Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 17
March 12, 1861
RH VOL. XVII. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, - NO. 17
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, MARCH 12, 1861. - NO. 17.
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.
RICH AND POOR
I saw a poor man enter where
The worshipers of God were seen,
His garments cheap and worn threadbare,
Yet all was tidy, neat and clean -
I saw him take a lonely seat,
And worship at the Saviour’s feet.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.1
I saw hard by, a family,
Dress’d out in satin, silk and gold;
Their look was haughty, proud and high,
Their gait was very stern and bold -
They scarcely deigned to look that way,
So poor was he, so rich were they.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.2
I looked again by faith ahead,
And saw “the great white throne” on high;
I saw the living and the dead,
All hastening to their destiny:
The rich and poor were in that host,
And some were saved and some were lost.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.3
I saw the man who years ago
Was dressed in tinsel, silk and gold:
But O, how changed! how full of woe,
What anguish did his looks unfold:
His lofty airs were fled and gone,
He stood a wretch, unsaved undone.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.4
I saw the poor man clad in white,
Stand with the glorious seraphim;
Angels that glow in realms of light,
Were not ashamed to be with him -
O who would not prefer to be
A sinner saved, though poor as he?
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.5
INFIDEL OBJECTIONS
UNWEARIED efforts are made at the present day to undermine the Christian faith of the young and the thoughtless. Infidel tracts are extensively circulated, and societies formed, that the institutions and restraints of Christianity may be swept from the land. But there never yet has been an argument adduced against Christianity, which has not been triumphantly refuted. Notwithstanding the efforts which have been made by unbelievers in all ages of the church, Christianity has been advancing with a steady and ever-increasing power. It has triumphed over all former opposition: Voltaire boasted that he could overthrow it. And if there ever was a man who could have shaken Christianity to its foundation, Voltaire was the man. He was the idol of his nation. The theaters of Paris, and every literary circle in the empire resounded with his praises. Whatever he wrote was at once communicated to millions of minds. He was possessed of a memory almost miraculous in its powers of retention. His command of language was perfect. His powers of sarcasm unrivalled. The peculiar circumstances of the times were remarkably favorable to his enterprise. He summoned all his powers to the work. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.6
Voltaire is now dead. Christianity still lives and thrives with ever-increasing vigor. Every day tells us of her triumphs; every hour proclaims her victories. The sarcasm of Voltaire, the sneers of Gibbon, the sophistry of Hume, were alike unavailing. Christianity still lives, Modern infidels are retailing, at second-hand, the objections which have already been refuted, and which have proved powerless. We have no fears for Christianity. Her omnipotence is proved. The only thing to be feared from the efforts of infidels at the present day is, that they may blast the hopes of many families, and bring down the gray hairs of many parents in sorrow to the grave. They may succeed in undermining the foundations of virtue in the bosoms of not a few of the young and the thoughtless; leading them to cast off the fear of God, and to restrain prayer, and thus, perhaps, to come to all the horrors of the infidel’s death-bed, and be undone forever. It is for them that we write, that they may be guarded against the seductions of vice, and against the sophistry of those who would betray them. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.7
Again we say, we have no fears for Christianity. From a lowly origin it has risen to greatness, and has spread over a large portion of the globe. Wherever it has appeared, it has been the dispenser of the choicest blessings. Every weapon that has been lifted against it has proved of no avail. Where can you find infidels more powerful than Hume, and Gibbon, and Bolingbroke, Rousseau and Voltaire? Where can you find persecutions more violent and bloody than that of Nero or Domitian? If Christianity could have been overthrown, it would have been done long before now. But the lash of the satirist, the sophistry of the philosopher, and the sword of the persecutor have been alike ineffectual. In defiance of all opposition, religion has been steadily advancing, and her progress is now more rapid than it ever has been before. If what we write may be instrumental in saving any young man from the downward path of sin and woe, our object will be accomplished, and our reward will be great. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.8
The Old Testament is the great storehouse of infidel objections. Most persons are less acquainted with the Old Testament than with the New, and are therefore less prepared to contradict bold assertions, or to detect incorrect statements and sophistical reasonings. We shall now answer a few of the most plausible objections which are urged against the divine authority of the Bible. Commencing with the first chapter of Genesis, we shall take the objections in the order in which they arise, and shall endeavor to present the arguments of the infidel in all their strength, assured that Christianity has nothing to fear from the most determined attacks of her foes. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.9
Objection 1. Of the history of creation it is said by Palmer, “One thing is remarkable in the account: that there were three days and three nights before the creation of the sun, which is the sole cause of day and night. This proves that Moses, or whoever wrote the first chapter of Genesis, was neither a good world-maker nor a good astronomer.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.10
Answer. This objection Infidels have urged for many centuries. But unfortunately for them, the light of modern science has disclosed that the sun is not a great globe of fire, as they have supposed. Dr. Herschel’s telescope has completely annihilated their argument. It has shown to the satisfaction of every scientific man, that the sun is a solid globe similar to the earth and other planets, and that the splendor which it emits comes from a region of luminous clouds with which it is enveloped. Thus modern philosophy has shown that the Mosaic account is minutely, and even scientifically accurate. The matter of light is a substance altogether distinct from the sun. It was called into existence the first day of the creation. On the fourth day the sun assumed his station as the great light-bearer. This is the precise word which Moses uses. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.11
This objection is thus blown to the winds. And yet, founded as it is in ignorance, it still holds sway over the minds of the ignorant. It happens that Moses was the good astronomer, and that Palmer and his coadjutors were the dupes of objections founded on ignorance. It happens that Moses in the very infancy of science, and before the powers of the telescope were known, had attained a degree of accuracy in astronomical statements which surpassed the knowledge of those who are enjoying all the light of the nineteenth century. It is the recent perfection of science which has proved the scientific accuracy of the Mosaic account. How tremendously, then, is the objection rolled back upon the objector, and if he be susceptible of shame, how must he be confounded, to learn, that with all his boasting he has been urging the argument of ignorance and folly. And if he will allow himself to think, how must he be perplexed to account for the fact that Moses, without the advantage of modern science, and without the perfection of modern art, was so far in advance of the learned men who have lived even within half a century of the present day. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.12
Sir Isaac Newton, whose mind was as familiar with suns and stars as with household things, would have laughed to scorn the man who should adduce such an argument against revelation; and yet it is still circulated by the ignorant and the designing, to build up the cause of infidelity. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.13
There is no geologist of more distinguished reputation than Cuvier. He says the Mosaic account of the creation of the world, “considered in a purely scientific view is extremely remarkable, inasmuch as the order which it assigns to the different epochs of creation is precisely the same as that which has been deduced from geological observations.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.14
Where did Moses obtain this knowledge? Did he borrow it from the Egyptians? They were not acquainted with the science of geology. It is the laborious research of many centuries which has enabled learned men to come scientifically to those conclusions which Moses has stated with so much simplicity in the first chapter of Genesis. Again we ask, how are we to account for the fact, that thousands of years ago, the leader of a half-civilized nation had attained a degree of knowledge about the structure of the world, which is now only discovered by the observation of centuries, and the intense study of the most gifted minds? The man who can account for this on common principles, must be credulous indeed. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 129.15
The Christian has a very simple and satisfactory answer: “He who made the world could reveal to Moses how it was made. It is a fact of deep interest that ‘science, when matured by a series of careful observations and legitimate induction, teaches us precisely what Moses had taught more than three thousand years ago.’” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.1
Objection 2. It is said in the Bible that Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament; but it is impossible that he could have written them, for in his day the art of writing was not known.” This is a bold assertion, and if true, a very formidable one. Let us inquire into its truth. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.2
Answer. Not long since, the French army invaded Egypt. A corps of scientific men under the patronage of the French government, accompanied this army to examine the hieroglyphics, and to explore the far-famed antiquities of this land. They found in the pyramids - the sepulchral chambers of Egypt’s embalmed kings - many manuscripts written in the time of Moses, and one in particular which was written two centuries before his day. These manuscripts were found with the mummies and funeral relics which were deposited in the tombs of the pyramids. They were read and their contents published to the world. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.3
And yet infidels have been asserting for centuries that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch, because people did not know how to write then. This matter-of-fact discovery of the French philosophers has forever removed the argument from the mouths of intelligent men, but it is still bandied about to do its work among the ignorant. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.4
Objection 3. “The creation of the world, according to the account of Moses, took place but about six thousand years ago. But the science of geology affords abundance of evidence that this world must have existed millions of ages.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.5
