Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 17
1861
January 1, 1861
RH VOL. XVII. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, - NO. 7
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. XVII. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, JANUARY 1, 1861. - NO. 7.
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
is published weekly, at One Dollar a Volume of 26 Nos. in advance.
J. P. KELLOGG, CYRENIUS SMITH AND D. R. PALMER,
Publishing Committee.
Uriah Smith, Resident Editor.J. N. Andrews, James White, J. H. Waggoner, R. F. Cottrell, and Stephen Pierce, Corresponding Editors.Address REVIEW AND HERALD Battle Creek, Mich.
ALL FOR CHRIST
To drain the cup of woe,
Wearing the form of frail mortality;
Thy blessed labors done,
Thy crown of victory won,
Hast passed from earth - passed to thy throne on high.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.1
Man may no longer trace,
In thy celestial face
The image of the bright, the viewless one;
Nor may thy servants hear,
Save with faith’s raptured ear,
Thy voice of tenderness, - God’s holy Son!
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.2
Our eyes behold thee not,
Yet hast thou not forgot
Those who have placed their hope, their trust in thee;
Before thy Father’s face
Thou hast prepared a place,
That where thou art, there they may also be.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.3
It was no path of flowers,
Through this dark world of ours,
Beloved of the Father, thou didst tread;
And shall we in dismay
Shrink from the narrow way,
When clouds and darkness are around it spread?
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.4
O, Thou who art our life,
Be with us through the strife;
Was not thy head by earth’s fierce tempests bowed?
Raise then our eyes above
To see a Father’s love,
Beam, like a bow of promise, through the cloud.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.5
Ev’n through the awful gloom
Which hovers o’er the tomb,
That light of love our guiding star shall be;
Our spirits shall not dread
The shadowy way to tread,
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.6
A SHOUT FOR FREEDOM
[Those of our brethren who have abandoned the use of tobacco, will rejoice as they read the following lines, that they have overcome the habit. And we trust that those who have not yet gained this victory, will be induced by their perusal, to make more strenuous efforts to free themselves from that thralldom than ever before. - Ed.] ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.7
As much as we boast of liberty, thousands among us are doomed to the most abject servitude. They may not be tortured by the lash of the southern planter, or crouch beneath the tyranny of a despot yet they are doomed to a still worse bondage - the slavery of appetite. Passing by the multitudes who quaff the intoxicating cup, and suffer its numerous ill, sacrificing wealth, home, friends, reputation, and even heaven itself, let us consider a class of slaves whose chains, being less apparent, are, nevertheless, more firmly riveted upon them - the slaves to the use of tobacco. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.8
Here two questions arise, which will form the basis of this article: Is the use of tobacco an evil? and is there a remedy? ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.9
All will admit that chewing, snuffing, or smoking to excess, as some practice it, is an evil. But in regard to the evil generally there would be a great variety of opinions. We deem it, therefore, important to examine the extent of the evil, in order properly to apply the remedy. Let us consider its deleterious effects physically and morally. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.10
Tobacco, according to the most approved botanical authors, belongs to the same order as Atropa Beladonna, or deadly nightshade; and Datura Stramonium, or poison thorn-apple. It is without doubt a native plant of American soil. Its extract forms one of the most virulent poisons yet known. Linnaeus, an eminent botanist, has placed it in the class Lurida, which signifies pale, ghastly, livid, dismal, and fatal. How strikingly characteristic of the appearance and end of many of its votaries! ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.11
The use of tobacco seriously affects the organs of sensation. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.12
The Taste. This organ is located in the tongue, and its uses are of the utmost importance. It is also a source of great enjoyment. In sickness, when this organ is rendered inactive by fevers, the most delicious fruits are insipid and tasteless. Need we wonder, then, that its functions are greatly depreciated where this organ is constantly subjected to the action of an extract the most penetrating and poisonous, possessing both the properties of narcotic and irritant! ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.13
The sense of smell consists of a thin, white, transparent, and flexible skin, formed of fibers interwoven like net-work and connected by nervous filaments to the brain. The acuteness of this sense differs in different individuals. It enables us to enjoy the delightful odors of nature, and to distinguish between wholesome and unhealthy diet. The eye, the ear, and the touch would be insufficient without this organ. Now, while we observe its functions often suspended by a slight cold, can we doubt that the fumes of tobacco, so poisonous in its nature, hanging like a sooty cloud in the form of smoke, or the dust of the rattling car in the form of snuff, obstruct and injure the sense of smell? ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.14
The sense of touch is formed by numerous minute projecting filaments, which are spread over the whole external surface of the body, being a termination of the nerves. Now, if the nervous system is seriously affected by the use of tobacco - as we shall endeavor to show - then this organ must be affected in the same proportion. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.15
The ear is peculiarly complicated in its arrangement, and, like the other organs of sense, is connected with the nervous system, and must of necessity be more or less influenced by tobacco on this account. Dr. Mussey presents the case of a surveyor, by the name of Cummings, of Plymouth, New Hampshire, who, by the use of tobacco in all its forms for thirty-five years, became nearly blind and deaf. Upon giving up the use of tobacco both his sight and hearing returned, and all his senses became keener at the age of sixty-three than the average of men at that age, being able to keep notes without spectacles, with no other change in his habits but in the use of tobacco. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.16
The eye is perhaps one of the most interesting and important organs of the body which is not absolutely essential to sustain life. Many would choose to be deaf and dumb, rather than be deprived of sight. Philosophers disagree in regard to the connection of the eye with the brain, but that it is so connected through the medium of the nerves scarce admits of a doubt. Now, as smoke is generally hurtful to the eye, and as it must of necessity come in contact with the eye of the smoker, it must therefore be injured by this habit. We have seen its effects in the account of Mr. Cummings. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.17
Tobacco seriously injures the alimentary and digestive organs. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.18
First, the teeth. Who has not heard of a sure remedy for toothache in a pipe or quid of tobacco? This reminds me of a celebrated cure for corns which I once read in a public journal: “Soak the corns well over night in salt and water; in the morning cut off both feet just above the ankles: never known to fail.” To think of smoking or chewing poison till the nervous system is so prostrate that it ceases its action, is to present a remedy worse than the disease. The use of tobacco, whatever may be said to the contrary, is evidently an injury to the teeth. Dr. Wm. Alcott on this subject says, “the soundness of the teeth is always in proportion to the soundness of the gums, and the lining membrane of the mouth and alimentary canal; and the fact that tobacco injures this lining membrane, is as well established as any fact in physiology. Drs. J. C. Warren and Mussey testify, “that many tobacco chewers have their teeth literally worn to the gums, as the natural effect of tobacco on the teeth is to lessen their hardness.” “Scores,” says Dr. M., “who have come under my observation, where the front of the jaws shut close, had the grinders so much worn, where the quid lay, that there was a space between them varying from one-tenth to one-sixth of an inch; and for twenty years I have questioned patients with cancers around the mouth, whether they used tobacco, and if ever I have found one to answer negatively, it was only the exception to the rule.” We proceed from the teeth to the stomach. How common the plea among tobacco users that they are troubled with indigestion, and need this stimulant to assist nature! How absurd, when the natural tendency of this habit is to throw off the saliva, whose very property is to aid the digestive organs! Dr. Rush, and many others of the medical profession, unite in their testimony that the use of tobacco is a fruitful source of dyspepsia and other diseases of the digestive organs. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.19
Tobacco seriously affects the blood. Modern philosophers agree with Moses, the most ancient historian, that “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Leviticus 17:11. Solomon, the world’s wisest king, teaches the manner of its circulation through the system. Ecclesiastes 12:6. The average quantity of blood in an adult is estimated at about twenty-eight pounds. This, by the action of the heart, is thrown to the extremities about fourteen times every hour. When passing through the arterial system it is of a bright floral red color, having been purified in its passage through the lungs by inhaling the vital air. As the blood returns, and gathers upon its surface the impurities of the system through which it has passed, it becomes dark in the venous system till it again reaches the lungs. Can there then remain a doubt of the deleterious effects of tobacco on this life blood, when, instead of inhaling the pure oxygen upon the lungs, there is taken with it the poisonous effluvia of tobacco in the form of smoke, dust, and spittle, to be carried through all the ramifications of this complicated machinery! More than this, as “the blood is the life,” if that life-blood is impregnated with poison, its effects will be transmitted to the offspring, and thus the evil becomes wide-spreading in its influence. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 49.20
The nerves are a prolongation of the medullary substance of the brain, which extends through every portion of the system. They are the organs both of sensation and motion, embracing both the feelings and the will. It is estimated that in the human body there are about 10,000 nerves. In their operations they convey influences from their extremities to the brain, and also convey the influences of the will from the brain to the voluntary muscles. As these organs are diffused through the whole system, does it require a great stretch of credulity to believe that they are often seriously affected by the use of tobacco, a poison so penetrating in its nature? And as the body and mind are always more or less in sympathy with each other, and as the whole physical man is injured by the indulgence of this habit, we conclude that consciousness, memory, reason, faith, imagination, yea, the whole intellectual man, is injured by it in the same proportion. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.1
But let us consider the moral bearing of this habit. We shall use the term morality in its strict theological sense. “Morality,” according to Dr. Webster, “is the quality of an action which renders it good; the conformity of an act to the Divine law, on the principles of rectitude, performed by a free agent, from a motive of obedience to the Divine will.” We take the ground that the use of tobacco is a great moral evil. None will pretend to pursue this habit in conformity to the Divine law. That law, which is our rule of action, requires us to “abstain from the appearance of evil.” We do not deny that tobacco may be used beneficially as a medicine, which may be said of arsenic and other fatal poisons. But we do say, without fear of successful contradiction, that its habitual use is at least unnecessary. The origin of the habit, in some cases, may be with a misguided physician, but more generally the practice commences in childhood. Like an infant playing at the mouth of a den of serpents, or the lair of a tiger, unconscious of danger, they fear no evil till the grasp of the destroyer is upon them. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.2
