Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 10
May 14, 1857
RH VOL. X. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, - NO. 2
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. X. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, MAY 12, 1857. - NO. 2.
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 May 14, 1857, page 9.1
THE MISSION OF REFORMERS
YE that for progress would be aught achieving,
Worthy your sacred mission on this sphere,
And in life’s woof the golden threads be weaving;
To fill with an immortal beauty here;
Rouse for the contest - ‘tis no time to falter -
Wage endless war ‘gainst folly, vice and crime;
And send the whip, the bottle and the halter
To slumber with the creeds of ancient time.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.2
Long have man’s wrongs been waiting to be righted;
But now the promised hour approaches fast;
The beacon fires on many a hill are lighted,
And the stern war-cry rises on the blast,
That shout has raised your enemies from slumber,
And as one man against you they unite;
Yet earnest hearts, however few in number,
When once in arms must triumph in the fight.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.3
Your cause is holy: ‘tis to guide the erring,
To lead the blind, and make the deaf to hear;
To win to virtue those who, vice preferring,
Plunge in the slough of crime without a fear.
To snatch from jaws of death the infant sinner,
To tear from sensual vice the yielding prey,
To aid with hope the resolute beginner,
Turn his face heavenward, and speed the way.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.4
But ere the heart be thus regenerated,
Many a daring heart and hand it needs;
For those who act, thus far the cause has waited;
The age of progress asks not words but deeds.
Go then ye workers in the great progression,
Lift up your erring brothers from the dust,
And let no soul that bears a God’s impression,
In crime or idleness corrupt or rust.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.5
SELECTIONS
From the “Sabbath Recorder.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.6
THE SUNDAY CAR-QUESTION
THE question whether cars shall run on Sunday in Brooklyn has been decided in the affirmative. The vote of the Common Council was twenty-two in favor of their running, and twelve against it. While the question was pending, numerous articles on the subject appeared in the New York papers. One of the papers published a memorial presented by the Quakers to the Legislature of Pennsylvania in 1855, in reply to a statement of the governor, in his message that “a stringent and comprehensive law is required, vindicating the great law of the Sabbath, to save it from desecration through the demoralizing effects of strong drink.” The following extract from that memorial contains matter for serious reflection, though mixed with some errors:- ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.7
The first decree for the observance of Sunday, was made by Constantine, the second Christian Emperor, in the year 321, and was in these words: ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.8
“Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades, rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment be let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by the providence of Heaven.” 1 ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.9
The domestic life of Constantine was marked by singular atrocities; and this first union of the Church and State, in the Christian era, so injurious to the Christian world, was suited to the character of the man. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.10
It is upon this decree, corrupt as it is believed in all its sources, and not upon the law of God, that all the Sunday legislation of the Christian world has its foundation. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.11
It is matter of authentic history, that even after the recognition of Christianity by law, the courts were open on the first day of the week, and that the early Christians worked on that day, as suited their convenience. 2 ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.12
Sylvester, Bishop of Rome under Constantine, in order, (as is stated,) to give more solemnity to his decree, changed the name of Sunday to the more imposing one of the Lord’s day. 3 ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.13
Under the decree of Constantine, sanctioned by the church, Sunday was held as a festival for a period of sixteen hundred years after the Christian era, retaining during all that time the names of Sunday and Lord’s day. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.14
The Parliament of England met on Sunday, until the reign of Richard the third, in the year 1483. Many of the kings were crowned on that day. Among whom were Rufus, Stephen, Henry the second, Richard the first, John, etc. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.15
The first law of England made for the keeping of Sunday was in the reign of Henry the sixth, about the year 1470. By that act, Sunday, the Feast of All Saints of Holy Innocents, and many other days, were established as festivals by the English Law. 4 There were also many Councils of the church at Constantinople, Laodicea, etc., in which the festival of Sunday was recognized; and in several of them sabbatizing, or keeping of the Jewish Sabbath, was forbidden. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.16
Such was the state of the Sabbath question, until the latter part of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries. In the year 1595, Dr. Bound (a non-conformist) put forth a book in which for the first time, the name Sabbath was given to the first day of the week; the Sunday of Constantine, and the Lord’s day of Sylvester. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.17
He was sustained by the intolerant sectarians of that period in their bitter hostility to the Romish and Episcopal churches. It was believed that if these churches had made it a day of fasting, then the non-conformists would have made it a day of feasting and recreation. The king and the English churches resisted this innovation; the king published what was called, his “Book of Sports,” which was ordered to be read in the churches, decreeing that the people should not be cut off from their usual recreations on Sunday. “The king declared that it was done out of pious care for the service of God, and for suppressing of those humors that oppose truth, and for the ease, comfort and recreation of his Majesty’s well-deserving people.” The Bishops recommended these Sunday recreations as bringing the people more willingly to church, as tending to civilize them, and to compose differences among them, and as serving to increase love and unity.” 5 ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.18
Chief Justice Popham issued an order of the Court, that all the Sabbath books of the sectarians, should be called in. This only increased the desire of the people to read them. The sectarians, (as is well known,) gained the ascendancy, and the king’s “Book of Sports” was directed to be burned by the hang-man. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.19
The nature of this sectarian movement may be estimated from the fact that the “Lords, Knights and Gentry,” were allowed to make feasts and wedding dinners at their pleasure, which were forbidden to the common people. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.20
As the non-conformists gained the ascendancy in the State, they ordained that not only labor and amusements of all kinds should be interdicted, but that all traveling should be stopped; no tailor was allowed to carry home a suit of clothes; no barber was allowed to shave a man on Sunday; no man was permitted to sit at his own door, to walk the streets, or enjoy the fresh air in the green fields.” 6 ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.21
The ingenuity of man was exercised first to make the Sunday laws sufficiently comprehensive, and then rigidly to enforce them. To compensate the people for the deprivation of their usual Sunday amusements, other days were appointed, and no effort was left untried to accomplish the end proposed. The effect of this severity, was an increase of moral depravity and of crime. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.22
Theological License of Language
BY J. PANTON HAM, ENGLAND
“If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.” - PAUL, to the Corinthians. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.23
Whatever may be the views of our readers in reference to our treatment of those topics which concern the human constitution, and the future reward and punishment, it must at least have been observed by them that our theological language is marked by a definiteness and precision which give an obvious distinctness and coherence to our opinions. It is always recognized as a maxim that, in scientific discourses, a well-defined vocabulary be employed, so that words shall never be used in a vague and dubious sense. The purpose of language is to communicate ideas, and unless this purpose be fulfilled, language is no longer an instrument of the thoughts and emotions of the mind, and is therefore useless. It may be generally accepted as a fact, that when the language of a writer or speaker lacks this quality of scientific accuracy, the ideas which he professes to impart are but very confusedly apprehended by himself. Confusion of language is generally the expression of confusion of thought, for it is seldom that a mind possessed of clear ideas, fails to make those ideas intelligible to others. The remarks on the necessity of scientific accuracy in the employment of language, have been suggested to us by observing its frequent disregard in theological treatises and discourses. Even when theology is discoursed of controversially, as well as popularly, we have observed this considerable defect. The very best theological writers will furnish us with examples, and we think we shall be rendering a service to the cause of truth, to call attention occasionally to the inaccuracies of language which their works contain. We beg, however, at the outset, to disclaim any intentional discourtesy towards the writers we may have occasion to quote, and trust that by conscientiously abstaining from any improper mangling of their works, we shall escape the odium of perpetrating a literary injustice towards them. Our object, we repeat is very far from the gratification of a paltry, carping disposition, we seek only by honorable extracts from some on the more accredited of our theological authors to justify our statement, that confusion of thought must have underlain the obvious confusion of language, which in the calmness of their studious moods, they have penned and transmitted for the instruction of posterity ARSH May 14, 1857, page 9.24
The discriminating mind of the pious Philip Doddridge, escaped, no more than others of less accurate modes of thought and writing, the inconsistency of which we speak. In his paraphrase of Matthew 10:28, he writes, “But much rather fear, lest you should incur the displeasure of ‘him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, and has power at the final judgment to condemn both to everlasting misery in that infernal prison.” His own paraphrase, it is of course understood, is designed to explain the scripture text, for that was his object in furnishing his paraphrases. The reader will observe that this emphatic passage, where God is represented by our Lord as being able, and therefore by implication, being determined, in the case of the wicked, “to destroy,” or cause to perish, “both soul and body” - even the whole man, in the flames of hell, Dr. Doddridge explains to mean, that God will inflict on the wicked the punishment of “everlasting misery!” Is it possible that both soul and body shall be destroyed, and yet preserved alive to endure “everlasting misery?” The Dr.’s exposition involves the absurdity, that a being may be destroyed, and yet preserved at one and the same time. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.1
