Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 19
December 10, 1861
RH VOL. XIX. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, - NO. 2
James White
ADVENT REVIEW,
AND SABBATH HERALD
[Graphic of the Ark of the Covenant with the inscription beneath,]
“And there was Seen in His Temple
the Ark of His Testament.”
“Here is the Patience of the Saints; Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.”
VOL. XIX. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, DECEMBER 10, 1861. - NO. 2.
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY
The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association
TERMS.-Two Dollars a year, in advance. One Dollar to the poor and to those who subscribe one year on trial. Free to those unable to pay half price. Address ELDER JAMES WHITE, Battle Creek, Michigan. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.1
THE GLORY-FILLED EARTH
“But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Numbers 14:21. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.2
MARRED is thy course, O earth, with sin and woe;
In gory stains thy mantle now appears;
And days, and years, and ages, as they go,
Are resonant with groans and wet with tears.
And still beneath thy weary load of years,
Thou toilest on like one too sore oppressed,
While worn humanity, through hopes and fears,
Adjures an answer to its soul’s request,
Is there no end of sin, no day of coming rest?
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.3
Ah, yes, thy days of grief are numbered all!
From thy great Maker comes the fiat forth,
To wipe away thy curse, remove thy pall,
And re-adorn thee with celestial worth;
And holy bards, in strains of heavenly birth,
To themes immortal have attuned the lyre,
And sung of glory yet to flood the earth,
In lays that deep the drooping heart inspire,
And light the torch of hope, with heaven’s own hallowed fire.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.4
And even now o’er all the eastern hills,
The deepening tints of dawn ascend the sky;
And joy each weary, waiting bosom fills;
For lo! the morn of glory draweth nigh:
When in the radiant heavens ascending high,
The Sun of Righteousness his wings shall spread,
To all the healing of his beams apply,
And wake to endless life the sainted dead;
And, I am sick, shall be no more forever said.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.5
Haste, glorious day; for sin too long hath trod
With blighting step o’er earth’s once fair domain;
And lo, the whole creation cries to God
For him whose right it is to come and reign.
Come for thy waiting few who yet remain.
With sorrow, toil and dangers still oppressed.
Let earth’s re-hallowed soil be once again
By righteous feet alone in gladness pressed,
When to their final home shall come the good and blest.
U. S.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.6
History of the Sabbath THE INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. (Continued.)
The second mention of the Sabbath in the Bible furnishes a decisive confirmation of the testimony already adduced. On the sixth day of the week, Moses in the wilderness of Sin said to Israel, “To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.” Exodus 16:22, 23. What had been done to the seventh day since God blessed and sanctified it as his rest-day in Paradise? Nothing. What did Moses do to the seventh day to make it the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord? Nothing. Moses on the sixth day simply states the fact that the morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. The seventh day had been such ever since God blessed and hallowed the day of his rest. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.7
The testimony of our divine Lord relative to the origin and design of the Sabbath is of peculiar importance. He is competent to testify, for he was with the Father in the beginning of the creation. John 1:1-3; Genesis 1:1, 26; Colossians 1:13-16. “The Sabbath was made for man,” said he, “not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27. The following grammatical rule is worthy of notice: “A noun without an adjective is invariably taken in its broadest extension, as, Man is accountable.” Barrett’s Principles of English Grammar, p.29. The following texts will illustrate this rule, and also this statement of our Lord’s: “Man lieth down and riseth not: till the heavens be no more they shall not awake.” “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man.” “It is appointed unto men once to die.” Job 14:12; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 9:27. In these texts man is used without restriction, and therefore all mankind are necessarily intended. The Sabbath was therefore made for the whole human family, and consequently originated with mankind. But the Saviour’s language is even yet more emphatic in the original: “The Sabbath was made for THE man, not THE man for the Sabbath.” This language fixes the mind on the man Adam, who was made of the dust of the ground just before the Sabbath was made for him, of the seventh day. This is a striking confirmation of the fact already pointed out that the Sabbath was given to Adam, the head of the human family. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.8
“The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;” yet he made the Sabbath for man. “God made the Sabbath his by solemn appropriation, that he might convey it back to us under the guarantee of a divine charter, that none might rob us of it with impunity.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.9
But is it not possible that God’s act of blessing and sanctifying the seventh day did not occur at the close of the creation week? May it not be mentioned then because God designed that the day of his rest should be afterward observed? Or rather, as Moses wrote the book of Genesis long after the creation, might he not insert this account of the sanctification of the seventh day with the record of the first week, though the day itself was sanctified in his own time? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.10
It is very certain that such an interpretation of the record cannot be admitted, unless the facts in the case demand it. For it is, to say the least, a forced explanation of the language. The record in Genesis, unless this be an exception, is a plain narrative of events. Thus what God did on each day is recorded in its order down to the seventh. It is certainly doing violence to the narrative to affirm that the record respecting the seventh day is of a different character from that respecting the other six. He rested the seventh day; he sanctified the seventh day because he had rested upon it. The reason why he should sanctify the seventh day existed when his rest was closed. To say, therefore, that God did not sanctify the day at that time, but did it in the days of Moses, is not only to distort the narrative, but to affirm that he neglected to do that for which the reason existed at creation, until twenty-five hundred years after. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.11
But we ask that the facts be brought forward which prove that the Sabbath was sanctified in the wilderness of Sin, and not at creation. And what are the facts that show this? It is confessed that such facts are not upon record. Their existence is assumed in order to sustain the theory that the Sabbath originated at the fall of the manna and not in Paradise. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.12
Did God sanctify the Sabbath in the wilderness of Sin? There is no intimation of such fact. On the contrary, it is mentioned at that time as something already set apart of God. On the sixth day Moses said, “To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.” Exodus 16:23. Surely this is not the act of instituting the Sabbath, but the familiar mention of an existing fact. We pass on to mount Sinai. Did God sanctify the Sabbath when he spoke the ten commandments? No one claims that he did. It is admitted by all that Moses spoke of it familiarly the previous month. Exodus 16. Does the Lord at Sinai speak of the sanctification of the Sabbath? He does; but in the very language of Genesis he goes back for the sanctification of the Sabbath, not to the wilderness of Sin, but to the creation of the world. Exodus 20:8-11. We ask those who hold the theory under examination, this question: If the Sabbath was not sanctified at creation, but was sanctified in the wilderness of Sin, why does the narrative in each instance [compare Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11], record the sanctification of the Sabbath at creation, and omit all mention of such fact in the wilderness of Sin? Nay, why does the record of events in the wilderness of Sin show that the holy Sabbath was at that time already in existence? In a word, How can a theory subversive of all the facts in the record, be maintained as the truth of God? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.13
We have seen the Sabbath ordained of God at the close of the creation week. The object of its Author is worthy of especial attention. Why did the Creator set up this memorial in Paradise? Why did he set apart from the other days of the week that day which he had employed in rest? “Because that in it,” says the record, “he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” A rest necessarily implies a work performed. And hence the Sabbath was ordained of God as a memorial of the work of creation. And therefore that precept of the moral law which relates to this memorial, unlike every other precept of that law begins with the word, “Remember.” The importance of this memorial will be appreciated when we learn from the Scriptures that it is the work of creation which is claimed by its Author as the great evidence of his eternal power and Godhead, and as that great fact which distinguishes him from all false gods. Thus it is written: ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.14
“He that built all things is God.” “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.” “But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and everlasting King.” “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.” “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.” “For he spake and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast.” Thus “the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Hebrews 3:4; Jeremiah 10:10-12; Romans 1:20; Psalm 33:9; Hebrews 11:3. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 9.15
Such is the estimate which the Scriptures place upon the work of creation as evincing the eternal power and Godhead of the creator. The Sabbath stands as the memorial of this great work. Its observance is an act of grateful acknowledgment on the part of his intelligent creatures that he is their Creator, and that they owe all to him; and that for his pleasure they are and were created. How appropriate this observance for Adam! And when man had fallen, how important for his well-being that he should “remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.” He would thus have been preserved from atheism and from idolatry; for he could never forget that there was a God from whom all things derived their being; nor could he worship as God any other being than the Creator. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.1
The seventh day, as hallowed by God in Eden, was not Jewish, but divine; it was not the memorial of the flight of Israel from Egypt, but of the Creator’s rest. Nor is it true that the most distinguished Jewish writers deny the primeval origin of the Sabbath, or claim it as a Jewish memorial. We cite the historian Josephus and his learned cotemporary, Philo Judaeus. Josephus, whose “Antiquities of the Jews” run parallel with the Bible from the beginning, when treating of the wilderness of Sin makes no allusion whatever to the Sabbath, a clear proof that he had no idea that it originated in that wilderness. But when giving the account of creation he bears the following testimony: ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.2
“Moses says that in just six days the world and all that is therein was made. And that the seventh day was a rest and a release from the labor of such operations; whence it is that we celebrate a rest from our labor on that day, and call it the Sabbath; which word denotes rest in the Hebrew tongue.” Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, chap 1, sec. 1. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.3
And Philo bears an emphatic testimony relative to the character of the Sabbath as a memorial. Thus he says: ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.4
“But after the whole world had been completed according to the perfect nature of the number six, the Father hallowed the day following, the seventh, praising it and calling it holy. For that day is the festival, not of one city or one country, but of all the earth; a day which alone it is right to call a day of festival for all people, and the birth-day of the world.” Works, Vol. 1, Sec. 30. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.5
Nor was the rest-day of the Lord a shadow of man’s rest after his recovery from the fall. God will ever be worshiped in an understanding manner by his intelligent creatures. When therefore he set apart his rest-day to a holy use, if it was not as a memorial of his work, but as a shadow of man’s redemption from the fall, man in his unfallen state could never observe the Sabbath as a delight, but ever with deep distress as reminding him that he was soon to apostatize from God. Nor was the holy of the Lord and honorable, one of the “carnal ordinances imposed until the times of reformation” [Isaiah 58:13, 14; Hebrews 9:10]; for there could be no reformation with unfallen beings. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.6
But man did not continue in his uprightness; Paradise was lost, and Adam was excluded from the tree of life. The curse of God fell upon the earth, and death entered by sin, and passed upon all men. Genesis 3; Romans 5:12. After this sad apostasy, no farther mention of the Sabbath occurs until Moses on the sixth day said, “To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.7
It is objected that there is no precept in the book of Genesis for the observance of the Sabbath, and consequently no obligation on the part of the patriarchs to observe it. There is a defect in this argument not noticed by those who use it. The book of Genesis was not a rule given to the patriarchs to walk by. On the contrary, it was written by Moses 2500 years after creation, and long after the patriarchs were dead. Consequently the fact that certain precepts were not found in Genesis is no evidence that they were not obligatory upon the patriarchs. Thus the book does not command men to love God with all their hearts, and their neighbors as themselves; nor does it prohibit idolatry, blasphemy, disobedience to parents, adultery, theft, false witness or covetousness. Who will affirm from this that the patriarchs were under no restraint in these things? As a mere record of events, written long after their occurrence, it was not necessary that the book should contain a moral code. But had the book been given to the patriarchs as a rule of life, it must of necessity have contained such a code. It is a fact worthy of especial notice that as soon as Moses reaches his own time in the book of Exodus, the whole moral law is given. The record and the people were then contemporary, and ever afterward the written law is in the hands of God’s people, as a rule of life, and a complete code of moral precepts. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.8
