Earlier text: MINISTERS AND SMALL CONGREGATIONSOn the morning of Dec. 13 we took our final leave of the brethren and sisters in Wisconsin, and about midnight found ourselves in Battle Creek. Our brief stay here was one of great pleasure and profit to us. We found the dear people of God alive in the good work which God has given us to do in order that the present generation may be warned concerning the great truths of the third angel’s message. When we saw the prosperous condition of the Publishing Association, the College, and the Sanitarium, and thought of the glorious light which emanates from this grand center, we thanked God for what he is doing for his people. The industry of the workers in the different institutions brings to mind the activity of a healthy bee-hive in mid-summer. Our visit at the College was one long to be remembered. As we saw before us perhaps more than three hundred students, we could but review the past experience of our people. We recalled the time when on the fingers of one’s hand could be counted all the friends of the truth, when every copy of our dear paper was carried to the post-office in a satchel, and even far later than that, when the sons and daughters of our people had no school of this character to attend, and we thought: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Our gratitude was too deep for expression, and tears defied all power of restraint. Having learned, by traveling from place to place, the very great need there is of efficient workers for God, we were prepared to appreciate all these means of preparation for our young men and women; and the thought that so many were willing to devote their lives to the work of God and make sacrifices to fit themselves for future usefulness, stirred our hearts to the very depths. We thought, Do these students fully appreciate these advantages? and are they appropriating all the privileges here within their reach? May God assist them all to realize the responsibility resting on them on account of these excellent surroundings. On Sabbath, at 9 A. M., we met with the large and flourishing Sabbath-school. The church is much too small for the numbers in attendance, and two rooms in one of the publishing houses are used for large classes. Here, too, we found interested learners as well as teachers. We pray that our brethren elsewhere may take the same interest in the Sabbath-school, and that those who have none may not rest contented till they have one organized and in successful operation. As I stood before the large congregation at 10:30 A. M., the necessity of a larger meeting-house was clearly seen, and the remarks of some murmurers came to mind, “The house is too large; you will never fill it;” but the Lord has proved that all such fears were the result of entertaining too narrow views of the great work to be done by believers in the third angel’s message. Our brief visit at Battle Creek is in the past, but the impressions made are indelible. Resolutions were formed, not to be forgotten. God help us in their practical bearing on our work. Wednesday evening, Dec. 19, we arrived safely in North Scituate, R. I., at the quiet, comfortable home of Mrs. Mary A. Hoxie, Mrs. Sanborn’s mother. Friday I went to Kingston, about twenty-five miles southwest of Providence, where I met Bro. M. Wood, of Boston, Bro. P. C. Rodman, of R. I., Bro. L. W. Hastings and wife, and over forty other brethren and sisters; and truly the Lord met with us in power, and by his Spirit, through his word, melted our hearts into humble submission to his will. Many decided to live nearer to God in the future. Over fifty dollars, in cash, were raised for different enterprises in this Conference. The Lord is truly coming very near to his people in New England. I understand it is because they are drawing nigh to God by taking hold of his work in all its departments; especially because they are prompt in paying their tithes, and engage heartily in the missionary work. And as they realize that scores are embracing the truth as the result of their efforts, they are encouraged, believing that the Lord is about to pour out a blessing that there will not be room to receive it. The Lord says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Open the door and let the Master come in; and your fears, troubles, and unbelief, yes, and slackness in his service, will soon leave you, and faith, hope, and peace will be yours. On returning home Monday, while waiting in Providence I called on some of the Sabbath-keepers there, and left an appointment for the next Sabbath. Spent Christmas and New Year’s at home, where we find the rest we have needed so long; but we hear of so many places where labor is desired that we are anxious to be at work soon. As a brother in Wisconsin remarked, we find the sweetest rest in active labor. Our address is North Scituate, R. I. Mail sent here will reach us at any time. Speaking one day of a person who had been indulging in worldly pleasures and going in the path of fashion and folly, an inquirer asked one who knew her, “Wasn’t she ever converted?” “Slightly,” replied the old man,—and his look and his manner embodied meaning enough to fill a volume. There are multitudes of these people who have been converted “slightly.” Their conversion was a matter of opinion, emotion, fashion, or form. They have never known those hearty convictions of sin which are wrought within by the Holy Ghost, nor have they known the searching energy of that living Word which is quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword, discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart. They have never known that godly sorrow which worketh repentance, nor have they known the consolations of that grace which makes glad the hearts of the redeemed. They know little of conflict, and less of victory; little of trial, and less of