It is interesting as well as profitable to trace the practical outworkings of any theological system. The doctrine of the conscious state of the dead, and the immediate ascension of the righteous to heaven, is a heresy that bore a conspicuous part in the great apostasy that resulted in the development of the "Mother of harlots." What were the immediate results, at about the commencement of the fifth century, may be learned from the following extract which we introduce from Gibbon. It may be urged that the worship of saints and relics is not a necessary result of a belief in the consciousness of the dead; as many hold that belief, who will not join the Papist in the invocation of saints. But while we admit this, let us ask, If the scriptural sentiment of the sleep of the dead had never been obscured and lost sight of, and if mankind had ever believed, as the Bible teaches, that when a man dies he knows not anything, till he is restored to life again, where would have been the practice under consideration? It could not have existed. If there had been no such foundation, such a superstructure never could have arisen: if there had existed no such root, we never should have beheld an ungainly tree, springing therefrom. In this doctrine therefore it has its root and foundation; and we may be assured that a good tree doth not bring forth evil fruit, nor a fountain send forth sweet water and bitter.
From "Gibbon's Decline and Fall," chap. xxviii, secs. iii & iv, we take the following:
"The innumerable miracles, of which the tombs of the martyrs were the perpetual theater, revealed to the pious believer the actual state and constitution of the invisible world; and his religious speculations appeared to be founded on the firm basis of fact and experience. Whatever might be the condition of vulgar souls, in the long interval between the dissolution and the resurrection of their bodies, it was evident that the superior spirits of the saints and martyrs did not consume that portion of their existence in silent and inglorious sleep. It was evident (without presuming to determine the place of their habitation, or the nature of their felicity) that they enjoyed the lively and active consciousness of their happiness, their virtue, and their powers; and that they had already secured the possession of their eternal reward. The enlargement of their intellectual faculties surpassed the measure of the human imagination; since it was proved by experience, that they were capable of hearing and understanding the various petitions of their numerous votaries; who, in the same moment of time, but in the most distant parts of the world, invoked the name and assistance of Stephen or of Martin. The confidence of their petitioners was founded on the persuasion, that the saints, who reigned with Christ, cast an eye of pity upon earth; that they were warmly interested in the prosperity of the Catholic Church; and that the individuals, who imitated the example of their faith and piety, were the peculiar and favorite objects of their most tender regard. Sometimes, indeed, their friendship might be influenced by considerations of a less exalted kind: they viewed, with partial affection, the places which had been consecrated by their birth, their residence, their death, their burial, or the possession of their relics. The meaner passions of pride, avarice, and revenge, may be deemed unworthy of a celestial breast; yet the saints themselves condescended to testify their grateful approbation of the liberality of their votaries; and the sharpest bolts of punishment were hurled against those impious wretches, who violated their magnificent shrines, or disbelieved their supernatural power. Atrocious indeed must have been the guilt, and strange would have been the scepticism of those men if they had obstinately resisted the proofs of a divine agency, which the elements, the whole range of the animal creation, and even the subtle and invisible operations of the human mind, were compelled to obey. The immediate, and almost instantaneous effects that were supposed to follow the prayer, or the offence, satisfied the Christians of the ample measure of favor and authority which the saints enjoyed in the presence of the Supreme God; and it seemed almost superfluous to inquire whether they were continually obliged to intercede before the throne of grace; or whether they might not be permitted to exercise, according to the dictates of their benevolence and justice, the delegated powers of their subordinate ministry. The imagination, which had been raised by a painful effort to the contemplation and worship of the Universal cause, eagerly embraced such inferior objects of adoration as were more proportioned to its gross conceptions and imperfect faculties. The sublime and simple theology of the primitive Christians was gradually corrupted; and the monarchy of heaven, already clouded by metaphysical subtleties, was degraded by the introduction of a popular mythology, which tended to restore the reign of polytheism.
