Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 14
September 22, 1859
RH VOL. XIV.-BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY,-NO. 18
Uriah Smith
ADVENT REVIEW,
AND SABBATH HERALD.
“Here is the Patience of the Saints; Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.”
VOL. XIV.-BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1859.-NO. 18.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY
AT BATTLE CREEK, MICH.
BY J. P. KELLOGG, CYRENIUS SMITH AND D. R. PALMER,
Publishing Committee.
URIAH SMITH, Resident Editor.
J. N. ANDREWS, JAMES WHITE, J. H. WAGGONER, R. F. COTTRELL, and STEPHEN PIERCE, Corresponding Editors.
Terms.-ONE DOLLAR IN ADVANCE FOR A VOLUME OF 26 NOS. All communications, orders and remittances for the REVIEW AND HERALD should be addressed to URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.1
ALTERNATIVES
WERE all the beams that ever shone
From all the stars of day or night,
Collected in one single cone
Unutterably bright: -
I’d give them for one glance of heaven,
Which might but hint of sins forgiven.
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.2
Could all the voices and glad sounds,
Which have not fallen on my sense,
Be rendered up in one hour’s bounds -
A gift immense; -
I’d for one whisper to my heart,
Give all the joys this might impart.
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.3
If the great deep now offered all
The treasures in her bosom stored,
And to my feet I could now call
The mighty hoard; -
I’d spurn it utterly, for some
Small treasure in the world to come.
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.4
If the sweet scents of every flower,
Each one of which cheers more than wine;
One plant could from its petals pour,
And that were mine;
I would give up that glorious prize,
For one faint breath from Paradise.
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.5
Were all the pleasures I have known,
“So few, so very far between;”
Into one great sensation thrown -
Not them all mean:
I’d give it freely for one smile,
From Him who died for me erewhile. [John Kitto.
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.6
MORTAL OR IMMORTAL? WHICH? OR, AN INQUIRY INTO THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION AND FUTURE CONDITION OF MAN
BY THE EDITOR.
(Continued.)
Answers to Objections Continued
u. 2 Timothy 4:6. “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” It is claimed that the departure here referred to is death, with which we agree. We take no exceptions to the remark so often made, “Departed this life,” etc. But as Paul does not here intimate that his departure was to be to heaven, or even to any conscious intermediate state we have no right to infer this. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.7
v. Hebrews 12:23. “Ye are come, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written [in the Lamb’s book of life] in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” Of this passage two expositions may be given. The first is, that the apostle here certainly could not mean to tell the Hebrews that they had in reality and literally come to Mount Zion, [see verse 22], to the city of the living God, etc. This then was only prospective; and they had come, on a change of dispensation, only by faith, to all these things which are mentioned. The spirits of just men made perfect are not therefore spoken of as existing in the present tense. Let it be noticed again that it does not say spirits made perfect, but men made perfect. But when is it that men are made perfect? He tells us in verses 39, 40 of chap 11, of this same epistle to the Hebrews: “And these all [the ancient worthies] having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” The child of God in the nineteenth century may take up this language as his own. The scriptures reveal to us God’s grand design of having the whole family perfected together when all those who are written in heaven shall be gathered home. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.8
The second exposition, and which is not without its force, is, that Paul is here simply contrasting the two dispensations, the Mosaic and the Christian (which is evidently the case, and equally true on the exposition above given), and that we, christians, are come, or have come, in the present tense, to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, etc. That is, that we are no longer in this dispensation to look to old Jerusalem or to the earthly Mount Zion, but to the Jerusalem above, the mother of us all; that we have come to it in this respect, that now our communication and intercourse is to be directly with it, without going through the circuitous medium of an outward priesthood as in the former dispensation. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.9
In this sense we have come to God and an innumerable company of angels. Angels are more intimately connected with the believer and the work, of this dispensation. And to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven. We enjoy a closer union with those whose names are in the book of life than was ever experienced in any dispensation before. And to the spirits of just men made perfect. That is, persons, perfected not in the sense of Hebrews 11:40, which refers to the final glorification, but perfect as Christ makes us perfect here, through the justification of his blood and the sanctification of his Spirit. And the christian of this dispensation does come directly “to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”
It is in this sense that Dr. Clarke understands the passage. He says: ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.10
“The spirits of just men made perfect.] We cannot understand these terms without the assistance of Jewish phraseology. The Jews divide mankind into three classes: 1. The JUST PERFECT, tsaddikim gemurim. 2. The wicked perfect, reshaim gemurim. 3. Those between both, beinoniyim. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.11
“1. The just perfect are those, 1st. Who have conquered all brutal appetites and gross passions. 2nd. Who have stood in the time of strong temptation. 3rd. Who give alms with a sincere heart. 4th. Who worship the true God only. 5th. Who are not invidious. 6th. Those from whom God has taken yester hara, evil concupiscence, and given yester tob, the good principle. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.12
“2. The wicked perfect are those, 1st. Who never repent. 2nd. They receive their portion in this life, because they can have none in the life to come, and are under the influence of yester hara, the evil principle. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.13
“3. The intermediate are those who are influenced partly by the evil principle and partly by the good. See Schoettgen. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.14
“In several parts of this epistle [to the Hebrews] teleioz the just man, signifies one who has a full knowledge of the Christian system, who is justified and saved by Christ Jesus; and the teteleiomenoi are the adult Christians, who are opposed to the nirpioi or babes in knowledge and grace. See chap. 5:12-14; 8:11; and Galatians 4:1-3. The spirits of just men made perfect, or the righteous perfect, are the full grown Christians; those who are justified by the blood and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. Being come to such, implies that spiritual union which the disciples of Christ have with each other, and which they possess how far soever separate; for they are all joined in one Spirit, Ephesians 2:18; they are in the unity of the Spirit, Ephesians 4:3, 4; and of one soul, Acts 4:32. This is a unity which was never possessed even by the Jews themselves in their best state; it is peculiar to real Christianity; as to nominal Christianity, wars and desolations between man and his fellows, are quite consistent with its spirit.” The reader is also referred to Dr. C.’s note at the end of the chapter. We are inclined to think that this latter exposition best expresses the sense of the passage. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.15
w. 1 Peter 3:18, 19. “For Christ also hath once suffered, etc., being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” A paraphrase of this passage will, we think, make all plain. Thus, Being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit, by which Spirit also he went [not when he died, but] when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, etc., and preached to the spirits, or persons, in prison. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.16
Dr. Clarke remarks on this passage, “He went and preached] By the ministry of Noah, one hundred and twenty years.” Thus he places Christ’s going and preaching by his Spirit, in the days of Noah where it evidently belongs, and not during the time that his body lay in the grave. Again he says, “The word pneamaoi spirits is supposed to render this view of the subject improbable, because this must mean disembodied spirits; but this certainly does not follow, for the spirits of just men made perfect, Hebrews 12:23, certainly means righteous men, and men still in the church militant; and the Father of spirits. Hebrews 12:9, means men still in the body; and the God of the spirits of all flesh, Numbers 16:22, and 27:16, means men, not in a disembodied state.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.17
But, it may be asked, does it not speak of the spirits’ being in prison? and does not that expression denote a state of death, and show that men are conscious, and can be preached to, in death? Answer. We have seen that the preaching took place in the days of Noah, to men in this present state; and if the spirits, or persons, were in prison while they were hearing the preaching, that expression must mean their detention under the arrest of divine justice, their days being limited to a hundred and twenty years. Thus detained, and their doom appointed, they are represented as being in prison, the judgments of God waiting either for their repentance, or for the expiration of the time allotted to them, that they might suffer the threatened doom. But if the preaching did not take place to them while they were in prison, and this expression denotes the state of death into which they have since fallen, and now are, then the passage furnishes no sort of proof for the conscious state. We will only remark finally, that to locate the scene here brought to view beyond the grave, and to say that Christ’s soul or spirit went, while his body lay in the grave, and preached to other souls which were detained somewhere after death where they could be benefitted and reformed by Christ’s preaching, smells too strong of purgatory, ever to be found on the lips of a Protestant. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 137.18
x. 2 Peter 1:14. “Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me.” It is here claimed that the “I” that speaks, and the “my” that is in possession of a tabernacle, is Peter’s soul, the man proper, and the tabernacle is the body which he was going to lay off. That Peter here has reference to death, we doubt not; but it was to be as the Lord Jesus Christ had showed him. How had he showed him it would be? See John 21:18, 19: “But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldst not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.” Here we are shown that the “thou” and the “he,” claimed on 1 Peter 1:14, to be Peter’s soul, the man proper, was going to die, and by death glorify God. And Peter himself says in the next verse, “Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.” Here, then, the same “my,” Peter’s soul, the man proper, recollect, which in the verse before is in the possessive case and governed by tabernacle, is again in the possessive case and governed by decease, or death! Yes, Peter himself was going to die. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.1
