Review and Herald, Vol. 15, No. 11.
WALK WORTHY OF GOD, NO. 2.Page 1
Earlier text: WALK WORTHY OF GOD, NO. 2.THE FAITH OF JESUS.
By Editor
To THE EDITOR OF THE Review: It is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity of addressing you who are striving to "keep all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." I have for some time, say a year or more, been a constant reader of the Review, and have longed for it from week to week. I approve of many of its points, and especially the point of Sabbath-keeping. I noticed in your paper recently an article from M. Hull, with a note attached, in which you said, "Bro. H. has passed over the Seventh-day Baptists, who profess to keep both the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, although we cannot regard them, as a people, as coming up to the standard of the latter." I have been a member of the Seventh-day Baptist church some time, and have always kept the Sabbath, and will you state wherein the Seventh-day Baptists do not keep the faith of Jesus? I am a seeker after truth, and if I am in an error, please point that error out to me, and I will at once reject it. I was never acquainted fully with the principles of the Seventh-day Second Adventists, and would like to have them, wherein they differ from other Seventh-day Christians. You are aware, of course, that we have a small congregation in New York city, consisting probably of fifty or seventy-five regular attendants. Our pastor is a good old man. He preaches the real, genuine gospel; not the popular topics of the day, but Christ and him crucified. The reasons you know, why we do not have a larger congregation of Sabbath-keepers in a city, especially such a money-seeking city as New York. Many young men have left their country residences and come to New York to make their fortunes, and not finding it so easy to get worldly goods by keeping the Sabbath, they stretch their consciences to anything, and abandon the holy day. "May my right hand lose his cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth," ere I forsake the commands of God for worldly lusts. N. Y. City, Jan. 21st, 1860. REMARKS. We meant to assert nothing dogmatically in the note above referred to; and by the insertion of the clause "as a people," we intentionally left open a wide door for many noble exceptions as we trust there are. By the faith of Jesus we mean the doctrine inculcated by him and his apostles in the New Testament; and if we rightly understand, many of the tenets held by the S. D. Baptists as a denomination, if weighed in that balance would be found wanting. We speak now simply of matters of belief, and not of failures in daily life to come up to that standard which all would admit to be binding, and to which we all should many times have to plead guilty. Wherein then does the belief of this people differ from the teaching of the Saviour and his apostles? We need not specify every point wherein we think a difference exists; a few only will be sufficient for our purpose, if they shall justify the position we have taken. First. The Saviour pointed his disciples, as the great object of their hope, to the time when he should personally return. "Let not your heart be troubled," said he as he was about to leave his church, "I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." Thus the only hope he ever held out to his disciples of being with him was through the medium of his personal return. But the theology of modern times would have us reach this result in a far different manner. Through death, by which a deathless spirit rises to a higher life, that would usher the righteous into their heaven of bliss, and the wicked to their place of doom. But the Bible too plainly connects the saints' reward with the coming of Christ, to be ignored or overlooked; and therefore to restore an apparent harmony between the great text-book of belief and the thing believed, we are told by some that death is the coming of Christ. But can this be so? We can state on the authority of angels that he is to come in the same manner as he went into heaven. He went up bodily and visibly, and a literal cloud received him out of their sight. Acts i, 9-11. Visibly and bodily, then, in the clouds of heaven, must he return. When he comes his appearance is to be like the lightning flashing from the east even unto the west, and every eye shall see him, and the great trump of the archangel shall sound, and the angels shall be sent to gather the elect from the four winds of heaven, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn because of him. Is it such a scene as this that transpires in the darkened chamber of a dying man, when the pulse of life is slowly ebbing out, and nothing is to be seen either going or coming? But more than this, we are directly told how the disciples understood this matter; and it would seem that with every Protestant, their decision should be final. Speaking of one of his disciples, the Saviour said, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me." The disciples immediately passed their judgment upon the import of these words; and we read that the saying went abroad among them [what? that that disciple should die, and so experience the coming of his Lord? No, but] that that disciple