Earlier text: Spirituality of the Law of GodIceland and the Message of Present Truth
By Jos. Clarke
HITHERTO, Iceland has been so separated from the great world by her rigorous climate, her isolated position, and by her peculiar language, customs, and institutions, that no good opportunity has been given to the Icelanders to hear or read upon the present truth. But, at the present time, a movement is going forward, by which these intelligent and worthy people are to be brought under the influence of American literature and people; and, doubtless, in the same way that Denmark and other European countries are receiving the light of truth, the people of Iceland are soon to hear and read the glad and solemn truths of the prophetic Scriptures. The language of Iceland is the old Norse nearly, but the Danish will reach them. A committee of three representative men from that distant island are now on their route to Alaska, intending to find in that vicinity a point to which Icelanders can emigrate, and find a home, where the sun does not shine too warmly, and where they can find subsistence for man and beast without either the rigor of cold as in Iceland, nor the extreme of heat. If these men find matters as favorable as they expect, they will report favorably; and in the spring an emigration will probably take place from rock-bound Iceland, such as has not been anticipated or conjectured by the most visionary enthusiast. Iceland has a population of some sixty or seventy thousand, and a good system of education and laws. President Grant and his cabinet are assisting and favoring the enterprise; and will, no doubt, continue to assist these people in their enterprising and noble plans. Our good government has very liberally furnished a sloop of war to convey the committee of three from San Francisco to Alaska, where they will see the country for themselves; and if all is favorable, two, at least, will remain to prepare cabins and other indispensable conveniences for the expected emigration next summer. The committee are expected to take a small printing press with them to Alaska; and printed reports will probably be sent to Iceland in October of this year. It is well known that the Icelanders are a well-informed people, and many of them highly educated; and their religion and morals are of a higher grade than that existing in more populous and wealthy countries. May we not safely conjecture, that as these dear Norsemen seek a home under the American flag, the protection of all the exiled, they will also find Christian friends who will bring to them the glad tidings of the near coming of the expected Messiah? Jos. CLARKE. A Workman Approved unto God.
By M. Wood
“STUDY to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim. 2:15. Timothy was no novice in the Scriptures; 2 Tim. 3:15; still Paul deemed it advisable to admonish him to diligence and perseverance in the study of the Holy Scriptures, that he might be a workman approved, not only of men, but unto God. The words of the great apostle to Timothy should have equal weight upon the children of God at the present time. There never was a time when the people needed to understand the word of God more thoroughly than at the present. We must cry out with earnestness of soul, “Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth.” Says Peter, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” Says Hosea, 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Many are hastening on to their eternal ruin who might be saved had the professed followers of Christ the ability and inclination to instruct them in the Scriptures. Study to show thyself an approved workman—in what? farming? building? patent inventions? &c. After foretelling the perils of the last days, Paul says, “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.” 1 Tim. 4:15, 16. Our Saviour says, “Labor not for that meat which perisheth.” John 6:27. Labor for an understanding of the fundamental principles of truth. What a mighty influence for good we might exert if it could be said of us, “A workman approved unto God.” How mightily would the Lord work for us if we would work for ourselves. God would have intelligent missionaries in whom the gifts and graces of the apostolic church would be manifested in the last days. But how can God bestow these gifts upon those who do not grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth? Those who have pressed forward, acquainting themselves with the things of God, may be instruments in the hands of God in accomplishing a great work. Through inactivity, some have fallen asleep. Be entreated to arouse before it is too late. Let him who would do a worthy work for God and men be manly and brave as well as sincere and earnest. Let him keep clear of the minor key. Let him hide his own griefs and trials with a cloak of cheerful and patient resolutions. Let him not whine, nor croak, nor scold, nor boast. Let him bury the story of his own sufferings out of sight, and instead of asking sympathy for himself, plead for aid to the right cause. Let him not be forward in making his own plans the exponents of God’s thoughts, nor accuse his own critics of freshly crucifying Christ. Let him keep his own faith in God steady and his charity toward man sweet. Let him heroically abandon whatever really seems like playing the martyr, and God will afford him opportunities to bear grateful and effectual witness to the truth.—Sel. Signs Are Fulfilled.