"As the objects of religion were gradually reduced to the standard of the imagination, the rites and ceremonies were introduced that seemed most powerfully to affect the senses of the vulgar. If, in the beginning of the fifth century, Tertullian, or Lactantius, had been suddenly raised from the dead, to assist at the festival of some popular saint, or martyr, they would have gazed with astonishment, and indignation, on the profane spectacle, which had succeeded to the pure and spiritual worship of a Christian congregation. As soon as the doors of the church were thrown open, they must have been offended by the smoke of incense, the perfume of flowers, and the glare of lamps, and tapers, which diffused, at noon-day, a gaudy, superfluous, and, in their opinion, a sacrilegious light. If they approached the balustrade of the altar, they made their way through the prostrate crowd, consisting, for the most part, of strangers and pilgrims, who had resorted to the city on the vigil of the feast; and who already felt the strong intoxication of fanaticism, and perhaps of wine. Their devout kisses were imprinted on the walls and pavement of the sacred edifice; and their fervent prayers were directed, whatever might be the language of their church, to the bones, the blood, or the ashes of the saint, which were usually concealed, by a linen or silken veil, from the eyes of the vulgar. The Christians frequented the tombs of the martyrs, in the hope of obtaining, from their powerful intercession, every sort of spiritual, but more especially of temporal, blessings. They implored the preservation of their health, or the cure of their infirmities; the fruitfulness of their barren wives, or the safety and happiness of their children. Whenever they undertook any distant or dangerous journey, they requested that the holy martyrs would be their guides and protectors on the road; and if they returned without having experienced any misfortune, they again hastened to the tombs of the martyrs, to celebrate, with grateful thanksgivings, their obligations to the memory and relics of those heavenly patrons. The walls were hung round with symbols of the favors which they had received; eyes, and hands, and feet, of gold and silver: and edifying pictures, which could not long escape the abuse of indiscreet or idolatrous devotion, represented the image, the attributes, and the miracles of the tutelar saint. The same uniform original spirit of superstition might suggest, in the most distant ages and countries, the same methods of deceiving the senses of mankind: but it must ingenuously be confessed, that the ministers of the Catholic church imitated the profane model, which they were impatient to destroy. The most respectable bishops had persuaded themselves that the ignorant rustics would more cheerfully renounce the superstitions of Paganism, if they found some resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity. The religion of Constantine achieved, in less than a century, the final conquest of the Roman empire: but the victors themselves were insensibly subdued by the arts of their vanquished rivals."
In this we have revealed to us also another prime cause of the decline and corruption of the church: it was the persuasion of those "respectable bishops" that the "ignorant rustics" would more cheerfully renounce the superstitions of Paganism if they found some resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity. Conformity to the customs of those around, for the sake of gaining their favor, or of making proselytes, ever has been and ever will be while practiced, the bane of the church. So it appears that in the early ages of the church, the converting principle was not all on the side of Christianity. Christianity and Paganism met face to face; they made mutual concessions; and the Papacy was the result. It was during this interchange of institutions and sentiments that the "festival of the sun," took its station in the church.
So at the present day. The nominal churches talk of converting the world, and appear to know not that the world has converted them. Instead of raising the world to the standard of the teachings and precepts of the gospel, they have gradually lowered the standard to a level with the world, until we have arrived to the strange pass, that almost the surest way to prosperity and success in worldly schemes, and worldly business, is through the portals of the church.
Let us, brethren, derive tangible instruction from these facts. Let us raise the standard so high that those who conform to it will be saved, though by doing this we should gain but few, rather than bring it so low that though all the world should flock around it, they would all be lost. Let us strive for pure, simple, apostolic religion.
AN INSIDE VIEW OF NOMINAL ADVENTISM.
By James White
SOME have supposed that we were censorious and illiberal in our remarks on the condition of those professed Advent believers who reject the present truth. The following view was presented by Dr. N. Field, and published in the Expositor, after the "North Western Christian Conference" held in Kingsbury, Ind., last August. Among the preachers in attendance were Joseph Marsh, E. Miller jr., Y. Higgins, J. Howell, J. C. Bywater, and L. H. Chase, in all fifteen. Dr. F. says:
"I regret to say that I was not very favorably impressed with the aspect of affairs. With a few exceptions, I found the preachers in a bad humor with each other. The disorganizing spirit was conspicuously prominent on that occasion. As usual, every man liveth to himself, and is a church to himself. The spirit of Christ was evidently below zero. Moderation, kindness and courtesy were at a heavy discount. Meekness and charity characteristic of the true Christian were subordinate to self-esteem and intolerance. With people who are looking for the Lord every day we expect to find every christian grace, and we ought to find them."
