THE argument then here presented for First-day keeping may be summed up as follows:
The commandment enjoining a day of rest is indefinite, and leaves us at liberty to select any day we please.
Redemption is greater than creation.
The work of redemption requires that a day be kept in its commemoration.
The work of redemption was completed on the first day of the week, therefore,
It is more appropriate to keep the first day of the week as the Sabbath, than the seventh which had been kept until the days of our Saviour as a memorial of creation; and hence,
We find the new institution called the Lord's day.
It is an acknowledged principle of argumentation that if a premise be wrong, no reasoning, however correct, based thereon can bring us to a right conclusion. But we claim that not the premise only is false in the reasoning for Sunday-keeping, but every argument based on it, in itself considered is false also. The conclusion therefore is doubly erroneous.
The first point in the above summing up of the argument, namely, that the commandment is indefinite, is plainly contradicted by the Scriptures. The last also is contradicted; for the Son of man testifies that he is Lord of another day than the first day of the week. All the other points are merely the inventions of men; for the Bible is silent respecting them.
Man first sits as umpire between the works of creation and redemption, and pronounces the latter greater than the former; a question upon which the Bible gives him no light whatever. Upon this human decision, he decides further, that the work of redemption must have a day set apart in its commemoration, nothing of the kind being found in the Bible. Following still on in the light of the fire of his own kindling, he concludes that the day which he has set apart in commemoration of redemption, can more appropriately be regarded as the Sabbath than the day which God originally appointed for another reason. He therefore lays his hands upon the sacred institution, transfers it to another day, thereby in reality annihilating the original, and then seizes upon the fourth commandment to enforce its observance. Is not this being wise above what is written? Is it not taking unwarrantable liberties with the word and work of God?
And now, let us ask, who is willing to base his faith on so important a part of the worship of God as keeping the holy Sabbath, on such a foundation as this? Who in view of the fact that the Bible gives no warrant for such a course dare go on carelessly keeping the traditions of men till he meet the Judge of all the earth, who is a God of justice and jealous of his glory?
But it may be asked, Do you then admit of no memorials of redemption? We do; but we plead for those which God himself has instituted. We are told in the New Testament that we have redemption through Christ's blood. And there are divinely appointed memorials both of Christ's death and burial and resurrection. Baptism represents the latter. And the former is commemorated by that institution which our Lord gave to his disciples when he gathered them to the last supper on the night of his betrayal.
Suppose then that redemption is greater than creation—we do not say that it is not, we do not say that it is, we have nothing to say on that point; for the Bible says nothing—suppose it is greater, since God has given us two memorials of events connected therewith; viz., the death and resurrection of Christ, why is not this sufficient? Why press into this service another institution which has no fitness for such a work?
A word here as to the probable reason why the Sunday institution has come to perform the office that it does in the minds of many, of a memorial of redemption, or rather of the resurrection of Christ. We have seen that there was a memorial of this event given to the church in the ordinance of baptism.
So long as this existed in its purity, there was no need of any other. But this was corrupted. The "burial beneath the yielding wave," the rising from the watery bed to walk in the newness of life, was changed to the insignificant manipulation of sprinkling. The object of the baptismal ordinance as a memorial was thus destroyed, for there is nothing in the act of sprinkling that can in any way represent, or commemorate the burial and resurrection of Christ.
A new demand is thus created for a memorial of the resurrection. A new institution is called for. And strange as it may seem, unfit as it may seem, contrary to all laws of analogy and reason as it may seem, the Sabbath institution is remodeled to supply the lack; and the Sunday comes to us fresh from the Papal mint, as the needed memorial. It was the Papacy which changed the ordinance of baptism so that it was rendered ineffectual as a memorial of the resurrection; it was the Papacy which gave us the substitute, and the reasons for it; for be it understood that most of the arguments which Protestants so nimbly wield in defense of Sunday-keeping, are the inventions of Papacy. The daughter has set for instruction at the feet of her mother.
Papists claim to have changed the Sabbath, and they can make good their claim. They can make it good by history; and they can make it good to a certain extent from the Scriptures; for they can show as well as we, that neither God nor Christ ever changed it, and that therefore if the change is correct, it must have been made by the church with divine sanction. The arguments of both Protestants and Catholics, are to a great extent the same. The Protestant says them over, and claims that for these reasons(?) it must be that God has changed it. The Papist says them over, and contends that therefore the church had a right to change it. Both are equally groundless, but the Protestant no less presumptuous.
