Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 10
August 20, 1857
RH VOL. X. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, - NO. 16
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, AUGUST 20, 1857. - NO. 16.
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 August 20, 1857, page 121.1
“EARTH TO EARTH, AND DUST TO DUST.”
EARTH to earth, and dust to dust!”
Here the evil and the just,
Here the youthful and the old,
Here the fearful and the bold,
Here the matron and the maid
In one silent bed are laid;
Here the vassal and the king
Side by side lie withering;
Here the sword and sceptre rust -
“Earth to earth, and dust to dust.”
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.2
But a day is coming fast,
Earth, thy mightiest and thy last!
It shall come in fear and wonder,
Heralded with trump and thunder;
It shall come in strife and toil;
It shall come in blood and spoil;
It shall come in empire’s groans,
Burning temples, trampled thrones:
Then, ambition, rue thy lust! -
“Earth to earth, and dust to dust!”
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.3
Then shall come the judgment sign,
In the East the King shall shine!
Flashing from heaven’s golden gate,
Thousand thousands round his state,
Spirits with the crown and plume;
Tremble then, thou sullen tomb!
Heaven shall open on our sight,
Earth be turned to living light -
Kingdom of the ransomed just -
“Earth to earth, and dust to dust!”
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.4
Then thy mount, Jerusalem,
Shall be gorgeous as a gem;
Then shall in the desert rise
Fruits of more than paradise,
Earth by angel feet be trod,
One great garden of her God!
Till are dried the martyr’s tears,
Through a thousand glorious years!
Now in hope of Him we trust -
“Earth to earth, and dust to dust.”
[Croley.
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.5
THE COMING STRUGGLE
WE commend to our readers the following extracts from an article from the pen of an able divine and close observer of men and things in one of our Western cities. The article appeared some time ago in the Preacher and Presbyterian; but the lapse of a few months has by no means destroyed their importance to the christian community. The evils referred to, stand out distinctly to view, and the call for the co-operation of Christians to counteract them is as loud and imperative as ever. - Chr. Union. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.6
“Wherever the Church militant exists, she encounters opposition. Rome silences the Bible reader in a dungeon. Austria confines the exposer of monkish abominations in a mad-house. France closes the churches, and fines and imprisons those congregations of Protestants who may happen to offend the Popish Bishop. Spain prohibits the preaching of the gospel and the printing of the Bible, or anything derogatory to the Catholic church. Denmark prohibits prayer-meetings. Prussia allows no dissent from her Puseyite or Rationalistic establishments. Russia forbids Bible circulation, or proselytism in all her wide realms. The light toleration in two South American Republics illustrates the darkness of all the remainder of that vast continent. As a matter of course the priests of Paganism and the followers of Mahomet employ all the power they possess to crush the effects of that gospel which endangers the craft whereby they have their wealth. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.7
“There is but one country besides our own which pretends to grant liberty of conscience; but even there what a powerful opposition has been organized against the gospel of Christ. In no European country can the witnesses be found in any considerable number save England. England has ever been reckoned one of the ten kingdoms of the mystic Babylon; and if the inquiry be made, which of the kingdoms of modern Europe may be the great thoroughfare of the nations, the centre of travel, the mart of commerce? but one response can be given - England. Look at the preparation for this event which is transacting before our eyes. A college is supported by British taxation for educating fanatic emissaries of Popery to teach sedition at home and carry priestly government abroad. The government appoints these Maynooth priests to be chaplains to the army, chaplains to the poor-houses and prisons, dismisses officers who will not attend their masses, and would fain pass a bill to endow all the Popish clergy. It is well known that the prince consort was raised a Papist, and through policy assumed Protestantism; and it is very credible that his children, the heirs of the throne, may follow their father’s example. It is incredible that without some high protecting influence, Jesuits should have been allowed so long to occupy the chairs of Oxford - that so many Bishops of the establishment should foster Puseyism - that altars, candles, crucifixes and confession, should have been introduced into so many churches - that it should be found impossible to eject an advocate of transubstantiation from a church as yet called Protestant - that such numbers of English aristocracy should have succumbed to the charms of Puseyism, or with more honest servility bowed to the supremacy of Rome. The Pope sends a Cardinal over to England. The Secretary of State sends a priest in the confidence of the government to Rome. England allies herself with Catholic France and Italy, and sends a Catholic ambassador to Spain. Priests wax confident, and begin to talk of their ancient rights - to point to the hundreds of thousands of ignorant, fanatic, famished Irish, who crowd the back-streets of all the cities of the land, ready at the word of command to pour out their hereditary hatred on the Sassenach. Popish Bishops write letters to English peers, warning them to cease distributing Bibles and opposing the church, and requesting them to remember that London is not more impregnable than Sebastopol, and the bayonets which gleamed on the malakoff were Catholic. The eloquent historian of England shows that religious revolutions are no new thing there. In 1660 England was a Puritan commonwealth. In 1665 a persecuting Stuart filled the throne. It were not difficult to divine the measures which a Popish prince, a Popish ministry, a Puseyite clergy and aristocracy, and an Irish army, an Austrian and French alliance, would find needful for the suppression of evangelism. Indeed, Cardinal Wiseman and his journalists save us all dubiety on the subject. They expressly tell us that as soon as possible they will use the same means for the protection of religion in England which have been found so beneficial in Spain and Austria. Significant intimations are held out to us, too, that Mexico and Canada, are Catholic - that Ireland, now almost on our eastern shore is Catholic - that soon fifty millions of Catholics will fill the valley of the Mississippi; and then - ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.8
“The number and variety of the forces arrayed against the church in our own land is amazing. The theatre, the tavern, and the ball-room, the hereditary fortifications, we are not at all surprised to find in their possession; but it seems like turning our own forces against us, when the college and the pulpit become the engines of infidelity. It is reserved for the nineteenth century to behold men, calling themselves Christians, teaching Pantheism, or casing themselves in armour of Biblical criticism, and defying the armies of the living God, to prove that he is able or willing to punish his foes. On the very verge of the desert we behold, on our own soil, the scum and dregs of all nations deliberately choosing an American Mohammed as their Prophet, coolly throwing aside the bonds of civilization, and demanding the aid of the Federal Constitution for the consolidation of their abominations. More shameless and more dangerous, because in the very heart of our own communities, the novel and the newspaper wage war against marriage, the Sabbath, and the Bible, and multitudes of the young fall victims to lying spirits, (whether of the dead or living,) who teach that there is no resurrection, no judgment, no hell; that religion is a fable, worship a farce, and the spirit of man the highest intelligence in the universe. It would be hard to name a family in which some inmate has not been more or less influenced by this spirit of the age. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.9
“On our eastern shores the tide of emigration lands a thousand Popish militia every day, trained up to cherish the most determined hatred to the word of God, and to the Church of Christ, and instructed by the Romish agents ere they have landed from their ships to beware of the Bible and the heretics. Into our very families do these agents of a foreign prince carry their opposition to the gospel, prohibiting their slaves from listening to the reading of the Scriptures, or from uniting with their employers in the worship of God. The chosen victims of poverty and filth, vice and crime, in the cellars and garrets of our cities, they will have them remain so rather than to allow them to attend school, where their minds may be enlightened, or emigrate to the fertile fields, where the rewards of industry would elevate above the condition of slaves. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.10
“Let us remember, too, that all these adversaries of the church are regularly organized, and enrolled, and paraded in rank and file. There is no longer a loose, floating, neutral party. Every person belongs somewhere, as the saying is. He claims to belong to some church or order, or club, of one kind or other. The Romish missionary boards the emigrant ship, takes his passage on the river steamboat, or travels in the second-class cars with the newly arrived emigrants, and leaves them not till he has handed them over to the care of some brother Jesuit, and placed them within the pale of the holy church. Even those who have no belief in any God find some advantage in the society of their fellow-men, and associate to keep each other in countenance. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 121.11
“Let us not deceive ourselves with the delusion, that material so heterogeneous can never unite in any common enterprise. They can co-operate. The very explosion of discordant substances may overturn the battlement which has resisted the sap and battery. Let the experience of England warn us in time. Last year (1855) beheld a strange combination there, powerful enough to intimidate the government, control the Parliament, and almost revolutionize the religion of the land. High Church, and Broad Church, and no Church, Romish cardinal and Chartist lecturer, Whig Tory, Radical and Repealer, the peer of Parliament, and the publican of Pamlico, engaged in a common league to dethrone the Sabbath and worship, and substitute Sunday and revelry. Were it wise, think you, to wait till sad experience teaches us how effectually the Western Mormon, and the Eastern Universalist, the priest, the German Infidel and the American Spiritualist, can unite with the vast and yearly increasing mass of heathenism in all our cities, to trample under foot that gospel which they all cordially hate, and a divided church whose weakness they have learned to despise? With a population increasing by thousands, and a church increasing by hundreds, it becomes a mere matter of arithmetic to calculate in how few years, at our present rate of progress, the churches of Christ shall have dwindled into relative insignificance, and the overwhelming mass of ungodliness shall undertake to decide their destiny at the ballot-box. American Christian! the forces of Western licentiousness, Eastern Infidelity, and Northern Popery, the heathenism of your prairies, and the rowdyism of your streets, are steadily and rapidly concentrating their movements upon you. Already they have made lodgements in your churches and inroads in your families, and but wait their opportunity for the last onset. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.1
“Under such circumstances it does almost seem unnecessary to enquire what course of conduct the church should pursue. Few and weak in the aggregate, ought they still further to weaken their forces by distraction and division of councils, in the presence of such numerous and powerful combinations of their foes? With the consciousness that every day augments the number of their opponents, and every week opens some new engine of warfare against the truth, and every year unfolds some new and bolder assault, should the people of God be content with the old, quiet plan of defensive operations, and folding their arms await the combined onset? Were the Bible silent on the subject, common sense would reply, that harmony of feeling, concert of plan, and energy of action, were indispensable in this crisis.’ ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.2
Are You Ready? ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.3
WHO ASKS THIS QUESTION?
