Earlier text: THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPELMy neighbor is an old man. I had never known him until the other day, when he sent for me. I have always thought him singular; for I live shut up in myself, and have learned next to nothing of people around me. I was surprised to find him richly attired in what seemed to be his ordinary dress; it was like that of a foreign ambassador I had once met at court. “You did not know, then, that I was the representative of a King,” he said regretfully. “I have striven to bear my honors meekly; yet I must have failed in loyalty, or you would have known what splendor and sovereignty I officially represent in these provinces, subjugated, but half rebellious.” “Half rebellious!” I stammered, ashamed to think what a dreamer I had been, and how ignorant. Imagine my surprise—I might rather say my horror—when the old man, scarcely noticing my manner, went on to tell me that, as his health had failed, he was about to be recalled to court, and he had been authorized by his King to offer me his diplomacy. Then, awaiting no answer, he proceeded to magnify his office. I heard with kindling imagination of an existent realm grander than any I had dreamed of in history or fable, of an army actually unnumbered—an army never routed, never retreating; but militant, triumphant, wherever were its banners or its legions. Most wonderful of all was the diplomat’s story of his Monarch. He bowed his head, and beneath his breath whispered to me of such unutterable glory, such magnificence, such power without limit, that instinctively I drew back from the mere mortal who was its exponent. Presently he uplifted his face, and it was so reverently tender, that the wonder in me lost itself in longing; for how can I tell you of the loveliness, the unheard-of mercy, the sweet, fatherly patience—of his King? He so adored his Sovereign that in his soul he reflected his image, and I, looking therein as in a mirror, saw that image. When he ceased speaking, I said, “I would willingly be in the service of such a Lord; but I am not fitted for the honor. I do not know the people to whom you are sent, or even the cause you present.” “I am only fitted because I go in my King’s name. He has sent me with good tidings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of my Lord. This is the commission of all sent out from his court. They are sent to provinces full of the poor, and the bruised, and the broken-hearted; moreover, wherever we go, we are to show to men our Master, as I have shown him to you, that the ignorant and the rebellious may know of his power and of his mercy. There are many, very many sent thus from court; but all go with one message: a ‘wonderful, wonderful sentence.’” “May I know it?” I asked, half afraid. “Certainly. It is this: ‘Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.’” “I remember to have heard of God—of this Christ, your King,” I answered then. “Yes, and we ambassadors are also called Christians. There are very many of us in the neighboring city. To think what a grand and awful responsibility is laid upon us! We are here ‘in Christ’s stead.’” I instantly resolved, as he said this, that I could never assume such an office. Perhaps the old man divined my thoughts, for he said, “Go into the city to-morrow and learn more of this thing.” Then, as he seemed weary, I left him. Very early next day I started out, after a night of more anxiety than I had ever spent. When I thought of some time “seeing the King in his glory, and the land that is afar off,” I was eager with heart and soul to embrace the proffered title. But the magnitude of one idea humbled me below all such aspirations—“in Christ’s stead.” It echoed and re-echoed in my mind. The King’s ambassadors must do the King’s work as the King himself would do it. Soon I found myself in the heart of the city, in the market place. I should have passed through the crowd without stopping, had I not come suddenly upon a group who were buying and selling gold. One man’s face held me motionless; such an agony of desire was stamped on it, as he saw his neighbor’s gain, such gloating delight in his own success! “I want to paint that face and call it Avarice,” whispered an artist at my elbow. He pushed me one side to get nearer, and I saw on that miser as he sprang frantically back and forth in his haste—I saw the ambassador’s robe! I must have wandered a long time after this, lost in questionings and wonder, muttering to myself, “In Christ’s stead! to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted!” I grew greatly indignant, and resolved to expose this unworthy officer to my friend, that word might be sent back to court. But before the sun went down I saw strange—such strange things. Only to remember the surprise and bewilderment, the grief and anger, of that day sickens and wearies me. I shall not recall it in detail. I lost half my faith in men. Returning at night to the old ambassador, I found him bent over his official papers, studying them with a face which, when uplifted, seemed filled with positive rapture. He greeted me warmly, and then asked: “You have been talking with, and learning of, some other Christians who have received this ministry—some who