The testimony in regard to the Papacy, we shall not now enter into, as we have already protracted this article so far beyond our original design. But having noticed all that portion of the Tract with which we have any controversy, we now take our leave of it, submitting our cause to the candid judgment of those who may read. We think the arguments brought forward by the Tract have been fairly met; but evidence which would satisfy our own mind might not be sufficient for all. We think however that a careful study of the Word with due reflection on the subject will convince all of the utter futility of the arguments for Sunday-keeping. Should it be so, none can contend that they should influence in the least either our faith or practice.
God's Work on the Seventh Day.
By Editor
A BROTHER writes: "I am often inquired of by the caviler, what God did on the seventh day in ending his work. I reply that he made the Holy Sabbath."
We remark that there would be nothing for the caviler to cavil at, in Gen. ii, 2, if we had a correct rendering of the passage. The Bible Unionists, now engaged in the revision of the Scriptures, remark on this passage, "The work of creation was evidently completed on the sixth day, and the seventh was devoted to rest. It should therefore have been translated, 'On the seventh day God had ended his work.'"
By other eminent critics the word translated "ended," is rendered "had finished." Thus the London Quarterly Journal of Prophecy. See also the Cottage Bible. This would show that when the seventh day commenced the work of creation was complete, thus agreeing with all other portions of the sacred record. We may therefore set it down as a fact that God performed no part of his labor of creation on the seventh day, but that according to the record everything was finished on the sixth day, and God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good." The following note from Dr. Adam Clarke's Commentary is worthy of particular notice:
"On the seventh day God ENDED, &c. It is the general voice of Scripture, that God finished the whole of the creation in six days, and rested the seventh; giving us an example that we might labor six days, and rest the seventh from all manual exercises. It is worthy of notice, that the Septuagint, the Syriac and the Samaritan, read the sixth day instead of the seventh; and this should be considered the genuine reading, which appears from these versions, to have been originally that of the Hebrew text. How the word sixth became changed into the seventh, may be easily conceived from this circumstance. It is very likely that, in ancient times, all numerals were signified by letters, and not words at full length. This is the case in the most ancient Greek and Latin MSS. and in almost all of the rabinical writings. When these numeral letters became changed for words at full length, two letters nearly similar might be mistaken for each other: vau stands for six, zain for seven; how easy to mistake these letters for each other, when writing the words at full length, and so give birth to the reading in question!"
PROPHETIC COMMANDS.
By R. F. Cottrell
THERE is one class of prophecies which I call prophetic commands. These commands are always obeyed. There is no possibility of a failure in their fulfillment. The moral precepts of Jehovah men may trample under their feet; but when the time arrives for the fulfillment of a prophetic command, the agency of man is overruled and its fulfillment is positively necessary and unavoidable.
This is well illustrated by a prophetic command recorded in Zech. ix. 9, and its fulfillment, by the shouting multitude at the time when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Said the prophecy, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."
Now it was so absolutely necessary that the people of God and the inhabitants of Jerusalem should shout praises to their king, when Jesus entered the city in the manner described, that Jesus declared, "If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke xix. 40. And why? Because this prophetic command must be fulfilled. God, by the prophet, had said Shout, and they must shout, whether Pharisees were pleased or displeased. They shouted—and were disappointed. They thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear, [Luke xix, 11] and when a few days after this, their king was crucified, their hopes were gone and they were sad, said they, "We trusted that it had been he that should have redeemed Israel." Luke xxiv, 21. They were as grievously disappointed as were Advent believers at the passing of definite time in 1844. But they fulfilled prophecy; and so did these. The former in shouting hosanna to their king, the latter in proclaiming to the inhabitants of earth, "Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come." Rev. xiv. 7. The former recovered from the shock, and found themselves still upon the track of prophecy, being begotten again, to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The latter too are still upon the track, and find, by the entering of the Third Message, that the pathway of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Another example of prophetic command is found in Joel ii, 1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. This can only be fulfilled when the day of the Lord is nigh at hand; and101at that period it cannot fail of its accomplishment. The proclaimers of peace and safety, like the Pharisees anciently, may attempt to stop the cry, and quiet the nerves and strengthen the hands of sinners, by asserting that nobody will know the approach of that day, and, consequently, no alarm will be given. But the work cannot be arrested. God has prophetically commanded, "Sound an alarm," and it must and will be obeyed. It must be fulfilled at the appointed time, and the day of the Lord can never come without it.
