p. 139 | Review and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 18. (10/31/1878)

NOTES OF NEWS.

—On June 3, a fire was raging in the capital of Burmah, and 2000 houses had been destroyed.

—The largest wholesale dry goods firm in St. Louis, that of Dodd, Brown, & Co., has failed. Liabilities from $1,250,000 to $1,500,000.

—A dispatch from Paris says that Oct. 21 the River Ligue rose 64 feet, flooding a large portion of the town of Largentière.

—The damage done by the inundation on the Damietta branch of the Nile is estimated at $2,500,000; 250 lives have been lost.

—It is estimated that the financial loss to that portion of the South which was visited by the yellow fever is $200,000,000.

—In view of the serious Indian situation and new controversies in relation to Turkey, as the London Times thinks, the British cabinet was summoned to meet Oct. 25.

—The American Home Missionary Society is now nearly $30,000 in arrears to its missionaries. October is bringing in heavy additional claims.

—In view of the prevalence of hog cholera at the West, the Chicago Tribune advises people to abstain from all forms of swine flesh as the only sure mode of escape.

—Beecher said Sunday, “The old ten commandments belong to a barbaric state.” Some people who have never said so act as if they believed it.

—Memphis rejoices in the deposition of the yellow fiend, and the city is rapidly filling up with returned refugees and strangers. The fever is everywhere disappearing.

—The St. Petersburg Golos declares that, although England may seek redress from the Ameer, if she be victorious the fate of Afghanistan must not be decided without the consent of Russia.

—It is thought that England’s proposed advance into Afghanistan will be postponed on account of the fever that is steadily increasing among the troops stationed at Jamrood and encamped on the frontier.

—A dispatch from London, dated Oct. 22, is to the effect that the Ameer has been induced to take his present course by substantial offers from the Russian envoy.

—Reports from Yankton, Dakota, Oct. 7, state that a very destructive prairie fire traversed from fifteen to twenty counties between Jim River and Missouri River. Great damage is done in some of the settlements.

—According to a recent statement of Kwang Chang Ling, an educated Chinese statesman, the entire population of China does not now exceed 120,000,000, instead of being 450,000,000, as it has been usually reckoned.

—Decatur and Edwards counties, in Sappa Valley, Kan., recently raided by the Cheyenne Indians, have been devastated by prairie fires, and nearly everything not destroyed by the Indians consumed. Several persons are said to have perished in the flames.

—Three volcanoes,—Cotopaxi, in Equador, Ætna, in the island of Sicily, and Vesuvius, in Italy,—are now in full blaze together. The simultaneous eruption of three great volcanoes is a rare circumstance, one which does not occur in centuries.

—A Biblical curiosity in the English section of the Paris Exhibition which attracts crowds, is a model of the tabernacle as it rested during the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert. The exterior is constructed in strict accordance with the details given in the Old Testament.

—The island of Socotra, in the Indian Ocean, 100 miles from Aden another British station at the mouth of the Red Sea, has become an integral portion of the empire on which the sun never sets. Socotra is a bold, picturesque island, equal in area to the State of Rhode Island.

—President Washburn, of Robert College, Constantinople, writes to the Independent that thus far the result of the fall of Turkey has been chaos. “Many parts of the country,” he says, “are ruins—the towns burned, the inhabitants massacred or scattered. Everywhere the population has been reduced to poverty, and all business has long been at a standstill. In many provinces civil war is still raging between the different nationalities, and all civil government has long since disappeared. The central government at Constantinople is in much the same condition. The sultan trembles for his life, the treasury is empty and bankrupt, the old system of government has come to an end, and those in power do not see what is to take its place.”

—The city of Glasgow merits our pity as the scene of the biggest banking-rascality yet. The conspiracy among the directors of the bank by which a deficit of $20,000,000 was kept covered beneath a bubble, so long, with, of course, utter disaster close at hand at any unlucky moment, was an astonishing fact. It is painful to think of the wide-reaching ruin and distress occasioned by the failure. Something very like a panic has spread through the commercial circles of Great Britain. Many who thought themselves rich suddenly find themselves poor; thousands are thrown out of employment; other thousands are forced to labor for diminished wages. But it is some satisfaction to learn that Scotch justice is not a nullity or a mockery. The six directors have been arrested, and in “their own place,” behind prison bars, are meditating upon the dishonesties and cruelties of which they are guilty.—Advance.

