Earlier textIN THE FIELD.
By James White
THE WORK IN ALLEGAN COUNTY.
ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich., was the field of our early labors. In June, 1856, we made our first journey to this county with private carriage, accompanied by Mrs. W. The previous autumn, the press had been removed from Rochester, N. Y., to Battle Creek. We have traveled thousands of miles by private conveyance, from our home at Battle Creek to Otsego, Allegan, Monterey, and returning, during the last twenty-four years. For several years, however, we had labored in the churches of this county but very little, until within a few months. For certain reasons, which we will not here mention, the cause in this county has been declining during the past five years. And the condition of things at Monterey induced us to visit this church last winter. Mrs. W. spoke to a crowded house at Otsego on our way; and we each spoke once at Monterey on the Sabbath, and immediately returned. The results were good. Accompanied by Elders Canright and Corliss, we held a meeting at Otsego the evening of the 9th. Eld. Canright remained at Otsego over Sabbath, while Elder Corliss accompanied us to Monterey, where we spoke to the people twice on the Sabbath. God blessed the word greatly. Confessions were made, and many tears were shed on that good Sabbath day. We returned to Otsego the same evening, and found Elder Canright laboring for the salvation of souls, with a good revival interest. Eld. Corliss remained at Otsego, where the work was well begun under his labors last winter, which resulted in the baptism of fifteen by Eld. Corliss, Sabbath, the 17th. On his way to Monterey, he spoke at Allegan the evening of the 17th, and in consequence of our not being able to speak to the people at Monterey, the 18th, Eld. Corliss spoke three times in succession. We did design to speak to the brethren at Douglas and Clyde on our way to Ottawa county, but unforeseen changes in arrangements, bad cold, and illness have prevented this time. To-morrow, the 19th, the Lord willing, we journey on to Ottawa county. To-day has been a season of solemn reflections. We have visited the stream where at different times we have baptized not less than fifty persons. We have walked about two miles to find the very spot where we bowed in prayer with Mrs. W., in June, 1856, in the shade of the heavy pine and whitewood. Our friends had given us both up to die with consumption, and there our cries, interrupted with violent coughing, went up to Heaven for help. It was there, bowed beside those stately trees, that we received the evidence that we should not die, but live to declare the works of the Lord. God has been very good to us, and to our dear brethren in Allegan county. And while we have strong friends in these churches, there are those who have unworthily worn the Advent name, whose hearts are steeled against us. And yet we cling to them. Will they sell their souls for gain? Will they suffer themselves to be deceived by Satan? Will they be lost? Terrible thought! As we bowed in the house of prayer, Sabbath, the 10th, a sense of these things rolled upon us, and as we prayed, we wept, and heard sobs all through the congregation. We are under the impression that the Lord has a work for us to do in Allegan county. We have the tenderest feelings toward the erring, especially those who have made sacrifices, and have borne heavy burdens in the cause, and are now depressed by discouragements. Monday, the 19th, we drove through rain and mud to Wright, a distance of nearly fifty miles. The weather and roads were so bad that few expected us, and consequently the congregation was small for that place. Here we met Eld. Decker, who had large congregations and freedom in speaking on Sabbath and first-day. We were heartily welcomed by Bro. and Sister Root, at our old home. We have been with them in great feebleness, and in health, and were never received by them more cordially, or enjoyed ourself better than at this time. Early Tuesday morning, in company with Elders Decker and Corliss, we visited the grounds of the first camp-meeting, and the best, ever held by S. D. Adventists; and as we bowed in prayer, past scenes of labors, trials, and victories came vividly before the mind. After breakfast, we made our way with all possible speed to our appointment at Greenville, a distance of not less than forty-five miles by carriage, and spoke to the brethren in their house of worship in the city. Wednesday forenoon we visited Bro. Maynard, whom we found lying upon his couch, waiting for nature to mend broken bones. It is, indeed, a singular circumstance, that both Eld. Fargo and Bro. Maynard, whose homes are side by side at Greenville, should have the same unpleasant task at the same time, one lying at Battle Creek, the other at Greenville. Both, however, are doing well. In the afternoon, we journeyed on to our appointment at Bushnell, and put up with Bro. Stephen Allchin and family. Great