Earlier text: Our New School GroundsHonest Confessions.
By D. H. Lamson
In “Congregational Lectures,” by Robert Halley, D. D., Eng. Part I., Tenth Series, a work of no small repute in the denomination, are the following ingenious words. It is a pity that the Baptists are in a position in which the blow must be received so squarely. But it is not so much a regret that, in rebounding, it strikes as effectually the doctrine of sprinkling for baptism. After filing a bill of exceptions to the practice of immersion, the lecturer says:— “The Christian law of the Sabbath (as our Baptist friends concur with us in interpreting it, and as I honestly believe they rightly interpret it) will carry us a great deal farther than we are required to go in order to justify our mode of administering the rite of baptism. Between the law of the Sabbath, as the Christian church almost universally construes it, and the law of the Sabbath in the letter of its enactment, the difference is far greater than that which exists between the immersion and the sprinkling of proselytes. “The Sabbath is essentially a rest, a day of cessation from ordinary labor, enjoined, not of Moses, but of the fathers, instituted at the creation of the world, hallowed by the blessing of the Creator on the placid survey of all his works, the only precious relic of the religious institutions of paradise, the only day exempted from the dreadful curse of exhausting toil. Consecrated to rest, it is the memorial of the complacency with which God looked upon the world as complete on the seventh day. The spirit of the law is accredited in the devout obedience of one day in the week; but than the seventh day there is no other Sabbath of positive enactment.” It is a fallacy to suppose that the spirit of the law can be kept, and we disregard the letter. The letter can be observed and not its spirit; and that obedience will be accredited by the Lord, if in exact conformity with his word. If God says, The seventh day is the Sabbath, and men observe the first day in preference, knowing the letter of the command, it is will-worship, and cannot be accredited. It would seem that the lesson of Lev. 10: 1, 2, would be sufficient to deter any one from taking any such position. One would suppose that the sons of Aaron, the high priest of God’s appointment, would escape the penalty for presumptuous sin, if any one. “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he COMMANDED THEM NOT. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” They must have reasoned like this: The spirit of the commandment is to burn the incense; any fire will do that, and we will not be particular. But what says the Lord? “I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” Let us now see where this advocate of sprinkling and Sunday-keeping again places himself:— “We commemorate the resurrection of our Lord by the hallowing of the first day of the week instead of commemorating the repose of creation on the seventh; but to commemorate the resurrection of Christ by the religious observance of any day, we have no express command in all the Scriptures. There is no such positive law in the church. The primitive Christians met to break bread on the first day of the week at Corinth [Who says so?], at Troas, and I doubt not in other places; but that they observed the day as a Sabbath we are not told; nor, if they did, that by it they commemorated the resurrection of Christ. Our Baptist friends may have no doubt of the fact, neither have we; but in the New Testament, our only code, there is no enactment, there is not even distinct information. To commemorate the resurrection of Christ by the festival of the Sunday is no more a positive enactment of Scripture than to commemorate his death by the fast of the Friday.” In considering the above, who can see the difference between the sin of Nadab and Abihu and that which men commit to-day? God commanded them not to offer strange fire, but that which was consecrated. They kept not his commandment, and died. Neither God nor Christ have commanded us to keep the first day of the week as a memorial of anything or for any other purpose; but God did consecrate the seventh day to religious worship. Now, if we do what God has not commanded, and by this means neglect to do what he has commanded, shall we not as surely perish? If we do it wittingly, we cannot escape. It is a true statement, and we are obliged to Mr. H. for the admission, that the fast of Friday is obligatory for the same reasons that Sunday is considered so; and the Catholic church is right when she says that such holy days as the Sunday, Ash Wednesday, passion day, and good Friday, all rest on the same foundation, viz., the ordinance of the church. But let us read still further:— “What then is the law of the Sabbath? By its letter I am commanded to observe the seventh day in commemoration of the creation of the world; but as in its spirit I observe another day in commemoration of another event, in doing so, I can appeal in justification to no positive law respecting the change; for of such a law there is not a shadow in the New Testament. It is true this reasoning will not apply to Seventh-day Baptists.” God be praised for that! nor