p. 38 | Review and Herald, Vol. 37, No. 5. (1/17/1871)

Absent-Minded.

By Editor

THIS is an expression used to denote want of attention to surrounding objects, actions, or conversation, the mind being drawn off to some remote object or train of thought. Persons in this state will often perform acts of which they are not conscious, and speak words which they do not mean. Illustrations of this unfortunate condition of mind occur more frequently among opponents of the Sabbath, than any other class of persons with whom we are acquainted.

For instance, the Advent Christian Times, says that S. D. Adventists should set a “more consistent example of law-keeping;” for the fourth commandment says that “in it [the seventh day] thou shalt NOT DO ANY WORK,” and in several instances the wives and children of Sabbath-keepers have acknowledged that, when meetings have been held in their neighborhood, and they had company to care for, they have worked harder on the Sabbath than upon any other day of the week. And again, we sometimes harness our teams and drive from three to ten miles to meeting on the Sabbath, and the commandment says that the beast shall rest and “NOT DO ANY WORK.”

And this is the sum and substance of our inconsistency, on which the Times claims that we stand “self-condemned,” and that if we are right, our thus working “will shut us out of ‘Heaven.’”

Is it possible that the Times understands the fourth commandment to oblige all those upon whom it is binding to stand like stocks and stones, as silent and as still as a statue, during the hours of the Sabbath? No, it does not suppose any thing of the kind.

Is it not aware that the kind of work forbidden, is distinctly specified as our work? Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath of the Lord, we are not to do any work—work, of course, of that nature.

Is it not also aware that any work pertaining to the worship of God is admitted by the law, and was even enjoined by the regulations which God made for his people, the Jewish priesthood having extra work assigned them upon that day?

And has it forgotten our Lord’s admirable vindication of the Sabbath from Pharisaic tradition and superstitions—a vindication made and recorded in the New Testament, especially for the benefit of his disciples, the Christians of this dispensation—a vindication in which he shows the perpetuity of the law, and convinced even the obtuse and bigoted Pharisees that works of mercy and necessity, such as relieving the distressed, and ministering to the physical wants of ourselves and our animals, were strictly in accordance with the Sabbath law?

And there is one point we should be pleased to have the Times, at its leisure, explain to the public. The word, Sabbath, is one of frequent occurrence in its columns. As often as the journal of its editor comes round to the first day of the week, that day is dignified with the title of Sabbath. As Sabbath means rest, the first day of the week is, in the vocabulary of the Times, a rest-day. What kind of a rest-day? Does not its editor usually work harder upon that day than upon any other of the seven? Has it anywhere found a Sabbath law commanding us to rest on a certain day, and work some? If there is any Sabbath at the present time, resting upon moral obligation, it rests upon the fourth commandment of the decalogue; and its observance must be regulated by that law—the very law upon which the Times now places such an absent-minded interpretation; for that is the only law in all the Bible for an institution of this kind. But if there is no Sabbath, then why this persistent clinging to a false name? A little explanation here may help the Times in the minds of those who think consistency is to be highly prized and carefully maintained.

It is needless to remind the Times that a weak argument is more damage than help to the cause in behalf of which it is advanced; and we therefore throw over its present effort the broad mantle of our Christian charity, attributing it not to any permanent weakness of judgment, but only to a temporary aberration of mind.

Guard the Door of Your Heart

GUARD well the door of your heart, lest sin should come in disguise and seek to enter. Let virtue keep the key, and Christianity be the sentinel.

The Conversion of Our Country.

A SERMON upon this subject was preached in the Broadway Tabernacle Church, New York, last May, by S. M. Manning, D. D. We refer to it, not for the purpose of reviewing the grounds upon which he based the pleasing doctrine that this country is soon to be all turned to God, but to notice one point which he brought forward as a prominent and noteworthy sign of the times; and that is, the effort to unite all the churches in the land into co-operation on the common points of their faith. The very fact of its thus being presented on such an occasion shows that the movement is becoming wide spread, and is making a deep impression on the minds of the people.