By Angela J. Edmunds
THE sun has been darkened, the moon refused to give her light, and the stars have fallen. Thus have the words of our Saviour come to pass. Only one sign more to be fulfilled before he will be seen coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, when all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. How good our dear Saviour has been. He came to this earth the first time to die for sinners. Yes; he died, that we might have eternal life; and before he left this earth he told what should be the sign of his second coming and of the end of the world. He ascended up on high, and to-day he pleads his blood before his Father for those who believe on him. In a little while the great plan of salvation will be accomplished; Jesus will come and take his followers to himself. Those signs have been witnessed by the last generation living upon the earth that we may not be in darkness and that day come upon us while unprepared. He said, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away.” Mark 13:30, 31. How can we doubt his words. Man can have no control of the signs given. Men of science try in vain to explain them away. The darkening of the sun and the falling of the stars as they then transpired can only be understood to herald the coming of the Son of man. Besides these signs and the complete fulfillment of chains of prophecy and prophetic time, we have other signs. “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke.” Joel 2:30. We are living in the last days, for there are many scoffers saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” 2 Peter 3:4. “They willingly are ignorant,” for our Bible is full of the advent doctrine, and the heavens and the earth declare it. Only the great God who ruleth all has control of these things. He maketh known the day and the hour. Then shall the last sign be fulfilled. The powers of the heaven shall be shaken. Believer, can you be idle? The sun was darkened in 1780. The stars fell in 1833. How much time remains in which to work? This generation will soon pass. Have you not a work to do? The last warning message of the third angel must be proclaimed, and there is a call for small and great to work in the vineyard of the Lord. If every believer realized the importance of making the best use of their time and talents, what an impetus would be given to the work. All have one talent. If you cannot preach you can write. If you cannot write, you can give a tract or speak a word; and all may offer a prayer that the Holy Spirit may attend our efforts, for without this, the greatest among us can do nothing. It is God who giveth the increase. The Lord will require all that he has given, with usury. May he say to us, “Well done; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Dr. Guthrie used to fill up his sermons with sharp points, that they might prick the people during the services. Some one has said a sermon should be bristling all the way through, and another, a professor, always told his students to be sure their discourses had horns on them. It was told of some one that he was a good preacher, only that he would rake with the teeth upwards. Thus, people who hear sermons value them in proportion as they make them feel, by pungently reaching their consciences. The weak, goodish discourses, that, instead of being sharper than a two-edged sword, are like padded pellets, are never interesting to the earnest and devoted. The Ruin Begun by Desecrating the Sabbath
THE ruin of multitudes has begun with a desecration of the Sabbath. They were in the sanctuary but a part of the day—then not at all—then read the novels and political papers at home—then rode out, or spent the day in some saloon or refectory, in company with the unprincipled and dissipated—then drank, gamed, and revelled—then leaped over the bounds of honesty, defrauded or stole—and then—but you know the rest. And this is the downward career of thousands—these the steps by which they descended from virtue, respectability, and comfort, to corruption, disgrace, and destruction. The Seventh-Day Adventists.
By Uriah Smith
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THEIR ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRINCIPLES.
This, as already stated, originated through the instrumentality of Eld. James White. Eld. W. was born in Palmyra, Me., in 1821. Commencing at the age of 20, he labored with much success as a public speaker in the great Advent movement of 1840-4; and when the claims of the Sabbath were brought to his notice, he entered as heartily into the work of its defense and promulgation. He began the work of publishing in 1849. In November, 1850, he commenced the publication of the Advent Review and Herald of the Sabbath, the organ of the S. D. Adventists. To accommodate his publishing work to the field of his operations as a traveling evangelist, the paper was issued first at Paris, Me., till June, 1851, then at Saratoga Springs till March, 1852. It was then removed to Rochester, N. Y., where it continued nearly four years. Then the cause of Sabbath reform rapidly advancing westward, its present location, Battle Creek, Mich., was selected as a more central position, and the paper was moved to this place in November, 1855. Up to this time Eld. White was publisher and sole editor. Some of the time since then, others have been associated with him on the editorial board. The wants of the cause demanding an enlargement of operations, and the employment of more capital in the publishing business, an Act of the Legislature of Michigan, for the incorporation of associations for publishing purposes, was secured, and approved March 7, 1861. Under that Act a legally-incorporated Association, under the