p. 112 | Review and Herald, Vol. 35, No. 14. (3/22/1870)

Punctuality in Attending and Taking Part in Religious Meetings.

By D. T. Bourdeau

(Continued.)

In order that meetings be carried on to profit, it is also highly necessary that the testimonies and prayers be short, and to the point. By these remarks, we would not encourage a course of dry strictness that would limit each one to just so many minutes, regardless of the circumstances, and that would hinder the free course of the Spirit of God, and bring bondage into a meeting, instead of the freedom that all the children of God should enjoy. But we do object to long prayers and testimonies. 1. Because they weary men and angels, and are against reason, and the plain teachings of the word of God, and always have a deadening influence on the meeting, lessening the interest both with believers and unbelievers. 2. They are generally mixed with self, and a display of self is always repulsive to those who would worship God and not man, as well as to the good sense of all lovers of propriety. 3. They distort the meeting from its true object, namely, that all may take part, and are not based on the principle of equal love to our brethren and sisters. They have as good a right to the meeting as we. They need to improve their gifts for their own good, as well as for the benefit of all present. Thus, rich testimonies and prayers, and sometimes other important exercises, are crowded out of the meeting. 4. They tend to protract the meeting beyond its reasonable limits, making all uneasy, especially those who have children, those who are feeble, and need to observe regularity in their meals, and those who live at a distance. Thus some are tempted to keep away from the place of worship, from the dread that they have of lengthy meetings. We do not say that such are wholly excusable, yet such a course should be pursued that they and all others shall be attracted to the meetings.

Our Saviour is very pointed against long prayers of those who pray to be seen of men. Those who do this, have their reward. They have the praise and worship of a certain class who are shut up to each other, and have not God uppermost in their thoughts. And this is all the reward that they will have. They lose the praise of God, and the eternal inheritance. Prayer is the last exercise in which we should multiply words. In it, we should speak to God and not to men, and our words should be such as we would have them if we were literally in the presence of God, Jesus Christ, and holy angels. We should not preach in prayer, neither should we speak as though teaching the Almighty. All this is redundant, and indicates that we are offering our prayers to men, and not to God. Speaking of the heathen, and the hypocrites who thus pray, Christ says, “Be not ye, therefore, like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” This matter is well illustrated in the Saviour’s parable of the Pharisee and Publican, in which he makes a perfect contrast between long self-lauding prayers, and those short, pointed, self-abasing, and God-exalting prayers, that flow from a heart deeply affected with its sinfulness, and lost condition, and its great need of the mercy of the high and holy One. Luke 18. We can also form an idea of the propriety of short prayers by bearing in mind that our Lord’s prayer, which he taught his disciples, and which has properly been denominated the model prayer, can be repeated in less than two minutes.

If we would be short and to the point, in prayer and social meetings, we must leave out of our prayers and testimonies such matters as would not be of general interest. There are petitions that are of a nature to demand that they be offered in the closet, or around the family altar, and to offer such petitions in public would not only be out of place, but would also add to the length of the prayer, and unnecessarily protract the meeting. Here some can shorten up. And some can also shorten up their testimonies in leaving out of them such confessions as should be made at home to God, or to some that are away. Now we would not hinder the spirit of confession. God forbid. Better confess too much than not to confess enough in this investigative judgment hour. It is commendable to cherish the spirit that David had when he restored that which he had not taken. But time and place should be observed. And we have sometimes thought that some confessed in meeting partly to screen themselves from the mortifying task of going right to the person or persons whom they had wronged.

Again, some can shorten up their testimonies by taking for themselves the burden that they have for others. It is right to deeply feel for others, when we have sufficiently felt for ourselves. But the devil sometimes hurries individuals on to take up a labor for others, while they need to labor for themselves; to take the mote out of their brother’s eye, while they have a mote, if not a beam, in their own eye. It is much easier for them to look at the faults of others, than it is to look at their own faults. And they will take an ordering position, using the pronoun you quite freely, instead of placing themselves on a level with, if not beneath, their brethren and sisters, and using the pronoun I and we. Such will often take up a labor for children or friends present, when they have not done their duty to them out of meeting. This is entirely out of place, and repulsive to those who are labored for, who feel themselves abused, and that they are taken advantage of before the public.

