Advent Review, and Sabbath Herald, vol. 10
May 28, 1857
RH VOL. X. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, - NO. 4
Uriah Smith
ADVENT REVIEW,
AND SABBATH HERALD
“Here is the Patience of the Saints; Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.”
VOL. X. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, MAY 28, 1857. - NO. 4.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY
AT BATTLE CREEK, MICH.
BY J. P. KELLOGG, CYRENIUS SMITH AND D. R. PALMER,
Publishing Committee.
URIAH SMITH, Resident Editor.
J. N. ANDREWS, JAMES WHITE, J. H. WAGGONER, R. F. COTTRELL, and STEPHEN PIERCE, Corresponding Editors.
Terms.-ONE DOLLAR IN ADVANCE FOR A VOLUME OF 26 NOS. All communications, orders and remittances for the REVIEW AND HERALD should be addressed to URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.1
THE ANGEL OF PATIENCE
BESIDE the toilsome way,
Lowly and sad, by fruits and flowers unblest,
Which my worn feet tread sadly day by day,
Longing in vain for rest,
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.2
An angel softly walks,
With pale sweet face, and eyes cast meekly down,
The while from withered leaves and flowerless stalks
She weaves my fitting crown.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.3
A sweet and patient grace,
A look of firm endurance, true and tried,
Of suffering meekly borne, rests on her face,
So pure - so glorified.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.4
And when my fainting heart
Desponds and murmurs at its adverse fate.
Then quietly the angel’s bright lips part,
Murmuring softly, “Wait.”
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.5
“Patience!” she sweetly saith - “The Father’s mercies never come too late. Gird thee with patient strength and trusting faith And firm endurance - wait.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.6
Angel! - behold - I wait -
Wearing the thorny crown through all life’s hours -
Wait till thy hand shall ope the eternal gate,
And change the thorns to flowers!** [Sel.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.7
SELECTIONS
“MY sheep hear my voice,” says the good Shepherd. Like all the rest of the children of Adam, they had gone astray from their birth, and had said to God, “Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.” Peter beautifully sets forth the condition of believers, before and after conversion, in his first Epistle, chap. 2:25: “Ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.8
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” And what is his voice to them? It is that sweet word which we have set at the head of this article - “Come unto me.” No other word is more expressive of love - not of benevolence merely, but of love, of delight in the object beloved; hence, says Zephaniah, “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing.” This is wonderful; and to whom is it addressed? To all who hear and obey, when he says to them, “Come.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.9
God said to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” Thus plainly implying that he would be with him there. This, in its general acceptation, is a true gospel invitation: for Christ is our only ark of safety, our refuge, our hiding place, our covert from the tempest, and corresponds with his own, “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.10
“Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy door about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over past.” Isaiah 24:20. He does not send them away to find a place of safety, he does not say, Go. but, Come, for the chambers of safety are with him and in him. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.11
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye; buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1. And in the third verse he says, “Incline your ear, and come unto me.” How beautifully do the invitations and promises of the Old Testament agree with those of the New! Compare the foregoing with what we find in Revelation 22:17. “And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.12
But it is not enough that Christ invites us to come to him, he also promises to come to us. “In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.” Exodus 20:24. “I will not leave you comfortless,” says Jesus, “I will come unto you.” And again, “If a man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” And again, “Surely I come quickly.” And what is the response of the true believer to all this? “Even so, come, Lord Jesus;” and with these blessed words, the volume of inspiration closed. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.13
The sum of the gospel of peace is expressed in two words - “Return, Come.” Isaiah 21:12. The whole subject is so simple and plain that a little child may comprehend it. We all went astray, wandering farther and farther from our Father’s house, our Shepherd’s fold: and the gospel is his voice calling to us to come back. Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.” - Preacher and Presbyterian. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.14
What God the Saviour is to His People
HE is their Sun, their Shield, their Shade, their Shepherd, their Shelter, their Salvation, and their Song. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.15
He is their high Tower, their Help, their Hope, their Habitation, their Hiding-place, and the Horn of their Salvation. He is their Fortress, their Fountain, and their Father. Their Goodness, their Guide and their Glory. He is their Praise, their Portion, their Physician, their Prince, their Prophet, Priest and King. He is to them a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. He is their Keeper, their Buckler, their Beloved, their Bread, and their Elder Brother. He is the Rock of their defence, and their Deliverer, and their Dwelling-place. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.16
He is their Counsellor, their Captain, their Conqueror, their Creator, their Comforter, and the Angel of their Covenant. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.17
He is their Light, their Joy, their Rest, their Judge, their Friend, their Rearward, their Righteousness, their Resurrection and Life, their bright and morning Star. He is their Advocate and their Redeemer. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.18
He is a Strength to the needy, a Refuge from the storm, a Shadow from the heat. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help - whose hope is in the Lord his God. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.19
Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever! - Am. Mes. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.20
Self-Righteousness
IT is no uncommon thing for men to flatter themselves that God cannot be displeased with them because they have omitted to do a great many bad deeds, which they would have done, had they not been restrained by the fear of public opinion. The soundness of such morality is very well exhibited in Lossing’s parable of “The wolf on his death-bed.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.21
“A wolf lay at his last gasp, and was reviewing his past life. ‘It is true,’ said he, ‘I am a sinner, but I hope not one of the greatest. I have done evil, but I have also done much good. Once, I remember, a bleating lamb that had strayed from the flock came so near me that I might easily have throttled it, but I did it no harm.’ ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.22
“‘I can testify to all that,’ said his friend the fox, who was helping him to prepare for death. ‘I remember perfectly all the circumstances. It was just at the time when you were so dreadfully choked with that bone in your throat!’” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.23
Pride and Humility
PRIDE and humility are always relative terms. They imply a comparison of some sort with an object higher or lower; and the same mind, with actual excellence exactly the same, and with the same comparative attainments in every one around, may thus be either proud or humble, as it looks above or looks beneath. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.24
In the great scale of society, there is a continued rise from one excellence to another excellence, internal or external, intellectual or moral. Wherever we may fix, there is still some one whom we may find superior or inferior; and these relations are mutually convertible as we ascend or descend. The shrub is taller than the flower which grows in its shade; the tree than the shrub; the rock than the tree; the mountain than the single rock; and above all are the sun and the heavens. It is the same in the world of life. From that Almighty Being who is the source of all life, to the lowest of his creatures, what innumerable gradations may be traced, even in the ranks of excellence on our own earth! each being higher than that beneath, and lower than that above; and thus, all to all, object at once of pride or humility, according as the comparison may be made with the greater or with the less. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.25
Of two minds, then, possessing equal excellence which is the more noble - that which, however high the excellence attained by it, has still some noble excellence in view, to which it feels its own inferiority; or that which, having risen a few steps in the ascent of intellectual and moral glory, thinks only of those beneath, and rejoices in an excellence which would appear to it of little value if only it lifted a single glance to the perfection above? Yet this habitual tendency to look beneath, rather than above, is the character of mind which is denominated “pride;” while the tendency to look above, rather than below, and to feel an inferiority, therefore, which others perhaps do not perceive, is the character which is denominated “humility.” Is it false, then, or even, extravagant, to say that humility is truly the nobler; and that pride, which delights in the contemplation of abject objects beneath, is truly in itself more abject than that meekness of heart which is humble because it has greater objects, and which looks with reverence to the excellence that is above it, because it is formed with a capacity of feeling all the worth of that excellence which it reveres? ARSH May 28, 1857, page 25.26
The accomplished philosopher and man of letters, to whom the great names of all who have been eminent in ancient and modern times, in all the nations in which the race of man has risen to glory, are familiar, almost like the names of those with whom he is living in society - who has thus constantly before his mind images of excellence of the highest order, and who even in the hopes which he dares to form, feels how small a contribution it will be in his power to add to the great imperishable stock of human wisdom - may be proud indeed; but his pride will be of a sort that is tempered with humility, and will be humility itself if compared with the pride of a pedant or sciolist, who thinks that in adding the result of some little discovery which he may have fortunately made, he is almost doubling that mass of knowledge in which it is scarcely perceived as an element. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.1
Pride, then, as a character of self-complacent exultation, is not the prevailing cast of mind of those who are formed for genuine excellence. He who is formed for genuine excellence has before him an ideal perfection - that semper melius aliquid - which makes excellence itself, however admirable to those who measure it only with their weaker powers, seem to his own mind, as compared, with what he has ever in his own mental vision, a sort of failure. He thinks less of what he has done than of what it seems possible to do; and he is not so much proud of merit attained, as desirous of a merit that has not yet been attained by him. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.2
