p. 24 | Review and Herald, Vol. 9, No. 3. (11/20/1856)

SELECTIONS.

The Family Altar.

THAT is a pitiable family in which there is no prayer.

Heaven, whence proceed all our blessings, will be inquired of, asked of; and the lips that frame no petitions are ungrateful indeed.

When a man arises in the morning and thinks not who hath made him to dwell in safety—when a man goes forth to his daily duty unrefreshed by prayer—for that man, sleep and safety are as water poured upon the ground, and as for his duties, they will be hard and cumbrous.

When friends bring to us good gifts, we do cover them with thanks; when a sister or a brother do bestow rich presents upon us, we repay them with wordy benisons. Wherefore are the gifts of the great Benefactor less than man's gifts? Why do we acknowledge earthly bestowments and ignore those that the Father scatters around us and distills upon us?

So, they who rear no family altar, around which they may gather when the dawn has blossomed, or the evening has frowned, are of all men most miserable.

The ghosts of apprehension haunt their hearts—fears cluster before their eyes, presentiments brood about them, like dark shapes from Erebus, and all the time they are beset by a thousand evils. They need the purifying influences of prayer—they need the strength, the peace, the consolation, which it imparts.

We know a man who has allied himself to no church, professes no religious belief, mingles not with the elect, but reads some chapter in the Scriptures, and frames a simple prayer with his family, morning and evening. He is a man of the world in the strictest sense: but he says he would not dare to leave his treasures at home without first committing them to the care of Heaven, or part with them at night until he had entrusted them to the keeping of the Most High. That man may not be saved; but his life is happier than the life of him who reads no chapter and offers no petition.

If there is a spot around which God's angels love to cluster, sunning it with their shining countenances, and shading it with their beautiful wings, that spot is where a family kneel to breathe out thanks and supplications.

Hast thou pearls, and no prayer? Then art thou a beggar. Canst thou adore earthly beauties, and see no loveliness in the Crucified? Then God be merciful unto thee! Hast thou an earthly mansion filled with all the luxuries of art, and hast no family altar? Alas, thou art poorer than Lazarus!

OBITUARY.

By Sarah J. Gardner

Brother Darius Aldrich of Grotton, Mich., fell asleep in Jesus Oct. 4th, 1856, in his 31st year. He has left a companion and five little ones, besides a large circle of relatives to mourn his loss. But thanks be to the Lord, they with the little band, mourn not as those that have no hope.

He, with a few others, under the sound of the Third Angel,s Message, given by Bro. Cornell three years ago last March, commenced keeping the holy Sabbath of the Lord. His love from that time for the truth and the brethren seemed greatly to increase, and truly his daily deportment did show that this world was not his home. Consumption was his disease, by which he was brought to the cold and silent grave; but how cheering to reflect that Jesus our Redeemer broke the bars of death, and the cold grave could not hold the Son of God, "but he rose, but he rose," triumphant over death; and how cheering the promise that they that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

We who are left feel an increasing desire to have our thoughts elevated far above the things of this world, and placed upon heaven and heavenly things, that when the Master comes we may be found among the ransomed ones.

Your sister in hope of eternal life. SARAH J. GARDNER. Vergennes, Oct. 30th, 1856.

CHURCH HISTORY.

By Mosheim

The history of the church presents to our view a variety of objects that are every way adapted to confirm our faith. When we contemplate here the discouraging obstacles, united efforts of kingdoms and empires, and the dreadful calamities which Christianity, in its very infancy, was obliged to encounter, and over which it gained an immortal victory, this will be sufficient to fortify its true and zealous professors against all the threats, cavils and stratagems of profane and impious men. The great and shining examples also, which display their lustre, more or less, in every period of the Christian history, must have an admirable tendency to inflame our piety, and to excite, even in the coldest and most insensible hearts, the love of God and virtue. Those amazing revolutions and events that distinguished every age of the church, and often seemed to arise from small beginnings, and causes of little consequence, proclaim, with a solemn and respectable voice, the empire of Providence, and also the inconstancy and vanity of human affairs. And among the many advantages that arise from the study of ecclesiastical history, it is none of the least, that we shall see therein the origin and occasions of those ridiculous rites, absurd opinions, foolish superstitions and pernicious errors, with which Christianity is yet disfigured in too many parts of the world. This knowledge will naturally lead us to a view of the truth in its beautiful simplicity, will engage us to love it, and render us zealous in its defense; not to mention the pleasure and satisfaction that we must feel in researches and discoveries of such an interesting kind.

