Earlier text: THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOUAccording to the action of the Publishing Association, at its last meeting, our relation to the readers of the Review, as editor of this paper, ceases with this number. For the past sixteen years we have had constant employment in the Office, most of the time in the discharge of editorial duties; and as the time comes for a change in the field of labor, the mind naturally turns to a brief retrospect of these years. Little was it thought by us, when we first entered the Office, or by any connected with the cause at that time, that the year 1869 would find us still subjected to the toils and trials of our earthly pilgrimage. But though time has continued longer than expected, we find no cause for giving over the struggle; for no people are better fortified against the trials of delay than Seventh-day Adventists. We are not dependent on set times. We are not subjected to the shame and mortification of continually fixing new dates, and re-adjusting the prophetic periods, under a disheartening and accumulating weight of repeated disappointments. When the prophetic periods ended in 1844, it was well understood that we then entered upon an indefinite period of waiting, and though the patience of believers has been called into exercise, and delays are hard to bear, yet the lapse of years is no evidence of error in our position, nor cause for distrust in reference to any of the great truths we hold. Our danger here lies in the strange anomaly of the human mind, that the longer an event is delayed, the further off a person is inclined to put it. And whereas sixteen years ago we scarcely dared to calculate for two or three years in the future, a delay of the coming of the Lord for sixteen years, may incline some to put that event off as many years more, so that although we are really sixteen years nearer the great consummation, it is, to their minds, five or six times as distant as it was then. And each year of delay adds another year still to the time which they put between themselves and the coming of the Lord. And thus the evil increases in arithmetical progression. Such are making a fatal mistake. Why should the lessening of the distance between us and the end, by a year or more, lead any one to increase it by just that length of time? And meanwhile the signs of the great approaching day, are increasing in frequency and intensity. The prophetic outlines are filling up to repletion. Society is growing more and more corrupt. Professed ministers of Christ in high places, are pandering to the vices and follies of the ungodly. Evil men and seducers, mockers and scoffers, great men and mighty, warriors and kings of the earth, are swiftly marshaling themselves into the position in which according to the prophetic word, the coming day is to find them. And shall we be idle in reference to events before us? Shall we say in our hearts, My Lord delayeth his coming? Shall we put far off the evil day? No, let us keep it ever before us; for it is right at hand; lest it come and find us unprepared. During the years in which we have been connected with the Office, we have had occasion to have in almost constant review the doctrines and theories which go to make up the great and harmonious system of present truth. With the beauty and consistency of these things, we have been year by year more and more deeply impressed. Whatever makes harmony and consistency in the word of God is truth, and will stand; for that word is harmonious and consistent. We have seen these truths subjected to every species of opposition, and stand unshaken through it all. No argument can overthrow them. The false logic of error cannot touch them. The present truth is no refuge of lies, nor a wall daubed with untempered mortar. It is a Gibraltar of strength, against which the hosts of unbelief cannot prevail. It is that which will prove a shield and buckler to all true believers in the time of trouble, and stand the searching test of the last day. The inherent vitality of the cause of the third message is also what no one could fail to mark, who has had such an acquaintance with its history and workings. During all these years its progress has been onward—onward alike in storm and calm, through evil report as well as through good report. It has not been without its obstacles and drawbacks, dangers and perils, secret enemies and open foes. Traitors within have tried to overthrow it; enemies without have made their fiercest onslaughts upon it. Strong appeals have been made to prejudice, and untiring efforts have been put forth, to stir up the worst passions of the human heart against it. But like a cause which the providence of God had especially engaged to preserve, it has scarcely felt the shock; and it has passed unharmed through every attack. And we have seen the opposition melt away, especially that which has arisen from its own ranks, till scarcely a vestige remained except a few shattered apostates. If the work had been of man, it has met enough, time and again, to overthrow it. That it has not been overthrown, becomes, under these circumstances, good evidence that it is of God, and that those