DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: For five years I have been trying to keep God's whole law. I have been a reader of the REVIEW during that time, and have received so much comfort and encouragement from the precious testimonies of the scattered ones, dear to me because of our one faith, that I have desired to add my testimony, hoping that I, too, might give comfort and good cheer to others. Realizing my inability I have refrained from so-doing. But when I behold God's goodness so manifested towards me, and the little church of Sabbath-keepers here, I have thought were I not to write rocks around us would cry out. Here I wish to add a little of my experience. Previous to my embracing the truth, I was called to pass through trials of the deepest kind. This was to lead me to the Lord. Soon after embracing the truth, God again laid his afflicting hand upon me. This was to draw me nearer to him, and I praise his holy name to-day for the chastisement; for now I believe that I am his child, and he my Heavenly Father.
From my earliest religious experience I had impressions of the truth. At the age of fifteen I was sprinkled and united with the M. E. church, and continued a member fifteen years. During that time I wanted to be wholly the Lord's, except one year, when I thought I was tempted above what I was able to bear; but God sustained me. This gave me a desire to search for the truth. I then sought, and I bless God I found it. Truly “he led me in a way I knew not,” and oh, how my heart rejoices to-day that my name is numbered among the persecuted ones.
A sister came here from Iowa, to reside, who gave me reading on present truth. I soon saw the light and hastened to turn my feet into God's testimonies. Then we began to labor together. In his own good time a messenger came; five were baptized, four of whom became convinced of the truth by reading; the other had heard preaching before. The result was, the seed sowed then by Bro. Steward has since sprung up and brought forth fruit. Shortly after he left, four came out from the Christian church and confessed the truth as it is in Christ, and now three more are rejoicing in the truth that they then heard preached. One, an old man over seventy years of age, says God's Spirit sent the truth to his heart; and it must be that alone, for he was so prejudiced, that he would cry out, not exactly as one of old, “Art thou come to torment us before the time;” but, “Old lady, will you let me alone!” His companion wrestled with God, and decided to serve him, let her husband do as he would. While making the necessary preparation for the Sabbath, she noticed that he was bringing in more wood than usual, and wondered at it, when he said to her, “To-morrow is the Sabbath; we must prepare for it.” Others may imagine her happiness, if they can. They are so happy; it makes them appear young again. He has thrown away his tobacco, after using it over sixty years. His dear old face beams with joy, and his gray locks floating above it are a crown of glory.
I heard last week that a man and his wife had begun to keep the Sabbath,—they were very wicked,—the man an inebriate. Others are deeply interested, and well nigh persuaded of the truth. Among the number investigating is the M. E. minister who preaches here. He seems to be sincere, and wants the truth. He has been reading two weeks, and says he has no objections to raise. It is nearly a year since we began to hold semi-monthly prayer and conference meetings, and have never met, however few, but what the Lord has verified his promise, that where two or three are met together in my name there will I be in the midst. Strangers coming in would say the Lord was with us.
Some five or six weeks ago, four brethren and sisters (one brother formerly our leader) came from Lake City, Minn., and one brother from Prescott, and a sister from Trimbelle, met with us, making seventeen in all, besides the children. Satan had crept in unawares, but we had a refreshing time. Two weeks later we met again. A lady present, over forty years of age, who had never spoken in meeting before, spoke with freedom, and one dear aged brother who led the meeting became so earnest confessing his fault in using tobacco, and asking the prayers of the brethren and sisters to assist him in overcoming, that the sympathizing tear freely flowed. We could all have united in singing the hymn, “Thou God of truth and love.” Two weeks later, bringing it to last Sabbath, a German minister belonging to the Christian denomination preached for us. He asked permission to do so, and we thought best to grant his request. He is confirmed in the truth, and will shortly live it out. His wife has lately begun to keep the Sabbath. One would have thought him to have been a Sabbath-keeper for years. It was truly a feast to all of our souls.
Yours in hope of eternal life, E. D. C. GREEN.
