Protestantism. Hear the Pope himself on that subject. Here is his letter, dated Sept., 1840, at Rome. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.24
“ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF OUR MOST HOLY LORD GREGORY XVI, by Divine Providence Pope, to all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 109.25
GREGORY XVI. POPE
“Venerable Brethren, - Health and the apostolic Benediction. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.1
“You well know, Venerable Brothers, how great are the calamities with which the Catholic Church is beset on all sides in this most sorrowful age, and how pitifully she is afflicted. You know by what a deluge of errors of every kind, and with what unbridled audacity of the erroneous, our Holy Religion is attacked, and how cunningly and by what frauds, heretics and infidels are endeavoring to pervert the hearts and minds of the faithful. In a word, you know there is almost no kind of effort or machination which is not employed to overthrow, from its deepest foundations, if it were possible, the immovable edifice of the Holy City. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.2
“Indeed, are we not (Oh, how shameful!) compelled to see the most crafty enemies of the truth, ranging far and wide with impunity; not only attacking religion with ridicule, the church with contumely, and Catholics with insults and slander, but even entering into cities and towns, establishing schools of error and impiety, publishing in print the poison of their doctrines, skillfully concealed under the deceitful veil of the natural sciences and new discoveries, and even penetrating into the cottages of the poor, traveling through rural districts, and insinuating themselves into familiar acquaintance with the lowest of the people and with the farmers! Thus they leave no means unattempted, whether by corrupt Bibles in the language of the people, or pestiferous newspapers and other little publications, or caviling conversation, or pretended charity, or finally, by the gift of money, to allure ignorant people, and especially youth, into their nets, and induce them to desert the Catholic faith. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.3
“We refer to facts, Venerable Brethren, which not only are known to you, but of which you are witnesses; even you, who, though you mourn, and, as your pastoral duty requires, are by no means silent, are yet compelled to tolerate in your diocese these aforesaid propagators of heresy and infidelity; these shameless preachers, who, while they walk in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves, cease not to lay in wait for the flock and tear it in pieces. Why should we say more? There is now scarcely a barbarous region in the universal world, to which the well known Central Boards of the heretics and unbelievers have not, regardless of expense, sent out their explorers and emissaries, who either insidiously, or openly and in concert, making war upon the Catholic religion, its pastors and its ministers, tear the faithful out of the bosom of the church, and intercept her approach to the infidels. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.4
“Hence it is easy to conceive the state of anguish into which our soul is plunged day and night, as we, being charged with the superintendence of the whole fold of Jesus Christ, and the care of all the churches, must give account for his sheep to the Divine Prince of Pastora. And we have thought fit, Venerable Brethren, to recall to your minds by our present letter the causes of those troubles which are common to us and you, that you may more attentively consider how important it is to the church, that all holy priests should endeavor, with redoubled zeal, and with united labors, and with every kind of efforts, to repel the attacks of the raging foes of religion, to turn back their weapons, and to forewarn and fortify the subtle blandishments which they often use. This, as you know, we have been careful to do at every opportunity; nor shall we cease to do it; as we also are not ignorant that you have always done it hitherto, and confidently trust that you will do hereafter with still more earnest zeal. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.5
“Given at Rome, at St. Mary the Greater, on the 18th of the Kalends of September, of the year 1840, the tenth of our pontificate. GREGORY XVI. POPE.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.6
Now let us see whereabouts we are in the prophetic chain. Have we passed the Lion - Babylon? Yes. Have we gone by the Bear with three ribs in his mouth? Yes. Has the sign of the Leopard with four wings of a fowl and four heads been passed? It has. The dreadful and terrible beast, with ten horns, - has he been seen? Yes. Have we got past the little horn having eyes like the eyes of a man? That is among the things numbered with the past. What comes next? The Judgment and God’s everlasting kingdom. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.7
WHAT WILL CAUSE: THE IMAGE?