Waste of property has an immoral tendency. “Time is money,” has grown to a proverb. It is penciled on our time-pieces, placed conspicuously in our mechanic shops, and heralded in our public journals. Now, if property is squandered in the shape of wasted moments in the use of tobacco, its immoral tendency is so far established. We leave this thought with the reader. He can not, will not deny this point. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.3
The use of tobacco often leads to intemperance and idleness. Go among store and tavern loungers and record the names of all who abstain from the use of tobacco, and you will find them to be only the exceptions to the general rule. I will not say that every tobacco user is a drunkard; but I will say, that almost without an exception, every drunkard is a tobacco user. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.4
Tobacco users behold your associates! If filthiness has an immoral tendency, then we have another evidence of the immorality of tobacco using. Mix in society and who do you generally find most chaste in their conversation, those who indulge or are free from this habit? That obscene jest, that vulgar attempt at wit or blasphemous attempt at Scripture quotation, is frequently either followed or preceded by the curling wreath, as of the smoke of the pit, or a dark polluted stream from those worse polluted lips. I am aware that there are exceptions, would to God we could say “honorable exceptions;” for although there are points of honor in those who use tobacco, I have yet to learn where lies the honor of tobacco chewing. I think this honor should be classed with the honor of rum-selling, rum-drinking, and duelling - the less we have of it the better. Not only does the bride plead with her newly pledged husband to abandon a habit of all things most offensive to her, while he remains unmoved; but crowds of beautiful females are seen, with handkerchiefs to their faces, while the would-be-thought gentleman is seen puffing tobacco smoke in their faces, or pouring streams of pollution at their feet. “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon.” But let us call up witnesses to testify to the filthiness of tobacco. Speak, ye tobacco-scented mouths and stomachs, ye crammed nostrils and smoke-dried faces! Ye mechanic shops and gilded saloons; ye steamboat decks and railroad cars; ye shining stove-hearths and glistening spittoons; ye rich and costly carpets and hearth-rugs; ye coaches, cabs, and crowded omnibuses; ye seminaries, academies, and colleges of learning; ye halls of legislation and temples of religion - speak and bear testimony to the filthiness of this habit. Come forward, ye ladies dressed in delicate fabric; ye “maids of honor,” who sweep, and scrub, and clean; ye benevolent societies, who furnish and keep in order the house of God; ye who have snuff-taking cooks and tobacco-chewing bakers - say, is it a filthy practice? Speak, ye cart-loads of old tobacco pipes and tubs of snuff handkerchiefs; ye pyramids of juicy tobacco quids and floods of richly-colored saliva; ye lads and lasses who have snuff-taking grandmas and tobacco-chewing grandfathers - say, is this a filthy habit? Come from the four winds, ye tobacco-scented zephyrs, and bear on, from every clime, your testimony upon the question, is the use of tobacco an evil? Let us now attend to the second question: ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.5
IS THERE A REMEDY!
The old proverb, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” comes too late to that man who is confirmed in an evil habit that binds him as in the folds of the boa-constrictor. To prevent, in his case is to cure. But if the great Physician has provided a remedy for the very worst of diseases, the plague of the heart, and has opened a fountain which can cleanse from the foulest stain, then there is hope even here. We would say, then, to every tobacco user, there is hope, for there is a remedy. “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” We proceed to present several successive steps to the annihilation of this most disgusting yet expensive habit. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.6
1. Reflection. This is most important. Think of man’s original state in Paradise. Did his happiness consist in pipes and cigars, etc.? Think how recently its use commenced, and how the people lived without it. Contrast the difficulties of tobacco users with those who are free. See the tobacco chewer in that richly carpeted mansion, with closed fire-boards and minus a spittoon. See him approaching the sanctuary, struggling to decide whether to sacrifice his appetite, and sit an hour without his quid, or pollute the holy temple of God while listening to a discourse from the words of the apostle, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,” etc. Reflect on the influence you may have in society, both in the indulgence and the abstinence from the practice, and lastly, upon its expensiveness, and the good that might be accomplished with the money thus spent. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.7
2. Resolution. Not merely a resolution to try, but to quit at all hazards. It will be all in vain to try. I’ll try, may do wonders in other enterprises, but will be foiled here. I’ll try, is “the strong man armed.” I must have it, is the “stronger than he that overcometh him and taketh from him his armor and spoileth his goods.” To overcome this habit needs an indomitable will. Like the prodigal after his reflection, in his second step of reform he must say, “I will arise and go.” There must be no compromise, such as giving up the quid and smoking an occasional cigar, or vice versa. This would be like an attempt to tame a tiger by giving him occasional bits of flesh just to inflame his appetite. But “lay the ax at the root of the tree;” then deal a death blow, as you would in killing a serpent, at the habit at once. And as you would press on to the destruction of a writhing serpent after the first blow, repeating them in quick succession, so deal with this habit. As to the weapons to be used, I would say any thing may be of use which will correct this morbid appetite for tobacco. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.8
And here I would recommend the course of a noted dram-drinker who signed the total abstinence pledge. Soon after he took the pledge he called at a neighbor’s house to borrow an article, and, as the custom was, he was offered a glass of cider. But said the man, “I have taken the pledge.” “O! well, a glass of cider won’t hurt you,” said the other. But he refused, and the neighbor repaired to another place to get the desired article, when a most burning thirst came upon the other, and he soliloquized thus: “What will be the harm to take a very little of that cider just to quench this thirst?” “But,” says conscience, “you are pledged.” Here his habit again assaulted him, and the thought was again suggested, “What is the harm?” At this juncture, addressing the habit which was struggling for victory, he said, “Well, old fellow, if you are so very thirsty, I think a little cold water won’t hurt you.” So suiting the action to the word, and not waiting for another struggle of the besieged habit, he goes to the well and from the “old oaken bucket” he drank as long as breath would allow from nature’s bubbling fount. He paused, thought of the cider; his thirst returned, and poising the old bucket on the curb he repeated the draught, doubling the dose. The habit surrendered, and he went home shouting the victory, having drowned the “old fellow” in a bucket of water. I would say deal not with this monster homeopathically, but hydropathically. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.9
3. Association. In addition we would say, look well to your associates and places of resort. If you had been bitten by a serpent on some mountain, you would dread mountain scenery, and would tread cautiously if business called you there. Tread cautiously, then, where lurks this poisonous tobacco worm, and look out for its sting. Among all these resorts none should be more dreaded than the polite and fashionable cigar circles. These are like the gilded saloons, where the devil’s hook is covered with gold and tinsel. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.10
4. Lastly. Let your watchword be, “liberty or death.” I once heard of a man who thought he should die before morning with toothache. Being alone, and fearing it would not be known of what disease he died, he wrote on a slip of paper and put it in a conspicuous place, “Died with the toothache.” But he fell asleep and the morning found him well, and in his joy he neglected to take down the notice of his death, which was afterward found by his friends. I never knew a case of one who, in the strength of grace, resolved to quit the cup of inebriation, that died with the delirium tremens. Many have thought they should die in the struggle, but they have come off victorious by perseverance. So will it prove with the resolute and determined reformer in the habit, who, like the patriots of the Revolution, rely on the “aid of divine Providence.” If the foe demand an immediate surrender, then shout, “Victory or death!” You may feel that you must die, but write not your obituary yet, but resolve to strike another blow for freedom, and determine no longer to be a slave in a free country. When one stronghold gives way, stop not to count the spoils, but press on to other conquests, shouting victory! victory! And as Gideon, with his three hundred men, took the vast multitude of the Midianites by crying, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon,” so may you conquer by shouting the Sword of the Lord and emancipation! - Ladies’ Repository. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.11
A proud, unhumbled spirit is a constant source of unhappiness and perplexity. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 50.12
FIRST STEPS TOWARDS CHRIST
What are the first steps of a soul in coming to Christ? ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.1
1. The initiatory step we would commend to you, my good friend, is - sincere prayer. Do this at once. Do it irrespective of the amount of feeling, or of the degree of your conviction of sin. You may be but slightly convicted of your guilt. If you have a sufficient sense of the evil of your heart to desire a better heart and a purer life, that is sufficient feeling to commence with. If you have confidence enough in Jesus Christ to go and ask him for a new heart (instead of undertaking a self-salvation), that is a sufficient faith to start upon. Remembering that the mightiest saint was once a lisping, groping, feeble babe in grace, do not despise the day of small things. If you are convinced by the Holy Spirit that you ought to give yourself to Christ, then to prayer, you do not need to be told for what to pray. An honest inquirer can be trusted to frame his own petition and will make his own liturgy. The less stereotyped the better. Pre-eminently let your requests be honest. Then let them be importunate. Let them be mainly directed to Jesus Christ for the pardon of your sins, and for divine aid to help you to do your duty. For these two things, “pray without ceasing.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.2
In his “first works” our friend failed, and then strangely wondered how it was that his soul was making no headway, and his prayers were receiving no answer. We admit, indeed, that an obedience to the law of Christ that day, would not have purchased for him an acceptance with God. But it would have made him a very different man, as he presented himself before the Saviour at the mercy seat. It would have strengthened his as yet weak and irresolute purpose to live to God. It would have been a sincere attempt at obeying Christ by renouncing sin and crucifying selfishness. It would have been a first step toward a practical following after Christ. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.3