YOUR Maker. He does it in his word. One of the grand objects of that blessed volume is to enable you to give it an affirmative answer. By judgments and by mercies does his holy providence press this matter upon you. When reason and conscience are permitted to speak, they urge attention to this great concern. Cast away from you for half an hour the charms of the world: press your way out of that torrent of cares, or pleasures, which sweeps every serious thought away; rebuke every other appeal, and let that only be heard which the unblinded reason and the unscared conscience make, and you will perceive that this inquiry is solemnly addressed to you. By your frailty and mortality is this question pressed. Nothing can be more precarious than your hold on life. Your body is the tie that binds you to the earth. How frail a flower! “The wind passeth over it, and it is gone.” It is in health and vigor to-day; to-morrow it is lifeless and cold, and a mass of corruption. The worm is thy sister and thy mother. Job 17:14. Your frailty, therefore, cries, Are you ready? and the voice waxes louder and louder with every wasting hour of your probation. Eternity seems uttering the same appeal; as if, with a living voice, it presses every human mind with the momentous truth, that, beyond the grave, man’s destiny is fixed for ever; the righteous are “righteous still,” and the filthy are “filthy still.” And it utters the earnest admonition, “Beware of unpreparedness.” But there is yet another voice; and, reader, if there be any voice that should drown all the appeals of the cares and pleasures of this world, which should excite the soul’s most intense and devout attention, which should penetrate its lowest depths, and arouse its strongest emotions - it should be the voice of the Redeemer. “Be ye also ready,” is his admonition. No voice breaks upon human ears in so much tenderness and love; for no friendship has man experienced like that shown him by the Son of God, and no voice is so suited to inspire solemnity and awe as that of the final Judge! ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.4
WHY ASK THIS QUESTION?
Because none can be conceived of so much importance. Because, disturbing men’s sinful minds as it does, they are not disposed to press it honestly and earnestly upon themselves. Because an honest, serious, enlightened decision of this question may be of everlasting benefit to your soul. Because, amid the hurry of business or the whirl of pleasure, you may at this hour need something to lead you to consider your character and eternal prospects. Because, if the subject which this question urges upon you is not attended to, you will be lost! ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.5
WHO ARE NOT READY?
Common opinion, in a gospel land, allows that many are not ready for death; as the murderer, the thief, the drunkard, the idolater, the profane swearer, the adulterer, the scoffer, the liar, and the hypocrite. But the word of God includes more still: such as the covetous, the lewd, the lovers of pleasure more than of God, the fraudulent, the unmerciful, the formalist, the prayerless, the worldly - indeed every one who has not been washed in the blood of Christ, [Revelation 1:5,] and renewed by the holy Spirit. Not one of all these can give an affirmative answer to the question now urged. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.6
WHY ASK ME THIS QUESTION?
Because it respects interest of yours of infinite value - interests in fearful peril if you cannot answer this question in the affirmative. Because this question is suited to arouse attention to what you may have totally neglected. Because you may be the very person of all others who most needs such an appeal; being, perhaps, the victim of a false hope, or a fatal error, and borne every day farther and farther from God by the growing power of sin. Because it is of infinite importance that you make a correct decision as to this question. And, especially, because the next bosom pierced by the dart of death may be your own! ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.7
“HOW MAY I BE READY?”
“God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30. You must repent of your sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, “the just for the unjust;” and whom God “hath exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.” Acts 5:31. You must place your trust in him - in him alone, as your all-sufficient Saviour, “able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. Trusting in him, you will be ready for life, and death, and eternity. “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.8
IF I AM NOT READY, WHAT THEN?
Then - 1. You have already run a most desperate hazard of losing your soul. You could not have said in any hour of life, the next should not be your last; and, as you are now unprepared to die, you have run as many risks of everlasting ruin as you have lived hours. You have stood on the dizzy height of a most frightful precipice! Your feet had well nigh slipped! Look back; it would seem your heart would grow faint and sick at the dreadful peril to which you have been exposed. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.9
2. Your not being now ready implies very great guilt. It implies insensibility to the most powerful and affecting motives; stubborn refusal of a thousand kind and affectionate invitations; contempt of most solemn warnings; reckless indifference to the soul’s value. I ask not for vices and crimes in proof of sin; there is evidence enough without this to prove you stained with crimson guilt. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.10
3. If you are not ready, then there is no work so important, no obligation so pressing, as your immediately seeking the favor of God. Bid the world retire. Its highest and most pressing claims should not impede you for a moment in the great work of getting ready for heaven. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.11
IF I AM READY, WHAT THEN?
If, after a serious examination of yourself by the word of God, that infallible test, you can humbly hope you are accepted in Christ, then show with the warmest zeal, and in every possible manner, your love to the great Author and Finisher of your faith. Let all men see that your hope purifies you, and that your faith works by love. Let them see that your whole character has been cast anew in the mould of the gospel. By every energy you can employ, endeavor to make your fellow-men possessors of a like glorious hope. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.12
THE “SNARE.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.13
BY consulting Luke 21:34-36, inclusive, we find the “day” of the Lord alluded to, also a predication from which the following inquiry is elicited: ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.14
What is implied in its coming as a snare? - There is a simile in the use of the expression “as a snare,” illustrating and enforcing a portion of divine truth, which, however much it may apply to the past, is very applicable to the present age. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.15
Snares, or nets were much used among the ancients for fishing, hunting, and fowling, living as they did previous to the invention of gun-powder. Hence the translation from the Syriac reads, “For like a hunter’s snare shall it spring upon all those who dwell upon the face of the whole land. “In the taking of birds the “clap net was usually employed. It consisted of two sides or frames, over which the net-work was spread; at one end was a short net which they fastened to a bush or a cluster of reeds, and at the other was one of considerable length, which as soon as the birds were seen feeding in the area within, was pulled by the fowlers, causing the instantaneous collapse of the two sides,” and thus the birds were instantly captured in an unguarded moment. The process is similar to that which has been observed in capturing the common pigeon in this country. “In hunting, a space of considerable size was enclosed with nets. These spots were usually in the vicinity of the water brooks to which animals were in the habit of repairing in the morning and evening; and having awaited the time when they went to drink, the hunters disposed their nets occupied proper positions for observing them unseen, and gradually closed in upon them.” Now from these, and other historical extracts which might be presented, as also from our own observation, two points will be considered to illustrate the inquiry. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.16
1. The artifice is connected with the source from which the animals supply their wants. Thus the nets are set near the waters; the traps near food. In the application of this point, I remark, that man has physical, mental, and spiritual necessities to be supplied, as may be learned from the Bible and observation. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.17
First, Physical. - The text speaks of eating, drinking, and the cares of this life. In seeking a supply of these necessities, the danger exists in being “overcharged” (vs. 2-4), and considering the times in which we live, how important the Saviour’s injunction. We are living in a lucrative age - an age of speculation, hence there is every inducement to cause saint and sinner to be immersed in worldly transactions if so disposed. Business of all branches for the last few years (with little exception) has been extraordinarily flourishing. Corporations have been formed by scheming men to literally heap up treasures, and operatives have been induced to try their fortune in securing a portion of the benefit; Californian and Australia have opened up to us from their latent storehouses, vast riches; and the “far west” is beckoning multitudes to fix their abode on its rich and highly productive soil. My brethren, while it is our duty to be “diligent in business,” no excuse will serve as a reason why we should be over-charged, and thus become stupid and inactive in devotional exercises - fail to be “fervent in spirit,” and the “day of the Lord” spring upon us as a “snare.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 122.18
Second, Mental. - Hence God has provided the Bible and nature (2 Peter 1:5; 3:18; Romans 1:20; Psalm 19:1, 2;) as also in His providence the devotional productions of pious individuals, and other useful works, for the occupancy of the mind. The danger exists in applying our minds for, and receiving unsubstantial, morally contaminating, and death-tending literature. In these last days, who is not aware of the large quantities of light, unsubstantial, and morally debasing reading, meeting us in all our thoroughfares, and flooding the country, claiming the precious, golden moments of those who ought to spend them to better advantage, while a distaste is created for holy things. The issue and circulation of such works have been greatly facilitated and augmented in the present age, by the modern inventions of the art of printing, steam presses, an application of steam power to the means of conveyance from one city, State or country to another, while popular lecturers are dealing out more or less poison with the food they administer to the mental entertainment of their patrons. The Bible, to an alarming extent is set aside, or to say the least, is secondary, and we may here appropriately introduce the poetic effusion of Cowper, the sentiment of which is so pertinent to the times in which we live: ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.1
Habits of close attention, thinking heads,
Become more rare as dissipation spreads,
Till authors hear at length one general cry,
Tickle and entertain us or we die.”