—Oct. 28, a fearful storm of wind and rain swept over the East, traveling through Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. There was a wholesale destruction of property in the city of Philadelphia; great church spires were swept down, in their fall carrying everything with them; 40 churches in all were injured; market houses, railway depots, and dwellings were unroofed, and bridges were carried away; nearly 100 warehouses along the river front were wrecked and flooded. At Chester 70 dwellings and stores were unroofed. In the track of the storm, farms were destroyed, cattle killed, and in numerous cases there was loss of human life. Other towns through which the storm passed tell the same story. On the water there was wholesale destruction of property, with appalling loss of human life. The storm was more destructive to life and vessels in the Chesapeake and the Virginia rivers than any that has been known for years, hundreds of sail vessels and steamers being wrecked in them. Along the coast of the Atlantic, an oyster fleet of 100 sail were all lost or badly damaged. Several steamers were wrecked or foundered, with but few survivors, and one ship is known to have taken down every soul on board.

BIBLE LESSONS FOR YOUTH.

LESSON XX.—JACOB IN PADAN-ARAM.

QUESTIONS.

1. What did Isaac and Rebekah think it best to do with Jacob? Gen. 27: 43, 44; 28: 5.

2. Why was it necessary to send him so far from home? Gen. 27: 41.

3. How did Jacob travel?

4. Where did he rest the first night after he started on his journey? Gen. 28: 11, 19.

5. Where did he make his bed?

6. What did he take for a pillow?

7. What did he dream?

8. What promises were made him? Verses 13–15.

9. How did this dream affect Jacob’s mind? Verses 16, 17.

10. What solemn vow did he make? Verses 20–22.

11. Whom did Jacob meet at a well, after he had reached the land of the east? Gen. 29: 1–9.

12. When Rachel learned that Jacob was a near relative, what did she do?

13. How long did Jacob serve Laban? Gen. 31: 41.

14. What was the first agreement between them?

15. How did the Lord prosper Laban while Jacob was serving him?

16. What caused Laban and his sons to feel envious toward Jacob?

17. To what degree had the Lord prospered Jacob?

18. What course had Laban taken in regard to Jacob’s wages? Gen. 31: 7.

19. What did the Lord finally tell Jacob to do? Gen. 31: 3.

20. What words had Jacob heard from Laban’s sons? Verse 1.

21. What change had he noticed in Laban? Verse 2.

22. Whom did Jacob consult before starting on his journey? Verses 4–13.

23. What did they say about going away from their father? Verses 14–16.

24. Where was Laban at the time Jacob started on his journey? Verse 19.

25. What did Laban do when he learned that Jacob had gone? Verse 23.

26. Where did he overtake Jacob?

27. How was he prevented from harming Jacob? Verse 29.

28. Describe Laban’s parting with Jacob and his family. Verse 55.

SYNOPSIS.

Esau’s anger was so kindled against Jacob that he threatened to kill him, and Isaac and Rebekah thought it best to send Jacob away immediately. So Jacob started, on foot and alone, for Padan-aram, the country where his Uncle Laban lived.

He must have walked more than sixty miles the first day. At night he lay upon the ground, and took a stone for a pillow. He had a wonderful dream that night. He saw a ladder reaching from earth to Heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. The Lord stood above it and repeated to him the promises which had been made to Abraham and Isaac.

This made a very deep impression on Jacob’s mind, and he made a solemn vow that if God would be with him and bring him again to his father’s house, then the Lord should be his God, and he would give him a tenth of all.

As Jacob journeyed on, he came into the land of the people of the east; and as he was stopping at a well where shepherds watered their flocks, Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, came to the well with her father’s sheep. Upon learning that Jacob was a near relative, she conducted him to her father’s house. Here Jacob remained, and served Laban twenty years; fourteen years for his two daughters, and six years for his cattle.