We turn to the pages of the eloquent John Howe, who, writing on the same subject, says, “Destruction from the Almighty! what a terror must that be!. and not for aught you know to have a handbreadth, not more than a breath, between you and eternal woes and flames!” Here the same strange abuse of language is apparent. Can that punishment, according to the common usage of language, be called “destruction,” which is described by this eminent man as the endurance of “eternal woes and flames?” Surely he must be awfully sensible that he is not destroyed, who is enduring woes and flames that shall be eternal! ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.2
President Edwards, one of the most awful preachers of the doctrine of endless misery as the punishment of the wicked, furnishes us with a large number of examples of verbal inconsistency in his printed discourses. Take the following illustration:- “Their souls they think are precious; it would be a dreadful thing if they should perish, and burn in hell forever!” What idea could this eminent, but sadly mistaken, man have had when he uttered this language? The word “perish,” here surely is a very improper word to employ of those who shall “burn in hell forever.” It is a strange violence done to language, to say that a man has perished who is burning in hell in conscious misery, and will continue to burn forever. Now the word “perish” is a term used in scripture to describe the future punishment of the wicked, but not so the phrase, “burn in hell forever.” This last is the strange explanation which president Edwards gives of the scripture word perish. The reader will judge for himself whether the explanation is a suitable one. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.3
Here is a comparison from the pen of the same author, in his discourse on “The Justice of God.” “What more base and vile treatment of God can there be, than for you, when justly condemened to eternal misery,” etc. “It is more abundantly manifest that it is just that you should be destroyed.” It is evident to the least reflective, that only one of these statements can be accepted. If it is just that the wicked be destroyed, then it certainly cannot be just that they be afflicted with the agonies of an eternal misery, and vice versa; although it would be hard to persuade a rightly balanced mind that it could be possibly just to subject any human being to the endurance of the latter punishment. But what a total disregard of our conventional idea of the word destruction does J. Edwards exhibit when he interprets it as synonymous with eternal misery! ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.4
The following is another passage in point:- “How just therefore is it, if, now at length, God ceases to oppose you, and falls in with you, and lets your soul be ruined; and as you would destroy yourself, so should put to his hand to destroy you too! ... and at last cast you into a lake that burns with fire and brimstone; to be there to eternity, having no rest day nor night.” How a being can be destroyed, and at the same time burning forever without intermission day and night, exceeds our comprehension. To effect such a ceaseless burning of the human being, our author should surely have represented God as putting forth his hand to render its subject indestructible. The word destroy is the last word he should have used. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.5
The next example we shall present from the same author is the very extreme of extravagance - it is language turned lunatic - the very raving of rhapsody. “O then, how would your hearts sink, if you knew that you must bear it forever and ever! that there would be no end!. This is the death threatened in the law. This is dying in the highest sense of the word. This is to die sensibly; to die and to know it; to be sensible of the gloom of death. This is to be undone; this is worthy of the name of destruction!!” Here is a punishment which is to be consciously borne forever and ever, whose horrid endurance will know no end, and this punishment president Edwards assures us in what we must call the delirium of this declamation, is the death threatened in the law! This ever living is declared to be dying in the highest sense of the word! This miserable existence in acute anguish which can experience no end, “is worthy,” so writes Jonathan Edwards, “of the name of destruction.”!!! ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.6
The popular commentator, Albert Barnes, has fallen into the common orthodox snare. His “Notes” supply among others, the following examples: On the text, “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life,” he observes, “They are in danger by nature of perishing, that is, of sinking down to the pains of hell.” By “pains of hell” he means, as he elsewhere states, a condition in which “the wicked will be miserable forever.” We should be glad to be informed on what authority Mr. Barnes perverts the meaning of the word perish to signify a being miserable forever. Could any one, save a theologian, calmly assure his readers, that perishing means a sinking down to the pains of hell to be made miserable forever? Passing strange it is that two such contrasts in sense should be closely yoked together by the explanatory link, “that is.” “Perishing, that is, sinking down to the pains of hell!” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.7
On the passage on Matthew 3:12, - “He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,” Mr. Barnes remarks, The “unquenchable fire is fire that shall not be extinguished, that will utterly consume it,” (the “chaff.”) “By the chaff,” he says, is represented “the wicked.” “They, (the wicked,) are represented as chaff which the fire consumes.” And yet with strange inconsistency he sums up his note on this passage with the following words: “By the unquenchable fire is meant the eternal suffering of the wicked in hell.” Mr. Barnes recognizes the comparison of the wicked to the rapidly perishable chaff; he deliberately tells us that the unquenchable fire is the agent “that will utterly consume,” or burn up the chaff-like wicked, and then, anon, confounding the agent of punishment with the being punished and forgetting all he had said about the wicked being chaff, and being consumed - he coolly tells us, “By the unquenchable fire is meant the eternal suffering of the wicked in hell.”!! ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.8
Such are a few out of the many examples which might be adduced to show the extremely unsatisfactory state of theological terminology. If theology aspires to the dignity and utility of an accurate science, it must revise its vocabulary, not only in relation to the subject of which this paper treats, but also in relation to other highly important topics of sacred interest. If the foregoing quotations, and our comments thereon, shall suffice to arrest the attention of the thoughtful reader, we have no fear but he will come to the same conclusion as ourselves, and that is, when a theological dogma can only be upheld in its appeals to the scripture by such marvelous abuses of language, there is strong presumptive evidence that the scriptures do not sanction that dogma, and that its real authority lies nowhere but in a mere tradition, handed unreflectingly down from the times of a dark and somewhat remote antiquity. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.9
BARTIMEUS OR THE POWER OF CRYING PRAYER
“AND he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they who went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace; but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.” Luke 18:38, 39. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.10
What an object of pity is here! Poor Bartimeus! at this remote period our heart bleeds for thee! Blind - born blind! - and so indigent as to have to sit by the wayside begging! Alas for thee! Deprived of the precious blessing of sight, by which so many pleasures and joys of life are received. Thine eyes had never seen the sun. The works of God were an unknown blank to thee. The beauties of nature, the countenances of friends, had never imparted one thrill of gladness to thy heart. Mournful case! And to all this was added abject poverty, even to begging. What has sin done? None such as this man were found in Eden, nor shall ever be met with in heaven. “My soul, repeat his praise,” who, though I am not in Eden, nor in heaven, has so graciously distinguished my lot from that of Bartimeus. “What shall I render unto God?” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.11
But in Bartimeus’ physical and temporal circumstances, all can see their own individual moral state by nature, “Blind, born blind and beggars!” Blind to the glories of God, of his works and his word. Ignorant of one’s self, of the Saviour, and of the way of salvation, is every man by nature; and not only so, but spiritually poor and blind. Men may fancy themselves increased in goods, and having need of nothing; but the truth is they are “poor, and miserable, and wretched and blind and naked.” The fact is, they are “ready to perish.” Dear readers, do we feel it? have we realized it? have we cried to Jesus? are we enlightened, enriched, saved? ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.12
For man, all glory to God! for man, there is a Saviour, who is near, able, willing to save. Near, by his humanity; near, by his divinity. He comes into our world to seek and save us. Ah! it is he who seeks out the perishing sinner. We are found of him, not he of us. And that he is able and willing to save, let this beggar’s deliverance testify. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.13
It was to this Saviour blind Bartimeus was praying, “crying so much the more.” And what a prayer it was! What an example it sets! what lessons of prayer it teaches! Would to God, says every christian heart I could so pray, always so pray! ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.14
It was “crying, persevering prayer.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.15
“He cried, and cried so much the more.” Under the pressure of distress the mind pushes, forces its way through, struggles, wrestles, agonizes, to get God to be heard and helped. “He cried,” and when rebuked to hold his peace, “he cried so much the more.” He must be heard, must be helped. Now or never. The only Saviour from his malady was passing by, might never pass again; all his hopes were hung upon this one moment, and upon Jesus, and Jesus only; therefore he would not be silenced, would not give up, but “cried so much the more.” Thou Son of David have mercy on me. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.16
Ah! it is not fine prayers, nor eloquent prayers, but crying prayers, which attract notice, and are heard and answered. “Jesus stood still.” O the power of crying prayer! Are my prayers such as to stop the way of my Jesus, and cause him to stand still? O for a baptism of such prayer shed down on the churches! “Jesus stood still.” Tell it, reader, tell it if you can, what were now the beggar’s feelings, his hopes, his fears, his deep anxiety, what? And what now were the deep workings of the compassionate mind of Jesus towards him, and what the expectations of the lookers-on? What a moment of breathless suspense! How every eye ran between and upon the beggar and the Saviour. The suspense must have been painful. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 10.17
At last the silence was broken; Jesus said unto him, “What wilt thou?” This was not the language of inquiry. He knew what the beggar wanted; but it was the language of compassionate Omnipotence, language which on an angel’s lips would be blasphemy. By this inquiry a blank is put in the beggar’s hand, to write upon what he would. The powers of God are at his command. “What wilt thou?” Write, speak, ask, “open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.1
“Never man spake like this man.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.2