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.2
May we receive the admonition to “watch,” “take heed,” etc. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.3
Third, Spiritual. - Psalm 55:1, 2. The danger exists in seeking a supply from the pleasures of the world - courses of sin. (2 Timothy 3:1-4.) Theatres have been multiplied and crowded with nightly visitants; pleasure (Sunday) excursions have been concocted and received extensive patronage; houses of ill fame, gambling houses, billiard saloons, card tables, pleasure parties of various descriptions, including a kind of entertainment religiously dyed in the form of church levees (as they have been conducted by many) are extensively patronized by their respective devotees. My brethren, by consulting Luke 17:26-30 and Jude 7, you will perceive that the danger of the Antediluvians and Sodomites existed at the point already described, viz., the source from which we receive a relief of our necessities. These instances are left on the Sacred record as examples of the divine displeasure. May we heed the admonition and escape the snare. Let us consider. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.4
2. The suddenness with which animals or birds are apprised of their danger when unable to escape, as an illustration of the inquiry. It is when the fowls are devouring the seed without thought of danger, that there is an instant collapse of the two sides of the net; or in the trapping of animals that there is a sudden spring, taking them unawares and rendering them fast. If fowls or animals are sagacious to a sufficient degree, they may not be drawn into the snare. Our Lord introduces another figure, the teaching of which is in harmony with that of the simile under consideration. “Behold I come as a thief.” - Revelation 16:15. The tenant of the house is wrapped up in his slumber, and is unconscious of danger until the thief arrives. If he is informed of, believes in, and has an eye open for danger, he may escape. Now, what is implied in the “day” thus coming? How much is comprehended? Adventists preach as one point in their faith that the church may know when the day of the Lord is approaching, by signs of the times, prophecy, and the history of the world, (Hebrews 10:25) and in this they are met with an objection, viz., we are to know nothing about it, as His coming is “as a thief” - “snare” - “no man knoweth the day and the hour.” Now we hope to avoid the extreme running upon the ground of absolute know nothingism, and remark, that the reasons for the above objection are far from making the objection valid. The language of the Bible is, “But ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:1. The text teaches that some may escape. “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may escape all these things.” We have no idea that God’s people will be ensnared, or overtaken as with a thief. A certain class will be thus taken, however, lamentable as is the fact, such as do not “watch and pray,” as say “peace and safety,” as are overcharged with the proper things of life, and do not govern their lives in seeking a supply of their necessities according to the requirements of the gospel. It is said of the Antediluvians that they “knew it not.” How surprising! they gave no heed to Noah’s warning voice. So will it be with the majority of mankind when Messiah appears a second time. The world is ripening for the harvest; the snare is set; suddenly it will spring upon the inhabitants of the world and they shall not escape. Let us “take heed, watch and pray,” that we may “stand before the Son of man.” - Ad. Herald. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.5
Joy and Sadness
IN meeting the tide of humanity that jostles against us as we pass up and down our crowded streets, what a multitude of countenances are presented, and how various are the different expressions! But has it never occurred to any one that the prevailing expression is that of sadness? Now and then we see a joy-beaming countenance, but it is rather the exception than the rule. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.6
But what histories are here written in the varied lineaments of the face! If we would follow individuals to their homes, whether to the palace or the hovel, what a page in human life would often be unfolded! No wonder that the Saviour of mankind commended himself to the sorrowful and the disheartened in those inviting words of tenderness: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Surely it is not to a few that he addressed these touching words of comfort. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.7
“AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST!” Did words ever carry such medicine in their tone? Did mariner, tossed for months upon the angry billows, ever long for a peaceful haven, more than mortal man, weighed down with the sins, the wants, and the cares of life hankers for the “rest” that is here proffered to all? No wonder that “multitudes,” leaving the various callings of life, thronged after Jesus, saying one to another, “never spoke man like this man.” No wonder that Mary, forgetting all things else, sat down at his feet to listen to such tender words of comfort and peace. And how justly was Martha mildly reproved, when in answer to the complaint that she had been left by her sister Mary to serve alone, Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha, thou art troubled and careful about many things; but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part that shall never be taken away from her.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.8
It needs no learned books to prove the truths of Christ’s divine mission. That his doctrine of righteousness, and peace, and rest, comes home to the wants and yearnings of all, is a sufficient evidence of its divine authenticity. And what a transformation has this simple rest-giving religion made throughout the world! As successive mornings and evenings dawn and darken over the world, how many fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, and even little children, bow down to say “Our Father who art in Heaven!” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.9
And who will say that the rising towards heaven of this morning and evening incense brings not down blessings upon our land? Who will venture to say that the prevalence of a deep religious sentiment does not infuse into the national mind a high toned morality, a lofty patriotism, and proud resolves for clinging to the right? It is these qualities, these christian heroic virtues that go to give character and reputation to a nation of freemen. And for them we are principally indebted to HIM who came into the word to be the Saviour of mankind. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.10
A Beautiful Sentiment
SHORTLY before the departure of the lamented Heber for India, he preached a sermon which contained this beautiful illustration: ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.11
Life bears us on, like the stream of a mighty river. Our boat at first glides down the narrow channel — through the playful murmuring of the little brook and the windings of its grassy borders. The trees shed their blossoms over our young heads; the flowers on the brink seem to offer themselves to our young hands; we are happy in hope, and we grasp eagerly at the beauties around us — but the stream hurries on, and still our hands are empty. Our course in youth and manhood is along a wilder and deeper flood, amid objects more striking and magnificent. We are animated at the moving pictures and enjoyment and industry passing us; we are excited at some short-lived disappointment. The stream bears us on, and our joys and griefs are alike left behind us. We may be shipwrecked, we cannot be delayed; whether rough or smooth, the river hastens to its home, till the roar of the ocean is in our ears, and the tossing of the waves is beneath our feet, and the land lessens from our eyes and the floods are lifted up around us, and we take our leave of earth and its inhabitants until of our further voyage there is no witness save the infinite and Eternal! ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.12
Moments Lost
EVERY other property when lost may be replaced, when it is injured, can be repaired. - But did ever man or angel recover one moment of lost time? He alone is the traveler who never halts, never turns back; no tears can soften him, nor prayers make him relent; little recks he of the truest penitence, or the most heart-broken sobs of sorrow. As vainly would we set about to recall one yesterday, or beg yonder stream, whose waters keep rushing on, to roll back a single wave. When the reckless hand of passion has torn out half the leaves of the life-blood to light its own fires, and we count with trembling fingers the few that remain, then indeed how solemn the thought that no power on earth, none in heaven, can replace a single lost moment. God may heap up years as he appears to have done in the earliest periods of the race, may prolong indefinitely the sojourn of any single soul in any one of his many mansions, but only by obliterating memory could he destroy the consciousness of any polluted day. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.13
THE TRUTH OF BEAUTY - There is nothing beautiful that is not true. There is nothing true that is not beautiful. It was in searching for beauty that truth was discovered. Its temple stands in the centre of an artificial labyrinth, composed of the most complicated windings, in which many lose themselves; whilst millions are deluded by the specious falsehoods met with on the way, and overwritten - “This is the truth, and he who doubts is doomed.” But he who would reach the temple around which this ‘wildering maze of thorns and briers is planted, must over-leap these artificial fences, or hew his way right onward, instinct led, having an unwavering confidence in God and his own soul. God is truth, and every natural instinct of the soul guides us to God. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.14
FOR every one, life has some blessing - some cup that is not mixed with bitterness. At every heart there is some fountain of pure waters, and all men at some time or other taste their sweetness. Who is he that has not found in his path of life, some fragrant rosebush, scenting all the air with its sweet perfume, and cheering the heart of the weary traveler with its beauty. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.15
The good man is led in a good way, by a good God, to be employed in good things, walking in good company, working by a good rule, from a good motive, to a good end, and at last arrives at a good home. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.16
The flying clouds, the evanescent vapor, the arrow just propelled from the string, the wintry grass, the flower whose beauty scarce blooms ere it is faded, and whose fragrance is scarcely perceptible ere it is gone, are apt similitudes of a man’s life. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.17
Bible religion improves good manners; it teaches what it commands: “Be courteous.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 123.18
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. AUG. 20, 1857.
