Does Heb. iv, 1–11, teach the change of the weekly Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week? This question, which is the real point of controversy in the chapter, only calls for an exposition of verses 8, 9, and 10; as it is upon these verses alone that those who argue a change of the Sabbath from this chapter base their reasoning. But in order to come to a correct understanding of these verses, we must get before the mind a clear idea of the subject upon which Paul is speaking; and this requires an examination of the context.
In verse 1, Paul speaks as follows: “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” The word, therefore, denotes a conclusion drawn from some preceding statements or reasoning. The four verses which stand immediately before it, plainly speak of the journeyings of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan, and the failure of some to enter into that land of rest, through unbelief. They had a promise of rest; that rest was Canaan; through unbelief and disobedience they failed to attain it, leaving their carcasses in the wilderness. And as their experience is recorded for our admonition, Paul adds, “Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” Here the assurance is given us that a promise is left us, believers in the gospel, of entering into his rest. That rest is future; for we have not yet attained it. We are to fear lest we come short of it. If we fail to reach it, we fall in the same manner that the Israelites failed to reach Canaan, through unbelief and disobedience. The rest of which believers now have a promise, of course is not Canaan; but it must be some rest to which Canaan bears some resemblance. And what rest is that? Answer. The heavenly Canaan, the kingdom under the whole heaven, which the saints are to take and possess forever and ever when all things shall be made new. Rom. iv, 13; Dan. vii, 27; Rev. xxi, 1, 5. Of this and nothing less could the earthly Canaan be a type.
If this is the rest into which believers are to enter, why does God speak of it as his rest? Why is it called God’s rest? The answer is, Because it is a rest like that which God enjoys. On this point Prof. Stuart remarks, “There is no more difficulty in calling that rest, which is promised to believers, the rest of God, than there is in saying that man ‘was formed in his image,’ that Christians ‘are made partakers of the divine nature,’ or that ‘we shall be like him, when we shall see him as he is.’ The rest of God, is the rest like that which God enjoys.”
The expressions, “his rest,” and “my rest,” that is God’s rest, explain the reference to the seventh day in verse 4. That day is mentioned simply to show what God’s rest is, and from what point it dates. The works, God’s works, were finished from the foundation of the world; and from that point, a state of being called God’s rest, a state of heavenly repose and felicity, has been set before the human race, as a matter of hope and promise. A type of that rest was given in the temporal rest of typical Israel in the land of Canaan; the antitype, the true rest itself, will be given in the future kingdom of God, when a new heavens and earth appear, wherein the righteous shall dwell; and as some of the typical house of Israel failed through unbelief of reaching the typical rest, so Paul exhorts the antitypical house of Israel to fear, lest, in the same manner, they come short of entering into the future, antitypical, heavenly, rest.
But some may say, The rest is already present; for Paul says, verse 3, “We which have believed do enter into rest.” We answer that this language must certainly be interpreted in harmony with other portions of his testimony which place the rest in the future.
The whole conclusion of his reasoning through the first ten verses of the chapter, is thus expressed in verse 11: “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Now those who have any confidence in the logical powers of the apostle, and especially in his inspiration, cannot suppose that he would be so inconsistent as to affirm in verse 3 that we were already in possession of that rest, and then, in verse 11, exhort us to labor to enter into it, as though it were yet future.
The intent of Paul’s reasoning evidently is to show that it is through faith that we are to gain the promised rest. The words translated, “we which have believed,” are the article and aorist participle, οἱ πιστεύσαντες. The aorist tense denotes finished past action. We, the ones who have believed, enter into rest. Does not this look over to the time when our believing is all accomplished, and faith is lost in sight? It is not yet determined whether we shall keep the faith, and fight the good fight, or be overcome in the conflict; whether we shall believe to the saving of the soul, or draw back unto perdition. But the rest certainly cannot be given till the faith through which we are to obtain it, is perfected and finished. Bloomfield, in his Greek Testament with critical notes, gives a future signification to the verb “we do enter,” εἰσερχόμεθα. This he says “may be rendered, We are to enter.” This at once frees the passage from all difficulty. For thus it might be rendered: We which have believed, or we, having believed, having kept the faith, are to enter into rest. Thus Paul in verse 3, is in harmony with the remainder of his testimony in the same chapter.