changes had taken place. The four daughters of Bro. and Sister Allchin had grown to womanhood, and one of them had passed to the grave. The log house where we had been entertained in our feebleness, more than twelve years since, has been exchanged for a fine, two-story house, furnished in city style. It is of no use to deny the fact that our industrious, economical, temperate, and God-fearing brethren are becoming rich. It is true that they pay tithes and make their free-will offerings unto the Lord, but their health and temperance principles, and their exclusion from the fashions and follies of the world, which are very expensive, save to them double or quadruple all they give to the cause of God. The school-house was well filled in the evening, and we enjoyed giving them a practical discourse, which apparently gave satisfaction to the church and the people generally. Thursday, we reached Bro. Howe’s, at Lyons, before taking the second meal of the day. Here we found many letters to read and answer, which filled the time till evening, when we spoke to a mixed congregation of brethren and others in the Methodist church. We put up for the night at Bro. Howe’s. Here we learned that Bancroft, the place for meetings Sabbath and first-day and the dedication of their new house of worship, was sixty miles distant. The distance, and the prospect of rain, were sufficient evidence that we should leave our team to rest over the Sabbath at Bro. Howe’s. The day was stormy and disagreeable, and railroad connections were bad. At Lansing we had six hours; a portion of this time was occupied in the State-house. We reached Bancroft just before the Sabbath; and Eld. Corliss went directly to the house of worship, and spoke to the people, who were exceedingly glad to see him, and hear him again. Wet, cold, and weary, we went directly to the hospitable home of Bro. Henry Banks. Here we enjoyed ourself during the evening before the old, ample fire-place, with grandfather Banks, eighty-two years of age. Sabbath morning, at an early hour, the new house of worship was well filled with the church at Bancroft and the brethren from abroad. Eld. C. spoke in the forenoon and evening, and we in the afternoon. The congregations were large, considering the unfavorable weather, and the meetings were excellent. First-day morning, we spoke to a house literally packed, for one hundred minutes. Eld. Corliss followed with an appeal to the citizens of the place for pledges and cash, to help lift the debt on the house, and in a few minutes, he obtained seventy-five dollars. The entire debt being provided for by pledges, the house was then presented to the Lord, and solemnly dedicated to his service, by prayer. Eld. Corliss addressed the people in the afternoon, and we spoke in the evening, and thus closed our good meetings, and our very enjoyable visit with the dear brethren at Bancroft. Monday, the 26th, we decided to come directly to Battle Creek, thinking that the rain and mud would detain the scattered brethren from the meeting appointed for Potterville that evening; but when we reached the station, brethren Carman and Sawyer were there, ready to protest against our passing them by. So we left the train, and, to our happy surprise, found a good congregation in the evening. Most of them, men, women, and children, had come distances ranging from three to nine miles, through the mud, with prospect of rain, to return in the darkness of night. We had great freedom in speaking to this people. The tour through Otsego, Allegan, Monterey, Wright, Greenville, Bushnell, Lyons, Bancroft, and Potterville has been one of deep interest to us, and, we trust, of profit to our brethren. During the past eight days, we have spoken to the people eight times, besides traveling one hundred and twenty miles by private conveyance, and the same distance by rail. And now, while dictating these lines at Bro. Carman’s good home at Potterville, we are in the enjoyment of good health and courage in the Lord. We know of no Conference, considering the great number of its churches and scattered brethren, as destitute as Michigan; and we design to spend what time we can spare from writing in holding important meetings in this State. This work will be easy, compared with the labors of the camp-meetings. With the consent of the President of the Michigan Conference, provided we can have sufficient help, we may hold some half a dozen tent meetings at different points in the State, where we can call together the scattered brethren from several counties. This, however, should be regarded as a suggestion, rather than a settled plan. We have a testimony of encouragement and comfort for our faithful people in the Michigan Conference. And there never was a time when it was more needed than now, nor a people that were more needy than our brethren in the State of Michigan. THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
By James White
THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.
