The Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 6
June 12, 1855
RH VOL. VI. - ROCHESTER, N.Y., THIRD-DAY - NO. 31
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, JUNE 12, 1855. - NO. 31.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
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Worldly Conformity
LET the world pass on in its boasted pride,
Its glitter and hollow show;
It is treading a way that is false as wide,
Where the gales of destruction blow:
But those who would walk in the narrow path,
Will find it is too confined
For the swelling titles and wealth of earth,
And the homage of human kind.
ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.1
Then Christian, away from its witching smile,
To the pride of life bid adieu;
And let worldlings mock as they may the while,
To God and thyself be true.
Oh why should you care for the scoffer’s sneer,
Or heed what the world may say?
They’re seeking, receiving their happiness here,
Nor ask for a brighter day.
ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.2
But we who are looking beyond this earth
For our portion of treasured bliss,
Should turn for aye from the senseless mirth
Of a world full of sin as this:
Let fashion and folly control the gay,
Be duty and love our guide,
And though former companions deride our way,
Let us walk by our Master’s side.
ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.3
And let us remember the feverish dream
Of fame and wealth no more;
Oh, little we’ll prize the world’s esteem,
When its fitful song is o’er.
I know that this life hath a magic spell,
And a thousand voices too;
But a Saviour’s hand is guarding well,
Every trusting heart and true.
ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.4
Then be not conformed to the changeful ways
Of this passing, seductive earth;
But be ye transformed by renewing grace,
And the power of a nobler birth.
Oh, sink to the station where Jesus stood,
And learn, where the lowly live -
Take for an ensample the only “Good,“
And strive for the life he’ll give. M. E. S.
ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.5
THE MORNING
“THE watchman said, The morning cometh;” (Isaiah 21:12;) and though, while making this answer, he forewarns us of night, he also assures us of morning. There is a morning, says he, therefore do not give way to faintness of spirit; but there is a night between, therefore take warning: that you may not be surprised nor dismayed, as if the promise were broken, or some strange thing allowed to befall you. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.6
There may be delay, he intimates, before the morning, a dark delay, for which we should be prepared. During this delay the watchman encourages us to “inquire,” to “return,” to “come.” He expects us to ask “how long,” and say, “When will the night be done?” He takes for granted that such will be the proceeding of men who really long for morning. To the hills of Seir they will again and again return, to learn from the watchman what is the promise of day. For no familiarity with the night can ever reconcile them to its darkness, or make morning less desirable and welcome. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.7
It is right for us to desire the morning, to hope for it, to weary for it, to inquire as to the sight of it hour after hour. God has set this joy before us, and it were strange indeed if, when compassed about with so many sorrows, we could forget it, or be heedless as to its arrival. For the coming of the morning is the coming of Him whom we long to see. It is the coming of Him “who turneth the shadow of death into the morning.” Amos 5:8. It is the return of Him whose absence has been night, and whose presence will be day. It is the return of Him who is the resurrection and the life, and who brings resurrection with him; the return of Him who is creation’s Lord, and who brings with Him deliverance to creation; the return of Him who is the church’s Head, and who brings with Him triumph and gladness to his church. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.8
All the joy, the calm, the revivifying freshness of the morning are wrapt up in Him. When He appears, day appears, life appears, fruitfulness appears. The curse departs. The “bondage of corruption” is no more. Clouds, storms, troubles, sorrows vanish. The face of nature re-assumes the smile of unfallen times. It is earth’s festival, the world’s jubilee. “The heavens rejoice, the earth is glad, the sea roars and the fullness thereof, the fields are joyful and all that is therein, the trees of the wood rejoice, the floods clap their hands, and the hills are joyful together before the Lord; for He has come, for He has come to judge the earth; with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with his truth.” Psalm 96:11; 98:7. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.9
This morning has been long anticipated. Age after age it has attracted the church’s eye, and fixed her hope. On the promise of it her faith has been resting, and towards the hastening of it her prayers have gone forth. Though afar off, it has been described, and rejoiced in as the sure consummation towards which all things are moving forward according to the Father’s purpose. “There is a morning,” has been the word of consolation brought home to the burdened heart of many a saint when ready to say, with David, “I am desolate,” or with Jeremiah, “He hath set me in dark places as they that be dead of old.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.10
Let us dwell for a little on some of these Old Testament allusions to the MORNING. Let us take first the 30th Psalm. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.11
David had been in sorrow, and in coming out of it he makes known to the saints his consolations:- “Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For there is but a moment in his anger; in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING.” Psalm 30:4, 5. The earnest of that morning he had already tasted, but the morning itself he anticipates. Then joy has come. Then he can say, (verse 11, “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.” But it is the voice of a greater than David that is heard in this Psalm. It is one of Christ’s resurrection Psalms, like the 18th and the 116th. He was “lifted up,” so that his foes were not made to rejoice over him. He cried, and was “healed.” His “soul was brought up from the grave.” There was anger against Him “for a moment,” when as the sinner’s substitute he bore the sinner’s curse. But in Jehovah’s favor there was “life.” He had a night of weeping, a night of “strong crying and tears,” when his soul was “sorrowful even unto death,” and when beneath the waves of that sorrow he sunk, commending his spirit into the Father’s hands. But it was a night no more. Morning came, and with morning, joy. Coming forth from the tomb, he left all his sorrow behind: his sackcloth was put off, and he arose “girded with gladness.” He found morning and joy; and he is “the first fruits of them that slept.” His rising was the rising of his saints. There was a morning for him, therefore there shall be one for us, - a morning bright with resurrection glory. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.12
Let us next take Psalm forty-ninth. These are Christ’s words, as is proved from the quotation of verse 4, in Matthew 13:35. He summons the whole world to listen. He “speaks of wisdom,” for he is Wisdom. He points to the vanity of riches, and their insufficiency to redeem a soul; and who knew so well as he what a ransom was needed? He sees men going on in their wickedness, self-confidence, and vain-glory. He proclaims their madness and guilt, - speaking of them as incurable from generation to generation. He contrasts the end of the wicked and the end of the righteous; “like sheep the former are laid in the grave,” - buried out of sight, forgotten, unmourned. “Over them the righteous shall have dominion IN THE MORNING.” The morning then brings dominion to the righteous, - redemption from the power of the grave. In this Jesus rejoiced; in this let us rejoice. This joy of the morning was set before him; it is the same joy that is set before us. Dominion in the morning is that to which we look forward, - a share in the first resurrection, of which they who are partakers live and reign with Christ. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.13
Look again at the forty-sixth Psalm. It is the utterance of the faith of Israel’s faithful ones, in the time of “Jacob’s trouble.” The earth is shaken; (verse 2, compared with Haggai 2:6; and Hebrews 12:26, 27;) the sea and the waves roar; (verse 3, compared with Luke 21:25;) but there is a river whose streams gladden them. God is in the midst of her. Nay, “God helps her WHEN THE MORNING APPEARETH,” (verse 5, margin,) just as in the morning watch he looked out from the fiery cloud and troubled the Egyptians. Then the heathen are scattered at his voice, - he sweeps off every enemy, he makes wars to cease, and sets himself on high over the nations, as King of kings, “exalted in the earth.” From which we gather that the morning brings with it deliverance from danger, - victory over enemies, - the renewal of the earth, - peace to the nations, - the establishment of Messiah’s glorious throne. What a morning of joy must that be, for the church, for Israel, for the whole earth! - resurrection for the church, restoration for Israel, restitution for the earth! ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.14
Look at the 110th Psalm. We see Jesus at Jehovah’s right hand, - waiting till his enemies be made his footstool; and then He who said unto him “Sit,” shall say “Arise.” Psalm 82:8. He is yet to have dominion on earth, and to sit upon the throne of his father David. Instead of a “gainsaying people,” as he had in the day of his weakness, he is to have “a willing people in the day of his power;” all arrayed in the beauties of holiness; more numerous and resplendent than the dew from the womb of THE MORNING. Willingness, beauty, holiness, brightness, number; - these shall mark his people in that morning of joy which his coming shall produce. “The dew (says one) is deposited in greatest plenty about the breaking of the dawn, and refresheth with its numerous drops the leaves and plants and blades of grass on which it resteth; so shall the saints of God, coming forth from their invisible abodes out of the womb of the morning, refresh the world with their benignant influence; and therefore are they likened to the dew, for all nature is so constituted of God, as to bear witness of that day of regeneration, which then shall dawn.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.15
Read also “the last words of David,” (2 Samuel 23:1-4,) in which, as in the 72nd Psalm, “the prayers of David are ended,” or summed up. “There shall be a just one ruling over men, ruling in the fear of God; as THE LIGHT OF THE MORNING shall he arise, the Sun of an unclouded morning, shining after rain upon the tender grass of the earth.” Not till that Just One comes is the morning to dawn, for he is its light; and from his countenance is to break forth that light in which all earth is to rejoice. Then the darkness of the long night shall disappear, and the brief tribulation tasted in the time of absence be forgotten in the abounding blessedness of his everlasting presence. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 241.16
Thus we see all kinds of joy brought within the circle of this MORNING. It is a morning of joy, because it is the morning introduced by Him, who said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full;” (John 15:11;) by Him “in whose presence there is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11. But let us mark the different kinds of joy and the different figures denoting it. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.1
There is the joy of deliverance from overwhelming danger. There was the joy of the Jews when their adversary perished, and Mordecai was exalted; “The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor: ... the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day.” Esther 8:16. Such shall be the church’s joy in the morning of her great deliverance. There is the joy of escape from captivity and return from exile, such as made Israel feel “as men that dream.” Such shall be the church’s joy when her long captivity is done. “Then shall her mouth be filled with laughter, and her tongue with singing; having sowed in tears she reaps in joy.” Psalm 126:2. There is the joy of the harvest, (Isaiah 9:3,) and such shall be the church’s joy. There is the mother’s joy when her pangs are over, and the child is born into the world. John 16:20. With such joy shall we rejoice, and our joy no man taketh from us. The joy in reserve for us is manifold and large; it will abide and satisfy; it is the joy of the morning; - a long glad day before us; no evening with its lengthening shadows, no night with its chills and darkness. “There shall be no night there, and they need no candle neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 22:5. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.2
The prospect of this morning - this “morning of joy” - nerves and cheers us under all our tribulation. Were this morning an uncertainty, how dark would the night seem! how difficult for us to fight against faintness and despair! But the thought of morning invigorates and braces us. We can set our faces to the storm, for behind it lies the calm. We can bear the parting, for the meeting is not distant. We can afford to weep, for the tear shall soon be wiped away. We can watch the tedious sick bed, for soon “the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.” We can look quietly into the grave of buried love and cherished hope, for resurrection shines beyond it. Things may be against us here, but they are for us hereafter. The here is but an hour; the hereafter is a whole eternity. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.3
