Review and Herald, Vol. 46, No. 10.
Constantine and the Sunday Law, ConcludedPage 1
Earlier text: Constantine and the Sunday Law, ConcludedAn Appeal to Young Mothers.
I AM an old woman; I have only a few threads more to weave when the pattern will be completed, and the Master will fold it up and lay it away. It is an imperfect piece, full of broken threads and wrong colors. I do not like to look upon it; I would like to take it all out and weave it over again. But no, it must go just as it is. But I will try to add a few good threads and right colors that the finishing up may be better; and as the garment is folded up, may they appear upon the outside, and, meeting the gaze of those just weaving their piece, teach them what to put in their pattern. Mothers, young mothers, listen to my story, and learn a lesson therefrom. You do get so out of patience with that boy of yours. He is never quiet—whistling, singing, stamping—making some kind of a noise all the time. You think you cannot bear it your nerves are so weak, so you send him away, out of doors, anywhere, that you may not be so annoyed. Don't do it any more. Come with me to yonder cemetery. Here in the corner, under the willow, lies my boy, “Earnest Clinton, aged twenty-one.” Sit down with me near his grave and I will tell you about him. He was a beautiful babe. How I did love the precious blue-eyed one! How cunningly he would twine those little arms around my neck, and press his little cheek against mine! Every moment of his little baby-life was a joy and comfort to me. Soon the little feet began to toddle round and he would run to mamma for safety. Then the childish prattle came, and how sweetly he would lisp my name, and, looking into my eyes, say: “I love you, mamma!” O Earnest, my precious boy, come back again and be once more a babe on mother's knee! Let mother try again! But the little fellow kept on growing, and soon arrived to the dignity of his first pair of pants. How proudly he strutted around and called himself “mamma's man.” But I cannot follow him along step by step. He soon became the school-boy; and how I used to get out of patience with him as he came rushing in from school, so noisy and boisterous. I would scold him, and try to keep him quiet by seating him in a chair. After awhile he would not come directly from school, but would play by the way. Mother had so much to do she did not take much heed of her boy's seeking pleasure away from home. When he was a little fellow I always went with him when he went to bed, read to him from the Bible, knelt by him while he said his evening prayer, and talked kindly to him about any wrong he had done through the day. How tender his little heart was at those times! All ready to receive impressions for good. And how he used to enjoy those bed-time talks! But as he grew older, when bed-time came I would feel tired, or be busy, and would send him away alone. He felt badly at first, and would kiss me over and over again before going; but after awhile he would go without saying anything, or even kissing me. I did not then think much about the change; my mind was occupied with work, which seemed more important than anything else. Thus he gradually drifted away from me. When he was naughty I would get all out of patience with him instead of kindly and firmly reproving him. I would dread vacation-time, and permit him to go from home to play; I could not stop to amuse and interest him at home, and it was such a relief to have him away. But why need I go on? The loving, affectionate boy was weaned from his mother, and every year found him farther away. Rumors began to come to the ears of his father and myself of his being wild. We talked with him; he felt very badly and promised to do better. But, alas! the chain of love which should have bound him to his home and mother had been severed, and other chains, woven by wicked companions, had been thrown around him and held him fast. We sent him away to school. I wrote many letters to him. I tried to get my influence over him back again, but it was too late. He ran away from school, and for five years we heard nothing from him. Mothers, just imagine those five long, weary years, with no knowledge whatever of my only son! One evening we sat before the fire talking of our absent boy. The storm raged without, and the tempest in our own hearts could not be stilled. I thought I heard a timid knock at the door. I went, and there stood my long-lost Earnest. But what a change! Was it possible that this was my blue-eyed, curly-haired baby—my robust, ruddy-cheeked son? A pale, emaciated young man stood before me. “Earnest, my boy,” I cried, “is this you?” “Yes, dear mother, it is Earnest; may I come in? I have come home to die.” We did everything we could for him, but could not save him. Those five years of dissipation