Again, to be short and to the point, the testimonies should not assume the attitude of preaching, but that of brief experience, relating what God has done for our souls, praising God for his goodness, for his mercies and for the truth, stating our determinations, and encouraging in others, by exhortation, what we encourage in ourselves; keeping the law of God, and the gospel prominent, the former to serve as a rule of life, and to point out our defects, and the latter as a remedy all-sufficient to remove our sins and all the stains that they have made. Those should go hand in hand in all the exercises, and never should God be dishonored by our leaving the impression that the road is hard, and that we cannot overcome. Are we covered with sin and pollution? Christ died for our sins and opened a fountain for uncleanness, in which we can wash and be made clean. Are we weak? Christ has all power in Heaven and in earth, and can make us strong in God and in the power of his might. We have an influence over each other, and if those who have long professed the truth manifest a lack of courage in view of the trials by the way, what will those think who have not professed, or who have but little experience? The idea that the Saviour is soon coming to bring an end to all our trials and conflicts, and bestow a rich reward on the final overcomer, is enough to keep our hearts cheered with hope, and fired up with courage and holy zeal. Even if one has a doctrine, it need not be so lengthy as to crowd out other exercises.

It is also necessary that we observe the spirit and progress of the meeting, and labor accordingly; otherwise we shall be liable to bring in matter entirely out of place, and bring darkness and discord into the meeting. We should pull on the same cord and lift together, commencing where the last one left off, and thus the interest will arise till the close of the meeting.

Again, to be in point we should be careful not to crowd into a social meeting, in which all the members are trying to worship in spirit and in truth, such new ideas that they are not prepared to appreciate. If it is duty to present such thoughts, they should be presented in meekness, and laid, as it were, at the feet of the brethren, without urging, as though the truth, backed up by the Spirit, were weak, and did not commend itself to the reason and conscience. This will also apply in the Bible Class and Sabbath School.

Another important means to be pointed in worship, is to previously mature the subject matter by meditation, invoking the Spirit’s aid. This can be done, leaving room for the Spirit to work in the meeting. We can have important matter on our minds before prayer and exhortation, as the result of prayerful study and self-examination. We should have a certain idea of our wants before presenting them to the Lord. If it is justifiable to prepare to speak to men, it will be much more so to prepare to speak to the Almighty. And this will prove to be a great saving of time, to say the least.

We cannot better conclude this point than by quoting the following words from Solomon: “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for God is in Heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. . . . For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.” Eccl. 5: 1–3, 7.

D. T. BOURDEAU.

(To be continued.)

Judge Not

“JUDGE not,” saith the Lord: the justice of which is obvious, in a world where there are no innocent to judge the guilty.

Obituary Notices.

By John Byington

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.

DIED, Feb. 24, 1870, in Mendon, St. Joseph Co., Mich., Emily M., wife of Charles G. Langdon, aged 27 years. Sr. Langdon embraced present truth some ten years since, when the tent was in Parkville. She has been an unwavering advocate of the truth to the day of her death. She had suffered for more than two years from paralysis, and had great patience in all her affliction. She leaves a little son and companion to mourn her loss.

Remarks at the funeral were made from 1 Cor. 15 : 21. J. BYINGTON.

Thoughts on Job 14:21, 22.

The fourteenth chapter of Job is a wonderful testimony to the sleep of man in death: “So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” Verse 12. This plainly declares that the sleep of man shall continue till the heavens pass away, which Peter says, shall be with a great noise. 2 Pet. 3:10. David said he should be satisfied when he should awake with the likeness of the Lord. Ps. 17:15. So David is yet asleep, and the time for him to be satisfied has not come. Acts 13:36; 12:34.

