Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 11
December 3, 1857
RH VOL. XI. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, - NO. 4
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, DECEMBER 3, 1857. - NO. 4.
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 December 3, 1857, page 25.1
‘TIS A POINT I LONG TO KNOW
BY DANIEL HERBERT
A LADY going through a lodging-house in Malvern, was surprised to observe the following lines hung up in every room in the house. On inquiring the reason, she was told that Lord K-----, had come to that house in a very precarious state of health, and even thought himself dying. One day he found in a book the verses - read and reread them; they suited exactly his own state of mind, and made so deep an impression on him, that, with God’s blessing, his faith was confirmed. On leaving the lodging-house, Lord K-----, asked the landlady to hang up the verses, trusting that they might be made of equal use to other poor sinners: ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.2
What is the point you long to know?
Methinks I hear you say - ‘tis this,
I want to know I’m born of God,
An heir of everlasting bliss;
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.3
Is this the point you long to know?
The point is settled in my view;
For if you want to love your God,
It proves that God has loved you.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.4
I want to know Christ died for me; I want to feel the seals within; I want to know Christ’s precious blood Was shed to wash away my sin. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.5
I want to feel more love to God;
I want more liberty in prayer;
But when I look within my heart,
It almost drives me to despair.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.6
I want a mind more firmly fixed
On it, my everlasting Head;
I want to feel my soul alive,
And not so barren and so dead.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.7
I want more faith - a stronger faith; I want to feel its power within; I want to feel more love to God; I want to feel less love to sin. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.8
I want to live above the world,
And count it all but trash and toys;
I want sweet tokens of God’s grace,
Some foretaste of eternal joys.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.9
I want - I know not what I want; I want that real special good; Yet all my wants are summ’d up here - I want - I feel I want my God! ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.10
Is this the point you long to know?
The dead can neither feel nor see;
It is the slave that’s bound in chains,
Who knows the worth of liberty.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.11
So where a want like yours is found,
I think I may be bold to say,
The Lord has fixed within that heart
What hell can never take away.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.12
However small thy grace appears,
There’s plenty in thy gracious Head;
Those wants you feel, my Christian friends,
Are never found among the dead.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.13
Always engage Satan in the Lord’s strength, and answer him with God’s word. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.14
THE NATURE AND TENDENCY OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM
(Continued) ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.15
We now come to notice the works of the enemy which the Scriptures condemn, among which the works of the magicians of Egypt are included. The first noticed in the Scriptures is witchcraft. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.16
Many contend, and those too, who profess faith in the Bible, that there is no such thing as witchcraft; and that a belief in its existence is a relic of the superstition of the dark ages. But God said, [Exodus 22:18,] “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” This proves that witches did exist, or else God commanded them to put to death such as had no being, to suppose which, would be absurd. Paul also teaches in Galatians 5, that witchcraft is one of the works of the flesh as much as envy, hatred, drunkenness, and murder. Thus the fact of its existence is established by both Testaments. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.17
Again in Leviticus 19:26, they were forbidden to use enchantment; and verse 31 says: “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards to be defiled by them.” And in chap. 20:6, the Lord said he would cut off the soul that turned after wizards, and such as have familiar spirits. Also in verse 27; a wizard and such as had familiar spirits, either men or women, were to be put to death. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.18
According to the definitions of the words witch, wizard, sorcerer, enchanter, etc., which we will give, these various works are closely allied to one another, or are all parts of the same work, differing more in degree than in nature. Most of them are named in Deuteronomy 18:9-12, which is as follows: ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.19
“When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.20
The following definitions are copied from Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary: ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.21
WITCHCRAFT. The practices of witches; sorcery; enchantments; intercourse with the Devil; power more than natural. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.22
SORCERY. Magic; enchantment; witchcraft; divination; by the assistance, or supposed assistance of evil spirits: or the power of commanding evil spirits. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.23
ENCHANTMENT. The act of producing certain wonderful effects by the invocation or aid of demons, or the agency of certain supposed spirits; the use of magic arts, spells, or charms; incantations. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.24
DIVINATIONS. The act of divining; a foretelling future events, or discovering things secret or obscure, by the aid of superior beings; or by other than human means. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.25
NECROMANCY. Properly the art of revealing future events by means of a pretended communication with the dead. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.26
FAMILIAR SPIRIT. A demon or evil spirit supposed to attend at a call. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.27
But Israel did not keep free from these abominations. King Saul consulted a familiar spirit when the Lord rejected him, and would not answer him. It is no uncommon thing in these days for those to seek to familiar or evil spirits, who never ask counsel of the Lord, and who have no reverence for his word. Also Manasseh, who was very wicked, and in whose reign Israel was taken captive by the Assyrians, “did evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen.... he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards; he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.” 2 Chronicles 33:2-6. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.28
One writer in a spiritual paper has undertaken to show that this restriction was placed upon the Jews alone, given in a law specially for them; that Gentiles were never bound by it, and in this dispensation neither Jew nor Gentile is holden to it. But the following facts disprove the assertion: (1.) The Lord calls them “the abominations of the heathen,” and after naming them says: “For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.” Deuteronomy 18:12. (2.) The abominable, and sorcerers are condemned in the New Testament; Revelation 21:8. See also Galatians 5:19-21; Acts 13:6-11; Elymas the sorcerer, a false prophet, withstood the apostles, and tried to turn away others from the faith. This is ever their intent. To him Paul used the following language: “O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the Devil, thou enemy of all righteousness.” This language is applicable to all sorcerers, and their co-workers, according to the testimony of the Bible respecting their works. See Acts 8:5-11; 16:16-18. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.29
The viiith chapter of Isaiah is doubtless a prophecy of the present time, or the last days. Of this there are several separate points of proof in the chapter, only one of which we will notice. Verses 20, 21, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 25.30
If “seeking unto them that have familiar spirits,” and “the living to the dead” does not imply the present work of consulting mediums and countenancing their sorceries, to what could it apply? or is the Scripture without meaning? Only ten years ago this scripture might have appeared almost meaningless. Then the sorrowing friends would anxiously surround the bed of the dying, eager to catch each word, which was often laid up in the heart as a memento of the lost one. Then if the departed had aught to tell, it was listened to with breathless interest, as all were well assured that no future communication could pass between them till the morning of the resurrection should loose the now silent tongue. But now, how changed the times! Parents no longer regard death as an enemy tearing their children from their embrace; but as the best friend, to transplant them as buds of promise, where they can sooner blossom in a happier clime, and mature in richer beauty. The infidel no longer sinks to the sleep of death with a “fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries,” but he is led to expect to be released from the sinful surroundings and propensities of the present state, to awake where there is no suffering for sin, and all are progressing toward perfect bliss: thus making the cross of Christ of no effect, and rendering the gospel a nullity. Witness the case of the blasphemer, Thomas Paine, as revealed through Rev. C. Hammond, medium. Death is regarded only as a transition, not to be dreaded nor avoided. While wisdom cries, “all they that hate me love death,” [Proverbs 8:36,] the foolish turn away from the paths of wisdom, and say, “We have made a covenant with death, and with hell [the grave] are we at agreement.” Isaiah 28:5. The word of God counts death an enemy; 1 Corinthians 15:26; and Jesus is the great life-giver, conferring immortality on all who seek for it by patient continuance in well doing; Romans 2:7. Of course, they who attribute immortality to another source, or seek for it in another way, dishonor God by rejecting the gospel of his Son. They reverse the order of scripture, which says that the Lord will destroy death, and raise the dead to life. See the following from a spiritual paper: ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.1
Fold us in thy embrace, sweet angel death,
So that no cloud can our twin being sever;
Come with soft lips and kiss away our breath
And let us take our heavenward flight together.”
