In approaching this subject we are aware that we shall be met with unbelief, and, by many, with settled prejudice. Popular opinion, and almost universal feeling, upon the subject, are against us. Many feel very strongly opposed to the doctrine that the gifts were designed for the entire Christian dispensation, and they know not why. There is a most singular propensity to unwarrantable liberality in the men of this generation to carry back those things which belong to them, and give them to the people of past ages. The Universalist gives all the threatened judgments of the Almighty to Old Jerusalem, and most all are agreed in giving the Sabbath to the Jews, and the gifts to the first generations of Christians.
But it is a scriptural fact that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world—not the Jews only, but the world, and that decree has not been revoked. Jesus announced the fact that the Sabbath was made for man—not for the Jews alone, but for man, for the race. It is also a scriptural fact that the gifts were put in the church, to remain in the church till the perfect day shall come, when hope shall be lost in fruition, and faith in sight. We present as the ground-work of the scriptural doctrine of the perpetuity of spiritual gifts, the
ORIGINAL COMMISSION.
Mark xvi, 15-20. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”
Matt. xxviii, 18-20. “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
This high-commission relates to the gospel, to faith, to baptism, to salvation, and to spiritual gifts. The gospel was to be preached as long as there were sinners to hear it. Faith is equally requisite throughout the Christian age. Baptism is a perpetual ordinance in the church, and the ministers of the nineteenth century baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” because the original commission requires it. The terms of salvation stated in this commission were to be held out as long as sinners might be saved. Running parallel with all these, we find in the same commission, spiritual gifts. In the absence of proof that the gifts were to be restricted to any particular age of the Christian church, this commission alone is sufficient evidence of their perpetuity.
Some make a distinction between the apostles, and those who should believe on their word, on this wise: the apostles had the gifts, the believers were not to have them; and they think they see this distinction between the two classes in our Lord’s prayer. John xvii. We reply to this by quoting the words of our Lord in the original commission, as follows: “And these signs shall follow them that believe.” Or, as Dr. Geo. Campbell translates, “These miraculous powers shall attend the believers.” Or, as Wakefield translates, “These signs will accompany believers.” When it can be shown that to believe was required of the first Christians only, then it may be proved that the gifts were for them alone.
The gracious promise of our Lord in this commission, when he says, “And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” is the strongest proof of the perpetuity of the gifts. He was not to be personally with his people, no; but how was he to be with them? The inspired record states that after the Lord was received up into heaven, “they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.”
This promise cannot be restricted to the lifetime of the chosen twelve, nor to the Christians of the first century, for it extends to the end of the world [αἰών], age. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” to the end of the Christian age. If it be said that the Jewish age is here meant, we reply, That dispensation closed with the death of Christ forty-two days before this commission was given. We give two passages as proof. Col. ii, 14. “Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” Dan. ix, 27. “In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.” This prophecy was fulfilled at the death of the Messiah, in the middle of the last of the seventy weeks. There the Jewish typical sacrifices ceased to be of any virtue when the great antitypical sacrifice was offered. Christ gave this commission just before his ascension [Mark xvi, 19], which was at least forty-two days after his crucifixion.
Again, to suppose that the end of the world here means the close of the Jewish age, would be to carry back the gospel, with all the other specifications in the commission, to the Jewish age, to close with that dispensation, and leave the present dispensation without it. This view is too absurd to need any further comment.
We now come to the testimony of Paul. Eph. iv, 4-13: “There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
“And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers, 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, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
The apostle first presents the subject of unity, in the declaration that there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. He then presents the gifts as the means by which God designed to secure the unity of the church. He refers to the period of his ascension, when he led up to heaven a multitude of captives from their graves, as the time when the gifts were bestowed. He then mentions some of the gifts, all of them given at the same time, all given for the same objects, and all to extend to the same point of time.
It will be admitted that evangelists, pastors, and teachers were to extend to the end of the Christian age. Then why not the others? If it be said that the state of unity and perfection described by the apostle, is in the past history of the church, then we reply that evangelists, pastors, and teachers ceased with that happy state of things. But he who admits the perpetuity of these, must acknowledge the perpetuity of the others.
