This question speaks to your conscience, dear reader. You alone can answer it; you alone can tell when you began to realize the solemn truth that you were a sinner, and that you need the blood of Christ to be sprinkled upon your guilty soul. Perhaps you can hardly say when your religious impressions first commenced; the time is so distant in the past that years must be numbered, and your thoughts carried back to the sunny hours of childhood. God has striven with you a long while, and you will not be subdued. He has called you again and again, but it has all been in vain. You have fought against him with all your energy. It has cost you a struggle to maintain the warfare. You have found it a hard battle to resist the spirit, and if you are lost you will have suffered severely in procuring your perdition.
Why will you strive against God? What do you mean? Do you desire to be ruined? You are acting as if you did.
You can never be saved, except by yielding to the blessed influence of the Holy Ghost. He begins the work of salvation in every soul, and you cannot even think a good thought without His aid. In driving him away, you part with every hope for eternity. Abandoned by Him you must be ruined for ever. Perhaps you have just commenced to think about the great duty of preparing to meet your God. You have just begun to be anxious. You have but lately felt your true position, and the Spirit of grace is now striving with your heart. The process may be unpleasant, but believe me it is necessary. He conceals nothing from you, in order that, having shown you your danger, you may be led to flee, to take refuge in Christ. You may quench the Divine spark, you may force him to abandon you in your folly; but it will be at the expense of your soul. Whether the struggle has been long or short, thank God if it has not ceased. Close in at once with the offer of salvation. Yield yourself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Pray God to make your heart a temple of the Holy Ghost. He will lead you into all truth. He will bring you to the foot of the cross. He will give you joy and peace in believing. He will sanctify you wholly and make you meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light.—Ex.
Perpetual Truth of the Scriptures.
THERE is something grand and divine in the perpetual and universal truth of the Word of God. Take an admired passage of one of the great poets of ancient times. It is local. It bears the imprint of the age, the race, and the state of the society in which it was produced, and its truth is somehow circumscribed and limited by those conditions. But take for example the 90th Psalm, one of the oldest works of the human mind, dating more than five hundred years before Homer: Every verse of it is true, not only then, but now and in all ages.
The prayer of Moses, the man of God, is a most appropriate and comprehensive prayer at the present day, and may be offered up by the devout soul as a fit and full expression of his thoughts, emotions and desires. There are thoughts of Him "who inhabiteth eternity." They are conceived at an elevation which exalts them far above the changing objects, persons, scenes and events of earth and time. They shine down upon this world like fixed stars, unvarying in their position, and undimmed in their light. It is well to be conversant with thoughts thus immutable and sublime. The familiar contemplation and rumination of them expands, exalts and strengthens the mind. It lifts us above our own age into the clear and cloudless regions of unchangeable truth; the aeronaut while he is passing through the clouds is swept this way and that by gusts and currents of wind, drenched in vapor, pelted by hail, and deafened by thunders, but when he emerges beyond them, he reaches a clear and untroubled region, so the soul uplifted by contemplation and faith may leave the earth, break through the clouds which environ it, and dwell in a bright and serene atmosphere, above the reach of those passions, cares and controversies which perplex the region below. O! blessed be God, who has prepared such an element for us storm-tossed mortals in his holy Word, and given us wings to rise to it.—Ex.
Faithfulness in Spiritual Isolation
Sister C. B. Spaulding writes from Metamora, Ills.:
“There are no Sabbath-keepers in this vicinity that I know of, not even any of my own family. I sometimes feel almost discouraged living all alone, with no one to associate with of like precious faith; but still the truth is precious. Feeling thankful that I ever heard the Third Angel’s Message, and that I have been enabled to try to keep all the Commandments of God, I mean also to have the Faith of Jesus, that I may be permitted to stand on the mount Zion with all the blood-washed throng, never more to be separated from those we love. It is a consolation to me to think that I can have the prayers of the saints, although I cannot meet with them.”
Sound the Alarm
Sr. Alpha I. Yorty writes from Fairwater, Wis.: "I often look around and see how popular opinion of the day prevails, and wickedness abounds, and wonder how long the probation of man can extend. In my opinion the Lord will come unawares, and take this people as he did the antediluvian world. But few souls were saved then: can there be many saved now? O then sound the alarm, some souls may hear and obey the truth."
Truth Is Mighty and Must Prevail
Sister Laura A. Jewett writes from Palmyra, Me.:
"Bro. Smith, Permit me to add my testimony with those of like precious faith. We receive the weekly Review with feelings of grateful thanks to the kind friends who provide us with such a paper. May the Lord prosper you in your labor of love in holding up the great truth of the last message of mercy to this fast falling world. Great indeed and many are the afflictions and troubles for the people of God to pass through in these last days of temptation and peril; but truth is mighty and must prevail. We believe Jesus will soon return and, according to his promise, take his waiting disciples to himself. Let us then endure to the end. Though it may be our lot to bear the scoffs and scorn of a great many who were once our friends and associates, Jesus is better than they. We hope to be remembered in the prayers of the saints."
