Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 26
September 26, 1865
RH, Vol. XXVI. Battle Creek, Mich., Third-Day, No. 17
James White
ADVENT REVIEW,
And Sabbath Herald.
VOL. XXVI. BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1865. No. 17.
“Here is the Patience of the Saints; Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.”
The Advent Review & Sabbath Herald
is published weekly, by
The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association.
ELD. JAMES WHITE, PRESIDENT
TERMS.—Two Dollars a year in advance. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.1
Address Elder JAMES WHITE, Battle Creek, Michigan. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.2
No Cross, No Crown
The cup my Lord has given,
Shall I refuse to take?
The Lord of earth and Heaven
Hath drank it for my sake.
He took the bitter chalice,
And drank its contents up,
Though dregs of hate and malice,
Were mingled with the cup.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.3
The cross for me appointed,
Shall I refuse to bear?
Or, with the Lord’s Anointed,
The heavy burden share?
‘T will prove a golden fetter,
If welcomed with a kiss;—
I could not choose a better,
If I should shrink from this.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.4
The pathway rough and dreary,
Through which my Saviour led,
Because my feet get weary,
Shall I refuse to tread?
Through thorns and brains tangled,
Through sin and Satan’s thrall,
Crushed, bleeding, bruised, and mangled,
He meekly bore it all.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.5
Ah, no: with resignation
I’ll take life’s burden up;
Accept the degradation,
The cross, the bitter cup.
I would not aught diminish,
From cross, or scoff, or frown;
Then when my race I finish,
I’ll have reserved a crown.
C. M. Willis.
Charlotte, Mich.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.6
“Where Art Thou?”
The following article is abridged and altered from a little volume called, Startling Questions, by J. C. Ryle, B. A., a Second Adventist, we believe, of England. This selection is appropriate to saint and sinner, and we present it to the reader in earnest hope that it may startle the dreamy reveries of the lukewarm, and lead those who are out of the ark of safety to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, before it is everlastingly too late. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.7
Reader,—the question before your eyes is the first which God asked of man after the fall. It is the question he put to Adam in the day that he ate the forbidden fruit, and became a sinner. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.8
In vain did Adam and his wife hide themselves among the trees of the garden of Eden. In vain did they try to escape the eye of the all-seeing God. They heard the voice of the Lord God, walking in the cool of the day. “And the Lord God called unto Adam, and Said unto him, Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9.) Think, for a moment, how awful those words must have sounded! Think what the feelings of Adam and Eve must have been! ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.9
Reader, 6000 years have well-nigh passed away, since this question was first asked. Millions of Adam’s children have lived and died, and gone to their own place. Millions are yet upon earth, and every one of them has a Heaven to gain or lose. But no question ever has been, or ever can be asked more solemn than that which is before you:—Where art thou? Where art thou in the sight of thy God? Come, now, and give me your attention, while I tell you a few things which may throw light upon this question. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.10
I know not who you are,—whether you are a Church-man or a Dissenter;—whether you are learned or unlearned;—whether you are rich or poor;—whether you are old or young: about all this I know nothing. But I do know that you have eternal interests at stake. I do know that you have got to stand before the judgment seat of God, and I want you to be prepared for it. I do know that you will be lost or saved, and I want you to escape hell, and reach Heaven. I do know that the Bible contains most solemn things about the inhabitants of the earth, and I want every man, woman, and child, in the world to hear them. I believe every word in the Bible; and because I believe it, I ask every reader of this paper, “Where art thou in the sight of God?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.11
I. In the first place, there are many people, about whom the Bible shows me I ought to be exceedingly afraid, Reader, art thou one of them? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.12
There are those, who, if Bible words mean anything, have not yet been converted and born again. They are not justified. They are not sanctified. They have not the Spirit. They have no faith. They have no grace. Their sins are not forgiven. Their hearts are not changed. They are not ready to die. They are not meet for Heaven. They are neither godly, nor righteous, nor saints. If they are, Bible words mean nothing at all. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.13
Some of these persons, to all appearance, think no more about the future life than the beasts that perish. There is nothing to show that they think of the life to come any more than the horse and ox, which have no understanding. Their treasure is evidently all on earth. Then good things are plainly all on this side of the grave. Their attention is swallowed up by the perishable things of time. Meat, drink, and clothing,—money, houses, and land,—business, pleasure, or politics,—marrying, reading or company;—these are the kind of things which fill their hearts. They live as if there were no such book as the Bible. They go on as if resurrection and eternal judgment were not true, but a lie. As to grace, and conversion, and justification, and holiness,—they are things which, like Gallio, they care not for;—they are words and names they are either ignorant of, or despise. They are all going to die. They are all going to be judged. And yet they seem to be even more hardened than the Devil, for they appear neither to believe nor tremble. Alas! what a state this is for a candidate of eternity to be in! But oh, how common! ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.14
Some of the persons I speak of have got a form of religion, but after all, it is nothing but a form. They profess, and call themselves, Christians. They go to a place of worship on the Sabbath. But when you have said that, you have said all. Where is the religion of the New Testament to be seen in their lives? No-where at all! Sin is plainly not considered their worst enemy, nor the Lord Jesus their best friend, nor the will of God their rule of life, nor salvation the great end of their existence. The spirit of slumber keeps possession of their hearts, and they are at ease, self-satisfied, and content. They are in a Laodicean frame of mind, and fancy they have enough religion. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.15
God speaks to them continually, by mercies, by afflictions, by Sabbaths, by sermons; but they will not hear. Jesus knocks at the door of their hearts, but they will not open. They are told of death and eternity, and remain unconcerned. They are warned against the love of the world, and plunge into it week after week without shame. They hear of Christ coming upon earth to die for sinners, and go away unmoved. There seems a place in their hearts for everything but God;—room for business,—room for pleasures,—room for trifling,—room for sin,—room for the Devil,—room for the world; but, like the inn at Bethlehem, no room for Him who made them,—no admission for Jesus, the Spirit, and the Word. Alas! what a condition of things this is! But alas! how common! ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.16
Reader, I put it solemnly to your conscience, as in the sight of God, are you one of those persons whom I have just described? There are thousands of such people in our land,—thousands in Great Britain,—thousands in Ireland,—thousands in country parishes,—thousands in our towns,—thousands among Church-men,—thousands among Dissenters,—thousands among rich,—thousands among poor. Now, are you one of them? If you are, I fear for you,—I tremble for you,—I am alarmed for you,—I am exceedingly afraid. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.17
What is it that I fear for you? I fear everything. I fear lest you should persist in rejecting Christ, till you have sinned away your own soul. I fear lest you be given over to a reprobate mind, and awake no more. I fear lest you come to such deadness and hardness of heart, that nothing but the voice of the archangel and the trump of God will break your sleep. I fear lest you cling to this vain world so closely, that nothing but death will part it and you. I fear lest you should live without Christ, die without pardon, rise again with hope, receive judgment without mercy, and sink into hell without remedy. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.18
Reader, I must warn you, though I may seem, like Lot, as one that mocks. I do solemnly warn you to flee from the wrath to come. I entreat you to remember that the Bible is all true, and must be fulfilled,—that the end of your present ways is misery and sorrow,—that without holiness no man shall see the Lord,—that the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God,—that God shall one day take account of all your doings, and that Christ less sinners like yourself can never stand in his sight, for he is holy, and a consuming fire. Oh, that you would consider these things. Where is the man that can hold his finger for one minute in the flame of a candle? Who then can endure the flames of God’s wrath? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.19
I know well the thoughts that Satan will put into your heart, as you read these words. I know well the excuses that you are going to make. You will tell me, “religion is all very well, but a man must live.” I answer, “it is quite true that man must live, but it is none the less true that he must also die.” You may tell me, “a man cannot starve.” I answer that “I do not want any one to starve, but neither also do I want any one to burn in hell.” You may tell me, “a man must mind his business first in this world.” I answer, “Yes! and the first business a man should mind, is his eternal business,—the business of his soul.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 129.20
Reader, I beseech you in all affection to break off your sins,—to repent and be converted. I beseech you to change your course,—to alter your ways about religion,—to turn from your present carelessness about your soul, and become a new man. I offer to you through Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of all past sins,—free and complete forgiveness,—ready, present, everlasting forgiveness I tell you in my Master’s name, that if you will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, this forgiveness shall at once be your own. Oh, do not refuse so gracious an invitation. Do not hear of Christ dying for you,—Christ shedding his own blood for you,—Christ stretching out his hands to you, and yet remain unmoved. Do not love this poor perishing world better than eternal life. Dare to be bold and decided. Resolve to come out from the broad way which leads to destruction. Arise and escape for your life, while it is called to-day. Repent, believe, pray, and be saved. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.1
Reader, I fear for you in your present state. My heart’s desire and prayer is, that God may make you fear for yourself. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.2
II. In the second place, there are many people about whom the Bible shows me I ought to stand in doubt. Reader, art thou one of these? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.3
There are many whom I must call almost Christians, for I know no other expression in the Bible which so exactly describes their state. They have many things about them which are right, and good, and praise worthy in the sight of God. They are regular and moral in their lives. They are free from glaring, out ward sins. They keep up many decent and proper habits. They are usually diligent in their attendance on means of grace. They appear to love the preaching of the gospel. They are not offended at the truth as it is in Jesus, however plainly it may be spoken. They have no objection to religious company, religious books, and religious talk. They agree to all you say when you speak to them about their soul. And all this is well. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.4