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.2
The Scripture says that the saints of God will take their “heavenward flight together,” not when they die, but when the Lord Jesus shall come and raise them from their graves. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. And he will not only “abolish death,” [2 Timothy 1:10.] but also destroy him that has the power of death, that is the Devil. Hebrews 2:14. The Devil introduced sin into the world, and sin produced death. Romans 5:12; 6:23; James 1:15. If the spiritual theory were true, to destroy death and bring the saints back from under its power, would only be to reverse a “desirable transition,” and bring them down again from a superior to an inferior condition. Thus they despise the word of the Lord by calling “evil good, and good evil,” and rob Jesus, the life-giver, of his glory. But there is a day coming when he will vindicate his truth, and his enemies shall perish; for he says: “And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.” Isaiah 28:18. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.3
Now the fact is clearly established that Moses was withstood by enchantment and sorcery, which is the work of the Devil to oppose the truth; by counterfeiting and imitating the miracles of God. So, in like manner, will the truth be resisted in the last days. So was it resisted in the days of Christ and his apostles; evil spirits, demons, were cast out by the followers of Christ; but there never was a time when seeking unto them that have familiar spirits was so universal as at the present. Kings and peasants, priests and people, rich and poor, all go hand in hand in the abominable work. That “they speak not according to this word,” or “resist the truth,” will be shown in commenting on other texts. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.4
Two questions are asked and answered in Matthew 24. One concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and one concerning the coming of Christ, and the end of the world. The Saviour points out the long tribulation of the church, principally under the persecution by the Papacy, which was to continue more than 1000 years. The full time of Papal rule, according to Daniel 7:25, and Revelation 12:6, 14; 13:7, was 1260 years, which commenced in 538 and terminated in 1798. The Saviour said the days should be shortened for the elect’s sake. History shows that the days of Papal rule were not shortened, as the power continued with the Papacy till the Spring of 1798; but the tribulation or persecution did not continue the full term of the days. The persecution was abated by the influence of the Reformation, and entirely ceased before the power of the Papacy was taken away. This gave room for the precise fulfillment of the prophecy, concerning the signs of our Saviour’s second coming. According to Mark 13:24, the first was to take place “in those days after that tribulation.” The sun was darkened in 1780; just 18 years before the end of the days; (years;) and as the moon cannot give any light when the sun is darkened, the second sign was also fulfilled at the same time. The falling of the stars occurred 53 years afterwards, in 1833. 1 Says the Saviour, while discoursing of his coming, and the end of these days, “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matthew 24:23, 24. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.5
It is truly marvelous that any should be so blind to the sense of this scripture as to apply the caution against those who say “Lo here is Christ, or there,” to those who preach the near coming of the Lord. A true Advent believer cannot possibly proclaim that Christ is here, either in the desert, or in the secret chamber: but they teach exactly what the Scriptures say, that his coming is future, and will be personal and visible to all, even as the lightning shineth from one end of heaven to the other. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.6
But we think this scripture is now being fulfilled. There is a class, very numerous at present, and fast increasing in numbers, who do thus teach. There are false christs and false prophets, fulfilling this scripture, showing great signs and wonders, and preaching that the Lord is come. See the following from the Spiritual Telegraph, under the head of an “Important Announcement to the World.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.7
“Hearken then to the voice of wisdom, O ye inhabitants of the earth, and be not blinded as to your Lord’s appearing; for he is already in your midst.” This is in harmony with the general tenor of all spiritual teaching. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.8
But if Christ is come, how is he come? We have not seen him; our friends still sleep in the dust; and as Peter said of David, so we can say of them, they are dead and buried, and their sepulchres are with us to this day. The above “important announcement” we cannot believe, until we can be assured that the events connected with his coming have taken place; but they have not yet. This leads us to the remark that it must be utterly impossible for false christs to appear and deceive those who have correct views of Christ and his offices. Thus, those who firmly believe that Christ is a High Priest on the throne of his Father, and that when he leaves that throne he will descend with a shout, with the voice of the Arch-angel and the trump of God, and that at his coming the righteous dead will be raised, the living changed, and all caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, while the wicked will be slain all over the earth; those, we say, who firmly believe these facts, cannot receive the testimony of false christs. And so also of false prophets. The Scriptures furnish a shield on every point; and those who have living faith in God’s word will not be deceived. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.9
But many who profess to believe the word of God only ask for a manifestation of supernatural power or superhuman intelligence to give full credit to the testimony of the power or spirit communicating. But if no false or spurious manifestations of power could be given, this scripture could never be fulfilled. Hence, it is not sufficient proof of their truthfulness, to see signs and wonders wrought; for the false christs and false prophets will show them. From all this it is plain that before any one can successfully proclaim himself christ, he must destroy confidence in the exalted nature and position of Christ, or so pervert the testimony of Scripture as to make Christ such an one as himself. This Spiritualists have done as the following quotations fully prove. The first is from the Spiritual Telegraph, No. 37, and is the testimony of a “spirit” through a “medium.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.10
“‘What is the meaning of the word Christ? ‘Tis not as is generally supposed, the Son of the Creator of all things. Any just and perfect being is Christ. The crucifixion of Christ is nothing more than the crucifixion of the spirit, which all have to contend with before becoming perfect and righteous. The miraculous conception of Christ is merely a fabulous tale.’ Telegraph, No. 37. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.11
Many expressions to the same intent might be quoted. The next is from a paper read at the spiritual investigating class in the city of New York, by Dr. Weisse. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.12
“Friend Orton seems to make rather light of the communications from spirits, concerning Christ. It seems, nevertheless, that all the testimony received from advanced spirits only shows that Christ was a medium and reformer in Judea; that he now is an advanced spirit in the sixth sphere; but that he never claimed to be God, and does not at present. I have had two communications to that effect. I have also read some that Dr. Hare had. If I am wrong in my views of the Bible, I should like to know it, for the spirits and mediums do not contradict me.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.13
The third is from Dr. Hare himself, given also in the investigating class; though this remark of Dr. H. was made subsequent to that of Dr. Weisse, as above; of course Dr. W. refers to other remarks of a similar nature from Dr. Hare. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.14
“He said that he had been thus protected from deception by the spirits of Washington and Franklin, and that they had brought Jesus Christ to him, with whom he had also communicated. He had first repelled him as an impostor; but became convinced afterward that it was really him. He related that he had learned from that high and holy Spirit that he was not the character Christendom had represented him to be, and not responsible for the errors connected with his name, but that he was, while on earth, a medium of high and extraordinary powers, and that it was solely through his mediumistic capabilities that he attained so great knowledge and was enabled to practice such apparent wonders.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.15
In these quotations the infidelity of the authors is apparent to all. Dr. J. B. Dods, celebrated as a psychologist and spiritualist, is called a “christian spiritualist;” and to show that there is no great difference of faith between the infidel and so-called christian spiritualists, we quote the following from the report of a case of healing by Dr. Dods through spirit influence. He says. “After she was carried into the hall, and near the close of the ceremony (which was a written one) I used these words, - ‘Betsy, in the name of the great Master Medium of our race, be whole of your infirmities. Arise and walk.’” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.16
By what power he thought she was healed will be shown by another quotation from the same letter which will be presented on another text. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.17
The above quotations from high spiritual authority show that the way is now fully prepared for false christs to make their appearance and present their claims. Christ “was a medium of high and extraordinary powers,” and is now a “spirit in the sixth sphere,” but yet behind others, for there are seven spheres. After this the reader will be prepared to believe that we have seen and now know of persons who claim, not only to possess the power that he possessed, but to be christs. Can any one doubt that our Saviour’s words will be completely fulfilled in our very midst? “Many shall come in my name, saying I am christ, and shall deceive many.” Surely with such warnings as the Scriptures give, with such faithful delineations of these works of darkness before us, we need not be deceived. But such as love not the truth will fall an easy prey to these deceptions. There is only one way of safety in these times of peril, that is to commit our ways, to the Lord, and seek the sustaining and protecting influence of his Spirit, by entire consecration to him, and a renunciation of everything selfish and worldly. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.18
J.H.W.
(To be Continued.)
