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. VIII. - BATTLE CREEK, MICH., FIFTH-DAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1856. - NO. 21.
No Authorcode
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY
AT BATTLE CREEK, MICH.
BY J. P. KELLOGG, CYRENIUS SMITH AND D. R. PALMER,
Publishing Committee.
URIAH SMITH, Resident Editor.
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Corresponding Editors
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UrSe
Matthew 20:3.
Idle in the market-place!
Poor day-laborer, can this be?
Who thy daily bread shall earn?
Who thy wages give to thee? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.1
Idle in the market-place!
When the wearied reapers bend,
Wrestling with the bearded wheat,
And the harvest soon will end? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.2
When the ripened field is wide,
And the morning flies apace,
How, contented, canst thou stand
Idle in the market-place? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.3
Listen to the toiling ant:
“Work,” she murmureth, “and be wise,“
“Work,” the unresting waters say:
“Work,” the fruitful earth replies. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.4
Nature in a thousand forms
Gives thee counsel, not in vain;
Heaven, that highest teacher, cries,
“Work,” and thy salvation gain.
[L. R. S. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.5
From the ADVENT HERALD ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.6
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IN the article in a late Herald on the Institution of the Sabbath, it is admitted that the children of Israel in their Egyptian bondage must have been unable to gain time for the observance of the Sabbath, from the rigor of their servitude, and had probably become careless and indifferent respecting it; but he expresses doubt, as to the day which the Lord designated for the observance of the Sabbath whether or no, it was the original seventh day in regular succession from creation. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.7
From the language of the fourth commandment, in connection with what is said in Genesis 2:2, 3, I see no reasonable ground for a doubt on that point. The command is, to remember the Sabbath day. How could it be remembered, unless it had been before in the memory? Again it says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath;” not a seventh day, but the definite seventh day. A reason for the observance is given. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. What day did he bless and hallow? The Sabbath day. What day is the Sabbath? “The seventh day is the Sabbath.” When did he bless and hallow it? When he rested on it. This is plain unequivocal language and need not be mistaken. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.8
The writer conveys the idea that as God instituted the Sabbath, it is his prerogative alone to change or abrogate it, either by direct precept, or by his Providence. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.9
It is admitted indirectly that there is no direct precept for its change; but it is endeavored to be proved, that the providence of God was manifest in its change. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.10
The first reason given, is, that Christ rose from the dead on that day, and that doing that was an event of more momentous interest to the human race than any event that had previously transpired since the creation. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.11
By what rule the writer came to this conclusion, he has not informed us. Who knows whether the resurrection of Christ is an event of greater interest to the human race, than his being “delivered for our offences?” We have “redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins.” Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Romans 3:24, 25; 1 Peter 1:18, 19. That both these events are worthy of being commemorated, no one doubts; but that there is a necessity for a change in the law of God, that either event should be commemorated, there is room for doubt: for, to commemorate the first, we have the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, instituted by the Saviour; and is not the last shadowed forth in the ordinance of baptism? So I think. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.12
Again, the writer says, that the day of the resurrection of Christ “was more fitting for Christians of all nations to observe, than a day which commemorated only the national deliverance of the Jews.” Before this, he had said that “The Sabbath was commemorative of God’s great work of creation in six days; which those do not commemorate who keep no Sabbath.” How these two statements harmonize, I am not able to see. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.13
If the Sabbath is a type of the rest which remains to the people of God, [Hebrews 4,] and that is in the seventh thousand year of the world, how would the first day of the week have any significance respecting it? It is asserted that after the resurrection of Christ, “there is not on record any marked Christian observance of the (Jewish) Sabbath.” Was not the Evangelist Luke a Christian writer? and did he not write the Acts of the apostles some thirty years after the resurrection of Christ? and do we not find in that record, an account of the observance of at least eighty four Sabbaths by the apostle Paul and Christians with him, both Jews and Gentiles? Please examine a few texts. Acts 13:14, 44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4, 11. I think these declarations by an inspired penman, are sufficient to show that assertion to be incorrect. Again, “Apostolic practice is equally significant with apostolic precept.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.14
A precept I understand to be a command, order, or mandate. It has not been shown that there is an apostolic command for the first day of the week; and as to their practice, according to the references above, it savors more of an observance of the Sabbath according to the commandment, than of the first day, there being only one text referring to the first day of the week, in the Acts, and it lacks positive proof, that that day was observed as a Sabbath. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.15
Again, “since then the first day has been universally recognized as ‘The Lord’s Day.’” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.16
That it has been universally recognized as the Sabbath, I think must be a mistake, if any reliance can be placed on history. I have seen extracts from various writers which speak of the observance of the Sabbath according to the commandment by Christians in almost every century since the commencement of the Christian Era. Their numbers were, however, not great, compared with the body of professed Christians. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.17
The mystery of iniquity began to work in the days of the apostles; and it would not be strange, if that power made an effort to change the laws of God, and substitute his own in their place, and institute a day for worship, which the Lord did not sanctify and hallow. Because God permitted the change, it does not follow that he sanctioned it. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.18
The Scripture texts brought to sustain the position taken, fail to do it to my mind and I presume to the minds of many others. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.19
The first text [John 20:19] does not prove that the disciples were together for the purpose of celebrating the first day, in honor of his resurrection, for they did not believe that he was raised, at that time; and we learn from Acts 1:13, that they abode together; and as their hope seemed to be lost, their doors were shut for fear of the Jews, when the Saviour came among them. If the day commenced at the going down of the sun, I should think the evening must be the commencement of the second day; as two of them were at Emmaus, about seven and a half miles from Jerusalem, when it was towards evening, and the day was far spent. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.20
The next passage, [verse 26.] And after eight days, etc. I should think that after eight days would be the ninth day; would be the second day of the week, if the first meeting of Christ and his disciples was on the first. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.21
Acts 20:7. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, etc. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.22
If the coming together in that instance to break bread constituted that day a Sabbath, then on the same principle might every other day in the week become a Sabbath; for the disciples continued “daily with one accord in the temple, and in breaking bread from house to house” - there being the same proof for the one, as the other. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.23
The text in 1 Corinthians 16:2, rather proves that Paul did not consider the first day of the week the Sabbath, for he advised them to do what would not seem proper business for the Sabbath; for how could they know how the Lord had prospered them unless they looked over their secular concerns? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.24
The command to lay by them, would indicate that they were at home rather than at meeting. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.25
Revelation 1:10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, etc. That day is claimed to be the first day of the week; but where is the proof from the Bible? If the first day is anywhere else in the Scripture called the Lord’s day, there then is satisfactory proof that such was the case; but I have been unable to find a single text which designates the first day of the week as the Lord’s day. On the contrary I do find frequent mention of the seventh day as being the Sabbath of the Lord; my holy day. Keep my Sabbaths. The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath day. The inference I should draw, would be that the Sabbath day, was the day in which John was in the Spirit. Christ, in Matthew 24, when referring to an event to take place some forty years in the future, spoke of the Sabbath as though it would continue to that time certain, as it then was. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.26
I fail to see from these considerations and others, which I have not time or space to enumerate, that God has honored the first day of the week above the seventh; neither do I find that all of God’s church has uniformly testified to the observance of the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.27
God in his providence has permitted the Man of Sin to sit in the temple of God; but it does not follow as a matter of course, that all the doctrines, which have been thundered forth from the Vatican, are the commandments of God. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.28
If men can commemorate God’s great work of creation, by keeping the first day of the week as the ARSH September 25, 1856, page 161.29
Sabbath; why cannot those who rest on the Sabbath day according to the commandment, by the same rule commemorate the resurrection of Christ? If a person must of necessity keep the first day of the week, in order to commemorate Christ’s resurrection, then by the same rule, he must keep the seventh day to commemorate the work of creation. How can we come to any other conclusion! ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.1
The close of that article is worthy of being remembered. “To keep Jehovah’s Sabbaths it is needful to observe the day that He recognizes, which is significant of all the truths for the perpetuation of which he has instituted it.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.2
In deciding which day that is, let us appeal to the law and to the testimony, rather than to the commandments of men, who have made void the law, through their traditions. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.3
What I have written has been done with a sincere desire for the truth. If I have misapprehended the matter, I stand for correction; but as the subject appears to my mind, I see no way to avoid the conviction that it is my duty to turn away my foot from the Sabbath; from doing my pleasure on his holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honorable. So I mean by the grace of God, to live by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth. If this position is not truth I would not take it on any consideration. I may err in judgment, and thus be led into error in practice; but my prayer is, Sanctify me through thy truth: thy word O God is truth. May all the children of God who are striving for the kingdom, be found in the path of obedience, be among those who do his commandments; that they may have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city. And O may the time soon come, when the gates of the city shall open, and the righteous nation that keepeth the truth enter in. J. D. MERRIAM. Templeton, May 25th, 1856. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.4