Extracts.

By Glass

The church in its perfection in the Kingdom.

'And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it,' &c. Rev. xxi, 24–27.

These words seem to declare the full accomplishment of this promise, ['Kings and queens shall be nursing fathers and mothers,'] and of all the Old Testament promises of this kind. For they contain a description of the church in its perfection at the restitution of all things; and a further declaration of the same thing that is declared [Rev. xi, 15,] where it is said, 'The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.' This is a part of the short sum which that context gives of the issue of the voice of the seventh angel, of which voice it was said, [chap. x, 7,] 'In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared unto his servants the prophets.' Now, the voice of the seventh angel issues in the kingdoms of this world now becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, where he is to reign for ever and ever, the coming of God's wrath, the raising of the dead, the rewarding of the prophets, saints, and them that fear the Lord, both small and great, and the destruction of them that destroy the earth.'—Glass.

Verbal precision of the Apocalypse.

"The more I read this wonderful book, the more I am convinced that the precision of the phraseology is little short of mathematical accuracy. The language seems highly adorned; but the ornaments are not redundancies; they are not of that sort that the proposition would remain the same, if the epithets were expunged. And in passages which may seem similar, there never was the smallest variation of style, but it points to something of diversity either in the subject or the predicate."—Horsley.

Literal interpretation.

By Joseph Mede

"I cannot be persuaded to forsake the proper and usual import of Scripture language, where neither the insinuation of the text itself, nor manifest tokens of allegory, nor the necessity and the nature of the things spoken of (which will bear no other sense) do warrant it. For to do so were to lose all footing of divine testimony, and instead of Scripture, to believe mine own imagination."—Mede.

An Hour with My God

The thorn and the thistle around me may grow, I would not lie down upon roses below : I ask not my portion, I seek not my rest, Till I find them for ever on Jesus's breast.

Afflictions may press me, they cannot destroy, One glimpse of his love turns them all into joy; And the bitterest tears if he smile but on them, Like dew in the sunshine, grow diamond and gem.

Let doubt, then, and danger, my progress oppose, They only make heaven more sweet at its close; Come joy or come sorrow, whate'er may befall, An hour with my God will make up for them all.

A scrip on my back, and a staff in my hand, I march on in haste, through an enemy's land; The road may be rough but it cannot be long, I'll smooth it with hope, and I'll cheer it with song.

Letter from Bro. Bates.

By Joseph Bates

BRO. SMITH: On leaving Battle Creek on the morning of Oct. 30th, we traveled westward about twenty-five miles until the darkness of the night and a driving snow storm admonished us to seek a shelter by the wayside. In the morning the family listened to our present position, and prayer, and expressed a wish to hear further. When we called for our horse and bill of fare we were told that we were welcome to our entertainment. We left them books to examine still further, believing that the last Message of mercy would quickly pass around “to many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,” if all other families were apparently as free from prejudice as this one.

An hour's ride brought us to Bro. C. N. Russell's, where, upon inquiry, two district school houses, in Cooper and Cooper Center, were offered us to present the Message for the first time. In these we have been holding series of meetings during the week. The almost continued stormy weather has prevented many from attending. Still we believe God's blessing has been manifest in awakening some who have become much interested in the truths we have presented, and some others have fully embraced the Sabbath of the Lord and the Faith of Jesus. Two have been baptized.

We met with the church at Otsego the first Sabbath in the month. They are seeking to know the whole truth, and to rise from the Laodicean state of neither cold nor hot, and let Jesus in at the door of their hearts to sup with them and they with him.

Last Sabbath we enjoyed a very interesting communion season before the Lord. Bro. Russell's two sons, who are of age, came out decidedly, and publicly declared their faith in the present truth, declaring their determination to their parents, that they would, by the help of God, go to heaven with them and live for ever. Others communed for the first time.