We, too, believe that there is great significance in this movement, and we are looking for it soon to be accomplished. It is necessary that the churches should unite on some common platform, in accordance with certain prophetic declarations, the time for the fulfillment of which is now upon us. And it may be that the ostensible object of this movement will be to reclaim this nation to the gospel of Christ; and it may be also that failing in argument to sustain some of their dogmas, they will appeal like their fathers before them, under similar circumstances, to fire and sword. Such things have been; they may be again. We shall soon see.

To Correspondents.

A. F. Kellogg: We understand that the law spoken of in Romans 2, is the moral law. The word judge, in verse 27, is probably to be taken in the sense of condemn.

P. A. Roberts: Such passages as Eccl. 7 : 20; 1 John 1 : 8; &c., are held to be simply a declaration of the fact that no man passes through this life without sin, not that it is not possible for a person to live without sinning. While we understand that the strong expressions in 1 John, about sinning not, denote moral, rather than absolute, impossibility. See article on 1 John 3 : 9 in REVIEW, Vol. 35, No. 17.

J. Baker: The ten commandments, by themselves, are called a law in Ex. 24 : 12, and Deut. 33 : 2.

C. O. Taylor: The events brought to view in Matt. 24 : 31, and 1 Thess 4 : 16, seem to be identical. The latter speaks of the “voice of the archangel” and the “trump of God,” and Matt. 24 : 31, speaks of the “trumpet” and “a great voice” (margin); both being heard when the Lord appears in the clouds at his second coming.

J. Krehl: See Andrews’ History of the Sabbath for information respecting the time when the change was made from the Sabbath to Sunday, and how it was brought about. It was not the work of Christ nor his apostles; nor was anything done toward it in what is called the apostolic age.

F. A. Ruzzell: We believe that Christ existed as a personal being before his first advent; but respecting his incarnation, and the question as to how it was accomplished, we know of no better answer than the declaration of Paul in 1 Tim. 3 : 16: “And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,” etc. What the Bible presents to us as a mystery, we must be content to receive as such; for the “secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children.” Deut. 29 : 29. We do not think Dan. 11 : 45 can refer to the papacy, as we shall endeavor to show when we reach that passage in Thoughts on Daniel.

B. F. W.: Against the facts of Geology, of course we have no objection to make. It is the wild guess-work based on these facts, and which are set forth under the name of Geology as an absolute science, to which we object. If you agree with us, that these are a “man of straw,” there is no controversy between us.

R. F. Cottrell: The point you mention will doubtless be considered at Conference.

Some of the foregoing inquiries came to the Office during our absence, which will explain their not being noticed sooner.

Covel on the Sabbath.

In a “Dictionary of the Holy Bible,” by Rev. Jas. Covel, Jr., issued in 1839 from the Methodist Publishing House, No. 200 Mulberry St., New York, we find the following excellent remarks upon the Sabbath question. The reader may not find in the article any argument with which he is not already acquainted; but he will see in it good evidence that the idea of the abolition of the law, and the cessation of the Sabbath, was not the doctrine then held by Methodists; and as such, it will be of interest, and may be of use; for some, even among Methodists, now talk in a very different manner. True, the writer subsequently argues for a change of day. But the essential point is to maintain the law of God in its entirety and immutability, as Mr. Covel emphatically does. This being done, a little further examination is sufficient to convince thinking minds, that no change of day is possible. We are sorry to believe, as we are nevertheless compelled to do, that many have taken the ground of no law, and consequently no Sabbath, simply to avoid the claims of the seventh day; and we are glad to meet with testimony from earnest Christians of any age, past or present, that the moral law of God, with its merciful provision of a day of rest, is still the rule of life for Christians. Keep such testimony before the people, that the candid may see that the doctrine of no law and no Sabbath is chiefly an after-thought, to avoid the claims of truth.

