The Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 5
March 14, 1854
RH VOL. V. - ROCHESTER, N.Y., THIRD-DAY, - NO. 8
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. V. - ROCHESTER, N.Y., THIRD-DAY, MARCH 14, 1854. - NO. 8.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
TERMS.-See Last Page. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.1
RETIREMENT
COME, escape from the tempests of life,
From the world to the desert retire;
Quit this region of tumult and strife,
To rekindle the heavenly fire.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.2
Poor pilgrim! thy strength must be sought
In the heart-breathing accents of prayer;
In public the battle be fought,
But in secret thy weapons prepare.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.3
Oh, rest from thy labors awhile;
Go alone, on the mount, with thy Lord;
Go bask in the beam of his smile,
And feed on the wealth of his Word.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.4
AN APPEAL
For the Restoration of the Bible Sabbath, in an address to the Baptists, from the Seventh-day Baptist General Conference. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.5
WHEN we look over your large and influential denomination, we find that, in reference to the subject upon which we now address you, you are divided into about three classes. I. Those who, acknowledging the perpetuity of the Sabbath law, enforce the observance of the Sabbath by the fourth commandment, but change the day of its celebration from the seventh to the first day of the week. II. Those who see the impossibility of proving a change of the day, and therefore regard the commandment as abolished by the death of Christ. But, at the same time, they consider the first day of the week as an institution entirely new, to be regulated as to its observance wholly by the New Testament. III. Those who consider neither the Old nor the New Testament to impose any obligation upon them to observe a day of rest, and advocate one merely upon the ground of expediency. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.6
I. To those of you who acknowledge the obligation of a Sabbath, but change the day of its celebration from the seventh to the first day of the week, we would say, that while from the law only you infer any obligation to sabbatize at all, yet make the particular time of sabbatizing to stand upon New Testament authority, we do not see how you can relieve yourselves from the charge of departing from the great principle contended for by Baptists, viz., That whatever is commanded by an institution, is to be learned from the law of the institution, and not from other sources. On this principle, you reject the logic of Pedobaptists, who, while they find the ordinance of baptism in the New Testament, go back to the law of circumcision to determine the subjects. You tell them, and very justly too, that the law of the institution is the only rule of obedience. But do you not fall into the same error when the argument has respect to the Sabbath? We can see no more fitness in applying the law of the Sabbath to the first day of the week, than in applying the law of circumcision to the subjects of baptism. For the law of circumcision was not more expressly confined to the fleshly seed of Abraham, than was the law of the Sabbath to the seventh day of the week. The true principle is, that every institution is to be explained and regulated by its own law. Therefore, if the first day of the week is an institution binding on us, the law to regulate its observance should be looked for where we find the institution. Be pleased, brethren, to review this argument, and see if you are not treading on Pedobaptist ground. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.7
In justification of this change of the day, we often hear you plead the example of Christ and his apostles. But where do we find anything to this effect in the example? Did the apostles sabbatize on the first day of the week? Did the churches which were organized by them do so? Observe, the question between you and us is NOT, Did they meet together and hold worship on that day? BUT, Did they sabbatize? that is, Did they rest from their labor on the first day of the week? Did they observe it AS a Sabbath? This is the true issue. We have often asked this question, but the only answer that we have received has been, that they assembled for worship. But this is not a candid way of meeting the point. It is in reality an answer to a very different question from the one we ask. Brethren, act out your principles. Come up fairly to the question. When you ask a Pedobaptist, Did Christ baptize or authorize the baptism of little children? you expect him to make some other reply than, “He put his hands on them and prayed.” When you ask, Did the apostles baptize unconscious babes? you are not well pleased with the reply, They baptized households. Your question was with regard to infants - the baptism of them. If, therefore, when we ask you, Did the apostles and primitive Christians sabbatize on the first day of the week? you merely reply as above, we do not see but you are guilty of the very same sophistry you are so willing to charge upon your Pedobaptist brethren. Your adroit evasion of the real question seems to place you much in the same predicament as were the Pharisees, when Christ asked them whence was the baptism of John. It appears as if you reasoned with yourselves, and said, “If we shall say they did sabbatize on the first day of the week, the evidence will be called for, and we cannot find it; but if we shall say they did not, we fear the day will lose its sacredness in the eyes of the people.” We do not by any means wish to charge you with a Pharisaic lack of principle, but we put it to your sober judgment, whether your position is not an awkward one. Brethren, reconsider this point, and see if you are not on Pedobaptist ground. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.8
If the apostles did not sabbatize on the first day of the week, then it follows, as a matter of course, that whatever notoriety or dignity belonged to that day, they did not regard it as a substitute for the Sabbath. Consequently, unless the Sabbath law was entirely abrogated by the death of Christ, the old Sabbath, as instituted in Paradise, and rehearsed from Sinai, continues yet binding, as “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.9
But more than this. Even if it could be proved, that the apostles and primitive Christians did actually regard the first day of the week as a Sabbath, it would not follow that the old Sabbath is no longer in force, unless it could be proved that they considered the new as a substitute for the old; or, that so far as the particular day was concerned, it was of a ceremonial character. But where do we find proof for either of these points? In the whole record of the transactions and teachings of the apostles, where do we find this idea of substitution? No where. Where do we find evidence that, so far as the particular day was concerned, it was ceremonial, and therefore to cease at the death of Christ? No where. The argument that proves the Sabbath law not to be ceremonial, proves the same of the day. Did the Sabbath law originate in Paradise, when man was innocent, and had no need of a Redeemer? So did the day. It was then sanctified and blessed. Does the Sabbath law take cognizance of the relation on which all the precepts of the moral law are founded, viz., the relation we sustain to God as creatures to a Creator? So does the day. It is a memorial of this relation, and of the rest entered into by God after he, by his work, had established the relation. It appears, then, that neither the Sabbath law, nor the day it enjoins, was of a ceremonial character. True, it is not moral, in the strictest sense, but rather positive. Nevertheless, by divine appointment it is in the same category with the moral law, and must be considered a part of it. If this reasoning is correct - and if it is not, we hope you will point it out - it would not follow that the old Sabbath is done away, because Christ and his apostles sabbatized on the first day of the week; but only that there are two Sabbaths instead of one. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.10
But could Christ or his apostles consistently alter the law of the Sabbath? In all his ministry, Christ acted under the appointment of the Father, and according to such restrictions as were contained in the law and the prophets. By those restrictions, no laws were to be set aside at his coming, except such as were peculiar to the Jewish economy; such as “meats, and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed until the time of reformation.” Hebrews 9:10. To set aside these, the law gave the Messiah an express grant. Hebrews 10:9. But the very moment he should attempt to go beyond the limits of that grant, he would destroy all evidence of his being the Messiah promised and appointed. For it was by his exact conformity to the law, that his claims were established. Hence, early in his ministry, he declared that he “came not to destroy the law or the prophets.” Matthew 5:17. Most cheerfully do we recognize him as God over all, and blessed forever; yet we are well satisfied that, even in virtue of his divinity, he could not consistently set aside any laws except those which were “a shadow of things to come.” Otherwise we should have God denying himself - God contradicting himself! The New Testament records not a single instance of his claiming a right to do so. When he avowed himself Lord of the Sabbath, he only claimed to determine what was the proper method of keeping it - what were breaches of it, and what were not. The Sabbath was made for man, and consequently it was his prerogative to decide what acts and duties answered to the nature and design of the institution. Therefore, The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath. Mark 2:28. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.11
In regard to the obligation resulting from apostolic example, it appears to us that you have fallen into some errors. We are not convinced that the example of the apostles can be justly pleaded for any thing else than the order and arrangement of the church. However proper it may be to imitate them in other respects - in the duties of the moral law, for instance - yet, if it were not known to be proper, independent of their example, we cannot suppose their example would make it so. We must first ascertain, by some settled and infallible rule, whether their practice is worthy of imitation. In regard to the ordering of church affairs, there can be no doubt, for they were sent upon this very errand, with the promise of the Holy Spirit to qualify them for the work. But the Sabbath is not a church ordinance. It is not an institution for the church as such, but for all mankind. All reasoning with reference to it, from apostolic example, must therefore be very inconclusive. Even if we should admit that the church is bound by such example to regard the first day of the week yet this is the utmost extent to which our admissions can go. We cannot see how the institution becomes binding upon the world at large. Consequently, we are compelled to maintain, that an institution which was originally given for all mankind, remains unaltered. We are willing that the example and practice of the apostles should regulate the church as to its ordinances and government, and herein we claim to follow them as strictly as you do; but when they are pleaded for any thing more, we want first to know whether they conform to the express law of God. Otherwise we must consider them as no more binding than an apostle’s quarrel with Barnabas. Acts 15:39. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 57.12
If this argument is well founded, we are led to a very satisfactory disposal of a question often proposed, viz., Why do we never read in the New Testament of Christian assemblies being convened as such on the Sabbath? For if the Sabbath be not a church ordinance, but an institution for mankind at large, it can be of no importance for us to know what Christian assemblies as such did with regard to it. All that is of real importance for us to know, is the precise bearing of the institution upon man as man - upon man as a rational and accountable creature. On this point the information is clear and decisive. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.1
The controversy between us and you appears to be brought down to a very narrow compass. Did the Apostles and primitive Christians sabbatize on the first day of the week? And, is it the duty of all men to imitate their example, or only the Church? If, upon a solemn and prayerful consideration of this subject, you are persuaded that there is no proof that the early Christians regarded the first day as a Sabbath, (substituted in the place of the seventh,) and will honestly avow your conviction, we have no fear that the controversy will be prolonged. For, should you still be of the opinion that some sort of notoriety was attached to the day, and that Christians met for worship, we shall not be very solicitous to dispute the point. The apostolic rule, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind,” will then govern us. See Romans 14:5, 6. Our concern is not that you keep the first day of the week, but that you keep it in place of the Sabbath, thus making void the commandment of God. If once you discover, that Sunday is not the Sabbath by divine appointment, and therefore cannot be enforced upon the conscience, we are persuaded that your deep sense of the necessity of such an institution, will soon bring you to the observance of the one originally appointed. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.2
