Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 8
June 26, 1856
RH VOL. VIII. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, - NO. 9
Uriah Smith
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. VIII. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, JUNE 26, 1856. - NO. 9.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY
AT BATTLE CREEK, MICH.
BY J. P. KELLOGG, CYRENIUS SMITH AND D. R. PALMER,
Publishing Committee.
URIAH SMITH, Resident Editor.
J. N. ANDREWS, JAMES WHITE, J. H. WAGGONER, R. F. COTTRELL, and STEPHEN PIERCE,
Corresponding Editors
Terms.-ONE DOLLAR IN ADVANCE FOR A VOLUME OF 26 NOS.
All communications, orders and remittances for the REVIEW AND HERALD should be addressed to URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich.
ETERNAL DAY
BREAK, break eternal day,
Bid darkness flee away,
Pour on our sight -
Light from the world of joy,
Bliss pure without alloy,
Then ne’er shall gloom annoy,
All shall be bright.
ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.1
Rise, rise thou glorious sun,
Hasten thy race to run,
At God’s command,
Extend thy healing wings,
Open joy’s long sealed springs,
Reign, O thou King of kings
In this dark land.
ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.2
Come, come thou conquering one,
Reign thou upon thy throne,
In glory bright.
Then shall the ransomed raise,
Unceasing songs of praise,
Throughout eternal days
In realms of light.
H. L. H. - [Cross & Crown.
ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.3
PERSONALITY OF THE DEVIL
“Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.4
UNIVERSALISTS deny in toto, that there is now, or ever was such a spiritual being as the devil, either real or personal; and contend, that all the idea designed to be conveyed by that word, is a personification of the principle of evil, in its various forms. It is applied in a metaphorical sense, they tell us, to various objects, such as human nature, the Roman government, wicked men, such as Judas, the lusts of the flesh, etc., etc., but in every case it is to be understood as a figure of speech, and nothing more. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.5
This figure was known, in days of old, and designated by many titles, expressing his character, attributes, and offices. He was called “Abaddon,” “Apolion,” “Belial,” “Accuser,” “The Beast,” “The Angel of the bottomless pit,” “The great Dragon,” “Beelzebub,” “Deceiver,” “The Evil One,” “The God of this world,” “A Murderer,” “A Liar,” “The Prince of this world,” “The Prince of the power of the air,” “The Old Serpent,” “The Devil,” “The Father of lies,” “The Tempter,” “Satan,” and “The Prince of Devils!!” Revelation 9:11; 12:10; 19:19, 20; 12:7, 9; 1 Peter 5:8; Matthew 12:24; John 17:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4; John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 6:15; 1 John 3:8; Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12; Matthew 4:3. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.6
He must truly have been an extraordinary metaphor, possessing doubly as many names as the Almighty himself! And I will disprove the existence of God, as a real personal being, upon the same principle precisely, that Universalists make out the devil nothing but a figure of speech - a personification of a mere principle of evil! If because Judas was called “a devil,” [John 6:70,] and Peter “Satan,” [Matthew 16:23,] there is therefore no other devil, except Judas and Peter; then, according to the same logic, because Moses was called “a god,” [Exodus 7:1,] and Abraham lord, [Genesis 18:12,] there is therefore no other Lord God except Abraham and Moses! If, because God is said to perform many wonderful and mighty works, he is therefore a real being, and not a personification of a good principle; then, according to the same logic, the devil must be a real being, and not a mere personification of an evil principle, for many wonderful works, in the Scriptures, are ascribed to him. He appeared in the presence of God, and they held a conversation together concerning Job. Mark the fact: they both conversed together; and if it be consistent to say that one was a mere principle of evil, the other was nothing but a mere principle of good! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.7
Again: He caused a wind to blow down the house on Job’s children, and kill them; brought the Sabeans upon Job’s oxen, who took them all away; caused the fire of God to fall from heaven, and burn up all Job’s sheep: and finally, he smote Job with sore boils, from the crown of his head, to the soles of his feet. If this was all done by a figure of speech, they must have had rather a savage sort of metaphors in Job’s time!! This same figure of speech conveyed the Saviour around from place to place, conversed with him, quoted scripture, fell from heaven like lightning, broke chains and fetters, had power to cast men into prison, to walk about as a roaring lion, to work miracles, to overcome seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, to bind a woman eighteen years, to possess a herd of two thousand swine, and drive them down into the sea, and drown them, is in possession of a kingdom, is to be judged at the last day, was conscious that there was a time coming, when he had to be punished, confessed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, is finally to be tormented in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death: and strange to tell, all this is spoken of with reference to an eastern metaphor, a figure of speech; and not any real being, visible or invisible, neither in heaven above, earth beneath, or the waters under the earth! Job 1:2; Matthew 4:6; Revelation 13:13; Revelation 2:10; 1 Peter 5:8; Acts 19:16; Luke 10:18; Luke 13:16; Mark 5:12, 13; Matthew 12:26; Mark 5:4; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 20:10; Matthew 8:29. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.8
If the devil, possessing all the foregoing characteristics, and performing all these wonderful exploits, be nothing but a metaphor, a mere principle of evil, then I defy a Universalist to prove, that God is any thing more than a mere principle of good, the opposite of evil; and that the Bible is any thing more than a mere principle of humbuggery! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.9
God and the devil are always spoken of in the scriptures as exact opposites, just as much so, as are the principles of good and evil. God is the author of truth, and the devil is the father of lies. God is the Father of lights, and the devil is the Prince of darkness. Hence we read: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon;” “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.” “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.” “What concord hath Christ with Belial?” “He that committeth sin is of the devil, - whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God.” “If God were your Father, ye would love me - ye are of your father the devil.” Matthew 6:24; 1 John 3:8-10; 1 Corinthians 10:20; 2 Corinthians 6:15; John 8:42-44. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.10
All good, as the reader can discover from the foregoing quotations, is ascribed to God; whilst the devil is spoken of as the author of all evil. Now as God is not merely that good principle, of which he is the author, neither is the devil that evil principle of which he is the author. Is the principle of evil the author of itself? If so, then the principle of good is the author of itself, and consequently all the God there is in the universe! Just as certain as God, the author of good, is a real being, just so certain is Satan, the author of evil, a real being, and not that evil principle of which he is the author. Thus, upon the same principle, that the devil can be philosophized into a figure of speech, or a personification of a bad principle, can the Almighty Jehovah be figured out of existence as a real being, and proved to be nothing more than an Eastern metaphor, or rhetorical flourish. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.11
But let us try some of the real significations of the devil, according to Universalism, such as the wicked Jews, the Roman government, Judas, Peter, human nature, the lusts of the flesh, the carnal mind, etc. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.12
The best plan of testing a doctrine, is to substitute the definition for the word itself, and see what kind of sense it makes. We shall thus give the Universalist theory of no-devil-logic a fair trial. “And his fame went throughout all Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those that were possessed with Roman governments, and he healed them.” Matthew 4:24. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Roman government and his angels.” Matthew 25:41. “And when he had dipped the sop, he gave to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon: and after the sop, Peter entered into him.” John 13:26, 27. Or perhaps Judas entered into himself, since he was as much of a devil as Peter was! and of course before that he was out of himself! “Resist Peter, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. “Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary, Peter, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Peter hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat.” Luke 22:31. “And the God of peace shall bruise Judas under your feet shortly.” Romans 16:20. “There was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Judas to buffet me.” 2 Corinthians 12:7. “And he was casting out a Judas, and it was dumb: and it came to pass, when Judas was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered. But some of them said: he casteth out Judas through Peter, the prince of Judas.” Luke 11:14, 15. “Ye are of your father Peter, and the lusts of Peter will ye do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him.” John 8:44. “And he asked him, what is thy name? And the human nature answered, my name is legion, for we are many: and all the human natures besought him saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave, and the human natures went out and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and were choked.” Mark 5:9-13. “As they went, behold they brought to him a dumb man possessed of a human nature: and when the human nature was cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitude marveled, saying, it was never so seen in Israel.” Matthew 9:33. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 65.13
No wonder the people would marvel, that a man could speak, after his human nature was cast out of him! “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven human natures.” Mark 16:9. I wonder how many she had left?! “And the Lord God said unto the carnal mind, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” Genesis 3:14. The carnal mind must surely have a singular mode of traveling, and live upon extraordinary diet!! “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and he laid hold on the lusts of the flesh, that old carnal mind, which is Judas and Peter, and bound them a thousand years.” Revelation 20:1, 9. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the lusts of the flesh: and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards an hungered: and when the lusts of the flesh came to him, they said unto him, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered the lusts of the flesh, and said: It is written, man shall not live by bread alone; but by every word of God. Then the lusts of the flesh taketh him into the holy city, and placeth him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him: If thou be the Son of God cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus answered the lusts of the flesh, It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the lusts of the flesh taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said unto him, all these things will I give unto thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus: get behind me, thou lusts of the flesh, for it is written: thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the lusts of the flesh leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” Matthew 4:1-11. Had Christ no lusts of the flesh before the devil came to him? And after the devil left him, had he no more lusts of the flesh? If his own lusts, or his own carnal mind, was the devil that tempted, was he not sinful? He certainly was; “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God. Romans 8:7. His lusts were most unquestionably sinful, if they were the devil that tempted him; for that which is holy, will not try to tempt any one into wickedness! When the Pharisees told Christ he had a devil, it was looked upon then, and has always been, BYrofessed Christians, in all ages, as sheer blasphemy, until Universalists have recently made the discovery that the Pharisees told the truth, and that Christ had just as big a devil as any body! If the devil which came to Christ, and went away from him, was not a real being - nothing but a figure of speech; then what were the angels, which came to him after the devil left him? If they were nothing but metaphors, then how can any man on earth prove that Christ was a real being? He cannot do it, as we have two metaphors against the idea, and there is just as much reason in supposing that Christ was a metaphor, as either of the others! But if the angels were real beings, and Christ a real being, how can it be supposed, that the devil was nothing but a figure of speech, when he had fully as much to do in the performance as any of them? ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.1