triumph; little of the anguish of a broken heart, and less of the joy of God’s salvation restored to those that seek it. The church is infected with slightly converted people. The door has been opened wide to take them in; their conversion has made no perceptible change in their lives, and it is fair to suppose that it has made little change in their hearts. They give slight evidence of being new creatures, hence it is a question whether they are “in Christ” or not. They are still conformed to this world, having never been transformed by the renewing of their minds, to prove “what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” They fill places in the church; they mingle in all the worldly enjoyments which are introduced within its doors, to the great detriment of its spiritual life. They also manifest the ordinary worldly characteristics which distinguished them before they ever named the name of Christ; pride, ambition, greediness of gain, the desire to be greatest, lust for authority and leadership based upon wealth instead of worth, upon gold instead of grace,—these are some of the marks of those whose conversion is slight, and whose lives bear witness to the fact. There will be terrible disappointments in that Great Day, when vast piles of “wood, hay, and stubble” which have been heaped together by the art and craft and slight of men, shall be swept away as with the besom of destruction, and devoured in the quenchless flames of the wrath of God. What a terrible winnowing and sifting will then occur! How many who have been converted slightly, and found their way into the Church of Christ, will be weighed in the balances and found wanting then! It is better for us to know the worst at once. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” Let that law be proclaimed; let the gospel of the grace of God be preached in all its purity and power; let the solemn and eternal verities of revelation be poured upon the ears of dying men; let them be taught their utter ruin by nature, and their full salvation by grace; and let nothing be accepted but hearty, earnest, and sincere repentance, and bringing forth of good fruits, which shall ensure their escape when the ax is laid at the root of the tree, and the fruitless cumberer is cut down and cast into the unquenchable fire. Beware of slight conversions. Let the wound be probed to the bottom; let the leprosy of sin be exposed in all its foulness; let men know their guilt, their ruin, and their helplessness; and then sound in their ears the glad tidings of mercy free as heaven, of pardon and cleansing from every sin and stain. Beware of the curse that fell upon Israel, of whose prophets and whose priests Jeremiah said, “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” Jer. 8:11.—The Christian. When dark clouds around me roll,
And despair comes o’er my soul,
This my song shall be:
“What time I’m afraid,
I will trust in Thee.” When the way seems black as night,
And no beacon is in sight,
This my light shall be:
“What time I’m afraid,
I will trust in Thee.” When my life is waning fast,
And my usefulness is past,
May this comfort me:
“What time I’m afraid,
I will trust in Thee.” HOW TO INCREASE OUR SPIRITUALITY.
By Wm. Covert.
I find in some places a great lack of spirituality. In the social meetings you will hear testimonies like the following: “I believe we have the truth, but I do not enjoy as much of the Spirit of God as I would like to. Pray for me that I may do my duty. I want to do something for Jesus, who has done so much for me.” You will hear the same formal statement the year round, and if you notice the individuals who give such testimonies, you will see that from the time the benediction is pronounced until the opening exercises the next Sabbath, they are wholly engaged in worldly matters or gossip. My dear brother or sister, this is all wrong. You may enjoy freedom in the service of the Lord, and may help others to do the same. Read Acts 8:1-4. When persecution scattered the church, they went everywhere, preaching the word. The directors could find plenty of missionary workers then; but if everything had been calm, very likely they would have remained at home, expecting to hear good reports from the ministers who were out in the field. But the stay-at-home disposition of the members must be overcome in some way. This was accomplished by permitting the enemy to break in upon them and cause many of them to be committed to prison. Brethren and sisters, shall we remain at home and wait for the fires of persecution to break up our churches? or shall we go everywhere, preaching the word with our publications? I know of some who are on the point of giving up the truth because some of their friends are dissatisfied with it. If such individuals will load up their valises or buggies with publications on the third angel’s message, and scatter them, they will find one hundred homes for the one they leave, and at last an eternal home in the kingdom of God; and they will meet with something to encourage them every day. My soul is stirred when I see the sad condition the world is in. We have no time to idle away in mourning over our lack of spirituality. If we are cold, it is because God cannot indorse our idleness by giving us great spiritual blessings. Do something in the cause of God, and then tell me if you feel as cold and doubtful as you did. If you desire to lose your interest in the message, and put out the Advent fire that is burning in your heart, just oppose the T. and M. work. If you want this fire fanned to a healthy blaze, take a lively interest in this work. The world is before us, and God wants us to help warn it. Meeting Trouble Halfway: A Lighthearted Maxim
NEVER meet trouble half way, but let him have the whole walk for his pains. Perhaps he will give up his visit in sight of your house. FROM WHAT DOES CHRIST JUSTIFY?