name of The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, was organized in Battle Creek, May 3, 1861. They immediately erected a two-story brick building, in the form of a Greek cross, the main portion 26x66, the transverse section, 26x44, for the publishing work. In 1871 a second building of the same size and form was erected to meet the necessities of the increasing business. And in 1873 a third building of the same kind was built for the same reason. These all stand side by side, opposite the public square, at the corner of Main and Washington sts. A two-story wooden building used as the sole printing office of the Review & Herald, before the formation of the Association, but now moved to the rear and used as a book-bindery, completes the list of buildings at present employed in the publishing department. The titles of the different periodicals issued by the Association, and their circulation at present writing, Nov., 1874, stand as follows:— Advent Review and Herald of the Sabbath, weekly, 5700 Youth’s Instructor, monthly, 5200 True Missionary, monthly, 4800 Health Reformer, monthly, 7800 Advent Tidende, Danish, monthly, 1900 Advent Herald, Swedish, monthly, 1900 Books on the prophecies, and other Bible subjects have been issued largely from the beginning, and have now reached an aggregate of about one hundred millions of pages. Sixty-six hands are regularly employed in the work, and the capital invested is over one hundred thousand dollars. These results, wrought out in so short a time, are the only compliment that need to be paid to him under whose management this degree of prosperity has been attained. Those acquainted with the business career of Eld. White, have observed two strongly developed traits of character: zeal to push forward in the formation and execution of plans for the advancement of the work, and caution to avoid injudicious and reckless ventures. The union of these two qualities, regulating at once the amount of steam and the application of the brakes, has made him the master of the situation in the publishing line, and has given to the enterprise, though moving forward rapidly, a healthy and permanent growth. This is exceedingly simple. A body of believers associate together, taking the name of Seventh-day Adventists, and attaching their names to a covenant simply to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The Bible is their only creed. A clerk is chosen to keep the records of the church, and an elder, elected by vote of the church, is ordained to look after its spiritual interests. If the church is large, its temporal affairs are assigned to one or more deacons chosen by vote of the church for this purpose. Elder, bishop and pastor, (Greek, πρεσβύτερος, ἐπίσκοπος, and ποιμήν,) signify in their vocabulary, the same officer and that a local officer confined to a particular church. These need not be ordained ministers. Evangelists are ordained ministers, who travel from place to place to preach the gospel, and are the only ones competent to ordain local elders and deacons. They now number 291 churches with an enrollment of about 7500 members. But owing to the scattered condition of this people, a large proportion of them are not so situated as to belong to any of the church organizations, single families being scattered all the way from Maine to California and Oregon, in all the northern States, and in many of the Southern. The whole number is estimated at from twelve to fifteen thousand. The number of ordained ministers is 60, and licentiates 67. None of the churches have pastors established with them. They maintain their worship without the aid of a preacher, only as one may occasionally visit them, leaving the ministers free to devote almost their whole time to carrying these views to those who have never heard upon them. During the summer months they carry forward their work by means of large tents 40 to 60 feet in diameter. Thirty-four of these have been in use in all the States the past season. The next advance in organization from single churches, is the State Conference. The churches in a State combine to form a State Conference, adopting a constitution to regulate their action. Each church is entitled to delegates according to its membership. At each annual meeting an executive committee of three is elected by vote of the delegates of whom the President of the Conference is chairman. This committee have supervision of all the ministerial and religious work of the Conference between the yearly meetings. S. D. Adventists now have thirteen State Conferences as follows: Maine, New England (including only New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut), Vermont, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri & Nebraska, and California. The next outward sweep from the State Conferences is the General Conference. This Conference also annually elects its executive committee of three to have charge of the doings of the denomination in all parts of the field. The President of the General Conference is the highest officer in the body. The object of the General Conference is to unify the work in all localities, equalize labor, and supply destitute fields with help. The meeting of the General Conference held in Battle Creek, Aug. 10, 1874, was its thirteenth annual session. Means to sustain the work are raised by a plan denominated Systematic Benevolence, founded on the instructions of Paul in 1 Cor. 16:2. By this system it is designed that every one shall upon each first day of the week, lay by a sum equal, as near as may be, to one-tenth the increase of their property from whatever source of income. There is nothing compulsory in this matter; yet all this people with few exceptions have