Probabilities against the Sinner. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.5
MY impenitent friend, you hope and expect to be saved; but, humanly speaking, you have more reason to fear that you will be lost. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.6
1. It is easier to be lost than to be saved. To be saved, you must resist the current; to be lost, you have only to float with it. To be saved, you must awake to the greatest earnestness, and use the powers that you have; to be lost, you have only to remain as you are, indifferent, quiet. “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.7
2. The number of believers is small in comparison with the company to which you belong. “Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Yet all the impenitent, and you among them, seem to be expecting salvation. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.8
3. You have heard truth enough, if this were all, to save the world. In how many instances in the days of our Lord, in reply to the briefest statements and instructions, perhaps a declaration so simple as, “I am he,” was the answer returned, “Lord, I believe.” But you have had “line upon line, precept upon precept,” from your youth up. Many of the heathen melt and bow with vastly less light and knowledge than you possess. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.9
4. In how many ways and instances have you been warned - by the expostulations of the pulpit, by pious friends, by personal afflictions, public calamities, and mysterious providences. You have seen others fall on your right hand, and on your left. You have lost dear friends. You have been brought down to death’s door yourself. But you are yet in your sins. Is it likely that there is any form of the approach of death in reserve, or any kind of trials or other warnings which will be likely to bring you to Christ, when all these that are past have not? No new Saviour will be provided for you - no new gospel preached. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.10
5. You have been wooed by the Spirit. You have perhaps seen and felt the power of the Spirit in what are called “revivals of religion,” and at such times particularly have been almost persuaded to become a Christian. But you said to the Spirit, “Depart.” You suffered opportunities, more favorable in themselves than any you will ever again enjoy, to pass unimproved. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.11
6. Added to all this is the force of habit, which has been, and is hourly riveting your chains. Oh, what a hold has sin upon your heart! Sooner may the “Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots,” than you “do good, who are accustomed to do evil.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.12
7. Does not the indifference which you now manifest with regard to your soul’s salvation, show that you are one of those whom the god of this world has blinded, and that there is great danger you will be numbered with the lost? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.13
How critical, how fearful, is your situation! And yet there is hope for you in Christ. You are not yet lost. Oh, avail yourself of the help proffered in the gospel. Look to Him, and live. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.14
“Haste, O sinner, to be blest,
Stay not for the morrow’s sun,
Lest perdition thee arrest,
Ere the morrow is begun.”** [L. H. R. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.15
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WHOEVER saw “to-morrow?” They to whom the midnight cry brought no alarm, because the lamp was burning. They who could meet suddenness with readiness. They who, when the Bridegroom gave time for no more than instant following, found that time enough, and went in with him to the marriage feast; who, at the cry, “Go ye forth to meet him!” had nothing to do but to “go forth;” whose lamps burned clear when their companions’ had gone out; who lacked no oil when there was no longer time to go and buy; who were “entering in” when others were hastening in terror to begin their first works; who were shut in with the King by the same door which, but that they were ready, would have shut them out; who were singing salvation’s song when the foolish were crying without, “Lord, Lord, open unto us,” and receiving their sad answer, “Depart, I never knew you.” They who needed no “to-morrow,” having rightly used to-day and could, therefore, with joy, and not with grief, prove “to-morrow” and eternity to be the same. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.16
Who ever received mercy “to-morrow?” None. Not to find mercy to-day is to lose it for ever. Where is God’s invitation to be found for “to-morrow?” No where! God is too just to be mocked, too pitiful to mock. Who ever was put off by God to “to-morrow?” No one. When God says “Now,” he means “now.” Who ever died on “to-morrow?” No one. Salvation, life, death, heaven, hell, all are gathered up in “to-day.” To those whose last hour is come, “to-morrow” will be as though a thousand years had rolled away since they heard “Come in,” or “Depart.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.17
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WHAT a world of instruction is contained in the answer of Peter to the thrice-repeated question of Jesus, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.18
How did Jesus know that he loved him? It was but a few days since he had deserted his Master in a time of the greatest danger, and denied him with oaths. Many of the present day would have pronounced him a hypocrite, and no better than Judas. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.19
How did Jesus know that Peter loved him? “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” Peter had “wept bitterly” over his sin, and had been forgiven. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.20
Beware, Christian, how thou findest fault with thy erring brother. It may be, that he has wept as bitterly over his fall, as did Peter over his. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.21
David committed two of the most atrocious crimes known to Jewish law; and yet, after his repentance, we never hear that he was not “the man after God’s own heart.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.22
Be kind to thy brother. Try to help him upon his feet again. It can never injure you; and it may be the means of saving his soul. - Philanthropos. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.23
SIN AND SUFFERING. - Sin has brought many a believer into suffering, and suffering has kept many a believer from sinning. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.24
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CONVERSION to God is not without a struggle; nay, not without many struggles. He who turns his back upon sin and selfishness; he who strives to resist temptations, temptations which come upon him like an armed man, must fight for the victory. If it were only one grand struggle, which when ended, the fight was over and the victory accomplished, then there would be far more Christians in the world, and far better Christians. But the fact is, when the great struggle of conversion is over, the difficulties just begin; temptations then are like the continual dripping of water. We resist one, which is no sooner resisted, than behold another is seeking admittance. We prepare ourselves for one, which we shall certainly by God’s help overcome; when lo! one that we did not expect comes, and we yield. And thus it is, not for once or twice; nor for a month or year; but every day we are tempted, and every day we must resist. The little temptations, we very much fear, are the worst. Temptations to impatience, to forgetfulness, to anger, to vanity, to pride; and that too by the most trifling matters in the world. And we yield to these little things. And then we become discouraged and think there is no necessity for striving. “It is of no use. We try every day to resist the quick word, the impatient feeling, the angry thought, but we fail.” But shall we allow the devil to tempt us to give up? This were then, not a little, but a great temptation; yea! a mighty temptation. It is no less a thing than yielding to him. And he who commences by yielding one thing to Satan, the traitor who commences by yielding up the outposts to the enemy, will end by giving up the citadel itself. No! we must remember the terms of our enlistment on Christ’s side. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.25
“To continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto our life’s end,” were the words in which our enlistment was effected. Are we going to stand up to this; or prove cowards and traitors, and yield? We must expect temptations; they will come to us every day we live. There will not be one single day in which we shall be able to say, This day I have not been tempted to do any thing wrong, or leave undone any thing right. Our temptations may be very different. One is tempted to one thing, another to another. The young to giddiness and thoughtlessness. The old to covetousness and hardness. The middle-aged to worldliness and ambition. Temptations differ, but they are all gilded. They seldom alarm. The devil is wary as well as active. Resist him and his temptations. Pray God’s forgiveness for past yielding. Strive to overcome in future. But do your best, and still you will yield sometimes. Therefore be humble and prayerful. God will help us; this we know. In Christ’s power and faithfulness lies our strength. In this we will put our trust. [Southern Churchman. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.26
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WERE there but eight, only eight saved? There were thousands, millions sought. Nor is it justice to God to forget how long a period of patience, and preaching, and warning, and compassion, preceded that dreadful deluge. Long before the lightning flashed from angry heavens; long before thunders rolled along dissolving skies; long before the clouds rained down death; long before the floor and solid pavement of this earth, under the prodigious agencies at work, broke up, like the deck of a leaking ship, and the waters rushed from below, to meet the waters from above, and sink a guilty world; long before the time when the ark floated away by tower and town, and those crowded hill-tops, where frantic groups had clustered, and amid prayers and curses, and shrieks and shouts, hung out their signals of distress - very long before this, God had been calling an impenitent world to repentance. Had they no warning in Noah’s preaching? Was there nothing to alarm them in the very sight of the ark, as story rose upon story; and nothing in the sound of those ceaseless hammers to waken all but the dead? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.27
It was not till mercy’s arm grew weary ringing the warning bell, that, to use the words of my text, God “poured out his fury” on them. I appeal to the story of this awful judgment. True, for forty days it rained incessantly, and for one hundred and fifty days more, “the waters prevailed on the earth;” but while the period of God’s justice is reckoned by days, the period of his long-suffering was drawn out into years; and there was a truce of one hundred and twenty years between the first stroke of the bell and the first crash of the thunder. Noah grew grey preaching repentance. The ark stood useless for years, a huge laughing stock for the scoffer’s wit; it stood till it was covered with the marks of age, and its builders with the contempt of the world; and many a sneer had those men to bear, as pointing to the serene heavens above and an empty ark below, the question was put, “Where is the promise of his coming?” Most patient God! Then, as now, thou wert slow to punish - “waiting to be gracious.” - Guthrie. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 162.28
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WHEN in college, a professing Christian who subsequently became a missionary, deemed himself ill-treated by a fellow-student, and in consequence, got very angry. To the surprise and grief of his brethren, he gave somewhat free expression to his feelings. No one ventured to rebuke him, or to remonstrate with him, while he was uttering things very little adapted to promote the edification of the hearer. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.1
