Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 11
April 15, 1858
RH VOL. XI. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, - NO. 22
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. XI. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, APRIL 15, 1858. - NO. 22.
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 April 15, 1858, page 169.1
TIME IS LEAVING
TIME, time is leaving us,
Winging away;
Soon, soon forever gone -
No, no delay.
Haste while the moments last -
Work while ‘tis day;
Soon, soon it will be past
It will not stay.
ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.2
Time, time is closing up,
Eternity
Is hastening quickly on -
Soon we shall be
Where no change will ever come -
Probation o’er,
Saved eternally, or lost
Forevermore. - Sel.
ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.3
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL REJOINDER TO WM. KEEGAN, BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH
IN the Warren (Ills.) Independent of Feb. 18th, a series of articles was commenced from the pen of Wm. Keegan, in which he professed to substantiate the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Knowing that the said Keegan had once attempted a discussion of this subject with Bro. Cornell, from which for some reason however he desisted, I was somewhat anxious to see what he had to present to the public to convince them that he did not cease to pursue the discussion for want of argument. On reading his first article I found that a work of one J. N. Loughborough was to be overthrown firstly to prove the immortality of the soul. Anxiety was still greater then, to see what was going to be the course in the rest of the articles. Presently a second article came, and after reading this I commenced a review of some positions taken, and then received a third and fourth number of his articles. In all these he ventures to present no scripture proof that the soul is immortal. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.4
While waiting anxiously for another article, thinking perhaps he might begin to present some of his evidences for the immortality of the soul, the following came to hand: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.5
For the Warren Independent. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.6
MR. EDITOR: I received your polite note informing me, that as some of your subscribers are determined to withdraw their support from the ‘Independent,’ if the publication of my articles on the ‘Immortality of the Soul’ should be continued; that it would be necessary to discontinue them. I would be very sorry indeed, if you should lose any of your subscribers in consequence of any act of mine, and with thanks for the cheerfulness with which you accepted of, and published those already before the public, I shall not prepare anything further on that subject for your enterprising little sheet. I can, however, more than guess the reason why they are objectionable. If a person foolishly sets his affections on a deformed object, there would be nothing more afflictive than to bring its deformities to light. Error hates the light, and like the bird of night loves to hoot in the dark - the history of the past demonstrates this fact, and hence when the arguments in those articles could not be answered, the only resort is to throttle investigation. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.7
With many thanks I am ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.8
Yours respectfully. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.9
WM. KEEGAN.
After reading the above note, the thought came to my mind that a man who had twice disappointed the public, by promising them proof of the immortality of the soul, and failing to produce the said proof, was the wrong man to talk about “birds of night” “hooting in the dark,” unless he meant it to apply to himself. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.10
How did Eld. K. ascertain that his arguments were unanswerable? Does he mean the arguments he has not presented? Certainly there is but very little argument in what he has presented, that bears as proof that the soul is immortal; but his great aim is to show that one L. is wrong in his arguments on the opposite side. Now if he could show that our reasonings were false, it would present no proof of the immortality of the soul. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.11
But we will pass to notice those points which are of account in his articles. In introducing his reasoning for the immortality of the soul, he says, the doctrine “has been rejected and inveighed against by individuals and sects of nearly all ages of the world’s history.” “The opinions, however, of those who have rejected this truth, have always been various, conflicting and self-contradictory.” Here is his broad statement and not a testimony offered to prove it. Who were those whose views were so self-contradictory? We admit his statement, that the doctrine of the soul’s immortality “has been rejected by individuals and sects in all ages of the world,” and these individuals, some of them at least, rank high in the eulogies pronounced upon them at the present day. Among them stand Martin Luther and John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, Wm. Tyndale, and a host of others. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.12
MARTIN LUTHER in his Defence, prop. 27, published 1520 said: “I permit the pope to make articles of faith for himself and his faithful, such as that he is emperor of the world, God upon earth, that the soul is immortal, with all those monstrous opinions to be found only in the Roman dunghill of decretals.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.13
AUDLIN’S Life of Luther speaks of a company who “left Wittemberg and went to Geneva, where we find them in 1561 sustaining a crowded school, and imprinting in theses, that all which had been said about the immortality of the soul, was invented by anti-christ for the purpose of making the Pope’s pot boil.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.14
And as to the opinion of John Milton, we would refer the reader to his writings on the state of the dead as they are given in his Work called Treatise on Christian Doctrine. We shall introduce some of his testimony in this review; in which he contends that the whole man dies, soul and body, and awaits the resurrection for his reward. And this he endeavors to faithfully maintain by scriptural arguments. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.15
We also learn quite an important fact concerning this doctrine from p. 444 of Neander’s Church History. After speaking of a sect of Christians in Arabia who “maintained that the soul died with the body,” he says: “Perhaps also in this district, the position of which placed it in close connection with Jews, it was no new doctrine, but the predominant one from ancient times; and perhaps the influence of Origen (in whose system the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul necessarily obtained a place,) first effected the change that this latter should obtain universal acceptance among the Church-teachers of that district; and that the small party, which still maintained the old opinion, should appear heretical, although the predominant opinion had previously pronounced itself against it, the new opinion.” But this must suffice on this point, although we might multiply testimonies upon it. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.16
Again Eld. K. says: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.17
“The opinion of those who believe in the immortality of the soul, is, that volition, consciousness, perception, thought, affection and moral sensibility, imply corresponding powers; namely, a power that is self-acting, conscious, perceiving, understanding, feeling, and a conscience; that those powers inhere in a substance, existence, or being; and that those properties are inseparable from each other, and from the substance to which they belong, or in which they inhere. That consequently this substance is indivisible - is not material - does not depend upon matter for its existence; that it will exist after the body is dead, and for ever.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.18
Eld. K. says, Those who believe in the immortality of the soul have implied that thought, etc., are produced by some substance which exists independent of matter. There is no necessity for such an inference. If, as Eld. K. admits, the immortality of the soul is not expressly revealed, (he says the phrase immortal soul, etc., are not used in the Bible,) then we have just as much right to infer from isolated testimony as he, and even more so, for the opposite to his doctrine is stated, namely, “The dead know not anything.” We claim that there is no reasonable ground to infer that because we think, the principle that thinks must always think, and the celebrated Mr. Locke, thought the same. He says, “To say that actual thinking is essential to the soul, and inseparable from it, is to beg what is in question, and not to prove it by reason, which is necessary to be done if it is not a self-evident proposition.” “Whether that substance (referring to the soul,) perpetually thinks or no, we can be no further assured than experience informs us. The idea of duration arises from a succession of ideas, and, by that succession, duration is measured in our minds. When that succession of ideas ceases, our perception of duration ceases with it, which every one clearly experiments in himself, whilst he sleeps soundly, whether, an hour, or a day, or a month, whilst he sleeps, he has no perception at all, but it is quite lost to him, and the moment wherein he leaves off to think, till the moment he begins to think again 1 seems to him to have no distance.” Locke’s Essays, Book II, Chap. 1, Sec. 10, & Chap. 14, Sec. 4. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.19
Eld K. says: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.20
“The Bible furnishes us with evidence, and to a degree that is overwhelmingly convincing, that the soul consciously exists after the death of the body.” Hence he claims that “it does not depend upon matter for its existence, and that which thus exists, will exist for ever.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.21
Surely if such overwhelming testimony exists, the Elder might have given us as much as one text in each of his articles that taught it, or even in that little note to the Editor of the Independent, there might have been two or three of these overwhelming texts. But John Milton, who had looked into the matter perhaps as deeply as Eld. K. says: “That the spirit of man should be separated from the body, so as to have a perfect and intelligent existence independent of it, is nowhere said in Scripture, and the doctrine is evidently at variance both with nature and reason.”----------1 We suppose in this testimony he refers to those in a profound sleep in which they are totally unconscious. Or else he refers to those in common, whose dreams are in two parts, which is caused by being in a state in which we cease to think, and when thought returns, our ideas become more and more vivid, until we come to a wakeful state. J. N. L. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 169.22
It has been inferred from certain testimonies and circumstances that “the soul consciously exists after the death of the body.” These testimonies and circumstances can all be explained in a consistent manner, and harmonizing with the general tenor of Scripture, without claiming Eld. K’s. position. His inferences are therefore unnecessary; and it is an established principle in reasoning that an unnecessary inference is without foundation, and, therefore, inadmissible. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.1
Adam Clarke remarks on Matthew 5:26, “Let it be remembered, that by the general consent of all, except the basely interested, no metaphor is ever to be produced in proof of a doctrine. In the things that concern our eternal salvation, we need the most pointed and express evidence on which to establish the faith of our souls.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.2
Facts are also against the position that thought, volition, etc., are independent of matter. If thought is independent of matter, how is it that the mind is affected and even reduced to unconsciousness by disease of the body? We might quote numberless instances here to show that individuals by injury of the skull, and its depression on the brain, have been for a time, some for many days, unconscious. We will quote the following remarkable circumstance which lately appeared in print, which shows that the mind is dependent on the body: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.3
“Nineteen years ago, Mr. Hait of Wilton, Fairfield County, Connecticut, then a remarkably good student in his collegiate course, was suddenly deprived of his reason and memory. Under these circumstances, his father, the Rev. Mr. Hait, sent him to Hartford, but finding no relief, he sent him to Mr. Chaplin of Cambridge, Mass. The Doctor said there was no present relief for him, but at the age of thirty-six or thirty-seven there would be a change; that the brain was too much expanded for the cranium, and there would be at that age a contraction which would enable it to act healthily. His anxious father and family saw their hopes peremptorily deferred for nineteen years. That time has recently expired, and to their great joy, the prophecy is fulfilled. The man began to inquire for his books as if he had just laid them down, and resumed his mathematical studies where he left them. There was no trace in his mind of this long blank in his life, or of anything that had occurred in it, and he did not know that he was nearly forty years old.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.4