The principal argument for Sunday-keeping in this chapter, as already noticed, is based on verses 9 and 10, especially the word translated rest, in verse 9. This word, σαββατισμός, which is not the same word that is rendered rest in other places in the chapter, is translated in the margin, keeping of a Sabbath. On this we remark, that there is nothing in the word to denote that it must be a weekly Sabbath, and even if there was, there is nothing to show that it must be Sunday; for there is nothing in the word of God to distinguish that day above any other day of the week. But in this verse we find again the word, therefore, denoting a conclusion from something gone before. “There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God.” The argument from which this conclusion is drawn, is found in the preceding verse: “For if Jesus [Joshua, margin], had given them rest [in Canaan], then would he not afterward have spoken of another day?” The rest of verse 9, is thus put in contrast with the rest of verse 8 which Joshua gave; and if the rest of verse 9 is a weekly Sabbath, then must that also have been, which was given by Joshua. And thus it is claimed that the first rest was the seventh-day, but another day was spoken of which is the first-day which now remains as the Sabbath to the people of God. But Joshua did not give them the seventh-day Sabbath. They had that at least 40 years before they reached Canaan. And who failed through unbelief to enter into the seventh-day Sabbath? And where is the danger of falling in the same manner to enter into the first-day Sabbath? How are we to labor to enter into this Sabbath? We see at once that the effort to force Paul’s argument into any such channel makes utter nonsense of it.
How much better it is not to pervert his words, but to let his argument stand as he has given it, thus: Joshua gave the people rest in Canaan, as we read in Joshua xxi, 44: “And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hands.” But this was not the full rest contemplated in the promise made to the fathers, Rom. iv, 13, if it had been, if Joshua had given them all the rest that was to be given, then would not God afterward have spoken of another day. And where did he speak of another day? In David, saying after so long a time, “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” But David wrote long after they had entered upon the possession of Canaan; and the fact that “after so long a time” he spoke of another day, proves that there yet must be another and future rest remaining to the people of God. The day he speaks of is a day in which we are not to harden our hearts as we hear the voice of God in mercy calling us to his heavenly rest. In other words, it is another day, period or dispensation of grace, given us in which to seek for eternal life. We have it in what is called the gospel age; and during this time, Paul exhorts believers to beware lest they fail to reach the heavenly Canaan, as some of Israel failed through unbelief to reach the earthly.
Respecting the word rendered rest in verse 9, Dr. Clarke remarks: “There are two words in this chapter which we indifferently translate rest, κατάπαυσις and σαββατισμός; the first signifying a cessation from labor, so that the weary body is rested and refreshed; the second meaning not only a rest from labor, but a religious rest; sabbatismus, a rest of a sacred kind, of which both soul and body partake. This is true whether we understand the rest as referring to gospel blessings, or to eternal felicity, or to both.” He had just before said that this rest was not the Sabbath. Greenfield in his definition of the word says, that it “is spoken of an eternal rest with God,” and refers to Heb. iv, 9, to sustain his definition. Robinson defining the word says, “In N. T. only of an eternal rest with God.” Dr. Bloomfield says: The term σαββατισμός (which is very rare) is substituted for κατάπαυσις [katapausis] partly to exclude any notion that the rest of God spoken of might be the Sabbatical rest, and partly by thus comparing it with the Sabbath, to hint that that was a symbol of the true and spiritual Sabbath of which their doctors spoke, the rest and felicity of the world to come.”¹ And so we might continue to quote authorities who apply the rest that remains to the future eternal rest; but it is unnecessary to occupy further space, as the apostle’s own language is sufficiently plain on that point.
Between the declaration that a rest remaineth for the people of God, and the conclusion of the argument, “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest,” verse 11, is thrown in as follows: “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” A failure here to fix upon the right antecedent for the pronoun he, has led some into the grossest misapprehension on this verse. A recent writer has endeavored to prove the first-day Sabbath from it thus. We give his argument merely as an exegetical curiosity. He says:
“But let us compare this with Hebrews iv, 10: ‘He [Christ] also hath ceased from his own work, as God did from his.’”
“1. Did God ‘rest’ on the ‘seventh day?’ Then did Christ ‘rest’ on the first day as God did from his on the seventh?”
“2. Did God ‘bless’ the seventh day on which he ‘rested’?”
“Then must Christ have ‘blessed’ the ‘first day,’ if he rested as God rested—‘because’ that in it ‘he had rested;’ therefore he [Christ] ‘blessed’ it [the first day] as God did the seventh.”