It is in this way that the very religion which ennobles man, leads him, not to pride, but to humility. It elevates him from the smoke and dust of earth; but it elevates him above the darkness, that he may see better the great heights that are above him. It shows him, not the mere excellence of a few frail creatures, as fallible as himself, but excellence, the very conception of which is the highest effort that can be made by man: exhibiting thus constantly what it will be the only honor worthy of his nature to imitate, however faintly; and checking his momentary pride, at every step of his glorious progress, by the brightness and vastness of what is still before him. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.3
May I not add to these remarks, that it is in this way we are to account for that humility which is so peculiarly a part of the christian character, as contrasted with the general pride which other systems either recommend or allow? The christian religion is, indeed, as has been often sarcastically said by those who revile it, the religion of the humble in heart; but it is the religion of the humble, only because it presents to our contemplation a higher excellence than was ever before exhibited to man. The proud look down upon the earth, and see nothing that creeps upon its surface more noble than themselves: the humble look upward to their God. - Thomas Brown. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.4
The Believer’s Support
I MAY be faint and weary, but my God cannot be. I may alter and fluctuate, as to my frames; but my Redeemer is unchangeably the same. I might utterly fail and come to nothing, if left to myself; but I cannot be so left to myself, for the spirit of truth hath said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” He will renew my strength, either by changing my weakness into strength, or by enduing me with his own power. He is wise to foresee and provide for all my dangers; he is rich to relieve me and succor me in all my wants; he is gracious to hear and answer all my prayers; he is omnipotent to deliver and defend me from all my enemies; he is faithful to perfect and perform all his own promises; he is eternal and immortal to bless my poor depending soul with eternal blessedness and immortality. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.5
O what a great and glorious Saviour for such a mean and worthless sinner! O what a bountiful and graciously indulgent Friend for such a base and insignificant rebel! What am I when I compare myself, and all I am of myself, with what I can conceive of my God, and of what he hath kindly promised me! What a mystery am I to myself, to angels, to men! A worm of earth, to be like a star of heaven; a corruptible sinner, to be an incorruptible saint; a rebel to be made a child; an outlaw to become an inheritor of heaven; a stronghold of the Devil to be changed into a temple of God; an enemy and a beggar to be exalted to a throne; to be in friendship with God, one with Christ, a possessor of his Spirit, and of all this honor, happiness and glory, forevermore; and all without any right to any one thing on my part, but the miseries of the lowest hell! ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.6
O what manner, and what matter of love is this! Lord, take my heart, my soul, my all. I can render thee no more, and I would render thee no less. - Ambrose Sexle. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.7
MISTAKES. - As one observes more and more, he accounts it of less importance to correct mere intellectual misapprehensions. Mistakes that do not involve pernicious errors of doctrine, and that have not energy enough to keep themselves alive, it is best to let them die of neglect. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.8
The Wise Choice
IF God be the highest perfection in himself, and the highest good to the creature, then it is the highest wisdom of the creature to choose him, and the highest piece of his duty to live in observance of God. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.9
If all the creatures must certainly appear before this great Majesty, and bow unto him, I admire the wisdom of the godly, and wonder at the folly of the wicked. And seeing this certainly and of necessity must be, Lord, let me be of the number of those who choose thee here, so as forever hereafter I may enjoy thee; and not of those who refuse thee here, and must forever hereafter be separated from thee. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.10
The Saviour
To Joseph it was said by the angel of the Lord, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS,” that is, Saviour, “for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21. And to Mary it was announced by the angel Gabriel, “Thou shalt bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS.” Luke 1:26-33. Because he saves from sin, he is called JESUS, SAVIOUR. Remember, ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.11
1. You are a sinner. Of this you are conscious. You feel it in your own heart. Your conscience condemns you, and you are condemned by God’s broken law, which thunders its anathemas against you. Yes, you are a sinner. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.12
2. You need salvation. You must perish without it. Salvation is deliverance from sin, its pollution, and its curse; and if not delivered you must perish. Yes, you are perishing, and you need salvation. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.13
3. None but Jesus can save you. You cannot save yourself; men cannot save you; angels cannot save you. There is but one name under heaven given among men whereby you can be saved - the name of Jesus. Acts 4:12. He is able to save, and willing, and none but he can save. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.14
4. You must come to Christ, if you would be saved by him. Coming is believing, and they who believe shall be saved; but they who believe not, must be damned. Mark 16:16. The way to heaven lies by the cross of Christ - there is no other way to the celestial city. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.15
5. You should come to Christ now. There is need of it, and there is abundant encouragement. He invites, he offers himself to you, and he will not cast you out, if you come to him. John 6:37. Christ is for you if you want him; yes, for you. Come to him now. There is danger in delay. Time is short, the Spirit may depart, there is danger. O come to Christ now, and he will save you from your sins. Come to Jesus, and you shall have eternal life. - Am. Mes. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.16
“A Great Way Off.”
“And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck and kissed him.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.17
Our heavenly Father is a great deal more ready to receive us than we are to come to him. We are apt to fancy that it will be very difficult to make our way to him, and to get ourselves accepted by him, after we have made up our minds to try it. We are apt to think that our hearts must become very pure, and our faith very strong, before he will kindly regard us. But no, he sees us when we are yet “a great way off,” and he pities us; and the moment he sees us from never so far off, beginning to return to him, that instant he is with us, ready to embrace us. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.18
We must be careful not to confound two very distinct things. In order to be worthy of God’s approbation, our hearts must be perfectly pure; but in order to have his pity and his redeeming grace, we have only to be willing to confess our impurity and to desire to be delivered from it in his revealed way. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.19
Does your heart turn to him - feebly, yet sincerely? Are you ready to forsake all the vain objects for the love of which you have gone from him? Do you wish to return to him? Are you willing to be his servant, feeling yourself unworthy to be called his child? ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.20
Then be assured, you have not a long journey to go, in order to come to him, toiling your weary way in rags, and in hunger, and in sorrow. O no, he has seen you from afar, and lo, here he is, looking on you with all a Father’s tenderness, and ready to have you speedily dressed in the best robe of his children - and put a ring on your hand the sure token of his affection, and shoes on your feet, in proof of his tender care. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.21
O how glad I am that I have not that long journey to take alone! My Father has met me at the very outset, and his arms will uphold me to the end. And how glad I am that I have not one fellow-creature so guilty, nor one so weak, whom I may not assure of the same kind and hearty welcome to the arms of our heavenly Father. - Am. Mes. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.22
Teach Children to Pray
IF you love your children, says Ryle, do all that lies in your power to train them to a habit of prayer. Show them how to begin. Tell them what to say. Encourage them to persevere. Remind them if they become careless and slack about it. Let it not be your fault if they never call on the name of the Lord. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.23
This is the first step in religion which a child is to take. Long before he can read you can teach him to kneel by his mother’s side, and repeat the simple words of prayer and praise which she puts in his mouth. If there is any habit which your own hand and eyes should help in forming, it is the habit of prayer. Many a gray haired man could tell you how his mother used to teach him to pray, where he knelt, and what he was taught to say. It will come up as fresh before him as if it were but yesterday. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.24
“Not an Enemy in the World.”
HASN’T! Well, we are sorry for him; for he has very little character who has no enemies. He is nobody who has not got pluck enough to get an enemy. Give us rather, as our ideal of virtue and manliness, one who has made them by his manhood, and downright sincerity, candor and fearless love of the thing he sees to be right. The man of earnest purposes, strong will, and love of principle, for its own sake, may have enemies. But this, so far from being ill, is to him a good. The strong tree is more deeply rooted and fastened in the soil by the blast than the Summer breeze. A man never knows how much there is of him till he has confronted and braved bitter opposition. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.25
ANCIENT CHRISTIAN ZEAL. - Good old Chrysostom, in his epistle to Cyriacus, said: ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.26
“Should the empress determine to banish me, let her banish me; ‘the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.’ If she will cast me into the sea, let her cast me into the sea; I will remember Jonah. If she will throw me into a burning fiery furnace; the three children were cast there before me. If she will throw me to the wild beasts; I will remember that Daniel was in the den of lions. If she will condemn me to be stoned, I shall be the associate of Steven, the proto-martyr. If she will have me beheaded, the Baptist has submitted to the same punishment. If she will take away my substance; naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return to it.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 26.27
The Vanity of the World
DOTH Satan tempt thee, either by pleasures, dignities or profits? O my soul, stand upon thy guard; gird on thy strength with such thoughts as these: What can the world profit me, if its cares choke me? How can pleasure comfort me if the sting poison me? Or what advancement is this, to be triumphing in honor before the face of men here, and to be trembling for shame before the throne of God hereafter? What are the delights of the world to the peace of my conscience, or the joy that is in the Holy Ghost? What are the applauses of men to the crown prepared by God? or what is the gain of the world to the loss of my soul? The vanity of the creature is far beneath the excellency of my soul; therefore, Satan, you and I must keep at an everlasting distance, or I shall be lost forever. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.1
Evil Age
PEOPLE in this wicked age have grown so eminently hardened in sin, that it is now a days counted one of the greatest shames to be ashamed of sin; but for my part I had rather be accounted the world’s fool than God’s enemy. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.2
“I Don’t Feel Like it.”