“What wilt thou?” “Fear not; only believe and thou shalt see the glory of God.” His glorious powers on thy behalf, and his glorious grace and good will to help thee. Is anything too hard for him who drove back the sea, and brought waters gushing out of the rock for Israel, his chosen?” - Selected. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.3
Dinner of Tongues. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.4
AESOP was the servant or a philosopher named Xanthus. One day his master being desirous of entertaining some of his friends at dinner, he ordered him to provide the best things he could find in the market. AESOP thereupon made a very large provision of tongues, which he desired the cook to serve up with different sauces. When the dinner came, the first and second courses, the side dishes and the removes were all tongues. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.5
“Did I not order you,” said Xanthus in a violent passion, “to buy the best victuals the market afforded?” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.6
“And have I not obeyed your orders?” said AEsop. “Is there anything better than tongues? Is not the tongue the bond of civil society, the key of science, and the organ of truth and reason? By means of the tongue cities are built, and governments established and administered; with it men instruct, persuade and preside in assemblies; it is the instrument with which we acquit ourselves of the chief of all our duties, the praising and adoring the gods.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.7
“Well then,” replied Xanthus, “go to market tomorrow and buy me the worst things you can find. This same company will dine with me, and I have a mind to change my entertainment.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.8
When Xanthus assembled his friends the next day, he was astonished to find that AEsop had provided nothing but the very same dishes. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.9
“Did I not tell you,” said Xanthus, “to purchase the worst things for this day’s feast? How comes it then, that you have placed before us the same food, which only yesterday, you declared to be the very best?” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.10
AEsop not at all abashed, replied, “The tongue is the worst thing in the world as well as the best, for it is the instrument of all strife and contention, the fomenter of law-suits, the source of divisions and war, the organ of error, of calumny and falsehood, and even of profanity. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.11
The Dance at Moscow
“A TIME to dance; a time to die.” Ecclesiastes 3:2-4. During the occupancy of the city of Moscow by the French army, a party of officers and soldiers determined to have a military levee, and for this purpose chose the deserted palace of a nobleman, in the vault of which a large quantity of powder had been deposited. That night the city was set on fire. As the sun went down they began to assemble. The females who followed the fortunes of the French forces, were decorated for the occasion. The gayest and noblest of the army was there, and merriment reigned over the crowd. During the dance the fire rapidly approached them; they saw it coming but felt no fear. At length the building next to the one which they occupied was on fire. Coming to the windows, they gazed upon the billows of fire which swept upon their fortress, and then returned to their amusement. Again and again they left their pleasure to watch the progress of the flames. At length the dance ceased, and the necessity of leaving the scene of merriment became apparent to all. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.12
They were enveloped in a flood of fire, and gazed on with deep and awful solemnity. At length the fire, communicating to their own building, caused them to prepare for flight, when a brave young officer, named Carnot, waved his jeweled glove above his head, and exclaimed, “One dance more, and defiance to the flames.” All caught the enthusiasm of the moment, and, “one dance more, and defiance to the flames,” burst from the lips of all. The dance commenced; louder and louder grew the sounds of music, and faster and faster fell the footsteps of dancing men and women, when suddenly they heard a cry, “The fire has reached the magazine! fly! fly for life!” One moment they stood transfixed with horror; they did not know the magazine was there, and ere they recovered from their stupor, the vault exploded; the building was shattered to pieces, and the dancers were hurried into a fearful eternity. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.13
Thus it will be in the final day. Men will be as careless as these ill-fated revelers. Methinks the hour has come, and I stand upon an eminence, from which I behold the vices and amusements of earth. I warn them and tell them that in such an hour as they think not, the Son of man cometh. With jeering laugh they ask, “Where is the promise of his coming?” I bid them prepare to meet their God. They reply, “Pleasure is our God.” I tell them of the awful judgment, and of eternity; crying “priestcraft,” they again engage in a noisy revel. Soon an awful rumbling is heard in the heavens. A thousand voices tell them that the angels are rolling out the judgment throne. They reply, “One dance more, and defiance to that throne.” Suddenly the stars go out, the moon turns to blood, all nature is convulsed, an unusual panic seizes the hearts of all men, when, horror-struck, I see some Carnot turn his blood-shot eyes upon the burning world, and waving his jeweled hand above his head, exclaiming, “One dance more, and defiance to that flame;” and ere that dance is done, the bolt is sped, the magazine of the universe explodes, and the time to dance is gone, gone forever, forever! - Ladies’ Repository. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.14
“I Have Thought of it.”
So said a young lady who had been reminded by a pious mother of a neglected duty. “Ah, but thinking of it does not do it,” said her mother. “True,” answered the daughter, “I have found it does not,” and as soon as the opportunity occurred, the neglected duty was performed. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.15
“I have thought of it.” Ah, how many stop there in the holy purpose of doing good! ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.16
A church member sees a brother go astray: “Have you conversed with your erring brother?” No: “I have thought of it.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.17
Do you know the state of mind of that young neighbor who is so constant at the prayer-meeting? Have you had any serious conversation with him? ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.18
“No, I have thought of it,” is the chilling reply. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.19
No doubt that erring brother has thought of reforming, and that impenitent neighbor has thought of repenting; but of what avail will it be, if their actions do not correspond? ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.20
Should “God send into the bosom of the church a being with prophetic endowments; one who sees deeper than bishops and priests; one who moulds not his strange faith according to ancient human models, but gazes for himself and with his own eyes deep into the infinite mystery of truth, and who, dazzled by the splendor of the vision, breaks out in wrapter songs than the world has been wont to hear; one who goes straight and often to the Father of lights, and returns clothed with wonderful radiance, before which the thousands who were christened into fashionable piety stand amazed; he speaks new words; he proclaims new doctrines; he moves on in majestic derision of all worn-out standards of belief; the creed-bound church, though it had last week held a conference of solemn lamentation over its division, its dullness, its weakness, and its death, calls the teacher mad, the truth-seer a heretic, and the renovator, a dangerous, devil-inspired demagogue.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.21
ENEMIES
HAVE you enemies? Go straight on and mind them not. If they block up your path, walk around them, and do your duty regardless of spite. A man who has no enemies is seldom good for anything - he is made of that kind of material which is so easily worked that it resists nothing, while every one who thinks for himself, and speaks what he thinks, is always sure to have enemies. They are as necessary to him as fresh air; they keep him alive and active. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.22
A celebrated character who was surrounded by enemies used to remark, “They are sparks which if you do not blow, will go out of themselves. Let this be your feeling, while endeavoring to live down the scandal of those who are bitter against you. If you stop to dispute with them, you do but as they desire, and open the way for more abuse. Let them talk - there will be a reaction if you perform your duty; and hundreds who were once alienated from you will flock to you and acknowledge their error. Follow this advice, and you will never have cause to regret it.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.23
“The sentiment of charity in the soul of man will derive more nourishment, vigor and dominion from a single act of mercy, than a fortnight’s meditation. A good Samaritan does not dwell at home, indulging grievous reflections on the miseries of the unfortunate; he does his daily work, neglects not his business; and when on his way to market, he espies an afflicted, injured brother, he binds up his wounds, and takes care of him, and thus destroys his sectarian prejudice and his social pride at one gracious blow.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.24
All in Christ
MAN, or woman, or child, do you want anything? Are you anxious about the matters of your soul? Are you disturbed? Are you ignorant? Do you feel, “It is wisdom I want,” or, “It is righteousness I want,” or, “It is peace I want,” or, “It is power I want,” or, “It is heaven I want?” Well, it is all in Christ. In the knowledge of him is eternal life. And do you understand, it is all with Christ? You do not receive it from Christ; you receive it with Christ. “He that hath the Son hath life.” There is no salvation out of him. We become bound up in him by faith, and then all that belongs to him is ours. As it is all in him, it is all with him. Once more, it is all for Christ. Do you understand that every thing we receive is to go back to him? - it is given to us that we may glorify his holy name. Are we justified? Are we sanctified? Are we blood-bought? Are we temples of the Holy Ghost, heirs of God and join-heirs with Christ? It is that we may have liberty to serve God, and glorify the name of our Redeemer. Thus all that salvation implies is in him, and all that salvation implies is with him, and all that salvation implies is for him, in time and eternity. My brethren, Christ is a root, Christ is a rock. He is a root of which flows the sap grace, through the branches, and the soul that is united to him, as a branch, receiveth it. He is the rock of ages; and the soul that is based on him, the gates of hell cannot prevail against; it shall rise up a mighty tower unto the skies, a building that shall manifest the wisdom, the power, the grace, and glory of God, throughout eternity. - Molyneux. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.25
IF you walk by faith you will never live in sin; faith purifies the heart; gives you to realize the presence of a holy God, and will set the whole force of the soul against evil. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.26
Few things look worse than to see a young Christian sauntering in the street; it is courting temptation, and inviting Satan to lead you astray; hasten home to your calling, your closet, or your Bible. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.27
Those are the most severe, relentless and deadly persecutors, who are actuated by what they regard as a religious duty. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 11.28
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. MAY 14, 1857.
TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS
THE many who have heretofore contributed their earnest thoughts in illustration and defense of the truth, for the benefit of the readers of the REVIEW, have our thanks. They are requested to remember that much of the interests of the paper will depend on them still. As a variety of gifts make a meeting interesting, so it is with a paper; and the spreading of this weekly table should not be left to devolve wholly on a few. Let it be covered with choice viands from all parts of the field. Incidents connected with the progress of the truth, illustrations of Bible doctrines, sketches of experience, rebukes of wrong, exhortations to holiness - in short, anything that will awaken the careless and instruct and encourage the believer, is what we want. All need not write a sermon. It is not required. It is not expected. “Be short and to the point,” is a rule that still holds good. Get an idea in your head, and the Spirit of God in your heart, and somebody will be blessed, strengthened and encouraged by it. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.1
Clear and earnest arguments, great bulwarks of the truth, we trust will be duly furnished by all who are so disposed. And we hope that department of our paper devoted to “Letters,” which is designed to give opportunity for a free and social interchange of thought among the brethren and sisters, wherein each may freely speak of our common hopes and prospects, will be well filled, breathing forth a spirit of love, joy, peace, and long suffering, in all its parts. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.2
Not only are those who have written invited to continue, but we hope to hear from many more who have not yet contributed to our columns - many of whom it may at last be said, They have done what they could. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.3
THE COMET AND THE END OF THE WORLD
A PERSON came into our Office the other day, to obtain a paper, as he wished to know if the world was really to be destroyed in June next by the expected comet. He doubtless thought to find a full discussion of the subject, as a matter of course, in our paper. But we are not doing that kind of business. It is none of our work to raise any excitement on such a foundation as this. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.4
First, it is only some one out of a thousand astronomers who has predicted that the comet’s path would bring it in contact with the earth at all: the main body of them deny any such result. And second, if the comet and the earth should, in their revolutions, both seek to occupy the same sphere at the same time, it remains to be proved that it would result in any damage to this planet of ours. According to the best light which science now sheds on the subject, it would not. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.5
And yet there is an extensive alarm growing up in regard to it throughout the country; and we learn that “in portions of Europe the ignorant population are all in excitement.” This is, of course, by many connected with “Millerism,” and we are branded as fanatical alarmists. But it is not those who have a hope well grounded upon the prophecies and promises of God, that are ready to fall into convulsions over this phenomenon. The anxiety felt and manifested, is on the part of those who, if they have not made the coming of Christ and the end of the world, a matter of scorn and ridicule, have at least treated it with indifference and neglect. These are the ones to come to us and inquire if we think this may be the destruction which they have often heard us read from the word of God, should at an unexpected hour come upon the world. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.6
But though this excitement is groundless, it is nevertheless of deep significance. It shows something. It reveals to us a state of feeling which our Saviour told us should exist in the last days; namely, that men’s hearts should be failing them for fear. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.7
The word of God presents considerations which should excite the deepest concern. The end of all things is at hand. The Judge standeth at the door. We have a surer foundation for our faith than to suppose that the destruction of the earth is committed to an erratic comet. The idea of the earth’s destruction in the common acceptation of the term, we disclaim. We are told that it shall be purified by fire when the elements shall melt with fervent heat; that this shall take place at the perdition of ungodly men, which is at the end of the 1000 years intervening between the two resurrections; that 1000 years previous to this time, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, and the righteous - the dead being raised and living changed - be caught up to meet him in the air. We are also informed what phases the world shall exhibit as we near this time; what signs shall be manifest in the natural, moral and political world. All these things may be known. They are written out in bold lines in the word of God; and all it costs to know them is the trouble of reading them. Upon whom then will rest the blame, if that day overtakes them as a thief? Let those who charge the humble expectants of their Lord with ignorant fanaticism, beware lest it redound upon their own head as ignorant infatuation. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.8
SERMON PREACHED TO THE SENECA INDIANS
BY R. F. COTTRELL
BRETHREN AND FRIENDS:- The subject I wish to talk about is the blessed hope of the christian. What God has promised to them that love and obey him. Some christians think, as the Pagans do, that when a good man dies his spirit or soul goes right away to the spirit land where it is happy; some think that the body never will be raised to life; others, that at the end of the world the body will be raised, the judgment will take place, and all the good will go to heaven to live there forever. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.9
We do not think that men will be rewarded before they are judged. We do not believe that when men die, good men go directly to happiness, and bad men to punishment, and afterwards their bodies be raised, they be judged, and sent back - the righteous to heaven, the wicked to hell, where they before have been receiving their reward, some for hundreds, others for thousands, of years. Men will be rewarded, as Christ says in the fourteenth of Luke, at the resurrection of the just. They rest in the grave till Christ comes and raises the dead and rewards his children with eternal life. A thousand years after that the wicked will be raised and be punished with the second death. In the twentieth chapter of Revelation it is said of the righteous, that “they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.10
The Bible teaching seems to be this: The Lord Jesus himself will descend from heaven, raise his sleeping saints, change the living to immortality; they will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, who will conduct them to those mansions in his Father’s house which he has now gone to prepare; where they will reign with him a thousand years. Then, at the close of the thousand years, Christ and his saints will come down to earth again; the holy City will follow them, and be placed on a spot of earth prepared for it; the wicked who have been dead during the thousand years will be raised to life, and come up around the saints and the beloved City, and fire will come down from God out of heaven and devour them. The fire will melt and purify the earth and burn up the works that are in it, cleanse it from sin, sinners, and the curse which came upon it because man had sinned; the earth becomes new, and the righteous will dwell in it forever. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.11
The completion then of the christian’s hope will be to live eternally on the earth renewed, after sinners are cut off, and sin is unknown, and have a right to the New Jerusalem and the tree of life. O glorious hope! O blessed abode! All the saints of God will inherit substance. They will live in that bright world as really as they do now in this. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.12
In Matthew 5:5, our Saviour says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The meek are those who have the mild and gentle disposition of Christ. In other words, they are christians. And to them Christ promises the earth as their inheritance. This promise does not belong to this present life. The wicked have as much of the earth here, and more, than the righteous. The promise relates to the future. He does not say, the meek do inherit the earth, but they shall inherit it. It is a promise of their final reward. For according to David in the thirty-seventh Psalm, they will inherit the land and dwell therein forever. This must be fulfilled after the earth is made new. The Lord has promised that at some future time the whole earth shall be filled with his glory. Numbers 14:21. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.13
Some tell us that this will take place in the last days of the gospel dispensation; that before Christ comes the second time, there will be a thousand years of peace and safety, when the glory of God shall fill the earth. This they call the millennium. They suppose that during the gospel age all the world will be converted, and that there will be a spiritual reign, or a reign of righteousness for a thousand years before the personal coming of Christ. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.14
Their mistake is this: They apply those prophecies which speak of a time of glory, when all the inhabitants of the earth will be righteous, to the present dispensation, whereas they should be applied to the new earth, after the wicked are all destroyed, and consequently, all the people living are righteous. Their views of the latter part of the gospel day, do not agree with Paul’s description of the last days. He describes the last days as a time of great wickedness. In 2 Timothy 3, he says, This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.15
No part of the gospel dispensation can be later than the time here described; and instead of a time of glory to close up the gospel day, it is to be a time of great wickedness. And this is to be among professors of religion, “having a form of godliness.” From this description we should not expect that the church will convert the world in the last days, but that the world will come very near converting the church to itself. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.16
My friends, this state of things now exists. - Wickedness prevails to a great extent in the church. The dark sin of slavery is tolerated in the most popular churches in the United States. Church-members at the North are defiled by it, because slaveholders at the South are held in their communions. And when this time of great wickedness is seen in the church, the Apostle bids us, “From such turn away.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.17
There are certain promises made by God to Abraham and his seed, which have never been fulfilled, and never can be till Abraham is raised from the dead. These promises relate to the possession of land, and Paul applies them to the whole earth. In Romans 4:13, he speaks of the promise to Abraham, “that he should be the heir of the whole world.” By turning to Genesis we find the promises made to Abraham. In the twelfth chapter and third verse, God says to Abraham, “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” In chap. 13, he says, “Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” And again he says, in chap. 17:8, “I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” But you will take notice that he did not then give him the land, he was a stranger in the land, and died without receiving it. But the promise of God is sure; therefore Abraham must rise from the dead in order to possess it. Then he can have it forever. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 12.18
Some think that these promises to Abraham were fulfilled to his children, when they went into the land of Canaan, four hundred years and more after he was dead. But the promise said that Abraham himself should possess it, as well as his seed. From Acts 7:5, we learn that Abraham had no inheritance in the land during his life-time. Speaking of him it is said, Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Charron; and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell, (i.e., the land of Canaan, in which the Jews dwelt in the days of the apostles.) And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. Abraham is dead, but the land is promised to him, and the promise cannot fail: he will have it. God will raise him from the dead and give him the land. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.1
Again we read in Hebrews 11:8-10, 13, “By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.2