S. D. Adventists either. Both know that these twin relics of popery must stand or fall together. “The Sabbath is not like the passover, Mosaic, not like circumcision, restricted to the family of Abraham, but the law of Adam, the law of his posterity, the law of all the world, founded upon a positive command, more express, as well as far more extensive, than any which enjoined baptism or the Lord’s supper.” What words are these! but how few will follow their obvious import. The truths of the last quotation are almost self-evident, and scarcely need an argument to prove them so; yet thousands will go directly contrary to an EXPRESS command of God that they may keep their own tradition; and I quote now an apology; it can be called neither a reason nor an argument, but it is the best for the doctrine of sprinkling or the Sunday-Sabbath that can be adduced:— “Sprinkling is surely as much baptism as observing the first day of the week is hallowing the seventh.” Conclusion: Sprinkling is baptism. Now let us prove Sunday-keeping the same way. Sunday is as truly the Sabbath, or, in other words, the first day is as surely the seventh day, as sprinkling is baptism. Conclusion: The first day is the seventh day, and Sunday is the Sabbath. If these points are not clear to every one, then the densest fog will not make a clear day, nor the foulest mud, clear water. I wish the Baptists would get out of the way, and not be stumbling-blocks longer. I feel, like Mr. Halley, to hold them in some degree responsible, which he certainly does, in the following words:— “The principles of the Baptists led numbers of people into the religious observance of Saturday. Such I think is their proper tendency; and in abandoning Sabbatarianism our Baptist friends appear to me to surrender in practice the whole argument which they painfully elaborate by their philosophy.” That Baptists do thus stultify themselves is a plain truth, and it is humiliating indeed to have so grave a charge come so close home to them. It is true, and the point cannot be well evaded, that the same process of reasoning that would prove sprinkling of divine appointment, or even admissible as a mode of baptism, would also prove Sunday-keeping the fulfillment of the requirement to keep the seventh day. This Mr. Halley directly says:— “Their right to substitute the first day for the seventh, in order to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, without a particle of Scripture law, is an authority for substituting sprinkling for immersion, even if they can prove we make the substitution with which we are charged.” But the right to do either, we deny. No man or body of men, in church capacity or otherwise, have a right to substitute an institution or tradition of their own for an express command of God. No man or body of men ever yet did it without meriting the displeasure of God. It is a presumptuous sin, which they commit at imminent risk. This the Judgment will surely reveal. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments,” not substitute something in their place, which he has not commanded. This the Pharisees did with the fifth commandment; Matt. 15: 6-9; Mark 7: 13; the Catholics, with the second and fourth; and the Protestant world, almost universally, with the fourth, to keep their own tradition. It is nothing else, as this man candidly admits. To keep God’s commandments “is the whole duty of man.” “For God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.” As in all the past, so may we not now forget that when God commands, obedience is required. D. H. LAMSON. Courage in Every-Day Life.
“Moral Courage” was printed in large letters and put as the heading of the following items, and placed in a conspicuous place on the door of a systematic merchant in New York for a constant reference:— Have the courage to discharge a debt while you have the money in your pocket. Have the courage to speak your mind when it is necessary that you should do so, and hold your tongue when it is prudent that you should do so. Have the courage to speak to a friend in a “seedy” coat, even though you are in company with a rich one, and richly attired. Have the courage to own you are poor, and thus disarm poverty of its sharpest sting. Have the courage to tell a man why you refuse to credit him. Have the courage to tell a man why you will not lend him money. Have the courage to cut the most agreeable acquaintance you have when you are convinced that he lacks principle; a friend should bear with a friend’s infirmities, but not with his vices. Have the courage to show your respect for honesty, in whatever guise it appears, and your contempt for dishonesty and duplicity by whomsoever exhibited. Have the courage to wear your old clothes until you can pay for new ones. Have the courage to prefer comfort and propriety to fashion, in all things. Have the courage to acknowledge your ignorance, rather than to seek for knowledge under false pretenses. Have the courage, in providing an entertainment for your friends, not to exceed your means. Have the courage to insure the property in your possession, and thereby pay your debts in full. Have the courage to obey your Maker at the risk of being ridiculed by man. The judicious