p. 12 | Review and Herald, Vol. 49, No. 2. (1/11/1877)

The Truth Among the Swedes.

By Gustaf A. Carlstedt

Thinking it would be of interest to the readers of the Review to know how the truth is received, and what progress it is making among the Swedish people at present, I give here a few extracts from letters lately received at the office of the Svensk Advent Harold:—

A brother in Ishpeming, Mich., writes:— “Brethren, I will tell you that the Lord blesses my heart daily, and every time I read your publications; that I now read the Bible as with new eyes. Oh! that the Lord would also change the sight of all, at least those that read your publications. And may the true word of the Bible be a great blessing to all our hearts. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus. . . . I would also ask you to send the Harold to me for a year.” PETER AHLSTEN.

Another, whose name I learned at the late Michigan camp-meeting at Lansing, and to whom I have since sent the Harold, writes from there:— “As I have received your paper for some time, it is my duty to give my thanks for it. . . . I like to read it, and I should like to see your chart. If you will send it to me, I will send the money right away. I would ask you to remember me, although I am Evangelical [Lutheran], but I like to read your paper. I have with carefulness looked over the contents, without seeing any objection to it.” JOAN ANDROS.

He will become a paying subscriber for the Harold. A new convert in Lincoln Center, Wis., writes:— “Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I will briefly write a few lines to you, to let you know that we are very well satisfied with the reading of your publications. We are now convinced that the Sabbath is right. We wish that some of your preachers could come here and win some souls for the Lord.”

He and his wife are now keeping the Sabbath alone there. In another letter Bro. Deedon says:— “The Swedish families here are about forty, the French, twenty, and the Americans, fifteen. I suppose it would cost too much to get a preacher here from Battle Creek, but I have heard that there is one at Trade Lake [referring to Bro. Carl Meijer], whom we would like to come here sometime.”

Another brother in Mich. writes:— “I will most heartily thank you for the time I have had the Harold. I am Lutheran, but when I read the Harold I seem almost to be a Seventh-day Adventist. I want to be, at least; and I hope the Lord will give me his grace to this end, as I think it is right. Affectionately,” “ANDREW LARSON.”

C. G. Person, of Pomeroy, Kansas, says: “Dear friends, I have received your paper and the tracts you sent me. I read them with great interest. I am thankful for the information I have received. I praise God for the light he has given me in regard to the Sabbath. I am now convinced that the seventh-day is the Sabbath, and ought to be kept in our time. I have kept the two last. I feel in my soul it is a blessed thing to keep God’s commandments, even if one is persecuted for it.”

A letter from the faithful brethren in Trade Lake, Wis., contains the following:— “Dear friends, the peace and mercy of the Lord be with you. I will briefly write a few lines and let you know about us. I may first mention that though we are but a few, yet we meet together every Sabbath, and read the Bible and the welcome paper which you have so liberally sent us.

“The people are much afraid of us. We have given out our papers and tracts among the people, and the Lord has blessed his word so that it has caused a great commotion [rebellion, he says] among the Baptists. A small church among them is now being divided apart, and a part of them will probably come to us. A family from another church comes also to hear us when we are together. Respectfully,” “JOHN O. ÅKERLIND.”

The following letter I received from our dear brother, Eld. P. Lindblad, of Lake City, Minn. Accompanying the letter was the handsome sum of $37.00 from the friends in Lake City. Five of them donated $30.00 to the Swedish mission, and seven sent their subscriptions for the Harold. May the Lord bless these dear friends, who show their faithfulness and love for the truth, notwithstanding their late trials and the hard times:— “Dear Bro. Carlstedt, May God with his Spirit strengthen and guide you in the work you conduct. I wondered how they could get along with the Harold, until now I received your letter and see that you are in Battle Creek. It makes me glad to hear that one of our Swedish brethren takes hold of the work. I have for a long time been thinking to go out and preach, but circumstances have, up to the present, made it impossible for me. I think it will be possible for me to go out next month. I have thought to visit the churches, and after that, to go to some new field.