The argument under consideration is unsound. 1. Because based on the supposition that the book of Genesis was the rule of life for the patriarchs. 2. Because if carried out it would release the patriarchs from every precept of the moral law except the sixth. Genesis 9:5, 7. 3. Because the act of God in setting apart his rest-day to a holy use, as we have seen, necessarily involves the fact that he gave a precept concerning it to Adam, in whose time it was thus set apart. And hence, though the book of Genesis contains no precept concerning the Sabbath, it does contain direct evidence that such precept was given to the head and representative of the human family. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.9
After giving the institution of the Sabbath, the book of Genesis, in its brief record of 2370 years, does not again mention it. This has been urged as ample proof that those holy men, who, during this period, were perfect, and walked with God in the observance of his commandments, statutes and laws, [Genesis 5:24; 6:9; 26:5], all lived in open profanation of that day which God had blessed and set apart to a holy use. But the book of Genesis also omits any distinct reference to the doctrine of future punishment, the resurrection of the body, the revelation of the Lord in flaming fire, and the judgment of the great day. Does this silence prove that the patriarchs did not believe these great doctrines? Does it make them any the less sacred? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.10
But the Sabbath is not mentioned from Moses to David, a period of five hundred years, during which it was enforced by the penalty of death. Does this prove that it was not observed during this period? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.11
The jubilee occupied a very prominent place in the typical system, yet in the whole Bible a single instance of its observance is not recorded. What is still more remarkable, there is not on record a single instance of the observance of the great day of atonement, notwithstanding the work in the holiest on that day was the most important service connected with the worldly sanctuary. And yet the observance of the other and less important festivals of the seventh month, which are so intimately connected with the day of atonement, the one preceding it by ten days, the other following it in five, is repeatedly and particularly recorded. Ezra 3:1-6; Nehemiah 8:2, 9-12, 14-18; 1 Kings 8:2, 65; 2 Chronicles 5:3; 7:8, 9; John 7:2-14, 37. It would be sophistry to argue from this silence respecting the day of atonement, when there were so many instances in which its mention was almost demanded, that that day was never observed; and yet it is actually a better argument than the similar one urged against the Sabbath from the book of Genesis. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.12
The reckoning of time by weeks is derived from nothing in nature, and can only be traced to the six days of creation, and to the rest of the Sabbath. 1 This period of time is marked only by the recurrence of the sanctified rest-day of the Creator. That the patriarchs reckoned time by weeks and by sevens of days, is evident from several texts. Genesis 29:27, 28; 8:10, 12; 7:4, 10; 50:10; Exodus 7:25; Job 2:13. That they should retain the week and forget the Sabbath by which alone the week is marked, is not a probable conclusion. That the reckoning of the week was rightly kept is evident from the fact that in the wilderness of Sin on the sixth day the people of their own accord gathered a double portion of manna. And Moses said to them, “To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.” Exodus 16:22, 23. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.13
The brevity of the record in Genesis causes us to overlook many facts of the deepest interest. Adam lived 930 years. How deep and absorbing the interest that must have existed in the human family to see the first man! To converse with one who had himself talked with God! To hear from his lips a description of that Paradise in which he had lived! To learn from one created on the sixth day the wondrous events of the creation week! To hear from his lips the very words of the Creator when he set apart his rest-day to a holy use! And to learn, alas! the sad story of the loss of Paradise and the tree of life! ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.14
It was therefore not difficult for the facts respecting the six days of creation and the sanctification of the rest-day to be diffused among mankind in the patriarchal age. Nay, it was impossible that it should be otherwise, especially among the godly. From Adam to Abraham a succession of men - probably inspired of God - preserved the knowledge of God upon earth. Thus Adam lived till Lamech, the father of Noah, was 56 years of age; Lamech lived till Shem, the son of Noah, was 93; Shem lived till Abraham was 150 years of age. Thus we are brought down to Abraham, the father of the faithful. Of him it is recorded that he obeyed God’s voice and kept his charge, his commandments, his statutes and his laws. And of him the Most High bears the following testimony: “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.” Genesis 26:5; 18:19. The knowledge of God was preserved in the family of Abraham; and we shall next find the Sabbath familiarly mentioned among his posterity, as an existing institution. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.15
J. N. A.
(To be Continued.)
Evidences of Christianity BY MOSES HULL. CHAPTER I. (Continued.)
I do not design in this chapter to prove that the Bible is the revelation which God should give: my only desire is to show the necessity of a revelation. But I cannot refrain from asking here, if our Bible is not of superhuman origin, if the character of a Christian as presented in that book is not divine, why are there so many counterfeits on it? Men do not counterfeit infidelity. Why is this? Why do not men put on the cloak of infidelity to secure a character for honesty, soberness, chastity, or benevolence? The reason is obvious. Copper coin is too cheap for men to counterfeit. Let infidels prove themselves to be the most sober, chaste, honest, virtuous, self-denying people in the world. Let them build churches and school-houses, establish missionaries and benevolent institutions. Let them prove themselves to be what Christians have been for the last eighteen hundred years, and then you may look out for counterfeit infidelity. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.16
But to return to the subject. How is it that heathens who know nothing of the Bible, have never been found boasting of the all-sufficiency of the “inner light.” They have always lamented the need of a revelation from “One who careth for us.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 10.17
Men in all ages have had devotional feelings, but without a revelation could not tell how to direct their worship. Go to Athens and you will find the people of that city, notwithstanding their “reason,” “inner light,” and “self-consciousness,” worshiping thirty thousand gods. And not yet satisfied, fearing that among all of their gods they had not yet found the true one, another altar was erected and dedicated “to the unknown God.” See Acts 17. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.1
Gibbon says: “The deities of a thousand groves and a thousand streams possessed in peace their local and respective influence; nor could the Roman who deprecated the wrath of the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who presented his offering to the beneficent genius of the Nile. Every virtue and even vice acquired its divine representative, and every art and profession its patron, whose attributes, in the most distant ages and countries, were uniformly derived from the character of their peculiar votaries. It was the custom of the Romans to tempt the protectors of besieged cities by the promise of more distinguished honors than they possessed in their native country. Rome gradually became the common temple of her subjects, and the freedom of the city was bestowed on all the gods of mankind.” Decline and Fall, Vol. i, pp.32,35,36. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.2
Prof. Tholuck says: “In this mania for foreign gods, the nobles and the emperors themselves set the most corrupting examples. Germanicus and Agrippina devoted themselves especially to the Egyptian gods. So also Vespasian. Nero served all gods, with the exception of Dea Syra. Marcus Aurelius caused the priests of all foreign gods and nations to be assembled, in order to implore aid for the Roman empire against the incursions of the Marcomanni. Cammodus caused himself to be initiated into the mysteries of the Egyptian Iris and Persian Mithras. Severus worshipped especially the Egyptian Seraphis; Coracola, chiefly the Egyptian Iris, and Heliogabalus the Syrian deities, though he was desirous of becoming a priest of the Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian religions.” Tholuck on Heathenism, Biblical Repository. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.3
These cases are selected from the most enlightened of the ancient heathen nations. They are not exceptions, nor was this age an exception. Go to India to-day, and you will find as devoted a people as there is on the earth, worshipping everything from an onion to the sun, and many of them giving their lives in attestation of their sincerity. They feel the need of a revelation so deeply that they are willing to follow anything pretending to be an oracle from the gods, even if it commands them to cast themselves and their children before Juggernaut and let it crush them under its ponderous wheels. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.4
And think you that everybody would be running for a physician if there was no such thing as disease? As the abundance of patent medicines is the proof of disease and the necessity of a remedy, so the abundance of things that come pretending to be a revelation from God, shows how deeply mankind feel the necessity of such a revelation. If as Parker says, “Everything that is of use to man lies in the plane of our own consciousness,” why this universal craving for a revelation from God? Discourse, p.171. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.5
Socrates acknowledged the insufficiency of human reason in the following language: “We must of necessity wait till some one from Him who careth for us shall come and instruct us how we ought to behave ourselves toward God and toward men.” Plato said, “We cannot know of ourselves what petition will be pleasing to God, or what worship we ought to pay to him; but it is necessary that a law-giver should be sent from heaven to instruct us.... O how greatly do I desire to see that man.” Again, “This law-giver must be more than man, that he may teach us the things that man cannot know by his own nature.” Plato. Republic, Books iv & vi. Fables of Infidelity, p.68. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.6
Not only have those who have no revelation from God spoken thus, but those who have had the benefit of the inspired seers of God have appreciated its value, and from experience spoken in its favor. Solomon has said, “Where there is no vision the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18. Solomon had intercourse with all the nations of the earth. He knew what nations had prophets among them, and he saw that they prospered. He was acquainted with the nations also who were destitute of the teachings of the Spirit of God, and saw what ignorant, marauding savages they were, and wisely gave the solution of the cause of the difference in the language above quoted. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.7
“The people perish.” Yes, look at the history of France during the three years’ reign of infidel terror, and answer whether the people do not perish. Now let the scenes of France be acted in America. Let the Bible be burned and the goddess of reason adored, and the scenes of Paris and Lyons will soon transpire in New York and Philadelphia. Then I apprehend that even infidels will “wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east for the word of the Lord.” Amos 8:11, 12. And I am certain that no minister will be needed to expound the text, “Where there is no vision the people perish.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.8
But I have asserted that men need a revelation to teach them morality. Where is the strictly moral man that knows nothing of the Bible. Am I referred to a Solon, a Pythagoras, a Socrates, a Plato, a Zeno, or a Seneca? Their morality did not equal that of the Aborigines of the far West, and their education was not equal to that of the Sunday-school scholars of this country. Oaths are of frequent occurrence in their writings. Alexander Campbell says of them, “I also know something about them, and of the schools in which they were brought up, the schools which they founded, and the lives which they led. I will not ‘draw their frailties from their dread abode.’” Debate with Owen, p.5. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.9
The little morality that these ancient heathen had, they drew, either directly or indirectly from the oracles of God. Plato says that he learned the moral principles which he advocated from the Jews. Mr. Campbell says of them, “But they were educated men.” In what schools of tradition were they brought up? They received instruction. They did not create it. The glimmering, flickering lamp which gave them light, was kindled by the radiations from a fire that God kindled on mount Sinai, in Arabia, from a mystic lamp that shone in a tabernacle pitched by Moses in the desert, and from the temple which Solomon the wise raised in Jerusalem. Sinai is older than Athens or Parnassus; and mount Zion than Mars hill. Moses was born more than a thousand years before Pythagoras, Solon, Socrates, Plato, Xenophon, Zeno, or Seneca. Some of these were cotemporaries of the Jewish prophets. But Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, antedate them all more than fifteen hundred years. David sang before Homer, and Solomon wrote his Proverbs and his Ecclesiastes before Solon the oldest of them was born.” Debate with Owen, p.6. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.10
(To be Continued.)