ROCKS AND SHOALS AN EXTRACT
SOME time since, a preacher of some note called on me, and with great earnestness asked me if I saw a notice in the papers of an “indignation meeting” held in his town not long before? On telling him I had not, he began to speak much in its praise, and especially to commend the brethren for their zeal, and spirited resolutions offered on the occasion. I confess I could not help the thought of Jesus and the Apostles recommending to the churches the propriety of holding indignation meetings, to condemn the wickedness of the “power that be.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.19
I fancied that I saw the church at Jerusalem assemble, with Peter at their head, who told them that the church was responsible for all the evils in the land, and said it was the duty of the church to show herself first and foremost in every good work, and Rome must be reformed, or it would soon be blotted out as a nation. To arouse them to action, he referred them to Caiaphas, whom he called a wily old politician, always studying expediency that he might save a sinking cause, although he could only save it at the price of innocent blood, and referred them to the unjust trial of Jesus, as a fair specimen of his dishonesty and intrigue. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 26.20
There was Herod, too, whom he called the “emissary of Satan,” and said the public must know, that we christians detest such characters, and that we will trample under foot his unjust authority. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.1
Yes, and there is Pilate, too, wholly unworthy of the confidence of the people, who, for fear of losing his office, condescended to the mean and contemptible act of signing the death warrant of the Son of God. He told them it was time that Christians were awake, and show to the world that such men in authority were wholly unworthy of any respect from a Christian community, and recommended that the clergy throughout the land send in their protests, in the name of God and suffering humanity, to their legislative halls, against their wicked enactments and ungodly rulers, whom they placed in authority over the people, and closed by saying, let it be known that from henceforth, correct political views shall be considered essential to Christian fellowship. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.2
I had to give but one more stretch of the imagination, to see Constantine stepping forth, wearing the imperial crown, and holding up the cross, in token of the triumph of Christianity, and the Pope soon was seen following, wearing the wedding ring of Church and State, saying, “Millennium has come, and the saints of the Most High possess the kingdom.” But alas! as I looked and saw them wed, I saw also that the Church had proved herself a Harlot........ ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.3
But there is a fourth evil, that is found everywhere in this day of “progression.” I name it KORAH, DATHAN AND ABIRAMISM. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.4
It is a sort of wild democracy in the churches, that says to the elders: “Stand back, you take too much upon yourselves, since all the congregation is holy, as well as you.” One half of the church difficulties that I have become acquainted with, have grown out of this spirit of insubordination. It refuses submission to the elders, and calls in question their right, as well as their qualifications, to judge in their case. So strong a hold has this spirit gained, that it has destroyed the confidence of the elders to act in their official capacity in many instances. Hence the cry, all over the land, “the inefficiency of our eldership.” I care not how well qualified our eldership may be, if this spirit is permitted to reign, we might as well have so many Egyptian mummies set up for elders, as men bearing all the qualifications given by the apostle Paul, for the elders cannot act where this spirit reigns. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.5
As much as we need a more efficient eldership, we need far more a disposition to obey those who have the rule over us, who watch for our souls as those who must give an account to God. Also a greater degree of that charity that thinketh no evil, and that brotherly love that esteems others better than ourselves. And less of that self-love that has so often characterized us, in publishing the weakness of our brethren, through the length and breadth of the land, in the ungodly newspapers of the day, to justify ourselves, and show that we are righteous. This Korah, Dathan and Abiramism, if not subdued, will make us tremble yet. - Christian Review. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.6
SELECTIONS
Willful Religion
THIS is what we often find; and it seems to be brought to view in Colossians 2:23. Ethelothreeskeia, thus rendered will-worship, signifies more properly willful-religion. Ethelo, whether in composition or as a verb, according to Buttman and Liddell, expresses will or willfulness as well as choice. Threeskeia is uniformly rendered in the New Testament by religion. Willful-religion, therefore, is a more exact transfer of the thought in that compound word than will-worship. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.7
But where do we see will-worship? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.8
Religion is a word so broad as to express not only the true religion, but also false religion of every kind. Willful-religion then more properly applies to all sorts of false religion in which the “religious” is willful and stubborn, and to which he is not impelled by Scripture and reason, but chiefly by his own will. Assuming that the religion taught in the Christian Scriptures is right, then it follows that all other religions are false; and also that all appendages added to the religion of the Bible by human beings are false. And all these other religions and appendages in just so far as they are persevered in by determinate willfulness, are willful religions, and fall within the meaning of the above passage. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.9
One willfully believes in just such a God as he forms in his imagination and as pleases his own depraved heart. Another willfully adheres to a religion consisting in a loose set of morals, no more strict than to accord with his own loose conduct. Another willfully sustains a religion that saves all, let their characters be ever so bad. Another willfully sustains the pantomime of puseyistic folly as his religion. Another willfully cleaves to free-masonry in more or less of its various formalities as his religion. Another willfully cleaves to all the items, right or wrong, of his sect, for the sake of sustaining the sect. Another as slave to the principle, that he must abide in the sect where he was bred, and it is shameful to assume that children can ever know more than parents. He therefore willfully adheres to the religion in which he was bred, for the sake of his reputation with associates, who annoy him with that principle. If sprinkling and infant sprinkling are not sustained in the Bible, there is reason to fear that many adhere to this, through the powerful influence of will, or the love of sect. 1 ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.10
One minister said, “If it were not the custom of his denomination, he never would sprinkle another babe.” What less, in such case, is the adherer to such religious ceremonies, but willful-religion. Many mothers cleave to it because it suits their feelings, and they love to do it. A large portion of popish ceremonies and observances are enforced by the determined will of the priests. The tame will of the people is forced into a regular observance, by the arbitrary will of those in authority. A great portion of theirs, therefore is willful religion. Mormonism originated in the basest of passions - man successful by deceiving the masses, and then retaining and controlling the masses by tyranny and force, is also willful-religion, at least on the part of the deceivers and rulers. Some denominations of Christians have created offices of profit and power over the people. Some become willfully zealous in such sect, in order to attain the offices and profits. Theirs then is willful religion. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.11
Most of the denominations that sprung up since the year 1500, have governments, usages, ceremonies, and constitutions appended by human beings to the Christian system, and persevered in and sustained also by the “will of man.” But it is unnecessary to exhaust the subject. A few hints to the wise is sufficient. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.12
How different in contrast is the holy, child-like, affectionate spirit of one who take the holy will of God for his rule, and merges his own will in all things into the revealed will of God - always inquiring from the heart, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” - New York Chronicle. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.13
The Prayer-Meeting
A POOR laboring man said, “I love the church; I love preaching; but dearer than all, I love the prayer-meeting; I always feel as if I were going into my Father’s house, when I go into the room, where we meet for prayer.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.14
“The room for prayer our Father’s house!” It struck us a beautiful thought. This poor man felt himself to be a prodigal, and where should a prodigal go, but to his father’s house! He felt weary with his day’s work, worn with the cares of life, and where should he seek for refreshment and rest but in his Father’s house? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.15
We remember a pious cartman who was always found in his place at the prayer-meeting and the lecture; and when he was told that he ought to stay at home, after the fatigues and exposures of the day, he replied, “I find I can rest all the better by going to meeting; I forget all my pains and labors, and feel stronger and better prepared for the next day’s toil.” - Evangelist. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.16
Stereotypes in Prayer
SOME men who are always at “opening the windows of heaven,” “raining a rain of mercy,” “laying down the weapons of rebellion,” “stony hearts,” “unclean hands,” “blind eyes” “deaf ears,” at length transfer the thoughts to the outward symbol, and quite hide the inward and spiritual state. Some men never say humble, or humility, except by such expressions as “on the bended knee of the soul,” and “going down into the valley of humiliation.” Many men have apparently forgotten the name of Christ. They always use the word Cross instead. They pray to be reconciled to the Cross, they exhort men to come to the Cross, to look at the Cross, to lay down their sins at the foot of the Cross. We heard an ordination sermon of great ability, upon salvation by Christ, in which that name was not once mentioned, the Cross becoming the synonym. Had a heathen stranger been present, he would have supposed the name of the God whom we worshiped, to be “Cross.” This is the more unfortunate, because it not only sinks the power of a living personality, but presents in its stead a symbol which, however precious and historically affecting, may, by too great familiarity, lose entirely the Saviour, and leave only the wood, a relic worse than any which Romish superstition has presented. - New York Independent. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.17
“Have no Time to Pray.”