have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, but by manifestation of the truth commending themselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. You have seen such, my friend?” I forgot how it would seem to him. I broke the quiet of his evening hour by a burst almost of fury: “I have, indeed, seen your King’s ambassadors! I saw one standing among men fast losing all their manhood, men who needed warning, help, pardon, the force of a pure, noble example. He stood there—‘in Christ’s stead’—and he reached to them a wine-cup! All day long I have watched for them. Some have bartered away their robes and lost their commissions; some ridicule the office they pretend to fill; many have forgotten the message with which they were sent. They are wretched hypocrites. You are an enthusiast and see all things in a nebulous glory. I am, to be sure, convinced of your sincerity, but equally am I convinced that your King cannot be what you believe him, or his followers would not want to disgrace their calling as his servants.” The old man shrank as if struck by a blow; then tears filled his eyes and choked his voice, until my heart was smitten with remorse. He wrung his feeble hand sobbing: “They do not! they will not realize they are in Christ’s stead! O my friend, it is not right to judge of the Master by a few of his subjects. There are some also—I have to confess it with shame—there are many like those you have met to-day. Why have you happened only upon these last? In every land and clime you will find true-hearted, noble ambassadors, doing the King’s work as he would have it done. I hoped you would have had your whole soul set on fire with love and enthusiasm for his cause. Oh! if you could know of him as we his servants do!” And forgetting himself again in his zeal to communicate to me his admiration and affection, he lost all trouble; at the end of his appeal he grasped my hand, crying, “Now, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” I cannot tell how or why, but I forgot those faithless ambassadors whom I had met. I felt only this man’s ardor, and quickened desires sprang up within me to join in this service which so stirred every impulse of his soul. I told him this, and went home. The next day he was recalled to court. I am in doubt, in trouble. I think of the old man with reverence, with an undefined longing. I remember the frantic gold buyer with disgust. All the time there echo through my soul the words, “In Christ’s stead.”—Christian Weekly. The twilight shades were deepening;
In a dwelling far away,
Where a worthy man sat playing
His flute, at close of day,
While his faithful wife made ready
Their simple evening meal.
Oh! here's a home of plenty!
Here are hearts that feel! Without the winds are raging,
And the snow is falling fast.
Ah, how sad for any wanderer
Who must face the wintry blast!
But hark! what lovely music
Floating upward from the street—
“Foxes to their holes have gone,
Every bird unto its nest,
But I wander here alone,
And for me there is no rest.”
'Tis a little weary singer
Sadly comes for bread to eat. Dame Ursula had just buried
In the grave a prattling one,
And her stricken heart was open
To receive the miner's son.
To his doorway hastes the goodman,
For the child is standing there;
Thrice repulsed and quite discouraged,—
Further effort can he dare? “Oh, charity, for Christ's sake!”
In a timid voice he cried.
And the goodman bade him enter,
Tenderly his wants supplied.
Little did they dream this mansion
Was, henceforth, to be his home;
Little thought they this sweet singer
Would, ere long, dare vanquish Rome. Years pass away. Within his quiet chamber,
A lone man wrestles mightily in prayer;
His faith grows weak, his foes are multiplying,
His soul is tossed and driven here and there,
Now reeling, sinking, then to Heaven ascending.
Oh! listen to his broken, anguished cries
While hope and fear his inmost soul seem rending: “Almighty God, and everlasting Father,
How weak is flesh, and Satan, oh, how great!
The world is strong, my faith and courage waver;
My last hour's come; they'd swallow me in hate.
O God, O God! defeat the wrath of men.
The cause is thine, and thou hast chosen me—
A righteous cause, and though my body be
Reduced to ashes, I will cleave to thee.
My soul is thine. Amen. God help! Amen.” In an ancient, lordly city,
Where the pope through minions rages,
Dauntless stands the friar Martin,
Knights and princes, priests and sages,
August diet, most imposing,
Never seen in all the ages.
Is he saint? or is he demon?
Thus opposed the council stands;
Vengeance is decreed to Luther,
And his life is in their hands. What vast theme is he discoursing
That should make them shudder, quail,
'Neath his glances, quick and piercing?
Their proud hearts begin to fail.
From his lips there flows great wisdom
Never heard in all the land. All his judges are confounded;
What to say they do not know;
With such true, unyielding firmness,
Who his heresies will show?
Not an enemy dare answer,
All are still, as if spell-bound;
Though they hate him most intensely,
No one ventures to confound. When his foes have gathered courage,
“Now retract!” they fiercely cry;
But, sublime in truth, he views them,
Dauntless though they doom to die.