who have opposed it have been fighting against him. But while all that has been accomplished is due ultimately to the kind favor and providence of God, it is but proper that mention be made of the important place which the faithful labors of Bro. and Sr. White have held in this cause. They were called to take hold of the work from the commencement, not only when the friends of the cause were few, but when almost its first friends were yet to be found. Without means or supporters, they gave themselves wholly to the work of elucidating and spreading abroad the precious truths which belong to the third message. No burdens, no crosses, no labors, no sacrifices, were shunned in their efforts to carry on the work. Whatever measure of health, strength, means, or influence, they possessed, it was devoted to the one object of advancing the cause of truth. Enterprise after enterprise, calculated to accelerate the progress of the message, they have inaugurated and established, putting their shoulders under the burden of carrying them forward. And experience has proved the timeliness and wisdom of these enterprises. And thus they have labored on, in weariness and feebleness often, setting an example for all to imitate; and the present time finds them still engaged, heart and soul, in the work, laboring earnestly and devotedly to the one end of advancing the truth, and arousing the people to seek a preparation for the coming of the Son of Man. Their noble, self-sacrificing, unselfish course in this cause, demands the confidence, support, and co-operation of all the lovers of the truth. They are worn with their manifold cares and labors; but we trust the good providence of the Lord will enable them still to stand at their post till the battle is over. When we first came to the Office, the property belonging to this cause was a hand press, and a small quantity of type. The paper was published in a hired room. It struggled along with small support; and every little while it was found necessary to omit a number for want of means. On removal to Michigan a new impetus was given to the message. The friends of the cause came up nobly to the work. The paper has been abundantly sustained; and the Association has a fine building, with power presses, and other necessary Office fixtures, amounting, with other property, to the sum of $32,000.00, unencumbered, all of which the liberality of the friends of the truth, has thrown together here. In financial and numerical strength a great advance has been made. Would that we could say that all were in as good a spiritual condition as in the earlier and weaker stages of the work. Our Office labors have been confining and wearing. The position is in some respects a pleasant one; but like all others it has its disagreeable sides and unpleasant features. We have ever felt poorly qualified to fill it, and inadequate to its weighty responsibilities. And we retire from it with a sense of relief, fully co-inciding with the brethren that a change of labor will be for both our physical and spiritual good. Our interest shall still be in this cause. We shall feel no less interest in the Office. We shall rejoice to hear of its prosperity, and the growth in grace of all who labor there. Sixteen years of our life we have spent in this work, and have tried to do the best we could; but we claim no credit for services rendered. We have been painfully conscious of many failures; and while we ask the brethren to pass charitably over our many faults and errors, we implore the forgiveness of God, for the many more things he must have seen to grieve his Holy Spirit. The many correspondents who have so patiently borne with all our imperfections, and extended us their sympathy and co-operation, have our thanks. We shall labor on just as cheerfully in whatever field it may be our lot to work; and we trust through the mercy of God to have at last some humble place with the overcomers in the kingdom of Heaven.189 It will appear from the testimony of chapter viii, 14, that this solemn work is even now transpiring in the sanctuary above. VERSE 11. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 12. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. There are persons who believe in a thousand years’ triumph of the gospel and reign of righteousness over all the world before the Lord comes; and there are others who believe in probation after the Lord comes, and a mixed millennium, the immortal righteous still proclaiming the gospel to mortal sinners, and turning them into the way of salvation. But both of these systems of error are completely demolished by the verses before us. 1. The fourth terrible beast continues without change of character, and the little horn continues to utter its blasphemies, and hold its millions of votaries in the bonds of a blind superstition, till the beast is given to the burning flame; and this is not its conversion but its destruction. See 2 Thess. ii, 8. 