The second coming of Christ is a subject of great importance to the church. This is evident from the amount of testimony relative to it, in connection with the resurrection of the just and the Judgment, found both in the Old and New Testaments. The inspired writers, in their threatenings against the ungodly, in their words of hope and encouragement for the saints, and in their exhortations to repentance and holy living, hold up the great fact of the second coming of the Son of man, as that which should alarm and arouse, and also comfort the people of God.
Before Adam passed from the stage of life, Enoch, the seventh in the line of his descendants, proclaimed this doctrine in the ears of the impenitent, “Behold,” said he, “the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14. And as we pass from book to book through the Bible, we find that the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles, have made the same use of the doctrine; and in the very last book, John describes a coming day, when all classes and ranks of men, because they have not prepared for the coming of Christ, will call for rocks and mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the overwhelming glory of his presence, as he appears in the clouds of heaven. Rev. 6:14-17.
Christ’s coming is also held prominently forth in the sacred writings, as the time when the righteous will be rewarded. “When the chief Shepherd shall appear,” says Peter, “ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 1 Pet. 5:4. And Paul looks forward to the day of Christ’s appearing as the time when not only he, but all who love the appearing of their Lord, shall receive the crown of righteousness which is laid up for such. 2 Tim. 4:8.
Most frequently, however, is this great doctrine used as an inducement to repentance, watchfulness, prayer, and holy living. “Watch,” is the emphatic injunction of the Son of God in connection with the numerous declarations of his second coming in the gospels.
Paul exhorts to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:12, 13.
James says, “Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the Judge standeth before the door.” James 5:8, 9.
Peter says, “But the end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” 1 Pet. 4:7. And again, “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God.” 2 Pet. 3:11, 12.
Such is the use which holy men, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, have made of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ. Have not they, therefore, lost the spirit of the gospel, who openly contend against so prominent and weighty and precious a doctrine, or who even pass it by in silence? J. W.
The Scriptures.
THERE are some things that are worse for being old, but the Old Testament is not one of these things; and yet attempts are made to disparage it, because of its antiquity. A Michigan pastor speaking of its excellencies, remarks:
“Christ said, “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.” What scripture are we here exhorted to search? What scriptures did the Jews, the Apostles, and Christ have? Not the New, but the Old Testament. This, and this alone. This it was, even when not completed, that David and the ancients delighted to meditate in. This was a “lamp to their feet and a light to their path.” This was the “very pure word” they loved. This was the perfect law of God which “converted the soul.” Yes, this same Old Testament, so much now spoken against, as being out of date, behind the times, suited to a dark dispensation, and the childhood of the race. This, and no other, is the blessed old book of Scriptures we are required to search diligently to find eternal life. These are the Scriptures which young Timothy was taught and which were “able to make wise unto salvation.” And it is a pity that so many modern ministers and professing Christians presume to speak and write derogatorily of them. This dividing the Bible is unchristian-like, unapostolic, and baneful. The Bible is one and indivisible—a perfect whole. So let us have it. So let us study it. So let us practice it. The Old Testament cannot be understood without the New Testament, Nor can the New Testament be understood without the Old Testament.”
He Will Come Again.
J. H. Brookes, D. D., writes as follows:
“Rev. Mr. Bickersteth states, after careful examination, that at least one verse in thirty of the New Testament relates to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. If he had included allusions to the great event, as well as direct references, the proportions would have been more striking; for there are more than three hundred and twenty verses out of seven thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine found in the New Testament that point forward as with eager gesture to the future appearing of the Saviour. This fact is most suggestive of the high value placed upon the doctrine by the divine Spirit who dictated the word of God; and it stands in significant contrast with the strange silence of many of our preachers and writers respecting a topic of momentous importance in the estimation of the inspired penman.”
“When we find the doctrine of our Lord's divinity repeatedly affirmed in every book of the New Testament, and the doctrine of human redemption through his blood prevailing the gospel, and the doctrine of faith or belief in his name as essential to salvation stated about five hundred times, it is proper to infer that these doctrines possess special value to the mind of the Spirit. What shall we say, then, when we discover that the doctrine of our Lord's second coming is distinctly or incidentally mentioned, in one verse of every twenty-five perhaps in the New Testament? Can it be right to neglect such a truth? Can it be right to banish it from our thoughts and discourse as a forbidden subject? If our ministers and professors in the theological seminaries should rarely or never clearly announce the doctrine of Christ's true and proper divinity, or his atoning sacrifice for sin, or the necessity of faith in him, they would be justly regarded by every real Christian as sadly derelict in duty. And surely they are no less derelict when they fail to announce the second coming of the Lord.”