The Connexion Between Holiness and Eternal Happiness
IT is an impossibility to move man to action without an appeal to his hopes and fears; and every work that he performs is done with the expectation of gaining some good, or avoiding some evil. The Scriptures do not fail to take advantage of this principle when urging the Christian on to holiness. They clearly teach us that the amount of happiness which will fall to our lot beyond the grave, will be proportioned to our attainments in holiness during our pilgrimage through this vale of tears. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.11
The more useful the child of God is here, the more blessed will he be hereafter. Not even the smallest act, if performed with an eye to the glory of God, shall lose its reward; and every sinner that we are instrumental in saving shall glitter as a star, in the crown of our rejoicing, forever. In “that day, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made known,” every man shall receive a reward “according to the deeds done in the body,” and certainly those who have been most diligent in their Master’s cause, shall receive the greatest reward. But what is to qualify us for usefulness? Learning, talent, and wealth are of no small value, and, when united with holiness of heart, they add greatly to the usefulness of him who possesses them. The duty of the church is not to neglect these things, but to use them for the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom. But they are of but little value when contrasted with holiness; and the whole history of the church serves to confirm the position, that the holier a man is the more useful he will be. It was this that made successful ministers of Paul, Whitfield, Wesley, Emory, and Hedding. True, these men had talents that would have raised them to eminence in any of the walks of life; but had they been destitute of the deep baptisms of the Spirit that they possessed, they would never have been instrumental in “turning many to righteousness.” If this reasoning be correct, of how great value is holiness! ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.12
But there is another view of this subject, that may be worthy of consideration. We know that in this life we cannot be happy unless our feelings accord with the circumstances by which we are surrounded. He who has no love of music, derives no pleasure from the fact that his ears are saluted with sounds that would cause other hearts to thrill with emotions of joy. Let the unlettered person be introduced to the society of the learned, and he will find no pleasure in their conversation. How little pleasure does the sinner find in the service of God! To him the Bible is a dull book; and praising God an employment for which he has no heart. But change the dispositions of these characters, and then how different will be the emotions under the circumstances by which I have supposed them to be surrounded! But in heaven all is holy. The song that the glorified will sing above, is a song of praise to him who has redeemed them from all sin. He whose smile sends joy to their hearts, “cannot look upon sin with the least allowance;” while the angels that gather around his throne have never been guilty of the least deviation from holiness; and earth’s children will not be permitted to enter that “palace of angels, and of God,” until they have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” And is it reasonable to suppose that an unholy person would be happy in such a place, even were it possible that he should be admitted there? Would there not be such a dissimilarity between his feelings and the society and employment of that place, as would render him miserable? The sooner we are cleansed from all sin, the better will we be prepared to enjoy heaven. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.13
If these things be so, how important is it that the child of God should immediately “lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset him.” Every moment of delay lessens the amount of happiness that he will inherit beyond the grave. Shall we not, then, strive to gain an abundant entrance into heaven? - Guide to Holiness. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.14
When Will Ye Be Wise?
“Ye fools, when will ye be wise?” Psalm 94:8. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.15
THE Scripture stigmatizes the sinner as a fool. He may be rich, he may be learned, he may fill an honorable station in the world, but so long as he neglects the one thing needful, he is called a fool. Wisdom consists in fixing upon a worthy end, and pursuing it in the most prudent and judicious way. A wise man thinks of his soul, and seeks above everything else its salvation. He thinks of the wrath of God, and endeavors by all means to escape it. He thinks of a crown of glory, and sets his heart upon obtaining it. He sees that glorifying God is his highest honor, and secures his greatest happiness; and therefore he makes that the grand end of his life. But the multitude, alas! the multitude overlook, or despise, or treat these things with contempt. They live as if self-gratification were the end of their creation, as if earth were their eternal dwelling-place, and as if glorifying God were no business of theirs. Looking at men in general, one would be ready to conclude, if we were to judge by their conduct, that they had no souls to be saved or lost, - as if there were no hell to escape or heaven to obtain, - as if there were no crown of glory to be won or crown of shame to be avoided. Surely the Scriptures are right in designating such men fools; for fools, the greatest fools, they must be. Should the eye of a worldly man or woman light upon this page, God asks thee the question, “When will you be wise?” When will you begin to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness? When will you come to Jesus, and be saved from wrath by him? When will you begin to lay up for yourself treasure in heaven? When will you prepare for death, judgment, and eternity? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 11.16
“O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” Deuteronomy 32:29. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.1
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. THIRD-DAY, DEC. 10, 1861.
JAMES WHITE, EDITOR
THINGS
THE word, things, when used otherwise than to denote actions or events, signifies, according to Webster, “any substance, that which is created, any particular article or commodity.” A thing, then, is something which has substance; it has length, breadth, and thickness; it occupies space; it can be measured, seen, felt, and handled. It is matter, and possesses all the properties of matter. Among every people on the earth, thing means something material and tangible; and in every book on the face of the globe when the reader meets with this word, he attaches to it, and correctly, too, a similar meaning. I said every book; perhaps one must be excepted: for there is a book which in common with all others uses this word, and in which it is made to mean something entirely different, or rather, nothing. That book is the Bible; and whether it is lawful to thus change the meaning of this word, when found in this book, from that which is given to it in all other books, and under all other circumstances, is the point in question. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.2
To illustrate, see Colossians 3:1: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” Things above! What! are there things above? No, says the rarefied theology of the present day; there is immateriality above and nothing more. There is an immaterial heaven, an immaterial God and Christ, immaterial angels, and immaterial spirits of dead people. But the text speaks of things above. Can these things by any process be evaporated into the immateriality which the popular belief attaches to them? It cannot certainly be done by the definition of the word; for that signifies any substance, something actual and real, and it cannot be done by its use as applied to any object on this earth; for here it always means something material, something that has body and parts. There seems then to be no reason for the meaning that is attached to the word things when applied to objects above, save the mysterious belief that substance and reality are incompatible with the state of the blessed; and no reason can be given for this belief except the fact of its own existence; but behind this fact it thus entrenches itself; and while it forbids all questioning as to the right of its existence, it holds the theological world in slavery to its mystical demands. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.3
Perhaps, however, this theory is wrong, and the Bible right. Perhaps the word things, when found in that book, with no conceivable reason to affect its signification, may mean the same as in any other book. The arbitrary claim of the popular view is set forth still more strikingly in the following verse, which reads: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Things above and things on the earth. What do we understand by things on the earth? Anything immaterial and invisible? None will so claim; but things real and tangible. By what principle, therefore, can things above, in the antithetical portion of the sentence, be construed to mean just the reverse? When things means something in one place, how can it in just three words from where it is so used, mean nothing at all. Let every lover of consistency who is troubled with the mysticism that has been thrown over the word of God, consider this point. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.4
Other scriptures bear testimony to the reality of heavenly things. Peter, in his first epistle 1:4, speaks of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, reserved in heaven for us. In Hebrews 10:34, Paul says, “For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves, that ye have in heaven, a better and an enduring substance.” This language is unmistakable: we have in heaven not immateriality and nonentity, but a substance. And when Paul would set before us the hope that inspired the worthies of old, he speaks of it in contrast with this earth, as “a country,” a “better country,” a “heavenly country.” Strange language, if this earth is the only real and substantial thing of the two. He also tells us that they looked for, not an airy nothing, but a tangible city; not founded on nothing, but one which had foundations, whose builder and maker was God. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.5
Yes, there are things above. We can rejoice in the glorious hope of something real, something upon which a scriptural, sober, and intelligent faith can lay hold, an inheritance as literal as the earth upon which we now tread, glorified as infinite power, exerted in infinite wisdom can alone do it, where we shall know as we are known, and with the fine strung sensibilities of the redeemed, be enabled to appreciate the exquisite joys that dwell in the presence of God, and at his right hand forevermore. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.6
Things above. But perhaps some one may ask, May there not be things somewhere above, and yet heaven itself be the intangible, spiritual place it is commonly supposed? Let the apostle answer. He tells us in the very text under notice, the definite location of these things; he tells us just where they are: “Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” That is sufficient. The things above, are just where God and Christ have their glorious abode. There is the holy city. New Jerusalem, with its rainbow of precious foundation stones underlying its jasper wall; there are its gates of pearl, and its streets of gold; there is the tree of life, and the river of the water of life; there is the true tabernacle, pitched not by man, but by the living God, where our great High Priest is now ministering for us; there is the great original of the ark, the mercy-seat, and the tables of testimony, inscribed with the great law of Jehovah; there is the throne of God and the Lamb, and there the many mansions of the Father’s house, made ready for those who are found prepared when the Lord shall return, to be taken with him. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.7
It is the things above that we are to seek. How shall we seek them? The next verse explains: Set your affection, your mind, your earnest desire, upon things above. And is it necessary for the apostle to exhort us to do this? Must a people so prone as we are to set our affections on the blighted and perishing things of this earth, when we have revealed to us the incorruptible, the surpassing, and unfading glories of heaven, which may be had by seeking - must such a people be exhorted before we will turn our attention to them? Not when faith in the reality and certainty of these things is lively and strong. Lord, increase our faith, and give us an earnest of the inheritance prepared for thy faithful followers. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.8