But does not the close of Job 14, forbid the sleep of the real man in death? His soul within him shall mourn. Does not this plainly indicate consciousness in death? Let us read the last two verses of the chapter: “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Verse 21. This is the sleep of death, certainly. Now does the next verse contradict this?

“But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.” Verse 22. The first clause of this verse shows that the condition of man in death is not the subject matter of the verse, while his soul within him mourns, his flesh upon him has pain. This text if it relates to man in death, proves that his flesh is in a state of conscious suffering, an idea that is absurd, and that no one believes.

What then do the words of verse 22 signify? One of two views must be taken: It either relates to man before his dissolution, and is descriptive of the pains of death, or it has reference to man when raised from the dead to suffer for his sins. In the first case, it might pertain to mankind in general, i. e., to both the righteous, and the wicked. In the latter case, it can relate to the wicked only. But in either view it cannot relate to the man while sleeping in death. It is the whole man that is conscious; his flesh suffers, as well as his mental nature.

The Hot Springs of California.

These hot springs, called Geyzers, are certainly very remarkable and significant. We have called attention to the great lake of fire which exists in one of the Sandwich Islands. The Geyzers bear testimony to internal fires existing in their locality, near the surface of the earth. Here is what Hon. Schuyler Colfax says respecting these in The Independent for March 3, 1870:

“THE GEYZERS.

“The Geyzers cannot fail to remind visitors very palpably of the common idea of the dominion of Pluto [the god of the infernal regions, according to the heathen]. Bursting from the sides of the canon [i. e., deep gorge or ravine] at an hundred different points, are jets of scalding steam, bubbling and seething springs, at boiling heat; rills whose waters are literally as black as ink; hot air, puffing as it escapes, with the regularity and roaring noise of a high-pressure engine, while all around, the earth, honey-combed and treacherous to the tread, is incrusted with sulphur, epsom salts, and other similar luxuries. The vapor fills the valley, and your lungs too, while you are there; and an hour suffices to make you feel as if you were indeed very near the laboratory of the infernal regions.”

We this week send a circular to many of our friends concerning a course of lectures to be given at Battle Creek, for the benefit of such of our preaching brethren as may be able to attend, and others who may be interested. As many are now here to whom delay will be inconvenient, they will commence on Sunday, March 27. These lectures will be of the greatest importance to all who preach the present truth, and especially to those who have just entered the ministry, or contemplate doing so. The course will consist of twenty lectures or more, for which a fee of $5.00 (or at that rate), will be charged to defray expenses; females $3.00. Board furnished at $2.00 per week.

For particulars we refer to the circulars.

The Resurrection Taught at the Burning Bush.

THE Son of God has given us a wonderful exposition of the words that were uttered from the burning bush. It is by reasoning, or deduction, or inference, that our Lord draws the fact of the resurrection from thence. But a necessary inference is always legitimate proof, and such is the inference which the Saviour draws. The Lord said to Moses, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Ex. 3:6.

Whenever God says he is the God of any person, or of any class of persons, it is necessarily implied that they who are thus owned of him are his people. In other words, if God calls himself the God of the patriarchs, it is equivalent to calling the patriarchs his servants, and his people. There is something reciprocal in the matter. So when God says of his people, “I will be their God,” he adds, “And they shall be my people,” which indeed is the necessary conclusion. It is the same as though we speak of Zacharias as the husband of Elizabeth. Luke 1. Now this of necessity implies that Elizabeth was the wife of Zacharias. But suppose that Elizabeth is dead and Zacharias still living, we cannot then speak thus of him. He had been her husband, and she had been his wife, but this was dissolved by death. Now our Lord reasons exactly thus when he proves the fact of the resurrection of the patriarchs from the statement of the Most High, made some centuries after their death, that he was their God. They could offer no worship before him as his people, for they were dead. Ps. 115:17. And hence our Lord lays down the proposition that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for it is the living alone that can sustain the relation of his people to him. Luke 20:37, 38.