y. Revelation 6:9, 10. “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Let us understand the real difficulty of this text, before we enter upon its exposition. We have seen in our examination of the words soul and spirit, that soul may and does sometimes mean the body, and that dead soul is as proper an expression as living soul. But it is claimed that the souls here must be alive, for they are heard to cry. Their consciousness is based upon their crying. For this reason and no other they are supposed to be intelligent and conscious. But this is far from a necessary conclusion. See Genesis 4:9, 10. “And the Lord said unto Cain .... the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” Was the blood conscious? No; but it revealed the fact that a murder had been committed, a life taken, and thus it called for vengeance. See also Habakkuk 2:11; James 5:4, for other instances of similar expressions. So in Revelation, when the fifth seal was opened, John in symbolical vision saw the representation of an altar, and under that altar, like victims slain upon it and fallen by its side, he beheld those who had been martyred by the idolatry and superstition of Pagan Rome; and their blood, even like the blood of Abel, cried to Almighty God for vengeance. And all this is in the strictest accordance with that beautiful figure of rhetoric, personification, which is “the attributing of life, action, intelligence and personality to inanimate objects,” and without which language itself would scarcely be complete. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.2
But let us look at the picture here brought to view, according to the popular interpretation. First, we have souls under the altar of incense in heaven-souls it would seem shut up in a certain place in heaven; and second, these souls cry for vengeance on those who had slain them, or rather driven them from their bodies on earth; but these very persons, if current with theology be correct, had been the means of their going directly to heaven, had caused their entrance into all its unspeakable and perpetual bliss. Act they well or consistently to call for vengeance on such? Is the life on earth so much happier than the life in heaven, and so superior to it, that vengeance must be taken on those who presume to shorten it by ushering us into the latter? It would hardly seem so. But, third, these souls call upon God to avenge their blood; but we did not suppose that an immaterial, invisible, indivisible, indestructible, unimaginable, popular soul, had blood that could be shed, as is here represented. Is there not something of incongruity in the view usually taken of this passage? We think all must admit it. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.3
We will now answer in order a few such questions as may suggest themselves to the mind of the reader, according to our view of this passage, and so dismiss it. 1. Who or what are the souls under the altar? Answer, Those who had been slain by Pagan Rome: the fifth seal, before the opening of which they were slain, denoting the time of Papal supremacy. It was during this time of Papal rule that their fellow-servants and brethren were to be slain as they had been; and during this time it was said to them that they should rest. The grave is denominated a place of rest. Job 3:17, 18. “There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.” How true of these victims of Pagan persecution! John in Revelation 20:4, speaks again of these souls: “I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus .... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” This shows that the time does not come for these souls to live until the resurrection. 2. What and where is the altar? It denotes the place where they were slain, and was “upon earth,” says Dr. Clarke, “not in heaven.” 3. How could they cry if they were not conscious and intelligent? Even as Abel’s blood did cry. 4. And white robes were given them? Showing the decision of heaven on their characters: a good pledge that they will join the general assembly around the great white throne. Revelation 7:9. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.4
z. Revelation 22:8, 9. “And I John ... fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets.” This text is supposed to prove that one of the old prophets came to John as an angel, showing that the dead exist in a conscious state. But it does not so teach. The angel simply stated that he was John’s fellow-servant, and the fellow-servant of John’s brethren the prophets, and the fellow-servant of them which keep the sayings of this book. The being of whom they were all worshipers together, was the great God. Therefore says the angel, do not worship me, since I am only a worshiper with you at the throne of God; but worship God. This angel had doubtless been sent to the ancient prophets to reveal things to them, as he had now come to John. Such we believe to be the legitimate teaching of this scripture, the last that is found in the book of God, supposed to teach a conscious state. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.5
We have now examined a whole alphabet of scriptures which are brought forward as objections to the view we advocate. We have found that when interpreted in accordance with the acknowledged rule that scripture should explain scripture, many of them become positive testimony for the unconscious state of the dead; and those that are not such, prove nothing for the other side, and so, at most, are but neutral. But this argument has been rather negative than positive. We now propose to bring forward a few scriptures which prove beyond all the arts of sophistry or the blindness of prejudice, the view we hold. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.6
DIRECT TESTIMONY FOR THE SLEEP OF THE DEAD
a. Genesis 3:19. “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” This was God’s sentence upon Adam. The moral, responsible, intelligent Adam, is here addressed, the one that had sinned, and that Adam was remanded back to the dust from whence he was taken. Nothing here truly that looks much like consciousness in death. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.7
b. Deuteronomy 31:16. “Thou shalt sleep with thy fathers.” These were the words of the Lord to Moses. Now when the Bible speaks of a man in life, we understand that it means the whole rational, intelligent man; and we do not believe when it speaks of the same individual in death, that the language suddenly changes its meaning and refers only to the body, leaving the soul, the man proper, to fly off unnoticed to a higher state of activity and conscious being. Mark then, that it is the Moses that lived, that was sentenced to sleep with his fathers. See also 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 2:10, etc. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.8
c. Job 3:11-19. Job here testifies that could he have died in earliest infancy, he had been at rest with kings and counsellors of the earth which built desolate places for themselves, etc.; “as a hidden, untimely birth,” to quote his own language, “I had not been.” Such is the condition Job declares the dead to be in. We imagine that none will contend for much consciousness here, except those who believe in the pre-existence of the human soul, as well as its life after death. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.9
d. Job 10:21, 22. Speaking of death Job says, “Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; a land of darkness as darkness itself, and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.” This is the place to which Job was going. But Job was a righteous man, and must have gone, according to general belief directly to heaven. Is this a description of heaven? ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.10
e. Job 14:10-12. Job here asks the direct question, “Man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost and where is he?” The very point we want to know Job. Then, might the venerable patriarch reply, mark well my answer! “As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep.” No plainer testimony can be needed, that, till the heavens be no more, or are “rolled together as a scroll,” and the resurrection of the dead takes place, those who have fallen in death shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.11
f. Verse 21. “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not.” What? Don’t a dead man know more than all the living? Has not his soul opened into an unbounded field of consciousness? Is he not permitted to be the guardian of his friends? Scarcely. For his sons come to honor, an event so well calculated to please him, and he knows nothing of it: they are brought low, an event calculated to grieve him, and he knows nothing of that; for he is gone to that place, where, says another scripture, there is no knowledge. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.12
g. Job 17:13-16. “If I wait the grave is mine house.” Job had told us in chap. 14:14, “All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.” Now he says, “If I wait the grave is mine house.” The change referred to then, must be the resurrection; and what his condition would be till that time, he tells us in the following language: “I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister, .... when our rest together is in the dust.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.13
h. Psalm 6:5. “For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” A positive declaration, on which comment is unnecessary. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.14
i. Psalm 88:10. “Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee?” Certainly, if they are in heaven. But here is a declaration put in the interrogative form, to express the strongest possible denial of any such condition in death. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.15
j. Psalm 115:17. “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Would the theology of our day speak thus of the dead? Let its funeral sermons answer. But we say, Let God be true, though at the expense of all men-made creeds, and traditionary dogmas. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 138.16
k. Psalm 146:3, 4. “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” What kind of consciousness is it supposed a man could keep up without thoughts? But in the very day of his death his thoughts perish. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.1
l. Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. “For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished, neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest.” 1 Comment unnecessary. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.2
m. Isaiah 38:18, 19. “For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee as I do this day; the father to the children shall make known thy truth.” Such is the plain unequivocal testimony of good king Hezekiah. God had in mercy added to his life fifteen years; and in his song of thanksgiving he thus tells us why he rejoiced: it was because in the grave he could not praise him, as he desired to do; for the living alone could praise him as he did that day. Contrast this with the sentiment of the hymns which enter into divine worship at the present day: ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.3
I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath;
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers.”