But for the world - the heedless, pleasure-chasing world, they have no such brightenings for their dark hours of sorrow. No morning comes to them. Their sun sets, but rises not again; their life goes down in darkness, without a hope. It is night - night infinite and endless, to them; “the blackness of darkness for ever.” No healing of their wounds, no wiping away of their tears, no binding up of their broken hearts! They reject the infinite sacrifice, they sport away their day of salvation, and their history winds up in judgment and the second death. “If they speak not according to this word,” (says the prophet,) “there is no morning for them.” Isaiah 8:20, margin. This word, “which by the gospel is preached unto them,” (1 Peter 1:25,) they slight or scorn, and vengeance overtakes them for rejection! “Therefore,” says the same prophet, “shall evil come upon you; thou shalt not know its morning.” Isaiah 47:11, margin. An evil without a deliverance, a night without a morning, is their portion! - H. Bonar. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.4
Many a sharp conflict there hath been betwixt saint and saint, scuffling in the dark, through misunderstandings of the truth, and each other. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.5
The Judgment of God upon the Nations. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.6
WE had the curiosity, not long since, to compare all the books on unfulfilled prophecy, within our reach, to see how far they were agreed as to the precise position which the present generation occupies in prophecy. The writers belonged to so many schools of interpretation that we were not at all disappointed in discovering that there were very few points in which they were agreed, and the comparison was not by any means confirmatory of the idea, that prophecies were intended to be understood in their details before they are fulfilled. We are aware that there seems to be a blessing pronounced upon him who reads and understands them, but it is a blessing which we fear but very few in this age of the church can claim. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.7
There is one point, however, in which most of these writers do agree, and it is to that that we specially invite the attention of our readers at this time. They all agree that we are on the eve of very great changes and revolutions of some kind. The plot of the world’s history seems to be thickening fast, great revolutions are to follow each other in quick succession, and crowd themselves into a very short space of time. We were struck with the very great changes which were supposed by most of these writers to be predicted as to take place from the year 1848 to 1866. The latter is the time fixed upon by some of the millennarians as the end of the 1260 years of Daniel and John, and as the period of the second coming of Christ, which is, according to them, to be preceded by great convulsions among many of the nations, and the infliction of terrible judgments upon them by God. It is fixed upon by many of the advocates of a spiritual millennium as the time when that delightful season is to commence; others place it later, making it commence about the close of this century, and making the millennium the seventh thousand of the world’s history. Both classes of writers, however, agree that the period styled the millennium is probably not very far off, and that it is to be immediately preceded by great changes of some sort, and most of them by great and sore judgments being sent upon the nations of the earth. We undertake not now to decide which view of the millennium, or whether either, is right. It is a subject upon which dogmatism, as it seems to us, is exceedingly out of place. Our object in referring to it now, is simply to turn the attention of our readers to the contemplation of the subject, and to prepare their minds, by a calm and confiding reliance upon God, for whatever may await us as a nation or them as individuals. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.8
If we look to the present condition of the nations of the Old World, they appear to be passing through fiery ordeals and convulsions which are to shake them to their very foundations. The prospect now is that the whole of Europe and a portion of Asia will be involved in the fearful struggle which has commenced between Turkey, France, England, and Austria on the one side, and Russia on the other. The Vienna Conference has been, and is likely to be, wholly barren of results, except to render the question of a permanent peace more difficult, and to put off the time of its consummation to an indefinite period. The most sagacious statesmen have predicted, from the time it was proposed, that any peace which it might effect would only be temporary, to be followed by fresh struggles, in which some of the parties to the contest would change places. When we think of the immense armies that are, or can be, marshalled for the conflict, the almost inexhaustible resources of the belligerents, and the increase in the facilities of destroying life, which modern improvements have placed within the reach of the parties, the coming struggle almost overwhelms the mind with its greatness and with the destruction of life and the amount of human suffering which it will probably cause. China, too, that great nation, containing nearly one third of the whole race of man, which had by outsiders been supposed to be stereotyped, and secure against revolutions, is now in a state of revolution, at sea without compass or chart, drifting, none but God knows whither. What other neighboring nations she will involve in her struggles, before they are over, none can tell but an omniscient being. We know so little of the continent of Africa, that we can give no guess as to what changes are awaiting her. Should her exiled sons and daughters be returned to her in large numbers, bearing with them the seeds of civilization and Christianity, they may infuse new life and vigor even into her, and effect changes which may even cause Ethiopia to stretch forth her hands unto God. On our own continent, the South American and Mexican Governments are mere ropes of sand which may be broken into a thousand fragments at any moment. They are sleeping volcanoes whose internal fires may burst forth in an hour, and spread desolation all around them. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.9
And what shall we say of our own nation? Are all the other nations to be scourged and convulsed and we alone to remain calm, prosperous and happy, with no causes to hinder our onward march to greatness? If we have fewer sins than other nations, have we not had greater opportunities to do and be good, than they, and have not our temptations to sin been less than theirs? Where much is given, will not much be required? If exalted to heaven, will we not be cast down to hell, if we do not make a proper improvement of our blessings and privileges? Has not God already begun to deal with us, in the fearful drought of the past year, and who of us is certain that he has yet finished the process which he then commenced? Have we learned the lesson which that Providence was intended to teach? Then, what mean those distant thunders of a coming struggle between the North and South, which a few years must precipitate upon us, unless God in his great goodness avert its fury, before wicked demagogues precipitate the crisis? The great, the wise, and the far-seeing men, who had sufficient force of character to risk their standing at home and reputation abroad, to enable them to lay their hands upon both parties, and hush to silence their angry passions, and bring them into harmony, are nearly all gone, and sectional men from both regions are likely to get into their places. Our hope is in God alone. He can bring light out of darkness, order out of confusion, and cause the wrath of man to praise him. If he has great and wise purposes for us to accomplish as a united people, which is our hope, he will continue us as such, and can easily raise up the instruments to do it with. If our sins have provoked his wrath, as we have too much reason to fear, and if our cup of iniquity has become full, as that of many of the nations of the Old World seems to have done, we may look out for the rod to be heavily laid upon us as upon them. We know that God will overturn and overturn amongst the nations, until everything which he wishes torn down has been destroyed. The only safety for individuals, or for nations, in such times of the out-pourings of his judgments, is to secure his favor which is life, and his loving kindness which is better than life. He will hide his friends and favorites in the hollow of his hand, until the calamity be overpast. They may confidently say, with his servant of old: “the Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice.” “Though the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olives shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” God’s people, and the nations whom he loves and approves, are safe, though he may chasten them, and none are safe but they. He keeps those in perfect peace whose minds are stayed on him. - Pres. Herald. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.10
“To-Day.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.11
NOT at any time, not a future time, but to-day. Not after Satan has had time again to ply his arts on you, not after you have again tried the world, not after conviction has been once more dulled, and deadened, and stifled by business, by pleasure, by care, but now, to-day, while the words of God are ringing in your ears. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.12
To-day - while the great sacrifice of Christ is within view; while Christ still waits at the right hand to “make intercession for all who come unto God by him.” To-day, to-day - while you feel your need, while you still are sensible of your own inability to be your own saviour; to-day, while the Holy Spirit still strives. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.13
“Hear His voice!” - the voice that says, “Come let us reason together” - the voice that says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink” - the voice that says, “Look unto me, and be saved” - the voice that says, “I am the bread of life” - “I am the light of the world” - “Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.14
Oh! that you would hear! grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. “Harden not your heart” as Pharaoh did - as Israel did in the provocation in the wilderness. Sin is secretly gnawing the vitals of your soul. Repentance for sin is a duty now; forsaking sin is a duty, and a duty to-day. Pardon is ready to-day; for the fountain is full to the brim. Purification is ready to-day; for the Holy Spirit is in the gift of Jesus. “Harden not your heart.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.15
Remember, He who says, “to-day,” limiteth the time - draws round you a circle, as the Roman Ambassador did to the King, saying, “Decide for peace or war, ere you pass from this spot.” He limited a certain time; and the word “to-day” points out how far the circle extends. Long suffering has an end, even the long-suffering of God. Oh! then, “If ye will hear His voice!” It is not man, but the Holy Ghost that so speaketh. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 242.16
To-morrow is not as this day; to-day the Holy Ghost says, “Hear His voice,” and shows us God in Christ inviting, calling, urging sinners, imploring them, beseeching them. As to-morrow, the Holy Ghost shows us God, as Judge shutting the door; setting the flaming sword at the gate of Paradise, declaring, with uplifted hand, “They shall not enter into my rest.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.1
“Every one of You.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.2
To show the unfettered freeness of the gospel invitation, Bunyan has the following impressive passage, which, for graphic power, is, perhaps, unequalled in the English tongue: ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.3
“But we will return to the first sermon that was preached to those Jerusalem sinners, by which will be manifested more than great grace, if it be duly considered. For after that Peter, and the rest of the apostles had, in their exhortation, persuaded these wretches to believe that they had killed the Prince of life, and after they had duly fallen under the guilt of their murder, saying, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ he replies, by a universal tender to them all in general, considering them as Christ’s killers, that if they were sorry for what they had done, and would be baptized for the remission of their sins in his name, they should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This he said to them all, though he knew they were such sinners. Yes, he said it without the least stick or stop, or pause of spirit, as to whether he had best say so or no. Nay, so far off was Peter from making an objection against one of them, that by a peculiar clause in his exhortation, he endeavors that not one of them may escape the salvation offered. ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you. I shut out never a one of you, for I am commanded by my Lord to deal with you, as it were, one by one, by the word of his salvation.’ But why speaks he so particularly? Oh! there were reasons for it. The people with whom the apostles were now to deal, as they were murderers of our Lord, and to be charged in the general with his blood, so they had their various acts of villainy in the guilt thereof, now lying upon their consciences. And the guilt of these their various and particular acts of wickedness, could not perhaps, be reached to a removal thereof, but by this particular application. Repent, every one of you; be baptized, every one of you, in His name, for the remission of sins, and you shall, every one of you, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.4