3. To the anxious inquirers whose eye may rest on this paragraph, we would say, each one of you has some first steps of actual duty to perform. Salvation is a free gift on the part of God; but on your part it is a work. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” God graciously gives the inestimable boon of pardon and a new heart through the mediation of Jesus Christ; but he gives it to those who prove their desire for it by repentance and practical obedience. It is not for us to specify to you all the thousand methods in which you are to do your “first works.” In the general we would say, refuse the first temptation to sin. Secondly, obey God at the first call of duty. Begin to serve him. Crystallize inward emotions into external acts - deeds of benevolence - sacrifices for conscience sake. Make your repentance real by making it fruitful. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.4
One of you, for example, goes right away from that closet in which he has been praying for a new heart, and hunting up a person whom he has wronged, he makes reparation on the spot. Another one seeks out an ancient enemy against whom his heart has been simmering a slow hatred for years, and offering his hand says, “Come, sir! you and I have quarreled about long enough; let us forgive and forget.” [How differently that man will pray the next time he comes before an all-forgiving Saviour.] Another who has bolted out a poor erring daughter, sends for her to come home again - remembering as he does so, how Jesus once drew a weeping outcast through a baptism of tears to his own loving heart. Still a fourth seeker after Christ finds that his appetites are his snare. So he says to himself, “I must give up my glass, or give up my soul.” His first step toward Christ is to shatter that satanic antichrist, his decanter, into a thousand fragments. For the Holy Spirit, and the spirit of the winecup cannot tabernacle in the same soul. An audible prayer before his family has been a first step with more than one awakened man. It was hard work to get through it between the suppressed smiles of his children and the scarce suppressed tears of his astonished overjoyed wife. But never in his life - though he were to outlive Methuselah - will he offer a prayer that will tell so prodigiously on his spiritual history as that first, broken, stammering, disjointed, but agonizing prayer before his household. When he offered it he took his first decisive step toward Christ. My friend, have you taken yours? ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.5
HOW AM I TO KNOW WHETHER I HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT?
IF you have the Holy Spirit, you have seen the evil of sin; you have repented of sin; you have forsaken sin; you hate sin; you watch and pray against sin; you have received the spirit of love. If you have the Spirit of God, you love God supremely. You love the Father, who gave his Son to suffer and die. You love the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for what he hath done and suffered on your account. You love all the sincere followers of Jesus Christ, and confine not your regards to a party. You love the human race at large, as children of the same family, and you wish them to know the things that belong to their peace. You are of a forbearing and forgiving temper; you pity, and pray for sinners, who, through blindness and ignorance, oppose at present their own eternal interest; you are of a thankful spirit; you thank God for making you to differ, by his grace, from many others, and you praise him for every favor, both of a temporal and spiritual nature; you are zealous for the honor of God in the world; you desire to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and in all the duties of Christianity; you esteem the applause, the pleasure and the wealth of the whole world as nothing, in comparison of the love and blessing of God, through Christ Jesus. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.6
THE OLD vs. THE NEW MAN
THE following is a striking illustration of the contending elements in man’s mental nature. It shows how men who are in the main good, often give way to the temptation of some strong propensity, and thus mar their characters:- ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.7
Pass your hand over Deacon M.’s head, and about an inch and a half above, and a little forward of the ears, you find a protuberance which phrenologists call the bump of acquisitiveness. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.8
By nature the deacon loved mammon; by grace he loved God. Between them there was continued war. Both fought - one like Michael, the other like the Devil. As there was long war between the house of David and the house of Saul, so there was long war in the earthly house of the deacon. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.9
As with Gad, so with the deacon; a troop overcame him, but he overcame at last as appears by the following circumstance: ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.10
In the same church with deacon M. was a poor brother. This poor man had the misfortune to lose his cow. She died. To get him another the good deacon headed a subscription with five dollars, and paid it. This act disquieted mammon. Mammon with true Iscariot zeal, began to rant and rave:- “Why, charity begins at home; the more you give, the more you may; let people learn to take care of themselves.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.11
The Deacon was a Baptist; but he found that baptismal water did neither drown, wash away, or wash clean the old man. The tempter backed mammon, and putting a glass to the deacon’s eye, showed him, not the kingdoms and glories of this world, but the poor-house, wretchedness, poverty and rags, and said, “All these things will your master give you in your old age as a reward of your charity.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.12
To still these clamors, deacon M. went to the destitute man, told him he must give back the five dollars. The poor man returned it. This last act roused the NEW MAN, and now nature and grace stood face to face. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.13
Thus stood the deacon, poising, balancing and halting between two opinions. The deacon spoke: “My brother, some men are troubled with their old women; I am troubled with my old man. I must put off my old man as the Jews put off their new man - crucify him, crucify him.” Then unstrapping his pocket-book he took out a ten dollar bill and gave the poor man. “There,” said the deacon, “my old man, say another word and I’ll give him twenty dollars.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.14
FAIR WEATHER FAITH
BY T. L. CUYLER
“How did you feel auntie, while the horses were running down hill?” “I trusted to providence till the breechin’ giv’ way, then I shut my eyes and giv’ up for lost! The good woman in question was not the only Christian whose faith held only by a strap. There are thousands who are precisely in this predicament. While business was thriving they trusted in God, and were ready to put some commercial confidence too in their fellow men. When political skies were clear, they could see the Almighty on his throne, and had some faith also in right, in freedom, and in national justice. But now when the great deeps are broken up, when the “Union” is foundering, and one State after another parts its cable, when the evil spirits of cowardice, cupidity, and compromise are all abroad on the air, these very men stand dumfounded and panic-struck. That their faith in men’s common sense should be somewhat shaken is not strange. But that they so soon lose confidence in the very sheet-anchor of RIGHT, and begin to doubt the overruling, far-seeing wisdom and love of their heavenly Father, is at once their disgrace and their danger. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.15
But let us not say harsh things. We are all more or less weak on this very point. It is the easiest thing in the world for us all to exercise fair-weather faith. In times of civil quiet, of mercantile prosperity, of health and happiness, it is easy to trust God. When the wind blows favorably into my swelling canvass, and my well rigged bark flies like the sea-gull over the azure waters, why should I distrust the great disposer of winds and waves? When my business thrives why should I tremble for my daily bread? When the health of my household is perfect; when we can all gather around our table a happy, healthy, hungry group, and do justice to the steaming cakes, redolent of the buck wheat field and the bee-hive, who of us think of the great Physician? We are all believers then (if ever), and our confidence in God as a most kind, loving, and affectionate Father is complete. It costs us nothing to trust him. Neither is a prosperous Christian who walks in the sunshine of God’s favor, and feels the warmth of a clear assurance beaming in through every window of his soul, - neither is such an one often afflicted with distrust. His danger lies in the opposite quarter. He is in peril of presumption and self-complacency. But not of distrust. We can all trust God in fair weather. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 51.16
But if the tempest begin to marshal its cloud-squadrons into the skies; if the sun and stars appear not; if the sea lash into foam like an enraged lion; if great, green, greedy caverns open in the sea to swallow up our trembling bark, can we trust God then? Will the cheap confidence of the calm hold through the hurricane? There is the question; there is the true test of faith. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.1
How often had the disciples gone out with the Master on Galilee’s bosom, when the boat swam like a swan before the well pulled oar, and they felt no whispering of distrust. What faith had they then! But on that memorable night when the white caps came rolling and rioting from under the black cliffs of Gadara, and leaped into the shivering skiff, then the poor panic-stricken creatures began to shake the sleeping Saviour with the whimpering cry: “Carest thou not Master that we perish?” His rebuke is suited to just such times as these: “Oh, ye fearful ones, why have ye so little faith?” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.2
For what is that trust good for that only abides with us in the bright hours of life? It is just as good as a lantern which should only shine when the sun is up, and then go out in the darkness. It is about as good as an anchor which only holds when the idle ship is swinging on the glassy swells of a quiet harbor. It is about as serviceable as the temperance of those men who are very abstinent when no wine “giveth its color” before their eye; or the patience of those who walk very lightsome when only feather weights are laid on their shoulders. Have we not seen a stout bravery in some pulpits, that threw its shot and shell across the globe into the sins of the Antipodes, and yet was all balm and honey toward the iniquity that sat in “purple and fine linen” in the 100 dollar pew right before the desk? Even of about as much worth is fair-weather faith. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.3
The trust we need is a trust in integrity though every bank fail - a trust in freedom and justice though the Union should burst like a rocket in mid air - a trust in God, though desolation darken our fireside, and death dig a grave right beneath our couch or cradle. As Christians we must “trust God though he slay us.” The faith we need is a lantern that will gleam the brighter as the night of trouble grows the darker, - a light unto our timid feet, a lamp unto our broken, uphill pathway. The trust that honors God is a trust through thick and thin, through noon and midnight, through poverty and reproach, through prosperity and convulsions too, through hard words and hard blows, through threats of base men and the violence of evil spirits tormented before their time. And you, my poor desponding brother, bruised and broken, hanging your head like the bulrush under spiritual discouragement, you can be restored by only one medicine. You want the simple tonic of trust. Nothing else will cure that dyspepsia of the heart and quicken your appetite for God’s word, and send a new glow over the wan cheek of your consumptive courage. You are well nigh useless now in your closet, in your home circle, in your church. Your faith has gone out. Cry mightily unto your Saviour: “Lord increase my faith.” May God hear you, and give you a trust that will lean on him though the very earth were removed, and the mountains were cast into the midst of the sea. May you have the all-conquering confidence of him who wrote from a prison cell to his far away spiritual son - “the Lord stood with me and strengthened me; and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever!” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.4
To him no trial’s lost,
God’s will is sweetest to him when
It triumphs at his cost.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.5
Lord, not my will, but thine be done!