2. The life of the fourth beast is not prolonged after its dominion is gone, as were the lives of the preceding beasts. Their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season. The territory and subjects of the Babylonish kingdom still existed, though subjected to the Persians. So of the Persian kingdom in respect to Grecia, and of Grecia in respect to Rome. But what succeeds the fourth kingdom? No government or state in which mortals have any part. Its career ends in the lake of fire, and it has no existence beyond. The lion was merged into the bear; the bear into the leopard, the leopard into the fourth beast; and the fourth beast into what? Not into another beast, but into the lake of fire, which is its final destruction till the second death. Then let no one talk of probation or a mixed millennium after the Lord comes. VERSE 13. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. 14. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. The scene here described is not the second advent of Christ to this earth, unless the Ancient of Days is on this earth; for it is a coming to the Ancient of Days. There in the presence of the Ancient of Days, a kingdom, dominion and glory are given him. The Son of Man receives his kingdom before his return to this earth. See Luke xix, 10–12, and onward. This is a scene, therefore, which transpires in the heavenly temple, and is closely connected with that brought to view in verses 9 and 10. He receives the kingdom at the close of his priestly work in the sanctuary. The people, nations, and languages, that shall serve him are the nations of the saved, Rev. xxi, 24, not the wicked nations of the earth; for these are dashed in pieces at the second advent. Some out of all the nations, tribes and kindreds of the earth will find themselves at last in the kingdom of God, to serve him there with joy and gladness forever and ever. VERSE 15. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 18. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever. No less anxious should we be than was Daniel, to understand the truth of all this. And whenever we inquire with equal sincerity of heart, we shall find the Lord no less ready now, than in the days of the prophet, to lead to a correct knowledge of these important truths. The beasts, and the kingdoms which they represent, have already been explained. We have followed the prophet down through the course of events even to the complete destruction of the fourth and last beast, the final subversion of all earthly governments. What next? Verse 18 tells us: “The saints shall take the kingdom.” The saints! those of all others held in low esteem in this world, despised, reproached, persecuted, cast out; those who were considered the least likely of all men ever to realize their hopes; these shall take the kingdom, and possess it forever. The usurpation and misrule of the wicked shall come to an end. The forfeited inheritance shall be redeemed. Peace shall be restored to its distracted borders, and righteousness shall reign o’er all the fair expanse of the renovated earth. THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK OF DANIEL.
VERSE 9. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the Judgment was set, and the books were opened. A sublimer description of a sublimer scene is not to be found in the English language. But not only on account of the grand and lofty imagery introduced should it arrest our attention; the nature of the scene itself is such as to demand most serious consideration. The Judgment is brought to view; and whenever the Judgment is mentioned, it ought to take an irresistible hold upon every mind; for all have an interest in its eternal issues. By an unfortunate translation in verse 9, a wrong idea is almost sure to be conveyed. The words “cast down” are from a word which in the original signifies just the opposite, namely, to set up. Dr. Clarke says “that it might be translated erected; so the Vulgate positi sunt [were placed], and so all the versions.” The Septuagint has etheesan [ἐτέθησαν] which is defined to mean “to set, put, place, to set up, to erect.” The thrones are not the thrones of earthly kingdoms which are to be thrown down at the last day, but thrones of Judgment which are to be set up, just before the end, The “Ancient of Days,” God the Father, takes the throne of Judgment. Mark the description of his person. Those who believe in the impersonality of God are obliged to admit that he is here described as a personal being; but they console themselves by saying that it is the only description of the kind in the Bible. We do not admit this latter assertion; but granting that it were true, is not one description of this kind as fatal to their theory as though it were repeated a score of times? The thousand thousands who minister unto him, and the ten thousand times ten thousand who stand before him, are not sinners arraigned before the Judgment seat, but heavenly beings who wait before him attendant on his will. An understanding of these verses involves an understanding of the subject of the sanctuary, to works on which subject we refer the reader. The closing up of the ministration of Christ our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary is the work of the Judgment here introduced. It is an investigative Judgment. The books are opened, and the cases of all come up for examination before that great tribunal, that it may be determined beforehand who are to receive eternal life, when the Lord shall come to confer it upon his people. John, as recorded in Rev. v, had a veiw of this same place, and saw the same number of heavenly attendants engaged with Christ in the work of investigative Judgment. Looking into the sanctuary, as we learn that he was from Rev. iv, in chapter v, 11, he says, “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.” HOW STRANGE THEY SHOULD OFFER