“Charles Lee has done much to hinder us; but if the Lord is with us who can be against us? I think he is in the churches in Minnesota, seeking to influence them to mistrust and indifference for the truth. I think our Svensk Advent Harold is his greatest enemy, and he would be glad if he could get all to stop taking it. But I regard it as one of the most precious things in the Swedish mission. May the Lord bless the leading men, and carry forward the circulation of the paper. From your brother in Christ, PETER LINDBLAD.”

One person that does not keep the Sabbath yet writes from Iowa that he regards our publications as the best Swedish religious literature he has seen.

A letter came from Stockholm, Sweden, two days ago, wherein the writer says that he by chance got hold of the October number of the Svensk Advent Harold for 1876, and it interested him so that he sends for the paper and all our Swedish publications and five of our Swedish charts. He wants to circulate them in Stockholm.

Another writing from Skane (the south part of Sweden) says that he has taken the Svensk Advent Harold and tracts sent him, and gone out with them among the people, and they accept them with readiness and read them eagerly.

Many readers who are poor send in their thanks and best wishes for the Harold, and say it has been their best comfort next to the Bible, and they want to have it sent to them, but hardly feel free to ask for it.

More letters like the above could be cited, but this may be sufficient now. Some of the older brethren in other places are also taking courage and coming up to the help of the Lord, as their letters and donations show. Bro. Lewis T. Gronstam, for a time connected with this Office, writes from Indiana that he is going to take hold in earnest and do what he can for the advancement of the truth. Thus facts show that there is a general revival along the lines among the Swedes, and a general awakening from the effects of the shock received from the late difficulties. The Lord by his Spirit works on the minds of the people to investigate and read. The silent messengers do their work well. The truth is working like leaven among the Swedish people. The seed sown will grow up, and there will be a glorious harvest by and by. The cry now comes from all parts of the land, Come over and help us. We want laborers, laborers who will work for God, and their fellow-men hungering and thirsting for the truth. It is time for all the friends of the cause to stand up for the truth, and, shoulder to shoulder, press on in the good old way. The Lord is always ahead of us; let us not be too far behind. Remember the Swedish mission in your hearts and prayers, that the blessing of the Lord may rest upon it, and that his Spirit may guide me in my labors for his truth. GUSTAF A. CARLSTEDT.

ADDRESS TO THE MOON.

By Lilla D. Avery

O lovely planet! beauteous and bright, That sailest so proudly through the arching sky, And shedest o'er earth thy gentle, silvery light, When in repose her sons and daughters lie; I fain would know, bright satellite of earth, What thou hast seen since thine eventful birth.

Six thousand years have run their weary race— Six thousand years of sorrow, sin, and care, Since thou didst lighten with thy silvery face The verdant bowers of Eden's garden fair, When sinless man beheld thee proudly rise, And, wondering, marked thy path along the skies.

Stop, for one moment, beauteous wanderer, stay. Couldest thou but tell me what thou dost behold, What thou hast seen while on thy silent way, As o'er thy starry pathway thou hast rolled— What scenes of blood, what secret deeds of crime, Hast thou beheld in this unhallowed clime?

When ancient Israel, by the power of God, Was led away from Pharaoh's cruel hand, Thy cheering rays fell o'er the path they trod While journeying onward to the promised land. Thou didst behold the vapory clouds arise, From tented Israel's evening sacrifice.

Thy silver rays still fall in silence now, Where holy prophets once have lived and died. They visit still lone Sinai's cragged brow, And light the dark chasms in his awful side; And o'er the plains of ancient Palestine, Thou spreadest, as of old, thy silvery sheen.

Thou lookest down on Calvary's rugged hill; And on the foam-capped waves of Galilee, Where once our Saviour trod; thou shinest still, E'en in the garden of Gethsemane. Oft while he prayed thy mellow rays were shed In silvery radiance round his sacred head.

Thou didst behold proud Nero's cruel reign, And on Napoleon's bloody battle field Thy ghastly rays fell o'er the unburied slain, And glittered dimly on the warrior's shield. And now thou shinest o'er the exiled tomb Of the great emperor, mid Helena's gloom.

Thou sailest calmly o'er the sacred place Where holy martyrs yielded up their breath. Thou didst look down with sympathizing face On cruel scenes of suffering and death, When fiends incarnate smote with murderous hand, And, inquisitional tortures filled the land.