II. But we proceed to address those of you who regard the sabbatic law as having been nailed to the cross, and consider the first day of the week as an institution entirely new, regulated as to its observance wholly by the New Testament. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.3
You, whom we now address, are exempt from some of the inconsistencies which we have exposed; but your theory labors under very serious difficulties, and is to be regarded, on the whole, as more obnoxious to the interests of religion, than the one we have been considering. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.4
According to your position, the New Testament recognizes no Sabbath at all. Do not start at this charge. That it is repugnant to your feelings, we allow. You have never thought of any thing else than entire abstinence from labor on the first day of the week. It is your day of rest, as well as worship. But on what ground do you make it a day of rest? What example have you for doing so? What law of the New Testament requires you to lay aside all your secular business? As sin is the transgression of the law, and where no law is there is no transgression, [1 John 3:4; Romans 4:15,] how do you make it appear to be sin to work on the day in question? It is by the commandment that sin becomes exceeding sinful. Romans 7:13. By what commandment do you make it appear sinful to work on Sunday? These are questions of the highest importance. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.5
Now suppose one of your brethren attends public worship on the first day of the week, and - to make his conformity to what is supposed to be apostolic example as perfect as possible - participates in the breaking of bread. He then goes home, and labors diligently till the day is closed. By what law will you convince him of sin? Not the law of the Sabbath as contained in the Decalogue, for that you hold to be abolished. Not any law of the New Testament which says, “Keep the first day of the week holy; in it thou shalt not do any work,” for there is no such law. Not the law of apostolic example, for there is no proof that the apostles ever gave such example. The very utmost that you can with any show of reason pretend of their example is, that they met together for worship and breaking of bread. To this example your brother has conformed to the very letter - who can say he has not in spirit also? What now will you do with him? “The Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants.” The Bible, therefore, is the Rule by which he is to be tried. Convict him of sin by this Rule, if you can. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.6
But the case becomes still more difficult, when you come to apply it to those who are without the pale of the church. We have already seen that apostolic example concerns merely the ordering and arrangement of the church. Attempt now to convince the unbeliever of sin in working on the first day of the week. In order to do this, charge apostolic example upon him. What is his reply? “I know not,” says he, “that I am bound to imitate them in this matter. How does it appear that I am? I will admit, for argument’s sake, that they celebrated the resurrection on Sunday by religious worship; but they also broke bread and partook of it by way of celebrating his death. If their example binds me in one particular, why not in the other? Prove to me,” says he, “that any but the church assembled on the first day for worship, and I will do so too. But in the absence of all such proof, I must conclude that their example has nothing to do with me; unless, indeed, you can make it appear, that their example and practice were in conformity to some law, which commanded them as rational creatures, independent of their relation to Christ and his church. When you can produce that law, then I shall feel bound to obey it, and imitate the apostles in their obedience to it; but not till then.” Such is the reasoning by which an unbeliever may set aside all your attempts to charge sin upon him. Where, brethren, is your law which, like a barbed arrow, pierces the very soul, and fastens guilt upon the conscience? Where is that law which speaks out its thunders, saying, “Thus saith the Almighty God, the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, It is the Sabbath day; in it thou shalt not do any work?” To throw aside the law, which cuts and flames every way, reaching soul and spirit, joints and marrow, in order to deal with the ungodly by mere apostolic example, is like muffling the sword, lest it should give a deadly wound. Apostolic example is indeed powerful with those whose hearts have been made tender by the Spirit of God, but with others powerless. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.7
We are persuaded, brethren, that your conscientious scruples about laboring on the first day of the week, never resulted from the mere contemplation of apostolic example. Such example, it is true, is all the law you acknowledge; but this is the theory you have adopted since you came to maturity, and began to think for yourselves. Your scruples have an earlier and different origin. They commenced with your childhood, when you were taught to consider the day as holy time. It was then carefully instilled into your mind, that God had, by express law, forbidden you to desecrate the day, and that you would incur his displeasure in case you should do so. The idea was then imbibed, that if you did not keep the day, you would violate the fourth commandment. This idea has grown with your growth, and strengthened with your strength. It has obtained such commanding influence over your feelings, that you cannot comfortably forbear keeping a day of rest, though your theory does not require it. Even to this day a strong impression rests upon your minds, that the fourth commandment contains much of moral excellence - too much to be thrown altogether away, notwithstanding your system of theology teaches its abrogation. Such is the true secret of your tenderness of conscience. Apostolic example has in reality nothing to do with it. Following the secret monitions of conscience, your prosperity is promoted in spite of your theological system. But sound reason discovers, that your experience and your theory are in opposition to each other. Some of the more thinking ones among you are aware of this, and are continually aiming at such a modification of their theory, that their experience will harmonize with it. But be assured, that there will be an everlasting conflict, till you are brought to acknowledge fully and heartily the claims of the sabbatic law. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.8
We are aware of that system of theology which regards the New Testament as furnishing the only code of laws by which men are bound since the death of Christ. We have looked at this doctrine with attention; and so far as the order, government, and ordinances of the church are concerned, we admit its truth. As the laws and ordinances of the Jewish church were determined by the Old Testament, so the laws and ordinances of the Christian church are determined solely by the New Testament. Therefore, we would say at once, the argument is yours, if the Sabbath were a church ordinance. - In such case, however, none but the church has a Sabbath. But the question is not concerning church ordinances. In these we follow the New Testament as closely as yourselves. The question is concerning an institution which has respect to mankind at large - to man as man; for the Saviour teaches us that the Sabbath was made for man. Now, it will be a very hard matter to prove, that when men as rational creatures are concerned, the only code of laws by which they are bound is the New Testament. Let us put the matter to the test. How will you prove that it is unlawful for a man to marry his sister, his daughter, or any other of near kin? The New Testament utters not a word on the subject. It is not enough to say, It is implied in the law which forbids adultery; for it must first be proved to be a species of adultery to do so. Nor will it do to say, The common sense of mankind is a sufficient law on the subject; for the moment we suppose that its unlawfulness is to be determined in this way, we abandon the argument that the New Testament is the only code of laws, and resort to the common sense of mankind as furnishing a part of the code. But if the common sense of mankind shall furnish a part of the code by which we are bound, who shall undertake to say how large a part? Besides, on this principle, the book of divine revelation is not complete and perfect. It is a lamp to our feet only in part, and the common sense of mankind makes out the deficiency! You are, therefore, driven to take your stand again upon the New Testament. Finding you there again, we repeat the question, How do you prove by your code that a man may not marry his sister? It is impossible. You must, of necessity, look to that division of the Scriptures usually called the Old Testament; for the New says not one word about it. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.9
Let us turn now to the 18th chapter of the book of Leviticus, and we shall find a collection of laws exactly to the point. “None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him,” etc. Verse 6. The degrees of kindred are then expressly marked. Will it be objected, that these laws were given particularly to the Jews, and to no other people? We admit they were given to the Jews, as indeed was the whole system of revelation in that age; but we cannot admit that they concerned no other class of people. For it is expressly shown in that chapter, that the matters of which they took cognizance, were regarded as abominations in the Gentiles. Because of such things, the fierce wrath of Jehovah came down upon the Canaanites, and they were cast out from the land as loathsomeness. Verses 24, 30. If these things were viewed as abominable in the Canaanites, they surely were not ceremonial pollutions. They were not mere Jewish laws. The fallacy of the doctrine is therefore sufficiently exposed. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.10
We think you have fallen into error concerning the nature and design of that division of the Scriptures commonly called the New Testament. We regard it not as the Law Book of mankind, in the strict and proper sense; but rather as a Treatise on Justification, or an Expose of the Way of Salvation, in which are contained such references to the law, and such quotations from it, as are necessary to the complete elucidation of the subject. The preparation of this treatise was of necessity delayed until the great Sacrifice for sin had been offered, and our High Priest had entered into the holy place. For, as the sacrifice and intercession of our High Priest constitute the sole foundation of our justification, so “the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle was yet standing.” Hebrews 9:8. So much of the plan of salvation was illustrated to the people, as could be by means of the ritual service; and that, together with the prophecies, laid a foundation for them to believe that, in some way or other, they would be just before God. So that by faith the patriarchs were justified. Hebrews 11. They knew it was to be somehow through the work of Him who was typified and promised as the great Redeemer. But they could not understand the plan until the Redeemer came and died for them. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 58.11
Because this expose of the way of salvation could not be made until after the death of the High Priest, therefore it was not proper to organize gospel churches. The only church that was suitable for that age was found in the Jewish nation, and from its very nature was unfit for the world at large. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.1
It was, therefore, confined to that people. Moreover, because it was not proper to organize gospel churches until the way of salvation was fully laid open, it was also not proper to lay down the laws and ordinances of the church until that time. This accounts for the laws of the church being found only in the New Testament. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.2