“Objection. - But I was one of them that had plotted to take away his life. May I be saved by him?’ ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.5
“Peter. - ‘Every one of you.’ ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.6
“O.” - ‘But I was one of them that cried out, Crucify Him! and desired that Barrabas, the murderer, might live rather than he. What will become of me, think you?’ ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.7
“P. - ‘I am to preach repentance and remission of sins to every one of you,’ says Peter. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.8
“O. - ‘But I was one of them that did spit in his face when he stood before his accusers. I was also one that mocked him, when in anguish he hanged bleeding on the tree. Is there room for me?’ ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.9
“P. - ‘For every one of you,’ says Peter. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.10
“O. - ‘But I was one of them that in his extremity said, give him gall and vinegar to drink. Why may not I expect the same when guilt and anguish is upon me?” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.11
“P. - ‘Repent of these your wickednesses, and here is remission of sins for every one of you.’ ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.12
“O. - ‘But I railed on him, I reviled him, I hated him, I rejoiced to see him mocked at by others. Can there be hope for me?’ ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.13
“P. - ‘There is for every one of you. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.’ ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.14
“Oh! what a blessed ‘every one of you,’ is here! How willing was Peter, and the Lord Jesus, by his ministry, to catch these murderers with the word of the gospel, that they might be made monuments of the grace of God! How unwilling, I say, was he, that any of these should escape the hand of mercy! Yea, what an amazing wonder it is to think, that above all the world, and everybody in it, these should have the first offer of mercy! ‘Beginning at Jerusalem.’” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.15
Discrediting Religion. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.16
“HE is a godly man, but very sharp at a bargain.” This remark referred to a professor of religion and was designed as a disparagement both of him and his religion. Men of the world, whose only gospel is founded on the maxims and customs of business, aim at sharpness in making a bargain; and, while they condemn positive and vulgar cheating, they consider it no discredit to approach as near as possible to the line which separates it from an acute exercise of their business tact, in obtaining an advantage over their less wakeful neighbors. When, however, one comes among them professing another gospel, enjoying higher principles of action, they watch him closely, and if they detect him adopting their policy, using their artifices, betraying the same restless anxiety to make quick and doubtful profits, in a word, when they see him leaving his gospel at home, and going to his place of business like a man of the world, to chaffer, to screw, to make money at all hazards, they note the inconsistency, and jeer both him and his religion. With this we find no fault. We commend men of the world for the watchfulness they exercise over christian professors, and for the rebukes which they express at their manifest inconsistencies. We say to them “Preach to such men in your pointed way until they reform or lay aside the profession they dishonor.” We do most seriously protest, however, against laying their inconsistencies to the account of religion. Religion is a holy and sacred thing; it has no precept enjoining love of the world, self-seeking, or injury to our neighbor, and he that follows such precepts manufactures them out of his own evil heart, and in utter despite of the gospel. If a professed disciple of Christ shows himself to be a mean, grasping, over-reaching trader, say of him that he dishonors religion, while you respect the religion, which, if it was truly experienced by him would make him another and a better man. How cautious should christians be in their contact with the world! They are entrusted, in a sense, with the very honor of Christ; and they may do immense mischief to his cause, and to the souls of their poor fellow men, when they betray an intense worldly spirit, and especially when they descend to any of the tricks of trade. In every transaction they should be examples to all around them. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.17
Condition of the City of the Popes. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.18
LISTEN to Kirwan. “Nor, sir, is there any security for property in Rome! It is constantly confiscated on the merest pretexts, to the Church, and when not confiscated it is alienated to the ‘Holy See’ in a variety of ways. Two instances, in proof of this were narrated to me there, and by a man of high position. A Roman of wealth married a lady of foreign birth, and by whom he had a large family of children. After a life of love and harmony, he died, leaving his property to his widow and children, duly authenticated. Although regardless of the priests in health, he sent for one when dying, who confessed him, and anointed him, and fixed him off for purgatory or paradise. A few days after his death, that priest swore before the tribunal having jurisdiction in such cases, that the dying man confessed to him a great sin, and to atone for which he wished his entire property, contrary to his will, to go to the Church, and on the oath of that priest the will of the deceased was set aside, his property was turned into the treasury of the Church, and his widow and children were turned out penniless upon the mercy of the world. Thus nothing is necessary to deprive any family in Rome that has lost its head, of its property, but the oath of a priest: and if you had seen them in crowds, as I have, you would conclude, as I have, that it would be an easy matter to get a priest in Rome that would swear anything. Absolution from perjury that enriches the Church is easily secured. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.19
“Nor sir, is there any religion in Rome. I do not mean to say that among its thousands of ecclesiastics, there are none that love God, nor do I mean to say that the Lord has no chosen ones hidden among the chaff and trash that are every where visible there, but I do mean to say, and affirm as strong as language can do it, that among the masses of priests and people there is no fear of God, and no knowledge of the doctrines of our religion. And how could there be, in the absence of the means instituted by heaven to sustain and to extend religion among the people. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.20
“There is no Sabbath in Rome. The only apparent difference there between the Sabbath and other days of the week is, that the shops are more gaily dressed, the markets are more full, and more people are engaged in buying and selling. On my way to St. Peter’s, from the Hotel d’Angleterre, I saw monks and priests in all the shops and markets, buying, as on other days, and chatting like magpies. In Naples, the shops are all closed, and all business suspended on feast days, but on the Sabbath all business is brisker than usual. Romanism knows no Sabbath. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.21
“There is no Bible in Rome. I made my inquiries there for a Bible, but without success. The people have no Bible - they know nothing about it. An intelligent man of fifty told me he never saw one. Multitudes of the priests know nothing about it, and when asked why they have none for sale, the booksellers will tell you that it is prohibited. Captain Packenham, once a banker in the city, and a most respectable gentleman and devout Christian, is now in banishment for circulating the Scriptures there during the short existence of the Republic. Much of true religion consists in knowing God and Jesus Christ; and how can they be known by a people from whom the Bible is excluded? ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.22
“There is no preaching in Rome. Now and then a foreign priest or ecclesiastic visiting there in search of a pallium or of a cardinal’s hat, may get up a brief course of lectures for the edification of the strangers wintering there; but these are usually vain and ambitious men, who seek in this way to gain favor at court, and to promote their self-interests. There is no preaching to the Italians, and when there is an occasional exception to the rule, it is not the gospel that is preached - it is either an eulogy upon some Popish saint, or a vehement harangue against the Reformation and the Protestants. Popery treats as a nullity the ascending command of the Saviour, ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’ This one crime, sir, is enough to subject it to the curse of ‘Anathema maranatha.’” - Selected. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.23
How to be Rich in Heaven. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.24
IF it is prudent to provide for the time to come, how much more so to provide for eternity! While to be rich in this world is the passion of thousands, to be rich in the next be mine. An appetite after earthly grandeur, betrays a mean spirit, and a base soul; but an ambition to be great in heaven, is worthy of an heir of God, of an expectant of glory: for it is to the honor of the supreme Potentate, that all his subjects be nobles, be priests, be kings. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.25
In this short lifetime is the foundation laid of things of eternal moment, and the wisdom that is from above will teach me to send all my treasures thither. It deserves little or no pity to be poor in this world, but poverty in the other is deplorable beyond the reach of compassion. And yet, according to the capacity of glorified saints, shall that same undiminished fulness be possessed in greater or lesser degree. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.26
“How rich died he?” is the speech of fools at the decease of an acquaintance or friend. But none ever die rich but the saints; for, how can that man be said to die rich, when the very moment of his dissolution robs him of his all? ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.27
“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” is the admonition of the dear Redeemer. Let me, then, lay down an imperfect plan to myself, how to be rich for eternity. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.28
1. Then, pre-supposing that I am in a gracious state, I must have a Christian contempt of the world. No man ever filled his coffers with sand; no monarch ever wore the pebble in his crown; so the soul that lays up his treasures in heaven, will not concern himself with perishing trifles. If my affections are not weaned from the creature, and set on things above, I shall be but poor in the world to come. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.29
2. I must be watchful in all things. The man that is anxious to be rich will not waste a penny; so must I watch mine actions, my thoughts, my words. Again, I must watch for God, against all my secret sins, and also to reprove the transgressor. A bold and sincere reproof of sin, is a stroke against the enemies of the King, from which a palm of victory shall spring in the world of glory. I must also speak in commendation of the good land, that others may be encouraged to set out for the land of promise. Again, I must watch against carnal sorrow. Should the heir of a crown lament the loss of a feather? What can death do in his family who is the resurrection and the life? It may separate them a little while, but it is only to meet again for ever. Worldly riches give their owners joy, but joy in the Lord increases spiritual riches. So I must guard against carnal delight; none of the gay things of time must be objects of my affection. It would be mean for a noble personage to be charmed with a stable, who has a palace prepared for him; mean for an heir of God to sit down and feed on the refuse of the creation. Again, I must beware of carnal company. These are bankrupts that will spend at my expense, and whatever loss I make by them, yet in their company I shall never be able to add a mite to my celestial treasure. How can I be safe among robbers? They may rob me of a good frame, wound my conscience, and at last leave me with a bleeding heart, which may pain me many days. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.30
3. To grow rich for the world to come, I must study to be heavenly-minded, not by fits and starts, but in one constant, steady, holy frame of spirit. Thus every duty will be my delight; prayer and praise, like my daily food, always pleasant; attendance on the public ordinances, like walking in the King’s palace garden; reading the scriptures, like conferring with the dearest friend; and self-examination, like the merchant from a far country, counting over his rich jewels and precious gems, inspecting his gold and silver, that it have the king’s stamp, and so be sterling money; that his graces, his duties, his attainments, are approved by scripture and conscience. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 243.31
4. Holy meditations will mightily augment the spiritual riches. To find God in all things, and at all times, in all places, and in all providences, will enrich my soul for eternity. To find his power in this, his wisdom in that, and his goodness in all, will greatly improve my inquiring, my admiring soul. Meditating much, meditating often, meditating with delight, on him in whom are hid the treasures of wisdom, is a noble way to enrich me for a future world. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.1