In Paul’s remarkable discourse recorded in the 13th of Acts, and in which the Gentiles were so much interested that they besought that it might be preached right over again to them the next Sabbath, occur these words, verses 38 and 39: “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man [Christ] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” It seems surpassingly strange that any one should quote this text to prove the abolition of the ten commandments, and the substitution, in their place, of some other rule of life. Yet such is the confusion of some men’s ideas upon this question, especially those that believe in the abolition of the law, that they seem just about as ready to quote texts that are fatal to their position, as any others. Perhaps, however, we ought to excuse them in this; for of all the texts which touch upon the Sabbath at all, those which are not fatal to their position, are exceedingly scarce. In fact, we might safely rest the whole support of our cause on those very texts which our opponents bring up to overthrow it. We do not need any better. Mr. M. M. Eshelman, one of the editors of the Brethren at Work, in his little pamphlet on “Sabbatism,” makes this use of the text we have quoted above: “Dear reader, are we justified by Christ, through faith, from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses, or only a few things? We know it to be a scriptural fact that we are justified, by Jesus Christ, ‘from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses.’” Now will he, or any other person of this class, please tell us what those things were from which those whom Paul addressed, Jews and Gentiles (for it was a mixed congregation), could not be justified by the law of Moses. What were they? The word, justify, if we take the definition of the Greek word, means, “to hold as righteous, to declare righteous.”—Robinson. According to the English it signifies, “to prove or show to be just, or conformable to law, right, justice, propriety, or duty.”—Webster. Now who is such a mental bankrupt as not to be able to see that the apostle, in the words quoted, points directly to something lying back of the law of Moses, in reference to which they sought through that law of Moses to become righteous, or free from guilt, and in reference to which, while they could not obtain this through the law of Moses, they could obtain it, or be justified, through Christ? Again we ask, What were these things? No one, not hopelessly blinded by prejudice, will deny that under the former dispensation the things from which they sought to be justified were the commandments written on the tables of stone by the finger of God. These God declared to be his law. This law was deposited in the ark and placed in the most holy of the sanctuary; and in reference to it the whole Mosaic ceremonial was performed. What is meant by being justified from these commandments? Answer, Being made free from guilt in reference to them, or being brought into the same relation to God, as if we had never transgressed them. How did they seek justification? Through their sacrifices; for without the shedding of blood there is no remission, which was the point to be gained. And why could they not obtain justification, or forgiveness for their transgressions of that law, through these sacrifices? Because the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin. Heb. 10:4. Of what use, then, were these sacrifices? They were effectual simply as means through which the people could show their faith in the effectual Redeemer to come. Another conclusion now just as inevitably follows from the apostle’s language, namely, that the work of Christ has reference to the very same things; for through him we are to be justified from all things, from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. What things? The commandments written on the tables of stone, in reference to which the Mosaic sacrifices were offered. From those we receive justification through Christ. Paul says this in as explicit terms as need be used; for he says that “through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.” This, then, is the same as being justified from those things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. And what is sin? An apostolical definition is, “the transgression of the law;” that moral law which has been almost uniformly admitted throughout Christendom to be the law summarily contained in the decalogue. Yet men in their deplorable blindness will resort to such scriptures which so clearly teach the perpetuity of the law, to prove its abolition! Our friend evidently has not looked at the text with sufficient care to discover the distinction which the apostle makes. And then he is guilty of such inaccurate reasoning as to make the law of Moses itself that from which they sought justification through the law of Moses. But a law cannot justify a person from itself. No person, on a moment’s thought, will be guilty of supposing anything so absurd. If, however, it is said, that the law of Moses is all that is referred to in the verses quoted, then that law is still in force, otherwise there would be no need of justification from it through Christ. When Paul, in A. D. 45, gave this discourse, he could not talk about their being justified from anything through Christ, which Christ had abolished on the cross thirteen years before. A man would be an idiot to talk about our being justified through Christ from the law of animal sacrifices; for that law is not now binding upon us, and we need no justification from it. It is no sin to pay no regard to it. Not so with laws which are binding on us; from these, if we transgress them, we need to be justified. But there was