Hope for the Third Angel’s Message
Bro. O. Davis writes from North Berwick, Me.: "I do not think the minds of the people here, are entirely shut up from the influence of God's Spirit. I feel to indulge a hope that some may yet be brought into the Message of the Third Angel. May the Lord lead and guide us. The Review comes to us cheering and encouraging our hearts. May God bless and prosper those that have the burthen of its publication, and guide you in the right division of his word, that the flock may be fed with that which will nourish for the Kingdom. I was glad to see that Bro. J. C. Day was finding his way back. May the Lord preserve all his people from the many scattering and dividing influences that surround them."
Request for Preaching Brethren
Bro. Wm. Russell writes from Mauston, Wis.: "I can say with many of the brethren and sisters, that the Review still comes a welcome messenger, bearing many precious truths founded upon the word of the Lord. There are a few here who are trying to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. We would be very glad to have some of the preaching brethren call this way and give a series of lectures on Bible truth and the soon coming of the Saviour. Brother Joseph Bates was within twenty-eight miles of us in the early part of the season when he was at Baraboo; and we would be highly gratified to have him come and spend part of the Winter with us; or any other of the brethren that the Lord has chosen to preach his word."
Keeping All the Commandments
Bro. H. W. Dodge writes from Stoddard, N. H.: "It is cheering to hear from so many brethren and sisters who all seem to tell the story of salvation alike. O this great truth that has been and is being revealed, is from no other than God; and I cannot reject it. We have had blessing upon blessing since we have been trying to follow all the Commandments of our divine Master. He kept his Father's Commandments, so must we also. We can but know that time is about drawing to a close; for almost everything that is going on in the world, shows plainly to any true believer in prophecy, or in what our Saviour said, namely, that just such things should be going on when the world was about to be destroyed, that in a short time all things that are of a worldly nature will have an end."
Domestic or Family Life
No subject is of more importance in the morality of private life, than that of domestic or family life.
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY.
By A. S. Hutchins
In the great and important work of bearing the last Message of mercy to this unbelieving and sinful generation, nothing can be more necessary than that each member of the true Church should fully realize his individual responsibility. We should ever bear in mind that all are to be laborers in the vineyard of the Lord, who have received the light of the present truth.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." We are under no less obligation to heed this injunction than were those who listened to the words as they fell from the lips of the Saviour.
Said Christ, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."
Dear brethren and sisters, if you have received this solemn Message in the love of it, your heart has been made to rejoice beyond expression often. The day when I decided to leave a fallen church, and have a stand with Commandment-keepers, (though friends have since forsaken, and enemies persecuted,) lives in sweet remembrance in my heart. O, praise God for truth! Bible truth.
But have we at all times done our duty to each other? to our friends and our enemies? I fear not. That we as a Church have been lukewarm, and that the true light is shining at present upon the Laodicean state of the church, I doubt not.
Now is the time to "buy gold tried in the fire, and white raiment," and to anoint our eyes with eye-salve. O may our efforts in this work be proportionate to the glorious object before us. The Lord hasten the time when a great and happy change shall take place among the remnant, is my humble prayer—when the truth shall reach every one hungering for the word of God.
That humility, faithfulness and the spirit of sacrifice, which once characterized us, have in a great measure departed from our hearts, and that pride, with the love of the world, have taken their place, we cannot deny. But I am grateful to-day, for the counsel of the faithful and true Witness, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 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. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."
It will be but a short time before Christ will receive his throne. Let it be our firm purpose, our chief and constant aim, to secure a seat with him there. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also."
"I long for that land whose blest promise alone
Is changeless, and sure as eternity's throne."
It was far from my expectation when I embraced the truth of the immediate coming of the Just One, and receive the light upon the Commandments of God, that any one who had seen or should see and receive the light upon these subjects, would ever "draw back," and become scoffers with others, but in this I have been sorely disappointed.
Some have admitted the claims of the fourth commandment to be binding upon us, and for a season have observed the Bible Sabbath. But when other truths of the Bible have been brought before their mind, they have manifested an unwillingness to receive them, and in actions have said, "I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," and have soon turned back. Others have strongly opposed the faithful, devoted and self-sacrificing servants of God, while they themselves have professed to keep the Commandments of God; but their folly has been and still is being manifest. But notwithstanding all this the people of God are coming into the "unity of the faith."