5. To be rich in the better country, I must heartily study to approve of all the dispensations of Providence; though not insensible when he frowns, or when he smiles. When the soul of the Christian, with a filial resignation, acquiesces in the conduct of his Almighty Father, however cross to flesh and blood, and, in the midst of all commotions, reposes himself on his unchangeable love, he takes deep root for eternity; while fear and unbelief toss the unstable, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. It is proper only to children, not to men, to be peevish for toys and trifles; so let the men of this world lament the loss of worldly things but let the heirs of God, the joint-heirs with Christ, rejoice that the treasures of eternity are theirs. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.2
6. To be rich unto God, and for eternity, I must act strong faith on the Rock of ages; for it is from the spoils of battles won by faith, that I amass riches for the invisible world. Faith relying on a reconciled God in all attributes and perfections, on Jesus in all his offices and relations, on the Holy Ghost in all his graces and operations, must remove mountains of difficulty, pluck up trees of corruption, pull down strong-holds of sin, wrestle against principalities and powers, and be more than conqueror at last, through her all-glorious Author and Finisher. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.3
7. I must also redeem time, and improve time; redeem time from this world, and improve it for the world to come. The man of business will be loath to lose a change hour for any trifling amusement; and the soul that would be busy for eternity, should look on every hour as his last hour, and should avoid excess of sloth and slumber. Vain amusements, impertinent employments, are cruel moths of time; and time is to be husbanded, though worlds should be squandered away. As the jeweler deals with gold, so must I with time; he is careful about the filings, and loses nothing; so should I about the smallest divisions of time, the hour, the minute, the moment. It never made a dying person’s bed thorny, that, by a bad bargain, he lost such and such a sum; but misspent time has made the dying moments of many dismal beyond expression. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.4
8. To be rich in the world to come, I must have an intense love towards God and heavenly things. The men that love the world, pant after the dust of the world, and spare no pains to be rich in the world. A man will never toil himself to gather what he despises; so, unless I prefer heavenly things to earthly, I shall never seek to fill my treasure with invisible excellencies. “He that loveth silver,” says the wise man, “shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase.” But he that loveth God shall be satisfied with God, and entranced with the exuberant fullness of the covenant. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.5
9. To be rich indeed at last, I must endeavor to maintain communion with God now. To have fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, in all his divine fullness, his glorious perfections, and his gracious ways, is the most enriching course that I can carry on below. Every moment of divine intercourse would be sinking another sum in the bank of heaven, so that I should be wondrous rich at last. He that quits the Indies for Europe, sends his treasures before him; then, though he be poor at his departure from the one country, yet he is rich on his arrival at the other; so well were it with me, if I could detach my thoughts and meditations, my care and affections, my joy and delight, my hope and expectation, from this perishing world, and centre them on that which is to come. - Selected. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.6
Working on the Sabbath. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.7
There are a great many people who profess to keep the sabbath, according to the fourth commandment, but who, some how or other, always find a multitude of “works of necessity” to be attended to. We have seen a capital anecdote, lately, about a family of such people, who were pretty severely rebuked by a colored man in their employ. The family were farmers. One Sabbath morning, the colored man was not up as usual, at breakfast. The son was sent to call him; but Caesar said they need not wait for him, as he did not wish for any breakfast. “Why, Caesar,” said the young man, “we shall want you, as soon as the dew is off, to help about the hay.” “No,” said he, “I can’t work any more on the Sabbath; it is not right.” “Not right!” said the other; “is it not duty to take care of what Providence has given us?” “Oh, there is no necessity for it,” said he, “and ‘tis wrong to do it.” But would you not pull your cow or sheep out of a pit, upon the Sabbath, Caesar?” “No, not if I had been trying all the week to shove them in: I would let them lie there.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.8
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
ROCHESTER, THIRD-DAY, JUNE 12, 1855.
Good Testimony on the Law of God. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.9
WHILE at Tyrone, Mich., Bro. Isaac Cornell handed us a work on “Entire Holiness,” by John H. Wallace, of the M. E. Church, and, pointed out Chapter IV, on the “Claims of the Law - Not abrogated - Can be Obeyed through Grace.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.10
This work had been circulated in that place by the Methodist preacher, who, had said much against keeping what he and others of his preaching brethren called, “the old law,” and “the old Jewish law.” This was said to injure the influence of those who keep all the precepts of the Law of God, in that place, and prejudice the people against the Lord’s holy Sabbath. But as we found good testimony in this work for the moral law, we thought best to use it; so at an evening discourse, to a good congregation, we read some from the work. Please compare the following extracts from the work, with common expressions from Methodist ministers, such as, “the old law,” “carnal Jewish ordinances,” and “old Jewish law,” and it will be seen that they stigmatize the sentiments of their own authors, as much as ours. See also Wesley’s Sermon on the Law of God. It is not the religion of Jesus that leads men to such a course, but is in our opinion the spirit of the most narrow-souled sectarianism. Here are the extracts: ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.11
“And here we take the liberty to say we understand the moral law to be still in force. Christ declared expressly that “he came not to destroy the law,” and the apostle Paul affirmed that he did not make void the law through faith, but established it. Nor do we discover that it has ever been changed or modified in its requirements. This is the very law given to our fallen world; given in view of all our ignorance and infirmity; given as a rule of duty, with all its threatened penalties against moral delinquencies. All its elements enter into the New Testament requirements. It is incorporated with the Gospel, because its claims cannot be met without gracious aid, and because even pardon and peace cannot be secured without the benefit of the atonement.” - pp.39,40. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.12
“This law, which we understand to be still in force, and by which it may be presumed God governs all rational and intelligent beings, is embraced in the moral code delivered on Mount Sinai.” - pp.42,43. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.13
“This is the moral law; the law that admits of no repeal, and needs no amendment: nor does it require any modification in its application to any and all the unnumbered hosts that stretch along the line of moral agents, in its vast sweep, from the tallest angelic height to the most meager specimen of accountable humanity.” - p.45. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.14
“If we understand the matter, this view of the subject establishes the law, and makes it as unbending and enduring as the government of God. This also assigns to the atonement its true place, and its appropriate value and efficacy.” - pp.46,47. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.15
The author says in the preface:- ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.16
“The admission sometimes made, that we are only able to keep the law of love, which falls short of the claims of the moral law, places us where it is impossible to escape the charge of admitting the necessary continuance of sin. For if a violation of the moral law is not sin, then there is no sin.” - p.4. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.17
The Cause in Michigan. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.18
OUR Tent Meeting of the 26th and 27th was held in the village of Rochester. The location and weather were fine. On the Sabbath there were about 75 present, mostly Sabbath-keepers. And on First-day there were about 800 people out to hear the word of the Lord, and the majority were very attentive. In view of the deep interest manifested at this meeting we decided to hold another Tent Meeting the next Sabbath-day, three miles from that place. Notice was therefore given, and bills were posted up in the region round about, and it was expected that there would be a very great assembly out to hear, but in consequence of the cold rain-storm we held our meetings on the Sabbath at Bro. Rathbun’s It continued to rain on First-day, yet we thought best to go and see if there were any out to preach to, and were greatly disappointed to find at 10 1/2 A. M. the Tent more than half filled with a very respectable and attentive audience. Bro. Cornell spoke in the forenoon on the hope of the gospel, and we in the afternoon from Revelation 22:14. “Blessed,” indeed, is the promise in this text to those who comply with its conditions. It is just to say that we received the most affectionate care and attention from our dear friends in Rochester and vicinity. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.19
And here we wish to express our feelings of gratitude to God, and his faithful people with whom we have mingled the last seven weeks. We left home with poor health, and low in spirits, feeling that we should be a burden to our dear friends in Michigan, under the circumstances. God has been very merciful. We have been able to preach most of the time, with ease and freedom, and return with improved health. And, contrary to our expectations, our traveling expenses were all met. The late trials have sifted and wonderfully purified the churches in Michigan, and have left them united, peaceful and prosperous. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.20
TERMS OF THE REVIEW
By the advice of the Committee, and agreeable to the wishes of the many friends of the cause with whom we have recently conversed, and, also, those who have written to us on the subject, we state the following terms of the REVIEW, after the close of the present Volume, which will close with No. 32. For one volume of 26 numbers, $1; to the poor (whether paid for by themselves, or by the church) for 50 cents a volume; and any person ordering the REVIEW sent to distant friends, (who are not subscribers,) can have it sent to such for 50 cents a volume; to be paid in all cases in advance. The REVIEW will be sent free to preachers who devote their time to the cause of truth. Also free to widows, orphans, aged or infirm who are the Lord’s poor, and who do not reside in the vicinity of some church who provide their poor with the REVIEW. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.21
We much regret our inability to send out the REVIEW weekly at $1 a year, as we proposed to do one year since. This we could do with 4000 paying subscribers. But as we have not more than 2300, and about 800 of them have been indifferent both as to their own duty in the case, and our calls for help in time of need, we were obliged to issue the REVIEW only semi-monthly. Since that time it has been sustained principally by donations from the old, liberal friends of the cause who had before paid the price of their paper. And the present prospect is, that at the close of this volume receipts will fall about two hundred dollars below expenses. This however should be soon made up by those who have neglected to pay for the REVIEW. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.22
We are also advised to commence a new Volume, with this new arrangement, after issuing one more number, that receipts may not fall far behind expenses. The cost of a few numbers of the REVIEW would be a very trifling sum with our readers, while it would bring the Office one or two hundred dollars in debt. We are satisfied that the friends of the REVIEW would rather renew their subscription immediately than that the Office should become more embarrassed. But if any who have subscribed the past year require it, they shall have the full amount of their subscription. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.23
Any thing like a dun seems much out of place in a Second Advent paper. They are indeed loathsome. It is also unpleasant to drop from our books the names of any of our readers, although they may neglect us. But of the two evils we shall choose the least. We shall remind delinquents of their carelessness by dropping their names, after first notifying them of our intention by writing their names on the last paper we shall send to them, (till they renew their subscription,) in RED INK. If we should, through mistake, drop the names of any who have paid, they will please notify us, and such mistakes shall be promptly corrected. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.24
We are anxious that all who wish to read the REVIEW should have it. Those who have not ready means, can send us their promise to pay soon, and their paper will be continued. Or if they are unable to pay at all, and there is no one to obtain the REVIEW for them at half price, let them write to this Office, and it shall be sent free. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.25