At first, Jacob agreed to serve seven years for Rachel; but at the end of that time Laban practiced a cruel deception upon him, and gave him Leah instead of Rachel. Then he was obliged to serve seven years longer for Rachel.

All the time that Jacob served Laban, the Lord prospered Laban in an unusual manner; but after Jacob began to serve for a part of the cattle, Laban and his sons became very envious of the wonderful prosperity that attended Jacob. Laban changed Jacob’s wages ten times, yet his prosperity was unabated. The Lord blessed him so abundantly that he had cattle and sheep almost without number.

At last the feeling became so strong against Jacob that the Lord told him to return to Canaan. He consulted Rachel and Leah, and they were willing to go. So when Laban was away three days’ journey, Jacob gathered up all that he had, and departed.

Laban pursued Jacob, and overtook him in Mount Gilead. He reproved Jacob sharply, but did not harm him; for God had warned him in a dream not to interfere with Jacob’s affairs in any way.

After parting with Jacob and his family in the most friendly manner, he returned to his home, and left Jacob to pursue his journey in peace.

Sublimity and Morality of the Bible

The Bible contains more sublimity, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of eloquence, than can be collected from all other books.—Sir William Jones.

LESSONS FOR BIBLE CLASSES

By G. H. Bell

LESSON XX.—THE SERVICES OF THE WORLDLY SANCTUARY.

QUESTIONS.

Repeat Dan. 8:14.
When did this cleansing of the sanctuary commence?
This must be the cleansing of what sanctuary?
Why?
What do we now want to ascertain?
What will it be necessary to do in order to know what is meant by the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary?
Why? Heb. 8:5.
How was the worldly sanctuary consecrated before the services commenced in it? Lev. 8:10.
Who conducted the services there? Ex. 29:44.
How were the priests set apart for this work? Read Ex. 29.
Of what did the services of the sanctuary consist?
How may they be classified?
Of what did the daily morning service consist?
What was the evening service?
How did the services on the Sabbath differ from those on other days?
What chapter gives a full description of the special services on feast days, new moons, and yearly sabbaths?
Where were the sin offerings presented? Lev. 4:4.
What did the one who brought a sin offering first do? Lev. 4:4, 24.
What did this act signify?
After the guilty man had laid his hand upon the head of the victim, what did he next do?
What did he show by this?
What did the priest do with the blood of the victim? Lev. 4:5–7.
Where was the altar of incense?
What was the second vail?
How was the sanctuary polluted with the sins of the people?
How was the guilt of the transgressor figuratively transferred to the victim?
How from the victim to the sanctuary?

SYNOPSIS.

It has been shown that the cleansing of the sanctuary, referred to in Dan. 8:14, was to commence in the autumn of A. D. 1844. This cleansing must be that of the heavenly sanctuary; for the services of the worldly sanctuary ceased hundreds of years before the expiration of the 2300 days. We now want to ascertain what that cleansing is.

Heb. 8:1–5 tells us that the priests of the worldly sanctuary served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. It will be necessary, then, to notice the services of the worldly sanctuary in order to understand what is meant by the cleansing of the heavenly.

Before the services commenced in the tabernacle built by Moses, Aaron and his sons were set apart for the priesthood, and consecrated in a most solemn manner by being anointed with holy oil, and sprinkled with the blood of sacrifices. The tabernacle also, and all its holy vessels, were anointed.

The services of the sanctuary consisted mainly of various offerings called burnt offerings, meat offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings, etc. Lev. 7:37.

There were the perpetual daily services; the special services on feast days, new moons, and yearly sabbaths; the sin offerings for individuals; and the services on the great day of atonement.

The daily morning service consisted of a lamb, as a burnt offering; a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil, as a meat offering; a fourth part of an hin of wine, as a drink offering; and the burning of incense upon the golden altar. The same services were repeated at evening. On the Sabbath, these offerings were doubled; two lambs being offered in the morning, and two in the evening. Ex. 29:38–42; 30:7, 8; Num. 28:9, 10.

The special services on new moons, annual sabbaths, and feast days are fully described in the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus.