Strength Equal to Present Duty
You may pray for greater strength for greater duties, but your present strength is equal to your present duty. Your duty will be increased when, greater strength comes. You may see before you some desirable object of accomplishment, and may know your inability to accomplish it. While your strength remains unequal to the task it cannot be your duty to accomplish it, but you may pray God to give you strength to do it, and if, in answer to your prayer, needed strength comes, it may be your duty to go on and accomplish the work.—Wayside.
The United States in Prophecy.
On the “Probability that the United States would be a theme of Prophecy,” S. D. Baldwin, A. M., President of the Soule Female College, says:—
“The whole history of the world is, therefore, given prophetically at different times, and all points of great interest to the church are embraced in prophecy. There is not a single age since the oral prophets, but is the subject of their predictions; nor is any great nation, whose existence virtually affects the church, neglected by them, unless the United States be that nation. How can it be that all other nations affecting the cause of God, and man, should be specially and repeatedly predicted by prophets, and our country, which has done more good than all others, not be mentioned by the prophets.”
Verbal Vices.
INDULGENCE in verbal vices soon encourages corresponding vices in conduct. Let any one talk about any mean or vile practice with familiar tone, and do you suppose, when the opportunity occurs for committing the mean or vile act, he will be as strong against it as before! It is by no means an unknown thing that men of correct lives talk themselves into sensuality, crime, and perdition. Bad language easily runs into bad deeds. Select any iniquity you please, suffer yourself to converse in its dialect, to use its slang, to speak in the character of one who relishes it, and I need not tell how soon your moral sense will lower down to its level. Becoming intimate with it, you loose your horror of it. To be too much with bad men and in bad places is not only unwholesome to man's morality, but unfavorable to his faith and trust in God. It is not every man who could live as Lot did in Sodom, and then be fit to go out of it under God's convoy. This obvious principle, of itself, furnishes a reason not only for watching the tongue, but for keeping ourselves as much as possible out of the company of bad associates.—Sel.
Preach Plainly.
COWARDICE in a minister is baser than in a soldier, by how much our warfare is more honorable. A faithful reproof will get more love and honor at the last than a sinful and fawning dissimulation. Though Paul reproved the dissimulation of Peter, yet Peter praised the wisdom of Paul. A man can have no worse enemy in the world than a flattering and fawning minister, that dares not deal plainly with his conscience. We are in much more danger to wrong the souls of men by our oil than by our salt—by our praises than by our reproof.—Bishop Reynolds.
Measuring the Progress of Christian Missions
By Lyman Abbott
WHEN Agassiz wished to trace the progress of the glacier, he found it impossible to do so except by a method which enabled him to compare its conditions in successive seasons. For this purpose he placed a row of stakes in a glacier extending in a straight line from stakes firmly fixed among the rocks on either bank. Then by returning from year to year and comparing the relative position of his stakes, he could determine the rate and the nature of the progress which had been meantime made. It is by an analogous method that we must trace the progress which has been made in the world by and through the instrumentality of Christian missions. He who looks upon the stream can hardly persuade himself that anything is in progress of accomplishment. But he who is content to compare the state of the world where Christian missions have been at work with its condition where the gospel is still unknown, or the present resources and activity of Christian missions with their condition, a century ago, will readily perceive that the glacier is moving with a real and very vigorous progress, none the less that it is almost imperceptible to the casual and careless observer.—Rev. Lyman Abbott.
Don’t Forget Old Friends
NEVER give up old friends for new ones. Make new ones if you like, when you have learned that you can trust them, love them if you will, but remember the old ones still. Do not forget they have been tried and found true; they have been merry with you in times of pleasure, and when sorrow came to you they sorrowed also. No matter if they have gone down in the social scale and you up; no matter if poverty and misfortune have come to them, while prosperity came to you; are they any the less true for that? Are not their hearts as warm and tender if they do beat beneath homespun instead of velvet? Yes, kind reader, they are as true, loving and tender. Don't forget old friends.
The Signs of Our Time.