something which the law of Moses did not justify from, which has come over into this dispensation, which Christ does justify from. This the text teaches. Now if the law of Moses, as already mentioned, is the only thing referred to, then that has come over and is binding still. Thus we see men in this instance, in their anxiety to abolish the moral law, proving the perpetuity even of the ceremonial! But if they say we are justified from these things because they are abolished, then every moral precept in force in the Mosaic dispensation is abolished, as well as the Sabbath, and is out of existence; for the text says, “all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses;” and our friend is pleased to lay great stress on the “all things.” He wants to get rid of that blessed, holy, and delightful institution, the Sabbath of the great God. To do this he calls it the law of Moses. But there were nine other commandments associated with the Sabbath, and he calls them also the law of Moses. Now he claims that because we are justified by Christ from these things, we are released from the Sabbath, and it does not exist. Then we reply, we are released from the others, and they do not exist; for remember it is “all things.” We can then blaspheme and lie and steal and kill! Oh, no! you hasten to exclaim; Christ has brought these things over into this dispensation! Oh, ho! then Paul’s declaration is not true that we are justified from “all things” which you say are contained in the law of Moses. If there is but one law, and that is the law of Moses, and Christ freed us from it, then it is all gone by the board. But if he brought over any part of it to be binding upon us, as it existed before, he did not free us from it all. Here is a dilemma from which no man living, who is short-sighted enough to take the position of our friend, can possibly extricate himself. Just three positions, then, can be suggested on the language of Paul in Acts 13:38, 39. The first is, That God has a uniform standard of action, or rule of life, for all men in all ages, an immutable and eternal moral law, the same in the past dispensation as in this; that the law of Moses, or the typical services of that dispensation, could not justify a person from the claims of that law, that is, remove from him the guilt of transgression, because it was only a shadow; but that Christ, the real sacrifice, does in reality justify us, as Paul declared. This is what we believe and claim. The second position is, That the whole Mosaic law is binding in this dispensation. The third is, That no moral principle which was in existence in the old dispensation is binding in this. If there is only one law, the law of Moses, and “justified from” it, means that it is abolished, then all is gone; if it does not mean abolished, then that whole law comes over to us, and is binding through this dispensation. One of these positions must be taken. The first is in accordance with the Scriptures, reasonable and consistent. But any man who advocates the second or the third is either mentally or morally unsound. Some queries have come in containing no signatures, and can consequently receive no attention. A correspondent from Ohio asks if it is any worse for the sisters to wear gold breast pins and other ornaments than for the brethren to wear gold studs and sleeve buttons. Evidently not. The query continues: “I never see brethren carry out the instruction of 1 Cor. 16:20, while the sisters practice it without any requirement.” Answer. The directions given to “one another,” must include all the church; and we consider the act there mentioned one intended to signify especially our union and fellowship with one another. This would suggest it to be an appropriate act on the occasion of the ordinances, and as such it is generally practiced in connection with the ordinance of John 13, and like that, brethren with brethren and sisters with sisters. J. M. Hopkins: The expression in Lev. 23: 32, although spoken of the atonement sabbath on the 10th day of the 7th month, is good testimony as regards the time when the day began; for if that day did not begin and end with the “even” then it was not the “tenth day” of the month, but a part of two days, as, for instance, a part of the ninth day and a part of the tenth. The beginning and end of one day, whatever that day may be, determines all the rest.—The expression in Matt. 28: 1, “In the end of the Sabbath,” means “after the Sabbath was past.” See Robinson’s Greek Lexicon, where this sense is given to the word rendered “end” in our version. It thus harmonizes with Mark, who says plainly, “And when the Sabbath was past.”—In regard to the testimony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke respecting the angels seen at the time of Christ’s resurrection, we suppose there were different angels seen in different places and attitudes by those who visited the place and sepulcher.—The Saviour, was crucified about the “third hour.” The light part of the day, and the dark part, or the night were divided into twelve hours each, making twenty-four hours in the entire day. The “third hour” of the light part would answer exactly to our 9 o’clock A. M., when the sun rose and set at six, and would not vary far from it at any season in Palestine. We have an excellent paper for children, the YOUTH’S INSTRUCTOR, a sample copy of which we send you. ANSWERED BY LETTER. H. D. Clark, W. C. Emerson, E. W. Helm, W. H. Hall, W. H. Littlejohn, S. B. Goodrich, J. M. Ferguson, S. K. Foster, J. H. Waggoner, H. A. St. John, P. M. Hill, J. W. Lesan, A. J. Cudney, J. P. Davis, M. L. Rossvalley, G. S. Honeywell, C. H. Howe, D. R. Palmer, F. O. Newcomb. TO THE T. AND M. WORKERS IN MISSOURI.