It is wholly a mistake, that the Sabbath, because not re-enacted with the formality of the decalogue, is not explicitly enjoined upon Christians, and that the testimony of Scripture to such an injunction is not unequivocal and irrefragable. The Sabbath was appointed at the creation of the world, and sanctified, or set apart for holy purposes, “for man,” for all men, and therefore for Christians; since there was never any repeal of the original institution. To this we add, that if the moral law be the law of Christians, then is the Sabbath as explicitly enjoined upon them as upon the Jews. But that the moral law is our law, as well as the law of the Jews, a few passages of Scripture will prove as well as many. Our Lord declares that he “came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil.” I take it, that by “the law,” he meant both the moral and the ceremonial; ceremonial law could only be fulfilled in him, by realizing its types; and moral law, by upholding its authority. That the observance of the Sabbath is a part of the moral law, is clear from its being found in the decalogue, the doctrine of which our Lord sums up in the moral duties of loving God and our neighbor; and for this reason, the injunctions of the prophets, on the subject of the Sabbath, are to be regarded as a part of their moral teaching.

Another explicit proof that the law of the ten commandments, and consequently the law of the Sabbath, is obligatory upon Christians, is found in the answer of the apostle to an objection to the doctrine of justification by faith: “Do we then make void the law through faith?” Rom. 3: 31; which is equivalent to asking, Does Christianity teach that the law is no longer obligatory on Christians, because it teaches that no man can be justified by it? To this he answers, in the most solemn form of expression, “God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Now, the sense in which the apostle uses the term, “the law,” in this argument, is indubitably marked in Rom. 7: 7: “I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet;” which being a plain reference to the tenth command of the decalogue, as plainly shows that the decalogue is “the law” of which he speaks. This, then, is the law which is established by the gospel; and this can mean nothing else but the establishment and confirmation of its authority, as the rule of all inward and outward holiness. Whoever, therefore, denies the obligation of the Sabbath on Christians, denies the obligation of the whole decalogue.

Denying the Faith.

WHEN professed religious teachers talk in the following manner, what may we expect from worldlings and infidels?

The Rev. S. Desprez, Vicar of Alvidiston, Wilts, in England, has recently published a work on the Revelation, in which he boldly denies that there is to be any second coming of the Son of Man on earth. He admits that it is found in the creeds of universal Christendom, but affirms that it is not found in the New Testament. “The theory which supposes that the coming of Christ at the end of the world is an event yet future, is a theory which, although it has the sanction of so-called orthodoxy, is contradicted by the current testimony of the New Testament.”

We naturally expect that a man who speaks in this way of so important an article of faith, and one so deeply cherished by the church universal, will also speak contemptuously of the inspired word, and so it is. “Whilst we willingly accord to the seer of Patmos facility of accommodating power, as well as genius, if not strictly original, yet certainly of the most spiritual kind, we are disposed to attach no greater reliability to the vision of Judgment presented in the apocalypse than to the startling phenomena of the millennium which precedes it.” He regards these visions not “as predictions of actual events, but as the offshoots of a pious yet wayward imagination—the creations of a loving, trustful, yet fevered and heated brain.”

One cannot but be reminded, in reading sentiments like these, of our Lord’s words: “When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” And of St. Peter’s prediction: “There shall come in the last days scoffers” (and these are in the church) “walking after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’”—The Churchman.

The National Reform Convention.

Among the eminent men who concur in the call for this Convention, we notice the names of the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Governor of Vermont, the Governor of Kansas, the Ex-Governor of Connecticut, the Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, the Bishop of the Diocese of Delaware, the Chaplain of the House of Representatives, the presidents of two Colleges, the Bishop of the Diocese of Ohio, the Bishop of the Diocese of Illinois, the Bishop of the Diocese of Missouri, and nine other Doctors of Divinity. The managers of this movement count largely for ultimate success on the weight of the long list of honorable names which they can array in its favor.