Toward the close of the day, a judicious friend was passing his room. Pausing before the open door, he said in a significant tone, “It is almost sundown.” The reproof so kindly and delicately administered, was felt by his erring brother. The divine commandment, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath,” was called to remembrance. The perturbation of passion was exchanged for that of conscious guilt. The latter was calmed by prayer, and was followed by confession before those who had been witnesses of his sin. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.2
It is our duty to rebuke sin, to endeavor to arouse the conscience to a perception of wrong doings, and to a sense of guilt. To do this successfully, and so as to secure beneficial results, requires wisdom. Wisdom seldom prompts the direct and stern rebuke. It never assumes the attitude of a prosecuting attorney. It never allows the rebuker to assume an air of superiority. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.3
In the example given above, the rebuke was indirect, and by means of an allusion to a passage of Scripture. There is nothing comparable to Scripture in power to convince of sin, and yet much depends on the skill with which it is applied. When bluntly or boisterously presented, it is more likely to repel and harden than to convince. When the conscience is thus directly addressed, it puts itself on its guard, and endeavors to steel itself against impressions. An indirect mode of address throws the conscience off its guard, and allows the light of truth to enter and reveal the sin. - Sel. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.4
THE DEVIL’S TEMPTATION. - “There is an order in the snares and temptations of the devil. He has three classes of temptations. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.5
1. Satan employs the world - just aims to keep sinners satisfied to love earthly things, and pursue them. If he cannot do that - if they cannot be made to live on without any kind of religion, hunting for riches, honor, pleasure, ease, and some such thing, then - ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.6
2. Satan aims to lead them into a false religion, into deception, into some delusion, which shall lull them into a false peace to their ruin. But if he cannot do this - if they have too much knowledge of the Bible, and too much of the influence of the Holy Spirit to be led into a false hope, then the old liar shifts his ground: and - ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.7
3. Aims to drive to despair. This is his last effort, and, I do believe the most devilish one of all. It is most like him, for it is at once the most false, and most miserable. - I. S. Spencer. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.8
YOUR word is your servant, so long as you retain it; but it becomes your master when you suffer it to escape. We may live by forms, but there is no dying by forms. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.9
THE road ambition travels is too narrow for friendship, and too crooked for love. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.10
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SCATTER ye seeds, and flowers will spring
Strew them at broadcast o’er hill and glen:
Sow in your garden, and time will bring
Bright flowers, with seeds to scatter again. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.11
Scatter ye seeds - nor think them lost,
Though they fall amid leaves and are buried in earth;
Spring will awake them, though heedlessly tossed,
And to beautiful flowers those seeds will give birth. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.12
Scatter ye seeds in the garden of heart,
Seeds of affection, of truth, and of love;
Cultivate carefully each hidden part,
And thy flowers will be seen by angels above. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.13
Then scatter ye seeds each passing year;
Sow amid winds and storms of rain -
Hope give thee courage, Faith cast out fear,
God will requite thee with infinite gain. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.14
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I WANT you thoroughly to understand that the leading principles of the penitent thief’s religion were just the same as those of the oldest saint that ever lived. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.15
See, for one thing, how strong was the faith of this man. He called Jesus, “Lord.” He declared his belief that he would have a kingdom. He believed that He was able to give him eternal life and glory, and in this belief prayed to Him. He maintained His innocence of all the charges brought against Him: “This man,” said he, “hath done nothing amiss.” Others perhaps may have thought the Lord innocent; none said so openly, but this poor dying man. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.16
And when did all this happen? It happened when the whole nation had denied Christ, shouting, “Crucify him, crucify him; we have no king but Caesar” - when the chief priests and Pharisees had condemned and found Him guilty of death - when even His own disciples had forsaken him and fled - when He was hanging, faint, bleeding, and dying on the cross, numbered with transgressors, and counted accursed. This was the hour when the thief believed in Christ, and prayed to Him. Surely such faith was never seen since the world began. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.17
He only saw our Lord in agony and in weakness, in suffering and in pain. He saw Him undergoing a dishonorable punishment, deserted, mocked, despised, blasphemed. He saw Him rejected by all the great and wise and noble of His own people, His strength dried up like a potsherd, his life drawing to the grave. Psalm 22:15; 88:3. He saw no sceptre, no royal crown, no outward dominion, no glory, no majesty, no power, no signs of might. And yet the dying thief believed, and looked forward to Christ’s kingdom. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.18
See, for another thing, what a right sense of sin the thief had. He says to his companion, “We receive the due reward of our deeds.” He acknowledges his own ungodliness, and the justice of his punishment. He makes no attempt to justify himself, or excuse his wickedness. He speaks like a man humbled and self-abased by the remembrance of past iniquities. This is what all God’s children feel. They are ready to allow they are poor hell-deserving sinners. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.19
In one word, you see in the penitent thief a finished work of the Holy Ghost. Every part of the believer’s character may be traced in him. Short as his life was after conversion, he found time to leave abundant evidence that he was a child of God. His faith, his prayer, his humility, his brotherly love, are unmistakable witnesses of the reality of his repentance. He was not a penitent in name only, but in deed and in truth. - Ryle. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.20
“Pay thy Debt, and Live Thou and Thy Children of the Rest.” 2 Kings 4:7. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.21
THIS is the language of the Bible; and it teaches us the principles of moral honesty, and this sentiment is embodied in the second great commandment by the Son of God. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matthew 22:39. If a man loves his neighbor as himself, he will, if he owes him, certainly pay the debt, and if he refuses or will not pay the debt, then he loves himself better than he does his neighbor, and covets that which rightfully and honestly belongs to his neighbor, and in so doing breaks the law of God which says, “Thou shalt not covet ... anything that is thy neighbor’s.” Exodus 20:17. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.22
If one man owes another and neglects to pay him, this neglect on the part of the debtor does not release him by any means from the claims of his creditor; for the debt just as much belongs to the creditor as it ever did; and a debtor who thus retains unlawfully the dues of his creditors covets the things that are his neighbor’s; and the debtor who acts upon such a principle as this shows conclusively that he is still in possession of the carnal mind, which is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be. Romans 8:7. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.23
This same lesson of moral honesty is also taught by the Son of God in what is called the “Golden Rule:” “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12. Can those who profess the Third Angel’s Message, and keep the Commandments of God, refuse or neglect to pay for their valuable paper, and at the same time be justified in the sight of God for so doing? I think not, if they are able to pay for it; for all that we have is the Lord’s, and we are our Lord’s stewards, and the Review is the Lord’s, wholly given to the advocacy of his cause. When we therefore neglect to send in the pay to the Office to those who send us the Review weekly, richly laden with present truth, and leave them and others to bear the whole burden of its publication, do we not do very wrong? Certainly. Hear the prophet: “Will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me; but ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” Says David, [Psalm 50:5,] “Gather my saints together unto me: those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” “Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open unto you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:8, 10. We should render unto God the things that are God’s. Matthew 22:21. But if there are any that are poor and cannot pay for their paper, yet have an earnest desire to pay for it, let such report themselves to the Office as such; and I believe that our brethren there will send the paper to you with just as much cheerfulness as though you had paid for it. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.24
Let us now turn our attention for one moment to the text, “Pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” The person that was thus addressed was a poor widow. Her husband had died, and before his death he had contracted a debt, and he being now dead his creditor came to take her two sons to be bondmen, as their law made provision, [Matthew 18:25,] and in her distress and deep anguish of soul she appealed unto Elisha, the prophet of God, and he told her to go and borrow empty vessels not a few. She did as he bade her, and poured out of the full oil-pot into the empty ones until they were all full. “Then she came and told the man of God, and he said, Go sell the oil and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.25
These people feared the Lord. They were the Lord’s poor. He loved them and took care of them. The Lord always had, and still has, a special regard for his people. It matters not how poor they are in regard to this world’s goods if they are only rich in faith. Give him your heart, it is all he asks. J. M. McLELLAN. Hastings, Sept. 9th, 1856. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.26
A SHIP on the broad, boisterous and open ocean needeth no pilot. But it dare not venture alone on the placid bosom of a little river, lest it be wrecked by some hidden rock. Thus it is with life. ‘Tis not in our open, exposed deeds that we need the still voice of the silent monitor, but in the small, secret every-day acts of life, that conscience warns us to beware of the hidden shoals of what we deem too common to be dangerous. - Sel. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.27
If Christ had our whole hearts, if we were entirely his, we should be more peaceful, happy and holy. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 163.28
UrSe
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”
BATTLE CREEK, FIFTH-DAY, SEP. 25, 1856
As appeal is often made to the Greek of Matthew 28:1, in behalf of Sunday-keeping, a brief notice of that text may be appropriate at this time. We are not surprised at the various reasons urged against the observance of the true Sabbath, and in favor of a false one: we expect the great Enemy of all truth will improve well his ground, and leave no stone unturned. However, we thank our opponents for all their inventions, since the explosion of every new objection, is a fresh accession to our own strength. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.1