SOME years since I became fully satisfied that the United States was the government symbolized by the two-horned beast. So many specifications were already fulfilled by this nation, that no doubt was left that it would fulfill the remaining ones. Consequently no doubt remained that the Image would be made; but what cause would call it forth was not so clear. Not taking into consideration the elements already existing and at work in the minds of the people, the most natural thought was, that the people of God, who will be persecuted under his administration, would attract so much notice under the present government, that they would elicit the Image. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.8
But I am satisfied that the cause which will produce the Image, has been working for years, and that its creation is now loudly demanded. Whether this view is correct or not, the Image will be made. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.9
How can a free, lamb-like government like this, preserve its freedom, while it admits the subjects of a foreign church-state government to all its privileges? Catholics become citizens here, while they are bound by what they esteem the highest law, to the Pope of Rome, who is head over all things to his subjects, temporal as well as spiritual. The balance of power is already in their hands - the party that can obtain the Catholic votes, (and they go in a mass,) elect their candidates. A government that makes no laws respecting religion, has no power in itself to check the growing evil, and it is apparent, that if things continue thus, this government which can make no religious laws, will soon be annexed to the dominion of one that can - the beast that had the wound by the sword, and did live. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.10
What can be done to save this government from such a fate? Nothing, while the integrity of the constitution is preserved. This must be amended so as to exclude one sect from equal political and religious rights. Protestants must unite to oppose this law-making church by the exercise of the same kind of power: by constituting themselves another law-making church. The moment this is done, the Image of the beast will be complete. The beast was church and state united; the Image will be the same. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.11
The Image will be made before the mass of the people are aware of the use to which it is to be applied. Then woe to him who does not bow down. Woe to him who feels bound by the Higher law - the law of God. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.12
Brethren, the trial is coming - the conflict is near. The spirit of martyrs will be needed. But though sharp, the conflict will soon be over. Victory will turn on Zion’s side, and the victors will stand with the Lamb upon Mt. Zion! Then let us gird on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day that is before us, and having done all to stand. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.13
In hope of victory, R. F. COTTRELL. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.14
P. S. Do not publish the above article to please me. If it should not appear in the REVIEW, I shall not lay it to heart and unite with the enemies of truth. R. F. C. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.15
[Continued from page 107.] in the heavenly abodes of light and glory, could look with approval upon it, and pronounce it “very good.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.16
How pure such a world must be - how holy, how full of peace and love; how sweet the rich beauty of its landscapes, and how perfect the character of all its inhabitants, ere God, beholding all, could pronounce it “very good.” It was very good. The earth was good, as it expanded in firmness and beauty - the abode of the creatures of God. The sea was good, as it glittered in the sunbeams, or rippled like a flood of molten gold beneath the breathing of the evening zephyr and the shining of the setting sun. The sun was good, as it declared the glory of the Lord, and went forth in its diurnal splendor to illuminate the world. The moon was good, as it walked in its brightness, mellowing all around with its silver light, and shedding a softened glory through the star-lit heavens. The animate creation were good, as they dwelt in peaceful companionship, yielding obedience to their common Lord. Adam was good, as he stood erect in all the majesty of manhood, imaging forth in his noble countenance the glory of his Creator. Everything was good, and at the conclusion of Creation’s week, God’s Sabbath - earth’s first day of solemn rest - sat like a crown of light upon the wondrous week, hallowing, calming, and sanctifying all around. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.17
Thus was earth created, and, as if this was not enough to reveal the fullness of Divine beneficence, away in the eastward, amid the spice-laden trees and flowery fields of Eden, beneath the first beams of the rising sun, God planted a beauteous garden. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.18