adopted and are acting upon this plan. According to this system, contributions being proportioned to the amount of property one possesses, or the strength and ability with which he is blessed for acquiring, none are burdened. It treats the rich and poor alike in proportion to their ability, while a steady stream is thus poured into the treasury. For the year 1874, the amount raised in this manner in all the Conferences, was $37,181.56. Each church appoints its collector and treasurer, who once a month, or in rural districts once a quarter, gathers up these contributions. With the exception of a small percentage retained by some of the churches for their own use, these funds are sent by the church treasurers to the State Conference Treasurer. At each yearly meeting of the Conference, an auditing committee is appointed which examines the accounts of all the ministers in the employ of the Conference, and settles with each one according to the amount of labor performed. Of the funds remaining in the State treasury after such settlement, the Conference votes such amount as it sees proper to the General Conference, which is then put into the hands of the Gen. Conf. Treasurer, to be expended under the direction of the Gen. Conf. Committee. The attention of S. D. Adventists was called to the subject of Christian temperance by the writings of Mrs. E. G. White, wife of Eld. James White, about the year 1862. The importance of this subject was at once seen and confessed, from the well-ascertained, and now generally acknowledged, connection between the body and the mind. A person’s moral and spiritual nature is largely affected by his physical condition. It was therefore seen that success in appealing to men’s higher and spiritual nature, is much more certain if they can be turned from wrong habits of life, which undermine the physical, and benumb the moral, powers. In this sense the health reform lies at the foundation of all reform. The system as at present advocated and practiced among this people, banishes the use of tobacco, in any and all of its forms, none addicted to its use being received into the churches except upon the promise and expectation of its immediate abandonment. The result is that, as a denomination, the sight and scent of tobacco is not found among this people. It excludes from the dietary, pork, tea, and coffee. Rich and highly seasoned food is discarded. Grease and spices take a back seat in the culinary department. Meat of any kind is but rarely used. Two meals only a day are considered preferable for most people, those to be composed of grains, fruits, and vegetables, served up, however, in any of the great variety of their palatable forms. But the health reform embraces not only right methods of living, but the right means of recovery from sickness. Being impressed with the great evils of the drug system, the friends of this movement felt so great an interest in the matter that steps were taken in 1866 for the establishment of an Institute, to which persons might resort not only to learn more fully the principles of the hygienic system, but also for the recovery of health. A high and beautiful site of eight acres about sixty rods north of the publishing buildings, was purchased, buildings were added to those already on the ground, and the “Health Reform Institute” was opened for the reception of patients and boarders, Sept. 5, 1866. An act of the Michigan Legislature was procured, and a legally incorporated Association was formed, April 6, 1867. A subscription of twenty-six thousand dollars was raised, which has since increased by additional subscriptions and the workings of the institution to forty-two thousand. The Health Reformer published in the interest of this institution, and in advocacy of health reform principles, was started in August, 1866. It has now attained to a circulation, as noted above, of 7800 copies monthly. The Health Reform Institute, though founded and managed by S. D. Adventists, is not conducted on a denominational basis. All believers in the Bible, to whatever denomination they belong, are made equally welcome, and made to feel equally at home, their religious belief being in no way interfered with. The health reform ends not with diet alone, but extends to all the habits of life, and to that which has a great bearing on the health of the body; that is, the manner in which it is clothed. The fashionable female attire of the present day is held to be chargeable with at least three leading evils as related to health: First, hanging burdens in an unnatural manner upon the body; secondly, hindering the full play of the vital organs; thirdly, insufficiently protecting the extremities . A style of dress is proposed, and to a large extent adopted among this people, designed to remedy these evils. It consists of shortening the skirt till it fully clears the filth and obstructions of the street, fitting the garments loosely around the waist, suspending the garments from the shoulders, and thoroughly protecting the limbs with a covering of the same material as the dress. However the appearance of this dress may strike the beholder, all thoughtful people must be in sympathy with the ends which it is proposed to secure. Excepting only the grosser indulgence of tobacco-using, the principles of the health reform are not regarded as determining the question of church fellowship. It is recommended as that without which it is impossible to secure the best condition of bodily health; and it is supposed that all who are conscientiously endeavoring to serve God, desiring to glorify him in their bodies, as well as their spirits which are equally his, will for this reason, adopt and live out its principles. My Visit to California.