The Apostle goes on, and speaks of many of the ancients who died in faith, and in verses 39 and 40, says, “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. God having provided some better things for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” And what is the better things that God has provided for us Christians? That those ancient people of God should not receive the inheritance promised, and be made perfect before us, but that all those good men wait till the gospel has done its work, and prepared all the christians for the inheritance, and then all will be raised from the dead, be made perfect in immortality, and receive the promise made to the fathers, together. For we shall presently prove that all Christians will share in the promised inheritance, as well as Abraham, the father of all the faithful. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.3
But who is the seed of Abraham? for the promise was made not only to Abraham, but to his seed. In Galatians 3:16, we have the answer. “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Then Christ is the heir to the inheritance promised to Abraham. And is he the only heir? No. All true believers in him are heirs also. Romans 8:16. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” So all Christians, whether white, red, or black, are joint heirs with Christ, to the estate promised to Abraham. Galatians 3:29. “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Who does not want a share in the earth made new? We must be christians indeed, and then the promise is sure to us. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.4
But we cannot have it till the dead are raised, and they will not be raised till Christ comes. You can see then why we talk so much about his coming. We love him, and we want to see him. And we want to see that glorious land - the earth restored to all its primitive beauty, and the glory of the Lord filling it, as the waters fill the sea. When Christ comes the dead will be raised, and the christian’s hope cannot be obtained before that time. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “If the dead rise not then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” That is, they are out or existence forever. So all the hope of the Christian depends upon the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.5
When Paul spake for himself, before Agrippa, he referred to the promise made of God to Abraham, and the other patriarchs, and showed that he expected to obtain the promise through the resurrection. Acts 26:6. “And now,” said he, “I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto the fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.” What! is Paul a Christian minister, hoping for that promise which God had made so long ago to their fathers? Yes, the same hope. And how does he expect to obtain it? By the resurrection of the dead. His next words are, “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” The Jews complained of Paul, because he preached Christ, and through him, the resurrection of the dead. He defended himself by proving that the dead must be raised in order for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that they should have an everlasting possession in the earth. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.6
But some object that Peter [2 Peter 3.] teaches the utter destruction of the earth. But we think he only teaches the destruction of the ungodly, and the purifying and renewing of the earth, to be the abode of the righteous. He compares its destruction by fire to its former destruction by water; and since the old world was destroyed by water, and yet the world is again inhabited, it is reasonable to conclude that when the present earth is destroyed by fire, it will only purify the earth, and out of its substance will come forth the new earth, the final abode of the saints. Peter says, “By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; where by the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” We learn from this that as the wicked were once destroyed by the flood, so, in the end, the ungodly will be destroyed by fire. Peter continues, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” It is not stated that the earth will be burned up, as some suppose, but the elements and the earth also will melt with fervent heat, and the works in it will be burned up. “Nevertheless,” says Peter, “we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” The promise to which he alludes, is recorded by the prophet Isaiah. Chap. 65:17. “For, behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind.” He then describes it as a place where there will be no more weeping, but all will be joy and gladness. He then goes on to say that they shall build houses and inhabit them, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit. That is, they will not pass away by death, for there will be no death there. He then says, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, etc. John had a view of the same. He says, [Revelation 21,] “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.7
You will take notice, he does not say he will make all new things, but all things new. That is, the present earth will be made over, or made new, and not a new one created from nothing. He says, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things;” i.e., all things he has been describing. He then speaks of the fruit of the tree of life, and the water of life, and the great City with its high walls, and its twelve gates. All these things are promised to the faithful. They will inherit that beautiful land, and dwell therein forever. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.8
Then will be fulfilled the promise of Jesus: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Then the promised land will be given to Abraham and his seed. All the good will be joint-heirs with Christ. Then will be fulfilled the promise made to Daniel, where it is said, And the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, not above the heaven, nor in heaven, but under the whole heaven, i.e., over all the earth, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. The new earth will be the kingdom that God has promised, through all the scriptures, to them that love him. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.9
Are not these exceeding great and precious promises? Who would not wish to enjoy them? How much better is such a hope than the hope that many entertain of living in a land of spirits that has nothing literal and real about it. God has promised his people a real inheritance. He has described its beauty and glory in such a manner that he who believes the Word must fall in love with it. He has invited us to come and partake of the waters of life freely. Who would not be willing to obey God in order to become an heir of this kingdom? He says, Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.10
When the wicked are all destroyed out of the earth, and the righteous only have possession of it, then will be answered the prayer which our Saviour taught us to pray: Thy kingdom come: thy will be done in earth as it is done in heaven. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.11
Will you believe in Jesus Christ, and keep his Father’s commandments, that you may inherit the earth and dwell in it forever? God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of him. But we must do better than the great mass of professing christians do. We must keep all his commandments if we would live. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.12
At another time we shall like to talk to you about the ten commandments, and show where the great multitude are in error, not keeping them all right. We must be willing to do all that God requires. We must take up the cross and follow Christ if we would be his disciples. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.13
I want to meet you in the promised kingdom; and may you learn and obey the truth, that finally you may sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.14
“No chilling winds nor poisonous breath Can reach that healthful shore: Sickness and sorrow, pain and death Are felt and feared no more.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.15
May God grant that we may meet in that glorious inheritance. Amen. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 13.16
“THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD: I SHALL NOT WANT.”
THE Lord of hosts’ my portion now,
In him I will rejoice:
Though waves, and storms, my path surround,
I hear my Saviour’s voice.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.1
He says, Fear not, ye trembling soul,
That stormy path I’ve trod;
I know its dangers, and control
Affliction’s frowning rod.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.2
Fight on, you soon shall conqueror be;
Thy strength, Omnipotence,
My wisdom, goodness, mercy, see,
Thy Captain and defense.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.3
‘Tis not in earth, or hell, to harm
The temple where I dwell.
In safety stand, nor heed the alarm;
Thy wall’s Immanuel.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.4
My God, my hope, my life, my all,
Set up thy kingdom here;
Let not the world’s delusive calls
Divert me from thy fear.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.5
Lord, I believe; assist my faith,
Be Simon’s favor, mine;
O leave me not in unbelief,
Nor let my love decline.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.6
My heart! that loathsome enemy.
Wash white in Jesus’ blood;
While to the world I’m crucified,
And lose myself in God.
L.M.T. AYRES
Fulton Center, Ills.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.7
Could Ye not Watch One Hour?
THESE words, though addressed to a disciple, might with propriety be addressed to the followers of Christ now. Jesus told his disciples to watch and pray lest they enter into temptation. We have the same inclination to sleep that they had, and if possible a greater necessity to watch. Now, when Satan is more than ever busy setting snares for our unwary feet, ought we not to be continually on the watch? But alas! we have been sleeping, though we knew the last sands of time had nearly run out, believed our Lord was near even at the door, had the last message of mercy to give to the world, and yet we went to sleep. Jesus looks upon us, sees our true condition, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked, his compassionate heart yearns over us, and he as it were beseeches us to buy of him gold tried in the fire, that we may be rich; and white raiment, that we may be clothed; and to anoint our eyes with eye-salve, that we may see. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.8
And furthermore, he even condescends to stand at the door of our hearts knocking for admittance, saying that if we hear his voice, and open the door, he will come in and sup with us. What a gracious promise, the King of glory to sup with us. But lest this should not be sufficient to arouse us, he promises that those that overcome shall sit down on his throne. What greater inducement could he hold out than this? ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.9
It seems as if this were enough to thrill through and through our lukewarm hearts, and cause us to make the best use of every moment that is left us to prepare for that glorious reward. He cannot give us more - yet our eyes are still heavy with sleep. Why is it? We know that his anger has been kindled against us, for he has threatened to spue us out of his mouth. This is a dangerous and deplorable state to be in. O that we could realize it more. We are being brought into a straight place; for though the Lord is long suffering and of tender mercies, and has thus far exercised patience towards us, not willing that any should perish, yet his Spirit will not always strive. How fearful the alternative, left to the evil devices of our own hearts, and sure destruction. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.10
We ought to be very thankful that this is not the case with us now, that we still feel the strivings of the Spirit, for as Paul says, “if in this life only we have hope we are of all men the most miserable.” We have felt the chastening hand of the Lord: this is comforting; for by this we know that he still loves us, and desires to save us. He says, “As many as I love I rebuke and chasten.” Revelation 3:19. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.11
Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Hebrews 12:6. Let us then, as he has counseled us, be zealous and repent, return unto the Lord with a full purpose of heart and he will return unto us, and heal our backslidings. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.12
What a work, what a great work must yet be done for us, ere we shall be ready to meet our coming Lord. It is high time for us to earnestly seek that needed preparation, humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, seek meekness and righteousness that we may be hid in the day of the Lord’s fierce anger. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.13
Why is it so hard for us to get the door of our hearts open? Have they been so long closed that they have rusted on their hinges? It seems so sometimes. I, at least, must make greater exertions than I have yet done, or I shall not get the door open. We are losing much by keeping it shut, the Saviour stands ready to enter, how can we keep him out? We know not how long he will wait there for us to let him in. Let us make haste to open unto him before he withdraws himself forever, burst open the door if it be possible and receive the dear Saviour to the joy of our hearts. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.14
God grant that we may thoroughly awake, lest he come, find us sleeping, and bid us sleep on.