After speaking of the personal difficulties, the "bickerings, evil speakings," and enmity existing between the ministers, he says:
"It is evident that the standard of piety is too low. We are rich in theory, but bankrupt in practice. We need practical religion. We are too much addicted to dogmatizing, too disorganizing, too intolerant. We get mad with each other about nothing, fly off in a tangent, and live in a state of repulsion. There are too many hobbies, and too many riding them to death at the expense of the harmony and prosperity of our churches. To doubt or reject a crude and undigested notion, gives offence to some enthusiast, and not infrequently splits the church. We must permit all sorts of things to be forced upon us as articles of faith, or be damned. Our churches must be converted into debating societies for the sake of free discussion. Liberty must be preserved at the expense of decorum and good order. No matter what a brother preaches or writes, we must be silent under pain of provoking his displeasure."
"Thus we drift along, looking for the coming of the Lord! I think it fortunate for some that he delays his coming. We must have time to reform, to37settle difficulties and make peace. We need missionaries for the conversion of Adventists to practical godliness, to purity of life, to charity, and to brotherly kindness. Before we can expect to convict sinners we must convert ourselves."
Again he says, "But instead of the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, variance, emulation, envy, strife, and divers other works of the flesh seemed to cut a prominent figure. Old grudges and chronic heart-burnings existed, incurable by any remedy known to the gospel."
This last sentence is decidedly erroneous. Those who stand in the grace of the gospel walk "with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love: endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." And to such are promised the gifts and influence of the Spirit "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." Eph. iv. But those who deny the gifts and influence of the Holy Spirit cannot expect to enjoy its benefits or bear its fruits. And he must be blinded as to the nature and power of the gospel, who says that the gospel knows no remedy for these things, when in truth those in whom such works are manifested reject and deny the gospel means of unity in faith and Spirit. As darkness necessarily exists where light is absent, so "the works of the flesh" will be manifest where "the fruit of the Spirit" is not.
We hope our brethren and sisters will look at the above picture, and contrast with it the conference season just passed, where love, joy, peace, and sweet union prevailed; and we think they will be ready to join us in thanksgiving to God that he has not left us without a witness of the faithfulness of his promise "in the last days." And we also hope the church will gladly receive the correction of the Spirit, and cherish the gifts conferred till we shall "come behind in no gift," but "grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."
J. H. W.
“EXHORT ONE ANOTHER.”
By Jesse Dorcas
“Be ye therefore ready, also.” Ready for what? For the day of trouble, for the breaking through of houses, for the thickening up of the perilous times of the last days, for the vengeance of our God, the seven last plagues, poured out unmixed upon all, indiscriminately, upon whom is found “the mark of the beast,” which will consist in the deliberate (in the forehead) or, indifferent, (in the hand,) keeping of the Papal Sunday in the place or stead of the Sabbath of the Lord our God.
We must be ready also to resist the spirit of the present age; for we are living in the days of the working of the daughters of the mystery of iniquity. The time has come. We live to see the eventful period, that the American churches are married to the American government. They seek each other’s aid, and promote each other’s civil and religious interests! They are, in fact, one, fallen and degenerate as is our great commonwealth, civilly, and religiously considered.
The second house of Israel is now taking her last opiates, and will soon be in a condition for Satan to practice upon her his last great deception. See Isaiah viii; 2 Thess. ii.