But it is not of late only, that the attempt has been made to throw Greek dust in the eyes of the honest. Eld. J. Litch endeavored to play at the same game in a letter to the Advent Herald, dated July 16th, 1851; and as the view which the original Greek of Matthew 28:1,etc., is by some supposed to teach, is perhaps as well embodied in his language as any, we present his remarks as follows: ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.2
“BRO. HIMES:- I was forcibly struck while reading several tracts with which I met while on my passage from New York to Hartford, with the apparent disingenuousness of the writer. One argument on which he seemed to lay great stress in support of the Seventh-day Sabbath, was this - that Sabbath means rest - that the seventh day is called a Sabbath in the New Testament - the first day is not so called, but is also designated the first day of the week.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.3
The truth is - and Sabbatarians either do or ought to know it - the evangelists never in the language in which the gospels are found, (the Greek,) called the first day of the week anything else but Sabbath. For the information of those who are shaken in their minds on this subject, I will transcribe the Greek text in Italics, containing the words rendered by our translators first day of the week, and also the word rendered by them Sabbath meaning the seventh day. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.4
Matthew 28:1. - English translation: ‘In the end of the Sabbath, as it begins to dawn toward the first day of the week’ Greek - Opse de sabbatoon, le epiphooskuse sis mian sabbatoon. There the identical word in the same case, genitive plural, rendered Sabbath when referring to the seventh day, is rendered first day of the week in the very next clause of the verse. A literal rendering would be, if we adopt the principle of our translators of Anglicising instead of translating the word, ‘And in the end of Sabbaths, as it began to dawn toward one of Sabbath.’ ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.5
Does not this indicate that one series of Sabbaths there ended, so far as obligation to observe it was concerned, and a new series was introduced? At any rate, the first is as positively called Sabbath as the seventh day. And all four of the evangelists designate it by the same word. Mark 16:2. Kai lian poooitees mias sabbatoon. ‘And very early the one of Sabbaths,” etc. Luke 24:1. Te de mia toon sabbatoon. ‘And the one of the Sabbaths,’ etc. John 20:1. Te de mia toon sabbatoon. ‘And in the one of the Sabbaths.’ etc. Thus the four evangelists do agree in calling the first by the same name they do the seventh day of the week, and that word as certainly signifies rest in the one case as in the other. Let no one, therefore, hereafter contend that the writers of the New Testament never call the first day, Sabbath, or rest, for no New Testament writer has called it any thing else, except John, [Revelation 1:10,] where it is called the ‘Lord’s day.’ J. LITCH. Philadelphia, July 16th, 1851. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.6
This breast-work which Eld. Litch had thus endeavored to throw up to shield easy consciences from the force of truth, was however entirely demolished by the Editor of the Herald by some remarks which he appended to this letter, as follows: ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.7
“REMARKS. - Lest any should gather from the above that the word Sabbath is represented by the phrase ‘first day of the week,’ we add that Sabbath is simply translated week in those text - other words indicating the day of the week. The word Sabbath is originally a Hebrew word, and signifies rest; but occurring at regular intervals, by a metonymy it became significant of the periods separated by these rests. So that we have the seventh day of the rest, and the first day of the rest, week, or Sabbath. - ED. Advent Herald.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.8
Robinson in his Greek Lexicon of the New Testament gives the following as a second definition of sabbaton: “2. Meton. a sabbath, put for the interval from sabbath to sabbath; hence a se’nnight, a week.” One of the definitions which Greenfield also gives to this word, is “a period of seven days a week,” whether in the singular or plural. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.9
An instance of its use in this sense is found in Luke 18:12, where the proud Pharisee, in his self-righteousness, exclaimed, “I fast twice in the week,” (neesteuso dis tou sabbatou.) Will our new translators say that sabbatou here includes one day only, and that the old Pharisee fasted twice on the Sabbath? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.10
The word in this sense, according to Robinson, occurs elsewhere “only after numerals marking the days of the week;” and in proof of this, he cites us to those very texts which some have of late been using in trying to make people believe that the term, Sabbath, is applied by Scripture to the first day of the week; namely, Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1, John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.11
In view of these facts let us look more particularly at Matthew 28:1. Opse de sabbatoon, but in the end of the Sabbath, (or week, the seventh day, or Sabbath, being the last day of the week,) tee epiphooskousee, as it began to dawn, eis, toward, mian, the first, (the numeral, marking the day of the week, according to Robinson,) sabbatoon, of the week. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.12
Concerning the numeral mian, we would remark that it cannot agree with sabbaton understood, as would necessarily be the case if it meant one (Sabbath) of a new series of Sabbaths then introduced as the writer above quoted contends; for mian is of the feminine gender, and sabbaton is neuter. There is no word with which, in this case, it can agree, except heemeran, day, understood, as is given in the margin of the Greek Testament. With mian, therefore, agreeing with day understood, and sabbatoon denoting the week, the case clearly stands thus: “As it began to dawn towards the first (day) of the week.” Hence any one can see that it is not possible, without doing violence to the sacred text, to give to such passages as Matthew 28:1, a rendering essentially different from that of the common version. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.13
In what light then shall we look upon those who boldly assert that the first day of the week is called the Sabbath, and base the assertion upon their translation of the above named texts, while at the same time they are either ignorant of, or intentionally conceal the fact, that the word sabbaton is sometimes used in a secondary sense, meaning the whole week, and especially so when preceded by a numeral adjective denoting the day of the week? Shall we look upon these efforts to defend Sunday-keeping as the result of ignorance only? or as a betrayal of the enmity that rankles in their hearts against the holy and good law of a righteous God? We are sorry to regard any one in such an unenviable light; but they thus place themselves before us, as often as they engage in such attempts to sustain a groundless position. We would advise them no more to hazard their reputation, either for honesty or scholarship, by such a course. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.14
And we would further recommend those Sunday-keepers who have suddenly become enamored of the Greek, thinking to find therein something to support their cherished theory, to meditate carefully upon the word anomia, as it occurs in the following instances, beginning with the words of Christ, “Depart from me ye that work (teen anomian) lawlessness;” or, ye law-breakers: Matthew 7:23; 13:41; 23:28; 24:12; Romans 4:7; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:7; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 1:9; 8:12; 10:17; 1 John 3:4. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.15
The truth is, those who endeavor to ride away from the requirements of the moral law, upon the Greek language, “do, or ought to know” that they have mounted the wrong hobby. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.16
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. - No. 5. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.17
UrSe
DEAR BRO. SPERRY:- When we look at the plain testimony of the sacred word that Zion, the “holy hill,” and Jerusalem “the City of the great King,” are in heaven, it is a matter of astonishment that any Bible student should deny it. But such is the case. Substitutes for the plan of salvation are common in these days of strong delusions, and false christ’s abound; so, for Jerusalem above, the holy City, we find substitutes in Palestine, at New Lebanon, and Salt Lake. And so confident are men that John’s vision of the descent of the holy City will never be fulfilled, that they think it the very height of wisdom to deny it. At this I should not be surprised did the denial proceed from those who reject the word of God, or claim only a spiritual or mystical interpretation of it, as the Swedenborgians and Spiritualists do. But when it emanates from those who profess to take the Bible exclusively as the rule of faith, and who claim to be the only true literalists, it assumes quite another appearance. The most striking instance I have seen is the following from D. P. Hall, in his article on the Kingdom:- ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.18
“Where did David reign? and who were his subjects? are questions, which when correctly answered, will prepare the way for answering two others of like import: viz., where will David’s son, Jesus, reign, and who will be his subjects? Canaan, Zion, Jerusalem, and the twelve tribes, instantly arise before the mind, on undertaking such a task. Who would think of taking Canaan, Zion, Jerusalem, and the twelve tribes, into heaven above, up to a white cloud, into a Gentile’s heart, or a Protestant church? No one, unless they were fit subjects for an insane asylum.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.19
With some of the above points I have nothing to do, nor to say in their defense; but I notice the passage because it includes the faith of my brethren and self in regard to Christ, the King, Jerusalem, Zion, and the Israel of God, being taken “into heaven above,” and considering the very plain proof we have of the fact, I think it leaves the assertion of our being “fit subjects for an insane asylum” on account of that faith an “open question;” which, however, I shall not stop to discuss with him, but pass it with the highly gratifying reflection that we are not there. Strongly marked peculiarities of character are always interesting to the student of human nature; and in this light I consider D. P. Hall’s self-complacency worthy of the deepest admiration. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.20
But the scripture question under consideration will not be settled by any evidences of our folly or of his superior wisdom, but by the declarations of God’s word, which, fortunately for us, are so plain that “the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” It is better, then, to be “wayfaring” than wise; and the Apostle also instructs us, (and I am forcibly reminded of it by Mr. Hall’s past course in relation to the Third Angel’s Message) that the unlearned are not the only class that wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction.” See 2 Peter 3:16. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.21
In presenting the kingdom of Israel under David as an illustration of the kingdom of God under Christ, he has erred exactly where he erred in his remarks on the promise to Abraham; namely, by losing sight of the New Testament comments on the Old Testament prophecies and promises. As the land possessed by the Jews was typical of the rest remaining for the saints, so were the natural descendants of Jacob a type of the true Israel - the prevailers with God - the children of the promise, even as their circumcision was a type of the Spirit’s operation upon the heart of the Christian, or their sacrifices typical of that presented before God in this dispensation. Said Paul, “And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Hebrews 3:5, 6. If they who “hold fast the confidence” are the house of Christ, otherwise termed “the household of faith,” [Galatians 6:10,] by analogy, the house of Moses would be “the house of Israel.” Moses was the first priest under the old covenant, [Psalm 99:6; Exodus 29:11, 12,] and Christ also as a Prophet was like unto Moses, [Deuteronomy 18:15-18,] which clearly shows that Moses was a type of Christ, as Paul said, he was faithful in his house for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. And the house of Moses bears the same relation to the house of Christ, that Moses bears to Christ, that is, of the type to the antitype. The declarations of the New Testament, beginning with that of John the Baptist, [Matthew 3:9,] and ending with that of our Saviour from heaven, [Revelation 3:9,] confirm this view. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 164.22