It is worthy of notice that Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was written A. D. 64, and that from that point it looks to the future for that unity and perfection of the church to be accomplished by the gifts. “Till we all come in the unity of the faith,” says the apostle. If Paul could not see this unity and perfection in his day, or in the past, certainly we cannot see it in the past history of the church; hence the perpetuity of the gifts, and their revival in the last days in great power to unite and perfect the church ready for translation to heaven at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Paul in his letters to the Corinthians, has spoken very definitely upon this subject of spiritual gifts. In 1 Cor. xii, 1, he says: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” He regarded this subject as one of the highest importance, and urges an understanding of it. But in all he has said relative to it, he has not once intimated that the gifts were to cease before the perfect day of glory should come. The apostle proposes to instruct the Corinthians on the subject. He would not have them ignorant in regard to it. Therefore if the gifts were designed for the first Christians only, we might expect to find somewhere in his epistles to them some instruction to the point. We affirm that there is not an intimation of the kind to be found in his letters to them. But Paul does clearly point out the time when the gifts will cease. 1 Cor. xiii, 8-12.
“Charity [ἀγάπη, love] never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
The apostle here contrasts the mortal state with the immortal; the present imperfect, with that which will be perfect; the cloudy present, while we walk by faith, with the open glory of the life to come. Here we know only in part, prophesy in part, there that which is in part will be done away. Here we see through a glass darkly, there face to face. Here we know in part, there we shall know, even as we are known. Charity, or love, will never end. Here it is the highest Christian grace, there it will be the crowning glory of immortals forever and forever. In this sense love will never fail. But prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will vanish away. The light of heaven through the dim medium of these, and the other gifts of the holy Spirit, is represented as being only in part, and is to be superseded by the perfect day of glory when we may talk face to face with God, Christ, and angels, as our first parents talked with God in Eden before sin entered. But when? This is the vital question. When were the gifts to be done away? Let Paul answer. “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” And let all the people say, Amen.
But the skeptical objector inquires, “Where are the gifts? If your position be correct, why have they not been manifested in the church all along down ever since God set them in the church? Why are not the sick healed by faith now?” We are aware that this is the principal objection brought against the scripture doctrine of the perpetuity of the gifts, therefore it demands especial notice. We reply to it as follows—
1. The sick were not always healed by faith in Paul’s day. He says [2 Tim. iv, 20], “Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.” Again he says to Timothy [1 Tim. v, 28], “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” God could have answered the prayers of his servant Paul, and raised up Trophimus, and healed Timothy’s infirmities, if this had been best. Hence77we conclude that God has not designed in any age of the church to manifest his power so far that there should be no sick among Christians. But in cases where it would be for the good of the afflicted and for his own glory, he has manifested his power, and will manifest it.
2. The unbelief of the professed followers of Christ in the manifestations of spiritual gifts is sufficient reason why they are not more fully manifested. It is said of Christ, “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Matt. xiii, 58. There is an impious unbelief with many at this day who profess to take the Bible as their guide, which resembles that of those who, mockingly said of Christ as he hung on the cross, “Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” It is sometimes said in reply to the Bible evidences of the perpetuity of spiritual gifts, “Just work a few miracles, and we will believe your doctrine.” It is not God’s plan to gratify such spirits; for should they see as powerful manifestations as were seen in the days of Christ, of Paul, and Peter, they would scoffingly attribute it to the power of Satan, or some other cause besides the power of God.
It is humble, confiding faith that moves Omnipotence. Those only who have this faith may expect the manifestations of the gifts. Mark ii, 5. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Chap. ix, 23. “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Matt. ix, 21, 22. “For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.” Chap. xv, 28. “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
3. The gifts have been superseded in the popular churches by human creeds. The object of the gifts, as stated by Paul, was “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.” These were Heaven’s appointed means to secure the unity of the church. Christ prayed that his people might be one, as he was one with his Father. Read John xvii. Paul exhorted the Corinthians in the name of Christ to be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment. Read 1 Cor. i, 10, Rom. xv, 5; Phil. ii, 1, 2; 1 Pet. iii, 8; v, 5. The gifts were given to secure this state of unity.