Now, if the New Testament is to be regarded as an exhibition of the way of salvation, with such references to the Old as are necessary for the elucidation of the subject, rather than as the Law Book for mankind at large, the idea that the Sabbath ought not to be looked for in the Old Testament falls to the ground. Nevertheless, to some minds it appears strange, that while the New Testament writers mention all the other duties of the Decalogue, this of Sabbath-keeping is apparently omitted. In speaking of the sins of which Christians were guilty before their conversion, not one word is said about Sabbath-breaking, though upon other sins they dwell with emphasis. But this admits of a very easy solution. Those writers addressed two classes of converts - those from among the Jews, and those from among the Gentiles. As to the former, they were already rigid to an extreme in keeping the Sabbath. All that was necessary to do in their case, was to vindicate the institution from Pharisaic austerities, and determine what was lawful to be done, and what was not lawful. This was done by Christ. But as for the Gentile converts, to charge them with having been guilty of the sin of Sabbath-breaking in their state of heathenism, would have been manifest impropriety. For the Sabbath being for the most part a positive rather than a moral precept, it could not be known without a revelation. But as the Gentiles had no revelation, this is a good reason why the Apostle dwelt not upon this sin, to charge it upon them but only upon those which were more obviously breaches of the Moral Law. Thus it appears, there was no necessity for any more particular mention of the Sabbath to be made in the New Testament than what is made. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.3
But it is not our object in this Address to cover the whole field of argument. We design simply, by presenting some of the strong points, and exposing your inconsistencies, to stir up your attention to the subject. We are sure that the great majority of you have never given it a thorough investigation. For a complete discussion of the whole ground, we refer to our publications. Will you read them? Will you anxiously inquire, What is truth? Will you pray over the matter, saying, “Lord, what wilt thou have us to do?” Or, will you sleep over it, as if it were of no great practical importance? ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.4
III. But we must address that class of Baptists who consider neither the Old nor the New Testament to impose any obligation to observe a day of rest, and advocate one merely on the ground of expediency. In some sections of our country, Baptists would consider it almost a slander upon their denomination to intimate that there were persons among them of such antisabbath principles. But any one who is conversant with the order at large, knows very well that it is true. There are those who boldly avow such doctrine, and many others who do not deny that it is their real sentiment, though they are not forward to proclaim it upon the housetops. Whether this class embraces a very large proportion of the denomination, it is not necessary to inquire. It is our impression, that the proportion is sufficiently large to justify an effort for their conversion to right views of Divine Truth. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.5
If there is no day of rest enjoined by divine authority, and the observance of one rests wholly upon expediency, we see no reason, except that the voice of the multitude is against it, why you cannot as well observe the seventh as the first day of the week. There would be no sacrifice of conscience in so doing, while it would be a tribute of respect to those who feel that the keeping of the seventh day is an indispensable part of duty. But it is not on this principle, particularly, that we desire you to change your ground. Feeling that it is not our party that must be honored, but rather divine truth, and our party only for the sake of the truth, we would much rather correct your doctrinal views. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.6
Of course, you do not deny that a day of rest was once enjoined upon God’s chosen people. It is only under the gospel that you suppose all distinction of days to be annihilated. If, then, it is expedient that a day of rest should be observed, it follows irresistibly, that the annihilation of all distinction in days, by the gospel, was very inexpedient! And thus, whatever blessings the gospel dispensation brings to the human race, a strict following out of its principles would be inexpedient! And farther, that the law, which enjoined a day of rest, had more of an eye to expediency than the gospel has! Consequently, that the gospel, though declared to be faultless, and capable of perfecting those who believe, must nevertheless, for expediency’s sake, borrow a little help from the abrogated rites of the law! In other words, God, in setting aside a day of rest, committed an oversight, and left his work for man to mend! Brethren, we see not how it is possible for you to escape such monstrous conclusions. They are the legitimate result of your principles - principles which you must have adopted without considering where they would land you. For we are not disposed to believe you so completely destitute of piety, as willingly to abide by the result of them. We entreat you to re-consider them, and adopt such as are more in accordance with the spirit of our holy religion. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.7
When you advocate the observance of a day of rest on the ground of expediency, we are persuaded that you do so in view of the bearing you perceive it to have upon the well-being of mankind. But still the question will arise, Has the gospel less regard to the well-being of mankind than the law had? Look at the humanity of the sabbatic institution. How necessary that both man and beast should rest one day in seven. How evident that they cannot endure uninterrupted toil. How perfectly well established, that, if doomed to constant labor, they sink under the premature exhaustion of their powers. So well is this established, that we cannot put such a low estimate upon your judgment as to suppose it necessary to enter upon any proof of it. But the question returns, Does the gospel breathe less humanity than the law? Or, consider the bearing of the institution upon the interests of religion. It affords opportunity for men to be instructed in the great things which pertain to their salvation; and if there were no Sabbath to call them away from their labors, it would be impossible to bring religious instruction into contact with their minds. Does the gospel afford less advantage in this respect than the law did? Did the law provide a season for instructing the people in religion as it then stood? and does the gospel provide no season for instructing them in religion as it now stands? Must they be instructed in types, but not in the substance? - in prophecy, but not in the fulfillment of prophecy? No one will be responsible for the affirmative of these questions. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.8
If the New Dispensation actually has abrogated the Sabbath, we do not believe that it is expedient to observe it. We cannot believe, however, that an institution so important to the civilization, refinement, and religious prosperity of mankind, has been abrogated. We refer you to our publications, and to the publications of those who have, in common with us, defended the perpetuity of the sabbatic law; and we entreat you to re-consider your ground. The doctrine of expediency! What a fruitful source of corruption has it been to the church of God! There is not an anti-christian, popish abomination, but what pleads something of this kind. Do, dear brethren, let it be expunged from your creed. - Am. Sab. Tract, No. 15. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.9
NEW TIME THEORY
THE new-time theory of 1854 is producing considerable excitement in many places. Their advocates have started a paper at Lowell, called The World’s Crisis. It is rather surprising that so many intelligent preachers have become advocates of this theory upon such weak evidences, in comparison to the historical facts presented in 1843. Were it not for multitudes who do not think for themselves, their arguments would hardly be worth noticing. Notice a few facts. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.10
1. The time of the papal rule, when the saints, times and laws were given into his power, is fortified with such a mass of indisputable evidence, that there is no room for mistake. First, “the dragon gave him his power.” This was fulfilled in A. D. 533, according to the prophecy, by an imperial decree from the emperor Justinian which constituted the Pope, “The head of all the holy churches.” “Head of all bishops, and the true and effective corrector of heretics.” “We therefore decree that the most holy Pope of elder Rome is the first of all the priesthood.” “The authenticity of the title receives unanswerable proof from the edict in the ‘Novelle’ and the ‘annals of Baronius, the chief Romish ecclesiastical historian.’” - Advent Manual. The “Novelle” were “the novel constitutions of Justinian.” - Blackstone. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.11
2. The dragon gave him “his seat,” (Rome) fulfilled A. D. 538, “and great authority,” [Revelation 13:2,] fulfilled 540. “The consular power of Rome was recognized by Justinian “in his laws of 533; but in 540 he made a rescript of those laws, in which no recognition of the consular power exists. So that between 533 and 540 the consular power of Rome ceased, and the Pope succeeded.” - Butler’s Ch. Hist. “Pope Vigilus was elected A. D. 537, by an ecclesiastical council, called for the purpose by the emperor. The next and all succeeding popes have been elected without the authority of the Emperors. So that since 538, the church of Rome has acted independently of the Emperors.” - Midnight Cry, Vol. IV, p.196. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.12
3. Notice the time, and the order in which the papal authority was abolished. In 1703, just 1260 years from the time the Pope received his power, the papal government of France, the main pillar of papacy was “abolished,” and all ecclesiastical domains, such as abbeys, monasteries, convents, etc., were deemed national property. - Moore’s Gazette. In 1746 the French overran Italy. In 1798 the papal government of Italy was abolished. In 1801 a concordat was completed between Napoleon and the Pope. “The high Catholic party considered the concordat the destruction of the authority of the church.” - Lockhart, Vol. I. p.207-8. Alison says the concordat of July 1801 passed into a law April 8, 1802. Scott says, when its ratifications were published, “it was singular to behold how submissively the once proud See of Rome lay prostrated before the power of Buonaparte.” - Life of Napoleon Vol. I, p.357. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.13
Thus about the same number of years were occupied in the destruction of the papal supremacy. Great stress is fixed upon 1809 by the Timeists, as the time the Pope’s power was taken away. Although the papal government of Italy was destroyed the second time by Napoleon in 1809, yet the Pope had no power to yield but what he had before received from Napoleon. Dr. Moore in 1808 says of the papal power, “This power was gradually diminished until it was totally extinguished by the present Emperor of France. Since the accession of Buonaparte to the supreme power in France, he has wisely judged that some religion was absolutely necessary to the support of Empire and has restored the Pope to the nominal authority over the ecclesiastical states, and permits him to hold the keys of St. Peter, under a concordat, or tenure which he has been pleased to prescribe.” - Moore’s Gazette, Jan. 1808. O. NICHOLS. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 59.14
Dorchester, Mass. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.1
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
ROCHESTER, THIRD-DAY, MAR. 14, 1854
THE FAITH OF JESUS
“HERE is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.2
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”** Chap 12:17. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.3
WE stated in our last that it was our design in this series of articles to call attention to that portion of the faith of Jesus which relates to present duty. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.4
The moral condition of the world and the apostate church is thus described:- “As it was in the days of Noah,” “likewise as it was in the days of Lot,” “even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” - JESUS. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.5
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.6
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts; ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. - Paul. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.7
The standard of piety is lowered into the very dust, the church is united with an unbelieving world, in its pride, fashions, love of this present world, its lusts and sins, yet has a “form of godliness;” and it is almost impossible to make men feel the importance of coming up to the high standard of holiness set forth in the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Those who shall be ready for the coming of the day of the Lord, will have to feel the importance of this subject, and come up to the gospel rule of consecration to God, and carry out in their lives the plain teachings of Christ and the apostles. The perils of the last days are upon us. A strong current now sets downward to perdition - a thousand unhallowed influences surround the Christian, which if yielded to, will surely lead him from God and heaven. O, may God help his people to arouse and watch. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.8