Query: If thought is produced by a substance that is immaterial, and this substance exists independent of matter, how could it be possible that it should be affected by bodily disease? We have concluded, if disease of the body will make a man unconscious when he is alive, that it is folly to talk of his being conscious after he is dead. The Scripture nowhere states it, but on the contrary says, “The dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts PERISH.” Psalm 146:4. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.5
If we rightly understand Eld. K. he claims that volition, thought, affection, etc., imply that there is a self-existing substance, wherever these are manifest, that possesses power to think, love, will, etc. It is an established fact, and one that it would be in vain to deny, that beasts think, love, and will. In the Ladies’ Repository of March 1857, is an article in which the writer not only claims that beasts think and manifest affection, but he furnishes evidence to show that they reason. Our space will admit us to refer to only one of the many circumstances which are quoted by this writer in proof of his position that beasts can reason. It is as follows: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.6
“The battering-train going to the siege of Seringapatam, had to cross the sandy bed of a river that resembled other rivers of the peninsula, which leave, during the dry season, but a small stream of water running through them, though their beds are mostly of considerable breadth, very heavy for draught, and abounding in quick-sands. It happened that an artillery-man, who was seated on the tumbrel of one of the guns, by some accident fell off, in such a situation that in a second or two the hind wheel must have gone over him. The elephant which was stationed behind the gun, perceiving the predicament in which the man was, instantly, without any warning from his keeper, lifted up the wheel with his trunk, and kept it suspended till the carriage had passed clear over him.” - Twelve Years’ Military Adventure. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.7
Eld. K. says, The existence of these functions “imply corresponding powers; namely, a power that is self-acting, etc.” If his reasoning on this point is correct, has he not established a self-existing spirit in beasts? If his statement be true that this substance, which he thinks is indivisible, is not material, does not depend upon matter for its existence, has he not as virtually established the immortality of mind in beast as in man? But we claim that he has done neither. How does Eld. K. know that matter cannot be organized by an allwise Creator, so as to manifest all the functions of the human body? In the vegetable world we behold organizations of grosser matter, and in these are functions not unlike some of those of the human body. The sap, like the blood in the human body, conveys the nourishment for the plant through all the various ramifications of its system. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.8
Leaving this philosophy, and turning to that part of Revelation from whence we should expect to learn concerning such an immortal part in man, if he possessed it, namely, to the account of creation we learn that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.” To impart life, he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” The result was, “Man became a living soul.” From this account we learn that it was “the breath of life” which imparted activity to the man, and caused him to become a “living soul.” But this breath of life in man is the same that is breathed by beasts. In the account of the flood, [Genesis 7:22,] we read: “All flesh died ... both of fowls, and of cattle, ... all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.” And in Ecclesiastes 3:19, we read of man and beast: “Yea they have all one breath.” And in Psalm 104, David, after speaking of man and beast, says: “Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.” Thus showing that the breath is the life-principle which is imparted to them. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.9
Where shall we learn that any immaterial part has ever been given to man? There is certainly no text in the Scriptures that states it, and this account of creation shows that the combined substances of man are “dust of the ground,” and “breath.” But we learn from Eld. K. something concerning Genesis 1:27, which no individual could ever have learned by reading the text, namely, that “the human soul is a created essence.” He says, “God is a spirit. There can be no resemblance between gross matter, such as composes the human body, and pure spirit; it must then have been the soul that was in the image of God.” But this statement has its origin in the assumption that whatever is spirit, must be immaterial and has no form. Paul states, Hebrews 1:7, “Who maketh his angels spirits,” but when angels appeared to Abraham he supposed them to be men. We read concerning Christ in Hebrews 1:3, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his PERSON,” etc. From this we should understand that although “God is a Spirit,” he has a form. But Paul tells us plainly in Philippians 2:5, “Who being in the FORM of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Here is plain testimony that God has a form, and this is plainly implied in Genesis 1:26, 27. “God created man in his own image.” Genesis 2:7. “The Lord formed man of the dust.” Here is truth plainly stated, that man made of DUST was in the image of God. But Eld. K. sees no way to maintain his position but to deny this. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.10
“But if apparent difficulties connected with a truth, could not be met by any information we now possess, instead of denying the truth, our wisdom would be, to seek more information respecting it in hope that those would yet be all made plain.” - KEEGAN. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.11
Eld. K. virtually admits that there is no positive proof that the soul is immortal in his testimony concerning the phrase immortal soul. He says, “The absence of a peculiar phraseology can be no proof against any truth.” He claims no express testimony that the soul is immortal, but stakes the whole question on his supposed proof that the soul consciously exists after the death of the body. We here venture the assertion that he cannot find one text of Scripture which states that “the soul consciously exists after the death of the body,” and if he could, it would fail to prove that the soul was immortal. He who created, can destroy, and until it ceases to be a fact that “in him we live, and move, and have our being,” the continuance of the existence of all parts of man must depend entirely upon God’s will. So the reader may see at once by Eld. K.’s own reasoning that positive proof for the soul’s immortality will not be forthcoming. The matter will come out as stated by Bishop Tillotson in his Sermons, published 1774. “The immortality of the soul has rather been supposed, or taken for granted, than expressly revealed in the Bible.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.12
We now ask, what does the absence of a peculiar phraseology prove on this subject? Of itself, as Eld. K. says, it would “prove nothing against any truth.” But if the soul’s immortality is not taught in the Bible, and the opposite is taught, then the fact of the absence of this peculiar phraseology is entitled to some weight. If his inferences from certain texts can be made to invalidate the testimony of David in Psalm 146:4, when he states of man “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth: in that very day his THOUGHTS PERISH,” or in Psalm 6:5, where he states that “in death there is no remembrance of God,” or the testimony of Solomon, [Ecclesiastes 9:5,] “For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything,” and other such testimonies; then he might claim that the absence of the phrase immortal soul is no proof against the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.13
Eld. K. either misunderstands, or misrepresents our position on the word, immortality. We presented in our work the five instances where this word occurs in the Scriptures, and not one of them intimates that man is in possession of immortality; but that it is something that is to be sought for, and put on at the resurrection of the just. Eld. K. goes on with nearly a column concerning what we said on the text, “Who only hath immortality;” but there stands the text, and still states the same thing, notwithstanding all his efforts to prove that immortality is established in man. The substance of our claim on this text is, God is the fountain of immortality, all beings who ever have become immortal have received it from him; all that are to be made immortal, will be made so by him. But the Eld.’s attempted disposal of this text does not dispose of it, neither does it remove our claim that all immortality is derived from God. If his position is correct that all are in possession of immortality, a matter for serious reflection is, Where did they get it? If you say the child receives it by generation from the parent, then you establish a second fountain of immortality, and thus do violence to the text above. But Eld. K. has thrown himself out on this position by his testimony that the soul “is indivisible.” But there is but one position left for him which is more absurd, namely, that the soul comes direct from God. On this point we will quote from John Milton. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.14
“Whosoever is born, or shapen and conceived in sin, as we all are, not David only, [Psalm 51:5,] if he receive his soul immediately from God, cannot but receive it from him shapen in sin; for to be generated and conceived, means nothing else than to receive a soul in conjunction with the body. If we receive the soul immediately from God, it must be pure, for who in such a case will venture to call it impure? But if it be pure, how are we conceived in sin in consequence of receiving a pure soul, which would rather have the effect of cleansing the impurities of the body; or with what justice is the pure soul charged with the sins of the body?” “God would in fact have left his creation imperfect, and a vast, not to say a servile task, would yet remain to be performed, without even allowing time for rest on each successive Sabbath, if he still continued to create as many souls daily as there are bodies multiplied throughout the whole world, at the bidding of what is not seldom the flagitious wantonness of man.” - State of the Dead, Chap. I. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.15
On the text, “Who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” we claimed and still claim, that all that the gospel teaches respecting immortality is, that it is to be sought for, and obtained at the resurrection. See Paul’s declaration of the gospel, 1 Corinthians 15. Where can Eld. K. find a text in all the gospel teachings that represents man in his present state as in possession of immortality? Nowhere. We could hardly suppress a smile as we read Eld. K.’s disposition of Romans 2:7. He seems to think he has found a solution for this matter in the word seek. He says, “One of the definitions Webster gives it, is as follows: ‘Seek: to make search or inquiry; to endeavor to make discovery.’” But, Mr. K. when you were writing that page, did you forget that verses 6 and 7 were both in the same chapter? Verse 6, introduces this matter, showing that God “will render to every man according to his deeds; to them who by a patient (study of philosophical arguments and scripture inferences (?) No) continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honor, and immortality; eternal life.” If we rightly read this text, this seeking for immortality is a work of obedience to God; the reward of which will be eternal life. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 170.16
The most common sense definition of eternal life is, eternal conscious existence. Eld. K. says, it means “the love of God in us.” This departing from the most obvious meaning of the Scripture, for the sake of substituting a far-fetched one, is the very point we meant to strike against in our work, when we claimed that popular theology denied the literal character of the Bible. Eld K. in introducing his second article attempts to clear himself on this point. He says, “In order to show at once the falsity of this assumption, it is only necessary to make a quotation from one of our most popular and generally received authorities.” He quotes quite a lengthy extract from Richard Watson’s Theological Institutes, Part i, Chap.11, the substance of which is that Bible terms “are to be taken in their plain and commonly received sense.” We never claimed that the believers in the immortality of the soul professed to teach the Bible as a mystical, and not a literal book; but it is their actual course in this matter that we have to do with. Now to show that Eld. K. is following directly on the very track his quotation condemns, I refer to his complex definitions of eternal life and death. He represents that eternal life is the “love of God in us,” and quotes texts to prove that Christians have eternal life here. His most important text on this point is 1 John 5:12. “He that hath the Son, hath life, and he that hath not the Son, hath not life.” His position is that when we believe, we have eternal life in us, “the love of God in our hearts.” But verse 11 states, “And this is the record that God hath given to us, eternal life; and this life is in his Son.” This being the case, how can he claim that it is in us? It can only be on the ground that it is said that the believer “hath life,” but then he only has it by promise. “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” “When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:2, 3. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.1