As in the case of Judas, when wicked men and seducers have become incurably bad, God will send them strong delusions; so that they will go forward with their work speedily, to their own damnation. The false revivals, which have been shown of God, are becoming more and more prevalent. And it is remarkable, that where these excitements exist, where the Third Angel’s Message has been heard, there is a manifest disposition with those engaged in them, to offset their work against ours, and regard their apparent prosperity as an argument positive against this message being of God. The injunction of inspiration is, “Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” They are vain words that would set aside, or make light of any of God’s commandments, or of any one of the divine ordinances of the church of Christ; therefore, my brethren, let none of us be drawn aside from the plain, narrow path of present truth and duty, by the boisterous or quiet religious excitements around us, let us remember the word of the Lord by Jeremiah, [chap. xv, 19, 20.] “Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth; let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall, and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee, for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.” By reading verse 16 of this chapter, it appears evident that the above has a particular application this side of 1844. The eating of the little book, and disappointment of that time, is a world-wide matter. Christ is no more divided now than in the days of Paul; neither were any of the Advent leaders crucified for us; our salvation comes “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” 2 Thess. ii, 13. And having found the narrow path by which God will lead his people in this dark night of error, out of the great city of Babylon, we need not stagger, though the whole world should be convulsed with fanaticism; there is sufficient light shining from the
prophecies to make duty plain. We must be ready also, for the Lord’s coming. O, that will be a great and glorious event for those that are ready.
The chapter from which our text is taken [Luke xii] abounds with pointed instructions and illustrations, by which we shall certainly be required to govern our conduct, if we are ready to open to our Lord immediately when he shall return from the wedding, whither he went in 1844, and from which he will soon return.
Are we ready? Have we been converted to God? Have we believed the gospel? Have we sought for the remission of our sins, in obedience to the divine command—been baptized, every one of us, for the remission of sins? Acts ii, 38.
If so, does a well ordered life and chaste conversation, coupled with a sweet, kind, tender spirit, give daily evidence that our “first works” have been thoroughly performed? Do we confess Christ in word and deed? Do we seek first of all “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”? If so, having abundance of this world’s goods, more than a competency, have we “sold that we have” and made, and are we making, an enlightened christian disposition of them, in the promotion of the present truth? It will require the act, not the dead, lifeless will, merely. James is clear on this point. James ii, 14–20. Our course of conduct at this point has a strong bearing either one way or the other. If we are vacillating, and double-minded, and are in great fear lest our Lord should tarry long, and on this account hold on to our superabundant property, we are in great danger of being overtaken as a thief.
The Lord being my helper, I intend to avoid this difficulty, and in good season arrange all my matters according to the light that shines for us Americans in Rev. xiii, 16, 17, to enable us to make our way as easy as the Lord intends it should be, for “sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
JESSE DORCAS.
Fremont, Ohio.
SUFFERING WITH JESUS.
"If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us." 2 Tim. ii, 12.
Who would not choose to suffer with him who has suffered so much for us? His matchless love, it would seem, is sufficient to make us willing to suffer in his cause. And yet, in his superabounding grace, he has annexed a promise—the promise of reigning with him. He has set a joy before us; and shall we not, like him, endure the cross and despise the shame? He, though tempted, afflicted and tried, overcame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, where there are pleasures forevermore, and he promises, "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." Jesus suffered before entering into his glory. The Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering; and shall not we be willing to follow in his footsteps? Shall we inquire how little we may suffer, and still be glorified with Jesus? Shall we not rather crave to suffer much with him, that when his glory is revealed we may be glad with exceeding joy?
If we deny him, he also will deny us. Though we may have suffered with him, yet if we grow weary in well doing, think we have suffered enough and too much, draw back and deny him, all the past will avail us nothing—if we deny him, he also will deny us.
We may profess to know God, profess to suffer with Jesus, and yet in works deny him. We may talk suffering, and not suffer. We may profess faith in the soon coming of Jesus, we may say we do not love the world, we may profess to trample the pride of life under our feet, we may profess to have all on the altar of the Lord, and say to put our trust in him—and yet, in works, deny all this. We may have resolved to give all to God, to trample the world and its pride under our feet, to labor and suffer in his cause, and yet relapse, and, in works, deny all this. We may attempt to live upon our experience in the past—what we have done and suffered in the cause of Christ—and fancy that we ought to receive more than a penny, in consideration of our having borne the burden and heat of the day, and yet lay down our oar, take back our sacrifices, and, in works, deny all, and be denied of Jesus before his Father in heaven.
With what steadfastness and perseverance ought we to labor on, and toil and suffer in the cause of the blessed Jesus. These are perilous times. The thought rushes upon me, I may be left to turn back and deny Jesus. I hope it will not be so. I hope to be willing to suffer with Jesus till our sufferings shall be succeeded by the glory which is to follow. Beloved, let us suffer with Jesus till he shall take us to himself to reign with him. Let us ever remember,
"There is suffering ere the glory,
There's a cross before the crown."