And when were ended those dark, trying days, As inspiration's pen had long foretold, The fiery sun withheld his genial rays, And darkening earth grew desolate and cold; And thou, O moon, didst hide thy face from sight, Nor cheered the darkness of that awful night.

Thou hast beheld earth's mighty kingdoms rise; But as the lapse of ages wore away, Thou markedst from thy watchtower in the skies Their slow decline and gradual decay. Thou hast beheld earth's brightest treasures rust, And fade, and fall, and crumble into dust.

Shall it be ever thus, O queen of night? How long shall weary earth her sorrows know? Say, wilt thou never cheer with mellow light A brighter clime where fadeless flowers grow? Ah, yes, fair orb! thou soon shalt hail the birth Of fadeless beauty in the glad new earth.

No sin, no death can ever enter there; No funeral train, no mourner's bitter sigh, No blight, shall mar earth's new-born beauties fair; And God shall wipe the tears from every eye; And pain and sorrow shall forever cease. Make haste and dawn! O glorious Reign of Peace!

LILLA D. AVERY.

STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT.

By Wm. Covert

The smith that wields the hammer understands the value of time when the metal is at the desired temperature. He strikes while the iron is hot. Just so our missionary workers should put forth their best efforts when the public mind is in a proper condition to be impressed with the truth. I am satisfied that now is the most favorable time that we have had since our Missionary Societies have been in operation.

Some may think that “hard times” is a great drawback to the work. I think that it is our opportunity. We have just passed through one of the most exciting political campaigns our country has experienced for many years. The majority have retired from the contest, and are rather disgusted with politics, and are prepared to think calmly on religious subjects. But money is scarce and retrenchment is a necessity, and I find many are not taking newspapers simply because money is hard to get; yet they are anxious to read. This gives us a splendid opportunity to introduce our publications. Some may say, Times are close with Adventists as well as others. True; but, brethren, the Lord is soon coming and we know it; and we have an opportunity to make an investment in this blessed cause. We now have the privilege of depositing in the Bank of Heaven, and Christ will see to it that the transfer is properly made. This bank was never known to fail. It cannot be robbed. The fires of the last days will not reach to it. Its President and Cashier promise ten thousand per cent. with a life insurance policy to all eternity. See Mark 10: 21, 30.

But were it impossible to fill our quota on periodicals, we have yet another chance. I am satisfied that there are tons of reading matter annually wasted by our people. A very great many of our people use our papers as though they were of the least possible consequence. After they have glanced over them a few times, I find them used as common wrapping paper. They cut them into patterns, paste them up on the walls and on the flower boxes, and waste them in every imaginable way. This is all wrong. I would be glad to have them to circulate where I am lecturing. If one hundred missionaries should circulate the papers that they annually receive, it would equal in the aggregate 150,000 pages of tracts and pamphlets, perhaps more; yet it is a fact that the annual report of our Society in this Conference has come short of even these figures. Brethren, we must do better, or our Master will never say unto us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Wm. Covert.

THE SABBATH.

By C. W. S.

The following is the report of the committee on the observance of the Sabbath, taken from the Wisconsin Annual Conference Minutes, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1876:—

“In the great items that go to make up the world's values, the Sabbath ranks with the few that are principal and chief. Its total obliteration would be an incalculable loss to the world, and probably fatal to any good world issue. To the Christian mind, it must seem that it imperils all the interest involved, if it shall not utterly wreck it forever.

“In the history of human existence and of divine Providence, the Sabbath stands out conspicuous. In the elements and authority which originate it, it is co-eval with its divine Author—as old as God; and in its actual institution, it is as old as the race.

“There are three forms in which God conditions himself among men, making himself visible to human observation and within the range of their senses. One is the visible creation, which constantly proclaims this power, wisdom, and right of control; this is the divine conditionment in space. By the institution of the Sabbath, God conditions himself in time, and visibly so to man. It is the divine signature on time. The period of every seventh diurnal revolution is set apart exclusively for fellowship and appropriate intercommunication between God and man. The third form of divine manifestation is by his written word. This is a key to the whole economy of divine and human existence, set forth in human language with a wise adaptation to man's low condition, and constitutes a hand-book and directory to man in all his relations.