DURING the brief period of our recent tour through the counties of Allegan, Ottawa, Kent, Montcalm, Ionia, Shiawassee, and Eaton, we have had time for reflection upon the past, the present, and the future. We have been in the field as a preacher of the gospel, nearly forty years. We have labored from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in twenty-one States and Territories besides the Canadas. Our specific work has been to meet the different forms of error, and to bring order and organization out of confusion and distraction. Our labors from State to State, in connection with Mrs. White and her work, have been exceedingly wearing. The saddening and discouraging influence of the perplexities, trials, and hardships which have been our lot, has made its mark upon body, soul, and spirit; and we have fully resolved to lay down the heavy burdens, which should have been shared by others long ago. Our whole heart has been in the work from the beginning. We have seen work to be done of the highest importance, and have been willing to work; and under the inspiration of active life, delighted with seeing enterprises pushed forward and accomplished, we have put seventy years of labor into the past281 thirty-five. It is not a pleasure to write sad and humiliating things about one's self. But under the circumstances, we trust our readers will bear with us while we make the following points. 1. We have never coveted the positions of trust and responsibility which it is necessary that some one, or ones, should hold among our people as an organized body. We have never asked for any office. This statement will be read by thousands who have been permitted to enter into our plans and motives during the entire period that S. D. Adventists have been an organized body. They very well know that these words express the truth in the case. They also know that the offices we have held in the General Conference, the College, the Sanitarium, and the offices of publication, have been urged upon us in the face of the most earnest protestations and pleadings that we were weary of the labor, care, perplexities, and reproaches, which have been heaped upon us in consequence of the prominence of our positions in the several branches of the cause. And notwithstanding we have had three shocks of paralysis, and have pleaded to be released, both in public and with our friends in private, yet these responsibilities are still urged upon us. And in addition to these, we are urged to again go the rounds of the camp-meetings for 1880. 2. By sad experience we have learned that in undertaking to do two or three men's work at the very period of life when we should be retiring from the labors and cares of the battle at the front, mistakes are sometimes unavoidable; and mistakes liable to seriously injure the cause, are very possible. We have also learned that the spirit of forbearance is not always exercised toward the man who has been strong in body, soul, and spirit, to push forward the work. If he has been care-taking, and thorough in organizing and building up, of necessity meeting a diversity of undisciplined minds, stubborn, untamed, and untamable, he may expect that his work will be criticised in the most unreasonable manner; and that the world will be furnished with a liberal amount of scandal, by apostates from the faith, to be poured upon his head in measureless quantities. Our business and social relations with the outside world have ever been pleasant and gratifying. We have no enemies in that direction. There is not a man in the city of Battle Creek, where has been our headquarters since 1855, that has a word to say against our business or religious life. It is our untiring efforts to bring order out of confusion, in meeting the different forms of error and distraction with those who have professed the faith of S. D. Adventists, that has stirred the ire of reckless men and apostates. And this we could better endure if our people generally could take in the situation, and ever give their sympathy and influence for the right. We have some sense of our unfaithfulness and mistakes in the past, and with an ardent desire not to repeat them, we have fully decided to step out from under the burdens we have too long borne. Having won the confidence and respect of all whose confidence and respect is of any value, we decide to retire from these responsibilities, while in the enjoyment of the confidence of our people. We have seen public men, in the church and out of it, who have held offices of trust, positions of honor, and have quit themselves like men, make the terrible mistake of reaching for some higher position at the very time when they should be retiring from public life. Such mistakes are fearful ones. Our highest aspirations at the present time are to retire to more quiet life, and less responsible positions in the cause, and to finish our course with joy, to be ready for the coming of the Son of man in glory. 3. While being pushed to the front, and overwhelmed with perplexing cares and toils, we have appeared to poor advantage, in a very unnatural, and to some, inconsistent, light. Our executive capacity and energy has called forth the most extravagant statements in the public prints, and has carried us up to a position before the public, which it has been impossible for us to properly maintain, for want of time for study, reflection, and rest. We have been hurried on from point to point, under a perpetual excitement for more than a quarter of a century; liable at every point to make false motions, and commit serious blunders. This has been exceedingly embarrassing, and much of the time during our public life we have coveted the freedom of the slave, who had little else to care for but to avoid his master's whip. Weary of the strife of the past, and joyful in hope of the future, we leave the positions of trust and responsibility to those who have found it easier to criticise our course than to point out a better one. If we can help them by our counsel or otherwise, to bear them, we will do it cheerfully, if we can be allowed to do so without being made responsible for their management. 