INDEED, friend, “havn’t time?” What is time? whose is it?” Who made time? is time yours, or God’s? - which? Has God given you time to live in, breathe in, walk in, talk in, pray in? Why not pray in it, then? - mind what God says. God commands you to pray - pray always - with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.18
“But I have so much business” - ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.19
“Business,” indeed? What business? yours or God’s? Have you any separate business from God’s business? If so, you are a rebel - attempting to dethrone God, and set up a separate kingdom! ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.20
Does God tell you to do your business first, or his? - which? Have you any business aside from God’s Have you? - we say again, a rebel, a false steward! “He that is not for me, is against me.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.21
Your business should be God’s business, and God’s business yours - and your first and great business is to serve God with all the heart, soul, mind strength - this through eternity. The more business you have, the more you need prayer, grace, wisdom, righteousness, salvation, sanctification. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.22
Some farmers, and some mechanics, and some merchants, run off, clasp the “muck rake,” neglect the closet, the family altar. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.23
Friends; will not God by and by take from you the stewardship, and give it to others more worthy, more faithful, and more honorable? “Will a man rob God?” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.24
“In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” “So shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses burst out with new wine.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.25
Prayer
PRAYER is not eloquence; but earnestness; not the expressions of our wants, but the feeling of them; not emanation of the intellect, but the aspirations of the heart; not the bending of the knee, but the prostration of the soul. It is a guilty sinner impressed with a sense of his wants and a true mode of their relief. It is a man in audience with the Deity. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 27.26
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK FIFTH-DAY, DEC. 3, 1857
SYNOPSIS OF THE PRESENT TRUTH. NO. 4
PICTURE
THE BELLY AND SIDES OF BRASS
LEAVING for a while the empire of Persia, we turn our attention to that instrument by which this empire was subverted, and upon its ruins another, a third, kingdom erected, which bore rule over all the earth. God had declared by the mouth of the Prophet two hundred and seventy-two years before it happened, that it should be so; and we can look back and from the faithful record of the historian, trace the steps by which it was accomplished. 1 ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.1
Alexander the great was born at Pella in Macedonia, B. C. 356. To this prince and Darius the Persian, will our remarks chiefly be confined, since it was between these two as principal actors on the stage, that the empire of the world for the second time exchanged hands. Of the history of the Greeks therefore, their gradual growth, their wars with the Persians, etc., previous to Alexander’s time, we need not particularly speak further than this: ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.2
“Philip, king of Macedon the father of Alexander, having overthrown the Thebans and Athenians, in a great battle at Chaeronea, made himself thereby in a manner lord of all Greece; and therefore calling together at Corinth an assembly of all the Grecian cities and States, he there caused himself to be chosen captain-general of all Greece for the carrying on of a war against the Persians, and made every city to be taxed at a certain number of men, which each of them was to send and maintain in this expedition.” But being slain by one of his guards the next year, just as he was ready to set forward, Alexander his son succeeded him in the kingdom, being then twenty years old. He soon called the general council of all Greece to meet again at Corinth, and there prevailed with them to be chosen also the successor of his father in the same general command which they had conferred on him before his death, for a war against the Persians. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.3
Having by the next Spring gotten together his forces, which according to the highest account amounted to no more than thirty thousand foot, and five thousand horse, he commenced, with this small number, his daring career against the throne of Persia. His progress perhaps cannot be better shown than in the following brief synopsis of his course, given by Rollin: 2 ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.4
“Alexander set out from Macedonia, which is part of Turkey in Europe, and crossed the Hellespont, or the Strait of the Dardanelles. He crossed Asia Minor, (Natolia,) where he fought two battles, the first at the pass of the river Granicus, and the second near the city of Issus. After this second battle he entered Syria and Palestine; went into Egypt, where he built Alexandria on one of the arms of the Nile; advanced as far as Libya, to the temple of Jupiter Ammon; whence he returned back; arrived at Tyre, and from thence marched towards the Euphrates. He crossed that river, then the Tigris, and gained the celebrated victory of Arbela, possessed himself of Babylon, the capital of Babylonia, and Ecbatana, the chief city of Media. From thence he passed into Hyrcania, to the sea which goes by that name, otherwise called the Caspian sea, and entered Parthia, Drangiana, and the country of Paropamisus. He afterwards went into Bactriana and Sogdiana; advanced as far as the river Iaxarthes, called by Q. Curtius, the Tanais, the farther side of which is inhabited by the Scythians, whose country forms a part of great Tartary. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.5
“Alexander, after having gone through various countries, crossed the river Indus, entered India which lies on this side the Ganges and forms part of the Grand Mogul’s empire, and advanced very near the river Ganges, which he also intended to pass, had not his army refused to follow him. He therefore contented himself with marching to view the ocean, and went down the river Indus to its mouth. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.6
“From Macedonia to the Ganges, which river Alexander nearly approached, is computed at least eleven hundred leagues. Add to this the various turnings in Alexander’s marches; first, from the extremity of Cilicia, where the battle of Issus was fought, to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya; and his returning from thence to Tyre, a journey of three hundred leagues at least, and as much space at least for the windings of his route in different places; we shall find that Alexander, in less than eight years, marched his army upwards of seventeen hundred leagues, [or more than fifty-one hundred miles,] without including his return to Babylon.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.7
Ptolemy the Egyptian astronomer begins the reign of Alexander over the East with the building of Alexandria, B.C. 332; but it was not till the battle of Arbela, the year following, that he became, according to Prideaux 3 “absolute lord of that empire to the utmost extent in which it was ever possessed by the Persian kings.” On the eve of this engagement, Darius sent ten of his chief relations to sue for peace for which he had twice sought in vain before; and upon their presenting their conditions, to Alexander he replied, “Tell your sovereign ... that the world will not permit two suns, nor two sovereigns! Let him therefore choose, either to surrender to-day, or to fight to-morrow.” 4 Such was the indomitable pride and haughtiness by which he was governed. Having assembled his general officers and requested them to represent to the soldiers that they were to fight on this occasion not for Phoenicia or Egypt only, but for all Asia, and that the whole empire hung upon the issue, he led them against the army of Darius and gave him an irreparable overthrow. Darius hereon fled towards Media, and was shortly after traitorously slain by his attendants. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.8
Thus ended the reign of Darius, and with it the Persian empire after it had continued from the taking of Babylon by Cyrus two hundred and seven years. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.9
Alexander, after his conquests in the far East, mentioned above by Rollin, returned to Babylon. While he remained there, which was nearly the space of a year, he gave himself up to the pleasures and luxuries of the place, and especially to drinking, till at length he drank himself into a fever of which in a few days after, he died. B.C. 323. After his death, he having left no heir, great confusion arose about the succession. The governments of the empire were at length divided among the chief commanders of the army, who took at first the name of governors, but finally that of kings. Soon after they were settled in their provinces, they warred among themselves, till, after some years, all were destroyed but four: Cassander, who had Macedon and Greece in the west, Lysimachus who had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosphorus, in the north, Ptolemy who had Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Palestine, and Caele-Syria, in the south, and Seleucus, who had Syria and all the rest of Alexander’s dominions in the east. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.10
We pause again to look at the symbols by which God had foreshown these events. In the great image, there was, succeeding the breast and arms of silver, the belly and sides of brass; corresponding to which the Prophet told king Nebuchadnezzar that after another kingdom had arisen inferior to him, there should arise another third kingdom of brass, which should bear rule over all the earth. The kingdom of Alexander was more extensive than any that had preceded it. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.11
PICTURE AND TEXT
In the second series, of Daniel 7, after the Prophet had seen the bear pass away, he beheld an extraordinary leopard rise in its stead. The beast had four wings of a fowl, and four heads. Verse 6. On this verse, Scott has the following note: “This was the emblem of the Grecian or Macedonian empire, which for the time was the most renowned in the world. It was erected by Alexander the great on the ruins of the Persian monarchy, and it continued in four divisions under his successors. The leopard being exceedingly fierce and swift, represented the kingdom, and especially Alexander its founder; but the swiftness of the quadruped was not an adequate emblem of the rapidity with which he made his conquests, as he subdued nations more speedily than others could march their armies through them. The leopard had therefore four wings of a fowl upon his back. When Alexander died, his kingdom was after many contests among his captains, divided into four parts, Egypt, Syria, Macedonia and Thrace, with some regions of Asia Minor. These were the four heads of this third beast, and under them dominion was given to it, until it was gradually reduced by the next beast.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.12
PICTURE AND TEXT
Again, in the third series of symbols, [chap. 8,] as Daniel was considering the ram, he saw a he-goat come from the west on the face of the whole earth, with that swiftness that he touched not the ground; and he had a notable horn between his eyes. He ran into the ram in the fury of his power, smote him cast him down and stamped upon him. He waxed great, his horn was broken, and in its stead came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven. This goat is explained in verse 21, to be Grecia, and the great horn, the first king, or Alexander. And whereas, that being broken, four stood up in its place, as shown the Prophet, in fulfillment hereof, that division took place in the kingdom on the death of Alexander, which has been already noticed. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.13
With the following extracts from Prideaux, 5 we take our leave of this he-goat of the west: ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.14