should not die. So the disciples believed that whosoever should tarry till the Lord should come, would not die. If we err in taking the same position, we have at least the consolation of being in illustrious company. Three facts are here established: first, the coming of the Lord is to be personal and visible in the clouds of heaven; second, that coming is yet future for nothing of the kind has taken place since the first advent; and third, the saints have no promise of being with him previous to that event. If this is the true "faith of Jesus," it follows that the prevailing belief on these subjects, at the present time, with which we are not aware that the views of the S. D. Baptists greatly differ, cannot be designated by that appellation. Second. The Saviour has given us the signs of his coming, and told us when we might be looking for that event; and the apostles predicted for the last days a great declension in piety and increase of iniquity, saying that the love of many should wax cold, and wicked men and seducers grow worse and worse, as the immediate precursor of the coming of the Son of man. The signs in the sun, moon and stars which our Saviour foretold have come to pass, and who can look about him and say that the moral and political aspects of the world do not fulfill the remaining predictions to the very letter? We are thus taught to look for this great event as now imminent, being near even at the doors. But what says the church? Are they looking for any such thing? No; for the return of the Jews must first take place, the world must be converted, and a thousand years of peace and prosperity and holiness intervene before that event. The world is thus lulled into the expectation of peace and safety, while destruction cometh upon the wings of the wind [see 1 Thess. v, 3]; effort is directed to an illegitimate object; and by being thus unscripturally and indefinitely applied, is wholly lost when it might be concentrated to the salvation of some. This we consider a great departure from the faith of Jesus. Again: The great doctrine of the resurrection of the body, upon which the apostles and apostolical Christians hung their only hope of a future life [1 Cor. xv], is rendered wholly useless by the modern teaching of the consciousness of man in death; for if at death the righteous enter the presence of God where there is fullness of joy, and the wicked descend to their place of punishment, what need is there of a resurrection? Let this question be pondered well, and a scriptural reply be given if one can be found. It has many times been asked, and has hitherto gone unanswered. Another departure, if we mistake not, from the faith of Jesus. We are moreover taught in the word of God to look for a coming and general day of judgment. "He hath appointed a day," says the apostle, "in which he will judge the world in righteousness." Acts xvii, 31. This doctrine is also done away by the prevailing belief; for if the righteous enter upon their reward at death, and the wicked upon their punishment, judgment must have then been passed in their cases; for reward or punishment cannot legitimately follow till judgment has been pronounced. And then the vital query arises, What need is there, in this case, of the future day of judgment which God has appointed? There is none; and the doctrine that such a day will come, can only be defended on the ground that the first judgment was liable to mistakes, and it would require another to correct its errors; which would be blasphemous. Is not here a wide departure from the faith of Jesus? Again: When Jesus ascended he gave gifts unto men. See Eph. iv; 1 Cor. xii. The gifts of the Spirit were set in the church. These were the only legitimate means for the consolidation of the body, the only legitimate means to bring them into the unity of the faith. But these have been, and still are, ignored by the church. They are held to be exclusive accompaniments of what is called the apostolic age; hence at the present time christendom presents the sad spectacle of about 666 divisions. There is also an ordinance which our Lord instituted for his church as brought to view in the xiiith of John 1-17, which is now generally neglected by his professed people. We have thus noticed a few positions differing widely, as we think, from the plain teaching of our Lord and his apostles, and which we believe the S. D. B. church hold in common with other denominations. We regard these doctrines as of the same piece with Sunday-keeping, and have long thought that the glorious truth of the Sabbath of the Lord, was worthy of a purer theology and the companionship of better views. We have therefore been gratified to see the subjects of the coming and reign of Christ, and the nature and destiny of unconverted men, arresting the attention of our brethren of the S. D. Baptists, and to see the scriptural view of them set forth in their organ, the Sabbath Recorder. And if that sheet shall ever be closed against the free utterance of such sentiments we shall view it with deep regret. If we have erroneously attributed any of the views above mentioned to the Seventh-day Baptists as a body, by which we mean the majority of their members, we shall be happy to be corrected. DONATION PARTIES.
By R. F. C.