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.4
Hezekiah, it seems, thought differently; and now, reader, which do you prefer, the imagination of the poet, or the inspiration of Isaiah? ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.5
n. Ezekiel 37:1-14. Here reference is made to the resurrection, and the Lord promises his people that he will bring them, not from heaven, but from their graves. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.6
o. Daniel 12:2. “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,” etc. They are not sleeping in the dust of the earth if they are in heaven; and if the resurrection is simply the coming back of the soul, the man proper, to resume the old body, this language is a very improper description of such an event. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.7
p. Hosea 13:14. “I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death.” Where is the necessity of this, or who would wish to be thus redeemed, if death is, as we are told, “but the gate to endless joy?” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.8
q. Matthew 27:52. “And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.” Not bodies of the saints which were in heaven. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.9
r. John 3:13. “No man hath ascended up to heaven.” Rather a startling declaration, viewed from the stand-point of the common belief. But what about Enoch and Elijah? We answer that Bible rules, as well as others, have their exceptions; but we must not suffer the exception to usurp the place of the rule. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.10
s. John 5:28, 29. “The hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.” But there are none there, says popular theology. It will be vain to endeavor to apply this language to the body merely; for is hearing an attribute of the body when the soul has departed? ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.11
t. John 7:34. “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am thither ye cannot come.” This was the language of Jesus when speaking of going to his Father. Should any say that this was addressed to the wicked Jews who would not of course go to heaven to be with Jesus when they died, we reply that he said the same to his disciples also. Chap 13:33. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.12
u. John 11:11-14, etc. Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death.” Read the whole account: it speaks of anything else but a conscious state in death. And in the account of the raising of Lazarus, verse 44,, it is said, “And he that was dead, came forth,” etc. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.13
v. Acts 2:29, 34. “Men and brethren let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. For David is not ascended into the heavens.” What? Do not the souls of the righteous mount up to God and glory the instant they are liberated by death from this “mortal coil?” And who more likely to do this than David, a man after God’s own heart? But no; such is not the teaching of the infallible oracle. David in the days of Peter had not ascended into heaven. Where was he? Chap. 13:36, answers: “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.14
w. Acts 7:60. “And when he [Stephen] had said thus, he (went to heaven, to Jesus whom he had seen standing on the right hand of God? No; but) fell asleep.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.15
x. 1 Corinthians 15:20. “But now is Christ risen and become the first fruits of them that slept.” See also verse 51: “We shall not all sleep,” etc., language entirely incompatible with the idea of consciousness in death. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.16
y. 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14. “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” We have had occasion to refer to this scripture once before, and shall refer to it again. We quote it here simply to show that the dead are represented as asleep. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.17
z. 2 Peter 2:9. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” This testimony shows that the unjust do not enter into a place of punishment at death, but are reserved to the day of judgment. Where are they reserved? Ans. In the general receptacle of the dead, the grave. See Job 21:30. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.18
We have now introduced twenty-six positive scriptures for unconsciousness in death, answering text for text to those which are considered as objections to this view. We trust that those which are so considered have been shown to be no objections, while the import of these direct proof texts no sophistry can evade. Can the reader longer hesitate to which view to give his adherence? Can he longer doubt upon which side the testimony of the Bible stands? But there is another great doctrine of the Bible which amounts to the most positive evidence upon this point, and that is, ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.19
THE RESURRECTION
There are various views extant of this event and various theories relative to the time and manner of its accomplishment. But we speak of that literal resurrection which the Bible assures us shall take place, and that, too, at the last day. It is the resurrection of those that sleep in their graves. The Saviour himself declares, “The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth.” John 5:28, 29. It is an event which is yet future. Paul said, when disputing with Turtullus before the governor, I “have hope towards God which, they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust.” Acts 24:15. And he tells us in chap. 26:7, that unto that promise the twelve tribes hope to come. He also reasoned of a judgment to come [chap. 24:25,] and declares that God hath appointed a day for this very purpose. Chap. 17:31. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.20
These two great events, therefore, the resurrection and a general judgment being fixed facts, according to the plain declarations of the Bible, the important inquiry arises, What need is there of a resurrection, if the man proper ceases not to exist at death, but lives on in a more enlarged and perfect sphere of consciousness and activity? If the body is but a trammel, a clog, to the operations of the soul, what need that it should come back and gather up its scattered particles from the silent tomb? Says Wm. Tyndale, while defending the doctrine of Martin Luther that the dead sleep, “In putting departed souls in heaven hell and purgatory, you destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection..... If the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good case as the angels be? and then what cause is there of the resurrection?” Most just and pertinent question; one which places the tendency of the popular doctrine in its true light; for, indeed, what cause is there of the resurrection, in such a case as that? ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.21
Again: What propriety can there be in a general judgment at the last day, if those who pass from this state of existence, enter immediately at death into happiness or misery accordingly as their characters have been good or bad? Is there possibility of mistake in the decision passed upon men at death? and is it perhaps the case that some have been unjustly tormented in hell, and others unworthily reveling in the bliss of heaven for ages past, so that there must needs be a general assize on the whole human race, to correct these momentous errors of former decisions? Such a view reflects on the character of the divine government. Thus the popular teaching renders two cardinal events in the Bible plan of salvation, altogether useless and unnecessary; and any view, which leads us to conclusions so serious in their nature, we respectfully submit, should be held with modesty and received with caution. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.22
The resurrection is the great event for which the sacred writers looked and longed. It was the hope of the patient Job: “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” exclaims he in the assurance of faith, “and that he will stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after the skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19:25, 26. This was the satisfactory hope of the psalmist David: “As for me,” he says, “I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.” Psalm 17:15. To the same theme Isaiah tuned the lyre, and this was the burden of his joyful song: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isaiah 26:19. It was the hope of the apostle Paul through all his manifold sufferings and toil. For this he could take up any cross and sacrifice any temporal good. And if he could esteem his afflictions, his troubles on every side, his perplexities, persecutions, stripes, imprisonments and perils;-if he could esteem all these but light afflictions, yea, if he could utterly lose sight of them, it was in view of the “glory which shall be revealed in us,” “Knowing,” says he, “that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” 2 Corinthians 4:14. He could count all things loss, if by any means he might attain to a resurrection [exanastasiz] out from among the dead. Philippians 3:8-11. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.23
(To be Continued.)
JESUS IN THIS LIFE. “I want,” said a corporal one day to Hedley Vicars, “to have more of Jesus in this life.” Christ crucified is not a mere fund in reserve-a kind of extreme unction-to teach men how to die; it is the lever which is to move the life. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.24
THE GRACE OF GOD. A boat, with the full tide against it, does well if it can keep from driving back, and must have strong force indeed to get forward. We must estimate grace by the opposition it meets with.-Cecil. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 139.25
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. FIFTH-DAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1859.
UNITY OF THE CHURCH
DURING our recent tent-meeting at Parkville I listened to a sermon by a Methodist minister on the unity of the church, which was, however, designed as an attack upon us. It seemed to me that he was endeavoring to set aside the text on which he was professedly preaching, rather than endeavoring to set forth what it taught. But of this the reader can judge. I present the text, and the leading ideas on the occasion. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.1
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17:20, 21. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.2
“I have no sympathy for the whining deceivers that cry out, ‘Union, union,’ to get sympathy. Individuality is stamped on the minds of men, as well as upon their faces, and consequently in no church do the members all think alike. A certain persecutor endeavored to make everybody believe as he did. But finding it impossible to make two clocks go alike he relinquished the attempt to bring men to see things alike. God never designed that the members of the church should agree exactly in doctrine. To use a common expression, no two minds are cast in the same mould. Those who cast out devils, and followed not in the company of the disciples, did a good work. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.3
“The apostles did not think alike, and after Christ’s death one said, “I am of Paul,” etc., and another, “I am of Christ;” and the one who claimed to be of Christ was the worst and meanest of all. There always was, and always will be, differences in doctrine and usage in the church. I will show the bond of union in the evangelical churches; and those who do not agree in these things are not entitled to that name. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.4
“1. We all agree that water baptism is necessary; but all admit that the thing is more essential than the mode. 2. Another strong bond of union is the belief in one God. 3. We all believe that there are three persons in the Godhead. 4. We all believe in the fall of man. 5. In total depravity. 6. In the new birth, and in the actual creation of a new heart. The carnal mind is taken away, which is enmity against the law, and the believer delivered from the sentence of the law. 7. All believe in sanctification. 8. And all believe in future rewards and punishment, which latter is eternal conscious being in torment. God will punish a reality and not a shadow. Destruction would be no punishment, for once we did not exist, and to be reduced to the same state again would be no punishment. 9. All evangelical christians agree in a general judgment, not one thousand, or ten thousand years long, but one day. No evangelical christian is disreputable enough to deny that the judgment will be in that one last great day which God has appointed. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.5
“How can christians best unite? Some say, abolish all but our church. But the evangelical alliance advised that each church should stick to every thing in its organization and church government. Union is not by all seeing alike, but by being of one Spirit. No other union ever can be. The Romish church is an example of the folly of union. Yet it is made up of sects within a sect. And this church has given us many pernicious errors. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.6
“Divisions of the Jews caused them to watch each other, and thus the Bible was kept pure. The same thing is good now. Union would have ruined the Christian religion. Divisions have advanced the work. Thus Methodists can gain access to a certain class that Baptists and Presbyterians cannot, and so each denomination can reach some that the others cannot reach. These different churches are like the states of this Union, all with separate constitutions, yet all united under the constitution of the United States. Such a union as this convinces the world. When we cross the river of death we shall sing, Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!” J. N. ANDREWS. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.7
Fiery trials are God’s furnace, by which he purges away the dross of his people: “This is all the fruit to take away sin.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.8
TENT MEETING AT OCEOLA, IOWA
IT is impossible to give a definite report of this meeting, as to the number who have decided to obey the truth, on account of the sickness of our company during the last and most important part of the time, so that we could not visit those interested. However, we have the assurance that several have decided to keep the Sabbath. Our regular hearers were mostly from the country, and we learn that a good impression is made on many minds. Nine were baptized. Hundreds were gathered at the water-side, and while the services were performed, and an exhortation given, solemnity seemed to pervade the whole assembly. May the Lord give the increase, is our prayer. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.9
Bro. Brinkerhoof was with us part of the time, and assisted in preaching the word. Bro. B. was never a professor of religion until he heard the present truth. He had studied law under his uncle, and was ready to be admitted to the bar when the truth found him, and he now feels willing to give himself to pleading the “higher law”-the law of God. Bro. B. will be duly set apart to the ministry, and as such we heartily commend him to the sympathies of commandment-keepers where he may travel. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.10
Eld. Winans, a good scholar and one of the first Methodist preachers in this country, gave us a challenge to debate the Sabbath question. Bro. Hull accepted, and a day was appointed for the discussion of the question. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.11
Resolved, That the seventh day of the week, beginning the count with the commencement of the making of the world, is the only lawful weekly Sabbath. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.12
It was estimated that over a thousand persons were assembled to hear the arguments, and the unanimous decision of all, so far as we could learn, (except a part of Eld. W.’s own members,) was that our position was triumphantly sustained, and that Eld. W. did not argue to the question. Good order was observed by the audience, and a good spirit manifested by the disputants, and we believe a general spirit of investigation was stimulated by the effort. When truth and error are held side by side, the honest and unprejudiced can discern the vast difference that exists between them. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.13
We are now in Knoxville. Have had three meetings here. Last evening about five hundred were present, notwithstanding three other meetings at the same time. The interest is rising very fast, and we hope for much good here. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.14
Since writing the above our congregation has increased to above eight hundred, and some say over a thousand. The country people are just now beginning to come in, and there is a prospect of a good work. O Lord, revive thy work. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.15
M. E. CORNELL.
M. HULL.
Knowville, Iowa, Sept. 5th, 1859.