A very formidable objection to our friend’s view of this eternal life, is, eternal life is represented in the Scriptures as a reward of obedience. “If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” 1 John 2:24, 25. But if eternal life is the love of God in us, it is a natural consequence of obedience and not a reward. Paul’s charge which he commanded Timothy to give the rich, was to do good works, thus “laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Timothy 6:18, 19. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.2
Eld. K. says, “The question may be asked, if the possession of God’s Spirit in this life, be what is meant in the Bible when eternal life is spoken of, and if all true Christians now possess it, how can it still be an object of hope?” Here is truly quite an important question, and one he does not find it easy to answer without admitting our position. The first reason assigned why it is an object of hope is, “because it may be withdrawn from them in consequence of sin.” But if we rightly understand Romans 8:24, 25, the Elder has foiled himself with his reasonings on eternal life; “But hope that is seen, is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Then when a man is hoping for eternal life, he is waiting for it. But in giving his second answer he, perhaps unwittingly, claims our position and puts eternal life in the future. He says, “The confirmation of this, in another life, when there is no death, no sin, etc., ... will constitute the full measure of all our hopes of glory.” Then eternal life is something besides the love of God in us, for, according to his own showing, the person who is hoping for eternal life is in hope of the future life. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.3
The next point which claims our attention in these articles is Eld. K.’s position on the term death. He quotes our remark that death could not mean what Webster defines it: (Die: To cease to live; to expire; to decease; to perish:) or else the soul is not immortal, and says: “Death means what Webster defines it to be, and the soul that sinneth it shall die, and notwithstanding the soul is immortal.” Well if death means what Webster defines it to be, then the soul that sinneth, it shall cease to live. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.4
Next our reviewer introduces a lengthy extract from Drew on the term death. The substance of this quotation is, that death is the opposite of, or the deprivation of, life. From this definition the Elder goes on to spiritualize death. He quotes several texts which he supposes teach that the life of the soul consists in its being brought under the influence of the Spirit of God; therefore he claims that the death of the soul is its being deprived of the Spirit of God. But because he has found instances where the person is said to die, when they cease to live holy lives, he has concluded that “the soul existing without that which alone can inspire it with true spiritual animation, is properly regarded as being in a state of death.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.5
We do not deny but some of these passages speak of a death which is the opposite of a holy life, but Paul just as explicitly says, “I die daily,” when he wished to convey the idea that sin in his members was constantly crucified. So if Eld. K. wishes to establish the meaning of the word death by those passages in which the word is used in a secondary sense, then he will find that Paul recognizes a man as dead to sin, as well as dead in trespasses and sins. So that a person in either a state of sin or holiness is dead to the opposite condition. “How can ye who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” From this we learn that they were called alive when they were in a state of sin. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.6
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” It seems that the object of Eld. K.’s labored argument on the term death is to show that when the term is used as in the text above, it simply means, if a righteous man sins, he will become a sinner, and so his reasoning could apply only to the righteous who might perchance transgress. As a matter of course before the soul can die it must be alive; but according to his definition of death when applied to the soul it cannot die until it is first holy, for he represents that to die is to fall from that holy state. To die, must be a going into a state of death. But those who never knew God (according to his theory) were always dead. How can a being die a spiritual death who is already spiritually dead? Therefore those who were never the recipients of God’s grace could never die. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.7
But we will now take a view of his definition of death from another quarter. It seems to us, if we have learned to read the Bible aright, that is to judge of the proper bearing of a text by its context, that Ezekiel is speaking in the text, “It shall die,” of the punishment of the sinner. I had ever supposed that the punishment of the sinner was to be a direct execution of the vengeance of God upon them; but it seems from Eld. K.’s reasoning that the punishment of the sinner is a natural result consequent upon his acts. The soul sins. Result. He is a sinner. But his sinning constitutes him a sinner, so his being a sinner cannot be the penalty for his sins. Our reviewer reasons as though the text said, the soul that sinneth, its righteousness shall die - cease to live. But there the text stands, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” And as Eld. K. has concluded to admit Webster’s definition of death, we meet in this conclusion: “The soul that sinneth it shall cease to live.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.8
Eld. K. represents that in order to maintain our position we are “compelled to deny the immortality of angels.” Those who have been so fortunate as to see the argument in the said pamphlet on this point know our conclusion, that those angels who kept their first estate are immortal, but that they derived their immortality from God. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.9
(To be Continued)
A Farm for Sale - Bidders Wanted
“HAVE you sold that farm yet?” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.10
“What farm?” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.11
“Yours, certainly.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.12
“Why do you ask that? What am I to sell my farm for?” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.13
“Because Christ commands you to do it.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.14
“I did not know that before.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.15
“That is strange indeed. You ought to have known it, surely. What did you tell the missionary agent when he called on you a short time ago?” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.16
“I told him I had no money.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.17
“And you thought that a good reason for not giving, did you?” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.18
“Certainly I did. How can I give when I have no money?” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.19
“I will tell you that presently, but first answer me another question. What did you tell the agent you had done with your money?” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.20
“I told him I had paid it on the land I bought.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.21
“Just so I thought. Now, brother, this is an old story of yours, and I am going to deal faithfully with you, for the honor of my Master requires it. I remember, two years ago, I called on you in behalf of the American Board. It was a pressing time. There was danger that all our missionary operations would be greatly crippled for want of funds. You had just concluded a bargain for another piece of land, and said it would take all you could rake and scrape to pay for it. The Tract Society’s agent came along, and made an earnest appeal. You still owed a little on your land, and could do nothing for the cause of benevolence until that was paid. Then the Bible Society presented its claims - you had just bought a horse, and could do nothing. Afterwards, Home Missions - you had lent your money a short time before, and had none by you. Now, brother, these excuses of buying and being in debt will not do. You can’t escape the claims of the Lord Jesus by any such maneuvering. He has been beforehand with you, and put a text in the Bible on purpose to meet the plea of those who say they have no money. You will find it in Luke 12:33 - ‘Sell that thou hast, and give alms.’ Have no money! Then sell a few acres and get some. Sell a horse - a cow - some grain - some merchandise. What right have you to be speculating on God’s money; to have it pledged to mammon beforehand, so that you protest every order the Lord Jesus sends you, and feel easy as long as you can say, ‘I am in debt,’ or, ‘I am about buying more.’ It is a fraudulent transfer to avoid a just claim. The Lord can carry on his purposes without your money. Certainly he can, for the silver and gold are all his. But he has a mortgage on your property, and if it is not cancelled one of two things you may expect. Either he will send an execution by the hand of one of his strong sheriffs, viz., fire, flood, blasting, or mildew; or else it will remain only to be a curse to you and your children. Your gold and silver will be cankered, and the rust of them will be as a witness against you, and it shall eat your flesh as it were fire. The Lord Jesus allows you, as a redeemed sinner, the privilege of bringing an offering as a testimonial of your gratitude.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.22
“Oh! this ever buying for self, and never selling for Christ! My brother, reverse the order. Begin to sell for Christ. The world is getting too much of your heart.” T. S. M - Central Christian Herald. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.23
Walk, believing God’s word, when you cannot see the light of his countenance. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 171.24
REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK FIFTH-DAY, APR. 15, 1858. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.1
SYNOPSIS OF THE PRESENT TRUTH. NO.22 THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB
LIKE a person placed in a great arena with avenues leading in all directions, so we are introduced, by the great question of the Sanctuary, to a variety of subjects, closely and intimately connected. The Judgment; the marriage of the Lamb; the parable of the virgins; the message from the Sanctuary, or the last warning to the world; the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus; and lastly, the solemn warning of the faithful and true Witness to his lukewarm people; are themes, which, as the subject opens before us, present almost equal claims to immediate consideration. But we cannot consider them all at once. The order therefore which we are compelled to observe in their investigation, should not give rise to the idea in the mind of the reader, that there is a like succession of time with the events themselves. The cleansing of the Sanctuary, the Judgment on the house of God, and the marriage of the Lamb, we consider to be synonymous events, during the accomplishment of which, the long suffering of God sends forth a final warning to the church and world. On the cleansing of the Sanctuary, and the Judgment, we have already briefly spoken. In the present paper we propose to offer a few thoughts on the Marriage of the Lamb. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.2
Says John, [Revelation 19:6, 7,] “I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready.” A definite event is here brought to view. It is the marriage of the Lamb. When does this particular event, located at a particular time in the fulfillment of a chain of prophecy, take place? We understand that the same event is elsewhere frequently referred to in the Scriptures. See Matthew 22, where the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king who made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden, etc. By the king’s son is evidently meant the Son of God, and by his marriage the marriage of the Lamb. The same essential events seem to be brought to view in Luke 19:11, 12. “And as they heard these things he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.” The parable then which the Saviour is about to relate is concerning the kingdom of God, and designed to correct some erroneous impressions which his disciples had received concerning its immediate establishment. What is the parable? It is this: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.” Verse 12. Who is designated in this parable by the nobleman? Christ. What is meant by his going into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom? His ascension to heaven after the close of his earthly mission, there to sit upon the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high. And it is while he is thus absent that he receives the kingdom; and having received it, he returns. It is also just previous to this return of the nobleman from a far country, that his marriage takes place. For in our Saviour’s admonition to his little flock, recorded in Luke 12:32, he says: “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord when he will return from the wedding.” We are thus exhorted to be ready and waiting for the second coming of our Lord from heaven; and when he thus appears the second time, it is at his return from the wedding. The marriage of the Lamb has then taken place; the nobleman has also received his kingdom; for it is after he has received his kingdom, that he returns; and that this reception of the kingdom that is to be given to the Son of God, and the marriage of the Lamb, are identical, we think can be made plainly to appear. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.3