The Design of Russia.

An able article on the present “European Medley,” in the Churchman, states that Russia in her encroachments upon Turkey, is not merely seeking a sea frontier and harbors lying on the great highways of commerce, unclosed by arctic winters, but that with a feeling akin to that which inspired the Crusades, she is actuated by an intense desire to drive the Crescent from the soil of Europe.

If Satan Sinned in Heaven, May not Others Also?

By Dudley Marvin Canright

VERY often we have this question asked us. It is said that, if Satan was once pure and holy in Heaven and yet sinned, then the same thing may happen to others; and even the saints who are once saved, may also sin and fall. If we cannot give a ready answer to this and all other questions, the opposer triumphs as though he had overthrown the entire Advent faith. But it should be remembered that the “orthodox,” and even the “evangelical” churches also hold with us that Satan is a fallen angel. Let them answer. But we do not by any means concede that this is an unanswerable objection. No; we think the case is a plain one. It is both a reasonable, highly probable, as well as a directly revealed fact, that neither the holy angels nor the glorified saints will ever sin or fall in the future.

Two facts make it very reasonable, and quite probable, that the holy angels will never in the future rebel against God.

First, their loyalty to God, and their integrity, were most severely tested, when the other angels rebelled and fell. The very fact that they remained loyal and unpolluted at that time, is good presumptive evidence that they will not rebel in the future. Their loyalty and integrity have once been tested, and found to be genuine.

Secondly, the angels who fell never had an example of rebellion and sin before them—had never seen the terrible fruits of disobedience to God; but the angels who did not fall, have now had before their eyes for six thousand long years, an example showing the terrible effects of sin and rebellion against God. This sin can never be effaced from their memories, and must serve as a mighty influence to bind them in their obedience to God. Hence we say, that it is both highly improbable and unreasonable to suppose that the holy angels who have thus far maintained their loyalty to God, should in the future rebel against him.

Now let us look at man’s case. Who will be saved in Heaven? Only those who have withstood all temptations, overcome all their sins, and lived righteously before God. These, and these only, will be saved. But this they did under the most trying circumstances. They were full of infirmities themselves, weak and naturally sinful, with propensities tending to lead them away from God; all the influence of the world brought to bear against them; the powerful temptations of the devil and his angels, continually causing them doubts and fears; and yet under all these circumstances, they succeeded in overcoming their sins, and living holy and righteous lives before God. How changed will be their condition after they are saved in Heaven! No tempting devil to deceive them; no alluring world to beguile them; no weaknesses of the flesh to ensnare them;—all, all these things are passed away now; they are immortal now; they are pure from the last stain and seed of sin; are surrounded by the holy angels, and walk in the light of God’s own countenance. If they could succeed in living a life of holiness under the disadvantages under which they were once surrounded, how highly probable and reasonable, nay, how certain it is, that they will now be able to maintain that life of holiness under such favorable circumstances. Therefore we say it is unreasonable to suppose that the saints will fall again.

But we have the sure word of God that they shall not err. In the description of the new earth, in Isaiah 35: 8, the Lord says, “And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools shall not err therein.” This is often misquoted, and applied to this life. But it has no application here. It applies to the future, and it is a sure promise of God that the righteous not only need not, but shall not err. Then Christ is speaking of the resurrected saints, says: Neither can they die any more.” Luke 20: 36. This promise is sure, and we believe it. Many other such promises are scattered all through the Bible, that the saints once saved shall never fall, never die any more. D. M. CANRIGHT.

Adel, Iowa.