“3. Did God ‘sanctify’ the seventh day? Then must Christ have ‘sanctified’ the ‘first day,’ or he could not have rested on a sanctified day as God did, unless he had sanctified the day.”
There is not a solitary correct conclusion in this whole argument, and it would be difficult to crowd more errors into the same space. 1. Christ is not the antecedent of the pronoun he. 2. He did not rest from the work of redemption; for it was not then finished. If it was, woe to all who have lived and hoped and suffered and died since then. 3. Christ did not rest on the first day as God did on the seventh. God ceased from labor and was refreshed in the contemplation of his own work, which he pronounced very good. Christ during the first day resumed the very labor he had been engaged in before his death. 4. The blessing and sanctification of the seventh day were placed upon it after he had rested upon it, and because he had rested upon it; and we know that they were placed upon it, because we have a record of it. And if Christ so blessed and sanctified the first day, show us the record of it. His merely resting upon it, even if he had done so, would not have given it that character. Yet, says this astute writer, “He could not have rested on a sanctified day, as God did [the emphasis is his own] unless he had sanctified the day.”
201But we inquire, did God rest on a sanctified day? No! the day was not sanctified till after he had rested upon it; and we know it was sanctified, simply because the record says so; but nothing of the kind is said respecting the first day of the week. We will not detain the reader longer on this. Nothing could be more utterly unfounded than this argument.
The pronoun, he, of verse 10, refers to the believer; and Paul adds that verse as an additional argument in favor of his preceding proposition that there remaineth a rest. He that hath entered into his rest hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. But do we see any one in this condition? No; then the rest is not yet attained; it is yet future. We shall not rest from the labors, sufferings, tribulations and afflictions of this life, till we enter upon the eternal rest of the kingdom. Through much tribulation we are to enter the kingdom. We cease from these our efforts to gain eternal life, when we reach the goal and enter into the rest of God. On verse 10, Wesley remarks: “They [believers] do not yet so rest. Therefore a fuller rest remains for them.” Then Paul concludes by an exhortation to us to labor to enter therein.
We cannot better close these remarks, than by giving from Holden the following clear summary of the apostle’s argument on this subject:
The writer now treats the history allegorically (as in Gal. iii, 16; iv, 24.), applying it to the case of Christians. (Dind.) He begins with declaring, that a promise of entering into God’s rest is still made to Christians, as it was to the people of Israel, v, 1, 2, and into which believers are still admitted, v, 3. Now that the rest spoken of by the Holy Ghost in Ps. xcv is not a mere temporal rest in the land of Canaan, but also a future and heavenly rest, is evident, because God’s rest is such a rest as God enjoyed when he had finished the work of creation, and consequently a spiritual, heavenly rest, v, 3, 4; because the terms of the oath, “they shall not enter into my rest,” imply that the promise included another rest besides that of Canaan, a rest resembling God’s rest, v, 5; because, since it remains that some must enter into the rest spoken of in the oath, and they to whom the promise was first given did not enter in by reason of unbelief, it follows that a rest must be intended into which all true believers may enter, and consequently a future and heavenly one, v, 6; and because God in the oath warns the Israelites against losing this rest, a long time after they had been in possession of the promised land, consequently he must have intended another rest than that of Canaan, v, 7, 8. There remains, therefore, a spiritual and heavenly rest for the people of God, into which those who enter shall cease from their labors, as God did from his work of creation, v, 9, 10. Hence follows the duty of laboring to enter into it, v, 11–13.
REPORT FROM BRO. WHITE.
By James White
In company with Bro. and Sr. Griggs we went to Tuscola on fourth-day, Feb. 26, and stopped with Bro. Spooner and family, where we find a good and welcome home. After writing notices to send to the schools, and to post up, we left fifth-day morning for Watrousville, fifteen miles distant. Mrs. W. had a special message for all, but for one in particular, who had been the subject of labor on the part of Brn. Van Horn and Waggoner. The duty was faithfully done, and the church seemed freer. But how hard for those who are accustomed to evil, to learn to do well. A wrong course persisted in, and self-justified, blinds the mind, hardens the heart, and benumbs the conscience till it has no more feeling than a burnt boot.
Bro. Walters entertained us for the night, and on sixth-day we returned to Bro. Spooner's, where Mrs. W. spent her time in writing testimonies for certain ones, and we are writing the article under the caption, “Only in the Lord.”