U. S.
LIST OF ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS THAT PRECEDED KING JAMES’ VERSION
I HAVE before me “The Paragraph Bible,” published by the Religious Tract Society, London, England. It belongs to sister Fraser, of this place, and presents an entirely new selection of references to parallel passages, together with prefaces to the several books, and numerous notes. In the preface to Genesis is a list of the translations which preceded king James’ version, which I here present, thinking it may be of account to the readers of the Review. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.9
G. W. A.
TO JOHN WICKLIFFE belongs the honor of first making a version of the whole Bible into English, which he probably completed about A. D. 1380; and although its circulation was greatly restricted, both by the extreme costliness of copies before the invention of printing, and by the severe punishments, amounting even to death, to which any person having it in his possession was liable, it became an engine of wonderful power, and contributed greatly to prepare the way for the happy changes which afterward took place. For the first printed copy of a portion of the Scriptures in English, we are indebted to WILLIAM TYNDALE. Unable to accomplish his purpose at home, he removed to Antwerp, where he made his version of the New Testament from the Greek: and it was published there, or at Hamburg, in 1526. Tyndale also translated the Pentateuch and the book of Jonah; but his labors were cut short by his being cruelly put to death at Antwerp, in 1536. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.10
After Tyndale’s time there appeared, 1. Coverdale’s Bible, printed at Zurich, and published in 1535, the first printed translation of the whole Bible in English. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.11
2. Matthew’s Bible, also printed abroad, in 1537, consisting of Tyndale’s and Coverdale’s text slightly altered. The name ‘Matthew’ was feigned: John Rogers, the first martyr in Mary’s reign, having been the editor. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.12
3. Cranmer’s, or The Great Bible, 1539, published by authority, with a noble Preface by the Archbishop. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.13
4. Taverner’s Bible, in 1559, which was little more than a revision of Matthew’s Bible. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.14
5. The Geneva Bible, first printed in 1560. This was edited by several English divines, who took refuge at Geneva, during the persecutions of Queen Mary; at the head of whom was Whittingham. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.15
6. The Bishop’s Bible, 1268; so called because Archbishop Parker engaged several Bishops and other learned men to prepare it. It exhibits some material variations from former versions. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.16
7. The Rheims and Douay Bible, made by the Romanists, who, finding themselves unable to stop the spread of the Scriptures, resolved to have a version of their own; the New Testament being printed at Rheims, in 1582, and the Old Testament at Douay, in 1610. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.17
8. And finally, the present Authorized Version, which arose out of a recommendation made by Dr. Rainolds, one of the Puritan ministers present at the celebrated Hampton Court Conference, to king James I. By the king’s command, it was executed by forty-seven learned men, who were divided into six companies, two of which sat at Westminster, two at Oxford, and two at Cambridge. According to their instructions, they followed the Bishop’s Bible then in use, altering it as little as adherence to the original would permit. This work was commenced in 1607; and, after being revised by a committee of twelve, and then by Dr. Smith, who wrote the Preface, and by Dr. Bilson, it was printed in 1611. This translation is much admired by competent judges for its general fidelity, as well as for the simplicity, energy, and purity of the style. It would be too much to affirm that it is not susceptible of improvement; but, in attestation to its general excellence, it is worthy of remark that, with all the diversities of opinion on religious subjects, and the controversies which have been carried on between different denominations of Christians in our country, all have agreed in appealing to the same version, and none have in any matters of consequence objected to it. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.18
JUSTICE TO WHOM JUSTICE IS DUE
IN Ohio and Michigan there has been a feeling with many that Bro. White’s reproof of Bro. R. F. C. was too sharp - that it was uncalled for; and I must confess that at first I had, to some extent, the same fears; but after visiting in several places in different States, and learning what a general distrust and fear of organization, had been caused by those articles of R. F. C.’s, I am perfectly satisfied that Bro. White’s remarks concerning them were just and proper. The Devil feared organization, and many were unconsciously leaning to his side of the question. Bro. White, after suffering for years from the want of order (bearing burdens and suffering anguish of spirit, which is perhaps not yet appreciated), very cautiously and modestly introduced the subject for the consideration of the brethren. He simply asked that if any had objections to his suggestions, they should “write out a plan on which we as a people can act.” How appropriate then for Bro. R. F. C., or any other one of our writers, to have suggested amendments, or to have written out an original plan to supply what he must have known was an absolute necessity. Under such circumstances how inappropriate and uncalled for were the articles in question. By them the feelings of opposition to organization already existing were kindled to a flame at once. When I have talked with them they have almost universally referred to those articles. While at Gilboa, Nov. 2 and 3, T. J. B. complained of the treatment Bro. C. had received, and vindicated his cause with as much zeal as if he was acquainted with all the circumstances, and had entered into a contract to defend that side of the question. I replied that I did not think that Bro. C. would thank him for any such defense. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 12.19
But it is said Bro. R. F. C. wrote in such a good spirit, and Bro. White used such sharpness. I answer, the circumstances are entirely different. Bro. White had occasion to use sharpness. The cause he loved, and for which he had suffered so much, had been wounded in the house of its friends. A spirit of rebellion had been kindled up against one of the most important steps ever taken in this great work. Bro. W. saw at once that such articles would do great damage, and therefore made decided efforts to counteract their influence. The load might have been more easy had more of the messengers been ready to put under a shoulder in so critical a moment. It was a desperate case, and required a repetition of the most effectual blows to save the cause. On the other hand, there was no occasion for even the mildest reproof. And of course where none was deserved none should be given. I am sorry for any that have suffered prejudice to blind their minds to that extent that they cannot see that entirely different circumstances govern the two cases. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.1
The fact that the articles under consideration were written in a mild style, is just what rendered them capable of doing the greater injury. Such a style is always the most deceptive, and with many it covers up what would otherwise be to them obnoxious sentiments. I fear that R. F. C. has never realized the extent of evil produced by those articles. Nearly all are now ready to acknowledge that organization is right, and the articles wrong. But still some few think Bro. White was too harsh. Let me say to such, I have good reasons for believing that if it had not been for the plain dealing and perseverance of Bro. W., the effort to organize would have been a failure. While about half, both of the messengers and lay brethren, stood opposed, or what was about as bad, stood non-committal, Bro. W. by God’s help pushed the matter through; and we can all now rejoice in its complete success. That the machine works well, all agree. Why then find fault with the very means by which it was set in operation? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.2
This opposition to strait dealing in the church is alarming. Some still allow sympathy to sway their judgments, and their cry is, “Prophesy unto us smooth things.” But if sharpness is wrong under any circumstances, of what use are the following scriptures: “Cry aloud, spare not,” “Rebuke them sharply.” “Rebuke with all authority,” “If I come again I will not spare,” “Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head,” etc. Some are so afraid that some brother is going to have his head broke, that they get right in the way, and perchance get hit themselves. We cannot have a greater enemy than the man that would ward off well-deserved blows which are for our good. It is my enemy that would seek to destroy the “excellent oil” a friend wishes to pour on my head. Human sympathy in such cases is a disguised enemy. It was this same spirit of sympathizing with those who are justly rebuked, that caused so many angels to be turned out of heaven. All who sympathized with Satan partook of his sin, and consequently shared the same fate. Let all beware on this point. The Lord will have a straight testimony in the church. May we all be prepared for the tests before us by crucifying self, and praying for the “spirit of a sound mind.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.3