DON’T you? indeed; and so, my brother, you stay away from the prayer-meeting; you do not feel like going, and therefore you excuse yourself, and try to feel that you are justified in staying away, but really you are not satisfied with this; you do not appear about this matter like a man who is perfectly at ease in regard to the course he pursues. The fact is, as a christian, you cannot be contented to neglect a duty with no better reason for such neglect, than “I do not feel like it.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.3
A word in your ear, dear brother, before you try any harder to still the voice of conscience with this poor excuse. At the time when the Lord Jesus appeared as your Redeemer, and you promised to serve him all your days, did you throw in the proviso that you could discharge your duties only when you felt like it? No, indeed, there was no such condition as that; the language of your heart was, Lord, I will be thine, I consecrate my all to thee. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.4
Do consider also the fact that your pastor and brethren are greatly encouraged when you present yourself with others at the regular weekly prayer-meeting. Should not this consideration have some influence with the man who will acknowledge that he is as much bound as any other member of the church to help his minister and brethren? ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.5
Ask yourself if it is not important for every church to sustain the prayer-meeting. Has not every member as much right to stay away as you? and if every member should follow your example, and stay away, what would become of the prayer-meeting? Have you a right to pursue such a course as would destroy this meeting if others did as you do? ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.6
“Do not feel like it.” Well, suppose you do not - what then? Neglect duty? No, that will never do. We must not be governed by our feelings, but act from a sense of duty, from principle. Our feelings, too often, are as variable and changing as the weather vane upon the church steeple. It will not do to let them guide us. “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” may we say with the Apostle, and then do whatever the Lord tells us to do, whether we feel like it or not. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.7
Beginning Family Prayer
THE commencement of this sacred delightful duty must often be attended by difficulties, where the head of the family has neglected it. “I have never done anything since I became a christian,” writes one, “which required so much self-denial and which was so truly a bearing of the cross, as beginning family worship. I felt that it was duty, from the time I devoted myself to the service of Christ, but I shrunk from its performance so painfully, that day after day, and week after week, passed away without my attempting it. At length conscience remonstrated so loudly, and my conviction that it was a sin to neglect it was so strong, I determined to make the effort to perform it the next morning, cost what it would. It occasioned me a wakeful night: again and again I implored strength from on high. I was constitutionally timid, and when the morning came was much agitated. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.8
“Before breakfast, I said to my wife, ‘I feel, C——, as if we ought to have prayer in the family. We have all souls to be saved, and need God’s blessing. I am sure you will not object to it.’ ‘No,’ she replied, but the tone in which she said it was not encouraging. When we rose from the breakfast-table, it seemed to me the children had never been so noisy before, and it required an effort to request them to keep silence and be seated. They did so, but I felt their eyes were fixed wonderingly upon me. I took the large Bible from the shelf and sat down. I wished to preface the service with some remarks, but could not trust my voice, and I opened the book and read the first chapter that presented itself. I then knelt, and with a faltering voice began to address the Creator. But my hesitation soon passed off. I knew not why it was, but during the performance of this service my soul was so filled with thoughts of God’s goodness in permitting me to approach him, and to place myself and those dear to me under the shelter of his protecting love, that I forgot the presence of others, and poured out my heart in supplications for his blessing, with as much freedom and fervor as I had ever done in secret. When I arose, I perceived that my wife’s eyes were moisted with tears. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.9
“The conflict was over - the duty was entered on - and the peace which follows the consciousness of having done right, came into my heart. Prayer with my beloved ones was no longer a burden, but a delightful privilege: and ere long I had the satisfaction of knowing that the heart of my companion ascended in full unison with my own to the throne of grace. I can speak freely in my family of the value and sweetness of this service, and to many of them I believe the hour of prayer has become one of the most highly prized of all the day brings us.” Sel. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.10
Eternal Life
O MY soul, thou canst not comprehend the magnitude of the promise of everlasting life! All the glories of this world fade before it. When the sun shall have cast its last ray, and the stars have set in endless night, thou mayest be enjoying and increasing in happiness, and that forever. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.11
Prosperity of the Wicked
WHY should I fret myself at the prosperity of the wicked? Indeed, when I looked upon the spreading bay tree, and forgot the withering herb; when I viewed their quails, and forgot their curse, my feet had almost slipped; but since I went into the sanctuary of God, I find that all the blossoms of their glory must disflourish under the blastings of God’s wrath; and all their eternal felicity doth but only perfect the judgments of the Lord, and fill up the measure of their misery; for what is their pleasure, but just like the deceitful salute of Joab with Amasa? What is their honor, but like Absalom’s mule? It only mounts, and carries them to the gallows. What are their riches, but like Jael’s present in a lordly dish? It only makes way for the fatal nail, for their sad account at the day of judgment. This their prosperity slays them. Now, who esteems that ox happy, that hath a goodly pasture to feed himself for the slaughter? Who envies that malefactor that hath a fair day to ride to execution in? And why is it that the workers of iniquity flourish? Is it not that they may be destroyed forever? And the larger their pasture, the sooner they are fitted for the slaughter. I therefore for my part, when I see a sinner prosper in his wickedness, will turn the flame of envy into a tear of pity. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.12
From “The Star in the West” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.13
JEHOVAH QUESTIONS JOB PARAPHRASED BY REV JULIUS CHAPELLE CLARKE
THEN to Job replied Jehovah -
Answered him out of the whirlwind:
Gird thy loins, Job! Answer promptly
To the things that I now ask thee.
Where wert thou - what wert thou doing,
When I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me if thou understandest
Who hath laid the measure of it?
Who hath stretched the line upon it?
On what rests its strong foundations?
Who the corner stone hath placed there,
When the stars of the first morning
Twanged their harps and sang together -
When God’s sons for joy were shouting,
Praising God with hearts o’erflowing?
Tell me, Job - tell, if thou knowest -
Who hath made the world a mantle,
Of the clouds hath cut and made it -
Made it flowing loose and graceful,
So the wild winds swing it, sway it,
Make it flap like window curtains?
Tell me, Job - tell, if thou knowest -
Who hath swaddled with thick darkness
The young earth when in its cradle?
Tell me, Job - tell, if thou knowest -
Who hath fettered the big Ocean,
Strongly fettered all the waters,
That they leap not from their places -
That they come not on the dry land,
To devour those living on it?
Since thy birth hast thou commanded
That the red eye of the morning,
O’er the eastern hills come peering,
Not delaying, neither hastening,
But his wonted time e’er keeping?
Hast thou walked upon the sea-floor,
Marked the depths of the big Ocean,
Counted all the springs that feed it,
Counted all the fish that swim it?
Hast thou entered Death’s dark door-way?
Answer, Job, to these things promptly.
Hast thou found the habitations
Where light dwelleth, where dwells darkness?
Has thou entered both their dwellings,
Traveled all the road between them?
Hast thou lived so long and wisely,
As to know these things I ask thee?
Hast thou entered in my store-house,
Where the storm supplies are hoarded,
Where the rain, the snow and vapor
Are reserved for times of trouble -
Times made scarce by war and famine?
Hast thou pointed with thy finger,
Pointed out a way for lightning?
Hast thou given a tongue to thunder,
Thunder that doth madly mutter,
Hoarse in throat and dark with anger?
Canst thou turn the key that opens
To the treasures of my storm-barn -
Treasures which, poured out in Winter,
Robe the earth in bridal garments -
Treasures which, poured out in Summer,
Make the earth smile with new beauty,
Make her green robes greener, brighter,
Places flowers in her bosom,
Fills her lap with gracious plenty?
Answer me, Job - answer promptly
To the things that I now ask thee.
In my hand the earth is mellow,
Mellow as a full ripe apple;
With my thumb I made the sea-bed,
Poured the briny waters in it -
From my hand I poured its waters,
Set the islands in their places.
Told the water to play round them;
I can hold the earth in one hand,
Poise it on my little finger,
Make it spin and whirl upon it;
I can take the wicked out it,
Shake them out as dust is shaken
From an old and dusty garment.
Therefore let the nations fear me -
Let them know that I, JEHOVAH,
Will bring down the proud and haughty,
Will lift up the humble, contrite,
Will chastise the sinful, wayward,
Will bind up the broken-hearted,
Will break every arm uplifted
In oppression of my children;
Will adjust between my children,
All disputes that now divide them;
Righteously will judge the nations.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 27.14
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. MAY 28, 1857.
“AND NO MAN CAN SHUT IT.”