The truth has taken a strong hold of many good minds in this county, and some still have a zeal for God and his cause. But as we have formed some acquaintance with these professed friends of truth, we have decided that in no part of the field are our brethren more exposed to dangers than in this county. Some of these dangers we will notice.
1. Some have had much zeal for the truth, and for the reforms generally adopted by our people, and in their zeal they have talked carelessly and roughly. The influence of the course of such is to prejudice the public, and wound and dishearten their brethren who are blessed with caution, and a refined sense of propriety. These persons must be reformed, or ruin will follow in their wake.
2. Some brethren leave the world and are more or less imbued with its spirit. They are prospering in the things of this world, yet do not feel, we think, the claims which the wants of the cause has upon them, to use for its advancement a portion of what God has blessed them with. Let them sacrifice for God, and seek to come nearer his throne. Let them get where they will feel more deeply the lost condition of their children out of Christ, and pray and labor for their salvation. The great danger of such, is that care, work, business, and toil, will occupy their time and their powers of body and mind, and crowd out Christ and the necessary preparation to stand in the day of God, and they and their children then mourn that the harvest is past, the summer ended, and they not saved. Lost! yes, lost, because of their love for the things of this poor little world. What a terrible mistake.
These persons have correct ideas of industry, economy, neatness and order, as manifested in the farm and buildings, and of promptness in business. Without these correct ideas they would be as poor and slack, and as vacillating as some of their brother Sabbath-keepers are, and of no service to the cause, but perhaps a living curse. Let these brethren with all their good qualities and their wealth, first fully consecrate all to God and his cause. Let all their good qualifications be sanctified and brought to serve the cause of truth, and let them use a portion of the means their good habits have secured, in the cause of the Lord.
But as we look upon the condition of this class of our people generally, who are prospered in all their worldly pursuits, and see them holding fast what they have, and many of them grasping for more, and some satisfying themselves with paying into the S. B. treasury on a portion of their property, we are led to fear that not more than a tithe of them will do their duty and finally overcome.
3. There are those who are poor, and, as is the case with most poor people, there is with some of these a want of order, promptness in business, economy in time and means. And those who fail in this respect, generally fail also in their duty in spiritual things. While the careful, shrewd manager who has, by his toil, care, economy and industry, made the battle of life a success, so far as this world is concerned, is in great danger, these may be exposed to opposite, yet equally dangerous errors. Let the wealthy take care lest the cares of this life, and the love of this world's goods drown them in perdition. And let the other class come up and learn from the example and good counsel of the wealthy how to better succeed in the battles of life.
4. This good people here in Tuscola Co. have a commendable zeal for the truth, and many of them are of the most cautious and prudent in their words and acts. But some will have to learn to be more select in their words, and careful of their moments.
5. Forbearance must be exercised toward the erring. The Lord has given us a very pointed testimony for this people. If he gives others such a testimony, let them deliver it. But let them first be sure they have such a message. We will try to do our duty, not theirs. Let them do their work and not try to do ours.
Sabbath morning we spoke to a good congregation in the place of worship owned by the church in Tuscola. Mrs. W. spoke in the afternoon, after which there was a social meeting and Mrs. W. delivered messages in a clear and most affectionate manner to several present. This was humbling to pride, the very thing needed. The meeting was excellent and profitable.
First-day, we spoke in the morning to a crowded house. At the close of this service Mrs. W. received an invitation to speak, in the afternoon, in the new Methodist house of worship, and spoke with freedom to a crowded house. Many had to stand. It is said that the congregation was larger than at the dedication of the house on the 12th of last month.
We are now at Bro. Spooner's, expecting to join Bro. Andrews at St. Charles, to-morrow, thirty-two miles from this place.
JAMES WHITE.
Tuscola, Tus. Co., March 1, 1868.
P. S. March 2. We had a precious season here at the house of Bro. Spooner last evening, with some of the members of the Tuscola, Vassar, and Watrousville churches. Our labors here have resulted in good. Some that were wavering have become established, and the general interest is good.