Says Daniel, [chap. 7:13, 14,] “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.4
What event is here brought to view? Is it the Lord’s second coming to earth in the clouds of heaven? We think not. It is to the Ancient of Days that one like the Son of man comes. Unless therefore the Ancient of Days (God the Father) is located on the earth, it cannot be the coming of Christ to the earth, that is here referred to. Scott, in his comments on this passage notices particularly this fact; and this, together with the other fact, that he appears before the Ancient of Days to receive a kingdom has led him to a wrong conclusion on this point. His words are as follows: “The prophet further saw one like the Son of man coming with, or in, the clouds of heaven; that is, with divine majesty and glory; this must point out Christ to us, as the eternal Son of God, appearing in human nature, ascending to heaven, the throne of God, to receive the kingdom covenanted to him. Psalm 2:8, 9. He came to the Ancient of Days, who sat on the throne, and was brought in before him by the angelic attendants; and he received a glorious, universal and everlasting kingdom, which would never vanish, or be subverted, or succeeded by any other.” He then quotes from Maclaurin as follows: “This passage not only shows that the setting up of the everlasting kingdom, was to happen in the times of the fourth or Roman monarchy, but also that it would happen when the Son of man would ascend from earth to heaven.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.5
That the coming of the Lord to the earth is not referred to in Daniel 7:13, is evident; but the view of Scott and Maclaurin, as above, is by no means a necessary conclusion from that fact. We have already shown that the kingdom of God, as brought to view in Daniel 2,7, etc., could not have been set up at the first advent, and that it is not a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of believers. To what then can Daniel 7:13, 14, refer? Ans. To the entrance of our Lord from the holy into the most holy place, as he changes his ministration in the heavenly Sanctuary. From his ascension in A. D. 31, to the close of the 2300 days in 1844, our Lord ministered in the first apartment of the heavenly Sanctuary. The time then came for the cleansing of the Sanctuary; he therefore entered into the most holy place and took his position before the ark of God, to finish his ministry. And where is God represented as dwelling? Above the cherubim of the mercy-seat, which is the cover of the ark. Exodus 25:22; Psalm 80:1. This move of our High Priest, consequently might justly be described by the language, that one like the Son of man came to the Ancient of Days and was brought near before him. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.6
It is here that he receives the kingdom. “Ask of me,” says God to his Son, [Psalm 2:8, 9,] “and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” What will the Son then do with them? Convert them all? No; but dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. This he accomplishes by his second advent and its accompanying judgments. And this is the time, as represented in the parable of Luke 19, when the nobleman having received his kingdom, and returned, causes those his enemies who would not have him to reign over them to be brought forth and slain in his presence. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.7
Thus the question, when the nobleman receives his kingdom, or when the marriage of the Lamb takes place, is easily determined. It is the closing event of his priestly office. The inquiry, Who is the Bride, may seem to some more difficult of solution. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.8
(To be Continued.)
THE POOR
PROBABLY there is a greater proportion of the poor of this world among us than with any other class of professing Christians. “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom?” James 2:5. The answer is, He has. And we have a duty to do to the worthy suffering poor among us. There are those who will be poor, however good may be their chance. And there are those who become poor by misfortune, and by the most rigid economy, and strictest industry, cannot rise from their poverty and distressed condition. The latter class are worthy to receive alms. And there are precious promises in the word of God to those who consider the poor to relieve them from suffering. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.9
“Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.” Psalm 40,1:1-3. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.10
“He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.” Proverbs 19:17. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.11
The suffering poor among us must be sought out, and then assisted in their struggles to rise above their poverty. In order to give a fair idea of the condition of some of our poor brethren, we here insert an extract from a letter from Bro. Isaac N. Pike of Jamaica, Vt., which describes the condition of Bro. S. Pratt and family at that place: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.12
“I would say a word for Bro. Stephen Pratt. I saw him last evening. He informed me that he had received a bill from the Review Office for two or three volumes of the Review, which he was unable to pay. He thinks he shall have to stop the paper for want of means to pay for it. He is in a strait place, truly. He not only needs the sympathy of friends, but something more substantial to keep life in himself and family. His family consists of himself, wife and one child. His health is poor. He has his wife’s mother, a woman of some sixty or seventy years of age, who has been nearly bed-ridden for years, until of late the Lord has wrought a work upon her and she is so far restored as to be about the house. She is helped some by her other children, but the burden of her support comes on Bro. Pratt. In addition to this he has two of his wife’s sisters with him, one of them with a child about two years old. The mother has poor health. The other is sick with the scrofula and under the doctor’s care, and to all appearance cannot live long. Her neck and lungs are badly affected. You can see that his family consists of seven persons, five adults, and all either sick or in poor health. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.13
“His earthly substance consists of a cow, three or four sheep, and a few fowls. He lives on hire, and is now in debt on his last year’s rent. His year is up, and he knows not where to go. His provisions are all consumed, and he has for a few weeks past lived two or three days, and at one time nearly a week without a morsel of bread. He is trying to live out the testimony of Jesus, and has been holding on by faith, trusting that the Lord would open some way for him. But he returned home last night almost discouraged, as he had failed to procure half a bushel of corn for his family at the village, where two sisters had made provision for him.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.14
“Bro. Pike will receive our thanks for giving the above description of Bro. Pratt’s condition. We knew nothing of his circumstances. He shall have the REVIEW free. It is the wish of the Publishing Committee that such should have it without charge. We hope to hear from all such, that they may be marked free on our books. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.15
But what shall be done for Bro. Pratt and his family? As we read the above description we felt deep pity for them, and could not refrain from tears. Many others will drop the tear of pity as they read it. But this will do the poor brother but little good if the pitying ones all stop here. The question is, How much do we pity? ARSH April 15, 1858, page 172.16
As the letter lay before us yesterday, and we were musing upon what could be done for the family, Bro. G. Lowree came in to pay $2, in advance on the REVIEW, when we read the letter to him. It moved his pity. But how much? Without a word being said, Bro. L. took out $1, and said, “Send that to them.” We remarked that it should not go alone, and put $1 with it, and sent them to the afflicted family. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.1
Those who pity this poor family to the amount of $1 each, may forward their one dollar to this Office, and we will forward it to Bro. Pratt. And when you are doing this, brethren, put in another to send the REVIEW to the poor. According to present prospects $500 must be raised for this object. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.2
And we would say to all, Send in the names and address of all the poor who might be profited by reading the REVIEW. While God is choosing the poor of this world to be heirs of his kingdom, we should do all we can to teach them in the way to the kingdom. Send in their names for the REVIEW and INSTRUCTOR. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.3
All our printers are at work for $5 per week, when they can earn $7 per week at the usual prices. Here is a sacrifice on the part of each of $104 a year in order to send the truth as far and wide as possible. These, too, often have a dollar or more to hand out to the poor, and to ministers. They will have their reward. Now suppose that poor, covetous souls, who hardly give a dollar to the poor, or to help the cause, could get into the kingdom, how ashamed they would feel to stand up side of those who have great reward for benevolence and sacrifice. But such will not be there. “Nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:10. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.4
J. W.
THE BROTHERHOOD
THERE are advantages in the brotherhood. That is, brethren can help each other, and both be benefitted. Some of our brethren who are farmers or mechanics, hire; and it would be most convenient for them to hire those of the same faith and practice in regard to the Sabbath. Also there are many brethren among us who are obliged to hire out by the day, or by the month, and it would be most convenient for them to work for their brethren who keep the Sabbath. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.5
And how natural the supposition that - with brethren who profess to love their brethren as themselves - the wealthy would favor the poor, and the advantages of the brotherhood would finally all fall into the laps of the poor. It should be so. But in many cases it is not so. The advantages of the brotherhood are reaped by the wealthy. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.6
Poor brethren are generally liberal, and often neglect to keep accounts as they should, and the wealthy and worldly, who mark every penny, in settling up sometimes take advantage of the poor. In obtaining their wealth they have become accustomed to making the best bargains, till their consciences have become unfeeling in regard to the poor, and their love of gain leads them to even take advantage of a poor brother. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.7
We have been acquainted with some cases of this kind which have had a most discouraging influence on the poor, which is the reason why we would put our poor brethren on their guard. Two young brethren of the Battle Creek church were induced to go to Round Grove, Ills., to better their condition. They had unbounded confidence in leading brethren there. Those brethren led them into the world, took advantage of them, so that when they returned to Battle Creek they had lost one year of hard work and $100 besides. We cannot hold our peace on this subject. We have read of Ananias and Sapphira, [Acts 5,] and their end. But compare with their sin, the crime of oppressing, deceiving and gouging the honest poor, and the orphan; this, too, while professing to receive the testimony of the true Witness, and after having been faithfully reproved for such sins; and then say whose chance would you choose in the resurrection, were you doomed to a choice? O, the deceitfulness of riches! They will make a sober man drunk, a sane man insane, an honest man deceitful. This sin has not rested on those at Round Grove alone. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.8
Had Ananias been a poor man, he, with his wife, would probably have walked with the apostles and with God, and secured everlasting life. One deception is recorded against them. They kept back part of the price. Said Peter, “While it remained, was it not thine own?” But some profess to have all on the altar, and keep back, not only part of the price, but all, or nearly all, and with the influence which money and their profession give them, they grind the faces of God’s poor. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.9
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” James 5:1-4. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.10
Now there is no more necessity for this deception than there was in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. Why profess to have all on the Lord’s altar, when in fact it is on Satan’s altar? If they choose to make a god of their wealth, and risk the future, is it not in their power to do so? While it remains thus, is it not their own? Why act a deceptive part in the face of heaven, and before the followers of Jesus on earth? O, church of Jesus Christ, arise and shake off these sins before they sink thee to perdition! Jesus is spewing the lukewarm out of his mouth. Beware! Beware!! ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.11