My soul - from fear set free,
Shall cast her anchor ‘neath thy throne,
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.6
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy TRUTH; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. THIRD-DAY, JAN. 1, 1861.
THE NEW YEAR
ERE this paper reaches a majority of its readers, a new year will have dawned upon us. The old year will have completed its circuit and finished its record. The time will have come for new determinations and fresh resolves. Twelve months ago we no doubt, many of us, formed many purposes and resolves of this nature. How have they been carried out? Let us review the past and from it learn wisdom for the future. The past year has brought us its fifty-two Sabbaths radiant from the throne of heaven. How have we kept them? Can we look back upon them as so many bright gems in our pathway unsullied by our own words, or our own ways? Another year is before us. Years, in these last days when the events of months are crowded into days, are important eras. What new revolutions it will witness, what new signs of the times it will develop, we cannot tell. Let us commence it aright, and if we are permitted to see its close, live through and end it aright, that it may be to us a profitable year’s journey on the road to translation. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.7
THOUGHTS - WORDS - ACTIONS
THE sum total of human influence is comprised in these three words. In one of these three channels it must flow; for it has no other. Every sin that has ever been committed, has been done in some one or all of these three ways; and every good deed that has ever been performed, has been confined to the same channels. All that goes to make up character, takes its place under some one of these three heads; and when character is weighed at last, the estimate will be formed on these three points alone - the thoughts, the words, and the actions. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.8
How important then do these channels of our being become! How important that they be carefully closed against the insidious ingress of the enemy, and sleeplessly guarded against all his attacks! In each of these ways we may go wrong, in each of them sin against God; while only by being right in all of them can we be accepted with him. And here we are never idle. In thought or word or act we are always busy; and in neither of these can we be neutral; we are therefore constantly moving on one side or the other. Think of this, and say, reader, if the importance can be estimated of knowing how to be, and then of being, on all these points without sin. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.9
Let us then look at a few of the declarations, directions and warnings of the word of God touching these divisions of our conduct. Considering the importance of our outward actions, and the direct influence we thereby exert on those around us, we are not surprised to find throughout that blessed word so many exhortations to those deeds which are good, and so many warnings against those which are evil. By the Lord, we are told, actions are weighed. 1 Samuel 2:3. A law has been given us by which to regulate our lives in this respect, enforced by suitable rewards and penalties; outward manifestations of God’s displeasure against sin, have been recorded for our admonition; and finally we are told that according to our deeds, whether good or bad, so shall be our sentence beyond this life. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.10
Next to our acts, we exert an influence for good or evil by our words. What directions have we concerning these? By them we may accomplish good. “A word spoken in season,” according to Solomon, “how good is it!” And words fitly spoken are like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Proverbs 15:23; 25:11. Profane and vain words “will eat as doth a canker.” 2 Timothy 2:17. The man that offends not in word is a perfect man. James 3:2. The Psalmist prayed that the words of his mouth might be acceptable to the Lord. Psalm 19:14. The words of the tale-bearer are as wounds. Proverbs 18:8. There is more hope of a fool, than of a man who is hasty in his words. Proverbs 29:20. In coming before God our words should not be hasty and rash, but few. Ecclesiastes 5:2. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 12:22. We are to keep from speaking evil and guile. Psalm 34:13; Proverbs 24:28. The tongue must be bridled. James 1:26. And, finally, for every idle word we must give an account; and by our words we shall at last be justified or condemned. Matthew 12:36, 37. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.11
Thus definite and precise is the word of God in reference to our acts and words; and thus constantly are we to guard against the everpresent danger of sinning therein. But what of our thoughts, those unexpressed and invisible messengers that hold council in our own bosoms? May they become tainted with sin? Yes; even here sin may enter; and here too we must erect our works to bar it out. In what way may we sin here? By harboring unprofitable thoughts. “The thought of foolishness,” says the wisest of men, “is sin.” Proverbs 24:9. We are not to let over anxious thoughts for the future disturb us. Matthew 6:25. Simon sinned in thinking that the Holy Ghost might be purchased with money; and Peter said to him, Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. Acts 8:22. Vain thoughts are to be hated. Psalm 119:113. The unrighteous must forsake his thoughts, as well as his wicked ways. Isaiah 55:7. The Psalmist prayed that not only the words of his mouth, but also the meditation of his heart might be acceptable in the sight of his Lord. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.12
But may not wicked thoughts and temptations arise, it will be asked, and yet not be sin? Assuredly; but they are not sin simply because we do not harbor them. The state of the converted person is well defined by the apostle, as that in which every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5. And when every thought is thus brought into obedience to Christ; and the tongue bridled that we offend not in word, and our actions regulated by the law of God, the whole sphere of man’s volition is spanned. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.13
Let us extend a little the prayer of the Psalmist, and have the thoughts of our hearts, the words of our mouths and all our acts acceptable in the sight of the Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.14
NOTES AND QUERIES “NOR THY STRANGER WITHIN THY GATES.”