And he said, with deep emotion,
“Here I stand, can do no other,
May God help me!” What a triumph!
Vain their rage the truth to smother. 'Twas the Saviour sent an angel
To stand by his trusting child;
And his shrinking soul, thus strengthened,
Meets the world so grand, so mild.
Thus it has been, thus it will be,
In all times, in every land:
Those who put their trust in Jesus
Feel his all-sustaining hand. Battle Creek College. M. S. THE PRESENT.
By Eliza H. Morton
The past is forever gone, the future is uncertain, and the present alone is ours. It is a sad truth, daily demonstrated, that any moment may end our earthly existence, and it is a startling fact that every morning thousands see the sun rise in the east, who, ere it sinks in the west, close their eyes in death. Is it not wise, then, to improve the present? If the “Father of lights” sees fit to chasten us, let us remember that “no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.” The furnace in which the gold is tried is not to be compared with the future dwelling-place of the precious metal; so “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” When to-morrow comes it will be more, and when the day of the Lord cometh it will be present time. We can be prepared for earth’s final solemn scenes, if we do present duty and obey present truth. A pretentious student in Brown University once told Dr. Wayland that he thought it would be easy to make proverbs like those of Solomon. The only reply of Dr. Wayland was, “Make a few!” If skeptics who have spent so much time in railing at the Bible would try their hands at making a better book, a book that would take hold upon the heart of humanity; which would interest children and comfort old age; which would inspire manhood and womanhood with the highest, truest, and noblest thoughts; which would chasten them in joy and comfort them in sorrow; if infidels would produce the first page of such a book as this, we would gladly listen to what they have to say. But this eternal fault-finding, this everlasting negation; this seeking to rob people of a healthful and comfortable faith and leave them nothing in its place; this parading of a few worn-out sneers and objections, never will accomplish much with a world that is hungering for the bread of life, and that longs to drink of the waters of salvation. Two drunken sailors had to cross a Scotch firth at night. They leaped into the boat and pulled away at the oars with all their might; they pulled and pulled, and wondered they did not reach the shore. In their maudlin state they thought the tide was set against them, and so, in a wild fashion, they took spells of pulling, but no shore did they reach. Great was their astonishment, for the firth was narrow, and a quarter of an hour should have seen them at the opposite beach. “Surely,” they said, “the boat is bewitched, or we are.” The night wore on, and the morning light explained the mystery to their more sober eyes. “Why, Sandy, man, we never pulled up the anchor!” Just so; and thus, tug as they might, they labored in vain. Many a sinner has been in like case. He has tried to believe, always a strange thing to do, but he has spent his strength for naught. Meanwhile the real cause of the soul’s long delay has been unnoticed; the heart has never really loosed its hold of its self-righteous hopes, never fairly pulled up the anchor and trusted itself to Jesus. Reader, how is it with you? Have you heaved the anchor?—Sel. Finding Trouble Where We Need Not Look
We can all find trouble without going very far; and very likely, too, we can all be like the old colored woman in New York, who, hearing the jubilee melody, “Nobody knows the trouble I've seen,” said, “Yes, and nobody knows how much less trouble we might see if we would only stop looking for it.” A GOOD ARGUMENT,—WELL— “AS IT WERE.”