THE TWO-HORNED BEAST ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.1
ARGUMENT MISAPPREHENDED
IN the Bible Examiner of the 1st inst., we find some objections to the view we take of the Two-horned Beast, by which it appears either that the argument has not been carefully studied, or that it is strangely misunderstood. It says: ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.2
“Some writers, for several years past, have attempted to show that the “two-horned beast” of Revelation 13th is a symbol of the government of these United States. Much has been promulgated in defence of this position that seems plausible; but, is such a position tenable? We do not propose to follow the argument in all its aspects and positions, but simply to notice the subject briefly. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.3
“First, it is maintained by those who advocate the theory under notice, that the seven last plagues of Revelation 16th are all yet in the future. This is essential to the argument, because the very first plague takes effect “upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them that worshiped his image.” We take it, there is no ground for dispute that this is the “two-horned beast” and “the image” which it made. Now if one of the seven last plagues has been poured out prior to this time, the argument that the United States government is symbolized by the two-horned beast falls to the ground; for; that proves the seven last plagues are not all in the future, as they must be to make the argument available. But these same writers maintain that the Ottoman empire is symbolized by the great river Euphrates, Revelation 16th; and some of their number have said, “The more one thinks upon this subject, (Revelation 16:12,) the more, it seems, must he become convinced that the drying up of the Euphrates is the consumption of the Ottoman empire.” If so, as it is manifest that empire is on the decline, and has been for a number of years past, is it not a self-evident fact that the sixth of the seven last plagues must have commenced to be poured out some years since? and, hence, that the first five had been previously poured out? If this be true, then the two-horned beast and its image are many years in the past - at least, from one to three centuries. Hence, that beast cannot be a symbol of the government of the United States.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.4
We remember that in a certain place a prophet does not recommend the turning of things upside down; and we presume that the words apply to all time and to all circumstances. Our readers will perceive that in the above extract, our argument is handed to us bottom side up, a pyramid upon its apex. The conclusion is put for the premise, and the premise for the conclusion. It is true that we maintain that the seven last plagues of Revelation 16, are all yet in the future; but how have we arrived at this conclusion and what use do we make of it? One of the main considerations which has led us to adopt it, is that the very first plague takes effect upon those who receive the mark of the beast and worship his image. By many scriptures and chains of argument we are shown that “the beast,” the Papacy, has performed its work, and instituted its mark; that the two-horned beast, entirely distinct from the beast, has arisen, become almost fully developed, is performing in part, and preparing to accomplish, the wonders attributed to him; that he is also preparing to institute an image to the beast, the Papacy, and enforce its worship; and that the time for the warning against such worship has come, and the warning is being given. Hence the conclusion, that the plagues, the first of which falls upon that very class who reject this warning and perform this worship, are yet in the future. From other reasons entirely it is demonstrated that the power symbolized by the two-horned beast, has arisen and is doing its work; and this being once established, it follows as an inevitable conclusion that those plagues which are designed for those who submit to its unrighteous decrees in defiance of the requirements of Heaven, are yet before us. But do we use this as an argument that the time has come for the development of this beast? Not at all; for it would by no means follow from the simple fact that those plagues are future, that the present is the generation exposed to them, and to whom the warning of escape is applicable. But it being shown that the two-horned beast, which causes an image to be made, and enforces its worship, has its application in our own land and at the present time, the plagues attach themselves with fearful certainty to this generation, as the cup of wrath from which they shall surely drink. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.5
As regards the idea that these judgments are in the past, in addition to the difficulty, not to say impossibility, of thus locating this beast and warning message, we know of nothing which can answer to their fulfillment. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.6
As proof that five of the plagues are already past, and the sixth now being poured out, reference is made to the declining state of the Ottoman empire, the power upon which that plague is to be poured. But we cannot regard this as evidence that we have reached that period. In a recent article on this subject we showed that the introduction of this power in its symbolic form was no more an objection to the literality of the plagues, than the introduction of other powers in a similar manner. See verses 2, 9 of Revelation 16. Neither can the fact that the empire of the Ottomans is now on the decline, be any more an objection to the application of the sixth plague in the future, than the fact that the spirits of devils are now abroad performing their wonders, which are said to go forth under that plague. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.7
Again: We showed in the article alluded to, that the time for the commencement of the outpouring of these judgments was at the close of the ministration in the heavenly Sanctuary. Revelation 15:8. And we have a clue to the time of their continuance in the fact that it synchronizes with the “day of vengeance,” which is in the heart of Him who is mighty to save, when the year of his redeemed comes. Isaiah 63:5. This period is also in another place called a day: Revelation 18:8. “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine, etc. As it is impossible that famine should come in a literal day of twenty-four hours, the expression must be symbolic, denoting a year. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.8
With this view of the continuance of the time of these plagues, (and we submit to the Bible student if it be not a just one) we see that they cannot be centuries in their accomplishment. As the spirits of devils are now preparing for the part they are then to act, so the Ottoman empire will be brought into that condition, and sustain that relation to the powers around it, that under the sixth plague, the waters thereof will be dried up - the work fully and completely accomplished; and by that drying up the way of the kings of the East will be prepared. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.9
“We take it” says the Examiner, there “is no ground for dispute, that this is the ‘two-horned beast, and the image’ which it made.” Whoever would have us take such a position as this, will find that there is ground for dispute at once. The simple expression “the beast” never means the “two-horned beast,” either in chap. 13, or anywhere else in the Revelation, but refers invariably to the beast of chap. 13:1, which nearly all agree in applying to the Papacy. The “two-horned beast” is first introduced in Revelation 13, by the expression “another beast,” and is ever after in that chapter represented by the pronoun he; and it is not again referred to in that book under the term, beast. This distinction should never be lost sight of. “The beast” never means the beast with two horns like a lamb. This two-horned beast has no mark of its own, and receives no worship, only as it causes people to receive the mark of the first beast, and to worship that beast or the image which it makes to it. This distinction the Examiner appears to have overlooked entirely; and this has led it to the misapprehension we are now considering, and others to be noticed hereafter. It continues: ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.10
“Again, as it is not pretended by the writers of whom we speak, that this government has yet attained the power to “cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed,” or that it has yet made such a law, or proclamation, it follows, if the two-horned beast is the symbol of this government, the time of the Third Angel’s Message, Revelation 14, has not yet arrived; because that angel proclaims, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand.” etc. This clearly shows that that beast and his image were in actual existence, and acting to put those men to death who would not obey the mandates, when the Third Angel begins his message; hence this government cannot be the two-horned beast; or else, the Third Angel’s Message has not yet commenced.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.11
This is one of the strongest objections to the view that the Third Angel’s Message is now being given. It is perhaps most used by our opponents, and is, in the present case forcibly stated. Let us look at it. Because the image to the beast is not yet made, and the decree put forth to enforce its worship, therefore the time has not come for the warning of the Third Angel. This is the objection. But how far have matters progressed, and what events are fulfilled? 1st. The beast has arisen. 2nd. He has exalted himself, and thought to change times and laws, and in so doing has given to the christian world an institution to which if men bow after learning the requirements of Jehovah, they worship the beast and receive his mark. 3rd. The two-horned beast which is “another beast” and does wonders in the sight of the first beast, which is to make an image to this beast, and enforce its worship under penalty of death, has also arisen. He is in a state of fast perfecting development before us; and he is to the apprehension of every carefully observant mind, preparing to accomplish speedily the work assigned him. In fact the forces of the enemy are all in motion and fast marshaling for the coming conflict. Now shall God wait till they pitch battle before he begins to prepare his people? No! and in this response must every one join who has due regard to propriety in the fulfillment of prophecy. Let the warning go forth! Let men be apprised of the issue they are to meet! Let them decide understandingly whether they will bow to the authority of men, or to the authority of God; and then reap their reward according to their own decision! As well might the prophet Zechariah have held his peace, and not warned the Jews in captivity to flee from Babylon till Darius was demolishing its palaces, or the Christians not have been warned to flee from Jerusalem till the soldiers of Titus were pouring in through its battered gates, as that no warning should be given against the worship of the beast or his image, till its institutors were established in power, and the death penalty affixed to every violation. Verily it is time that the warning go forth, and that those who hear should heed it. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.12
“Further. A portion of those who maintain this government is symbolized by this beast, tell us, that ’Sunday keeping’ is the ‘mark’ of the two-horned beast: that is, it has substituted the first day of the week for the seventh, thereby ‘changing the Lord’s Sabbath for the Pope’s Sunday.’” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.13
This is one of those misapprehensions above referred to. Sunday keeping is not the mark of the two-horned beast. We see not how such an idea could be gathered from any of our writings, as a people, on this subject. The mark is the mark of the beast; and the beast is Papacy. The two-horned beast has no mark of its own. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.14
“But again. The advocates of the view we are noticing, call Sunday ‘the Pope’s Sunday:’ then if Sunday keeping is the mark of the beast, the Pope must be the two-horned beast, for the mark - whatever it is - is ‘the mark of the beast;’ it belongs to him, and is not something he has adopted for another. The image may be adopted; but the mark is that of the beast himself - of his own invention, and peculiar to him: so that if Sunday keeping is the mark, and the Pope is its inventor, it follows, inevitably, that he is symbolized by the two-horned beast, and not the United States government.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.15
Singular indeed is such an exposition as this. Its main spring, as the reader will perceive lies in the mistake already noticed, of considering the mark, the mark of the two-horned beast, whereas it is the mark of “the beast,” the Papacy, and is an institution yet to be enforced by the two-horned beast. The Examiner concludes as follows: ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.16
“While we do not affirm that Popery, in any of its forms, is symbolized by the two-horned beast, we give it as an opinion that some of its phases seem most likely to be intended by that beast, and that it is many years in the past. In the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries by the edicts of Popery it was death for any man to read the Scriptures in their own tongue. During that period, or near thereto, in our opinion, came up the two-horned beast, and acted out its prophetical character: and more than ten years since we became satisfied, that so far as certainty can be arrived at, Luther and his coadjutors fulfilled the prophetic work of the three angels, Revelation 14; and whoever will read the history of those men, with an unbiased mind, it seems to us, cannot fail to see that this is the true view of the subject. Luther and those who labored with him employed almost the exact words of the prophecy in bringing out the Scriptures to the people, and in their denunciations of Popery. Sure we are, that nothing has occurred in this century that can bear any comparison, as to a fulfillment, with the work of Luther and his coadjutors. And that work harmonizes not only with the prophecy under consideration, but it brings the seven last plagues in their proper place; six of which, to our mind, are clearly in the past. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.17
“We might present other reasons for rejecting the theory that the United States’ government is symbolized by the two-horned beast; but we feel averse to protracting remarks on the subject, and do not see how any reflecting person can think to maintain such a position, which, to us, seems so clearly without foundation. If we are asked, what position in prophecy we think the United States has? we answer, that of a ‘strong nation afar off,’ which the Lord will yet ‘rebuke.’ See Micah 4:3. All the symbolical beasts, in our judgment, are located on the old Roman Territory, and can be found no where else.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.18
We have not introduced this lengthy extract for any argument that it contains, but simply to call attention to a few facts which must be, and can easily be, settled in regard to the two-horned beast. Facts are firm things. We love to find them in an argument; for we can walk right out upon them without fear of falling. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.19
First, then, it is a fact that the two-horned beast is another and a distinct beast from the seven-headed and ten-horned beast first mentioned in Revelation 13. It is distinctly called another beast, it rises from another locality, namely from the earth, whereas the first beast rose from the sea; and it does wonders before, that is in the sight of, in presence of, the first beast. Having once fixed this fact firmly in mind, there is no danger of running into the fog by confounding it with the Papacy in any of its “forms” or “phases.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 124.20
Second, it is a fact, that the two-horned beast is not located upon the territory occupied by the Papal beast, or any of its horns; for it is, as we have seen, a distinct beast, and two distinct beasts cannot occupy the same territory at the same time. There is no danger of our running into the dark on this point. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.1
Third, it is a fact, that the time of the rise of the two-horned beast, or when it is first introduced as coming up is definitely pointed out; namely when the first beast received a deadly wound, or was led into captivity, which was, as all history on the point will testify, on the 10th of February, 1798. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.2