use of praise is a powerful means of gaining the affections of children. An encouraging smile, a gentle pressure of the hand, a word of commendation, will sometimes do wonders in the way of winning young hearts. Captain Basil Hall thus describes the effects produced on board of a ship by the different modes of government adopted by two different commanders. “Whenever,” says he, “one of these officers came on board the ship, his constant habit was to cast his eye about him to discover what might be wrong; to detect the smallest thing that might be out of its place; in a word, to find as many grounds of censure as possible. This constituted, in his judgment, the best preventive of neglect on the part of those under his command, and he acted in this severe way from principle.” The attention of the other officer, on the contrary, appeared to be directed chiefly to those points which he could approve. This latter Captain would remark to the First Lieutenant, as he walked along: “How white and clean you have the decks to-day. I think you must have been at them all the morning to have got them in such order.” The other, in similar circumstances, but eager to find fault, would say, even if the decks were as white and clean as the drifted snow: “I wish, sir, you would teach these sweepers to clear away that bundle of shakings,” pointing to a bit of rope-yarn, not half an inch long, left under the truck of a gun. It seemed, in short, as if nothing was more vexatious to one of these officers than to discover things so correct as to afford him no good opportunity for finding fault; while, to the other, the necessity of censuring really appeared to be a punishment to himself. Accordingly, under the one administration we all worked cheerfully, not doubting that every well-meant effort would meet with hearty approbation. But, with the other, our duty being performed in fear, seldom went on in much spirit. We felt no personal satisfaction in doing things right, from the certainty of getting no commendation. What was most singular was that these men were both as kind-hearted as could be, or, if there was any difference, the fault-finder was the better-hearted of the two. Captain Hall adds: “It requires but little experience of sailors, soldiers, children, servants, or other dependents, to discover that this good humor on our part toward those whom we wish to influence is the best possible coadjutor to our scheme of management, whatever that may be.” We close by saying to teacher and parent, avoid these three errors—partiality, disregard to the feelings of the young, and a spirit of fault-finding, and practice the opposite virtues, and it will seldom be difficult to secure a favorable reception in school or family for almost anything you may please to propose. A BROTHER who has lately embraced the truth in California, writes: I have lived forty-seven years and never united with any church before. I could not understand the Bible; and when I saw men and women experience religion and join some church, and then go right on in the same course of life as before, without any perceptible change, it looked to me that there was something wrong somewhere. Again, I would look at my neighbors, and I could see no difference between the church members and those outside; I thought I could find the best people outside if there was any choice. So I had concluded to remain as I was and take my chances. God only knows how thankful I am to him for sending his servants here to preach the truth. They seem dearer to me than any other friends on earth. A LITTLE elbow leans upon your knee,
Your tired knee, that has so much to bear;
A child's dear eyes are looking lovingly
From underneath a thatch of tangled hair.
Perhaps you do not heed the velvet touch
Of warm, moist fingers, folding yours so tight;
You do not prize this blessing overmuch,
You almost are too tired to pray to-night. But it is blessedness! A year ago
I did not see it as I do to-day,
We are so dull and thankless; and too slow
To catch the sunshine till it slips away.
And now it seems surprising strange to me,
That, while I wore the badge of motherhood,
I did not kiss more oft and tenderly
The little child that brought me only good. And if, some night, when you sit down to rest,
You miss this elbow from your tired knee;
This restless, curling head from off your breast,
This lisping tongue that chatters constantly;
If from your own the dimpled hands had slipped,
And ne'er would nestle in your palm again;
If the white feet into their grave had slipped,
I could not blame you for your heart-ache then! I wonder so that mothers ever fret
At little children clinging to their gown;
Or that the foot prints, when the days are wet,
Are ever black enough to make them frown.
If I could find a little muddy boot,
Or cap, or jacket, on my chamber floor;
If I could kiss a rosy, restless foot,
And hear its patter in my home once more; If I could mend a broken cart to-day,
To-morrow make a kite to reach the sky—
There is no woman in God's world could say
She was more blissfully content than I.
But ah! the dainty pillow next my own
Is never rumpled by a shining head,
My singing birdling from its nest is flown;
The little boy I used to kiss is dead.