“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the lusts of his flesh, he disputed about the body of Moses.” Jude 9. Thus, according to Universalism, a spirit had a contention with the lusts of his flesh, and the Saviour teaches that “a spirit hath not flesh and bones.” Luke 24:39, If Universalists, to avoid this absurdity, should prefer the ground, that the archangel did not contend with his own lusts, but with the lusts of Moses dead body; still it will not help them, for they teach that when the body dies, the lusts of the flesh become extinct, and thus the archangel was found combating some thing that had no existence, and fighting, as Paul says, like one that beats the air! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.2
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels.” Revelation 12:7. As the dragon and his angels were nothing but figures of speech, it is not likely that Michael and his angels were real beings! Thus, we have two mighty armies of figures, meeting in battle array on the plains of heaven, with two great metaphors at their head as commanders in chief! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.3
“And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, even the lusts of the flesh are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld the lusts of the flesh as lightning, fall from heaven.” Luke 10:17, 18. “And no marvel, for the lusts of the flesh is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14. “And when the thousand years are expired, the lusts of the flesh shall be loosed out of his prison.” Revelation 20:7. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.4
From the foregoing, we discover that the lusts of the flesh does not suit exactly, as a definition for the devil; but we shall turn the matter, and try it the other way. If the devil means lust, of course then lust means the devil. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.5
“Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not devil after evil things, as they also deviled.” 1 Corinthians 10:6. “When the devil has conceived, he bringeth forth sin.” James 1:15. “You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your devils.” James 4:3. “Abstain from fleshly devils, which war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2:11. “All that are in the world, the devil of the flesh, the devil of the eye, and the devil of life, are not of the Father.” 1 John 2:16. “The world passeth away, and the devil thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” 1 John 2:17. “The flesh devils against the Spirit, and the Spirit devils against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other.” Galatians 5:17. “But they that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful devils, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 1 Timothy 6:9. “That ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful devils.” Ephesians 4:22. “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers devils.” 2 Timothy 3:6. “The time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own devils shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears.” 2 Timothy 4:3. “How that they told you, that there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly devils.” Jude 18. “Flee also youthful devils.” 2 Timothy 2:22. “And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all devilish, and all men of valor.” Judges 3:29. Thus, according to Universalism, we have divers kinds of devils, such as “foolish devils, “ungodly devils,” “deceitful devils,” “fleshly devils,” “hurtful devils,” “youthful devils,” and as all positive adjectives imply their opposites, we must also have another class, such as “wise devils,” “godly devils,” “spiritual devils,” “peaceable devils,” “old devils,” etc., etc., and the Lord only knows how many more kinds of devils there are, if Universalism be true! Thus Universalists defeat their own object; for in trying to oppose the existence of ONE devil, they make out almost as many devils as there were frogs in Egypt! They thus out orthodox old orthodoxy herself! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.6
I wish here to answer a very common objection, which Universalists almost universally urge upon this subject. “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts, and enticed.” “Christ was tempted in all points, like as we are.” James 1:14; Hebrews 4:15. Hence, the conclusion is, that the devil which tempted Christ was his own lusts. But we have examined Christ’s temptation, and have found that the devil which tempted him, could not possibly have been his lusts; for it is most absurd to suppose that his lusts were away from him forty days, came to him, stood before him, got behind him, and finally left him for good and all!! Hence this objection cannot be well founded. But, says one, how will you dispose of it? Easily enough! “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.” But who is the tempter? Who is the enticer? Not his own lusts, certainly; for they are the principle by which he is induced to partake of the temptation, after it is presented! But who presents it? That’s the point. The answer is, the devil! Is he who presents the temptation, and that principle, which leads you to partake of it, after presented, one and the same thing? Not exactly! James does not say, that a man’s lust is the tempter. Here is where Universalists mistake the whole matter. Let us illustrate it. Suppose, reader, a worthless and abandoned spendthrift comes to you, and lays every possible inducement before you, to entice or tempt you to leave your work, and go with him to the “grog-shop.” You resist at first, knowing that such a course of conduct is utterly repugnant to your profession as a Christian. But “your adversary, the devil,” through that wicked agent, (as all wicked men are agents for the devil,) still persists in his devices, and taxes the last coffer of his sagacity, in order to lure you from the path of duty. Your old contracted love for ardent spirits - that lust of the flesh, which you had once overcome, is now excited and roused, and finally you yield the point, and are led away captive by the devil at his will! Now any man, with half an ounce of perception, can see that lust is not the tempter, or enticer; yet, when the temptation is presented by the devil, either personally, or by human agency, and we give way to it, then is the time that we are “drawn away of our own lusts and enticed.” Thus would the Saviour have been tempted, had he yielded to the proposals of the adversary - he would have been “drawn away [not tempted] of his own lusts;” but “tempted of the devil!!” The fact that Christ had all the lusts of the flesh before the devil came to him that he ever had, and that he retained them all after the adversary left him, ought to be of itself sufficient to convince any man, that the devil which tempted him was not his lusts; and this being so, it follows that the scriptural doctrine of the devil is against Universalism; although the devil himself may be in favor of it!! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.7
In conclusion we remark, that there is not a text in the Bible, which speaks of the devil as being the lusts of the flesh; no, not one! But suppose there were a text, which figuratively applied the term devil to the lusts of the flesh, if this proves that there is no real personal devil, and that the lusts of the flesh is all the devil there is, then it follows, according to the same logic, because Paul says concerning some fellows, who were the enemies of the cross of Christ, “Whose god is their belly,” [Philippians 3:19,] that there is therefore no other God in the universe except the belly! If this was all the God the Bible held out, methinks that Atheists among Universalists, would be scarce! - Universalism against Itself pp.252-261. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.8
Increase of Crime
IT is a lamentable fact that crime throughout the country is on the increase. Murders for the mere purpose of plunder, highway robberies, and burglaries, are much more common now that they were forty years ago, and have increased in a ratio greater than the increase in the number of inhabitants. Without commenting upon the insecurity of life, there can be no doubt that the criminal attacks on property have multiplied of late. Once, it was hardly thought necessary to fasten the doors of a house in the night time - now, the common locks and bars are no security. There is hardly a week passes without hearing of some burglarious attempt in our city, and great care must be nightly taken to secure not only the doors but the windows. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.9
One of the causes of the increase of crime may be owing to the relaxation of parental discipline. There are those in the community who endeavor to do their duty by their boys, to keep them from bad company, to make home so pleasant to them that they do not desire to wander in the night around the streets. But all are not so faithful. We fear that in many families, religious instruction, proper moral training, and effective parental influence, are all wanting. We judge so from the number of rude profane, and rowdy boys that frequent our streets. Let any one go through the city and have his mind turned towards the subject, and he will be shocked at hearing the profanity which is uttered by even the small boys. He will see, from their oaths, their vulgarity, the cigars which even the little ones are sucking, their rude, rough conduct, that they are preparing,, not for a life of labor and usefulness, but for a reckless, rowdy existence, to swell the number of the inmates of the grogshop and the brothel, and to increase the ranks of crime. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 66.10
This mode of early life shows that the consideration of principle, of right, of duty, and of conscience, never enters into their education. As soon, therefore, as want presses, or ungratified desires stimulate, these boys will be ready for plunder, for there will be no checks of early instruction to restrain them. The parents of such children have much to answer for, both to society and to God, for the consequences of their neglect. Many a crime will be traced back in its origin to the want of that early control and discipline which all parents are bound to exert over their children. To reform, then, the coming age, we should commence with the children and impress upon them early the feeling of responsibility, of duty and right. We should likewise exhibit to parents, in the most vivid colors, the importance of a greater control over their household, and the restraint of all those evil tempers, desires and habits which they ascertain are budding in the soul. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.1
As long as our streets are filled with these incipient rowdies, the less our sons are in them, the better. We can at least keep them clear from these contaminations, and endeavor to prevent the early influence of evil example from rotting away the principles of right. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.2
We need not wonder at the prevalence of crime when we see boys growing up in the reckless and vile manner in which too many are training themselves in the midst of us. A youth of rowdyism will be succeeded by a manhood of crime, before which the State prison or the gallows stands as the closing scene. - Conn. Courant. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.3
The Grace of Life
BY MRS. O. ANNETTE HARRIS
[The following article we take from the Northern Christian Advocate, of August 22. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.4