Maiden Rock, Wis.
Uniting With the People of God
It is a noble thing to unite yourself to the people of God. And if your heart is in it, if your life is pledged and consecrated to the glory of God, it is the best thing that can befall you.
Results of Labor at Victory
By Jennie Messersmith
From Sister Messersmith.
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: As some who have been acquainted with my stay at the Institute would be glad to hear from me, I take pleasure in sending a few lines for the REVIEW. After five weeks of earnest labor among us, our much-esteemed Bro. Sanborn has left us. His preaching was the first on the third angel's message and truths connected therewith that we have ever had at Victory; and we, as a little band, have prized it most highly. As the result of his labors a few have decided to go with us to the kingdom, while others are halting, almost persuaded, yet not quite willing to give up the world. The prize to them seems beautiful, but the charms of this poor world, for the present, eclipses that beauty. There is another class who hardened their hearts, and would not listen to the precious word of God; but this is only in accordance with the sure word of prophecy, that "Many are called but few chosen." Are we the chosen of the Lord, dear friends? Not yet, for "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." Thus far are we chosen when we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow in his footsteps.
Have we heard that voice in the sound of the third angel's message? Yes, verily, as much as in any other portion of the Scriptures, and are trying to follow in his footsteps; but oh! what a responsibility is resting upon us. I feel my need of a Saviour, and my daily cry is, Lord, save, or I perish! In my own strength I am perfect weakness; but I hear that voice, "Follow on to know the Lord," and my strength is renewed, and I press onward toward the city. Soon Jesus is coming, and I want a citizenship there. Shall I, with all the dear friends whom I have met in the last year, be ready? This remains for us to decide. Let us not loiter by the way, but choose the better part that cannot be taken away. The enemy of all truth is on our track; but we can secure an heavenly inheritance if we perseveringly try; Jesus is willing and invites us to come. Holy angels are watching to welcome us on, and shall we be less interested than the heavenly host? Oh! fatal delay to those who trifle with proffered mercy, and slumber on the brink of destruction. Soon the door of mercy will have closed, and shall we be found standing without, begging for admittance when too late? Oh! no; dear friends, let this not be our fate. Time is very short, but we can improve each moment. If we have been slothful in the past, we can be diligent in the future. When I review my experience in the past, my soul cries out in anguish at the many failures, but I know it will not do to cease my efforts. This is the way to eternal life, and I must walk therein.
Pray for me, that I may keep pace with the people of God, and when Jesus comes be found worthy of a place among them.
Yours in hope.
JENNIE MESSERSMITH.
Worthy of Notice.
“And I gave unto Isaac, Jacob and Esau; and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.” Josh. xxiv, 4.
This passage is very significant. Esau had his inheritance first. Indeed, Jacob has not yet had his at all. Shall we say that God loved Esau better? Far from it. Esau was a man of this world; Jacob, a stranger in this world, having his hope in the world to come. Esau must have his good things now, Jacob was willing to wait. So God provided Esau with what this world can give, and placed it in his hands at once. But Jacob he sent down into Egypt, and there he died. Esau has had his inheritance and has done with it forever. Jacob has not yet received his, but when he gets it he shall possess it through endless ages. Who made the wiser choice, Jacob or Esau? Esau inherited Mount Seir, and Jacob died a stranger in a strange land. Esau was poor, though he seemed to be very rich. Jacob was infinitely rich, though he appeared to have nothing.
Envy.
This is one of the fruits of the flesh, i. e., of man's fallen nature. It is one of the meanest and most despicable of all those qualities that make up the carnal mind. It is that principle which makes men unhappy to witness the prosperity of others. It is that which would pull others down lest they be more honored or happier than ourselves. It is that which would make others wretched because we are. It would mar and blast the happiness of others because we do not wish them to be better off than ourselves. It would even grudge them a share in the blessings ourselves possess, lest we be no longer able to look down upon them as less favored than ourselves. It is a base, contemptible passion, without one redeeming feature, or one particle of excuse for its existence. It is a compound of pride, selfishness and cruelty.