Since we received the above the following has come to hand from Bro. Hull, written from Knoxville.-ED. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.16
DEAR BRO. SMITH: Through the abundant goodness of our heavenly Father, I am permitted to address you. The present truth is onward in this place. So far the interest is very good here, the best we have seen in any place this year. The tent is crowded every night to overflowing. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Lutherans, and Disciples flock out en masse to hear the truth. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.17
There are a few who have never heard us, who make it their business to circulate all manner of false reports about us. But thus far they have overshot the mark. They have loaded their gun so heavy that the effect has been for them the wrong way. The stories are so large that the people will not believe them, notwithstanding ministers are foremost in circulating them. One Presbyterian minister told his congregation that he knew all about us; that we were Mormons, and still had our spiritual wives; that we were abolitionists, down on education, and would stay as long as we could get sap-heads to hear us. But this attempt to put us down only made him appear ridiculous, and caused his best brethren to lose confidence in him. The Lord has given some freedom in presenting his truth, although my health has been so poor that I have not been able to do justice to any subject as yet. I hope for more physical strength in the future. I shall have to quit the field unless more bodily strength is given to me than I have had for a few weeks past. Brethren, pray for me. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.18
M. HULL.
P.S. My address for the present is Knoxville, Marion Co., Iowa. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.19
M. H.
MEETINGS
In Ionia, Clinton and Shiawassa Counties, Mich
OUR meetings commenced in North Plains, Ionia Co., Aug. 13th, and continued two days. Brethren from the adjacent towns came to the gathering, and seemed cheered and blessed in meeting once more, to commingle their prayers and exhortations, and feast on the word of life. They evinced an increasing desire to have the “gold, white raiment and eye-salve” offered them by the faithful and true Witness, to sweeten the last message of mercy, and fit them to overcome all the temptations of the enemy. They cheerfully united in the systematic plan of benevolence, as recommended by our last general conference at Battle Creek, and seemed anxious to have gospel order, and live out all the strait truths of God, and keep company with the main body of the church of God. Some few came to hear and learn, and we hope they will erelong see it important to obey. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.20
From thence, by invitation of Bro. I. A. Olmstead, we commenced a series of meetings in Orleans, Ionia Co., some twelve miles further west. Bro. O. and companion recently decided to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, after Bro. Frisbie had closed a series of meetings in Orleans, and seemed to feel a strong desire that their neighbors and friends should have one more privilege to hear the word. Our meetings continued from Aug. 16th to the 24th. Much interest was manifested to the close. It was evident they had ears to hear, and I hope hearts to obey. A few expressed a willingness to keep the Sabbath, while some fifteen or twenty acknowledged its claims. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.21
At the close of our Sabbath meetings a blind man who had been led to the meeting, got up and declared that he had been a Sunday-keeper for sixty-seven years, but he would never keep it again; for he was now satisfied that the seventh day was the Sabbath of the Lord our God. Yes even the blind that cannot see the light of day, can see by the lamp and light of God’s word, that the seventh is the rest-day of the Lord. I felt an unwillingness to leave this people, while they evinced such a willingness to hear; but two other previous appointments some thirty and fifty miles eastward required my attendance. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.22
We commenced our conference in Green Bush, Clinton Co., Aug. 27th. The church here had been in trial about the way, and somewhat scattered. They were however much pleased to have a series of meetings, and manifested a strong desire to learn all about the way, and do all their duty as fast as things could be made plain. Our meetings continued three days, in which time they were much cheered and strengthened, and some of their neighbors listened with attention, and we hope were in a measure benefitted. Calls were urgent to present the truth in neighboring towns here, and other places also where we held meetings. The church expressed a strong desire to move in union and harmony with the main body to reach the mount Zion of God. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.23
At Owasso, Shiawassee Co., conference commenced Sept. 1st, and closed the evening of the 5th. Brethren gathered in around from twenty-five to thirty miles, hungry for the word of life. Four sisters came from Conway and Locke, some twenty-five miles, and managed their own team. Notwithstanding our place for meetings (school-house) was situated in the woods, yet four Methodist ministers came to hear. One of them said at the close of one of the meetings that our subjects respecting the atonement, and proclamation of the second coming of Christ was all dark; it was well known that Mr. Miller had made a mistake, and the speaker was also mistaken; and he was in the dark, having received no light from the discourse, and did not believe half a dozen of the congregation had understood me. I replied that I was very sorry that he was so dark in his mind, that I could not help him: but I would settle his difficulty about the congregation, by calling upon all that had with him been listening to the subject to raise their hands, if they had understood me. The minister began to count the uplifted hands, and saw how he had misjudged in the matter, and said, “I will take that back, sir. I acknowledge that I was mistaken, but in relation to the atonement, the last evening it is evident you was mistaken, for the atonement was all finished when Christ died upon the cross. I asked him if his atonement was made eighteen hundred years before he was born. He insisted that all the atonement that was ever to be made was at the cross. We cited the ixth of Dan. for proof that the Saviour died after sixty-nine weeks, which was the first part of the twenty-three hundred days of Daniel’s vision. But Daniel was told, unto twenty-three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed, or the work of atonement begin. This certainly was more than eighteen hundred days [years] after the Saviour died on the cross. Here the evening meeting closed. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 140.24
At this conference four decided to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. One of them, a young married man, said, “I have made up my mind to serve God the rest of my days. Pray for me.” When we left, his companion was deciding to go with him. The other three came from Corrunna to learn our position. The church here also made their arrangements to enter fully into the plan of systematic benevolence, and do what the Lord requires of them in the third angel’s message. The last evening the church convened to attend to the ordinances of the Lord’s house, and received the blessing of the Lord. Praise his holy name! ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.1
JOSEPH BATES.
Burns, Shiawassee Co., Mich., Sept. 8th, 1859.
ASSOCIATE NOT WITH THE WICKED
WE do not mean by this to exclude ourselves entirely from the company of evil doers, for then must we needs go out of the world; but we mean to avoid all unnecessary society and fellowship with wicked men. It is an old saying that “a man is known by the company he keeps;” and if we who profess to be preparing for translation, who expect to be found without spot and blameless, are fond of the company of those who love pleasure, and if we gather with them on their festivals unnecessarily, then we may expect to be judged with them. Also we virtually deny our Lord before men, for the world would not know by our actions that we pretended to be the meek followers of Jesus, but would naturally suppose us to be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,” and those who are acquainted with us, and know our high profession, would say that our godliness was only a mere form. While we thus deny Jesus before men, we cannot expect him to confess our names before the Father, and we shall be left to weep and mourn when it is too late for repentance to benefit us. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.2
“Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning,” and in the record of the dealings of God with his people anciently, we find that not the person of those nations that were driven out before the children of Israel, was permitted to remain among his people; and the reason given was this, “lest they make thee to sin against me.” Exodus 23:33. Now if there was danger of a few unbelievers making a nation to sin, how much greater is the danger of a nation of unbelievers making a few righteous to transgress in these days of peril and apostasy. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.3
When Jehoshaphat had helped the wicked king of Israel, Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him, and said to him, “Shouldst thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.” It is natural for us to company with those we love; and the converse is also true, that those we company with we love; and if we company much with the world, that is, go to their parties, picnics and gatherings for pleasure, our deeds, which speak louder than words, show to men that we love the world and those that hate God. But the humble followers of Jesus can ever say with David, “I have not sat with vain persons, neither will go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.” Psalm 26:4, 5. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.4
Let us heed the instruction of the wise man. “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not..... Walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path.” “Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them;” but choose the company of the truly wise, for “he that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Who are fools? not those that are incapable of understanding, alone, but those who hate knowledge: (see Proverbs 1:) those who despise wisdom and instruction; those who will not turn at the reproof of the Lord, when he is about to pour out his Spirit; those who set at naught the counsel of the Lord; whose destruction is about to come like a whirlwind; or briefly, those whom the Lord is about to destroy-the wicked. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.5
Reader, are you a companion of such? If so, forsake them lest you too be destroyed. “Who shall abide in thy tabernacle?” Is it those who love the world? He “in whose eyes a vile person is contemned.” Psalm 15. While we seek the company and friendship of the world, and our lives pass along smoothly here below, will not the record in heaven stand thus against our names: “Guilty of spiritual adultery; professing to be married to the blessed Saviour, they lived in wanton pleasures with the old man of sin.” O let us not love the world, nor seek its pleasures, for “the friendship of the world is enmity with God.” Do not love the friendship of the world, lest you be found the enemy of God. James 4:4. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.6
E. B. SAUNDERS.
ALMOST HOME
O HOW pleasing the thought to the weary pilgrim who has been following his Master through sorrow and affliction, that he is almost home! that a few more days of trials and conflict here, and the Master who has gone on before shall return to take home his little flock to his Father’s house! Or if he is not permitted to be alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, but must be laid away in the tomb, he rejoices in the hope that although he may moulder back to dust, Jesus soon will come and raise the righteous dead to life and immortality. Yes, praise God for the poor pilgrim’s hope of a glorious resurrection beyond the grave! And this hope he has, for he is dead to the world and his life is hid with Christ in God, and when he appears, he will appear also with him in glory. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.7
Then why may not his heart leap for joy at the thought of his pilgrimage’s being almost ended? While here he is continually tempted to sin; he has to struggle along through weakness, for he is a fallen being, a sinner saved by grace; he has a continual warfare to fight with the enemy of souls, and can only overcome through the grace given him by God. This indeed is all-sufficient, yet he is so prone to wander that he must watch and pray continually lest he be led from the narrow way. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.8
And then again his poor body is often diseased and filled with pain. Extreme suffering has a tendency to weaken the powers of the mind, and he feels that this world is full of affliction and disappointments caused by the fall, and therefore it is not his home; that here he has no continuing city, but he seeks one to come. He has an earnest of his inheritance, and he looks forward with fond anticipation to the time when the purchased possession shall be redeemed and Paradise restored, Jesus crowned King, and the earth wherein dwelleth righteousness shall be filled with the praises of God. Then sickness and sorrow shall have passed away; the pilgrims arrayed in robes of white shall walk the golden streets of the New Jerusalem. The long looked-for home is reached at last. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.9