There is too much truth in it to be overlooked, and we are glad to find such an article in the same paper where Mr. Slaughter and others have made such an effort to annihilate the great truth of “no eternal life, or immortality out of Christ.” “Dead churches” and their “dandyish” ministers, with plenty of “tinsel garnish” and theatrical “essays” - called sermons - have received a just rebuke in this article. Bible Examiner.] ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.5
THIS is the great preservative principle, which holds a renovated heart steady to a previously formed purpose to meet the demands of Christianity. It was this that disposed the soul to the undertaking, and imparted the requisite energy, for the beginning of that life from the dead, so mysterious, and, yet so real, that we never doubted its nature; even when the mists of temptation obscured our spirit-vision with a gloom akin to what the world calls despair: that desolation, from which unaided humanity seeks deliverance in suicide. That calm, unembarrassed faith that stood the test - that proved God true when all else was untrue - that always opened an azure sky and a meridian sun, after the terrible tempest-cloud - for it was only a cloud - at each additional triumph, cemented a new layer in the rock-foundation of our hope. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.6
The grace of life is always near, even when total abandonment seems inevitable; its facilities and unearthly fortitude unsecured, only because the simple conditions were unmet. O, to be hearty in our confidence - to be clear in our apprehension of what God is, and of his proposition for us, and then to be childlike in our ventures upon him! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.7
How pre-eminent is this grace in its innate, unchanging purity. It is unlike any other principle we know of - only like God. Creeds and dogmas, philosophic and finely arranged systems of theology, may become corrupt — may assimilate to the errors of their time, but this grace never. It is a vital element always, everywhere, though sometimes rendered inoperative. Pretended religions have in every age arisen, tower-like, seeming pharaohs in the benighted world; but there was no clear, unflickering illumination, only a sort of meteoric, dazzler wave, and a deep night would have been, if truth had not been in the world: but the glow-worm’s lamp went out and the sun shone still. The pulsating immortality embosomed in the system of Jesus of Nazareth was wanting; there was no soul, no healthful organization, no element of success. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.8
Even truly Christian organizations, that is, those based upon the holy doctrines of the Cross, which hold this grace an inoperative principle, existing merely in a doctrinal recognition, so far as regards their legitimate, paramount object, are but a nullity. No, they are not so harmless as a cipher; not passive merely. There is no such innocence attaches to their character. It is nothing less than a selfish appropriation - a mocking monopoly of a grand channel of influence - sacred to truth - belonging exclusively to Jehovah. Were the question open for debate at the Judgment, What made Infidelity so rife in the world, from what invisible fount it derived its sustenance - its force, the answer might once come welling up from the abode of damned millions, “Dead churches!” professions heartless as the last smiling kiss of Judas! Life and energy they have, but it is the terrible stirring force which comes with the decomposing process; which turns over, distorts, and throws from side to side, the dead in the charnel! It is the Lucifer exaltation, which invites worldly patronage to magnificent forms - that gild the rude cross with garnish tinsel of earthly splendor, and decks its bleeding Christ with the gorgeous butterfly paraphernalia of the mode! The world - the intelligent manhood of a lost race, looks at the caricature and shakes its head. The enlightened atheist smiles sarcastically, and passes on to the hell he would have believed in, and shunned, had he seen the Bible proposition a practical thing. He sought a demonstration of Christianity, in its popular phase in the great world; just where he should have found it, but never did. He knew not that its Divinity was enshrined in rude sanctuaries of rustic villas and forest glades, away from the fine, pretty-fashion world - where, perchance, a simple worship might be tolerated, if it was “down town” - That its flame burned on heart altars, in simple, unlettered souls - here, because unembarrassed by adventitious false aid. That here dwelt the holy Ark of the Covenant, and here the Mercy Seat, where might be solved the wondrous problem of the Divine forbearance, ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.9
That stays the avenging sword,
And holds a reckless world in life.
ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.10
That here existed a true representation of Jesus - that MODEL CHARACTER - but so awkwardly, so grotesquely stage-acted beneath the massive, heaven-towering dome, where ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.11
“The rich-toned organ echoes peal on peal -“its soft worship attempting to ascend to the dizzy height of the eagle’s erie, but is lost in the dim grandeur of fluted columns, frescoes, and crimson velvet - where delicately slippered feet, press yielding cushions, and beautifully jeweled, snowy hands, twirl with a modest sacrilege, the Book of Life. Just here, hell-bound gentlemen and ladies may, in romantic leisure, give ear to a “portion in due season” of an elaborate essay upon the Progress of the Age, or some other progress - say a dry disquisition upon matters and things in general - by a dandyish, titled emanation from a modern school of doubtful divinity. The grace of life dwells here only in bound books and in the yellow-covered catechisms in the basement - the only place where incipient fashionable church-goers ever learn who made them, and who died for them; for if the finished, upper-ten metropolitan declaimer - I will not call him preacher - ever attempts an impartation of intelligence in this direction, is so splendidly metamorphosed, that the hearer was only dazzled by the fixings - and never got at the simple truth, what he must do to be saved, which brings the Grace of Life. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.12
Obstacles to the Truth
Among the obstacles to the prevalence of truth we may enumerate the following: ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.13
1. Prejudice. - The judgment is often formed without light:- without evidence. And should the truth be presented to a mind thus pre-occupied before it can obtain a lodgment there, it has an obstacle to encounter and remove, of a very formidable magnitude. The strength of prejudice is amazing. Though assailed by reason, and argument, and revelation, it often remains as deeply rooted and vigorous as ever. Nay it is frequently nourished by the very efforts which are made for its destruction. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.14
2. Pride of opinion - When a man has formed an opinion and committed himself to its support, his mind is fortified against the reception of evidence showing that his opinion is false. Though he may feel himself unable to answer the objections which are urged against his views, he still clings to them with the most obstinate tenacity. His pride of opinion revolts at the thought of a change. It would be to him a weakness - a degradation to which he cannot submit. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.15
3. Authority. - There are but few minds which think for themselves, and form their judgment independent of others. Whether they will acknowledge it or not, almost every man has his Magnus Apollo, to whom he listens as to an oracle. And whatever changes the responses of his oracle may undergo, he changes with it, and echoes its latest dicta. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.16
4. Education. - When the mind is in its forming state it takes readily the impressions which are made upon it, and retains them through afterlife, in all their distinctness and vigor. Hence erroneous impressions early made are apt to be enduring. And it is here that truth meets the firmest resistance. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.17
5. Interest. - What multitudes are governed by calculations of profit or loss in forming their opinions! And by habitually acting upon these sordid principles, are given over to believe a lie! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.18
6. Personal Attachments. - Man is a social being and has his favorites, who insensibly exercise a control in the formation of his opinions. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.19
7. Personal Aversions. - When truth comes from the lips of those we hate, the resistance to it is far greater than if it proceeded from a different source. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.20
8. Consciousness of Error. - This often prevents men from coming to the light lest their deeds should be reproved. They love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. And though conscious of their error, they are not willing to confess and forsake it. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.21
9. The Dread of Ridicule. - How many are prevented from entertaining the truth, because it will expose them to the ridicule of their companions! They had rather endure the pangs of a wounded conscience than the scoffs of the wicked. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.22
10. Example. - Have any of the Pharisees believed on him? The force of example is great. And truth has often to make its way in the face of the opposing multitude. From these obstacles to its prevalence - and many, very many more could be given, is it marvelous that so few embrace it? The wonder is rather that it should make any progress amid such opposition. Nor would it, so far as the gospel is concerned, but for the accompanying influences of the Holy Spirit. This shows at once the source of our dependence, and urges us to supplication for the greatest of all the gifts which flow through the gospel - the gift of the Spirit. - Charleston Observer. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.23
“CHRISTIAN practice is the most decisive evidence of the gracious sincerity of professors, both to themselves and to others. The saints may have other exercises of grace besides these, which are very satisfying to themselves; but still this is the chief and most decisive evidence. There may be several circumstances which show that a certain tree is a fig-tree, but the most decisive evidence is that it actually bears figs.” - Edwards. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.24
“No man can safely go abroad, that does not love to stay at home; no man can safely speak, that does not willingly hold his tongue; no man can safely govern, that would not cheerfully become a subject; no man can safely command, that has not truly learned to obey; and no man can safely rejoice, but he that has the testimony of a good conscience.” - Thomas A’Kempis. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 67.25
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, FIFTH-DAY, JUNE 26, 1856
TRUE REFORMS AND REFORMERS
THERE is much said about reform, and there are many who claim to be reformers at the present time. We will not stop to enumerate the subjects upon which reforms are urged, nor the different classes who urge them: suffice it only here to remark that we trust we shall be permitted to put in our claim also of being among the reformers of the nineteenth century; since we do claim this, and not only so, but, however presumptuous it may appear to some minds, we claim to be in advance of all reformers, and to labor for those true reforms which are especially essential to this perishing world. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.1
A reform is an amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt or depraved; it is a changing from worse to better; and surely we can all see that there is need enough of this in our world. We therefore heartily bid all reforms, God speed! We are glad always and everywhere to see the great tree of error trimmed and stunted, though it may be but the lopping off of some of the outer branches, instead of the destruction of some essential root. But true reform and a true reformer will strike at the root of the evil to be corrected. True reform will purify the fountain, since we cannot otherwise expect a pure stream. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.2
But the standard of rectitude and purity for this world is only found in the word of God. This much will all professors of Christianity tell us. The Word then is the source and basis of all true reformation. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.3