We care not here to mention more of the numerous and plain specifications which attach themselves to this subject. The three we have touched upon hold an important part in its investigation. We think they are clearly established and decisive. Perhaps these are included in the “much that is plausible,” which the Examiner admits is urged in favor of this view. We had been glad if it had touched upon these, and many others that might be mentioned, and, if they are not tenable, show their fallacy. We are confident they will stand the test of the most rigid criticism; and we see not how any one in view of them can go back for the two-horned beast centuries before the time when John saw it coming up; or look for it in territory already occupied by another power, or mistake it for a beast which maintains a separate existence at the same time. There is no necessity, we hardly see how there is a possibility, of making so mistaken an application. Nor need we go back to the time of Luther and his coadjutors for the fulfillment of the angels’ messages, and ignore the mighty move that has taken place on the Advent doctrine, not in this country only, nor in Europe only, but throughout the world, within the last twenty years. We apprehend that no age has sustained a greater burden of prophetic fulfillment than the present, and that no scenes have transpired in earth’s drama, more important than those now transpiring around us. May we not shut our eyes to them, but view them in the light of prophecy and revelation, and prepare ourselves for the coming issue. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.3
SABBATH-KEEPERS’ CHILDREN
WHAT can be done for our children? There is no use in concealing the fact, that but a small portion of the children of Sabbath-keepers are forming characters for eternal life in the kingdom of God. While a very few are advancing, others are falling back, and many are pressing their way to ruin. And what is most alarming, is the fact that Bible truth, and the means of grace seem to affect the youth and children of Sabbath-keepers less and less. What can be done for our children? is a perplexing inquiry which has often come up. We might pause here and lament, but this would not help their condition. Shall we not rather try to point out some of the reasons of the sad state of things among our children, in hope that when the cause is removed, by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the effects may cease. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.4
We are introducing a subject of most thrilling interest to parents and guardians - one on which volumes may well be written - which relates to their whole duty to children intrusted to their care from the cradle to manhood and woman-hood. We can only introduce it here, and touch upon a few points. We would first call attention to the ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.5
IMMORALITY OF SCHOOLS
A writer in the Michigan Journal of Education speaks pointedly and well upon this subject. Though probably not impressed with the truth, that all that can be done to save the dear youth and children of our land must be done immediately, yet from his words, many among us may gather lessons of the greatest importance. He says:- ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.6
“Much has been said and written on the subject of teaching morals in schools. Eloquently have gifted and good men pleaded that the Word of God and the voice of Prayer should not be banished from our common schools; that the moral nature of the little child should not be left untrained while his intellect was unfolding into a power which no man may control. Many a thoughtful parent and citizen has looked with sadness and fear upon the evident depravities of the children of our public schools, and not a few have chosen to incur the trouble and expense of educating their children at home or in private schools, rather than trust them to the dreaded contamination. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.7
“Benevolent and christian teachers have studied the means of reformation and many a well considered plan of moral teachings has been proposed and tried. But still the evil continues unabated, and the public school is still a place of peril to all that is lovely in our little ones. Nor will any one be surprised at the obstinacy of the evil if he will but notice carefully the ordinary character of the surroundings and exercises of these schools. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.8
“The evil lies not so much in the lack of proper moral instruction as in the positive immoralities of our school-houses. A deathful, moral miasma lurks in the air of our public school-rooms and school-grounds which poisons every little heart and renders nugatory every moral lesson. Go with me to the school-house and see. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.9
“Let us pause first here, upon the play-ground, a wide open space filled with children of both sexes, with no fence to separate them, and no opportunities for seclusion. Listen as some rough, wicked boy utters, just loud enough to be heard by a party of little girls near at hand, some vulgar, obscene word, or indecent jest, or makes some still more indecent gesture, and mark the half suppressed laugh and blush of the little girls as they turn away, while the boys who may have heard it, laugh aloud in shameless glee. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.10
“That word implanted a terrible stain upon the purity of your beloved daughter, my good friend, and gave a wound to her maiden delicacy which you may well deplore. Remember that every day of school repeats such scenes as this. But come a little further. Visit the out-buildings of the school, if it has any. Look from the floor and seat to the walls. See how they are overwritten with pollution. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.11
“The very scriptures of vice are here. Do you wonder any longer at the more than brutish uncleanness that leaves its mark so universally in the private buildings connected with hotels etc., throughout the land, and tells so loathsome a tale of American habits? How much of Bible reading and prayer and moral teachings will it take, think you, to efface these lessons of impurity from the mind of your little son or daughter? ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.12
“But let us enter the school-house, pausing first to mark how on the door-posts and walls and every where these scriptures of immorality are written or engraved. The successive generations of the vile ones who are found mingled in every school, have left here the record of their progress in vice, and your cherished little daughter whom you have guarded so carefully at home has these records before her daily, through the long, impressive years of her school-life. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.13
“But we have not done. Stay here among these scenes the whole hour the teacher is gone to his dinner. Witness the lawless play, the frequent bickerings and quarrels, the passionate and abusive words of some, the daring profanity of others, the vulgar story telling, the scandal learned in whatever home is vilest in the neighborhood, (and this home is not always the home of the poor,) the unchecked obscenity and vulgarity, and then say can you trust the child you love and whom you hope to train up to a pure and honest life, to such daily lessons as these. Remember that it is the least restrained and hence the worst children who frequent these noon-time revels; remember too that children are the most successful teachers of children, and that such is the awful downward gravitation of our nature that evil is learned a hundred fold easier than truth; that a child’s hand may hurl downward a weight that a strong man cannot lift up again.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.14
But shall not our children be taught the common branches of education? Yes, if it be in our power to teach them, or have them taught, without sending them to these common nursuries of vice. Let all parents with the highest sense of their duty do the best they can to give their children a pure education. To take them from the common schools, and let them run at large with the children in the streets, is a still greater evil. “An empty brain is Satan’s workshop.” It would be far better to send children to our common schools, as demoralizing as they are, where their minds may be occupied with their studies during school hours, and where they may receive some good mixed with the bad, than to turn them out into the streets, where they can get no good, but learn the habits and vices of street sinners. The young mind unemployed without moral and religious training, is almost sure to be stored with a vicious education. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.15
But both these evils may be remedied. Our children may be separated from the poisonous influences of both school and street associations. In many locations Sabbath keepers can employ pious and devoted teachers, who, with the united efforts of parents at home, can do much in leading their children in the path of virtue and holiness. What if it be extra expense? Will parents push their dear children into channels of vice, for the sake of saving a few shillings? God forbid! ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.16
Mothers may be the best teachers of their little ones. Fathers can spend those hours, too often spent from home in worse than useless chit-chat, in teaching their sons and daughters. We would plead for the children, that they, at least, be taught to read and write the English language, and other common branches as far as possible, provided it can be done without exposing them to the corrupting influences of most of our schools. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.17
We as a people hold that it is necessary to separate ourselves from the world and the fallen churches, lest their associations becloud our minds and destroy our faith. This we regard as a scriptural position, and the only safe position for christian men and women in these perilous times. God’s word has required Christians in all past time to separate themselves from the world; but how much more is this the duty of Christians in this corrupt age. If this be our duty, then we have a duty to do in this respect to our children. Shall we come out of Babylon, and leave our children behind? Shall we send them where is seen the boldest imprint of the filling up of the cup of her fury? Take care brother, sister, lest you call down upon your own heads, the displeasure of God, and the blood of your children. Separate your children from the world. Like Israel, gather them into your dwellings, and strike your door-posts with blood, for the destroying angels will soon be on their way, to “slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.18
But the evils among our youth and children do not all arise from the bad influences of schools. There are home evils, some of them as bad as those found at schools. Many children, especially small children, are indulged above measure. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.19
Perhaps they are not corrected when they should be, or, if corrected at all, it is done in impatience, and in passion, so that the same spirit that moves the hand is whipped into the child. Such children grow up unsubdued, self-willed, and passionate. These evils follow many all the way up to manhood, and if they try to be Christians, their christian walk all through life is crooked now and then by stubbornness, passion and self-will. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.20
True piety, is a lovely and delicate personage. She never dwells with a family where passion is manifested by parents or children. How preposterous to suppose that the Holy Spirit will come down and dwell in a family where human passion inspired by Satan reigns. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.21
Our object is reform. Our business is to teach truth and correct error and wrong. And it becomes our painful duty to introduce subjects of an unpleasant nature. But duty must be performed, however much it may be against our natural inclinations. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.22
There are loose habits in some families which sow the seeds of vice in very young minds. We enter their sleeping-rooms and here are sometimes parents and half-grown children occupying the same rooms; or, what is common, boys and girls sleeping in the same rooms, and sometimes by their own mothers put in the same beds. What is considered a suitable excuse for so doing, is that occasional visitors fill all the other beds in the house, hence the children of both sexes are huddled together like so many young swine. Here in all probability were the first temptations, and the first black stains upon the pure young heart which finally resulted in breaking the seventh commandment. O, how careful parents should be in all their acts, and how chaste in all their conversation, lest they carelessly stain the minds of their innocent ones. Some parents instead of rebuking a visiting and courting spirit in their children at the age of fifteen or sixteen years, meet it with a poisonous joke, giving the idea that such things are very smart, and all right. We might here mention premature and improper marriages, and their consequent evil results, but space and time would fail us. Let parents do their duty in season and they are prevented. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.23
Some regard the childish feelings of their children in regard to marriage, even at the age of fifteen, as though it were so deep love that it would ruin them to interfere with their arrangements. Who, that has seen much of this world, has not been disgusted with these things? ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.24
The manner in which the holy institution of marriage is abused, is one of the damning sins of this age. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the last generation, at the coming of the Son of man. “For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage,” etc. It was not sin to eat food convenient to sustain nature in the days of Noah, neither is it now; but gluttonness is no less a sin now than then. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.25
It was no sin to marry from pure motives in the days of Noah; neither is marriage wrong now with the fear of God and his glory in view. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.26
The great sin of the inhabitants of the old world which called down upon them the waters of the flood, is stated thus - “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:1-4. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 125.27
“And they took them wives” - No fault could be found with proper marriages at that time. Then where was the sin? The next clause expresses it - ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.1
“Of all which they chose.” Their choice ruled over. God, and his glory were not thought of, even in this event on which most depends in human life. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” There was no seeking unto him for direction. No waiting for the direction of his providence. But “they took them wives as they chose.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.2
We need only to add, that the above is a perfect representation of the present time in respect to marriage. And wherever is the greatest light, and the highest professions of faith in Christ’s soon coming and of consecration of all to the cause of present truth, there lies the greatest sin in this respect. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.3
There are weighty considerations, which may be urged against believers in the soon coming of Christ contracting marriage while standing upon the last crumbling sands of time, which have not existed in past ages; yet there are doubtless cases where marriage betters the condition of both parties, and enables them better to act a part in the cause of truth. Marrying at a proper age, under proper circumstances is generally a blessing; but in many cases among us it proves the cause of backsliding from God, and renders many, who otherwise might be a blessing, of no use to the cause. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.4
We have undertaken the unpleasant task of pointing out evils to which many of the children of Sabbath-keepers are exposed, from a sense of duty. What we have stated we believe to be true, and we hope that all conscientious parents will ponder well these evils, and if they exist in any degree in their families, they will make vigorous efforts to remove them. Let this be imprinted in every heart, in every family, from the oldest to the youngest, “Thou God seest me.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.5