“Alexander was not stayed by the death of Darius from still pursuing after the traitor Bessus; but finding at length that he was gotten too far before him to be overtaken, he returned again into Parthia; and there having regulated his affairs in the army, as well as in the province, he marched into Hyrcania, and received that country under his subjection. After that he subdued the Mardans, Arians, Drangians, Aracausians, and several other nations, over which he flew with victory swifter than others can travel, often with his horse pursuing his enemies upon the spur whole days and nights, and sometimes making long marches for several days one after the other, as once he did in the pursuit of Darius, of near forty miles a day, for eleven days together. So that, by the speed of his marches, he came upon his enemy before they were aware of him, and conquered them before they could be in a posture to resist him; which exactly agreeth with the description given of him in the prophecies of Daniel some ages before; he being in them set forth under the similitude of a panther, or leopard, with four wings; for he was impetuous and fierce in his warlike expeditions, as a panther after his prey, and came on upon his enemies with that speed as if he flew with a double pair of wings. And to this purpose he is, in another place of those prophecies, compared to a he-goat, coming from the west with that swiftness upon the king of Media and Persia, that he seemed as if his feet did not touch the ground. And his actions, as well in this comparison as the former, fully verify the prophecy.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 28.15
Again he says, 1 “Never had any man a greater run of success than he had for twelve years and a half together; (for so long he reigned from the death of his father;) in that time he subjected to him all the nations and countries that lay from the Adriatic sea to the Ganges, the greater part of the then known habitable world. And although most of his actions were carried on with a furious and extravagant rashness, yet none of them failed of success. His first attempt upon the Persians in passing the Granicus with only thirty-five thousand men against an army above five times as many guarding the banks of the river on the other side, was what no man else that was well in his wits would have run upon, and yet he succeeded in it; and this success creating a panic fear of him through all the Persian empire, made way for all the other victories which he afterwards obtained; for no army after that, though twenty times the number of his, (as was that of Arbela) would take courage enough to stand before him. He was a man of some virtues, but these were obscured by much greater vices. Vain-glory was his predominant folly, and that which chiefly steered him through all his actions.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.1
In reference to his death, M. Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, thus speaks: 2 “At thirty-three years of age, in the midst of the grandest designs that ever man formed, and flushed with the surest hopes of success, he died, before he had leisure to settle his affairs on a solid foundation; leaving behind him a weak brother, and children very young, all incapable of supporting the weight of such a power. But the circumstance which proved most fatal to his family and empire, was his having taught the generals who survived him to breathe nothing but ambition and war. He foresaw the prodigious lengths they would go after his death. To curb their ambitious views, and for fear of mistaking in his conjectures, he did not dare to name his successor, or the guardian of his children. He only foretold that his friends would solemnize his obsequies with bloody battles; and he expired in the flower of his age, full of the sad images of the confusion which would follow his death.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.2
Thus fell this haughty monarch who rose up like a colossus and bestrode the world. And here we leave him till we shall behold him risen again in the resurrection of the unjust. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.3
The history of Alexander’s successors, till the reduction of the empire by another power, would involve an extended commentary on a great portion of the eleventh of Daniel. And as this has already been given in the second volume of Prophetic Expositions, by J. Litch, quoted chiefly from Bishop Newton, we refer the reader to that, and pass on to the fourth and last great empire ever to flourish in the drama of this world’s history. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.4
And here we would leave with the reader a few suggestions. Daniel as we have seen lived two hundred years and over, previous to the events last mentioned. How did he know that a kingdom would succeed the Babylonian composed of two divisions, and that the more powerful of these divisions would come up last? How did he know that this kingdom would in turn be overthrown by another from the west? How did he know that the conquests of this third kingdom would be accomplished with such speed? It is usual for kings to provide carefully for a successor, that the crown may be safely preserved to their own posterity; how did Daniel know that this king would die without a successor? And how did he know that the empire would thereon be divided into just four parts? Answer: he had his knowledge from that God who rules in the kingdoms of men, and appointeth over them whomsoever he will. Daniel 5:21. From the same source and upon the same authority he has set forth some facts and uttered some prophecies, which have their application in our own day, and concern our own selves, as we shall by and by see. None but an Omniscient mind could have foreseen and inspired the Prophet thus accurately to write of the events of the future: none but an Omniscient mind did; and let us remember continually, while tracing out the fulfillments of his word, that with no less certainty, and no less accuracy, will those things in which we personally, and the whole world have now an interest, be brought to their fulfillment. Every accomplished prophecy is like a record graven in eternal rock, that the Lord Omnipotent reigneth. And while he reigneth, let his saints rejoice. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.5
(To be Continued)
UNITY AND GIFTS OF THE CHURCH. No. 1
“AND he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:11-16. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.6
It may be thought, by reading the caption of this article, that we have undertaken two subjects at once. But we regard the unity and the gifts of the church as being so closely connected, one dependent on the other, that we introduce them as one subject. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.7
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are given “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith,” etc. The object of these callings and gifts, is here most plainly stated. And not until the object for which they were given shall be fully accomplished, will they be laid aside. While conversing with a certain minister on this subject some time since, he stated that the gift of prophecy was not in the church, that it ceased about 1800 years ago. We then quoted the above words of Paul to the Ephesians, to which he replied, that it was all fulfilled, and that the gifts ceased with the apostles. “But, sir, you profess to be an evangelist, or a pastor, or teacher do you not?” “Certainly,” was the reply; “Then, according to your view of this subject, your calling ran out about 1800 years since.” What did he say in reply? He was silent for this reason: he had nothing to say. Nothing is plainer from the Sacred Page than that these callings of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit run parallel. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.8
Read the following list, and if any have ceased, please tell us which. “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:28. Have all ceased? Then our religious teachers are not moving under the authority of heaven. Their commission run out 18 centuries ago. But if these teachers of God’s word are moving out under the high commission given by the Head of the church, “Go teach,” etc., then why not expect the manifestation of all the gifts when the church shall stand forth in the order of God? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.9
It is the opinion of many that the working of miracles, signs and wonders, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, were designed only for the week (seven years) of confirming the covenant, by the ministry of Christ, three and a half years, and by those who heard him three and a half years. This view makes all the gifts cease at the close of that week, A.D. 34. But we hear Paul, A.D. 59, twenty five years later, saying, “Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all the gift of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts.” 1 Corinthians 12:29-31. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.10
Were these gifts needed in Paul’s day? they are needed now. Were they necessary to guide and sustain the early church? how much more necessary in the perilous times of the last days. Were the gifts necessary to preserve the unity and purity of that church, which had received the pure doctrines of the gospel from Christ, and had been baptized with the Holy Spirit on the day of pentecost? how much more are they needed in the work of bringing out a people on to holy, apostolic ground, and in preparing them to be translated to heaven, as were Enoch and Elijah. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.11
J. W.
IDLE WORDS
How full the world is of them! and how much the remnant, indulge in this sinful habit. How often we hear brethren and sisters exclaim, “My stars!” “For pity’s sake!” “Goodness!” “My soul!” etc., etc., little realizing that “for every idle (unmeaning) word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement.” And the judgment has already commenced at the house of God. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.12
O let us each mind the words of our Saviour, to “let our yea be yea, and our nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil,” Do not the superadded expressions above, and a fearful list of worse extravagances in speech, come under this head? The son of thunder says, “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. G. W. A. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.13
KINDNESS
WHO ever repented of kindness? Who was ever made worse by it? What earthly balm can bring repose to the aching head and anxious heart, like reminiscences of kindness bestowed or received? Be kind to the young, for they will reflect back the image of your kindness in after years. Be kind to the middle-aged, for this will invigorate their energies for the conflict of life. Be kind to the aged, for their sands are almost run out, and their way is often dreary, desolate and dark, amid the night of sin and death. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.14
Be kind to the evil, it may win them from the paths of sin, it cannot harm them. Be kind to the good, it will greatly cheer them. Be kind to all, to young and old, rich and poor, bond and free; for this will soften thine own heart, and greatly mitigate thy pains and woes. J. CLARKE. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.15
Look well to your motives. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.16
A Christ-like sufferer is an honor to religion. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 29.17
THE LATTER RAIN
WE may look for a Pentecost season to dawn ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.1
When the saints through the purifying process have gone,
When Jesus’ loved image in them we can trace,
Reflecting the glory of full sovereign grace.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.2
Who then will not wish when this glory they see To join in the song, Hallelujah, we’re free! Yea, free in the Lord, while our voices we raise In victory’s songs and hosannas of praise. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.3
The true melting Spirit is felt from the Lord,
And light and instruction shine out from his word.
God’s power is made known and his glory displayed,
While scoffers will feel that they need heaven’s aid.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.4
Who here long can stand with his sins unconfessed?
May all be searched out, and God’s people be blessed.
Confess ye your faults, and thus honor your King,
And into his store-house your offerings bring.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.5
‘Tis a cross-bearing way by which heaven’s obtained,
In humility’s vale is the victory gained.
True love there prevails; and our sins are forgiven,
While union and strength mark the pilgrims for heaven.
MRS R. SMITH.
West Wilton, N.H.
ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.6
A Word of Exhortation
THERE is, in the work of our salvation, a choosing, on both sides. And if God is ready and willing to choose us to salvation, it is of vast importance that we hasten and delay not, to make the choice on our part: “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” Joshua could make a choice, and his God chose him. See Joshua 24:14, 15, 22. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.7
O how wonderful and full of comfort are the words of the Apostle in the concluding part of that striking prophecy of the present time, in 2 Thessalonians 2:13. “But we are bound to give thanks to God always, for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” The loving Saviour that said of Mary, “She hath chosen that good part that shall not be taken away from her,” died for us that we might have pardon, peace, and heaven; will we accept of these with all our heart? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.8
“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” O wondrous love! This life is in Jesus. If we choose him for our portion, all is ours. See 1 Corinthians 3:21, 22. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.9
Say, dear reader, have you chosen the way of life? What is your decision? Perhaps you know that you are yet undecided, and that your condition is an unsafe one. Or it may be that you scarcely know how the matter stands with you. If so, wake up, lose not a moment’s time, examine yourself by a few plain rules, and be no longer “double-minded.” “For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.10
1. They who willingly neglect from day to day their salvation, are most surely in the way to death. Sin is the transgression of the law, and he that committeth sin is of the devil. Look over the list, and see. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.11
2. The devil is very willing to keep himself out of sight of those whom he is deceiving. Therefore the first motions of sin should be watched with great fear, “lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” See the Saviour’s definition of sin in Matthew 5. Now if you willingly yield to these inward motions of the violation of the law, be assured that your case is not a safe one. Are you thoughtful and careful about this world, and thoughtless about the next? Beware! beware! ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.12
3. Those who have chosen Christ, and do not neglect their salvation, have been made to see the sinfulness of sin, and have been led to true repentance. They have seen Jesus crucified for them - put to an open shame; and they prefer him to the whole world. “To you who believe, he is precious.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.13
4. Their affections are on heavenly things. The world is only secondary, and valued only as it subserves the work of God, over and above their daily bread, for which they daily pray, and are thankful. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.14
5. They manifest their faith by lives of holiness, by watching and prayer. They resist sin in all its forms. They have a sensible knowledge of a change of heart in the things pertaining to God and their souls. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.15
Lastly, if in none of these signs you are able to determine your case, I beseech you to be reconciled to God. I earnestly entreat you to choose the way of life. Now is your choosing time. Many years you have not got. Soon the time of trouble such as never was will be upon us.” See Daniel 12:1. Probation’s hour is almost closed; then mercy, sweet mercy will be no more. If you ever intend to “choose the good part that shall not be taken from you,” do it now, without delay. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.16
JESSE DORCAS.
Fremont, Ohio.
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.17
From Bro. Wilcox
BRO. SMITH: Since writing to you last, myself and companion were very much interested one morning while reading Ezekiel 7, and were led to believe that most, if not all, the chapter applies from 1844, down to the closing up scenes of this world’s career, which I firmly believe will very soon be all fulfilled. The morning is come unto thee, says verse 7. O thou that dwellest in the land, the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. Now I will shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. Verses 7, 8. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.18
The day of trouble spoken of in verse 7, I believe without a doubt refers to the same time prophesied of in Dan., when there shall be a “time of trouble such as never was, since there was a nation.” “And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Chap. 12:1. There are sound reasons for believing this, as we may shortly see. The Lord says by the Prophet, Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee, etc. The word, shortly, in this verse, signifies that the time is near, very near, when all will be accomplished, or his (God’s) fury, or anger will be poured out. The time is come, the day draweth near; let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, (here follows the reason) for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive; for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof which shall not return, neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. Verses 12, 13. These scriptures are to be fulfilled, as it looks to me, but a short time in the future, which John saw. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.19
Verse 15 reads, “The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within. He that is in the field shall die with the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.20
Verse 14 shows that when these calamities are upon the world, the trumpet had previously been blown, or warning been given of these judgments “to make all ready.” Thus it reads: “They (God’s messengers) have blown the trumpet even to make all ready, but none goeth to the battle; (here follows the reason;) for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.21
When will this time be, when none go to the battle? It will be when God’s wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. This is the answer we get from the last part of the verse quoted above. Well, what is the wrath of God? We will let him be his own interpreter. “And I saw another sign in heaven great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” Revelation 15:1. The definition of verse 6 is very plain; any child that has come to the years of understanding can comprehend it. The description of this awfully solemn scene, and the withering effect of the seven last plagues upon all the wicked and all earthly things, may be learned from Revelation 16. And will not some of those who suffer the seven last plagues repent of their evil deeds, and seek to God for mercy? No. Why not? Because his wrath is to be poured out without mixture. Revelation 14:9, 10. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.22
Another sound reason is, the fact that we are informed that they repented not to give him glory. Revelation 16:9, 11, 21. It is everlastingly too late then, for the third and last message of mercy has closed up its work for all mankind, sweet mercy no longer pleads for the guilty sinner and unmingled wrath now falls grievously upon the heads of the wicked. The next great and sublime scene in the chain of prophecy is the Son of man on the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth. Revelation 14:15. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.23
We will now return to Ezekiel 7. Verse 16 reads, ‘But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valley, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.” Who are these that escape, and what will they escape? Undoubtedly they are the remnant of God’s people, down here in the last days, who will indeed mourn for their iniquity and sins, when they fully realize their poor, blind, miserable wretched, lukewarm state, as described by the faithful and true Witness, to the last stage of the church. Revelation 3:15-22. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.24
I ask again, What are they (the remnant) going to escape? It is what is mentioned in the preceding verse: the sword, famine and pestilence. Said Jesus, Watch ye therefore and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36. Verse 23 reads, “Make a chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes.” We have only to read a little in the newspapers of the day to learn that the wickedness of the wicked is very great, and that all manner of crimes are increasing rapidly; thus showing, if it is not now, that the land will soon be full of bloody crimes. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.25
Verse 19 plainly shows that their gold and silver is the stumbling-block of their iniquity, and that in the day of the wrath of the Lord, their gold and their silver will not be able to deliver them. It needs but little argument to prove this, for deliverance is found in Michael, the great prince. Daniel 5:7. Well, what is the chain spoken of in verse 23, if it is not the present truth, which God has commanded to be made? It looks to me as though it must be the truth proclaimed so clear and powerful that it will bind the hearts of God’s people, whoever they are and wherever they may be, firmly together in the unity of the faith and Spirit, that they may be able to stand against all the delusions of these last days, and pass safely through the time of trouble. Psalm 91:4. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.26
For the present I leave these very interesting and important subjects to others much more capable than myself, hoping that if any brother or sister has clearer light on these or any other subjects connected with this or any other chapter, they will bring it out in the Review, as this is one of the many ways to let our light shine before the world. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.27
Your brother in Christ striving for eternal life. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.28
J. A. WILCOX.
New York, Nov. 1st, 1857.
NOTE. The view that Eze.vii has an application in some particulars in our own days is not new. - ED. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.29
From Sister Patten
BRO. SMITH: I have had some sense of my wretchedness and poverty for a few months past, and still earnestly desire to feel the rebuke and chastening of the Lord as deeply as I should. I want to be zealous and repent while Jesus intercedes, that all my sins may go beforehand to judgment. It seems to me there is a very strait gate, and narrow way to pass here, and we must make thorough work or we never shall go through. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.30
Are not many of us, who say we believe the message to the Laodiceans is to us, still sliding along too easy, without laying it to heart, without feeling the importance of it as we should? It is true the message has done something for us, but has it been felt as deeply as it should have been? Has it produced the thorough reform that it calls for? Where is the zeal, the deep earnestness of soul that such a rebuke from our dear Saviour demands? Truly we are on the enchanted ground. The spirit of the world, a lukewarm, indifferent spirit, has so long bound us that it needs a mighty effort to escape. O that our whole being may be stirred to take hold of the work in earnest now, to make a perfect consecration of all to God, to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. We must obtain victory over impatience, pride, self-will, and every wrong word and action; for only he that hath clean hands and a pure heart will be able to stand. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 30.31
O that we may fully understand and heed the counsel of the faithful Witness, and never rest till we do possess the true riches there offered, the gold tried in the fire, till we are clothed in white raiment, and have anointed our eyes with eye-salve that we may see. Has not Jesus long waited at the door of our hearts for admission? If any of us longer disregard the Saviour’s knock, and his precious promise that if we open the door he will come in and sup with us and we with him, if we do not “clear away all the rubbish,” and speedily give him the whole heart, we have reason to fear that he will wait no longer; that while the faithful sup with him, while they overcome and sit with him on his throne, we shall be left among the filthy, outside of the city. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.1
At times I feel such a lack of that deep earnestness of soul that this time demands, that I would exhort myself as well as others, to awake, arise, and gird on the armor anew. We have had faithful exhortations to heed the Saviour’s call and let him in, and I believe the whole-hearted will humble themselves greatly, will make strait paths for their feet now, and will soon move forward mighty in God; while those who are indifferent to such calls from the word and Spirit of God, will be left, will be spued out of the Lord’s mouth. Why do we dally here? Why are we so stupid and slow to overcome, when our eternal destiny must be decided and fixed by the efforts we make while probation lingers? Soon he that is holy will be holy still, and he that is filthy will be filthy still. A short work will the Lord make upon the earth. O my soul, haste thee, linger not, “escape for thy life... lest thou be consumed.” The scenes of this dark earth will soon be over. Have thy whole interest for the kingdom, thy treasure there. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.2
A few lines from sister Chamberlain’s letter express exactly what I want to say. “We shall soon hear the voice of God saying as unto Moses of old, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward; and when the whole church moves, we shall see mighty works done in the name of the Lord. To bring this great move about, each one has something to do. We must set our own house in order.” How forcible are the Saviour’s words now, [Luke 13:24-27,] “Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able.” It seems as though the prophets were speaking directly to us. Joel 2:12, 13. “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping and with mourning, and rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God.” Zephaniah 2:2, 3. “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment, seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” We learn from Leviticus 23:27-30, that in the day of atonement, every one that would not afflict his soul should be cut off from among his people. Will it not be so in this day of atonement? “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment.” In the strength of the Lord, I mean to be in earnest now, for I long for a part among the faithful. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.3
Yours hoping to be one of the overcomers. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.4
OLIVE M. PATTEN.