By J. H. Waggoner
We mean good for some people, and ought to prove very acceptable to that fast-increasing class of religious teachers who argue that the ten commandments were a yoke of bondage, from the galling burden of which we are made free in Christ! The argument to which we refer we find in an old volume of “Oneida Community” publications; and it is an effort to prove the abolition of marriage. The following quotation will give an idea of the whole:— “The abolishment of the marriage system is involved in Paul’s doctrine of the end of ordinances. . . . Paul expressly limits it to life in the flesh. Rom. 7: 2, 3. The assumption, therefore, that believers are dead to the world by the death of Christ (which authorized the abolishment of Jewish ordinances) legitimately makes an end of marriage. Col. 2: 20.” “Marriage stands on the same basis with the Sabbath. Both may be defended, on the ground of the sanction of the decalogue, and of their necessity and usefulness. Both may be assailed, on the ground of their legality and unprofitableness. Both are ‘shadows of good things to come.’ As one day in seven is to a perpetual Sabbath, so marriage in pairs is to the universal marriage of the church of Christ.” “The law of marriage is the same in kind with the Jewish law concerning meats and drinks and holy days, of which Paul said that they were ‘contrary to us, and were taken out of the way, being nailed to the cross.’ Col. 2: 14.” The reader will be struck with the sameness of this argument with that for the abolition of the Sabbath. The remark that “marriage stands on the same basis with the Sabbath,” is true, even as the Bible is true. Both of them date from the creation of the world and of man. They are Heaven’s twin blessings to man, coming37 down to us from the wreck of the fall,—marred, it is true, by the fall, as perverted man perverts all the blessings of Heaven, but still, rich with Heaven’s blessing to the race. Both were made “for man,” and both have the sanction of the decalogue to sustain them. And “both may be assailed”—as this writer says—“on the ground of their legality and unprofitableness.” Yes, both; one as much as the other; neither more nor less, and both of them are “against” some people—“contrary to them,” and they rejoice in the thought of their being “taken out of the way.” See Rom. 8: 7. A certain teacher, standing high in his denomination, who urged the abolition of the Sabbath, when pressed on the parallel between marriage and the Sabbath in their origin and nature, evaded the conclusion by saying he was not concerned whether or not marriage is moral! So they go. If all who argue against the ten commandments would openly avow the conclusion to which their argument tends, Oneida would not be large enough to accommodate their representative men; the mass of believers would swell the “community” to a nation. “But,” says the anti-Sabbath proclaimer, “we do not think the moral principle is abolished in the abolition of the law; it is only the precept that is abolished, and we better carry out the principle by observing something more consistent with the spirit and freedom of the gospel.” Just so; that is precisely what Mr. Noyes and the Oneida communists say. The marriage precept of the decalogue is abolished, and they are conforming to a higher law of sexual relations, more in conformity with the unwritten law of their natures, and with the liberty of the gospel. The argument is the same; the conclusion is the same; and we affirm that the tendency is the same. But we have no hope to arrest them in their downward course. The Saviour said, if they will not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rose from the dead. When men cease to tremble at the word of God, when they reject the authority of his law, no argument will reach their hearts. But we shall not cease to warn those who have not yet thus learned “the depths of Satan.” A terrible denunciation is uttered against commandment breakers in Rev. 14:9-12. This we must “keep before the people,” till all those who can be persuaded to “fear God and keep his commandments” are separated from a guilty world, and prepared for translation at the coming of their Lord. J. H. Waggoner. In the prophecy of the message of the third angel, Rev. 14: 9-12, it is said that it is proclaimed with a loud voice. In accordance with this prediction, all believers in the present fulfillment of this message have looked forward with expectation to the time when the message would be given in this manner, or as it is generally expressed, “Would go with a loud cry.” We inquire what this loud cry is to be, or what will be a fulfillment of it? The angel is not a literal angel, and we are not to suppose that we are to hear a literal voice sounding through the land, giving the warning of this proclamation. It is to be simply the truth making its way into all parts of the earth, affecting the hearts of men, calling their attention to this subject, creating a demand for publications, and bringing many to take their stand upon the truth here uttered. And all this may be done, and yet many people know scarcely anything about it; or, at least, not recognize in it the great work of the fulfillment of the last prophecy. The prophet speaks of a class of people who are like the heath in the desert and do not know when good cometh. Paul speaks of a work which the Lord shall accomplish in the earth which men will behold with wonder, but will not believe, and so will perish; and Christ says of John the Baptist, that although he came in the spirit and power of Elias, the people knew him not. So have we need to be very careful lest we fail to appreciate the work of God, and this message be fulfilled before our eyes and we know it not. Twenty-five years ago this cause was in its infancy. Two rented office rooms and a hand press were about all the visible means then in existence for carrying on this work; yet the theory of what we denominate the “present truth,” was defined with considerable distinctness, and the future loud cry of the message was frequently talked of. The condition of the work at the present time, compared with what it was then, presents a very suggestive contrast. Suppose some one had then asked us, What will you think when the message has so far progressed that three large office buildings will be needed to carry on the work of publication, and will be owned by this people, when four power