WE read in one place in the Revelation, “that the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” To the church which should be living when this took place, Christ says, referring manifestly to the same event, “Behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.1
What connection the two events here brought to view have with each other will not probably be apparent at first to those by whom the Bible is but little read, or who have not made the plan of man’s salvation a particular study. But to those who are acquainted with the teachings of the scriptures on the subject of the Sanctuary, the ministration therein performed, the nature of its cleansing, and the entrance of our High Priest from the Holy into most Holy Place, at the appointed time, we need offer no explanation. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.2
Another consideration engages our attention: it is that when Christ opens before his church a door which no man can shut, there is seen the ark of his testament. This ark of the testament, whether contemplated on the earth, as man was connected with it under the former dispensation, or in heaven as it is here introduced to us, is equally an object of interest. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.3
Considering that the Sanctuary of the first covenant was but a type or shadow of the Sanctuary of this, which now exists in heaven, who may tell us that the ark of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, differs from the former, either in the purposes for which it was used, or the things which it contains? The ark of the earthly sanctuary was called the ark of the testimony, or testament. Exodus 25:22. It contained the tables of stone, on which were engraved by the finger of God the ten commandments, and just as he engraved them. Exodus 25:16, 31:18. The ark of the heavenly Sanctuary, called also the ark of his testament, as in the text at the head of these remarks, must also contain similar tables, else it was not prefigured by the former. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.4
The ark, then, under whatever dispensation we view it, suggests to our mind the same idea: the commandments of God, as he uttered them from Sinai, and engraved them with his own finger. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.5
But who can suppose that thoughts of the ark, or the writing it contained, suggested to the mind of a Jew, the observance of the first day of the week as a day of rest! Neither does it suggest such an idea to our minds, but quite another, according to the reading of the fourth commandment contained in it, which says the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, etc. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.6
Such are some of the considerations which naturally connect themselves with the ark of God. But, says the Revelation, “The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament;” therefore considerations like the above have been agitating the minds of the people; and as we have seen through the declarations of his word, those tables of the law carefully preserved in the holy temple of the Highest, impressions of the immutability and perpetuity of that royal law have rolled over us, and we could do no otherwise than turn our feet to the keeping of all those holy commandments. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.7
Here is a nail in a sure place. The tables of the testimony are enthroned in heaven. There they exist without liability of changing or perishing. Men may legislate and hold councils, and pass decrees, and vent their rage against those who will acknowledge the claims of the royal law, but they cannot touch the law: as high as heaven from earth it still remains above their reach. What must man do to change it? He must ascend to heaven, dethrone Jehovah, burst through the angel guards into the sacred temple, wrest from the ark the mercy-seat, and with his own would-be omnipotent finger, change the writing of the imperishable tables. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.8
And yet people will talk about the change of the law as a very little thing, or even proceed further and speak of its abolition. They might as well talk of abolishing earth and heaven. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.9
The temple has been opened in heaven, and there is seen the ark of his testament. I have set before thee an open door; and no man can shut it. Men may endeavor with all their energies to obscure the claims of the law, but they cannot obscure them. They may raise all the stir they please amid the dirt of earth, and chuckle over the dust they succeed in throwing into their own eyes; but we have only, as it were, to look to heaven, and behold the ark of his testament. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.10
We have told what man must actually do if he would affect in one jot or tittle the law of God, provided the view we have taken of the passages in Revelation be correct. To prove that we are not correct in our application, it must be shown that the ark of the former dispensation, and consequently that dispensation itself with its attendant ministry, looked forward to no antitype; that there is no temple nor literal city, called the New Jerusalem, in heaven; that there is no ministration in this dispensation in behalf of mankind, of which the former was a figure; that the expression, the ark of his testament, does not now mean what it used to, or that the scene of Revelation 11:19, is not laid in this dispensation, or that the language has no intelligible meaning. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.11
But we have no fears for the bulwarks of truth on these points; and we feel safe for the present in resting down upon the evidence that a door which reveals to us the ark of God’s testament has been opened in heaven, with the divine assurance that no man can shut it. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.12
THE STATE OF THE DEAD
THE Advent Herald in reviewing a writer on “The Doctrine of the Millennium,” quotes his words as follows: ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.13
“Our astute reasoner proceeds: ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.14
‘And I saw thrones, etcetera, 4th, 5th, and 6th verses. It is first to be observed here, that these words are not spoken of the bodies of the saints, but of their souls. I saw the souls of them who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus. This must be carefully borne in mind, because the error of the Millenarians is mainly due to a neglect of this distinction. They imagine a bodily resurrection, whereas St. John speaks of a spiritual one. It is not said that these souls lived again, but they lived and reigned with Christ, so that what is here said is spoken, not of a corporeal, but of a spiritual resurrection.’” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.15
To this the Herald replies: ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.16
“It is also ‘to be observed,’ that the souls spoken of are ‘the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus.’ Being beheaded, they must have been dead. ‘Them that were beheaded,’ is the antecedent of the relative ‘they,’ in the affirmation, ‘they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.’ Their living is therefore antithetical to their having been beheaded; and living, those whose souls they were, were no longer in their previous headless condition. If only the souls lived, in what sense had they previously not lived? Living is a condition nowhere affirmed of souls disconnected from their bodies. For souls to live, is for them to be re-united to their bodies. As, when disconnected from the body, the soul is under the dominion of death and hades, it follows that for it to live, is to free it from that dominion. A resurrection cannot therefore be predicated of the soul independent of its connection with the body; and hence it is not a spiritual, but a bodily resurrection that is here symbolized.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.17
We are happy to find the above testimony in the Herald, since, if we rightly apprehend, it has hereby witnessed a good confession to the truth. It is quite a good commentary on the passage referred to; [Revelation 20:4, 5;] and its object is very laudable, namely, to prove a literal against a spiritual resurrection, or the resurrection of the body and not of the soul; but that it should, while defending this truth, bear such unequivocal testimony to the state of man in death, is what has arrested our attention. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.18
“Living,” says the Herald, is a condition nowhere affirmed of souls disconnected from their bodies.” Therefore when man is in death, there is no living of the soul. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.19
Again: “As, when disconnected from the body the soul is under the dominion of death and Hades, it follows that for it to live is to free it from that dominion.” It will not of course be freed from that dominion till the resurrection; therefore until the resurrection the soul does not live. Or, in other words, even if man has a distinct entity, called the soul, there is no consciousness between death and the resurrection. This is the conclusion we draw from the above extract. On this we are happy to find ourselves in agreement, believing as we do that it has the sanction of all the scriptures. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.20
AN IMPORTANT FACT
THE word “soul,” or rather the Hebrew and Greek from which it is translated, occurs in the word of God eight hundred and seventy-three times - seven hundred and sixty-eight times in the Old Testament, and one hundred and five times in the New. Also the word rendered “spirit,” occurs in both Testaments eight hundred and twenty-seven times - four hundred and forty-two in the Old Testament, and three hundred and eighty-five in the New. Their aggregate use is seventeen hundred times. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.21
But notwithstanding the frequent use of these words, they are never once qualified by such expressions as “immortal,” “deathless,” “never-dying,” etc., which so much abound in modern theology. Though the Bible speaks to us eight hundred and seventy-three times of the soul, it never once calls it an “immortal soul;” and though it tells us eight hundred and twenty-seven times of the spirit, it never once tells us of a “deathless spirit.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.22
AS WE EXPECTED
WE are led to reflections upon the arts practiced by Satan, to lead men from the truth of God’s word. Those who embrace important truth, (those whom he cannot keep from the truth,) he will lead away if possible, and he will leave no art untried. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.23
In the Prophetic Expositor of May 1st, we notice a communication from H. V. Reed of Wisconsin, who has for about four years professed the Sabbath of the Lord. And, as we expected, from the course he has taken, find that he has given up the Sabbath. He says:- ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.24
“BRO. MARSH:- After so long a time I take my pen to address you a few lines - hoping that what I am about to write will serve as encouragement to the brethren scattered abroad, and aid in strengthening them in the ‘one hope,’ etc. For some four years past I have believed and taught that the seventh day was the Sabbath of the Lord, and that christians in this dispensation were under obligations to observe the day as holy time, and that all who violated this command were under the penalty of God’s command, etc. When I first embraced the gospel of the kingdom, I took the position that the seventh day observed was peculiar to one people, and one age; viz., the Mosaic. But owing to my want of a thorough understanding of the scripture teachings upon this point, my mind was beclouded by those who were better acquainted with the subject, and hence I was led astray.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.25
Had Bro. Reed held to the Third Angel’s Message, which taught him to keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus, he would not have been left to make the fearful leap he has recently taken. But he chose to cling to the age to come, and, for a while, doubtless, endeavored to harmonize the Third Message with it. This hard task others in Wisconsin undertook. Satan well knew that the age to come would chill to death the soul, and root out finally the Message, so he would have them be sure to hold it fast. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.26
Soon Satan stirred up the friends of disorder to fight against the REVIEW, the gifts, and against God’s servants. Our poor young brother joined the disaffection, more or less, yet zealously taught the Lord’s Sabbath. He had not yet reached the point for Satan’s master temptation, viz., to break the commandments of God, and teach men so. Satan had other steps for him first to take. About this time D. P. Hall, led off in the field of strange vagaries, such as no Devil, no Spirit of God, and no resurrection of heathen and infants. He also gave the Messages of Revelation 14, to the future age. After Bro. Reed had followed on in this direction, giving up truth and embracing error, ever learning some new and strange notion relating to the age to come, but never coming for once to a knowledge of the truth, then it was that he was prepared to turn from the holy commandment. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 28.27
But Bro. Reed will not be alone in this matter. Others who have received the same heretical sentiments, have drunk the same deadly draughts, will follow. It is impossible for the age to come and the Third Message to live together. Our pity is excited for these poor souls who are being led step by step, blindfolded, to ruin’s brink. Could we help them how gladly would we do it; but many of them will not be helped. Dear readers, beware! Snares are set all about you. O beware of the arts of Satan to lead you away from the Message to destroy you. Will you also go way? Will you give up the Message you once loved? the Message which taught you to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus? God forbid! O let the departures from the Lord’s Sabbath, of those who first gave up the Message, lead you to cling to it. There are many truths taught; but what is the present truth? This we must have now. There are many messages given; but what is the Message for this time? Answer. It is the Third Message. This God will bless. This is infallible. Men may err; but God and his Message are infallible. Amen. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.1