Groton, Mass., Oct., 1857.
From Sister Harlow
BRO. SMITH: The Third Angel’s Message seems to have some little effect upon the hearts of the people in this town. There are many that profess to love the Lord, but do not love to hear of his soon coming, or of the Commandments of God; this proves that their hearts are not right with God, but that they have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalam which their fathers taught them. Jeremiah 9:14. There has been quite a revival the past Summer in this place, but the words of the Lord spoken by the mouth of the Prophet have proved it to be a deceptive work. “They have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.” Hosea 5:7. Two here have embraced the Third Angel’s Message without hearing a sermon, for which we praise the Lord. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.5
MARY HARLOW.
Rubicon, Wis., Nov. 16th, 1857.
Extracts from Letters
SISTER B. E. Place writes from Oswego, N. Y., Nov. 12th, 1857: “I would say that I am striving for the faith once delivered to the saints. As I look back upon my past life, I see so much imperfection, and folly, and ignorance, it causes me to blush and cry unto the Lord for mercy and forgiveness; and when I realize how good the Lord has been unto me amid all my short-comings, that he has not cut me off as a cumberer of the ground, I feel to exclaim, How good is the Lord! and still hope in his mercy. I want to get low at the feet of my Redeemer, and learn of him who is meek and lowly in heart. I am trying to follow the admonition of that aged saint, to first deny self and then take up the cross and follow Christ. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.6
“As there is but one in this place (five miles west of Oswego,) excepting myself that keeps the Sabbath I should sometimes feel a little lonely on that day, were it not that I remember the life of my Saviour when here, the garden, the crown of thorns and the cross. I remember also that there are some who have literally forsaken houses, lands and friends, and are trying to do the will of the Lord, not having any certain dwelling place, and that if I would reign with Christ, I must be willing to suffer with him. O I feel sorry that I have ever murmured or complained in the least of my lot in this life. The Lord forgive me, is my prayer, and grant me wisdom, patience, meekness, and a truly humble heart.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.7
Bro. R. S. Bennett writes from North Brookfield, N. Y.: “I am thankful that I have ever found the Advent people who are looking for the coming of Jesus, and seeking to be prepared for the solemn events which are soon to take place. I am striving to take heed to the counsel that has been given to the Laodiceans, and think that I feel something of the importance of awaking unto righteousness and sinning not. The little church in this place are striving to arise in the strength of the Lord, and think that they feel a willingness to forsake all, that they may obtain a better and enduring substance. We have meetings here three times a week, and the Lord meets with us and strengthens us. We are determined to be faithful until we see the Son of man on the white cloud, and all the holy angels with him.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.8
Sister Matilda Streeter writes from Pulaski, N. Y., Oct. 18th, 1857: “The Review has ever been a welcome visitor to me. When wearied with the toils of this life, and lonely and sad. I read the paper and find consolation and instruction, and I prize it next to my Bible. I believe the message to the Laodiceans was sent in the right time, and I have tried to give heed to it. Truly the Lord has been my helper; he is my shield and buckler, and I will put my trust in him. If I ever felt the need of watching and praying, I do now. Well might our blessed Saviour compare his disciples to lambs among wolves. I feel very lonely here. There is not one that keeps the seventh-day Sabbath, but myself and children. I have not heard a sermon preached for over two years. I feel discouraged and cast down at times, yet my Saviour has said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.9
“I want the brethren and sisters to call and see me if they can. I live in Pulaski, three miles from Richland Station. Bro. White’s advice to parents and children was what I needed, and I want to profit by it.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.10
Sister L. N. Buzzell writes from Brookfield, Vt.: “I am striving to keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. I praise the Lord for what I have felt in my poor heart the past week, of his goodness. I want to heed the faithful and true Witness, and buy the tried gold, the white raiment, and anoint my eyes with eye-salve that I may see. I like to read the letters in the Review from the brethren and sisters, and I think they like to hear from the lone ones that are trying to live so as to meet all God’s dear children on Mount Zion. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.11
“There are three of us here in Brookfield, who are trying to keep the Commandments. We meet every Sabbath, and I think we have the presence of the Fourth to grace our meeting. May we always have it, is the prayer of your unworthy sister striving to overcome.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.12
Sister L. W. Adams writes from Northfield, Vt., Nov. 19th, 1857: “I feel encouraged many times in reading the precious truths, and the letters from the dear brethren and sisters in the Review, and I mean to try and press my way onward and upward towards the port of endless rest. I know we have a great deal before us, but if our trust is in the living God, he will carry us safely through. I feel poor and needy, and the weakest of the weak, but I am determined by the grace of God to follow on to know him, whom to know aright is life eternal. I believe that God is, and will still be with his faithful few.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.13
Sister M. Jackson writes from Conway, Mich. Nov. 15th, “I have none to help me in the cause of present truth, as there is no one that keeps the Sabbath except myself. I have tried to keep it as well as I could for five years. My husband and some of my neighbors started with me, but they have gone back to the world again; but I feel determined to keep God’s commandments forever. Pray for me that my faith fail not. I have many trials and hindrances, but I know the Lord is sufficient, if I put my trust in him, to bear me up. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.14
“I think if we could have a meeting here there would be some that would come out and keep the Sabbath. We have a large, new school-house, and I wish we might have a meeting of God’s people in it next Spring, if not before.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.15
F. Cooper writes from Bath, N.Y., Nov. 8th, 1857: “It is through the tender mercies of God that I still live and have a being. The Lord has been bringing me through deep trials of late, but the promise, “My grace is sufficient for thee,” I found sure. The truth is dearer to me every day. My desire is to heed the counsel of the true Witness, and I mean by the grace of God to overcome and get through into his kingdom.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.16
Bro. L. Bean writes from South Hardwick, Vt., Nov. 14th, 1857: “I think the time has come for us to fully heed the message to the Laodiceans, let it have its full weight and bearing on our minds, and so deeply affect our hearts and lives, that it will be seen in all our actions and moves, which will declare plainly to all that behold us, that we are seeking a better inheritance than this earth can afford.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.17
OBITUARY
DIED in Mattawan, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., Nov. 24th, 1857 Benjamin Allen, aged sixty-two years. In 1852 he embraced the Third Angel’s Message, and commenced keeping the Sabbath of the Lord our God with others in Waterloo, Jackson Co., Mich. His friends suppose that he died of a Typhoid fever which attacked him soon after taking a sudden cold, and deprived him of life in about one week from a state of full strength and health. His brother and son removed his remains to Verona, Mich., at which place we were called to attend his funeral this afternoon. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.18
Our prayer is that this sudden bereavement may be sanctified by the Father of all mercies to his afflicted family of children which are living in different States of the Union. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 31.19
JOSEPH BATES.
Battle Creek, Mich., Nov. 28th, 1857.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. DEC. 3, 1857
What Will?