An exchange not many months since offered the same sentiment when it said: “The Bible is the great anti-sin text-book; the church, the great anti-sin society. No reform can be successful and complete which is not founded on the great fundamental principles contained in the Ten Commandments. All else is surface work, and must prove abortive. As well might you kill a tree by clipping off here and there a twig, as kill a moral evil, while its root is still striking deep in a luxuriant soil.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.4
“There,” says one, “they’ve pitched upon the ‘ten commandments’ ‘ready; now we know what’s coming: something of course about the ‘Sabbath’ which these Seventh-day people everlastingly connect with all their teaching!” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.5
Exactly so! and since you’ve opened the way we will begin on this very point. The Sabbath is something like an all-pervading principle in a man’s religious belief. It is among the very commandments by which we show our allegiance and our love to God. It is the great link which connects man more closely than any other to his great Creator. And there is need of reform upon the Sabbath question. Justice and the word of God call loudly for a reform in a practice which has made a breach in God’s holy law, with which is inseparably connected the honor of the supreme Law-giver, and the destiny of man. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.6
But how do you know but that the command is already correctly observed, generally, so that there is no need of reform? We know how the commandment reads; and we know that the mass of professors do not pretend to keep the day specified in that command; and we know that the reasons they offer for another day are uncalled for, unscriptural and absurd; and we know that to keep another day for another reason, is not according to the “great fundamental principle” of that commandment. Therefore a reform is necessary or the letter, even, of God’s requirement is not observed. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.7
But we are the more sure on this point, since not only existing facts demand a reform, but this very reform is a subject of prophecy. There was to arise a power, distinctly noted on the page of prophecy, which was to change times and laws, a blasphemous beast, who should exalt himself above all that is called God, and set up his own decrees above those of Jehovah. See Daniel 7; Revelation 13. But there is also as distinctly noted, while the scenes of earth are drawing near their close, a class of people coming forth - the remnant of the woman’s seed - who should resist the decrees and commandments of the beast, and instead of them, be found keeping the Commandments of God. Revelation 12:17; 13, 14. Here is pointed out the reform that should take place on the law of God. The Papal beast has made a breach in that law, and the last work of the true church is to restore it again; hence says the prophet Isaiah, Thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in, and shalt ride upon the high places of the earth, if thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath. See Isaiah 58:12-14. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.8
We say we bid all reforms, God speed! but some are laboring for reforms which they never will see accomplished. As much as any one, from our very soul we detest and abhor that foul blot of our country - slavery! and our sympathies are with those in whose hearts burns the love of freedom, and who would desire to see the bondman loosed from his chains. But he who expects to see the land freed entirely from this curse, or even to see slavery contentedly confine itself within certain limits, we can but regard as laboring under a false hope; for the character which the prophetic pencil has given to the two-horned beast, [Revelation 13:11] a symbol of our country, is that he shall speak as a dragon! Not that slavery alone constitutes the dragon voice; but we must take with it its prime mover, that infernal spirit that is even now, on the plains of Kansas, burning the homes of freemen to the ground, and driving out their inmates robbed and insulted, and which but recently prompted a brutal assault upon a senator in the very halls of congress. Prophecy gives us no ground to hope for reform here: the beast speaks like a dragon. People may caress him never so fondly, or threaten him never so fiercely; they cannot reform his mouth: he will speak like a dragon still. The prophecy does not say that at first he spake like a dragon, but at length reformed his speech, and breathed forth a just and Christ-like spirit. His future history presents no redeeming feature. He will continue to bellow forth his dragon voice, till he shall be cast into the burning flame, and the remnant whom he will persecute shall take their stand of victory on mount Zion with the Lamb. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.9
There is another subject upon which reform is needed to save mankind from a fatal delusion. It has been needed for years in the past, and because it did not take place, a huge evil is overspreading the world. We refer to the popular belief concerning man’s condition in death, and his final destiny, as needing reform. Had the plain teachings of the Word been followed, there would have been now no need of reform; but there has been a wide and sad departure, and the peculiar dangers to which the present age is exposed demand a speedy return to the word of God on this subject. The theology of the world was “defective, corrupt and depraved,” or Spiritualism would never have found soil for its dark and deadly roots. Here is the danger; and the only remedy is to reform an erroneous belief. Admit once that man is in death where the Bible leaves him, in a state of unconsciousness, waiting the resurrection, and the whole brood of spirits are stripped of their garb of light, and shown to be the emissaries of him who is the father of all lies. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.10
The theology of the world needs reforming. The manners and customs of the church need reforming. True religion is not accustomed to dwell in gilded temples with pride and popularity, and corruption and hypocrisy. A reform is demanded; a return to the simplicity and devotion of early times; and whoever is engaged in the work of giving men a proper basis for their daily lives, a consistent view of the plan of salvation, and a well-grounded hope for the future, in opposition to the corruptions and errors of this degenerate time, is engaged in true and radical reform; and there is no nobler work on earth. Such reforms we cannot expect to become general. The way that leads to life is narrow and there is only here and there one who is willing to take it. It is about as hard to make a germ of truth flourish in this cold world, as it would be to rear a tender flower amid the snows of Siberia; and we might well nigh become discouraged were it not for the assurance that there will be a few plants ready to be transferred to a heavenly climate, to flourish there through all eternity. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.11
We claim to be reformers; and we claim to be engaged in the noblest and most essential reform - even that of restoring the claims of the royal law of God, that men may conform their lives thereto. And we earnestly invite the attention of all to these things, in whose eyes reform is a sort of divinity, worthy of our highest regard if not of our worship. We invite their attention to these things. If actions which violate the plainest precepts of the divine oracles, ought not to be reformed, we know not what should be; and if this subject should not engage the attention of a world full of candidates for life or death, again we say, we know not what should. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.12
OUR MONITORS
IT is reported of one anciently that he employed a servant to come into his room and remind him that he was mortal. This circumstance has suggested to our mind that we are not only mortal, but there are events just before us that will bring it to the test, and we have our monitors of these events if we will but listen to their admonitions. “Coming events cast their shadows before.” The judgments of God are preceded by a warning. The people in the days of Noah and of Lot were taken unawares only because they were willfully asleep. They “knew not” only because they would not know. And it is not because the people of the present day have no chance to know of its approach that the great day of the Lord will overtake them “as a thief.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.13
The voice of Prophecy has declared that the great day of the Lord is near and hasteth greatly; and many are the signs that admonish us that that declaration is hasting to its fulfillment. As anciently the servant reminded his master of his mortality, so do the signs of the times admonish us in plainer language than that of words that the great day of the Lord is close at hand. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.14
The evidences of prophecy fulfilled, the hand-writing that has been given on the walls of heaven, the “anger” and the “perplexity” of the nations, the mighty struggles of despotism, tyranny and slavery to bind their chains more firmly upon their victims, the seeming departure, in a measure, of the restraining grace of God, the waxing worse and worse of evil men and seducers, the development of those who have the “form of godliness but deny the power,” the “perilous times” both to saint and sinner, the restless, feverish anxiety in the minds of men, and the failing of their hearts for fear - all these clustering like a body-guard around the sure word of prophecy, point unmistakably to the coming consummation. Happy they who take heed and escape for their life. “Ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.15
Tent Meeting at Waverly, Mich
THIS meeting commenced, Sabbath, June 14th, and held over First-day. Three discourses were delivered each day, and the word had free course. Our social meetings were spirited. The Lord seemed to bless every effort from the beginning. The brethren and sisters there, as well as those from abroad, entered heartily into the work, all seeming resolved to arise and double their diligence. At the last meeting the Lord moved upon his servants in an especial manner, and in the sermon and exhortation which followed, the people were much moved by the proclamation of “the day of vengeance of our God.” A meeting was appointed at 7 o’clock, Second-day morning after which we repaired to the river side, where eight souls were buried with Christ by baptism. The scene at the water was one of unusual interest, and the brethren and sisters went their way rejoicing. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 68.16
In the afternoon we went as far as Trowbridge. Here we engaged in prayer and exhortation with good result. Two precious souls were set free in Jesus and the next morning were baptized. The Lord was with us in our prayer meeting, and our confidence in the power of the present truth was greatly increased. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.1
After arranging our appointments for our next Tent-meetings, we returned to Monterey, being directed, as we believe, by the special providence of God. A messenger was sent out to notify the friends of truth to meet at the barn of Bro. Wilcox at 10 o’clock, on Fourth-day. The brethren, both farmers and mechanics, left their business engagements and came out to meeting, much to the astonishment of those who were heaping up treasures for the last days. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.2
Bro. Waggoner gave two discourses on the Sanctuary. The searching truths presented on this subject had the effect to awaken the church and fasten deeper conviction upon some who had been halting. At 6 o’clock we repaired to the water, where seven more were baptized, making in all forty baptized within two weeks at Monterey. In the evening the church came together to celebrate the ordinances of the Lord’s house. The testimony of Jesus concerning the ordinances was unanimously received. The promise of the Saviour was verified. Sweet peace and union prevailed throughout the exercises. All were strengthened and confirmed in the faith. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.3
In all these meetings Brn. Lowree and Green, who have charge of the Tent, have cheerfully seconded our efforts in word and work. The Lord seems to be moving them out in this work, and we trust they will prove efficient co-laborers in the spread of this last message. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.4
M. E. CORNELL.
J. H. WAGGONER.
Allegan, Mich., June 19th, 1856.