By George I. Butler
We have recently been cheered by the presence and labors of Bro. Haskell, and much instruction has been imparted to those who had the privilege of listening to him. We have counseled with him as to the proper course to be pursued to get our society into a more efficient condition. I shall, as I pass from church to church, through the State, labor earnestly to get every one interested in scattering the good seeds of truth. When we see what the tract work has accomplished in many States, and especially in New England, it should stir us up to a zealous diligence in the same noble work. We hope to see every church and company of Sabbath-keepers in the State, as well as many scattered believers, taking clubs of the SIGNS, gathering up names all through the State, and finding interested readers. We hope also to see many subscribers obtained for the REVIEW, REFORMER, and INSTRUCTOR. If there is a place on earth where the people need light on health reform, Missouri is that place. Tobacco and pork seem to have conquered the land. The Household Manual is a valuable book, and with it as a premium to go with the REFORMER on the terms stated in our papers, many subscribers can be obtained. We have shown our faith that it can be done by ordering five hundred copies of the Manual to be thus used. Owing to the peculiar situation of our churches in the State, and the rail-road facilities, we have concluded to have two depositories for our publications, where books and tracts, to a limited extent at least, will be constantly kept on hand. To save expense, as express bills are very high, publications will be shipped by freight to the depositories, and from these places directors can obtain their supplies, through the State secretary. One of these depositories will be at Nevada City, Vernon Co., Mo. The other will be at Hamilton, Caldwell Co., Mo. Two hundred and fifty Household Manuals to serve as premiums in obtaining subscribers for the REFORMER will be sent at once to each of these places, as well as a large number of the Child’s Poems to serve as premiums for the INSTRUCTOR; and copies of the Way of Life, with which to obtain subscribers for the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. We hope our directors will see that every church and every tract worker has an opportunity to29 obtain these at once. The bill has been received, and the premiums will be on hand very soon. We call attention to another change. Sister Sue A. Reavis, who was elected State secretary of the T. and M. Society at the last camp-meeting, being engaged in teaching school where her mail facilities are very poor, and at quite a distance from her regular post-office, has thought it would be better for Bro. Hunter, our former secretary, to serve during the remainder of the Conference year; and Bro. H. has consented to act as secretary during that time. It will be much more convenient to have the acting secretary live near the place where the tracts are deposited, and will save much delay. All business done with our offices of publication by members of the society should be done through the acting State secretary. All pledges made to the Conference or to the tract society will be recorded on his books, as well as the names of those who have pledged; and the district secretaries will have the names of those pledging, and the amount pledged by those living in their districts; while the librarians of each church will have the names of those living in their churches, and should look after the collection of the pledges at the proper time. The names of subscribers obtained in different churches for our periodicals, and the money to pay for the same, should be placed in the hands of the librarians. The librarian should send the names directly to the State secretary, D. C. Hunter, Nevada City, Vernon Co., Mo., while the money should be sent, at the end of the quarter, to the district secretary, or paid to the director, and by him sent to the State T. and M. treasurer, Bro. Wm. Evans, Hamilton, Mo. We hope our librarians and secretaries will be very prompt in forwarding the names of subscribers to the secretary, and to the offices of publication. It takes quite a while at best, and there should be as little delay as possible. Let all remember that all orders for Manuals, Child’s Poems, tracts, &c., should be sent to the State secretary, D. C. Hunter, Nevada City, Mo. Personal correspondence is solicited with all individuals in the State who desire to become workers in the society, and especially with those who wish to become canvassers for our periodicals. Especially do we wish to correspond with those who are scattered, and have no church privileges. Such have extra opportunities for working successfully. In corresponding we can better answer questions and deal with particulars. Lord Nelson said, at the battle of Trafalgar, “England expects every man to do his duty.” God surely expects it of us at such a time as this. While many are asleep and doing nothing, we want, if possible, to develop a body of workers in the Missouri Conference who will be earnest and zealous. If this is done we shall see the cause arise. If not, it will sink lower and lower. There are many of our young people who can become workers, and accomplish much good. There are isolated brethren and sisters who love the cause. Let us hear from you personally. Write to me personally where you see my appointments in REVIEW, or to Bro. D. C. Hunter, our acting secretary. Our Master says, “Go labor in my vineyard.” Who will answer the call? Preserve this for reference. GEO. I. BUTLER. AN “OLD CRY FROM NEW THROATS.”