The brethren at Watrousville gave us $10 for our personal wants, and those at Vassar, $1.50, which we appropriated to the book fund. The brethren here have houses of worship to build, and many of them are poor, and as books should be given to the poor, and tracts should be circulated among the people, they should give the book fund a good lift. And we do not feel that we should accept their liberalities under such circumstances. Let our ministers and people care for the book fund. In importance in this work, this is next to the labors of the ministry. Battle Creek church alone is good, according to pledges, for $1200. If all do in proportion, $10,000 will be raised. We are disappointed that our people move so slowly in this matter. Brethren, send in your pledges and your money. In each place that we visit we spend an hour laying this matter before the brethren, and call upon them for help. We also call upon all who keep the Sabbath, to furnish themselves with the books, and state that they are free to those who are of the worthy poor. If our ministers all take hold of this work in earnest, they will soon find many destitute of Spiritual Gifts, &c., and a great call for this kind of reading. Our people must have it. This moment we think of our people in Maine, with all their errors, and false notions, and unbelief. A hundred sets of these works should be taken in that State, at once. Let the work go forward.
J. W.
MEETINGS IN WISCONSIN.
By I. SANBORN
AFTER spending four weeks at home, recruiting my much-exhausted energies, which I very highly esteemed as a blessing of the Lord, on Jan. 22, according to appointment, I started to Cassville, where I found the good work of the Lord still prospering. I have preached but two sermons, and held two prayer-meetings a week, and spent the rest of the time visiting and praying among the people. The exact number that are keeping the Sabbath, I cannot tell; but there are over one hundred. I have received several urgent requests to preach in other neighborhoods which I intend to do as soon as I can. The brethren here have commenced building a meeting-house 30x45. They have the stone hauled for the foundation, and the timber bought and mostly hauled, and will commence framing in a few days. They expect to have it finished and ready for meetings by the middle of May. I believe they will succeed, because the Lord is at the head of the work.
I have just commenced the work of organizing a church. The work of reform has prospered here beyond all my expectation. There are some, however, who are having a severe conflict with their tobacco, but I think they will most of them conquer the monster. Quite a number have already got the victory; and though they have only been without a month or two, they consider themselves paid already in the improvement in their feelings. They also can, with a clear conscience, ask the Lord for his Holy Spirit to witness with theirs that they are his children, because they keep his commandments, and cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and are thus endeavoring to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, which he says, is pleasing in his sight. 2 Cor. vii, 1.
As I labor on here I see more and more the necessity of our ministers protracting their labors when they are laboring where there is an interest to hear. Even, after the people begin to keep the Sabbath, they have many things to learn of grave importance, which they cannot learn all at once. Therefore, the ministers should labor on, till they have learned these important truths which save the people from running into confusion, as some do if left before they are properly taught the requirements of God. I trust the Lord will give grace to do his work here, so that he may own and bless it. I. SANBORN.
Cassville, Wis. Feb. 23, 1868.
A PLEA FOR THE CHILDREN.
By H. C. MILLER
“BEHOLD I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Mal. iv, 5, 6.
We quote the above more as an introduction to the few thoughts we wish to advance for the consideration of those brethren who are parents, and who are troubled about the growing desire in the boys to be away from home so much of the time, amusing themselves in questionable company, than for the purpose of making any comments upon it.
I have of late been asked by brethren as to how they should proceed in order to keep their children at home. They (the children), as they grow older, manifest a strong disposition to go out nights to parties, concerts, pleasure gatherings, &c., where they can have the company and pleasures so inviting and yet so dangerous to the young. What do you think? What is the best course to pursue? What ought I to do? is asked with moistened eye and quivering lip.
I will throw out a few ideas on the subject that perhaps will not be out of place. I remember my youth, and that I address those older in years than myself. A desire to do good is my apology. Besides I have not got so far removed from boyhood as to have forgotten the desires incident to that period of life, or those longings that more or less find a place in the bosom of every boy; and therefore I may be better prepared to speak for the boys, if I can only have the Holy Spirit’s help.
I would suggest, as the first and best means, (and it comprehends all the means to the one end,) for accomplishing the end sought, that home be made attractive to them. And this work must begin at the head. The father must become cheerful and kind, and be familiar with his family, and the mother unite with him in being thus. On account of hard labor, many cares, and bad diet, you have become gloomy, fretful, unsocial; in a word, dyspeptic. Such a thing as an innocent game with a laugh, or a kiss for their little ones has never entered your head lately, and you would blush and act awkwardly did you try it. They have longed for these things, and ye knew it not; and growing up without them, they have hailed with joy the chance to get out from under the dark cloud of your presence into the warm sunshine that is outside.