S. C. WELLCOME.
Almond, Wis.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
“THE Methodist Conference having jurisdiction over north-western Ohio, has for some time had in contemplation the founding of a female Seminary in the northern counties of their bounds. We understand that preference will be given to some thriving point in the Maumee country, easily accessible, and healthy in location, and which will hold out sufficient inducements for the present, and support for the future. Defiance is looked upon with favor already by the Methodists having the matter in charge, and the location could be easily secured if our citizens would but make a reasonable effort. To consult and ascertain what can be done to this end, is the object of the meeting called for next Saturday evening, August 13th.-Defiance Democrat.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.10
“What say the citizens of Perrysburg to putting in a bid for the location of the Female Seminary at this point? Certainly Perrysburg can present claims equal, if not superior, to those of any other locality in the North West.-Perrysburg Journal of Aug. 11th, 1859. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.11
To the casual observer, there is nothing in the above extracts to cause remark. Surely there can be nothing objectionable in establishing schools, nor in a wish on the part of these towns to invite what would evidently add to their prosperity and attractiveness. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.12
The feature noticeable in the above extracts is one of a general nature, applicable to our whole country, and the professed christian world; viz., a desire on the part of the world to avail themselves of the advantages of a prosperous, wealthy, and of course popular church, (and this is more or less true of most existing churches,) and a willingness, too, on the part of the church to receive the patronage and support of the wicked world, even throwing out inducements to the public, which are well understood by those interested, so that the location of a denominational Seminary, or other institution of learning, is looked upon by those owning property or real estate in the neighborhood, in some degree as the location of a railroad or county seat, as adding to the value of property, and in elevating the tone of society. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.13
Now there can be no possible harm in any honest endeavors to give an impetus to business, or to enhance the value of property, or to elevate the public mind to a higher tone of intelligence and manners. On the contrary, such endeavors are praiseworthy and excellent. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.14
But what are the facts in the case? Simply these: the professed church of Jesus Christ upon the earth, has somehow or other got in favor with the world, so that the world allures her by such endowments as they can present, and on the other hand the world has somehow got in favor with the professed church of Christ, so that she smilingly receives the aforesaid endowments, and gives her patronage in return. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.15
But what of this? says one. Is it not pleasant and profitable, in a secular as well as spiritual sense, for such peace to exist? Would you like to see the church at swords points with the world? ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.16
Sir, here is the principle, the point at issue. Christ and Satan are as opposite in character as light and darkness. They have never made any treaty of peace. Satan wages perpetual war with Christ, and when Christ’s followers unite with Satan’s disciples, it shows that there is treachery somewhere. If the children of Beelzebub patronize Christian institutions, and sustain them, it is to seduce them; for it is certain that Christ has not changed, neither has Satan improved, except in slyness and cunning. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.17
Indeed! says another, that would be too much to believe, that Satan should have such a strong influence with the church. I cannot agree with any such idea, for should the church refuse to associate with the world she would lose her influence and position at once. Why, more than half our congregation are of the world, and they include some of the most popular and wealthy. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.18
True, sir. You are on the road to present wealth by gaining worldly favor; but Christ says that his kingdom is not of this world; and James says that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Again says Christ, Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And again, Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.19
But, sir, when the true church shall let her light shine as it is her privilege to do, she will condemn the practices of the wicked world by her example and precept. She cannot unite in schemes of usefulness with the wicked, for their ideas of utility are at antipodes, wholly at variance, as light with darkness. Of this Christ was aware when he said, “Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and separate you from their company; and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, great is your reward in heaven; for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.20
Here, sir, you see the Saviour has drawn the line, when he says that false prophets are in the favor of world. He pronounces a woe upon such. On the other hand, the true prophets have had their names cast out as evil by the world, and history, sacred and profane, does corroborate this testimony most satisfactorily. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.21
Now unless you can prove that the world has improved in moral character since the Saviour’s time, you must allow that the church has lowered her standard to such an extent as to satisfy the world that she has lost the Saviour’s image. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 141.22
But say you, I think the world is improving in morals and intelligence; we have schools and churches in almost every neighborhood; missions to the heathen, and all kinds of benevolent and patriotic institutions and establishments. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.1
Sir, it appears from all the evidence spread out before us, that instead of improvement, there is a downward tendency in morals within the recollection of man, so that it is proverbial among thinking people, that this is an apostate age. Compare the men of the American congress of 1776, with the rowdy collection in the halls of Washington in 1859; compare the Wesleys, the Newtons, the Tennetts, the Edwards, of a former age, with the dwarfs of the nineteenth century; (I speak not of intellectual power, but of deep piety and unspotted purity of life;) witness the missionary societies, fairly endorsing southern slavery for a little more gold; witness the American Tract Society with its enormous power, mutilating the work of a living historian, such as D’Aubigne, and sending the crippled copy of that good man’s book broadcast over the world, without even giving him notice of the matter; witness the same Society fairly endorsing (by its stubborn silence) that horrid moloch of American slavery. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.2
Again, notice the fall of our political morals since the adoption of the constitution. Who does not see in the Kansas perfidy, in the fugitive slave law, in the decision of the supreme court in the Dred Scott case, etc., a great moral fall? How are the mighty fallen! ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.3
Paul said that in the latter days perilous times should come, that men would become lovers of their own selves. He also says that evil men and seducers should wax worse and worse. Now to suppose the world is growing better and better, is both contrary to scripture and other evidence, and in this corrupt age, for the professed church to seek to win the wealth, and favor, and endowments of the world, and the world in turn reciprocating the favor, is indeed conclusive and glaring evidence that the corrupt churches are the apostate daughters of the mother of harlots, who holds in her hand the golden cup spoken of in Revelation 17:4, 5. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.4
J. CLARKE.
EXTRACTS FROM SCOTT
“EVERY useful work is beautiful in its season, but the more immediate exercises of religion belong specially to the sanctification of the Sabbath; and as the appointment itself is an external sign of the Lord’s good will to sinful men: so our love to it, and delight in hallowing it, is a good internal evidence that he hath begun, and will continue, to sanctify our souls.”-Scott’s Observations on Exodus 31. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.5
“The covenant made with Israel was a marriage covenant; idolatry was considered as adultery, and the name of God is JEALOUS, so that every approach to that sin would provoke him to jealousy. The idols of the nations were not characterized as jealous; at least in any degree. They were not supposed to be offended by their worshipers’ paying occasional, or even stated homage to other deities, provided the number and value of the sacrifices offered to them were not diminished. Hence arose what has been called an intercommunity of the worshipers of different idols with each other; who scrupled not to worship the gods of other nations, especially when among them. But this Jehovah, the only living and true God, would not endure. Hence conscientious Israelites were universally counted bigots.”-Scott’s Notes on Exodus 34:14. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.6
“Moses wrote in a book the judicial and ceremonial precepts that he had received: but God himself wrote the ten commandments, the substance of the moral law, on the tables of stone. This difference strongly marked the permanency and perpetual obligation of the moral law, and the inferior importance and temporary obligation of the ceremonial institutions; and even the judicial law, except as coincident with the moral law.” Scott’s Notes on Exodus 34:27. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.7
The gospel is a proclamation of a free salvation for the chief of sinners, without money and without price; it bids them receive and live, embrace and be happy, obey and be holy. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.8
If God leaves us to ourselves, we are sure to work our own ruin: how humiliating is this! ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.9
HYMN TUNE-“Contrast.”
How can I my Saviour set forth?
How can I his beauties declare?
O, how can I speak of his worth,
Or what his chief dignities are?
No mortal can ever express,
Nor they who stand nearest his throne,
How rich are his treasures of grace,
For this is a secret unknown.
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.10
Though once he was nailed to the cross,
Vile rebels like me to set free,
His glory has suffered no loss.
Eternal his kingdom shall be,
Oh! sinner, believe and adore,
The Saviour so rich to redeem;
No creature can ever explore
The treasures of goodness in him.
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.11
Come, all ye who feel yourselves lost,
And see yourselves burdened with sin,
Draw near while with terror you’re toss’d,
Obey, and your peace shall begin.
He riches hath ever in store,
And treasures that never can waste;
Here’s pardon, here’s grace, yea, and more.
Here’s glory eternal at last.
ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.12
AN ADDRESS OF SATAN to the Ecclesiastical System, under the Similitude of his own bodily presence
[BRO. SMITH: For the benefit of the readers of the Review, I send you for publication, quite a singular address; but in it we find a plain description of our times, if we are permitted to judge from what we see developed daily.-WM. S. INGRAHAM.] ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.13
SATAN. To all classes of the Ecclesiastical System, that profess Christ’s name, and prove traitors in his service:- ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.14
I now address you as my sworn subjects, under full power of my authority, feeling much gratified to see my kingdom established on God’s creation! Though I have been wounded by Christ, the invader of my possessions, yet I hold before you the greatness of my power, and the glory of my kingdom. I am the great and high prince, and god of this world. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.15
O ye sons of men! I am that great red dragon, that was cast out into the earth; even that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, that deceives the whole world. Revelation 12:9. And this is no dream nor fancy: for I have actually done it, and still do it; for power is given unto me over all kindreds, tongues and nations. Revelation 13:7. And I continue my speech to my subjects. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.16
Unto you, O man, I call! and my voice is unto the sons of men. I am your god; and I warn you of my great enemy, Christ-that you be not obedient to any of the requirements of his contracted plan. My ways are broad and easy. I am high in heart; and teach the same to you. That in all nations you may set my worship in high places-that it may be adorned with all the splendid glory that belongs to the prince that offered Christ all the glory of this world. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.17
That your places of worship may appear beautiful unto men:- high and lofty; above all other buildings; in cities, towns and country villages. That you may incite and draw all men into the broad way, with the bells of popularity. And let my servants, your ministers, be men of the best gifts and talents; for so were your fathers, the false prophets. And be not like Christ’s apostles, who were ignorant and unlearned men. Even his great apostle, Paul (they said), in bodily presence was weak, and his speech contemptible. But let it not be so with you. Fear not, I am your god; and I will uphold you by my spirit. For it is my will that you should have the praise of men, and receive from them titles of honor. For the ways of Christ, our great enemy, are contrary to all men, and even to nature itself, as you may see throughout all his precepts: for example, see 1 Corinthians 1:26-29. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh; not man mighty; not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.18
This is no description of an accomplished member of society. Faithful subjects! when you execute the priest’s office in my service, put on a dress suitable to your ministration, and let your bodily presence be amiable, and your speech affable, and your countenance grave and solemn. Salute the people with a comely behaviour, that you may glory in your own presence. For verily I say unto you, except your outward appearance of righteousness shall exceed that of Christ’s ministers, you shall in no case deceive the world. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.19
O ye priests! if you will be my servants, indeed, and keep all your wickedness from the light, then I will send my wolf-like spirit, and it shall light on you like a dove, in the presence of the world: and I will cause the world to love you, to praise, honor and bless you, and give you a name above all common people. And they shall feed you, and give you money, and doubly reward you for all your trouble. And I will send my anti-Christian spirit into your hearts at all times when you are preaching, that you may be able to speak before the people with the tongues of men and angels. For I would that you preach all the letter of the Scriptures, that if there be any who have received Christ’s Spirit, when they hear the scriptures issue out of your mouths, they may take you to be the true ministers of Christ, and so make your covetous life their example. This is the best snare to destroy the souls of mankind, of any net that I have ever yet spread. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.20
Our enemy, Christ, saith, “When ye fast, be ye not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.” But I say unto you, when ye fast, appoint a day by law, and read an open proclamation thereof, and command all people to attend; for unto kings and rulers I say, it is your wisdom and prudence to appoint days of public worship, which are not commanded in the Scriptures. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.21
And ye ministers at my service, I will that ye receive your order of worship by the commandments of men. For I am with you, and will teach you how to prescribe rules of worship to the civil powers, that they may establish and protect them, and then receive them again from under their hands, and you shall be protected by them also; that we may all be combined under one system; I in you, and you with them, and they with me. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.22
It seems by the whole run of the doctrine of Christ, that he has adopted a system comprised of infinite principles and precepts, and then commands obedience thereunto by finite beings, and says he has chosen them out of the world. John 15:18, etc. “If the world hated you, it hated me before it hated you; if ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.23
Most obedient servants and ministers of the outer court! I have chosen you in the world, as I said unto you before; that the world shall love you, and reward you, and make you free from all public expense, with many other privileges, which shall enable you to train up your children in high life; even in my ways of pride, ease and luxury; by which means they shall become two-fold more the children of HELL than yourselves. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.24
And now let us hear a little more of the requirements of this narrow contracted plan. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44. From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence even of your lusts, that war against the soul. 1 Peter 2:11. And even the whole of his gospel is to teach men to be of a meek and lamb-like spirit, and to follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man can see the Lord. And to bring into subjection all his passions: such as pride, self-will, wrath, anger, malice, strife, and to forbear one another in love: and to forgive each other as Christ hath forgiven them. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.25
Well may it be said of this strait and narrow way-“Few there be that find it.” For what character professing heroism would put his neck under this yoke, except such as professedly revolt from the law of nature? It is for these things that I now address myself unto the whole ecclesiastical system. I am the Devil, the great author of the depraved state of man; in which I glory; and which I rejoice to see the Prince of peace and his subjects striving in vain to reclaim. Most obedient children! I heartily address you, with great boldness and confidence of gaining your hearing; for your eyes see and your ears hear, that it is your father, the devil, that speaks unto you through the impulses of nature, and by the motions of sin working in your members to bring forth fruit unto death. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 142.26
It would have been my first wish that my servants should openly confess the name of their master. But for the better accomplishing of my designs, I counsel that my plans be executed under a cloak of religion. For it is a mask of religion without, and a double portion of my spirit within, which eclipses the spirit of Christ, and cuts short the power of human reason, and puts pride in its place; that causes mankind to bring forth the fruit you now see and hear of all over the world. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.1
Agreeably to my counsel, in all cases resent insult from your fellows, and go to war with them, embody yourselves and march to the field of battle, with religion at your right hand; and appoint one of my servants, your ministers, a chaplin, to pray for your success. And there encamp, one against the other, and let my servants, your priests, on both sides, put a prayer to the God of heaven, that you may gain the victory over each other; cherishing the belief that all that die gloriously in battle go immediately to heaven. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.2
And when you are coming together to do the work of human butchery, if a sense of the horrid piece of work you are about to perform shall fill your soldiery with terror-benumb their senses with intoxicating liquor, and put on confusion and distraction, under the name of courage and valor; and fear not, for I will be with you and fill your hearts with such vengeance, through the immediate influence of my spirit, that you shall be able to perform all my will and pleasures. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.3
And when you have sufficiently soaked the ground with the blood of your fellow men, and have humbled their hearts, and gotten your wills upon them, then return, and let my servant, your minister, lift up his voice before you (whose hearts are of one accord), unto the God of heaven, with praise and thanks for the victory; that you have been able to do such deeds as to bereave parents of their sons, wives of their husbands, and children of their fathers, whose bitter mourning and lamentation time and death only can wipe away. And then return home full of the glory of your own shame and tell your rulers you have saved their pride, gratified their ambition and saved a little of the trash of this world;-for which you have taken the lives of your fellow creatures, each one of which is worth more than all the treasures of India. For all such things belong to the religion I delight in. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.4
And now I address myself to all classes of the ecclesiastical system, as a father to his children; even to you who bow to all or any, of my principles; against all, or any of the commands of Christ, our great enemy. That each one may fill his station in the performance of the establishment of the worship of my kingdom. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.5
Ye fathers, I exhort that you exercise yourselves in laying up treasures on the earth. And ye young men, that you likewise embrace every opportunity to get riches, which are an honor to a youth; that in the performance thereof your hearts may be raised high in pride, which always goes before destruction; and you shall be called the children of this world. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.6
And ye elderly women, that ye be upholders of pride in your families, that you teach your daughters the fashions of this life. For it is my delight to see your galleries filled with pride. For what can be more glorious than to see young women dress in the first fashions of the day? Verily I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory did not fulfill and gratify the lust of the eye, like one of these. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.7
And ye ministers of the civil law, I counsel, that you swerve not from your mutual confederacy with the ecclesiastical system. That for the sake of your honor you strictly attend to your oaths; and put in motion all laws and modes of punishment, which may compel all kinds of people to submit to our precepts, which are in opposition to the rules of Christ. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.8
And ye merchants, that ye fulfill the saying that is written: “It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer, and when he is gone he boasteth.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.9
And ye inn-keepers, that you put the bottle to your neighbor’s mouth, that you may look on his nakedness, to the advantage of your self-interest. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.10
And ye physicians, that you increase your wealth by your neighbor’s calamity. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.11
And ye lawyers, that you be advocates of strife and contention.
And ye Free-masons, that you propagate the works of darkness.
And ye deacons, that ye grind the faces of the poor. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.12
And ye priests, that ye have a willing mind to receive a gift, though the giver be ever so poor. And that you bear in every point Christ’s true description of the hypocrite. And if the light discover you to be of no beneficial use to the people in one place, follow your call to another; but let it be where the people are proud, and money plenty. But wisdom is profitable to direct, “For where the carcass is, there the eagles are gathered together.” ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.13
Now, you being all citizens of this world, are built upon the foundation of earthly things; where Satan bears rule, in whom all the building fitly framed together by which every joint supplieth, groweth into a compact body of sin: where you situate yourselves in your meeting-houses, to hear the sacred noise of religion, having your mouths filled with the fullness of the external worship of God, and your hearts with my spirit; unto whom is reserved the blackness and darkness forever, world without end. Amen. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.14
Given forth through the smoke of the bottomless pit, by the prince of the power of the air, that rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.15
Letters
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.”