had ruined his health, and he only lived a few months. “Mother,” he would often say, “I am only twenty-one, and have got to die. I have wasted the past years of my life, and cut off the future, which might have been mine to use for good.” Bitterly did he repent, and we believe was forgiven, which is the only drop of comfort my cup of sorrow contains. He dropped asleep very peacefully, and we have laid him here to rest till God shall bid him rise. But my heart was broken then, and bitterness and sorrow have been my companions ever since. God gave me that boy to bring up, and I was responsible for his future. There was in him the germ of a noble manhood, and I crushed it. The heart of my child was mine, but, instead of making an effort to keep that heart, I permitted it to slip from my grasp. I never see a little boy now but that I want to go to the mother and on bended knee implore her to so love that boy that she will be patient with him; that she will so win and retain his affections that his love for mother shall be a shield of safety in the darkest hour of temptation. Dear young mothers, bear with the noisy boys; better a few headaches now than the dreadful heartaches that will come in after years. Make home pleasant for them. No matter if the work is not all done to your satisfaction; the eternal welfare of the child is of far more importance. Lay aside your work sometimes, and enter into their sports and games. Question them about their doings at school; rejoice with them when they are happy; sympathize with them when they are in trouble. Let them see that mother is a true friend to them. At the same time be firm and insist upon implicit obedience. They will respect you all the more for that. Make bed-time a happy hour for them, that the memory may linger with them in after years, and that hour shall ever be a sacred one, causing a deep tenderness to spring up in the heart, and a strong yearning to bow the head again on mother's knee, and say the evening prayer, even when they have become strong men engrossed in the business of life. Dear mothers, as I say farewell to you, I would lift my heart in prayer to the Father above, asking him to give you, each and all, wisdom and strength so to bring up those boys of yours that a noble manhood may be theirs, a happy heart yours, and a mansion of rest be for you all in the pure city of God. And if my story will help some mother to be more patient and tender with her boy, I will thank God that he has permitted a few threads of gold to finish my web of life.—Arthur's Home Magazine. This may well be termed the stormy season, and it has been such in both the new world and the old. The elements seem to have been unusually disturbed, and the world has witnessed phenomenal freaks of remarkable character and variety. In the Western and South-western States the clouds have poured out water with a freedom which has led to the destruction of life and a vast amount of property. Rivers have disdained their ancient barriers, and the swollen flood, “Wasting towns, plantations, meadows,” has rolled on in wrath, and uncontrolled. In the valleys of the lower Mississippi and its tributaries, we hear that many miles of railroad have been swept away, leaving not even the old foundation to build upon. The tidings received from Europe also report disastrous storms as well as convulsions of nature. France has had her deluge, and also Germany. The Cologne Gazette states that the vineyards in that section are irretrievably ruined by the copious rains, which have not only destroyed the vines but washed away the very soil, exposing bare rocks. On the 9th of July, the towns of Melsungen, Gensungen, and Haven, were visited by fearful rain and hail-storms, by which they were terribly desolated. On the same day there was a great storm at Geneva and vicinity, which laid waste the entire harvest for miles around. Trees a century old were broken like reeds, and birds of the air were killed by the hail-stones. A few days later, an earthquake shock at Heckington, Germany, was followed by destructive storms and floods. On the 5th inst. a water-spout burst over the town of Kirm, Rhenish Prussia, inundating the whole place, sweeping away houses and bridges, and drowning thirteen persons. A Calcutta dispatch of the same day said: “Disastrous floods have occurred in the north-western provinces. Many of the dwellings of the natives have been destroyed, and it is feared that serious loss of life has occurred in the interior.” Late Chinese advices also report fearful storms along the coast, destroying a great amount of shipping. This is inclusive of only some of the storms and their disastrous results, but it is enough to show how general and how almost simultaneous has been the disturbance of the elements during the summer.—Sel. Serious Questions.