Saul is a striking example of an envious man. He was made wretched by the honors conferred on David, 1 Sam. xviii. His son Jonathan is one of the most noble examples of a man raised by the grace of God above this mean and hateful quality of fallen nature. David's advancement was wholly at Jonathan's expense. Jonathan knew this perfectly, but never for a moment did one selfish trait of this kind manifest itself in him. The spirit of envious Saul can never have an entrance into the kingdom of God. We must be as free from it as was noble Jonathan. What the grace of God did for him, it can do for us.
The Benefit of Affliction.
AFFLICTION is of necessity the cause of anguish to men. For this reason God who is full of tender compassion, does not willingly afflict. But it is nevertheless something indispensable in the dealings of God with men. The chastening seems grievous, but yields afterward the peaceable fruit of righteousness. If we would always keep in the path of duty, and if we would always keep our hearts with the utmost diligence, a large share of our afflictions no doubt would be prevented. But we are always in danger of departing from God. It is not always because we have done this, but often because we are about to do it that the hand of affliction comes upon us. By the blows of his rod, God calls us to think what we are doing, or what we are about to do. How he recalls us to ourselves by the anguish of the rod. If one blow is sufficient, he does not strike the second. But sometimes there is no help for us till we are beaten into the dust.
Affliction is God's furnace, where he separates our gold from its dross. No wonder we feel small after our chastening. We discover that when the dross is gone there is very little left. Yet how much more valuable is that little than the whole mass as it was before. Affliction is God's means of humbling men. They should, however, humble themselves, and shun the heavy blow. Affliction wears men from the world. But if they could be persuaded to give it up of their own accord, it would please God better. Affliction breaks the proud, stubborn heart. But this might be spared if the heart would yield of its own free will. If we would do what God requires, we might escape the most of his chastenings. But as God has so much of our work to do for us, let us be grateful that he in tender pity does not give us up to ruin.
The Gold Panic.
By W. C. G.
COVETOUSNESS is enumerated in prophecy as among the characteristic sins of the last days; and the prophetic portions of Scripture which describe the condition of the world just prior to the coming of the Son of Man, give us to understand that the love of money is to be a ruling element in the nature of the majority. As the prophet says, “From the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness.”
These prophecies are freshly brought to mind by the recent gold and stock panic in Wall street, New York; a place where exhibitions of this insane greed for gold are of every-day occurrence. The spirit of speculation which characterizes those who conduct business in that gambling mart, produced a panic, in which fortunes were made and lost; and in the frenzy consequent upon the discovery of financial ruin, one or two suicides followed.
The New York World thus describes the scene:
The crash in stocks soon after noon set the whole neighborhood in a fury. As stocks had previously stiffened (some quotations being ten per cent better than the closing ones of Tuesday), false, feverish hopes had been engendered, which suddenly collapsed and were smothered in what threatened to be general ruin. Then the long room was the arena of a battle of demons. The men who went in there and swarmed together within the enclosure at the west end, behaved, for half an hour or more, after the manner of utter lunatics; shouts, yells, snarls, yelps, and howls, were emitted from human lungs, until the place resounded like a den of infuriated beasts of prey. Hats were swung aloft, clenched fists were raised, memorandum books fluttered over the heads of the throng, and bids were shrieked out with all the despairing might of the voices of speculators to whom the chances of a minute were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In that half hour of frenzy, the faces of men grew brutal, their hearts turned cold, their lips white, their foreheads red and purple. Out and into the den they rushed, chewing their moustaches, plucking their beards with nervous fingers; biting their cigars in two with savage teeth. They ran against and cursed each other. A few emerged completely exhausted and broken down. Others assumed a haggard hilarity, and emitted occasional reckless jests.
We are informed by those who are familiar with the place, that such scenes are of frequent occurrence. Men who stand high in the world and in the church, under the influence of such excitement become unscrupulous and reckless, and principle and honor are lost sight of.