God speaks of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as he would speak if they were alive at the very time he spoke. Therefore, says our Lord, these men shall be raised from the dead. But how could God speak thus? Simply because that in his purpose they were certainly to live again. Therefore to him it was the same as though they were even then alive. And observe our Lord’s words, “For all live unto him.” If they were actually alive, and not such merely in his purpose, they would live not merely to him, but to the conception of other intelligent beings. But it is God’s prerogative to call the things that be not as though they were. Rom. 4:17. And so he virtually pledged himself to raise the patriarchs when he styled himself their God.

A Valuable Work.

By Editor

THE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY. By James H. Whitmore, Buchanan, Michigan: Joshua V. Himes, 1870. $1.00, post paid.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Historical Inquiry; II, Jewish Belief; III, Early Christian Belief; IV, The Argument from Reason; V, Scriptural Argument—The Lesson of Creation; VI, The Adamic Penalty; VII, Traduction vs. Creationism; VIII, Life and Death; IX, General Testimony of Scripture; X, The Intermediate State; XI, The Christian Redemption.

We have received a copy of the above-named book, and from such examination as we have been able to give it during the sessions of the General Conference, we feel to commend the work to the patronage of our friends. It is a very readable volume, and contains much important information on the immortality question. For sale at this Office.

Commandment-Keeping.

The following excellent remarks we clip from a torn leaf of the Earnest Christian. We commend them to all those who lightly esteem the fourth commandment:—

“If only partial obedience be required to evidence our discipleship, it ought to be distinctly specified what precepts we must obey, and what we may neglect with impunity. No man, however wicked he may be, disregards all of the commands of God. In some things he tries to do his duty. And if we assume to say that some commands of God are not important, we must not deny this right to others. If we make our selections of the precepts we will obey, we must not refuse to let others make their selections also. And then what becomes of the Bible?”

Cancelling.

By A. P. Lawton

CANCELLING in mathematics is a convenient method of abbreviation; a shorter way of arriving at the same result. Not so in Christian experience, and example. This cancelling protracts or hinders the desired results. Our good deeds can never atone for our bad, nor by comparing with our brother, can we hope to be absolved. Quoting our brother’s wrongs will never atone for ours. We should think a criminal very ignorant of the rules of the court, who, by way of defense or justification, would refer to the other criminals as equally guilty. He who rules the court knows the order of our cases. Do we not yet understand that we must learn to keep ourselves before we can keep our brother? Every case will pass in review in its own order, without our interference. A. P. Lawton. W. Winfield, N. Y.

The Cloth of Humility

THE cloth of humility should always be worn on the back of Christianity.

Appointments.

By C. W. Olds

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

The next Monthly Meeting for the churches of Oakland, Johnstown, and Little Prairie, Wis., will be held at Little Prairie, April 2 and 3. Meeting to commence Sabbath evening. We wish all the members of this church to report at this meeting, either in person or by letter. Come, praying the Lord to meet with us. There will be a team at Palmyra on sixth day. C. W. OLDS.

Moses and the Burden of Leadership

When Moses complained of his excessive burdens (Num. 11), the Lord saw fit to relieve him. So he bade Moses to gather seventy men of the elders of Israel to the tabernacle. Then he came down and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and with it endowed this whole company of seventy men. What a testimony to the gifts and graces possessed by Moses! Yet it does seem that in this transaction Moses suffered a great loss. One thing is certain: if God calls us to great labors, he gives us great grace. Would it not be wiser to cheerfully bear the heavy burdens rather than to meet the loss of this divine help.

Business Department.

Not Slothful in Business. Rom. xii, 11.

RECEIPTS.

For Review and Herald.

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Foreign Missionary Fund.

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Michigan Conference Fund.

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Cash Received on Account.

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Received on Book and Tract Fund.

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