Answer. The first chapter of Genesis, in its details, is not an account of the original creation of the globe, but of its adaption to its present purposes, and of the introduction of man upon its surface. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” When was “the beginning?” Does Moses say it was but six thousand years ago? No such thing. Moses says not one word upon the subject. For aught we are told, it may have been millions of ages. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.6
“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” How long had the earth remained this shapeless mass of inorganic matter? The Bible does not inform us. For aught we can tell, it may have been through the long lapse of many ages. Moses simply informs us that the earth had been created “in the beginning,” and was in this situation when God said, “Let there be light.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.7
But here again science appears in attestation of the truth of scripture. By a process of investigation of petrified bones and organic remains, which it is not necessary here to endeavor to explain, the most eminent geologists are satisfied that the human race cannot have existed on this globe for a longer period than that asserted by Moses. Thus science, instead of contradicting the Mosaic account, gives whatever influence she has in its favor. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.8
Objection 4. “Modern astronomy teaches us that the world upon which we live is but one among unnumbered millions. As far as the eye of the telescope can penetrate into the regions of infinite space, we find suns and systems strewed with a profusion which no combination of numbers can express. This world is one of the most insignificant of them all, and compared with the rest, is but as a sand upon the shore of the ocean, or as a single leaf amid the countless myriads of the forest. It is, therefore, ridiculous to suppose that this insignificant world with its puny inhabitants, should attract so much of the attention of God as is represented in the Bible.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.9
Answer. This argument implies, first the assertion that Christianity is intended for the exclusive benefit of this world. We cannot reply to this assertion better than in the eloquent language of Chalmers. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.10
“How does the infidel know that Christianity is set up for the single benefit of this earth and its inhabitants? How is he able to tell us that the person and the religion of Jesus are unknown in other worlds? We challenge him to the proof of this said positive announcement. He may make his argument out of an assertion, which he has no means whatever of verifying; an assertion the truth or the falsehood of which can only be gathered out of some supernatural message, for it lies completely beyond the range of human observation.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.11
But the Christian can go farther than this. In the Bible he finds positive evidence that the plan of redemption is not confined in its moral effects to this world alone. The inhabitants of other worlds look with interest upon the scenes which are occurring here. And in these scenes they witness such a display of the Creator’s love as constitutes one of the high songs of eternity. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.12
The Christian can go farther still. Even admitting the infidel’s bare and proofless assertion, that Christianity was intended for this world alone, his argument remains still to be defended. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.13
He says, “Since astronomy has unfolded to us such a number of worlds, it is not likely that God would pay so much attention to this one world, and set up such wonderful provisions for its benefit as are announced to us in the Christian revelation. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.14
And is this the character of the infidel’s God? Is he so exhausted with his many cares that he cannot attend to the wants of the creatures he has made? Is he such a languid, powerless being, that he has called worlds into existence which he has no time to take care of? Is the God whom the infidel professes to worship so overwhelmed with business and perplexed with cares, that he cannot be the guide and protector of his frail children? ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.15
Such is not the God of the Christian. The God we worship is not like feeble man. He rules over an empire, vast in extent, beyond the conceptions of any finite mind. Infinity is filled with rolling worlds over which his boundless monarchy extends. And yet there is no minuteness which can escape his observant eye. Again, to quote the language of Dr. Chalmers, “In a word, I am told by the telescope, that the Almighty is now at work in regions more distant than geometry has ever measured, and among worlds more manifold than numbers have ever reached. But by the microscope I am also told, that with a mind to comprehend the whole in the vast compass of its generality, he has also a mind to concentrate a close and a separate attention on each and all of its particulars; and that the same God who sends forth an upholding influence among the orbs and the movements of astronomy, can fill the recesses of every single atom with the intimacy of his presence, and travels in all the greatness of his unimpaired attributes, upon every spot and corner of the universe he has formed. Does it not add much to the perfection of the benevolence of God, that while it is expiating over the vast field of created things, there is not one portion of the field overlooked by it; that while it scatters blessings over the whole of an infinite range, it causes them to descend in a shower of plenty on every separate habitation; that while his arm is underneath and round about all worlds, he enters within the precincts of every one of them, and gives a care and a tenderness to each individual of their teeming population?” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.16
What low and degraded views the infidel must have of the character of God. The God he worships is a powerless being, so distracted with care that he cannot attend to his children’s wants. - Abbott’s Magazine. (To be continued.) ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.17
The following is from a letter of a correspondent of the Newark Advertiser, written from Florence, Italy. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.18
“Verily Revolution is abroad in the earth! The whole world almost seems now a boiling cauldron of human passions. And poor Italy! so far from being out of the woods, seems at this date to be in the very thickest. The tangled schemes of Napoleon, Cavour, Garibaldi, and Mazzini, threaten to entrap the very spirit of Liberty, while the war-dogs, scenting the battle afar off, are struggling to get loose from the leash of diplomacy. The coming spring is looked forward to from the four corners of the earth as the birth-time of great events, with which the present is pregnant. But, while Southern Italy is a prey to conspiracies of every sort, Florence seems comparatively tranquil, and self-assured for the future. The Tuscans can even enter on the Carnival with appetite for its pleasures, and have already enjoyed two of a series of the grand democratic balls given by the governor of the province, in the historic hall of the palazzo vecchio; the last is to occur on the 28th inst. and will be a fancy ball. Few of the Americans have taken heart and spirit enough to join these fetes; or, to open their own houses for parties among themselves. The chief excitement with them is looking anxiously for, and receiving in mutual sympathy the American mails. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.19
Guide-Boards Towards Heaven
IN our last article we offered a few practical directions to the seeker after Christ. Our aim was to point out the entrance-gate to the way of life. But when the seeker has become the joyful finder - when he has once fairly entered on the straight and narrow path, does his need of guidance cease? Can he find his way alone to heaven? No! More than ever he needs to say, Thou must guide me by thy counsels, if afterwards thou wouldst receive me to glory. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.20
Let us run our eye along that heavenward path, and observe some of the pilgrims within it, and the guide-boards which the Lord of the way has prepared for their direction and encouragement. The first one that meets our eye is a timid doubter. He is one of a numerous household; as John Bunyan would phrase it, he came out of the land of Unbelief, and some of its black soil still sticks to his garments. He is the man who always sees lions in the path; their roaring frights him out of many a duty, and long ago robbed him of anything like a firm, tranquil assurance of salvation. His lips never yet could bring out the full round utterance, “I know whom I have believed.” He crept in at the entrance-gate, shivering as if an ague was upon him. His first prayer nearly took away his breath, and he never would have got in at all but for the motto over the gate, “Knock, and it shall be opened to you.” Public profession was another sore trial to him. He doubted his change of heart; he doubted his ability to be any thing else but a stumbling-block and a reproach to the church of Christ. He never can be drafted into any very severe or laborious service; for he is “laid up” a good part of the time, and when he sets out on duty, walks with a sad limp in his ankles. For new enterprises involving hard work and strong faith he has no stomach; he doubts “whether they are needed,” or, if undertaken, “whether they will succeed.” While happier Christians chant hallelujahs, he always sings bass; and has serious fear whether he will even join in the song of Moses and the Lamb. The best feature of his spiritual character is his tenderness of conscience. He hates sin cordially. He is a true disciple, for he fears God; he is not a buoyant, gladsome disciple, for he does not trust God at all times, and “rejoice in the Lord always.” I would like to point this timid brother to three guide-boards placed up on the roadside for the especial encouragement of such Christians as himself. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.21
“My grace is sufficient for thee.” “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart.” “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.22
Now here is a single specimen of the divine counsels which God has graciously affixed to the good man’s pathway, to guide him to glory. The king’s highway is lined with them. They shine on every hand. They look down from every turn of the path; they gleam out in dark places; they illumine the valleys of the shadow of death. The Christian never finds himself in a strait or an emergency but God has a “counsel” for him. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Unto the upright there ariseth light in darkness. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 130.23
Are you perplexed, my brother, as to some puzzling question of duty? Then look up to the guide-board and you will read, “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of the Lord, who giveth liberally.” “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.1