presses run by steam will be striking off sheets upon the present truth by hundreds of thousands, and Conferences will be organized in sixteen different States in the Union, a College be established with between three and four hundred students in attendance, a Health Institute with accommodations for between two and three hundred patients will be in active operation calling thousands of people every year within the sound and influence of the present truth, when an office of publication will be established in California with its steam power presses supplying reading matter upon these momentous themes to all the Pacific coast, and another office of publication be established in Europe issuing a paper in French for the millions to be enlightened in that part of the world, when papers will be published in Danish and Swedish in this country, and Sabbath-keepers will be found in every State of the Union, and in almost every country in Europe, and when books will be going out from the central office of publication alone, at the rate of from five hundred to a thousand dollars’ worth per week,—what will you think then? How will that compare with your ideas of the loud cry of the message? Any one then would have been ready to answer, That will never be. The message will never reach a degree of strength to accomplish all this. Yet we see all this accomplished before our eyes to-day. Do we appreciate it, and understand its significance? As this work has grown upon our hands, we have been led to larger views, and we see a still greater work to be wrought by this message in the near future; but, as we have said, all this may be going on in the land and people be comparatively ignorant of it, and fail to understand its meaning. If they do without the REVIEW, if they fail to acquaint themselves from week to week with what is being done in the land, and do not learn what progress the truth is making, nor inform themselves in regard to the manifestations of the power of God, they will not realize the magnitude of the work,—they cannot enter into its spirit, their interest will wane away, and they will not be prepared for the refreshing which is to come upon the faithful laborers in the cause as the message closes. This is the thought to which we wish to call the especial attention of the reader. There is no going backward to this work. There is no limitation to the power of God’s Spirit. The first message went with a loud voice; and probably so far as the issuing of publications is concerned, as much is already being done under this message as was done under the first. So while we look for a more mighty work yet to be done, its fulfillment may be nearer than we suppose. A short work will the Lord make upon the earth. He will cut it short in righteousness. Let us understand what he is doing, and prepare for the glorious issue just before us. We are thrown into a complete quandary by some things received at this Office touching the Sabbath question. The quandary is, whether a person cannot put forth efforts to overthrow the Sabbath without losing his good common sense, or whether it is only those that are in that condition who undertake to overthrow it. For instance, we have received some papers called, “Borough’s Journal,” published in Black Hawk Co., Iowa, containing three lengthy articles against the seventh-day Sabbath. They contain no signature; but out of charity to the editor, we will not attribute them to his pen. The article commences as follows:— “Seventh-day Sabbath. Under the above head we propose to publish a series of articles in the Journal (commencing with the present number).” The date of this is Dec. 20, 1877. The paper containing the second article was dated Jan. 3, 1878, and in this paper the article commences as follows: “Under the above head we propose to publish a series of articles in the Journal (commencing with the present number).” The paper containing the third article was dated Jan. 10; and in that paper the article commences as follows: “Under the above head we propose to publish a series of articles (commencing with the present number).” So it seems that down to the commencement of the third number, the writer was not sure whether he had begun at all or not; and the only conclusion we can come to after perusing the last article is, that he has not begun to prove what he set out to prove. We are sure that if ever he does produce a genuine argument against the Sabbath, he can truthfully say, “Commencing with the present number.” So far as the articles thus far produced are concerned, they call for no reply. They show a very superficial examination of the subject, and are, in their reasoning, illogical and incoherent. In the World’s Crisis, of Jan. 16, 1878, appears an article headed, “The Change of the Sabbath from the Seventh to the Last Day of the Week.” The very heading is enough to stun an ordinary man, and lead him to inquire what wonderful revolution has taken place. How many days has a week? and what is a change from the seventh to the last day of that week? But aside from the heading, the article is one quoted from the Christian Observer, and is an attempt to prove that Sunday is called the Sabbath in the Greek. We are surprised that the Crisis should manifest such a lack of critical knowledge of the original as to admit such an article. We cannot think that it would on any other subject but that of the Sabbath. The construction of the Greek in those passages which speak of the first day of the week is fully analyzed in the little tract published at this Office, entitled, “Sabbaton.” This question has been so fully and so publicly discussed, that we are astonished that any should still cling to such an idea as that the first day of the week is called the Sabbath. For any one who has no better understanding of the Greek than that, to undertake so important a criticism upon it, is simply unpardonable. The word Sabbaton, in this instance, means week. The numeral adjective, first, agrees with day understood; and the fifty-six learned men who made our translation have given us a literal and correct rendering of the phrase in the words, “first day of the week,” modern would-be critics to the contrary notwithstanding. An exchange which advocates the still somewhat popular view of the eternal conscious suffering of the wicked, in speaking against the doctrine now so widely held that the wicked will be destroyed, says: “We hold destructionism