J. W.
TOUR IN WISCONSIN
BRO. SMITH: We held meetings in Westport, Dane Co., from the evening of the 11th inst., to First-day, the 14th. The weather was unfavorable: it was rainy and became very muddy, so that the attendance was not large. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.12
We found a few at Westport firm in the faith of the Sabbath, and not at all moved by the inconsistent course of Mr. Stephenson and others. But several of them were literally enveloped in the Age-to-come theory, with little or no faith in the Third Angel’s Message. As we too often find in such cases, the labor of the sixth day of the week was suffered to infringe on the sacred hours of the Sabbath. We have daily increased evidence that the Third Angel’s Message is present truth, and that by it God will gather the remnant and prepare them to pass through the perils of the last days. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.13
The convictions of former years are greatly strengthened by the past course of some, and the present position of others in Wisconsin, that the Age-to-come is subversive of the present truth. Many with whom we have conversed do not realize this, because they are not aware of their own wide departure from the truth, and their destitution of the power of godliness. It is lamentable to see those who once rejoiced in the fullness of the gospel, whose minds have been so far diverted from the work of preparation that they have lost their watch and ceased to pray, and yet contend that they are on the way to the joys of the blessed. We can never realize the blinding tendency of error when we embrace it, nor how fast we run into the dark when we neglect the truth. How much we need the Spirit of God to guide us into truth, in these days of peril and delusion. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.14
On Second-day, the 15th, I left Westport on foot for Baraboo, leaving Bro. Andrews to bring our trunks on the stage next day. But the frost was leaving the ground very fast, and it rained considerable; the roads became impassable so that the stage could not go through. Bro. A. was obliged to follow me on foot through the deep mud, and we met at Bro. Stanley’s, in Sauk Co., on Fifth-day, the 18th. My meeting with this dear family was a joyful one to me, as we embraced the truth nearly together, and they are among the few in this State who have stood firm on the truth against the advocates of error. Next morning in company with Bro. S. we started for Mauston, and arrived at the residence of Bro. Steward just as the Sabbath commenced. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.15
Our meetings at Mauston were held under unfavorable circumstances, as we were both worn down by our very toilsome journey, and our books were all left behind. And it was so muddy that we had no meeting on the evening of the Sabbath, or the evening after. Notwithstanding all this it was a good meeting, and one which we shall long remember with pleasure. Here I met with a few old acquaintances who have kept the Sabbath ever since the Message was first preached in Wisconsin. There is quite a large church in this vicinity, most of whom have embraced the truth under the labors of Bro. Steward. They are all firm in the faith of the Third Angel’s Message, and the Age-to-come is not so much as named among them, as far as we could learn. By this it will be seen that Bro. S. has been teaching present truth to them instead of the erroneous theories of the future, so popular in some parts of this State. This will be very gratifying to many readers of the REVIEW, who have not, for some time past, known the position occupied by Bro. S. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.16
Our last meeting with this church was mostly spent in social conference, and the Lord was with us. A fervent desire was manifest to grow in grace: and it was with regret that I left them, for I felt assured that a few more meetings would have been very profitable to the church. But it seemed to be duty for us to separate for a season before the meeting in Marquette Co.; so on the morning of Second-day I left with Bro. Thurston for Waushara Co., leaving Bro. Andrews to labor with Bro. Steward where providence should open the way. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.17
At Mauston we were much gratified to meet with Bro. Locke of Reedsburgh. Bro. L. was formerly a minister of the christian denomination, but is now strong in the faith of the Third Angel’s Message, which he is endeavoring to lay before his fellow-creatures. Our earnest prayer is that God may bless him in this work, and guide him fully into the truth, and sustain him in its proclamation. J. H. W. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.18
FROM a translation of the New Testament made by the English College at Rheims, 1582, we take the following: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.19
Hebrews 1:1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.20
Verse 2. In these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.21
Verse 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sitteth on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.22
Note on Verse 3. “The figure; that is, the express image and most perfect resemblance.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.23
Galatians 3:19. Why then was the law? It was set because of transgression, until the seed should come to whom he made the promise, being ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.24
Councils
Dr. Jortin says, “They have been too much extolled by Papists, and by some Protestants. They were a collection of men who were frail and fallible. Some of those councils were not assemblies of pious and learned divines, but cabals, the majority of which were quarrelsome, fanatical, domineering, dishonest prelates, who wanted to compel men to approve all their opinions, of which they themselves had no clear conceptions, and to anathematize and oppress those who would not implicitly submit to their determination.” - Jortin’s Works, Vol. vii, charge 2. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.25
What unthankfulness it is to forget our consolations, and to look only upon matter of grievance; to think so much upon two or three crosses as to forget a hundred blessings. Psalm 103:2. - Dr. Sibs. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.26
Riches and abundance of the earth loads more than it fills; and men’s wealth only heightens their wants. The great man oftener wants an appetite and rest, than the poor man meat and a bed to lie on. Ecclesiastes 5:10, 12. - Fleming. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 173.27
“PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.1
Pray - for the year is ending,
The last thou e’er may’st see;
And the life thou woulds’t be mending,
May be never more to be.
ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.2
Pray - the New Year will open
With hopes that must deceive;
And many a heart be broken,
That’s now too proud to grieve.
ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.3
Pray - for the tempter trieth The wiles that failed before: In every path there lieth The last year’s snare, and more. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.4
Pray - for death’s poisoned arrows. Are flying thick and fast; And this year’s coming sorrows. May be greater than the last. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.5
Pray - for the dark wave’s nighing,
That overwhelms the whole;
And Winter winds are sighing,
A requiem for thy soul.
ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.6
Pray - now the Saviour’s waiting
To show thy sins forgiven;
And the Holy Ghost entreating
To seal thee heir of heaven.
[Am. Messenger.
ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.7
A WARNING
BRO. SMITH: As I consider the responsibilities and dangers of the people of God, I am led to fear for many, and I wish to set before them the following, which I consider a most solemn warning. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.8
As it became evident a few years since that the burden of the Third Message would be in the West, a brother, who had much of this world’s good, resolved to move West with his family, and thus introduce the work in the West. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.9
He went with one intention, his wife with another. His intention was to proclaim the truth, but her intention was to have all their means laid out in house and lands, that the means not only be secured, and kept from the cause of God, but that her husband’s time be also employed in building, planting, sowing etc. He was convicted of his duty to dispose of a portion of his means to advance the cause of God, but it was a great sacrifice for him to make, for he loved this world, and he was easily persuaded by his wife and daughter, to gratify their desire and love of their earthly treasure, and retain it. He disobeyed the call of God, to gratify his wife and daughter, and was too willing to excuse or cover up his love of the world, under a show of duty to his family. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.10
At a certain time, the Lord gave me a view of their situation. I saw their worldly-mindedness, that instead of living out their faith after they went into a new country, they were getting a firmer grasp of this world, until it was a proverb to those around them. They professed to be looking for the glorious appearing of Jesus, professed to be God’s peculiar people, that he was purifying unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, yet purchasing their large attractive lands, thus plainly declaring by their works, that this world was their home, that here was their treasure. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.11
I was shown the wife of our brother, that she was engrossed in the spirit of this world, and loved and worshiped it; that she must unfasten her grasp, that she was a stumbling-block in her husband’s way, she was holding him back, and was unwilling that he should sell and give alms, also unwilling that he should go out to talk the truth to others. I saw that unless she got out of her husband’s way, cut loose from the world, and distributed to the necessity of God’s cause, the Lord would visit the family with judgment, and move her out of the way. She heeded not the message. Her whole mind was occupied in fitting up and making improvements to stay here. In the midst of this, affliction came. She was prostrated by disease, and taken away. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.12
A few weeks after her death we visited the place with the message to the Laodiceans. We entered the dwelling of the afflicted family, and labored and prayed for them. They were in a low, worldly-minded, discouraged state. A heavy burden rolled upon me. The father was struggling for freedom, for liberty. The Lord graciously met with us, and let a little of his light shine upon us. But still we knew there was much to be done. As our brother would come up to the point to give up the world, and get it out of his heart; as he would lay his farm upon the altar, and say he would sell a part, or all of it, then the daughter would act the same part the mother had done, to pull him back, and she would plead for their treasure here. O what agony of spirit I felt. We had a season of prayer. The sufferings of the Son of God were held up before me. His agony in the garden of Gethsemane, as the sins of the whole world were laid upon him, his shameful death upon the cross, all to save guilty man. He, for their sakes became poor, that they through his poverty might be made rich. Then to see how little those for whom this sacrifice was made, were willing to suffer for the truth, I could hardly endure the realizing sense of these things. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.13
Before I left that place I was shown in vision that God had taken the mother away in anger, and unless the father and daughter submitted to God, unless they cut loose from this world and had their affections weaned from it, God would step over the threshold again in judgment. I was astonished at what was shown me in vision. I saw that this brother loved this world more than he ever thought he did, and that it was a snare to him, it deceived him. I saw that he was so close and snug in deal, it really carried him beyond the bounds of strict truth and honesty. Said the angel, The deceitfulness of riches causes many, many of its possessors to stumble over their riches to perdition, while only a few with the unrighteous mammon will make friends, and finally be received into everlasting habitations. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.14