Are you sitting by an open coffin, or beside a new-made grave? Try to read through the fast welling tears these precious words which an oldentime saint traced on a stone by the wayside. “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” If you could read that blessed line in the identical language in which Paul wrote it, you would find that the words mean - a glory exceeding all excess. Oh! what are tears and groans and weary days of penury, and lonely nights of bereavement, to one who is looking not at the things which are seen, but to the things that are unseen! What is coarse raiment to her for whom the white robe is waiting? ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.2
But it is not only to the perplexed and the bereaved that God giveth his counsels. There are guide-boards for every man. The restored backslider - still lame from his recent fall, and still soiled with the mire on his white garment - readeth his solemn warning as he walks: “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Upon that same wayside another reads, “Be ye not conformed to the world; whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” What a pity the man had not looked at the guide-post before he went a few nights since to the opera-house, and from thence to a wine-supper! Worst of all, it was the night for his church prayer-meeting! ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.3
We cannot, in this brief article, point to one hundredth part of the divine counsels inscribed along the road toward heaven. The church-member reads, “So walk as ye have Christ for an example.” The pastor reads, “Keep thyself pure; shun not to declare the whole counsel; make full proof of thy ministry.” The dear mother reads, “Bring up this child for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” Even the lambs of the flock can read with childish eyes, “Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” And all along the narrow, uneven, perilous pathway the great Lord of the pilgrims has stretched one solemn, vivid admonition: What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.4
With such blessed counsels doth our heavenly Father guide us. He guides over mountain tracks and through valleys of lowliness; guides us where our own foresight is at fault, and our own wisdom is but folly. He guides us in safety to the last, and then - what then? “Afterwards he receiveth us to glory.” Not yet. Afterwards. The guidance must be ended before the glory begins. Remember that. We must not grow homesick too soon. After a little more clambering of steep cliffs of duty, after a little more seed-dropping of the truth, and waterings of the seed with anxious tears, after the mission our Master gave us has been wrought out, then cometh the glory! ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.5
Good old David had but one short, all-comprehending word for this endless rapture. He sums it all in the single word “glory.” It is a rainbow word, composed of seven distinct hues of truth, all beautifully blended. A light that floweth out from the eternal Godhead - a knowledge which reveals all the hidden mysteries taught us by Jehovah himself - a purity which walks in white among the seraphim - a peace that passeth all understanding - a love born of the Redeemer’s wounds on Calvary - a joy forever unsullied by a single fear - a holiness as lustrous as that worn by the Bride of the Lamb. These are the seven colors that blend into the one dazzling and insupportable brightness! No earthly eye hath yet seen it. No earthly ear hath heard its unending swell of harmonies. No human heart hath conceived it. The glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Oh Redeemer! guide me with thy counsels, if afterwards thou canst receive me to such an exceeding and eternal weight of GLORY! - Cuyler. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.6
Great Men are Fearful
The following speech was delivered by the celebrated historian, Sir Archibald Alison, a short time ago in Glasgow, on the occasion of swearing in some volunteers: ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.7
“I much fear that the horizon of Europe is overcast, and that a severer contest than has ever yet awaited us, yet awaits us in our own quarter of the globe - a contest which will strain to the uttermost the military and volunteer resources of the country. This very day we saw in the papers that Russia and Austria have concluded an alliance, offensive and defensive and that the Russian ambassador has left Turin. There is war beginning between the North and the South. The war in the South is headed by Napoleon - a man of great ability, of great power, and who is actuated by one principle, which he has told us himself, for early in his career he said: ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.8
“‘I represent a principle, and that is universal suffrage; I represent a dynasty, and that dynasty is that of Napoleon; I represent a defeat, and that defeat is Waterloo.” He has got universal suffrage; he would fain elevate the dynasty to the power which it once held; and he is anxious to wash out the disgrace of Waterloo in the occupation of London. Then there is what is now going on in Europe. A gallant, brave and honest man - a great general, and an honest republican sails from Genoa, and overturns the monarchy of Sicily and Naples. Garibaldi, who does the whole thing, and fights the whole battles, the moment they are over, is dispossessed, and Napoleon through his vassal, the king of Sardinia, quietly steps in and takes the whole of the country that Garibaldi had won in a noble cause. He will tell Europe that he has given so much to Sardinia, that Sardinia is so powerful that he must get something to counterbalance it, and that something will be the island of Sardinia and Genoa, which will at once give him the command of the Mediterranean, and the entire command of his vassal Sardinia. I am afraid that a great war is rising on the continent, a war between the Northern and the Southern powers. You will see on the one hand Austria, Russia and Prussia; on the other side France, Spain and Italy. I do not know which will be victorious, but of this I am perfectly sure, that we have equal cause to dread the victory of the one as the other - that if the French are victorious we will be at once exposed to the dangerous policy of the first Napoleon; and if the Russians are victorious the whole of Europe will be flooded with cossacks. The only way for this country to preserve its position is, to assume such an attitude as to prevent the liberties of Germany and Britain being crushed by the democratic despotism of France or the Imperial despotism of Russia. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.9
Love of Money
“To purchase heaven has gold the power?
Can gold remove the mortal hour?
In life can love be bought with gold?
Are friendship’s pleasures to be sold?
No: all that’s worth a wish or thought,
Fair virtue gives unbribed, unbought.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.10
Covetousness is the mammoth sin of the age, the leprosy of the church, the gangrene of the soul. It eats out as doth a canker the life-blood of salvation! Farmers are covetous, merchants are covetous, mechanics are covetous, lawyers and doctors are covetous, editors and ministers are covetous, church-members are covetous - Covetousness spreads far and wide, like an infectious disease, the deadly Bohon! It leads to every evil. It closes the door to hospitality, to deeds of mercy, truth, benevolence and love. It grinds the poor, traffics in the bodies and souls of men, takes robbery for burnt offering. It leads to quibbling, to screwing and jewing, to fraud and falsehood, to unjust usury. It takes advantage in trade, in buying and selling. It robs holy time, withholds from the missionary box, starves the minister, starves the soul! ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.11
Go to some of these rich, parsimonious, closefisted church-members for a donation to some benevolent object, a contribution to diffuse light and life, to subscribe to some valuable book or periodical, - oh! what subterfuges are resorted to, what an effort to loose the purse-strings; it’s like pulling teeth, or cutting the heart-strings! They part with their dimes as with their life’s blood! They give like the miser, grudgingly, sparingly. “Soul, thou hast many goods laid up for many years, take thine ease.” The consequences of this undue love of gain are awful! ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.12
“Gold banished honor from the mind!
And only left the name behind.
Gold sowed the world with every ill,
Gold taught the murderer’s sword to kill!
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.13
“‘Twas gold instructed coward hearts In treachery’s more pernicious arts: Who can recount the mischiefs o’er? Virtue resides on earth no more!” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.14
The Holy Spirit is grieved, takes his flight. The closet is neglected, secret prayer; faith is shipwrecked; family altars are broken down; religion becomes a form, a dead letter. Children catch this money-loving spirit, become little misers, grow up impenitent, conscience-seared, harder than the nether millstone! Thus the church, instead of being the salt of the earth, a lighthouse, a city set on a hill, soul-saving, it is an infidel manufactory, a false light, a stench, a hissing, “a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers;” the salt has lost its savor; the light that is in her is darkness, and O how great the darkness! “Thus iniquity abounds and the love of many waxes cold.” “O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.” “Let not covetousness be once named among you as becometh saints.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.15
“Why should we lay up treasures here below,
Where moth and rust corrupt? Why fix our heart
On that from which so quickly we must part?
Why on an ocean where such tempests blow,
Embark so rich a freight? Why midst the snow
Of so unkind a winter, plant a flower
So fragrant yet so frail? Why build hope’s tower
Where lightning’s flash and whelming torrents flow?
But, if our highest energies are bent
In God and heaven a portion to insure,
‘Midst every change our wealth will be secure;
When the destroying angels forth are sent,
When melts away the starry firmament,
Our bliss unharmed, shall, e’en like God endure.”
[Golden Rule.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 131.16
The Pilgrim Communing with Himself “Our light afflictions.” - Colossians 4:17
PEOPLE are apt to complain of their trials and exaggerate them. St. Paul was a singular man in this respect. He talks about our light afflictions. He is right. Our afflictions are light - light compared with our sins, for no one ever treated us worse than we have treated our Heavenly Father. Light, compared with the sufferings of others. Light, because they are but for a moment, and then “there shall be no more pain.” Light, compared with the pain of Jesus, who says, “Cannot ye watch with me one hour?” Light, because they are useful. Poverty gives rise to faith, illness to resignation, injury to forgiveness; thus, sorrows are commuted into pearls, and enemies leave jewels in the way, which we may lay up with our treasures in heaven. Light, because they are wisely sent. They are selected as to number, kind, and quality. The Captain of our salvation understands every case, and knows what drilling is necessary to make a good soldier Light, if we love and approach the hand that afflicts. I must try then to derive improvement from my tribulations, rather than to complain of them. I must have a smile for every pain; a cordial blessing for every one that annoys me; and never more resist the good angels of affliction, which, though never welcome, are ever coming out of the unseen, laden with their weight of glory. - Presbyterian. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.1
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy TRUTH; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. THIRD-DAY, MARCH 12, 1861.