The Seventh Day Regarded by all Nations.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

THAT many nations have recognized and regarded the division of time in sevens of days, and have ever kept one day in seven, as a Sabbath or holiday, is an important fact showing that the Sabbath originated at an early date, and was designed by God for all men. It is true that they have not all kept the same day; but this does not affect the argument. All men worship God, though not the true one; yet this furnishes an argument in favor of the existence of a God. So this of a Sabbath. I quote from “The Sabbath,” by Gilfillan:

“Let it suffice, however, in a matter on which there is so general an agreement, to present the words of four eminent authors: ‘The septenary arrangement of days,’ says Scaliger, ‘was in use among the orientals from the remotest antiquity.’ ‘We have reason to believe,’ observes president De Gouget, ‘that the institution of that short period of seven days, called a week, was the first step taken by mankind in dividing and measuring their time. We find from time immemorial, the use of this period among all nations, without any variation in the form of it. The Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, and in a word, all the nations of the East, have in all ages made use of a week, consisting of seven days. We find the same custom among the ancient Romans, Gauls, Britons, Germans, the nations of the North, and of America.’ According to Laplace, ‘the week is perhaps the most ancient and incontestable monument of human knowledge.’” “It would appear that the Chinese, who have now no Sabbath, at one time honored the seventh day of the week.” Pp. 364, 365, 360.

Watson, in his Theological Institutes, Vol. I, part 1, chap. v, note H., p. 36, bears a similar testimony, thus: “Thus, in almost every part of the globe, from Europe to the shores of India, and anciently among the Greeks, Romans, and Goths, as well as among the Jews, we find the week used as a familiar measure of time, and some traces of the Sabbath.” D. M. CANRIGHT.

Advice to a Student

“BEWARE you are not swallowed up in books. An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge. What is the real value of a thing but the price it will bring in eternity? Let no study swallow up, or intrench upon, the hours of private prayer.”— Advice to a Student.

Measure Not Others by Yourself

NEVER measure other people's corn by your own bushel.

Market Report.

The following were the market quotations several years ago, of some of the most valuable commodities known upon earth. We present them again, only remarking that the stocks have not improved, but have rapidly depreciated since first reported:

Honor.—Scarce. Old stock exhausted, and the new will be a failure.

Virtue.—Old growth nearly consumed; young growth, prospect very unpromising.

Honesty.—None in the market.

Prudence.—All in the hands of old stockholders, and held close.

Modesty.—Stock badly damaged. None for sale to street speculators.

Love.—None offered except for the greenbacks.

Patriotism.—First quality scarce, and none to be disposed of. Second quality easily bought on speculation at one hundred per cent discount.

Religion.—Very little of the genuine article on hand. Stock generally adulterated.

Politeness.—Cheap. Holders unwilling to dispose of any at the present rates.

Commodities of another nature, however are plentiful.

Vice.—Market overstocked.

Pride.—Market glutted.

Indiana.

By E. B. Lane

The camp-meeting here has been a great benefit to the cause in this State. It not only cast a good influence over the entire community where it was held, but was the means of uniting the hearts of the brethren and sisters to the work and its leaders; for there seems now to be perfect union and harmony in the feelings of the brethren here, and the work elsewhere. I mention this from the fact that some who have embraced the truth, came out under the labors of those who were in opposition to the spirit of the work generally.

After the camp-meeting, I spent some time laboring with the brethren in Howard and Henry Counties; with the brethren in Howard, setting before them the necessity of coming up to the work, laying aside everything that would not recommend them to the favor of God, and becoming pure and holy in his sight. Two embraced the truth, twenty-nine were baptized, and others expect to go forward in this solemn duty. We enjoyed much of the Spirit and blessing of God in these meetings.

From this place, I came to Sulphur Spring, Henry Co. Here is a church of about twenty members, who came out under the labors of Eld. Snook. They were feeling somewhat disheartened and discouraged, on account of the course pursued by him. I found that Eld. S. differed quite materially with us on many vital points of present truth. I therefore presented said points of difference; some received our views, others are still investigating, desiring to know the real truth. All seemed to feel a desire to be in union with the work. I find these brethren to be men of influence and respectability before the world. Although these had been led, through the influence of others, to look with some suspicion upon those who are trying to give the third message, still I hope the time is not far distant when we shall see eye to eye, on all points.