I saw that the brother did not give his hired help a decent chance to serve God. It was hurry, hurry, work, work, as though they had not a dollar at their command. There was but little chance for them to pray. I saw that God seeth not as man seeth, for God despised such snug dealing and covetousness, and without an entire reform, it was impossible for him to be saved; that he was straining every nerve to save a little means, that would be no blessing to himself or others; that he did not possess a noble generous disposition. I saw that it was right to economize, but it had been stretched into meanness without any goodly object, only to add to their treasure which would shortly eat their flesh as it were fire, unless they, as faithful stewards, made a right disposal of their Lord’s goods. I saw that he had hardly allowed himself time to pray, and that it had been a mere dry form without the power. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.15
I saw the daughter’s covetousness, that her life was all wrapt up in selfishness. She had suffered no lack. Every want had been supplied. She had lived for herself, and her heart seldom beat in sympathy for other’s woes or wants; that such closeness, such selfishness, covetousness, was seldom seen, and that this, without an entire reformation, would prove her ruin; and if her father left her a few thousands, whether he lived or died, it would be enough to ruin her, and displease God. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.16
I saw that the father had not been pitiful to the unfortunate, those who labored for him, not even to the poor orphan. There had been such snug dealing practised toward them, that God could not look with any pleasure, until full restitution should be made; for he regarded it with abhorrence. All this I related to him, while my soul was bowed with deep anguish. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.17
Last Summer I was again shown this brother’s case, that he was not moving fast enough, that he was not using his means to advance the cause of God as fast as he should. The next news I heard was, that he was dead, and had left his large property to his daughter. Nothing was bestowed upon the cause of God. Last Tuesday, [March 30th,] I saw that Satan’s wish had been gained. While he lived, his brethren had plunged into the world beyond their means, and stood ready to hire the use of his money to advance their own interests, and thus it was kept from the cause of God. And I saw that Satan had it just as he wanted it at his death, that nothing be left to the cause of God, but his daughter be cursed with it, and placed in a situation where it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for her to enter the kingdom of heaven. I saw that it was the design of Satan to keep all the means from the ranks of the truth that he could, and to use it as a stumbling-block for souls. He is willing that those who profess the truth, and are snug, selfish and covetous, should have means in their possession, for they idolize it. They nourish it, and it will prove their ruin; for they lay up treasure upon earth, and lose their treasure in heaven. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.18
As I have seen that the reward of covetousness thus far upon this family should be a warning to the church, I cannot withhold from the people of God what has been shown me respecting them. ELLEN G. WHITE. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.19
Jesus Reigns Upon Two Thrones
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.20
Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews, says, “We have such an High Priest who is set down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the Sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man.” Hebrews 8:1. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.21
In Zechariah 6:12, 13 is brought to view the united reign of the BRANCH (Christ) and the LORD (the Father) on the Father’s throne. “The counsel of peace shall be between them both.” Verse 13. That this united reign of Christ and the Father commenced with Christ’s ascension to the heavenly Sanctuary, and closes with his priestly office, is clearly brought to view in Jesus’ promise and Paul’s testimonies. Hebrews 8:1; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority, and power.” Verse 24. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.22
The kingdom which Christ is to deliver up to the Father just before his second coming, evidently is the kingdom in which his priestly reign is accomplished, in union with his Father on the Father’s throne, during which time God, the Father, is subduing the wicked unto Christ. “And when all things are subdued unto him then shall the Son himself be subject unto him (the Father) that put all things under him that God may be all in all.” Verse 28. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.23
There is but one kingdom which Christ can deliver to the Father prior to his appearing and kingdom. David says in Psalms 103:19, “The LORD (the Father) hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all.” Again in Psalms 110, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Paul says he is at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. And sixty-five years after the crucifixion Jesus says, “I am set down with my Father in his throne.” And the testimony shows that Christ remains there while the Father is subduing Christ’s enemies under Christ’s feet. “And when all things are subdued unto him then shall the Son himself be subject unto him (the Father) that put all things under him (Christ) that God may be all in all.” Verse 28. The kingdom which Christ delivers up to the Father cannot be his own kingdom, for “of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:33. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.24
If he were to deliver up his own kingdom there is a point of time when Christ’s kingdom terminates. But the Scriptures plainly teach that Christ is to take his own kingdom, or throne, and reign forever and ever. “Of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 22:29. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.25
Jesus’ reign in union with his Father in the Father’s kingdom is co-existent with his priestly ministration in the heavenly Sanctuary. When he has finished his priestly work, leaves the heavenly Sanctuary, he delivers up the Father’s kingdom, takes his own throne in the heavenly Jerusalem, the capital of his kingdom. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.26
Thus the marriage is consummated between Christ and the New Jerusalem, (our Mother,) and he comes from the wedding to receive his children. We must be “like unto men who wait for their Lord when he shall return from the wedding.’ Luke 12:36. He comes King of kings and Lord of lords, [Revelation 19:16; 2:9,] to rule his enemies with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces,” etc. Therefore he receives his authority as King, his own kingdom, or throne, before he comes to gather the subjects of that kingdom and destroy those who would not have this man to rule over them. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.27
A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return, and it came to pass when he was returned, having received the kingdom, etc. Luke 19:12. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you, and will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also.” John 14:3. “Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards.” John 13:36. “A little while and ye shall not see me, and again a little while and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.” John 16:16. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.28
Paul says, “Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them (that sleep) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Matthew testifies, that immediately after the destruction of the wicked, “Then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of their Father.” Matthew 13:43. The length of time they are to remain in the kingdom of God, is another part of the subject and determined by other testimony. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.29
That Christ reigns in his Father’s throne through the gospel dispensation, or his priestly ministration, there is clear and positive evidence. Also that during this time of mercy, God, the Father is subduing the enemies of Christ unto Christ. And when they are made subject unto him, they are given into his hands for destruction. There is a plain distinction made between the subduing by God, during Christ’s ministration, and the destruction by Jesus at his second appearing. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 174.30
It is a solemn thought that we are rapidly hastening to the decisive moment, from which there is no change. Soon Jesus has finished his work of mercy forever. The Angel that now bears us warning will then cease to entreat. Who will be able to stand when there is no mediator? They only who have clean hands and pure hearts! That these solemn truths may sink into my heart and lead me to overcome every wrong, that I may be permitted to sit with Jesus in his throne, as he overcame, and is set down with his Father in his throne, is my earnest prayer. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.1
F. M. BRAGG.
Cambridge, Wis.
Selfishness
THIS is the first and last of all evils; the mainspring of all wickedness. Ever since the creation, down to the present time its path has been paved with the blood of millions of its victims. That it should exist among all classes and ranks of men, and more especially in these days of peril is no more than we should expect; but that it should be found among the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus is indeed to be lamented. Selfishness appears in many ways, but there is an evil I would speak of, which to some may appear hardly worth mentioning, but to me it is no small thing, which is the use of tobacco. First, I would ask, Have we any right to indulge in a habit that we know grieves our brethren? If we persist in such a course, is it not plain that such indulgence is dearer to us than the wounded cause of our Master? for seeing its wounds the feelings of the brethren, is it not sinning against Christ? Says the Apostle, “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth.” Paul was ready to die for the Lord Jesus, but when his brethren mourned and wept as he was about to leave them, this stirred the deep fountains of his heart. We are commanded to follow after the things that make for peace, and things wherewith we may edify another. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.2
Again, we are to be of one heart and of one mind; speaking the same things; growing up into Christ our living head in all things. Suppose a vine dresser should place in his garden a beautiful tree, but as it grew, one or more of its branches should bend altogether different from the rest, and grow right opposite from the body, would he not be apt to cut off the contrary branch, that others might be grafted in? If we would bear fruit we must abide in the vine, partaking of its sap and nourishment, that we may grow thereby. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.3
Says one, I have been in the habit of using tobacco so long it seems hard to leave it off. I would say for the encouragement of such, I had been partaking of the contents of the treacherous box for twenty years, I made this excuse, that I had such a complaint; but the leaving off the habit proved the best remedy. We can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth us. We read, “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” We must not live for self, but this should be our earnest cry, “Lord what wilt thou have me to do?” Some promise to abandon its use, yet year after year are using a little; they must break off by degrees; but is not this like adding dry fuel to the fire that it may go out? Let us not look back to lust after the leeks and onions of Egypt. Likewise may we remember the case of Achan. This is a uniting message. Let us with the utmost care remove every stumbling block out of the way, that Israel may go free. The Lord is purifying unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Then let us put away all useless habits; and may the Lord help us to do all to his honor and glory, that we may be approved when he comes. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.4
S. ELMER.
Ashfield, Mass.
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.”
From Sister Morey
BRO. SMITH: I wish to say to you that the Review is a welcome visitor to me, and I should hardly know what to do without it. I have ever felt to praise the Lord that it was placed in my hands, for I do love the truths it advocates. I do praise the Lord for what he has done for me, in showing me the present truth. It is about four years since I began to look towards the Sabbath. About that time Bro. Holt was at this place, and five or six of us met together to pray for the Lord to work in his own way; and I have ever felt to praise God for that meeting; for it was then that the Lord began to show me that I was trampling his holy commandments under my feet. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.5
I feel that I can truly say that I desire above every thing else to do the will of my heavenly Father. Pray for me that I may overcome every besetting sin and at last stand with you on mount Zion. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.6
M. E. MOREY.
West Winfield, N. Y., March 30th, 1858.