M. E. CORNELL.
MISCELLANEOUS
THE apostle James makes it clear that the tongue is as the helm of a ship; then let us beware lest Satan guide this helm, piloting for himself. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.4
Speak evil of no man. If we cannot muster courage to tell this scandalous report to the offending brother, let us be silent; or if a reporter suggests to us the failings of another, let us send him to the offender, or silence him with the Scripture above quoted. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.5
When one has seen the evil of a sin, and thoroughly repented of it, then he can warn others. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.6
Stop the leaks in a ship and the pumps will soon free her so that she will float; so an individual or church must cease to sin before they can arise. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.7
System is necessary in mechanics, agriculture, trade, etc. Wo to the individual or church who esteems it less so in religious matters. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.8
Are you afraid of an enemy? Pray as David did, “O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” 2 Samuel 15:31. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.9
Our inward struggles turn the scale; the fountain supplies the rivulet. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.10
Satan can flatter us; God does not flatter, but slays the proud. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.11
Saul spared Agag, contrary to the command of Samuel, the prophet of God, and so Saul lost his kingdom. Perhaps he did not realize that it was as fatal to disobey the prophet Samuel as the prophet Moses. O, Lord, open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, our hearts to feel. Brethren, have we no Agag here? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.12
Solemnity of mind, and thoughts of God and his majesty, tend to humility; while levity of mind tends to, or fosters pride. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.13
A man’s pride shall bring him low. Proverbs 29:23. Truly when we see the effect of extravagance, and its victim writhing in agony of want and disease, ordering the costliest coffin for a panacea of his wounded spirit, well has the wise man spoken. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.14
Error and truth are often so closely packed together, that to the mass of mankind they seem identically the same; but the experienced workman knows how to find the seams in his quarries; and although the gold may be hidden beneath much rubbish, yet the fire will discover it. So he who desires to know truth from error, has only to bring the lamp of truth close to his work, and he will see as through the glass of the word, which brings hidden things to light, and makes very clear what was before very obscure. Thus Daniel by fasting, prayer, and study of the word, was most remarkably illuminated. This glass brings distant things near, hidden things to view, and makes darkness light. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.15
The single eye makes the whole body full of light; that is, he who only desires to glorify God, he who has no self to gratify, no private ends to attain, no lusts to satiate, no character of his own to maintain, but who has given up all wholly to God. Such a person is always free, his spiritual sight is always clear, his ears always open, his garments always white, his purse is always heavy with fine gold. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.16
Charms. We hear in ancient heathen legends, of amulets, worn to ward off evil, said to possess certain singular powers, called charms, capable of performing wonders. These, had they been literally true, are infinitely outdone by the triplet of christian virtues, love, faith, and humility. These virtues when proportioned and exercised, protect, strengthen, and adorn the character, make enemies into friends, misfortunes are made into stepping-stones, and afflictions are transformed into a paved walk to glory. This triplet of virtues is a solver of doubts, an explainer of mysteries, a lantern in the dark, and a guide in every labyrinth of life; and the closer it is worn to the heart the surer and more certain its good effects. It is a casuist for the decision of doubtful questions; a discerner of right and wrong; it has tears for the mourner, and smiles for the gladsome heart, it gives ears to the deaf, sight to the blind, a staff to the lame, and a balm to every disease; it is a quencher of distrust, and a radical cure for jealousy. These are but a meager list of its virtues. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.17
The casuist is one who can correctly decide in difficult questions, as to right and wrong in human actions, such as often trouble the tender conscience; for in the varied walks of life there are multiplied instances in which circumstances are so linked, and right and wrong are so interwoven, that discernment is indispensable to a proper course, and an instantaneous decision is often called for; so that it is of the greatest importance that every Christian be a good casuist, in order to escape the wiles of the enemy; especially is this true, now, that the seductive influences of the world are more numerous than ever, forming as it were a net-work of error, so woven and spread, as to envelop the entire world, and he who would escape its meshes, must be a skillful casuist, and present truth is capable, with the Spirit’s aid, of doing this. Even the simple may be made wise. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.18
Parents, do not speak before your children of their virtues. Keep your children humble; it will do them no harm. Extolling, or even relating their feats before strangers, in the presence of your children, has a bad effect upon them. Strangers see it, if you do not. A pert child is a nuisance to society. Such children had better not have been born. Let others note their virtues, you had better cure their faults. Or if you speak favorably of them, do it at a proper time, with the greatest caution. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.19
SPECIAL PLEADING. - “How can I,” says Bro. Earthy, “be always just in time? To be sure, I generally quit work a little before sundown, though the boys have some chores to do after that. Now the brethren have been at me about a little affair that happened a few weeks ago. I went to town to mill on Friday, and one thing hindered after another, the blacksmith broke his word and disappointed me and how could I help it? I was, it is true, a little late home.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.20
Says Bro. Flint, “Suppose you should go to town on some very important errand, for instance, to save a dying man, would you stop to shoe your horse, or any thing else? would you not try your horse’s feet on rough and smooth, wet and dry, to save the life of the poor man? Well, now, I keep from sin for eternal life; and if I can lead a holy life while I do live, it is of little consequence to me whether my present life is lengthened out or not. Then it is proved that I must lead a spotless life, at all hazards, but as to saving my present life, that is of little consequence, comparatively. O Bro. E., that you could see the awful gulf that opens just by your feet! But God alone can cure your blindness. I pray him to remove the veil that hides God from your sight.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.21
“It is impossible for me to live out such strict ways,” says Bro. Earthy. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.22
“I have no time to lose,” says Bro. Flint. “Choose for yourself. If the Lord be God, serve him; if you prefer your own way, take that, only say I am clear; say that I have done my duty, in faithfulness and love to you. I greatly desire your salvation, but I desire more to glorify God by clearing myself from your blood. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.23
Let us see, not who will be greatest, but who will love God the most, who will have most love to the brethren, who will give the most according to his ability, who will be most strictly honest, who will improve his talents to the greatest advantage; who will be wisest to win souls; for “he that winneth souls is wise,” Proverbs 11:30, who will honor God the most by humility and the fear of the Lord. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.24
Joshua did not say, We will try to serve the Lord - but, We will serve him. O for a will to do right, a will sanctified and holy! ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.25
There are various ways of defining “change of heart,” but the best explanation I ever saw was this: “Christ came to change the current of our thoughts.” Now look at yonder river, and imagine that the current was changed and flowed up stream. Would you say the current was changed, if a part of the stream was running one way, and a part the other way? So of him who still gives place to sin and Satan. Can he suppose his heart is changed? Even if he has many good thoughts and ways, while all is mixed with sin, can he say his heart is changed? Is he not rather striving for this change? JOSEPH CLARKE. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.26
When we think we are well settled, it is very probable that we shall soon be unsettled: “This is not your rest.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 13.27
I WOULD BE MEEK
I ASK not for renown;
I choose no upper seat,
Nor marked distinction shown,
To me: I would be meek;
For meekness is a heavenly grace,
Becoming to our sinful race.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.1
My weak, unworthy frame,
My past deep sinful life,
My living, but a name,
My path with dangers rife,
Combine to tell me that I owe
My all to God where’er I go.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.2
O may it never be
That such a worm as I,
Should boast, save, Lord, in thee,
Ruler of earth and sky;
Nor let me harbor once the thought,
That my own strength my deeds have wrought.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.3
But shouldst thou deign to work
Through such a humble means,
Let not ambition lurk
Round one that on Thee leans;
But, humbly bowing to thy will,
Help me thy purpose to fulfill.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.4
And when this earthly strife,
And all its toil is o’er,
And evils of this life,
Shall vex my soul no more,
In the new earth I’ll hope to have
Permission with the meek to live.
E. W. DARLING.
Beaver, Minn.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.5
FROM “ELIJAH THE TISHBITE.”
AHAZIAH lies sick; but, alas, we behold in him the same state of mind on his sick bed as we perceive in many others who come within our own observation. Here is only another proof of the melancholy truth that the severest afflictions are ineffectual in themselves to soften the sinner’s heart.... The idol at Ekron was supposed to give oracular answers, through the medium of its priests, respecting future events; and it had obtained such general credence, that it was resorted to from a considerable distance. That the predictions there uttered, and the prodigies there exhibited, were connected with infernal influence, can hardly be doubted. When, in the divine judgments upon Anti-christ and his kingdom, Satan shall suffer that signal defeat which is denounced against him in the word of God, it will be found that it was he who created and maintained the worship of idols, and that it was from his agency that the kingdom of darkness and falsehood received its principal support..... ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.6
The idol at Ekron and his oracle was the first remedy that the sick king of Samaria could think of. He assembled his servants about him, and proceeded by their means to an act of impiety as great as could well be committed in Israel. “Go,” said he, openly and shamelessly, “inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease.” Conduct such as this of Ahaziah, cannot outwardly be imitated by ourselves, because gross idolatry exists no longer among us, and the polite world is too enlightened to consult the Devil in person, having long held Satan and hell to be merely the puerile notions of antiquity. Yet after all we find upon closer inspection that even our own philosophic age is full of that heathen leaven, though it is now molded into a more refined form; and experience shows that disbelief in the “sure word of prophecy” only leads into new superstition. It is true the presentiment of an invisible world, and the necessity of entering it, is indelibly impressed upon the human mind. But those who scorn to submit this feeling to the rule of Scripture, and to seek satisfaction in the divinely revealed record, are sure to sink under the dominion of darkness and imposture. As a counterpart to the oracle at Ekron and Endor, we have, in the present day, visionaries and somnambulists; instead of the Delphic tripod and the Dodonian oak, we have pretended prophets and fortune-tellers, whose numbers are greater among the people than is generally supposed; and if we are above believing these, still we have our forebodings, our presentiments, and our dreams, of which many are apt to make as much as of the divine oracles. The place of the ancient heathen mysteries is occupied by a multitude of covert associations, in whose mystic obscurities thousands seek those disclosures which they refuse to accept from the hand of the living God; and though they can smile with scorn at the magicians of antiquity, they do not think it beneath them to have recourse to amulets and charms, to which popular belief ascribes mysterious powers; or they endeavor to cure diseases by what are called sympathetic remedies. But suppose we are free from such superstitions, still, when we hear a mother entreating the physician to save her child, and when, upon any one’s referring to the blessing of God for success, offense is taken at this reference, is not here the same spirit as we see in Ahaziah? Is not here a running after idols, an idolatry of means? Yet how common is this among us. How many are there who have never seriously thought of applying to the God of Israel, and who seem to know of no other God in their necessities and embarrassments, except the creature - dust and ashes! But wo unto those who give to idols the glory that belongs to God alone! That the Lord does not regard such conduct with indifference, the sequel of this narrative teaches us. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.7
“SHALL BE DAMNED.”