But still there is no movement in the hearts of these people, that even a microscope can detect. They are like those who stand still. Weeks after weeks, years after years, roll over their heads, and they are just where they were. They sit under our pulpits. They approve of our sermons. And yet, like Pharaoh’s lean kine, they are nothing the better apparently for all they receive. There is always the same regularity about them,—the same constant attendance on means of grace,—the same wishing and hoping,—the same way of talking about religion; but there is nothing more. There is no going forward in their Christianity. There is no life, and heat, and reality in it. Their souls seem to be at a dead lock. And all this is sadly wrong. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.5
Reader, are you one of these people? There are thousands of them in this day,—thousands in our churches, and thousands in our chapels. I ask you to give an honest answer to the question: Is this the state of your soul in the sight of God? If it is, I can only say your condition is most unsatisfactory. As the apostle said to the Galatians, so I say to you, “I stand in doubt of you.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.6
How can I feel otherwise about you? There are but two sides in the world,—the side of Christ, and the side of the Devil; and yet you make it doubtful on which side you ought to be placed. I dare not say you are altogether careless about religion, but I cannot call you decided. I shrink from numbering you among the ungodly, but I may not place you among the Lord’s children. You have some light; but is it saving knowledge? You have some feeling; but is it grace? You are not profane; but are you a man of God? You may possibly be one of the Lord’s people; but you dwell so near the borders, that I cannot discern to what nation you belong. You may not perhaps be spiritually dead; but, like a sickly tree in winter, I hardly know whether you are alive. And thus you live on without satisfactory evidences. I cannot help doubting about you. Surely there is a cause. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.7
I cannot read the secrets of your hearts. Perhaps there is some pet bosom sin, which you are holding fast, and will not give up. This is a disease which checks the growth of many a professing Christian. Perhaps you are kept back by the fear of man: you are afraid of the blame or laughter of your fellow creatures. This is an iron chain that fetters many a soul. Perhaps you are careless about private prayer and communion with God. This is one reason why multitudes are weak and sickly in spirit. But whatever your reason be, I warn you in all affection to take care what you are doing. Your state is neither satisfactory nor safe. Like the Gibeonites. you are found in the train of Israel, but like them you have no title to Israel’s portion, Israel’s consolations, and Israel’s rewards. Oh! awake to a sense of your danger! Strive to enter in. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.8
III. In the third place, there are some people about whom the Bible tells me I ought to feel a good hope. Reader, art thou one of these? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.9
The people I speak of have found out that they are guilty sinners, and have fled to Christ by faith for salvation. They have found out that sin is a miserable and unhappy thing, and they hate it, and long to be free from its presence altogether. In themselves they see nothing but weakness and corruption, but in the Lord Jesus they see the very things their souls require;—pardon, peace, light, comfort, and strength. Christ’s blood, Christ’s cross, Christ’s righteousness, Christ’s intercession,—these are the things on which their minds love to dwell. Then affections are now set on things above. They care for nothing so much as pleasing God. While they live, their chief desire is to live for the Lord. When they die, their only desire is to die in the Lord. After the judgment, their hope is that they shall be with the Lord. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.10
Reader, is this the state of your heart? Do you know anything of the faith and hope, and affections and experience, which I have just described? Do you find anything in your heart which answers to the account I have just given?—If you do, I thank God for it,—I congratulate on in your condition,—I feel a good hope about your spiritual state. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.11
I know well that you live in a world full of trials. You are yet in the wilderness; you are not at home I know well that pride, and unbelief and sloth, are continually struggling for the mastery within you. You have fightings without and fears within. I doubt not your heart is so treacherous and deceitful that you are often sick of yourself and say, “Never was heart like mine.” But notwithstanding all this, I will hope in your case. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.12
I hope, because I believe that God has begun a work in you which he will never allow to be overthrown. Who taught you to hate sin and love Christ? Who made you come out from the world and delight in God’s service? These things do not come from your own heart. Nature bears no such fruit. These things are the work of God, who, where he begins, always finishes; who, where he gives grace, will also give glory. Surely, here is ground for hope. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.13
I hope, because I believe you have an interest in an everlasting covenant, a covenant ordered in all things and sure. The stamp of Heaven is upon you. The marks of the Lord Jesus are on your heart Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, have all engaged to carry out your salvation. There is a threefold cord around you, which never yet was broken. Surely, here is ground for hope. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.14
I hope, because you have a Saviour, whose blood can cleanse from all sin,—a Saviour who invites all, and casts out none that come to him,—a Saviour who will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax,—a Saviour who can be touched with the feeling of your infirmities, and is not ashamed to call you brethren,—a Saviour who never alters, but is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, always able to save to the uttermost, always mighty to save. Surely, here is ground for hope. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.15
I hope, because the love of Christ is a love that passeth knowledge. So free and undeserved! So costly, even unto death! So powerful and all-conquering! So unchanging and enduring! So patient and forbearing! So tender and sympathizing! Truly, our sins pass knowledge, and this is the very love our souls need. Surely, here is ground for hope. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.16
I hope, because God has given to you exceeding great and precious promises,—promises of being kept unto the end,—promises of grace for every time of need, and strength according to your day,—promises that never yet were broken, all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Surely, here is ground for hope. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.17
Oh! reader, if you are a believer, these things are a strong foundation. If God be for you, who shall be against you? There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Nothing shall ever separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.18
Come now, and let me tell you what I want you and every true Christian to aim at. I want you to seek more hope. I want you not to rest satisfied with that little mite of confidence which forms the whole stock of many of God’s children. I want you to seek the full assurance of hope,—that lively hope which makes a man never ashamed. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.19
If we want to grow in grace, and have more hope, we must seek more holiness in life and conversation. This is a humbling lesson to dwell upon, but one that cannot be dwelt upon too much. There is an inseparable connection between a close walk with God and comfort in our religion. Let this never be forgotten. Truly the vessels in the Lord’s house are many of them very dull and dingy. When I look around, I see many things missing amongst us which Jesus loves. I miss the meekness and gentleness of our Master: many of us are harsh, rough-tempered, and censorious, and we flatter ourselves that we are faithful. I miss real boldness in confessing Christ before men: we often think much more of the time to be silent than the time to speak. I miss real humility: not many of us like to take the lowest place, and esteem every one better than ourselves, and our own strength perfect weakness. I miss real charity: few of us have that unselfish spirit which seeketh not its own: there are few who are not more taken up with their own feelings and their own happiness than that of others. I miss real thankfulness of spirit: we complain, and murmur, and fret, and brood over the things we have not, and forget the things we have. We are seldom content; there is generally a Mordecar at our gate. I miss decided separation from the world: the line of distinction is often rubbed out. Many of us, like the chameleon, are often taking the color of our company; we become so like the ungodly, that it strains a man’s eyes to see the difference. Reader, these things ought not so to be. If we want more hope, let us be more zealous of good works. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.20
If we would grow in grace, and have a more lively hope, we must seek more preparedness for Christ’s second coming. I know no doctrine more sanctifying and quickening than the doctrine of Christ’s second advent. I know none more calculated to draw us from the world, and make us single-eyed, whole hearted, and joyful Christians. But alas! how, new believers live like men who wait for then Matter’s return! Who that narrowly observes the ways of many believers would ever think that they loved and longed for then Lord’s appearing? Is it not true that there are many hearts among God’s children which are not quite ready to receive Jesus? He would find the window barred,—the door shut,—the fires almost out;—it would be a cold and comfortless reception. Oh! believing reader, it ought not so to be. We want more of a pilgrim’s spirit:—we ought to be ever looking for, and hasting to our home. The day of the Lord’s advent is the day of rest, the day of complete redemption, the day when the family of God shall at last be all gathered together. It is the day when we shall no longer walk by faith, but by sight:—we shall see the land that is far off,—we shall behold the King in his beauty. Surely, we ought to be saying daily, “Come, Lord Jesus, let thy kingdom come.” Oh, let us set Christ’s advent continually before our eyes. Let us say to ourselves every morning, “The Lord will soon return,” and it will be good for our souls. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.21
We live in strange times. The world seems getting old and shaking. The shadows are long drawn. The evening appears to be coming on. The night will soon be upon us, when, no man can work. Oh, that every reader of this tract would turn in upon himself while it is called to-day, and consider his own ways. Oh, that each would ask himself the question, Where am I? What am I? Where am I going? What will be the end of my present course? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 130.22
Time is fast ebbing away. Life is a vast uncertainty. Death is drawing nearer and nearer. Judgment is sure to come. Reader, where art thou? Where art thou in the sight of God?—J. C. Ryle. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.1
Unconsciousness in Death
“And he stretched himself upon the child three time, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord, my God, pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again! And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.” 1 Kings 17:22, 23. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.2
Here, it is contended, it is clear that the soul is something distinct from the body, was out of the body, and came in again. Suppose we were to admit all that; that would not prove the soul conscious out of the body; and there is nothing in the text or context to show that it was. The 17th verse shows what was out of the body. “His sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.” The same word translated soul is also translated breath—life. It was the child’s breath that was out of him, and when it came into him again “he revived.” In 1 Samuel 30:11, 12, we have a case where a man was found in a state of exhaustion, after having been fed, it is said “his spirit came again to him.” What are we to understand by such an expression? The same as, he revived. So the child’s soul came into him again—his life, his breath—came into him, and he revived. Nothing then, can be made of this case to sustain the conscious state of the dead. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.3
If the doctrine of an immediate entrance into a conscious delight at death, is taught in the Old Testament, why did men of God deprecate death? Let us note two or three examples. See the case of Hezekiah, Isaiah 38:1-5. “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, came unto him and said, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, and said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight; and Hezekiah wept sore. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold I will add unto thy days fifteen years.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.4