By N. Fuller
WHILE in our village, yesterday, a short conversation occurred between a gentleman of respectability, and myself, on the Sabbath question. His first as well as his strongest argument was, You who keep the seventh day, are only a small minority, while the large majority of religionists keep the first day. In answer to this I ask, When has the truth been with the majority? I will give a few examples. 1. That of the antediluvian world. God said to a single individual, Noah, that he would destroy the world by a flood; and he caused that to be preached one hundred and twenty years. Now look at the result. The time had come when God had said “The end of all flesh is come before me.” Where is the majority? There is an overwhelming majority in unbelief. Only eight souls in all the wide world are found holding the truth of God. Did error save them, or their unbelief thwart the purpose of God? Read Gen. vi and vii. 2. That of the people of God in the days of Elijah the prophet. Elijah said unto the people, I, even I, only, remain a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 1 Kings xviii, 22. Mark the sincerity of that deceived multitude. Verse 28. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed upon them. Ahab, after leading the people away from God all that he could, had the audacity to ask the prophet this question: “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” Verse 17. Thus say the latter-day Ahabs. The answer was, “I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” Verse 18. Now the testing time had come. Where was the truth? With one prophet. Where was error? With four hundred and fifty prophets, whose hands were staid up by a deceived people. But where was the victory? It was on the side of the one prophet who had the truth. The people fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.” Verse 39. The four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal were slain at the brook Kishon. Verse 40. Here is an example for those who claim to be right, because they are the majority. 3. I might mention the case of Lot, and the cities of the plains. The truth of God was only with one family. And when he warned his own friends, he seemed to them like one that mocked. Gen. xix, 14. Did error and unbelief save those wicked cities? Did the Lord abide the decision of the majority? I will call attention to the time of our Lord’s first190 advent. There were the priests, doctors, lawyers, scribes, nobles of Israel, and the entire church of God. The church was filled with the learned, and those who wished to be called “Rabbi.” But where was the truth of God to be found in their day? Was it with the majority, and with the learned, or with the rulers Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers believed on him? John vii, 47, 48. Again, when Pilate was troubled, believing Jesus to be innocent, and asked if he should release him, the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. Verse 20. But they cried out, Let him be crucified. His blood be upon us, and our children. Verse 25. Here was a multitude of the church of God. Verse 24. The majority did bear rule, and crucified the Lord of life and glory. But where was the truth? It was with the minority. A few wise men, who were wise because they had studied the book of God, when they saw the star of Bethlehem, knew it; also a few shepherds who were watching their flocks by night, and a few of the common people who received him gladly. What a mistake did that proud, bigoted church make, because they were the majority, and could bear rule. They are a Christless people, down to their latest posterity. 4. I ask where was the truth of God in Martin Luther’s day? Was it with the Catholics? Catholicism was the ruling element of religion in Luther’s time. But God had some searching, separating truths for the great reformer, and his companions, notwithstanding they were so small a minority. The men of our day, who glory in their success, and acknowledge their indebtedness to the faithful labors of the few, should never offer the argument that a thing is true because the majority believe it. When has the truth of God been found with the majority since sin entered our world? All the history of the past answers, Never! When will it be? Not until the armies of Heaven come forth, and the King of kings and Lord of lords, with a sharp sword shall smite the nations of earth. Then the majority will be those who have obeyed God, even at a sacrifice of all earthly good. Oh! that God would awake the Christian world on the important subject of the Sabbath, so that such frail arguments can lull them no longer to sleep. N. FULLER. Wellsville, N. Y., May 23, 1869. THE WORK OF THE LORD.