INTERESTING INCIDENT
AT the Tent-meeting at Waverly, Mich., were two boys from a distant neighborhood, one quite small. There was a query in many minds whether his parents knew of his coming; but he was cared for, and provided for during the meeting. On Third-day morning, as Bro. Lowree and myself were riding along on the Tent-wagon, we were hailed by a boy by the roadside, and soon recognized our little friend of the Tent-meeting. We stopped and conversed a moment with him; his parents were absent, and we gave him a couple of books and commandment cards, and were about to proceed on our journey when the mother came in. We then concluded to tarry a little longer, and the lad was sent after his father. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.5
From him we learned that the boy, who was about twelve years old, though small, had heard Bro. Cornell last Winter, and became very much interested in him and his lectures. When he heard of the Tent-meeting he obtained his parents’ permission to go, that he might hear more, and so went on foot a distance of about twelve miles, to hear the good news! He was well pleased with the meeting, and gave his parents a good report of what he had seen and heard. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.6
His attachment to the commandment-keepers was a point of interest to me; he said also that he loved the Sabbath. After conversation and prayer with the family, we resumed our journey; and I felt that I had there enjoyed one of the most precious privileges of pilgrim life. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.7
The Saviour says, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Alas, how few there be of the multitudes that have ears to hear; and how many of “the wise and prudent” of the world will the example of this boy rise up against in judgment. J. H. W. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.8
THE WORLD’S CONVERSION
[THE following we extract from the Editor’s preface to the work entitled, “The Voice of the Church on the Reign of Christ,” by D. T. Taylor, revised and edited by H. L. Hastings, Peace Dale, R. I. The modern fable of a world’s conversion is well shown up, and we can commend the work to every follower of Daniel Whitby. - ED.] ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.9
And what are the present prospects of a church that has set out in all confidence to convert the world? How may those now putting on the harness boast of greater expected success than is warranted by the experience of those who have put it off after having fought the good fight? The prophets could not convert the world: are we mightier than they? The apostles could not convert the world; are we stronger than they? The martyrs could not convert the world, can we do more than they? The Church for eighteen hundred years could not convert the world, can we do it? They have preached the gospel of Christ, so can we. They have gone to earth’s remotest bounds, so can we. They have saved “some,” so can we. They have wept as so few believed their report, so can we. They have finished their course with joy, and the ministry they have received to testify of the gospel of the grace of God; we can do the same. Can we reasonably hope to do more? “It would take to all eternity to bring the Millennium at the rate that modern revivals progress,” said the venerable Dr. Lyman Beecher, before a ministerial convention, held close by old Plymouth rock. And what hope is there that they will progress more rapidly? Is it in the word of God? Glad would we be to find it there. Sadly we read that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.10
Has God a mightier Saviour - a more powerful Spirit? Has he another Gospel which will save the world? Where is it? Is there any way to the kingdom other than that which leads through much tribulation? Is there another way to the crown besides the way of crosses? Can we reign with him unless we first suffer in his cause? ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.11
No doubt the world might be converted if they desired to know the Lord. And so had all who heard received with gladness the word of God, the world might have been converted within twenty years of the day of pentecost. If each Christian had brought one single soul to God with each successive year, the calm splendors of the Millennial era might have shone upon the declining years of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. But instead of this, ages of darkness came on. The world did not repent, but the church apostatized. If the gospel were to convert the world we should have seen tokens of it ere this. But where are such omens to be found? Shall we look at Judson, who labored ten long years before one sinner yielded to the claims of the gospel? Shall we look to the dense darkness of the heathen world? Shall we look at the formalism of the professed church? Shall we look at the wide extension of infidelity? Shall we look at the abounding of iniquity and the waxing cold of love? Shall we look at a world, where eighteen hundred years of toil and tears has not brought one twentieth part of mankind even to a profession of true Christianity; and where not more than one fifth claim for themselves the dubious title of Christian nations? Shall we look over a world in which we cannot find one nation of Christians, nor one tribe of Christians, nor one city of Christians, nor one town of Christians, nor one village of Christians, nor one hamlet of Christians, save here and there where a questionable faith has led a few, with hypocrites even then in their midst, to withdraw themselves from the world and cherish the untried virtues of secluded life? Surely, after eighteen hundred years of experiment with that system which was to convert the world, men might point to some country, to some province, to some nation, and say, Behold the commencement of a converted world! ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.12
But will not the gospel then prove a failure? That depends upon what is to be expected of it. If the gospel was to effect the eternal salvation of all mankind, then failing to accomplish that work is a failure of the gospel. If the gospel was to convert the world, then if it is not done it will prove a failure. But if the gospel was preached “to take OUT OF the Gentiles a people for his name,” then it is not a failure. If it was given that God might in infinite mercy and love, “save SOME,” then it is not a failure. If it was given that every repentant sinner might have eternal life, and that every good soldier might receive a crown of glory, then it is not a failure. If it was given that an innumerable company might be redeemed OUT of every nation and kindred and tongue under heaven, then it is not a failure. If it was given that the vales and hills of paradise restored, might teem with a holy throng who shall be “equal to the angels, and be the children of God, being the children of the resurrection,” then it is not a failure. If it was given that the elect might be brought into one great family of holy ones, then it is not a failure. And was not this its object rather than the exaltation of a worldly church to the splendors of earthly prosperity, while beneath the theatre of their easy triumph there slumbers the ashes of prophets and the dust of the apostles? Are they to hold jubilee a thousand years, while the martyrs’ unceasing cry, “how long, oh Lord,” goes up to God? Are they to have their songs of triumph, while the whole creation groaneth for deliverance, and while that longed for day of the redemption of our body is postponed? Nay, verily, the hope of the one body is one hope. The hope of the church stops not at death, it sweeps beyond earth’s scenes of tempest and of storm, and reposes in the calm beamings of that sun of righteousness which shall glow above the bosom of paradise regained. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.13
Thus teaches the word of the Lord. Thus responds the universal church. There are, I know, with regard to the details, differences of opinion. But this only strengthens the argument. It shows that the church were not led by blind reverence for the traditions of their fathers. But on the leading features they all agree. Wide apart as the poles in their theological opinions, they all agree in one point, that the coming of Jesus and the scenes of Judgment must precede the rest of the church of God. They all agree that the church shall never reign till she reign complete in the presence of her Lord. They all agree that earth is not her rest until renewed by the power of God. They agree that the world will not be converted, but that the Judge of quick and dead must come upon a race not ready for the harvest of glory, but ripe for the sickle of wrath. And is not this the voice of the prophets and apostles? If we read that God will comfort all that mourn in Zion, is it not at the day of the vengeance of our God? If Christ is to have the heathen for his inheritance, will he not “break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel?” If the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, is it not when “nations are angry and God’s wrath is come?” If the new covenant be made with men, is it not beyond preaching and teaching, when they shall not any more teach his neighbor or his brother, know ye the Lord, for all shall know him from the least even unto the greatest? If Jerusalem is to be comforted by the blessing of God, will he not make her an eternal excellency? If God create new heavens and a new earth, shall not God’s saints “be glad and rejoice forever in that which he creates?” If the “righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father,” will not the tares be first gathered in bundles and cast into “the furnace of fire?” So of the whole Scripture. The old earth must be dissolved ere the new one can appear - Satan must be dethroned ere Christ can reign, and death must be swallowed up in victory ere the saints can sing the victor’s song. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.14
Towards those scenes we hasten. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The rest is before us, and the toil is very brief. But alas for the world! Woe to an earth that will not repent. The Deluge and the Dead Sea tell us what God has done. The Scriptures tell us what he will do. The Sword shall not always sleep in the scabbard - it is about to be unsheathed. Watchman, set the trumpet to thy lips! Sound in the ears of the world the dread alarm - “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned: if the sword come and take away any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood WILL [REQUIRE AT THE WATCHMAN’S HAND!” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 69.15
THE SAVIOUR’S PETITION
John 17:11, 21-23. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.1
O, HOLY Father, keep,
Keep through thine own Almighty name,
These dear disciples of the Lamb,
Now they in anguish weep;
For now I leave them, and I come to thee -
Keep those from strife whom thou hast given me!
ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.2
That they may all be one
As thou, my Father, art in me,
And I thy Son am one with thee
Let the good work begun;
Be consummated in their unity -
From strife and sad divisions keep them free.
ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.3
The glory thou didst give
To me, thy well-beloved Son,
I freely have bestowed on them,
That they by grace may live;
In love as brethren, that the world may see,
And know by this that I am sent by thee.
ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.4
And I in them will dwell,
As thou hast always dwelt in me,
That they in one may perfect be,
That all the world may tell,
That them thou lovest as thou lovest me,
That praise and glory may be given thee.
A. M. A. CORNELL.
ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.5
CHURCH ORDER
BY J. B. FRISBIE
(Continued.) ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.6
4. ORDINATION. - We will consider the office of a bishop or elder. Bishop comes from the Greek word, episkopos, which signifies an inspector, overseer, superintendent, a chief officer in the Christian church. Acts 20:28; Philippians 1, 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25. Greenfield’s Gr. and Eng. Lexicon. The word itself conveys some idea of his duty; but this we will consider hereafter. It is the authority by which a bishop receives his office that we wish here to notice in particular. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.7
By what authority does the bishop receive his office? We as a church acknowledge no authority except that which comes from God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and by being chosen by the church, and set apart by the laying on of hands of the presbytery, or elders and bishops. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.8
For direct testimony for such authority we will examine 1 Corinthians 12:28. “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers,” etc. “Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God.” We will here observe that it is God who sets the different officers or gifts in the church. Ephesians 4:11. “And he (Christ) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets: and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers.” This is God’s work through Christ. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.9
Acts 20:28. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,” (episkopous, bishops.) Here the Holy Spirit made these bishops overseers of the church of God. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.10
2 Corinthians 8:19. “And not that only, but who was also chosen, (cheirotoneo, to vote or choose by holding up the hand; to choose, appoint by vote, select, ordain, appoint, constitute, (Acts 14:23; 2 Corinthians 8:19.) of the churches to travel with us with this grace, (or gift,) which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.11
This testimony proves that the churches chose, ordained or appointed by holding up their hands in voting their choice who should be messengers of the churches. 2 Corinthians 8:23. “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch, certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaeh, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate (for) me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed,” etc. Acts 13:1-4. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.12
In this we learn that the Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Saul to be separate or set apart by the laying on of hands of these prophets and teachers who were in the church at Antioch, after they had fasted and prayed. The Spirit had called them to the work of preaching, establishing churches, and causing elders to be ordained (cheirotonia) by lifting up hands, as the word imports. Acts 14:23. This can be seen to have been their work by reading the 13th and 14th chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. Whatever was done by the order of the Holy Spirit, is spoken the same as if the Spirit had done the work. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.13
It is very evident from the above proof that the power and authority to ordain elders or bishops in the church came from the Holy Spirit of God. And the laying on of hands was the separating act by which grace was imparted to do the work and office of a bishop. We have no account that those brethren in the church at Antioch were any more than prophets and teachers, like Paul and Barnabas at that time, but acted under the direction of the Spirit of God. This does away with all this endless controversy that has been in the churches, about apostolic succession of power through popery, etc. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.14
We will say here that if we have no higher power than that which comes through popery, we have no power at all; for they have none themselves, therefore none to impart to others. So we have no other way but to apply to the great Head of the church, Jesus Christ, and get our power and authority directly from heaven as the early christians did, as in the examples referred to. By this means we can have the restitution of all things back to primitive order, (gifts not excepted.) ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.15
But it may be asked who has the power to lay on hands to separate these preaching elders or bishops to their office. We answer in the first instance, the presbytery. And who are these? 1 Timothy 4:14. “Neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee BYrophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.” (Gr., presbuterion, a body of old men, an assembly of elders, spoken of the Jewish Sanhedrim, Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5; and of the elders or chief persons in the Christian church, a presbytery. 1 Timothy 4:4.) We ask, then, Who appointed the elders or chief persons in the Christian church? We answer The church ordains or appoints them by a vote taken by the lifting up of hands, according to the direction of the Lord. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.16
Then we see that the laying on of hands was the separating act by which the grace of God was imparted. But the power and authority comes from God by the Holy Spirit; for it is said, “The Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.” “The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul.” Then it is by the authority of God and not of man. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.17
5. THE DUTY OF ELDERS. - Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28. “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” 1 Peter 5:2, 3. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come [now is] when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto [heathen, Catholic] fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:2-5. “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom: that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Colossians 1:28. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.18
These things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.” 1 Timothy 6:2-5. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.19
The bishop should watch over the church as a good shepherd would watch over his sheep, to keep them from devouring wolves. Acts 20:29-32. To watch against false teachers and false doctrine. 1 Timothy 3:3, 7. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” This led the Apostle to lay down plain rules of qualification against self-sent teachers. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.20
1 Timothy 4:6, 11, 12. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.21
To feed the flock of God is to minister the word of life and administer the emblems of bread and wine in remembrance of the broken body and spilt blood of our Lord, until he come again the second time according to the example set by our Lord himself while on earth. John 13:4-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, in which is found the example of Christ’s administering, and his telling his ministering disciples to do the same; and also Paul’s saying, “that which I also delivered unto you,” etc. And the instances of the teachers’ breaking bread, show quite conclusively that this is part of the elder’s duty. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.22
6. HOW TO PREACH. - 1 Corinthians 2:4, 5. “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” Romans 1:19. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Romans 15:19. “Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 4:20. “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 1 Thessalonians 1:5. “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance: as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” 1 Thessalonians 2:11-13. “As ye know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 2 Corinthians 6:4-10. But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” Jude 17-20. “But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 70.23
That kind of preaching that has no Holy Ghost in it, is not true gospel preaching in the sight of God. All formal, cold words, without the Spirit of God, can do but little good. Let it be our constant prayer, O! Lord, give us thy Spirit, that we may not only preach the word but feel the power. Let the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.1
(To be Continued)
OBITUARY
FELL asleep in Jesus in Catlin, N. Y. May 24th, our beloved brother Marshall M. Truesdell, aged 27 years and 6 months. During his protracted sickness which was over two years, his sufferings were great; but in them all he manifested that meekness and patience that is seldom seen. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.2
He was converted when he was eleven years old, and in the Spring of 1848 embraced the doctrine of the speedy coming of the Lord. He was the first in Catlin who embraced the present truth of the Third Angel’s Message; and he remained firm in it till his death. His godly example will long be remembered by those with whom he has associated. We deeply feel the loss of our dear brother, yet we mourn not as those who have no hope; for as we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.3
J. A. LOUGHHEAD.
Elmira, June 14th, 1856.
Died at Waverly, Mich., June 13th, Sr. Dorothy Otis, aged 74 years. She had lived with her daughter, Sr. Lay, for more than 20 years previous to her death, and had been a great sufferer by neuralgia, most of the time. She had believed the present truth for some time, and died in hope. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.4
This is a heavy stroke to Sr. Lay, as she had spent 52 years in her mother’s society; but she sorrows not without hope. A discourse was preached on the occasion by the writer from the words, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:26. M. E. CORNELL. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.5
COMMUNICATIONS
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.”
From Bro. Hutchins
BRO. SMITH:- A few weeks since I commenced holding meetings in the town of Sheffield, where I tried twelve times to present the evidences from the Bible, that we are living in the perilous times of the last days, and that the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus must here be kept by the remnant of God’s people, in order to be prepared to meet the Son of man in peace when he cometh. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.6
From the commencement of the meetings to their close, the interest to hear was good. And it is my firm expectation that several of the candid friends there will soon “Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.” An anxiety still remains to hear, and it is desired by the friends in that vicinity, that the Tent should be pitched there. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.7
Last week I came to Franklin Co., and in company with Bro. Austin, visited Bro. A. C. Bourdeaux. I found him with some of his friends firm believers in the Bible Sabbath. And they are anxiously searching for the truth on every point, I think. Our short interview with Bro. B. was a choice one. His heart rejoiced to meet with those of like precious faith. I expect to meet with him this week on my way to the Tent meeting, and hold some meetings with him. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.8
On the 8th inst., I preached in the Advent Meeting House in South Troy. A goodly number came to hear. And while presenting the truths of the three Messages of Revelation 14, I felt that the truth made all those free who loved it. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.9
After closing my remarks a Methodist minister arose and said this keeping Saturday for a division among God’s children was all of the Devil, and that it could not be proved from the Bible nor history that the seventh day does not come on Sunday. He had read two of the greatest writers, talked with the presiding Elders, and other “smart” men, who believed the seventh day comes on Sunday. But he hoped this question would not be made a test of fellowship; for he should condemn no one who keeps Saturday. We asked him if he believed the seventh day should be kept, to which he replied, There is no definite proof for any day. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.10
After the meeting closed he said that a man that worked on First-day ought to be fined, and that he proved that the Sabbath was binding by the fourth commandment. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.11
Bro. and Sr. Sheffield are strong in the Sabbath truth in this place, and others are favorable. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.12
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Berkshire, Vt., June 10th, 1856.