in its essence anti-Christian. It is not in harmony with what we know of the nature of God, the character of the religion of the New Testament, or the aspirations of the human soul.” Then we are to understand, we suppose, that the keeping of millions of beings in a lake of unquenchable fire, preserved by the direct power of God, to sin and suffer and wail and blaspheme to all eternity, is in harmony with what our exchange knows of the nature of God, the character of the religion of the New Testament, and the aspiration of the human soul!! Where is this nature of God revealed? Where is this character of the religion of the New Testament set forth? And where are some such aspirations of the human soul recorded? It is reported that when missionaries were sent to Siam, the natives asked them how long God tormented bad men. The reply was, “To all eternity.” “Well,” said they, “our God only torments the worst of men a thousand years; so we will not have your American God in Siam.” So it seems that the aspirations of those heathens did not extend but a thousand years in this direction. Perhaps in this enlightened land there are some who have so much more noble aspirations that they would be willing to tread this path to all eternity; but we imagine they are not very numerous. H. Parnham: For a full explanation of 2 Corinthians, 3d chapter, see first number of the present volume of the Review. E. M. Pierce: We do not think it would be correct to say that God permitted a plurality of wives in the Old Testament. The most that can be said of it is that God “winked at” it, or suffered it to be so. See Acts 17:30; 14:16. The darkness and ignorance of the world and the circumstances surrounding his people is sufficient reason for his thus suffering it. Skeptics themselves believe that the world has progressed and that this is an age of greater light than any previous one. Why, then, even on their own ground, may not God, without implying any change on his part, hold people to a more strict compliance with the principles of his government according to their changed conditions, and their greater light? S. O. James: There was no substitute provided to stand between the sentence and Adam in case he should sin. The penalty for his transgression was carried out to the letter. The substitute has respect to us and our personal actions, and is to affect our future destiny only. We think Ps. 49:8 refers to the soul. C. G. M.: For an explanation of the four beasts in Rev. 14:6, see “Thoughts on Revelation.” L. C. Hutchins: For the meaning of the word day in Gen. 1, see the little tract on “Geology and the Bible,” published at this Office. E. Williams: When people die so that the proper time of their burial would seem to fall upon the Sabbath, we see no objection to holding the funeral on that day. If any act ought to be one of solemn worship, it should be that with which we commit the dead to the grave, in hope of the resurrection. Ans. The devil has power to work only as he is permitted, for the time being, by the Lord. C. A. W.: John 3:13 contains no contradiction of 2 Kings 2:11, and Gen. 5:24, because Christ is speaking in reference to men going up to Heaven to receive instruction and coming back to teach their fellow-men. No man has ascended to Heaven for this purpose. J. I. Lincoln: The Bible says that the day begins with the “even,” and the “even” it defines to be the setting of the sun. Engravings or pictures not made for worship are no violation of the second commandment. Will J. Broom, who writes from Wyoming, please give us the State? Answered by Letter. C. Stoddard, J. H. Thompson, D. M. Canright, A. H. Wentworth, A. W. Jenson, B. F. Taylor, Mrs. J. Maddux, Mrs. L. D. A. Stuttle, J. N. Andrews, S. M. Ives, Geo. I. Butler, J. M. Hopkins, Wm. A. Hicks, Mrs. O. F. Chase, A. B. Cushing. ADVANCING LIGHT.
By B. F. Cottrell
It was revealed to the prophet Daniel that in the time of the end knowledge should be increased. To fulfill this, there must be advancement, as we believe, in the knowledge of revealed truth. But every advance step will tell in the same direction. There are those who make use of this text as applying to various speculations of their own, though instead of a straight-forward advancement in one direction, every new position overthrows the preceding one. This may be illustrated by the various times that have been fixed for the ending of the prophetic period of 2300 days, of Dan. 8:14. Every new position in time-setting has, as a matter of necessity, overthrown the preceding one, so that none can be true but the last, if that is. Is this advancement? Is it an increase of knowledge? Far from it. Every step in true advancement remains firm. Truth after truth is brought to light, forming a chain of which every link is good. Every step in the stair-way of truth stands firm. But in the production of false theories, every step they climb they fall back one, at least. The increasing light on the fulfillment of prophecy has brought us, unavoidably, to the last message of warning to mankind. Rev. 14: 9-12. Every step of progress in the light stands firm; and the evidences cannot be gainsaid; they carry rational conviction to all to whom they are presented. The fundamental principles, upon which the present truth has been developed as a building fitly joined together, are acknowledged by all Protestant commentators. So the foundation stands firm, and the superstructure is symmetrical and beautiful. Every attempt to revise this foundation must prove a failure—it has been so, and it must be so. Yet there have been, and probably will be, persons that become elated with some new light on these fundamental principles. If it were not for the disastrous consequences of following false lights, it would be amusing to see how sanguine they are of their wild and fanciful views, wondering that their marvelous light had not been discovered before. If we love the truth, it will be better not to meddle with the foundation to revise it. The car of truth will move onward to the consummation. The engine of God's providence never rolls backward. We have not chosen our position. Prophecy and Providence have brought us inevitably to where we are. There is work for all to do. Let all be engaged in the work; for Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do. The battle is to be fought out “on this line.” Onward, then, to victory. HOW CAN WE HELP THE ITALIAN MISSION?