“The Sabbath, then, is one of the three only modes in which God manifests himself to the sensible observation of men.

“Though it comes as silently as the great machinery of Heaven moves, yet its periodical return is suited to produce an immense effect on the world's thought, will, act, and character: 1. By its frequent occurrence—every seventh day. 2. By the fact that it requires the total suspension for that day of all human industry in the direction of worldly acquisition. 3. It challenges the entire and total of the world's attention, and that it be directed exclusively to the world's Creator, and be occupied in his worship.

“This claim, so comprehensive and in such a direction, must meet, in its enforcement on a selfish and revolted world, with great repugnance and hostility; and its history in the past and its outlook for the future show this to be a fact.

“If we would have salvation and the God of Salvation in this world, we must have his Sabbath. It is his sanctuary in time—his special levy on duration, where he epochs himself in chronology with all finite things. The Sabbath pushed out is God displaced and the eternal order of things reversed.

“To the church of God is committed that solemn trust—the Sabbath faith—God's witnessing day. Whatever of heroism or sacrifice it may require, the Sabbath faith must be kept alive in the world, even at the cost of martyrdom.”

Yes, “we must have his Sabbath.” I think the writer of the above must have been reading the fourth commandment. I hope, at least, that he would not spoil the good thoughts written above if we were to quote him, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”

C. W. S.

FORTY-FIVE MILES TO TARTARUS.

By Uriah Smith

It may surprise some to learn that we are so near to those regions of terrible repute into which the angels that kept not their first estate were cast, when they were expelled from Heaven. Nevertheless, certain facts within our reach seem to weigh strongly in that direction.

The word tartarus occurs but once in the New Testament Greek, and then in the form of a verb, “to cast down to tartarus,” or, as rendered in our version, “cast down to hell.” 2 Pet. 2:4. “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast (them) down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”

Tartarus, then, is the present hell of the fallen angels. Where, then, is this place? Grove’s Greek and English Dictionary defines it to be “the infernal regions, hell of the poets, a dark place, prison, dungeon, jail.” Dr. Scott says that its meaning “must not be sought from the fables of heathen poets, but from the general tenor of the Scriptures.” Dr. Bloomfield says that it is “an intensive reduplication of the very old word tar, which in the earliest dialects seemed to have signified DARK.” Parkhurst, in his Greek Lexicon, says, “Tartarus, in its proper physical sense, is the condensed, solid, and immovable darkness which surrounds the material universe.”

Just what Dr. Parkhurst means by “condensed, solid, immovable darkness,” it would perhaps be difficult to determine; and when he says that it “surrounds the material universe,” it is uncertain whether he means the space around each of the created bodies which compose the universe, or that space which surrounds them all taken together, the space beyond the limits of God’s creative work, beyond where a star-sun shines, or a planet revolves. But however this may be, the definition of the word, as given by all the lexicographers, points unmistakably to surrounding regions of darkness. Its use in the Scriptures implies the same. And we think we find evidence to show that all the intervening spaces between the created worlds of the universe are regions of this character, and are therefore the tartarus of the Scriptures.

In a work entitled “Ecce Coelum,” by E. F. Burr, D. D., pp. 40-43, we find the following description of the interplanetary voids:—

“Popularly speaking, this great space which environs us on all sides, and contains the heavenly bodies, is empty. It is substantially a vacuum. The ancients said that nature abhors a vacuum; if so, she has plenty of abhorring to do. There is no atmosphere pervading space; we could not breathe in its mid-intervals one single moment; there is nothing there that our senses could perceive. As we ascend from the earth, we find the air gradually becomes thinner; and LaPlace has shown, that, after a few miles, it must cease entirely. Beyond that point, very large solid bodies, though moving with enormous velocity, are found to encounter not the smallest perceptible resistance. Their places, as computed on the supposition that they move in a vacuum, are such as we actually find them. At the same time, there is reason to believe that the vacuum may not be absolutely perfect. Certain facts which have come to light in late years have convinced many astronomers that we must allow the existence of an exceedingly dilute form of matter pervading space. It is nothing that we could detect in the ordinary, sensible way; we could not weigh it, nor see it, nor receive sounds through it; we could not feel it should we strike our hands through it with our utmost force. Such a mere nothing is it. It is only when some very light body goes rushing through it, at the rate of thousands of miles an hour, that its presence becomes sensible in resisting, somewhat, the motion.”