But the popular churches have introduced another means of preserving unity, namely, human creeds. These creeds secure a sort of unity to each denomination; but they have all proved inefficient, as appears evident from the “New Schools,” and “Reformed” of almost every creed-bound denomination under heaven. Just think how many kinds of Baptists there are, how many kinds of Presbyterians, how many Methodists, &c., &c. There is not an excuse for this state of things anywhere to be found in the Book of God. These sects are not on the foundation of unity laid by Jesus Christ, and taught by Paul, the wise master-builder. And the smaller sects who have no human creeds, and reject the gifts, the great means of unity, are not a whit better off. In these perilous times how they shake to pieces. The Adventists who despise the gifts have gone into factions, God only knows how many, yet crying, The Bible! The Bible! The Bible!”
All the denominations cannot be right, and it may not be wrong to suppose that no one of them is right on all points of faith. To show that they cannot have their creeds and the gifts too, that creeds shut out the gifts, we will suppose that God through chosen instruments taken from each sect, begins to show up the errors in the creeds of those different denominations. If they receive the testimony as from heaven, it would spoil their creeds. But would they throw them away and come out on the platform of unity taught by Christ, Paul, and Peter? Never! Never! They would a thousand times sooner trample the humble instruments of God’s choice into the dust. It is evident that if the gifts were received, they would destroy human creeds, and that if creeds be received, they shut out the gifts.
4. When we consider the great apostasy of the church, the corruption of her pure doctrines, and her sojourn of 1260 years in the wilderness, we are not surprised that we do not find on the pages of her sad history any clearer records of the manifestations of spiritual gifts. But we are happy here to state that in a few weeks we shall have through the press a work of about one hundred pages, a collection of well-attested facts from the first century down to the present, showing that God has from time to time visited the humble and pure in heart with miraculous powers and gifts of the Holy Ghost.
(To be Continued.)
QUESTIONS
By Editor
BRO. WHITE: We have a little society of Sabbath-keepers here who are searching for truth, and striving to overcome the world, the flesh, and the Devil.
Paul says, “Despise not prophesyings,” but he also says, “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.” This is what I desire to do. As you and sister W. are strangers to me, and I to you, I ask, What evidence can I have that her visions are of the Lord? If consistent with your and her feelings, I would like to be enlightened in this matter. When I am convinced, I will receive them with all my heart.
Does the sixth seal extend to the coming of Christ? If not, how are we to interpret the last four verses of Rev. vi? Also, when the seventh seal opens, does it open at the same time the seventh trumpet sounds? Please explain the last three verses of Dan. xii.
E. BURBEE.
Waterloo, Iowa, Jan. 22, 1862.
ANSWERS.
1. The New Testament teaches the perpetuity of spiritual gifts. That the gift of prophecy was to be revived and restored to the church, with the restoration of the commandments of God, seems evident from Rev. xii, 17, compared with chap. xix, 10; Isa. xxx, 8--14. See also Joel ii, 28--32; Acts ii, 17--20. The last days embrace the last day, so if the gift of prophecy is past, the last days are past, and we are living somewhere beyond the last days.
The two volumes of Spiritual Gifts, advertised in Review, contain much of the evidence of the truthfulness of Mrs. W.'s views. It is now almost seventeen years since she had her first vision. Much of this time she has traveled and publicly taught the things shown her of the Lord, to the great comfort of the humble and desponding. She has delivered a vast amount of testimonies of reproof, alike to friends and foes, endangering herself to the cold neglect of the former, and the abuse and slander of the latter. Thus she has stood before the world near seventeen years. Her visions have stood the most rigid test of criticism. At one time a periodical was gotten up, and for about one year was devoted to the effort of crushing the visions. This resulted in a thorough examination of their merits, and in placing them where they had ten-fold their former influence. Their tendency is to lead the mind to a clearer understanding of the word of God, to bring down the vain and the proud, and lift up and comfort the weak and desponding, to unite the people of God, and lead them to a preparation for the coming of the Son of man. “A tree is known by its fruit.” Mrs. W. has traveled and borne her testimony in Maine, N. H., Mass., Ct., Vt., C. E., N. Y., Pa., Ohio, Mich., Ills., Wis., and Iowa, and why so many in the wide field of her labors firmly believe that she is sent of God to accomplish a work in his cause, is because they have evidence. Faith without evidence is valueless. Unbelief, where there is evidence, is a wrong. We hope the writer will see good evidence, and believe.