By Editor
A REVIEW subscriber in Swan Lake, Dakota Territory, after giving a description of Turner county, its flourishing county seat, rich lands, and the favorable condition of the people, thus speaks respecting their need of the light of the present truth:— “The year 1877 gave us a great crop; consequently the whole country is full of food for man and beast, and I do not know of one case of suffering from want within Turner county. Yes; I do know of one case of suffering from want in this county. The case, I fear, will be fatal in its consequences if help is not obtained; and there is not only one case but hundreds, thousands of them. “While the inhabitants have their barns full of well-fed stock, and great bins of grain, and houses full of healthy, intelligent children, and conveniences for their comfort and physical well-being, and parents are watching with just pride their growth in strength and intelligence; they are all, parents and children, in want, absolute living want of the truth, the ‘present truth’ as you, dear REVIEW, love to call it. And I do know if you but knew how deep and extensive this destitution of knowledge of God’s law and of his will concerning our duty, is among us, you could not rest quietly nights in your snug Office at Battle Creek, without a thought of us. Of course you weekly send a few copies of yourself among us; but those to whom they come are not the needy ones. ‘Those who are whole have no need of a physician,’ ‘but who will go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel?’ is what I want to know. “I have been reading No. 1 of your new volume, and I never can tell you how much good it did me. Eld. Waggoner’s article on the first page was worth more to me than almost any sermon I ever heard. Then ‘Our Mission and Work,’ on page 4, is worth a year’s subscription. Indeed! yours is a glorious mission to give forth the last message of mercy to a condemned world. But, my dear REVIEW, there are but the few who know you. Can you not devise some wise plan by which an acquaintance may be brought about between yourself and the thousands of Turner Co., Dakota? “The Scandinavians have an active living body here of fifty-two persons, five of whom are the American Sabbath-keepers of whom I have spoken. With myself we thus have three more than half a hundred who are trying to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus out of these thousands. Will you heed this old cry from new throats, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us?’” In reply to our correspondent we would say that the REVIEW does not rest so quietly nights in its office here in Battle Creek, as might generally be supposed; for under the pressure of our work to meet the present demands from all parts of the field, our press room and the book-binding department present a lively scene frequently during the entire night, the machinery being in full operation, and busy hands and sleepless eyes, being engaged in putting the matter into shape to send out to the workers in the wide harvest field. We do not forget Dakota; but there are hundreds of other fields in the same condition. We will do our utmost to prepare reading matter, clear in its construction, Christian in its tone, acceptable in its form, and reasonable in its price, and then must look to our friends abroad to be the channels through which it may find its way to hundreds of thousands of new readers. If the fifty-three Sabbath-keepers in the place above named will each procure five new subscribers for the REVIEW, or become themselves responsible for five copies each, to be circulated among their friends and neighbors, they will find 265 copies coming very promptly into their county; and this number would no doubt secure over a thousand readers, and go far toward enlightening the thousands there in regard to the important subjects we have to bring before the people. TO THOSE DISTRIBUTING SIGNS.