“If we could visit mid-space, it would seem a perfect void, also dreadfully cold and dark and silent. The higher we go into our atmosphere, the colder it becomes. All mountain summits, above a few thousand feet, are covered with perpetual snow. Persons ascending in balloons at last reach a cold that is intolerable. They evidently approach the confines of eternal winter, that, for silence and motionless fierceness, laughs to scorn all that we have of arctic and antarctic.”

“According to the calculations of Sir John Herschell, we have only to go fifty miles from the earth’s surface to reach—132° Fahrenheit. Could we suddenly set down any moist thing at this point, it would instantly explode like a pistol, though without sound (for mid-space is soundless as well as matterless), and turn to stone as if touched by a magician’s wand. And if, at this short distance from the earth and sun, space is so cold, what must it be in those remote vacancies where the sun shows as a mere star? In thought, we sail away most comfortably among the constellations, without furs or overcoat; and perhaps our fancies make nothing of stopping whole hours in mid-heaven, leaning against the chair of Cassiopeia, or grasping the horns of Taurus, to admire the glory of the trooping stars; but one real bodily expedition of the sort would forever cure us of such fancies. Perhaps of some others also; for, when our thoughts go yachting it through space, they are very apt to take with them, not only our genial parlor temperature, but also our pleasant earthly light and colors. But, in point of fact, the starry spaces are awfully dark. Those who visit the higher regions of our atmosphere, by mountains or balloons, tell us that the pleasant blue gradually passes into an intense black. At last the stars glitter on a background of perfect jet. To an observer out in mid-heaven, the whole sphere would seem muffled in a horrible pall, save just at the points where the heavenly bodies are. He would have the impression of not being able to see an inch before him. He would see sun, moon, and stars, all at the same time; but they would look as if hissing on a sea of ink. The blackness would seem solid enough to be cut with a knife. An Egypt in the sky would seem to him to have completely overrun its Spain, and indeed its whole atlas of celestial empires. And should he try to express his feelings, and to say, ‘How awful is this blackness!’—‘How glorious are these luminaries!’—no sound, nor specter of a sound, could issue from his shouting lips.”

It is estimated that the atmosphere of our earth is about forty-five miles deep. That is, if we could ascend from any point on the earth’s surface forty-five miles, we should pass beyond the atmosphere, and into this space so graphically described, of empty, icy, blackness; we should, in other words, be in tartarus.

When the fallen angels were cast out into this space, no world or planet was assigned them as a resting place for the soles of their feet. It was a fearful testimony to them, that they were entitled to no place in all the universe. No wonder that they should have attempted to gain possession of some one of the fair worlds of God’s creation. Alas! that ours should have been the unfortunate one. But let us not lose heart; for as much lower as we have fallen, so much higher shall we be raised through the glorious redemption of Jesus Christ, now soon to be accomplished.

U. S.

ALL SABBATH-KEEPERS.

By Uriah Smith

THIS cannot be said of the people of this world now, and never shall we be able to say it of them in this state of being; and many are the annoyances to which the servants of God are subjected in consequence. By stepping out to obey God in the keeping of his Sabbath, they frequently lose their positions, are cut off from employment, see their means of livelihood diminish, and suffer perplexity and trial. Happy are they if they endure faithfully to the end.

But we will soon reach a world where all will be Sabbath-keepers. Then these annoyances will end. No loss of position then. No more throwing out of employment. No more trials or perplexities.

“All beauty bright and vernal, When Jesus comes, All glory grand eternal, When Jesus comes.”

Ho! for that world where all are Sabbath-keepers. Let us not fail to be there.

U. S.

NOTES OF THE DISCUSSION IN KANSAS.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

SECOND SESSION.