From Bro. Taylor
BRO. SMITH: The conference at this place closed last evening, and in the eight lectures given, much good was sown, and many points of truth that belong to this generation were brought out. The church that attended through the meeting was strengthened. The meeting was timely. We were much in want of such plain, strait testimony as was given. The voice of God’s servants must be raised like a trumpet, they must cry aloud and spare not. As a church we are quite too lukewarm. We are not drinking from the clear fountain of light and knowledge as we should. We are still wanting in the gold, white raiment and eye-salve. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.7
Satan is at work with all power, and all signs, and all lying wonders, and with all deceivableness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10. Having all power, what can he not do? Man has been the object of his deception for ages past. Not that there was no way for mankind to escape his satanic influence, but they have chosen to be thus deceived, or by rejecting the counsel of God, have been left to the enemy’s influence. As it has been, so it is now. This generation has rejected line upon line, and precept upon precept. Rays of light and knowledge that have been shining out from God’s word, dispelling the errors of the past ages of ignorance, superstition, and bigotry have nearly all been turned away from and rejected, and God has left them to the strongest delusion that has ever fallen on man. Many false spirits are truly abroad in the world; but thank God, we have a detector; for the Spirit and the Word agree. The Word is our only tower into which we can run and be safe. If we reject it, or fail to believe it, we are left to the enemy’s power. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.8
Yours hoping to overcome with the saints. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.9
CHAS. O. TAYLOR.
Rouse’s Point, N. Y., March 30th, 1858.
Extracts from Letters
Bro. J. Kellogg writes from Berlin, Mich., March 29th, 1858: “It is a blessed time here. The Lord is doing a great work. They keep coming in one after another, and leaving their old creeds behind. God is opening the eyes of his people, and they are looking around them and seeing where they are. Many stand waiting to hear the truth, who have not yet heard it. Since Bro. Frisbie left there has been great inquiring when he is coming back. Some of the Methodists here come to our meetings. The house is full every Sabbath. They come from six or seven miles around to get what little knowledge they can of the present truth. The more I read the Bible the firmer I grow in the present truth. The way grows brighter. Bless God! I hope it will unto the perfect day. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.10
Sister B. A. Porter, writes from Ostemo, Mich., Apr. 1st, 1858: “I still feel the same determination to press onward in this glorious cause. I rejoice in the bright prospect that lies before us. If we are faithful a little while longer, we shall soon behold the King in his beauty and dwell in his presence forever. The cause of God is prospering among us. We meet together almost every Sabbath for worship and the Lord meets with us. Some have embraced the Sabbath, and others are searching the Scriptures to see if these things are so. I am striving to overcome the world, the flesh, and the love of life, and to gain the victory over every besetting sin.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.11
SELECTIONS
Rules for Home Education
THE following rules we commend to all our patrons and friends, for their excellence, brevity, and practical utility. They are worthy of being printed in letters of gold, and of being placed in a conspicuous place in every household. It is lamentable to contemplate the mischief, misery and ruin which are the legitimate fruit of those deficiencies which are pointed out in the rules to which we have reference. Let every parent and guardian read, ponder and inwardly digest: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.12
1. From your children’s earliest infancy, inculcate the necessity of instant obedience. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.13
2. Unite firmness with gentleness. Let your children always understand that you mean what you say. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.14
3. Never promise them anything unless you are quite sure you can give them what you say. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.15
4. If you tell a child to do something, show him how to do it, and see that it is done. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.16
5. Always punish your children for willfully disobeying you, but never punish them in anger. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.17
6. Never let them perceive that they vex you or make you lose your self-command. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.18
7. If they give way to petulance or ill-temper, wait till they are calm, and then gently reason with them on the impropriety of their conduct. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.19
8. Remember that a little present punishment, when occasion arises, is much more effectual than the threatening of a greater punishment should the fault be renewed. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.20
9. Never give your children anything because they cry for it. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.21
10. On no account allow them to do at one time what you have forbidden, under the same circumstances, at another. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.22
11. Teach them that the only sure and easy way to appear good is to be good. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.23
12. Accustom them to make their little recitals with perfect truth. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.24
13. Never allow of tale-bearing. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.25
14. Teach them self-denial, not self-indulgence, of an angry and resentful spirit. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.26
If these rules are reduced to practice - daily practice - by parents and guardians, how much misery would be prevented, how many in danger of ruin would be saved, how largely would the happiness of a thousand domestic circles, be augmented. It is lamentable to see how extensive is paternal neglect, and to witness the bad and dreadful consequences in the ruin of thousands. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.27
Influence of one Tract
ONE of your correspondents recently alluded to Rev. Morgan Edwards, whose labors as an evangelist have been blest at Chicago, and many other places in the North-west. I have a fact concerning that excellent but eccentric brother, which perhaps may interest your readers; and as I received the particulars from his own lips, there can be no doubt of its correctness. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.28
In the year 1837, Mr. Edwards was an officer of a brig then lying in New York harbor. A tract distributor coming aboard, handed him a tract. He received it very ungraciously, cursing the man to his face, asking him what wages he received, and telling him that he might be in better business. The distributor mildly expostulated with him, and besought him to put the tract in his pocket, and when he should be at leisure, to give it a careful reading. Impressed by the earnest manner and tearful eye of the speaker, he put it into his pocket. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.29
While at sea, some time after, finding the tract, he read it. Its very title, “My Spirit shall not always strive,” went like an arrow to his heart. During the remainder of the voyage he was in great agony lest the Holy Spirit might leave him before his peace was made with God. Nor did he find peace till he believed in Christ. After his conversion, his efforts were blessed to the hopeful conversion of several sailors before he abandoned the sea. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.30
I have now in my possession that little tract - the identical ink and paper; and when I think of the trains of blessing and salvation, never to end, which have been started by its feeble instrumentality, I thank God for tracts and tract distribution. None but God can measure the influence of one tract. - N. Y. Rec. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.31
The Faithfulness of the Lord
A PASTOR named Augustus Schultz, who was settled in a village near Berlin, had a very small salary. But when occasion offered for him to give to the poor, he seemed to be rich, and gave freely. Some said that he was even extravagant in his charities. Perhaps there was some foundation for the reproach; but if he gave too much he acted from love to God, and God did not forsake him. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.32
It happened one day - and this was not the first time - that there was not a morsel of bread in the house; nor money to buy any. The pastor Schultz asked his wife to set the table as usual. “But my dear,” said his wife to him, “you forget that we have nothing to eat.” “Be easy,” answered the faithful servant of God, “the Lord is able to give us what we need.” The table then was set out, the cloth spread, but there was nothing upon it. The pastor and his wife prayed. During their prayer, a loaded wagon stopped before the pastor’s house. It was filled with bread, and other food, which some christian friends had sent to the good pastor, whose beneficence they knew. The servant of Christ realized then that the Lord never forgets those who trust in his goodness. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.33
If we are one in Christ, death cannot separate us. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 175.34
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. APR. 15, 1858
To the Benevolent
BEFORE us is a circular containing an extract from a letter of J. W. Eaton, Pastor of a church in Keeseville, N. Y., and published in the Watchman and Reflector, Jan. 25th, 1855. From this circular we copy the following: ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.1
“Twenty years since there was in the University of Cracow, in Poland, an aspiring youth, of noble birth, a devout Catholic, pursuing an education for the priesthood. In due time he is ordained. At length, Luther like, he finds a Bible, drinks in its sacred truths, and aims to bring about a reformation. Severely persecuted, he goes to Rome for redress, flies to Paris, escapes to this country, lands at New York, and thence finds his way to Mooers, in the northern part of this State, where he was baptized. Besides being familiar with the sciences he speaks seven different languages. Receiving an appointment from the American Baptist Home Mission Society with a salary of only $350, he commenced preaching to the French Canadian population of Clinton County, with indefatigable zeal. No toil, no fatigue, no danger daunts him. Souls are converted.” ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.2
This minister is now in Battle Creek, a Sabbath-keeper, reduced to poverty, yet striving for a humble living at Book-binding. He appears to be a humble, sincere servant of Christ. He has given us a brief rehearsal of his life, which we cannot give in full for want of space. He was imprisoned two years in consequence of opposing the Roman Clergy. He landed in New York city with his wife, penniless, and went to work in a brickyard. Finally he reached Montreal with only $1,00, and worked as Book-binder three months, and slept on straw. His friends set him up at Book-binding; but in the great fire of 1851, he was burned out, and left destitute. His success in turning the French Canadians from Catholicism was wonderful. But being greatly abused by a Catholic Priest who professed conversion, and whom he baptized, with other discouragements, he left his mission and is soon a Book-binder at Finley, Ohio. He attended the Tent-meeting held there last Summer, and embraced the truth. His Baptist brethren, who had assisted him, withdrew their patronage and support. He came to Battle Creek. By this time he was near $100 in debt. Then came the hard times. Without murmuring, he has labored hard, while his family have suffered for the common blessings of this life. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.3
It was recently suggested that he should now go to northern New York, and teach the present truth to his old and warm friends. His heart leaped with joy at the thought of taking his Bible and the French Tracts, (one on the Sabbath, the other on the advent,) and with his family return to Mooers, where he has a house and ten acres of land and a horse. He owes on his place fifty dollars. His name is M B Czechowski. He must have help now. We will be one of thirty to raise $150,00 at once. The sum must be raised before our conference. We make the beginning. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.4
JAMES WHITE $5,00.
ELLEN G WHITE $5,00.
WANTED. We are about binding ten volumes of the REVIEW in two large books, and find a lack of Vol V. Those who have this Vol. bound in paper covers or unbound, will confer a favor by mailing them to this Office post-paid. We will pay them for the Vol, and postage in other books, or give them credit on the REVIEW. Send immediately. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.5
JAMES WHITE.
From Bro. Byington
DEAR BRO. SMITH: I spent the last Sabbath and First-day at Norfolk, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. Brn. Bates and Phillips held a few meetings there, on their way east, which were not without good effect. Just as they left, they visited brother Edson Dow, whose wife for some months has been on a bed of sickness, and some of the time given up to die. She had become a little more comfortable, but unable to walk. But in answer to prayer, she was enabled to rise from her bed and walk the house, and with a strong voice pray and praise God. She rode a mile and a half to the place of our meeting on the Sabbath, took part in the meeting, and on her return found an increase of strength of body and mind. I trust the blessings with which the church have been favored in Norfolk the week past, will move them to greater union and faithfulness in the work of God. Brother Lawrence also was present at these meetings, and is doing all he can in the cause of truth. I would say to those dear brethren in different places in Mich., with whom I have met the Fall and Winter past, and had sweet seasons of refreshing that I have not forgotten them, but would be glad to meet with them again if the Lord will. If we meet no more here, I hope we may meet on Mt. Zion, where the weary will be at rest. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.6
JOHN BYINGTON.