—The Aldine. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.” Died, in Vermontville, Franklin Co., N. Y., Nov. 16, 1873, sister Fannie Norman, in her thirty-third year. Sister N. embraced the present truth about two years and a half ago. She met with great opposition from some of her friends, and, through distracting influences, yielded her faith for a time, but soon saw her error, retraced her steps, and became more firm and decided than ever, and so continued up to the time of her death. Her Christian experience was ever consistent and satisfactory, but especially near the close of her life; and we believe she sleeps in Jesus. Her family and the church suffer a great loss, but do not mourn without hope. Died, near Springfield, Bon Homme County, Dakota, Dec. 23, 1873, Sarah E., wife of S. C. Conrey, aged thirty-eight years. For about fifteen years sister C. had been trying to live the life of a Christian. She leaves a husband and eight children to mourn their loss. They have the sympathies of a large circle of friends. The funeral exercises were conducted by the writer. Text, 1 Cor. 15:49. May the Lord protect the bereaved family. Boys, listen to what President Tuttle says: I saw a young man once in the office of a Western railway superintendent. He was occupying a position that four hundred boys in that city would have wished to get. It was honorable, and it “paid well,” besides being in the line of promotion. How did he get it? Not by having a rich father, for he was the son of a laborer. The secret was his beautiful accuracy. He began as an errand boy, and did his work accurately. His leisure time he used in perfecting his writing and arithmetic. After a while, he learned to telegraph. At each step, his employer commended his accuracy, and relied on what he did, because he was sure it was just right. And it is thus with every occupation. The accurate boy is the favorite one. Those who employ men do not wish to be on the constant lookout, as though they were rogues or fools. If a carpenter must stand at his journeyman’s elbow to be sure his work is right, or if a cashier must run over a book-keeper’s columns, he might as well do the work himself as to employ another to do the work in that way, and it is very certain that the employer will get rid of such an inaccurate workman as soon as he can. Doing Good Without Knowing It
NEVER do we do more, and in a holier way, than when we know not how much we do. Never do we do worse than when we know what and how much we do, for it is impossible that we should not be pleased with ourselves. Wisdom, Authority, and Appearances Govern the World
THE world is governed by three things—wisdom, authority, and appearances. Wisdom is for thoughtful people, authority for rough people, and appearances for the great mass of superficial people, who can look only at the outside. The weekly lessons for the greater part of all the Sunday-schools, not only in the United States, but in the Canadas and England, will, the coming year, be taken from the book of Exodus. Is there not some providence in this? And may we not sincerely pray that, when this great army of Sunday-school workers shall come to the twentieth chapter, they may see the luster of the fourth precept, which the providence of God is making so prominent in these last days? Somebody from Springfield, Ohio, sends us $5.50, s. b. money. No name given; who is it? We have received a P. O. money order from Claremont, N. H., dated Nov. 14. Who sent it? and how shall it be appropriated? If Sarah M. Misner will give her P. O. address, we will send the paper. 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By Uriah Smith
“In the morning sow thy seed,” says Solomon, “and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Many years ago, a tent-meeting was held in the village of Centerville, Mich. There was no apparent fruit; and the expectation that any permanent good would result, was not long entertained. But after so many years, a letter just received from a sister in that place states that she has believed the truth ever since the tent-meeting was held there; and that now having been turned out of the Baptist church for observing the Sabbath and working on the first day of the week, she wishes to unite with some church of our people. Another proof that efforts sincerely put forth in behalf of truth are never lost. U. S. The Progress of Fifty Years.