M. E. DEVEREUX.
Battle Creek, Mich.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.15
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.”
From Bro. Everts
BRO. SMITH: I would say that I feel thankful for the precious interview that I enjoyed with the dear saints at our interesting, harmonious conference at Battle Creek. I think that its influence was well calculated to unite more firmly the hearts and efforts of the scattered saints, and gird them with renewed strength and zeal for the last work for this generation who must soon pass into the solemn scenes of the overthrow of Satan, and the triumph of the toilworn saints. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.16
How I was reminded of the cheering promise of the saints’ final gathering from the East and West, to set down in the kingdom of heaven, by the ingathering from every point of compass. How glad I was to meet dear Brn. Pierce and Byington from the East, and behold their settled purpose in this blessed truth wherein we stand. As I see them and others, as I did, with their hearts onward, fixed to the sealing work, it reminds me of Revelation 7:2, 3, of the onward westward march of the sealing truth. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.17
E. EVERTS
Round Grove, Ills, Apr. 29th, 1857.
From Sister Bolton
BRO. SMITH: I still believe in that sure, unerring Word which has ever been a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. I feel to forsake all for Christ, and press my way onward through every opposition to that glorious kingdom which is so soon to come. I do believe if faithful we shall soon realize the glorious things spoken of. O I desire with all my heart to give heed to the counsel of the faithful and true Witness. With shame and deep contrition of heart do I feel to confess my lukewarmness and backsliding from God; but I do thank his great name that I yet have hope in his mercy. There is a balm, a sovereign remedy for all the wounds that sin has made. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.18
O how solemnly touching is the appeal of our blessed Saviour, who by his holy Spirit is making his last call; who is knocking at the door of our hearts. I want to be zealous and repent, and turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and lay all that I have on the altar of God, that I may possess the gold tried in the fire, and the white raiment, which is the righteousness of saints. I would pray unceasingly for the eye-salve that I may be wide awake to my condition, that I may not sleep as do others, but have on the whole armor that I may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, and above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, that faith that works by love and purifies the heart, that faith which with humble child-like confidence takes God at his word, and gives us a clear vision of things to come. I often feel grieved that it is not in my power to assist you in this blessed cause only by my prayers. My heavenly Father knows all things. I pray God to aid you in all your arduous labors of love, and when the scenes of this world’s strife are ended, you with all the redeemed may enter that peaceful rest which remains for the people of God. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.19
L. BOLTON.
Portland, Me., Apr. 25th, 1857.
From Sister Markinie
BRO. SMITH: I embrace the present opportunity of writing a few lines to the little flock scattered abroad in this wilderness of sin, as I have been striving over two years to keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. I love to read communications every week from others of like precious faith. I thought it might be my duty therefore to give in my mite with the rest on the side of truth; for I believe that we have the truth; but many are the trials and temptations that we have to pass through, but God’s holy word tells us, He that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Many are the precious promises in God’s word for the remnant. “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.20
Dear brethren and sisters in the Lord, let us strive a little longer: the prize is at the end of the race; and they that run the race with patience, shall obtain it. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.21
We, in this place, have meetings on the Lord’s Sabbath. A few months ago, we numbered but six that could meet, we were so scattered; but the Lord has seen fit to send Bro. Bates this way, and some have moved in here that are strong in the faith, and the way is opened so that we can all meet. Praise the Lord! for his goodness endureth forever. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.22
About two weeks since we had a visit from Bro. Holt, which was quite cheering, and my prayer is that we may all strive to be zealous in the cause of God. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.23
I was glad to hear from the Conference at Battle Creek, that such good success was experienced toward the Power Press, and hope that it will be obtained, and that much good may be done in the name of Jesus. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.24
Your sister in hope of eternal life.
PRISCILLA MARKILES.
Waverly, Mich., Apr. 24th, 1857.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.25
Extracts from Letters
SISTER A. M. Preston writes from Fitz Henry, Ills.: “I feel thankful that I ever heard the sound of the Third Angel’s Message. But it is only those that endure to the end that will be saved. The Lord has been very good to me since I came West. O that the Lord would send some of his children into this place to proclaim the truth. I was blessed in receiving this last message. It was what we needed to humble us and prepare us for the latter rain. Though I live alone here now, I believe in a little while if faithful I shall dwell with the saints in the new earth. I read the Review with great delight. There are so many thrilling letters from the brethren and sisters it is like a meeting to me.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.26
Bro. M. Mott writes from E. Plattsburgh, N. Y.: “I do thank the Lord that he has been so mindful of me in these last days as to reveal so much of his truth to me. He has led me in a way that I knew not of. O praise the Lord! for he is good, and still is counseling us to buy of him gold tried in the fire, that we may be rich; and white raiment that we may be clothed, that the shame of our nakedness do not appear; and anoint our eyes with eye-salve, that we may see. I feel thankful that the Lord has not left me, but is still knocking at the door of my heart for admittance. I desire to open the door of my heart and welcome the Saviour in, that I may sup with him and he with me. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 14.27
“Dear brethren and sisters, how much zeal, how much humility we need to overcome and stand with the Lamb on mount Zion! O that I may so live that I may have a final victory with the saints of God.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.1
Bro. Daniel Eaton writes from California, March 24, 1857: “I am still trying to live by faith upon the Son of God; and humbly hope I may be saved with the remnant when our Lord shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation. The Review is still a welcome messenger to me. I prize it next to my Bible. It cheers and encourages me to hear through its columns from the scattered flock; and now and then a letter from one whose face I have seen.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.2
Sister Rhoda Ashald writes from Stamford, Vt., Apr. 26th, 1857: “My spirit has been greatly refreshed when reading the good letters and admonitions in the Review, and adored be the name of the Lord that he has opened our way thus to commune with each other. It makes my heart warm in love to God and those that he has purchased by the gift of his dear Son, with whom he will freely give every good and perfect gift to all them that obey him. We have the truth, but let us take heed that we do not hold the truth in unrighteousness; or in other words, seek to be sanctified by works and not by faith. We are not to trust in our works, but by our works faith is made perfect; but we must trust in the faith of Jesus and in the power of God for the pardon of our sins and the sanctification of soul. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.3
“We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, and soldiers for Christ. Let us understand the rules of the Captain who has gone before us; that is, repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; and be sure that we have the watch-word, “Holiness to the Lord;” for without this no man shall see him. I live very lonely in regard to those that keep the holy Sabbath. There is one to go with me, and that is a great consolation. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.4
“Our neighbors are chiefly Baptists and Methodists, and are so prejudiced against each other that they scarcely ever meet except at funeral occasions. They are very much swallowed up in their own teachers, and for their own gain. They do not appear to unite in any thing but pride; and in that many go to excess. I would request if any of our ministers could come to North Adams to preach, or any other place near by, they would appoint through the Review; for I have a great desire to meet with the humble followers of the Lamb. In this place there is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.5
SELECTIONS
What is Prayer?