2. The sixth seal evidently extends very near, if not quite to, the second advent, though we do not read the coming of the Lord in the verses referred to. The great day of wrath, and the voice of God which produces the results of verse 14, both in the atmospheric heavens and in the earth, precede the second advent.
3. We think not. We regard the seventh angel, not the last trump that awakes the righteous dead, but, like the other six, symbolic. This angel is days (doubtless years) sounding, and, we think, commenced to sound at the end of Daniel's two great prophetic periods in 1844.
4. We have not space here to fully explain Dan. xii, 11--13. But in reference to this scripture we make the following statements, and defer an exposition to some future time.
(1.) There is no evidence that any of the periods of the prophecy of Daniel reach to the second advent.
(2.) The proof is wanting that the resurrection of the just is taught in the expression, “and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”
(3.) There is no proof that “lot” means lot of inheritance.
If requested, we will take up the subject at length; but at present we must leave it with these brief statements.—Ed.
TRAITORS IN POWER.
By Uriah Smith
The curse of the Union cause in the great struggle between this government and the rebellion, is the fact that semi-traitors swarm within its lines, and even command its armies. Circumstances every little while conspire to bring out this fact. Another instance, in addition to the many previously existing, is seen in the late attempt of the Hutchinson family to give a series of concerts in the camps on the Potomac, which we find related in the N. Y. Tribune as follows:
“The tuneful Hutchinsons, having the commendation of Secretary Cameron, and the permit of Gen. McClellan, commenced what they hoped would be a series of concerts through the camps across the Potomac on Friday. They were audacious enough to sing Whittier's noble song commencing ‘We wait beneath the furnace blast.’ A Dr. Oakley of the 4th New Jersey made so noisy an expression of his scorn for its anti-slavery spirit that Gen. Franklin revoked the license of the choristers—a simple method of avoiding dangerous disorder. Gen. Kearney had the family ranged before him, and judicially informed them that he ‘thought just as much of Rebels as of Abolitionists.’ Gen. Franklin also ventilated his opinion that the song was ‘incendiary, and deserved to be suppressed.’”
Who can fail to see the parallel between the spirit78here manifested, and that which first appeared in the Southern States in the progress of rebellion. The first step there taken was against the circulation of papers and documents from the North, as “incendiary,” and dangerous, and not to be tolerated. So now in the Union army at Washington, a song of freedom excites by its “anti-slavery spirit” disorder among the pro-slavery members of the regiments, a General pronounces it “incendiary,” and worthy to be “suppressed;” while another General, in the bitterness of his corrupt principles, judicially informs the singers that he thinks “just as much of Rebels as of Abolitionists.”
To express this sentiment in other words it would be that he has just as much sympathy with the rebels as with those loyal men of the North, who understand the cause of the rebellion and are in favor of waging war to some purpose, and removing that cause—just as much sympathy with the rebels as with those who have the true spirit of freedom in their hearts, and desire to see peace restored in the quickest and most effectual way. What can a cause do with such men as these taking part in its counsels and dispensing its authority? The fruits are already abundantly seen in the inefficiency of the vast host called out to uphold the Union, the half-hearted efforts made, the neglect to follow up advantages gained, and the sickly policy that characterizes in general the whole movement. Upon him whose interest is identified with the future of this country, such revelations, it seems to us, must settle like a pall of despair. Such men will not wage war against the evil which caused it, and in no other way can an honorable peace be obtained. What then will be the end of these things? One of two things must follow: either a continuation of our national difficulties, or a peace upon dishonorable and disgraceful terms. The servant of the Most High, in view of the present and prospective state of the affairs of this world, can but rejoice that his interest is identified with a higher power than any earthly government, and look forward with longing anticipations to the setting up of that kingdom which shall be established in righteousness and endure forever. U. S.