By Uriah Smith
The great awakening of the human intellect, and the wonderful advancements in the arts of civilization that have been made within the last fifty years, the very time of which the prophet Daniel wrote when he said that many should run to and fro and knowledge should be increased, were stated by Wendell Phillips at the Boston Tea Party, Dec. 16, 1873, in the following language. This party was held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the throwing overboard of the tea in Boston Harbor, Dec. 16, 1773, the initial step of the Revolution. Mr. Phillips said:— “And I think, Mr. President, another thing: The tea-spillers of 1773 elaborated the blessing that made us a nation, and within the last hundred years there has been a growth of material prosperity such as five centuries before could not show, and in my opinion three centuries to come will not exhibit to us. We have the gas and the telegraph, and the lavish application of steam, and the ever-present organizations of wealth, developing production, cheapening production, facilitating production, beyond all measurement. These four great agencies within fifty years have hurled the world forward a leap such as it never made in three hundred years, and probably will not make in that channel for two centuries to come.” The History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week. By J. N. Andrews. This work contains an outline of the history of the Sabbath for the period of 6000 years. It shows that the seventh day was set apart by God to commemorate the creation of the heavens and the earth, and was therefore set apart when they were finished. It shows that God's act of separating the seventh day to a holy use necessarily involved the giving of a precept to Adam respecting that day. It also shows that the fourth commandment bases all its authority upon this original enactment in Paradise, whence it follows that the substance of the fourth commandment was given to Adam while yet in his innocence, and while he stood as the head and representative of the human family. It shows that, as Adam lived during the patriarchal age for a period equal to more than half the time which has elapsed since the death of Christ, the patriarchs must have had the most perfect knowledge concerning the events of creation, and especially concerning the appointment of the seventh day to a holy use; for the words of that appointment must have been addressed to Adam. Those men, therefore, who walked with God during that age, and kept his commandments, must have respected his appointment of the seventh day to a holy use. It is shown that God made choice of Abraham and his family to be the depositaries of his truth, because all other people were plunged into idolatry and had forgotten the God of Heaven. Abraham kept God's commandments. Only two men were necessary in order to transmit to Abraham what God gave to Adam. Thus Methuselah was two hundred and forty-three years old at the death of Adam, and he lived till Shem was almost one hundred years of age. Shem lived till Abraham was one hundred and fifty years old. God knew Abraham, that he would command his children after him, and that they would keep the way of the Lord. The Hebrews had the knowledge of the true Sabbath when they came out of Egypt. For forty years God honored his Sabbath by a constant succession of wonderful miracles, there being more than six thousand of these. When he gave the law on Sinai, he placed the Sabbath in its very heart, and so long as the law maintains its authority, so long shall the Sabbath stand fast. The history of the Sabbath is given till the close of the inspired record; and it is shown that God, the Creator, and all his inspired servants during the entire record of the Scriptures, and the Son of God also, have all honored the seventh day with Sabbatic honors. It is also shown that the first day of the week was never known by any inspired writer as having any title whatever to the name and character of the Sabbath. The history of these two days is given out of the records of the early ages, and it is shown that the first day was never in those ages considered as in any sense the Sabbath. The nature of first-day observance is shown out of the original records. The various references to the Sabbath in the earlier records are also given. The several steps by which Sunday arose to supreme power are carefully traced, and the acts by which the Sabbath of the Lord was abased to the dust are carefully stated. The Sabbath-keepers during the Dark Ages are traced with considerable distinctness. The Sabbath at the time of the Reformation is quite fully set forth, and also the history of the seventh and first days since that time. The modern Sabbath-keepers are, also quite fully noticed. The true reason why the Sabbath is of such priceless value is stated, and finally, the ultimate triumph of this divine institution is given out of the prophets, when all flesh shall keep it with one heart. 528 pages. Price, $1.25. R. F. COTTRELL
By R. F. Cottrell
This is the seventh, and consequently the last, stage of the Christian church. The language of the most religious in the various churches is, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Could they be convinced of their poverty, there would be hope. Even those who have the light of prophetic truth for these times are but lukewarm. What shall be done? How shall we be aroused? The answer is, “Be zealous, and repent.” It is not yet too late to buy gold tried in the fire, and white raiment. We may yet obtain the anointing that will cause us to see. If we walk in the light, we shall have fellowship with the Father and the Son. And our faith may take hold on the promises. Feeling is not faith. Faith can be exercised in the darkest hour of trial. Faith may triumph in spite of discouragements. Let us hold on to faith, a faith that works, not a dead faith, and sometime we shall feel that it is good to trust in God. Appointments: Quarterly Meetings and Chicago Services
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand ** Services in Chicago, every Sabbath (seventh day), at 269 West Erie St. All Sabbath-keepers spending a Sabbath in Chicago are invited to attend. QUARTERLY meeting of the Farmington church, Pa., the third Sabbath and following first-day in January, 1874. Sister churches are invited. A. J. MARSH. QUARTERLY meeting at Exeter, R. I., Jan. 24, 25, meeting to be held in the daytime at Lafayette meeting-house, commencing 9½ A. M. Sabbath morning; Friday evening where Bro. Clark Sweet may appoint. We expect to see a general rally of the friends in R. I., and also from Dartmouth, Mass. Come prepared to remain until Monday. S. N. HASKELL.