From Bro. Edson
BRO. SMITH:- Many are the cares, anxieties, and trials of the remnant in this time of their patient waiting for Christ. The record is emphatically true that “Here is the patience of the saints.” It is through much tribulation that we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is tribulation that worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, etc. It is the fiery trial that serves to purify unto the Lord a peculiar people zealous of good works. Especially do those who are connected with and have charge of the publishing department have their share of cares, anxieties and trials to encounter. This should be borne in mind by the scattered remnant, whose duty it is to stay up their hands and often pray the fervent effectual prayer that strength and grace may be given to sustain them, and wisdom from above and judgment to guide them in the faithful discharge of the important duties and responsibilities which devolve upon them. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.13
The work of the Enemy is to alienate the feelings and divide and scatter the flock and throw the Lord’s host into confusion, that they may fall an easy prey to his cruel power and be consumed. May the Lord in his mercy thwart his plans, and strongly unite the hearts of his waiting remnant, and give them to see that the spirit that would alienate their feelings and lead them to complain one against another, is from the accuser of the brethren, the destroyer of souls. United we stand, divided we fall. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.14
May the Lord help his people to be strongly united, and help us to put away the pride of our hearts, and get where he would have us to be, in self abasement that his name alone may be exalted: then may the light of his reconciled countenance shine more clearly upon us. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.15
HIRAM EDSON.
Martville, N. Y., June 15th, 1856.
From Bro. Wilson
BRO. SMITH:- I am greatly encouraged in reading the Review and the letters from the brethren and sisters scattered abroad. It strengthens me and encourages me to go on and press forward; for I know if we prove faithful to the end, we shall receive our reward. I feel to praise God that there is a goodly number of us trying to keep his commandments. We hold our meetings on the Sabbath, and we hold a prayer-meeting on the beginning of the fourth day, and we feel that it is good to wait upon the Lord, for by so doing we feel that we are blest; and my prayer to God is, that we with all the dear brethren and sisters may by the grace of God be kept faithful, walking in all the ways of truth and holiness; for by so doing we shall enjoy eternal life. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.16
If it is God’s will I trust he will send some one of his ministering servants this way, as there are some that feel it their duty to be baptized. JOHN WILSON. Bowne, Mich. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.17
From Sister Abbey
BRO. SMITH:- I have long been thinking of writing a few words, to let the scattered flock know that we are still trying in this, place, to live, and keep the armor on, though some portions of it are not as bright as would be well pleasing to our heavenly Father; especially our shield. Nevertheless we are, through the abundant mercy of our God, enabled to rejoice in his excellent name. Last Sabbath, week, we felt to take new courage, and covenant anew to overcome all our besetting sins, and the darkness that surrounds us, that we may be able to stand in the great day of the Lord, which is so near upon us. Signs that the great and terrible day of the Lord is near, are fast thickening around us. O how important to be in readiness for that day. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.18
I do rejoice that my eyes have been opened to see the light that is now shining on our pathway, which leads to the celestial city; and also that my ears have been opened to hear the glad sound of “this gospel of the kingdom,” which is soon to be set up, upon the new earth. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.19
We are not without our trials; but these “light afflictions which are but for a moment, shall work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” which will be revealed in us at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; when “he 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.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.20
O! how dreadful will be that day to those who are not in readiness, with what anguish of soul will they meet the eyes of their Judge. Our prayer is, Lord, drive stupidity from us, help us to arise and put on strength, and “gird up the loins of our mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Our prayer for Zion is, that she may arise and put on her beautiful garments, “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.21
We must have our lives tell that we believe what we profess to; words are of but little amount, compared to our example. O brethren and sisters, let us set right examples, not let it be said of us, “They say and do not.” And now may the exhortation of Paul be heeded in the whole house of Israel, “See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men; rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.22
“Quench not the Spirit; despise not prophesyings; prove all things; hold fast that which is good; abstain from all appearance of evil; and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.23
Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.24
Yours hoping for a treasure in the New Earth. LUCRETIA B. ABBEY. North Brookfield, June 8th, 1856. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.25
P. S. I would not be forgetful to express my gratitude to my heavenly Father, and also to my friends for the receipt of the Review, which brings glad tidings, which cheers us on our pilgrimage journey through this dark wilderness. My prayer is for those who write, that they may still be enabled to bring treasures new and old out of the store-house of our God. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.26
L. B. A.
From Bro. Bates
BRO. SMITH:- The second day after leaving Battle Creek, Mich., I arrived in Mill Grove, N. Y. Our meetings on the Sabbath and First-day, May 31st, and June 1st, were interesting, and we trust productive of some good. The brethren are manifestly desiring a spirit of devotedness, and strong desire to be ready for their coming Lord. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.27
June 3rd we spent with the church in Troy, N. Y. They are holding on, and manifest a strong desire to be in union with commandment-keepers in the Third Angel’s Message. They invite the brethren to call on them as they pass. Inquire for them at the nail factory, ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.28
From Troy and Albany we took steam-boat down the Hudson river to N. Y. city. The church here is small, but strong in the present truth, striving for the kingdom. Brethren passing through the city are invited to call at 276, Pearl street, at the residence of Bro. C. Andrews. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 71.29
June 6th, came safely to my family. Praise the Lord for his abundant mercy, and preserving care for us while separated since last Autumn. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.1
Sabbath, 7th inst., met with the church in Dartmouth, it being their monthly season to break bread. What a blessed privilege for the church militant! “For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord’s death till he come.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.2
The churches in Fairhaven and Dartmouth I find are steadfast in all the truth for the remnant. This we all need, and with it a full and cheerful sacrifice of what we have, and an entire consecration of ourselves to God that we may be ready for the coming crisis. JOSEPH BATES. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.3
Fairhaven, Mass., June 12th, 1856. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.4
Bro. E. Everts writes from Round Grove, Ill.:- “The way for the truth appears favorably opened. Calls to hear are raised and houses offered, and we have quite large and very attentive congregations. A deep feeling pervades, and quite a general acknowledgement of the Sabbath and kindred present truth. I would say, the congregations are willing to take the responsibility of appointing succeeding meetings when it is left to them to say whether they will have more meetings or allow us to attend to other ‘Macedonian cries?’” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.5
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. JUNE 26, 1856.
THE article on our first page will be read with interest at this time. Satan is well pleased in these last days when he designs especially to work with all power, to publish the story of his own non-existence. We consider it the more important to show up its absurdity now, as some have lent themselves to believe and circulate his fable, of whom we had hoped better things. The position that there is no personal Devil becomes a prolific fountain of deception and error. The word of God itself may finally by it be resolved into an absurdity, and the world into a great farce. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.6
Don’t be too Positive
WE don’t wish to be. But are you sure we are too positive? Are you sure that the positiveness is in us, and that the charge belongs to us? Have you ever heard us lay down as positive truth any assertions or mere opinions of our own? Then how do you charge us with being too positive? We dare not be less positive than the word of God; we dare not throw doubt over points which that declares certain. When that word expressly says that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, we cannot satisfy our consciences by saying that we guess it is, or we think it is, or it may be; for we know it’s so, if the book lies not. Then the positiveness is not in us: it is in the Bible. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.7
And when we affirm without qualification that there is a time of trouble coming such as never was, that the great day of the Lord is near, that the King will soon descend from heaven to the joy of his saints, and to the terror and dismay of all his enemies, it must not be mistaken that these are assertions of our own, that we make them on our own authority, as though they were events of our own imagining. But we find them in the Word, and like faithful watchmen we must preach that word faithfully. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.8
Tell us which is the greater evil, if these things be so, to be too positive, or not positive enough? Which is safest, if the end of all things is at hand, to get ready a year before it comes, or be an hour too late? We see no danger of being too positive on Bible truth; and we trust that on any point where the word of God will bear us out, we shall be permitted to be as positive as that word itself. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.9
From the Rochester Daily Democrat we clip the following: ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.10
“A Synod of Rabbins will shortly be held in Paris to discuss the propriety of transferring the observance of the Jewish Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.11
We may soon be the only people who observe the original and true Sabbath. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.12