Says Jesus:- “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:34-36. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.9
The warning of this text is of thrilling importance to all who are looking for the day of the Lord. Their dangers as well as duties are pointed out. The Lord help them to “take heed.” ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.10
SURFEIT. - “To feed with meat or drink, so as to oppress the stomach and derange the functions of the system; to overfeed and produce sickness.” - N. Webster. Surfeiting is not one of the least sins of the age. It is a sin of sufficient magnitude to call forth the most solemn warning to his people from the Great Head of the church. It was one of the great sins of the days of Noah, and is classed among the damning sins of the world at the period of the Second Advent. Look at the numerous editions of cook-books, the many new inventions for cooking rich food to suit an unhealthy and unnatural taste. In this there is not only a waste of golden moments and of means in preparing so many kinds of rich food with which most tables are set, but the constitution is impaired, and the powers of the mind, which should be employed in the service of God, are stupified, and, in many cases, much injured. How painful are the scenes connected with the tea-table of many professed Christians. After much toil and anxiety, with the determination to excel in preparing rich dishes, the social circle gather round the table, God’s blessing is gravely asked, then follows a long catalogue of excuses and polite falsehoods relative to the meanness of the food. O, shame on such Christians. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.11
“Two things,” says the wise man, “have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” Proverbs 30:7-9. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.12
Brethren, measure yourselves, not by worldly, proud, self-gratifying and popular professors around you, but by the gospel rule, and then see how much short you come. “Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. He who uses the filthy weed, may say that tobacco is not forbidden by the scriptures. True, we may not find the word tobacco in the Bible, but no sinner will pretend that he chews tobacco or smokes the pipe to the glory of God. He knows better. And who would dare stand before the Great Refiner and Purifier, at his coming, with a pipe in his mouth, or the filthy weed about his person! When the Apostle says, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” he means “flesh” as well as “spirit.” We confess that we have no confidence in a sort of inward holiness, while one at the same time is gratifying the lusts of the flesh which war against the Spirit. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.13
“Lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God,” is one of the sins of the “last days” church, “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Self-gratification is the great sin of the age. The soul buried up in selfish interests, and lusts of the flesh, God and his threatened judgments are forgotten. “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37-39. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.14
To eat and drink in the days of Noah was necessary and right. It is the manner, or excess, that our Lord would impress us with. On a careless world rested the sin of eating and drinking to excess, or gluttony, and they perished by the waters of the flood. “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:30. To eat and drink will be necessary till the close of this mortal state, but one of the great sins of the generation that witness the coming of the Lord, is feasting. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.15
“Marrying and giving in marriage.” That the marriage covenant was holy in the days of Noah, we doubt not, and fully believe it will be binding in all its sacredness till the coming of the Lord, but it was the manner or object of marrying in the days of Noah that moved the anger of the Almighty. “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 7:1-3. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.16
It seems by this that self-gratification was the only motive that moved men to marry in the days of Noah. Impulse took the place of reason and the fear of God. And we ask, How much improved is the mass of the present generation? Many marriage contracts are formed that religion or reason never dictated, and they result miserably. Children marry at an early age, knowing nothing of the sacredness of the marriage vows - marry, perhaps, against the wishes and entreaties of pious parents. These things have a demoralizing influence, and call down the frown of God. If ever the children of the Most High should tread softly, and take every step in wisdom, it should be in that period just prior to the revelation of the Son of God from heaven. No one is safe, unless they give earnest heed to the word of God, and follow its plain teachings. “Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.17
Faith for the Sick. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.18
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” James 5:14, 15. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.19
“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.” ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.20
Revelation 14:13. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.21
IF the epistle of James applies to any one period in the history of the church more than another, it is that period when the second coming of Christ may be scripturally looked for. The Apostle addressed the waiting brethren as follows:- “Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord,” “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” “Behold the Judge standeth before the door.” James 5:7-9. And if the promise in regard to the sick could ever be claimed by Christians since James penned it, it can and should be claimed now. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.22
But mark: the phrase, “is any sick among you,” includes only those who are in the faith and hope of the gospel. Also, confession of faults is connected with the prayer of faith. The people of God should move understandingly, especially when they go before God in prayer for the sick. It is a most solemn duty, and those for whom prayer is offered, and those who pray, should move forward with feelings of humiliation before God. It cannot be expected that God will hear prayer for the afflicted, while on them rests unconfessed sins. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.23
It is evident that the text, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth,” does apply to one particular period. The words, “from henceforth,” forbid giving this text a general application, and limit it to the period of the message of the third angel; therefore it applies to the present time. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.24
But it may be asked, How can two such texts apply to the same period of time? How can there be an especial promised blessing to those who at this time die in the Lord, while there is a plain promise that the prayer of faith shall raise the sick? Our answer is this: God by the Apostle [James 5:14, 15] has given the general promise, with the directions which should be embraced and followed by the faithful; if not, why did the Holy Spirit dictate the words of the text? But if God in his infinite wisdom sees fit to let some quietly and sweetly sleep in Jesus, he has a right to do so, and every Christian heart will acquiesce in it. The Lord knows best; he does all things wisely and well. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.25
The promised blessing to those who die in the Lord is, “that they may rest from their labors.” The perils and dread scenes of the time of trouble are before the people of God. Those who remain unto the coming of the Lord will witness them, and more or less feel their power, while those who die in the Lord, quietly rest from the labor, anguish of spirit and deep anxiety of that swiftly hasting hour, waiting to be called forth to immortality and eternal life at the voice of the Son of God. Blessed rest indeed! ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.26
“Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages; they came out as a whirl wind to scatter me: their rejoicing was to devour the poor secretly. Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble.” Habakkuk 3:12-16. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 60.27
He who sees the end from the beginning knows best who can, and who cannot stand the coming conflict. And if he suffers those who may be in danger of falling to be humbled and brought down by sickness, and fitted for the kingdom, and lets them rest in the grave during the time of trouble, gratitude and love should flow out to God from every Christian heart, even for this. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.1
But this should not in the least clip the faith of any in the promise [James 5:14, 15] that God will answer the prayer of faith. The prayer of faith has raised the sick, and if the people of God move forward understandingly, walking in humiliation and meekness and claim the promise of God, the prayer of faith will still raise up the sick. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.2
The Meetings ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.3
Which we held with the brethren in Oswego, Brookfield and Lincklaen, Feb. 4-19th, were of an interesting character; and we are happy to hear that they resulted in good to the cause of truth. We have given quite an extended account of the Oswego meeting, and will now briefly mention the others. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.4
We were glad to find the few friends of the cause in Brookfield firm in the truth. Several were among their number who have embraced the Sabbath since we were last there. We gave two evening lectures in the Baptist Meeting-house at North Brookfield. The congregation was not large, on account of the rain and ice, yet very candid and attentive. One of their number recently had his attention called to the Sabbath by reading the little Tract by “Elihu.” He has decided for the true Sabbath, and subscribes for six copies of the REVIEW, that others may read and learn the truth as well as himself. This is the universal effect of truth when received in the heart. He that feels its sanctifying influence wishes others blest also. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.5
We were kindly cared for by the dear friends in Brookfield, and when we were ready to leave for our appointment at Lincklaen, Brn. Ira Abbey and Chapel helped us on our way after a godly sort. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.6
In regard to the state of the cause at Lincklaen, we refer the reader to Bro. Poole’s communication in this paper for information. The cause has suffered much in that region in consequence of the evils mentioned by Bro. Poole. Those evils were, however, thoroughly reproved, and we trust that they will cease from among them for ever. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.7
We gave three lectures in the Seventh-day Baptist Meeting-house. One on the Sabbath, and two on First-day. The congregation on First-day was large, considering the slippery going. It was with difficulty that all could find seats. We are much attached to the dear brethren, and feel deeply interested for the cause in that region. We intend visiting them again in a few months. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.8
On our way home we had an interesting interview for a few hours with the brethren at Manlius, at the residence of Srs. Gridley and Scoville. We were happy to once more meet with Bro. and Sr. Holt. Our little meeting, especially the season of prayer, was refreshing. How good to weep with God’s tried people. Bro. Holt feels deeply the necessity of meekness, patience and faith at this trying hour. The Lord gird him anew for the battle. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.9
We look back upon the scenes of this recent tour with a degree of satisfaction, yet we see much more to be accomplished for the weak and erring portion of the church, which should be done immediately. As far as we are able to learn the state of things, it stands something like this: the way is open for the truth to spread, the people wish to hear, are ready to come out to hear, feel on the subject, but many of those who profess the truth, by either their harshness, unwatchfulness, unholy lives, stupidity, covetousness, or carelessness about the salvation of those around them, block up the way to life, and keep people from embracing the truth. We would say to those who may feel that these remarks hit them, We do mean you. Arouse, open your eyes to your condition, mend your crooked course, and in all the walks of life act the part of a consecrated Christian. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.10
THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH NOT ABOLISHED
BY J. B. FRISBIE
WHAT WAS ABOLISHED?