We have heard of the royal gardens of antiquity; we have seen the gardens of the rich, where wealth, and art, and taste, and pride united to lavish all their beauties on some little spot of earth. But what are these gardens, with their stately trees, with their gorgeous flowers, with their sparkling waters and their verdant banks, compared with that beauteous work of God? On that virgin soil grew “every tree that was pleasant to the sight, and good for food.” How stately were the palms of Paradise! How beauteous the orange-laden groves! How rich the pending fruits! How gay and glorious the flowers! How sweet the floating fragrance of the sighing zephyr! How soft the murmur of the passing breeze! How brilliant the gushing music of the fair-winged birds! How fair the Tree of Life, with its monthly fruits and its healing leaves! How bright the waters of that crystal river, that spread perpetual beauty on its verdant banks, and rolled its divided waters to the far-off regions of Havilbah, Ethiopia and Assyria! Ah! those were happy days, when this garden stood like a gem of unfading beauty upon the peaceful bosom of the world that then was. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.19
We have tried to imagine some of the glories of that world. Shall we dwell upon its ruin? Shall we speak of the entrance of sin; of the consequent guilt, and shame, and condemnation; of the sorrow and remorse of those erring ones who go forth in tears from that fair abode; of the dazzling glare of the flaming sword, and of the majestic glory of the guardian cherubim? Shall we mark the disorder that reigned from that fatal hour when Jehovah said, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake?” The fields of Paradise a tangled mass of thorns and thistles - the flowers fading, the leaves drooping, the beauty fleeting, the strength decaying; the beasts howling, and roaming far and near in their thirst for blood; the winds wailing and moaning amid the upturned trees; dark masses of clouds rolling angrily about the sky, and all nature giving signs of commotion and unrest. Shall we follow man through his life of toil, and misery, and anguish, and woe, and guilt, and sin, and fear, and trembling, and infirmity, and sickness, and old age, until finally he sinks into the darkness of a dishonored grave? Alas! the picture is too dreary for our lengthened contemplation, and we cannot forbear a sigh as we behold the fair image of God reduced by sin and death to corruption and to dust. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.20
The subsequent history of “the world that then was” is brief, but sad in the extreme. The first-born of earth was a murderer, and the second was a martyr. Generation succeeded generation, and degeneracy and sin marked the protracted periods of their misspent lives. A few holy men stood forth as lights shining in a dark place, holding forth the truth of God; but they were like the oasis in the desert, the island in the sea, or the faint glimmering of a single star amid the blackening rage of the midnight tempest. Of one of these it is recorded, that he walked with God for many years, and after predicting the advent of the Lord, with ten thousand of his holy ones, he passed gently away from earth, unharmed and unhindered by the hand of death and the simple record of his departure was, “God took him.” But the common character and the common lot of mankind were widely different. The prevailing tendency of human character and of human purpose from the beginning, was from good to bad, and from bad to worse. There were men of might, and honor, and renown, before whom men couched in terror, or bowed in suppliance, but the penetrating glance of the All-seeing One beheld “that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of his heart was only evil every day.” The earth was corrupt - all flesh had corrupted its way, and the earth was filled with violence. This was the result of man’s revolt - this the return for the Divine indulgence which had lengthened out his hour of probation. Throughout the world sin had spread like some loathsome pestilence, and scarcely an individual had escaped its polluting power. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.21
Amid this world-wide transgression, one person was “found righteous” - one man was “just and perfect in all his ways” - one man walked with God, and notwithstanding the surrounding impiety, found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He alone was found worthy to escape the things that were coming on the earth. He was selected as the only proper medium for the communion of the Divine will and the Divine warnings to mankind. In his ear the mysterious whisperings of the Eternal Spirit could find audience. His obedient heart would heed them and obey them. Accordingly he was warned of approaching danger. His eye, annointed by the Holy Ghost, foresaw the approaching deluge; and moved with fear, he not only warned others and preached faithfully to the world, but he prepared an Ark for the saving of himself and house. Thus he condemned the world. Thus he was justified before God, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.22
But the same spirit of disobedience which invoked the righteous indignation of God upon that race closed their ears against the warnings of the Almighty, and sealed their eyes to the denunciations of approaching and impending danger. Hence the hours that might, well filled with penitence, have averted the dread calamity, were employed in filling up the cup of sins to its brim, and in heaping up iniquity before Jehovah, thus treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 110.23
Swiftly the appointed day sped on. Men pursued their ceaseless round of business, sin, and pleasure, forgetting that they were wearing out the last brief moments of divine forbearance and of human probation, and thus braving the vengeance of the Almighty. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.1