In the second session I came to the New Testament, and showed that we are not left to guess at what institutions the New Testament had done away with. Was circumcision abolished? Here is the scripture directly asserting it. Col. 5:2. Was the priesthood changed? Again we have a positive statement. Heb. 7:12. Did the old sacrifices end, and give place to the sacrifice of Christ? No need of assumption on that point. Here is the scripture. Heb. 10:8, 9. Hence, if the seventh-day Sabbath was also done away, the Scriptures would not leave us to guess at it, but would directly and plainly say so. But who ever found the scripture which says the seventh-day Sabbath is abolished or changed, or in any manner altered? Nothing of that kind is said. Where has God given men liberty to work on his Sabbath? Where is the text stating that he has removed his blessing or sanctification from it? It cannot be found. Hence the conclusion is inevitable that the Sabbath stands as it stood before. I then showed that through all the teachings of Christ, he never said anything derogatory of the Sabbath, but honored it himself, Luke 4:16; told what was lawful, and what was not on that day, Matt. 12:1–12; said it was made for man, and that he was the Lord of it, that it was to be kept forty years after his resurrection at the overthrow of Jerusalem, Matt. 24:28.

We showed further that in the New Testament the Sabbath is positively the seventh day of the week, and not the first day. This is very plain from Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2; Luke 23:56; 24:1. Come down to the book of Acts, and if the Sabbath had been changed we would certainly expect to find a plain statement to that effect, but we find just the reverse. It is spoken of time after time in the same manner that it was in the Old Testament. Acts was written about thirty years after the resurrection. It is inspired language, inspired by the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God as late as that time still designates the seventh day as the Sabbath. Acts 13:14. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, called it the Sabbath, verse 27. The converted Gentile Christians called it the Sabbath, verses 42, 43; Luke called it the Sabbath, verse 44. James, before the great council of Christians at Jerusalem called it the Sabbath, Acts 15:21. Holy women held prayer-meetings upon that day, Acts 16:13; and Paul attended them. Luke calls it the Sabbath day, and says it was Paul’s manner to preach upon it. Acts 17:1, 2. Paul worked with his hands at his trade, and preached upon the Sabbath every week for a year and a half. Acts 18:1–11. Paul declared that he had strictly kept the law after his conversion to Christ. Acts 25:8. John, A. D. 96, recognized it as the Lord’s day. Rev. 1:10. This is the seventh day and not the first day, as shown by Exodus 20:8, 9; Isa. 58:13; Mark 2:28, where the seventh day is declared to be the Lord’s day. This term is never applied to the first day.

Elder Shick claimed that the penalty of Sabbath breaking was stoning to death, and that this being abolished the law must have gone with it. We replied that the same penalty was attached to every one of the commandments, hence, according to him, if we could break the Sabbath now, so we could steal, lie, and murder now, because men are no longer stoned to death for these things. But the truth is that stoning to death was simply the penalty of the civil law governing the Jews, the same as hanging for murder is now the penalty of the law of our State. Yet neither hanging nor stoning has anything to do with the penalty due the sinner hereafter. The penalty for violating God’s law has never been changed. It was always the second death and it is the same now.

THIRD SESSION.

I now took up the perpetuity of God’s law,

showed how it was given from heaven by God’s own voice, engraved on tables of stone, and placed in the ark. Deut. 4:12, 13. But the ten commandments are only a brief summary of the moral law. It is still more briefly summed up by the two great commandments, first to love God with all the heart, Deut. 6:5; and the second to love your neighbor as yourself. Lev. 19:18. Hundreds of precepts referring to the decalogue, and growing out of it, are found scattered all through the Old Testament. None of these have been abolished. All the moral precepts of the Old Testament are as binding as ever; but all the shadowy rites and ceremonies and the laws touching them, together with the civil code of the Jews, were abolished at the cross.

We showed that the principles of the moral law existed from Adam’s time right down. The principles of several of the ten commandments were violated in the transgression in the garden of Eden. Gen. 3:6. Cain broke the sixth commandment. Gen. 4:8. References to the different precepts of the decalogue are found scattered all through the book of Genesis. Abraham is particularly mentioned as keeping God’s law and commandments. Gen. 26:5; Ex. 16:4, 27, show that God had a law, and that the Sabbath was a part of that law, before the ten commandments were given on Mt. Sinai. 1 Chron. 16:15–17, shows that the law of God given to Jacob,—Israel, is to be kept for a thousand generations, which takes it beyond the end of the world.