By earnest request of a Bro. Wrightsman, who resides ten miles distant in Blue River Township, I concluded to go to his neighborhood and give a course of lectures. Bro. W. has been keeping the Sabbath since last March. He was formerly a member, and minister in good standing in the old Christian church, who have since renewed his credentials, thereby giving him liberty to labor among them, and advocate Advent views. He has even now earnest solicitations from different churches of that order, to come and preach to them, and to set forth his belief, no matter if there exists a difference. Such is the interest to hear the truth in these parts. I commenced labor in Bro. W.'s neighborhood, Nov. 25. I occupied a large school-house which was crowded to its utmost capacity, with interested listeners. I gave but two or three discourses before an earnest solicitation came to speak in the Christian church at Circlesville, four miles distant. I concluded to divide the time, giving one week in each place at a time, till I had finished the course. I had given but a few discourses, when my wife, who is with me, was taken sick with typhoid fever. She grew worse, and for a time, her life was despaired of; but through the goodness of God she has so far recovered that she can sit up part of the time, and is fast recovering. Thirty-nine days ago, she was taken. I had almost the entire care of her night and day. I have had but one full night's rest during the time; still God has given me strength to endure this affliction, and continue my labors in his cause. So I have lost but two discourses on my wife's account. I am now giving the Sabbath question in both places; have had no Sabbath meetings with them yet, so have not had an opportunity of deciding how many will embrace the truth. I look for quite a number to obey. A doctor S. of this place has taken hold of the truth. One Sunday, at a meeting of the Christian Friends, he arose and made a public acknowledgment that he had been breaking the Sabbath all his life, and he meant to reform. It made quite a sensation in the meeting, the minister and others coming out in open opposition. Still the doctor maintains the Sabbath question, and the society has held no meetings since. They say there is no use so long as this doctrine is stirring up the people as it is.

I would say in conclusion, that God is very good to me, in sparing my dear companion, and raising her up again when she has been so near the grave; and I have great reason to praise God for his goodness to me.

I hope to ever be faithful in his service, and be the means of bringing many to a saving knowledge of the truth. Dear brethren, pray for the cause in this part of the vineyard.

In hope of eternal life, E. B. LANE.

Jan. 4, 1871.

Peru, Iowa.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

SUNDAY, Jan. 8, we closed our lectures here, after staying a little over three weeks, and holding thirty-two meetings. The last two weeks, the weather and roads were very fine. The congregation increased to the end, so that the interest and the attendance was better at the close than at any previous time.

Sabbath, Dec. 31, the friends were down from Winterset, and we had a good and profitable time. Last Sabbath, we came together and organized a Bible-class and Sabbath-school, numbering in all above forty members. Then we had an interesting and solemn social meeting. A goodly number took their stand upon the Sabbath. Bro. Gifford, formerly deacon in the Christian church, was appointed leader. In all, there are now twenty-four keeping the Sabbath here, representing twelve families, all coming in by whole families, but two. This is always a good feature. A large number more are convinced, and we hope to bring them in soon. Disposed of about $25 worth of books, and obtained five subscribers for the paper.

Not only were we shut out of the meeting-house, but an effort is also to be made to close the school-house. But by the good providence of God, all this turned to our advantage. A good, new house in Peru, 18x30, was for sale for $350. This would make them a very good house. A friend, though not yet a Sabbath-keeper, started a subscription with $50. In a few hours we had enough to buy the house, and to-day the deed was made out. For this, we thank the Lord and these good friends.

We now have to go to the Knoxville meeting for one Sabbath. Shall return the next Sabbath and look after things. We feel much encouraged by what the Lord has done here. We are somewhat tired, but expect the Lord will strengthen us for further work. D. M. CANRIGHT.

God's Goodness Acknowledged.

By GEO. KOON.

The Lord has done so much for me and my family within the last six months that I cannot help expressing my gratitude to him in the most public way; and as the REVIEW has been enlarged, I would like to occupy a little space in its columns.