Let us sit down within the Ark. The family of Noah are there, and the animate creation have their representatives. The door is closed by an invisible hand, and now we wait the departure of the last hours of human probation and impiety. How solemn that last week! The dying hour of a single sinner, or the execution of one criminal, is enough to chill the stoutest heart. But what emotions swell within us as we mark the solemn march of probation’s departing hours, and await the execution of a guilty world! How dread the suspense! how breathless the anxiety! ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.2
The world goes on as usual. The farmer in his field, the merchant in his shop, the drunkard at his cups, the reveler at his revelry, and the sinner at his sin. Violence and strife and iniquity roll on in resistless current, the world is given up to destruction, and yet fears no danger. What a scene! to-night a world’s feast, to-morrow a world’s funeral! To-night a world’s revel, to-morrow a world’s ruin. To-night a world’s exultation, to-morrow a world’s execution! To-night a world’s debauch, to-morrow a world’s destruction! ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.3
The last day dawns..... The laborer goes to his toil, the tradesman pursues his calling, the murderer marks his victim, the robber watches for the unwary, the harlot gads about in gay attire, the drunkard cracks his maudlin joke about Noah’s Ark, little children join in mockery of the man of God, men shake their heads and say, We’er safe enough, and Noah will feel different to-morrow. But hark! The swelling echoes of the distant thunder..... See! swift as the eagle’s flight, vast inky clouds roll up the sky. Earth rocks like a storm-tossed vessel beneath the blackening heavens, and on every hand the ground swells and yawns beneath our feet. Who can depict the scene? The floodgates of heaven are opened - the foundations of earth are broken up - the deep rolls up its floods - the waves roar - the winds howl - the clouds gather - the rains descend - the lightnings blaze - the thunders bellow - sinners wail - joy perishes - hope expires - and all above, beneath and around is one wild scene of confusion, darkness, anguish and dismay. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.4
What a funeral! The funeral of a godless world! The wide earth was their burial place - the rushing wave their winding-sheet - the swelling thunders their funeral knell - the hanging clouds their gloomy pall - and the mourners - who are they? Were they not those eight lonely survivors who surveyed in safety the terrific scene? Were they not the angels who once shouted for joy over that now ruined earth? Ay! and was there not sadness in the very heavens, and did it not repent the Lord that he had made man upon the earth? ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.5
What a night succeeded that fearful day! No sun, no moon, no stars; no peace, no joy, no hope; but one dread scene of alternate blackness and brightness, of gleaming lightnings, and of booming thunders, of falling torrents and of rushing waves. How different from the previous night! What a change from the music, mirth and blasphemy which were then wide as the world, to the awful roar of deep calling unto deep and thunder answering thunder. So suddenly were they cut off! so fearful did the storm break in upon their carnal slumbers! Shall I anticipate? Shall I drop a warning in the careless reader’s ear? Hear it: “As it was in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and destroyed them all, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.6
That flood closed the history of that dispensation and of that world. This is distinctly affirmed by the Apostle who declares that “The WORLD that then was, being overflowed by water, PERISHED.” 2 Peter 3:6. The history of that world is a sad one, as we have seen. Good at first, evil at last. Created by God for man’s happiness - cursed by God for man’s transgression - and destroyed by God for man’s ungodliness. Alas, that we should be constrained to say that it furnished but too true an index of human character - always progressive, but progressive towards ruin, always advancing, but advancing to destruction. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.7
A year passed away, and on the towering summit of Mount Ararat, from the door of a strange and weather-beaten structure, there came forth (with no scoffer to interrupt them) a solitary family, to stand upon the bosom of a new world. Everything around was strange. Nothing familiar was visible. Paradise and everything else which reminded man of the days of human innocence and primeval happiness, had been “pushed by the horned flood” into the watery depths, or buried amid the ruins of some upturned mountain; while the marine remains scattered every where around, gave evidence that the highest summits once lay beneath the level wave, and the whole wide landscape was but a memorial of God’s disapprobation of sin and iniquity. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.8
CLUSTERS OF ESCHOL
IN some hour of solemn jubilee,
The massy gates of Paradise are thrown
Wide open, and forth come, in fragments wild,
Sweet echoes of unearthly melodies,
And odors snatched from beds of amaranth,
And they that from the crystal river of life
Sprung up on freshened wing, ambrosial gales!
The favored good man in his lonely walk
Perceives them, and his silent spirit drinks
Strange bliss, which he shall recognize in heaven.
ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.9
COLERIDGE
A traveler, after a long journey when he is weary and faint, and sits down, if he sees the town before him, it puts life into him, and he plucks up his feet and resolves not to be weary till he be at his journey’s end. O, look at the crown and white robe set before you, and faint if you can: get on the top of Mount Nebo, - look on the land of promise, - those good things set before you; taste the grapes of Canaan before you come to Canaan. NALTON. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.10
All superior minds are enterprising. They are marked by an activity which conceives and attempts greater things than the surrounding multitudes. Their spheres of effort may be various, their powers unlike, their measures of success very diverse, yet all minds which impress themselves upon others, and accomplish much for good or evil, are characterized by a forth-putting energy and courage. Little souls are timorous. They venture nothing; they do not aspire; they do not grow! for they shrink within themselves, listless and inactive. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.11
Among those sent from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land of promise, were Caleb and Joshua, men of true enterprise, and their subsequent career showed them possessed of a persevering and sanctified energy. They never lost the impressions of their visit to the goodly land; the beauty of its prospects, and the security of the covenant of Jehovah’s pledge of possession to them. “And they came unto the brook Eschol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs; and they said, We came unto the land, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.” Are not we in the wilderness? is not Canaan before us? are not clusters of Eschol presented to us? Shall we not taste of the same and quicken our steps toward the Better Land? ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.12
Older and discerning Christians remark an unusual spirit of worldliness in the churches. It is feared by judicious fathers and mothers in Israel as well as by younger Calebs and Joshuas, that there are tokens of defection; evidences of a desire to return to Egypt; and that idolatry, in the form of covetousness is stealing upon the hearts of the people of God. Well may they tremble for the sacramental host when they find Aaron sanctioning the dance around some golden calf, and witness such ingratitude for deliverance, such readiness in yielding to the seductions of neighboring idolaters; when they hear, too, such complaints of the weariness of the way, and the absence of Egyptian luxuries; and behold such reluctance to go forward at God’s command, and take possession of the promised land. Strange it is and deplorable, that fugitives, under the sanction of God’s own right arm, should sigh for a return to bondage and darkness! ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.13
The worldly spirit deals with things present. It is not far-reaching or far-sighted, but its range is bounded by the horizon of time. It has no wings; it is of the earth, earthly. Whence comes the manna? why gushes water from the rock? whither guides the pillar of cloud and of fire? - are questions it never asks. It knows not how to soar; how to anticipate and trust; how to see him who is invisible, and to repose under the shadow of his wings unmindful of the wilderness, and unalarmed by foes. But the heavenly-minded man walks by faith, - that faith which is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And, among the great varieties which hold possession of his soul, no one has a firmer lodgement than that of the saint’s everlasting rest. All the circumstances of his present journey, all his remembrances, point to a Better Land, that is a heavenly. But most of all, the word of the Lord hath settled it. Did he not swear unto Abraham, “I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession?” In the horror of great darkness that fell upon him, did not a smoking furnace and a burning lamp pass between the cloven pieces, to ratify the covenant? ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.14
“Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying, in David, To-day, if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth, therefore a rest to the people of God.” O, yes, in every assurance of the covenant-keeping Jehovah; in every believing aspiration of patriarchs and prophets; in every mystery and miracle from Messiah’s incarnation to his ascension; in every teaching and motion of the Holy Spirit, in his word and in the souls of the sanctified on earth, there is a pledge of Canaan to come. The spiritually-minded know this. They know that if they are Christ’s, then are they Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Heaven is to them no mere poetic sentiment; no speculative conjecture, or philosophical deduction; no traditionary record; but an assured certainty. Though not having received the promises, they have seen them afar off. The heavenly-minded man has heavenly things in mind. The objects and occupations of the world above are not mere matters of record in the Bible, themes suggested as his eye lights upon Baxter’s Saints’ Rest, - interesting subjects upon which he once heard a lecture, - items of pantology, about which he has no doubt, and as little thought; they fill his mind, - they are present to his eye; they are home acquaintances. Fully persuaded of their existence, and expecting presently and personally to enjoy them, he often turns to the directory of Canaan, which inspiration supplies. He passes round by the ascent of Ahrabbim, he goes up from Kadesh Barnea, he traverses the valley of Eshcol and Jordan, he surveys Carmel and Hermon, and that goodly mountain, Lebanon; he wanders over the vine-clad hills, and among the palm-groves and olive orchards, till he seems naturalized and domesticated there. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.15
Yet, our conceptions of heaven are modified by our temperament, condition and habits. Robert Hall, a sufferer from the first to the last hour of his pilgrimage, remarked, “My chief conception of heaven is rest.” “Mine,” replied the amiable Wilberforce “mine is love - love to God, and love to every bright and happy inhabitant of that glorious place.” Both were right, and both will also find, what they likewise knew on earth, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the chief charm and glory of that world. No believer can meditate intelligently, for any length of time, upon heavenly objects, without having his thoughts drawn to the person of the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He it was who came down from heaven. He it is whom God raised from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.” He, the way, the truth and the life - He, the Alpha and Omega of all gracious manifestations, and all sanctified aspirations - the bond, the harmonizer of eternity and time, of the infinite and the finite, of the divine and the human - he, in every believer the hope of glory, must, to all saints, seem the chiefest among ten thousand, the one altogether lovely. “Blessed,” do they cry, “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.16