IN a late number of the “New Orleans Creole is found the following: ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.13
“Fun enough to-day, (Sunday.) A crack race comes off at Metaric Course - betting will be high. All the theatres have splendid bills of attraction. A man must be hard to please, if, with our churches and amusements he cannot pass the day agreeably.” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.14
SABBATH-BREAKING LEAGUE. - Encouraged by some support from government, “The National Sunday League” hitherto weak in numbers and in friends, is now growing and expanding. It has received many subscriptions within the last fortnight, and now announces a weekly journal, entitled The National Sunday League Record, to be devoted to the work of writing down the Sabbath. Every thing shows that the struggle will be long and arduous. We trust that Christians will not feel less interest, or use less exertion in this matter than those who are bent on taking from us the quiet English Sabbath-day. London Record. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.15
Tent Meeting
PROVIDENCE permitting there will be a Tent Meeting in Moscow, Hillsdale Co., Mich., commencing on Sabbath, June 28th, and holding over First-day, or as long as may appear to be duty. Meetings on Sabbath and First-day at 10 o’clock A. M., and at 12 1-2 and 6 P. M. J. H. WAGGONER. M. E. CORNELL. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.16
Appointment
PROVIDENCE permitting, Bro. and Sr. White will hold meetings with the Brethren in Hastings, Sabbath and First-day, June 28th and 29th. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.17
Business
J. A. Wilcox:- The paper is sent regularly to the address you name. If she or you will inform us what numbers are missing, we shall be happy to send them again. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.18
Chas. O. Taylor:- Sr. Fairbanks’ name is correctly entered in our N. Y. Book and we presume therefore duly mailed to her address. The paper sent to J. Bendon was some time since returned; and as we can exercise no discretion in such cases, we supposed it was not wanted. How is this? Shall we send again? Canada money goes readily here. Your present remittance pays to the middle of Vol. IX. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.19
H. S. Gurney:- R. Coggshall has paid to the commencement of the present volume. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.20
Receipts for Book Fund
L. Wilcox, M. Philips, Danl. Eaton, J. V. Hull, each $5. Wm. Harris, E. Cobb, R. Lockwood, H. S. Gurney, J. Demerest, each $2. A. Lee $1. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.21
Receipts and Pledges for Relief of Office
Of the following sums those that have been paid are so marked. The rest are pledges to be paid before the first of September next. We hope $200 will immediately be added, which will cover the liabilities of the Office ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.22
| J. Byington (pd, $5) | $25,00 |
| J. Dorcas (“9,75) | 20,75 |
| D. R. Palmer | 15,00 |
| J. Hart | 10,00 |
| D. W. Williams | 5,00 |
| J. Bates (pd,) | 5,00 |
| A. Hart | 7,00 |
| E. Green (pd.) | 5,00 |
| Z. Brooks | 5,00 |
| G. Lowree (pd.$2,50) | 5,00 |
| J. P. Hunt | 5,00 |
| J. F. Byington | 5,00 |
| C. Smith (from the purse of his late son, Wm. M.) (pd.) | 5,00 |
| M. Lockwood (pd.) | 1,00 |
| C. Hurlbut “ | 1,00 |
| Sr. Palmer “ | 1,00 |
| S. Dunklee | 2,00 |
| J. Cornell | $10,00 |
| J. P. Kellogg | 10,00 |
| I. D. Perry | 10,00 |
| M. Phillips (pd. $5) | 10,00 |
| J. R. Lewis | 5,00 |
| S. W. Rhodes (pd.) | 10,00 |
| E. Goodwin | 10,00 |
| W. Holden | 5,00 |
| D. H. Simonds | 3,00 |
| Wm. Hough (pd) | 0,25 |
| M. G. Kellogg | 3,00 |
| L. Russell | 5,00 |
| J. B. Frisbie | 5,00 |
| A friend | 10,00 |
| B. Hall | 5,00 |
| R. Lockwood | 5,00 |
| A. P. H. Kelsey (pd) | 5,00 |
| J. F. Eastman “ | 0,64 |
Receipts
S. Putnam, L. Carpenter, Danl. R. Wood, J. F. Case, S. A. Proctor, M. Courter, S. Dunklee, H. Edson, each $1. C. O. Taylor $2. Geo. Holden, $0,25. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.23
REVIEW FOR THE POOR. - S. W. Rhodes $1. H. Edson $2. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.24
Books for Sale at this Office. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.25
RATES OF POSTAGE
“Books bound or unbound, not weighing over four pounds, for any distance under 3000 miles, when pre-paid, one cent an ounce. When not pre-paid, 3 1/2 cents an ounce” ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.26
HYMNS for those who keep the Commandments of God and he Faith of Jesus. This is the title of our new Hymn Book prepared for the use of the Church of God scattered abroad. It is designed to promote not only public worship, but also social and family devotions. It is a selection of Hymns of poetic merit, expressing the faith and hope of the Church as set forth in the Scriptures of truth, free from the popular errors of the age. The Book contains 352 Pages, 430 Hymns, and 76 pieces of Music. Nearly every Hymn can be sung in some one of the pieces of Music, which will promote uniformity and correctness in singing among the Churches - Price, 62 1/2 cents - In Morocco, 70 cents. - Weight 7 & 8 ounces. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.27
Bible Tracts Bound in Two Volumes. These Volumes are of about 400 pages each, and embrace nearly all of our published Tracts. We are happy to offer to our friends the main grounds of our faith in a style so acceptable. - Price, 50 cents each. - Wt. 9 oz. each. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.28
Sabbath Tracts, Nos. 1,2,3 & 4. This work presents a condensed view of the entire Sabbath question. - 184 pages. Price 15 cents - Wt. 4 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.29
The Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days, by “J. N. A.” This work presents a clear exposition of Daniel 8 and 9, points out distinctly the commencement and termination of the 2300 days, shows what the Sanctuary is, and the nature of its cleansing, and explains the disappointment of the Advent people in regard to time, and the true position of those who are now waiting for their Lord. - Price 12 1/2 cents. Wt. 3 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.30
The Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12, particularly the Third Angel’s Message, and the Two-horned Beast. This work maintains the fulfillment of Prophecy in the past Advent movement, and is of great importance in these times of apostasy and peril. - 148 pages. - Price 12 1/2 cents. - Wt. 2 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.31
Review of Crozier. This work is a faithful review of the No-Sabbath doctrine as set forth in the Advent Harbinger by O. R. L. Crozier. It should be placed in the hands of those who are exposed to that heresy. - Price 6 cents. - Wt. 2 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.32
The Bible Class. This work contains 52 Lessons on the Law of God and the Faith of Jesus, with questions. It is peculiarly adapted to the wants of those of every age who are unacquainted with our views of these subjects, especially the young. - Bound 25 cents. - Wt. 4 oz. - Paper covers, 18 3/4 cents. - Wt. 3 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.33
The Four Universal Monarchies of the Prophecy of Daniel, and the Kingdom of God, to which is added a condensed view of the 2300 days and the Sanctuary. - Price 8 cents. - Wt. 2 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.34
The Sabbath, Containing valuable articles on 2 Corinthians 3; Colossians 2:14-17. Who is our Lawgiver? The two tills of Matthew 5:18, Consistency, etc. - Price 5 cents - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.35
The Law of God. In this excellent work the testimony of both Testaments relative to the law of God - its knowledge from Creation, its nature and perpetuity - is presented. - Price 12 1/2 cents - Wt. 2 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.36
The Atonement. This work opens a wide field of Bible truth, and will be found a valuable assistant in the study of the great theme on which it treats. - 196 pp. - 18 cents - Wt. 4 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.37
Man not Immortal: the only Shield against the Seductions of Modern Spiritualism. Without the great truth that man is not immortal, and that the dead know not anything, none are prepared to stand against wicked spirits in high places. We commend this work on the Immortality question, as an able discussion of the subject. - 148 pp. - 12 1/2 cents. - Wt. 3 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.38
An Examination of the Scripture Testimony concerning Man’s present condition and his future Reward or Punishment. By this work is shown in a clear and connected manner the unconscious state of the dead, and the final destiny of the wicked. By many it has been objected to works which have been published on this subject that objections have not been thoroughly answered. In this work we consider all objections to the mortality of man and the death of the wicked fairly and fully met. - Price 18 cents - Wt. 4 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.39
Why Don’t you Keep the Sabbath? Extracts from Catholic works. - Price 5 cents. - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.40
Signs of the Times. This work presents the historical facts concerning the signs in the Sun, Moon and Stars, points out other signs of the soon coming of Christ, and contains an exposure of Spirit Manifestations. - Price 12 1/2 cents. - Wt. 2 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.41
Last Work of the True Church. - Price 7 cents. - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.42
Perpetuity of the Royal Law. - Price 5 cents. - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.43
History of the Sabbath. - Price 5 cents. - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.44
The 2300 Days and Sanctuary by “U. S.” - Price 6 cents. - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.45
The Celestial Railroad. - Price 5 cents. - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.46
Christian Experience and Views. - Price 6 cents. - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.47
Supplement to Experience and Views. - Price 6 cents. - Wt. 1 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.48
Review, Vols. 2,3,4,5 & 6, bound in one book. - Price $3,00. Vols. 3 & 4 bound in one book, and 5 & 6 in one book, $1,50 each. - In paper covers 35 cents a Vol. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.49
Youth’s Instructor. - Vols. 1 & 2. - Price 25 cents a Vol. in paper covers. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.50
POEMS
Home Here and Home in Heaven, with other poems. This work embraces all those sweet and Scriptural poems written by Annie R. Smith, from the time she embraced the third message till she fell asleep in Jesus. - Price 25 cents. - Wt. 4 oz. - In paper covers, 20 cents. - Wt. 2 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.51
Time and Prophecy. This work is a poetic comparison of the events of time with the sure word of Prophecy. - Price 25 cents. - Wt. 4 oz. - In paper covers, 15 cents. - Wt. 3 oz. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.52
A Word for the Sabbath. This work is an exposure of the false theories in regard to the Sabbath. - Price 5 cents. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.53
Liberal discount on these works where $5 worth is taken. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.54
Address URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH June 26, 1856, page 72.55