To pray, in a religious sense of the term, is to ask favors of God. But the term, prayer, may be considered a general one, as it is often used to signify that important part of Divine worship which consists in adoration, invocation, deprecation, confession, supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving. We adore God as an infinite and eternal Spirit, possessed of all possible perfection, as the Creator of all things, and the author and preserver of our being. We invoke his aid, without which we cannot think or speak aright. We deprecate his displeasure, because we have sinned against him. We confess our transgressions, with an humble, penitent, and believing heart, from the hope of obtaining pardon. We supplicate his mercy for ourselves, and intercede for others; and, while doing this, if we pray as we ought, we thank him for all the blessings which we have received, and do enjoy, from his munificent hand. Prayer, in this sense, may be considered as a continual sacrifice, like that of praise, to be offered to God daily, either by ourselves, in our closets, or in and with our families. It is also a part of that public sacrifice which we, with our fellow-creatures, are to offer unto God in his house - that holy place, which, in the sacred Scriptures, is called “a house of prayer for all nations.” Prayer by some seems to be regarded as the act of holding intercourse with God, as a means of grace, in the proper use of which we secure to ourselves those blessings which he has, in the covenant of his grace, promised to bestow. And so solemn and sacred an exercise has this been considered, that certain benefit is sure to be derived, whether we obtain the special object of our request immediately or not. “It is important,” says one, “to bear in mind the reason why God did not bless Jacob till the breaking of the day, and why our petitions are (sometimes) not granted till the last moment. In prayer the means are in these instances more valuable than the end. The spirit of prayer, and the frequent exercise of it, is a greater blessing than the attainment of any other short of heaven itself.” We should be careful, however, that we do not rest in the means, regardless of the end; for, as Mr. Watson, in his note on Luke 11:8, 9, remarks, “The whole (parable or discourse) tends to impress us with the necessity of obtaining the fulfillment of our petitions, and thus to guard against a common and fatal evil, that of resting in prayer as an end, without regarding it as the means of obtaining the petitions we present. How many rest here! They have done a duty, that is enough! which is a fatal infatuation.” But when we speak of prayer in the light of intercession, or the continual daily sacrifice of Christians, it should be offered with clean hands and a pure heart; or, as the Apostle expresses it, when he says, “I will therefore that men (Christians) pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.6
Prayer, then, in order to be pleasing to God, and profitable to ourselves, should be humble and reverential; for that which has in it the least particle of pride, or vain glory, whether it arise from a consciousness of superiority of gifts, in intellect or language, or voice or utterance, must be abhorred by Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. It should also be perfectly sincere without the least dissimulation, or hypocrisy, or any thing like an affectation of any state or frame of mind which we do not really feel, or the use of such language, or tone of voice, or gesture, as are not the true and honest index of our hearts. It should also be frequent; for a duty of this kind performed only once, especially if performed carelessly, can never prevail with God. Any thing like indifference, or coldness, should be avoided equally with boisterousness and levity. God is a holy being, and jealous of his glory; humility and lowliness of mind, self-abasement and child-like simplicity, godly sincerity and reverential awe joined with fervency of spirit and Christian confidence, should ever mark our addresses to the throne of his heavenly grace. Prayer is unquestionably the appointed means of obtaining help in every time of need. God has commanded us to pray, and therefore prayer is a duty. At our best estate we are weak, ignorant, and dependent creatures, and as such it is fitting we should pray; prayer is therefore a reasonable service. God has promised to hear and answer prayer; nay, more, he has promised to “pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication;” and there is no surer indication of an approaching revival of religion than a general prevalence of the “spirit of interceding grace.” But we must ask, as above prescribed, and in faith, nothing doubting, or it will be said of us, “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” Perhaps at no time since the beginning of Christianity has there ever been a greater number of praying souls in the church than now. All good Christians pray all the world over, whatever may be their name, or denomination. Some pray especially for the awakening and conversion of sinners; some for the spread of the gospel at home and abroad; some for the downfall of antichrist and of Mahommedanism; some more particularly for the Jews and for the heathen; some for universal peace, and some for the glorious millennium; some with a form, and others as the Spirit gives them utterance, or as the Spirit moves them; and yet that plain and simple prayer which Christ taught to his disciples, “Thy kingdom come,” or that registered by the Psalmist a thousand years before the coming of Christ, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us, that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations,” has not yet been answered, even though we live in the nineteenth century of the Christian era. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.7
This is an alarming consideration, and more especially so when we consider how ready God is to hear and answer “the effectual, (inwrought,) fervent prayer of every righteous man” upon earth. There may be some difficulty in apprehending how far others can be benefited by our prayers, seeing they are free moral agents; but this difficulty can form no good argument against the practice, since it is evident that God has made it our duty to pray for all men, even for those that persecute and despitefully use us. The examples of Abraham praying for Abimelech, of Moses and Samuel for the Israelites, of Job for his friends, of Daniel for his people, of Christ for his murderers and of Stephen for those that rose up against him to put him to death, are a sufficient warrant for us, and for the whole church to continue instant in prayer - to pray without ceasing. But perhaps there are some who may read these lines who have not yet begun to pray at all, neither for themselves nor for others. Alas for these! How many blessings they have lost it is impossible to tell. O fly then to the Friend of sinners and ask for pardon, not only for all that you have done amiss, but especially for your negligence of this most important and most profitable duty. Begin to-day, lest, the “clement, mediatorial hour” pass by, never to be recalled. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.8
“Wealth in Christ.”
A LADY of wealth and piety, who had lately met with many afflictions, and was expecting more, related some of her sorrows to a poor but pious woman, whose cottage she entered. The poor Christian, taking the lady to a closet, said, “Do you see any thing?” The lady replied, “No.” She took her to another closet, and repeated the question, to which with some surprise the lady again answered, “No.” “Then, madam,” said the poor woman, “you see all I have in the world. But why should I be unhappy? I have Christ in my heart, and heaven in my eye. I have an unfailing word of promise, that bread shall be given me, and water shall be sure, while I stay a little longer in this vale of tears; and a bright crown of glory awaits me, through the merits of my Redeemer.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.9
Blessed confidence! Reader, do you possess this cheering hope? ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.10
Test of a Preacher
“How shall we try those who think they are moved by the Holy Ghost to preach?” Ans. Inquire, ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.11
1. Do they know God as a pardoning God? Have they the love of God abiding in them? Do they desire and seek nothing but God? And are they holy in all manner of conversation? ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.12
2. Have they gifts as well as grace for the work? Have they, in some tolerable degree, a clear, sound understanding? Have they a right judgment in the things of God? Have they a just conception of salvation by faith? And has God given them any degree of utterance? Do they speak justly, readily, clearly? ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.13
3. Have they fruit? Are any truly convinced of sin, and converted to God by their preaching? - Wesley. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.14
Coverdale’s Translation of Job 19:25, 26. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.15
“FOR I am sure that my Redeemer liveth; and that I shall rise out of the earth in the latter daye; that I shal be clothed againe with this skynne, and se God in my flesh. Yee, I myself shal beholde him, not with other, but with these same eyes.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.16
HE that searches too much into mysteries, is likely to be confounded by them. - A. Clarke. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 15.17
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, FIFTH-DAY, MAY 14, 1857.
The Earth was filled with Violence. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.1
“As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Luke 17:26. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.2
One feature of Noah’s age of sufficient importance to demand the attention of inspiration, was the violence that then filled the earth. “The earth also was corrupt,” says the record, “the earth was filled with violence.” See how well the following picture of to-day which we clip from one of our New York exchanges accords with this description: ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.3
“Crime is rife as ever. Newburgh is in commotion by reason of the finding of the body of a young woman in a plowed field, nearly naked, with the marks of a violent death. Three or four alleged murders have occurred in this city during the past week. The Pittsburg papers record the double murder and robbery of a brother and sister near that city; Baltimore has suffered from mob violence; and every section of our wide country seems suffering from outrage and crime.” ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.4
How much farther down in the scale of moral degradation need the world descend, before it can be said of this age as it was of Noah’s, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:7. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.5
Reader, if you are a believer in the truths of these last days, and are discerning the signs of the times, and waiting for the consolation of Israel, let these facts encourage you to more diligence and perseverance still. If you are yet careless as to your soul’s salvation, and unconscious of the perils of these times, shut not your eyes and steel not your feelings against the mighty weight of evidence which these daily records bear along with them. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.6
As God’s judgments threatened upon the Antediluvians, drove Noah into the ark; as the impending storm drives the traveler to a place of shelter, so may these things induce you to flee for your life to Him who has promised to hide his people in his pavilion. These are signs which may not be disregarded with impunity. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.7
New Spiritual Paper
We have received the first number of “The Spiritual Age” edited and published by S. B. Brittan. The partnership heretofore existing between Messrs. Patridge and Brittan of the Spiritual Telegraph being dissolved, Mr. Patridge assumes the entire management of the Telegraph, and Mr. Brittan embarks in the enterprise of publishing “The Spiritual Age.” If it maintains the vigor and energy with which it has started, we predict for it a powerful influence in the cause it advocates. Published at 333 Broadway, New York. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.8
To Correspondents
D. HILDRETH:- Thank you for your information concerning that family in McHenry. Wherever any person is known to be receiving the REVIEW free who is not worthy, information should be given at once to this Office. No writer in the REVIEW that we recollect, speaks of the soul and spirit as two distinct entities belonging to man. The passage cited, [Matthew 12:43-45,] evidently refers to the spirits of devils which possessed people in the days of our Saviour. That such spirits exist and are now at work, is abundantly attested by Spiritualism. To your third question, we reply, about seventeen hundred. Please inform us as far as your observation has extended of the cause in Wis. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.9
Change of Appointment
The Conference appointed at Springfield, Mass., has been changed to Lancaster, Mass. The cause of this change will be found in the following letter from Bro. Nichols: ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.10
DEAR BRO. AND SISTER WHITE: We have received Review, No. 25, in which there is an appointment that you will meet with the brethren and sisters in conference a Springfield, Mass., May 23rd and 24th. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.11
Since your proposal to meet with the brethren, and sisters in a general tent-meeting in Mass., it was contemplated that the tent-meeting should be at Lancaster, Mass., and that you meet with the brethren and sisters there, at such a time as would be convenient. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.12
The brethren think that Lancaster is the place, and that much good will result from a general tent-meeting in that place. There has been considerable interest for the truth awakened there, and quite a number have embraced the Sabbath, and the last message. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.13
Lancaster is the most central place for the accommodation of the brethren and sisters in southern N.H., and all eastern Mass., and those as far west as Springfield, and the towns bordering on the Connecticut river. This town is easy of access from the west, and from the north, the east, and the south. There is a Rail Road from Lancaster to the noted junction at Groton, where the Worcester and Nashua, the Boston and Fitchburg, and a number of other Rail Roads intersect. The portable seats for the tents are made at Lancaster, and the tent is at Princeton, about 12 miles distant. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.14
For the above considerations, the brethren desire that you would re-consider your appointment at Springfield and make another through the Review, to meet with the brethren and sisters in a general tent-meeting, to be held at Lancaster, Mass., commencing May 23rd. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.15
The above expressions are in accordance with the minds of Bro. Folsom and others, with the request that I write the same to you. Bro. F. has seen Bro Saxby of Springfield, who coincides with the above arrangements. We think if you meet with the tent at Lancaster, there will be quite a gathering there. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.16
We remain as ever in much love.