By James White
These are fast times. More history is now made in one year than was made in the days of our grandfathers in ten. The world is moving rapidly. And there is a general expectation that some great event is at hand. Some still persist that we are soon to enter upon the golden age, and that the dawnings of the temporal millennium are even discernible; and they console themselves with the delusive hope that this is the next great event. But the plainest facts, both of prophecy, and in the history of the church, especially for the last thirty years, are against the supposition that the world will soon be converted. Apostasy, infidelity, and crime mark the course of the nominal churches for the last thirty years, as they have rapidly glided down to, and onward with the world in the broad way to ruin.
That which constitutes a sign of the times, in a scriptural sense, must be a matter of prophecy. The prophetic pencil gives a sketch of what shall take place in the political and religious world near the end. Time shows the fulfillment. The student of prophecy compares the prophetic sketch with the facts of the history of our time, and, finding a perfect agreement, he knows that the end is nigh. The apostle Paul has given a perfect photograph of our time in these words:—
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:1–5.
Perils in matters of religion and morals are upon us. The last days have come. The present condition of the religious world constitutes a sign of the end. And the moral stupor and blindness on the part of the nominal churches as to the real condition of things is alarming. The mass of professors of the Christian faith are rapidly passing to the fatal point—“When they shall say Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them”—and they seem wholly unconscious of the fact.
The slumbering churches who are dreaming of peace and safety and future glory for the church in this mortal state are saying in the language of the prophet, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” “And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4:2, 3.
This is a prophecy of the popular sentiment of the church in the last days. Please turn and read Micah 4:1–5, and note the fact that this is just what the popular churches are saying, and that, too, at the very time when the nations are making the grandest preparations for war the world ever knew, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord by the prophet Joel: “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord! Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.” Joel 3:9–12.
These two prophecies, by two of the prophets of God, Micah and Joel, both point to the same time, and yet they are directly opposite. One speaks of peace, and the other of war. But the word of God is not yea and nay, by any means. The attentive reader will see that one is a prophecy of what men would say in the last days, while the other is what God says would be just before the last great day of battle.
Modern Spiritism, which had its birth only twenty-seven years since in the little village of Hydesville, N. Y., already embraces its millions, and boasts of its giant strength. Its bold apostles laugh at the sober wisdom of the great of past time, and the credulity of the good who have suffered for Christ; and very knowingly talk of progress. Progress, indeed! But which way? It will amount to quite a sum in the end whether, with the blessed Bible in our hands, and the Spirit of God upon our hearts, we progress toward Heaven, or whether we, under the influence of the spirits of darkness, put the Bible away from us, and banish God, Christ, the Judgment, and the reward of the pure and the good from our thoughts, and make rapid progress toward perdition. This ism, deceptive in its character, flattering in its promises and hopes, terrible in its tendencies, and powerful upon the minds of those who fully yield to it, is fearfully described upon the Sacred Page, as constituting a sign of the near approach of the day of God.
The spirits of spiritism are described in Rev. 16:14, 15, as the “spirits of devils working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” The coming of the Son of God and the Judgment of the great day, constitute the great event of the soon future. And the world-wide manifestations of demons whose visitations are in the names of the dead, are among the most prominent signs of our time.
That the second coming of Christ is to immediately follow the deceptive power of spirit manifestations is plainly affirmed by the inspired Paul. When speaking of Christ and of his coming he says: “Even Him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thess. 2:9–12.
The mass of spiritists have cast aside the Bible, and, feeling free from the restraint of the word of God, they have fast fallen into moral corruptions. But there are a few who may be called Christian spiritists, who are restrained for the present by the Christianity of the Sacred Scriptures. These are exceptions, while the majority are the rule. The word of God speaks in unrestricted terms of the rule. After Paul in his epistle to Timothy gives a photograph of our times, in his description of those who have a form of godliness in the last days, in which he speaks in general terms of eighteen distinct sins, he speaks more definitely of those who fall under the power of this most terrible ism in these words: “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts. Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.” 2 Tim. 3:6–9. Their day is coming. Their manifestations were to be just before, and a sign of the end. Their career is short. The end will come when they shall proceed no further.
The apostle Jude distinctly describes this corrupt state of things just prior to the coming of Christ and the Judgment of the great day, when the Lord shall punish this blaspheming people for their ungodly speeches and deeds: “But these speak evil of those things which they know not; but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
“These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame; wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.”