A Correspondent writes: “We should like to hear from you through the Review on that part of the fourth commandment which reads ‘Nor thy stranger within thy gates.’ We think it might be acceptable to many.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.15
The fourth commandment is very definite. It gives direction to the man concerning his son, his daughter, his manservant, and maidservant, and it places the stranger, while within his gates, on the same footing, and under his control. But what are his “gates,” and who is the “stranger?” Ans. we understand by “thy gates,” any real estate under the control of the individual, and by “thy stranger,” any person who does not sustain to that individual the relation of son or daughter, manservant or maidservant. Does an individual call upon a Sabbath-keeper on the Sabbath? He is not to do any work while within his gates or on his premises. Should he presume to (other of course than works of necessity and mercy) it would be the Sabbath-keeper’s duty to make known his wishes for him to desist. If a Sabbath-keeper has a piece of land or a farm, it is his gates while he holds personal possession. And if he suffers on such farm or land labor to be carried on on the Sabbath, we cannot see how he lives up to the commandment which makes it incumbent on him to see that all within his gates, son, daughter, manservant, maidservant, cattle and stranger refrain from labor. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.16
Would this exclude those who keep the Sabbath from taking as boarders those who do not? We think not; provided such boarders performed their labor outside of the premises of the Sabbath-keeper, in which case they would not sustain the relation of strangers within his gate. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.17
2 Corinthians 5:8
F. Woods: For an exposition of 2 Corinthians 5:8, we refer you to our published works on the subject of man’s nature, intermediate state and destiny. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.18
REPORT FROM BRO. COTTRELL
BRO. SMITH: For a few weeks past, Bro. Saunders and myself have been laboring at a school-house on the Hess road, in Newfame, Niagara Co., N. Y. Have had sixteen meetings, and there is a good interest among the candid, thinking part of the community. The opposition, however, is strong, as it usually happens. A minister was invited from Somerset to come and vindicate “old Tradition,” and his work was performed to the satisfaction, doubtless, of latter-day scoffers, and the thoughtless youth who love to spend an evening in loud and boisterous laughing. In short, the speaker descended(?) to the level of a circus clown, in his disgusting mimicry and blasphemous jesting upon Scripture teachings. As a sample, he represented that we were for having the earth “singed over” and burnt to a sufficient depth to destroy the “pussley and pigweed,” so that we should not be obliged to weed our gardens. Such things as this Peter foretold - that in the last days scoffers should come. “But,” said he, “the day of the Lord WILL COME as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” The words of the scoffer, “Where is the promise of his coming?” were almost literally uttered by the speaker. Said he, “They have been disappointed once and they will be again.” He told a new story about Bro. Miller, one which he could not have expected that his hearers would believe. He said that on the set day for the Lord’s coming, some of the brethren thought it would be a fine thing to go down to father Miller’s and go up with him. So they got ready and went down, and when they got there they found the old man building a stone fence. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 52.19
The speaker would bah like a sheep, and when he had got off what he thought was a good joke, would even laugh at his own folly, to keep the house in frequent bursts of laughter. All this of itself is not worth the time of telling; but it is a sign of the times, and for this reason I have written it. When professed orthodox ministers of the gospel can descend to such things and still retain their standing in the popular denominations, true piety and a veneration for sacred things must be at a very low ebb. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.1
But this discourse failed to produce the desired effect. It was over-wrought. Serious-minded people were disgusted. The next Sabbath three more commenced to rest according to the commandment. May they be faithful to the end, and have a crown of life. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.2
At our last monthly meeting we were rejoiced to learn that Bro. Lindsay’s oldest son and his wife had commenced to keep the Sabbath. Neither of them were professors of religion, but they had deliberately and alone, in a neighborhood where there are no Sabbath-keepers, made up their minds to obey the Lord, and had kept three or four Sabbaths previous to our meeting. They attended the meeting, and expressed their resolution to serve the Lord. He expressed his regret for his opposition to the truth in the past, and his grieving his parents while they were praying for him. He believed their prayers had been heard. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.3
All of Bro. Lindsay’s children are now keeping the Sabbath. Three of the five have been baptized, and we expect the others will be ere long. Also their son-in-law and daughter-in-law are with them in the truth. I have spoken thus particularly of this family because many of the brethren, some east and some west, have been acquainted with them, and will rejoice to learn what the Lord has done for them. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.4
In hope of still witnessing the triumph of the truth, I am yours to labor on till victory is gained. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.5
R. F. C.
REPORT FROM BRO. CORNELL
BRO. SMITH: Since my last report the Lord has greatly blessed our efforts, both in the revival and comforting of his people, and the awakening and conversion of sinners. From Milford we went to Rochester and Shelby, where we spent two Sabbaths. They were in a sad state because of a general lack of faithfulness to each other; talking over the faults of others behind their backs. As this is a source of great evil in some places I will here refer to some of the scriptures quoted on this occasion. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.6
“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” Matthew 5:23, 24. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.7
What a perfect rule is this for the settlement of difficulties. According to this we have not done enough when we go to those we have aught against, but we are to go to those whom we know have “aught against us,” and if we strive to restore in the right spirit our efforts will be blessed. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.8
Again our Saviour says, “When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:25, 26. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.9
This rule requires that we forgive even without a confession on the part of the one who has injured us. Jesus on the cross forgave his greatest enemies, and that without any confession. And he has taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.10
Says the Apostle, “Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold the Judge standeth before the door.” James 5:9. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.11
The connection of this last text clearly shows its application to the present time. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.12
Bro. Lawrence stood shoulder to shoulder with us to enforce the scriptures, and the Spirit of the Lord worked powerfully, so that the spirit of confession came in. Most hearty, heart-broken confessions were made, and the Lord returned to his people. Several that had left off all religious duties took a new start for mount Zion. Bro. and Sr. Lawrence were made to rejoice by their eldest son’s deciding to go with them to the kingdom. It was the occasion of great rejoicing to us all. Another occasion of rejoicing was the restoration of sister Miller from a sickness nigh unto death, in answer to prayer. Truly the Lord has done great things for the church in Shelby. All praise to his name! ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.13
We next went to Lapeer, and in company with Bro. Lawrence took earnest measures to drive the enemy out of the camp. The same spirit was there that had almost destroyed the cause in Shelby. At the conference the hurt was only slightly healed; this we feared at the time, but a hurried spirit drove us away before the work was done, and the Lord in his providence turned us back to finish what we had begun. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.14
It seemed that discouragement had come over the church since the loss of their house of worship, and lukewarmness, and a train of other evils had followed. At first it appeared like a hopeless case, but when we saw a general willingness to confess and forsake wrongs we took new courage. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.15
At a business meeting it was ascertained that the church was in debt $180, besides their subscription for tent enterprise, which they have not the means at present to liquidate. They also need another house of worship, which they are not able to build and pay what was behind on the house that was burnt. In consultation with Bro. Lawrence we decided to recommend that this church be released from their tent pledges, and that they be somewhat assisted from abroad if possible. This church have manifested a willingness beyond their means. May the Lord open the way for them. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.16
On our return from Lapeer we held two meetings in Canandaigua. The house was crowded, and the friends of truth there were revived. Before taking our final leave of the church at Shelby we felt it duty to attend to the ordinances. This was a precious season indeed, and we feel more than ever attached to these churches. Nearly two years had passed since I had labored with Bro. Lawrence. The Lord had greatly blessed our united efforts, and it was truly a privilege to again unite our voices in the same place with those the Lord had given us. The Lord has made us to feel “how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.17
Of late we have had unmistakable evidence that the Lord is returning to his people. In offering the prayer of faith, we have been reminded of former days, when the candle of the Lord shone around his people. The Lord is pleased with his children that walk by faith. O that we may live better, believe more, and be more ready to every good work. These are perilous times. There is danger of being too “slow of heart,” and also of running too fast. Satan desires to keep us too far back, or drive us beyond the work, as in the case of some in Wisconsin reported by Bro. White. The admonition, “Be not deceived,” is worthy of our attention just now. And if in our honest desire to be and do right, we get on the wrong track, we must be humble enough to back out, and confess the wrong and take a more humble place with the body. May the Lord save all the honest from the snare of the enemy. Any movement in favor of sanctification that does not have as its leading feature the soon coming of Christ and the third angel’s message, may be reasonably questioned. Present truth is a good regulator, and we cannot prize it too highly in these awful moments of peril. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.18
We go next to East Saginaw, where I expect to give a course of lectures, if the way opens. Through the good mercy of God my health is almost entirely recovered, and my heart is of good courage. Brethren, pray for us. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.19
M. E. CORNELL.
RELIGION ILLUSTRATED BY PHRENOLOGY
THE science of phrenology proves conclusively that the seat of the mind is the brain; and so intimate is the connection between mind and matter, that any derangement of one produces a marked effect upon the other. How plainly the results of the fall can be traced in our feeble and shattered frames, as well as in the natural depravity of our hearts. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.20
My mind is carried back to the creation of man. When he came from the hand of God, how perfect he was, physically, mentally and morally. All the faculties of his mind were blended together in just that proportion necessary to the development of a perfect character. Benevolence, or love to our fellow-men, veneration, or religious reverence for the Deity, firmness, or fixedness of purpose, resolution, fortitude, conscientiousness, or love of justice and right, occupy the most elevated position of the brain, showing that they are to govern and control the rest of the faculties. When Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, he reversed this order of things very materially. Appetite is one of the lower faculties, and occupies a lower position in the brain. So do the domestic organs, love of home, family and friends, the principle of self-defense, love of property, etc. These faculties are all right in their legitimate use, but they are designed to be held in perfect subjection to the moral powers. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.21
Even our reason is not a sufficient guide in morals. Men of the mightiest intellects have gone fearfully astray from the path of rectitude. God has not made us self-sufficient beings. The faculty of veneration recognizes our dependence upon God, reason teaches us our obligations to him, and conscience enforces the decisions of reason. But does reason teach us what our duty is? I answer, No. We shall find, however, that man was not left to study out his duty by the light of finite wisdom. God’s universe is governed by a perfect law. That law he gave to man as a rule of action - the perfect standard by which he was to develop a perfect character. But alas! man has fallen. His mind has lost the just balance of its powers. It has been degenerating ever since the fall, and, among the mass of men at least, the lower faculties assert their ascendancy. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.22
How shall we recover from the fallen state? The gospel holds out the only remedy. Jesus has died to redeem us from the effect of Adam’s sins and place us again on probationary ground. But we are not perfect as Adam was. We are not capable of that perfect obedience which God’s law requires. God cannot accept us on our own merits at all. O, how necessary then that there should be a mediator between God and us. And while we endeavor with all our ransomed powers, to conform to the holy law of God, he graciously grants us the aid of his Holy Spirit to help our infirmities, and through the intercession of Jesus we are accepted. God’s law is our rule of perfection. And not only have we a perfect rule of action, but we have a perfect pattern or example to follow, which makes the way much plainer before us. To illustrate this more perfectly, we will suppose that a rule is given me for cutting out a certain article, and cutting by rule is something I am quite unused to doing. The rule tells me how long it shall be, how wide, whether curved or angular, long or short. I measure it this way and that, according to the rule, drawing from one point to another according to the best of my judgment. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 53.23
But suppose I have a pattern that is cut in perfect accordance with the rule. How much easier to cut by a pattern. I shall not have to stop and decide how to mark it from one point to another, for there is the pattern right before me, perfectly agreeing with the rule, and I know if I cut the garment just like the pattern, it will be just right. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.1
Jesus is our Pattern. His character is in perfect accordance with the law of God. Here we have in his example, not only the ten principal points, but all the minute particulars. Here it is filled up with meekness, long-suffering and patience, and there with self-denial, compassion, and forgiveness of injuries. O, let us emulate our glorious Example! Let us truly in heart and in life keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.2
It is the design of religion to restore back the just balance of the powers of mind, that each may have just that development God designed at the first. We must not discard a faculty altogether, because its excessive development has led us into sin. We must curb and restrain it within just the limits that God prescribes. God’s word is plain on every essential point. We may walk understandingly as long as we walk by God’s truth. Paul says, “I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also.” Paul believed that his understanding, that is, his reason, or intellectual powers, had a part to perform in the worship of God. Let us endeavor to keep this truth in mind. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.3
Dear brethren and sisters, let us purify our hearts by obeying every truth in God’s holy word. We are living in perilous times. Let us take heed to ourselves. Satan has spread his snares on the right hand and on the left, but with a right understanding of the will of God, and a willing obedience to the same, in the strength of Jesus, we shall at last get safely through. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.4