SAPPERS AND MINERS
THERE is no mode of warfare which the powers of earth have found efficient in extending their conquests and accomplishing their purposes, of which the archenemy of all righteousness does not avail himself in warring against the cause of Christ, and its faithful adherents. No literal army is considered complete without a class of operators known as its sappers and miners. Their office is to approach by secret trenches and under ground excavations the fortifications and breast-works of the enemy, and either sink them by destroying their foundations, or blow them up by laying mines of powder beneath them. In the numerical strength of his forces, and the number and ingenuity of his devices, the great warrior against the King of Heaven and all his subjects, is not to be outdone by the wisdom of man. He, too, has what may be called his sappers and miners, who are incessant in pushing their fatal approaches to the heart of man. Loving, according to his nature, darkness rather than light, the great ruler of the kingdom of darkness oftener urges his aggressions by secret approach than by bold and open attack. A few thoughts upon his sappers and miners, the signs of their presence, and of the progress of their operations, may help us to watch against their approach and defeat the accomplishment of their purposes. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.2
Look at that professed believer in the truth. The truth really believed will certainly show itself. A deep and inwrought conviction will work itself out and lead a person to act in harmony with his views. You can tell a live man from a frigid statue at the first glance. But how is it with that believer? He seems to falter. He does nothing boldly and bravely. All his movements are languid. The apostle tells us to run the race set before us; but he, at most, reaches only a walk. We are told to fight manfully; but there are only a few feeble blows struck by him. A mist of uncertainty seems to be enveloping his mind; and he, perhaps, makes a downright surrender of some of the outposts of his belief. What is the matter with that man? Those who walk in the light know that something is wrong. They see, beyond mistake, that the old sapper, Unbelief, is pushing his advances to the very citadel of truth in that man’s heart; and unless his operations are arrested, his whole theory will soon crumble into ruins. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.3
We all find an inveterate foe in this insidious miner. He watches each moment of carelessness in us; and ere we are aware, we find him sapping our confidence in the truth and the work of God. It is the sin that easily besets. We must arrest his progress by countermining; push out in vigorous investigations into the word of God, into careful examination, and re-examination of the truthfulness of our position. We shall thus re-assure our confidence, discover the secret approaches of the enemy, and compel him to an ignominious retreat. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.4
But there are those in the fold of Christ who exhibit other symptoms. The mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus is the object to which the believer is to look, and to which he is ever to press forward. But there are some who do not seem inclined to look steadily toward the prize. Other objects appear to be attracting their attention. The tinsel and glitter of the world, and the voice of praise from their fellowmen, seem to take their eyes and ears quicker than the crown of life and the orders of the great Captain of our salvation. The society and communion of saints they do not find peculiarly attracting, and do not especially seek. They find agreeable companions in the world around them; and the prayer-meeting, that accurate thermometer of christian zeal, begins to be neglected. Is it not apparent what kind of an attack the enemy is making on such? Do we not see that the spirit of the world is undermining their religion? ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.5
We have this consideration to encourage us in all these matters: these enemies of our spiritual life cannot approach without giving evidence of their operation; and seeing this, we are without excuse if we do not set ourselves vigorously at work to arrest their progress. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.6
But there is another old sapper and miner scarred and callous in the enemy’s service. Whenever he succeeds in springing a mine upon us, he makes wild and fatal work. Let us therefore note some of the evidences he gives of his operations. Union is the strength of the church. There is no point on which the enemy is more delighted with victory than on this. The individual attacked begins to lose confidence in his brethren. He begins to look with distrust and suspicion upon them. Their supposed wrongs and failings are brooded over and magnified in secret, rather than made known to them, and an explanation in love and meekness requested. The unity of the Spirit and the bonds of peace are relaxed, Prejudice has full sway. The vision is perverted, and everything is distorted. The name of the old miner at work here is Jealousy. If suffered to perfect his operations, he springs, at some favorable opportunity, his destructive mine; and in the explosion that follows, all the bonds of christian union and love are severed, and the individual is torn violently from the church of Christ. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.7
Such are some of the forces which the enemy keeps busily at work against us. There are many others which we need not particularly mention. Pride, the fear of man, the love of ease, the dread of the cross, and any natural besetment which we may unfortunately possess, all act well their part. Their secret trenches are being continually pushed against us. Their mines are often unexpectedly sprung beneath us. How often have we erected in our citadel some shining tower of good resolutions, and stationed ourselves in seeming security behind some firm determination; and how often has some sapper and miner of the enemy suddenly sprung a mine beneath them, and strown the ground with their fragments. Thus are we robbed of our strength, if not overcome. We should learn wisdom from experience, and with redoubled energy strive to reach that position in which the aggressions and the victories shall all be ours. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.8
BLINDNESS HAPPENED TO THE GENTILES
IT is a matter of astonishment to the world that the Jews were so blind to the fulfillment of prophecy as not to know the day of their visitation. It is equally astonishing that the Protestant world at the present day are so blind in regard to the signs of the times. I notice in a late No. of the Northern Independent an article predicting the speedy termination of the system of Romanism, so far as “its powers for evil” are concerned. This judgment is founded on the late and impending revolutions in Europe. To this end it bespeaks the sympathies and prayers of christians in behalf of Garibaldi, the king of Sardinia, etc. Immediately preceding the article above referred to, is the following from the Christian Guardian: ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.9
“Church of England. - The Pantheistic element appears very strong in the Episcopal Church in England. The Buddhism of the East, moulded into a more modernized type, has gained ground among many of the clergy, one of whom calls that ancient system Pantheism - ‘The gospel preached to the farther Asia half a thousand years before the gospel of Jesus was proclaimed in the nearer East.’ These false teachers and ‘beneficed betrayers’ seem to have allied themselves with christianity as opponents in throwing every possible doubt on the resurrection of the Saviour, and the existence of a God who is not diffused throughout and identified with nature, but is its Creator and Ruler. Sad that University essays, and College lectures, and pulpit homilies, should carry with them such pernicious poison as this infidel system distills. Tractarianism also, in other quarters in the Church, is increasingly bold. A list of the names of 151 clergymen has been affixed to a document recognizing transubstantiation and the mass. Alas! for the church, in which these two egregious errors prevail!” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.10
If the temporal power of the Pope is curtailed the system of Romanism has no “power for evil” though half the Protestant world is degenerating into Catholicism! Such is the judgment of Protestants even in America. The outward demonstration is the whole basis of judgment. But in this they are consistent, for they judge of the rise or decline of Protestantism in the same manner. If the meeting-house is large and gaudy, and the church roll large, they call the church prosperous, though the spirit of the gospel has died out and the spirit of the world taken its place. And thus they go on, publishing to the world the evidences of their degenerate, fallen state, and blame us for seeing it! ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.11
J. H. W.
REPORT FROM BRO. BATES
DEAR BRO. SMITH: I commenced a series of meetings in Orange, Ionia Co., Mich., Wednesday, Jan. 30, which continued every evening, Sabbath and first-day for three weeks, with good attendance. Some of the time the weather was so severe it was doubtful whether any would feel interested enough to attend the meeting. In this we were happily disappointed. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.12
Last summer Bro. E. M. Davis, of Ionia, who a few months before embraced the Sabbath in Orleans, interested his relative, Bro. Williams, of Orange, to examine our position, and furnished him with books. Bro. Williams and companion became convinced of the Sabbath truth, and lent the books to their neighbor Howe, who also with his companion became convinced and settled in keeping the Sabbath. About this time Bro. Edgar was invited to preach in the district, and gave three lectures. Hence the interest and call to hear further on the subject of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.13
Some of the brethren from Ionia and Portland met with these two families twice. These were all the meetings held in the district for a long time. Some came several miles to hear. The brethren from Ionia and Portland, and some from North Plains, met with us on Sabbaths and first-days, and helped to make the meetings interesting, and were much revived and strengthened. At the commencement of our meetings Bro. Howe’s eldest daughter was deeply convicted. In answer to prayer the Lord’s promise was verified, and she became a happy convert. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.14
But few professors, except two or three ministers, came to hear. At the close of one of our meetings a Baptist professor from another neighborhood said it was evident from my preaching about the unconscious state of the dead, that I was an infidel. One of the principal men in the district, who had opposed our opposition and acknowledged that he was a wicked man, replied to the Baptist, saying, “I guess the old man is about right.” Finding himself alone on the opposite side he walked away. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.15
On first-day, 17th inst., a hole was cut in the ice in a running stream, and seven were buried with Christ by baptism into death. Some others held back to see their way more clearly. This was the most solemn baptizing, which I had witnessed for a long time. I knew that it was good to be there. A solemn sense of God’s presence rested upon the church and people. One aged spectator said, “I never witnessed such a scene as I have to-day since I came to Michigan.” He could not attend any of our meetings, but seemed immovably fixed and settled on keeping the first day of the week for the Christian Sabbath. As I called to pray with him once more before I left, the Sabbath question came up, when he said, “Well, I mean to keep both Sabbath and Sunday too.” After the baptizing, we held three more interesting meetings. At our last one a request was made for all to rise on their feet who believed that the seventh day was the Sabbath of the Lord. More than half the congregation arose. After meeting I saw a man passing out by me, whom I had noticed attentively listening about every meeting. I said, “You are a stranger to me, but I have noticed your constant attendance here; what are you going to do with these truths?” He replied, in a decided manner, “I am going to keep the Sabbath.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 132.16
There are now fifteen that profess to keep the Sabbath in Orange, and we expect others will join with them in their Sabbath meetings and Sabbath-school. A number furnished themselves with books, and some with the papers. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.1
Previous to our meetings in Orange I preached two evenings in Caledonia. I was also with the church and people at Wright the last Sabbath and first-day of January. I spoke to them four times. The Lord is strengthening them to take higher ground and claim his promises. Help, Lord, is my prayer. I returned from Orange to Caledonia the 20th inst., and found the church in a tried state, some of them laboring for freedom and victory. While here I was summoned home, as all my family were sick. I left the 23rd inst., after the Sabbath. Thank the Lord, my family are gaining and much better. Brethren all well in Monterey. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.2
JOSEPH BATES.