All that part of the book of the law, which was written concerning Christ was abolished. But this will not include any moral precept, even in the law of Moses. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.11
All Sabbath days (the seventh not excepted) as feast-day sabbaths were abolished as such at the cross, but not as the Lord’s rest-day; for the seventh day was a rest day before it was a feast day; so after it was abolished as a feast day it still would remain the Sabbath of the Lord our God as before. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.12
We have endeavored to show that the Sabbath of the Lord, is the greatest moral precept of the ten, for by this we are to know and remember God, that we may love and serve him in faith, spirit and truth. That the Sabbath was kept the same by the apostles and christians after the crucifixion of Christ as it was before, by the order of Moses, by the Jews and Christ with his disciples. That is to rest from servile daily labor, and assemble for worship in their meeting-houses both among the Jews and Gentiles. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.13
Jesus fulfilled all law. But to fulfill a moral law is to keep it. Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14. By this means he magnified the law and made it honorable. Isaiah 42:21. If Christ’s fulfilling the commandments, Thou shalt not kill, steal etc., did them away, then we may break them likewise with impunity. But who cannot see the inconsistency of this! Because Jesus kept the moral law it would not abolish it, but make it honorable. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.14
The law of commandments contained in ordinances written concerning Christ as typical of him, that when he fulfilled these, then they ended by limitation, after they had answered their design in their antitypes. We will show this. Leviticus 23:37. These are the feasts of the Lord. Verse 38. Besides the Sabbaths of the Lord etc. There are four sabbaths in this chapter besides the Sabbath of the Lord, connected with the feasts and ceremonies of the typical law of Moses. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.15
It was a matter of prophecy that these feast-day sabbaths connected with the new moons etc. should cease. But the Sabbath of the Lord our God associated with, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal etc., is not done away, but perpetual forever. Exodus 31:16-17. Throughout their generations. We can raise no objection to this; for whether it be literal or spiritual Israel they still continue in their generations to our time. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.16
PROPHECY OF THE FEAST-DAY SABBATHS
Hosea 2:11. I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her SABBATHS, and all her solemn feasts. Amos 3:7. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Amos 8:5, Saying, Then will the new moon be gone that we may sell corn, and the sabbath etc. Jeremiah 1:13, Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths. Verse 14, Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. See sabbaths and new moons connected, 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4. Nehemiah 10:33; Ezekiel 46:3. This must make it plain. God has revealed it to his servants the prophets that he would cause the sabbaths to cease that were connected with feasts, new moons and oblations. But nowhere that his holy Sabbath should cease; but be perpetual for ever. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.17
FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY
Romans 14:3. Let not him that eateth, despise him that eateth not: and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Verse 5, One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike, Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. (whether he will keep God’s holy Sabbath or not, this is another subject.) Verse 6, He that regardeth the (feast) day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the (feast) day to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.18
Nine times Paul has mentioned “eateth” in connexion with these days, and once “eat,” so that any one that wants to see, may know that Paul referred to feast days, and not to the holy Sabbath of the Lord our God. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.19
Now read what was abolished and blotted out; Ephesians 2:15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances. Not the law of God written on tables of stone with the finger of God; for [Ephesians 6:2,] Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise. A. D. 64. This sets the point at rest, that Paul would not have referred to this in the same letter, if these were the same commandments that were abolished. Colossians 2:14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Verse 16, Let no man judge you in meat (offerings) or in drink (offerings,) or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days. Verse 17, Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. These holy days or sabbath days, are not associated here with any one of the ten commands, but with the shadowy law such as meats, drinks, new moons, and called handwriting, or ordinances to be blotted out. 2 Chronicles 34:14. The book of the law of the Lord by the hand of Moses. (margin.) Which contained these ordinances. Hebrews 7:16. The law of a carnal commandment. Hebrews 9:10, Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. Verse 11, But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come etc. Hebrews 10:1. For the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifices and offerings thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) that is, of Jesus Christ. Verse 10, By the which will are we sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.20
Galatians 3:10. The Book of the law. Verse 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. Verse 25, But after that faith is come, (or preached) we are no longer under a schoolmaster. The typical law pointed out, or brings us to, Christ, that we might be justified by faith and not by the works of the law as before. Verse 10. Chap 5:4. Justified by the law. Luke 24:44, And Jesus said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me, that is Jesus. This tells us that all things written in the law of Moses concerning Jesus, was fulfilled by him, and that would be its end, abolished, blotted out, etc. For Christ to fulfill a prophecy would be to come according to the prediction of the prophet. For Christ to fulfill the law of Moses would be to come according to the types and shadows pointing him out. But would have nothing to do with that part of the Book of Moses that was not typical of him. Every moral precept would stand in its full force upon us as much as it did upon the Jews, such as, To love God with all the heart, Thy neighbor as thyself, or a brother marrying his sister, or a father his daughter. etc. etc. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.21
This testimony of Jesus in Luke in connexion with what we have quoted from the letters of Paul must settle for ever the questions what is binding and what is done away. To which may the good Lord help us to take heed for ourselves for we are all interested or should be in the things written. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 61.22
REFLECTIONS ON HEARING A CHURCH BELL
HARK! hark to the music of yon ringing bell,
As peal upon peal of pride it doth tell.
Full many a dollar has placed it on high,
To drown with its clamor the poor Christian’s sigh.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.1
Far off on the breeze, its metallic tone
Is wafted triumphant o’er poverty’s groan;
And most are delighted to hear - O for shame! -
What a glorious bell they can boast in their fane.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.2
The sick man is dying on yon garret floor;
And orphans are begging beside of thy door:
The widow is wiping the tear from her cheek, [week.
As she thinks what she’s earned for her babes thro’ the
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.3
But churchmen don’t heed it, the proud and the gay,
As they dress for inspection and hasten away;
The feathers are flying, and flounces do wave,
As the ladies go swinging themselves through the nave.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.4
There sits an old Deacon, as sober as Time,
Not thinking his grinding the poor is a crime;
And there, the gay singers with chanting await
The rising of Parson, all drest up in state.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.5
And hark! how the organ rolls deafening praise,
In full diapason, on this blest of days:
While the poor seek the gallery or uncushioned seat
’Way back in some corner, or at others’ feet.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.6
And now up arises the preacher in form,
And reads a few stanzas - all powdered and shorn;
And when the choir rings it admirably o’er,
He riseth and prayeth, in form, as before.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.7
The heavens above him - just under the roof,
Return him an answer, in echoes of proof
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.8
That his prayer is accepted: and the people are pleased,
’Tis all he expected, and hence he is eased.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.9
Great God! is this worship? Can this be a place
Where Jesus conferreth his blood purchased grace!
Can he, who did wander, without house or home,
Bless such an assemblage, beneath such a dome! -
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.10
While widows are weeping, and orphan’s seek bread,
And His poor disciples lie dying and dead,
With none to care for them or give them relief
Among the professors of pop’lar belief?
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.11
Stop! stop, you, friend sexton! stay ringing that bell!
It seems but the music that leadeth to hell;
It calls for the gay, in gay tones, to come in
And learn the religion that cloaks over sin.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.12
O stay, for God’s sake! pray ring it no more!
Tear down that high steeple, and close up that door;
Burn all the church trappings, and never again
Call out an assemblage of such Christian men.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.13
The ground underneath thee is trembling now,
The curse upon Bab’lon will soon lay her low;
Fly! fly! ere the day of God’s vengeance is come,
And you, like a Judas, sink down to your home.
[C. T. Catlin].
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.14
What did Paul teach the Thessalonian Church about the Second Coming of Christ? ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.15
“So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure; which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, (because our testimony among you was believed,) in that day.” - 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.16
In both of the Epistles to the Thessalonians, there is one great event continually brought out into view, so as to fix the attention of every reader. That event is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. - There can be no doubt that it was on this that the minds of the Thessalonian believers were fixed, and that it was by this that the Apostle urged his exhortations and counsels upon them. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.17
In those days the coming of the Lord was a well-known thing. The primitive Christians understood fully what was meant by it. The coming of the Lord was not a word of many meanings to them. It signified but one thing, and that was the return from heaven of him “whom having not seen they loved.” So that when the Apostle made mention of it to the Thessalonians, they at once knew that he referred to the glorious appearing of their Lord in the clouds of heaven. They had not heard that it meant anything else. Nor could they easily imagine another meaning. They would never think of referring it to the destruction of Jerusalem, for what had they in Thessalonica to do with the desolation of that city, and how could that event be the Lord’s coming to them? Nor could they suppose it to mean death, for one of the chief things to be accomplished at this coming was the resurrection from the dead, that is, the removing of death, not the inflicting of it. The coming of the Lord was an event which they understood, which they loved and longed for; and the apostle takes this for granted in both of these Epistles. Nor indeed does any one doubt that in most of the passages in which he alludes to the subject, he really means the second and literal coming of the Lord Jesus. Let us throw together all the different passages in both of these two Epistles which allude to this event. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.18
1. To wait for his Son from heaven. 1 Thessalonians 1:10. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.19
2. What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.20
Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Chap 2:19. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.21
3. To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. 3:13. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.22
4. We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (or go before) them that are asleep: for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; 4:15, 16, 17. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.23
5. Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; 5:2. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.24
6. I pray God that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 5:23. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.25
7. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe; 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 10. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.26
8. We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him; 2:1. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.27
9. As that the day of Christ is at hand; 2:2. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.28