The sin offerings for individuals were presented at the door of the tabernacle. The one who presented the offering, first placed his hand upon the head of the victim. By this act he not only confessed that he had broken God’s law, but figuratively transferred his guilt to the victim. He next took the life of the victim, thus showing that death is the penalty for violating the law of God.

The priest then took some of the blood of the victim into the holy place. There he dipped his finger in the blood and sprinkled it before the second vail seven times. He also put some of it on the horns of the altar of incense.

Thus, in a figure, the sin of the individual was transferred, first to the victim, and then, through the blood of the victim, into the sanctuary itself. In this way day by day throughout the year, the sanctuary was polluted by the sins of the people. G. H. Bell.

AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST.

By James White

A Sermon delivered before the Church at Battle Creek, Mich., Sabbath Morning, Oct. 26, 1878.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.

TEXT: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Cor. 5:20.

The apostle uses a figure in this text which has been understood by all nations, at least since his day. Ambassadors are sent from one king, emperor, or government to another, to treat with them on important matters of state. But the apostle here no doubt refers to the special ambassadors who are sent in times of war to treat on terms of peace. This well illustrates the rebellion of man, the ruin of the race, and the great plan of reconciliation and redemption through Jesus Christ.

Once man walked and talked with God, Christ, and angels in happy Eden! The happy pair were honored with a beautiful home, with everything “pleasant to the sight and good for food.” But man transgressed the law of God, and the race has since been in rebellion against the government of Heaven. An angel once honored in Heaven, rebelled, and fell from his high estate, and has since led his fallen fellow-angels, and the fallen sons of Adam, to take up arms against the government of the God of high Heaven. The question was brought before the court of Heaven, What can be done to reconcile man to God, and God to man? Feeble man had raised his puny arm in rebellion against the government of the Almighty, and must perish in his rebellion and folly, unless means could be instituted for an atonement which would bring repentance, pardon, reconciliation, and peace.

The character of God’s moral government is such as to require an atoning sacrifice superior to law. Angels are amenable to the holy law of God, and are inferior to it, and, therefore, the Lawgiver could not accept the death of even one of the sinless angels as an atoning sacrifice for man. But Christ, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, and was therefore equal with him, laid aside the glory of the law-making and law-administering power and authority, and became a sacrifice and mediator for a race of rebels in arms. And thus our adorable Redeemer became God’s ambassador to offer terms of reconciliation, redemption, and eternal life to those who are justly condemned to death.

“Ambassador is a title by which the highest order of diplomatic ministers is distinguished, and the person holding such a high commission may be defined to be an officer sent by one sovereign power to another to treat on affairs of State. The credentials, or letters of credence, of an ambassador are addressed directly by his own sovereign to the sovereign to whom he is sent, and with whom he has the privilege of personal communication. In the performance of all his diplomatic duties, an ambassador is understood to represent, not only the affairs, but the dignity and the power of his master; and by the law of nations he has many important rights and privileges.”—Chambers’ Encyclopedia, vol. 1, p. 189.

Christ, God’s ambassador, came to those in rebellion to disarm and subdue them by his love. He proclaimed to a lost world the conditions of reconciliation, died an atoning sacrifice for his enemies, rose from the dead for their justification; and to enjoy that last interview with his first apostles, the Master led them up the Mount of Ascension. Mark well his words addressed to them, to be perpetuated, and alike applicable to the ministry to the end of the Christian age: “All power is given unto me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Matt. 28:18, 19.

It is God’s ambassador, in whom was invested the authority of administering the law of the Ruler of the universe and treating in matters of peace with the party in rebellion, who thus speaks. He did not come to legislate, but as a teacher of the divine law and minister from the court of Heaven. He kept his Father’s commandments. He magnified the law and made it honorable. All his teachings and acts were in strict conformity to the moral code, the great constitution of the government of Heaven. Ambassadors are not sent to Russia, Great Britain, or to France to make laws. The work of legislating is left to Congress. Christ came not to legislate, but to do the will of his Father in Heaven.