Mr. Hall’s comment on Romans 11, it will not be necessary to notice, as I gave an exposition of that chapter last Winter, and he has not advanced any new idea in regard to it, but run the old beaten track, the fallacies of which have been fully shown. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.1
In speaking of the descendants of Jacob, on the question, “Who will be the subjects” of the kingdom? he says:- ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.2
“God exalted the children of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, his natural and fleshly descendants, and brought them from Egyptian bondage. At the base of Mt. Sinai he constituted them his kingdom. God was King and the tribes were subjects.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.3
It is true that they were constituted the subjects of his kingdom, on the condition that they would obey his voice. The terms were as follows: “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” Exodus 19:5, 6. But, instead of obeying, as Mr. Hall has observed, they presented a scene of disobedience and rebellion, until God would bear with them no longer. And then, instead of regarding them as a peculiar treasure, as he would have done had they obeyed, he says, “they continued not in my covenant AND I REGARDED THEM NOT.” The conditional promise of God in Exodus 19:5, 6, and this declaration in Hebrews 8:9, prove beyond all possibility of contradiction that character and not birth or national distinction, was the condition of a place in the kingdom. God gave them privileges because of the love that he had for their fathers, and a special opportunity was presented to them of becoming subjects of his kingdom; it was promised to them on conditions which they did not fulfill, and as before remarked, they having failed on their part, these special privileges were taken from them, and the promises to them as a distinct people were withdrawn; as the Saviour said to them: “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Matthew 21:43. Certain fruits were required to entitle them to the kingdom, for want of which Jacob’s “fleshly descendants” had the kingdom taken from them; their claim to the title of Abraham’s children was rejected, and they were denominated the children of the devil! John 8:39-44. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.4
Another error of that theory is that the judging of the tribes by the apostles, and of the world by the saints, is in a dispensation of mercy. On “the object of the present dispensation,” Mr. Hall says: ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.5
“It is to gather out a peculiar people, a select and well disciplined company, to become Christ’s associates in dispensing judgment and bestowing mercies upon the nations of earth.... The same is presented to the Corinthians by the apostle Paul, when he would shame them for referring their difficulties to an infidel tribunal. ‘Do ye not know,’ said he, ‘that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life.’ 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.6
Under this head he also quotes and comments on the rule of the saints, which I must briefly notice. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.7
There are three distinct manners of ruling ascribed to Christ; not that he rules on three thrones, but the rules differ according to their object, though two may be partly in the same time. The first is the rule on his Father’s throne, where he speaks peace to the nations, which is to continue only during his priesthood. Second, he will rule all nations with a rod of iron, which ends in their destruction. Third, he will rule over the house of Jacob, which rule will be for ever and have no end. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.8
The saints also rule over the nations; but from the scripture expressions relative to their rule, it cannot be in manner what Age to-Come believers seem to suppose. As it is predicted of the Saviour that he shall rule all nations with a rod of iron, so it is of the saints. “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.” Revelation 2:26, 27. Mark the parallel between this and Psalm 2:8, 9. “Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” It has been shown by the clearest proofs given in the Review, that he will dash them in pieces at his coming; therefore this iron rule must be at and immediately preceding his coming. There is no length given to it in the scripture. Some assume that it will be 1000 years, but for this they have no warrant. It cannot be longer than the time intervening between their being given to him, which is at the close of his priesthood, and their being dashed in pieces, which is at his coming. But what is spoken of the Saviour is spoken also of the saints; and their rule over the nations with a rod of iron can be no longer than his. In both cases it terminates with their being “dashed in pieces,” or being “broken to shivers.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.9
Besides the very plain statements of other scriptures contradicting that theory, there are evidences in 1 Corinthians 6, that it does not refer to such circumstances as they claim. The judgment referred to is distinct from any judgment in matters of “this life,” which would not be the case if they were to dispense judgments and bestow mercies on mortal probationers. “This life” is peculiar to no dispensation, but was lived by Adam and all his posterity, through the past and present dispensations, and will continue till “mortality is swallowed up of life,” even eternal life. According to their view “this life” will continue through the Age to Come, and the saints will judge matters of right and wrong in regard to it; and they quote 1 Corinthians 6:1, 2, to prove it, but it does not. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.10
Again, as they will judge the world, so will they judge angels. But I presume they will not claim that the angels judged by them will be on probation, and of course it will not be to dispense mercy to them. It can no more refer to the angels of God who do his Commandments than to a world of immortalized men; hence this judgment can only refer to the process by which is determined the punishment of fallen angels and the wicked world, whose period of probation having expired, nothing but the judgment and its final execution awaits them. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.11
It is claimed that the future age will be far more glorious than this; that this is but initiatory and preparatory to that. This is the dawn - that the day. I heard D. P. Hall say in a public lecture that the object of this dispensation is to save individuals out of the nations: of that to save the nations. As salvation is now individual, it will then be national. But this does not appear consistent with the fact that they will be ruled with a rod of iron. An iron rule would not be more merciful than the present rule of the Saviour on his Father’s throne. I cannot see how the two ideas can be harmonized unless the salvation is compulsory, and mercy will be dispensed with the sword! ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.12
I shall follow out this thought in my next, and examine the declarations of the Scriptures respecting the day of the Lord. J. H. W. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.13
(To be Continued.)
UrSe
AFTER tarrying three weeks at Greenfield, N. Y., a heavy rain came, and so constant that we could not get down our tent during the week, so we were obliged to tarry the fourth Sabbath, during which time we endeavored to stir up the people with the truth; and while we gave the privilege and request for any one to bring objections to our position, we were answered with threats of burning our tent and other vile insults; but this did not hinder us from being free in the Lord. Many confessed that we were right, but few are willing to walk in the truth. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.14
We then came to Jamaica, Vt., and found as we passed along the road a few faithful souls striving to do all the will of God, with a wicked world around to defame and deride. Our tent was pitched on Sixth-day. On the Sabbath a few besides the brethren were out to hear. On First-day a good congregation, among which were Advent believers of several kinds, and two Advent ministers, one of whom shook his head at our theory concerning the Sanctuary and Sabbath, saying that the earth is the first apartment of the Sanctuary, and the other is in heaven. God’s law he would have nailed to the cross and nine of the Commandments re-enacted on the first day of the week take the place of the seventh; authority for which he quoted as follows: “In the end of the Sabbath (Jewish) as it began to dawn towards one of Sabbatoon, (or Christian Sabbaths;)” and in his conversation he showed so much caviling to carry his points that his hearers were convinced that he was wrong. We thought it best to continue our meetings in this place, and appointed and held one on Third-day, P. M., at which time some came out and we had a free time. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.15
We appointed a meeting also for the day following; but that night it began to rain, and soon after dark a set of “lewd fellows of the baser sort” cut our tent to the ground, cutting the pulley-rope several times, two large guy-ropes, eight wall-ropes, and fifteen slits in the roof of the tent from 10 to 30 inches long, and sixteen in the wall. It continued to rain until Sixth-day, when we tied our ropes and erected our mangled tent and enjoyed a good season in the afternoon, in talking the truth and praying for our enemies, instead of fretting ourselves because of evil doers. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.16
Then was fulfilled the saying, “The wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.” A change was wrought in the community. The sympathies of the people were turned towards us. We heard no more shoutings from our enemies, but all was still, and those who had made us threats, helped erect our tent, and volunteered without our request to watch it the remaining nights that we remained in the place. The appearance of the tent did not discourage us, but increased our energy in this last work and conflict for our Master and Pattern, who has said, When ye suffer for Christ’s sake, happy are ye. This we felt, was indeed fulfilled. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.17
On the Sabbath we had a good hearing from a number who came out to hear more of the reasons of our faith. On First-day we had many more than we anticipated, for the heavy rain had carried off several bridges which made it impassable for wagons. The congregation sat with apparent ease from 10 o’clock A. M., until about 5 P. M., while our haggled tent told all day of the perils of the last days, and the patience of the saints. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.18
We gave two long discourses on the Three Messages of Revelation 14, and the Two-horned Beast of Revelation 13. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.19
One Advent man who stood in high estimation came out decidedly and said he believed God had been with him all the way and he would have the whole truth. He had been much opposed to our position previous to this meeting. But as he had the ideas from ministers and people against us, he demanded of them the Bible, and when brought forward they were powerless and speechless. Several others said they should try to keep all the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. We had a refreshing season while attending to the ordinances of the Lord’s house, which increased much the brotherly love. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.20
It required one and a half days for several of the brethren and sisters, and some who had not fully come into the truth, to mend our tent. And while our tent bears the marks for the truth’s sake, the Lord help us to live so as to bear in our bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus, that the life we live may be by faith on the Son of God. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 165.21
C. W. SPERRY.
H. G. BUCK.
UrSe
O HOW my heart is ever longing
For that glad day;
There’s where my heart is ever turning,
Where tears are wiped away.