What does Hezekiah weep and pray for? Is he distressed at the prospect of so soon “going to Heaven?” or, “to paradise?” Strange, truly, that he should be! Afraid of glory! But, perhaps he is afraid of going to the bad place. No, that cannot be; for, he pleads the fact that he had “walked before” God “in truth and with a perfect heart, and” of having “done that which is good in the sight” of God, as a reason for hiving his life prolonged. Strange procedure, truly, if he had arrived so near to Heaven, and was assured he was now to go immediately to the company of angels and glorified spirits, that he should weep, mourn and beg to stay longer in this wicked world! But, “fifteen years were added to his life, surely that was some gain,” says the immortal-soul theorist. If he gained fifteen years on earth, he lost fifteen out of Heaven! The immortal-soulist must think time on earth is better than time in Heaven; or that earth is more desirable than Heaven. But on the common theory, nothing was added to Hezekiah’s life; nor, was it possible to add anything. All that was done was simply to transfer fifteen years from Heaven to earth. A poor gain did he get for his prayers and tears. Such a gain as a man would get for changing a palace for a prison—or, health for sickness—or, peace and comfort for trouble and sorrow. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.5
If he was actually to remain unconscious in death, then there is some meaning in saying fifteen years are added to thy life. The word of God that communicated the mournful message to Hezekiah of his death, was not equivocal; it was explicit; “Thou shalt die.” Is that all? No. What else? “And not live.” But modern theology says, “he would have lived in a higher and much better state!” Indeed! and he “wept sore” because he had heard such bad news! ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.6
After Hezekiah recovered, he praises God for his mercy. Mercy for what! If the common theorists are right, the mercy of being kept out of Heaven fifteen years! Such theorists, one would suppose, think it a great hardship to go to Heaven. Hezekiah, however, understood the matter in another light. He says: “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; for thou hast in love to my soul [done what? kept it out of Heaven! No, but] delivered it from the pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind my back. For the grave cannot praise thee; and death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee as I do this day.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.7
David is another example of the same kind. He says, Psalm 6:5,—“For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” Again, Psalm 88:10-12.—“Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” And Psalm 115:17.—“The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” These expressions show distinctly the writer’s view of the state of the dead. Could he have said these things had he believed that “the dead know more than all the world,” and enter into the presence of God? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.8
Could he have said these things if he had believed the modern poetic effusions— ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.9
“I’ll praise my Maker with my breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers,” etc.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.10
Such poetry contradicts the poetry of the Spirit of God, which declares,—“The dead praise not the Lord.” Thus “the sweet Psalmist of Israel” sung; but, modern songsters clash with it, and assert the contrary with a boldness that would defy David himself, if not David’s Lord, by whose inspiration he spoke and sung. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.11
Again David says, Psalm 17:15,—“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.”—When he should awake in his Lord’s likeness, he would be satisfied—not before; hence he could not have believed that he should immediately enter into the presence of God; because he says, Psalm 16:11,—“Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” Now, if Christians enter at death into the presence of God, in conscious enjoyment, then David is represented as looking to the resurrection for satisfaction, and yet as declaring there was fullness of joy before; or in other words, he could be in the presence of God, where there is fullness of joy, and not be satisfied. But so far as David is concerned, Peter settles that point, Acts 2:34. He says: “For David is not ascended into the heavens.” But where is David? Peter says, Acts 2:19. “The patriarch David is both dead and buried.” When he awakes, as he will, “at the last day,” with all the saints, then he will “be satisfied.”—Herald of Life. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.12
Philosophy
Practical philosophy is that which enables us to look at the ills of life, its disappointments and its diseases, in a manner which does much to surmount them, and deprive them of the power to do any permanent injury. True philosophy has no pretense about it; no chicanery, no fraud; it does not worry itself in the endeavor to make the worse appear the better reason, or in making troublesome concealments; on the contrary, it finds a happiness and a grateful relief even in a frankness which endangers a storm of ridicule. Who, for example, does not admire the moral courage of the elderly negro, noticed upon the hurricane deck of a steamer, after the taking of Fort Donelson; with a philosophical and retrospective cast of countenance, he squatted down on his little bundle, toasting himself against the chimney, in a state of most profound meditation. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.13
“Were you in the fight?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.14
“Had a little taste of it, sa.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.15
“Stood your ground, did you?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.16
“No sa, I runs.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.17
“Run at the first fire, did you?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.18
“Yes sa, and would hab run soona, had I knowd it war coming.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.19
“Why, that was not very creditable to your courage.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.20
“Dat isn’t in my line, sa—cookin’s my perfeshun.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.21
“Well, but have you no regard for your reputation?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.22
“Reputation’s nuffin to me by the side of life.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.23
“Do you consider your life worth more than other people’s?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.24
“It’s worth more to me, sa.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.25
“Then you must value it very highly?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.26
“Yes sa, I does—more dan all dis wuld—more dan a million ob dollars, sa; for what would dat be worth to a man wid de bref out ob him? Self-preserbashunam the fust law wid me.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.27
“Then patriotism and honor are nothing to you?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.28
“Nuffin whatever, sa—I regards dem as among devanities.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.29
There is another kind of philosophy, or which may be called a moral force which often enables men to live above disease, and survive, for many years, ravages on the constitution, which, preying upon one of less strength of mind, would hurry them to the grave in a very short time. We remember to have heard of a neighbor in early youth, named Hume. He was a great miser and very rich. He was apparently at the point of death. All his broad and fertile acres had been disposed of, and he ceased to dictate to his lawyer, who, knowing he had a large amount of silver and gold in his house, said to him after a pause: “Well, Mr. Hume, what disposition will you make of your money?” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.30
“My money! do you expect me to give away my money, too? I will not do it;” and summoning to himself what, under the circumstances, seemed to be a superhuman energy, he rose from his bed, dressed himself, broke the spell of his disease, and lived some years afterwards to advocate the making of tin hats, as they would not soon wear out. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.31
Of two persons having the consumption, with apparently equal chances of life, the man who abandons himself to his fate, hugs the fire, and is afraid to stir out of doors lest he should take cold, inevitably dies in a short time; the other, having force of character, indomitable determination, and a truer philosophy, considers that life is worth striving for, that he can but die any how, and, braving all winds and weathers, fights courageously against his malady, and lives to be an old man. So it is in some forms of paralysis, rheumatism and other disablements, the exercise of a true philosophy is manifested in brave resolves to live down disease, to live above it, and by sheer force of will, to break the spell which was thrown over the succumbing body. Thus the mind may, and often does, become a power over human maladies more efficient than the most famed medicines of the apothecary.—Hall’s Journal of Health. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.32
A skeptic visited the late Rev. Dr. Wm. E. Channing, and told him that he could not reconcile the terrible denunciations in the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, with the meekness and compassion of the Saviour. “Let us know,” said the Doctor, “what in particular troubles you;” and taking up the New Testament, he began to read the passages with the sweet solemnity of his voice. He had not proceeded far before his critic said, “Ah, if the Saviour denounced in a tone like that, I have nothing more to say.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.33
Some one aptly says, When a man takes a full morning bath, nine million mouths are open to thank him; for every pore of the skin has separate cause to be grateful for its daily ablution. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.34
When you go to prayer, remember you go to your best, your beloved Friend. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 131.35
The Review and Herald
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1865.
URIAH SMITH, EDITOR.
By the Way
Notes by the way is with us a novelty. Having been confined to the Review Office for over ten years so closely that the longest period of absence has been but a few days, and the greatest distance not over fifty miles, we have never had occasion, or perhaps opportunity, for this kind of writing. The present occasion has arisen on this wise. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.1
We stated last week that Bro. White designed to accompany Bro. Dr. Lay on his return to Dansville. According to arrangement he left Battle Creek the 14th inst. By the advice of friends, and in order to enjoy the benefits of a little relaxation from the confinement and labors of Office duties, we accompany him. This morning, (the 15th) at 7 o’clock found us in Rochester, quite comfortable, through the combined agencies of sleeping cars, and a quick passage. Bro. White has endured the journey remarkably well. With the exception of being somewhat wearied, as was to be expected, no unfavorable effects are thus far experienced from the the journey. We spend the Sabbath here, and proceed the first of the coming week to Dansville. That Bro. White will be able to accomplish the journey comfortably, through the blessing of the Lord, we are more than ever confident, and also that through the rest which he will enjoy at that place, and the healthful agencies there in operation, he will rapidly recover the vitality and energies which he has exhausted by arduous labors in the cause of truth. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.2
During our absence, Bro. Amadon and sister Van Horn will furnish the readers of the Review with a well filled paper. “Thoughts on the Revelation,” like some persons of which the Revelation speaks, will “rest for a little season.” We design to spend a few weeks at Dansville, hearing, seeing, practicing, and holding fast that which is good. And after a few weeks more, spent with friends in New Hampshire, near both by the ties of nature and the truth, and whom we have not seen for over ten years, we hope to return with renewed energies to the sphere of action in which at present it seems to be our lot to labor. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.3
“Mode of Baptism.”