J. W.
THE COMET
DID people read the Bible and believe it, they would never be alarmed about the world’s coming to an end by a collision with a comet. The destiny of earth is too clearly declared in that word to admit of such a supposition. It is also contrary to reason to suppose that the works of the all-wise Creator will be dashed to pieces by accident, like two trains of cars meeting on the same track, or at cross-roads. But, with the Bible on the shelf, (it is not very often in their hands,) people can at one time ridicule “Millerism,” and at another, upon the prediction of some astronomer, that a comet is coming in contact with the earth, begin to think that it may be so, and that “Millerism” may prove true after all. How much better would it be for such to read the Bible and learn what our views are, than “to speak evil of the things that they understand not,” and yet be subject to such groundless fears. The wicked flee when no man pursueth. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.2
The body of the earth will exist for ever. It was not made in vain, it was made to be inhabited. Isaiah 45:18. The glory of the Lord will finally fill it; and when that takes place, the inhabitants will dwell safely - there will be “no more utter destruction.” But previous to this, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the elements will melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.3
But human probation will soon close. Not by some accidental smash, but by a vindication of God’s righteous law, upon which men, (not excepting the great mass of professed christians,) are trampling with impunity. The warning Message is now being sounded, and the vials of wrath will surely follow. It will be a day of howling, especially with the shepherds - those who have broken God’s commandments and taught men so. It is perfectly reasonable, as well as scriptural, that probation should close with such a vindication of the law of the Most High. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.4
R. F. C.
TRADITION NO AUTHORITY
IN perusing lately Tytler’s History, a few sentences seemed to my mind to cast light upon the present age and state of things. He says: ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.5
“A supposition in many respects as absurd and irrational began to pollute the christian church in those ages, and still continues to maintain a very extensive influence. This was the worship of saints and relics. At Rome the bones of St. Peter and St. Paul, or rather, what were believed to be such, were removed from their graves one hundred and fifty years after their death, and deposited in magnificent shrines. In the following ages, Constantinople, which could boast no treasures of that kind within its own walls, had recourse to the provinces, and acquired from them the supposed bodies of St. Andrew, St. Luke and St. Timothy, after these had been dead for three hundred years. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.6
“But these sacred treasures were appropriated solely to the churches of the capitals of the empire. Other cities and their churches borrowed portions of these relics; and where they had not interest to procure these, their priests had dexterity to discover relics of their own. It was easier for the vulgar mind to approach in prayer the image, or simply the idea of a holy man - one who had been on earth, subject to like passions with themselves - than to raise their imaginations to the tremendous and incomprehensible nature of the Supreme Power: hence the prayers to the saints.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.7
The above quotation from Tytler’s Universal History, vol. 3, book v, chap 4, proves that the worship of relics, commenced in the early age of the church. Many suppose that the church was comparatively pure in those times. Another quotation from the same learned author: ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.8
“In the time of Theodosius a majority of the saints voted an application to the emperor, to restore the altar and statue of victory; and the cause of Paganism was artfully and eloquently pleaded by the senator Symmachus, as that of Christianity by the celebrated Ambrose, archbishop of Milan. The dispute was managed on both sides with great ability. The argument of Symmachus was certainly the best that could be brought in support of his cause. He balances the certain effects of an adherence to ancient customs with the uncertain consequences of an innovation. If, says he, the past ages of the Roman State have been crowned with glory and prosperity - if the devout people have obtained the blessings they solicited at the altars of the gods, is it not advisable to persevere in the same salutary practices, rather than to risk the unknown dangers that may attend rash ambitions? The reasoning was plausible. But the arguments of Ambrose had a more solid foundation: he exposed the futility of that blind and indolent maxim, that ALL innovations are dangerous; he reproved that absurd veneration for antiquity which would not only maintain mankind in childhood and ignorance, but discourage every improvement of science, and replunge the human race into their original barbarism. After removing the veil which shut out the light, he displayed the beauty and excellence of the Christian system, and finally prevailed to the conviction of the senators against the able advocate of Paganism.” Vol. 3, book v, chap 4. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.9
Who does not discover in Symmachus the advocate of Paganism, the same serpentine thread of argument now used by the advocates of traditionary institutions? Shall we observe the festival Sunday because it is handed down to us from an early period by the church? By the same rule we must pay devout worship to the relics of St. Paul or St. Peter. As Symmachus maintained that the Roman empire had attained to a wonderful height of glory and renown under the patronage of heathen or pagan deities, so do the people now maintain that God has owned and blessed the festival of Sunday; and as Symmachus held that a change of their worship from Jupiter to Jesus Christ would endanger the Roman empire, so do many now fear to change from the observance of traditionary institutions, to the keeping of the holy law of Jehovah? ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.10
How striking the thought the human mind has ever been rather in search of precedents than to know the Lord’s will! Shall the authority of antiquity settle the question of right? If so then idolatry must be set up; for Paganism is almost as old as the race of man. What confidence can an honest, earnest, godly person place in those practices which have no foundation in the word of God, but rest wholly upon the authority of a corrupt church? so corrupt and degenerate as to seek in the earth for the decaying bones of a dead man, and so soon after the establishment of the Christian system? ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.11
But we have still stronger and more conclusive evidence of the early departure of the churches from their primitive purity. I think that Christ’s message to the seven churches of Asia, comprised in the iid and iiid chapters of the Revelation, gives an alarming call to them to reform and that there existed at that early period, heresies which, if matured, would condemn those churches. The epistles of Paul and Peter, of James and John, abundantly confirm this opinion, so that we are sufficiently warned in the New Testament against putting confidence in church institutions when unsustained by revelation. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.12
JOSEPH CLARKE.
Portage, Ohio.
ADVICE FOR PREACHERS
THE following is from the London Record: ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.13
1. Understand your text. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.14
2. Avoid a display of learning - criticize in the study - teach in the pulpit. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.15
3. Divide your subject - it helps the hearers. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.16
4. Speak in short sentences - it helps the preacher. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.17
5. Use plain words - they are good for all sorts and conditions of men. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.18
6. Avoid parentheses - they trouble the speaker - they puzzle the hearer. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.19
7. Apply pointedly. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.20
8. Rebuke boldly. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.21
9. Warn lovingly. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.22
10. Encourage heartily. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.23
11. Preach frequently with your tongue. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.24
12. Preach always by your life. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.25
13. Remember your Master. Seek his glory, not your own. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.26
Old John Owen says somewhere - “To preach the Word and not to follow it with prayer constantly and frequently, is to belie its use, neglect its end, and cast away all the seed of the gospel at random.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.27
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. - Are you a christian? If not, do you ever expect to be? If so, when? If God should call you to your final account, what reason could you give for being impenitent? Might you not be a christian now? Delay not, then, now to seek salvation, lest you should put it off too long, or at last seek too late. Receive these questions kindly from one who may never meet you till the day of judgment. Think of them; think seriously; think prayerfully; think now. - Sel. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.28
A CONSTANT MIRACLE. - The Bible itself is a standing, an astonishing, miracle. Written, fragment by fragment, throughout the course of fifteen centuries, under different states of society and in different languages, by persons of the most opposite tempers, talents and conditions, learned and unlearned, prince and peasant, bond and free; cast into every form of instructive composition and good writing, history, prophecy, poetry, allegory, emblematic representation, judicious interpretation, literal statement, precept, example, proverbs, disquisition, epistle, sermon, prayer, in short, all rational shapes of human discourse, and treating, moreover, of subjects not obvious, but most difficult - its authors are not found like other writers, contradicting one another upon the most ordinary matters of fact and opinion, but are at harmony upon the whole of their sublime and momentous scheme. - Sel. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 29.29
LETTERS
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.”
From Bro. Raymond
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: The goodness of God to us, has been, and is still, very great: he cares for his children. “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.” Praise his name! ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.1
I readily concede the truthfulness of the position taken by the brethren in regard to the seven churches, and that the remnant constitutes the Laodicean church. But I do not wish to merely bow a theoretical assent to this truth; but to let it have its designed effect on my heart. As cutting and humiliating as the testimony to the Laodicean church is, it is not clothed in any too strong language to be applied to me, and, so far as I am acquainted, to the remnant in this vicinity. It will not do to trifle with this testimony, nor pass it lightly by, if we would evade the direful result of being spued out of the mouth of the Lord. May the Lord help us to be zealous and repent. The true and faithful Witness says, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” We learn from this passage of holy writ, that it is by our works that our true condition is known. Will it not be known by our works when we have complied with the requisitions contained in the admonition to the Laodicean church? Verily it will. The Lord help me and all his children to be zealous and repent, and that forthwith; for soon the Sanctuary will be cleansed, the mercy-seat become inaccessible, and then it will be too late. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.2
The redemption of God’s people is drawing very near. The signs of the times are portentous of solemn events, even the time of trouble such as never was, and the coming of the dear Saviour; but, dear brethren and sisters, we are not in darkness, that the day of Christ’s coming should overtake us as a thief in the night. While darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people, a halo of light shines around our pathway, enabling us to descry the coming storm of divine wrath, which, in its devastating march, will soon pass through the earth, laying the land desolate, and destroying the sinners out of it. Solemn scene! Alas! who will be found in a waiting posture, having on the wedding garment? ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.3
Dear brethren and sisters, we are fast approximating the time when the transition of God’s people from mortality and corruption, to immortality and incorruption, will take place. Then the trials and afflictions, pains and sufferings, sins and adversities, to which we have been incident in this life, will mar our peace no longer. Then the sleeping saints will join in the glorious pean, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Then will the sleeping saints experience the verification of the promise found in Hosea: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues, O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from my eyes.” No repentance then. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.4
Glorious scenes are soon to dawn on the pure in heart. And while we are in this dark and benighted world, it becomes us to live a prayerful and vigilant life; for Satan and all his votaries are conspiring to deceive and destroy, if it were possible, the very elect. The Lord save us from his illusive snares. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.5
I feel, for one, to heed the admonition to the Laodicean church; for I have been permitted, in a measure, to slake my thirsty soul from salvation’s fount; and therefore have no disposition to stop and quaff from the turbid streams of earth. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.6
Well may you have courage, your cause is the Lord’s,
Attested by signs, and with Scripture accords;
And though all the pow’rs of the dragon assail,
The truth, it is mighty, ‘twill surely prevail.”