And the apostle Peter, looking forward to the moral corruptions of our times, faithfully describes the spirit and conduct of the mass of modern spiritists in these burning words: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you; whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”
“Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children.”
“These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and, The sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Pet. 2:1–3, 14, 17–22.
These closing words of the apostle deserve especial notice. They speak of the most terrible apostasy of which men have been guilty. They had once escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord; but like the filthy dog, and the swine, they accept, in turning from the Christianity of the Bible to the corruptions of spiritism, that which they cast off, and from which they were washed, when they first gave themselves to the Lord. And to what immeasurable depths some of these have sunk below common sinners. “It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness.” J. W.
Let it be Tested.
By James White
It is asserted by some bigoted sectarians, simply because we expose some of the old stale dogmas of popular orthodoxy, that our teachings tend to infidelity. One says that our books make more infidels than Tom Paine’s Age of Reason. And one of our papers was returned from a Y. M. C. A. reading room not long since on the ground that they did not think it proper to harbor infidel publications. Elder Smith of the Review and Herald proposes to test this matter, and will say under the caption
HO! YE INFIDELS!
“This is a serious charge if true; and we do well, therefore, to take some pains to ascertain the facts in the case. We have the impression, from our own observation, and from personal knowledge of quite a number of cases, that the statement is exactly the opposite of the truth; that, so far from making infidels, there is nothing like our views of the prophecies, the nature of man, &c., to rescue men from infidelity.”
“And to test the matter, we have a request to make, which we hope all those concerned will take a little pains to answer. It is this: that all those who have been brought by S. D. Adventist teachings from infidelity or skepticism in any of its forms to embrace Christianity, and accept the Bible as the book of God, will drop us a postal card to this Office, giving names, address, and date of conversion. It will not take much time for each to do this; and if they will attend to it at once, we shall have something tangible to show the objector how fast our doctrines are making infidels.”
Elder Smith’s suggestions are right and just. And we wish to add, that it would be a capital thing for those who have been rescued from infidelity to make pointed statements, of more or less length, touching their experiences in changing from skepticism to a settled faith in the word of God. Let all such report themselves to Elder Uriah Smith, Battle Creek, Mich., and as many give their experience for the future benefit of the cause as are disposed so to do. And we further suggest that the names and addresses of all infidels who can be induced to say that the doctrines of Seventh-day Adventists turned them from the Bible to infidelity, also be reported to Eld. Smith.
Let this matter be fully tested. The popular view of the immortality of the soul, and the conscious state of the dead, is the very foundation and soul of the monster, spiritism. And tens of thousands of the self-styled orthodox churches have been swept in by this whirlpool of destruction, spiritism, whose foundation and strength is found in the creeds of these very churches. Who, then, are making infidels? Who? J. W.
The Camp-Meetings.
By James White
We give this week Elder Canright’s report in the Review and Herald of the excellent camp-meeting in Indiana, the last one of the season. Elder Smith sums up in the same paper the success of the camp-meeting season in the following cheering words:
Fifteen camp-meetings in all have been held, twelve of which we have attended. We have seen much good accomplished; but the full results of the meetings we shall know only when, from the eternal world, we look back upon these scenes of earthly labors. Probably not far from six thousand Sabbath-keepers, in all, have attended these different meetings. And most of these expressed verbally a determination to make a better record in the Christian life for time to come, than in the past. If all these resolutions are carried out, what an army of workers will there be in the field the coming year; and what results may we not expect from their labors.
In nearly every Conference, notwithstanding the scarcity of laborers, there has been an apparent growth. Forty-four new churches have been received into the various Conferences, eleven strong men have been ordained to the work of the ministry, and a good number have for the first time received license to present the truth to the people. Every meeting at which it has been our privilege to be present has closed with a triumphant influence in favor of the truth and the cause. There have been, in some instances, seasons of darkness and periods of labor; as it would be very singular if the enemy did not at such important meetings make his heaviest assaults upon us; but light has broken in, freedom has been gained, and victory has turned on the side of the Lord’s cause. We believe that invariably the meetings have had a reviving influence upon the cause in the various States, and those who attended have gone from them with new hope and courage, to labor with fresh and increasing ardor in the cause we love.