Our caption is a popular phrase extensively used; but what can be its meaning? If baptism means immersion, a definition generally admitted, so much so that the American Bible Union, an association formed from the leading denominations of the day, have been compelled thus to render the term, the mode of baptism can only refer to the manner of immersion, whether with the face upward or downward, or to some other particular manner in which the immersion is performed. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.4
But we hear them talk of being baptized by sprinkling, by pouring and by immersion. If our definition of baptism is correct, this must mean that some are immersed by sprinkling, others are immersed by pouring, others still are immersed by immersion. The greatest objection to these expressions is, that the first and the second are absurd, and the third is tautological. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.5
Another thing worth our observation is, that the object of the action of baptism, as used in the Scriptures, is always the person. Men and women, we read, were baptized. But in sprinkling or pouring, the object of the action is always, properly, the water. The water, and not the person, is sprinkled; the water, and not the person, is poured. The water may be sprinkled or poured upon the person—he may be be-sprinkled or wet; but he cannot himself be sprinkled or poured, unless he first be dissolved or reduced to a liquid, or a pulverized state. But a person can be immersed; and it was the persons, and not the water, that were commanded to be baptized in the name of the Lord. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.6
Now immersion is admitted on all sides to be valid baptism; but some think sprinkling or pouring will answer equally as well, and we are offered the choice of the three modes. It would be well to choose as judiciously in these things which pertain to our eternal interests, as we would in matters that effect only our temporary, worldly interests. Suppose then a person owes you ten dollars. He offers you a bank bill in payment. You inquire if it is good. The answer is, some say it is good, and some say it is not. But seeing you hesitate, he offers you another bill in its stead. Is this genuine and good, you ask. About like the other, says he, some say it is good, and some say it is worthless. You can find plenty of people however, that will take either of them. But if you do not like either of them, here is a gold eagle, and now you can take your choice of the three. Would you take one of the bills? No, say you, give me that which all are agreed is good—that which passes current everywhere. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.7
Then be wise in the things of religion; and insult not God, and imperil not your own soul, by choosing a human substitute for a divine institution. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.8
I have always wondered, from my early youth, how men of learning could repeat the following words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” when they only put a small quantity of water upon the head of the candidate. How dare they use those sacred names in connection with the deliberate and solemn utterance of a falsehood?! Will the unwarranted custom of their denomination shield them? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.9
But light is increasing. That baptism is immersion, is a truth in the hands of the common people, and no longer confined to the learned ministry. If ministers are still willing to subvert and abuse this institution, let the people receive the truth, if they have to for sake them. Each one must answer to God for himself. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.10
R. F. Cottrell.
Popular Errors and Their Fruits. No. 5
As we stated in the commencement of these articles, it would be impracticable to consider under this head, all or even the greater portion of the false doctrines of the day, and even now perhaps we have dwelt sufficiently long upon these subjects. There is, however, another class of popular errors which directly affect the outward acts, and involve a positive disobedience of God’s requirements, and which we can hardly excuse ourselves from noticing in this connection. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.11
Prominent among these comes the practice of Sunday-keeping. To say nothing of the benefits and blessings resulting from the practice of keeping the Lord’s memorial Sabbath, which are lost to those who keep another day, there is in this practice a downright refusal to obey one of God’s commandments. This as one of the evil fruits of Sunday-keeping, is sufficiently frightful to induce us to make war against it, and hold up the true Sabbath before the minds of the people. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.12
This practice also exhibits itself as one of the inconsistencies of professed Christianity, thus supplying fuel for the fires of infidelity now raging all over our land. The manifest delinquency on the part of those who profess to keep the commandments of God and yet fail in this particular, is excused by the plea that “God is not particular,” and judging from the conduct of the mass of those who urge this plea, we might conclude that they indulged this spirit to an unlimited extent, and rather decided that God was not very particular about anything. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.13
Closely related to this doctrine, and so closely that it has sometimes been called its “twin sister,” we have that of sprinkling for baptism. This error lacks even as good a plea in its defense as that presented for Sunday-keeping, for while the latter has in its favor the fact that rest is secured by it, the former has nothing in common with the true ordinance of baptism. The original design of baptism is to memorialize, and signify the believer’s faith in the burial and resurrection of Christ, and this design can be carried out in no other way than by the immersion of the candidate in water. This man-made substitute for the ordinance of God, by thus destroying the divinely-appointed memorial of the resurrection, puts into the mouth of the Sunday-keeper the plea that “the first day of the week must be kept in honor of the resurrection of Christ.” Restore the ordinance of baptism to its place in the church and in the understanding of the people, and one argument is removed from the catalogue of excuses for breaking the fourth commandment, as there will then be no occasion to rob God of obedience to it in order to commemorate that for which he has given us a perfectly fitting memorial. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.14
The evil fruits of popular errors are felt because they are popular, and the higher they stand in public opinion, the more injurious they are. We have now noticed most of the errors in religious belief which are very extensively endorsed and thus rendered popular, and endeavored to show some of the evils resulting from them. There are multitudes of others, however, which do not properly come under this head, the investigation of which might be interesting and profitable, but we will notice only one of them, as approximating to the others in point of popularity, because so generally endorsed by a large body of believers in the second advent faith. We allude to the erroneous views in regard to the sanctuary. By still clinging to the position that the sanctuary is the earth or some part of it, false time movements are made and confusion results, and at the present time the great mass of advent believers who reject the Bible view of the sanctuary, are divided among themselves upon the question of another definite time movement, until it would seem that the declaration of one of their preachers was about to be realized, that “unless some thing is done for us we shall all go to pieces.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.15
While we as a people do not profess infallibility, yet we know that by steering clear of popular religion we avoid a goodly number of popular errors, and by refusing to take anything for granted because everybody believes it, but on the contrary investigating for ourselves, we may keep clear of the fog banks of error, and sail under the banner of truth until we come to a unity of the faith. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.16
Wm. C. Gage.
Norridgewock, Me.
“And God Blessed the Seventh Day and Sanctified It.”
The Notes of Prof. Bush did good service for these columns last week. Again we draw from the same source. The following paragraph sets forth in plain and logical terms the duty of the human race in reference to God’s Sabbath,—the seventh-day. Let those who deny a primeval Sabbath, meet his arguments,—if they can. g. w. a. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.17
God’s sanctifying the day is equivalent to his commanding men to sanctify it. As at the close of the creation the seventh day was thus set apart by the Most High for such purposes, without limitation to age or country, the observance of it is obligatory up on the whole human race to whom, in the wisdom of Providence, it may be communicated. This further appears from the reason why God blessed and sanctified it, viz., “because that in it he had rested,” etc., which is a reason of equal force at all times, and equally applying to all the posterity of Adam; and if it formed a just ground for sanctifying the first day which dawned upon the finished system of the universe, it must be equally so for sanctifying every seventh day to the end of time. The observance of the day is moreover enjoined in the decalogue, which was not abolished with the peculiar polity of the Jew, but remains unalterably binding upon Christians in every age of the world. Some commentators and divines have indeed thought that the mention here made of the Sabbath is merely by anticipation; and that the appointment never took place till the days of Moses, Exodus 20:11. But if this were the case it is not easy to see how Moses came to specify the circumstance of God’s resting on the seventh day, as the reason for that appointment. It would have been a good reason for our first parents and their immediate decendants to hallow the day; but it could be no reason at all to those who lived almost five and twenty hundred years after the event; more especially, when so obvious and cogent a reason as their deliverance out of Egypt was assigned at the very same time. But if the command given to the Jews was a repetition of the injunction given to Adam, then there was an obvious propriety in assigning the reason that was obligatory upon all, as well as that which formed an additional obligation on the Jewish nation in particular. Besides, there are traces of a Sabbath from the beginning of the world. For if no Sabbath had ever been given, whence came the practice of measuring time by weeks? Yet that custom obtained both in the antediluvian and the patriarchal ages, Genesis 8:10, 12. 29:27, 28. Again, although the observance of the Sabbath had no doubt been much neglected in Egypt, Yet the remembrance of it was not wholly effaced; for Moses, before the giving of the law, speaks of the Sabbath as an institution known and received among them, Exodus 16:23. And without any express direction, they gathered on the sixth day a double portion of manna to serve them on the Sabbath, which surely it could not have been expected that they would have done had no such institution existed. It can scarcely be doubted, therefore, that the Sabbath is as old as the creation, and of the wisdom of such an appointment a moment’s reflection will convince us. As God made all things for himself, so he instituted the Sabbath in order that his rational creatures might have stated opportunities of paying him their tribute of prayer and praise. If no period had been fixed by him for the solemnities of public worship, it would have been impossible to bring mankind to an agreement respecting the time when they should render to him then united homage. They would all acknowledge the propriety of serving him in concert; but each would be ready to consult his own convenience. And probably a difference of sentiment would arise as to the length of time to be allotted to his service. Thus there would never be one hour when all should join together in celebrating their Creator’s praise. But by an authoritative separation of the seventh day, God has provided that the whole race of men shall acknowledge him, and that his goodness shall be had in everlasting remembrance. This act of separation he has seen good to express by the word “sanctify,” which is used in the Scriptures primarily to denote the setting apart, devoting, or appropriating any thing from a common to a peculiar and generally to a sacred use. Thus God is said to have “sanctified,” or set apart for a holy use, the first-fruits of the earth, the tabernacle with its various furniture, the tribe of Levi to the office of priests, etc. In this sense to sanctify is the same as to “hallow,” and is opposed to calling or treating anything as “unclean,” or “common.” The sanctification of the seventh day in the present case, can only be understood of its being set apart to the special worship and service of God; for it is to be remembered, that at this time, every thing was holy as far as moral purity was concerned. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 132.18