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.7
Yours seeking for immortality.
J. W. RAYMOND.
Wheeler, N. Y., May 17th, 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.8
From Bro. Flower
BRO. SMITH: I wish to say to the brethren and sisters that we are yet striving to keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. We have been made sensible of the lukewarm state that we have so long been in. The message to the Laodiceans is received here, and we take courage while we hear the counsel of the true Witness to buy of him gold tried in the fire that we may be rich. My prayer is that we may be rich in faith, having all the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, meekness, etc.; for against such there is no law. Having on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand in the great day, and having done all to stand. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.9
The brethren here are striving to gain the victory over sin and the world. I feel that there are higher attainments for me, and my aim is to struggle on till I obtain entire victory. I fully believe that we are having the last message of mercy that will ever be given to the church. The loud cry will soon be given, and our great High Priest will leave the Sanctuary, and the doom of the wicked will be fixed, while the saints shall inherit eternal life. We were comforted by the coming of Bro. Holt last March. His faithful labors here were blessed to the edification and comfort of the church in this place. The brethren are scattering some distance apart. Some of us have to travel five, and others nine miles to meet on the Sabbath. It is thought by some of the brethren that it is out of order to travel so far to meeting on the Sabbath. I would be glad if some of the brethren would give their views on the subject. Pray for us, brethren, that we do all things in a christian manner. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.10
Yours in hope.
H. FLOWER.
Ronald, Mich., May 14th, 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.11
From Bro. Davis
BRO. SMITH: It may not be out of the path of duty for me to write a few lines for the encouragement of the scattered remnant. The message of the faithful and true Witness to us is meat in due season. I fully believe that it applies to the Sabbath keepers. The true Witness says “I know thy works.” My works were not righteous. I had been building, become some worldly-minded, and by my works was denying the faith I professed; but I thank the Lord that when the message came I felt rebuked, and that I must get out of that place. The way has been opened for me to sell that I had, to obey the testimony of Jesus in this, and to once more feel that I am a stranger and a pilgrim here, having neither houses nor lands, nor any certain dwelling place. We must keep all the Testimony of Jesus with the Commandments of God. My prayer is that the Lord would help me to be zealous and repent of all my wrongs, that I with all the saints may be found without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; for the Lord will have a pure church, and by his help I will be among them.
C. DAVIS.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.12
Paris, Me., May 2nd, 1857. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.13
From Bro. Taber
BRO. SMITH: We are watching, hoping and striving for the kingdom, but we feel like sheep strayed from the flock. We are alone, only two families of us any where near who believe the three angels’ messages, and sometimes feel as though our Shepherd had gone out of hearing. We are determined to hold on to the faith, although we sometimes feel cold and almost disheartened. We rejoice to learn through the Review that others no better situated than we are, manifest a fixed determination to overcome every besetment and hold out to the end. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.14
When we consider the condition of the human family, the evident waxing worse of the wicked, the corrupt state of society, ministers preaching that Christ will come but not in our day, the world must be converted first, the gospel must triumph throughout the land first, the Jews must return to Palestine first, and this cannot be done in our day, we feel as though the cry of peace and safety is surely sounding in our ears, and we are led to cry out, What can be done? We have had some lecturing here by Bro. Stewart, but the people will not go out to hear. They refuse their meeting-house for Advent lectures, on the ground that the doctrine is too corrupt to be preached, while the house is open for everything else, political lectures on the Sabbath not excepted. It does seem to us that the cup of iniquity is full to the brim, and that God’s vengeance must burst forth soon. We would be glad if some brother filled with zeal from heaven, could spend some time in this vicinity. We think that it might be the means of enlightening the minds of some before their fate is sealed for destruction. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.15
It is a great consolation to know that God is true and punctual, and that what he has promised he will perform; and we rejoice in believing that the time is close at hand when the last promise made to the human family is to be fulfilled. Go on, brethren, go on, sisters, and by the help of God we will be with you soon. In our lonely situation we need, and have a right to expect, the prayers of God’s people, that we may be prepared with our lamps trimmed and burning when the Bridegroom comes. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.16
Yours in hope of a blessed inheritance among the saints.
A. TABER.
Berlin, Wis., May 17th, 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.17
From Bro. Warren
BRO. SMITH: I would speak a few words through the Review in hopes to encourage others, as they have thereby encouraged me. The great work of overcoming and getting the victory, in which I have engaged, is no small work. I find it is a work in which I must be constantly engaged with all the powers of my mind. Our Saviour has recorded for our profit and instruction. “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” Whenever we cease to watch and pray, we may be sure that is the very moment which Satan will improve to lead us astray. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.18
I am more than ever convinced of the severe trials that await God’s honest children but a little way in the future in their onward march to mount Zion. There is a great work to be done for us to fit us for the time of trouble just before us. It is certainly a fact which cannot be denied, that “men are waxing worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” They are filling up their cup of iniquity. Satan has gone forth “with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved.” But those who love the truth, and whose delight is in the law of the Lord; those who are willing to sacrifice ease, honor, pleasure, property, and all for the cause of God, will not be drawn away by the deceitful workings of Satan. The Lord’s faithful ones can claim the promise in Psalm 34, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” God’s Spirit will not always strive with men. The last sealing truth is now being proclaimed. Many have decided already, and their decision is recorded. Others will soon decide, and their decision will be a final one. Men are now deciding either for life or death. The present age is one of the most solemn the world ever knew. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.19
I have been trying to count the cost of a journey to the celestial city, and I would say to my brethren and sisters who are with me bound to mount Zion, it is going to take all to buy the field. It will require every effort in our power, and the greatest self-sacrificing spirit on our part in order to gain an entrance through the pearly gates into the city. Our life must correspond with what we profess. I feel indeed like covenanting anew with the Lord to engage more heartily than ever in the great work before me of a preparation for the coming events of the future. I am sure if I had no strength but that of my own, I never could go through; but the Lord has said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” I believe the Lord has done a great work for me during the last year of my life; but more especially the last six months; and yet I find I have much more to do to be fitted for the coming of the Saviour. While my brothers and sisters in the flesh have, the most of them, gone over to Spiritualism, I am through the goodness of God left to hope in his mercy. O, the goodness of the Lord in preserving me and bringing me to a knowledge of his truth. May I ever praise him and dedicate my all to him. My ardent prayer to God is that my heart may be melted into tenderness, and that I may finally overcome, get the victory, and stand with all the redeemed on mount Zion. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 30.20
Yours in hope.
S. B. WARREN.
Battle Creek, Mich., 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.1
From Sister Scoville
BRO. SMITH: I have a desire to add my feeble testimony in favor of the glorious cause that I have enlisted in. Although I do not feel capable of saying any thing that will be instructing to others, yet I find that we all have one talent and it is our duty to improve it. I believe we are living under the last message of mercy, and I can say for one that I am truly thankful that it has found way to my heart, and I have been inclined to give heed to it while there is mercy to be found. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.2
I believe the time will soon come when they that are filthy will remain so still. My desire is to arise from this lukewarm state and buy the pure gold tried in the fire, and the white raiment, and have my eyes anointed with the eye-salve that I may see and understand what the will of the Lord is, and by his help try to obey it. I feel to praise the Lord for what he is doing for his people in the West, and I hope the time is not far distant when some more in these parts will be brought to see the present truth. I feel that we need much grace and strength to stand in these times of peril and darkness. But the promises of God are sure that his grace shall be sufficient for our day; praise his holy name! ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.3
When I read the communications from the brethren and sisters scattered abroad, some of those, too, that I have met in the praying circle, and mingled my voice with theirs in prayer and praise to our heavenly Father, it cheers my heart and gives me strength to hold on, hoping we shall soon meet again in that kingdom where parting will be no more. O may the Lord help us all to be faithful and endure unto the end that we may receive a crown of life. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.4
Your unworthy sister in the Lord.
ELIZA SCOVILLE.
Manlius, May 14th, 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.5
From Bro. Brown
BRO. SMITH: The cause of present truth in this section of country, so far as I am acquainted, is on the rise. The few in this place are trying to overcome that they may sit down on Jesus’ throne, as he has overcome and set down upon his Father’s throne. I spent the Sabbath three weeks ago with the church in Locke. So far as I can learn the sweetest union prevails in the church. They are all trying to overcome. When I saw and felt the union that prevailed in the church in Locke, my mind was carried back to four years ago this Spring when we embraced the present truth. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.6
The testimony of Brn. Cornell and Holt has had a good impression on the church. Those that were reclaimed under their labors hold on to the truth with much firmness. May the Lord bless and strengthen them, and all the dear brethren and sisters in the Lord. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.7
Yours trying to overcome.