R. F. C.
The Neglected Book.
Of Christ we sometimes sing,
> "No other friend we treat so ill."
Is not the sentiment applicable to the Bible? What book is half so much slighted?
Familiar indeed are the lines,
> "How precious is the book divine
> By inspiration given!"
but to sing this, and to live it, are two things quite different. Alas! how few, by searching it daily, show that they esteem it as a "precious" book!
It is my deep and painful conviction, that the Bible was never so much neglected as now. The activity and stir of this age go to account for it. So does the multiplication of other books. The irregular habits of most Christians, in respect to all religious duties, aggravate the evil.
But be the causes what they may, the fact cannot be denied. The dust settles on the covers of the Holy Book; and it is kept as a parlor ornament, forsooth; or to give a kind of respectability, and orderly and religious appearance to the house. In how few instances is it kept to be read and studied? What sad records would appear, if facts as to the number of hours spent in reading and studying the Bible, each week, by most Christians, were ascertained.
The Fountain of Salvation
The fountain of salvation is always open: you may take of its waters freely.
Mr. Adams and the Bible
MR. ADAMS AND THE BIBLE.—In a letter to his son in 1811, John Quincy Adams says, "I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once a year. My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning, immediately after rising from my bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day. In what light soever we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, or to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue."
"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
The straitness of that perfect rule detects and makes known the crookedness of men's dispositions and actions; and it must therefore convict the transgressor as guilty, instead of pronouncing not guilty, or a righteous person. Every attentive reader must observe that the Apostle uses the word, law, in various meanings, which is rather to be considered a defect of human language, than the result of ambiguity in his style. But the context generally shows how the word is to be understood; and common sense united with a teachable spirit will usually determine this far better than critical learning, which is too often employed to perplex what is plain, rather than to clear up what is obscure. The nature of the argument requires us to suppose, that the Apostle means the sacred Scriptures in general when he says, "Whatsoever the law saith," for the quotations are not from the law of Moses, and it is evident the Old Testament was thus spoken of. When he spoke of the Jews, as under the law, he evidently meant the whole legal dispensation, by which they were distinguished from the Gentiles. But when he says, "By the law is the knowledge of sin," he must be understood of the moral law especially, the extent, spirituality, and excellency of which shows what things are sinful, and how evil sin is: whereas the ceremonial rather gave the knowledge of salvation, by prefiguring the shedding of that atoning blood, and the communication of that sanctifying grace by which sin is taken away. Indeed, this subject seems capable of an easy solution. If there be any law, which a man has perfectly kept, he may doubtless be justified by it: and surely no man can be justified by a law which condemns him for breaking it! But there is no law of God which any man has kept, therefore no law by the deeds of which a man can be justified. The Gentile broke the law of his reason and conscience; the Jew broke the moral law; and even the attempt to justify himself by observing the ceremonial law, contradicted the very nature and intent of it. And as to that "new law" which requires sincere obedience, as the condition of justification those who dream of it should show when it was promulgated, where it may he found, what it requires, whom it can condemn, or whom it can justify. When this is done, it may be worth while to prove that it makes void the law and the gospel; that it introduces a new, vague and unintelligible rule of duty, which every one may interpret according to his own inclinations; that it introduces hoasting, and unites together pharisaical pride and antinomial licentiousness. Yet this vague, unscriptural notion, which is replete with such complicated absurdities, so well suits men's natural indolence of thought in matters of religion; serves so conveniently to reconcile a quiet conscience with a worldly life, and so coincides with their enmity against both the holiness of the law, and the humiliating doctrine of the gospel; that perhaps it deceives more souls than all other false systems of religion put together in this superficial, dissipated age.
"By law, which is the publishing of the rule with a penalty, we are not delivered from the power of sin, nor can it help men to righteousness, but by law we come experimentally to know sin, in the power and force of it; since we find it prevails upon us, notwithstanding the punishment of death is annexed to it." Locke.