THE same term rendered “shall be damned,” is applied in no less than three places to the Saviour himself. See Matthew 20:18; 27:3; Mark 14:64. Those who wish to squeeze the doctrine of endless torment out of the phrase, would do well to consider what we here state. Seven-tenths of the hard-hearted preachers of the day have not even a tolerable understanding of God’s word. They do not study it - they are bent so much on shouting fire! that they have little time for anything else. When they read the Bible at all, it is only through their creeds, which pervert the sure testimony. Their creed being one of much fire, they see but little else when they read! Like the man who wears green glasses, everything he sees through them is green. If such men would ever get within hailing distance of reason, we would like to whisper in their ears to throw creeds to the winds and read God’s word free and untrammelled. Then, only would they breathe the pure air of heaven and bask in the rays of that truth which maketh free indeed. - Sel. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.8
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.”
From Sister Payne
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: Such give me the privilege of calling you; for it is my desire to be numbered among the people of God. I have always believed, since I commenced to keep all the commandments of God, that this is no other than the true church, but believing this will not save me. I must live out my faith; for “faith without works is dead.” I am trying once more to serve the Lord and keep all his commandments, that I may with you have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.9
Many of you have known of my giving up the Sabbath; but I feel heartily to repent of it. I often feel sad when I think I have broken that law which is so holy, just, and good. It was one year the first of this month since I gave it up, but not willingly. It seemed then that I was obliged to, but I did not keep any day in its stead. They thought me very wicked, where I was then, for not keeping Sunday. I gave them the reasons why I did not keep it. It is nearly three months since I commenced again to keep the Sabbath. At that time I was at Bro. Daniels’ in Sandisfield, and many were the comforting words that were brought from the Scriptures, that enabled me to take hold by faith, and claim them mine. I believe Jesus does love me, or I should have been left to perish with the wicked. I am so thankful that I still love the truth, and I hope it will ever abide with me, and my faith grow stronger. Pray for me. And may I at last be so happy as to meet you in the kingdom, is my prayer. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.10
H. N. PAYNE.
North Blanford, Mass. Nov. 24, 1861.
Christ never chastises his children for what they cannot do, but only for what they will not do; he pities weakness, but chastens willfulness. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.11
From Sister Rice
DEAR BRO. WHITE: It is cheering to my heart to open the Review and there find a letter from some former acquaintance, or loved one in the present truth; and I often feel sad because I do not oftener see such names; but shall I keep silence because they do? I think not. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.12
I have often heard it said in days gone by at conference meetings, “Let the most unworthy speak first.” If this is the rule in speaking through the Review, then I may speak. But shall I speak of clouds, and doubts, and darkness, and of the many bitter things I could write against my own soul? or shall I speak of the goodness of God in leading me out to see and embrace the messages which are so rejected by the greater portion of christendom? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.13
The fables of the present day have no charms for me, although it seems that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul has an irresistible charm to many. They contrast their elysian fields with the cold and silent grave; therefore they say, Give us the doctrine of Socrates and Plato, but away with Jesus and the resurrection. It looks to me now as though these two doctrines coming in contact in the days of the apostles called down the bitterest ire of Pagan Rome, and the Jews had so far embraced this doctrine that the very priests were grieved with the apostles that they taught through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. But this is my hope. The Life-giver is coming. I hear him say, “I am he that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore, and have the keys of hell and of death.” O, I thank his name that I believe his coming draweth nigh. I want to be prepared and have the wedding garment on. I want to be among the wise that shall understand, and see the fulfillment of God’s word in the events that are transpiring around us. I see ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.14
God’s preparation day has come,
With lightning speed the chariots run,
The fir-trees shaken are.
The earth decays and waxeth old,
In sin are sinners growing bold,
And haste their doom to share.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.15
The nations, too, are waking up,
To drink of God’s avenging cup,
And spue, and reel, and fall;
And though the signs speak out so plain,
The watchmen blinded still remain,
And give no warning call.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.16
God hath a people, thank his name!
Who will the messages proclaim,
Though Israel will not hear.
Yet like true watchmen will they cry,
The day of wrath is drawing nigh,
The Judge will soon appear.
CORNELIA RICE.
Folsomdale, N. Y.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.17
Extracts from Letters
Sr. L. B. Abbey writes from Hubbardsville, N. Y.: “It cheers my heart to read the columns of the Review, and it produces a stronger attachment and love for those who are watching and waiting for the return of their Lord. I feel a strong and increasing desire to lie low at the feet of the blessed Redeemer, and learn more perfectly the way in which I must walk to be made meet for that abode where angels dwell. O, how it becomes me to seek meekness, and continually cling to the bleeding side of the dear Saviour. ‘The meek shall inherit the earth.’ ‘The meek will he guide in judgment.’ My constant prayer is, O Lord, show me what there is still remaining about me that is not brought in subjection to thy holy and righteous will. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.18
“I feel truly to thank the name of the Lord that he still lengthens out my days and has not forsaken me, but visits me by his holy spirit, and breathes into my heart a spirit of praise to his excellent name. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.19
“Dear brethren and sisters scattered far and wide, lift up your heads, your redemption is near, and very soon the accuser of the brethren will be cast down. We are to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. O for overcoming faith that will enable us to overcome the world, and gain the victory over our enemies. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.20
“Our enemies are strong. They boast themselves, but not in the name of the Lord, therefore they shall not prevail. Well may the children of God say with the servants of old, ‘The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.’ ARSH December 10, 1861, page 14.21
“It is certain the Lord will save us from our enemies if we hold fast to his testimonies. Let us be of that number who shall take heed to our ways according to the word of the Lord; then shall we be cleansed from all unrighteousness; then we can boast ourselves in the Lord; then shall we rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing, and in every thing give thanks. Though we may be passing through the ordeal that is to purify us, yet we shall rejoice. I feel to praise the name of the Lord for all his mercies and goodness to me; that he has not yet left me to myself, nor in the hands of the enemy. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.1
“Brethren, pray for me, that I may still watch, wait, and pray, until called for by the Master, who will say to all the faithful, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.2
Bro. and Sr. Love write from Barkwoods, Wis.: “DEAR BRO. AND SR. WHITE: Although we have never seen you but once, yet we know your works and untiring labors of love; and we feel it a duty as well as a privilege to tell you how thankful we are for what you have endured. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.3
“It is a little over eight years since we commenced to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, and embraced, as we supposed, the third angel’s message. We were ready to make any sacrifice for the truth, but we soon learned that our teachers were not in union with the Review, and this we saw increased until the Messenger party arose. We then felt like standing alone, and retiring from strife. In this, we now see, we did not do right. We should have stood firmly for God’s truth and for his people; and we here wish to make a full acknowledgment to you before God, of our slowness of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. We have not regarded the gifts of the church in the important light that we should. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.4
“We are very thankful to you for your labors of love to your fellow mortals, especially the publishing of Spiritual Gifts. We cannot read in volume second without shedding tears of joy and grief. We are grieved at your trials, and glad that you have endured them so nobly, for by this we have been brought to see the light of present truth. And when you are wading through trials deep, remember that our prayers are daily rising to heaven for you. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.5
“As the subject of organization has been agitated, we wish to give a little of our experience in the matter. We embraced the Sabbath under the labors of Bro. Phelps, and have made very slow progress, and feel unworthy, but we are still trying to overcome. When Bro. P. first came into Barkwoods, he came, I believe, in sincerity, and preached the third angel’s message as he understood it. His labors seemed to be prospered, and there was a church raised up in this vicinity, which numbered about fifty. Our meetings were lively and spirited for a time. Bro. P. preached that the nominal churches were Babylon, and if we were organized into a church, we should become a part of it. This we generally believed. The different messengers in Wisconsin visited us frequently, and preached the same thing. Soon trials commenced, and there was an attempt to settle them, but with little profit. As trials became more prevalent, the old maxim held good, that what is everybody’s business is nobody’s. The messenger party came up, and many partook freely of its scattering influence. We were presently in a perfect Babylon ourselves. The interest died away in the meetings, preaching ceased, and the meetings were given up. Here we were in a confused state. We were like sheep turned into the wilderness without a shepherd. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.6
“Time passed on in this way until Bro. Sanborn came to Little Prairie, some ten miles from here. The subject of organization was presented, and we saw it was right. Bro. and Sr. Robbins and ourselves united with them in church fellowship. The straight testimony we consider meat in due season. We believe that the gifts of the church are absolutely necessary in these last days, to unite the people of God on a firm platform, that they might stand shoulder to shoulder to resist the fiery darts of the enemy. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.7
“Pray for us, that we may ever be found in the path of duty.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.8