THOMAS BROWN.
Corunna, Mich., May 18th, 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.8
From Bro. Street
BRO. SMITH: I would say to the remnant scattered abroad that I am still striving to overcome, that I may stand on mount Zion. I feel that my faith is built on a firm foundation, the word of God; and my prayer is that I may be sanctified by his word. I find that I have many besetments to overcome, but I am striving to heed the counsel of the true Witness to be zealous and repent. I desire to obtain that gold tried in the fire, and to be clothed with white raiment, that I may abide the day of God’s wrath, and be gathered with the saints of all ages to meet our Lord in the air. O, brethren and sisters, there is a prize before us worth striving for. Let us therefore lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race set before us. I love the Review and the truths that it advocates, and my prayer is that you may be sustained in your labors for the truth. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.9
From your unworthy brother.
S. A. STREET.
West Windsor, Eaton Co., Mich.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.10
From Bro. Edgar
BRO. SMITH: As I have been greatly edified and comforted by reading the communications from dear brethren and sisters of like precious faith, I feel like giving in my testimony on the Lord’s side. I can truly say the Lord is working for his people. I feel that the Lord has been merciful in sending his servants this way. We were striving to overcome, as we thought, but O, what feeble efforts we made. Bro. Cornell came laden with precious truth. The Spirit accompanied the word, and O, what a melting season! Wives confessing to their husbands, and husbands to their wives, sister to brother, and brother to sister. O! what a getting ready; how we felt the need of tearing away the rubbish from the door and letting Jesus come in. How rich we thought we were. We had got hold of the truth, but the truth had not got hold of us. The word was spoken in power and in demonstration of the Spirit. The Lord worked, and Satan tried to hinder; but the cause of the Lord moved on gloriously. We have good reason to believe many were convicted of present truth, but had not moral courage enough to cut loose from the world; but bless the Lord! two young ladies took a bold stand for present truth by turning their backs on the world, and following their humble Pattern down into the water. Eight others were buried with Christ in baptism, and arose to walk in newness of life and cast their names in with the poor despised remnant, feeling willing to have their names cast out as evil for Christ’s sake. My prayer is that they may be faithful till Jesus comes, for the day hasteth greatly. For yet a little while and he that shall come, will come and will not tarry. Hebrews 10:37. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. James 5:7, 8. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Hebrews 9:28. The brethren and sisters are striving to arise.
J. L. EDGAR.
Bowne, Mich., May 13th, 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.11
From Sister Dartt
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: I have seated myself to enjoy for a few moments the great privilege conferred upon us, of speaking often one to another through the Review, and indeed it is the only medium of communication that I enjoy with sabbath-keepers at present, for I have not seen one for the last six months excepting my two young daughters. But notwithstanding my lonely situation, I am not in the least discouraged, but am daily looking forward with joyful anticipation to ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.12
that blest home
Where none shall sigh with pain,
Where hours of parting never come,
Nor human frailties stain.”
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.13
We feel that God has called us out from the world and the surrounding churches to be a separate and a peculiar people, and I have long felt to mourn that there was so much lukewarmness among us as a body. I rejoice that the testimony to the Laodiceans has been so generally received, and that many of us are waking up to a knowledge of our condition. But is there not a great lack yet? Is there that strong and overcoming faith, that constant watchfulness and prayer, that burning zeal in the cause of God, that deep spirituality, that purity, in short that holiness of heart that there must be to stand before the Son of man? O let us examine ourselves in the light of God’s precious word, and if we discover the least imperfection let us double our diligence that we may be found of him in peace. Let us constantly shut our eyes against the follies and vanities of the world, and fix them steadily on our great pattern. Let us turn away our ears from all unprofitable conversation, let us constantly watch our minds and see that no vain thoughts lodge within, and that even necessary cares and business do not unnecessarily occupy our minds; let us constantly ask ourselves, does this or that object tend to draw my soul nearer to God? if not let us discard it at once and be christians in earnest, and in nowise give the lie to our profession. I know this is a narrow way, but Jesus says, straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:14. Awful words! “few there be that find it!” God grant that we may all be among that few. I desire an interest in the prayers of all God’s people, that I may overcome through the blood of the Lamb, and meet them on mount Zion. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.14
A. E. DARTT.
Baraboo, Wis., May 12th, 1857.
From Bro. Gurney
BRO. SMITH: In view of the coming of Christ, its approaching event, of the perils in coming to it, of all the evidences forcing these truths upon our attention, of our accountability and obligations in view of the relation we sustain to present truth, [Revelation 14:12,] to our neighbors, our brethren, and our families, I tremble within myself and am led seriously to inquire, Who shall be able to stand? As every thing, in regard to my salvation, abstractly considered, depends upon my duty, and the right performance of it [Matthew 25:31-46,] I am led to examine my motives with a jealous eye. The heart is naturally deceitful, and must be daily mortified and kept under a strict watch. We must aim at simplicity in our religious duties. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.15
We are told of a Brahman in India whose faith makes it an article of religious duty to abstain from eating the flesh of animals, who one day met an Englishman exhibiting a microscope. The Englishman, to convince the Brahman of the absurdity of his superstition, would show him that he could not help eating the flesh of animals, even though he lived upon vegetables alone. He therefore persuaded him to look through his microscope at a piece of fruit or vegetable production, which formed part of the Brahman’s daily food, when to the horror of the man, he beheld whole herds of living creatures detected by the power of the instrument, and demonstrating the falsehood of his Pagan theology. He was so indignant at the sight, that he seized the microscope and trampled it under foot, breaking it in pieces, thinking perhaps that he had thus destroyed the evidence in nature, against him. So the sinful heart may be tempted to think, that by keeping away from the light, or shutting the light out, it may keep quiet in the persuasion of its own goodness and security. And so a man in the indulgence of any thing that is wrong avoids the light, and would destroy the evidence. But a man whose desire is that Christ should rule supremely in his heart and life, a man whose eye is single to Christ, will be willing and desirous to have Christ’s eye single upon him, and every thing open to Christ’s inspection and the trial of the truth. When this is the case, the whole body will be full of light, there will be very few causes or occasions of darkness. I do desire to enjoy the fullness of light promised to him whose eye is single, to walk in the path of the just which shineth more and more until the perfect day. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.16
Yours striving to overcome.
H. S. GURNEY.
Jackson, Mich., May 18th, 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.17
OBITUARY
BRO. SMITH: I have just laid my dear father Philander Morton, in the silent tomb. He embraced the Third Angel’s Message in the Summer of 1854, and he has zealously endeavored to keep the Commandments of God and the Testimony of Jesus. He fell asleep in Jesus, Apr. 27th, 1857. His age was forty-nine years and eight months. GEO. W. MORTON. Sauk Rapids, M. T. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 31.18
Sister Mary, wife of Wm. Gifford, of Parma, Jackson Co., Mich., departed this life, May 15th, 1857, aged fifty-three years. Bro. G. had recently removed with his family from Massachusetts to the West. Sister G.’s health had been declining for several years past. After their preparation to leave for the West, she was in such a low state of health that her husband proposed to give it up, but she urged him to proceed onward. Her health was apparently improving while on their journey, and for some days after their arrival in Mich., after which she began to sink until she quietly fell asleep in Jesus. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.1
Sister G. professed to be a Christian for many years, and when the announcement of Christ’s second coming was being made to all the world, through the First Angel’s Message in 1843, she gladly and joyfully embraced it, and also the Third Angel’s Message, to which she tenaciously adhered to the last. And when she felt the pangs of death stealing o’er her mortal frame, she requested her children to come to her bed-side, and after charging them to obey God and keep his commandments that they might meet her in peace, she was reminded that one of her daughters was in the East. Said she, My dying request to J. is, that she leave off her pride and vanity, and keep the commandments of God that she may have the hope which now sustains me. This was a solemn scene. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.2
Sister G. retained her senses to the last moment. Her faith was firmly settled in the great Physician who prescribes no stupefying drugs to deprive his children of the realities of a dying hour. I came to the place about half an hour before she died. Said she in a whisper, Pray that I may have an easy passage. We bowed in prayer, a few moments after which her request was granted, and she passed from her mortal state without a groan. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.3
Bro. J. Byington was providentially with us, and assisted in the funeral services, which took place on the 17th inst. A large company of people came to the funeral who seemed deeply interested to hear the word of the Lord, ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.4
Ah! she has gone - there enshrouded she lies,
Hushed is her voice, and bedimmed are her eyes.
Cold is that form, and all motionless now,
Death’s fatal seal on her calm, pallid brow.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.5
Mournful we gazed on the face of the dead,
Many the tears that in sorrow we shed;
Deep was the anguish then rending the heart.
Sad was the hour when we saw her depart.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.6
Slowly away moved the burial train,
Severed one link in affection’s fond chain;
Low in the earth have they laid her to rest,
Precious the treasure enclosed in its breast!