By A. Smith
“He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 2:6. It is evident that a true Christian is, in his degree, like his divine Lord in character and deportment, and that he can engage in no business, or diversion, or practice, in which Jesus cannot bear him company and approbate his conduct. In view of this fact, which must commend itself to every candid mind, the writer would respectfully ask the following questions for the benefit of those who may be concerned:— 1. Can a Christian unite with any secret society, submitting to the undignified and senseless ceremony of such initiations, and solemnly swearing before God to keep the secrets of the order from all not members of the lodge, and to give exclusive protection and support to the brotherhood? If Jesus were now on earth, would he engage in such an act? Would he teach his followers to unite with secret societies? Why not, if they are for the glory of God? See 1 Cor. 10:31; 1 John 2:15. 2. Can a Christian chew or smoke tobacco to the glory of God? Were Jesus now on earth would he by precept or example recommend the practice to his followers? My smoking, chewing brother, please read Eph. 5:20, and then partake, if you can, with an approving conscience, and instruct your children in the practice if you believe it pleases God. 4. Can a Christian parent fret and scold at the children God has given him, and be like the loving Saviour? Mark 10:13-16. If Jesus were like some parents and teachers his burdened and sorrow-stricken children would prefer to suffer on rather than flee to his arms for succor and rest. But what are his words of loving invitation? “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28. See also 1 Pet. 5:7; Isa. 43:1-7. Christian brother, sister, when the fiery trials of affliction thicken around you, the Refiner will not suffer the process to consume you, but only to burn away your dross till you reflect his image. That the writer and reader may be cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, and have a part with those arrayed in white before the throne, we believe is the will of God, and our exalted privilege. A. Smith. Be a decided, upright, straightforward, uncompromising, outspoken Christian. Don't be ashamed of Jesus or of his cause. If men oppose you, or scorn you, or evil entreat you, and thus strive to discourage or turn you aside, pray for them, and go right on. If you are willing to be like Christ, you must be willing to encounter the same contradictions of sinners against yourself, the same reproach, the same rejection. But you must, like Him, with an incorruptible and unwavering devotion to the right, regardless of the scorn and reproach of an ungodly world, go right through, looking up to God for strength. A little while and all this opposition and violence will cease; and if you abide faithful, you will not fail of your reward. Soon you will be where sin and persecution will not trouble you, and in Heaven you will not be sorry for your sacrifices, your courageous resistance of wrong, your sufferings for Jesus' sake. “Be ye steadfast and immovable.” THE CITY OF GOD.
By E. H. Bickersteth
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Rev. 21:1, 2. Before us now it rose, builded aloft
Upon the heavenly Zion. Never eye
Of mortal man had seen, nor ear had heard,
Though ravished with the distant fame thereof,
Glory like this; the handiwork of God,
And fashioned of Heaven's choice material, light,
Through which the Light of light translucent shone.
The mansion of creation's Architect;
The palace of the Everlasting King;
Its gates of pearl, its edifice of gold;
Its very streets of pure crystalline gold;
Its walls on twelve foundations superposed
(Of which divine realities the earth
Can only lend its feeble semblances),
The jasper streak'd with many a tender dye,
The sapphire of celestial blue serene,
The agate once chalcedon's peerless boast,
The fathomless repose of emerald,
The ruby, and blood-tinctured sardonyx,
The chrysolite, like amber-sheathing fire,
The beryl emulous of ocean's sheen,
The opal-tinted topaz clear as glass,
The soft—pale, purple of the chrysoprase,
The meliboean hyacinth, and last
The lucid violet of amethyst.
But not of pearly gates, or golden streets,
Or bulwarks, or foundations built of jewels,
Thought we that day, or linger'd to admire;
For we were on our way to meet our God. The city had no temple; for itself
From wall to wall, from base to pinnacle,
Was one harmonious veilless sanctuary,
One Holiest of all; of which the shrine
Reveal'd amid the clouds of Sinai
Yielded the earliest pattern. This the house
Which Israel's royal seer in symbol saw,
And, by the Spirit's hand on his, described;
This the beloved apostle, rapt in spirit
To some high watch among the lasting hills,
Beheld. Most blessed, beautiful sight!
Here veil'd in radiant clouds, clouds only called
From the supreme of brightness they enfolded,
Was set the throne of Majesty in Heaven.
In front seven ever-burning lamps of fire,
Which are the Spirits of God; and round about
Mysterious cherubim, instinct with eyes,
Fourfold in glory, symbolized in forms
Of lion-like imperial royalty,
Of patient sacrificial ministry,
Of human, more than human, sympathy,
Of soaring eagles—plumed intelligence,
Most highest of all creatures, whereof such
Caught and reflected some peculiar rays,
Some distinct aspect of his Lord; but all
Uniting in one everlasting song,
Cried, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts.”
And here around were four-and-twenty thrones
In wider circuit, like a story belt,
And on them four-and-twenty hierarchs
In priestly apparel, but with kingly crowns,
Sitting sublime. And in mid view, behold,
What seemed the likeness of a sea of glass.
But not on glassy sea, or royal priest,
Or cherubim of glory, gazed we then;
For we were on our way to meet our God,
Children about to see their Father's face. . . . But at last
It seemed as rising from the sapphire throne
Messiah led us first at large to view
The city, himself had builded and prepared
After his Father's counsel for his Bride;
A city, or a temple, or a home,
Or rather all in one. Enriched it was
With every exquisite design of love,
And every form of beauty. Not a film
Stained its bright pavement of transparent gold;
Not a harsh murmur vexed its silences,
Or with the melodies of angels jarred.
No cloud darkened its empyrean. Joy
Held court here in its own metropolis.
And through the midst the crystal river flowed
Exhaustless from the everlasting throne,
Shaded on either side by trees of life
Which yielded in unwearying interchange
Their rife vicissitudes of monthly fruits
Amid their clustering leaves medicinal;
Of fruits twelve manner; for eternity,
Measured by ages limitless to man,
Has intervals and periods of bliss,
And high recurring festivals that stand
On the sidereal calends marked in light.
Through these celestial groves the Lamb of God
Led us delighted. Every sight and sound
Ravished the sense; and every loving heart
Reflected joy to joy and light to light,
Like crystals in a cave flashing with fire,
And multiplied our bliss a million-fold. O blessed royal priesthood! priests and kings
Under the Great High Priest and Prince of Peace,
Who now in tenderness assigned to each
His priestly abode within the house of God
(So Solomon around his temple built
The chambers for its stated ministries),
Where each might be alone with God, or mix
In converse with his fellow-saints at will,
Adorned with those peculiar gifts he knew,
Who knows us better than we know ourselves,
Would gratify those tastes and feelings most
Himself had planted; delicate delights;
If little, loving from their littleness,
Which naught but love could ever have devised;
If rich and large, more precious from the love
That gave them than from excellence or cost;
The bounties of a Father's thoughtfulness,
The tokens of the Bridegroom's tenderness,
Gifts of the Spirit, and with his love instinct. The New England Camp-Meeting.
By Uriah Smith
We reached the camp-ground at South Lancaster Friday morning, Aug. 27. The meetings commenced Thursday morning at 5:30, and a full series of meetings was held that day. The brethren of New England seem to be disposed to make the most of their privileges; hence they opened the meeting at the very earliest point the notice would allow, and will no doubt continue it till the latest. There are some forty tents already erected, and the meeting promises to be the largest yet held on this ground. Bro. White has already spoken twice, and Sr. W. once. Bro. and Sr. W. bring reports of a most cheering camp-meeting in Vermont, and an interest to hear further so great that Bro. Canright has been left behind to follow it up. The feeling in all this community seems to be friendly, and the papers are giving very full and courteous notices of the meeting. [The above was received from Bro. Smith too late for the paper last week. Since then, the following has been received.] We can now speak more fully of this meeting than in our brief note of last week. It soon became evident that the brethren and sisters who had come together were not in a condition to take hold of the work as they ought, nor to really appreciate the truths that might be spoken unto them, and that unless there should be an advance movement and a breaking away from the binding influence then present, so that light and freedom could come in, the meeting would be in a large degree a failure. Thus the Sabbath opened with a spirit of labor resting heavily upon the servants of the Lord. Sabbath morning began to witness a better state of things. A plain testimony was borne to the people, and some good confessions were made. From this point, the meeting began to rise in interest and freedom, and grew better and better till the close. Sabbath afternoon a forward movement was made for prayers. All the seats that were cleared were speedily filled up, and still they were pressing forward. It soon became evident that it was easier to ascertain the number who had not come forward than those who had. And it was ascertained that there were only about forty of all the congregation who had not taken a part in this movement. And among these were not a few who were starting for the first time in the service of the Lord. The feeling was deep and wide-spread; and it was a scene long to be remembered. Sunday was a successful day. Bro. White spoke in the forenoon and evening, and Sr. W. in the afternoon. The attendance was large, numbering between two and three thousand, and the speakers enjoyed great freedom and clearness in the subjects they had to present. On Monday, another scene took place of a very marked and most encouraging character. A call was made in the afternoon for candidates for baptism. About ten at first responded; but there was a feeling evidently prevailing in the congregation, leading others to decide in regard to this important duty. So one after another joined themselves to the number, making such remarks as showed that the Spirit of the Lord was working with them, until twenty-two had signified their desire to go forward in that ordinance, and were accepted by the members of the churches present with which they wished to unite themselves. The scene at the water was one of the most pleasant and impressive we have ever witnessed. The joyful expression on the countenances of the candidates as they came up and out of the water, either praising the Lord, or joining in the song arising from the congregation on the banks, all conspired to render the scene impressive in more than an ordinary degree. It was good to be there. One case is worthy of special mention as showing the strength of conviction which the present truth works upon the minds of the conscientious. A young man from Leominster, who had attended some of the meetings lately held in the tent there, was at the camp-meeting on Sabbath and Sunday, but being an engineer in a manufacturing establishment returned to his work Sunday night. He was, however, so deeply convicted that he could not rest, and Monday forenoon, procuring another hand to take his place in the mill, and squaring up his account with tobacco, by thrusting his last box of cigars into the furnace, he returned to the camp-ground. We have rarely seen a person more deeply convicted. The power of the truth, and his worldly prospects beginning to grow quite flattering, were balancing in the scale. Could he give up these under circumstances peculiarly trying, and accept the truth with the sacrifices which it seemed inevitably to involve? He testified as he came forward for baptism that he had come to settle this matter, and it must be decided one way or the other. Happily, he was enabled to decide in the right direction, to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and went forward in baptism. The Lord bless him and help him to continue faithful in the new life upon which he has entered. At the parting meeting, Tuesday morning, testimonies were crowded in in rapid succession, and scores would have been glad to speak for whom there was no time. Thus the meeting closed in the most encouraging manner. The brethren and sisters were cheered, and we believe will try to follow up the advantage gained by this meeting. By vote of the Conference, and a rising vote of the congregation, they expressed their determination not to let slip the things they had heard, but to carry them out in their efforts to advance the cause for the year to come. We look for the cause in New England to rise and prosper, in accordance with the onward nature of the work in all parts of the field to-day. U. S. Law and Gospel.
By Uriah Smith
N. C. MALLORY of the First Baptist Church, Detroit, preached a sermon on the Beecher trial, July 25, 1875, in which he made some good admissions touching the relation of the law and the gospel. Let all such declarations be treasured up; for in proportion as the claims of God’s law, unrepealed and unchanged, are urged upon the people, these utterances are becoming scarce in the land. Mr. M. said:— “He preached but one side of the gospel. He omitted the basal attributes of justice and holiness. This one-sided view of God is not in any sense biblical, and the Lord will not stand such a misrepresentation of his character very long. Even in Eden we hear the threatenings affixing the fearful penalty to sin. Adam and Eve failed to stand the test, and we see them fleeing before the avenging angel. A flood of waters wastes the world because of sin; and Jerusalem lies in ruins because of wickedness. ‘He that believeth . . . shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned,’ said the lips that uttered the beatitudes. ‘Behold therefore,’ said the apostle, ‘the goodness and the severity of God.’” “These two views of the Deity are absolutely essential to a conception of God. They make a perfect sphere. The sin of Mr. Beecher consists in dividing the sphere in his preaching, or he has rather held it in a fixed position. God’s love has been pictured with almost superhuman pathos; his hatred of sin has been ignored. The law and the gospel have not been equally honored by this preacher. The law is the true setting of the gospel; hell is the counterpart of Heaven. Fear is essential or it would not exist. Man’s fears and affections must be both appealed to. The double aspect of the Deity just fits the double capacity of man. Mr. Beecher has tried to hush the fears of sinners, but, we grant, unintentionally. He has done it by methods and to a degree he is scarcely conscious of. But he is responsible for the fact that his congregation and the world, so far as he has influenced it, have gained an irreverence for sound doctrine and religious ordinances, and rigid and discriminating morality.” U. S. More Opposition to the Law of God.
By J. H. W.
It was my privilege—if it can be called a privilege—some time since to hear Eld. Wright of Santa Clara, of the Disciple denomination, preach a sermon against the law and the Sabbath, in Gilroy. Those who oppose the Sabbath do not seem to be learning anything by the light which is spreading in every direction. On the contrary, it seems that they are getting more blind, their prejudice increasing with the increase of opportunities to learn the truth. A few points in his discourse will be of interest to the reader. 1. He very foolishly appealed to prejudice instead of reason by informing his hearers that we are in a new dispensation, and that circumcision is not now necessary. Most of his hearers had recently gone over the evidence that the Sabbath was instituted at creation, and was therefore no more affected by a change of dispensation than was marriage. This effort to mislead the minds of his hearers did him no credit. 2. He said we are under no obligation to observe any law that was given to the Jews! We are sometimes at a loss what to think of the words of preachers when they oppose present truth. Do they really mean what they say, or do they speak at random, without considering the tendency of their language? We hope we shall never be thrown into society with those who do not keep any law that was given to the Jews. What a church he would have if they should all live up to such teachings. 3. He said we are not to go back of the day of Pentecost for instruction in anything. It is wrong to refer to Matt. 18 as a rule of church discipline, because it was spoken before the day of Pentecost. This shuts out Christ as a teacher, and ignores everything he said. Notwithstanding this, he referred to the transfiguration, and said we are now commanded to “hear Him.” But not a word will they hear from him, because he lived and spoke before the day of Pentecost! It would seem that any man of ordinary intelligence would be ashamed to thus slight the Head of the church, and openly reject his teachings. He said, “We are to follow the inspired apostles.” But for this there is no Scripture. Jesus said, “Follow me,” and the apostles themselves held up Jesus as our pattern, and said we ought to walk even as he walked. 1 John 2:6. Again we are informed that we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus himself being the chief corner. Eph. 2:20. Peter said we do well to take heed to the sure word of prophecy which holy men of old spake; 2 Peter 1:19-21; and Paul said the Holy Scriptures which Timothy knew from a child are able to make us wise unto salvation, and are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. It is truly strange that people who profess to take the teachings of the apostles as the rule of faith will shut their eyes against such testimony. 4. One of the strangest declarations we ever heard was this, “that the conditions of salvation were never given to man until the day of Pentecost.” He denied that the gospel was contained in the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent; for, he said, the gospel could not be preached until the facts of the gospel existed, and therefore could not be preached before the resurrection of Christ. Faith in a coming Saviour was taught in the sacrifices of the past dispensation as truly as faith in a crucified and risen Saviour is taught by the ordinances of this. The conclusion is evident that if no condition of salvation was given before the day of Pentecost, then no one was saved before that day, or if people were saved they were saved unconditionally. Where there is no condition there can be no difference of character. His assertion being true, if any were saved, all were saved. But whether all were saved or all were lost is a question difficult to settle in the light of such assertions. It would seem that all must see at a glance that such teaching is a plain denial of the Scriptures. Yet some consider it pre-eminently “the gospel.” Surely light is needed in the darkness of this age. 5. He said the apostles did not command to keep any day holy. This is a good admission against the first-day. But we know that God, whom the apostles worshiped and served, commanded to keep the seventh day holy, and nothing can add to his authority. But again, he said he had no objection to their keeping every day holy. This gives rise to the question, What does he mean by keeping a day holy? All who heard that discourse knew that he had a strong objection to their keeping the seventh day as a day of rest. Did he mean, as we have heard others assert, that the way to keep every day holy is to live Christian lives every day? And if so, did he mean that the apostles did not command any day to be kept holy, that is, they did not command us to live Christians any day? That must be it, for surely he could not mean to say that he had no objection to their entirely abstaining from doing their own work every day. The no-Sabbath theology is a strange mixture; its best friends cannot give it any appearance of consistency. 6. He said he wanted his hearers to understand that we are saved by grace; but, he added, we must do whatever God commands us to do. Then it appears, after all the talk to the contrary, that obedience to whatever God commands is not inconsistent with salvation by grace. This is just what we have tried to make the people believe, but what the no-law preachers have persistently denied. We believe, with Paul, that we do not make void the law through faith, and we may not sin that grace may abound. Some would make us believe that obedience to the law of God frustrates grace; but Paul shows, in Rom. 6, that it is disobedience which shuts us away from the grace of God. Alexander Campbell, enforcing obedience to the gospel, said, “Nor do we in truth, in obeying the gospel, make void either law or gospel, but establish and confirm both.”—Baptism, p. 258. This agrees with Paul, but most of the disciples of Mr. Campbell have overlooked this truth. The theology of the present age is a mass of confusion. “Babylon” is plainly written upon it. The “present truth,” the third angel’s message, with the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, brings a remedy. Outside of this, all is darkness. But “the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” Prov. 6:23. Many see the light but the cross is too heavy; the way is too narrow; and the world is too dear to their hearts. Instead of regarding it a privilege to be restored to obedience to God, they consider it a hardship. That which the Lord has revealed as a delight is to them bondage. Darkness is their light, and evil is their good. How merciful is the Lord to send a message of warning and of duty to dispel the darkness, and to bring us into light and liberty. For they who delight in the law of the Lord are blessed, and they who seek his precepts shall walk at liberty. Ps. 1:1, 2; 119:45.—J. H. W., in Signs of the Times. Babylon is Fallen.
By J. O. Corliss
Much has been said and written concerning the apocalyptic Babylon, and different applications have been made of that symbol. Some have been untiring in their efforts to show that it is a figure of the city of Rome merely; others have been just as zealous in appropriating it to the papal hierarchy; while a third class, more vigorous in their applications, have bestowed the appellation of “Babylon” upon all the popular churches of the day, and have been loud in denunciation of those who would not heed the injunction, “Come out of her, my people,” until many have turned away with dislike, declaring they would hear no more. We would not particularly object to an application of the above symbol to every form of corrupt Christianity in which tumult and confusion exist, as the word Babylon signifies confusion, and comes from Babel, the place where God confounded the language of those who attempted to build a tower that should reach to heaven, but are firm in our convictions that it has reference to professed worshipers of God who have, because of spiritual fornication with the world, been rejected of him; and that there is a moral fall is testified by the withdrawal of his Holy Spirit, leaving them to be guided by a counter influence which causes them to inscribe on their banners creeds as various as the inclinations which prompted them. No class of people have been more assiduous in inveighing against the “Babel” of opinions held by the religious world than first-day Adventists; yet if we carefully read their journals from week to week, we are astonished at the contradictions found in them. While one writer attempts by a labored argument to prove a set time77 for the Lord to come, another maintains that we can know nothing of definite time, and he therefore repudiates it. One writes an article setting forth Christian baptism in a beautiful manner as contrasted with other modes, while another favors trine immersion. One will persistently affirm that the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath, while another stubbornly denies the existence of any such institution. Before me lies a late number of the Bible Banner, containing an article showing that “the grand pageant of the coming kingdom will be led by the ‘Prince of Life,’” and all who follow him will have been clothed with eternal life, and will enter into the city of God; while directly following it is an item in which the writer labors to prove that probation will exist after the Lord comes. We might show other discrepancies which have tended to bewilder and dishearten honest seekers after truth. The above confusion of opinions is not confined to a few writers; for oral discussions of important subjects are attended with the same manifestation, no two giving the same version. They thus subject the truths of the Advent doctrine to unjust reproach from those who are able to detect these incongruities, and cut off many opportunities for doing good. Consistency in teaching the Bible is just as necessary as in any other calling in life, and in those callings uniformity of sentiment and action is demanded to insure success. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the consummation says: “Thy watchman shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” Isa. 52:8. Unity will be found to be a distinguishing characteristic of the true people of God in the last days. J. O. CORLISS. Encouraging Interest at Vermont Camp-Meetings
By James White
One encouraging feature of our camp-meetings is the fact that there is an increasing, and, in some places, a very deep interest on the part of the people to hear the reasons of our faith and hope. The late Vermont Camp-meeting was remarkable for this. The outside attendance was large from first to last; and as the speakers enjoyed great freedom, the people seemed moved. It was said that one hundred and forty teams left Burlington alone Sunday morning for the camp-ground, six miles distant, but the heavy shower of that morning turned them back. But notwithstanding the rain, the crowd was large. At the close of that meeting, the interest to hear was such on the part of the citizens of Essex, Vt., that the large tent was moved to the village, and Eld. Canright remains for nearly two weeks, till the time of the New York Camp-meeting. We hear from Eld. C. respecting the tent-meeting in these words: “We have had two meetings in the tent with good interest. Above one hundred out each evening. Some books taken. We are invited out, and there are calls at the tent. We hope much good may come from all this. I shall hold on as long as my time will permit.” J. W.