By H. S. GURNEY
It is cheering to think that the work of the third angel is the work of God. Nothing is more manifest, especially to such as are trying to keep pace with its onward, steady progress. I cannot help thinking, and speaking very highly of the morning lectures in the time of our good Conference season. So very appropriate, timely, meat in due season, the receiving of which imparts life, kindles the vital spark, and confirms faith in the great Advent landmarks. While we felt so grateful to God for these timely morning talks, we could not do less than to express to Bro. White our appreciation of the interest he thus takes to bring up a people, pure, united in the last great work of preparing for the Lord's coming. Just think! Why does it become so necessary for such plain and pointed talks among us? Simply because the first angel has uttered his voice, and brought us to the hour of Judgment, and we are asleep as to the designs of Heaven in the work of the investigative Judgment. Hence plain testimony must be borne, requiring great patience on the part of God's faithful servants. Think of Christ's patient sufferings in the garden, and his professed friends asleep! How alarming the thought that while God's servants bear such faithful testimony, we are so inclined to sleep! How shall such plain, truthful testimony, inspired by the Spirit of God, reach the people of God in their almost freezing state, insensible to danger. The thunders of Sinai would not make a lasting impression if we may judge from the little impression made by the signs of the times. As to myself, I will try to ponder these things in my heart, and say, Here, Lord, I am, to bear some humble part in the great work of preparation for the kingdom of God. Let us study God's plans, and work into the kingdom.
H. S. GURNEY.
Memphis, Mich. THE OVERCOMERS.
By John Nevins Andrews
“But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.” Dan. vii, 18. “And from the days of John the Baptist, until now, the kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matt. xi, 12. “Then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein, shall be forgiven their iniquity.” Isa. xxxiii, 23, 24. These expressions concerning the kingdom of God, which is to be established in our earth and to stand forever, would seem at first view to almost imply that the saints were to take the kingdom by actual conquest. That is, that they should by violence seize, not the kingdom now possessed by the men of the world, but the glorious kingdom of God itself. This of course cannot be literally true. When the saints do actually enter upon the possession of the kingdom of God, Jesus himself invites them to it, saying, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matt. xxv, 34. Yet the saints are spoken of as taking the kingdom as if by force, violence and conquest, and as though it became a spoil to be divided to them. There is some truth to it after all. But they have no occasion to take the lives or to shed the blood of others. They have battles to fight, victories to gain, conquests to win. But their war is with sin, with Satan, and with self. If any blood is to be shed, it is their own. If any lives are to be sacrificed in the conflict, it is not others but themselves that die. They overcome not by killing others, but by dying themselves. They resist the Devil, who attempts to prevent their progress heavenward. They make him flee before them as they meet him clothed with the strength and the armor of God which he cannot withstand. They overcome sin by repenting of it, confessing its wicked power and presence and resisting its alluring and deceitful charms. They overcome self by dying to it daily. They snatch victory even from defeat by the help of the angels of God. They go from strength to strength, till at last they appear in Zion before God. The conquest of the kingdom is the conquest of the evil powers that oppose our march to that country of eternal joy. The overcomers shall inherit it. And when as victors they shall receive the kingdom of God, they are represented as having a great spoil to divide. Every man shall have a mansion in the city. Every man shall have an inheritance in the fair plains of the new earth. Every one shall have a crown of heavenly glory, and a place with Christ upon his throne. And who shall take this infinite spoil? Not the great and mighty and noble of earth. The world that now is has too many charms for them. But the poor, the humble and the lowly, these are the lame that shall take the spoil, the very ones that would seem utterly incapable of winning the victory in this mighty conflict, shall, by the grace of God, obtain the prize, while the wise and great of earth shall be cast out into outer darkness. THE TEST OF OUR FIDELITY.