10. That day shall not come unless there come a falling away first; 2:3. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.29
11. Then shall that Wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming; 2:8. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.30
12. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. 3:5. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.31
Here then are twelve passages in which the Apostle makes mention of the coming of the Lord, in the course of two brief Epistles, consisting, the one of five, and the other of three chapters. The Thessalonians could attach but one meaning to all these various allusions, and as they had been taught to look for the Lord’s coming in glory, so they would naturally interpret all these passages as referring to it, and to it alone. And we know as a fact in history, that they really did so. Before he wrote to them at all, they, like all the early Christians, were looking for the Lord’s coming. His first Epistle confirmed them in this, and raised their expectations to the utmost. They thought of nothing but his instantaneous appearance. They began to be “shaken in mind and troubled” on account of this, supposing that the day of Christ was at hand. Some one, either belonging to themselves or to some other Church, took advantage of this, and wrote an Epistle to them in the name of Paul, proclaiming the immediate coming of Christ, (2 Thessalonians 2:2.) Upon receiving intelligence of their troubled state, the Apostle wrote a second Epistle to them, to allay the agitation, and correct the error. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.32
In correcting their error he takes for granted that they were right in waiting for Christ’s coming. He gives them plainly to understand, in his first chapter, that when he spoke of Christ’s coming, he really meant Christ’s literal, visible, personal coming. He never hints that they were wrong in expecting this. They were looking for this event, and he knew it; nay, his second Epistle was written just because he knew this. Yet he never gives one hint that they were wrong in their expectations. Nay, he confirms them in these. At the same time he does correct an error into which they had fallen. And what was this? That there was to be no interval and no event between them and the Lord’s coming; and that they might be so sure of his immediate appearing as to throw aside their ordinary employments, and look up to heaven as if to see him coming. This was the only error. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.33
He tells them that Christ was certainly to come. So far they were quite right. But there was an interval, and it was here that they had gone wrong. There was to be an event between them and his coming, whereas they had thought there was to be none. But as soon as that event had taken place, then that which they had been looking for would certainly occur. He tells them of but one event that was to take place before the Lord should come. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.34
But though he mentions only one event, might there not be others? Yes, there might. And time has showed us that there were to be many. But let us mark the character of this event, and the manner in which the Lord’s coming is spoken of in connection with it. It is the rising of the Man of Sin of which he speaks. It is this that is to be the one mighty event that is to mark and fill up the interval before the Lord should come. The prevalence of Antichrist or Antichrists was to be the characteristic of the period between the days of the Apostle and the coming of the Lord. 1 John 2:18. This Man of Sin had begun to show himself in the time of Paul. 2 Thessalonians 2:7. He was to continue to show himself, nay, to rise into power and greatness. Then, when he had reached the very pitch and summit of his grandeur, he was to be suddenly and instantaneously stricken down and destroyed. And by what means? By the coming of the Lord. The Lord’s coming was not to be till Antichrist had reached its height, and then, “in one hour,” was this judgment to come - then the Lord was to be revealed from heaven in flaming fire. The destruction of the Man of Sin, and the Lord’s coming must be at the same moment of time, for the Lord comes in order to destroy him. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.35
In whatever sense the coming of the Lord is understood, still that coming, and the destruction of the Man of Sin, happen at the same time. Antichrist began in the apostles’ days. He has ever since been spreading and rising. He is to continue to increase until he be destroyed at the coming of the Lord. Such is the Apostle’s statement. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.36
But may not the expression “coming of the Lord” have another meaning besides that of his literal and personal appearing? We need not enter at present upon a discussion on the meaning of this expression in other parts of the New Testament. There is enough in these two Epistles to show the sense in which it was understood by the Apostle and the Thessalonians. Now, we ask, for what event was it that the Thessalonians were looking? Was it not the personal coming of the Lord Jesus, “to be glorified in his saints and admired in all them that believe?” Then it was by this personal coming that Antichrist was to be destroyed. What event was it that the Apostle exhorted them to look to for comfort under the sorrow they experienced at the bereavement of friends? Was it not the coming of the Lord Jesus to raise his sleeping saints? Then it was by that same coming that Antichrist was to be destroyed. And thus we see that the downfall of the Man of Sin is to take place at the same time as the resurrection of the saints - “their gathering together unto Christ.” What event was that which was to bring vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Was it not the Lord Jesus’ “being revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire.” Then it was by that event that the Man of Sin was to be destroyed. And thus we see that the coming of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, the glorification of the saints, the day of vengeance on the wicked, and the destruction of the Man of Sin, are all to take place at the same time. No one doubts that the coming of the Lord is to raise his saints, and to take vengeance on his enemies, and how then can we doubt that the destruction of Antichrist is to be effected by the same literal and personal appearing? The Thessalonians certainly knew but of one coming, and they could not but class all these events together as to be accomplished at the same time. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.37
If so, then the coming of Christ must be before the Millennium, not after it. For every one admits that the Man of Sin, who is at present rising into power, must be destroyed before the Millennium; and if he is to be destroyed by the coming of Christ, then Christ must come before the Millennium can begin. Otherwise the Man of Sin would continue in power during the whole Millennium, which is impossible. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.38
But may not the passage in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, mean a spiritual or providential coming, and not a literal one, though all the other passages refer to the real and personal appearing of Christ? We question much if there be such a thing as a spiritual or providential coming of Christ; but, granting it, still that cannot be meant here. For surely the Apostle would not mislead the Thessalonians, and yet it is evident that they could not but understand that passage in the same way as the rest, unless he told them that it meant something different from all the rest. It would be strange indeed if, out of twelve similar passages, eleven were to be interpreted in one way, and the twelfth, without any reason at all, save to suit a theory, in an entirely different way. How would it have been possible for the Thessalonians, or how is it possible for a plain reader, to find out that such a difference is to be made, and such an exception taken, in the case of one passage out of twelve? ARSH March 14, 1854, page 62.39
Besides, the expressions used in the verses alluded to are the strongest and most explicit in the whole two Epistles. “The brightness of his coming” is one of the strongest expressions in the whole New Testament in reference to Christ’s appearing. It is literally “the Epiphany of his presence;” as if the Apostle would prevent the very possibility of its being explained away, by using this double term expressive of his advent. The word Epiphany is a remarkable one. It occurs only six times in the New Testament. In one of these it refers to the first coming of Christ, which we all know was literal and personal. 2 Timothy 1:10. In four, the reference is admitted by all to be to his second coming, and the last is the passage in question, which is stronger than any other of the six. The four are these:- ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.1
1. Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; 1 Timothy 6:14. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.2
2. Who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Timothy 4:1. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.3
3. To all them that love his appearing; 2 Timothy 4:8. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.4
4. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Titus 2:13. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.5
Now, as, in the former case, we asked, Why make one passage, and that the strongest, an exception to the other eleven? so here we ask, Why make one passage, and it certainly not the feeblest, an exception to the other five? What reason can be given for thus attempting to explain away and spiritualize those expressions which are plainest and most explicit, and leaving others to be taken literally which are really feebler and less definite? Would such an attempt ever have been made, had there not been a theory or an opinion to serve? Why not take the words literally? Because, if you do so, you cannot but admit that the coming of Christ is before the Millennium! Now, would it not be better to admit this at once, than torture a passage of God’s Word from its obvious and simple meaning? ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.6
What we have said in the preceding pages may be thus gathered up and applied:- ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.7
1. The Thessalonians were “waiting” for Christ’s coming. This was one of the great features in their character as believers. Should it not be one of our features too? Should we not wait and love and long for the return of him whom we profess to love best of all in earth or heaven? Must there not be something far wrong with us if we are not thus looking and longing for his arrival? ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.8
2. The Apostle told them that there was but one event between them and Christ’s coming; that was the manifestation of Antichrist. Now, we know that Antichrist has appeared, and in our day he is rising into fearful strength. He is just at his height; therefore the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Christ must be near when Antichrist is at his height. The rapid spread of Popery should make us lift up our head, for our redemption draweth nigh. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.9
3. Antichrist is to be destroyed by Christ’s personal coming. Therefore there can be no interval between the downfall of Popery and the coming of Christ. Both are together. What a day of joy to a long darkened world, when not merely its worst enemy shall fall but its glorious deliverer shall arrive; Ad. Tracts, Vol. I. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.10
OBITUARY
DIED of Consumption, in this city, March 1st, 1854, Bro. L. V. Masten, aged about 25 years. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.11
His last sickness was marked with entire resignation to the will of God. The faith and hope of the gospel sustained him in the last trying moments of life; and he fell asleep in Jesus in the most peaceful manner, leaving a pleasant smile upon his countenance. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.12
LINES Occasioned by the death of L. V. Masten
BY A. R. SMITH
WITH the impress of death on his brow, he is sleeping,
And folded his hands o’er a heart that is still;
Unheeded the grief of the sad mourners, weeping,
No longer their accents his bosom can thrill.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.13
Now deeply we feel that our circle is broken;
No more our lone dwelling shall echo his tread;
His last tear is shed, and the last farewell spoken,
And oft shall we miss him who sleeps with the dead.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.14
O blessed the hope of the Christian to cheer him,
When dim grew his eye, and fast fading his bloom;
In the hour of affliction the Saviour was near him,
The rock of his strength, and his light to the tomb.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.15
No more will he wake from his calm, peaceful slumber,
To the anguish of pain, or the blighting of care;
No more will he join in the songs of our number,
Or mingle his voice at the altar of prayer.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.16
But the once cherished form which the cold turf encloses, ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.17
We would not recall, though we cannot forget;
For soft is the bed where he sweetly reposes,
While life’s thorny path is with trials beset.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.18
Then mourn not the loss of our dear, absent brother,
Bright angels shall watch o’er the dust where he’s laid
To rest by the side of his fondly-loved mother,
Who for his salvation so fervently prayed.
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.19
In glory, immortal, O soon shall we meet thee,
Where sickness and sorrow and partings are o’er;
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.20
With all the redeemed then with joy shall we greet thee,
With the King in his beauty to reign evermore!
ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.21
COMMUNICATIONS
From Bro. Poole
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- The following remarks in relation to the cause in Lincklaen, I submit to your judgment. Publish them accompanied with any remarks of your own, in whole or in part, or burn them, as you shall deem most conclusive to the interests of the cause of truth. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.22
It is nearly three years since our attention was aroused by the proclamation of the third angel’s message. The doctrine of the Sanctuary shed a clear light upon the past; while the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and the fearful denunciations of the angel against all who should receive the mark, spread out the field of Christian duty broad before us. For a time we rejoiced in the light; and although there were some things we could not understand, yet we waited in patience, and the spirit of teachableness for the fulfillment of the promise - “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” The Sabbath was a delight, and we truly hungered and thirsted for its weekly return. How cheering, how inspiring, to mingle hearts and voices on the day that JEHOVAH had appropriated to his own especial service, undisturbed by the vexing cares of a busy life. It was truly manna in the wilderness, and as the Psalmist tells us, “angels’ food.” ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.23
But the blessing was too rich to last. The evil eye of the tempter was upon us; and before we were aware, the leaven of jealousy had begun its work, and a spirit of oppression and fault-finding had brought forth its bitter fruits. We were thrown into heavy trial; and for a year past it has been manifest that there have been two spirits among us. That spirit of mutual confidence and hearty co-operation essential to progress, has been wanting, and we have been sliding backward and sinking under discouragements. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.24
We were divided in opinion with reference to some transactions among us; some approving, and others feeling that they could not be justified, by the word or Spirit of God, or by the example of the Man of sorrows. Among the latter I class myself. We were told that a great amount of labor had been bestowed upon us; but that we had not brought forth corresponding fruits - that the standard was trailing in the dust, when we ought to have made high attainments in the spirit of the truth. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.25
We had meeting after meeting, to search out the cause of our low estate, which were said to result in the removal of the stumbling blocks; but when the excitement of the occasion had passed, we found ourselves only the lower. Some of us began to pray that we might be left to “exhort one another;” and when it was intimated that it would be long time before we should have preaching again, “we thanked God and took courage.” And if I have any discernment in spiritual things, the Lord was pleased and manifested his approval by his presence and blessing in our gatherings. We felt strongly encouraged that he was about to revive his work among us; and when it was suggested that we have a conference, and that we could not prosper while there were difficulties unsettled, we replied: We thought it better to wait awhile, and try a new way to remove difficulties; we had tried the old one too long already. If we could not settle difficulties ourselves, others could not do it for us so as to be satisfactory. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.26
So far as I am aware, there have been no feelings of personal alienation among those who have continued to meet together, but a mutual distrust of the other’s “way” of promoting the cause; a distrust honestly entertained, yet so strong as to constitute a hindrance to our prayers. On the one hand it was believed that the course pursued among us was wrong - prompted by a wrong spirit, and carried out by wrong measures; and that the door of usefulness was thereby effectually closed against us. On the other, the course was justified; and they feared that by deviating from it, we should become corrupted and lose our souls. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.27
Under these circumstances we were (some of us at least) fully persuaded that our only ground of hope was, to “cease from man whose breath was in his nostrils,” and directly “seek the Lord till he rain righteousness upon” us; and I think it was in carrying out this purpose that the Lord blessed us with the encouraging indications to which I have alluded. I was much blessed; and at times had such a sense of the faithfulness of God, in his providential care over his creatures, that I could say in the fullness of my heart. While Jehovah reigns and retains his own right arm, I will never give it up. I believed he would work deliverance for us; and as to the how I was not careful. Still I was seeking for it by perseverance in the way we were pursuing; and my hope with reference to the contemplated meeting was, that the time might be occupied in lectures upon present truth, and trials not be mentioned. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.28
But it was not God’s way. At the first meeting the subject was alluded to, and the different views brought out. It was made a subject of prayer, that the Lord would work for us, and show up the right and the wrong, and lay the burden where it belonged. And prayer was not in vain. Although his way is in the darkness, yet his footsteps were manifest; and I think not a doubt remained on the mind of any one, that the Lord was especially with us, and in his own way bringing the true cause of our trials to the light. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.29
In reference to the Conference I will simply say that it reversed the decisions of former meetings, in relation to the cause of our difficulties; lifted off the heavy burdens that some had long borne; rebuked in strong terms the course that had been pursued among us, and denied having any fellowship with it; gave us a true view of the character and spirit of the third angel’s message, and what should be the character of those who profess it; laid out before us our appropriate work and what God will require of us; in a measure removed the prejudices existing against the present truth, and opened a way of access to the minds of some around us; and in short, has introduced quite a change of views and practice among us, for which we render praise and thanksgiving to God. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.30
Dear Brother, I regard the visit of yourself and companion to this place as a special providence of God. My heart is bound with you by ten-fold ties, and my prayers shall follow you as you go from place to place to prepare the way of the Lord, and take up the stumbling blocks out of the way of the people. May the Lord give you strength equal to your day, give you access to the hearts of the people, keep you in the vale of humility, and when the King comes, give you a crown of righteousness that shall not fade away. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.31
Yours for that liberty where the Spirit of the Lord is. E. A. POOLE. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.32
Lincklaen, N. Y., March 8th, 1854. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.33
From Bro. Bates
DEAR BRO. WHITE:- I have just returned here from Elizabeth, on my way to the Conference at Green Vale, to commence to-morrow. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.34
After giving two lectures in explanation of the Chart and the Sanctuary, in Elizabeth, we found the lecture-room locked up on Sunday morning. When the question was asked, why the house was shut against our meeting, they answered that our preaching was error, that we did not preach like Mrs. Lambert, [formerly Mrs. Chapman.] Her theme is life and death, and the Age to come. She came to hear, and attempted to raise some objections; but finally concluded by making an appointment to meet the people next Sunday, the 5th inst., to give them the Bible view of the Sanctuary, Babylon, etc., etc. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.35
The Presbyterians opened their meeting-house for us, so our meetings continued on through Sunday evening, and a number confessed the truth, and some others, as we were afterwards told, were deeply convicted and admitted that the fourth commandment was binding. Last evening and the evening before, two new places were opened where the people received the message. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.36
Since I wrote last I have spent about two weeks in Crane Grove and Adaline, where some six professed ministers have arrayed themselves against the truth at our several meetings; four of them laboring for days to put it down with their no-commandment and no-Sabbath arguments, etc. Notwithstanding all their opposition, the Lord wrought for Israel, and many souls got their eyes open to see the position their teachers occupied, and the difference between truth and error. It has also caused the sound of the last message of mercy to spread more extensively throughout this region of country, and thus opening a wide field for the united labors of God’s messengers, some of whom I expect here this week, and when the Conferences close they will be ready to attend to the “Macedonian Cry,” in this part of the valley of the Mississippi. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.37
JOSEPH BATES.
Pleasant Valley, Jo Daviess Co., Ill., Mar. 1st. 1854. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 63.38
SPIRITUALISM
“THEY are the spirits of devils working miracles.” Revelation 16:14. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.1
“Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit,” etc. Chap 18:2. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.2
“Whose [Christ’s] coming is after [immediately following] the working of satan with all power, and signs and lying wonders.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.3
“And shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matthew 24:24. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.4
As Spiritualism constitutes a most startling sign that “that great day of God Almighty” hasteth greatly, we design giving in each number of the REVIEW a few brief statements relative to its progress, and the signs and wonders reported to be accomplished by spirit influence. The following statements are from the Spiritual Telegraph. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.5
Modern Miracles. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.6
“THE following remarkable facts have lately occurred in the experience, and through the agency, of Mrs. French, of Pittsburg, Pa., who personally related them at a recent conference at this office, and has since repeated them, with additional particulars, to the writer. Being recently in the city of Washington, she was led to the house of Mr. Darby, the geographer, an elderly gentleman nearly seventy-nine years of age. Mr. D. had for some time been suffering from a paralysis of the left arm, which he was unable to move without taking hold of it with the right hand and applying to it a mechanical force. His hearing, also, was very imperfect. By means of a medicinal preparation which Mrs. French had made under spiritual direction, together with passes which she was impressed to make over the head and arm of the sufferer, the latter was in a few minutes so far relieved, that he moved his arm freely in all positions, clapped his hands at the back of his head, etc., without any impediment or difficulty. At the same time the old gentleman’s hearing was very greatly improved; and the relief of his difficulties continued permanent up to the last accounts that Mrs. F. heard from him, which was some two or three weeks after these occurrences took place. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.7
“Mrs French subsequently went to Baltimore, where she stopped at the house of Mr. Laning. While there, Mr. L. was impressed to send for two young girls, one of whom, about nine years old, was entirely deaf and dumb, and the other, about seventeen years of age, could only hear and speak very imperfectly. Mrs. F. manipulated the one who was entirely deaf and dumb for thirty-two minutes, at the same time bathing her about the head and ears with the spiritually prepared medicine, which she had in her possession. At the end of that time Mrs. F. was spiritually impressed that the girl could hear. Standing, therefore, behind her, so that the girl could not see the motion of her lips, she spoke a little above her ordinary tone of voice, when the girl winced, as though the sound was too loud for her. Moderating her tone of voice, Mrs. F. told her to say, ‘Pa,’ ‘Ma,’ ‘Sister,’ ‘Josephine,’ and several other words, all of which the girl distinctly repeated as by imitation as they were spoken by the medium. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.8
“While there, a girl was also brought to Mrs. French affected with St. Vitus’ dance, and so badly that it took two persons to steady her as she was brought into the room. Mrs. F., while under spiritual influence, made passes over her for about fifteen minutes, when the girl walked the length of two parlors without any observable defect in her motion; and afterward she walked home without any difficulty, arm in arm with the lady who had accompanied her to the place. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.9
“A Mr. Cole, also of Baltimore, was confined and apparently far gone with Consumption and other ailments. He subjected himself to spirit treatment through Mrs. French, and was immediately relieved from cough and other symptoms which prevented rest; and the next night he took a long walk through a storm of snow and sleet to a spiritual circle, where he remained to a late hour in a damp room, and then walked home again; and so far from feeling any ill consequences of this exposure on the next day, his health was, if any thing, still further improved.” ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.10
“SPIRITS AT THE CAPITOL. - It may be recollected by those who attended the Tuesday evening Conference at Dodworth’s Hall, some two or three weeks ago, that a Spirit, speaking through the medium of a young lady, declared that his voice should be heard in the Capitol on the next day. We have since learned that on the day following that evening, a medium was actually entranced, and spoke in a committee room to some members of Congress who had assembled to deliberate on a question submitted to their consideration. We mention this fact as a coincidence, without attaching any undue weight to it.” ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.11