4. We had decided to attend none of the camp-meetings for 1880, out of the State of Michigan, when Mrs. W. went to the Pacific coast. Our plan was to spend the summer in the Rocky Mountains, and give ourself to the work of writing; and it was not until Mrs. W. had decided to attend the Iowa camp-meeting, that we consented to join her there; and now that she is undecided whether to attend the camp-meetings in Oregon, or to return, we feel released from our promise to attend the camp-meeting at Des Moines, Iowa. 5. Among our mistakes in the past, is overwork. We feel it sensibly at the present time; and without a change, we have no hope of usefulness in the future. We have been very much gratified, on our recent tour, in finding that we had not lost the confidence of our brethren, nor power to instruct, interest, and move them. Their forbearance has been very great, and their condition of destitution for the want of men of experience to break to them the bread of life, is beyond description. We enjoy perfect freedom of thought and spirit while standing before the people. 6. In our anxiety to build up our institutions, and to set an example of liberality to the brethren, we have made mistakes, in giving more than we were able to give. What we have given to our several institutions, and what we have lost in the fall of property, in consequence of our efforts in helping the cause, during the past eight years, amounts to twenty thousand dollars. This leaves us in a condition at the present time where it is necessary for us to change our course in point of giving, until the brethren shall purchase a portion of the three thousand dollar stock we hold in the College, and the five thousand and five hundred dollars of stock in the Sanitarium. We took this stock with the understanding that others would take a large portion of it off our hands, when men of means, and heart to give, should join the ranks of S. D. Adventists; and we hope not to be disappointed in this matter. 7. We have not thought it necessary to correct the false statements which have passed into print, relative to our wealth. What we have been permitted to hold and to handle of the Lord's money, we have obtained in an honorable manner, and our principal regret in this matter is, that the exaggerated reports are utterly false. We wish here to state a few facts. a. Our salary for our entire labors in the interests of the College, the Sanitarium, the publishing work, the General Conference, and as traveling preacher from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and pastor of the Battle Creek church, has never exceeded twelve dollars a week, or six hundred and twenty-four dollars a year. b. That foresight and careful management under which our institutions prospered in their earlier history, has been applied to our personal business, when not overwhelmed with the general interests of the cause, with the same success, as the following particulars will show. Our first home in Battle Creek cost seven hundred dollars. In consequence of rise of real estate in this city we sold it for sixteen hundred dollars. Just before the war, we purchased again for two thousand five hundred dollars, and at the close of the war when prices were the highest, sold the same property for five thousand dollars. Purchased again for four thousand dollars, and soon sold for six thousand. Purchased again for three thousand five hundred dollars, and sold for four thousand two hundred dollars. At the commencement of the war when stationery was the very lowest, we purchased fifteen hundred dollars' worth of writing-paper and envelopes, which sold near the close of the war for four thousand dollars. It has ever been our uniform custom in the days of our prosperity to take all matters of secular business to the Lord in earnest prayer. His prospering hand has been with us, even in our secular matters, and his name shall have the glory that we have not been left to want in our efforts to help the cause, and have not been crippled with the galling sense of dependence on those who cared only for their own temporal interests. c. In times of great feebleness and affliction, we have accepted presents from our brethren to the amount of a few hundred dollars, but the entire sum for a quarter of a century past would not be a tithe of what we have given to our brethren in the ministry, and to the poor generally. And besides this, and the twenty thousand dollars before mentioned, we have paid our tithes to the amount of one thousand dollars, which has gone into the general treasury for the support of the ministry, from which treasury we have not been benefited above our salary of six hundred and twenty-four dollars a year, not a single dime. d. We do not use time and space in giving these facts from personal feelings. The false statements in reference to our financial matters are made by those who are unfriendly to us, to injure the precious cause to which we have given the very best of life. It is in defense of the cause and work of God, in which we have taken a leading part, that we make these statements of facts. Our business career has been laid open