I embraced present truth when the tent was at Winterset last summer. I had been a professor of religion for many years, and thought that I was prepared to meet my God; but when Brn. Butler and Canright came to our place and presented the law of God, the Lord opened my blind eyes and I saw that I had lived in violation of the fourth commandment. I thank God that any one was ever sent here to proclaim the third angel's message and build up a little church of Sabbath-keepers who fear God and keep his commandments, and are waiting and watching for the soon coming of our Lord to give us eternal life and make us heirs of his kingdom.

Our little company meet regularly every Sabbath, and the Lord meets with us according to his promise. We have a Sabbath-school well attended by about forty scholars, and the Lord is encouraging us by raising up Sabbath-keepers all around us through the instrumentality of Bro. Canright.

But we would not stop here, for we think that we have a work to do. The Lord has done well in instituting a public ministry; but the success of his last message lies in the individual energy of his people. It seems to me that if private members of the church do not labor, pray, and live so as to convince skeptics that they believe present truth, the preachers may preach, pray, toil, and weep, till they fall at their post, and comparatively little be accomplished.

Present truth should, and will, increase the spirituality of believers. It should be death to formality and cold indifference, and elevate the tone of piety and kindle a fire in the souls of believers that will consume their lusts and remaining sins and make them aspire after higher and holier attainments in the divine life. They ought now to become more active and zealous in the cause of God. They ought to be ready for every good work. They ought not only to pray daily, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven,” but they should also labor that this may be accomplished.

Some profess to be willing to labor, but do not know where to begin or what to do. This results entirely from a want of reflection and serious inquiry. If each would sincerely pray, Lord what wilt thou have me to do? this excuse would never be made. We are placed in the midst of sin and ruin. All around us is one vast moral waste, with only here and there a verdant spot warmed into life by the genial rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Ten thousand forms of human misery rise up before us, and pure Christianity is almost gone from the land; and yet many say, We do not know what to do. We ought to attend prayer-meeting, and Sabbath-school, and induce all to attend them over whom we have any influence. We ought to collect all the children in our town or neighborhood, and instruct the young in the doctrines of the Bible. Especially we ought to talk to our families, our relatives, our neighbors, and our acquaintances, about the soon coming of Christ and the terrible day of God's wrath, and do it kindly. Private Christian, you have a work to do; and you are just as inexcusable and guilty before God for not doing it, as is the minister of the gospel who neglects his duty. Oh! how our souls should burn with love to God and love to our fellow-men, so that they may not be found in sin in the day of the Lord's wrath.

GEO. KOON.

Winterset, Iowa, Jan. 1, 1871.

Joy in Heaven.

By ADOLPHUS SMITH

If, in Heaven, there be more joy over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance, what will be the rapture of immortal beings when our world is redeemed from the bitter curse?

Our ponderous globe rolls in her orbit around the sun, the seasons come and go in quick succession, and the alternations of day and night call man successively to his labor and repose. In their nightly round, the stars glitter in the firmament. With the aid of a powerful telescope, we view our sister planets: Venus with her climate of perpetual spring; Jupiter, with a bulk fourteen hundred times larger than our earth, and her four attendant moons; and Saturn, nine hundred times as large as our planet, with rings of lunar sheen, and eight attendant moons, in all the phases of their changes. From these we turn for a moment to contemplate the center of our system—our own sun. More than one million times larger than our earth, he rolls on in his diurnal and yearly motion round the center of our astral system, emitting corruscations of light that forbid our gaze. We glance a moment at his brother suns—greater in bulk—set like diamonds in the galaxy; and then turn away to view astral systems more remote, until they become irresolvable under the highest telescopic power.

Could we take our position on one of these distant spheres, and stretch our vision to the space beyond, we should, doubtless, behold it filled with the works of God. From thence, we turn to view our world, and it is not. The highest telescopic power cannot reveal its existence. We behold the heavenly spheres, inhabited by sinless races, holding converse with the angels, and with God; while man alone is vile, and the place of his habitation is desolate.