We have been thus definite in this statement that none may have a reasonable excuse for having their paper discontinued. Those who have not sufficient interest in the REVIEW to comply with these terms probably would not read it if sent to them; therefore it will be our duty to drop their names from our books, after waiting a suitable length of time, unless we hear from them. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.26
Let each church see that the Lord’s poor in its vicinity have the REVIEW. Scattered brethren should also see who in their neighborhood, town, or vicinity should have the REVIEW, and if necessary obtain it for them. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.27
We would say to those who have sent in their donations for the REVIEW, that all the means thus sent to the Office has been used up for this object, and they cannot expect us to send the REVIEW to them in the future without pay, unless others send donations to meet the expense. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.28
We are confident that this arrangement will meet with a hearty approval by the friends of the REVIEW, and that its publication will now go forward free from embarrassment. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 244.29
PORTLAND CONFERENCE
ACCORDING to appointment in the last Review, this meeting convened in Portland, Me., the 25th inst. A oneness of feeling and fixed purpose of mind seemed to pervade the entire meeting, respecting the onward progress of the precious cause of God, and its pressing demands for their co-operation with both means and measures to get the last message of mercy before the people. The brethren of Me., Mass., N. H. and Conn., voted to unite their means in tent operations, and have therefore resolved in the name and strength of the Lord to commence this work forthwith. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.1
Our preaching meetings on First-day were held in the City Hall. Brn. Wheeler and Barr, took a part in the services. The interest seemed to increase in the evening, and a number seemed anxious to hear the last message. The brethren were refreshed and strengthened to pursue the onward work of the last message. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.2
An incident occurred at the close of our meeting for business which I wish to name. As the brethren were handing in their free-will offerings to the committee chosen for that purpose, Bro. J. Chamberlain’s son Charles, a little lad, pressed his way among them and handed in a five dollar bill. I said, Charlie, where did you get five dollars to give for this cause? He replied, smilingly, Oh, I worked for it. May other children consider how much more God will love, and do for them that work with their hands to promote and advance his precious cause, than he will do for those who play and idle away their time, perhaps with bad children and thereby have nothing to give. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.3
It should be borne in mind likewise that God requires some to write and some to publish papers and books, and get them before the people; and some to go out and explain and preach the message. If in this they are known to idle away their precious time, some one else will take their crown. While they are thus employed, they cannot work to sustain themselves and families; but Jesus who understood all things, said, “the laborer is worthy of his hire.” Luke 10:7. A great many of God’s dear children have understood this, and have been doing their duty; but he requires ALL of his children to sacrifice in this last message of mercy. For such there is a great reward. Psalm 51:5, 8, 15. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.4
The church in this place are pressing their way for the kingdom. We were convened at Bro. S. Howland’s on fast-day (yesterday) and were much refreshed by the divine blessing. To-day we are holding our preaching meetings in a convenient hall, and hope some good will be done in the name of Jesus. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.5
JOSEPH BATES
Topsham, June 3rd, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.6
Rules of Interpretation. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.7
LET the student of prophecy place these rules on a card, that he may have them at command while reading the predictions of the prophets. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.8
I. A sentence is figurative which contains one or more figures. a. It is as improper to call language figurative which contains no figures as it would be to call a day cloudy, without a cloud, or rainy, without the fall of any rain. b. When we say that a sentence is figurative, we are bound to show a figure. c. As we peruse verse by verse in the Scriptures, at the close of each verse, ask the question mentally, Is it figurative or literal? ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.9
II. All language is either literal or figurative; there can be no third meaning. The spiritual meaning, when properly examined, will be found to belong to one of the above classes. We have no spiritual lexicons; the followers of Swedenborg have. Allow a third meaning to words, and we may have any number. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.10
III. Words do not have a double meaning in the same sense. a. A word cannot at the same time be both literal and figurative: but if literal, it must be literal; if figurative, it is thus to be understood. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.11
IV. Each figure is to be interpreted by its own laws. Thus, a simile must be interpreted by the rules of a simile; metaphor by its rules, and so through the whole catalogue of figures in the English language. By this rule we are to understand that the figures contained in the Bible are to be interpreted in the same manner as the same figures in any other book. So soon as we ascertain the name of the figure, we are required to explain it by the established laws of that figure in any other writing. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.12
V. Figures are introduced to explain or illustrate, that we may have a better view of the person, place, or thing thus illustrated. This law of figures should ever be kept in view. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.13
VI. The person, place or thing which is designed to be illustrated is never figurative. The word or words which contain the affirmation contain the figure. As each sentence is read, ask mentally. What is the subject of the sentence or the verse? So soon as this is learned, you must keep in mind that that word is literal. Then ask, What is said of the subject? If there is any figure, it is in those words which contain the affirmation or explanation. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.14
VII. Prophecies are either verbal or symbolic. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.15
VIII. Verbal prophecies are such as have the predictions contained in the words in which the prophecy is expressed. The language may be either literal or figurative, though not symbolic. Other figures may be used except the allegory, or parable, or symbol. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.16
IX. Symbolic prophecies are such as are contained only in symbols. The visions of the 2nd, 7th and 8th chapters of Daniel, and the principal visions of the Apocalypse are of this kind. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.17
X. As figures are designed to illustrate, the person, place or thing illustrated is always expressed. In this they differ from symbols. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.18
XI. The language in which figures are expressed, is to be taken in its most obvious meaning. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.19
Seven Seasons of Silence. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.20
1. It is never in season to speak until we have a call. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.21
2. It is a season to be silent when we are not rightly informed upon the question to which we must speak. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.22
3. When we know the state of a question, yet must not speak without suitable preparation, either actual or habitual. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.23
4. It is a season to be silent when what we speak is likely to be a snare unto ourselves. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.24
5. As it is a season for silence when the passions and corruptions of others are excited, so we are to be silent when it is thus with ourselves. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.25
6. It is a season for silence, when men are not capable of attending to what we speak. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.26
7. It is a season for silence, when what we speak may be a grief and burden to the spirits of any, especially of those that are already afflicted. - Caryl on Job 13:5. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.27
SEVEN SEASONS OF SPEAKING
1. When by speaking we may bring glory to God and good to our brethren. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.28
2. When we have an opportunity to vindicate the honor and truth of God. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.29
3. When we may relieve the credit of a brother that is wronged. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.30
4. When by speaking we may instruct or direct those that are ignorant. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.31
5. When we comfort and support those that are weak. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.32
6. When we may resolve and settle those that are in doubt. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.33
7. When we may duly reprove and convince those that do evil. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.34
At such times as these we ought to speak; for then to be silent is our sin and weakness. - Caryl. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.35
Faith. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.36
FAITH is a divine grace, and the very life of the soul below; hence we are said to “walk by faith;” and if our lives are spiritual, it is by the faith of the Son of God that we live the spiritual life. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.37
It is a strange definition of faith given by the apostle to the Hebrews, yet divinely true. “Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen;” that is, though we can only hope for these felicities and glories which are future, yet faith, in its glorious acts, can suck the honey and marrow out of them, so as to supply the soul even in the present time, with the substance of that which is still future; and, by refreshful foretastes of bliss, bring the brightest evidences of celestial excellencies, which are not visible to flesh and blood. Thus, by the first fruits of glory, the soul is ascertained of entering into the land of promise. Faith is begun vision, or seeing things at a distance, and through a glass: Vision is faith finished or perfected, and seeing things at hand, and with the naked eye. It is the bond of union between God and the soul, which can never be broken by all that can befall us in the world; “for this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” And he that believes in God endures all things, as seeing him who is invisible, and waits for the brighter, the diviner views of glory. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.38
Faith is a mutual inhabitation. It is Christ in the soul: hence says the apostle, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,” and the soul in Christ; hence we are said to “put on Christ,” and, being dead to the world and to sin, to have our spiritual life hid with Christ in God. Faith brings to God the greatest honor, and to the soul the greatest happiness; as unbelief does the opposite of both. Faith accounts him faithful who has promised, and composes all within; while unbelief makes the God of truth a liar, and sets the whole soul, in all her powers and faculties, in an uproar. Faith has won its victories, wrought its miracles, and done wonders in the world; “for to him that believeth, all things are possible.” And a warrantable faith never fell short of its expectation; yea, often has the goodness of God gone beyond the faith of his saints. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.39
Every thing for which I pray in faith shall be granted, and mountains become a plain, and seeming impossibilities disappear. Yet I am not to pray for impossibilities; for though to God all things are possible, yet I could not pray in faith (and whatsoever is not of faith is sin) for things I am convinced I have no warrant in the word of God to seek or expect; such as, for the sun to stand still, water to flow out of a rock, seas to divide, and rivers to part asunder; though all these things have been done. Again, I am not to pray for or expect things to be done in a miraculous manner for me, when, in the common course of providence, whatever I want can be bestowed on me. I am not to expect the heavens to drop down manna to supply my daily necessities, or that my clothes should wear forty years without waxing old; but I am to believe, in the midst of my wants, that I shall be every day supplied in a greater or lesser degree, as seems meet to God, by the same liberal hand that showered down the manna in the wilderness; and perhaps in a manner that shall convince me of his special care, and confirm my belief in his singular favor, as much as if the drops of rain were turned into bread for me. His exercising his providence in providing me in raiment anew, should be as endearing to me, as if he exerted his power in keeping what I had from waxing old. But, if I am shut up in some circumstances, where, as far as I can see, nothing less than a miracle can deliver, then faith is to believe the miracle, rather than doubt the promise, or distrust the power of God, as if any thing were too hard for him. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.40