Luther and the Reformation
Luther was not a Lutheran, he was a Reformer, and his whole soul was in the work. To reformers of this age we would say, Luther was like you, and you may claim him a brother; he is yours, and you are his; and could he now arise from the tomb, he would turn with disgust from those who shut their eyes and ears to the light, by whatever name they may be called. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.1
He read from the Bible that a few centuries from his day would bring the close of time, and could he now arise from the dead, finding those centuries elapsed, with what eagerness would he investigate history and prophecy, to determine his position on the ocean of time. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.2
Luther was raised up at the right time, and how mightily he worked. Only a peasant boy, he became a noble and powerful man, by diligence, honesty, and devotion to God. At his birth, the world was dark in morals and in education, wrong and perverted and distorted ideas of God and his character, wrong ideas of duty in all the social, domestic, and private and public walks of life, wrong ideas of government, civil and ecclesiastical, existed in the minds of men, and whole nations were moved by superstition, ignorance, and bigotry. A good thought was not known as such, and wicked deeds were often applauded as virtuous, for the Bible existed only in the dead languages, and it being carefully kept from the common people, Satan exulted in the ruin and confusions he had wrought. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.3
A mother might forsake her darling children, and leave them exposed to want, neglect, and sorrow, while she, by taking the vail, and becoming a recluse in some convent, smothered her grief and dried her tears in the consolations held out to her of becoming a saint. Papal priests applauded her devotion, and sister nuns welcomed her as one of the faithful. A faithful and devoted son or daughter, or father, or friend, might at any time leave his or her home, however afflictive or embarrassing such a step might be to friends or relatives left behind, and seek for a home in the cloister, where he could be of as little service or comfort to them, as if he were dead. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.4
Violence was committed upon the moral and intellectual powers of man, by the Romish priest, who taught relatives to sunder then ties of nature, and break the bonds of natural affection; and the cloistered nun fasted and prayed and did penance, because her heart still longed for dear ones left at home, in the valley or on the mountain side, weeping the loss of a devoted relative, self-buried from home, and friends, and usefulness. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.5
Or if a monk, yet a novice, perhaps a dutiful son wishing most fervently to do the will of God, and being taught that the cloister was the school of the prophets, and having entered, he finds a school of immorality and idleness, his doubts and fears and conscientious scruples, only call for fasting and penance, or perhaps the prison and the rack. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.6
Or, if some mighty man appeared, and endeavored to enlighten the world, and break the fetters which held men and governments, he was quickly disposed of, as in the case of Huss and others. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.7
But Luther, the peasant boy, arose, and as he fought his way, at every step encountering difficulties, and obstacles, and all patiently removed, he, by slow degrees, opened his eyes to the evils of his age. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.8
He saw with pain, the priest at the altar acting his part as a mountebank at a show; and the same priest who declaimed against marriage, was a companion of prostitutes; and the coarseness of the street was transferred to the sanctuary, and the pardon of sin was bought and sold as goods are disposed of in the market. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.9
More than this, he found a Greek Bible in his cloister, for he too was early taught that here he would find his God and his salvation, and truly he did, but this book pointed him to a nobler work, and resurrected him from a living grave. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.10
Bloody racks and damp dungeons waited anxiously for him, and poisoned meats and drinks were prepared, and cruel monks and haughty bishops longed to rid the earth of him, but in vain, for God determined otherwise. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.11
By little and little, Luther, the peasant’s son, opened his eyes to the scene around him; all was darkness. He looked within, all was weakness and sin; but in his newly discovered Bible, all was light; angels strengthened and encouraged him, and his kind, loving, but powerful words, entered the hearts of men. At his reasoning, so simple yet so deep, kings and magistrates, peasants and citizens yielded; the time had come for the power of the Papacy to be subdued, and nuns left the cloister and reassumed their place at the fireside, and monks became teachers, and professors, or mechanics, farmers, or tradesmen; and those who had meditated entering upon seclusion, abandoned so wild a plan and entered upon the walks of life. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.12
Never since the days of Jesus Christ has so great a revolution taken place in society, and without tumult and strife, bigotry, superstition, and ignorance failed to hold the masses, and truth gained the victory. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.13
At the same time, God raised up other workmen in Switzerland, France, England, and various other places; and although at first unknown to each other, they worked for the same end, and the Papacy reeled almost to its downfall, and ever since it is slowly fading away. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.14
Luther worked hard to establish good schools everywhere, for the common people; and used all his influence to have them upheld by government; and he strove hard to find competent teachers for them, and with all he taught the Germans to sing in the schools, and witness the result! And shall we say that our civil and religious liberty, our schools for the people, our extended and wise policy, our intelligence as a people, are not in a great measure the fruit of the labors of those wise reformers, of whom Luther was the leader? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.15
Let not the world despise reformers; this was what the monks did to Luther, and what the Jews did to Christ; the world has no friends like the reformers, who leveled old corrupt systems, and set up the banner of truth, and ye reformers take heart to think of what Luther, your brother, accomplished. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.16
J. Clarke.
Portage, Ohio.
Report from Bro. Matteson
Bro. White: Aug. 27 we finished a series of meetings in Irving, Jackson Co., Wis. We had twenty-four meetings. It was a very busy time, and the meetings were not so well attended as they would have been otherwise. The first week, a goodly number came to hear, but at the end of that time, our Methodist friends received orders from some high quarter, and came to meeting no more. Their preacher had two meetings while I was there. The first time he was present at our meeting I made some remarks about the Sabbath, which seemed to affect him very much. At his meeting he said that he would reply to my remarks at some future time. He believed there was a way to discuss such subjects without abusing any one, or shedding blood. I understood that afterwards. He tried to get another preacher to help him, but failed. At his next meeting I asked him what he meant by his expressions, if he wanted to discuss the Sabbath question? He seemed to feel very uneasy, and said that he smelled the trap, and he was not going to be caught. But he wanted the people to well digest all they could find out about the Sabbath, and then, in his own good time, he would show them that Sunday was the original Sabbath. He prayed fervently for the time soon to come when all the people in this town should be keeping the commandments of God! ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.17
Bro. Steward has labored in this place some years ago, and once there were about twenty Sabbath-keepers. About half of that number are left, and they were in a backslidden state. It was very difficult for me to labor among them. There seemed to be a strong influence of evil spirits which had gained a foothold in these hearts, and were determined not to give it up. Like others in the same condition, they could not see their own poverty. Sometimes I did well nigh despair. Neither did I come off from this battle without some wounds. But the Lord was merciful. His loving-kindness, oh, how great! Occasionally he would smile on us, and the last Sabbath I was there, his Spirit moved powerfully upon our hearts. All wept, and confessed their sins, and cried for mercy. It was a blessed time, which I shall not soon forget. When our pathway is very dark, the good Shepherd is often nearest, and light breaks upon us from the heavenly sanctuary. In the evening, we had a meeting to settle old difficulties. We commenced at seven o’clock. Had a hard time, and if God had not moved upon our hearts, those things would never have been settled. But the Lord helped us, and at two o’clock in the morning we had gained a victory, and went home. Having rested a little, we had a good meeting in the forenoon. Seven covenanted together to keep the commandements of God and the faith of Jesus. Systematic Benevolence was arranged amounting to $15,60 a year. A Sabbath-School was organized with about ten scholars. Four were buried with Christ in baptism. We had an evening meeting, and then I parted with them, while they wept. Then I felt to praise the Lord that our Saviour is stronger than Satan. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.18
Aug. 30, I came to Mankato, Minn., having traveled one night and three days. Here I had to lay over. I looked round to find some work. Found a Norwegian settlement three miles from there. Had a meeting in the evening. They gave good attention, and wanted me to come again. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 133.19
Sept. 1, I arrived at Blue Earth City, and Sabbath and Sunday we had meetings about five miles from that place. I intend to have a few more meetings before I leave, and then go to the frontiers about fifty miles west. I go trapping, and will probably stay there about three months. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.1
This may be a little unexpected to my friends who are looking for my soon return, but I hope that you will excuse me when I tell you my reasons. 1. I am not in debt, and don’t want to be; but I am poor, having spent some of my own means, and all my earnings for the last two years to pay expenses. 2. I know some friends who are ready to sacrifice to help me along, but I do not like now to draw upon their charity, and do not consider it right. 3. My brains are somewhat worn from constant labor. This will give me time for recreation and rest of mind, and will likely improve my health. 4. This is a fine opportunity to earn some means in a short time. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.2
My address is Blue Earth City, Faribault Co., Minn. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.3
John Matteson.
Blue Earth City, Sept. 4, 1865.