Monterey, Mich.
WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES
IT is true that a multitude of men and women, with their children, are deceived, and their ministers are whispering, peace! peace! and nothing would disturb them more than to tell them the Lord is coming, and undertake to show them the evidence. It is by no means pleasant to be persuaded that the churches professing to put on Christ have fallen to a level with the fashionable world, and that the only testimony God has to her is, “Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven.” It is true we have fallen upon perilous times. There is almost an overwhelming combined current setting against the heart of true religion, and nothing short of a corresponding effort on the other hand will overcome and gain the victory. This deplorable state in the religious world is the foundation of the perils the apostle speaks of. To take a view on the bright side of the fallen position occupied by the church, is to see how inspiration has described her state as belonging to the last days. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.3
True christians will rejoice at the presentation of evidence that our Lord is coming to set up his glorious kingdom, and put an end to sin with all its train of evils. Jesus himself told what the evil servant would say to those who would give meat in due season, viz., My Lord delayeth his coming. Now the proof is in the language itself, that those who use this language are professors of religion. They use the familiar term, “My Lord,” etc. But they eat and drink with the drunken, and before the Lord comes their portion is appointed with hypocrites and unbelievers. May God save the remnant. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.4
H. S. GURNEY.
Jackson, Mich.
PEACE
“MY peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” Such is the dying legacy of our blessed Lord to his sorrowing disciples, and not to them only, but unto all that should believe on him through their word. In the heart of the humble, trusting child of God, this peace flows like a river. He cannot explain it; for it passeth all understanding. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.5
O, says one, that I could find this peace. Often I find my mind is like the troubled sea that cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. Well, my dear friend, I know that God declares there is no peace to the wicked; but does he not call on you to acquaint yourself with him and be at peace? The apostle Paul makes it clear how we may become acquainted and be reconciled to God. “Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Come then to Jesus without delay. Come, for all things are now ready. Many have come and tasted that the Lord is gracious, and still there’s room. Now is the accepted time. Jesus is still waiting to be gracious, and bestow that peace that the world can neither give nor take away. How will you escape if you neglect so great salvation? ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.6
A revival has just closed in this village among the Presbyterians. They claim a number of conversions. I can have no confidence in this work as being of God, and these are some of my reasons. The people of this community have had the plain truth proclaimed faithfully, and have rejected the commandments of God as a whole, and still adhere to the traditions of men. In vain, says Jesus, do ye worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. I think they and their work are correctly described by the prophet Hosea. Chap 5:6, 7. They shall go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have begotten strange children. A month shall devour them with their portions. To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them. They are crying, Peace, peace, when sudden destruction is at hand. No coming of the Lord in their testimony. They ignore the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.7
Dear brethren, while this spurious work is going on, let us see to it that we are coming up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Honest souls are doubtless watching us closely. God forbid that any should stumble over us and lose eternal life. Let us preach by an upright walk and a meek and quiet spirit. In short, bring forth much fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, etc. In this way, by making use of the means that God has placed within our reach, we shall with his blessing win honest souls to the peaceful fold of Christ. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.8
Look where you will among the nations of the earth, and all is commotion. Europe is one vast camp. Men’s hearts are failing them for fear. Civil war is threatened in our midst. But, dear brethren, we need not fear. God is our refuge, and a very present help in time of trouble. We know that beyond this scene there is rest. Jesus soon is coming. We will not fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Amid and above all this we can hear the sweet voice of the Saviour, Fear not, little flock; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless. 2 Peter 3:14. Soon we shall sing, ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.9
“Our trials past, our joys complete,
Safe in our Father’s home.”
GEO. WRIGHT.
Lapeer, Mich.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.10
NOTES ON SCRIPTURE THE BOOK OF PSALMS
As a collection of prayer and praise this book is without a parallel. The finest compositions of men are far inferior to it. The psalms of David have been reduced to metre in order to be sung, but every such attempt only spoils their beauty. Josephus says they were written tri-metre, and hexa-metre, and it is certain they were written in a form to be sung. 1 Chronicles 16:7; 25:6. The titles of many of the psalms show that they were written expressly to be sung. Verses can be found which can be sung in metres now in use. Psalm 19:14, is an example in short metre, thus, ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.11
Let the words of my mouth. And the meditation Of my heart, be acceptable In thy sight, Lord, my strength. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.12
The first seventy-two psalms were written by David. He says [Psalm 72:20], “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The titles of the remaining seventy-eight show that they were written by various individuals, among whom is Moses [Psalm 90], title, and also many from David. The psalms are not compiled in the order in which they were composed. Compare Psalm 59, title, with 1 Samuel 19:11; and Psalm 3, title, with 2 Samuel 15:13-16. The third psalm was written when David fled from Absalom. The eighteenth may be found in the twenty-second chap. of 2Sam., but there is some difference in the language. The fifty-first is David’s confession of his double murder and adultery. The seventy-eighth is a brief outline of the history of Israel from the time they left Egypt down to the time of David. The ninety-first points to the time of the plagues. The ninety-second is a psalm for the Sabbath-day. (This is the only place the Sabbath is mentioned in the book.) The ninety-sixth may be found in 1 Chronicles 16:23-33. The hundred and second is expressly for the afflicted. The hundred and fifth [verses 1-15] may be found in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22. The hundred and nineteenth is a beautiful eulogy on the commandments and word of God. It is divided into twenty-two sections, each section containing eight verses. The sections are headed by the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in their regular order. Every verse, with two or three exceptions, contains some allusion to the commandments and word of God. The following is a list of the terms, and the number of times each one occurs. Law, twenty-five; testimonies, twenty-two; ways, twice; precepts, twenty-one; statutes, twenty-two; commandments, twenty-one; judgments, eighteen; word, thirty-seven; way, once; righteousness, once; words, four; judgment, three; testimony, once; faithfulness, once; ordinances, once; commandment, once. The hundred and thirty-seventh is a prophecy of the Babylonish captivity. The three last psalms are a continued outburst of praise; and so ends this wonderful book. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.13
MAN’S MEAT
In the beginning God gave to man the seed of every herb, and the fruit of every tree for food. Genesis 1:29. It was not the original design that man should subsist on flesh, and death would never have been known in the earth if man had not sinned. Death came by sin. Romans 5:12. After the flood the Lord permitted man to eat flesh - there was no restriction, he could eat any kind he chose. But when God chose the nation of Israel for his own people he commanded them not to eat certain kinds. Leviticus 11. When the Lord rejected the nation of Israel from being his people, men were placed on precisely the same footing in this respect they were before; for the law of Moses (of which the prohibition not to eat certain animals was a part) was done away. The only restrictions relative to eating flesh in this dispensation are found in Acts 15. A council of the church sanctioned by the Holy Ghost declares that it is necessary to abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled. Verses 28, 29. They were not permitted to eat blood in the first place. Genesis 9:4. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.14
In the beginning every kind of fruit was good to eat, but now some kinds are poisonous. This is the effect of sin. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.15
BEASTS’ MEAT
Great men have wearied themselves in speculating upon the state of the animal creation before the fall, and some have asserted that some species were always carnivorous. But the Bible settles this question beyond all controversy. It expressly declares what was to be the food of man and beast. “And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat.” Genesis 1:30. If some species of animals had been carnivorous, and subsisted on others from their creation, there would be some intimation of it, but the explicitness of the language forbids such an idea. Read it again. To every beast, and every fowl, and everything that creepeth upon the earth, I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so. This shows that God designed that animals should eat grass and other herbs, but after man sinned, enmity sprung up between different races and they gradually became carnivorous. It was peace and happiness throughout the animated creation till man sinned; and how great was the effect of that sin. But the blessedness of the first dominion will be restored, praise the Lord. Micah 4:8; Isaiah 65:25. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.16
D. HILDRETH.
A FEW WORDS TO THE YOUNG
I HAVE been thinking of the state of the young among us who profess to believe the third angel’s message, and to be getting ready for the Lord’s coming. How few among us who are living out the principles of the gospel; the principles of our “holy religion!” There seems to be a great lack of consecration. I see but little difference between them and those who do not profess the truth. Indeed, the similarity is such, that I have heard the remark from the wicked, that they did not wish any better company than such and such a Sabbath-keeper. Of what honor is that individual to the cause of God? Did the young realize the weight of responsibility that rests upon them - what God requires of those in the morning of life, while the pressing cares of those who are older are unknown to them, they would be whole-hearted in the cause they profess to love. While some are loitering about with their former associates in the streets or stores, or spending their time, which is only lent them, in reading forbidden works; others are busily employed with useless embroidery and trimmings on their clothes, and for what? Oh, to look like the world around them. It reminds one of the Israelites that left Egypt, but still longed for the “leeks and onions” they had left behind. Is it true that we have left the world and still wish to carry it all along with us? Where is our dying to the world, our coming out and being separate? How long will ye stand in the way of sinners? How long live at the halves, while the judgments of God are just before us, and his wrath to be poured upon the heads of the ungodly. O let us be zealous and repent of all our wrongs and get into the work of God, make straight paths for our feet, that the lame be not turned out of the way, and we find an abundant entrance into the kingdom so dearly purchased for us. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 133.17
Yours trying to overcome, ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.1