to public investigation time and again, and there are thousands who understand perfectly, even to the details, that these statements are correct. J. W. The Gouverneur, N. Y., Herald of April 8, gives the following note of the celebration of the 32d anniversary of spiritualism in Rochester, N. Y.:— “The thirty-second anniversary of modern spiritualism was celebrated Monday in Rochester, N. Y., by a meeting at which speeches were made by one of the Fox sisters, and other mediums. A long list of resolutions was passed, in the first of which the city of Rochester was commemorated as the place where the rappings were first publicly investigated and found to emanate from persons once of this life, now of the life beyond. That rap has reverberated round the world, demonstrating immortality.” In less than a third of a century, this fatal delusion has spread to all nations; for, as stated above, “that rap has reverberated round the world.” But in not a single manifestation are we obliged to resort to the hypothesis of disembodied human spirits; hence they are not “found to emanate from persons once in this life,” and do not therefore “demonstrate” immortality, or what we suppose is meant by it here, a conscious existence after death, before the resurrection. We might feel obliged to adopt the conclusions claimed, were it not for the Bible. But when the Bible so often declares that the dead know not anything, that with them all consciousness, thought, and emotion have ceased till the resurrection, it settles the matter so far as they are concerned. And the Bible doctrine of demonology accounts in a rational manner for the agencies manifestly at work in the wonders produced. And the prophecies setting forth that in the last days such manifestations should appear, Matt. 24:24; Rev. 13:13, 14; 16:14, and be at the very climax of their wonder-working exhibitions when Christ appears in the clouds of heaven, 2 Thess. 2:8–12, sufficiently explain the phenomenon of the sudden appearance and rapid spread of this work over the earth in the present generation. Never have we had more reason than now to prize the Bible, and never more occasion to hold fast to it as the only anchor amid the floods of error, deception, and evil, in these last days. TO THE LONE PILGRIMS.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
The Jubilee is coming! The year of release to the oppressed is at hand. The conflict with the powers of darkness will soon be ended, and then, if faithful, the victor’s crown of glory will be yours. What though the way grows rougher, and the conflict severer! Did we not expect it? Did we not count the cost? Are we not looking for trouble and affliction and persecution? The way to be prepared for the fiery trial which is to try us, is to bear with patience and cheerfulness our present trials. They will do us good, if properly endured and improved. Though we are in the midst of perils,—though iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold,—yet the blessed promise is, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” There is something to endure; but the Lord loves us, and is willing to save us. “O thou afflicted” “inhabitant of Zion, tossed with tempest, and not comforted!” thou son or daughter of Jerusalem above! the Lord loves you, and you may triumph over the powers of darkness. Thou lone pilgrim, bowed down with oppression, and feeling as if there were none to sympathize with or pray for thee, look up, and press forward; for neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Those iron bands of oppression shall be broken. The time is not far distant when, if faithful, “thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.” See Isa. 54:11-14. No one can deprive the weakest saint of salvation. Thank the Lord, salvation is free; it is within our reach! The poorest and most oppressed may be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that God has promised to them that love him. God hears thy sighs and sees thy tears. We have a God that seeth in secret, and he will reward us openly. He knows all our grief. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.” We have also a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Angels are interested in our behalf, and the saints of God are praying for us. What cause, then, to fear? Friends and companions may turn against us, father and mother may forsake us, but then the Lord will take us up. “Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.” Let patience have its perfect work. These fires are intended to take away our dross; and though the furnace be hot, let us lie passive in the crucible, till the refiner and purifier of silver can see his own image in us. Let no lone pilgrim despond or faint because of the oppressor. The Jubilee is coming! The time of the promise is drawing near. The strong man armed will soon release his prisoners; for a stronger than he is coming, who will wrest from him his spoils. The Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved forever. Take courage, fellow-pilgrim. Put on the whole armor of God. The conflict, though sharp, cannot be long. The victory can be won in the strength of our Redeemer. And then the prize,—the victor’s crown, the harps of God! “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” In patience wait, and work in hope. There are souls to be saved; and you may see of the fruit of your labor in the soon-coming, glorious kingdom of God. Watch and pray; wait and work. DISAPPOINTMENTS
By Joseph Clarke