Spirituality
“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.4
No truth can be clearer than the declaration made in the above text. Forasmuch as the carnal mind, which is enmity against God, manifests itself in the transgression of his law, the fruit of which is death; so on the contrary, the spiritual mind is manifested in obedience to the law of God, which is as surely to be rewarded with eternal life. The importance of this truth has always been felt by true gospel believers, and the object of their efforts has ever been to be “transformed by the renewing of their minds.” Romans 12:2. But the majority of professing Christians of this generation, seem to be laboring under a serious misapprehension on this subject, so much so, that in many cases they make the degree of feeling or animation they exhibit in the performance of their religious exercises, the index to the depth of their spirituality. As a legitimate consequence, inasmuch as they hunger and thirst more for feeling than for righteousness, many are satisfied with an excitement purely animal or mesmeric; and which, in some instances, is the result of satanic agency; supposing it to be the influence of the Holy Spirit. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.5
This class can have a large measure of their supposed spirituality, and yet bitterly oppose the present truth, and accuse those who are obeying it, because they run not with them to the same excess, of riot, of a lack of spirituality. But a brief consideration of Paul’s testimony is sufficient to show, except in the case of those whose service is lukewarm and formal, and therefore not acceptable, that this accusation is not only unjust, but that the direct effect of spiritually mindedness is conformity to God’s holy law. For he says in verses 3 and 4, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and by a sacrifice for sin, (margin,) condemned sin (transgression of the law), in the flesh.” For what? “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.6
So then to be spiritually minded, is to have the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us, and while animation and shouting are proper and good in their place, they are to be considered rather as the occasional attendant, than as positive evidence, of a high toned spirituality. And the humble, earnest Christian, who seeks to have his walk and conversation as it becometh the gospel, and with whose spirit, the “Spirit itself beareth witness” that he is a child of God, proves the correctness of what the apostle further says in verse 1. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” S. B. Whitney. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.7
Much Speaking.—An open mouth is a sign of an empty heart, as a chest open is a sign there is nothing in it. When money or jewels are within, it is kept locked. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.8
Rest Yonder
This is not my place of resting,
Mine’s a city yet to come;
Onward to it I am hasting—
On to my eternal home.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.9
In it all is light and glory,
O’er it shines a nightless day;
Every trace of sin’s sad story,
All the curse, has passed away.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.10
There the Lamb, our Shepherd, leads us,
By the streams of life along;
On the freshest pastures feeds us,
Turns our sighing into song.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.11
Soon we pass this desert dreary,
Soon we bid farewell to pain;
Never more be sad or weary,
Never, never sin again.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.12
—Bonar. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.13
“I Am Not Free.”
Some persons are ever complaining of being bound, and suffering great bondage of spirit. Perhaps the following common-sense thoughts from a writer in the GoldenRule may help indicate where their trouble is. Let a person do his duty prayerfully and persistently, and he will be free. To say that we are in bondage is generally about the same as saying that we have done wrong. g. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.14
I am not free! No wonder! You have grieved the Holy Spirit. How? Perhaps by cherishing unkind feelings toward some one. Search and see if this is not the case. Open your heart and welcome the light. Don’t dodge now. Don’t be afraid of making an unpleasant discovery, but pray as did David, “search me, O God.” How is it now, is your heart just right with everybody? Lord help you in this investigation. Be thorough! You will soon be at the bar of God. Perhaps your tongue is not sanctified; let us see. Are you worldly in your conversation on the Sabbath? Do you indulge in trifling conversation at any time. Do you speak of another’s faults when he is not present to plead his own cause? If so, no wonder you are not free. “Let your conversation be in Heaven.” “Speak evil of no man.” Perhaps you have become unduly prejudiced against one or more. Have you not entered your judgment against persons without sufficient evidence that they were wrong, and thus your heart leans away from them? These persons may be blessed of God in jour presence, and you feel it not, because your heart is upside down. In other words, your mind is so biased against them that you cannot enjoy the heavenly freedom with them. While this is the case, salvation may come down in showers, and you will be dry. Get in the right position before God, and your eyes on Jesus, and you will not be bound long. Perhaps you have been disobedient. It is as impossible for you to retain your freedom in the Lord while disobedient, as it is to build a granite wall upon a fog. “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.” “Mind the same things and walk by the same rule.” You may have been led to disobedience through fear of reproach. You dread being regarded as singular in your religious life. When you first set out in the heavenly way, the Lord blessed you much. You were willing he should have his way with you, but when your wisdom and prudence began to be called in question, you paused so long to consider what was best, that you got your eyes off from Jesus, and began to look after your reputation; and thus your soul became ensnared by the enemy. Do you dress as plain as the Lord requires? Do you reprove sin as the Lord requires? How many fail here. They fear the face of clay. “The fear of man brings a snare.” You must be willing to be reproached for Christ’s sake. He laid down his life for you. “Let us go with him without the camp bearing his reproach.” Dressing plain, reproving sin, renouncing the Devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, for Christ’s sake, will bring reproach, but “happy are such, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon them.” You may have disobeyed by shrinking from responsibility. God has called you out to labor for him, but you have halted so long “between two opinions,” that you have grieved the Spirit away from your heart, and the cause of Christ has bled as a consequence. Dear reader, how can you be free while at ease in sin. Has not God called you to take higher ground in religious experience? To be definite, have you seen it your privilege and duty to be sanctified to God? If so, have you walked in the light of this conviction of want, so that, to say the least, you now are panting, yea groaning, to be delivered from sins remaining, or have you concluded that this blessing is not for you, and so you have ceased to wrestle with God for it? If so, this is enough to bind your soul. God help you; take courage, you may be fully redeemed. Benevolence is part of obedience to God. How is it with you in this respect? Are you doing all God has made known to be your duty? You cannot, under God, be proprietor and steward of your temporal effects. God is proprietor and you steward. The grace that converts a man’s soul converts his pocket also; where the soul is saved it is saved from the love of the world. Hence all temporal effects are to be consecrated to the use God would have us make of them. “He that hath this world’s goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him.” Alas! no wonder many complain, “I am not free.” Instead of having the “well of water in them springing up into ever lasting life,” they have “hewed out to themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Reader, if you are not free, stop up the leaks in your soul, and you will then find that you are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” Follow Christ, and you shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Honor God and he will honor you with peace, joy, light, life and freedom. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.15
Musings
“The shadows lift—
From my waked spirit airily and swift;
And I could paint the bow
Upon the bended heavens—around me play
Colors of such bright divinity to-day.”
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.16
Who can tell why is this? that at times there should be as it were a blank, a pall, resting upon the mind, unfitting it for action. Then all at once the vail seems lifted, or as the poet has it ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.17
“The shadows lift
From the waked spirit airily and swift.—
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.18
The fancy has full play, and without effort comes forth a pen or pencil sketch. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.19
It has been said that the gifts of genius are intermittent. And who of earth’s gifted ones, have not at times realized this? One of those, or rather two, who in their work were so united that it was more like one, when asked what they did when, as they had just expressed, “the shadows rested on them sometimes for weeks together,” replied, “We kneel down and pray.” And in this answer lurks the secret of that power, we call “the gifts of genius.” It is given of God.—Not always for the asking; for all the gifted ones do not recognize the giving hand of God in what they are enabled to do. But there are weak ones, who feel that they are but as clay in the hands of the potter,—perchance to be molded for some use, and when so, sees that not only the ability to perform, but the needed leisure are alike, God-given. Reader, was it ever thus with thee? Just now I feel the “shadows lifting,” and my mind reverts to a tragic scene, witnessed a few nights ago. At early bedtime, the stillness of the evening hour was broken by hurrying feet, running through our streets, and the startling cry of fire! fire! fire! resounded on every side! Then came the “clamor and the clang of bells” and every dwelling seemed to pour its inmates into the streets, to hasten to a nearer proximity to the raging element. And what a sight was there? A fire that seemingly a few pails of water might have quenched when first discovered, had gained the mastery, and spread as if by magic to the surrounding buildings and tenements, which stood in rear of a row of those imposing structures, which, as in other towns and cities, always front on Broadway and Main streets. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 134.20
Busy workers were there with the appliances for throwing water; yet the firey demon raged on, for four long hours before it was in the least controllable. When it was found that one row of blocks was on fire, and must inevitably be burned, consternation indeed filled all. A busy work went on, as store after store was stripped of everything movable and carried across the streets, and there heaped in promiscuous piles. In shops more remote, a hurried packing was going on, for who could tell but before the morning light the entire street might not be wrapped in flame! ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.1
When all that was movable which was in immediate danger had been secured, there came an interval of suspense to the eager, watching crowds, who stood, walked, or were seated, as opportunity offered them, to see. Suspense, for, for the time nothing could be done, but to steadily pour the streams of water where it would do most effectual service; while the angry flames all undaunted by it, would rush down a stair way curving around a corner, forking out their firey tongues as if in greedy search for everything combustible. Crash! crash! as the beautiful front show windows fell upon the pavement below; then a huge dense volume of smoke rolled upward amid the lurid glare, as it issued from some resinous substance; again, an explosion of the heated pent up gases in an adjoining store made every heart to quake, and sorrowfully to ask, “Where will the conflagration end?” Water! water! blessed gift from God. The flames began to yield, and with relieved hearts one after an other begin to turn their feet homewards. How many carried with them the lessons that might be taught? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.2
Seated upon the arm of an office sofa which extended an inviting seat as it stood there among the piles of saved goods, I gazed and pondered. My mind was carried forward to that terrific hour, to which the scene before me bore but the faintest comparison,—of which Inspiration hath said, “But the heavens and earth which are now kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:7. “Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven.” Malachi 4:1. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.3
How many do really believe that there is a day coming when “every man’s work shall be tried by fire,” a day “when the elements shall melt with fervent beat, the earth also (shall melt) and the works therein be burned up.” I know that this is assented to theoretically by all believers of the Bible, for it cannot well be evaded. But how few are living as if such a day is hastening onward, that day when all are to be individually tested by “the records of a book unscanned by mortal eyes, but which has been made up in figures of living light.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.4
Passing the locality of the fire a few days after wards, I noticed in the charred rubbish a ponderous safe, too large for a hasty removal from its position in an upper story, so its valuables had been removed and it had been left to its fate. And it had gone through the fire but little harmed. Again I thought, at that greater conflagration that is coming, there are to be those who shall escape. And who would not desire to be of that number? Yes, who does not mean, or hope, somehow to be among the saved in that day? But what saith the scriptures? “Escape as for thy life!” Genesis 19:17. Yes! now, “escape as for thy life.” The words have all their first significance to you; to me, to-day—a place of refuge to-day is offered, we are not sure of the same opportunity tomorrow. But even if we were, is it wise to delay a matter which it is so all-important that we perform? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.5
“Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold the destruction of the wicked,” the Psalmist is made to exclaim. Then surely there are to be those who are to see all this. I know how prone mankind are, not quite perhaps to explain away the destruction of the wicked, but what amounts to nearly the same thing. But with the word of God in our hands, none need be at a loss to determine, not only the manner of this destruction, but the period of its accomplishment. Indeed the one passage, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 completely settles this point. Look at it now if any are skeptical, and ponder its import well. Oh, who will not now like Noah, “by faith being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved by fear, prepare for the saving of thy house?” Hebrews 11:7. Let it not suffice us for ourselves to “escape for our lives,” but let each seek to induce others “to seek the Lord while he may be found;” for he is our ark and safety in that deluge of fire, that is surely coming upon our earth. M. W. Howard. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.6
Malone, N. Y.