"The knowledge of sin being chiefly by the moral law, shows that the Apostle includes that, as well as the ceremonial law, from justification; and evident it is, that the antithesis runs all along, not between moral and ceremonial works; but between works in general, and faith."—Whilby.
Whatever Pharisees, Sadducees, or infidels may object; whatever Antinomians or Enthusiasts may plead or profess; the doctrine of faith establishes the law in its real honor, and lays the true foundation for all holy obedience, and this doctrine alone establishes the law."—Scott's Practical Observations on Rom iii, 21–31.
As the believer is dead to siu, how shall he live39any longer in the practice of it? That view of the glory of God, of the holiness and excellency of the law, and his own guilt and danger, which, as the effect of regeneration, convinced him that he needed the salvation of Christ, and made it precious to his heart, led him also to repent, and to abhor all sin. This change, begun in convictions, always humbling, and often alarming, was more completely effected by further discoveries of the mercies, and experience of the comforts of redemption, so that love and gratitude to the divine Saviour, and other evangelical principles, concur with hatred of sin, to mortify his affections, its pleasures and interests, and to cause him to separate from iniquity, as a dead man ceases from the actions of life.
JESUS IS COMING.
By Sarah F. Sharpe
Jesus is coming, saints rejoice,
Lift your heads, O do not fear—
For soon you'll hear his welcome voice;
Soon shall he dried the falling tear.
Jesus is coming, O how sweet!
The welcome message strikes the ear,
If faithful, soon we all shall meet
The Saviour to our heart so dear.
Jesus is coming—can it be
The one that gave his life away,
And hung and bled upon the tree,
That we through him might find the way?
Yes, he is coming to receive
Us to himself that we may be
Forever with him, there to live
In bliss to all eternity.
SARAH F. SHARPE.
Green Spring, O., May 9th, 1858.
Sister Lane’s Sabbath Testimony
From Sister Lane.
Bro. Smith: I am still striving to be a christian by keeping the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus my Redeemer. It is six months since I commenced keeping the Sabbath of the Lord. The Third Angel's Message found me in a lukewarm state, and also with many besetments. With the grace of God assisting I will strive to overcome them. There are two sisters here besides myself who are striving, watching and waiting for the coming of our blessed Lord. There are also many honest ones, and those that are near and dear to us. They would believe, could they realize the third and last message, and would make haste and delay not to keep all God's commandments.
Brethren and sisters, pray for me that I may prove faithful, and at last meet you in the kingdom.
Your unworthy sister.
Sarah Lane.
Convis, Mich.
ALMIRA C. HUDSON
By Almira C. Hudson
From Sister Hudson.
BRO. SMITH : I have been much edified by reading Scott's Notes on passages that refer to Covenants, and Grace, and Law, and I have thought perhaps some of the readers of the Review might be so also.
Christ is indeed the chief corner-stone in the spiritual building, but Christ is not a minister of sin, and sin is the transgression of the law. The holy heart exclaims, How love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. I esteem it more than my necessary food. But the commandment to the unholy is a stimulus to commit sin. The natural heart feels that stolen waters are sweet. It is wonderful, it is perfectly astonishing that watchmen upon the walls of Zion should be heard to say that the moral law contained in the ten commandments is done away. I can esteem such sayings only as sacrifice upon their drags, and incense burnt to their nets. It cannot be that they are intellectually ignorant of the relations of the two covenants, while in the natural course of their reading, they are acquainted with such works as Scott's Comments on the Bible. Or to say nothing of human writings, if they had studied the Bible with humble, teachable dispositions, they would themselves speak the sentiment that Jesus utters when he says, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.Jno. xiv, 21. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.Jno. xiv, 24. He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.Jno. viii, 47. Hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments.He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself so to walk even as he walked. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments.For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him. There is besides, the innumerable testimony through the whole Bible of the excellency of the law, statutes, and commandments of God. Yes, they are perfection; and if perfect, not to be changed.
ALMIRA C. HUDSON
Ganges, Mich., May 16th, 1858.
L E T T E R S
"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another."
From Bro. Adams.
FRANCE REVIVING THE SLAVE TRADE.