THE Lord is abundantly able to sustain his own cause without appealing to his enemies for help. He is rich. The cattle upon a thousand hills are his. Hence he says, "If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof." Ps. l, 12. His cause and his ministers need not, and do not, apply to the world for help. Not that his servants have always a fullness; for they know both how to be abased, and how to abound. Everywhere and in all things they are instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. See Phil. iv, 12. If, in their necessities, the Lord opens the hearts of those without, unsolicited, to supply their wants, the offering is not scorned but thankfully received and God is praised. But when the world are solicited to aid in the support and spread of that gospel which they reject, there is a compromise of principle upon the face of it, and the church makes overtures for an unholy alliance or co-partnership with the world. But we are amid the perils of the last days. The prophecy of Paul, in his second epistle to Timothy, chaps. iii, and iv, is having its fulfillment. The time has already come, as predicted, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, after their own desires, they have heaped to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they, both preachers and hearers, have turned away their ears from the truth, and are turned unto fables. Now these teachers, though they should be as numerous as the locusts of Egypt and as greedy as those dumb dogs prophesied of by Isaiah, chap. lvi, which "can never have enough," must still have a support. But how shall this be effected in this money-loving age, when even those that have a form of godliness are lovers of their own selves, covetous, &c.? Notwithstanding the mutual compact, by which the people agree to support their ministers, and these in return are to serve their hearers with a pleasing dish of fables from week to week, suited to their vitiated appetites, and set forth with "excellency of speech" and "enticing words of man's wisdom," still there is a deficiency. How shall this deficiency be supplied? Ah! here is the remedy. Though men in and out85 of the professed church are money-lovers, as foretold, yet they are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” Nothing will loosen the purse strings like a pleasure party. Now if such a party can be projected, a good supper got up, (for this, like the “days of Noah,” is a feasting age), and the “young people” be invited “in the evening,” the object will be accomplished, if it can be at all. Giving in public also, where the left hand knows more than the right, is especially grateful to the taste; for men were to be “boasters” and “proud,” as well as lovers of pleasures and the rest of the catalogue. Who would do their alms in secret and not so much as have the name of it?! Nearly a year ago I was among strangers in Steuben Co. N. Y., where I chanced to hear a conversation between two young men concerning donation parties they had recently attended. They were speaking of the losses their friends had sustained at these parties. One had had a pair of gloves, another a handkerchief, &c. &c., picked from their pockets; and such a one had had his overcoat stolen. They descanted upon the inconvenience of having donation parties at private houses, where there was a “perfect jam,” and their property was not safe from the fact that there was a class that came to get their supper free and plunder others. And they agreed in this conclusion: That it was far better to go to a tavern and have a “regular ball.” That more money would be raised in this way; for they would have their regular tickets, and none would get their supper without paying for it, and it would be a much more “decent scrape” in all respects. This put me in mind of the fact, that I was traveling in that country some years before and stopped at a tavern to obtain a lodging. The house was filled with a donation party; and the inn-keeper informed me that every room was full, and that they would not probably leave till morning, and consequently there was no chance for a traveler to rest there that night. And though it was becoming late in the evening, and I was weary with my journey, I very willingly left the scene that was there being enacted, and made my way to the next village. Christian reader, please compare these festivals in all their bearings with the spirit and teachings of the gospel of Christ. Observe in these the fulfillment of prophecy and some of the signs of the times. The advent messages have been announced. But the language of the evil servant is, My Lord delayeth his coming. He will not come yet. But while he cries peace and safety, and begins to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. R. F. C. LETTER FROM BRO. CORNELL.