When Ross Brown went from Oakland, California, as our Minister to China, his mission was not to make laws for the government he represented, but to do the will of the government of this great Republic. And as the acts of the Ministers of our government are conformable to its laws, so the teachings of Christ, God’s ambassador, are in harmony with the moral code. So jealous was he of the government he came to represent that he warned his disciples against heretical views which would limit the perpetuity of the moral code in these words:—

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

When one inquired of Christ, “What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” he answered, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” And the great Teacher immediately quoted five of the precepts of the moral code, which shows what he meant by “the commandments.” Again we hear from him by way of Patmos, in that last benediction upon the loyal subjects of the kingdom of grace, who are waiting for the coming and kingdom of their Lord: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his works shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:12–14.

The great commission continues: “And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with tongues. They shall take up serpents. And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:17, 18. Christ’s first apostles did not then comprehend these words in all their gracious fullness. They did not understand the nature of his kingdom, and inquired, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:7, 8.

Again he says, “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49. In obedience to this injunction they did tarry, and continued their prayers for the seal of their calling for the period of ten days. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1–4.

This endowment from Heaven was necessary to that inspiration which would bring his teachings during his ministry to their minds, and that there might be manifested in them all that was promised in the fulfillment of their mission. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26. With the divine anointing, they went out in the name of their Master, God’s first ambassadors, and, in the words of the evangelist, “They went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” Mark 16:20.

The apostle declares that “all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Cor. 5:18, 19.

“What unparalleled condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in these words. Did the judge ever beseech a condemned criminal to accept of pardon? Does the creditor ever beseech a ruined debtor to receive an acquittance in full? Yet our Almighty Lord, our Eternal Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings, but invites us, entreats us, and with the most tender importunity, solicits us not to reject them.”—John Wesley, as quoted by Dr. Clarke.

Says the gifted Charles Wesley:—

“God, the offended God, most high, Ambassadors to rebels sends; His messengers his place supply, And Jesus begs us to be friends. “Us, in the stead of Christ, they pray, Us, in the stead of Christ, entreat To cast our arms, our sins, away, And find forgiveness at his feet. “Our God, in Christ, our embassy, And proffered mercy, we embrace, And gladly reconciled to thee, Thy condescending mercy praise. “Poor debtors, by our Lord’s request, A full acquittance we receive; And criminals with pardon blest, We at our Judge’s instance live.”

“An ambassador is a person sent from one sovereign power to another, and is supposed to represent the person of the sovereign by whom he is deputed. Christ, while on earth, represented the person of the Sovereign of the world; his apostles and their successors represent the person of Christ. Christ declared the will of the Father to mankind; apostles declare the will of God to the world. We are ambassadors for Christ.”—Clarke’s Commentary, vol. 6, p. 338.

“Reconciliation is spoken of as our indispensable duty. As God is willing to be reconciled to us, we ought to be reconciled, and it is the great end and design of the gospel, that word of reconciliation, to prevail upon sinners to lay aside their enmity against God. Faithful ministers are Christ’s ambassadors sent to treat with sinners on peace and reconciliation. They come in God’s name with his entreaties and act in Christ’s stead, doing the very thing he did when he was upon this earth, and what he wills to be done, now that he is in Heaven. Wonderful condescension! Though God is no loser by the quarrel, nor gainer by the peace, yet by his ministers he beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity and accept of the terms he offers, that they would be reconciled to him, to all his attributes, to all his laws.”—Henry’s Exposition, vol. 6, p. 488.

God’s ambassadors, Christ’s true ministers, by the authority of their great commission, baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” This not only shows the importance of baptism, but that both the Father and the Son, and also the Holy Spirit, have a part in the conversion of sinners. The Father is our lawgiver, Christ our mediator, and the Holy Spirit our reprover, comforter and sanctifier. God pity those who are converted by a gospel that has only the Son in it, leaving the Father out altogether, and immersion supplying the place of the Holy Spirit. It is no marvel that ministers of this sort should depart from the language found in the original commission, and baptize their converts in “the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Happy thought, indeed, to those who keep the commandments of God, the commandments of Christ, and the commandments of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, and who enjoy the sanctifying peace of the Holy Spirit, that they have been buried with their divine Lord in baptism, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

The indignity shown to the terms of peace which have been offered to ruined men is illustrated by the parable of the householder who “planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they did unto them likewise.” Matt. 21:33–36.