From Bro. Goodrich
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: For every opportunity I have been and am permitted to enjoy of expressing my faith in God’s word, and of communing with those of like precious faith, I am truly thankful, as well I may be; for the privilege is by far greater than we are apt to think unless we are deprived of it. This I think I can fully realize, separated as I am from all who sympathize with commandment keepers. But my heart has been comforted and greatly strengthened by the many exhortations and admonitions that are constantly given through the Review. This is just as it should be. Exhort one another. Warn them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble minded. And these things should we do so much the more as we see the day approaching. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.16
I feel just as though I wanted to say through the Review that I most heartily respond to the effort that is being made to exalt the standard of Christianity, to get the church right, and to warn the world of its coming doom. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.17
I attended the B. C. conference last spring, and was much pleased with the harmony and system that characterized the entire meeting. And, as I there said, the theory is right. Let the world see the truth lived out and then they will believe there is some reality in the religion of the Bible. I do not wonder that people generally are no more interested in Adventism; for as it stands represented by those who reject present truth, the gifts and graces of the church, there is nothing (I am here speaking from my own observations and convictions) interesting in it. First, if we turn our attention to those thus preaching and believing, we find (generally speaking) very little interest manifested in the coming of Christ. Secondly, if we inquire what is taught, the answer is, almost everything, while at the same time all the expirations of the prophetic periods and the events that are to transpire at their end have proved a total failure. And if we descend from these and come down to the church here, we find neither union of thought, feeling or action. There is neither order nor brotherly kindness nor vital piety lived out before the world. These things ought not so to be with a people professing to be looking for the immediate return of their Saviour. Such a people should have all the gifts and graces of Christ’s church, and be in constant readiness, having on the wedding garment, and with lamps trimmed and burning, and vessels filled with oil. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.18
The reference that I here make to those preaching the coming of Christ, and yet do not believe that the prophetic periods have ended, or that the law is binding, is not through any unkind feelings entertained towards any one. It is the same that I have said both privately and publicly to them. The only object for referring to these things is that they may serve as admonition to us that we be more engaged and united, and more careful to live out before the world that which we profess. Consistency is indeed a jewel. And how can we expect to see those on the outside interested, unless those on the inside are interested? And if we have not love for one another, where is the evidence that we are Christ’s disciples. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.19
And if our lives do not correspond with our profession, how can we inspire confidence in the minds of those who do not believe? But I shall be tedious. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.20
May the Lord revive his work in all our hearts, and fully prepare us for all our duties, and for an abundant entrance into his everlasting kingdom. Your brother in tribulation. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.21
E. GOODRICH.
Edinboro, Pa.
From Bro. Clymer
BRO. SMITH: I would say that my heart is with you in the truth, feeling assured that if we are faithful we shall stand on mount Zion with the redeemed. I sometimes feel quite lonely, being alone here in the faith. Many seem to think it makes no difference what they believe, if they are only prepared for death. It would rejoice my heart much to see all my friends and neighbors embrace the truth, and realize the importance of heeding the third angel’s message. They appear to have no ears to hear, much less a disposition to obey, and I am almost afraid they will entirely slight the warning. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.22
But, dear brethren, I feel to rejoice in God that I ever heard the third angel’s message, and the cry, Come out of her, my people. By the help of God I have been endeavoring to keep his commandments and the faith of Jesus for nearly two years. During that time I have been endeavoring to have my mind, my thoughts and my affections fixed on heaven, the home which Jesus has gone to prepare for all that love his appearing. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.23
I rejoice in the hope of a blessed immortality and eternal life. Is not this worth striving for? O may we always have our lamps trimmed and burning, take the Bible for our guide, and holiness unto the Lord be our motto. Let us strive to rise higher and higher in Christian perfection, till we get all right in the sight of the Lord. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.24
I am often cheered while reading the different letters from those scattered in different states. I feel glad to find the cause onward, and those scattered abroad, striving to come out of the wilderness. I feel to sympathize with the lonely ones who are deprived of meeting on the Sabbath with those of like precious faith: I hope and trust that it will not always be so with us, that faith will soon be swallowed up in sight. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.25
Yours striving for the kingdom.
A. H. CLYMER.
Croghan, Allen Co., Ohio, Sept. 5th.
OBITUARY
FELL asleep, in Sutton, Vt., on the 14th of Aug., in the 89th year of her age, my mother-in-law, Mary A., wife of Daniel Tilton. She was a native of Plymouth, N. H., moved into Vt. in 1804, was converted under the labors of Eld. John Colby, and was baptized by him in 1812. She remained a consistent member of the F. W. Baptist church until she heard and embraced the truths connected with the third angel’s message in 1851. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.26
From that time till her death she manifested a deep interest in the cause of present truth. She had used the filthy weed fifty years previous to her embracing the last message, and thought she could not live without it; but when she came into the truth she felt it duty to abstain from fleshly lusts; she therefore immediately gave it up, and never had a desire to use it after that time. She was one of that generation that our Saviour said should not pass away till all should be fulfilled. She remembered perfectly well the darkening of the sun in 1780. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.27
This admonishes us as we see those of that generation passing away to be also ready, for the coming of the Son of man draweth nigh. Her disease was a shock of the palsy. She was a great sufferer from the time she was taken ill, till her death, which took place in three weeks. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.28
We miss her much, but do not sorrow as those that have no hope; for we look forward to the morning of the resurrection, when we expect she will come forth from her resting place clothed with immortality to die no more. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 143.29
L. B. CASWELL.
Sutton, Vt., Sept. 7th, 1859.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1859.
New Works
“Judson’s Letter on Dress,” published in the REVIEW some time since, may be had in tract form by those who may wish it for themselves or for circulation among their friends. It will be sent on the same terms as our 16 p. tracts. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.1
Also, “The Doom of God’s Enemies,” by M. Hull, is now ready for circulation. This is a work treating exclusively upon the destiny of the wicked, 32 pp. with cover, price 5 cts., subject to the usual discount by the quantity. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.2
The French Conference
THIS conference was held in Chazy village on the 3rd and 4th inst. All the French brethren of this county were present, and gladly listened to those practical truths which belong to the remnant church. They were made to feel the relations they sustain to each other, and to their American brethren, and the importance of doing something for the spread of the truth among the French. Two were baptized, and one decided to keep all of God’s commandments. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.3
We were sorry that Bro. and Sr. White were not with us. Quite a number of French Protestants and Americans came to this conference expecting to see Bro. and Sr. White, and were much dissatisfied when we informed them that they were not coming. We told them we believed they had tried to follow the way of duty, and that God would make all things plain. Bro. Taylor and myself gave several lectures in English for the benefit of the Americans. Some of those who heard us acknowledged that we had the truth on the Sabbath question; but will they be consistent? ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.4
At the close of the conference Bro. Czechowski made a few remarks on the subject of systematic benevolence, and on the subject of tobacco; and the French brethren unanimously approved of the doings of the Battle Creek conference on the subject of systematic benevolence, and acknowledged that the filthy idol, tobacco, prevents many of God’s saints from keeping the first commandment, and that it should be excluded from the church as soon as possible. We are glad that most all of our French brethren have laid this idol aside. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.5
Before we parted we met at Bro. Amlow’s, where we had a season of prayer, and attended to the ordinances of the Lord’s house; and truly the Lord did meet with us according to his promise. Our hearts were drawn together, and we felt that we could adopt the following language: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.6
We here felt the importance of holding general French conferences; and our hearts were drawn out after the French brethren in Vermont. Bro. Czechowski was encouraged. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.7
We can look back to this conference with a good degree of satisfaction. We are few in number; but I think we can say that we are united. Brethren, let us keep together, and bear each other’s burdens. Let us remember that we have got something to do in this glorious cause. This cause is the Lord’s, and it will prosper. The work which has commenced among us will go on till all the honest French are searched out, and prepared for translation. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.8
DANIEL T. BOURDEAU.
Rouse’s Point, Sept. 8th, 1859.
APPOINTMENTS
Providence permitting I will meet in conference with the church at Catlin, Chemung Co., N. Y., commencing sixth-day, Oct. 14th, at 6 o’clock P. M., and continuing over Sabbath and first-day. It is desired that there should be a general gathering of the brethren and sisters in that vicinity. F. WHEELER. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.9
Providence permitting I will meet with the friends in Convis, Sabbath, Sept. 24th, where the brethren may appoint, and on first-day at the Junction school-house. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.10
J. B. FRISBIE.
Providence permitting, there will be a Conference at Deerfield, Steele Co., Minnesota, to commence Oct. 14, 1859, at 2 o’clock P. M., and hold over Sabbath and first-day, and as much longer as thought proper. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.11
Another Conference will be held at Bro. Moses W. Porter’s, five miles north of Mantorville, Dodge Co., Minnesota, commencing Oct. 21st, at 2 o’clock, P. M., and continuing over Sabbath and first-day. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.12
I hope our friends will come together praying that success may attend our efforts to spread the truth in Minnesota. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.13
WM. S. INGRAHAM.
Providence permitting, we will meet with the brethren in General Conferences as follows: ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.14
| Topsham, Me., | Sept. | 24,25. |
| Washington, N. H., | Oct. | 1, 2. |
| Roxbury, Vt., | ” | 8, 9. |
| Berkshire, Vt., | ” | 15,16. |
| Buck’s Bridge, N. Y. | ” | 19. |
| Mannsville, ” | ” | 22,23. |
| Brookfield, (Bro. Abbey’s) N. Y., | ” | 29,30. |
| Lapeer, Mich., | Nov. | 5, 6. |
| North Plains, ” | ” | 8-10. |
| Wright, ” | ” | 12,13. |
| Monterey, ” | ” | 19,20. |
We shall expect Bro. Loughborough to join us at the Lapeer Conference, and be with us at North Plains, Wright and Monterey. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.15
Meeting at North Plains will commence in the evening of Nov. 8th. At Buck’s Bridge, at 1 P. M. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.16
JAMES WHITE.