By M. E. Cornell
BRO. SMITH: Last Sabbath and first-day were days of special blessings to the church at Lisbon. The present truth has not lost its beauty and importance in their eyes, but they appear to love it more and more. The Lord has added to their numbers and others have lately become interested to investigate. Prejudice in certain quarters seems to be giving away some; and there is hope that ere long more fruit will be manifest. On first-day afternoon a discourse was given upon the subject of baptism and its pre-requisites, after which five were buried with Christ by baptism, and in the evening the church met at the house of Bro. Mitchell and attended to the ordinances of the Lord's house. It was a time to be remembered. There was weeping and rejoicing and the voice of praise all commingled, while the sweet blessing of God was distilling upon all around, causing the very place to seem sacred. Several testified that this was the happiest day of their lives. How true the words: “Ye shall be happy, if ye know
And do these things, by faith below.” When the divine plan is strictly followed the needed blessings will be given. It has ever been so from the beginning as we may learn from the Bible and history; besides, there are hundreds of living witnesses who have been blessed in obedience, and have proved the promise, “happy are ye if ye do them.” Because true humility is an indispensable requisite to true happiness—to peace in believing and joy in the Holy Ghost. How true the apostle’s words, “According as his divine power hath given unto US ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN UNTO LIFE AND GODLINESS.” The plan is perfect and there is no lack. If it is followed out in all its parts, it will prepare us for an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom. The authors of patent medicines, for the ailments of dull mortality, say we must “follow the directions strictly,” though none of these will prevent sickness and death sooner or later. But there is an eternal salvation from sickness and death and all their consequent evils. If we “follow the directions” of this plan strictly there is no failure. Praise God for such a plan and for such a hope. The gospel plan not only provides the eternal salvation in the future, but in answer to prayer, it gives present relief from the power of disease, such as no remedy of man ever gave. The Lord hath done great things for his remnant people already; but if we follow on, we may yet see greater wonders still. O what a prospect lies before us. We have been “eye-witnesses” of the power and goodness of God in the past, and we cannot doubt that the “windows of heaven will be opened” and greater blessings will be poured out than we ever knew. “O what a blessed hope is ours!
While here on earth we stay,
We more than taste the heavenly powers,
And antedate the day.” I have just received a letter from Bro. Dorcas, stating that the work is still going on at Tipton. Their Sabbath meetings are interesting. The young man I spoke of whose father is a minister, and who was forbidden by him to attend our meetings has since been excluded from his home because he would keep the Sabbath. He went to Bro. Dorcas; but had not been there long when a messenger came with a letter, informing him that he could return and keep the Sabbath at home. This shows that the parents are not entirely void of natural affection, and it is to be hoped that he will try in everything to please his parents as far as possible without compromising the truth. My lungs are now rested from the soreness caused by the speaking at Tipton, and the weather has moderated, so that I shall start out for new fields to-morrow if the Lord will. M. E. CORNELL. DID YOU READ IT?
By A. S. Hutchins
DEAR Brethren and Sisters: So highly do I prize the article in Review No. 8, from Bro. White on the proper observance of the Lord’s Sabbath, that I hope all have read it, and that we shall all be profited by it. I hope the instruction therein contained will fasten firmly upon our minds. It is a subject upon which I have reflected much of late, and have wished some one would speak on it through the Review. How can we who have seen such a brilliant blaze of light on the Sabbath commandment, be loose and careless in our manner of keeping it? How dare you suffer work which might and should have been out of the way before the Sabbath, to crowd in upon it one half or three-fourths of an hour; and then as the Sabbath is closing rob God of as much more of his holy rest-day? What influence must this practice have upon your neighbors and friends who are looking on? It is astonishing to learn the minds of some leading members in the church, who should "shine as lights" in the world, in regard to the requirements of the Sabbath law. How the commandment can be so construed as to justify some in the amount of labor they do on this day, I know not. Would it not be better to render unto God the things that are God's? Would it not be more compatible with the injunction of the Saviour, "Let your light so SHINE before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven," to be found all ready and waiting for the return of the Sabbath, than for brethren at its commencement to be miles from home returning from their work, or doing chores, or for sisters to be preparing a warm meal? I think much of Bro. White's suggestion for family devotion at the commencement and close of the Sabbath. How much easier looking up to the sanctuary for the descent of the Holy Spirit, in the family who thus manifest their pure, deep and genuine love for the Sabbath day, than where all is hurry with secular business. Some in the East who have been long in the message might learn a profitable lesson on this point from some in the West who have more recently embraced the Sabbath. "Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come?"
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Melbourne, C. E. THE LORD IS COMING.