Ps. 89:27–32, says that if Christ’s children forsake and break the law of the Father, he will punish their transgression with stripes. Ps. 111:7, says that all his commandments are sure, they stand fast forever and ever. Ps. 119:114, says that the righteousness of God’s testimonies is everlasting, and verse 152, that God has founded them forever, and verse 160 says that every one of His righteous judgments endureth forever. Ps. 40:8, says that the law of God was in Christ’s heart when he came. Isa. 42:21, says that Christ should magnify the law and make it honorable.

Said I, “This he could not have done by abolishing it and treating it as my opponent now does. Does he magnify the law, does he make it honorable? No, his whole endeavor is to belittle it and make it as dishonorable as possible, just the reverse of what Christ did.” Matt. 5:17–19, is a hard nut for these no-law men to crack. They do not like to hear about it. It bothers them and worries them. They want to get away from it as quickly as possible. This language was written expressly for the benefit of those who should contend for the law of God. We do well to keep it prominently before the people everywhere. Eld. Shick could do nothing with it. Matt. 19:16–22, shows that obedience to the commandments is a condition of eternal life. In Matt. 15:1–9, Christ takes this very law to condemn the wicked Pharisees.

Rom. 2 is one of the strongest chapters in the Bible on the perpetuity of the ten commandments. Notice the following points:—

All are shown to be sinners. Verses 1–11.
The observance of this law makes men just before God. Verse 13.
The Gentiles have it in their hearts by nature. Verses 13–15.
It is a law in which the Jews rest, and by which they are instructed, verses 17, 18, hence it is the old law.
This law shows God’s will and what is excellent. Verses 17, 18.
This law has the form of truth. Verse 20.
To break this law dishonored God at the time the apostles wrote. Verse 23.
Four of the ten commandments are here directly referred to, verses 21–24, hence we know it is the ten commandments.
It is separate from the ceremonial law. Verse 25.
It can be kept without circumcision. Verse 26.
Hence it is not the ceremonial law. See Ex. 12:43–48.
Men will be judged by it. Verses 12, 16.
If uncircumcised Gentile Christians keep this law they will please God and condemn the Jews. Verses 25–29.

These are all strong points in favor of the perpetuity of the law. In harmony with this position, Paul says in the next chapter, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3:31.

Eld. Shick went to Rom. 7 for proof on his side; but an examination of the chapter turned it so effectually against him that he never referred to it afterward.

James 2:8–12, is also a strong chapter in favor of the law of God. Notice the following points:—

The apostle goes to the Old Testament Scripture for authority.
This quotation is found in Lev. 19:18. Hence it is not a new law.
He quotes two of the ten commandments, which is the only law in all the Bible containing these words.
The apostle directly says that every commandment of this law is binding.
This law convinces of sin. Verse 9.
It requires love to fulfill this law. Verse 8. This scripture shows that to fulfill a law means to keep it.
Men will be judged by this law in the Judgment. Verse 12.
And this is the law of liberty; and hence the ten commandments are not a yoke of bondage. 1 John 5:3, says that “this is the love of God that we keep his commandments.” Many more scriptures were quoted upon the same point.

Eld. Shick gave a long list of sins which he said the old covenant, meaning the moral law of the Old Testament, did not condemn. I will here name the principal ones, and give the scripture in the Old Testament condemning them, thus showing how false was his position.

He said it did not condemn hatred (Lev. 19:17), intemperance (Deut. 21:20), strife (Prov. 16:28), wrath (Gen. 49:7), envy (Job 5:2), evil speaking (Acts 23:5, where Paul quotes the Old Testament), pride (Mal. 4:1), backbiting (Lev. 19:16), boasting (Ps. 94:4), witchcraft (Ex. 22:18), cheating (Micah 6:8).