We should never yield to discouragement because of disappointments. Man may err, and disappointment may follow as a consequence; but the only true way is to persevere in a good cause, however many disappointments occur. Ambition in a good cause is laudable and noble, if prompted by good motives. Often we see men of the world push forward their schemes, in the face of difficulty, danger, and loss, because they see an object ahead worthy of great labor and expense. Columbus, in his zeal to explore the western ocean, was not daunted by continued disappointment and contempt; his project was ridiculed, and he treated almost as if he had been a monomaniac; but he pressed on, regardless of opposition, and the result is known to all. Washington, at the head of his half-clad and half-fed troops, often defeated, often pursued, almost frozen out of his winter quarters or drenched by summer rains, fainted not, nor thought of giving up, even when Congress thought the cause a lost one, and so informed him. He passed their message almost unnoticed, and pressed on to victory. The result of his noble ambition is before the world. Moses, the man of God, stood almost alone at times, while his people seemed doomed to destruction, but his courage never failed him; he still stood true to God and true to his people. The results of his victory are infinite. The greatest instance of perseverance is that of Christ our Lord, who for six thousand years has patiently cared for his erring people here. Isaiah says of him (chap. 42:4) that “he shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth.” He has cared for each one, and with patience waited for the character of each to fully develop; he has scanned carefully each life record; he has borne our sins on the cross; he has been an inhabitant of our earth, subject to the trials incident to man, tempted, neglected, betrayed, scourged, buffeted, insulted, vilified, crucified; and still misrepresented by his professed friends and slandered by his foes; yet he is not moved from his purpose; the work of redemption goes on from day to day; he continues to plead for man; as our High Priest he offers his own blood. With such an example of benevolence and disinterested love, can we falter or be discouraged? No, we will press on to victory, even though the way may seem rough and toilsome. Other men have labored, and this generation reaps the benefit. Others have laid the foundation in sorrow, pain, and loss, and in the expectation of a martyr’s fate; we labor under the protection of a free government, with every convenience that an enlightened age can afford. Our lives, our rights, are protected. Shall we talk of discouragement? Who has closed the doors of papal inquisitions, and who has quenched the fires of persecution? And why is it thus? Is it that we may become rich, and great, and selfish? or is it that we may prepare for the great day of God? ONE ERROR LEADS TO ANOTHER.
By R. F. Cottrell
In a discourse upon baptism, a Methodist minister said:— “Taken in connection with the Scripture facts we have adduced, it would stand thus: ‘Infants of believing parents were constituted members of the visible church 3757 years ago, by a positive direction of Jehovah; but there is no express command in the New Testament touching their membership;’ the Baptists say, ‘Therefore they are excluded from the New Testament rite of admission.’ But we say, ‘Therefore they should be baptized.’ What would become of the Christian Sabbath under such meddling hands as the Baptists apply to infants? The New Testament nowhere expressly enjoins the observance of it, therefore it must not be observed. Will they abide the result? Candor would oblige us to say, that, as the law made under the old dispensation for the observance of the Sabbath has never been repealed, that law is still binding. Though it has been changed by apostolic use, from the seventh day to the first day, neither the Baptists nor ourselves believe that this change, together with the silence of the New Testament touching its observance, releases us from the obligation to keep it holy. And if the Baptists would use the same logic and the same honesty in reference to infants, they would say that neither the change of the ritual, from circumcision to baptism, nor the silence of the New Testament respecting its application to infants, releases us from the obligation to administer it to them.” This argument is an attempt to engraft one error upon another, or to prove that because the Baptists observe one tradition concerning which the New Testament is silent, they ought to receive another of the same character. Carry out this principle, and all the traditions and teachings of the self-styled Catholic church would be fastened upon us, and how much more, is uncertain; for there are a great many practices about which the New Testament and the Old, too, are silent. It is hard to see how the Baptists can answer this argument while they hold to the change of the Sabbath. And men are more inclined to add one human tradition to another, than to abandon those they have, for the truth. And yet if they will but reflect, they must be sensible that none of their errors can benefit283 them; that the truth alone can sanctify and save them. I would invite all our Baptist friends (and I mean all that hold the immersion of believers to be the only valid baptism), to read a tract published at the REVIEW Office, entitled, An appeal to the Baptists, from the Seventh-day Baptist General Conference. This little work shows that infant sprinkling and Sunday-keeping stand upon the same sandy foundation, and that the only proper way is to discard them both, and do what the Bible commands, rather than to observe those institutions upon which it is silent. ABOMINATION UNTO THE LORD.