David, looking forward to this point of time, says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Ps. cxxxiii, 1.
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Eph. iv, 11-13.
But in view of the perils which surround us, we have great need of constant watchfulness. Repeated admonitions are given in the sacred Word, to watch. "And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." We need to watch not only for our own advancement and growth in the cause of truth, but we should exercise a constant and Christian watch-care for each other. All are to be interested in this work. Here is individual responsibility, whether we have five talents, two, or one; for if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. 2 Cor. viii, 12.
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Gal. vi, 1. "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine." 2 Tim. iv, 2. "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." James v, 19, 20.
"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men." 1 Thess. v, 14.
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Barton Landing, Vt.
Conference at Monterey, Mich.
By Joseph Bates
This meeting convened according to appointment in the REVIEW. Brethren from Cooper, Otsego, Trowbridge, Allegan and Grand Rapids, came to join with the church in Monterey, to offer thanksgiving and praise to the Most High for the good work which he had so recently accomplished in bringing so many from darkness to the glorious light of the Third Angel's Message. We found Bro. Cornell laboring with the church when we arrived to attend the appointment.
Our hearts were made glad, and our resolutions renewed to continue our labors in the wide-spread harvest field of our dear Redeemer for the salvation of souls, while listening to the fervent prayers, pointed exhortations and cheerful songs of the brethren and sisters, rejoicing in the Lord, who but a few months ago were entirely ignorant of their position in the Third Angel's Message. Truly God is good and meriful, "and his going forth is prepared as the morning." He is giving edge to the pointed, cutting, burning truths of the Third Angel's Message, and mustering his host to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.
The word of the Lord was listened to with deep interest, and the meeting continued to rise to its close. When the subject of our lukewarm position in the Laodicean state of the church came up, there seemed to be almost a universal response to "bring all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove the Lord to open the windows of heaven, and pour upon his waiting children the promised blessing.
The presentation of the sure word of prophecy concerning the speedy coming of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the immediate preparation of his living saints to meet him at his coming, aroused and quickened his dear children in the meeting, to come up to the standard, and move forward in the great crowning work of God; and be in readiness for that auspicious hour.
After the meetings closed, we witnessed the deep anxiety that some of the believing parents felt for the salvation of their children, and the deep contrition of the children, seeking forgiveness of their past wrongs and prejudices, in hindering each other in their progress and holy living before God. It seemed like the dawn of that day so long foretold by the prophet Malachi in the close of his prophecy, just before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Satan manifested his "wrath," through the companion of a brother who had come to the appointed place for baptism. She in a most unbecoming blasphemous manner attempted in every way to prevent her husband from being baptized, while he was most decidedly determined to obey his Lord and Master. After he was baptized, contrary to her repeated declarations, she returned home with him, and (I learn,) has confessed the very wrong course she pursued. The non-resistant spirit manifested by the husband has caused Satan to be ashamed of his work.
Since the conference I have been holding meetings in Trowbridge where some good I trust has been done in the name of Jesus. I have now just returned from baptizing four who manifest a strong desire to keep all the commandments of the Lord.
After the conference Bro. Cornell left to commence a series of meetings at Three Rivers. I am now preparing to go to Newark on the Lake Shore. I feel encouraged to go forward in this great crowning work of God.
JOSEPH BATES.
Trowbridge, Mich., Nov. 23th, 1856.
"Universalism against Itself;"
By Editor
"Or, an Examination and Refutation of the Principal Arguments claimed in support of the Final Holiness and Happiness of all Mankind."
Such is the title-page of a work, by A. Hall, a copy of which, through the courtesy of the publishers, Messrs. Applegate & Co., we have received. This is a work of which Universalists may well say, as Ahab said to the prophet Elijah, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" We have now before us a work by "J. Henry Jordan, M. D.," claiming to be a "Review of Hall," which, we understand, is one of three failures which Universalists have made in attempting a reply. Having examined most of the work, we can commend it to any who are in any wise troubled with those sophisms which Universalists have learned to use in support of their theory. Most of the points, as far as we have examined, are answered in harmony with the views entertained by our readers generally. We consider the language of a contemporary in describing this book, no exaggeration: "It is an armory of weapons, of suggestions, of Scripture truths for the controversialist, and for every private Christian."
Those who wish to obtain a copy of "Universalism against Itself," will address their orders to Messrs. Applegate and Co., Publishers, Cincinnati, Ohio. Price $1. Postage 15 cts.
"The Bible Student's Assistant."
By Editor
We would say to those who are sending in their orders for this work, that we shall as soon as possible issue a second edition, and then they will be promptly attended to. Let not any withhold their orders because the first edition is exhausted; for the second will soon be ready.
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