Bright in that future world of glory
I long to reign;
O how I long to swell the story,
Worthy’s the Lamb that was slain. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.1
CHORUS. - All the world is dark and dreary,
Every where I roam;
O, Saviour, how my heart grows weary,
Far from the saints’ happy home. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.2
I long to range those fields of pleasure
That never die:
There is my portion and my treasure,
For which I ever sigh.
Here in this world of sin and sorrow
Sadly I roam,
Still looking for that happy morrow,
And for the saints’ happy home. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.3
CHORUS. - All the world is dark and dreary, etc. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.4
When shall we see those loved ones rising,
Who now are dead?
When shall we meet with joy surprising,
No pain or death to dread?
Haste that happy day of meeting -
Soon may it come;
When parted friends, each other greeting,
Meet in the saints’ happy home. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.5
CHORUS. - All the world is dark and dreary, etc. [Sel. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.6
UrSe
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.”
TRULY we are living in a solemn time; a time of the deepest interest to all; and yet, how few realize it as such. While the Third Angel is giving the most solemn warning and awful threatening, how few are interested and are preparing for the scenes before us? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.7
It is sad indeed to see those who have believed and felt the spirit of this message, turn from it unto fables, and earthly treasures. While we are forced to part with them, we ask ourselves, Shall we also go away? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.8
O that those who are half-hearted realized the perils of their position, while halting between two opinions! There is a spirit in our midst that is reaching for our very heart-strings. If it gains entrance into a heart it saps out the spiritual life by its train of evil thoughts and feelings. It is not content with throwing censure upon a fellow brother, but it makes light darkness and darkness light. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.9
We are not safe in lingering upon the Enemy’s ground. But if we walk in the light it will grow brighter and brighter, and we shall grow stronger and stronger. God will not accept half; he wants the whole heart, soul, mind and strength. “If God be God, serve him.” He is by every means possible leading us to prepare to shun the wrath threatened by the Third Angel. Shall we be excusable if we heed not this warning voice? Can we, when the last notes of mercy have ceased, charge God with our neglect? Ah! no. Then when it is too late, if not before, we shall realize that the Third Angel’s Message was one of mercy. It gives warning of danger in time for us to prepare to shun it, and rest safely in the haven of eternal glory. But after this, mercy, sweet mercy, has for ever fled! ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.10
Now all heaven is interested for our salvation. Shall we not accept in mercy’s last hour? If we viewed these things in their true light, we should have feeling for ourselves, and those who are perishing around us. But if we cannot be moved by the plain truth, nothing can move us. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.11
Some have the standard far too low. They think while they are in sympathy with the world, following its customs, fashions and pleasures, to a degree they are doing very well. But our Saviour says, “If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.12
Self is our most ready foe. But if we die daily to self and the world, then we can live unto God. We need a full consecration of soul, body and spirit, that we may live to the glory of God. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.13
While we profess to the world to be keeping all the Commandments of God, and are thus saying that we do better than they, are we as strict in the observance of God’s holy Sabbath as he requires? God says, “It shall be a holy convocation.” Such a convocation is not in the assemblies of the world. Can we be doing the will of our heavenly Father when associated with the world on the holy Sabbath? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.14
The blessed promise is, “If thou call the Sabbath a delight, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy Father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.15
The theory of the present truth received into the heart, accompanied by the Spirit’s power, will give us a feeling sense of the time in which we live. It will cut us loose from the world, that we may be God’s peculiar people, not “reckoned among the nation.” This truth God has reserved for his people in these last days, in the Third Angel’s Message. Let us receive it as the Lord has been pleased to give it to us, and not be finding fault with the mercy of God; for his Spirit will not always strive. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.16
Do not listen to any Syren song of peace and safety, and reject the cutting, saving truth. It is far easier to pass down with the current than to row up stream. But let us be reminded that it is by the way of the cross that the crown lies. The willing and obedient shall eat of the good of the land. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.17
While I have been of late hearing views opposed to the present saving truth, my love for the truth, I can truly say, has increased. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.18
I have reviewed my past, imperfect life since I named the name of Christ, and I have felt as never before, that God required me to be more like Jesus, and less like the world. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.19
I have longed, and still long, for a perfect conformity to all the will of my heavenly Father. I want to be free from pride and every secret fault, that I may stand at last. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.20
Yours striving to overcome through the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.21
F. M. BRAGG.
Lake Mills, Wis., Sept. 1st, 1856.
BRO. SMITH:- The cause of present truth is still my delight; and it is a comfort and consolation to hear from the dear brethren and sisters through the Review, that are scattered abroad; and to hear of their steadfastness. How thankful we should be that God is mindful of his people and his cause, and will not suffer them to move faster than they move right. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.22
Truly we are living, we are dwelling, in a grand and awful time, and we need to have our lamps trimmed and burning. How necessary that we make that preparation that we shall need to stand before the Son of man. Says Jesus, Take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.23
I mean, by the grace of God assisting, to be an overcomer, and stand on the mount Zion. I can say that I love the truth still, and those dear brethren who have borne the burden and heat of the day, and my prayer is that the Lord will still sustain them. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.24
We have been in this place about two months, and have had some interesting and I trust profitable meetings. There are twenty-three Sabbath-keepers here, and we have meetings every Sabbath. We had a good season last Sabbath in attending the ordinances of the Lord’s house. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.25
I hope there are some in this region who will yet see and feel the importance of keeping all the Commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus. I have been scattering publications among those who are willing to read. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.26
J. LINDSEY.
Wawkou, Allemakee Co., Iowa.
BR. SMITH:- I am still striving to live up to the rule, the Bible; but this has become so vague an expression with professors of religion generally now-a-days, that it is difficult to determine what is to be understood by it; therefore I will say, all the Bible, but especially that part which relates to the present truth. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.27
I have had no sympathy for the New Time, believing it to be the fulfillment of, “Lord, Lord, open unto us,” from the answer which Jesus gives in Luke 13:27. What is iniquity? Webster says it is sin or crime. What is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4. Are they not workers of iniquity? for they not only transgress the law, but teach others so, and this is a fundamental part of their theory, in this vicinity at least. I did hope, till since their last time passed, that some of them would see the truth; but they appear to be farther from it than before. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.28
Some of them have made the discovery that Matthew 28:1, has always been translated wrong; that in every place in the New Testament where the first day is used, it should have been translated Sabbath. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.29
As to the Age to come, I can but consider it part of the “peace-and-safety” cry of the last days. I have had some trials with these, but more with myself for not living up to the rule. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.30
A. S. KING.
Florida, Mass.