By A. S. Hutchins
“THE prayer of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord.” This sentence is sometimes quoted as Scripture. A perversion of the word of God is the foundation of much bad theology and bad practice. Great injustice is done to the Sacred Volume of inspiration by misinterpreting or misapplying the Scriptures, or by detracting therefrom or adding thereunto. The righteous are especially encouraged to pray. Peter says, “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.” James says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” But it is not those only who have attained unto righteousness, who are encouraged to call upon the Lord in prayer. Both precept and example appear in the word of God, bidding the penitent come unto him. “Come,” is an exhortation of frequent occurrence in the Bible. From the lips of the blessed Saviour the words fell: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” The sinner, and the backslidden in heart, desirous of leaving the paths of sin to walk in wisdom’s ways, may come. The poor, the needy, the afflicted, may come. Of Manasseh, we read: “And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication.” “Humbled himself greatly,” “and prayed unto him.” Here are the conditions on which we find favor and acceptance of God. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them, shall have mercy.” Though men may confess their sins, they need not expect the blessing of Heaven unless they also forsake them. Again, to partially confess our sins, seeking to hide the remainder of them, will never secure their forgiveness. Says David: “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” The word of the Lord specifies numerous things which are an abomination unto him, among which, are lying lips, frowardness, pride, injustice, and fraud, and “he that soweth discord among brethren.” And here we find the prayer which is an abomination unto the Most High: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Prov. 28:9. Some men are actually afraid to examine the claims of the law of God, for fear of being convicted that their practices are not right. But those who might have known their Master’s will, but would not, will be treated as he shall who did know it, and disobeyed it. THE BIBLE IS SUFFICIENTLY VOLUMINOUS.
By D. T. Bourdeau
“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.” John 21:25. This language is hyperbolical, and signifies that it would require several large volumes to contain the “many other things which Jesus did,” besides those recorded by John. The idea of vastness is here intended, as also in the following hyperboles: “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore.” Gen. 22:17. “Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable.” Heb. 11:12. “The number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” Rev. 20:8. “Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.” Amos 7:10. In the last of these scriptures the idea of cumbersomeness is also implied. So in John 21:25. If the “many other things which Jesus did” were added to the volume of the Bible, we should have a much larger Bible than we now have. So of many things in the lives of such ancient worthies as Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, etc., and of the lives of holy women in olden times, which are left almost entirely out of Bible history. If all this was embraced in the Scriptures, we should have a Bible of such enormous size that it would be burdensome to both body and mind, and but few persons could become familiar with its contents. Then surely most people would have reason to plead that they had not time to read the Bible by course. In that case the size of the Bible would have made it so expensive as to exclude it from the poor, and from all true Christians in the dark ages, when it took all that a man could earn in his lifetime to purchase a copy of the Bible we now have. We therefore see wisdom on the part of God in providing us with just such a book as the Bible, which is sufficient as a rule of faith and practice. The interesting things omitted will doubtless be fully open to the saints, when, having been judged, they shall themselves judge the world. We shall then, if among the blessed, be interested in the lives of the saints of past ages, being present at the Judgment. 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; Rev. 20:4, etc. If it pleases God to glean from the heavenly records, through the spirit of prophecy, events of past history not mentioned in the Bible, as well as to reveal future events harmonizing with the Bible, we will praise him as the Author of every good and perfect gift, for fulfilling his word. This will not change one iota of the Scriptures, nor add one new doctrine nor one new duty to the plan of salvation contained in the Bible. It will give force to the Bible by fulfilling it. The gifts of God’s Spirit are as needful now for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the church, to reprove wrongs covered or sugar-coated by Satan’s deceptive wiles, to encourage the desponding, to bring the people to the Bible and in the unity of the faith, as they ever were; and thank God for evidences that they are being restored to the remnant church. “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thess. 5:19-21; Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Cor. 14:1; Joel 2:28, 29; Mark 16:15-20; Rev. 12:17; 19:10.