J. W.
(To be Continued.)
SONNET
Isaiah 11. - The peaceable kingdom. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.6
HEAR ye the music of that golden lyre,
That whispers of a time when wars shall cease;
When holy visions shall the soul inspire,
And Jesus reign, exalted Prince of Peace?
Celestial epoch in the flight of years!
Ye hours of sacred bliss, roll on! roll on!
No clouds of sorrow shall obscure the dawn
Of glory, that will flood this vale of tears:
But love will bloom upon the tyrant’s rod,
And earth no more by sin and death be trod -
Anthems of praise attune the gentle gales;
Blossoms, exhaling incense from the sod,
Like little altars, shall adorn the vales:
While mountains sparkle in the smiles of God.
[Am. Presb.
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.7
DIVINE PROTECTION
Is thy path lonely? fear it not, for He
Who marks the sparrow’s fall, is guarding thee;
And not a star shines o’er thy head at night,
But He hath known that it will reach thy sight;
And not a joy can beautify thy lot,
But tells thee still, that thou art unforgot;
Nay, not a grief can darken or surprise,
Swell in thy heart, or dim with tears thine eyes,
But it is sent in mercy and in love,
To bid thy helplessness seek strength above.
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.8
MEEKNESS
“NOW the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Numbers 12:3. In this short sentence we have the secret of the success of this favored servant of God, and undoubtedly it was written for our admonition and good. By an examination of the sacred Word we learn that meekness is a characteristic of the Christian, and that great blessings are promised to those that practice this virtue. In the Word we read, The Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautify the meek with salvation. But men in this age of the world have lost sight of this virtue, and do not appreciate the promise given to those who practice it; yet some men, and especially the popular preachers of the day, when they find some honest soul is about to turn their feet away from the Sabbath of the Lord our God, urge meekness as a last resort to detain them from obeying the Lord. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.9
I once knew a preacher of this class, who upon a certain occasion, finding that a part of his flock had resolved to obey God by keeping all of his Commandments and the Faith of Jesus, determined to save them from the delusion of keeping at least the fourth command. Accordingly he with one of his brethren repaired to the house of an aged brother and sister who had but a little while previous embraced the faith. Here finding that the proof was lacking on his part, he reproved them for their lack of humility. Said he, You should have more regard for the feelings of your brethren. The course that you have taken is causing confusion in the church, and if you are keeping the seventh day you should keep the first day also, and not let it be known to the world, that you are keeping the Sabbath. This man was of the class that think one seventh part of time is all that the fourth commandment requires; but it appears that he did not see that he would have them keep two sevenths of time instead of one. During his conversation with these servants of God, he said to the sister, You should have consulted with the church before taking the step you have. If you had done so, and had not embraced the seventh-day Sabbath until I received the work of a learned man, that I have sent for, you might have been enabled to see that the seventh-day Sabbath has no claims on us. Is man any higher authority than God? was the meek reply of the sister. The minister went away confounded; for he well knew there is no authority in the Scriptures for keeping the first day of the week for the Sabbath, as I have since heard him acknowledge. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.10
How great, thought I, is the power of meekness. This preacher would have been glad if this sister had been meek enough to obey the traditions of men, rather than the commands of God; but God says that his servant Moses was not so, but was faithful in all his house. Numbers 12:7. Though Moses was called from keeping the flocks of Jethro in the plains of Midian to lead God’s people, two millions in number, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness forty years, and was permitted to behold the glory of God as he descended upon mount Sinai, and was permitted to talk with the Lord as it were mouth to mouth, and to behold the similitude of the Lord, [Numbers 12:8,] yet was he the meekest man upon the face of the whole earth, and was faithful in all the Lord’s house. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.11
There is not an instance left in the sacred record of his ever teaching the traditions of learned men, instead of the commands of God; but he does teach us to “know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9. Neither did he teach that the seventh part of time was all that God required to be kept. Search the first five books of the Bible through, and there cannot be a place found where he taught such an idea. Take the book of Genesis, and we find that God made the world and all that is in it in six days and rested on the seventh. Moses does not say that God rested on the seventh part of time, which was the first day of the week, and then worked the remaining six sevenths of the week, but that he first worked six days and then rested the seventh day. Genesis 2:2, 3. But this is not all. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all the work which he had created and made. Sanctify, according to Webster, is to separate, to set apart, or appoint to a holy, sacred, or religious use. Then, according to Moses, God set apart the seventh day for a sacred use. But says one, who was to use the seventh day? God or man? Man. So says the Saviour. “The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.12
We next turn to Exodus. In chap. 16, Moses tells us that the people rested on the seventh day. This was about two weeks before the children of Israel came to mount Sinai. We next turn to chap. 31:13. Here we have the testimony recorded by Moses. “Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Verse 16. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. The definition of perpetual, as given by Webster is, never ceasing, continuing forever in future time, destined to be eternal, as, a perpetual covenant, everlasting, endless. Then, according to the testimony of the Lord as recorded by Moses, the Sabbath is an eternal, or unending covenant. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation, ye shall do no work therein; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. Leviticus 23:3. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath-day, and they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation, and they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death, all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. Numbers 15:32, 35. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.13
Let us analyze this testimony and see what it proves. According to our seventh-part-of-time friends it would read like this, And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the seventh part of time. How does this sound? It sounds well enough, says one. Let us examine it and see. First, let me ask, why was the man stoned to death? Says one, because he gathered sticks on the seventh part of time. I do not so understand it. Says one, how then do you understand it? I will tell you. It was because that he worked seven sevenths parts of time, that he was stoned. True, the seventh day is the seventh part of time, unless some days are lengthened, as one was at the time that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still. When the Lord had finished the work of creation, and rested on the Sabbath, he gave man the privilege of working six seventh parts of time, and commanded him to rest one seventh part of time. According to the reasoning of those that oppose the Sabbath of the Lord. Of such I would ask, Which seventh part of time did God bless? Was it the first seventh part, or the fourth seventh part, or the sixth seventh part, or no one in particular? No one in particular, says one. Then I ask, How could God command that the man that gathered sticks should be punished, since by your reasoning, if the man had worked twelve days and rested two, or worked eighteen and rested three days, it would have been just as well. He could not, says one. Well then, which way will you have it? You answer, he blessed some particular seventh part of time. Well, which seventh part of time. I do not know, you reply. I will tell you. It was the seventh seventh part of time, and it falls on the seventh day of the week. First. Because that God rested from the work which he had made. Second. He could not rest from any work before he had commenced it. We will now pass to Deuteronomy 5:13. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, etc. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.14
There is still other testimony in the five books, that was penned by this humble man of God, but we will pass to notice the testimony of another noted personage, who at a later period in the history of the world showed himself to be no less humble than his predecessor, whom the Lord said he should be like unto. “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:6-8. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.15
The first testimony of this witness is found in Matthew 5:17, 18. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill; for verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. All has not yet been fulfilled, for Isaiah prophesied of a new heaven and a new earth; consequently not one jot or one tittle has yet passed from the law. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.16
Again in Matthew 24:20, where this witness was giving directions to his disciples about fleeing from Jerusalem, when they saw it encompassed with armies, he gave an important testimony, which to suit the theory of our seventh-part-of-time friends would read thus: “But pray ye that your flight be not in the Winter, neither on the seventh part of time. What would this amount to? Why, says one, if their prayer was answered they would not flee at all. Would this answer meet the instructions of the Saviour? For my part I do not think it would; for the reason that in verse 16 we read, Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Our Saviour never was inconsistent in his instructions; hence we conclude that our Saviour in looking down the vista of time nearly 40 years this side of his crucifixion, clearly recognized and pointed out to his disciples the seventh-day Sabbath, which was then universally acknowledged by all that professed to serve the God that gave the Sabbath. Let all remember the words of David: The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way. All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.” Psalm 25:9, 10. Let all remember the promise that the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalm 37:11. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.17
Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment, seek righteousness, (i.e., seek to do right,) seek meekness, it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s fierce anger. Zephaniah 2:3. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel. Isaiah 29:19. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 126.18
O for that meekness that will enable its possessor to be faithful in the Lord’s house, obeying all of his righteous commands; for by the keeping of God’s commands we shall have right to partake of the fruit of the tree of life and enter in through the gates of the city of our God.