POOR PROSPECTS FOR THE TEMPORAL MILLENNIUM.
We clip the following from the Chicago Times of Jan. 24, 1862:
“The Almanack de Gotha, for 1862, has just been published. . . . From the Almanack we take the following statistics in relation to the armies and navies of Europe:
“ITALY.—The official effective, on the 10th of June, 1861, amounted to 327,290 men, and the navy to 106 vessels, carrying 1,036 guns, and 18,000 seamen and marine troops.
“FRANCE.—Land forces—War footing, 767,000 men, and 130,000 horses. Peace footing, 414,868 men, and 73,850 horses. Navy, 608 vessels in construction and afloat, carrying 13,353 guns; 373 of these vessels are steamers, 56 of which are ‘plated.’ The navy contains on the peace footing 37,375 men, which, in time of war, may be immediately increased to 60,000. The marine troops number 26,879.
“ENGLAND.—Land forces, 212,773 men, and 21,904 horses. The navy consists of 893 vessels, carrying 16,411 guns. It contains 78,200 men, of whom 18,000 are marine troops. There are 9,500 coast guards.
“RUSSIA.—The land forces number 577,859 men, besides 106 regiments of cavalry, 31 battalions, and 31 batteries of irregular troops. The navy consists of 313 vessels, of which 242 are steamers, all carrying 3,831 guns. There are also 474 stationary and transport ships.
“AUSTRIA.—The army contains 587,695 men, and the navy 58 steamers and 79 sailing vessels, carrying 895 guns.
“PRUSSIA.—The land forces on a peace footing number 212,649 men, and the war footing 622,866. The navy contains 34 vessels, of which 26 are steamers.
“Add to all these the million and a half of men in the United States, and we have a formidable series of figures, which may well shake our faith in the proximity of that millennial time when ‘swords shall be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning-hooks.’”
WHY DIDN’T HE?
By J. W. Raymond
“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order in the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” 1 Cor. xvi, 1, 2.
It is claimed by first day observers that the above words of the apostle Paul constitute irrefragable evidence in justification of the practice of keeping the first day of the week as a day of religious rest; that they were designed to make obligatory the practice of a public convocation of the saints on the first day of the week. Such is the claim. But is the phraseology of the above scripture such as to warrant the above-named position as a logical deduction? We think not.
Had it been the intention of Paul to inculcate what first-day observers claim of the passage under consideration, we think he would have omitted the word, for, and used the word of; so that the passage, instead of reading, “Now concerning the collection for the saints,” &c., would have read, Now concerning the collection (or assembling) of the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you assemble together, and keep the Christian Sabbath, and lay by him in store as God hath prospered him. Similar to this should the language read in order to constitute a basis for first-day observance. But alas for first-day advocates, it does not.
Now concerning the collection of the saints—why didn’t Paul say so? Simply because his object was not to enjoin an assembling of the saints at Corinth; he wished to enjoin upon them their duty to lay by in store of their temporal blessings as God had prospered them, for the benefit of the poor saints at Jerusalem. That’s all.
But, says one, don’t the apostle say something about gatherings? Yes; he says, “That there be no gatherings when I come.” Now the word, gathering, has reference to one of two things: it either refers to the congregating of those addressed, or to the act of laying by in store; for it is evident that the words, collection, and gatherings, have reference to the same thing. If it has reference to the former, then it follows that Paul ordered the Corinthian church to have their gatherings prior to his coming among them, so that on his visiting them they could be dispensed with. And in the sixth verse he expresses his intention to spend the winter with them; so that it turns out in the sequel, from your version of the subject, that Paul wished to spend a kind of meaningless winter with his brethren at Corinth. But the preposition for, in the first verse, and the phrase, by him, in the second, form an insuperable barrier to the inference which our first-day friends would fain draw from the scripture above referred to.