A. G.
THE BETTER COUNTRY
NOWHERE on the earth do we find the presence of all good things without any evil things, nor of all evil without any good: and this we are ready enough to admit of our own country when we call it better than all we have named. It contents us, if at all, only on comparison with other parts of the same world. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.2
Now all such comparisons ought to lift every thoughtful mind to higher and more satisfactory contemplations. It would be well for us, as a growing habit, - and the wonder is, we are not irresistibly tempted, if only for our relief, - to overleap all these limits, and think and speak often, not of this or that eligible region on the earth, but of “a better country, that is, an heavenly.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.3
The word country, in this familiar scripture, is borrowed, as being understood, from a foregoing use where the Greek properly signifies fatherland, native country, or home. The writer says that the patriarchs whom he commemorates, in leaving their own land, and seeking that which God had promised, in faith, as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” sought indeed a fatherland or home, but a better than that which they had known; and then, to show that this was not the land of Canaan, the literal subject of the divine promise to Abraham, he adds, “That is, an heavenly.” By so much, therefore, it was better, more desirable than any country on the earth. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.4
The description is universally understood of the future condition of God’s children. It is their final abode, after the resurrection, upon Christ’s second coming, the “place” which he told his disciples he went “to prepare” for them, and which evidently they were to enjoy when he should “come again and receive them to himself;” for the sacred writer seems to have in view a condition to which not only the living apostles, but the deceased patriarchs also, still look forward, those ancient worthies, as he afterwards says, having “received not the promise,” or all that was promised, “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” And further, if we adopt the view always extensively held, which Dr. Chalmers among others has eloquently set forth, that this earth, purified and renovated, will be made the abode of his people, we understand by the better country, the “new earth” of which other scriptures tell us, and which, thus transformed in its condition and use, will become heavenly. Under any interpretation, the phrase denotes the future home, or what an ancient writer calls “the blessed fatherland of the just.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.5
And what theme is better fitted to cheer believing hearts amidst private anxieties and ills, or public agitations and calamities, even in “perilous times?” Let us be at home in such thoughts. - Sel. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.6
BREVITY. - A writer in the Christian Secretary thinks that much might be gained, if speakers in prayer and conference meetings would “observe the miller’s creed - to always shut the gate when the grist is out.” D. H. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.7
THE CHILDREN
WEEP for the living, not for the dead,
Sweetly they sleep in their lowly bed,
Taken away from the evil to come;
And Jesus will gather the children home.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.8
Those who remain tread a thorny way,
Bearing the burden and heat of the day,
Trials without and temptations within,
Well if they keep from pollution and sin.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.9
But should they leave the straight path as they go,
Take the broad way to perdition and woe,
Well had they found them a peaceful bed,
Quietly laid with the early dead.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.10
Weep for the living, not for the dead;
Sweetly they sleep in their lowly bed,
Taken away from the evil to come,
And Jesus will gather the children home.
He will be faithful, whose word is given,
Of such little ones is the kingdom of heaven.
L. C. HUTCHINS.
Pier Cove, Mich.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.11
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.”
From Bro. Hutchins
DEAR BRO. SMITH: I have just read Testimony for the Church, No. 6, and I hope not altogether without profit. I have asked, Shall the Lord speak and not be heard and obeyed? Shall such reproofs, warnings and admonitions, pass unheeded? Does the Lord stretch out his hand to save poor, feeble, erring man, and we regard it not? God forbid. May it be said of none of us, “They would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproofs.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.12
God’s word abounds with warnings and instructions for these perilous times. It holds out life, eternal life to the overcomer; but death to the unbelieving and disobedient. How inconceivably great the contrast! “I know thy works,” says the faithful and true Witness. He stands at the door and knocks. His counsel is affectionate, but alarming and final! ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.13
“O, wake and open wide the door,
Bid thy Beloved wait no more.”
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.14
Admonition after admonition has also been given us through the gifts, but how have they been slighted and neglected! How have the hearts of some of God’s dear servants, upon whom heavy burdens have long rested, been wounded and their spirits crushed in consequence of this! ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.15
O that the remnant church might arise to the position that it is our duty and privilege to occupy. O that we might all possess more of the Holy Spirit, and have more fellowship and love one for another. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.16
“Union is strength,” is an old and truthful adage. Love cements our hearts together. It unites our faith and action in the service of God. A lack of this principle scatters and divides the flock, and leaves us weak, and hence an easy prey to the enemy. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.17
My heart beats with sympathy for Bro. and sister White. I feel deeply for them in their afflictions and trials. I am glad that every sorrow and grief of their afflicted hearts is known unto the Lord. I am glad he knows each groan and sigh. “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.18
To Bro. and sister White, I would say, May the Lord help you still to cheerfully partake of the sufferings of Christ, that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.19
Your brother, in hope of eternal life, A. S. HUTCHINS. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.20
From Bro. Peabody
BRO. SMITH: This day I am three-score and ten years old. I think I can say something as Jacob said to Pharaoh when Joseph brought him in and set him before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh; and Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and forty years. Few and evil have the years of my life been. Genesis 47:7-9. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.21
It is nearly forty-two years since I embraced the Christian religion, and nearly eight years since I embraced the third angel’s message. I think this has been the best part of my life. I have strong faith, looking for the coming of the Lord. I live alone in this village as to keeping the Sabbath. There are none nearer than Rochester. I sometimes go about thirty miles to meeting. This is my great enjoyment. I often think how happy we shall be when we all get into the kingdom. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.22
Yours of like faith. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.23
WM. PEABODY.
Scottsville, N. Y.
From Bro. Davis
BRO. SMITH: I have often thought I would like to write and let you know what the Lord has done for us, although unworthy of the least blessing from him. When I look back and view my past life, I see that it is by the grace of God that I am what I am. It has been a little over a year since we commenced to try to keep all God’s commandments and the faith of Jesus. The Bible that once I looked upon as a mere history, and very imperfect at that, has now become my delight; and I can truly say that I delight to meditate on the law of God. I thank the Lord that my lot has been cast among Sabbath-keepers, and that the Lord gave me a willing heart to receive the truth. I believe the third angel’s message is bringing out a people to serve the Lord, and I want to be found among that number that will keep the whole law. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.24
It cheers my heart to read the letters that come to us through the Review from week to week. Time is short, and if we are faithful we shall soon see the One we long for. It is only a short time that we have to suffer, and then we shall have eternal life, and be permitted to see each other face to face. I mean by God’s assisting grace to be an overcomer and stand with the remnant on mount Zion. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.25
Yours striving for the kingdom. W. B. DAVIS. Brodhead, Wis. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.26
From Bro. Canright
BRO. SMITH: Although a stranger to you and the little flock that is waiting for the coming of the Lord, yet I wish to cast in my testimony on the Lord’s side, and to say that I also am waiting with those of the same precious faith. It is only about three months since I commenced keeping the Sabbath; and I feel to thank the Lord that I was ever willing to believe in the present truth, and try to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. I meet with scorn and ridicule on every side, yet I feel to look up and ask my Father to forgive them, for they know not what they know. My wife and myself are the only Sabbath-keepers in this place; and if the Review did not come to us on its errand of mercy and love, we should be lonely indeed. But when we read the letters from the brethren and sisters we feel to take new courage to go on till we shall be permitted to enjoy the blessings of eternal life in the new earth. The time, according to prophecy, cannot be far distant. I would be glad if some of the brethren could come and present the truth in this place, and wake up the people to a sense of their duty that they might escape the vengeance that is coming on the earth. May the Lord help all that believe in the third angel’s message to be firm in the truth. Soon Christ will come and deliver us from this sinful world, and take us to dwell with him forevermore. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.27
Yours in hope of the saints’ inheritance. T. V. CANRIGHT. Coldwater, Mich. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.28
From Bro. Hall
BRO. SMITH: It is with increasing pleasure that I look over the epistles of the lonely ones, many of them scattered over the country, isolated from the society of those with whom they would be glad to meet. Such is my position. About two years ago I embraced the Sabbath, having previous to that time had doubts in my mind about the day. I did not know but the day had been lost, and had not examined the subject; but I now find evidence of its correctness. 1. It is called the seventh day, or Sabbath, by the Bible published by the American Bible Society. 2. Religious denominations of the present day admit it, taking the first day for Sabbath, and averring that it has been changed; which, I think, they have fairly failed to show. 3. Chronologers all agree on it, and consequently do not dispute it. 4. The Jews still hold to it. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.29