Can the Creator, then, regard with favor this speck, this atom in his wide domain? Yes. It will prove that none of his works have been wrought in vain.

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Jesus leaves the glory of Heaven, exchanges the adoration of immortal beings, for the insults and gibes of rebellious men; he takes upon himself our infirmities, bears our sicknesses, and performs the office of a humble servant;

and, finally, forsaken by those whom he had loved and befriended, in the most insulting manner is hurried to an ignominious death. Men laugh and mock at his agony; but angels turn away and weep; the sun refuses to shine; and the terrible upheaving of the earth, sufficiently attests the grief of nature at the death of our Lord.

For a season, he rests in the grave; but on the third day, rises triumphantly, victor over death and hell. After forty days, he ascends into Heaven. The broken law is vindicated, the wrath of God appeased, and man's redemption made secure. When the service in the heavenly sanctuary is completed, those for whom it has availed are called forth from the tomb to meet the descending Saviour. The living saints are changed, and caught up with them. They are borne to the mansions prepared for them in the New Jerusalem; where, in concert with Christ, they sit in judgment upon the wicked, who have corrupted the earth. At the end of the one thousand years, they descend to earth with their Redeemer, and the New Jerusalem follows them, and rests upon the place prepared. Those who have transgressed the law of God are called up from their graves to suffer, with the author of sin, the devil, the execution of the Judgment. Fire comes down from God out of Heaven; the elements melt with fervent heat; and the world, and the works therein, together with the wicked, root and branch, are burned up, and become as though they had not been. From its ashes spring forth, by the power of God, a new earth, clad in Edenic beauty. Those who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, possess it forever and ever.

The New Jerusalem, the capital of the Father's kingdom, having been transferred to earth, becomes the capital of the everlasting kingdom of his only begotten Son.

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” Rev. 5:11-13.

Truly, there will be joy in Heaven over the redemption of our world. It cost the death of the Lamb of God. Reader, shall you and I share in the song of redemption?

ADOLPHUS SMITH.

KIND REPROOFS.

How best shall I reprove my brother's sin If he hath done amiss in any way? Shall I not seek his soul to kindly win? Or shall I harshly drive him still away?

Shall I assume the right to pierce his heart? To quench his light already growing dim? Or shall I gently act a nobler part, And render what I would receive from him?

Lord, grant me first my own defects to see, And let my eyes be clear from every beam, And then, whate'er another's failings be, My own will ever still the greatest seem.

No erring heart is won by words unkind, Or softened by reproach and cruel scorn; But gentle words from out a heart refined May teach that heart to know and feel its wrong.

Monroe, Wis., Jan. 9, 1871

By I. Sanborn

Wisconsin.

DECEMBER 3 and 4, 1870, I spent with the church at Oakland in quarterly meeting. I had not visited this church for several years before. I found them united in love, and striving for the victory.

Dec. 6, I started with my wife and sick brother to Florence Heights, N. J., to Dr. Trall’s Institute. My wife went to be treated for a cancer. Dr. T. thought he could cure it in two or three months. I returned home with my brother, who died the second day after reaching home. I expected to spend the winter with the churches east; but on account of the weak condition of my brother, I felt compelled to come back to Wisconsin.

Since then, I have been holding meetings in the neighborhood where he lived, and where I also lived for more than twenty years. Several are much interested, and I think will obey the Lord. I design to labor here two weeks longer.

I have just spent the Sabbath and first-day with the church at Monroe in quarterly meeting. It has been a truly precious season. Bro. Oliver Pratt was ordained elder, and Bro. Hammond, deacon. Several gave evidence that they would start in the service of God, and several that were backslidden made a new start. I continue two evenings longer, then go to Twin Groves, to renew labor there. I. SANBORN.

Monroe, Wis., Jan. 9, 1871

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