“I in them, and they in me!” O, the mystery of that mutual indwelling! “I will dwell in them.” O, the condescension of Immanuel, to convert a child of the dust into a temple for himself! to come and sojourn, ay, be a tent companion with him! “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” And when Christ comes he always brings heaven with him. Whoever sups with him feeds upon hidden manna, the true bread which cometh down from heaven. But, to commune thus with Christ, to call him elder brother, to find he is not ashamed to call us brethren, is not that to be heavenly minded? It is heaven in the heart; it is glory begun; it is salvation anticipated. “Whom, having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 111.17
Others are “of the world;” they think of the world, speak of the world, live for the world; whose minds the god of this world hath blinded. True, in the midst of this intense worldliness, there may be abundant discourse, poetic or speculative, about heaven, which, at best, has only an aesthetic influence, and has nothing to do with sanctification. But that occupation with celestial themes, which the Holy Spirit fosters, has a mighty assimilating power. By it the soul is elevated and ennobled. Its field and its powers of vision are enlarged, and the relative proportions and value of things seen and unseen are more clearly appreciated, and practically felt. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.1
Worldly-minded men are like common pendulums, that feel every disturbing influence; the heavenly-minded man is like that of Foucault; though connected with the earth, and moving with it, still it keeps faithfully and majestically to its own independent plane of vibration, while surrounding objects rotate continually. Yea, more: ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.2
“His hand the good man fastens on the skies.” Bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl.” - Selected. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.3
COMMUNICATIONS
From Bro. Whitenack
DEAR BRO. WHITE: - Next to seeing friends is to hear from them; and as I hear from those I love, through the Review, I thought I would write and acknowledge my gratitude to God for the privilege I have in reading it. It is food to the hungry soul and comfort to the lonely pilgrim, in this dark world, where sin much abounds, and the love of many is grown cold. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.4
I feel that it is by the grace of God that I am permitted to be numbered with those who are trying to keep the commandments of God. I hope that I may be accounted worthy to enter in through the gates into the city, and have right to the tree of life. I realize that the time is soon coming that we are to be tried. I am led to exclaim, Lord save, or I perish. Save, or I die. I praise God for the encouragement I receive from his blessed word. Cast not away your confidence which hath great recompense of reward, and fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.5
I am your brother in affliction, hoping for deliverance and eternal life when Jesus comes. JNO. WHITENACK. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.6
From Bro. Harris
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- More than a year has passed since we have met with the saints in meeting, yet we have not forgotten altogether those who are struggling to overcome and keep the commandments of God, while I read the trials of others, while struggling here I can in some measure sympathize with them. Oh! if it was not for hope the heart would break. I hope for better times. When I look at the troubles and trials we have to pass through, I am almost ready to sink; but when I look into the Bible and see what God has promised to them that hold out to the end, and then see what Jesus has suffered for us I can exclaim, Lord help me to bear with patience, and live a meek and humble follower of Jesus. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.7
I have been in the Advent, or in other words a firm believer in the Advent, since 1843, and some six or seven years I have been a believer in the Sabbath of the Bible; and the more I study and peruse the Word, the more I am convinced of its sacred truths. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.8
Brethren I want to look forward and not back. When I look back, all is darkness; but when I look forward sometimes it seems as though I could see all the way through into the city. Brethren we have nothing to fear, if we live as we should, and keep the commandments of God, although the nations are getting angry, sword, famine and pestilence are in the land, and men’s hearts are failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the Earth. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.9
See the promises to the remnant by the mouth of David. Psalm 91. Here God promises to protect them in the time of trouble. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.10
My determination is to press on, God being my helper. WM. HARRIS. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.11
Nov. 5th, 1854. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.12
From Bro. French
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- I am still interested in the present truths of the third angel’s message. I believe it to be the last message of mercy to a fallen and guilty world; yet I rejoice that Jesus loves and smiles on those that love him, and keep the Father’s commandments. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.13
The Review comes to us a welcome messenger. We read it with pleasure, and love the truths it contains. We believe that Christ’s coming is near, even at the doors. S. P. FRENCH. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.14
Nov. 4th, 1854. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.15
From Sister Kimble
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- I would like to write a few lines of encouragement to the brethren and sisters in the Lord. I praise the Lord for the Spirit and power of the third angel’s message. O, who would not live for God and have an inheritance in that glorious city. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.16
The little church in Catlin are striving to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and to be all of one spirit and of one mind. The time has come when we should have on the whole armor, and have our loins girt about with truth; for Satan is trying to cause division amongst us. May the Lord help us to be on our guard and have pure love one for another; for the time has come for the message to go with a loud voice and Satan knows it. He will stop its progress, if he can. My prayer is that we may be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves; be dead to the world and alive to Christ; live a self-denying life; do all we can to sustain the suffering cause of our blessed Lord. If we would reign with him we must also suffer with him; then we have the promise of a home in that blessed new earth where all will be peace and gladness of heart; where God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. “There shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things have passed away.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.17
“Then o’er the bright fields we shall roam,
In glory celestial and fair,
With saints and with angels at home,
And Jesus himself will be there.”