I was a Baptist, and first-day keeper for Sabbath until I fell in company with a brother and sister, from Bristol, Vt., who explained to me the duty of professors of the religion taught in the Bible. When I examined the subject I found I had but one thing to do in the premises, and that was to take the commandments of God as the rule of practice, or the commandments of men; and still I have brethren and sisters who say they are sorry to see me desecrating God’s holy day. I offer them my reasons for change, and leave them to their choice. A. HALL. Athol, Warren Co., N. Y. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 134.30
From Sister Merry
BRO. SMITH: With a heart full of gratitude to my heavenly Father, I sit down to pen a few lines by way of acknowledgment of my past error with respect to sister White’s views. While reading Vol. ii, of Spiritual Gifts, I almost became convinced that the Lord was in that work, but not being fully convinced, I waited the time of a conference then approaching, with a hope of hearing something said on the subject. Well, I was not disappointed. Bro. Bostwick spoke on that subject, followed by Brn. Morse and Lashier. The first time I heard a discourse on the subject I could resist no longer. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.1
I feel grateful to the Lord for his long sparing mercy toward me. I feel to ask forgiveness of the Lord and all his dear children for any trials I have caused them by my stubbornness. I have tried some dear friends on this subject, I know. Brn. Morse and Bostwick I would here mention as two that always heard me with patience, for which I feel grateful. I would here mention that since I embraced the present truth, I never fought against God willingly. I did it ignorantly. I feel, and have ever felt, willing to be found among the few poor, despised followers of my Master. I desire an interest in the prayers of all the dear saints. I should have written before now, but sickness in my family prevented. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.2
Yours striving for eternal life through Christ. JANE MERRY. St. Charles, Winona Co., Minn. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.3
From Bro. Daniels
BRO. SMITH: Bro. McCormic and myself have just been down to Trempeleau Valley, and held four meetings, but under somewhat discouraging circumstances. There was a Methodist quarterly meeting within two miles, and there had been a protracted meeting, and another one to commence on Monday evening in the school-house where we were. But I think there was some good done. Many wanted me to come back and preach to them again. Three or four acknowledge the truth as far as they have heard, and will send for the Review as soon as they can spare the money. Bro. Hillebert has acknowledged the whole truth, and has sent for the paper. I think he will obey it. May the Lord help him to do so. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.4
Yesterday, which was the Sabbath, I was called upon to attend the funeral of a little child aged three years. I showed that all that die by Adam’s transgression will be made alive by Christ’s death and resurrection, that there were two resurrections; that on those who share in the first, the second death hath no power; that none but sinners would die the second death; and that none were sinners but those who had transgressed God’s law; for sin is the transgression of the law, and the wages of sin is death. Therefore none are amenable but sinners. The parents seemed interested and were much affected. May the Lord help them to keep his commandments. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.5
Yours in truth. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.6
A. H. DANIELS.
Sumner, Wis.
From Sister Dyer
BRO. SMITH: I take my pen, striving to glorify my heavenly Father; but how shall I, a frail creature of the dust, praise the Lord who made the heavens, and worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will? I thank the Lord for sending me this glorious message. O, the blessed hope of a soon coming Saviour! I know that I am weak and sinful, and realize that without his aid I should come up to the day of the Lord all unprepared to meet my Judge. But I am striving to claim his precious promise, My grace is sufficient for thee, and all unworthy though I be, I believe his grace is sufficient to cleanse me from all my sins. Praise the Lord! the blood of Jesus can wash all the deep stains of sin from the soul, and make us meet to join the song that bright, holy angels sing in that blissful realm of glory. O, how bright and pure must be the joy of heaven! O, may we be found worthy to enter into that rest. Here are afflictions, troubles and trials. Sin and decay are abroad in the earth. Here the heart’s wealth of affection is poured on things transient and fleeting; broken bands and desolate hearts are here. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.7
“I’m weary of loving what passes away,
The sweetest and dearest, alas, may not stay;
I long for the land where these partings are o’er,
And death and the tomb can divide us no more.”
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.8
O, the untold glories of that land which God has promised to the righteous. Sadness and mourning shall flee away, and sorrow and sighing shall have no place; for everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.9
Yours striving to overcome. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.10
A. J. DYER.
Lyons, Fulton Co., O.
Extracts from Letters
Bro. R. Sawyer writes from Port Byron, N. Y.: “I am still willing to be led by the third angel’s message; to follow on step by step until a character is developed which shall meet the approval of the faithful and true Witness. I can testify to a purifying and saving power in present truth. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life, etc. John 14:6. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.11
“O, let us walk in the way, be made free by the truth [John 8:32], become sanctified wholly, and thus be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation which shall be brought at the appearing of Jesus. Let us become more united. Union is strength. We are exhorted to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might [Ephesians 6:10-18], not looking to one another for a pattern, but unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith [Hebrews 12:2], and thus become of that number that shall overcome and sit with Jesus on his throne. Revelation 3:21. Remember me in your prayers that I may with you say in the language of the prophet, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him and he will save us.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.12
Bro. W. Allen writes from Princeville, Ills.: “I have just returned from a short, but very tedious journey. I crossed the Illinois river at Chillicothe, and traveled an easterly course about thirty miles. I made it my business, as usual when among strangers, to inquire if they were getting ready for the coming of the Saviour, referring to the signs of the times, etc. With many it seemed to be very strange doctrine, and yet interesting. They said they had never heard of an Advent preacher on the east side of the river. I had obtained a few of your books, which they readily purchased of me. One man sends for the Review.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.13
Sister N. Davis writes from Ayersville, Ohio: “I feel like pressing onward and upward toward the mark of our high calling, having my face set Zionward with a firm hold on the anchor of hope, which is sure and steadfast, and entereth to that within the vail, whither Christ has for us entered. Although we may be called to pass through the furnace of affliction, we have an High Priest who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and will if we are faithful bring us off more than conquerors, and place upon our brows the glorious starry crown of victory.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.14
Bro. S. B. Whitney writes from Malone, N. Y.: “I am much encouraged and strengthened by the cheering reports from the west, but still I sometimes almost fear that I shall be overcome, and finally fail of the kingdom; yet my purpose is to keep striving, and not sink down in despair. The prospect is not very cheering in this section, yet the church are still holding on, feel assured that the promises are yea and amen to those that believe.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.15
Bro. Wm. Herald writes from Green Spring, Ohio: “We have been striving to arise and come up to the help of the Lord; and bless his holy name, we have had a refreshing season. For the last two weeks we have had prayer-meetings every night, with one or two exceptions; and, blessed be God, we have had a season of rejoicing. The Lord has poured out his Spirit upon us, and every soul has been encouraged to persevere. We have also been led to rejoice in the addition of three more precious souls to our number, and we still hope by the grace of God, an upright walk and godly conversation, to bring others to the knowledge of the truth.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.16
Bro. A. G. Hart writes from St. Cloud, Min.: “I desire to say to my brethren through the Review that my P. O. address is St. Cloud, Minnesota. I am still trying to overcome. I want to go through to the kingdom. I want the church to pray for me that I may live in such a way that my light may shine all around. I would say to the brethren in Minnesota that I shall put in my mite to help on the cause this summer.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.17
Sister N. J. Babcock writes from Spring Grove, Wis.: “I would bear my testimony in favor of the truth. It has been about two years and a half since I commenced to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. I feel like still pressing on toward heaven. When I think of the goodness of God to me, his love in sending his Son to die that we might live, I am led to exclaim, How good he has been to me! Let us put our trust in God and his word. Let us try and prove faithful, soon Jesus will come and take us home to the city of God. There will be no sorrow. There sin and temptation and death will never enter, but the weary will be at rest. Oh how I long to be there! I was but fourteen when I commenced to keep the commandments of God, and I am not sorry that I started when I did. I mean by the assisting grace of God to prove faithful.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.18
HYPOCRISY
THINK’ST thou there are no serpents in the world
But those who slide along the grassy sod,
And sting the luckless foot that presses them?
There are who in the path of social life
Do bask their spotted skin in fortune’s sun,
And sting the soul! - Aye, till its healthful frame
Is changed to secret, festering, sore disease,
So deadly is the wound. - Joanna Bailie.
ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.19
OBITUARY
FELL asleep Dec. 25, 1860, Mary, my wife. Her disease was scrofula, terminating in death after an illness of four months. She suffered greatly, yet she said, I will not trust in man. She fell asleep without a struggle. I do not mourn without hope. Our Saviour said, The hour cometh when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.20
JEREMIAH STRYKER.
Wheeler, N. Y.