Bro. A. G. Carter writes from Rubicon, Dodge Co., Wis.: “Dear Bro. White: I am much interested in the subject of Organization as presented by yourself and others through the columns of the Review. At the introduction of that subject, I was of the same mind as Bro. R. F. C. But after examining all the arguments in favor of legal organization, I am fully persuaded that you are right, and therefore endorse your views freely. I am also very much interested in the Conference Address, published in Review, Vol. xviii, No. 20; also the testimony in No. 21, under the heading of Organization, meets my mind. You have there plainly set forth the necessity of union in the churches. It reminds me of one Sabbath-keeper who said, ‘I don’t think we shall ever be of one mind and one heart while in this mortal state.’ But such a view to my mind would make our Lord’s prayer, John 17, unavailable, and also the teachings of the apostles on that subject. See Romans 12:16; 15:5; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 2:2; 3:16; 1 Peter 3:8; 1 Corinthians 1:10. If such passages of scripture as these do not teach that we should be of one heart and mind, then I know not what language can be made to teach it. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.9
“I have been a Sabbath-keeper for more than seven years, and a firm believer in the three angel’s messages, and am fully persuaded that the Lord is leading out his people. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.10
“My heart rejoices when I read in the Review of measures being taken for more permanent organization, and for union in the churches. I pray that the time may soon come when we all shall be one as the Father and Son are one. See the Lord’s prayer, in John 17, especially verses 11 and 22. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.11
“I regard the law of the Lord as being perfect, Psalm 19:7, like its great Author; and if we keep it we shall also be perfect. ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ Matthew 5:48. In comparing my life with the word of God and testimonies for the church, I have found myself imperfect, yet I am not discouraged, but mean to strive for it. The words of the apostle, Hebrews 6:1, are addressed to the followers of Christ: ‘Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.’ This shows that it is a progressive work, and our Saviour says, ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ John 6:37. I am determined to come unto the Lord by taking heed unto all his testimonies, that I may not be cast out; but be perfected with all his saints, and share in the glorious inheritance. My heart beats in union with the Lord’s people, and I rejoice to learn through the Review that they are taking measures to come up on higher and holier ground. I remain yours in much love for the whole truth.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.12
Sr. P. D. Lawrence writes from Falmouth, Mass., Nov. 19, 1861: “I attended an evening Methodist meeting in South Boston. They seemed full of the good Spirit, praising God, so much so that I felt tried with myself. The minister told them he hoped they would all work for God, - ever so little would call down the blessing. Remember, said he, those who by blowing the rams’ horns brought down the walls of Jericho. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.13
“After he had finished speaking I arose and told him I was happy to hear that subject spoken of, for it was one I delighted in. But the walls did not fall at the blowing of the rams’ horns only, but by obeying the command of God to follow the ark which contained the ten commandments which were still binding, and would be till heaven and earth passed away. And I was happy to hear so many praising God and the blessed Jesus, for every thing denoted his speedy coming in his kingdom to redeem us from the time of trouble so near. And that John said, this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and they are not grievious, and by this we were to know when we loved the children of God, if we loved God and kept his commandments. What shall we do with this Scripture? ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.14
“The minister said, ‘Sit down! I don’t want such subjects brought into this meeting. This is a social meeting.’ I told him I would ask his forgiveness if I had offended him by presenting the Scriptures. He made many excuses because he disliked the views, etc. An old man arose and said the kingdom was set up in his heart. The minister responded, ‘Amen! that is a good place for it.’ But I thought it a narrow location for the saints of God. Darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people truly, and yet so full of light and love. If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness. So saith Jesus.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.15
Sister E. E. Root writes from Victor, N. Y.: “I became interested in present truth by reading a few papers [the Review] lent me by a friend. Those lent me contained a piece called the Saints’ Inheritance. I read them, and borrowed more. I had been a believer in the destruction of the wicked and unconsciousness of the dead, three years. I have received the Review weekly since March, 1860, through the kindness of friends, for which I am grateful. They will not lose their reward. It is all the meeting I have.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.16
Sister M. A. Streeter writes from Pulaski, N. Y.: “I still put my trust in the Lord, and my heart is full of gratitude for what the Lord is doing for his people in bringing them into order. I believe it is the work of the Lord, My prayer is that I may be a fit member of that church which is written in heaven.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.17
Bro. Wm. M. Allen writes from Cleveland, Min.: “There have five little churches been organized, according to the organization address, in Minnesota; and as far as I have been able to learn, they all acknowledge an increase of interest and confidence. May the Lord bless them in their onward course. May God grant that we may have a zeal according to knowledge, and that we may be one in deed and in truth. And my humble prayer is that those upon whom the care and burden of the churches has rested, may be sustained by the love and sympathy of their brethren, and the power of the Holy Spirit.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 15.18
Bro. L. Martin writes from Bennington, N. H.: “I still read the Review and Herald with pleasure, and I trust with profit. We have had many good meetings at Wilton and other places the past season. The brethren and sisters here in New Hampshire, as far as I know, are well united as regards organization. We believe the time has fully come when there should be order in the church. We sympathize with you and sister White in your arduous labors. May the Lord strengthen you and prepare you for what is yet before you. I do feel that we are living in a very solemn time. May the Lord help us all to be faithful to the end, that we may have everlasting life, is the prayer of your unworthy brother.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.1
OBITUARY
IT becomes my painful duty to record the deaths of three lovely babes, only children of Bro. and Sister Blodget, of Gilboa, Ohio. Eva died Oct. 6th, aged three years and nine months; Ann died Nov. 27th, aged one year and twenty-eight days; William died Nov. 29th, aged two years six months and twenty days. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.2
These children suffered much for some days by the disease called diphtheria. Thus are our brother and sister called to part with their family; and while our deepest sympathies are called forth in their behalf, we hope they will be remembered in the prayers of God’s dear people, that they may be sustained under this great bereavement. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.3
Gone to your rest, darlings:
Sweet be your sleep,
While the heart-stricken parents
In loneliness weep.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.4
But the bright hope cheers them,
That Christ soon will come,
To take all his loved ones
To heaven, their home.
JOS. DUDLEY.
Gilboa, Ohio, Dec. 3, 1861.
ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.5
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. THIRD-DAY, DEC. 10, 1861
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER
“SABBATARIANISM. - Fifty Unanswerable arguments against Seventh-day Sabbath Keeping, is the title of a tract of 16 pages, by Bro. A. N. Seymour. Price 3 cents, single; postage 1 cent; or, for gratuitous circulation among those seduced by this law-keeping, vision-loving, and truth-hating delusion, $1 per 100 copies, postage, 16 cents. Will be ready for sale in a few days. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.6
“This tract sets forth some strong and powerful arguments against keeping the Mosaic law in this age, and is just the tract to put into the hands of those in danger of being entrapped by this Sabbath-keeping delusion. Paul declares if men will keep the Mosaic law, then Christ shall profit them nothing! Who then will give up Christ for a dead law? None, unless they are deceived by the fables and visions of this illusion!! May God deliver all his people from this imposition! ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.7
“For sale at this office. Send for them by hundreds.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.8
We clip the above from the Millennial Harbinger, as a rare specimen of that dragonic bitterness [Revelation 12:17] which some men feel toward the Lord’s Sabbath and those who observe it. It seems indeed wonderful that so much venom could be spit out in the advertisement of a three cent tract! And our first impression was that it must be the well-known strain of the author of the tract, or the sullen mutterings of the former editor of the Harbinger against the Sabbath, and visions, and the law of God, rather than from the pen of Thomas G. Newman. When Bro. Newman was at the Review Office a few months since, the printers were favorably impressed with the new editor of the Harbinger. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.9
When that paper first appeared in our Office with its improved dress and new editor, we remarked that it was well for that sheet that it had a New-man to conduct it, and we took pleasure in looking over the paper, which under a former administration treated us so contemptibly. But if the above advertisement came from the pen of Bro. Newman, we must conclude that he became poisoned on his Western tour by A. N. Seymour, or some other no-law, no-Sabbath spirit of the West, or that the mantle of Joseph Marsh has fallen upon him. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.10
ORGANIZATION AT CLEVELAND, MINN
IN accordance with the plan presented in the Review, a church has been organized in this place consisting of twenty-two members. The meeting for this purpose was held at the “Key Stone House,” Nov. 9, when W. M. Allen was chosen chairman, G. J. Virtue secretary. The church covenant recommended in the conference address was unanimously adopted, and Bro. Wm. Johnson was set apart as deacon, no elder being as yet chosen. They appointed a monthly meeting on the fourth Sabbath of each month, and quarterly meetings for the celebration of the ordinances, dating from the fourth Sabbath in October. They also adopted the plan of Systematic Benevolence. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.11
This is a new church, nearly all its members having received the present truth at the tent meeting held in this place this fall. But they are happily united in the love of the truth, and in the fellowship of the Spirit. It is believed that some five or six others will soon unite with them in obedience to the commandments of God. I would add that as the result of our labors the past season, I have baptized thirty-two. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.12
W. M. ALLEN.
Cleveland, Minn., Nov. 10, 1861.