But while these descriptions are painful, to the watchful student of prophecy they but furnish another link in the chain of fulfilled prophecy, which indicates the near approach of our Deliverer. Oh, may we be ready!
W. C. G.
The Rest of Christ.
A RECENT writer asserts that Christ entered into his rest on the day of his resurrection. Yet the whole work of his priesthood still lay before him untouched. That it is not a mere rest to be a priest, is shown in the fact that Levitical priests, whose work was of necessity continued on the Sabbath, and whose responsibility was very small, compared with that of Jesus Christ, are said, by their work, to profane the Sabbath. Surely, the time for Jesus' rest had not come when he was raised from the dead.
Advent Expectation Among Russian Dissenters
ROBERT PINKERTON, in his work entitled, “The Present State of the Greek Church in Russia,” speaks thus of a set of dissenters from the national church called “The Du Robertsi:”
“In like manner, in regard to the second coming of the Saviour, they say, that judging from the events which now take place in the world, we may expect him soon.”
This work was published in 1815. Thus it appears that in 1815, there was a religious body in Russia, distinguished by the idea that the advent of Christ is at hand.
The Sabbatism.
“THERE remaineth a Sabbatism [i. e. a keeping of the Sabbath] to the people of God.” This must relate to one of two things. 1. It is the antitype of the seventh-day Sabbath, kept by God at creation; or 2. it is the observance of the weekly Sabbath in the future kingdom of God. But it cannot be the antitype of the weekly Sabbath, for that Sabbath is to last as long as the new earth, and hence can have no antitype; for an eternal type is a self-contradiction, inasmuch as there is no room for an antitype. But this Sabbatism must be the keeping of the ancient Sabbath, for we do know from Isaiah’s testimony that it shall be observed in the future rest of the saints.
Advent-Christian Times and Voice of the Prophets
NAME CHANGED.—The paper formerly known as the Voice of the West, now comes to us bearing the title, Advent-Christian Times and Voice of the Prophets. The name is more significant than the old one, and we hope it will prove worthy of its title.
Unsigned Andersonville Prisoner Article
Some one has sent an article to the Office, consisting of comments on the courage, perseverance and hope, of a poor soldier who was a prisoner at Andersonville; but as no name is signed, the piece will not be published.
Appointments.
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
THE next Quarterly Meeting of the church at Hundred Mile Grove, Wis., will commence Thursday evening, Oct. 28; meetings to continue till Wednesday evening, Nov. 3. Eld. Sanborn has made arrangements to attend these meetings, Providence permitting. We hope to see a general attendance. N. M. JORDON.
THE next Monthly Meeting of the Jackson, Tompkins and Parma churches will be held at Parma, the first Sabbath in November. W. C. G.
PROVIDENCE permitting, I will meet with the churches as follows: Owosso, Oct. 16, 17; Alaiedon, Oct. 23, 24; Greenbush, evening of 28th (Will Bro. Richmond meet me at St. Johns the 28th, at noon?) Ithaca, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1; Alma, Nov. 7, 8. J. BYINGTON.
The P. O. address of Eld. D. M. Canright is Washington, Iowa.
RECEIPTS.
For Review and Herald.
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General Conference Missionary Fund.
Eliza Burbee $1.00, Church at New Sharon, R. I., 10.00, Church at Peterboro. N. H., 45.00, Church at North Liberty, Ind., 24.00.
Michigan Tent and Ceresco Camp-meeting Expenses.
Alex Carpenter $5.00.
Michigan Conference Fund.
Church at Genoa, $20.75, Church at Newton 5.00.
Foreign Missionary Fund.
Eliza Burbee $1.00, Robert Tifft 2.00, Henry Priest 3.00, E Holly 1.00, C Sweet 2.00, L A Bowman 1.00, E Harris 5.00.
Cash Received on Account.
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Books Sent by Mail.
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