It is with a heavy heart that I announce to my friends the death of our little daughter, Alma Gertrude Shaw. She died Feb. 18, of putrid sore throat, aged three years and five months. Although we are left to mourn, yet we do not mourn as those that have no hope, for I believe that when Jesus comes to ransom those that now sleep in their graves, she will be brought again from the enemy’s land. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.21
Dear brethren, pray for us that this great affliction may prove for our good and the glory of God. I still feel like standing firm for the truth as it is in Jesus, and trying to live it out in my daily life and conversation. I hope to be an overcomer at last, that when Jesus comes to awake the sleeping dead I may say, Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him and he will save us. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.22
L. W. SHAW.
Fell asleep, Feb. 11, 1861, Libby, daughter of J. F., and E. W. Ballenger, aged two years and five months. Her disease was scarlet fever. No doubt God in his providence has permitted this affliction to come upon us to win our affections from the transient and passing things of earth to those more permanent and abiding realities beyond this mortal life, which effect, I trust, it has produced. Her decease has severed a link in our little circle that none but Jesus can re-unite, and has left a void in our hearts that nothing but his Spirit can fill. We mourn our loss; but the words of the Lord to Rachel are very comforting to us [Jeremiah 31:15-17], and it only remains for us to prepare for that event that will re-unite the righteous parents and children in bonds that can never more be severed. A discourse was preached to an attentive audience by Bro. Ingraham, from Job 14:14. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.23
J. F. BALLENGER. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 135.24
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., THIRD-DAY, MARCH 12, 1861
WE would say to those of our correspondents who manifest a disposition to write upon the covenants, that it is altogether a waste of time, to labor to prove that the new covenant under which the law of God is written in the heart has its establishment at any period this side of the days of Christ, or that the expression, “after those days,” refers to any prophetic period reaching into this dispensation. The prophet Daniel tells us that he [Christ] should confirm the covenant with many for one week; and if any particular period is intended by the expression, “after those days,” in Jeremiah 31, it must be that period to which Christ referred when, at the commencement of his ministry, he proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled” [Mark 1]; namely, the three score and two weeks that were to reach to the Messiah the Prince. Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant, and he has been a mediator ever since his ascension to heaven. We are surprised at the necessity of saying anything on a point which it seems should be so apparent to all. The reader will find the time of the establishment of the covenant discussed at length in the pamphlet entitled Kingdom of God. We hope that no one hereafter will write us on the subject of the covenants before examining this work, as it contains points which must be invalidated before views like those mentioned above can be established. We present the following from page 88: ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.1
“Again; the blood of Christ is ‘the blood of the covenant.’ Matthew 26:28. As ‘the life is in the blood,’ and man by transgression has forfeited his life, blood is given to make an atonement. Leviticus 17:11. Hence, ‘without the shedding of blood there is no remission.’ When Paul declares in Hebrews 9:15, that ‘he is the Mediator of the new testament,’ he gives a reason that the most strenuous advocate of the Age to Come will scarcely deny. He says: ‘For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.’ Hebrews 9. If Christ is not the testator here referred to, then another must die to ratify the covenant: but this will not be claimed. Thus it is proved beyond the possibility of contradiction that the new testament or covenant was ratified, or of force when Christ died.” ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.2
TO THE BRETHREN
I WISH to counteract and remove, as far as possible, the injurious influence of my hasty communication on the subject of legal organization. I did not weigh the matter as I should. I ought to have considered that Bro. White had seen the necessity of some measures being taken, and had pondered the subject well, before making the request he did concerning it. Then I might have suggested a plan of organization avoiding the evil which I feared, instead of thus confidently and self-complacently recommending that nothing should be done. I regret that I did not consider the matter carefully and prayerfully, before writing in a manner not calculated to keep the unity of the Spirit. I hope that none will stumble over this into perdition. I ask forgiveness of all the dear people of God. I hope that God himself will forgive me. And I also hope that the lesson that I have thus dearly learned may never be forgotten by me, while there is danger of my falling into a similar error. My determination is to renew my consecration to God and his cause, and strive to press onward till victory is gained. Brethren, pray for me. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.3
R. F. C.
To J. DEMING, JR. - We are not convinced by your attempted justification of Mr. Sutherland. He cannot make amends for such wrongs as he has been guilty of, any more than he can bring the dead to life. We should choose that such a man would not advocate the truth in any capacity whatever. You say he has not lectured unless requested by you. We advise you not to be partaker of other men’s sins, by endorsing them; and would further suggest that your own past course should lead you to take a low place, and to distrust your own judgment on matters of right and wrong. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.4
J. H. W.
APPOINTMENTS
Providence permitting, we will meet with the brethren at Plum River and Green Vale, Ills., where Bro. S. Myers may appoint, March 23 & 24. JAMES WHITE. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.5
THE WHITE STONE. Revelation 2:17
[HAVING never seen a satisfactory explanation of the text, “To him that overcometh will I give a white stone” [Revelation 2:17], and thinking there may be others who like myself would be pleased to see one, I send the following taken from the Ladies’ Repository for Jan., 1861. - H. F. B.] ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.6
It is generally thought by commentators, says the late Rev. Henry Blunt, that this refers to an ancient judicial custom of dropping a black stone into an urn when it is intended to condemn, and a white stone when the prisoner is to be acquitted; but this is an act so distinct from that described, “I will give thee a white stone,” that we are disposed to agree with those who think it refers rather to a custom of a very different kind, and not unknown to the classical reader; according with beautiful propriety to the case before us. In primitive times, when traveling was rendered difficult from want of places of public entertainment, hospitality was exercised by private individuals to a very great extent, of which, indeed, we find frequent traces in all history, and in none more than the Old Testament. Persons who partook of this hospitality, and those who practiced it, frequently contracted habits of friendship, and regard for each other, and it became a well established custom among the Greeks and Romans to provide their guests with some particular mark, which was handed down from father to son, and insured hospitality and kind treatment whenever it was presented. This mark was usually a small stone or pebble, cut in half, and upon the halves of which the host and the guest mutually inscribed their names, and then interchanged with each other. The production of this tessara was quite sufficient to insure friendship for themselves or descendants whenever they traveled again in the same direction; while it is evident that these stones required to be privately kept, and the names written upon them carefully concealed, lest others should obtain the privileges instead of the persons for whom they were intended. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.7
How natural, then, the allusion to this custom in the words of the text, “I will give him to eat of the hidden manna!” and having done this, having made him partake of my hospitality, having recognized him as my guest and friend, I will present him with the white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, save he who receiveth it. I will give him a pledge of my friendship, sacred and inviolable, known only to himself. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.8
Business Department
Business Notes
The P. O. address of Lewis Bean is South Troy, Vt. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.9
A. H. Daniels: Bro. White will consult with you in regard to books on his western tour. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.10
A. S. Hutchins: Bro. Waggoner will probably soon notice the articles to which you refer. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.11
Capt. R. Reid: Your letter was received in due time; but as you did not then give your P. O. address we were unable to credit the money. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.12
Geo. Wright: We give credit on book as you request. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.13
H. H. Wilcox: Remittance for Sabbath-School books received. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.14
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 March 12, 1861, page 136.15
A. Hall 1,00,xvi,19. Jno. Hall 0,75,xvii,7. C. Woodard 2,00,xix,1. A. E. Gridley 5,00,xxiii,8. G. W. Holt 1,00,xviii,1. D. C. Neumeyer 0,65,xix,1. R. Reid 2,00,xvii,4. H. D. Corey 1,00,xviii,1. Nancy Wooley 1,00,xviii,18. J. Cure 0,50,xviii,17. M. B. Clark 0,50,xviii,17. E. A. Rawlins 0,50,xviii,1. Jno. Holloway 2,00,xix,1. Faml. Ross 0,50,xviii,17. S. Steckel 0,50,xviii,17. J. F. Smith 1,00,xviii,17. B. Leach 1,00,xvii,16. J. W. Shaul 1,00,xviii,18. A. L. Crosby 0,50,xviii,17. S. Whitney 1,00,xviii,13. H. Flower 3,00,xvi,1. H. J. Clark 1,00,xvii,1. Thomas Smith 2,00,xix,12. B. G. Jones 1,00,xviii,1. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.16
FOR REVIEW TO POOR. - A friend $1. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.17
FOR MISSIONARY PURPOSES. - R. Sawyer (S. B.) $1. Wm. Harris $0,60. H. D. Corey $0,40. M. A. Stroud $1. Ch. in Wright, Mich. (S. B.) $20. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.18
FOR MICH. TENT. - Ch. in Wright, Mich. (S. B.) $20. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.19
FOR T. B. MEAD. - B. G. Jones $0,75. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.20
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 Death, | 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 (2 cts.) - Law of God by Wesley - Appeal to men of reason on Immortality - Much in Little - Truth - Death and Burial - Preach the Word. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.21
These small Tracts can be sent, post-paid, in packages of not less than twenty-five. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.22
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 March 12, 1861, page 136.23
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 March 12, 1861, page 136.24
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 March 12, 1861, page 136.25
Holland. De Natuur en Verbinding van den Sabbath volgens het vierde Gebodt. Translated from the same as the German. Price 10 cents. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.26
French. Le Sabbat de la Bible. A Tract on the Sabbath of 32 pp. Price 5 cents. ARSH March 12, 1861, page 136.27
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 March 12, 1861, page 136.28
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 March 12, 1861, page 136.29