By J. Clarke
“The Lord is coming! let this be
The herald note of Jubilee,
And when we meet, and when we part,
The salutation from the heart.” Those who love the Lord, and anxiously desire his return, would love this salutation; but suppose you should salute a lover of the world in this manner; he would deem it very much out of time and place. But those who heartily believe the message of the third angel, would appreciate such a greeting. It is the one and universal sentiment of all those who have the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Why then is it not oftener used? There is a reason, a cause for this apathy; and it is apparent to the candid inquirer. Salute your brethren in this way, and how would it be received? Some would cordially reciprocate the sentiment, while others would wonder, and perhaps feel quite shocked, and probably would ask, When? Now why is it so? Simply because the doctrine of Christ’s soon coming is not fully believed, even by those who profess faith in the third message; they have doubts; sometimes these doubts are expressed in words, and sometimes acted out. Vain and worldly conversation on the part of some, uncontrolled, unsubdued wills and passions on the part of others, covetousness, pride, variance, and other evils, manifest that their belief is not a practical belief. It is no doubt very often only theoretical, and adopted rather as a man insures against fire, and adopted as a safeguard against a possible contingency, which he hopes may not take place, at least at present; he hopes that he may have time to complete this or that, to arrange this or that, a good deal as many prepare on sixth-day for the Sabbath, by crowding much work into this preparation day, and the coming of the Sabbath finds them in a heat, an excitement of cares, and so the Sabbath is lost to them in its best sense. So will it be with those who want to put off the coming of Christ. They will take up the mournful lamentation, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” To the one class, as you meet them on sixth-day, you might say, “To-morrow is the Sabbath,” and the response would be pleasant and hearty, Yes, and I am making arrangements to keep the whole of it. To the other class you might say, “To-morrow is the Sabbath,” and the response would perhaps be, My work is urgent, or, O, I have such a crowd of work! or, if you urge the necessity of cutting the work a little short, in order to avoid infringing upon holy time, the answer might be, I do not believe in going to extremes; God does not require us to lose our property, by needless strictness; and so the Sabbath is trodden under foot by its professed advocates. So it is with many in this “day of preparation,” for the glorious advent of Jesus. Many are doubly anxious for mammon, and while they trample the Sabbath under foot, they also pave the way to be trodden under foot themselves in the awful day before us. Brethren, let us on sixth-day prepare for the keeping of the Sabbath, as we would now at all times, be fitting up for the coming of the just and holy One. My brethren and sisters in the Lord, of the remnant church, “Much in Little” should be our constant cry! We who profess to believe that our dear Saviour is soon to make his second advent to this earth; he whom we soon expect to see descending on a white cloud, with his choir of ten thousand of angels chanting through the skies, coming to take his ransomed ones home to enjoy those mansions which he said he would go and86 prepare for them that would love and keep his Father's commandments, that where he was they might be also. Are we ready to go with him? Have we applied the sword of the Spirit to our hearts until every cord that binds us to earth is severed? Have we a daily experience that we are laying up our treasure in heaven? that our hearts have a fixed and abiding place near the most holy sanctuary where our Saviour is closing up his last office-work as mediator between God and man? Have we our loins girded about, and our lights burning? and are we standing like men who wait for their returning Lord? Are we walking worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, having come to the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ? Have we heeded our Saviour's admonition to the Laodicean church, having obtained of him the gold that is tried in the fire, the white raiment, anointed our eyes with eye-salve, and opened the door of our hearts so that our Saviour has come in and is supping with us, and we with him, and enjoying a continual feast with him, having overcome even as he has overcome? If not, then we may say of ourselves, Surely we have much to do in a little time. Yes, much in a very little; for if we are by faith surveying the moral horizon, we may exclaim of a truth, The signs which portend the soon coming of our Saviour are daily being fulfilled. Scoffers have become bold, the church has joined hands with the world, fearfulness is taking hold of men in high places, and evidently the way is being prepared when the two-horned beast will join hands with the beast that had the deadly wound but was healed. A time of tribulation such as never was is near at hand, when there will be no time to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Let us heed the warning, "behold I come quickly." God by the prophet Malachi [chap. iii, 16, 17] said that they that feared the Lord and thought upon his name, spake often to each other, and a book of remembrance was kept, &c.; and although we are a scattered remnant, yet in the Review very many short, but heartfelt and soul-cheering letters may find a place, telling of our strong desire to overcome; of a living experience, of the overcoming of some error by the teachings of the Holy Ghost, of love increased and faith strengthened, and in that way we may speak often to each other, and in so doing we may strengthen each other, and encourage some lone pilgrim and help them to "Lift up their head, rejoice and sing,
Look up! by faith behold your King,
He soon is coming, heed his call,
Look up! and make your God your all." My brethren and sisters, let it ever be our cry, Lord, "The power of interceding grace