O. NICHOLS.
Dorchester, Mass., May 3rd, 1857
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.17
We cheerfully submit to the judgment of the brethren, and shall endeavor to meet them at Lancaster, instead of Springfield, Mass., May 23rd.
JAMES WHITE.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.18
Brn. Hutchins, Barr, and Phillips are invited to attend the above Conference. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.19
New York Tent. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.20
The brethren may now send in means for the tent operations. A portion for present need for traveling expenses should be received by the first of June. Address R. F. Cottrell, Mill Grove, Erie Co., N. Y. R.F.C. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.21
Bro. & Sr. White left the 11th inst., for their appointment in West Winfield, N. Y., and from thence to Mass. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.22
Business Items
E. Cobb:- The subscription for S. W. Cobb, is entered on the book at Vol. VII, No. 11, and he is credited for one volume. There may be a mistake in the entry. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.23
J. A. Hayden: - We mark you free. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.24
E. Dunham: - Fifty cents of the $1 was credited to B. Dunham, in No. 23, Vol. VIII, and the remaining fifty cents sent in books as ordered. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.25
D. Hildreth: - We cannot send the back numbers of the present volume of INSTRUCTOR, as some of them are exhausted. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.26
J. P. Rathbun: - Your postage will be thirteen cents a volume, or twenty-six cents a year. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.27
The P.O. Address of C. W. Stanley is Lodi, Columbia Co., Wis. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.28
BOOKS SENT. - A. M. Preston, Ills., E. L. Bascom, Mich., M. Cryderman, Mich., Wm. W. Lockwood, Mich., S. J. Grant, Wis., J. P. Rathbun, Mich., G. W. Newman, Mich., J. I. Stewart, Mich., A. C. Morton, Mich., D. Arnold, N. Y., E. Goodwin, N. Y. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.29
Receipts
Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the “Review and Herald” to which the money receipted pays. If money for the paper is not in due time acknowledged, immediate notice of the omission should then be given.
FOR REVIEW AND HERALD.
ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.30
J. I. Bostwick $1.00,xi,1. Electa Fairfield 2,00,x,1. R. Harmon 1,00,xi,1. E. Temple 1,00,xi,1. A. J. Wygent 0,32,x,1. W. J. Mills 1,00,xi,1. R. Hicks 1,00,xi,1. L. A. Sargent 1,00,x,1. H. K. W. Eastman 1,00,xi,1. H. H. Bramhall 1,00,xi,1. Z. Brooks 1,00,xi,1. Jno. Alexander 1,00,x,1. E. Cobb 1,00,x,1. E. Morton (for Mrs. J. Firman) 0,50,xi,1. O. Jones 0,25,x,14. L. Martin 1,00,xi,1. S. Martin 1,00,xi,1. C. Washburn 2,00,xi,1. M. Foster 1,00,xi,1. S. Osgood 1,00,xi,1. S. Sargent 1,00,xi,19. Chas. Davis 1,00,xi,1. E. Dunham 1,00,xii,1. Wm. W. Lockwood 1,00,xi,1. Wm W. Lockwood (for Mrs. L. Curtis) 0,50,xi,1. E. Harris 2,00,xi,1. W. Holden 1,00,xi,1. D. Richmond 1,00,xi,1. D. Richmond (for R. Geren) 1,00,xii,1. D. Hildreth 1,00,xi,1. A. B. Morton 1,00,xi,1. L. Morton 100,xi,1. J. P. Rathbun 1,00,xi,14. B. Reed 1,00,xi,1. M. E. Towzer 1,00,xi,1. W. H. Brigham 1,00,x,1. D. Arnold 4,00,xi,1. Wm. Whitford 2,00,xi,1. Mrs. H. Mott 0,50,x,1. J. Dickey 0,25,x,14. A. Fenner 1,00,xi,1. J. Hebner 2,26,xi,1. G. Felshaw 1,00,xi,1. T. B. Mead 1,00,xi,1. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.31
FOR REVIEW TO POOR. - D. Hildreth $1,64. J. Demarest $2. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.32
FOR MICH. TENT. - F. F. Lamoreaux $5. A. C. Morton $6. E. L. Morton $1. S. Lane $0,50. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.33
FOR BOOK FUND. - F. F. Lamoreaux $5. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.34
Books for Sale at this Office. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.35
THE price set to each publication includes both the price of the book, and the postage, when sent by Mail. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.36
HYMNS for those who keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. This Hymn Book is designed to promote not only public worship, but also social and family devotions. It is a selection of Hymns expressing the faith and hope of the Church as set forth in the Scriptures of truth, free from the popular errors of the age. The Book contains 352 Pages, 430 Hymns and 76 pieces of Music. Price, 60 cents. - In Morocco, 65 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.37
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 May 14, 1857, page 16.38
Sabbath Tracts, Nos. 1,2,3 & 4. This work presents a condensed view of the entire Sabbath question. - 184 pages. Price 15 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.39
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 May 14, 1857, page 16.40
Bible Student’s Assistant. This is the title of a work is 36 pp. We can recommend this little work as one of great worth to those especially who are engaged in the study of the holy Scriptures. 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 May 14, 1857, page 16.41
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-add, 10 cts. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.42
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 May 14, 1857, page 16.43
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 May 14, 1857, page 16.44
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 May 14, 1857, page 16.45
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 May 14, 1857, page 16.46
Sabbath and Advent Miscellany. This work is composed of seven small tracts on the Sabbath, Second Advent, etc, and presents a choice variety for those who commence to seek for Bible truth. Price 10 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.47
The Bible Sabbath, or a careful selection from the publications of the American Sabbath Tract Society, including their History of the Sabbath. Price 10 cts. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.48
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 May 14, 1857, page 16.49
Man not Immortal: the only Shield against the Seductions of Modern Spiritualism. Without the great truth that man is not immortal, and that the dead know not anything, none are prepared to stand against wicked spirits in high places. We commend this work on the Immortality question, as an able discussion of the subject. - 148 pp. - 12 1/2 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.50
An Examination of the Scripture Testimony concerning Man’s present condition, and his future Reward or Punishment. By this work is shown the unconscious state of the dead, and the final destiny of the wicked. 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 May 14, 1857, page 16.51
Why Don’t you Keep the Sabbath? Extracts from Catholic works. - Price 5 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.52
History of the Sabbath. - Price 5 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.53
The 2300 Days and Sanctuary by “U.S.” - Price 5 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.54
The Celestial Railroad. - Price 5 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.55
Christian Experience and Views. - Price 6 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.56
Supplement to Experience and Views. - Price 6 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.57
Last Work of the True Church. - Price 7 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.58
Perpetuity of the Royal Law. - Price 5 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.59
POEMS
Home Here and Home in Heaven, with other poems. This work embraces all those sweet and Scriptural poems written by Annie R. Smith, from the time she embraced the third message till she fell asleep in Jesus. - Price 25 cents. In paper covers, 20 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.60
Time and Prophecy. This work is a poetic comparison of the events of time with the sure word of Prophecy. - Price 25 cents. In paper covers, 12 1/2 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.61
A Word for the Sabbath. This work is an exposure of false theories in regard to the Sabbath. - Price 5 cents. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.62
Liberal discount on these works where $5 worth is taken. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.63
Address URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH May 14, 1857, page 16.64