Words of Comfort
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” John 17:20. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.7
Often I repeat these words of our Saviour’s prayer to myself, and feel comforted thereby. He was praying for his disciples, those who had been led to accept the poor despised Nazarene as their Saviour and King, through hearing him speak as “no man ever spake,” and seeing him perform miracles, such miracles as none had ever performed before. They were mocked at, derisive, scornful words greeted them, but the sweet voice of Jesus is heard saying: “The world hath hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world, I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil.” And a little further on he says: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” This verse bears comfort to my heart, for it brings the sweet thought that Jesus prayed for me; yes dear reader, if you are a believer on him, you and I may take comfort in the thought, that Jesus prayed for us. Yes, the Son of God while here on earth bent the knee and prayed for mortals. Then let us not sink ‘neath trials; but may this thought, together with that, that he is now pleading before the throne, that his spilled blood may wash away our every stain, send comfort to each tried one, and nerve us all to greater watchfulness, that we may live so as to please him. Mary ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.8
Jeanett Cottrell.
Ridgeway, N. Y.
Go Forth and Weep
Brother, sister, are you going forth under a sense of duty to try and save souls? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.9
Be comforted. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.10
Do you meet with opposition where you have the least cause to expect it? Are you wounded in the house of your friends? Have they no sympathy for your efforts? And yet do they love God and try to serve him day by day? Do these things cause you to weep as you go? Thank God for it. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.11
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Bless God for the trial that made you weep. There is efficacy in tears. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. How consoling these words the heart that needs them only knows! ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.12
As a little company of sowers went forth to sow, one day, their way led through a lot that had never been broken by the plow. Only a dim road passed through it mostly covered with sorrel and oak bushes; but to their surprise every now and then on either side of this road, and in it, stood tall heads of rye, sometimes several stalks in a bunch. The secret was this Last year ripe grain was hauled through this lot; and it scattered, and took root, and here it was before them. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.13
They gathered an instructive lesson as they went on and talked. This is the way we have to do in spiritual things. The field is the world. It is uncultivated. We must go forth and sow the seed of the kingdom, and trust God to give it root in the hearts of men. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.14
And as this rye had come up here most unexpectedly and under the most unfavorable auspices, even so may it be with our labors. In the morning we are to sow our seed, and in the evening we must not withhold our hand, for we know not which will prosper, this or that, or both alike together. May our pathway through the world be thus marked even as this blind road. Thus they were cheered on to their evening toils. Thus may you be cheered, my brother and sister. God is able to bless your labors under the most trying circumstances, and all the more for the opposition. Then go on, brother, go on sister, ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.15
“For soon the reaping time will come,
And angels shout the harvest home.”
[E. S. Willard.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.16
Letters
“Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.17
This department of the paper is designed for the brethren and sisters to freely and fully communicate with each other respecting their hopes and determinations, conflicts and victories, attainments and desires, in the heavenly journey. Seek first a living experience and then record it, carefully and prayerfully, for the comfort and encouragement of the other members of the household of faith. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.18
From I. O. Thompson
Bro. White: I take this opportunity to say a few words to the scattered brethren and sisters through the Review. I feel to praise God for his continued mercies to me and mine. God has strengthened me to stand up under past afflictions. I feel to say with the poet, ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.19
“This world is all a wilderness,
This world is not my home.”
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.20
Though sorely afflicted, and oppressed with cares and troubles of this world, yet I am determined to press my way onward and upward. I feel to praise God that he has permitted me to hear the sound of the third angel’s message, and gave me a heart willing to obey him in keeping all of his commandments and the faith of Jesus. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.21
Hear what the voice of Heaven proclaims,
For all the pious dead;
Sweet is the savor of their names,
And soft their sleeping bed.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.22
They die in Jesus and are blessed,
How sweet their slumbers are!
From suffering and from sin released,
And freed from every snare.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.23
Saved from this world of toil and strife,
They re resting in then Lord;
The trials of their mortal life,
End in a rich reward.
ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.24
In hope of eternal life, ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.25
I. O. Thompson.
Chesaning, Mich., Sept. 17, 1865.
M. H. Brown, of Pine Island, Minn., says: I believe the Lord is willing to forgive all of my backslidings and coldness in the past, and I feel to press my way through to the Kingdom of God with the remnant. I am thankful for the labors of Bro. Sanborn in Minnesota. They were meat in due season to me. I am encouraged, and by the grace of God am determined to overcome and stand on Mount Zion with the redeemed. Pray for me, and the little church at Oronoco, that I with them may have strength to stand through the plagues which are right upon us. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.26
Obituary Notices
Died, March 1, 1865, Bro. Albert R. Smith, aged 22 years, son of Bro. Harvey H. Smith. He was wounded in the battle of River’s Bridge, on the 4th of February, and died. from the effects of wounds and typhoid fever, in the hospital of Beauford, S. C. This young brother was drafted, and could not obtain exemption from bearing arms, though he applied for it. His letters breathe a humble and Christian spirit. Remarks on the occasion by the writer, Aug. 13. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.27
John Matteson.
Melrose, Jackson Co., Wis.
Died, in Pleasant Spring, Dane Co., Wis., of dysentary, Lydia M. Mills, wife of John M. Mills, aged 69 years, 2 months, and 12 days. Sister Mills embraced the third angel’s message about ten years ago, and remained steadfast in the faith until her death. Though this mother in Israel has gone down to the grave, yet her family and friends have the comforting hope that she sleeps in Jesus. E. M. C. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.28
Pleasant Spring, Wis., Sept. 10, 1865.
Died, in Pleasantville, Iowa, Sept. 11, of bloody flux, our dear little daughter, Margaret Isabella, aged 3 years, 11 months, and 11 days. Sorrowing we laid her in the tomb to wait the summons of the last trump, which will call her forth to life again. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.29
John & K. F. Terwilleger.
Pleasantville, Iowa, Sept. 13, 1865.
Died, Sept. 19, 1865, of malignant fever, Emily M. Baker, wife of H. F. Baker, aged 27 years and 5 months. Brethren and sisters, pray for us in our affliction; yet we mourn not as those without hope; for she died triumphing in a Saviour’s love, and in hope a glorious resurrection. H. F. Baker. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 135.30
The Review and Herald
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1865.