By Stephen N. Haskell
The Signs is much better than tracts to awaken an interest in present truth, as tracts treat upon one subject, but the reading in the Signs is varied. If the reader is not interested in one topic, another is before him, and by this means he will become interested in that in which at first he took no interest. I handed a copy of the Signs to a lady who sat in front of me in the cars. She glanced at the religious article on the first page, and passed it by. The second page the same, and so on throughout the paper. Finally the “News Miscellany” arrested her attention, then the story, afterward the article on the first page, and so on until she became interested in the paper, and we had a very pleasant, and I trust profitable, interview on the subject of present truth. It is thus in very many instances. There is no wider or better sphere of usefulness for sisters of good address, who cannot get away from home to labor in the cause, than to take a number of copies of the Signs and send them, for two or three successive weeks, to some selected address. Then write the individual a letter. If he is interested, send more; if not, drop that person and try others. When persons become interested in some doctrinal point, send a tract on the subject in which they are interested. HOW CAN ADDRESSES BE OBTAINED?
From political papers, from friends, from lists of county papers, and in every conceivable way. When an individual has become interested, ask him to send names. Some have supposed that they must have carefully selected names. After many years’ experience it has been seen that there will be no more interested readers found among fifty carefully selected names than among fifty names taken from various sources, of persons with whom you are wholly unacquainted. Could we read hearts it would make a difference. But the ones whom you might suppose would be the first interested often prove the last ones reached, and vice versa. “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam. 16:7. THE NATURE OF THE LETTER WRITTEN.
Much depends upon the letter written. It is important that the thoughts should be well expressed, and the letter neatly executed, and these points should be considered; but there is something more important still. The words, warm with love, should come from a feeling heart, burdened with the desire of saving souls, and one that realizes its dependence upon God. Such letters will be effectual, even if the composition and style are not precise. But whatever may be the fluency of language, the Spirit of God must accompany the letter, in order that it may reach the heart. This should ever be realized by the writer. The best time to write a letter is after visiting the closet, where in brokenness of heart the aid of the Holy Spirit has been sought. Printed slips pasted on papers sent, amount to but little. Postal cards do better; but a letter written without any fixed form is the best. The letter should not be at all controversial. The papers and tracts should do that part of the work. In your first letter you can tell them that, if they are interested in the paper, you will send more. Say nothing about subscribing for it in the first letter, wait until they have become sufficiently interested. Our experience has been, thus far, that those who depend on more successful societies to furnish them selected names have never amounted to much. The experience gained in resorting to various means to procure addresses has qualified the individual to write understandingly and effectively. THE RESULT OF SUCH EFFORT.
The Judgment alone will reveal the result of patient, persistent labor in this branch of the missionary work. You cannot always decide that no interest is taken when a response is not made to the letter written. I have learned that upon the receipt of the first copy of the Signs, some have inclosed two dollars and sent directly to the Signs Office, and never replied to the letter. The difficulties experienced by some in writing are such that they do not reply. But it is reasonable to conclude, when they do not respond at all, that they are not sufficiently interested to be benefited by receiving papers. Only think of sending out weekly, from eight to five hundred copies of the Signs, from each of our five hundred different churches, to all places where the English language is spoken! I have found papers thus sent, in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and Illinois, and I expect to meet them more and more frequently. While at Alabama, I received a letter from a man who had commenced preaching the Sabbath, having received it in the above manner. (The letter I unfortunately lost.) Bro. J. W. Heath, formerly a Presbyterian minister, an educator in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, also in the higher branches of mathematics, has thus embraced the truth. I had the pleasure of baptizing him. I learned of four other ministers, two of whom have wholly embraced these views and two partially, who were preaching the truth in Alabama. While in Illinois, I learned of a lady who was surrounded by Sabbath-keepers, her own son taking twelve copies of the Signs; but she, being prejudiced, would not read them. She received three copies from the secretary of the Vigilant Missionary Society in Washington, N. H., and then a letter, which wrought a great change in her feelings. The thought that a stranger should take so much interest in her case, with the letter written with such warmth of feeling, greatly affected her heart. I do not know how her address was obtained, but I know that God made this means instrumental in reaching the heart. May God bless those who are taking the Signs and sending them out to others.