But the Elder got himself into an amusing dilemma by naming two particular sins. He very triumphantly asked, “Where does the old covenant condemn bigamy and selfishness?” Of course any one knows that both these sins are directly condemned in many places in the Old Testament, but not exactly in these words, i. e., the words bigamy and selfishness are not used. But is not bigamy adultery? Any man knows that it is. But, unfortunately for the Elder, neither does the New Testament name either of them; so I turned on him and demanded that he should show where bigamy and selfishness were condemned in the New Testament. If he could not find it there, then, according to him, the word of God nowhere condemns bigamy or selfishness. Well, of course he could not find it. So, what did he do? After I had thrown this at him till he had got sore over it, he forgot that he first proposed the question, and then he turned upon me. “Sir,” said he, “Is not bigamy adultery? don’t anybody know that it is adultery? and don’t the New Testament repeatedly condemn adultery? And so of selfishness. You know, sir, that it is condemned there in many ways, and here you sit and call on me to find the words bigamy and selfishness, and nothing will do, sir, but exactly those words. Mr. Chairman, this is just as unreasonable as my opponent is,” and thus he went on.

But the Elder felt a little chagrined when I called up the fact that he himself was the very man who had raised the objection, and called for the words bigamy and selfishness.

Then I asked him for his New Testament law showing that it was wrong for a man to marry his sister, his niece, his aunt, &c. Of course he could not produce any. When I pressed him upon it, he said it was condemned by the law of decency! So we must go to the law of decency to supply what the New Testament has omitted. I also challenged him to find where the New Testament condemned usury. He turned to our Lord’s parable where the slothful servant was condemned because he had not put his Lord’s money out to usury. But, lo! and behold! this was in favor of usury instead of against it, if it had any bearing upon the question at all.

D. M. CANRIGHT.

*(To be Continued.)

THE COMMENCEMENT.

By C. W. S.

What with the commencement of the year, the opening of another College term, and the new classification of our Sabbath-school, we are led to resolve, rejoice, and be hopeful.

With the opening year, we resolve to consecrate ourself anew to the work. With the fair prospects of the Battle Creek College, as it opens with 185 students and a corps of good teachers, we are pleased. As we looked in upon our Sabbath-school yesterday, with its 213 scholars arranged in 23 classes, we were hopeful.

The winter term of the College began Jan. 5. For several days before, students were arriving from California, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, New York, Ohio, Vermont—looking for places to room and provisions and equipments for the siege; and when the morning of the “first day” came, the capacious hall at the College was enlivened by an assemblage of students, composed of men and women, youths, boys and girls, whose faces seemed to tell of an inward satisfaction with the prospect.

After the singing of a hymn, Eld. U. Smith opened the term by prayer. The organization of classes had been kept so that the old pupils had only to begin where they left off, and the new ones were readily assigned their places after an examination.

The school is composed largely of men and women, younger or older, who have entered it with a definite object in view—many for the purpose of fitting themselves to labor in the harvest-field of the Lord. As a consequence, the school is a body of real intelligence. Many are attending, who have to calculate very closely financially. These will know the value of every hour. They have not come here to fool away time. Sons of fathers who are ready to sacrifice strength and means for their education are here. God bless the lads; may they appreciate parental love.

The Biblical lectures by Eld. Smith commenced last Friday morning. Forty-seven were in attendance, and it is expected that several more will join the class. The writer remembers expressing many times, while living among the dear old Green Mountains, the wish that he might attend a course of Eld. Smith’s lectures at Battle Creek. These lines are penned with a heart full of gratitude to God that the unseen way has opened, and the time has come. Would that many others I might name were here. Come, brethren, come and learn how to work.

With the increase of students, our Sabbath meetings are made larger. Last Sabbath there were 450 present by estimate. We tried to speak to them from these words: “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?” 1 Chron. 29:5. The subject seemed applicable to the time and place. The special responsibility resting upon the members of this church in view of the large number of young people in our midst demands a consecration of heart and a purity of life, that a proper influence may be exerted, and good examples set.

The social meeting in the afternoon was well attended, and the spirit of the former meeting seemed to rest upon us. Nearly all that spoke expressed a desire for more consecration and a closer walk with God. Some young men spoke for the first time. In seventy-five minutes, 111 testimonies were borne, and ten verses were sung at intervals.

It is good to serve the Lord. Time is none too long to serve him well; nor eternity, his praise to swell. To fit for his kingdom we’ve no time to waste; for the day of his coming approaches in haste. Oh! let us be earnest in seeking the Lord and obeying the precepts contained in his word. C. W. S.

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