This part of the parable shows the manner in which the prophets of God have been treated. God has sent them on messages of warning to his people, and reproofs of threatened wrath upon the ungodly, for which they have suffered death in the most cruel manner men and demons could invent.

“But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.”

In this last portion of the parable the enmity against Christ, and his death and the rejection of the Jews, are illustrated. In this cruel manner was God’s ambassador treated, and the sin of the Jewish people has not gone unpunished. The ambassadors for Christ who have, instead of their Master, offered to sinners the terms of reconciliation, beseeching them to be reconciled to God, have been treated in a similar manner. Even the great apostle uses these words, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.” Eph. 6:18–20.

Here we find God’s ambassador in bonds, while offering terms of peace to his persecutors. What an indignity! What an insult to the God of Heaven! As if one of our ministers to a foreign court negotiating matters of State, while conducting himself in the most lawful manner, should be seized and put in irons. No greater insult could be offered to this great nation than such an act.

“This enmity to God began wholly on man’s part; but the reconciliation was entirely devised, revealed, and effected by his offended Sovereign. In the person of Emmanuel, in his mediation and atonement, who ‘was made sin for us, though he knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,’ the foundation of this blessed reconciliation was laid; for ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.’ When the kings of the earth appoint ambassadors, they generally send them to those who are of their own rank in society; nor would they deign to send a solemn embassy to their own rebellious subjects, when vanquished, disarmed, and condemned. But ‘the King of kings and Lord of lords’ appoints ambassadors from himself to us poor apostate worms, and helpless, perishing sinners!”

“Earthly princes select persons of dignity and eminence, to represent their persons and act by their authority, on these important occasions; but the Lord of glory deputes pardoned rebels, and reconciled enemies, to go to their former associates in rebellion on this embassy of peace! The gracious proposals which they are instructed to make, and the encouraging terms which they are commanded to use, are equally expressive of condescension, compassion, and good-will to men; for the Lord himself, who might justly, and could easily, destroy them forever, is pleased to ‘beseech them to be reconciled to him.’”

“This language of our God and Saviour, by his ministers, to his feeble but haughty enemies, must appear wonderful beyond conception to the holy inhabitants of Heaven; yet the reception with which it often meets, and the contempt and disdain which it excites, must exceedingly increase their astonishment; and it will assuredly satisfy them concerning the propriety and equity of punishing the irreconcilable haters of God, ‘with everlasting destruction from his presence.’”

“The ‘ambassadors for Christ,’ however, must adhere to their instructions, with whatever reception they may meet. They should ‘magnify their office,’ and endeavor to represent their Lord, by exhibiting his image in their own example, as well as ‘declaring his whole counsel.’ They must conform to the laws and customs of his kingdom, and not to those of this evil world; neither fearing the contempt or rage of men, while ‘in Christ’s stead they pray them to be reconciled to God’; nor yet seeking to please men, or expecting any recompense, save from their gracious Lord.”

“On the other hand, let all who hear the gospel remember that the faithful minister is the ambassador of Christ to them; sent to treat with them concerning ‘reconciliation to God’; and that his Lord will surely punish every insult and injury offered to him, as if done to himself in person. The refusal of this proffered peace will leave men ‘the enemies of God’ forever; the removal of faithful ministers, from such as have slighted their message, is the recall of an ambassador of peace, and the forerunner of a declaration of war. Let sinners then hear the voice of God, ‘beseeching them to be reconciled to him’; let the trembling penitent rejoice

in the assurance, that his application for ‘peace with God will not be rejected.’”

“Let professed Christians examine their supposed interest in Christ, the great Reconciler, by inquiring whether they are become the friends of God, his cause, and his people: let ministers not only ‘warn men by the terror of the Lord,’ but beseech them by his abundant mercies, to repent and turn unto him; and let believers consider, whether God can now withhold any good thing from them; or whether they can venture, lose, labor, or suffer too much, for Him who gave his beloved Son to be the sacrifice for their sins, that they might be ‘made the righteousness of God in him.’”—Scott’s Bible, vol. 6, p. 231.