But I need not enlarge upon this subject, as it is much better set forth in Spiritual Gifts, Vol. iv. Brethren, fathers, mothers, hear it! read it! It is the voice of the Elijah that is promised. Be social in your families. Study their wants more, their dispositions, their likes and dislikes, and as much as is right, and in you lieth, gratify them, and direct them.
Many of you have been too eager to enlarge the farm, the capital, the business, and yet you have enough for your present necessities and to spare. Oh! then, enlarge not the work, the labor, the care, but enlarge the house, the home; make it pleasant, make it cheerful; stock it, fill it. Have any of them a gift for music? Encourage it, direct it, teach them to praise the Lord with all that is within them. Do not compel them to go to the town and hang about the dance hall, or the concert; or perhaps to seek that society which proved the ruin of Israel of old, that of the sinful around them in order to gratify this taste.
Have they a love for the mechanical? Place a few tools at their disposal, with a room for a shop. We can speak of the power of such things. We remember the old granary with the few old tools bought at the auction, costing but little, yet serving to tie us to home with a cord too strong for Satan to snap or stretch. We remember the old loom which we worked over into other machines (?) not very labor-saving, yet wonderful to us. The influence of those things is with us today. We loved home on account of them. And the books, the books! How we all three, yes five, father, mother, brother and sister loved them. What joy when father brought a new one! How quickly we mounted his lap to see the pictures, while those older sat quietly by to hear. It was not given to us with the command, “There, now, go along by yourselves and be quiet.” All had an interest in it. It made happiness for many evenings. Brethren I see your houses too barren of these things.
Leaving other things that might be mentioned, I want to talk about these books. Many have not the gift of story-telling. They may know all about David, and John, and Joseph, and Moses, and all the things they did, but not be able to relate it to their children. Facts of faith make up what is behind in you. Get them, gather the children about you in the morning for a half hour, after dinner, at night. Read to them out of these. Break the ice. Keep the little ones on your knee. Get their affections when small, and keep it as they grow older by growing with them. Then there are moral stories in Sabbath Readings. And when these are all gone others can be found to put in their place. Many among us are unable to buy for their families as many as they would need. But a church could all work together in this matter, and for the small sum of from six to thirty dollars, according to the number of the families, could get from fifty to two hundred volumes so, and enough to last each family a long time. And what an interest they create in the Sabbath School. From time to time others could be added by the private purchases of parents; or the children could be taught to save a fund by contributing their pennies to replenish it. I know some object that books cannot be got free from the popular errors. But I think this need work no harm if parents will look into them, and point out the false from the true, and teach the children to exercise their judgment upon what they read.
I might enlarge upon this subject, but I forbear. But to those who raise the above objection, I ask, Will the books harm more than the idle hand, or the lounging in the streets? Will they do as much injury as to let the minds grow up with no direction for good, or thirst for knowledge? Let there be action in this direction. Surely the men of this generation are wiser in these things, many of them, than we who profess light.
H. C. MILLER.
Monroe, Wis.
A WORD TO BACKSLIDERS.
By Adolphus Smith
A MAN in a skiff is floating down Niagara. He does not ply his oars, although they are within his reach. He appears to be intent upon watching the gambols of the fishes beneath him, or in grasping at the drift-wood floating about him, and with which he is lading his craft, and to make room for which he is casting out one by one all the articles of real value he possesses, gold, silver, raiment, &c. His companions warn him of his danger. He raises his oars and gives half a dozen vigorous strokes, when he relapses again into his former indifference, seeming not to realize that every moment his danger is increasing, that his chances of escape are rapidly diminishing. Again and again his companions called to him. They even throw him a rope and offer to take him in tow. For a moment he yields and seems to bid fair to escape destruction. But matters not going to suit him, he relinquishes his hold on the rope, and again floats away in self-security. He is approaching the rapids. Louder and louder his friends raise the voice of warning; but his habits are formed adverse to his salvation. As before, he gives their warning only a passing notice. See! he has already entered the rapids. He awakes to a sense of his danger. He raises his oars, calls loudly for help. Alas! the longest rope cannot now reach him. He now plies his oars with the energy of despair; and his shrieks are drowned in the thundering of the cataract. My soul turns away from the sickening sight. He is on the brink of the fall, throws up his hands in terror, and is plunged into the fathomless gulf below.