R. C. FARRAR.
Kingston, Green Lake Co., Wis.
PURITY
“MANY shall be purified, and made white, and tried.” Daniel 12:10. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.5
Shall you and I, dear reader, be among the purified ones? is the all-absorbing question which should engage our earnest attention. Let us appeal to the infallible guide to know our duty in this matter and compare our hearts, our thoughts, our conversation, our habits, with the book of God. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Here is a precious promise. Again, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” How free! how full! Truly the tender mercies of our God are over all his works. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him [Christ] purifieth himself even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2, 3. It is a great thing to be a son or daughter of the Lord Almighty. The apostle Paul makes a most affectionate appeal to his Corinthian brethren in view of what the Lord had promised, namely, “I will be their God and they shall be my people; wherefore come out from among them, and touch not the unclean thing.” 2 Corinthians 6. In view of this he continues, “Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.6
The word, all, in the text comprehends, to my mind, every filthy habit, every unholy passion that the carnal mind is subject to. It is stated by those who know that in the rural districts of England the poor peasantry are remarkable for their cleanliness, especially in the cottage where God is revered and worshiped. No matter how poor, you will find their scanty clothing clean and whole, and an air of neatness and order within doors and all pertaining to them. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.7
Wesley and his coadjutors did much to bring about this happy state of things. I call to mind one or two of his admonitions: On seeing some ragged members he called out, “Mend your clothes, or I shall never expect you to mend your lives.” Cleanliness is next to godliness, is another; but I would go further and say it is a part of godliness. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.8
Again, we find him quoting from an old poet, ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.9
“Let thy mind’s sweetness have its operation,
In thy clothes, person and thy habitation.”
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.10
Some have entertained the view that a general slovenly appearance was an evidence of humility. This is a great mistake. Trace the history of God’s people in the typical dispensation. We find that God required them to cleanse and purify their persons and dwellings, and to my mind nothing destroys one’s influence for good more than a filthy exterior, especially among strangers. Does God require less of us in this respect than he did of his people anciently? Let us see. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, adultery, fornication, uncleanness.” Galatians 5:19. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.11
In short, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Is it not reasonable to expect if the old man has been indulged in filthy habits, the new man will be striving to overcome them, or else what evidence have we that he is a new creature? If old things have not passed away he is the same man still. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.12
I am satisfied, dear brethren, that many of us are occupying too low ground. Quite a number whom I know personally, and among them those I love tenderly, are indulging in the use of tobacco. The Methodists in the days of Wesley and Clarke, when God was with them as a body, would not fellowship any who would not give up the use of tobacco; but now in her fallen state, from her bishops down to laymen, use it without rebuke. I speak what I know. Some eight years ago I was personally acquainted with Bishop S., of C. W. He used the filthy weed to that extent that he was scarcely ever without a pipe in his mouth except when preaching or asleep. How are the mighty fallen! Nine men out of ten even in the world will acknowledge it to be a bad habit. I have heard many say they would give half they were worth if they could only give it up, or had never commenced. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.13
Brethren, think of the position we occupy before this ungodly age, called to be burning and shining lights, God’s peculiar people. Be entreated by one who loves you, to overcome this habit. Commence now. Use means you spend in this way, to the glory of God. Lay it up in heaven. I know that old habits are hard to overcome. But remember you have the same Saviour that Paul had when he declared, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Do not trust in your own strength. Overcome in Jesus’ name. If we do not overcome these things soon, it will be said, Let him that is filthy be filthy still. Now is the time to separate the precious from the vile. Now we may have all the dross taken away while the refiner is at the crucible. The trying time is just before us, and who shall be able to stand when the storm that is gathering shall burst? We cannot be too pure. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.14
“And does one short, preparing hour -
One precious hour - remain?
Rouse then, my soul, with all thy power,
Nor let it pass in vain.”
GEO. WRIGHT.
Lapeer, Mich.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.15
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
BRO. SMITH: I send you some of the articles of faith of the church of Scotland, approved by the general assembly 1647, and ratified and established by Acts of Parliament 1649, and 1690 as the public and avowed confession of the church of Scotland. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.16
F. C. R.
OF THE LAW OF GOD
1. God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him, and all his posterity, to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it; and endued him with power and ability to keep it. 2. This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon mount Sinai in ten commandments, and written in two tables; the four first commandments containing our duty towards God, and the other six our duty to man. 3. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances; partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the new testament. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.17
4. To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial laws, which expire together with the state of that people, not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.18
5. The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen, this obligation. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.19
6. Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned; yet it is of great use to them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts, and lives; so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further convictions of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of his obedience. It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them God’s approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof; although not as due to them as a covenant of works: so as a man’s doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth the one, and deterreth from the other is no evidence of his being under the law, and not under grace. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.20
7. Neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the gospel, but do sweetly comply with it; the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully which the will of God revealed in the law requireth to be done. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.21
THE VOYAGERS
We are voyagers on an ocean, and our destiny we know,
For our chart, it has pointed out the way.
Our leader, he is cheering us as o’er the waves we go,
Saying, courage sailor, soon we’ll gain the day.
CHORUS.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.22
Then we’ll watch and we’ll pray as our vessel bears away,
And we’ll never be disheartened any more;
For the port is getting nearer, and I hear the leader say,
We soon shall reach the harbor and the shore.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.23
Though hard the winds are blowing and high the billows roll,
‘Twill only make us sigh for land the more;
Our rest will be the sweeter when we reach the final goal,
And we’ll shout our voyages over on the shore.
CHORUS.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.24
We have passed the coast of Babylon, and Medo-Persian line,
We have left the coast of Grecia far behind;
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.25
We’ve been sailing down the Roman shore for eighteen hundred years,
And our chart declares the port we soon shall find.
CHORUS.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.26
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.”
From Bro. Gurney
BRO. SMITH: The thought of being with the Lord of life and everlasting glory, sharing with him in all the glory of his Father, who is our Father through his merits, is a very stimulating thought. But there is a way through which such a blessing may be enjoyed which is based on the principle of love flowing in two branches, towards God and our fellow-men. God is infinitely good. He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to die for man. Will seeking solely for reward exhibit the principle of love before the world for whom Christ died? Christ exhibited a character which must be seen in the Christian before the world, or else character is a mere profession - a mockery. To acknowledge Christ, to put on Christ, to walk with Christ, is not all talk. The life of Christ must be considered and imitated. He that heareth the sayings of Christ and doeth them is like one building on a rock in the midst of storm and tempest. There are a few, and they are as pearls and jewels, who are constrained on the principle of the love of Christ to render service acceptable to God. Such glory in crosses, losses, afflictions and persecutions for Christ’s sake, and following his example in submission to his Father. Such are God’s peculiar treasure, and the reward of sharing with Christ in glory, is as certain as the promise is sure. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 54.27
Dear brethren, I hope we shall not lose sight of the signs of the times, that we shall keep our loins girt about with truth. It is very evident that the Lord is coming in this very generation; the signs cannot be mistaken, or transferred to another age. God’s hand has been in the work of moving out the Advent people, and it is done forever. When Christ was manifested in his earthly mission, in fulfillment of scripture testimony, such fulfillment became a sign, proving the Lord’s hand in the work. Taking this view of the subject is the reason why Peter could so boldly testify that we have a more sure word of prophecy whereunto we do well to take heed. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.1
That our Lord is coming so soon is a glorious thought. I say that he is coming, I do not guess at this. The same weight of evidence applied to a case in an earthly tribunal would be considered the clearest possible circumstantial evidence, and yet we doubt, like John the Baptist in prison. May God forgive us, and stir us up from a lukewarm state. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.2
Yours watching and waiting for the Life-giver. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.3
H. S. GURNEY.
Jackson, Mich.