And the effect upon those without, so far as we have been able to learn, has been good. Some, of course, can look upon the work of S. D. Adventists only through the colored and distorting goggles of prejudice and opposition. But the more solid and sensible portion of the people in the vicinity of the various meetings, have been impressed with the good order maintained, the spirit of sobriety manifested, and the earnest presentation of the points of our faith. And their manner has seemed to say, in as plain language as words, Here is something worthy of our attention and investigation. So ears are everywhere open to listen to these things, and calls are everywhere rising on the air for the living preacher to come and tell them what these things mean. The work is growing upon our hands, and the field is spreading out before us into marvelous proportions. The papers have been full and favorable in their notices of the meetings, thus bringing this movement so prominently to the attention of the people, that we cannot, henceforth, do our work in a corner if we would. In all this we acknowledge the hand of the Lord of the harvest, and the leader of all the armies of his truth.
With the most unfeigned and lively pleasure, we think of the many new acquaintances we have formed from Maine to Iowa, during these meetings, and the many words of good cheer, and offices of kindness received from them. They have our thanks. Never before have we been able to appreciate so fully what the truth is doing in rallying so many noble souls around its banner. Not to boast, but to honor the precious truth of God, and to magnify his name, we boldly say that we do not believe any cause having no greater number of adherents, can show such an amount of moral worth as has5been developed by this message. We have been deeply impressed with the fact that we are seeing a fulfillment of the words uttered by the seer of Patmos, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Some thousands of them we already have seen. Others we shall be happy to see, if the providence of God so permit. And soon we hope to meet them all clothed in fadeless robes of light around the great white throne.
We were with Elder Smith in ten of the eastern camp-meetings, which were all seasons of great freedom in preaching the word, and social services. These meetings all closed triumphantly. Not so with the California Camp-meeting. Much good was indeed accomplished at this meeting, but by the hardest effort. We never met a people with so little of the spirit of labor and care for souls on them as at the California Camp-meeting. Men and women were reached, and at the last of the meeting a little army of youth and children were moved. But by the hardest effort these were brought, as it were, right over the heads of their parents, and the church generally. After passing by four large camp-meetings of our earnest eastern people, where there is perfect union and confidence, in order to meet with our brethren in this State, we were poorly prepared to meet the condition of things existing here. A great work is yet to be done for our people in California, which they themselves must be able to see when contrasting their own condition with that of our more devoted and trusting people across the plains. It is the privilege of this people, however, to return to the Lord that he may return to them, so that their next year’s camp-meeting may be the best of the fifteen.
J. W.
Laborers in the Field.
By James White
The call for laborers from all parts of the eastern field were never as urgent as at the present time. Elder Canright has attended Camp-meetings in Kansas, Northern Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, and sees and feels the wants of the cause, and is laying his plans to accomplish the most good possible. When in Vermont he felt that he must labor there, and when meeting old friends in Michigan, the fruits of his earliest labors, and listening to their entreaties, he felt that he must labor in Michigan.
This is all right. How can a true minister feel otherwise? When he meets with a people who feel their need of help, and are willing and anxious to be helped, it is his highest joy to labor for and with them. And it is not his duty to labor where his efforts are not properly estimated.
Those who feel “rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”; and know not that they are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” cannot understand the anxieties and labors of a true minister. This, however, is the present feeling and condition of many of our people, especially of those on the Pacific Coast. A more self-reliant people cannot be found on the globe, and it is no marvel that feelings of self-confidence should affect their religious feelings and course. But little more can be done on this coast until there is a turning to the Lord, and a general feeling of consecration and sacrifice comes into the church.
Elder Canright lays out his work in Michigan like a man that is in earnest. He evidently sees the work to be done, and cheerfully puts in at the hardest place. His reports, and plans, and words of faith and courage, have been great support to the writer in passing through deep trials. Under the caption, Meetings in Michigan, he writes for the Review and Herald:
“There are so many churches in Michigan that it would take one year and a half to spend one Sabbath in a place; hence this is out of the question. Therefore, we shall have to appoint general meetings at the most accessible points, where two or more churches can come together for a two or three days’ meeting. If the friends will make a strong effort, and all attend these meetings, much that needs to be done can be accomplished by them. Then a business meeting can be held during the week with each church to arrange Systematic Benevolence and any other necessary matters. I hope that Bro. Root, the President of the Conference, will be with me in these meetings.
“I wish to call the attention of the brethren and sisters to the objects which we shall endeavor to accomplish by these meetings, so that they may co-operate with us in carrying them out.