J. F. CASE.
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.1
THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE, As Pointed Out by the Son of God
MORE than eighteen hundred years ago, when Jesus was on earth, going about doing good, relieving sufferers and teaching the way to life eternal, a young man came to him, and from the reading of the record, we learn that he was greatly troubled about one thing; viz., how he could obtain eternal life. In this troubled state of mind he approaches the Son of God, knowing that he taught the way thither, and addressed himself to the great Teacher thus: “Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Matthew 19:16. “And he (Jesus) said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God:” but, (here comes the answer to the young man’s question, mark it well, reader, for it points the way to eternal life,) if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Here the way is pointed out, and the way-faring man though a fool need not err therein. Here are the conditions laid down by the Son of God himself, a faithful observance of which, will secure to you this first of all blessings from which all others flow. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.2
But you ask, What are the commandments? They are those of which the following, as quoted by the Son of God to the young man, are a part. “Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself.” These, being the last written by the finger of God on the tables of stone, [Deuteronomy 4:13,] point out to us our duty to our fellow-men, and the first four which our Saviour omitted to quote point out our duty to God as our Creator and Preserver, the fourth of which says, “The seventh day (not the first) is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” By this you see that God claims the seventh day of each succeeding week as his Sabbath or Rest-day, and no other. Hence we conclude, and we think justly, that the first-day Sabbath, so called, is a counterfeit, and belongs to, and is claimed by, the Man of Sin, (Papacy,) the son of perdition, [2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4,] and to no one else; in proof of which see Dr. Butler’s and Challoner’s Catholic Catechisms, also extracts taken from these and other Catholic works published at the Review Office, and also the following. Sozoman in his Ecclesiastical History, B.I, C.8, says, “He (Constantine) also made a law that on the dominical day which the Hebrews call the first of the week, the Greeks the day of the sun, and also on the day of Venus, i.e., Friday, judgments should not be given, or other business transacted; but that all should worship God with prayer and supplications, and venerate the dominical day, as on it Christ rose from the dead and the day of Venus as the day on which he was fixed to the cross. Dr. Chambers says, “It was Constantine the great who first made a law for the observance of Sunday, and who, according to Eusebius, appointed that it should be regularly celebrated throughout the Roman empire. Before him, and even in his time, they observed the Jewish Sabbath as well as Sunday.” He adds, “Indeed, some are of the opinion that the Lord’s day mentioned in the Apocalypse is our Sunday which they will have to have been so early instituted.” “By Constantine’s laws, made in 321 it was decreed that for the future the Sunday should be kept a day of rest in all the cities and towns, but he allowed the country people to follow their work. In 538 the council of Orleans prohibited this country labor.” By this you see that Constantine the great made the first law for Sunday-keeping, and not God; hence you see it is a tradition of men, and those who observe it are vain worshipers. Mark 7:7. “Howbeit in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.3
Dear reader, pardon for this simple digression. We will now return to the subject. The fourth commandment, which says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” is a part of that law of which David speaks as follows, [Psalm 119:151, 152, 160,] “Thou art near, O Lord, and all (not nine tenths) of thy commandments are truth. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them forever. Thy word is true from the beginning, and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.” The law of the Lord is perfect, therefore to alter it would be to make it imperfect. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19:7, 8, 11. God himself says by the mouth of the same prophet, My covenant (the tables of the covenant, the ten commandments, Exodus 34:27, 28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 9:11, 15,) will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” Psalm 89:34. The Lord himself spake with an audible voice the words of the ten commandments in the presence of the assembled hosts of Israel on mount Sinai. See Exodus 20:1-17. And God spake all these words, saying, etc. Then followed the ten commandments. See also Deuteronomy 5:22; 4:13. These commandments he says “I will not break nor alter;” therefore, dear reader, if you would enter into life you must keep the seventh day and not the first of each week as the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.4
Will you who keep the first day of the week for the Sabbath, and every week trample upon God’s holy sanctified day of rest, and teach others, both by precept and example to do the same, remember that you are hedging up the way which Jesus the Son of God says leads to eternal life? Can you whilst persisting in such a course as this expect ever to inherit eternal life? or do you expect to get it some other way that the Son of God knew not of? If you do, I fear your hopes will perish. I would say, hedge up the way no longer, but step into the gap and be called a “repairer of the breach, a restorer of paths to dwell in.” This you can be. Isaiah 58:12, 13. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve; if God be God, serve him; if Baal, serve him; for ye cannot serve two masters. Again says Jesus, And I know that his (God’s) commandment is life everlasting. John 12:50. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14. Says Paul, It is written, Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 11:9. How are we to know that we love God? The inspired penman tells us, For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. By this we know that we love the children of God (also) when we love God and keep his commandments. 1 John 5:2, 3. This test is sure, it is infallible. By it we may know whether we love God and his children as we ought. If we love him we show it by obeying him in keeping his commandments, and his commandment is life everlasting. Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy, the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.5
Dear reader, I will now leave the subject with you hoping that you and I may be profited by the teachings of the word of God, for says Jesus, “Thy word is truth.” John 17:17. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.6
J. M. MCLELLAN.
Hastings, Mich., July 19th, 1857.
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.”
From Sister Sanford
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: As I read the heart-cheering letters from some of you it refreshes my heart, and I am led to inquire. Why do not more of the remnant speak through our medium of communication, the Review, for the comfort and encouragement of each other as we tread the thorny path toward the holy City. True we have the Word given by inspiration of God, which is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, [2 Timothy 3:16, 17,] and are allowed to peruse it at our leisure; still to hear from those who are striving for the kingdom encourages us to press forward on our way, and bear the trials that we meet with patience. I do feel like selling all that I have that I may buy the gold tried in the fire, and the white raiment, and I desire to anoint my eyes with eye-salve that I may see what God requires of me. I do desire to so live that I may be daily guided by the Spirit of God to do all things that he requires of me. I think that some of the church here at last are beginning to do what we have long talked of doing, to be zealous and repent. O that the people of God may arise and put on the garments of righteousness and begin to shine as lights in the world. O that the jars, and contentions, and trials, that tear and distract the church of God were all done away, and that true charity would take possession of each heart. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.7
Dear brethren and sisters, is it not the want of this lovely trait of the Christian character in the heart, that makes us so often distrust the sincerity and honesty of our brethren or sisters, and that robs us of that brotherly love that we ought to have for each other? O that we may examine our own hearts and learn to look at our true Pattern instead of looking at each other. I want to be sanctified through the truth, and by obeying the Commandments of God and Faith of Jesus. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.8
ELVIRA SANFORD.
Green Vale, Ills, Aug. 11th, 1857.
From Sister Rice
DEAR BRETHREN: Did I have any way aside from the pen and the press to converse with you, gladly would I embrace it; but as I have not, I feel it a duty and a privilege to cast in my testimony on the side of present truth. Two years have now passed since I met with those who were looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, but my faith has not faltered, but rather increased in the truths we advocate. I can say like one of old that whereas I was once blind, now I see. Can I ever disbelieve the truth of the Sabbath, or immortality through Christ? No, never, while I believe the Bible is the revealed will of God. Can I believe the seven churches passed away and all that was revealed concerning them had an end years ago? I cannot while all other sevens seem to come in consecutive order. Can I believe that Christ will come as a thief in the night to his church? Not while I believe it is our duty to watch as well as pray - and my desire is that my life may correspond with my faith. I do want that faith which works by love and purifies the heart. I want the testimony that I please God, and then I can feel that I shall soon meet you in our Father’s kingdom. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.9
I greatly desire that some preaching brethren should come this way, and the people be constrained to hear the truth as it is in Jesus. Let us speak to each other oftener through the Review, and live so as to meet at the resurrection of the just. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.10
Your sister waiting for the redemption of Israel.
CORNELIA RICE.
Folsomdale, Pa., July 31st, 1857.