EXPERIENCE OF SOME WHO HAVE PAID TITHES FAITHFULLY.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

God has repeatedly promised to bless those who will faithfully devote one-tenth of their income to the support of the gospel. He has promised to give them health of body and soundness of mind, to multiply their seed sown, and to prosper them in all that they shall put their hands to. On the other hand, the Lord has threatened to curse those who withhold the tithe from his treasury. For a quarter of a century our people have been proving the truthfulness of these promises, and illustrations on both sides of the subject are numerous among us.

Some have been very faithful in giving to the Lord a tithe of their income. They unanimously testify that when they have done this they have been remarkably prospered in their business. But when through covetousness they have ceased to pay the full tithe, they have met with adversity in some way. I have heard hundreds confess this publicly and privately, and I have wished that some of these testimonies might be printed in the REVIEW for the benefit of our people generally. In response to a request made through the REVIEW, several have sent to me statements of their experience; but most of them are too lengthy for publication, and all of them are on one side,—the side of being prospered for giving. Will some one let us have testimonies on the other side?

A brother living in Hastings, Mich., writes thus:—

“I embraced the truth in 1860, when I was twenty years of age. I learned about the S. B. plan in the REVIEW, and resolved that when I became of age, and began to do business for myself, I would give to the Lord one-tenth of all my increase, which I endeavored to do. With industry and the blessing of the Lord, my property steadily increased until I became owner of a forty-acre farm, although it was badly run down.

“At the camp-meeting at Wright, Michigan, the first camp-meeting held by our people, as Bro. White presented the wants of the cause, my heart was touched. A love for the truth pervaded my being. I presented one hundred dollars, which was nearly all the money I had, to Bro. White, for him to use where most needed in the cause. He refused to take it; but finally concluded to take fifty dollars, which I gladly paid. The remainder seemed to go a good ways in household expenses.

“Since that time I have missed attending but one annual camp-meeting in Michigan, nearly always taking all the money I could gather up and putting it into the cause before leaving the camp-ground. For the last five or six years I have paid in from one to four hundred dollars a year, being prompted and encouraged by my faithful companion to do so. And the Lord has blessed us in basket and in store. We have a good house and barn well filled with the comforts of life. While sickness prevails among our neighbors and they are taxed with heavy doctor bills, we have been almost entirely exempt. We sometimes think, and it has been remarked by our neighbors, that nearly everything we turn our hands to prospers.”

“Once when I was at Battle Creek I told a brother who was then in comfortable circumstances, and was worth much more than I at that time (as he had a comfortable home), that I was out of debt and had some money ahead, and was going to the REVIEW Office to pay my S. B. six months or a year in advance. He and his wife advised me not to do it; said that I would be sorry, that I might just as well use my money. Nine or ten years have passed by, and I am not sorry yet. While I pay S. B. on $4000, that brother’s property has run down to almost nothing.

“The homestead was about to be sold, and six hundred dollars was coming to us from that. We consulted over the matter, and as the Lord had prospered us so far, we concluded to donate that to him, to be used as the needs of the cause demanded. Mother also had willed five hundred dollars to the cause. As I was appointed executor of the estate, we were anxious that the farm should be sold while means was so much needed. We had been trying to sell since the camp-meeting last fall. All efforts seemed to fail. An urgent appeal from Bro. White for the European mission stirred us up to more decided action, so we concluded to take the case to the Lord and earnestly plead with him to send us a buyer. In less than four days a man came and paid our price for the place.

“Our strawberry crop was larger than we expected, so we took $50.00 of the strawberry money and pay S. B. six months ahead. We feel safe in paying out of the first-fruits; for we have proved the Lord, and have been cramped for room for the bounties bestowed upon us.

“The enemy has sometimes tried to induce me to withhold my means when calls were made. Oh how poor he would make me feel, telling me how hard I have to work and suggesting that my family might be sick, or that my own health might fail. But as soon as I had made an effort and paid over what money I could raise, my despondency would all vanish, and I could see more money coming, and all our wants supplied. To the Lord be all the praise. ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’”

We know this brother and know that he states the truth. Who will go and do likewise? Let us hear from others.

D. M. CANRIGHT.

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