Other examples of prophetic commands might be quoted, but one more must suffice for the present. Isa. viii, 16. "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." The time when this must be fulfilled is clearly marked in the context. 1. It will be done when the Lord's people are looking for his coming. Verse 17. And I will wait upon [for, Bernard's translation] the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 2. It will be fulfilled when spirit manifestations shall abound. Verse 20. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? These spirits will speak contrary to the law and testimony, and stand opposed to the work of binding up and sealing, because there is no light in them.
I understand the terms, law and testimony, to refer to the same thing; viz., the ten commandments, which were written upon the tables of the testimony, and deposited in the ark of the testimony, and called expressly The Testimony. Ex. xxv, 16.
The terms, bind up, and seal, are varied expressions to signify the same work. Bind up, in scripture language, means to heal; as a broken limb is bound up in order to heal it. The little horn that was to think to change times and laws, [Dan. vii. 25.] has performed his work of breaking and mutilating God's testimony; therefore it must be healed. He has, with sacrilegious hand, torn the seal from God's law, which seal is the sign of his authority as the Maker of all things. This sign or seal is found, in connection with the law, only in the fourth commandment. The other nine do not reveal the Law-giver. No one could tell by reading them whose laws they were. But the Sabbath is the sign or seal of the living God. Ex. xxxi. 13, 17; Eze. xx, 12, 20. This seal must be restored to the law.
Reader, where are we? Are Christians looking for the coming of the Lord? They are. Is the world flooded with familiar spirits? It is. Is a warning now going forth against the worship of the beast—the changer of God's law? and is every jot and tittle of the law of God being vindicated? Exactly so. Know then God's word cannot fail. You cannot stop the work, if you are so disposed. God has prophetically commanded his children, at this very time, saying, Bind up the testimony—seal the law among my disciples; and it must and will be done. If these should hold their peace, the stones would cry out. Come, then, have a share in the work. Hasten! for it will soon be completed, with or without your aid.
DANIEL STANDING IN HIS LOT.
By Hiram Edson
According to Webster, "to stand," signifies "Not to fail or become void; to succeed; to maintain one's ground; not to fail; to be acquitted; to be safe; to appear prominent; to have relief; to stand trial is to sustain the trial or examination of a cause, rank, post, station," &c.
"Lot" signifies, that which in human speech is called chance, hazard, fortune, but in strictness of language is the determination of providence; as the land shall be divided by lot. Num. xxvi. 2d. That by which the fate or portion is determined, that by which an event is committed to chance, that is to the determination of providence as to cast lots, to draw lots. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Prov. xvi. 3d. The part, division or fate which falls to one by chance, that is by divine determination. Josh. xix. Lot. v. t. To allot, to assign, to distribute, to sort, to catalogue, to portion. &c.
Daniel's Lot, and the lot of the whole human family, is cast into or in other words, is referred to the judgment. In other words, the determination of divine providence relative to the fate or future eternal destiny of Daniel and the whole human family is cast into or referred to the period of the judgment when and where the fate or eternal destiny of all is determined by divine providence.
The human family are all destined to stand before God in the judgment, [see Rom. xiv, 10; 2 Cor. v, 10; Rev. xx, 12.] at which time divine providence will determine the fate or future eternal destiny of all mankind. It is written, [Ps. i, 5.] "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment." That is to say, the ungodly shall not stand or endure the judgment trial; they shall not be safe nor be acquitted in the judgment trial when divine providence shall determine their fate, or future eternal destiny.
But in contradistinction from this declaration to the ungodly, the blessed promise and assurance was given to Daniel, the man greatly beloved, that he should stand in his lot; that is to say, he should stand or endure the judgment trial, he should be acquitted and be safe in the judgment trial when divine providence should determine his fate or future eternal destiny. This promise or assurance to Daniel that he should stand in his lot at the end of the 2300 and 1335 days was a promise that he should stand or endure the judgment trial and be acquitted and be safe. It amounted to a blessed promise and an assurance to Daniel, the man greatly beloved, that he should have eternal life awarded to him in the judgment when divine providence should determine his fate or future eternal destiny.