From Sister Beasley
BRO. SMITH: I would like to say to the dear brethren and sisters of like precious faith that it is over six years since I saw that I was breaking God’s holy Sabbath. I providentially got hold of three or four numbers of the Review, and I very soon saw the light, and felt as if I could not resist it. I have been trying since that time to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, and my Bible has been a new book to me. I see very clearly that the doctrines taught in the Review are the doctrines of the Bible. This is so plain it seems as if every one might see it, but there are none so blind as those that will not see. I have lent my neighbors books and papers to read. When they see the word advent that is enough. They don’t wish to look at it any more. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.4
Dear brethren and sisters I am truly one of the lonely ones. There is but one in the neighborhood in which I live that I can converse with on the subjects that most interest me. I have to labor under a great many discouraging circumstances. I often think if I could attend some of your good meetings it would be a great help to me. I never had the privilege of attending an advent meeting but once or twice, then I met with the brethren in Burdic Settlement about nine miles from where I live. I heard Elder Poole preach from the third chapter of Genesis 3rd and 4th verses. I was glad to hear the truth. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.5
Remember the lonely ones. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.6
MARY A. BEASLEY.
Pharsalia, N. Y.
From F. C. Ross
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: As we are travelers together, seeking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, waiting for the coming and kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, we find it cheering on the way to hold sweet converse; often our hearts are made to burn within us, as we hear from some dear brother or sister. It may be one whose face we have never beheld, yet our hearts run together, and we are brought nigh by the blood of Christ. O what a precious relationship is this! “Ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” May our heavenly Father speed the time when his children shall be gathered together from all places where they have been driven in the cloudy and dark day; when they shall all see eye to eye. There is a part of a little verse in Isaiah that always dazzles my weak eyes whenever I behold it, and that is, “Thy people also shall be all righteous.” It causes a thrill of gladness to pervade my whole being, in contemplation of it. O what must it be to be there! I mean steadfastly to set my face Zionward, and try to gain an entrance there. There, may be, we shall meet the long lost father, sister, or mother dear. O what will it be to greet them once again! ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.7
“There’ll be the good and blest,
Those I love most and best.”
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.8
I want to give my dear Saviour my whole heart, and then I shall know that I have given all that he required of me, all that I have to give. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.9
I wish to say, that more than one year’s experience in the present truth has not abated my love for it, neither has it in anywise shaken my belief in it, but rather the reverse. It seems to me that the third angel’s message has come just in the right place; and I am constrained to believe that this generation will not pass away till all be fulfilled. I want to believe the word of God in preference to man’s word. O let us all pray that that worst of all sins, unbelief, we may be enabled to tread under our feet. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.10
It seems strange to me to hear those who profess to love our Lord and Saviour say, It is no matter when he comes, in ten years, or ten thousand! No matter to the dead, and none to the living! I have never found any place between the lids of the holy Bible that responds to this; but rather, “Lord Jesus, come quickly.” May God grant that we may be counted wheat, and gathered into his garner. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.11
F. C. ROSS.
Carlton, N. Y.
From Bro. Ayers
BRO. SMITH: I can say the Lord has been very good to me in giving the light of present truth. I firmly believe this has kept me from many dangers through which I have passed since I began to learn this blessed way. O, I do desire to be more thankful, and realize fully the responsibilities consequent upon this high and holy calling. How solemn the thought that very much of good or evil is inseparably connected with our influence. May the Lord help me, and all the dear brethren and sisters of the third angel’s message to see to it with all carefulness that our influence is on the right side. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.12
Yours striving to be an overcomer. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.13
JACOB AYERS.
Extracts from Letters
Bro. O. Hoffer writes from Attica, Ohio: “I am a member of the “Church of God” at this place. About half of the church believe the Advent doctrine; and if one of the preachers could come here and preach a few times, I think great good might be done. Come this way, brethren. We shall look for you. We are extremely anxious for some one to come. Do not fail us. We want to hear the word of life. The time is short. Again we say, Will some one come?” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.14
Sister C. Prentice writes from Red Rock, Iowa, Dec. 16th 1860: “Something over a year has elapsed since Bro. M. Hull came to our village and showed us that we were in error and darkness, and pointed out the true way. Ever since I have tried to keep “the commandments of God,” and have sought for the pure and perfect “faith of Jesus.” I have many difficulties to encounter and discouragements to overcome (as I stand almost alone here), yet I am assured that those who pass through great afflictions for Christ’s sake, will have a lasting reward, even a home in the New Jerusalem. Short is life, and our troubles here but a moment compared with eternity; then what a little thing it is to give for heaven. Brethren and sisters, you who are enduring earthly afflictions, think of the soon coming of our Saviour, and be faithful, be steadfast in the cause.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.15
Sister F. Broderick writes from Pompey, N. Y.: “We feel thankful to our heavenly Father that we were permitted to hear the third angel’s message. My prayer is that we may be faithful, for it is only those who endure to the end that will be saved. There are nine of us here in Pompey who still feel determined to keep holy the Sabbath of the Lord. We meet together on the Sabbath to talk of the goodness of God, and we feel the promise verified that where two or three are met together in his name he will meet with them. The Lord is not slack concerning his promises. If we receive not the blessing the fault must be in us. I love to meditate on the perfect law of God. It is just what we need to make us holy, just, good and pure in heart; and such I feel we must be if we are accepted of him in the great day of accounts.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.16
Bro. D. E. Gibson writes from Melrose, Wis.: “The Lord is still blessing his few here. We are still trying to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. We long to have some of the preaching brethren come this way. I am glad to hear that the Lord is still reviving his work in the hearts of his scattered few. Sing on, pray on, brethren and sisters, and give glory to God, for the victory will soon be ours if faithful.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.17
By a letter from sister L. A. Marsh, we learn that there are a few in her neighborhood, Midland, Mid. Co., Mich., including herself, who have become Sabbath-keepers from reading the books and papers. She says: “None of us have ever heard any of the preachers on the faith of the third angel’s message. I think that there are a few honest ones here, who if they could hear the truth, would believe. We request the prayers of the church.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.18
BEHOLD I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW
In bright and glorious Eden,
The kingdom of the Son.
Behold what new-made valleys,
And new-made rivers run!
What wondrous land is this,
What glories bursting forth,
Who formed and framed this cloudless sky,
This renovated earth?
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.19
It is the promised kingdom;
The night of sin is past;
The souls beneath the altar
Have been avenged at last.
Here flowers of faultless beauty
Bloom on the sinless shore,
The fresh green fields and pastures
Are green forevermore.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.20
The curse is all removed,
And clad in shining grace.
The second Adam has restored
The ruins of the place;
And here the sons of sorrow,
The trembling and afraid,
Have found these verdant valleys,
And bowers of cooling shade.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.21
The trembling beast and bird
Shall be pursued no more;
The leopard and the lamb shall feed,
When the hunter’s chase is o’er;
For here the nations of the saved
Shall walk in endless day:
No night is here, no cloudy sky,
No ravening beast of prey.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.22
This Abram saw with eye of faith,
This Moses too beheld.
And all the ancient worthies knew
This promised kingdom well.
They knew, and loved, and trusted God,
And sought a rest to come.
The recompense of their reward,
An everlasting home!
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.23
What matter though we’re counted poor,
If children of the Lord.
The broad dominions of the earth
Shall be our free reward!
The smiling fields and crystal floods,
These meadows fresh and green,
Shall be our bright inheritance,
If we the Lord’s have been.
ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.24
Experimental abiding in Christ is a clear display of practical wisdom, and an indubitable evidence of the love of God shed abroad in the heart. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.25
He that clearly discovers the nature, and inwardly enjoys the grace of the gospel, loves the law. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.26
OBITUARY
DIED of consumption in Avon, Oakland Co. Mich., after an illness of eighteen months, Adell, youngest daughter of Bro. and sister Fenner, aged fifteen years. In the early part of her sickness she did not like to talk about dying, or even on the subject of religion; but about six months before her death she began to be serious, and two months after, manifested a change. From that time her only desire to recover was that she might live out the truth. The funeral was attended by the writer at the Stony Creek meeting-house. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 55.27
R. J. LAWRENCE.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, JAN. 1, 1861
THE following description of the rage for pleasure, which is more and more engrossing all classes of people, will remind the reader of the divine delineations of these very times, in which we are told that the days just preceding the coming of the Son of man should be like the days of Noah and of Lot, and men should be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.1
“There is current at this day a strong disposition to turn life into a holiday. Pleasure, pleasure, is the cry of multitudes. Invention is tortured to suggest some new form of amusement, or to give a new zest to old ones. Many do nothing else, attempt nothing else, but simply flirt from pleasure to pleasure through the livelong day. The first thing, the last, and the only thing with them is sport. They seek it now in one form and place, and now in another. Preparation for it, and engagement in it, and anticipations, engross the whole thought and time. Amusement is in order to work; to lighten its burden and enhance its reward; but must not be allowed to displace it. The industrious only know how to enjoy their leisure. The idler, the pleasure-seeker, is often a burden to himself, and always to others. To the young of both sexes I would say, have an honest business, either of the head, or the hand, all your lives; be diligent in it, and be not above any work which God in his providence shall set to your hand. Hear what the wise man saith, ‘The desire of the slothful killeth him, for his hands refuse to labor.’ ‘He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man, and he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.’ What an exact description is this passage of the sporting gentleman of this day! Pleasure, wine, and cosmetics. These are his gods. The wise man has also a word for our daughters. ‘Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.’ The thirty-first chapter of Proverbs has much more of the same style, a pattern certainly very unlike that seen in the belle of modern fashionable society, but as much superior as the delineator of the former excels in wisdom the contrivers and exhibitors of the latter. - Congregationalist. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.2
BLANK BOOKS FOR S. B
BE ready to commence with 1861! We have at the Office Blank Books prepared for the use of those who adopt the plan of Systematic Benevolence, which we will send by mail, post-paid, for 15 cts. Come right up to the work, brethren, and let the cause everywhere be freed from embarrassment. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.3