BRO. SMITH : A thought which has lately been impressed on my mind, seems to me worthy of being canvassed and reflected upon, from its significance at this time. It is this: That the Ex-president of the Liberian Republic, having lately visited France, to receive, (according to a former promise of the emperor,) the war Frigate, it has been refused to him on the alleged ground that the Republic's government has hindered the outworkings, in Africa, of the French government in inducing native Africans to leave their country, and place themselves as voluntary servants (apprentices is the legal term for their servitude,) in the French plantations. The Liberians have done so because, says their publication, "it (the French system,) is nothing else than masked slavery." And the French emperor, finding his masked plan not working successfully, has authorized the French squadron, on the coast of Africa, to co-operate with his agents, who are now engaged in receiving from the regular slave dealers in Africa, their captive prisoners, and to have them conveyed to the French settlements as field workers, etc., for fourteen years' service to enrich the white man.
Thus we see by this act of the eldest son of the church of Rome—and I trust, (as the revived Napoleonic Dynasty,) the last great horn of the fourth beast kingdom, has, in fact and in deed, restored and filled up the "bill of lading," in the list of Rev. xviii, 12-14. See last item—" slaves and souls of men."
And the British are substantially doing the same thing with their coolies from China. While both these governments have, the former for fifty or sixty years, professed to suppress the slave trade, they are thus now actually fulfilling the words of Revelation, at the time in the world's chronology, when their great city shall fall to rise no more.
Yours faithfully, B. M. ADAMS.
Philadelphia, Pa., May, 1858.
Faithfulness and the Coming of Christ
By Lewis Martin
From Bro. Martin.
Bro. Smith: I would say to the praise of God that I am yet numbered with the living. I do desire to thank my heavenly Father that I have a hope to-day that I am one of his children, although I feel unworthy. I still believe that we have the truth. I also believe that "My Bible leads to glory."
I am still pleased with the Review. It is all the preaching we have. I have not heard a sermon since the meeting at Washington last Fall. I have been much pleased with the plain dealing of Brn. White, Waggoner and Clark. That is what I like. The Lord help them and others to be faithful.
I greatly fear that some of the brethren have their affections too much on the things of this world. May the Lord help them to cut loose from it, and help forward the cause of God, and remember that covetousness is idolatry. May he give us all a spirit of faithfulness, and preserve us blameless unto his coming. LEWIS MARTIN. Bennington, N. H., June 1st, 1858.
Girding on the Gospel Armor
Sister M. L. Priest writes from Lancaster, Mass., May 27th, 1858: "I am glad that there is a rest that remains to the scattered flock. Yes, I am glad that though we are pilgrims and strangers here, 'We are homeward bound;' and though trials and temptations are our portion here, yet there are joys awaiting the faithful ones. I desire to be one that can share in those joys.
"While I realize that we are now in the perils of the last days, that the time has come when the very elect would be deceived were it possible, I feel that our only safety is in girding on the whole gospel armor. Never have I felt the need of anointing my eyes with eye-salve so that I might see as I have the past two weeks. It seems to me that without it we shall be in danger of calling light darkness and darkness light. Truly it is a straight and narrow way through to the kingdom; but while we have the promise that the Word shall be a light to our path, it is possible for us to go through. I really want to go through with the remnant. Eternal life is worth striving for; it is worth living a self-denying, cross-bearing life, here on earth to obtain, and I mean by the grace of God assisting me, to double my diligence, and make it my first and great object to obtain it. I am glad we have a High Priest who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who has been tempted in all points like as we are; and he has promised that we shall not be tempted above that we are able to bear, &c. O how precious are the promises to us through Christ. I have of late felt such earnestness of desire, such a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, that I have felt very much encouraged.
"The past Spring has been a hard, trying time for me, having been in very poor health, and such a desponding state of mind, that for a season I was almost in despair; but my long-suffering, kind heavenly Father has heard and answered prayer in my behalf, and I am in a measure released from the cruel grasp of the enemy, both body and mind, for which I thank and praise his holy name. I feel the need of digging deep, and building upon the rock; for I fully believe the storm is very near, and I want to be able to stand, and endure to the end, and be saved. The sifting, spuing-out time will surely come. I am glad we can endure and be saved."