But, how comfortable is it, that when I pray, with submission to the divine disposal, only for warrantable things, in faith, I may be assured that I shall both be heard and answered! but, if I doubt, then unbelief overturns all; and this is the reason why I cannot prevail. How terrible, amidst my petitions, to doubt if God be able and willing to perform my request, when he has declared himself in the affirmative in both! When I do so, I turn the great God into a mere feeble creature, in denying his power, and into a liar in thinking that he has no intention to perform his promise. I see, then, that I should make my petitions with submission, leaving it wholly to God, what he will refuse, what he will choose for me; but that to doubt his love, his power, his faithfulness, is a heinous sin; - his power to perform to the extent of the promise, either as to spiritual or temporal things - his faithfulness, that he will perform what ever he has promised - or his love, which, so to speak, waits and longs for the fittest opportunities when his glory and my good may be most advanced in performing the promise for me. Now, as his glory rises, so should my felicity, as I should count it all my happiness to have his glory set on high. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.41
Faith, then, is a triumphant grace. By it wrestling Jacob prevailed, and Jacob’s wrestling sons still prevail with God. It always wins the day, secures the blessing, is never sent away empty; will not, cannot be said nay. And by this boldness and confidence in faith, which is the gift of God, God is greatly glorified. Faith looks above created opposition, dwells in eternity, and hangs on the omnipotent arm of God. It wraps itself up in the promise, and cannot be divided from it till it be performed in every respect. It is not terrified at storms, nor disquieted by disappointment, but looks beyond the storm, above the disappointment; rests on the compassion, and fastens on the faithfulness of its glorious Author and Finisher. Faith stretches beyond the narrow confines of time, and takes broad views of the world to come; takes a tour through the land of bliss, the Canaan above, and converses with eternal ages. Faith, looking to the promiser, sees the way of duty plain; while fear cries out, “There is a lion in the streets, I shall be slain; danger and difficulty in the way, I cannot go.” Surely, to him that believeth, all things are possible; but to him that doubts, a mole-hill becomes a mountain. In after ages, I shall be ashamed of my fears and unbelief, but never of my faith. Henceforth let me be strong in the faith, with submission - make my requests with resignation - pray in the confidence of being heard - and believe all things with patience and composure. - Sol. Sweetened. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 245.42
ARTICLE BY MRS. E. G. WHITE. “TO THE CHURCH”
[CD-ROM Editor’s Note: See EGW CD-ROM]
Address to the Young. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.1
As there are many besides myself in the bloom of life who profess the Advent faith, I would say a few words to them through the Review. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.2
Dear friends, you have enlisted in a glorious cause, and under the banner of Prince Immanuel. Ere you enlisted you counted the cost; you considered you must leave the world with its vanity, and your worldly minded friends, all behind; you realized that you were exposing yourself to the ridicule of the enemies of the cross, as well as to the fiery darts of Satan, that are never hurled at any, until they resolve to tread the rough path that Jesus trod; you realized all this, and resolved in the strength of the mighty One, you would “fight the good fight,” and strive to obtain eternal life. This was well. But what are you doing for God? Are you at your post day and night working for the Lord? Are you striving to win some precious soul to Christ, that you may have one gem, at least, in your diadem? Are you denying yourself daily of some luxury that you may aid in speeding the third angel’s message? Do you think you are so young, so unlearned in the knowledge of the Lord, that you can do nothing for him, and therefore it is better to leave the work to your elders? Lull not yourself to sleep in this way. Why are you permitted to rank among the living ones of earth? Why are you called to know the truth? if it be not that you may aid in the great work of disseminating religious knowledge? Think not that because you have said you would serve the Lord, that it is all that is required of you. Oh, no! for your having so said is the very reason why you ought to work for Christ; for “better is it that thou shouldst not vow, than that thou shouldst vow and not pay.” Do you think your faith will save you? “Faith if it hath not works is dead, being alone.” O then go to work to-day. Look around you, see who there is among your friends, your neighbors, who know not the truth. Go to them, tell them the present message is the last one of mercy to them, and plead with them, to live for Jesus. Do it in meekness and the Lord will reward you. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.3
You are in the bloom of life, with health and strength. Can you not manage some way to give a little for the support of your brethren, who are working and toiling for the salvation of souls with broken constitutions, and have forsaken all that they may work for the Lord? Can you not assist them in their labor of love? Remember that while in times past you have been enjoying yourselves, they have been sacrificing for you, they have deprived themselves of the society of loved ones, and of (perhaps) many of the comforts and necessaries of life that they might benefit you, and will you not now do all in your power for them? Give of your abundance to aid them, give them your prayers and your love. Let them know they have your sympathies and gratitude and it may serve to lighten many dark hours. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.4
Are you living soberly ... in Christ Jesus. O what can you see in this fleeting earth to excite your mirth? There is nothing but sin and sorrow. Many of you are in the slippery paths of youth, and will find many things to divert you from your purpose: that of serving God; but “watch and pray.” You must needs be more watchful and prayerful than if you had long trod the thorny path. “Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the Devil as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Many times you are thrown into the company of those who pay no regard to religion, and they continually strive to excite your mirth, and, by degrees, to get you interested, so that at length you will join them; but do not be guilty of countenancing their folly, and perhaps your sobriety will be a check upon their frivolity. Strive, oh strive, to overcome the enemy, girding on the whole armor; for it is no light thing to start on the Christian journey, and then turn and join the opposite party. “But the end of all things is at hand, be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.5
I have written thus advisingly, not because I think myself wiser or better than you; but I feel it a duty to work for the Lord, and if these few lines should excite any one to a new engagedness in his service, I shall be doubly rewarded. I am but young and have lately commenced to travel the road to Canaan, and oft-times make to myself crooked paths; but I desire to prove faithful and at last meet you all in the New Earth. J. E. GREMS. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.6
Minnesota, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.7
COMMUNICATIONS
From Bro. Warren
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- If what little I may add to the cause of truth, though ever so feeble, will encourage a brother or sister, it shall be freely given. I am most certainly encouraged by reading the letters in the Review from brethren and sisters of like precious faith. To hear from so many different ones of their prospects, their resolutions and determinations, is certainly cheering to my heart. I would say through the Review that I think I am growing stronger and stronger in the present truth. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.8
The pure Bible truth that was proclaimed to us here at our last conference has established me in the position that we as a little, remnant church now occupy. I think I can safely say the time has come when true commandment-keepers should be settling down upon the solid rock of truth. They should be getting rooted and grounded in the faith, established in the blessed truths of the Bible. Here come to my mind the words of Moses, found in Deuteronomy 32:31. “For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.” Our enemies and the enemies of truth are certainly multiplying all around us in proportion to our zeal and faithfulness in God’s cause. I have no doubt in the least but that in every community there are honest souls who have an ear to hear and a willing mind to obey; but yet the great mass and majority of mankind and of the church are resolved not to hear the truth, receive the light, or obey the word. We have been permitted to witness here of late in Battle Creek a perfect exhibition of the rejection and hatred of God’s own precious truth. I was one of a committee that called upon Eld. C----, of the Methodist Church to obtain their house for the lectures of Brn. White and Hall, upon days of the week when they were not to occupy it themselves; but so soon as he learned that we were a people that kept the seventh day or Bible Sabbath and that we believed in the speedy, second, personal coming of Jesus Christ, and in immortality alone through him he told me plainly that we could not have his pulpit to disseminate such doctrines in. He furthermore told me that our preachers and people were sowing the seeds of spiritual death, strife and discord throughout the length and breadth of the land. I pledged to him my word that those brethren would present nothing in his pulpit but pure Bible truth; but said he, “so the Mormons say, ‘I’ll present the truth,’ and I look upon you as a poor, deluded, fanatical, bewildered, set, making more infidels in the world than all the rest of the churches put together.” So I turned away from him feeling sorry in my heart that one of God’s professed Shepherds should be so blind, so willfully blind as to hedge up the way to the kingdom, neither willing to go in himself or allowing others to enter. This professed minister of Jesus Christ said many hard, bitter things against those who keep the Bible Sabbath and are looking for and loving the appearing of the Saviour; but I trust in the name of the Lord we have cleared our skirts, for we have put forth every possible effort that we consistently could to get the truth before this community, but in almost every instance have they rejected God’s own precious truth; and yet notwithstanding all this we believe there are some honest souls here that will yet listen to the last warning voice, come out of Babylon, embrace the truth and keep the commandments. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 246.9
Thanks be to the God of heaven, we are not by any means a forsaken people. God is still leading us. The promises are sure to those who keep the commandments. God will take care of his own little flock; and though the flock may seem to be scattered, one here and another there, yet God’s eye is upon his own precious jewels who feed by faith upon the words of truth, and whose delight is in the keeping of his law. If we love and heed the messenger of falsehood and slander more than we love and heed the messenger of truth and righteousness, we shall be brought under the influence and within the grasp of the enemy, “who goeth about seeking whom he may devour.” Acts 20:29, 30. St. Paul said; “For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.” O that God would help us to watch, and though the world and a proud church are joined hand in hand to oppose the pure Bible truth, yet truth will finally triumph, though there be but few to proclaim it, and few to embrace it. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.1
Brethren and sisters, we should not only be keeping all of God’s commandments, but we should be seeking for the faith of Jesus. We should be holding on, with an unyielding grasp, to the precious promises of the Gospel. O what strong, living faith we shall need to meet the opposition of a wicked world of dark spirits that constantly surround us. As we come down still nearer to the closing up scene, our prayers must be more frequent and fervent, our faith still stronger in God, we become more interested in the truth, and our desire to be holy and pure, constantly increasing. I have great reason to rejoice and praise God that his spirit ever strove with me and inclined me to hear the third angel’s message and to embrace and try to keep the commandments. As I look back upon my past life I can remember the many sermons I have heard in which the commandments of God have been pointed out, and I was instructed to observe and keep them; but I now see in what a blind way and through what mist and fog I have been led and taught to keep the commandments. O how unlike the teaching of God’s law under the third angel’s message. We should feel very grateful to God who has led us out of darkness into light, and permitted us to throw away the errors and corrupt teachings of past days, and see the light of present truth, and place our feet upon the solid rock. Praise the Lord, it is not a matter of guess so, or may be so; we are positively sure that we have embraced the last sealing truth. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.2