Give us in faith to claim." Bro. SMITH: Will you befriend me to lay before the readers of the Review and Herald a notice of a boy of mine which I have every reason to believe was kidnapped on or about the 4th of July, 1859. He left home then to look for work in haying, and I have not seen him since. A few weeks ago two men told me that they knew where my boy was, but would not tell me, when one said that the boy was bound out, and the other denied it. I have traveled far and near, and cannot find my dear child. He is about thirteen years of age, rather thin built, dark brown hair, some freckled on his face, and has a small nose, rather turned up. His name is George Franklin Craig, of Clinton, Mass. He generally goes by the name of Franklin Craig. I hope, dear brother, that you will request the brethren of New England to have a close lookout for my child, and write to Eld. John Craig, of Clinton, Mass., if any one should find where he is. Believe me, dear brother, my sorrow and trouble is very heavy in these last days, and this affliction bears heavily on my gray head, to lose my dear little son; for he was a very good boy. Will you do what you can for me in my deep affliction, and may God preserve you blameless unto the kingdom of heaven. Amen. Your brother in much tribulation. The above communication speaks for itself. We trust the brethren will bear this case in mind, and if they know of a strange boy of the above description, write as requested.—Ed. THE HOLY SABBATH OF THE LORD.
By B. F. Snooks
WE have selected the above as the subject of a series of articles which we propose writing for the encouragement of those who obey the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and for the especial benefit of my Christian brethren, the Disciples. The writer has been a Disciple in all good conscience more than six years; and about five years of this time has been a preacher. His motto has ever been, and ever is, to "prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." Therefore having investigated and thoroughly tried the seventh-day Sabbath by the divine standard of God's word, he has determined it to be good; and therefore concluded to hold it fast. To this conclusion he has been driven by the force of evidence which abundantly abides in the lively oracles. In order therefore that we may plainly present this subject, we state the following proposition which we will try to prove: The seventh day of the week is the only Sabbath of the Lord God appointed by him for man. In arguing the truth of the above proposition we shall consider the Sabbath in the following order: 1. Its origin or institution. 2. Its object or design. 3. Its nature. 4. Its perpetuity. 5. Its obligation. 1. Whence originated the Sabbath, or when was it instituted? This is an important question, and much depends upon the manner in which it is settled. But there need be no difficulty relative to this, if we only walk in the light of truth; for the truth has with its golden beams, sufficiently illuminated every important matter after which we need search. To the testimony. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which God created and made, and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Gen. ii, 2, 3. According to the above, God rested on the seventh day from all his work; second, he therefore blessed and sanctified the seventh day, the day on which he rested. The institution of the seventh day is declared in the words, blessed and sanctified, which are defined by Webster as follows: "Bless; to set apart or consecrate to holy purposes; to make and pronounce holy, to invoke a blessing upon. Sanctify; to separate, set apart, or appoint to a holy or religious use." That this seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord is made absolutely certain by the fourth commandment. Ex. xx, 8-12. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, &c.; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
Again, Ex. xvi, 23. This is that which the Lord hath said: To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Verse 26. But on the seventh day which is the Sabbath. Verse 30. So the people rested on the seventh day. This testimony is sufficient to satisfy any mind not trammeled with prejudice that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and was instituted by God himself in Eden. But that the caviler may be left without excuse we will compare these texts and show their agreement. 1. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Ex. xx, 10. 2. God blessed and sanctified, or consecrated to a religious or devotional use, and hallowed it. the seventh day. 2. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 3. God blessed the seventh day because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 3. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. We now affirm that there is not a text of scripture in the whole book of God which locates the institution of the Sabbath at any other time than that referred to above. Neither is there a man on this broad earth who can point out the scripture which proves any other than the seventh day to be the Sabbath of the Lord God. The Sabbath rests on an unshakable basis. It has God for its author, and is honored with his own divine signet. God did create the heavens and earth in six days. God did rest from his work on the seventh day. Therefore, for this reason, God sanctified and hallowed, or blessed, the seventh day. God did not rest on the first, or any other day but the seventh; therefore he did not sanctify and bless any day but the seventh. The seventh-day Sabbath is therefore a divine institution, as much so as matrimony, and must of necessity endure as long as the basis on which it is established. In conclusion, we solemnly appeal to all who are disregarding this divine institution, Stop, we pray you, and think! Jehovah's awful name is declared in this blessed precept, and as oft as you disregard it you disregard, dishonor and insult the authority of him whose right it is ever to command. You have made your heavenly Father's law void by your tradition, (for you know you have no divine authority for the first day of the week,) and must, if you thus continue against the light of truth to insult his divine majesty ere long reap the wages of sin, which is death. Rom. vi, 23. B. F. ROBBINS
By B. F. Robbins
REPLY TO QUERY IN REVIEW NO. 8.