“1. We shall endeavor to convince and decide that class of persons—some of whom are to be found near all our churches—who are friendly and, perhaps, investigating. We ask our people to make a special effort to get all such to the meetings.
“2. We shall do our utmost to reach and gather in the unconverted children of our people. We have been made to feel deeply upon this point of late. If the right course is taken, and taken in time, a large share of these dear children and youth can be saved to Christ and to the cause. But if they are suffered to grow up, go out into the world, and form other associations, before they are converted, they are then generally beyond reach. We ask our brethren to make this a subject of prayer and preparation, and to bring all their children with them to the meetings. Have faith in God, and in the power of his grace, and see what he will do for you.
“3. If any have fallen under the power of temptation, are in trial, or have even given up the truth, we shall do all in our power to rescue them. Often these cases are not as hopeless as the church imagine. Let us never despair of any poor soul who has the least love for the truth burning in his heart. Often the very thing that is needed to rekindle the flame in these hearts is a manifestation of kindness, interest, and love, on the part of the members of the church. But, alas! this is often the last thing which those who think they are in the light are willing to do. They find it much easier to censure and condemn them, and let them go to ruin. Let us remember the parable of the lost sheep, the prodigal son, and others, bearing upon this point. Go to these brethren, get them to the meetings if possible, and let us see what the Lord will do for them. Do not be tardy nor faint-hearted in this work. I have seen the Lord work powerfully upon such cases. I believe he will help us now.
“4. There will be an opportunity for baptism at each meeting if any desire it; we will also attend to the ordinances. Let preparations be made for them.
“5. We wish to examine the church records and the s. s. books, to see that they are properly kept, to ordain elders and deacons where it is necessary, and to see that the fittest persons are put in as clerks and s. s. treasurers.
“6. We wish to re-organize S. S., obtain payment on our periodicals, and new subscriptions for them, pledges and payment of pledges on the different enterprises needing help among us, supply the people with books, &c.
“7. We want to see at these meetings the scattered ones who do not usually attend Sabbath meetings.”
The very labor which Elder Canright lays out to do in Michigan is needed in all our Conferences. But there is work in this plan that at least one-half of our ministers will not take hold of, and thoroughly carry out. Just this kind of work will have to be done in this western field when our brethren feel their need, and are ready to fully co-operate with those who have the spirit of labor. J. W.
Our School.
By James White
The Battle Creek College is worthy of the support of all our people, and the patronage of those who wish to prepare their minds by study for lives of usefulness. Our people from the Atlantic to the Pacific should prayerfully consider the matter of sending their children to our school where they may be under the influence of the present truth, rather than to send them to schools where there are influences to lead them away from God and his truth. There are men at the head of our institutions at Battle Creek who will not yield to those influences which are ever manifested in lowering the standard of morals and religion.
But we have taken up our pen to say that something should be done immediately for a hundred young men among us whose minds are being exercised on the subject of preaching. Some of these are nearly or quite destitute of means, and are hesitating, and losing time for the want of proper encouragement and a little help. A young Dane of promise in San Francisco, who expects at no far-distant day to go to Denmark to teach the word of God, asked our opinion of his going to our school at Battle Creek. We at once replied, Go, and we will help you.
What we mean by this is, that this young man who gives himself to the Lord, as one of his missionaries to the world, should at least be helped to the amount of his board and tuition at our school one year. And if others do not feel it a duty to assist, we will cheerfully do it alone. If this brother meets the matters of fare to Michigan, books, and clothing, he will do well. A fund should be immediately raised to assist first-class young men who need help, to prepare for the ministry.
The several State Conference Committees should take this matter in hand. We recommend that they immediately correspond with Prof. S. Brownsberger, Eld. Uriah Smith, and Dr. J. H. Kellogg, all of Battle Creek, Mich., on this subject. All cases should be referred to these brethren, and their decision obtained before giving encouragement of help. It is only the clearest cases, where full sanction could be given by our Conferences, that should be encouraged. But while we should be on our guard against impositions, we should be exceedingly earnest to secure all clear cases.
Let a fund be raised at once to help worthy young men who need help. We give $100 for this object, and Mrs. W. gives $100 also, and we urgently invite others to help. Help is wanted now. If our people could realize the importance of immediate action on such matters they would feel very unhappy in holding their means from the Lord's cause. J. W.