I would say to all God’s true messengers who have gone out to sound the last notes of warning, be faithful to your trust, and to all that God has committed to your care. Do not falter in the least or be discouraged. The last crowning truth with which God has entrusted you, is to be proclaimed most faithfully, even though it be in the very face of the most violent opposition; but remember, dear brethren in the message, and be assured you have the ardent prayers of God’s dear children. There is not a day passes over your heads but that you are remembered at the throne of grace by the few who are trying to be faithful and whose hearts beat in unison with yours. We believe with you that the third angel’s message is a firm, immovable rock, and in the name of the Lord we bid you God speed. The crown lies at the end of the race. Your labors will soon end. O be faithful, trust in God, go forward, seek for pure hearts and clean hands, and you shall soon win the prize. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.3
Your unworthy brother seeking for immortality. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.4
S. B. WARREN
Battle Creek, Mich., May 30th, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.5
From Bro. Sanborn
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- By the blessing of God I am enabled to write you a few lines for the first time since I became acquainted with you through the Review one year ago. Since that time I have been reading and searching the Scriptures daily which has resulted in convincing me that God’s law is holy, just and good; and that all his commandments are sure. Since the second Sabbath in September, I have been trying to keep all God’s holy commandments according to the best of my ability. I have stood a member in the Christian connection for several years, and since I commenced keeping the Sabbath, I have by the request of friends delivered several lectures in favor of God’s holy Sabbath, which has removed a great amount of prejudice from many minds. I tried to get the pastor of the Christian church to preach a sermon on the Sabbath, but he utterly refused, and would not allow anything said about it in his meetings; calling it a subject of theology, etc. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.6
But let others do as they will, as for me and my house we will serve God by keeping all his commandments and the faith of his dear Son, and by consecrating ourselves to his will. Pray for us, that we may be faithful to the end. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.7
Dear Bro., you have our sympathy and prayers that you may be sustained through all your trials and afflictions. Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life, says the Saviour. Revelation 2:10. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.8
Yours looking for the soon coming kingdom. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.9
ISAAC SANBORN
Green Co., Wis., 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.10
From Bro. Miles
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- I wish to say through the Review that I rejoice with the remnant knowing that my redemption draweth nigh. I feel to praise the Most High that I ever heard this last message of mercy, for I find great peace in loving God’s law. I long to behold the King in his beauty, and walk the plains of the new earth. I would with Mary choose that part that shall never be taken away, and put my trust in the arm that bringeth salvation. I want to see Zion arise and put on her beautiful garments. I want to be where I shall no more hear it said, I am sick, I am weary of my life, but where the wicked will cease from troubling and the weary be at rest. I feel truly like a pilgrim here and want to meet my heavenly Father’s family upon Mount Zion, and swell the loud anthem to God and the Lamb. I feel anxious to do what I can to forward the last message of mercy to man, and thus improve upon my one talent till the Nobleman returns from the far country. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.11
I should be glad if we could have the Review weekly. We have no preaching in this place, but many want to hear on this subject. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.12
RANDOLPH MILES
Plainfield, Ill., May 11th, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.13
From Bro. Carter
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- Your valuable paper and pamphlets have been presented to me to read by Bro. Bodwell. After a thorough examination of them together with the Word of God, I am compelled to acknowledge the Sabbath has not been changed nor abolished. Here is the testimony that first convinced me that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and not the first. Matthew 28:1, reads, “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.” Mark 16:1, 2, presents the same testimony. Also Luke 23:56, testifies to the same, with the addition, “they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” (See Exodus 20:8, 11.) All of the above witnesses agree that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord: for see, the Sabbath is ended before the first day dawns; another witness, the Sabbath is past before the first day; and a third witness, “they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared” on the evening of Christ’s burial. See Mark 15:42; Luke 23:56; 24:1. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.14
It is said they did not understand this change so soon after the crucifixion; but Christ says “All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” John 15:15. Luke also says in his preface, (first chapter,) “They were eye-witnesses from the beginning, and that he had a perfect understanding from the very first.” This is proof to me they were not deceived, but I think Christ’s words are sufficient to settle the question. He says, Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:17, 18. See also Luke 16:17. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. Now all in their senses must acknowledge the heavens and earth have not passed, and until they do, the law respecting God’s holy Sabbath will remain in full force. The 19th verse of Matthew 5, reads, Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. This commandment respecting the Sabbath in my estimation is far from being the least, for it is classed with those written upon the first table of stone. Christ calls these the first and greatest commandments. Matthew 22:38. Then if those who break one of the least commandments (those that designate our duty to man) are to be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, what must become of those who break one of the greatest! I leave this for the reader to answer. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.15
Last August myself and companion commenced keeping the Sabbath of the Lord, and notwithstanding the trials and persecutions we endure and receive for so doing, we esteem it a privilege and a blessing to take up our cross and follow the Lord through evil as well as good report. Bro. and Sister Bodwell, myself and companion, meet every Sabbath for a little prayer meeting. This may look like little business to some; but it is a feast to our waiting souls to pray with and for each other, and to talk about heavenly things. We have never been blessed with hearing any of the lectures on the present truth; but have reason to rejoice that your publications have found their way to this place. It is a source of great enjoyment to us to read the many testimonies, from the brethren scattered abroad of like precious faith. The third angel’s message, makes the second coming of our Saviour plain to our minds. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.16
Yours seeking for immortality. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.17
A. G. CARTER
Rubicon, Dodge Co., Wis. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.18
From Bro. Dorcas
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- The war, in this State, I think has now fairly begun. Our dear Bro. Holt has just arrived in time to stand up for the truth. There seems to be a singular opposition in the breasts of many among us, of whom we had hoped better things, which now begins to manifest itself in opposition to present truth to such an extent, as to bring forcibly to our minds the 17th verse of the 12th chapter of Rev. Our principal antagonist in public is a Methodist local Minister, who declares a “war of extermination upon us to the knife.” But none of these things move us, neither do we count our lives dear unto ourselves so that we may win Christ, and honorably maintain our course Zion-ward. Permit me to say to the dear brethren and sisters, scattered abroad, that we have great reason to be encouraged with the prospects which open up before us, of good being done in Northern Ohio. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.19
Dear brethren and sisters, I do not know how to be sufficiently thankful for the distinguished blessings of light and knowledge we enjoy under the third angel’s message. O let us be faithful in carrying forward this great work of preparing to meet our Lord. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.20
JESSE DORCAS
Freemont, Ohio, May 28th, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.21
From Bro. Lewis
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- Since Bro. Frisbie was here we have had a man here who pretended to prove that Christ abolished the law of God and nailed it to the cross. He said the ten commandments were not a moral code of laws because there was not any penalty attached to the tables of stone; and that the fourth commandment was not moral because not consistent with God; it was not given until after creation, and the fifth commandment was not moral because there was not any children before creation; but the rest of the decalogue was moral and governed God; not thinking that there were no men nor children to steal or kill, etc., before the creation. He stated that a law, in order to be a moral law must have always existed and governed God; and the ten commandments, except the fourth and fifth, were moral; and in another part of his speech he said the decalogue was not moral because it did not govern God; if it had, he would not have told Joshua to kill the Canaanites. Notwithstanding all his inconsistencies, there were some who seemed to think he had proved that the law of God was abolished. I asked him if according to his theory he considered the law dead and the penalties with it. He said he did. Then I mentioned the Scripture which says all liars, etc., shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. He declined arguing as he was hoarse and out of breath. James 2:11, is pretty good evidence that the law stands. JOSEPH P. LEWIS. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 247.22
Windsor, Mich., May 18th, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.1
From Bro. Meacham
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- It has been only about one month since I embraced the unpopular truths of the gospel which are now being taught, viz: the Seventh-day Sabbath and the non-immortality of the spirit. As soon as I became convinced of my error, I felt to say with the poet, “O that all the world might know, this saving truth to prove.” It has been about a year since I first heard on the subject of the true Sabbath. I labored long and hard to prove the first day to be right, but the more I studied and wrote on the subject, the darker the clouds seemed to gather over my mind, until at last I became convinced of the error so long taught to the world. “The prophets prophecy falsely, the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so. What will ye do in the end thereof?” Jeremiah 5:31. Our divines have propagated a false doctrine and the “people love to have it so;” they cannot reconcile themselves to keep any other day for the Sabbath but the one instituted by the beast. The little band here are getting ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb. We still need instruction, and if you can make it convenient we would like you to “come over and help us,” as we are in great need of some one. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ abide with you all. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.2
Your unworthy brother in the truth of the gospel. E. O. MEACHAM. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.3
Stockton, Ill., May 23rd, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.4
From Bro. Eaton
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- I received No. 22 of the Review and Herald and five packages of tracts last week, and they were a welcome messenger to me bringing glad tidings and words of encouragement. I hope they will be the means of doing much good here. I am sorry to say the state of religion in this part of the Lord’s vineyard is very low. Dear brother, although I have not the privilege of meeting with those of like precious faith, the Lord being my helper I will try and stand for the truth. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.5
Your unworthy brother. DANIEL EATON. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.6
Yreka, Siskiyon Co., California, Apr. 15th, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.7
From Sister Lunger
BRETHREN AND SISTERS:- I am striving to keep all the commandments of God. I believe that the law is just as binding now as ever it was. I never have heard a lecture on the subject of the Sabbath. The light that I have received has come through the Review and tracts; and I feel to praise the Lord for it. I commenced keeping the Sabbath last July. My husband is now keeping the Sabbath. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.8
Yours in hope of immortality at the appearing of Jesus. CAROLINE M. LUNGER. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.9
Portland, Ionia Co., Mich., May 14th, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.10