Akin, in point of imbecility, to the inference drawn from 1 Cor. xvi, 1, 2, by first-day observers, is every inference drawn from the Bible in justification of Sunday-keeping: there is not the least vestige of evidence with which to screen the nudity of that traditionary theory and practice which first-day advocates seek to clothe with divine authority.
Well may Catholics retort, speaking of those texts used by first-day observers in proof of their practice, “Have they not spun a fair thread in quoting these places? If we should produce no better for purgatory and prayers for the dead, invocation of the saints, and the like, they might have good cause indeed to laugh us to scorn.” The simple fact that God has nowhere commanded us to keep the first day of the week, should set every mind to thinking; thinking till thought lead to a scriptural sentiment, and sentiment to practice.
We may safely challenge an intelligent world to produce a divine command for the observance of the first day of the week as a day of sacred rest. And truly, if this cannot be done, how are you going to prove that we are morally bound to observe it? On the other hand, if God has nowhere prohibited our laboring on the first day of the week, how are you going to prove that we are morally bound to refrain from our secular vocations on that day? Echo asks, and we press the question, How?
We would in conclusion solicit you to a careful and serious consideration of the subject of the Sabbath; and may your deliberations be such that you will decide to “so speak, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” See James ii, 8-12.
J. W. RAYMOND.
GO FORWARD.
By Wm. S. Foote
“SPEAK to the children of Israel that they go forward.” Ex. xiv, 15. All Bible students will recollect on what occasion the above language was used. The79children of Israel were in such straightened circumstances that to go backward was death, and to go forward was seeming destruction; the first by the Egyptian host, and the latter by the waters of the Red sea. But we are told that “by faith they passed through the Red sea and were saved.” The commandment-keeper is now placed in a position not unlike that of ancient Israel; he knows that to go back and unite again with Egypt’s dark and confused host would result in spiritual death; and although before him lies a broad and perilous looking sea, whose angry waves he sometimes looks upon with fear, yet his only hope and chance for life is in obeying his great Leader saying to him, “Go forward.”
Says one, “My lovers and my friends stand aloof from me, and my kinsmen stand afar off; they also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.” So it was with your Lord and Saviour; follow him, and rejoice that you are accounted worthy to suffer with him. “Go forward.”
Another exclaims, “‘Mine enemies would daily swallow me up; for they be many that fight against me.’ I am poor as to temporal things, my health is bad, and it is with difficulty that I can support myself and family, and I can do but little to advance the cause of truth. These things weigh down my spirits, and I sometimes fear that I shall at last fail of eternal life.” Be patient, brother; the Lord in mercy has influenced you by his Spirit to embrace the last message of mercy to our fallen world; through tribulation he designs to prepare you for a seat in glory at the end. “At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth; and thou shalt know that thy tabernacle (the new earth) shall be in peace.” In the strength of Israel’s God “go forward.”
Says another, “Our number is so small, and so many who set out with us in the present truth have gone away from us, and have become our enemies, and have made us ‘a strife among our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves.’ My bosom companion, too, taunts me with being a companion of hypocrites and fanatics. These things discourage me, and”—
Stop! christian friend. Do you believe that the Lord will fail to carry on his own work aright? Do you wish him to retain those in the church who dishonor him, or would be stumbling-blocks in your path to the heavenly city? Depend upon it, he will not suffer a kernel of wheat to fall to the ground; but the chaff will assuredly be all blown away, and when your Lord shall come he will have “a glorious church, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” And for our further encouragement let us look forward to the time when the latter rain shall be poured out; when a host of honest-hearted ones shall come out of Babylon, and join our little company, and make our now saddened hearts to leap for joy. “Look not behind thee, tarry not in all the plain,” but through grace divine “go forward.”
WM. S. FOOTE.
A SIGN OF THE TIMES.
By Robert F. Cottrell
“THE DONATION PARTY TO MR. RULERSON, IN BERGEN.—Mr. J. H. Parish, of Bergin, sends us the following:
“The committee of arrangements are desirous of tendering you their thanks for the notice given of the donation for the benefit of T. Rulerson and family, which occurred at the residence of Dr. S. W. Gleason, on last Friday evening.