O thou backsliding Sabbath-keeper! Thou art the man! Time is the stream on which thou art floating. Thou art bartering the gold and raiment and eye-salve, for the things of this life. Repeatedly thou art warned of thy danger; the strong arm of the church is offered in thy behalf; and above all, the dear Saviour invites thee to lay hold of his word and be saved. But as the dew before the sun, so thy resolutions vanish in the face of temptation. Thou art nearing the time of trouble, upon which if thou once embark unsaved, the mercy of Christ cannot reach thee, and thine own efforts cannot save thee; and thy name not being found in the “book of life,” thou wilt be cast into the lake of fire.
ADOLPHUS SMITH.Ottawa Co., Mich.
Conference Department.
By Sybil Whitney
Exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching. Heb. x. 25.
This Department is designed to fill the same place in the paper that the Conference or Social Meeting does in the worship of God. Speak often one to another to comfort, edify and aid each other in the way of holiness and true Christian experience.
From Sister Whitney.
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: Ever since I embraced the third angel’s message, I have considered it the duty of every one professing to believe it, to have in their possession, and under careful examination, all the works of Sr. White. My reasons are, 1. They claim more than human authority. 2. They are received as such by the “body,” of which we are members. 3. We cannot obey three special Scripture injunctions without them. Jesus says, beware of false prophets. Matt. vii, 15. Paul says, Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good. 1 Thess. v, 20, 21. 4. After careful examination, honesty requires me to acknowledge them as the truth, and to believe they are of God; and to hesitate, or assign them a place with other books in my own case, would be despising them, and being ashamed of Christ and his words; and I should expect him to be ashamed of me before his Father and the holy angels. Lord, save me from such a condemnation! Did you ever think of the awful ingratitude of such unbelief? Surely it is just that such should not “enter in because of unbelief.”
Permit me, now, to inquire, Are my reasons valid? If so, why not endorse them?
1. If they are given by the Spirit of God, in other words, if Sr. White has been shown these things by angelic agency, then they are entitled to more than ordinary respect, inasmuch as in accordance with the Bible, they shed additional light positively needful for a preparation to meet the Saviour when he comes to receive his own to himself. How, then, will those who are truly waiting for the coming of Christ regard them? Can they not see that where there is no vision the people perish? and that they are happy who keep the law? Of what will they not deny themselves, to203secure such a treasure, while they have the opportunity before the famine comes, when they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it?
2. They are received as divine authority by the body of Seventh-day Adventists, with whom we profess to be united in faith and fellowship. How, then, can we be consistent, and occupy a doubtful position?
3. Again how can we obey the foregoing injunction to despise not prophesyings, unless we hear a prophet, and know what he doeth? We are to prove and know them by their fruits. We are to know whether they do and teach the commandments, or whether they break them and teach men so; whether they bear thorns and thistles, or grapes and figs.
How is it with the one through whom these views are given? Have we a chance to know her by her fruits? How long must she go about doing good, preaching Christ, and suffering reproach, before we have a right, nay, before we are in duty bound to know her by her fruits? Is there not danger that some of us will go down to the grave doubting, and others professing to believe, who are still “disobedient to the heavenly vision?” Let us inquire, then, What is her character, and the character of those who receive her in the name of a prophet? Are they untrue? unjust? unchaste? wanton? Do they despise government? Are they self-willed and presumptuous? Or are they God-fearing, cross-bearing, self-denying, self-renouncing persons, seeking meekness and righteousness, following peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord?
Let us pause and consider; and remember that Jesus says, “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Who has given all for Christ, if she has not? Who denies himself, and takes up his cross daily, if she does not? Who lays down his life for the brethren, and is not weary in well doing, if she does not? To whom does this scripture address itself? “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in Heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven.” And again, “He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet’s reward.”
Brethren and sisters, are we willing to risk the loss of that reward, for all that we shall gain by doubts, and the pride of heart which makes us ashamed to confess Christ in the person of his meek and lowly followers? For one, I feel that I am unworthy that those dear servants of the Lord should come under my roof; but I can receive their testimony, and will do all I can to have others receive it, who have ears to hear, and a heart to understand “what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
If I shall be counted worthy to be permitted to see them receive the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,” which I believe God has in store for them, I’ll be satisfied, and will give God the glory of our salvation.