BRO. SMITH:- I would like to say to the brethren and sisters that we are still striving to overcome, still trying to keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus; yet we must acknowledge that we make many crooked paths. Surrounded as we are by a wicked world, and worldly-minded professors, how prone are we to step aside, and do that we should not. And when we have seen and heard the confusion of sentiments that has prevailed for the year past among those calling themselves Sabbath-keepers, we have at times been disheartened, and hardly knew what to think; but we have endeavored to the best of our ability, to serve the Lord and live Christians, and I now feel like starting anew, and striving to possess the Spirit of our Lord and Master; for we read that if we have not the Spirit of Christ we are none of his. We believe the first and second angels’ messages of Revelation 14, are in the past, and that the third is now being given, and when that closes probation will cease. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.31
The Review we still wish to take, although we do not get only about half the numbers. We are very sorry it is so. The “Messenger” we know but little about, having never received but two numbers, and we do not wish any more. Our Saviour says, By their fruit ye shall know them. I have been looking some time to see the fruit manifest itself, and I think I discern some. At all events it is easy enough to see where it is not. It appears to me to be nearer a scattering time in Wisconsin, than the gathering; yet we hope for better days. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.32
There is light sown for the righteous, and we hope yet to see a shaking among the dry bones, to see a revival of the Third Angel’s Message, and then I think we should see a revival of religion in our midst. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.33
That all the honest ones may yet get out of the darkness that enshrouds them, and come together in the unity of the faith, and love each other, and love the truth as in former days, is the prayer of your unworthy sister, seeking for immortality. E. W. PHELPS. Lisbon, Wis., Sept. 6th, 1856. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.34
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MY DEAR BROTHER:- You are aware that we were acquainted with you when it was the world only, and not the church, that could call you brother. We saw that you had grasped the world as with fingers of steel, and we had seen so many efforts to cause a relaxing of the grasp, and the seizing of something better, that we had about given you up. We thought the great griper, Satan, had you sure, and would never let you go. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 166.35
We were rejoiced, therefore, brother, when we had to give up that idea, and were furnished with any evidence that Satan had loosened his gripe on you; and that you had relaxed yours on the world, and so had verily come into the kingdom of God. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.1
But we are still troubled about you - suffer us to say it Bro. Gripe. We see divers things that savor of a hold upon the world, not much relaxed from what it was when other beings beside ourselves could call you brother. The following instances have pressed themselves upon our attention, and we would press them on yours. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.2
When brother Gripe makes a bargain, people say they seldom fail of being griped by him. He gets round them somehow. They are made to feel that fingers like pincers have had hold of them. They have seldom seen the like of him, for this sort of thing. So many instances of this kind have occurred, that scoffers are quite bold in exclaiming, “Aha! There goes brother Gripe!” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.3
Again: When the gatherers of offerings to benevolent institutions fall in with said brother, they find it a very laborious work to relax his fingers so that anything whatever can slip through them. And when anything comes, it is only as the reluctant drop oozing out of the rock, rather than the cordial gushing forth of waters from a joyful overflowing fountain. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.4
And again: Even the support of public worship has been shaved down to so small a sum given, that unholy observers have said, “Well named is brother Gripe!” ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.5
Now we could drive our coach some ways further over just such a road, but we forbear. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.6
Now, brother, suffer our thoughts to take a direction as follows: ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.7
1. May we not respectfully suggest, whether there may not have been some mistake about your having escaped out of the great Griper’s hands? He is very well satisfied with your present course. Your having professedly renounced him pleases him all the more; since, retaining still your grip upon the world, you can serve him all the more successfully. Your griping spirit seems strongly to intimate, that you harmonize still with your old master. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.8
2. But, supposing you had fairly parted from his company, should there not be a loosening of your grasp upon the world? Those steel fingers of yours, brother, could they not be changed into some other material? Worldly gripers give a look of satisfaction at you, exclaiming, “Here is a christian griper that does as well as the best of us; who of us loves the world better than he? And, if all is well with him, then we have nothing to fear.” How long shall they have it in their power to make such a use of your character? ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.9
3. Consider, too, your iron grasp upon the world, is a death pressure upon your spiritual joy and improvement. How can one get very near to the infinitely benevolent Saviour, with a heart so unlike his? His soul gushed out in the largest and sweetest tone of tenderness toward all men; and so far from grasping firmly his comforts and his life, he most generously let go them all, that he might make men eternally blessed. One must be like him in order to get very near to him. But by your iron grasp of the world, you are squeezing to death all the Christian joy and gladness of your soul. Near and sweet communion with Jesus is impossible. The joy of Christ’s salvation would flow like a river into your soul, but the avenues are choked up by an intense love of the world. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.10
Now, dear brother, if you will hearken to these admonitions, and become the warm and generous hearted Christian that you are capable of becoming, then will a dark stain be removed from the character of our Zion; joy and peace and usefulness will be yours; nobody but Satan will be sorry; and we will call you brother, but not brother Gripe, any more. - Pur. Rec. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.11
Those who follow Christ shall feast with him. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.12
UrSe
WHATE’ER our state of life may be,
Or poor, or rich, or bond, or free,
Still our warm hearts shall turn to thee,
Blest Bible. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.13
Here then, while ‘round afflictions rise,
To every heart we’ll bind the prize,
Which bears us onward to the skies -
Blest Bible. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.14
Here is a charm for every grief;
In this blest Book we find relief;
On thee we rest our firm belief,
Sweet Bible. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.15
The promises throughout divine,
Round my enraptured heart I’ll twine,
And cry aloud, Thou still art mine,
Sweet Bible. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.16
In this I’ll search from day to day,
To guide me in the heavenly way;
Should I die, thou art mine, I’ll say,
Sweet Bible. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.17
For thy blest truths, through all the days
Of great eternity, I’ll raise
A joyful song of sacred praise,
Blest Bible. [Sel. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.18
UrSe
BUT if Elijah were now preaching among ourselves, would he not still have to deliver many a severe animadversion upon halting, wavering and instability? Surely he would not endure long to witness the double-mindedness and indecision which prevails among professed christians. Certainly we see some decided characters on the one side, and on the other, on the path of death as well as on that of light and life; and as to the former sort, there is a decided sentence against them already pronounced in the word of God. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.19
But will it eventually fare better with those who may be called borderers, who halt between two opinions, who practically, at least, doubt which master they shall serve? And O that the generation of these halting ones did not constitute the majority among us! But alas, is it not so! Decided living unto God surely is no common thing. But what, dear brethren, is our supreme happiness? Is it not to enjoy fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ? Is not this the one thing needful? Let the Lord be your treasure, let him be your supreme love. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.20
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world;” until it can be demonstrated that these are your supreme good; that these can save and make you happy; that these can redeem and comfort you. Could they indeed do so, then the time you spend on religion would be lost time. Make sure, therefore, of your choice, and be decided how you mean to live. If human existence be confined to this present life merely, and if we have nothing beyond it to look for, then “let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die;” then “walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes;” for then why should we lose time upon an imaginary thing, a nullity? But if this is not our rest; if there be a world to come, an eternity hereafter, what means our loitering upon the way, our settling down in the land of our pilgrimage? Be therefore pilgrims and strangers decidedly; lay aside every sin, everything that would impede your progress; esteem all such things as dross and dung, that ye may enter in at the straight gate, and that the word “Eternity” may not be a word of thunder to you. Surely it is well worth while to sacrifice all other cares to this one - of escaping eternal death, and becoming partakers of everlasting happiness. To act half as children of time, and half as children of eternity, brings with it entire death. If the word of God be true, submit yourselves to it in all things, even in those which are ever so opposed to our corrupt nature and wayward desires. Believe it heartily, both in its promises and threatenings. But if ye are wiser than God, then show it decidedly; only do not halt, for that is irrational and absurd, and do not mix light and darkness together. Neither attempt to compromise between God and the world. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.21
If Christianity be of God, decide for it with body and soul; embrace the cross; be willing to suffer affliction with the despised people of God; forsake the pomps, pleasures and vanities of the world, and employ all your endeavors to promote the kingdom and glory of Christ. Do not waver between the righteousness of Christ and your own. Which of the two will avail you in the Judgment? If it be only the righteousness of Christ, then value yourselves no longer on your own supposed virtues, as many do, with whom we cannot be long in company without hearing of the good works they have done and are doing, both of humanity and religion. Neither be undecided as to the choice of your friends and associates; for he that is not with me, saith Christ, is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. - Krummacher. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.22
Living unto God. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.23
LIVING unto God is the great and only sure test of Christian character. We are not our own, and the very thought of living to ourselves should be our grief; it is our guilt and shame. The first wish of our heart, the sublimest desire of our soul, should be to live unto God, to consecrate to him every action of our life, thought of our mind and feeling of our heart - to give him all. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.24
This devotion to God is not merely important, but it is essential. No correct views of truth, zeal for doctrine, feeling, tears or prayers, can supply its place. We must like Enoch, walk with God, and like Paul, struggle to bring every thought into obedience unto Christ. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.25
It may be a severe task in this cold, indifferent selfish world, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and imitate the meek, lowly and godly example of him who said “Follow me;” but there is a power in grace divine, a celestial influence in redemption’s scheme, which, when brought to bear upon the soul, can win it from the world, and inspire it with heaven-directed energies. It can warm the affections of the heart, give life and energy to the soul, and constrain the truly pious to live unto God. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.26
They not only feel, but act. That religion is a spurious counterfeit which ends in feeling sighs, and tears, and leaves the life unchanged, unconformed to the will of God. Nor must this conformity be a mere form of godliness, or the result of momentary excitement and natural sympathy: it must be the undying energies of the converted soul, warmed by the love of Christ, and animated by the distant but brilliant glories of heaven. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.27
Reader, are you living unto God? Are the warm and constant breathings of your soul, Thy kingdom come? and the earnest prayer of your heart, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Professed disciple of Jesus, to these inquiries what is the answer of your conscience and your actions, as you mingle with an indifferent and ungodly world? Let your answer be deep, heart-searching and prayerful. Place yourself, as it were, before the judgment bar, and with all the grand and fearful scenes of the eternal world before your eyes, inquire with deep, earnest solicitude, Am I living unto God - unto him who died for me? If you are not thus living, you have no scriptural hope of heaven. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.28
You may have a name among the people of God; you may talk much about religion and the church, and even manifest a zeal that would lead you to compass sea and land to make one proselyte to the sect of your choice; but all this will not answer as a substitute for real spiritual piety. - True Witness. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.29
WE must walk through life as through the Swiss mountains, where a hasty step may bring down an avalanche. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.30
If folly were a pain, there would be groaning in every house. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 167.31
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BATTLE CREEK, MICH. SEP. 25, 1856.