Your unworthy sister in Christ. MARTHA M. KIMBLE.
Oct. 28th, 1854.
ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.18
From Bro. Glover
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- A few names of us are still trying to live up to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Although the wolves have been among us and have divided the flock; those that are left still continue to assemble themselves together and the Lord evidently verifies his promise to us by meeting with us, and that to bless. I feel that the Lord is better pleased where a few meet to worship him, and are united, than where many meet and disunion, envy and strife are found. Perhaps you think we are all becoming discouraged; but this is not the case. God will have a pure people, and he will not suffer his children to become discouraged and disheartened so long as they keep on the whole armor and let not go the arm of the Lord. I feel to praise his name that he has kept me thus far. Although the weakest of all, my trust is in him. He will keep me if I remain firm on the rock Christ Jesus. C. S. GLOVER. Sylvan, Mich, Nov. 8th, 1854. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.19
FOREIGN NEWS
There is nothing very definite from the Crimea. The allies were to begin the siege at all points on the 10th or 12th inst. Nevertheless, speculators were busy in circulating a report that the place had already fallen. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.20
THE WAR. - The latest official dispatch is of date no later than October 3rd, and is from General Canrobert to the French Minister of War. No fresh military operation had been effected since the taking possession of Balaklava. The two armies (French and English) were established in an excellent military position, the English drawing its material and provisions from Balaklava, and the French, from two small bays to the North of Cape Chersonesus. This position of the two armies had naturally determined their mode of distribution on the ground before Sevastopol. The French will have the left of the attack, from the sea to the southern fort; and the English will take the right from the southern fort to the ruins of Inkermann. The French army is divided into two corps - the first under Gen. Forey, and composed of the third and fourth divisions, will make the siege; the second under the command of Gen. Bosquet, and comprising the first and second divisions, will form the corps of observation. The Turkish division will be placed in reserve, according to circumstances. Similar arrangements have been made by the English; one portion of their force will assist in the attacks against the place, and the other part, forming a corps of observation, will be united with the corps of Gen. Bosquet. These arrangements (says Gen Canrobert) are of a nature to remove all doubt as to the result of the siege. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.21
The English press unanimously believe that Sevastopol must fall in a few days; but last advices from Constantinople are somewhat gloomy. The Turks, well aware that the expedition to the Crimea was undertaken against the advice of all the Admirals and Generals, with the exception of Marshal St. Arnaud and Sir E. Lyons, entertain strong doubts about the success of the siege. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.22
In Asia the defeats of the Turks, though strategically unimportant, have weakened the prestige of the central power of the Sultan, and robbery and anarchy begin to show themselves every where. Greek freebooters infest the neighborhood of Smyrna, and Turkish robbers disturb the highlands of Armenia. Several French officers are said to have been murdered on their way to the Turkish army, and the army itself is demoralized by the frequent changes of commanders. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.23
Worthy of Imitation
THE following from an unknown “lover of truth,” is gratefully received in this our time of need. The post mark of the letter is so imperfect that we cannot ascertain even the State it came from. This act is certainly worthy of imitation, more or less, by all “lovers of truth,” who wish to see the light of truth shining forth to the world. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.24
“Dear Bro. White:- Will you please to dispose of the enclosed $20,00 in the following manner: The Review & Herald $5,00; the Tract Fund $5,00; for the distribution of Tracts and papers among the poor, $5,00; the remaining $5,00 forward to Bro. J. N. Andrews. A Lover of Truth.” ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.25