Is the preaching and the works of Noah would not move the antediluvians to prepare for a coming flood, we know not what would. If the solicitations of Lot could not affect the obdurate hearts of his sons-in-law, we know not what would. If the fulfillment of prophecy, and the Spirit and power that attended the earthly ministration of the Saviour, would not remove the vail from the darkened mind of the Jews, and lead them to acknowledge the Messiah, and avert a threatened and miserable destruction, we know not what would. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.1
So now: If the alarming spread of immorality and infidelity, will not dispel the idle dream of a world’s conversion, and awaken in the minds of men, forebodings of coming evil, what will? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.2
If signs in the sun, moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, as foretold by the Saviour, will not lead men to seek further instruction from his lips concerning this world’s future, what will? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.3
If the many chains of prophecy given to enlighten earth’s children in regard to the close of the probationary and the commencement of the eternal state, which cannot possibly be extenuated beyond this generation, will not convince men that time’s last sands are falling, what will? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.4
If the fact that the last of three warning messages to precede the coming of the Son of man, is now going forth, will not lead people to an earnest and speedy preparation, what will? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.5
If the view of our great High Priest performing his last work for men in the tabernacle above, will not lead to a thorough confession and forsaking of sin, what will? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.6
If the threat to be utterly rejected by the Saviour as a nauseous and loathsome thing unless we speedily repent, will not move us to that repentance, what will? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.7
If the figure of our Saviour standing without and knocking for admittance, will not melt our hearts in tenderness - will not enlist our utmost sympathy, and make us haste to give him an unreserved, an unlimited welcome, what will? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.8
If in reply to any of these questions, you cannot tell what will, then know that they are final considerations; and we have no right to expect that more or stronger inducements will be placed before us to move us to action. And if we are not affected by any of these things - what then! ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.9
THOSE brethren who desire to reform and regulate the political matters of the Two-horned Beast, will do well to consider well the selection in another part of this paper, headed, “Rocks and Shoals.” If the Papal Church, by her illicit connection with the kings of the earth, became the Mother of Harlots, do not all churches who follow her example, by attempting to control the affairs, or seeking the protection of the State, prove themselves genuine daughters of the mother? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.10
R. F. C.
“Thou art With Me.”
IN the psalm from which we have selected these words David expresses his firm and unshaken confidence in the protecting care of the Lord. “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:1, 2, 4. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.11
And why should we not trust fully in the Lord? For “the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” And if we confide in him and follow in his footsteps, he will withhold no good thing. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.12
God has manifested his love to us in the most convincing manner, in giving his Son to die for us. And with the Apostle we may ask, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.13
“Thou art with me.” O, cheering thought! O, blessed reflection! This consideration has sustained the people of God in the flood, in the Red Sea, in the fiery furnace, and the lions’ den; and in stripes, in imprisonments, and in deaths oft; and amidst perils of waters, perils of robbers, perils of the heathen, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, and perils among false brethren. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.14
In view of this buoyant reflection, the martyrs were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.15
A time of trouble is just before us, when we shall greatly desire the presence of the Lord. Yea, when we must have it or fall amidst the plagues and lose eternal life. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.16
Says David, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me: he shall set me up upon a rock.” Psalm 27:4, 5. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.17
And again, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.” Psalm 46:1, 2. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.18
But if we would feel this abiding confidence in God, we must walk in the light of all the present truth. It is not enough to be numbered with the remnant, we must have a living and deep experience in the work of the Lord; which we may have if we heed the counsel to the Laodiceans. Then may we confidently say of the great Head of the church, in every trial and conflict, “I will fear no evil; for thou art with me. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.19
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Battle Creek, Nov.26th, 1857.
Uzziah, King of Judah
WAS the tenth sovereign in succession from Rehoboam, and from the secession of the ten tribes, and in the life and history of Uzziah, are three things, worthy of our studious attention. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.20
The first is found comprised in 2 Chronicles 26:5, “And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper,” and to verse 16 is a glowing account of his success, both in the arts of war and of peace. “And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.” His power and fame spread far abroad. His wealth was abundant. What could he wish more? Why was not ambition sated? ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.21
The second part of the life of Uzziah, is his pride, the bane of his prosperity. “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.” Verse 16. Thus far all had been prosperity, and wealth, and power, and popularity; these begat pride. Now, O Uzziah! thy pride shall be thy destruction. For as he went into the temple to burn incense, vanity and proud ambition impelling him, and the priests of the Lord’s house resisting him, we now come to the third and final act of Uzziah, in verse 19, and the sequel. “Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censor in his hand, to burn incense, and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy rose up in his forehead! and they thrust him out, yea himself hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him,” and for the rest of his life he dwelt in a house by himself, being a leper. Oh, could we see the dire effects of pride upon our race, how humble we should be, how lowly, and meek. O Lord, help us to learn from this example. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.22
JOSEPH CLARKE.
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. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.23
FOR REVIEW AND HERALD. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.24
Wm. Treadwell 1,00,xxi,1. A. M. Curtis 1,00,xiii,1. R. Ralph 1,00,xi,1. B. Graham 1,00,xii,1. T. Bryant jr.1,00,xii,1. Wm. Bryant 1,00,xiii,1. Sr. Bryant (for J. Warner] 1,00,xiii,1. J. Tillotson 1,00,xii,1. E. Cobb 1,00,xii,1. C. Osborne 1,00,xi,1. R. Godsmark 1,00,xii,1. M. W. Rathbun 1,00,xii,1. J. P. Rathbun 1,00,xii,14. E. S. Stevenson 1,00,xii,1. M. H. Irish 0,75,xi,11. I. Colcord 2,00,xiii,1. W. Brink 0,25,xii,14. J. Rousha 0,25,xii,14. J. Hart 0,50,xi,14. D. Hildreth 1,00,xi,1. F. Swary 1,00,xi,19. Geo. Smith (for C. W. Nelson) 1,00,xiii,1. E. P. Below 1,00,xii,1. H. J. Rich 1,00,xii,14. L. R. Chapel 2,00,xiii,1. M. T. Ross 1,00,xii,1. H. S. Wells 0,50, (for T. M. Parmalee) xii,1. O. Raymond 2,00,xiii,1. L. Bean 1,00,xiii,18. Thos. Harlow 4,00,xii,1. Jno Davis 1,00,xi,1. N. Guider 1,00,xii,1. D. Chase 1,00,xii,14. R. Coggshall 1,00,xii,1. M. Thompson 1,00,xii,1. L. Haskell 1,00,xi,1. J. M. Mills 1,00,xi,1. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.25
FOR MICH. TENT. - C. Osborne $1. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.26
FOR BOOK FUND. - Thos. Harlow $1. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.27
APPOINTMENTS
THERE will be a Conference at Sutton, Vt., in the vicinity of Bro. Stephen Willey’s, to commence Sixth-day, Dec. 18th, at 1 o’clock, and continue over First-day. E. L. BARR. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.28
Providence permitting, there will be a Conference at Bristol, Vt., to commence Dec. 26th, and continue over First-day, and longer if thought best. The meeting will be held at my house. Brn. Smith and Barr will attend. We hope to see Bro. Pierce at this meeting. Brethren in and out of the State are invited to attend. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.29
In behalf of the Church. HENRY GARDNER. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.30
The P.O. Address of A. S. Hutchins is Parma, Mich. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.31
F. Wheeler: - The V for J. W. is received. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.32
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 December 3, 1857, page 32.33
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 December 3, 1857, page 32.34
Sabbath Tracts, Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 4. This work presents a condensed view of the entire Sabbath question. - 184 pages Price 15 cents. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.35
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 December 3, 1857, page 32.36
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 December 3, 1857, page 32.37
A Brief Exposition of Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, also the 2300 Days and the Sanctuary. - This is the title of a Work just published, it being our old Work on the Four Universal Monarchies of Daniel, etc., somewhat improved. Price, post-paid, 10 cts. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.38
The Two-horned Beast of Revelation 13, a Symbol of the United States. - Price 10 cts. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.39
The Sanctuary and 2300 days by J. N. A. - Price 12 1/2 cents. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.40
A Refutation of the claims of Sunday-keeping to Divine Authority; also, the History of the Sabbath. - Price, 6 cents. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.41
The Atonement. This work opens a wide field of Bible truth, and will be found a valuable assistant in the study of the great theme on which it treats. - 196 pp. - 18 cents. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.42
Man not Immortal: the only Shield against the Seductions of Modern Spiritualism. We commend this work on the Immortality question, as an able discussion of the subject. - 148 pp. - 12 1/2 cents. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.43
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 December 3, 1857, page 32.44
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 December 3, 1857, page 32.45
The Bible Class. This work contains 52 Lessons on the Law of God and the Faith of Jesus, with questions. It is peculiarly adapted 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 December 3, 1857, page 32.46
The 2300 Days and Sanctuary by “U.S.” - Price 5 cents. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.47
Why Don’t you Keep the Sabbath? Extracts from Catholic works. - Price 5 cents. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.48
The Celestial Railroad. - Price 5 cents. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.49
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 December 3, 1857, page 32.50
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 December 3, 1857, page 32.51
The above named books will be sent by Mail post-paid, at their respective prices. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.52
When not sent by mail, liberal discount on packages of not less than $5 worth. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.53
All orders, to insure attention, must be accompanied with the cash except they be from Agents or traveling preachers. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.54
Address URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH December 3, 1857, page 32.55