Daniel understood the vision [see chap. x, 1.] hence he understood that the cleansing of the Sanctuary at the end of the 2300 and 1335 days would be the canceling and atoning for and blotting out and putting away the errors and sins of the whole Israel of God, and that this would be the judging or judgment of the house of God; or in other words, it would be the time when all Israel would stand in their lot, when all Israel should be judged and acquitted and divine providence would determine and award to them eternal life. This important fact of the judgment upon the Israel of God at the end of the 2300 and 1335 days being brought before the mind of Daniel it could but be a matter of deep anxiety to Daniel to know whether he should stand or endure the judgment trial and be acquitted and be safe. How blessed then was the promise to Daniel that he should stand in his lot at the end of the days and be acquitted in the judgment trial and be safe and have eternal life.
H. EDSON.
Journey to the West
By A. S. Hutchins
From Bro. Hutchins.
BRO. SMITH: Through the preserving mercy of God, Bro. Sperry and myself with our wives, have just reached this place. We left Vt., with our teams, on the 6th inst., and drove to Ogdensburgh, N. Y., where we took the steamboat on the 13th, for Lewiston, which place we reached on the 14th, at 10 A. M. From here we drove to Buffalo, where we took passage in the evening, on board of the boat Plymouth Rock, for Detroit, at which place we found ourselves safely landed at 3 P. M. the following day.
Sabbath, the 11th, we spent with the church at Buck's Bridge, N. Y., and the 18th at Jackson, Mich., at which places we presented the truth to comfort and encourage the brethren and sisters, as far as we had strength.
We would be grateful to God for the mercies and blessings given to us on our prosperous journey to this place.
The urgent request of the brethren in Mass., that Bro. S. and myself should spend the season with them in their Tent enterprise, was at first quite an objection in my mind to coming West. Again, my health had failed much within a few months, which, together with the ill health of my companion seemed to forbid the idea of coming so far with the prospect of accomplishing so little as we could. But when Bro. and Sr. White were with us we prayed earnestly for light in regard to duty, and believed that the Spirit of God would lead us. The light seemed to blaze in our pathway toward the West, and thus far we all feel that we have moved in the right direction. The church in the East bade us God speed.
The rush to the West within a few years to make money, get rich, and live easier, has been great. But the Lord grant that those who are "looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God," may have a higher motive in view than these. I am sure that those of us who have just left our homes and friends in the East have not done it for objects like these; though if it should please the Lord, we should each be thankful to bear less burdens for those professing a love for the truth, and find less church trials, and hear less complaining of the roughness of the way, &c., and find the church more awake to the time in which we live, and hear more about the gold, the white raiment, and the eye-salve.
Brethren, pray for us, ever bearing in mind that Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but God must give the increase.
"So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase."
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Battle Creek, Mich., July 22d, 1857.
P. S. Bro. and Sr. Phillips arrived here some days before we did. A. S. H.
Tent Meeting at Ulysses, Pa.
By R. F. Cottrell
This meeting held two Sabbaths and First-days, at the first of which Bro. and Sr. White were present. There was much interest apparent among the people, the spirit of opposition melted away, and deep conviction of the truth of our position took its place. I doubt not that the meeting will tell for the cause of truth. Some who are young in the truth were greatly edified and strengthened, and filled with the spirit of the last message. Thrilling testimonies were borne at our last meeting by brethren and sisters. The church feel, in some measure, the message to the Laodiceans. The Lord help them to be benefitted by it. Four, who had embraced the truth previous to this meeting, were baptized into the death of Christ. May the Lord bless them, and help them to walk in newness of life.
We pitch next in Willing, on the Genesee, five miles above Wellsville, in Alleghany Co., N. Y.
R. F. COTTRELL.
Verse 14. Blotting out of the hand-writing; abolishing the ceremonial law. Contrary to us; burdensome, and opposed to the believer's liberty and peace. Nailing it to his cross; showing, in his death, that its binding power was dead.
Verse 16. Judge you; pronounce you good or bad, according to your treatment of the ceremonial law. A holy-day—Sabbath-days; in the original, a festival—Sabbaths. The days referred to are those required to be observed in the ceremonial law; days associated by God with meats, drinks, and new moons. The passage does not refer to the Sabbath of the moral law, associated with the commands forbidding the theft, murder, and adultery. This weekly Sabbath was never against men or contrary to them, but was always for them, and promotive of their highest good. The observance of it caused them to ride upon the high places of the earth, and to possess the heritage of God's people. Isa. lviii, 13, 14; Jer. xvii, 21, 27.