Morley, March 29th, 1858.
APPOINTMENTS
General Conference
PROVIDENCE permitting, there will be a General Conference at Battle Creek, to commence May 21st, at 2 o’clock P. M. This meeting is designed for a general gathering of those who have an interest in the cause, and who wish to come to worship God, and learn their duty at this solemn crisis. We shall be happy to see brethren from other States at this Conference. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.7
In behalf of the Church at Battle Creek. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.8
| JAMES WHITE, | ] | |
| J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, | ] | Conference |
| J. B. FRISBIE, | ] | Committee. |
PROVIDENCE permitting I will commence a course of lectures in North Liberty, St. Joseph country, Indiana, commencing Thursday evening, the 15th inst and continuing as long as thought best. J N LOUGHBOROUGH. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.9
Business Items
The P. O. address of Bro. Daniel Phillips is Roxbury, Vt. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.10
I. N. Pike. We have volumes of the REVIEW, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, bound in board, and volume 1, bound in paper cover. Price of the whole set, $5,50. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.11
L. Bean. Is Geo. R. Noyes a new subscriber? If so where shall his paper be sent? ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.12
Geo. T. Collins. We have no charts on hand. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.13
N. G. Sanders. Your letter was received and the book mailed March 10th. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.14
H. Elliot. We have not the Bible Dictionary. The article on Spiritual Gifts, in No. 16 present volume of the REVIEW, may give you some light on 1 Corinthians 12. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.15
J. E. Titus and T. Draper. We have concluded to circulate no more of the German Tracts till we obtain a correct work. We learn that the present edition is erroneous. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.16
C. White. We mark your paper free. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.17
J. A. Streeter. Does your paper go in the bundle sent to Luman Carpenter, Oswego, N. Y. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.18
Margaret Hall. We continue your paper and will send it half price if circumstances seem to require it. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.19
M. S. Kellogg. Your letter concerning Eld. Errat has not been received. We now enter the name. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.20
A. Wiley. Your INSTRUCTOR being already paid many volumes in advance, we apply the amount of your remittance, (after deducting 30 cts. for books,) on your REVIEW paying to xii,17. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.21
Geo. T. Collins. The present edition of the Bible Student’s Assistant is gone. We intend publishing another immediately, when we will send the amount of your order. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.22
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 then be given. FOR REVIEW AND HERALD. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.23
N. Ogden 1,00,xii,22. A. Preston 1,00,xii,10. S. L. Hyde 1,00,xii,9. I. N. Pike 1,00,xii,1. C. Walker 1,00,xi,19. O. Oliver 1,00,xii,13. Mrs. C. C. Bragg 1,00,xii,1. E. Cobb 1,00,xiii,1. S. Buzzel 1,00,xiii,1. L. Lowrey 4,00,xv,1. I. Dampier 1,00,xiii,1. G. Sweet 5,00,xii,14. M. A. Sweet (for E. Burlingame) 1,00,xiii,1. G. Lowree 2,00,xv,1. M. Atwell 1,00,xi,14. J. R. Grimes 1,00,xi,1. Chas. Davis 2,00,xiii,1. Mary Ricker 1,00,xiii,1. J. E. Titus 1, 0,xii,1. S. Howard 1,00,xii,17. J. H. White 1,00,ix,14. Fanny Pierce 1,00,xi,1. A. C. Lewis 1,00,xi,7. J. P. Kellogg 2,00,xv,1. J. F. Carman 1,00,xiii,1. L. Gould 2,00,xiii,1. N. Davis 3,00,xiii,1. D. Curtis 2,00,xiii,1. A. D. Love 1,00,xii,1. J. A. Streeter 1,00,xii,1. B. S. Brooks 2,00,xiii,1. T. Draper 2,00,xiii,1. S. Armstrong 5,00,xvi,1. L. Harrington 2,00,xiii,1. L. J. Richmond 1,00,xii,16. C. Smith 3,00,xiv,1. C. Smith (for T. Smith) 0,50,xiii,6. M. Hall 1,00,xi,1. L. Harrington 1,00,xiv,1. Jno. Hall 2,00,xii,1. A. Wiley 2,60,xii,17. E. Clark 1,00,x,21. S. B. McLaughlin (for Wm. Pengelly) 1,50,xiii,7. S. B. McLaughlin (for L McLaughlin) 0,50,xii,1. E. C. Packard 2,00,xii,1. E. Emery 2,00,xiii,1. J. Tilton 2,00,xii,1. L. L. Glover 2,00,xiii,1. A. B. Sevey 1,00,xiii,8. Geo. P. Cushman 1,00,xii,1. C. Smith 1,00,xii,17. D. Hall 1,00,xiv,1. E. O. Fish (for J. Larkins) 1,00,xiii,22. E. O. Fish 1,00,xiii,1. J. M. Ballou 1,00,xiii,1. E. Alexander 1,00,xii,22. Geo. T. Collins 3,00,xiv,1. G. W. Davis 2,00,xii,15. H. W. Brown 1,00,xiii,15. H. W. Brown (for N. Rugg) 0,50,xii,22. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.24
FOR MICH TENT. D. Stambach $5. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.25
Books for Sale at this Office
HYMNS for those who keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. This Book contains 352 Pages, 430 Hymns, and 76 pieces of Music. Price, 60 cents. - In Morocco, 65 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.26
Bible Tracts Bound in Two Volumes. These Volumes are of about 400 pages each, and embrace nearly all of our published Tracts. We are happy to offer to our friends the main grounds of our faith in a style so acceptable. - Price 50 cents each. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.27
Sabbath Tracts, Nos. 1,2,3 & 4. This work presents a condensed view of the entire Sabbath question. - 184 pages. Price 15 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.28
The Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12, particularly the Third Angel’s Message, and the Two-horned Beast. This work maintains the fulfillment of Prophecy in the past Advent movement, and is of great importance in these times of apostasy and peril. - 148 pages. - Price 12 1/2 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.29
Bible Student’s Assistant. This is the title of a work of 36 pp. It has been prepared with much care, and considerable expense, and can be had at this Office for 4,00 per 100, or if sent by mail, post paid, 6 cents a copy. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.30
A Brief Exposition of Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, also the 2300 Days and the Sanctuary. Price, post paid, 10 cts. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.31
Brief exposition of Matthew 24. Price 6 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.32
Review of a Series of Discourses, delivered by N. Fillio, in Battle Creek, Mich., March 31st, to April 4th, 1857, on the Sabbath question. By J. H. Waggoner, Price 6 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.33
The Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment, with remarks on the Great Apostasy and Perils of the Last Days. Price 6 cents. The same in German, 10 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.34
The Nature and Tendency of Modern Spiritualism - an able exposure of that heresy. 84 pp. 8 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.35
The Two-horned Beast of Revelation 13, a Symbol of the United States. Price 10 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.36
The Sanctuary and 2300 days by J. N. A. Price 12 1/2 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.37
A Refutation of the claims of Sunday-keeping to Divine Authority; also, the History of the Sabbath, Price, 6 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.38
The Atonement. 196 pp. 18 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.39
Man not Immortal; the only Shield against the Seductions of Modern Spiritualism. 148 pp, 12 1/2 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.40
An Examination of the Scripture Testimony concerning Man’s present condition, and his future Reward or Punishment. In this work we consider all objections to the mortality of man and the death of the wicked fairly and fully met. Price 18 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.41
Review of Crozier. This work is a faithful review of the No-Sabbath doctrine as set forth in the Advent Harbinger by O. R. L. Crozier. It should be placed in the hands of those who are exposed to that heresy. - Price 6 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.42
The Bible Class. This work contains 52 Lessons on the Law of God and the Faith of Jesus, with questions. It is peculiarly adopted to the wants of those of every age who are unacquainted with our views of these subjects, especially the young. Bound, 25 cents. Paper covers, 18 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.43
The 2300 Days and Sanctuary by “U. S.” Price 5 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.44
Why Don’t you Keep the Sabbath? Extracts from Catholic works. Price 5 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.45
The Celestial Railroad. Price 5 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.46
The Sabbath. Containing valuable articles on 2 Corinthians 3, Colossians 2:14-17. Who is our Lawgiver? The two tills of Matthew 5:18, Consistency, etc. Price 5 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.47
The Law of God. In this excellent work the testimony of both Testaments relative to the law of God - its knowledge from Creation, its nature and perpetuity - is presented Price 12 1/2 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.48
The Bible Sabbath, or a careful selection from the publications of the American Sabbath Tract Society, including their History of the Sabbath. Price 10 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.49
Perpetuity of the Royal Law. - Price 5 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.50
Christian Experience and Views, - Price 6 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.51
Last Work of the True Church. - Price 7 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.52
Sabbath and Advent Miscellany. This work is composed of seven small tracts on the Sabbath, Second Advent, etc, and presents a choice variety for those who commence to seek for Bible truth. Price 10 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.53
POEMS
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 April 15, 1858, page 176.54
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, 12 1/2 cents. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.55
Word for the Sabbath. - Price 5 cts. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.56
The above named books will be sent by Mail post-paid, at their respective prices. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.57
When not sent by mail, liberal discount on packages of not less than $5 worth. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.58
All orders, to insure attention, must be accompanied with the cash except they be from Agents or traveling preachers. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.59
Address URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH April 15, 1858, page 176.60