“SPIRITUALISM - We have watched the progress of the new developments in what is called Spiritualism, with interest. Advocates and believers of this new “dispensation” are now to be found in every State, town, and village of importance of the United States; while in Great Britain, France and Germany, books are written, newspapers are printed, and sermons are preached devoted to this subject. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.12
Across the water, the better classes, intelligent and scientific members of society, are principally interested. Unfortunately for the “cause” in this country, the uneducated and simple-minded have generally been the first to announce a belief in the rappings, and attempt to enlighten the world! Such trash as we have had purporting to come from the abode of lovely and perfected Spirits! Such fantastic performances, said to be the work of souls of the great departed, such as Ben. Franklin, Sir Isaac Newton and Plato! ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.13
Justice to the Spiritualists, however, compels us to say that the “rappings” and their advocates appear to be giving place to higher manifestations, to which philosophic minds give countenance and aid. A strong and well-organized work of reform is the result. In Boston a regular course of Sabbath evening lectures is being delivered at the Melodeon, by such men as Hon. Warren Chase, Mr. A. E. Newton, Judge Edmonds, Dr. J. H. Robinson, and Rev. T. L. Harris. This canker of heresy in the very heart of New England orthodoxy is exciting attention; but what will be the end of it all, it is impossible to say. - Boston True Flag.” ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.14
FOREIGN NEWS
The Collins steamship Atlantic brings advices to the 22nd ult. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.15
THE TURKISH WAR - In compliance with orders from the French and English Governments, the larger part of the allied fleets will remain for the present in the Bosphorus. Six steamers will be detached to convoy Turkish vessels, when necessary, and four steamers will be kept in constant observation. No further operations had taken place on the Danube, but the Russian attack on Kalafat was still daily expected. The fort is now garrisoned by 30,000 troops. Omer Pasha’s health is re-established. He had recently hung two Greek spies. The Turkish army generally was in good health and spirits, with an abundance of food. The Wallachian peasantry had become so hostile, that the Russian soldiers are forbidden to go more than a mile from the camp. Gen. Anrep, who commanded the Russians at Tsbetate, is disgraced, and sent to the Caucasus. The young Prince of Moldavia is distinguishing himself in the Turkish service, by his military prowess and bravery. A British steamer, the Haidee, with some Turkish troops on board, went ashore near Sevastopol, and has been seized by the Russians. Six thousand men and twenty-four ships left Constantinople on the 7th February, under an escort of eleven British war-steamers. It was reported that when the French and English troops should arrive in Turkey a measure will be proposed by the Sultan to the Divan to give the Christians and Moslems equal civil rights. The rumor is however doubtful. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.16
GREAT BRITAIN. - England is at length in a state of war. Troops are being embarked at several ports, and on all hands there is apparent the greatest activity in preparations for the approaching struggle. The British contingent of land forces for the aid of Turkey has been fixed at twenty thousand men, in consequence of the refusal of Lord Raglen to assume the command of any inferior force. The Queen’s Guards, a magnificent regiment of cavalry, which the Emperor Nicholas, when he was in London, said were the finest men and horses he had ever seen, have given and received their farewell banquets, and were ordered to embark from Southampton on the 22nd February. Six other regiments of cavalry had been ordered to hold themselves in readiness to embark at short notice. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.17
GREECE. - The Greek insurrection is formidable. 6,000 insurgents in arms in Epirus, Thessaly and Macedonia. Recruits are leaving Athens. The Greek Government either cannot or will not check them. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.18
The steamship Asia from Liverpool arrived at Halifax last night, (March 9,) bringing three days later intelligence than that brought by the Atlantic. The news is not very important, although interesting. It was rumored that France and England had issued a manifesto, having all the force of a formal declaration of war, and that England had sent a final announcement to the Czar, naming a definite time in which he must evacuate the Principalities. The accounts from the Danube represent both parties as preparing for a great battle, and the allied fleets remained on the Bosphorus. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.19
The following from the correspondence of the N. Y. Tribune will give our readers a general idea of the condition of Europe. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.20
AFFAIRS ON THE CONTINENT
“LONDON, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 1854. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.21
“We are reaching the end of the second act of the great Oriental drama. In the first we saw the Montenegrins defeated by Omer Pasha, and Prince Menchikoff bullying the Sultan at Constantinople in order to restore the Russian prestige; next we witnessed the occupation of the Principalities, and the negotiations transferred to Vienna, closing dramatically with the visit of the Czar to the camp of Olmutz, with the famous Vienna note, the refusal of the Porte to accept it, the Nesselrode commentary upon it, and with the Turkish declaration of war. The second act began with the battle of Oltenitza and the Turkish successes in Asia, followed by diplomatic intrigues, schemes and counter-schemes, until the destruction of the Turkish squadron at Sinope roused the indignation of England and France, and the accusing voice of the people broke through the spider’s web of diplomacy. Explanations were demanded and given, and found unsatisfactory; diplomatic intercourse, between England and France on one side and Russia on the other, was broken off, and the efforts of both the parties were now directed to Vienna and Berlin, in order to enlist Austria and Prussia in the coming struggle; a few days more, and the declaration of war between the Western Powers and the Czar will close the second act. The Czar has rejected the last offer of an arrangement contained in Napoleon’s famous letter; Lord John Russell has made a warlike speech; troops are embarked, and a royal proclamation has prohibited the exportation of arms, ammunition, and warlike stores.” ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.22
“THE WAR AT LAST. - The refusal of the Czar to listen to the suggestions of Louis Napoleon’s letter seems to knock away the last prop for any hope of peace to rest on. Though neither of the parties has yet issued a formal declaration, the war at last has come. In the excitement of it, let us hope that the study of its history and philosophy may not be neglected. After a general peace of thirty-eight years, here is a war that promises to be more wasteful of life and property than any preceding war, because Europe is more populous and richer than at the outbreak of any preceding war. During these thirty-eight years, Europe has been governed by kings and diplomatists and standing armies, by the kind of men said to be born to govern the people, who are said to be not fit to govern themselves. It is not the people who have got up this war; indeed, a fear on the part of the kings that the people might take the occasion to claim some of their rights, has alone prevented its breaking out long ago. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.23
“And so at last we are on the very outer brink of a grand war - a war upon the commerce of all Europe, upon the life of the two millions of men who within a twelvemonth will be murdering and preparing to murder each other, upon the welfare of their families, upon the property of every tax-payer in Europe, upon the back and stomach of every laboring man and every laboring man’s wife and children, upon all material interests and upon morality. Its harsh note of preparation rings across one-half of the world, from Teheran to Dublin, from the valley of the Upper Nile to the mountains of Scandinavia. Already nearly twenty thousand men have died in battle. We need not say, what every one knows, that the deaths in battle are but the smallest part of the loss of life which an army suffers in a campaign; especially a Russian army, whose commissariat and medical staff are notoriously ill-provided and inefficient. We need not add that the existing embarrassments of trade and commerce, are already carrying suffering on its inevitable downward course to the laboring productive masses; nor speak of the peasants of Wallachia, who are first robbed of their grain and cattle, and then shot if they refuse to do the forced labors imposed upon them by their robbers. All this is only variations on the old air of God save the King and Devil take the People, which is always struck up when there is question of maintaining the ‘balance’ of power - not the balance of the scales of justice - in Europe.” ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.24
Appointments
PROVIDENCE permitting we will hold a series of meetings with the Brethren at Mill Grove, N. Y., to commence Sixth-day, March 17th, at 2 o’clock, P. M., and hold over Sabbath and First-day. - ED. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.25
A CONFERENCE meeting will be held at Rosendale, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., to commence on Sixth-day, March 24th. Brn. Stephenson, Hall, Phelps and Steward are especially requested to attend, as business of vital importance to the cause of truth in Wisconsin will be considered at this meeting. M. E. CORNELL. J. H. WAGGONER. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.26
THE SABBATH BY “ELIHU.” - Our first edition of this little Tract which was 10,000 copies, is exhausted, and we have now got out a second edition. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.27
We learn that three editions were published before it fell into our hands. We will send it by Mail and pay the postage in packages of not less than 50, for $1,00 per 100. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.28
Business
I. D. Cramer. - The REVIEW is sent regularly to Daniel Beach, Charlton, N. Y. It has never been stopped. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.29
F. Wheeler. - The letter and enclosed was received. See receipts in No. 7. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.30
Publications
THE Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days - 76 pages - price 7 cents - postage 1 cent. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.31
Review of O. R. L. Crozier on the Sabbath - 48 pages - price 5 cents - postage 1 cent. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.32
A Refutation of the Claims of Sunday-keeping to Divine Authority; also, a lengthy extract from the History of the Sabbath - 40 pages - price 4 cents - postage 1 cent. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.33
Signs of the Times - 124 pages - price 8 cents. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.34
Our collection of Advent and Sabbath Hymns - 144 pages - price 30 cents - postage 5 cents. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.35
Time and Prophecy - a Poem - 120 pages, well bound - price 25 cents - postage 5 cents. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.36
A Word for the Sabbath - a Poem - price 6 cents. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.37
The First Day of the Week Not the Sabbath - 32 pages - price 3 cents - postage 1 cent. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.38
Christian Experience and Views - price 6 cents. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.39
Supplement to Experience and Views - price 6 cents. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.40
Solemn Appeal - 32 pages - price 2 cents - postage 1 cent. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.41
True Picture - state of the Churches - 16 pages. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.42
The Sabbath by Elihu - 16 pages. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.43
Both Sides - on the Sabbath - 16 pages. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.44
The Sabbath by P. Miller Jr. - 16 pages. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.45
New Time Theory Reviewed - 16 pages. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.46
Volume I, II and III of the REVIEW, bound in paper covers - price 40 cents for Vol. I and II, and 80 cents for Vol. III. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.47
Youth’s Instructor, Vol. I, in paper covers - price 25 cents. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.48
THE CHART - A Pictorial Illustration of the Visions of Daniel and John and their Chronology - price $2. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.49
Tracts of 16 pages each can be sent by mail for one half cent an ounce, in packages not less than 8 ounces. We will send 50 and pay the postage, to one address for 50 cents. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.50
Letters
E. J. Paine, M. Dennis, S. T. Cranson, W. W. Simpkins, M. E. Cornell. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.51
Receipts
C. B. Davis, S. Burdick, L. Flint, E. Sanders, A. Kingsbury, A. Andrews, a Friend, each $1. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.52
H. Blinn, J. Santee, J. Furbush, each $2. D. Myers $7. I. D. Cramer $4,40. E. B. Thomas $2,50. S. Eastman, A. Luce, each $1,50. S. Pratt $0,84. C. Fox $0,75. L. Bean, G. Webster, L. D. Fairbanks, each $0,50. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.53
For J. N. A. L. J. Richmond $1. D. Myers $5. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.54
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY
At South St. Paul Street, Stone’s Block,
No. 23, Third Floor.
JOSEPH BATES, J. N. ANDREWS, JOSEPH BAKER,
Publishing Committee
JAMES WHITE, Editor
TERMS - We make no charges. Those who wish to pay only the cost of one copy of the REVIEW, (as some choose to do,) may pay $1,50 a year. Canada subscribers, $1,75, when the postage is pre-paid. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.55
That we may be able to send the REVIEW to the worthy poor, and to many who have not yet embraced the views it advocates, it will be necessary for all the friends of the cause (who are able) to pay the cost of their own paper, and for many of our readers to pay for one or more others. ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.56
All communications, orders, and remittances should be addressed to JAMES WHITE, Ed. of REVIEW, Rochester, N. Y. (post-paid.) ARSH March 14, 1854, page 64.57