Two young men, part of a family recently from Holland, attended our first meeting. On the morning following, our second meeting, they came with their father to Bro. Russell's. The father brought his Dutch Bible to have us explain and show him the Bible argument for the second appearing of the Lord, and keeping the seventh day for the Sabbath. As their chapters and verses are marked similar to the English, we were enabled to mark them for him, and as he read we pointed to the earthly kingdoms and angels' messages, &c., on the chart. They seemed very much impressed with the testimony as they read it from their own Bible. We asked them if they ever heard of the second coming of Christ in their own country. They replied that they did in 1843, but said that was a mistake. So say the people from other nations, which proves conclusively that the announcement of his coming has been made to every nation upon the earth. I am glad our German tract is so near ready to be issued, and hope it may also be translated for the Hollanders and Norwegians who are calling for the present truth.

Our next appointment is in the town of Plainfield to commence this evening. From thence we are invited to attend a conference with Bro. Cornell, which is appointed to be held in Monterey, Allegan Co., the 14th inst.

JOSEPH BATES.

Cooper, Mich., Nov. 11th, 1856.

To Correspondents.

By Editor

In addition to the rules usually laid down for correspondents to give their own name, town, county and State distinctly, we may add, Be sure in writing to this Office to direct your letters properly. We had one letter directed to Darius Smith, which lay a long time in the Post Office before the Post Master could learn who it belonged to. Another came directed to Ezra Smith, which went to Washington, and was gone some three months before we received it. Our address is URIAH Smith, Battle Creek, Mich.

Letter from Bro. Waggoner.

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

BRO. SMITH: Though I have not yet been able to satisfy my own mind in regard to some things in the letter to the Philadelphia church, yet I feel constrained to add my testimony as to the lukewarm condition of the professed Sabbath-keepers. This fact has long been a deep grief to me. Especially have I been burdened with the state of those who have for years professed the faith. Almost every church of several years' standing is in this deplorable state. There is still a growing conformity to the fashions and follies of the world. And when the searching truths of the Third Angel's Message, and the light already elicited on the churches fail to awake sufficient interest to produce an attendance on the ordinary means of grace, and especially the prayer-meeting, it has seemed to me that "cold" would be a more appropriate term than "lukewarm," to describe their state; and I have felt to exclaim, Is it possible that those who have long "seemed to be pillars," will be yet spued out as a nauseous and disgusting thing? But I rejoice to see by the correspondence of the Review that many are beginning to realize these things. And as I read the testimony from different parts of the field, and hear how the minds of the scattered ones have been impressed on this subject, who have not yet conferred with one another in regard to it, I feel to say, Amen. It is of the Lord. May the good work go on till all the little flock are "zealous" and "repent."

God has given us joy over the fruit of our labors during the past season. I hope that our zeal in laboring may not abate in this dark time of peril.

Six believers in this place were baptized on the second Sabbath in October, and my hope now is that others in this section will see and obey the present truth.

J. H. W.

Addison, Mich.

What a City!

What a City!—A ragged-school association, in a public appeal, state that there are in London 1,400,000 who never attend public worship, 150,000 habitual drunkards, 150,000 open profligates, 20,000 professed beggars 10,000 gamblers, 30,000 destitute children, 3,000 receivers of stolen goods. More than ten thousand young men under eighteen years of age are annually committed for theft in Great Britain.

The Sweet Echo

Would you hear a sweet and pleasing echo, speak sweetly and pleasantly yourself.

Party Zeal and Ignorance

Speaking of party zeal, Pope makes this judicious remark: "There never was any party, faction, sect, or cabal whatsoever, in which the most ignorant were not the most violent; for a bee is not a busier animal than a blockhead."

The Peace of a Clear Conscience

How sweet are the slumbers of him who can lie down on his pillow, and review the transactions of every day, without condemning himself!

Virtue Cannot Be Bought With Gold

To purchase heaven, has gold the power? Can gold remove the mortal hour? In life can love be bought with gold? Are friendship's pleasures to be sold?— No: all that's worth a wish or thought, Fair virtue gives unbribed, unbought.

Business.

By Editor

H. Bingham:—That is your receipt in No. 21, Vol. VIII. Credited to Vol. X on book. We are sorry that we cannot furnish you with REVIEW of Oct. 16, as we have none on hand.

M. P. Chaplin:—You had already paid to the commencement of the present volume. Your money pays to No. 15, Vol. X. We will therefore send you the paper till that time unless you wish otherwise. In regard to the sentiments advanced upon some points, we ask no one to take our word for any position, but to compare all with the great standard—the word of God.

Books Sent.

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