By R. C. BAKER
How instinctively the natural heart shrinks from suffering. How our human nature faints and falters at the many crosses that have to be lifted, and the many obstacles to be surmounted in our heavenward journey. How we long for the “joy unspeakable and full of glory,” while we turn from the toil, the pain, the self-denial, connected with the Christian warfare. Peter, James, and John, on the mount of transfiguration, with the light and glory of Heaven resting upon them, and the divine Saviour before them, radiant with transcendent glory, and the two celestial visitants talking with him, their own hearts overwhelmed with rapturous awe, could ardently say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here;” and fondly desire to take up their abode there. How delightful to dwell in such a heavenly atmosphere, with the marks of God’s approbation resting upon them. How glorious a privilege to be a disciple of Jesus then. But let us follow the Man of Sorrows to the lonely shades of Gethsemane. These same three disciples are chosen to be with him in his agony. But alas! through that scene of unutterable anguish, when the weight of sin and woe wrung from his sacred lips that agonizing prayer, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” they were wrapped in unconscious slumber. They follow him afar off, to the place of trial and crucifixion, and the zealous Peter, even, denies his suffering Lord. Alas for poor human nature! If God were not infinite in mercy who of all the fallen race could hope to be saved? So with many of us in these last days, when blessed with outward peace and prosperity, and God sets his seal of approbation to our feeble efforts to serve him, and cheers us with the presence of his divine Spirit, we feel like saying with the poet; “My willing soul would stay
In such a frame as this,
Till called to rise and soar away
To everlasting bliss.” We feel to rejoice that we are disciples of Jesus. We glory in the name. We feel, like Peter, ready to follow him to prison and to death. But when the test of our faith comes, when storms of affliction and temptation beat upon us, threatening to overwhelm us, like Peter we are ready to deny our Lord; if not in word, at least by our lack of faith and fortitude. We forget his precious promises, and Satan tempts us with doubts and fears, and feelings of discouragement. Instead of cheerfully bearing the trials and crosses which are among the “all things” that God designs shall work together for our good, we shrink from them, following Jesus afar off. How much easier to follow Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, than up the rugged slope of Calvary. Here comes the test of our fidelity. “If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us.” Some of the ancient disciples191 could rejoice that they were “counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” How our hearts need to be transformed by grace divine, before we can rejoice in tribulation. But very little have we suffered yet for Christ’s sake, and I fear that the most of us have not endured that little as meekly and patiently as we ought. Truly we need the patience and faith of the saints in this time of Satan’s power. If we could realize the depths of corruption in our own hearts, and the matchless love and condescension of God as manifested in the death of his Son, we would be ashamed of our murmurings at the straitness of the way, and our lack of courage and faith in God. May God help us as a people to be more willing to do and suffer for Christ. R. C. BAKER. REPORT FROM CALIFORNIA.
By D. T. BOURDEAU
We pitched the tent in Santa Rosa four weeks ago last Wednesday; have held upwards of forty meetings. Nine new ones have embraced the Sabbath, and several more are deeply convicted and seem to tremble under the cross. Eleven have been baptized, and three more are expected to move forward in baptism next Wednesday. Two of those who have come out are school teachers, one of whom leaned strongly toward infidelity when we came into this township. Two others have preached some, and one of these is talking the truth on Sundays, one hundred miles north of here, while laboring with his hands five days in the week. We have sold eighty dollars’ worth of books since pitching the tent. Our greatest difficulty as to books, is to keep a full assortment on hand. Ere we are aware, we are out of some kinds. Our brethren and sisters from the Piner district have stood by us in our efforts here, and have had the benefit of a second course of lectures. Though a few of those who arose for the Sabbath in the Piner settlement have gone back for not moving forward in the Christian duties, yet their number has been made up by more embracing the truth in this place. Twenty-six in all have been baptized, and we hope this number will be swelled up to thirty or more. Five of those who were baptized were from other places. Upon the whole we feel that we have been paid for coming here, even if no more is done than what has already been accomplished. But we hope and labor for more, though we now expect to close our tent operations in this place next week, as we have been laboring in this township between three and four months (in which time we have held over one hundred and fifty meetings), and hope to be able to so select for the field of our next effort with the tent, that we can fall back to Santa Rosa for several Sabbaths after leaving. Our minds now rest on Healdsburgh, sixteen miles north of here, being only six miles from Windsor, where a company of believers was raised last fall. The Lord direct. Before leaving here, we shall call for volunteers on Systematic Benevolence. Farmers here have been haying for two weeks, which has kept back some from the country. But some have got through with their haying; yet harvesting is coming off soon. This valley is only about fifteen miles from the coast, and is not the most favorable field for tent operations, as the nights generally are quite cool, making it uncomfortable at times for the speaker and for the audience. Yet here we commenced, and we cannot leave. Our trust is in God, and he sustains us. While we would not be presumptuous, we would stretch forth our hand as an act of faith, as the man sick of the palsy was bid to do; do all we can on our part, that God may be honored and his cause advanced. Santa Rosa, Cal., May 24, 1869. REPORT FROM BRO. RODMAN.