Providence permitting, there will be an Advent Conference in the town of Willing, Allegany Co., N. Y., near Bro. Josiah Witter’s, on the second Sabbath in October, to hold over first-day. We hope the brethren in Ulysses, Willeyville and Port Allegany will be present, as many as consistently can, and all others scattered abroad of the same faith. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.17
B. F. ROBBINS.
PROVIDENCE permitting, there will be a general conference in Ulysses, Potter Co., Pa., the third Sabbath in September. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.18
Brethren and sisters in Penn. and N. Y. are all invited to attend. We want Bro. and Sr. White to be here if they possibly can, also Bro. R. F. Cottrell. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.19
In behalf of the church.
NATHAN FULLER.
Business Department
Business Notes
Mrs. W. D. Williams: We will send Mortal or Immortal as soon as completed. The other books are now sent as you order. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.20
Letters
Under this head will be found a full list of those from whom letters are received from week to week. If any do not find their letters thus acknowledged, they may know they have not come to hand. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.21
E. B. Sanders, I. Sanborn, E. Macomber, M. E. Williams, G. G. Dunham, Wm. H. Loughhead, J. W. 2, J. Ralston, J. Bates, J. P. Young, I. M. Davis, C. L. Johnson, M. Hull, M. E. Cornell, C. E. Harris, Huldah Holford, D. T. Shireman, A. C. Hudson, J. Noyes, J. Bodley, L. B. Caswell, A. Avery, M. Johnson, Anonymous from Iowa City, H. C. Crumb, H. Bingham, M. M. Osgood, H. Hiestand, J. H. Waggoner, M. Calkins, J. Clarke, Wm. Gould. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.22
Receipts
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 September 22, 1859, page 144.23
FOR REVIEW AND HERALD
Dr. Lay 1,00,xv,1. L. Mead 1,90,xvi,15. A. H. Clymer 1,00,xv,17. J. P. Munsell 1,65,xv,6. Wm. Gifford 0,28,xiv,17. S. Howard (for D. C. Pendill) 0,25,xv,3. W. H. Loughhead (for Eld. Foard) 0,50,xv,18. G. G. Dunham 1,00,xv,16. E. Macomber 1,00,xv,18. W. T. Davis 1,00,xv,18. O. B. Sevey 1,00,xiv,8. A. T. Wilkinson 2,00,xv,5. D. T. Shireman 0,50,xiv,14. L. Harris 1,00,xv,1. H. Holford 1,00,xv,7. G. Felshaw 1,00,xv,1. J. Noyes 2,00,xv,1. Wm. Carpenter 4,00,xiii,14. H. Hiestand 1,00,xv,9. E. Johnson 1,00,xv,14. A. Avery 2,00,xv,1. J. M. Blanchard 0,50,xv,18. O. B. Parks 0,50,xv,18. J. L. Funk 0,50,xv,18. A. R. Frame 0,50,xv,18. G. May 0,50,xv,18. D. Overton 0,50,xv,18. B. A. Matthews 0,50,xv,18. J. Adlon 0,50,xv,18. J. Sturdefant 0,50,xv,18. N. Dodge 0,50,xv,18. S. L. Collins 0,50,xv,18. P. McClain 0,50,xv,18. J. Reaver 0,50,xv,18. B. Sutton 0,50,xv,18. J. Johnson 0,50,xv,18. H. C. Whitney 0,50,xv,18. C. Kimble 0,50,xv,18. W. C. Garretson 0,50,xv,18. C. Groom 0,50,xv,18. S. Davis 0,50,xv,18. N. Auton 0,50,xv,18. G. E. Conwell 0,50,xv,18. I. N. Templin 0,50,xv,18. Wm. McPheter 0,50,xv,18. H. Andrews 0,50,xv,18. J. P. Tharp 0,50,xv,18. F. A. Stevens 0,50,xv,18. C. Hall 0,50,xv,18. M. Long 0,50,xv,18. J. M. Babb 0,50,xv,18. A. S. May 0,50,xv,18. S. B. Warren 1,00,xv,20. S. Howard Sen., 1,00,xv,1. G. W. Jones 0,50,xv,18. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.24
FOR REVIEW TO POOR. L. Drew $0,40. W. H. Loughhead $0,50. G. G. Dunham $0,25. J. Noyes $1,90. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.25
FOR MICH. TENT. Church in Leslie Mich., (S. B.) $1,00. Ch. in Monterey $35,00. Ch. in Allegan $5,00. Ch. in Beford $5,00. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.26
FOR MISSIONARY PURPOSES. Church in Leslie (S. B.) $1,00. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.27
FOR IOWA TENT. S. Everett $5,00. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.28
Books Published at this Office
HYMNS for those who keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. This Book contains 352 pp., 430 Hymns, and 76 pieces of Music. Price, 60 cents.-in Morocco 65 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.29
Supplement to the Advent and Sabbath Hymn Book, 100 pp. Price 25 cents.-In Muslin 35 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.30
Spiritual Gifts, or The Great Controversy between Christ and his angels, and Satan and his angels, containing 224 pp neatly bound in Morocco or Muslin. Price 50 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.31
Bible Tracts, Two Vols. 400 pp. each. Price 50 cts. each. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.32
Sabbath Tracts, Nos. 1,2,3 & 4. This work presents a condensed view of the entire Sabbath question.-184 pp Price 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.33
The Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12, particularly the Third Angel’s Message, and the Two-horned Beast. 148 pp. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.34
The Atonement-196 pp. Price 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.35
Man not Immortal: the only Shield against the Seductions of Modern Spiritualism.-148 pp. Price 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.36
Man’s present condition, and future reward or punishment.-196 pp. Price 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.37
The Bible Class. This work contains 52 Lessons on the Law of God and Faith of Jesus.-Price 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.38
A Book for Everybody, on the Kingdom of God. Price 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.39
The Prophecy of Daniel-the Four Kingdoms-the Sanctuary and 2300 days. Price 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.40
The Saint’s Inheritance. Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.41
Modern Spiritualism; its Nature and Tendency-an able exposure of the heresy-Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.42
The Law of God. Testimony of both Testaments relative to the law of God-its knowledge from Creation, its nature and perpetuity-is presented. Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.43
Miscellany. Seven Tracts on the Sabbath, Second Advent, etc. Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.44
Facts for the Times. Extracts from the writings of Eminent authors, ancient and modern. Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.45
The Signs of the Times. Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.46
The Seven Trumpets. Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.47
The Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment, with remarks on the Great Apostasy and Perils of the Last Days. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.48
Bible Student’s Assistant. A collection of proof-texts on important subjects. 36 pp Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.49
The Celestial Railroad. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.50
Perpetuity of the Royal Law. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.51
Last Work of the True Church. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.52
Review of Crozier. This work is a faithful review of the No-Sabbath heresy. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.53
Brief exposition of Matthew 24. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.54
Review of Fillio on the Sabbath Question. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.55
Brown’s Experience. Price 5 cents ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.56
The Truth Found-A short argument for the Sabbath. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.57
SIXTEEN PAGE TRACTS. Who Changed the Sabbath? Unity of the Church-Both Sides-Spiritual Gifts. Price $1 per 100. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.58
EIGHT PAGE TRACTS. Wesley on the Law-Appeal to Men of Reason, on Immortality. Price 50 cents per 100. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.59
These small Tracts can be sent at the above prices, post-paid, in packages of not less than eight ounces. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.60
Home Here and Home in Heaven, with other poems. This work embraces all those sweet and Scriptural poems written by Annie R. Smith, from the time she embraced the third message till she fell asleep in Jesus. Price 25 cents in paper covers, 20 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.61
Time and Prophecy. This work is a poetic comparison of the events of time with the sure word of Prophecy. Price 20 cents. In paper covers, 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.62
Word for the Sabbath. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.63
The Chart.-A Pictorial Illustration of the Visions of Daniel and John 20 by 25 inches. Price 25 cts. On rollers, post-paid, $1,00. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.64
Tracts in other Languages
GERMAN. Das Wesen des Sabbaths und unsere Verpflichtung auf ihn nach dem Vierten Gebote. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.65
A Tract of 80 pp., a Translation of Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment. Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.66
HOLLAND. De Natuur en Verbinding van den Sabbath volgens het vierde Gebodt. Translated from the same as the German. Price 10 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.67
FRENCH. Le Sabbat de la Bible. A Tract on the Sabbath of 32 pp. Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.68
La Grande Statue de Daniel 2 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 September 22, 1859, page 144.69
Books from other Publishers
Debt and Grace as related to the Doctrine of a Future Life, by C. F. Hudson. Published by J. P. Jewett & Co., Boston. 480 pp. 12 mo. Price $1,25. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.70
Works published by H. L. Hastings, for sale at this Office. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.71
The Voice of the Church on the Coming and Kingdom of the Redeemer, by D. T. Taylor. Price $1,00. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.72
The Great Controversy between God and Man, by H. L. Hastings. 167 pp., bound in cloth, price 60 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.73
The Fate of Infidelity, 175 pp., cloth gilt. Price 25 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.74
Future Punishment. By H. H. Dobney. Price 75. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.75
Pauline Theology. An argument on Future Punishment in Paul’s fourteen epistles. Price 15 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.76
Tracts of 24 pages. Church not in Darkness; The Three Worlds; The Last Days; Plain Truths; New Heavens and Earth; Ancient Landmarks Price 5 cents. ARSH September 22, 1859, page 144.77
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 URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich.