Earlier text: ON KEEPING THE HEART. No. 2.As Paul once found it necessary, owing to the unbelief of the Jews, to inquire, why it should be thought a thing incredible that God should raise the dead; so may we now inquire of the skeptics and unbelievers of these last days, why it should be thought incredible that the Lord should appear in the clouds of heaven, gather his people, and destroy his enemies. We are not at all unacquainted with the fact that much is sneeringly said of the disciples of Mr. Miller, the foolish vagaries of Millerism, and the like, as if the idea of the literal advent of our Saviour was the deformed offspring of some disordered imagination, the climax of human absurdity. There may be, we have no doubt, on the part of most of those who thoughtlessly thus give expression to their feelings, a candid belief, that the views we entertain, are the wildest that human credulity can be brought to endorse; but we are inclined to regard this as the result of their never having given to the subject a candid or a serious investigation. We would therefore invite them with a mind unswayed by prejudice, to bestow a serious thought upon this subject, and if they do indeed, think this belief so wide of truth and so incredible, to inquire candidly upon what grounds they thus regard it. With Bible believers, all views claiming to be founded on the Bible, are entitled to, and may justly claim, an examination; nor can we consistently withhold from them a careful investigation till we detect in them some palpable departure from known and acknowledged rules of interpretation. We inquire then, What teaching of the Bible does the doctrine of the Lord's coming oppose, or what proper method of interpretation, violate? Is it contrary to the testimony of the two witnesses clothed in white apparel, who, when Jesus was taken up from his sorrowing disciples, strove to comfort them with the assurance that he would come again in like manner as he was taken away from them? Acts i, 10, 11. Is it contrary to the testimony of Job? Chap. xix, 25-27. Is it contrary to the testimony of David? Ps. xcvi, 10-13; xcviii, 9. Is it contrary to the testimony of Paul? 1 Cor. xv, 23; Phil. iii, 20, 21; 1 Thess. iv, 16-18; 2 Thess. i, 7, 8; ii, 8; 2 Tim. iv, 1; Titus ii, 13; Heb. ix, 28. Is it contrary to the testimony of Peter? 1 Pet. i, 13; v, 4; 2 Pet. i, 16. Is it contrary to the testimony of James? Jas. v, 7. Is it contrary to the testimony of John? 1 John iii, 2; Rev. i, 7. Is it contrary to the testimony of Christ himself? Matt. xvi, 27; xxiv, 30; xxv, 31; Mark xiii, 26; Luke xvii, 24, 30; Rev. xxii, 7, 12. In this testimony which we have quoted, and which is only a part of what might be given, we see that the Scriptures speak out most explicitly on this subject. But do you say that there is no probability that such an event will ever happen; that it is too marvelous and mysterious to be entitled to our belief; that all things continue as they were from the beginning? and do you look abroad upon the world and feel safe in the assurance that things will yet take the same course that they heretofore have done? If we are to talk of the marvelous and mysterious, there is no greater mystery than our very existence. Why are we here? Why are the heavens spread out above us, and the earth, clothed in verdure, beneath us? Why was this earth ever set in motion, and all those other revolving planets which course their harmonious way through the immensity of space? All these viewed independently of their great Maker and Controller are unfathomable mysteries. No rational view can be taken of all these but that they are the handiworks of God. It becomes then with this view among the least of his mysteries to say that he will send his Son from heaven to put the finishing stroke to the work of man's salvation. When we consider further the events that are made to depend on the coming of the Lord, it will appear to any one less surprising still that he should be revealed from heaven. The saints' hope of heaven is everywhere made in the Scriptures to depend on the resurrection; but the resurrection itself is dependent on the coming of the Lord; for one great object of his coming is to raise his sleeping saints from their dusty beds. 1 Cor. xv, 23; 1 Thess. iv, 16. Will then, the Lord fail in the accomplishment of his plans? Will he suffer his purposes to be partly carried out and then thwarted? Have the good of all ages lived and suffered and hoped in vain? Were they allured by a false prospect? Was it in vain that the ancient worthies looked for a heavenly country, a celestial city? for if our hope is vain, theirs also was: seeing that we have the same; and the promise is, that they without us should not be made perfect. Heb. xi, 40. No: God has not instituted a work to fail in the accomplishment of its design; the people of God have not been led out in all ages by prospects which they will never realize; and we may be assured that the patriarchs and prophets have not suffered and died in vain in the cause of their Redeemer; for the hope of the church—theirs and ours—will be gloriously consummated in the revelation of the Son of man from heaven. There is nothing then strange or incredible in the fact that such an event should take place; but do you say that the absurdity consists in the time in which we locate it? that there are no indications that it will take place at present, in our own day, or for centuries to come? Before we settle down into this conclusion, we do well to mark the language of those scriptures which tell us of the stealthiness of its approach and the suddenness with which it will burst upon us, lest by listening to this syren song, we identify ourselves with the world upon whom the divine declaration is that it shall come as a thief, and unawares. Upon this point we shall find by a little consideration, that the evidences that this event is just upon us are as great as that it will take place at all. We have reached almost the end of every line of prophecy. We are fast hastening to that point, to which all prophecy converges as to a common center. In the language of a recent writer, if the world continues much longer, its history will be beyond the limits of inspiration. To this conclusion all candid students of prophecy are compelled to assent. The signs in the natural, moral, and political worlds, which inspiration has given us as precursors of the great and notable day of the Lord, are being rapidly accomplished. The signs in the heavens above which now stand amid the historical records of the past; the perplexities of the nations, which are now convulsing the world; the waxing worse and worse of evil men and seducers; the fearfully increasing multitudes of the deceiving and deceived; all these, to a degree never before witnessed, are casting their dark shadows o'er the earth. Why then, we ask, should it be thought with you a thing incredible that the Lord should come, and this world end. In view of these facts we trust it is not, and cannot be. This matter is not to be understood as it was by a certain professor, who told the class of which we had the privilege of being a member, that "if Miller's theory was true, and the world should be burned up, it would so interfere with the nice arrangement of our own solar system, and consequently with those still more remote, that the whole universe would finally be reduced to chaos and ruin." We do not claim that the earth will be burned up to nothing, and blotted out of the universe; for out of this earth a new one shall be formed; and any one can see that this may be purified by fire, and the "elements melt with fervent heat," without reducing its mathematical weight or its power of attraction to the amount of one grain, if it be necessary that those properties be so accurately preserved. The word of warning therefore which we would give to all those who have ears to hear is, to make haste to prepare for the coming day; escape for thy life, tarry not; for "The judgment day is rolling on,
The appointed hour makes haste." LETTERS TO BRO. SPERRY
By John Harvey Kellogg
THE KINGDOM OF GOD.—No. 6.
DEAR BRO. SPERRY:—The scripture expressions relative to this age, indicate the nature of the dispensation, and what purpose of God is fulfilled in it. Thus it is termed "the acceptable year of the Lord;" [Luke iv, 19;] or "the accepted time—the day of salvation;" [2 Cor. vi, 2;] a time of "great light," Matt. iv, 16. If the future age or coming "day" will so far surpass this in mercy and salvation, as it is claimed, we may expect to find it called the day of "greatest light," or most accepted time. I will now copy a few passages of scripture which speak of the "Age to Come," or Day of the Lord; all of them speaking directly to the point, so plain that they need no comment, nor explanation. Isa. ii, 10-12. "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low," &c. Verses 19-21. "And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself, to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth." Chap. xiii, 6, 9-13. "Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty." "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger." Chap. xxxiv, 1-10. "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, and the fat181 of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion." Compare. Jer. xxv, 15-33. Jer. xlvi, 10. "For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood; for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates." Eze. xiii, 4, 5. "O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the desert. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord." Also to verse 16. Chap. xxx, 2, 3. "Thus saith the Lord God; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen." Joel i, 15. "Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come." Chap. ii, 1, 2, 11, 31. "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. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness. "And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great, and very terrible: and who can abide it. "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come." Amos v, 18-20. "Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness and not light; even very dark, and no brightness in it?" Obad. 15, 16. "For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been." Zeph. i, 7, 8, 14-18. "Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. "The great day of the LORD is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." Many other passages of like import might be quoted, but these are sufficient to show the leading ideas presented in the Scriptures concerning the Age to Come or day of the Lord. This divine description is as different from the modern theory of that age as wrath is from mercy, and darkness from light. The modern view of that day, and of the glory, light and mercy to be displayed in it, are well known. In the Scriptures it is never called, as the present age is, the accepted time, or day of salvation, wherein God calls to repentance, and offers mercy to sinners. But in that day he will arise in anger to shake terribly the earth; his indignation will be upon all nations; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty; cruel with wrath and fierce anger; it is a day of vengeance; of battle; of darkness and gloominess; very terrible; of thick darkness and no light in it! a day of trouble and distress; when men shall howl and cry bitterly; a day of wasteness and desolation; it will come as a thief in the night, with destruction from which there will be no escape; and finally, a woe is pronounced upon them that desire it. Not one declaration of this kind is found in the whole Bible respecting the present age or day of mercy. This scripture outline should be sufficient to open the eyes of those who are following false applications of prophecy concerning the Day of the Lord, or great Day of God's wrath, commonly termed the Age to Come. These quotations present a vivid description of the condition of this world, of the terrible destruction, of the wasteness and desolation with which it is visited in the day of the Lord. A great part of that day, to wit, 1000 years, during which the darkness, the wasteness and the desolation continue without abatement, the saints will be in the mansions prepared in the Father's house in heaven, according to the promise of the Saviour, there with him determining the final judgment of the fallen angels and the wicked world. 1 Cor. vi, 1-3. The judgment of the righteous is then, of course, past, and salvation is no longer offered. There is this difference between the judgment of the house of God, and that of the world. In the first, God himself acts as Judge, and Jesus Christ, whose ministration can alone insure salvation and fullness of mercy in judgment, sits in counsel with the Father. Zech. vi, 12, 13. But in that of the world, the Father commits the judgment into the hands of the Son; Christ is Judge, and the saints are his counsellors and ministers in determining who shall be beaten with few and who with many stripes; to whom the judgment shall be more tolerable, and to whom most intolerable. The length of the day of the Lord I will notice at another time. Whatever is necessary to guard an argument, or meet objections, belongs of necessity to the argument: therefore, the points noticed in this and preceding letters are not digressions from the subject under consideration. The question you proposed covers the entire field, and it is necessary to expose errors, as well as to advance truths. In my next I will take up the subject of the stones smiting the Image. SUBMISSION.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
SUBMITTING yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Eph. v, 21. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 1 Pet. v, 5. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account: that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Heb. xiii, 17. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Phil. ii, 1-3. There are individuals that separate themselves from the church and from the work of the Third Angel, and boast themselves that they "never yielded a point of truth for the sake of party." As much as to say, I differ from you in my views of truth, and I will not submit the first particle of my opinions to the voice of the body, but, if you have my company, you must all submit to me. Are such obeying the scriptures above quoted? Are they submitting to their brethren in the fear of God? Are they striving to be of one accord and one mind with the church, and esteeming others better than themselves? Their answer is, I shall not give up the truth for the sake of union. Who knows that you have the truth? There are some thousands of the children of God, called to the keeping of the Commandments by the Third Message, who think you are in error. Do you not take a very proud and lofty position, in setting up your judgment in opposition to them all? Is this being clothed with humility? In what have you been in submission to your brethren? In every thing that I thought was right. Every thing that you thought! That is no submission at all. It is having your own way, and putting your own judgment in opposition to all your brethren. Would you have me break the Commandments of God, if my brethren say so? My brethren do not require me to break the Commandments of God; they are doing and teaching them all. There are a number of points in which my views of truth differ from those of many of my brethren. They bear with me, and I with them. But I would not lead off a faction on any of these points for my life. Some are so much in fear of popery that they would have no rule and no submission in the church. And they carry out their views by standing alone; and thus standing alone they feel free. Liberty with them is no government at all, but perfect anarchy. They have about the same views of Christian liberty that a certain Irishman had of civil liberty in this country. He knocked down the first man he met after landing on our shores, and being told that the law should be enforced against him, he exclaimed, Have you a law here? I thought America was a free country? There are laws in the church of Christ; and some of them are at the head of this article. These laws recognize rulers and, consequently, government in the church. This shows the necessity of organization by the ordination of elders, bishops, overseers or rulers, to watch over the church, as they that must give account. And when a church is thus properly organized there must be a spirit of submission throughout the whole church, especially to the elders. It is thus, by submitting to government here, that we prove our loyalty to the King of kings, and prepare ourselves for his everlasting government. There is no popery in this. It is only a submission to the laws of Christ. Popery forbids our following Christ, and requires obedience to the commandments of men, in opposition to those of God. Though some men want liberty to break God's Commandments, that man enjoys the greatest liberty that keeps them. The man that keeps our civil laws walks at liberty, while those who break them get into jail. David says, I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts. Ps. cxix, 45. So we can enjoy the highest Christian liberty and be in submission to the brethren, for this is a law of Christ. If you believe the Third Angel's Message, they are your brethren who believe it. If not, it is well enough that you stand alone; for you need to be converted before any thing I have said will apply to your case. The laws of the Christian church do not extend beyond the church. Those that are without, God judgeth. Dear brethren—all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity—let us, by submission to each other, prove our loyalty to our coming King. Let us learn to live together in unity here, that we may be prepared to live together eternally in the everlasting kingdom, which is at hand. R. F. C. COMMUNICATIONS.
By J. M. McLellan
"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another." The Temple of God is no place for Idols.
"If any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroy." 1 Cor. iii, 17. Here is a solemn and fearful warning, spoken by one who was endowed with the Spirit of God—by one who spake the will of God as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. The words are solemn indeed, and full of meaning: "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." Brethren and friends, weigh well these words of this man of God. He labored for the salvation of souls in the vineyard of his God, and God to a certain extent revealed his will unto him; and his words are left on record "for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come." May they sink with all their weight into our souls. May we attach all the importance to them that God himself did, that they may purify and cleanse us "from all filthiness of the flesh," that we may "present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service." Rom. xii 1. May the Spirit of God force home to every honest heart their solemn and fearful import. The warning is alike to all: "If any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroy." We will here inquire, What is the temple of God here spoken of by Paul? We will let Paul himself answer: "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?" 1 Cor. vi, 19. Chap. iii, 16, 17. Our bodies, then, are, if we are Christians, the temple of God. This is where Jesus says he will take up his abode. John xiv, 23. If any Christian men or women defile themselves, they defile "the temple of God;" and him that does this will God destroy. That tobacco is a poisonous and filthy weed, none can deny, that know anything about it. Its poison preys slowly yet surely upon the system of him who indulges in its use. It injures the constitution and lays the foundation for different diseases. A French chemist in speaking of some experiments he had been trying in reference to the smoking of tobacco and cigars, says: "From a few experiments it was found that in the smoke of tobacco, extracted by inspiration, there is ten per cent nicotin. Thus a man who smokes a cigar of the weight of twenty grains, receives in his mouth seven grains of nicotin mixed with a little watery vapor, tar, empyreumatic oil, &c. Although a large portion of this nicotin is rejected both by the smoke puffed from the mouth, and by the saliva, a portion of it is nevertheless taken up by the vessels of the buccal and laryngeal mucus membrane, circulated with the blood, and acts upon the brain with those unaccustomed to the use of tobacco; and nicotin when in contact with the latter produces vertigo, nausea, headache and somnolence. . . . Our advice to young men is to shun the vile weed as you would a poisonous serpent. The use of tobacco is the great evil of the age." Dr. Fowler says, "I knew a woman who applied to the heads of three of her children, affected with the scald head, an ointment composed of snuff and butter; but what was the poor woman's surprise to find them immediately seized with vertigo, violent vomiting, fainting and convulsions." "Tobacco," says a certain author, "is an absolute poison. A very moderate quantity introduced into the system—even applying the moistened leaves over the stomach, has been known very suddenly to extinguish life. This plant then should not be used as a medicine, except in the hands of a very skillful physician." Much more testimony might be brought forward, but this is sufficient to show the poisonous effect it has upon the human system. It must be evident to all that it is filthy also, and defiles the person who uses it. Who has a right to destroy himself, and cut short his days, and make himself miserable by using that filthy poison, tobacco? No one. Him that does shall God destroy. The love of tobacco is among the "many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition." 1 Tim. vi, 9. The use of tobacco is a habit that most get into while quite young; therefore Paul says, "Flee also youthful lusts." "If a man therefore purge himself from these (youthful lusts) he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." 2 Tim. ii, 21, 22. Lust is defined to be "carnal appetite," which is a gratification of the carnal mind; and this is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Rom. viii, 7. Therefore James says, "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." Jas. i, 15. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies that you should obey it in the lust thereof," [Rom. vi, 12.] "but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." Chap. xiii, 14. "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." They have become new creatures, and are following on to know the Lord by growing in grace. Remember, the promise is to him that overcometh. "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." Tobacco is an idol. Eph. v, 5; Col. iii, 5. "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols; for ye are the temple of the living God;" and he that defiles this temple with filthy idols, "him shall God destroy." "Let us purge ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, perfecting holiness in the fear of God;" purge out the old leaven, that we may become a new lump, holy, sanctified through the Spirit; and be meet for our master's use, that the Son of God may present us faultless before his Father and the holy angels. Says the Son of God, "Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me." Rev. iii, 20. "Let your loins be girded about and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding, (which now is,) that when he cometh and knocketh they may open unto him immediately." Luke xii, 35, 36. Blessed are such servants. Jesus is soon coming, and just before he comes there will a decree go forth, declaring, He that is filthy let him be filthy still; and he that is holy let him be holy still. There will be no such thing as reversing this sentence. Therefore let us crucify the lusts of the flesh, and make no delay. We are living in the perilous times of the last days. We must be overcomers, or we cannot stand before the Lord at his coming. Lord, save thy people. J. M. McLELLAN.
Hastings, Mich., Sept. 24th, 1856. Faith and Medicine.
By D. Hewitt
DEAR BRETHREN : In writing under this head there is need of great caution and heavenly wisdom that we give correct advice, and honor and glorify our heavenly Father. It has become the settled opinion of wise and good men, that many kinds of medicine now in use, are deleterious and poison ; and if we use them knowingly, it will displease our Father in heaven, and the prayer of faith will be ineffectual. I now wish to introduce the commission of our Lord to his chosen apostles, to preach the gospel to every creature. Mark xvi, 15. In the 16th verse he speaks of faith and baptism. Verse 17. These signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. Verse 18. They shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing (or poison, Camp.'s Trans.) it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. In tracing the history of the apostles and primitive Christians, we find ample demonstrations of the work of the Lord in confirming his word by signs that followed believers. Some tell us that these signs were only designed for the days of the apostles and primitive church, to establish the word, and then the age of miracles passed. But whoever will follow the history of the church will find that the age of miracles passed only in proportion as true faith passed away from the church. The Saviour says that if these believers that have believed on him through the word of the apostles should drink (through mistake) any deadly thing (or poison, Camp.'s Trans.) it should not hurt them; hence we see that knowingly we have no liberty to drink poison, but only through mistake. Let me now ask the believer in the Message of the Third Angel, if when sick they ought to call in that class of physicians who have learned to deal and will deal out different kinds of poisons for us to drink, and who, should we refuse to take them, will disguise them in some other name? In this way you see that we could not reasonably expect help from the great Physician. But there is a class of physicians that we can employ with all safety, and, I think, enjoy the approbation of the Lord. Such an one was Luke the beloved physician. Col. iv, 14. This includes those who understand the use of harmless roots and vegetables, when both physician and patient can pray for success. We also find in the Apocryphal writings, [Ecclesiasticus xxxviii.] that they had a class of physicians who had good success. These were praying men; and the Lord was with them; they used medicines that grew out of the earth; also waters made183 sweet with wood, &c. These medicines with prayer took away pain and were attended with good success, instead of giving pain, and taking away life, as the physicians of these days often do. See Mark v, 25, 26; 2 Chron. xvi, 12, 13. Asa was diseased in his feet; and he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians, and he died, and slept with his fathers. Some doubtless will inquire what they shall do when they or their friends are very sick, and these simple medicines appear to fail. Why, cry mightily to God for his blessing and wisdom to direct. And should your mind be led out to call for the elders of the church as James directs, [chap. v.] then in the name of the Lord do it. Here I wish to make a few remarks from the fifth chapter of James. In verses 7 and 8 he speaks of the coming of the Lord. In verse 9 he says the Judge standeth at the door. So we see that the point of chronology is applicable to the last days, and is for the remnant that call upon the name of the Lord. Verse 13. Is any among you afflicted, (troubled and some sick,) let him pray. Verse 14. Is any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Verse 15. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Those called are to search their hearts, and confess their faults one to another, and pray one for another, that they may be healed. When we confess and pray thus, we become righteous. Then the effectual and fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Brethren, it is a great and holy work for us mortals to call upon the name of the great God for such blessings. With what reverence then we should call on his name. In verses 17 and 18 we are to take Elias of like passions, for an example. How earnestly he prayed that it might not rain; and his prayer was answered. He prayed again (seven times) and the heavens gave rain. If there should appear to be any failure and the sick be not healed, the fault will not be in the Lord; for he withholds no good thing from them that walk uprightly. We should remember that it is the prayer of faith that heals the sick, not merely a long or an elegant prayer. We should try and ascertain the mind of the Lord in such cases, and not move in our own strength; for if we do we shall be disappointed. If it should be the will of the Lord that some should be laid in the grave to save them, we should be resigned to his holy will, adopting the language of Rev. xiv, 13: "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." This is a glorious promise for those that may fall asleep under the Message of the Third Angel. Dear brethren, let us not cast away our confidence in the Lord. 1 John v, 14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us. Much more might be written on this important subject, but I forbear at present, hoping and praying that these broken remarks will stir up the dear saints to take hold of this subject from the heart, and practice it in their lives; and also write upon it as the Lord shall direct. Your unworthy brother did not feel competent to write on so great a subject; but his spirit felt stirred in him, when he saw so many believers using deadly things. D. Hewitt.
Battle Creek, Mich., Sept. 28th, 1856. Our Saviour once more upon earth shall appear,
In person as lit'ral as when he was here;
The clouds are his chariot, and glory his throne;
Whilst myriads of angels his majesty own. Ten thousand bright seraphs with him shall descend,
Their strains of hosannas the heavens shall rend;
Whilst the angels who sung the glad song of his birth,
Shall gather his saints from the ends of the earth. The kingdom shall come, and the graves shall give way,
And his saints be redeemed from their prison of clay;
For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall come forth,
From the east, from the west, from the south, from the north. All the nations of men are before him conveyed,
His bar of tribunal in justice arrayed;
Each tongue shall confess, whilst the Judge on the throne,
Shall the wicked condemn, and acknowledge his own. Each eye shall behold him in awful attire,
The saints shall be glad, and their Saviour admire;
Whilst those who condemned him to die on the tree,
Shall wail, when that glorious Messiah they see. "Twill comfort the saints to reflect on the day,
When sorrow and sighing shall vanish away;
When they shall be crown'd, and ascend to the skies,
And all tears shall for ever be wiped from their eyes. These bodies, though vile, shall be fashioned aright,
And robed in a costume of glory and light;
With songs of thanksgiving, we'll rise in the air,
And dwell with the Saviour eternally there. Creation, convulsed to her the center, shall quake,
At his voice the foundations of heaven shall shake;
The sun and the moon shall grow dim and decay,
And the earth, from his presence, shall vanish away. But celestial heavens and earth shall be made,
All garnished with glory that never shall fade;
The redeemed shall rejoice in that blissful abode,
Where sorrow shall never their pleasure corrode. Unpolluted by sin, and unhurt by disease,
With their ensign of triumph, unfurl'd in the breeze;
A crown of bright glory they ever shall wear,
And palm-wreaths of honor, triumphantly bear! A convoy of angels, and chariot of love,
Shall escort them safe home to that city above;
Transformed like the Saviour, secure from all pain,
In his glorified presence, forever to reign. But the wicked shall sink into darkness and gloom,
Everlasting destruction—their sentence and doom;
From the presence of God and the Lamb they shall flee,
And the glory of heaven they never shall see! The remedial kingdom shall come to an end,
And the sceptre of pardon—no longer extend;
Death spoiled of his trophies, all vanquished shall fall;
The saints saved in heaven, and God ALL IN ALL.