From Sister Coon
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- I have long felt a desire to write you, but a failure of my sight has prevented me from doing so, and I am now dependent on a friend for penning a few thoughts at this time. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.11
It is about eighteen months since I was led, as I trust, by the Spirit of God to remember the true Sabbath, and my obligations to keep it holy unto the Lord, calling it a “delight, honorable.” At that time I had not seen the Review, neither did I know any one to look to for sympathy and encouragement; but as soon as I became convinced of its claims upon me, I immediately resolved to walk in the light that I had, though all the world should be against me. A few weeks after, some Nos. of the Review were sent me, from which I learned there were many others, who like pilgrims and strangers are scattered abroad, but endeavoring like their divine Master, to “magnify the law and make it honorable.” Since then my heart has been cheered by the evidences from history and otherwise that we are on safe ground at least, by observing the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord our God. Oh that in all things we may be enabled to walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.12
Since my own mind has been established I have felt a strong desire that others might see this glorious truth as it has been presented to my mind, and have endeavored as opportunity afforded, to scatter what reading I have had upon this subject; and none but God knows how I have longed to see some one of like precious faith, with whom I could converse on this and kindred subjects. Will not some of our brethren who can present the truth in a clear, lucid manner, come this way and give us one or more lectures? It seems to me there are some here who would embrace the truth, if it was brought before their minds in this way. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.13
Should any one find it in their heart to come, inquire for Wm. Coon, my husband, who, though not a professor, is always ready to welcome to his house the servants of Christ. We are living near Euclid P. O., in the town of Cloy, about ten miles from Syracuse. The meeting-house can be had almost any time, at a short notice. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.14
Yours in the bonds of the gospel of Christ. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.15
ELIZA S. COON
Elucid, Apr. 28th, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.16
FOREIGN NEWS
Operations have commenced in the Baltic. Revel has been carefully reconnoitered and will shortly be bombarded. The Magicienne has already thrown some shells into the outworks. Admiral Dundas had reconnoitered Sweaborg. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.17
According to the Constantinople papers, all the troops concentrated at the camp at Maslak were about to sail for the Crimea, on board of fourteen ships-of-war, and an immense fleet of transports with vast supplies of provisions and munitions of war, and that the expedition is destined either for Odessa or the Lower Danube. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.18
All the French and nearly all the Sardinian troops had left Constantinople for the Crimea. The cholera had disappeared at Constantinople. Six thousand men were promised at once for the Turkish contingent. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.19
The Trieste papers publish the following dispatch, dated Eupatoria, May 4:- Eight thousand Russians are menacing Omer Pasha. Their cavalry is endeavoring to cut off the allies’ communication by land. The bulk of the Russian army, 150,000 strong, having taken up a position near Simpheropol, is in non-interrupted communication with Sebastopol. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.20
A letter from Frankfort of the 17th ult., in the Rhine Gazette, says:- A new Austrian note has just been dispatched to the German States, declaring that Austria remains faithful to the alliance of the Western powers, but that the Cabinet of Vienna has not given up the hope of seeing peace re-established. It is said that the question of mobilization is again brought forward in this dispatch. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.21
Accounts from St. Petersburg of the 18th announce that Cronstadt is declared in a state of siege. No person can hereafter enter the place without a special permission from the Governor. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.22
The recent new combinations of Russian troops and some newly created commands have led to some changes in the designation of the corps d’ armee. The army under the command of Prince Paskeiwitch will henceforth be called the Army of the West, Prince Gorchakoff’s, the Army of the South, Gen. Rudiger’s the North, and a new corps in the course of formation at Kiess and in Volbynia will be called the Army of the Centre. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.23
Letters from Odessa state that the artificers of the dock-yards at Nicolaieff are working early and late for the new ships of the Russian Black Sea fleet. Each vessel will have a screw propeller. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.24
It is calculated at Berlin, that the addition to the Russian army to be made under the last ukase, will consist of about 250,000 men. Twelve in a thousand is the ratio, and the levies include the most populous governments in the Empire. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.25
A private letter from St. Petersburg, dated the 10th, from a high mercantile house, gives a deplorable account of the pressure on all classes in that capital; business being comparatively at an end, and the continuance of the present state of things is regarded with the greatest dread in all quarters. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.26
TROOPS FOR THE CRIMEA. - By the recent arrival at New York, we learn that the Allies intend to change their plan of operations. What that change will be is not known. At any rate, large bodies of troops were to be embarked immediately for the seat of war. Gen. Canrobert, before resigning his command, had announced that 80,000 more troops would come from France, 10,000 were expected still from Piedmont, 16,000 from Egypt, and Omer Pasha was rapidly organizing a Tartar force at Eupatoria. The allied forces would then amount to nearly 300,000 men. The health of the army was good - the greatest enthusiasm prevailed among the troops. With an army of such magnitude the whole Crimea ought to be swept, though Sebastopol shows no disposition to capitulate. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.27
THE EARTHQUAKE AT BROUSSA. - The shocks still continue, which may well be believed, as there is scarcely a day that some susceptible oscillation does not take place at Constantinople. Abdel-Kader was still at his farm in the plain of Broussa; indeed, no one who is able to leave the city will remain in it. All the European residents have left. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.28
“The Jews’ Return.” ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.29
SEVERAL brethren, east and west, have referred to the article in No. 30 on this subject. We have no desire to agitate the Jew question in any of its forms; and we are more than ever convinced that the REVIEW should be silent on such questions. It has a more important work. To the great truths connected with the present message it should closely adhere, and feed the flock of God with present truth, with “meat in due season.” The article referred to was published in our absence. We presume it is not perfect, though we think the writer much nearer the truth then, than now. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.30
Others, before us, have left present truth to engage in fruitless discussions on the Jew question and future age. Fruitless! - there has been fruit, but of the sourest, bitterest kind. The Advent body has been torn in pieces by the discussion of such questions, and darkness and death have followed. The present truth will feed, strengthen and unite the flock of God, and gather them to the “unity of the faith.” If others, at the risk of union, and the prosperity of the cause make prominent their views of subjects on which we may not all agree, they will of course be responsible for the result. The REVIEW will be silent on these questions, unless the Committee decide otherwise. We do not choose this course because we fear we cannot maintain our positions; for we have not the least fear in this respect. We do it for the cause’s sake, and would affectionately exhort all who have any regard for the prosperity of the cause of present truth, to make prominent the great, leading, vital truths connected with the present message, and waive, as far as possible all subjects on which we may not at present agree. If we should, in consequence of the propagation of what we deem to be error, judge it duty to give our views in regard to the events of the seventh millennium, even then there will be no necessity of giving them in the REVIEW. - ED. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.31
TENT MEETINGS
PROVIDENCE permitting, there will be a Tent-meeting in Brewer, near Bangor, Me., to commence June 15th, and continue over the Sabbath and First-day, 16th and 17th. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.32
A Tent-meeting also in Canaan, Me., June 23rd and 24th. Brn. from a distance will please supply themselves with provisions. Brethren who wish to have Tent-meetings in their vicinity the present season, will please write us and direct their letters to Brewer or Canaan, Me., that said appointments may be published in the REVIEW in season for their meetings. JOSEPH BATES. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.33
E. L. BARR
Topsham, Me., June 3rd, 1855. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.34
PROVIDENCE permitting, there will be a Tent-meeting in Oswego, June 15th and 17th. Lorain, June 23rd and 24th; also in West Winfield, Herkimer Co., commencing Sabbath, July 7th, and holding a few days. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.35
PROVIDENCE permitting there will be a Tent-meeting at Buck’s Bridge, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., to commence June 22nd, at 2 o’clock P. M., and hold over Sabbath and First-day. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.36
It is expected that this will be a large and general gathering of the brethren, and it will be necessary for those who can, to bring provisions with them. The poor, and all others as far as we can, will be provided for. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.37
A. H. HILLIARD,) Committee. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.38
A. PALMER.) ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.39
We now design to be at the Oswego Tent-meeting the 16th, and to join Bro. Hart at the Tent-meeting at Buck’s Bridge the 22nd. ED. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.40
New Work. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.41
“THE LAST WORK OF THE TRUE CHURCH.” by M. E. Cornell. Most of the matter contained in this little work of 68 pages, has been recently published in the REVIEW, and speaks for itself. - Price 7 cts. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.42
Business
Some Brother sends a letter, post marked “Monroe, Wis.,” “containing $11. Atlanta Bank $10. Bank of Elgin, $1. He orders books to be sent to Freeport, Ill., but neglects to give his name. Five dollars of the money was for Wis. Tent, which we receipt in this No. to “Nameless.” Will the brother give his name? ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.43
A Letter to the Disciples of the Lord, by R. F. Cottrell. - 3 cts. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.44
The friends of the cause of truth, especially those who are acquainted with the efficient labors of Bro. J. N. Loughborough, will esteem it a privilege to assist him in obtaining a horse; the horse to be used the present summer in moving the New York Tent from place to place, and afterward by himself in traveling with the message as the Lord may direct him. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.45
Bro. L. labors under many discouragements, and needs help. Come brethren let us wake up, and aid our beloved brother in the work to which the Lord has called him. Money for this object may be sent to the REVIEW OFFICE, unless it is convenient to hand it to Bro. L., and it will be receipted in REVIEW. For the above object, James White $10. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.46
WE are indeed happy to hear from Bro. Waggoner, and that he with new courage, is entering the field again. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.47
BOOKS SENT:- Brn. Hall & Stephenson, (to Milton, Wis., by express, also a letter to same place containing the bill,) J. Bates, (by express,) J. Cramer. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.48
The P. O. address of J. M. Stephenson, is Metomen, Fond du Lac Co., Wis. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.49
Letters
J. M. Stephenson 3, J. Hart, U. S. D. Arnold, Z. Andrews, S. Strickland, J. H. Waggoner, J. Byington, L. Chester, T. R. Irons, M. E. S. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.50
Receipts
J. Wade, Wm. Glover, E. Grant, J. Grems, C. Cartwright, D. Harvey, E. A. Poole, E. Rew, C. Rice, L. Thrall, P. Scott, T. Bryant, a Friend, each $1. A Friend in Mich., $5. A. Hart, $0,75. H. Eaton, $0,50. S. Flanders, $0,25. L. B. Green, $0,90. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.51
FOR TENT IN N. Y. - Jno. Palmiter, $4,75. E. P. Below, $3. E. Byers, $2. H. $1. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.52
FOR TENT IN WIS. - E. Rew, J. Sanburn, each $1. Nameless, $5. J. E. G., $0,50. ARSH June 12, 1855, page 248.53