“THE STATE OF THE DEAD, By John Milton, author of Paradise Lost.” The chapters in Milton’s prose works on this subject have been printed in a Tract of 24 pp., by H. L. Hastings, Peace Dale R. I. Price $3 per 100. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.26
“THE THREE WORLDS; or, EARTH’S PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.” This is a Tract of 24 pp., published by H. L. Hastings, Peace Dale, R. I. We have read the work, and consider it excellent. Price $3 per 100. We design publishing it entire, but have space in this week’s REVIEW for only a part. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.27
To Correspondents
J. H. WAGGONER - We sent books on the “Law of God,” 50 to your address, 50 to C. W. Stanly, Baraboo, 25 to W. Lee, Rosendale, and 5 to W. H. Rapp, Markesan; and if a box of books is not soon ordered for your part of the State, we will send the same amount again to the same persons. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.28
J. M. STEPHENSON. - Sent you 2 letters to Hebron, Bark River, care of H. Myers. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.29
L. M. MORTON. - The book (Bible vs. Tradition) was sent Oct. 17th, as you directed. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.30
D. DANIELS. - The $2, not received. We will send the REVIEW. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.31
Books Sent. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.32
Geo. Smith, (a box) Norwalk, Ohio, Nov. 1st. - Money received. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.33
Henry Lyon, (a box,) Battle Creek, Oct. 19th. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.34
R. F. Cottrell, (a box,) Wende Station, Nov. 10th. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.35
E. Everts, (a bundle by Express for Brn. Sperry and Hutchins,) Vergennes. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.36
W. Fisher, (by mail) Lodi, Nov. 13th. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.37
Tract Fund Report
| Amount Previous to recent Donations | $211,00 |
| Recent Donations | 60,94 |
| ------ | |
| Total. $271,94. | |
| Books delivered to Henry Lyon, | $5,00. |
| “ ” ” J. N. Loughborough, | 3,00. |
| “ ” ” Joseph Bates, | 4,00. |
| “ ” ” R. F. Cottrell, | 5,00. |
| “ ” ” Hutchins & Sperry, | 10,00. |
| ------ | |
| Total. $27,00. | |
| ------ | |
| Amount on hand, | $244,94 |
Cost of the Review One Year
| 4000 copies | $4000. |
| 3000 ” | $3500. |
| 2000 ” | $3000 |
Our present circulation costs $60 per week, or $3125, per year. Those wishing to ascertain the condition of the Office in regard to means, may compare the receipts with the above. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.38
Letters
C. S. Glover, W. Fisher, P. Grandy, T. Knight, Geo. Smith, R. Cummings, N. A. Gale, J. Lindsey, D. Daniels, H. L. Hastings. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.39
Receipts
E. Boutelle, Wm. Harris, C. Baily, A. Lee, D. Sherwood, O. Holcomb, A. P. H. Kelsey, A. W. Kelsey, I. R. Trembly, J. Simpson, Wm. Travis, S. Benson, L. Bailey, H. Childs, (should have been receipted in No. 1,) S. B. McLaughlin, Wm. Steer, M. Nichols, (should have been receipted in No. 4,) M. Bartlett, Wm. Harrison, W. McLenerthan, R. Loveland, W. Peck, J. Griswold, each $1. A Lover of Truth, $5. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.40
To send the Review to the Lord’s Poor. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.41
C. Bailey, A. Lee, I. R. Trembly, J. Griswold, each $1, A Friend $2. I. Abby $12. W. McLenerthan, W. Peck, G. Ferry, each $0,50. O. Holcomb, R. Loveland, each $0,25. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.42
For Books to be sent to Wisconsin. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.43
P. G. Pitts, H. Child, each $1. A Friend $3. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.44
For The Tract Fund. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.45
A. P. H. Kelsey, S. Childs, each $1. H. Childs, R. Smalley, each $2. J. M. Lowry $3. S. Benson $4. E. P. Below, a Lover of Truth, each $5. Wm. Harris $0,69. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.46
For Books and Papers for the Poor. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.47
A Lover of truth $5. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.48
For J. N. Andrews: - A Lover of truth $5. ARSH November 14, 1854, page 112.49