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.11
From Sister Pierce
BRO. SMITH: I wish to say to you that I am, I trust, still striving to keep all the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. The present truth never looked so precious to me as within a few weeks past. I do desire to walk in it fully. When the testimony to the Laodiceans first came out last Fall, I felt as though it met my case, and tried to heed it by a zealous repentance according to the admonition of the blessed Jesus, but I did not let it have that thorough, lasting effect upon me that it ought to have had, and I again grew rather stupid; but for a few weeks I have felt more fully the weight of that message, and I do feel determined to try and be among those that will overcome. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.12
I have thought much of late what precious promises there are to those that overcome. It seems there is a great deal of meaning to that word, or it would not be so often repeated in the holy Bible. He that overcometh shall eat of the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise of God. O I long to taste of the blessed fruit of that tree, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. I do feel as though I must be among those that enter through the gates into the city, that glorious, blessed city, where there is no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, for the former things are passed away. Sometimes I have such feelings for those around me that are all engaged in this world, and do not realize that the day of wrath hasteth greatly, that it seems as though I must have them see; but when I try to talk with them they appear so stupid, and many of them show such enmity to the truth that my heart aches and I weep before the Lord on their account. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.13
I do desire very much that some of the brethren would come this way and hold up the truth to the people. It seems as though there must be some that are not wholly joined to idols. My husband’s father and myself are all the Sabbath-keepers there are for more than twenty miles. We sometimes feel very lonely, and when the holy Sabbath comes and all around are engaged in the active business of life, O how we wish we could drop in with those that are met to worship the great Author of the Sabbath. Dear brethren and sisters, you that have the privilege of meeting together every Sabbath will you remember the lonely ones, and pray for us that we may overcome all and be prepared to meet all the loved saints with the blessed Jesus in their midst in that land where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. O I long to be there. I do feel that it is much better to suffer afflictions with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 127.14
May the Lord help us to have our lamps trimmed and burning brightly amid the surrounding darkness. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.1
Your unworthy sister striving for life.
MALINDA B. PIERCE.
Andover, Vt., July 27th, 1857.
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.2
From Bro. Scarborough
BRO. SMITH: The Review comes regularly to hand. I take it from the Post Office, and read it through the first thing I do. I could not do without it. It is the best Advent paper I ever had. I have been blessed in reading it. I am poor, but can earn enough to pay for the paper. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.3
Cannot some one come here and give a course of lectures? The people here would come out to hear on the Sabbath. Our place is one mile from Haskel’s Corners, on the New Albany and Salem Railroad. Should any come, they would find a pilgrim’s home here. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.4
Yours for the truth.
PERRIN SCARBOROUGH.
Bigelow’s Mills, Ind., July 10th, 1857.
ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.5
Extracts from Letters
BRO. A. G. Carter writes from Rubicon, Wis., Aug. 7th, 1857: “I think I have great reason to praise the Lord for the Laodicean message, for it has been the means of showing me my wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked condition. I feel determined by the grace of God to take heed to the warning of the faithful and true Witness, and buy the gold tried in the fire, and white raiment that I may be clothed, and anoint my eyes with eye-salve that I may see, and that it may be my happy lot to receive a crown at the appearing of my Lord with all the dear saints of God. I can say the Lord is good to send some of his messengers here to set before us the last message of mercy. It was a matter of rejoicing with me to meet with the dear saints in different parts of Wis. Did not our hearts burn in the love of the truth as it fell upon our ears. O may the Lord help us to treasure it up with good hearts, and grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord unto his glorious coming.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.6
Bro. T. E. Thorp writes from Plymouth, Wis., Aug. 9th, 1857: “I have just arrived in Wisconsin, where I find the people as a general thing anxious to hear the present truth. I preached last First-day on the Sabbath question, and some persecuted while others were convinced that I was right. Now the question is whether they have got religion enough to prompt them to duty or not. Some of them at least I think will take a stand for the truth.” ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.7
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, FIFTH-DAY, AUG. 20, 1857.
The Day of the Lord
MOST dreadful day! And is it near, and hasting on as fast as the rapid wheels of time can bring it? Yes, it hasteth! It hasteth greatly! What a description given by the Prophet. Read it, and as you read, try to feel how dreadful will be that day. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.8
“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.9
“That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.10
“And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Zephaniah 1:14-18. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.11
Now we hear the “peace and safety” cry, from the pulpit, and all the way along down to the grog-shop. “Where is the promise of his coming” is murmured from the impious lips of a thousand last-day scoffers. Eating, drinking, marrying, building, planting, sowing, buying, selling, as in the days of Noah and Lot; in short, the cares, the pleasures and the spirit of this world, fill the whole heart and mind, leaving no room in the thoughts and affections for God, Christ and heaven. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.12
But the scene will speedily change. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape.” The scoffing of the haughty scoffer will soon be turned to wailing and howling. “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” Isaiah 2:11, 12. ‘And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Jeremiah 25:33. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.13
Read the doom of the false shepherds, the ministers of the last generation of men, who come up to the day of the Lord with their garments all stained over with the blood of souls. They now cry, Peace and safety, and their flocks confide in them. They stand between us and the people and turn away the arrow of truth. But their day is coming, dreadful beyond description. Thus saith the Lord: ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.14
“Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.15
“A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down, because of the fierce anger of the Lord.” Jeremiah 25:34-37. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.16
The last plagues, in which are filled up the wrath of God, now bottled up in heaven, waiting for mercy to finish her last pleadings, will then be poured out - unmingled wrath of Jehovah! - And not one drop of mercy? Not one! ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.17
Jesus will lay off his priestly attire, leave the mercy-seat, and put on the garments of vengeance, never to offer his blood to wash the sinner from his sins. The angels will wipe the last tear shed over sinners, while the mandate resounds through all heaven, Let them alone. The groaning, weeping, praying, preaching church on earth, who in the last message, use every means within their reach, and employ every power of their being to sound everywhere the Loud Cry, lest the blood of souls be found in their garments, are now hushed in solemn silence. The Holy Spirit has written within them these prophetic words of the soon expected Lord, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.18
Now the ministers of truth and righteousness have a message for the people, and gladly speak the words of life. They joyfully toil on, suffer on, and spend their energies in preaching to hearts as hard as steel, provided a few may be reached, and gathered into the truth; but then they will have no message. Now their prayers and strong cries ascend to heaven in behalf of sinners; but then they will have no spirit of prayer for them. Now the church says to the sinner, Come, the Spirit says, Come, and Jesus offers his blood to bring them to God; but then salvation’s hour will be passed, and the sinner will be shut up in darkness and black despair. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.19
“And it shall come to pass in that day saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.20
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:8-12. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.21
Now the word of the Lord may be heard, but sinners, in and out of the churches, do not prize it. Then it will not be heard, for the watchmen set to watch, and sound the alarm of danger, will be called down from their high stations. Now the word of the Lord is carried to the sinner, and offered without money or price; but he treats it carelessly, or drives the humble servant of Christ from his door. But then will they go in search for it. “They shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east,” but they cannot hear it. “They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but shall not find it.” From city to city, from State to State, from one country to another, will they go to find a man commissioned of high Heaven to speak the word of the Lord, but such an one is not to be found. All such will then have finished their high commission. The word of the Lord! The word of the Lord! Where can we hear it? is heard in every land. One general wail, The word of the Lord! goes up to heaven; but the heavens are brass. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.22
Then will the people turn and rend the false shepherds who deceived them with the cry of “peace and safety.” Children will reproach parents for keeping them back from walking in the truth, and parents their children. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.23
The miser now loves his money, and holds it with an iron grasp. Even some Sabbath-keepers do not hand out for the advancement of the cause of Bible truth more than ten or twenty-five per cent of their yearly increase, yet this they call a sacrifice!! But it will be said in that day, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” James 5:1-3. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.24
Now silver and gold may be used to God’s glory, and the salvation of men. It can spread the truth in the form of publication, as well as by other means, not only in our own language, but in others. There is now a special call for the German and the French. Here scores of the wealthy have stumbled. They came out clear on the last Message, but when the plain word of the Lord was set before them in regard to the disposition of their wealth, they drew back, and have left the ranks. Others will go also. Here is the stumbling-block of their iniquity. But “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity.” Ezekiel 7:19. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.25
Now such may deliver their souls. “The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word;” but a portion of these riches may be disposed of for God, and the soul thereby be delivered from useless care, and the deceitful power of a portion at least of their wealth. Now they may lay up a treasure in heaven, bags that wax not old. Now they may deposit in the bank of heaven, and deliver their soul. Then, overwhelmed with terror, they will cast their wealth in the mire of the streets; but “neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath.” J. W. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.26
ENGINE - As several have written us, making inquiries in regard to an Engine to run the Power Press, we would say that we design getting one of Hoard and Sons’ patent portable Engines, manufactured in Watertown, N. Y. One of this description of 2 1/2 horse power, which will be sufficient for our purpose, can be had for $250, which is far cheaper than any yet recommended, and if we may credit the testimony of those acquainted with steam power, a better article. PICTURE. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.27
TENT MEETINGS
PROVIDENCE permitting, meetings will commence in the Michigan Tent in the village of Burr Oak, St. Joseph Co., on Friday evening, Aug. 14, 1857, and continue probably two weeks, or as long as may be thought proper. J. H. WAGGONER. JOSEPH BATES. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.28
APPOINTMENT
PROVIDENCE permitting, we will meet with the brethren at Monterey, Sabbath, Aug 22nd. A general gathering from other towns is expected. JAMES WHITE. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.29
The P. O. Address of A. S. Hutchins is Round Grove, Whiteside Co., Ills. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.30
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 on the omission should then be given. FOR REVIEW AND HERALD. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.31
P. Scarborough $1,00,x,1. J. Barrows 1,00,xi,1. B. Haynes 1,00,xi,1. C. J. Fabun 0,25,xi,1. E. P. Burditt 2,00,xii,1. H. Page 1,00,xi,1. E. Sanford (for Geo. Arnold) 0,50,xii,16. C. E. Hutchinson 2,00,xi,1. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.32
FOR MICH. TENT. - G. Lowree $2. J. E. Titus $2. S. A. Jones $1. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.33
Pledges for Power Press ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.34
IN ADDITION TO PREVIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
C. C. S., .. (pd.) ...... $10,00. Three Friends in Topsham, Me.,. (pd.) 25,00. ARSH August 20, 1857, page 128.35