The latest news we have concerning Bro. White, is a private letter bearing date of the 18th. He was then, in company with Brn. Smith and Loughborough, detained at Rochester, N. Y., on account of the rainy weather. We presume before this they are at their place of destination. g. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.1
Orthodoxy vs. the Resurrection of the Body
Seventh-day Adventists declaim with some earnestness against the growing faithlessness of the orthodox in reference to the doctrine of the resurrection. This often causes a squirming with those who have not clean gone to said error, and occasionally a flat denial that such is the case. To sustain our position that the popular churches are eminently Sadducean in their creed (see Matthew 22:23) we quote the following from an editorial of one of the leading journals of the Episcopalian Church, in an article on Passion Week and Easter: ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.2
“The Congregational paper of Illinois has been writing systematically against the resurrection and the general judgment, for months past, and we have heard no word of warning or of protest. It has declared that there is no resurrection of the flesh, in so many words: that the soul’s going to Heaven, immediately after death, is all there is. The body is not needed at all. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.3
“And this is not the only case. Evidently the mass who have accepted the folly and blasphemy of Spiritualism, could have done so only because they had never been trained in any belief in the resurrection. The common teaching about the state after death, that the good go at once to Heaven and the bad at once to hell, has made the resurrection superfluous, and led to the denial of its existence. Why bring a saint of six thousand years’ standing out of Heaven, or a sinner, of as many, out of hell, to go through the farce of a judgment, or receive the useless clog of a body? In truth, we question seriously whether the mass of the members of the so-called. ‘Evangelical Churches’ are not utter unbelievers in that article of the creed, ‘I believe in the resurrection of the body.’” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.4
Query. Is it any worse for a Seventh-day Adventist to preach the truth than for an Episcopalian? I trow not. g. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.5
Calling Things by Their Right Names
A few days since, I was out hunting a stray cow, and often inquired of people whom I met, and in describing her, and when she left I said, “She left the pasture last Saturday.” I did this, not wishing to introduce my own views of the Sabbath, as I had little time to discuss, and did not wish to be odd, and many times during the day did I make this inquiry. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.6
Finally, I inquired of some people who make Sunday the Sabbath; and they replied, that although they had not seen the cow, yet they thought that as a drove had passed on the Sabbath, it was possible she had gone with the drove. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.7
I was now ashamed of my pusillanimous condescension, and determined hereafter not to be outdone by the votaries of error in outspoken, courageous clearness in my expressions; and I shall, with the help of God, call the seventh day the Sabbath, in all companies, and in any situation; and the name Saturday shall be used by me only as a word of explanation. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.8
When I think of that day’s work, I feel ashamed. What a noble opportunity I had of speaking for truth! As often as I inquired, I might have set those of whom I asked information, to thinking like this: “That man calls Saturday the ‘Sabbath; well, he is not ashamed of it. I wonder if it is not possible that he is correct.” And who knows what conclusions might be reached? ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.9
J. Clarke. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.10
Portage, Ohio.
Note from Bro. Rodman
Oh, that the Lord would send forth laborers into his vineyard. I believe if nothing more could be afforded us in this region, it would be a good move for Bro. Cornell to come through here on a flying visit, stopping in Lafayette one Sabbath and first-day, then at South Kingston another Sabbath and first-day, then if he could come to Ashaway and give a course of lectures we will do our duty, and I believe God would bless. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.11
Yours in hope and love. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.12
P. C. Rodman.
“Coats of Skin.”
Or the phrase, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin.” Genesis 3:21, Mr. Bush in his Notes gives the following explanation: ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.13
“Of skins. That the beasts whose skins were allotted for a covering to our first parents on this occasion had been slain, it is natural to suppose; and there were no purposes for which they could have been slain, except those of food, of sacrifice, or of clothing. That they were not slain for food is evident from the fact that the grant of animal food was not made till the days of Noah. Chap 9:3. Neither can it be admitted that they were slain merely for clothing; since it cannot be supposed that Adam would immediately after the sentence of the divine displeasure, have dared to kill God’s creatures without his permission. Nor is it likely that God should order them to be slain solely for their skins, when man could have been supplied with garments made of other materials. It follows then that they must have been slain with a view to sacrifice.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.14
A Synod in Holland
A correspondent of the London Weekly Review gives an amusing account of a visit to the Reformed Secession Synod of Holland. On entering the church, fumes of smoke darkened the room. A long table stretched along the place where the women had at during preaching the evening before, which was lined on either side by members and ruling elders, while at the head of this there was a transverse table, at which sat the moderator, the professor, and other official men. Every man was either smoking or preparing to smoke. The moderator held a pipe in one hand, and a wooden hammer, with which he called attention, in the other. The clerk wrote and puffed, too, while on the table, from one extremity to the other, boxes of lucifer, matches, plates of tobacco, paper, pens, etc., were mingled in most admirable confusion. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.15
The Popular Paradise
Dr. Chalmers, a high orthodox divine, thus satirizes the popular idea of Paradise: ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.16
“The common imagination that we have of Paradise, on the other side of death, is that of a lofty aerial region where the inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended upon nothing—where all warm and sensible accompaniments, which give such an expression of strength, and life, and coloring to our present habitation, are attenuated into a sort of spiritual element, that is meagre and imperceptible, and utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals here below—where every vestige of materialism is done away, and nothing left but unearthly scenes that have no power of allurement, and certain unearthly ecstacies with which it is felt impossible to sympathize.” ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.17
Study and Relaxation.—I have many times returned to my study with greater vigor, and to the bosom of my God with increased delight, after a short relaxation amidst the flowers of poetry, or those of the garden, in music, in cheerful conversation with a few friends, or a ramble through the fields and woods, a tug at the oar, or in fellowship with the spade, the ax, or the hammer. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.18
Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. St. Paul. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.19
Appointments
The General Conference Committee arrange for Eld. Wm. S. Ingraham to preach in Iowa, as follows: ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.20
| Knoxville, Sabbath and first-day, | Oct. | 7 and 8. |
| Sandyville, “ | ” | 14. |
| Morrison neighborhood, | “ | 15. |
| Eddyville, evening, | “ | 24. |
| Fairfield, “ | ” | 26. |
| Mt. Pleasant, Sabbath and first-day, | “ | 28 and 29. |
| Washington, evenings, | Nov. | 1 ” 2. |
| Pilot Grove, Sabbath and first-day, | “ | 4 ” 5. |
| Palestine, “ ” | “ | 11 ” 12. |
| Lisbon, “ ” | “ | 18 ” 19. |
| Marion, “ ” | “ | 25 ” 26. |
| Fairview, “ ” | Dec | 2 ” 3. |
Note. As Elder Ingraham is comparatively a stranger in Iowa, it would not be advisable for him to enter into the work of establishing order in the churches, or the settling of church trials, or the managing of church business. It is the design of the Committee that Bro. Ingraham, on this tour, give himself, as far as strength will admit, to the preaching of the word. As he has of late suffered quite severely with fever and ague, brethren should not expect of him more than two meetings a day on Sabbaths and first-days, nor urge him into meetings through the week more than in his judgment his strength will admit. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.21
Gen. Conf. Com.
Providence permitting, I will meet with the brethren of the Johnstown church, Rock Co., Wis., Oct. 7 and 8, in Quarterly Meeting, and we hereby invite brethren and sisters from other churches to meet with us. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.22
I will also meet with the brethren of the Little Prairie church, in Quarterly Meeting, Oct. 14 and 15. Meetings will commence in both places at the commencement of the Sabbath. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.23
Isaac Sanborn.
As the State Conference comes upon the time of our Quarterly Meeting in Western N. Y., the latter will be omitted. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.24
R. F. Cottrell.
Business Department
Business Notes
J. N. A. Your letter, addressed to U. Smith or J. N. Loughborough, has been re-mailed to Dansville, N. Y. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.25
More trouble. Some one has written from Ashfield, Mass., inclosing $1,42 for “How to Live,” and “Sanctification,” without giving any name. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.26
Remember to make your remittances to this Office in Drafts on New York, or U. S. or National currency, as all other bank bills are at a discount with our brokers. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.27
RECEIPTS
For Review and Herald
Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the Review & Herald to which the money receipted pays. If money for the paper is not in due time acknowledged, immediate notice of the omission should then be given. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.28
J Tewilliger 27-1, J M Mills 27-17, M Marquart 27-10, C Harris 28-1, S Whittier 26-18, E Miller 27-18. Each $1. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.29
M A Hake 27-17, N A Lord 28-21, M B Cady 28-21, T J Goodrich 28-9, P Martin 28-15, H Phillips 28-13, Mrs B Judd 28-11, J P Rathburn 28-14, S Blivin 29-1, J Laroch 28-5, G H Heacox 27-16, S G Risinger 28-17, P Northup 28-4, Mrs Geo Irish 27-19, W Hastings 28-14, S A Bragg 28-3. Each $2. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.30
L H Winslow 27-14, L Shorev 27-17, H R Gilman 27-17, C H Groves 27-17, E Watson 27-7, O Danforth 27-17, C A Longley 27-17, W Hale 27-17. Each 50c. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.31
Annie M Clarke $2,62 27-16, Wm Merry $1,03 27-1, S D Barr 83c 28-1, H F Thompson 84c 26-10, W B Pringle $2,40 29-1, Mr Bautell $3,00 on acct., Horace Barr $4,00 27-1. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.32
Books Sent By Mail
W Peabody $1,00 D C Philips $1,25, S H Peck 12c, N A Lord $1,25, M B Ferree $2,50, P Martin 75c, B Juld $1,70, C Crowell 12c, J Beckner 12c, J Day 12c, E Johnson $1,91, R Shuck 15c, J Kemp $2, S D Bair 92c, J Rowe 7c, G H Heacox $1,25, Mrs H G Washburn 47c, Miss H More (Africa) 19c, J M Wince $1,25, E Van Deusen $1,60. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.33
Cash Received on Account
Joseph Clarke $10,00. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.34
General Conference Missionary Fund
Church at Ashfield, Mass., $16,00, Geo. Smith $3,00, Phineas Martin $2,00. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.35
Michigan Conference Fund,
Church at Oneida, Mich., $6,00. Church at Orange, $8,08. Church at Vergennes, $5,00. ARSH September 26, 1865, page 136.36