J. W.
BUILDING
The New Office building probably will not be erected till another fall. By hiring a store-room we are relieved in the old building somewhat, yet about these times the cold makes its way into the old shell in spite of heated stoves, so that business is carried on to poor advantage, but it is the best we can do this winter. We shall be relieved again in warmer weather. We have concluded to wait until the completion of the Publishing Association, and let that do its own building. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.4
Those who wish to become members of the Association, (and it is hoped that a majority of them will) and thereby furnish the necessary means to build, pay borrowed money, and raise a sufficient publishing fund, would do well to have their means for this object at their command. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.5
J. W.
TO THE AFFLICTED
YOU can remember that you are not alone buffeting the waves of adversity, that this world is full of sorrow, and all have to drink of the bitter cup. Family circles are broken by the hand of the enemy. A father or mother, brother or sister, or perhaps a dear companion is laid away beneath the clods of the valley to mingle with us no more. Or it may be an innocent babe breathes out its little life to God who gave it. What can we need more at such times than pure and undefiled religion? This only will buoy the spirits up when passing through affliction. Let us be truly thankful that the Lord does not willingly afflict nor grieve the children of men, but for our eternal good. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.6
We are numbered with the afflicted. Our kind and merciful Father has permitted the enemy to lay our loved one in the grave; she sleeps in Jesus waiting the resurrection morn, when the Life-giver shall call for the sleeping saints. How could we endure to see our loved ones laid away to moulder back to dust without the hope that in the resurrection morning when God calls they will answer and come forth blooming with immortality. O what a salvation Jesus has purchased for us - salvation from sin and from death. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.7
We are striving to overcome, to have on the whole armor, our lamps trimmed and burning, that we may be ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.8
From your unworthy sister. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.9
P. A. HOLLY.
Sr. H. Farr writes from Gilbert’s Mills, N. Y.: “My whole heart is with the remnant trying to overcome through the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony.” ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.10
APPOINTMENTS
WE wish to say through the Review that the brethren and sisters at Parkville, Mich., request a conference at their place commencing Jan. 11, at 6 P. M. We invite brethren J. N. Loughborough, J. H. Waggoner J. White, J. Byington, and as many more as can come to labor with us. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.11
And we would extend a cordial invitation to all of like precious faith to attend this conference. Brethren and sisters, come one come all with praying spirits that the Lord may revive his work in our midst. We will accommodate all that will come with such fare as we have ourselves. Teams will be at Three Rivers on Friday to convey to the place of meeting all that may come on the Southern railroad. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.12
In behalf of the church, ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.13
H. KEENEY.
A. HAFER.
By request of the Parkville Church, their conference is postponed to Jan. 11th. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.14
J. N. L.
Business Department
Business Notes
A. S. H.: B. Morse’s INSTRUCTOR is paid to Vol.x, No. 1. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.15
D. M. Stites: There are 62 cts. due on J. Jarrard’s paper. You do not tell us when your letter was sent. Was the mistake in your favor or ours? Did you write yourself or did some one do the business for you? ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.16
M. E. Cornell: The REVIEW has been sent to J. H. Chrispell since Vol. xvi, No. 1. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.17
C. F. Worthen: As the INSTRUCTOR is now but 25 cts. we apply the balance to send it to the poor. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.18
R. D. Howland: The INSTRUCTOR we send is 50 cts. Spiritual Gifts 60 cts. Therefore out of the $1,50 sent for these, there remains 40 cts. subject to your order. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.19
R. Hicks: We sent the REVIEW to Nancy Draper, North Attleborough, Mass., from No. 1, Vol. xvi, to No. 24 of the same volume, when it was returned by the Post Master as not called for. Shall we send again? ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.20
A. B. Morton: There are $2 due on your paper. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.21
R. Loveland: You will find your dollar receipted in No. 5, present Vol. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.22
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 January 1, 1861, page 56.23
D. J. Boroughs 2,00,xviii,1. Jos. Edwards 2,00,xvii,20. Jos. Edwards (for Mary Kenny) 1,00,xviii,1. S. Pierce 1,00,xviii,1. A. R. Morse 2,00,xx,1. J. Heath 2,00,xviii,1. S. H. Peck 1,00,xix,1. C. W. Sperry (for J. B. Sperry) 0,55,xviii,1. O. Smith 0,50,xviii,7. S. N. Smith 1,00,xviii,1. H. Childs 1,00,xviii,1. C. F. Worthen 1,00,xviii,1. M. Adderton 1,00,xviii,14. F. H. Howland 2,00,xvii,1. A. Chase 1,00,xviii,1. A. Perry 0,25,xviii,1. D. M. Stites 0,70,xviii,1. T. H. Moffit (for H. Crosier) 1,00,xix,7. A. C. Hudson (for T. Hudson) 0,50,xvii,5. J. Barredge 1,00,xviii,1. H. J. Richmond 1,00,xviii,1. R. J. Lawrence 1,00,xviii,1. F. F. Lamoreaux 1,00,xviii,1. D. C. Newmeyer 1,00,xviii,7. Wm. Merry 1,00,xviii,1. J. M. Burbridge 1,00,xviii,7. E. Church 1,00,xvii,1. D. C. Phillips (for R. Beckwith) 1,00,xviii,1. R. Hicks 1,00,xviii,1. R. Hicks (for C. N. Hicks) 0,50,xviii,1. J. H. Lonsdale 1,00,xviii,1. H. Farr 1,00,xviii,1. C. Cottrell 1,00,xvi,10. S. A. Hallock 1,00,xviii,1. E. Goodwin (for Mrs. A. Vickery) 0,50,xiii,8. S. C. Corey 1,00,xviii,10. F. Green 0,25,xvii,21. E. Wilcox 1,75,xix,19. N. C. Claflin 0,50,xix,1. C. G. Daniels (for Wm. Peterson) 0,50,xviii,7. C. French 1,00,xvi,1. A. J. Stover 1,00,xviii,1. Mrs. L. Austin 1,00,xviii,7. H. Loveland 1,00,xix,5. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.24
PUBLICATIONS
| Supplement and Addition to Hymn Book. | 35 cts. |
| ” in paper covers | 25 ” |
| 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 ” |
| The Atonement, | 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 ” |
| Assistant. The Bible Student’s Assistant, or a compend of Scripture references, | 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 ” |
| The Fate of the Transgressor, or a Short Argument on the First and Second Deaths, | 5 ” |
| Brown’s Experience in relation to Entire Consecration and the Second Advent, | 5 ” |
| Report of General Conference held in Battle Creek, June 3-6, 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. 1, or the Great Controversy between Christ and his angels, and Satan and his angels, | 50 “ |
| Spiritual Gifts Vol. 2. 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 (2cts.) - Law of God by Wesley - Appeal to men of reason on Immortality - Much in Little - Truth - Death and Burial - Preach the Word. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.25
These small Tracts can be sent, post-paid, in packages of not less than twenty-five. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.26
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 angel’s message till she fell asleep in Jesus. Price 25 cents. In paper covers, 20 cents. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.27
The Chart. A Pictorial Illustration of the Visions of Daniel and John 20 by 25 inches. Price 15 cts. On rollers, post-paid 75 cts. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.28
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 January 1, 1861, page 56.29
Holland. De Natuur en Verbinding van den Sabbath volgens het vierde Gebodt. Translated from the same as the German. Price 10 cents. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.30
French. Le Sabbat de la Bible. A Tract on the Sabbath of 32 pp. Price 5 cents. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.31
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 January 1, 1861, page 56.32
These Publications will be sent by Mail, post-paid, at their respective prices. One-third discount by the quantity of not less than $5 worth. In this case, postage added when sent by Mail. All orders to insure attention, must be accompanied with the cash, unless special arrangements be made. Give your Name, Post Office, County and State distinctly. Address REVIEW & HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH January 1, 1861, page 56.33