WE promised in our last, a few thoughts for this number, concerning the Sanctuary of the second covenant; but we cheerfully give place to interesting matter which has come in, with which our readers will be well pleased. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.1
UrSe
You say that your “paper stopped at No. 17, Vol. VII,” etc. If your paper stopped before it reached you, after it was mailed, we could have no control over it, but, be assured, that your paper has been mailed regularly. By referring to the old New York list book, we find that your name never has been erased. We are sorry that you did not receive the REVIEW; but we did our duty. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.2
And we here inquire, Why did you not write to the Office, and ascertain whether your paper was mailed? Why did you first go to that sheet of slander, and there charge us with “double deal,” of stopping your paper before the subscription had run out, when our books show that we had sent you the REVIEW some time without pay? Had we trespassed against you? Why did you not come to us alone first? Why did you not take the first and second steps, before publishing our supposed wrong abroad? Matthew 18:15-18. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.3
Your present remittance pays to Vol. IX. We cheerfully mark you half price, and with pleasure would send you the REVIEW free, should you request it on account of lack of means. And we are sure you would not have said such mean things concerning us and the REVIEW, had you not been drinking of that poisonous flood poured out after us. May the unfortunate error of sympathizing with, and joining hands with, slanderers, prove a beneficial lesson to you for time to come. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.4
J. W.
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DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: Perhaps it might be interesting to you to hear a word from me at this time, and also to know what I have been doing since moving west. I can say that I have been trying to hold up the truth in my feeble way. I have held meetings on every First-day except one, for the last four months, in different places, at the district school-houses. I could see no way to advance the cause under present circumstances better. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.5
There has been an ear to hear the present truth, and also a disposition on the part of some to oppose the truth; and in every case where open opposition has been made, the cause has been furthered. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.6
The shepherds of the flock have discovered an anxious desire on the part of some to hear, and have tried to allay their feelings by preaching to them fables, or holding up as the Sabbath the first day of the week. This was acknowledged by some of their members as not satisfactory. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.7
A minister came some six miles, and gave out a challenge in public, proffering to prove the first day of the week a rest day. The people wished me to accept it, which I did, (although I have ever been opposed to discussions.) I think the cause of truth was advanced. I tried to show that we had but one Lawgiver, and that one Lawgiver had never changed his law. But while my opponent was trying to make out that we had more than one, he forgot his question or proposition, to prove Sunday the rest day. This he acknowledged when the question was called for. With much agitation he pursued his subject, and he only used two texts, usually quoted on that subject. I called for testimony. He acknowledged himself about out; which brought some laughter in the congregation. We had every reason to believe that the congregation saw where the truth lies. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.8
How good the Lord is to give us a truth that may be spoken by the unlearned so as to confound the wisdom of the world. May the Lord help us to so keep his commandments, that we may be more than a match for all our enemies. The truth is yet precious; the truth will have its sanctifying effects on those who live it. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.9
I often think of our scattered situation, and were it not for the remembrance that our Saviour said he would come and gather his people, my heart would be sad; but this cheers the drooping spirits of his people; the words, I will come again and receive you to myself. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.10
We must hold on by faith, and persevere to the end; for those are the ones that are to be saved. Our faces are to be set as a flint Zionward. No trials should hinder us on the way to mount Zion. It is eternal life to the overcomer: everything on the one hand, and death on the other. This should lead us to faithfulness, and to endure trials as good soldiers of the cross; for the race is not to the swift, or those that run for a moment, but those that endure to the end. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.11
Yours seeking for eternal life.
JOSIAH HART.
Round Grove, Ills., Sept. 1856.
UrSe
WE have now closed our labor in this State with the tent. Our first meeting was held at Hampton, July 26th and 27th. We held a very interesting meeting here last season. Several have since embraced the truth. Others were disappointed, at the time, on account of rainy weather on First-day, and the meeting’s being closed so soon. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.12
This year our meetings came at a time when the farmers were in the midst of their haying. The notice was short, and but few attended. We concluded to let the tent stand another week so that those that had an ear to hear should have an opportunity. But it was very evident that those that did not embrace the truth last season, as a general thing, have since lost their interest, and will not be very likely to awake from their slumbers until it is forever too late. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.13
Our third meeting was held at Collinsville. Aug. 9th and 10th, where the present truth, the Third Angel’s Message, had never been preached. Before we had obtained a place to locate our tent, it was evident that some of the leading religionists of the place were disposed to judge a case before they heard it, and would have been glad if the inhabitants generally had done likewise. Nevertheless we obtained the most pleasant location in the place, and upon the first day of the week were favored with a good congregation, which listened attentively to three discourses at the tent. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.14
Bro. Bates was with us, and preached the first discourse in the forenoon and the fourth, in a large and commodious hall, in the evening, to a good congregation. Early Monday morning we repaired to the water-side where one brother was buried with Christ by baptism. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.15
Our fourth meeting was held at Norfolk, South St., where several embraced the truth last Winter. Here we enjoyed an interesting meeting Sabbath and First-day. We had much liberty in presenting the truth which was listened to attentively by most present. Many purchased books and manifested a disposition to search and see if these things are so. May the Lord lead them understandingly into all his blessed will. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.16
From this place we went to Canaan Mountain where we held our fifth and last meeting, in a community where there were none that kept the Sabbath of the Lord. Here we were kindly received by the friends, and were well provided for, free of expense while we tarried with them. The Lord gave us liberty in presenting his truth, which was listened to attentively by many. After the close of the public meetings, Sabbath-day, we repaired to a natural pond of pure water, where two believers went forward in baptism. There was quite a gathering on First-day. A goodly number furnished themselves with books, while conviction seemed fastened upon many minds that we have the truth. We were favored with the privilege of forming somewhat of an acquaintance with Bro. Dexter Daniels at the last two meetings, who has been laboring some in this part of Conn., and still has a mind to work. Lord bless him, is our prayer, and enable him to rightly divide the word of life. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.17
While our dear friends in Connecticut have faithfully administered to our temporal wants, we do most ardently pray that God will reward them for their kindness, and supply all their spiritual wants and they become rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him. A. S. HUTCHINS. E. L. BARR. Collinsville, Ct., Aug. 28th, 1856. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.18
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There will be a Conference at Buck’s Bridge, N. Y., on the second Sabbath and First-day of October, commencing Sixth-day evening at 6 o’clock. It may be duty to say a word why I give notice of this appointment. Brn. Sperry and Buck who are traveling with the Vermont tent, in writing home a short time since manifested a desire for a general meeting in this place this Fall, the object to be a friendly interchange of views as to the best means to advance the present truth, and also to present the truth to all that have an ear to hear. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.19
The Church in this place voted in favor of such a meeting. We should be glad to see some of our traveling brethren from Central N. Y., or any other section, who feel it duty to attend. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.20
In behalf of the Church.
JOHN BYINGTON.
Buck’s Bridge, N. Y.
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After our last week’s paper was mailed, we received a line from Bro. H. Bingham stating, that, as the appointment of the Conference at Wolcott, Vt., interfered with the appointment for the tent-meeting at Lunenburg, Vt., he requests the former withheld, by order of the Church in Wolcott. As the appointment had already gone out when we received his letter, we follow it with this correction. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.21
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N. S. Brigham:- The injunction to wash one another’s feet, [John 13:13,] can certainly be binding only where there are several together, believers in the ordinance. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.22
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C. Pangburn:- We have not seen Mr. Granger, nor the seven dollars of which you speak. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.23
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Wm. Mott, M. Mott, Wm. Stephenson, J. P. Rathbun, C. Rice, F. Wheeler, C. Baker, L. Mann, ($0,50 each for B. Smith & Mrs. D. Partridge.) A. Kimball, each $1. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.24
A. Bingham, J. Catlin, E. D. Armstrong, each $2. J. Peal, O. Lanphear, A. Dermy, each $0,25. Wm. C. Peck $1,70. A friend in Camden, N. Y., $0,31. M. D. Winchel $0,75. D. Williams (for J. Barrett) $0,20. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.25
REVIEW TO POOR - M. D. Winchel $0,25. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.26
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Church in Roosevelt, N. Y., $17. E. Everts, $10. Z. Brooks, C. Bates, R. Bennett, each $5. M. G. Kellogg, E. D. Cook, C. Pangburn, each $3. M. Mott, P. Mott, each $2. L. Graves, D. H. Gillett, each $1. M. A. Sanford $0,50. E. Dalgrien $0,25. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.27
Receipts and Pledges for Relief of Office. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.28
| E. Everts. pd. | $10 |
| R. R. Cochran, pd. | 2 |
| C. Rice, pd. | $1 |
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THE price set to each publication includes both the price of the book, and the postage, when sent by Mail. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.29
HYMNS for those who keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus. This Hymn Book is designed to promote not only public worship, but also social and family devotions. It is a selection of Hymns expressing the faith and hope of the Church as set forth in the Scriptures of truth, free from the popular errors of the age. The Book contains 352 Pages, 430 Hymns and 76 pieces of Music. Price, 60 cents - In Morocco, 65 cents. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.30
Bible Tracts Bound in Two Volumes. These Volumes are of about 400 pages each, and embrace nearly all of our published Tracts. We are happy to offer to our friends the main grounds of our faith in a style so acceptable. - Price, 50 cents each. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.31
Sabbath Tracts, Nos. 1,2,3 & 4. This work presents a condensed view of the entire Sabbath question. - 184 pages. Price 15 cents. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.32
The Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days, by “J. N. A.” This work presents a clear exposition of Daniel 8 and 9, shows what the Sanctuary is, and the nature of its cleansing. Price 12 1/2 cents. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.33
The Three Angels of Revelation 14:6-12, particularly the Third Angel’s Message, and the Two-horned Beast. This work maintains the fulfillment of Prophecy in the past Advent movement, and is of great importance in these times of apostasy and peril. - 148 pages. - Price 12 1/2 cents. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.34
Review of Crozier. This work is a faithful review of the No-Sabbath doctrine as set forth in the Advent Harbinger by O. R. L. Crozier. It should be placed in the hands of those who are exposed to that heresy. - Price 6 cents. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.35
Address URIAH SMITH, Battle Creek, Mich. ARSH September 25, 1856, page 168.36