By P. C. Rodman
Since April 20, have been at home about ten days including one Sabbath. Held two meetings at my house. It is not encouraging here to see Satan prevailing as he does. The interest of all is abating more or less. Some have already turned away from the truth, and others are growing more worldly and selfish, which is manifest by more interest in worldly things, and less in spiritual things. Brethren, we must awake and seek a new conversion and consecration to God and the truth, or Satan will prevail to lead us and our children to destruction. The 24th and 25th, I met with the Exeter church. They are all holding on, but fail to make all the advancement they should; yet their influence is increasing for good, and some of their neighbors think more favorably of them and the truth. The 27th, I met with the brethren in Peacedale. They appear to be trying to overcome, but they need a new conversion. Perhaps the trials they are having will lead them nearer to the Lord, and to love his truth enough to obey it more cheerfully. May 1 and 2, I met with the Green Hill church. They came in on the Sabbath well, and while Satan endeavors to discourage and distract, there is a disposition to press together. I hope they will learn his devices and not be turned from the truth, but hold it in the love of it, and be saved from deception. See 2 Thess. ii, 9–11. The 9th, I held meeting at Bro. E. Blivin's. There were but few in. I hope they will remember that they are not their own, but are bought with a price, and that both body and spirit, all their powers, should be devoted to God, without any reserve. The 15th and 16th, I attended Monthly Meeting with the Exeter church. A fair number were in attendance, but the interest is generally low. Brethren, we must do what we can for ourselves, then if we lack, the Lord will supply, in his mercy and kind providence. The following resolution was offered and responded to by nearly all, in one of our meetings: Resolved, That we will search our hearts and try our ways in the light of God's word, and by his grace be nearer the Lord from this time, by working out our salvation with fear and trembling, while the Lord works in, to will and to do of his own good pleasure; and further, that we will do all things without murmuring and disputings. Some little advance was made in our meeting, for which we praise the Lord. The 20th, I came to this place. Have held five meetings. Some, perhaps all, are becoming more in love with the truth. Hope they will quicken their pace, being more decided and earnest to be overcomers, humbling themselves under the mighty hand of God, that they may be exalted in due time. The Baptists are having a revival. This drew the people, so our meetings were thinly attended. We shall do what we can and hope to be a help to the work here. P. C. RODMAN. New Ipswich, N. H., May 24, 1869. REPORT OF MEETINGS IN MICHIGAN.
By Joseph Bates
In accordance with appointments, I met with the church in Oakland, Sabbath and first-day, April 24 and 25, and held six interesting meetings with them. Bro. Lawrence preached once, and united with us in celebrating the ordinances of the Lord's house. May 1 and 2, held five meetings and celebrated the ordinances with the church in Memphis. Sickness and death, moving away, and some others turning back to their old, cherished habits of tobacco-using, &c., have been a cause of discouragements to those who are striving to overcome. We pray the Lord to arouse them all, that they may labor successfully in the vineyard of the Lord. May 4 and 5, held five meetings with the church in Lapeer. This church have been recently passing through deep trials, from which we hope and trust they will now arise and take an exalted position to promote the cause of our dear Redeemer. Monterey, Mich., May 26, 1869.