By S. N. Haskell
There has never been so great a call for our publications as at the present time. There is scarcely a civilized nation in the world from which we do not receive direct appeals for our works. Men in whose hearts God inspires a desire to labor for others, are being raised up in all parts of the world. They immediately find that demands for our publications are far greater than can be supplied by their individual resources, and they appeal to us for help. It is the same in this country, especially through the Southern States. The Signs of the Times sent out by vigilant missionary workers have created a thirst for the truth in hundreds of hearts, and calls for reading matter are constantly being received. Some of these calls, it would seem, would melt the heart even of the most worldly professed Seventh-day Adventist. But what has prompted us to speak now more particularly is the call from Italy for publications, and the opening that presents itself on the Mediterranean Sea. I give a few extracts from a private letter received from Bro. Ribton, of Italy, who has, under great difficulties, commenced a successful mission there:— “The only way to reach large numbers of people is by tract distribution. If we want to do an extensive work in Italy, it must be by this means. From Naples as a center, I can send the message forth from the Alps to the Pyramids. I am constantly receiving calls for Italian tracts.” After speaking of the necessity for an Italian Signs of the Times, and tracts in that language, he says:— “Meantime, I am anxious to send English tracts to many persons in different parts of the Mediterranean as well as here. Much can be done by correspondence if I can only find time for it. Since the first of November I have given out nearly one hundred papers in English, French, German, and Italian, all of them in good quarters.” Again he says: “This month I sent some papers and tracts to Malta, and have received a very encouraging letter, requesting me to send more to four or five people there; and in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt, I have also broken ground, and they have sent an earnest request to have a preacher sent to them. There are many English and American people scattered all over the Mediterranean, who, I am convinced, would gladly receive the Advent message. From the south of France to the northern coast of Africa, Algiers, Malta, Tunis, and Egypt, English-speaking people are everywhere dispersed, and in numbers. I am very glad to receive the Signs and the Review and Herald, and send them all out, in different directions, to English people. I believe the foundation of a mighty work has been laid. “A brother is leaving on commercial business next month for Egypt. He is a practical preacher, and promises to do his best to spread the message there. I have connections with India, Australia, and New Zealand, by which I may be able, by degrees, to open a correspondence. From the pillars of Hercules to the old kingdom of Porus we may spread the message of our soon-coming King. It would be a very desirable thing if we could establish a well-furnished library of Advent books and tracts for the Mediterranean service. I am treating with a bookseller in Malta to see if he will undertake an agency for them, and hope to find another also in Cairo.” Now, dear brethren and sisters, what shall we do in cases like this? If we get up a personal matter, and simply raise a few dollars to send directly to Bro. Ribton, and then think our duty done, we shall not act wisely, nor discharge the duty devolving upon us. It is the province of the General Tract Society to assist in such cases, with our publications. We have already shipped to Naples, Italy, nearly one hundred dollars’ worth of publications, trusting that our brethren and the various tract societies will stand by the General Tract Society, financially. We hope soon to effect more permanent arrangements. Therefore to our brethren we say, Instead of thinking your duty performed by making a small personal donation, support that fund which deals out its publications to all parts of the world. The Italian mission is under the supervision of our worthy brother, Eld. J. N. Andrews, and the European mission is under the care of the General Conference Committee, and is sustained by the general funds at Battle Creek. We invite the friends of the cause everywhere to remember the general tract fund. An investment here is more secure, and will yield a far greater income, than any bank stock or worldly enterprise in this world. You are thus placing the truth before thousands whom God has prepared to receive the light, and securing stars in the crown of righteousness to be placed upon your brow in the kingdom of glory.