Notes on the New Testament by Justin Edwards, D. D.
Pain Is for Your Profit
Every pain you feel is necessary; God doth not afflict willingly, or for his pleasure, but for your profit.
Reflections on the Fourth of July of 1857.
By Alvares Pierce
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: I sit down on this holy Sabbath morning, hoping that not many of you are situated as I am; not that I murmur or complain. No: God is good; blessed be his holy name. But I am deprived of the privilege of enjoying any of your social meetings on this holy day; of joining my voice with yours to worship our heavenly Parent. I also am living within hearing of the music and the firing of cannons by those who are assembled to celebrate the anniversary of our National Independence. And the reflection comes home, how many are there of those who call themselves Adventists and are looking for the coming of the Lord, that have left the worship of God to-day to join in the festivities of the birth-day of our nation, a worldly institution? O brethren, if any such there be, (and I hope there are none) let me say to you that it is no place for serious reflection, no place to buy the gold tried in the fire, no place to get the white raiment, no place to get the eye-salve, no place to get our hearts open to let the Saviour in, but it is a place where our garments would be defiled, and to the Christian it is a place that will bring sorrow and pain and in all probability, bitter weeping.
I want to tell you a little of my feelings at this time. The public purveyor for this occasion is a friend of mine, and he has offered me a free ticket if I will come and take dinner with him. The answer that I gave him was, that it was God's holy Sabbath day.
But brethren, I have an invitation to a wedding Supper, and that too the marriage of a King's Son, that I am making some preparation to attend; and this also is to be a free supper. The invitation is now being given; I want to see all your dear faces there. Then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the whole armor of light. Let us break away from the world and have no fellowship with the works of darkness. Let us keep our garments always white and let our head lack no ointment.
Yours hoping to meet you all in the kingdom.
ALVARES PIERCE.
Eldorado, Hardin Co., Iowa, July 4th 1857.
The Need for a Qualified Lecturer
By B. F. Weed
From Bro. Weed.
BRO. SMITH: In the providence of God I am still an inhabitant of this sin-polluted world, a pilgrim and a stranger, but thanks be to our Father in heaven I am looking for a better country and heavenly, and a glorious city, whose builder and maker is God. The cause in which you are engaged I firmly believe to be a good one; one on which God has placed the seal of approbation, and I feel willing to sacrifice anything for its advancement.
We feel the need of a well qualified lecturer in this barren and unfruitful land; for there are many souls here that are truly suffering a spiritual drought for the pure word of life—I mean that portion which has been so much neglected or else perverted from its true meaning. The ministry in this region almost universally are opposed to the Advent doctrine and they have almost as much influence over the people as the Pope of Rome has over his churches. We are opposed, despised and rejected by the people around us; but I can say that I rejoice in being rejected for Christ's sake.
And now dear reader, permit me to ask a few solemn questions which I hope you will not pass over without deliberate consideration. Like an individual man, the world of nature and of human character in the aggregate has the character of progressive and limited existence. The times indicate its maturity and dissolution. The prominent symptoms are those of decay. Oppression, fraud, avarice, pride, licentiousness and all the forms of vice are brought to maturity. In craftiness, refinement and outrage in all of them, the world manifests the certainty of old age ripened for the concluding judgments of heaven. We believe they will soon break upon it. All nations now existing seem to have arrived at a maturity for universal dissolution and destruction. I ask, Why should not the day soon close and the night set in upon the world? Has it not had time enough to repent? Has it not hardened its heart enough, shed blood enough, wrought misery and wrong enough? Has it not sown sufficiently for its harvest? Is it not ripe, just ready for the thrusting in of the sickle to the gathering for the great wine-press of the wrath of God? Has not this earth been possessed by the wicked long enough, and been made by them a theatre of murder and all crimes and miseries? Is not the time now near for the righteous, its lawful heirs, to possess it? Is not the time now near for Satan's kingdom to give place to the reign of Christ and his saints? Do not the times indicate it? Whatever primitive christianity now exists, is no more than that little spark of faith which our Lord foretold would be found on earth by him when he should come? Then dear friends, heed the loud calls and warnings from high heaven and prepare for the coming events that await us all. Give up the world, renounce it totally and forever, forsake all for Christ, let go all hold upon the pleasures, the possessions and the honors that are seen for those that are not seen. To do this fully, enduring unto the end, is a trial of the heart and the soul to the utmost. But what earthly pleasure or treasure will one not give up in prospect of such overwhelming joy as the end of this sin-distracted and convulsed world and the beginning of a new creation, in which as christians, we all hope to participate. New heavens illuminated with a cloudless sun of ineffable glory, spangled with stars far brighter than our present sun; a new earth surrounded with an immortal atmosphere, filled with unfailing freshness, sweetness and beauty, and decorated with charms incomparably superior to that of Eden and its ancient paradise; animated too, with the presence of nature's eternal and immortal King, and his celestial train; the eternal home of the saints where
Sickness and sorrow pain and death,
Are felt and feared no more.