BRO. SMITH; The question proposed by sister Sarah A. Hallock in No. 8 of the Review, "how Bro. Robbin's address to Female Disciples can be reconciled with 1 Cor. xiv, 34, 35, and 1 Tim. ii, 11" is I think, easily harmonized. 1 Tim. ii, 11, "Let the women learn in silence with all subjection." Here the apostle doubtless alludes to that kind of teaching connected with usurping authority; for it is evident that the gospel does not alter the relation of woman in view of priority. "For Adam was first formed then Eve." And though the condition of woman is improved and her privileges enlarged yet she is not raised to a position of superiority where she may usurp authority and teach87 dictatorially, for the law still remains as at the beginning. But the sort of teaching to which the apostle alludes in the text cited connected with usurping authority cannot be of the sort to which he alludes in 1 Cor. 11, 5, &c. Here the apostle admits the prophesying of women in public assemblies and gives particular directions respecting their conduct and appearance while engaged in that sacred duty. "Every man praying or prophesying having his head covered dishonoreth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head, &c." Here I think the apostle recognizeth the public prophesying of women. With respect to the prophesying as exercises by both men and women in the churches of the saints, he defines its nature in 1 Cor. xiv, 3. "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men for edification and exhortation and comfort." Now such kind of speaking as described in this passage were the public services of women which the apostle allowed, and such was the ministry of females predicted by the prophet Joel and described as a leading feature under the gospel dispensation. See Acts ii, 16, 17, 18. Women who speak in assemblies for worship under the influence of the Holy Spirit, assume in so doing no authority over others but are merely instruments through which divine instruction is communicated to others. But of vast importance in order to usefulness in edification and exhortation and comfort to the dear disciples of Jesus, is the pouring out of the Spirit upon the servants and handmaidens. Without this endowment of power from on high all is vain; both men and women can do nothing. And, my dear sister, will not the same indwelling of the Spirit of might which fell upon Mary and the other women on the day of pentecost also qualify the daughters of the Lord Almighty in these last days for abundant usefulness? And if in obedience to the command of our Saviour they seek for and attain it, who I ask could forbid their speaking among their brethren as the Spirit gives them utterance? Friendship, N. Y. Jan. 17. MY SAVIOUR.
By A. L. WILKINSON.
WHEN by my load of sins oppressed,
Where could I lean for peaceful rest,
When all my sins I had confessed,
But on thy kind, forgiving breast,
My Saviour? When Satan tries to make me fear
That God will not my prayers hear,
Who is it says "Be of good cheer,"
And ever to my soul is near?
My Saviour. When friends forsake and foes deride,
And storms of sorrow me betide,
I'll think of Him, the crucified,
Who bore my sorrows when he died,
My Saviour. My soul be still, nor e'er complain,
But ever count each loss a gain;
Remember he will come again,
He'll come a King who once was slain,
My Saviour. O for a heart from sin all free,
That pure and spotless I might be;
O I would live by faith in thee,
That I thy glorious face might see,
My Saviour. Away from him I would not roam,
For I desire the Christian's home;
A ransomed saint I would become,
O come and save me, quickly come,
My Saviour. My voice to thee I then will raise
And sing in glad, immortal lays;
Upon thy lovely face I'll gaze,
And through eternity I'll praise
My Saviour.