FAMINE IN IRELAND
THE following extract, which is taken form an article now going the rounds of the papers, but which originally appeared in the Dublin Freeman, an Irish journal, gives us to understand what the people of Ireland may expect if prompt measures are not taken to provide against the failure of the potato crop: ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.13
“The cry of distress which has issued from all parts of the western and north-western coast of Ireland too nearly resembles that which we heard in 1846 and 1847, the very memory of which even at this distant period appalls the stoutest hearts. We have been at some trouble to ascertain the actual condition of the broad belt of country from which the worst accounts have reached us, and we regret to say that there is no exaggeration whatever in even the strongest statements that have been placed before the public. Along the seacoast the prospects of the people already begin to assume the aspect of distress; and though there yet remains a small portion of the potato crop, which may be available for some weeks, there is no possibility of averting a local famine and all its accompanying and consequent horrors, if prompt and decisive measures be not taken in time to provide against the impending calamity. From one district the information before us amounts to an assurance that three-fourths of the potato crop are gone, and that the remaining fourth is so deteriorated in quality as to be hardly fit for human food.” ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.14
APPOINTMENTS
Bro. and sister White design to hold meetings with the brethren in Michigan as follows: ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.15
| Wright, | Dec. 14,15. |
| Orleans, | ” 21, 22. |
| St. Charles, | ” 28, 29. |
THE Lord willing, I will hold meetings with the churches in Northern Wisconsin as follows: ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.16
| Rubicon, | Dec. 14,15. |
| Koskonong, | ” 21,22. |
Meetings to commence in each place on Friday evening. We hope the brethren will make the necessary arrangements, and give wide circulation to the above appointments, that all our scattered brethren may have the benefit of these meetings. Come, brethren and sisters, with your hearts filled with love to God, and we shall have a good time. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.17
ISAAC SANBORN.
Business Department
Business Notes
John Francisco: There is nothing due on your Review up to the commencement of present Vol. We applied 50 cts. of the money you sent on your Instructor, and hold the $1,00 subject to your order. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.18
H. H. Wilcox: We will send the Review and Herald to R. Torrey at half price. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.19
C. W. Olds: We have no Commandment Charts on hand at present. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.20
Receipts FOR REVIEW AND HERALD
Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the ‘Review and Herald’ to which the money receipted pays. If money for the paper is not in due time acknowledged, immediate notice of the omission should be given. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.21
C. Walter 4,00,xx,1. Amy E. Dart 1,00,xx,1. M. P. Shaw 1,25,xx,20. Ransom Lockwood 1,00,xx,1. O. Randolph 1,00,xx,4. T. Crouch 1,00,xix,23. Mrs. J. Smith (for Alfred G. Smith and Mary Heddington each 50 cts.) xx,1. Martin Leach 2,00,xxi,1. H. H. Pierce 2,00,xix,1. J. F. Carman 1,00,xx,1. H. H. Bramhall 1,00,xx,1. A. Monson 3,50,xix,23. N. J. Berry 1,00,xx,5. L. Maxson 1,00,xx,1. N. S. Raymond 2,00,xxi,1. F. P. Drummond 1,00,xix,1. L. Martin 1,00,xx,1. S. Martin 1,00,xx,1. E. A. Higley 2,00,xvii,1. R. Torrey 2,00,xviii,1. A. A. Harris 2,00,xix,7. A. G. Carter 2,00,xx,8. L. H. Little 1,00,xxi,1. T. V. Canright 1,00,xx,20. S. Becket 1,00,xix,1. D. Stambach 2,00,xix,1. Wm. Janes 3,00,xx,1. E. Bolser 1,00,xix,1. A. Hays 1,00,xix,1. P. Townsend 1,00,xix,1. C. W. Olds 3,40,xix,12. L. M. Gates 1,00,xx,1. L. Morris 1,00,xx,14. C. Cross 2,00,xix,7. Robert Reed 2,00,xix,4. E. D. Wilch 1,00,xx,1. J. Luddington 3,00,xx,1. J. W. Raymond 0,50,xix,14. Geo. Prentice 1,00,xix,1. Sarah Bliven 1,00,xx,1. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.22
For Review to Poor
Two little girls 0,50. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.23
For Shares in Publishing Association
Stephen Rider $10,00. Henry Miller $20,00. M. E. Higley $5,00. Mrs. Wm. S. Higley Jr. $5,00. John Durham $5,00. M. P. Cook $10,00. Sarah J. Cook $2,00. C. W. Olds $20,00. Wm. Carthy $10,00. Sarah Bliven $4,00. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.24
Donations to Publishing Association
Church at Marshall, Mich., (S. B.) $5. Church at Watson, Mich., (S. B.) $5,00. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.25
Books Sent By Mail
Joseph Nichols $1,65, Margaret Armstrong, Ireland, $1,00, H. C. Whitney 60c, E. A. Davis 30c, J. C. Waltimire 5c, C. W. Olds 60c, L. M. Gates 15c, J. W. Raymond 10c, W. & S. Vancil $3,00, J. I. Shurtz $1,00, Mary Dime 80c. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.26
Cash Received on Account
Isaac C. Vaughan 0,60. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.27
PUBLICATIONS
| The New Hymn Book, containing 464 pages and 122 pieces of music, | 80 cts. |
| History of the Sabbath, in one volume, bound - Part I, Bible History - Part II, Secular History, | 60 “ |
| Sabbath Tracts, Nos. 1-4. This work presents a condensed view of the entire Sabbath question, | 15 “ |
| The Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12, particularly the Third Angel’s Message, and the Two-horned Beast, | 15 “ |
| Hope of the Gospel, or Immortality the gift of God, | 15 “ |
| Which? Mortal or Immortal? or an inquiry into the present constitution and future condition of man, | 15 “ |
| Modern Spiritualism; its Nature and Tendency. This book should be in the hands of every family, as a warning against Spiritualism, | 15 “ |
| The Kingdom of God. A Refutation of the doctrine, called Age to Come, | 15 “ |
| Pauline Theology, or the Christian Doctrine of Future Punishment, as taught in the epistles of Paul, | 15 “ |
| Prophecy of Daniel. The Four Universal Kingdoms, The Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days, | 10 “ |
| The Saints’ Inheritance. The Immortal Kingdom located on the New Earth, | 10 “ |
| Signs of the Times, showing that the Second Coming of Christ is at the Door, | 10 “ |
| Law of God. The testimony of both Testaments, showing its origin and perpetuity, | 10 “ |
| Vindication of the true Sabbath, by J. W. Morton, late Missionary to Hayti, | 10 “ |
| Review of Springer on the Sabbath, Law of God and first day of the week, | 10 “ |
| Facts for the Times. Extracts from the writings of eminent authors Ancient and Modern, | 10 “ |
| Miscellany. Seven Tracts in one book on the Second Advent and the Sabbath, | 10 “ |
| The Seven Trumpets. The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9, | 10 “ |
| Christian Baptism. Its Nature, Subjects and Design, | 10 “ |
| Assistant. The Bible Student’s Assistant, or a Compend of Scripture references, | 5 “ |
| The Fate of the Transgressor, or a short argument on the First and Second Deaths, | 5 “ |
| Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment - Apostasy and perils of the last days, | 5 “ |
| Truth Found. A short argument for the Sabbath, with an Appendix, “The Sabbath not a Type,“ | 5 “ |
| An Appeal for the restoration of the Bible Sabbath in an address to the Baptists, | 5 “ |
| Review of Crozier on the Institution, Design and Abolition of the Seventh-day Sabbath, | 5 “ |
| Review of Fillio. A reply to a series of discourses delivered by him in Battle Creek on the Sabbath question, | 5 “ |
| Brown’s Experience in relation to Entire Consecration and the Second Advent, | 5 “ |
| Report of General Conference held in Battle Creek, June 1859, Address on Systematic Benevolence, etc., | 5 “ |
| Sabbath Poem. A Word for the Sabbath, or False Theories Exposed, | 5 “ |
| Illustrated Review. A Double Number of the REVIEW AND HERALD Illustrated, | 5 “ |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. I, or the Great Controversy between Christ and his angels, and Satan and his angels, | 50 “ |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. II. Experience, Views and Incidents in connection with the Third Message, | 50 “ |
| Scripture Doctrine of Future Punishment. An Argument by H. H. Dobney, Baptist Minister of England, | 75 “ |
| Debt and Grace as related to the Doctrine of Future Punishment, by C. F. Hudson, | 100 “ |
| Voice of the Church on the Coming and Kingdom | |
| of the Redeemer. A History of the doctrine, | 100 “ |
PENNY TRACTS. Who Changed the Sabbath? - Unity of the Church - Spiritual Gifts - Judson’s Letter on Dress - Law of God, by Dobney (2 cts.) - Law of God by Wesley - Appeal to men of reason on Immortality - Much in Little - Truth - Death and Burial - Preach the Word. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.28
These tracts can be sent, post-paid, in packages of not less than twenty-five. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.29
Home Here and Home in Heaven, with other poems. This work embraces all those sweet and Scriptural poems written by Annie R. Smith, from the time she embraced the third message till she fell asleep in Jesus. Price 25 cents. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.30
The Chart. A Pictorial Illustration of the Visions of Daniel and John 20 by 25 inches. Price 15 cents. On rollers, post-paid, 75 cts. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.31
German. Das Wesen des Sabbaths und unsere Verpflichtung auf ihn nach dem Vierten Gebote. A Tract of 80 pp., a Translation of Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment. Price 10 cents. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.32
Holland. De Natuur en Verbinding van den Sabbath volgens het vierde Gebodt. Translated from the same as the German. Price 10 cents. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.33
French. Le Sabbat de la Bible. A Tract on the Sabbath of 32 pp. Price 5 cents. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.34
La Grande Statue de Daniel II, et les Quatre Betes Symboliques, et quelques remarques sur la Seconde Venue de Christ, et sur le Cinquieme Royaume Universel. A Tract of 32 pp. on the Prophecies. Price 5 cents. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.35
These publications will be sent by mail, post-paid, at their respective prices. When ordered by the quantity, not less than $5 worth, one-third will be deducted from these prices on Pamphlets and Tracts, and one-fourth on bound Books. In this case, postage added, if sent by mail. Orders, to insure attention, must be accompanied with the cash, unless special arrangements be made. Address Elder JAMES WHITE, Battle Creek Michigan. ARSH December 10, 1861, page 16.36