By George J. Butler
As I find myself at present in this State, it may not be out of the way to speak briefly in the Signs of my visit here, and my reflections concerning the cause upon this coast. I have been watching with deep interest the progress of this cause in California ever since Elders Loughborough and Bourdeau came here, and have rejoiced at the success which has attended the work. I had little thought that I should ever be here to witness the good results accomplished. And, from time to time, as Bro. White has spoken and written concerning the work going forward, as well as the other brethren in the ministry laboring here, I have greatly rejoiced. But it seemed to be far distant from me, and having plenty to do where I was, I did not concern myself with particulars in California. But when it was thought best that I should come to confer with the California Conference concerning the further publication of the Signs, and to labor during the camp-meetings, and as long after as duty should require, I, of course, had to form a closer acquaintance with the work on this coast. I have now been here several weeks, and mingled with the brethren, and have formed very pleasant acquaintance with many. I rejoice greatly at what I have seen in this State. Surely, the work here is onward. The camp-meeting has given me a clearer view of the strength of the work here than I had before. Truly, God has been giving us the field in California. Confusion has marked the counsels of some who have opposed us. We have financial strength in this State sufficient to do almost anything we wish to undertake. Our recent excellent meeting has shown that there is stability to this cause here and that it is of no mushroom growth. When responsible persons come forward, and pledge over $21,000 of yellow gold to sustain and forward the work going on in their midst, all will agree that it means “business.” It is no wonder that ministers and members of our staid, respectable, popular churches are astonished at such a result. It would take a mighty effort of any of these large denominations to raise a sum as large, though they have a standing of many years here, and much wealth and a far greater membership, while we have only had a foothold for five or six years on this coast. *As I look back to the camp-meeting, after time for reflection, I can but regard it a grand success. The united stand which our friends took in assuming the responsibilities of the paper, and the determined spirit with which they assumed its pecuniary burdens, convinces me that they mean to do something here in California. When we see this spirit among the people, we feel that we could labor and sacrifice to any extent to help such in the good work. The spirit of sacrifice begets the like spirit in others. We ought, all of us, to realize this feature, and act so that our influence will lift everywhere and encourage the hearts of the toil-worn and weary, the weak and desponding. When people hold back in their selfishness, and chill the hearts of those who would work, they assume a terrible responsibility, and will have to answer for it at the bar of God. When our people generally157get just the right spirit, and cheerfully and determinedly take hold of the work of spreading this glorious truth, we shall move the world. Those who have drank deepest at the fountain of present truth know best its precious, soul-satisfying sweetness, and they feel most like putting heart and soul into the work. But it is a great step up from the low grounds of selfishness and worldly aims to see that it is “more blessed to give than to receive,” and that there is nothing so noble and worthy of our effort in this world as the salvation of our fellow-men and the progress of God’s work on the earth. Millions will weep and wail, in a short space, as they find themselves lost, lost forever. How piercing will these wailings of sorrow be to him who ought to have been the means of saving these souls, but would not, because it required some worldly sacrifice. Souls were not so precious as dollars. Then these things will appear in their true light. They ought to appear so now, and every one of us ought to be doing our utmost to save the souls of the perishing. We ought to arouse ourselves mightily and work while it is called to-day. Every evidence I see which goes to show that our people begin to feel this solemn, sacred duty, gladdens my heart and inspires my soul with love and hope. So the evidence given on the California camp-ground of a readiness to shoulder some of the burdens of the cause was soul cheering to me. I would not have it understood that these good brethren have fully and entirely seen and assumed all the duties of the times and the work. On the contrary, I presume many of them have little sense of the infinite obligations they are under to work for God and their fellow-men. It is, perhaps, too much to hope that they can realize this all at once. But they did take hold of this one present responsibility with a spirit which augurs blessed results, as they come to realize other obligations. Although the brethren have pledged themselves so liberally on the new paper, we trust they will not think the whole work done. They have now something to work for, more than merely to make money for themselves. They may properly look to God for his blessing upon their efforts, as their work is now, at least partially, to help forward his cause in the earth. If they give not only their means thus pledged, but themselves, also, to God, he will surely bless them in soul and in store. Now that the brethren have assumed the responsibility of publishing and supporting the paper, there should be an earnest effort made for the increase of its circulation. The Tract and Missionary Society should realize the burden upon them. Here is a field where they can work acceptably. The new constitution published in this issue should be carefully studied, especially by the officers. They should become fully acquainted with their duties, and then discharge them to the best of their ability. Get all the paying subscribers you can for this paper. Many of your neighbors would take the paper if its merits were properly presented before them. Every reasonable effort should be made to raise a list of subscribers who will make it self-sustaining. In doing this you will accomplish several good objects. The great principles of truth taught by us will thus be circulated. The influence of the paper will be extended. And each paying subscriber, will save means to the cause. It is well known, of course, that an actual loss occurs in publishing a paper, until its subscription list reaches a certain number. This loss will have to be made up by the donations of the friends of the cause. Every subscriber, then, not only lessens this burden upon the supporters of the cause, but, at the same time, the light of truth is spreading. Wake up, brethren and sisters. All may work here. Throw yourselves into the work as never before. There are, no doubt, many who might write for the paper with acceptance. Possibly some of your articles might not be published. Try again. Even those who have become the greatest writers made failures at first. Give interesting facts and items of experience. Tell what the Lord has done for you. Look around you for avenues in which to labor for God. Feel that the cause of God is a part of your very being. I have felt very much encouraged by my short stay in this noble State. I shall now feel a special interest here, because of my acquaintance with you all, and shall be glad, from time to time, to say a word in the Signs of the Times. Brethren and sisters of California, you have a good field in which to work for God and humanity. This broad Pacific Slope gives you a chance to use all your power. I hope you will have a laudable zeal to fill your sphere of usefulness, with noble deeds of love and earnest effort, and that we may meet in the kingdom of God.—GEO. J. BUTLER, in Signs of the Time.