“The donation was a signal success, as you will see when I state that the number of people present was four hundred and fifty, and the net receipts nearly one hundred and fifty dollars.
“At four o’clock A. M., the musicians gave notice to select partners for the last dance, after which three cheers went up for the Stars and Stripes that decorated the hall (a barn 40x60)—and the party dispersed; all admitting that Friday evening, Jan. 17th, 1862, would be long and pleasantly remembered.”
The above is a mere specimen of the hundreds of the festivals of Belial which are got up, in these last days, under the garb of religion, and professedly for the support of the preaching of the gospel. All classes are invited, and the lovers of pleasure of all descriptions commingle, attracted by the unholy inducements thus offered. Here the evil servant, who says in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming, finds ample opportunity to eat and to drink with the drunken. Matt. xxiv, 48–51. “Come ye,” say the blind watchmen—the shepherds that cannot understand—who look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter, “Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” Isa. lvi, 10–12. Who can suppose that the age of Noah equaled the present in feasting and revelry?
Is it not time for the servants of God to cry aloud and spare not, to show the people of God their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins?
R. F. COTTBELL.
Discerning the Signs of the Times
“Can ye not discern the signs of the times?”
THE TWO HORNS.
By M. E. Cornell
SINCE the organization of the Southern confederacy the idea has been suggested by some that the North and South were symbolized by the two horns of the last beast mentioned in Rev. xiii, 11. To this view we offer the following objections:
1. The two-horned beast is introduced in 1798 (where the first beast went into captivity), as having two lamb-like horns. The horns were seen as the beast was coming up—when the power was youthful. The horns did not come up when the beast had waxed old as this government has at the present time.
2. The two horns were both mild and harmless like the lamb. Is the Southern Confederacy mild or lamb-like? If its voice is the innocent bleat of the lamb, what can the voice of the dragon be!
3. If the Southern Confederacy is established and maintained, it would really be another government rising, but horns are sometimes used to represent only distinct features in a government. Thus the two horns on the ram [Dan. viii, 3, 20], representing the kings of Media and Persia, were distinct elements of the same power or government.
4. If the lamb-like horns signify the youthfulness of the power, or its mildness and purity, in either case it will not apply to the United States at the present time. This government that was so lamb-like in its beginning is now old in iniquity, and speaks for an image to the beast. The dragonic features only remain.
What then are the two horns? They must signify two distinct elements in this government, which have existed from its very beginning. For as soon as the beast was visible on the earth—as he was “coming up”—the young horns appeared. This fact should lead us to inquire what was in the minds of the Pilgrim Fathers when they braved the perils of the mighty ocean, and cast their lot among the rude savages of this vast wilderness. What were the objects they had in view when they laid the foundations of a new government? The true answer is well expressed by Hon. J. A. Bingham. In speaking of the Puritans he says: “I can tell you that they had another and sublimer object in view; it was to found what the world had not seen for ages, viz., a church without a pope, a State without a king.” Their object was to establish and maintain civil and ecclesiastical rights and privileges. These two grand features were prominent from the beginning. Protestantism and Republicanism have ever been prominent and distinct in all departments of the machinery of this great nation. These are unquestionably signified by the two horns. How lamb-like their profession! The Republican’s creed is the Declaration of Independence. The Protestant’s creed is the Bible.
These constitute the lamb-like horns. No better symbol could be used to represent the gentleness and purity of this government in the beginning.
M. E. CORNELL.
CALL FROM PRINCEVILLE, ILLS.
By W. Vancil; H. C. Blanchard
BRO. WHITE: At a meeting of the Sabbath brethren at Princeville, on last first-day, it was unanimously agreed that we send for a messenger, as we feel greatly in need of a teacher. We want to know the truth and obey it. Some wish to attend to the ordinance of baptism the first opportunity. And if some of the Lord's messengers will come we will pay their expenses. I will be at Chillicothee, Ills., with a conveyance, if you give notice.
W. VANCIL, Chairman.
H. C. BLANCHARD, Secretary.Princeville, Ills. Jan. 18, 1862.