I say, Who would not gladly exchange a sin-emaciated frame and shattered constitution, sown thick with the seeds of death, for a spiritual and immortal frame? a shipwrecked earth filled with unquenchable fires and convulsed with agony, all covered with floods of water that washed and drenched its deeply furrowed face, with a thousand mountains and valleys, for a new earth never to be trodden by the profane foot of a prodigal during the ceaseless ages of eternity? And now I will close by setting before you St. Luke's admonition to us all. Luke xxi, 34. 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.
Yours striving for the coming kingdom.
B. F. WEED.
Middle Grove, N. Y., July 12th, 1857.
HENRY H. PIERCE
By Henry H. Pierce
From Bro. Pierce.
BRO. SMITH : I wish to say that the Review comes laden with rich treasures for the scattered flock. I rejoice that God ever had thoughts of mercy toward me, and led me to see that I was keeping the traditions of men instead of the commandments of God. I am glad I ever had a mind to receive the truth and obey it, regardless of the consequences in this life. Oh, how good is the Lord! I feel to praise his holy name for his unbounded mercy. When I look back on the past I can see that the Lord has watched over me until the present time. Notwithstanding my unfaithfulness to him, his mercy endureth and is extended103to me. Still the Lord has led in a way I knew not; and I will praise his name for it.
Brethren and sisters, let us awake from this cold and stupid sleep; let us arise and work for the Lord while the day lasts, for soon the night cometh. I feel determined to work while there is yet time. for soon the Lord is coming, and if we sleep on we shall be found without that preparation we must make to be prepared to meet him in peace. I feel the need of a deeper work of grace in my heart. I have a great deal to overcome before I shall be prepared to receive the refreshing of the latter rain, which all will receive that are zealous of good works; and I feel determined by God's grace assisting me, to be watching and waiting, and not be a slothful servant in the vineyard of my Lord. I am resolved to take heed to the warning of the faithful and true Witness, and buy the gold that is tried in the fire, that it may be my happy lot to receive a crown at the appearing of my Lord with all the dear saints of God. Oh praise the Lord for the blessed prospect before the remnant. I rejoice for the freedom there is in this glorious truth; for great peace have they that keep the commandments of God. Oh yes I praise God for his holy law that he gave to Israel. I rejoice in my heart that we were not left to grope our way in the dark, and I praise his name that he in his goodness did deign to send his messengers this way, that the honest in heart might see the light and walk therein. He will not leave any in darkness that desire to serve him. God is in this work, and I believe it with all my soul; and my prayer is that he will hasten the time when the last jewel will be called in, and then shall the end come.
Yours in hopes of eternal life at the appearing of Jesus.
HENRY H. PIERCE
Monterey, Mich., July 13th, 1857
THE WARFARE.
By Rebeckah Smith
Temptations are presented, and we yield e'er we're aware,
And again become entangled in the tempter's subtle snare;
Our warring passions raging, with the sound of battle dire,
The outward foes in arms array, this warfare is within.
There's hatred, pride and unbelief, and many evils there,
And our besetting sins oft baffle faith and humble prayer;
Thus wasted are our energies, our strength and nobler powers,
And we ourselves deprive of joys, which otherwise were ours.
Poor, wretched, miserable and blind, how vain our boastings all,
Our misspent moments worse than lost, we never can recall,
The good we might have done, had we obeyed each precept given
Will be a blank, and less will be our crowns of joy in heaven.
Why wound our souls? Why take the gall perverted tastes to please,
When nought but Jesus' dying blood, God's anger can appease?
Like Peter we deny our Lord, and spurn his tender care,
Such base ingratitude as this, who but a God could bear?
Most deeply must we feel and weep, ere Christ will on us look,
And bless us with the assurance, that our names are in life's book;
He knows our frailties and is touched with penitential tears,
'Tis just like Jesus to forgive, and banish all our fears.
Such depths of love, such pity too, should make us prostrate fall,
Before our King whom we should crown forever "Lord of all;"
And when we're freely justified, continued help we crave,
Our strength is weakness, and ourselves from sin we cannot save.
Thy mission here was, Lord, to save thy people from their sins,
And here if e'er we overcome, is where our hope begins.
Through Christ alone the victory's gained, and nothing can we merit;
If we are overcomers, we in him all things inherit.
Not unto us, but Lord to thee, the glory shall be given,
It is the noblest song on earth, 'twill noblest be in heaven;
No warring passions unstring the holy heavenly lyre,
At the loss of all things here, would I be one in that blest choir.
REBECKAH SMITH.
West Wilton, N. H. June 16th, 1857.
LETTERS.
"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another"
Keep the Commandments and Have Faith
By John M. Mills
From Bro. Mills.
BRO. SMITH: I have felt for some time that I should write to the brethren and sisters and let them know that I still am trying by the grace of God to keep all his commandments and have the faith of Jesus.
I feel to praise the Lord when reading the communications from the brethren and sisters, and to say, go on; praise the Lord! hold out a little longer, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Dear brethren and sisters, live humble at the feet of Jesus, pray without ceasing, and in all things give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good and his mercy endureth forever. I praise the Lord while I write, for his goodness to his people in these last days of darkness and deception. Let us heed the message to the Laodiceans, and buy the gold tried in the fire that we may be rich, and white raiment that we may be clothed, and anoint our eyes with eye-salve that we may see and understand more fully the will of the Lord concerning us. Let us give up our whole hearts to the Lord and lay all on the altar of God and trust in him to consume it according to his own good pleasure.
Dear brethren, may the Lord bless you and give you understanding in all things, and may we love one another with pure hearts fervently. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly kindness, in honor preferring one another. Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. Bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. Rejoice with those who do rejoice and weep with those who weep. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Rom. xii. And I pray the Lord to help us live out the faith we profess and show to the world that we believe what we say. And let us do unto others as we would that they should do to us.
Your unworthy brother waiting for the kingdom.
JOHN M. MILLS.
Pleasant Spring, Wis., July 14th, 1857.
LOVISA HORR
By Lovisa Horr
From Sister Horr.
BRO. SMITH: I would like to let my brethren and sisters whom I dearly love in the truth know that I am still trying to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. It is about eight years since I commenced keeping the Lord's Sabbath in the Third Angel's Message. I have formerly taken the Review, but for the past year on account of moving west, and other reasons, have not taken it only as I have had a goodly number sent me by kind friends from the East, which I could read over and they were always new. I now receive it again weekly. To me it is a welcome visitor. I greatly rejoice in the truths set forth therein for the comfort and encouragement of God's dear children on their way to the kingdom. To me they are very precious. I want to give in my testimony on the side of the Lord and his truth. I feel to thank and praise the name of my kind Father in heaven that I ever had an ear to hear, and a heart to believe his Word. I have many trials to pass through, which seem very severe. I often have to pass through the deep waters, and the billows roll on either side; yet I want to trust in the Lord and by his grace, overcome. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed but abideth forever.
I have been, and fear that I am yet in a lukewarm state, and have made too many crooked paths for my feet, for which I am very sorry. I want to heed the counsel of the True Witness, and buy the gold, white raiment, and anoint my eyes with eye-salve that I may see and confess all my sins, that they may be blotted out before our great High Priest leaves the Sanctuary. How dreadful the thought of having one stain of sin upon our garments at that time.
The testimony to the Laodiceans is meat in due season. I believe it to be the voice of the good Shepherd, and I want to keep so humble that I may ever hear and know his voice and follow him. I have not had the privilege of meeting with the saints since last September, and have not seen any of like faith. When I look around and see the fields all white and ready for harvest. I feel to cry to the Lord of the harvest to raise up faithful laborers and send forth into his harvest field.
I rejoice to hear through the Review that the Third Angel's Message is moving onward, and that so many dear souls are taking a stand for the truth, and have chosen to suffer affliction with the people of God. I want to say to such, You have made a precious choice. You will find the way to be rugged and thorny, and the path bedewed with tears; but the Lord is our shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom. Be faithful a little while, and soon the gates will be opened and the righteous nation that keep the truth will enter in.