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.7
Father! the loved from thy bosom is torn,
Children our mother hath left us to mourn.
Lonely the hearth-stone - for one is not there -
Broken the circle - and vacant the chair.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.8
Peaceful thy slumber! O sweet thy repose!
Safe from life’s turmoil, its cares and its woes,
Short is the silent embrace of the tomb;
Hope, pointing upward, disperses its gloom.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.9
Soon will the King in his glory descend,
Triumphant o’er Death, and the grave’s fetters rend;
Kindred and friends shall we meet as they rise,
Bright and immortal ascending the skies.”
JOSEPH BATES.
Sharon, Mich., May 20th, 1857.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.10
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.11
The righteous hath hope in his death. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.12
Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.13
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. - BIBLE. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.14
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
BATTLE CREEK, FIFTH-DAY, MAY 28, 1857.
To Correspondents
E. Everts and E. M. Jaekman:- We have ever been in doubt of the correctness of the report of wonders accomplished by the spirits at Grand Traverse, Mich. Many papers, spiritual as well as others, have denounced it as a hoax, the wild imagination of a mad man. We have, however, taken measures to ascertain by private correspondence, whether the reports are founded on fact or not. If they are, we will in due time report the circumstances to our readers. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.15
APPOINTMENTS
Eastern Tour. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.16
PROVIDENCE permitting, Bro. and Sr. White will meet with the church of God in General Conferences as follows: ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.17
In Vermont, where Bro. Bingham and others may appoint through the REVIEW, June 13th and 14th. We hope the Tent will be pitched. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.18
At the House of Prayer, at Buck’s Bridge, St. Law. Co., N. Y., the 20th and 21st. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.19
In Central N. Y., where Brn. Rhodes and Wheeler may appoint, the 27th and 28th. We hope this meeting will be very general, and that the N. Y. Tent will be pitched at this meeting for the benefit of the church of God. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.20
In Pennsylvania, where Bro. Ingraham may appoint, July 4th and 5th. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.21
In Ohio, where the brethren may appoint, and pitch the Ohio Tent, July 11th and 12th. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.22
We shall visit the brethren in Connecticut the first of June if possible. Those dear brethren in different places who have invited us to visit them must excuse us if we pass them by for want of time. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.23
We hope the brethren will come together prepared to work. We shall endeavor to bear testimony to the truth as far as health and strength may admit; but farther than this we hope to be free from the care and responsibilities of these meetings. JAMES WHITE. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.24
New York Tent. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.25
WE design holding the first meeting for the season in this tent at Cameron, Steuben Co., N. Y., in the neighborhood of Bro. James Santee, commencing June 13th. The brethren in that vicinity will then have an opportunity of handing in their means without sending by mail. Those in Pennsylvania who may see Bro. Ingraham can hand their donations to him. Other brethren may send as directed in No. 2. We need some means to use before starting in order to leave things in a right condition at our homes. I presume, brethren, that, in consequence of the failure of crops, and the severity of the Winter, it is close times with you. It is no less so with us; but, if we all have the spirit of labor and of sacrifice, our efforts will be owned and blessed of God to our own good, and to the salvation of others. With a humble reliance on his aid we will move forward in the discharge of our duties. Brethren, we profess faith in the efficacy of prayer. Then let us pray earnestly that God will bless our labors with the Tent. Will you remember us who go with the Tent in your prayers? We need the help of your prayers, offered with unwavering faith, that God will cause the feeble instrumentality to accomplish much good in his holy cause.
R. F. C.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.26
TENT MEETINGS
WE have purchased the Wisconsin Tent, and will pitch it, the Lord willing, in Rubicon, Dodge Co., June 5th, 1857. Meeting will commence at 5 o’clock, P. M., and continue over the Sabbath and First-day, and longer if thought to be duty. Those coming on the cars will come to Rubicon Station. Inquire for the tent ground which will be south from the depot. Let brethren and sisters come prepared to work for the salvation of souls. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.27
We design spending about six weeks in this State, unless it is thought best to hold one meeting in Iowa, within this time. We then go to Jo Daviess Co., Ills. This arrangement may be altered, if duty seems to demand. We hope to see that all have an interest in this effort that profess to love the truth. John says, “This is the love of God that we keep his commandments.” It consists in doing. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.28
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
J. HART.
E. EVERTS.
N. B. Our P. O. Address up to June 15th will be Rubicon, Dodge Co., Wis.
J. N. L.
J. H.
E. E.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.29
Tent in Ohio
BRO. SMITH: The precious cause of truth is progressing some in this part of the field. The brethren generally are engaged, and are ready to let their light shine before others. We are satisfied the time has come to awake out of sleep and to enter the harvest-field with faith, zeal and courage, thus showing to the world that we believe all we profess. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.30
The main body of the brethren in this State have considered the matter as to what measures should be adopted to spread the truth in this part of the field. The conclusion is to purchase a Tent and move as Providence may open the way. We therefore invite all the scattered brethren in this State to unite with us in the tent enterprise with their prayers and otherwise as duty may call.
G. W. HOLT.
ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.31
Beware how you trifle with duty on the ground of inability: he who bids you do, promises you strength; he invites you to receive, have grace that you may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.32
Be not discouraged by past failures in duty, but confess to God, beg his interference, and try again. “The way of the Lord is strength to the upright.” ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.33
Who is a proud professor? Probably yourself. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.34
Holy doctrines lose much of their beauty when preached or defended by unholy men. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.35
Business Items
L. M. Jones:- We have no large Signs in paper, therefore send bound. There remains $2,45 subject to your order. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.36
D. Chase:- What is Arnold Chase’s P. O. Address? ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.37
Wm. Lawton:- Four dollars pay your four copies of REVIEW to Vol. xi, No. 1. We hold the other dollar subject to your order. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.38
R. F. Cottrell:- No. 24 past Vol. all out. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.39
BOOKS SENT. - S. B. McLaughlin, Wis., M. Daniels, Mich., Wm. Jones, N. Y., Wm. G. Sheffield, R. I. B. E. Place, N. Y., F. F. Judd, Mich., C. G. Cramer, Mich., S. Brigham, Mich. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.40
Receipts
Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the “Review and Herald” to which the money receipted pays. If money for the paper is not in due time acknowledged, immediate notice of the omission should then be given. FOR REVIEW AND HERALD. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.41
L. Drew $2,00,xii,1. Elisha S. Baker 2,00,xii,1. A. E. Dartt 1,50,xi,14. A. Taber 2,00,xi,1. W. Hyde 1,00,xi,1. J. Bodley 2,00,xi,1. C. M. Wade 1,00,xi,1. Jas. Aldrich 1,00,xi,1. S. B. McLaughlin 1,00,xi,1. Jno. Young 1,00,xi,8. E. M. Jackman 1,25,xi,1. B. E. Place 1,00,xi,1. H. Bristol 1,00,x,14. E. Green 1,00,xi,1. S. Everett 1,00,x,1. E. Green (for E. A. Green) 0,50,xi,1. L. M. Jones (50 cts each for C. Boughton M. Boughtion, M. Daniels, & Wm. Jones) 2,00, each to xi,1. N. M. Gray 1,00,xi,1. D. Chase 1,00,xii,14. R. Coggshall 1,00,xi,1. S. Chase 1,00,xi,1. S. J. Voorus 1,00,xi,1. J. H. Cottrell 0,50,xi,1. N. M. Denison 0,50,x,1. A friend (for F. F. Judd) 1,00,xi,1. Wm. Lawton (four copies) 4,00,xi,1. Wm. Lawton (for S. Bartlett) 1,00,xii,1. C. Lawton (for E. Thompson) 0,50,xi,1. J. C. Lawton 1,00,x,1. Maria West 1,00,xii,1. A. Abbey (2 copies) 1,00,xi,1. A. A. Marks 1,00,xi,1. B. Marks 1,00,xi,1. B. Marks (for E. Clark) 0,50,xi,1. L. M. Fish 1,00,xi,1. L. M. Freeto 1,00,xi,1. B. Graham 1,00,xi,1. Wm. H. Graham 1,00,xi,1. C. B. Preston (2 copies 2,00,xi,1. D. Benedict 1,00,xi,1. A. S. King 1,50,xi,14. J. A. Loughhead 1,00,xi,1. J. A. Loughhead (50 cts. each for J. W. L. and S. Snyder) 1,00, each to xi,1. J. Byington 1,00,xi,1. D. Howard 1,00,xi,1. J. Cady 1,00,xi,1. M. A. Crary 1,00,xi,1. D. N. Fay 1,00,xi,1. D. Williams 1,00,xi,8. Russell Mason 1,00,xi,1. S. Brigham 1,00,xi,1. G. A. Brigham 1,00,xi,1. S. Buzzell 1,00,xi,1. A sister in Vt., 1,00,xii,1. Harrison Grant 1,00,xi,1. Wm. G. Sheffield 1,00,x,15. Jno. Pambly 1,00,xi,1. Geo. Smith 2,00,xiii,1. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.42
FOR REVIEW TO POOR. - W. Hyde $3,88. S. B. McLaughlin $0,50. D. Chase $1. L. M. Fish $3. H. J. Rich 0,25. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.43
FOR MICH. TENT. - A. M. Lane $1,50. ARSH May 28, 1857, page 32.44