Earlier text: MAN NOT IMMORTAL:PROVIDENCE.
By A. R. Smith
The vast designs of God, in vain
Do mortals seek to understand,
Or purposes of right explain,
Who guides with an unerring hand;
While nature still his work fulfills,
A heavenly Father's care we learn;
And what we deem are threatening ills,
Full oft, to plenteous blessings turn! To rich, or poor, or great, or small,
Alike, his tender love is shown;
Alike, is watched the sparrow's fall,
Or sway of empires overthrown.
No tear of grief, no throe of pain,
Unmarked by him, our sovereign Lord,
No trials will be borne in vain,
No sacrifice lose its reward! Within our narrow bound, content
With what is given us to know,
Is better far than reasoning spent
By which none ever wiser grow;
For shortly to our wondering sight,
Life's hidden scroll shall be unrolled,
And beams of Heaven's unclouded light,
The ways of Providence unfold! Wilton, N. H. A. R. SMITH. THERE is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. James iv, 12. Who is this "one law giver?" is an inquiry of vital importance to the Sabbath question, which we shall endeavor to answer from the Scriptures of truth. By very many it is assumed, first, that Christ is the Christian's lawgiver: and, second, that he has given, in person and by his inspired Apostles, contained in the New Testament, a perfect code of laws for the dispensation of the gospel; then it is asserted that, as the Sabbath law is not repeated in the New Testament, the seventh-day Sabbath is not binding on Christians. This fabric seems very fair; but it rests upon sand. Deut. xviii, 15-18, is offered as proof that Christ is our lawgiver; but it may be seen that it teaches the reverse. "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken. . . . And the Lord said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." Deut. xviii, 15, 17, 18. Peter speaking of Christ, says, "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." Acts iii, 22. Christ, as a prophet, or teacher, was like Moses. We now inquire, Did Moses legislate? Did he make laws for the people? He did not. Moses received words from the mouth of God and spake them to the people. There is no record that he ever assumed the position as an independent lawgiver; while the inspired record furnishes facts quite the reverse. In the case of the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath, [Num. xv, 32-36,] Moses did not presume to decide his case, but left that for the great Lawgiver. "And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done unto him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death." See also Num. xxvii, 5-7; Lev. xxiv, 11-14. That Christ, as a prophet, or teacher, was like Moses, we have the united testimony of Moses, [Deut. xviii, 15,] the Lord, [verse 18,] and Peter, [Acts iii, 22,] therefore he was not an independent lawgiver. Says the eternal Father when speaking of his Son, "He shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." Jesus testifies of himself on this subject and his testimony agrees with that of his Father. Mark well the following declarations of the Son of God:— Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. John vii, 16. "Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." Chap. viii, 28. "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." Chap. xii, 49, 50. "He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." Chap. xiv, 24. By these testimonies from the Father and Son we learn that it was not the work of our Lord Jesus Christ to legislate; but he received the doctrines which he taught from the mouth of the Father, and spake them to the people. In this respect, as a prophet, or teacher, he was like Moses. In both cases the Father is the lawgiver. The transfiguration is referred to as proof that Christ is the lawgiver in the gospel age. It is said that the presence of both Moses and Christ, (the teachers of both dispensations,) and Moses, being placed upon the background by the voice from heaven, saying "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear him," shows that Christ is the lawgiver of the present age, and that his teachings take the place of the law of God. But a very important personage is overlooked by those who take this position. It is the Father. He also appears at the mount of transfiguration. His voice is heard as the highest authority—"This is my beloved Son," "Hear him." However much the glory of Christ excelled that of Moses, it did not eclipse the glory of the Author of the ten commandments. The great God spoke the ten precepts of his holy law in the hearing of all the people. He did not leave them with Moses to write, and deliver to the people: neither was it the work of the Son of God to deliver them, or any portion of them, over a second time for the men of the present dispensation. Under circumstances of awful grandeur the great Lawgiver spoke the ten commandments directly to the people, and wrote them in the tables of stone. Christ quotes several of them at different times to enforce the doctrines he taught, but not in the sense of giving a new law. He leaves them upon their original basis, as the law of Jehovah, and affirms their immutability. Matt. v, 17-19. He did not take the position of a lawgiver, but, rather, that of a teacher of the law. If Christ be our lawgiver, who is our advocate? We have none. But the Apostle says, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John ii, 1. Here are three parties introduced: (1) the sinner, or transgressor of the law, [Chap. iii, 4,] (2) the Advocate, and (3) the Father whose law the sinner transgresses. The truth on this subject, then, plainly set before us, is that in the dispensation of the gospel, the Father is the lawgiver, and Jesus Christ is the advocate, or mediator, between the offending sinner and an offended Lawgiver. Now take the view that Christ is the Christian's lawgiver. Then "sin is the transgression of the law" of Christ. "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with" Jesus Christ! But who is this advocate? The Papist may answer, The Pope, while the Protestant remains silent. We frequently hear it asserted, "It is very strange that nine of the commandments are given in the New Testament, and the fourth left out, if the Sabbath is binding on Christians." But is it not indeed strange that professed Bible students should thus expose their ignorance of the subject of which they speak? It is a fact that the first four commandments are not repeated in the New Testament. Does this prove that we should not regard the first, second and third? If it does not prove this, then it does not prove that the fourth is not binding upon Christians. Is it said that an equivalent is given to those commandments not repeated in the New Testament? we invite the attention of the caviler to New Testament testimony in regard to the Sabbath. 1. The testimony of Christ in regard to the duty of Christians relative to the Sabbath, as late as the destruction of Jerusalem, and probably much later. "But pray ye that your flight be not in the Winter, neither on the Sabbath-day." Matt. xxiv, 20. Again, "The Sabbath was made for man." 2. The testimony of the apostle Luke relative to the holy women. "And they returned and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath-day according to the commandment." Luke xxiii, 56. If the Sabbath law was abolished at the crucifixion,133 several years before this fact was recorded, of what commandment does the historian speak? 3. The testimony of the same Apostle in regard to Paul's manner. "And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." Acts xvii, 2. "And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Chap. xviii, 4. "And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." "And the next Sabbath-day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." Acts xiii, 42, 44. "And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts xvi, 13. Turn to the "Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him," &c. and mark the distinction made between the commandments of God, and the testimony [teachings] of Jesus. Rev. xii, 17; xiv, 12. Read the testimony of Jesus in Chap. xxii, 14. "Blessed are they that do his [the Father's] commandments," &c. Now if Jesus is the Christian's lawgiver, he would have said of men in the Christian's age, Blessed are they that do my commandments. True, we should keep all the sayings of Christ; but what does he say of his teachings? "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." If it be said that the Apostles in their writings have given a code of laws for the gospel age, we reply, that this view makes twelve lawgivers, whereas James says, "There is one lawgiver." 2 CORINTHIANS, CHAPTER III.
By John Nevins Andrews
THIS CHAPTER is, by many persons, supposed to teach the abolition of the ten commandments. We think this doctrine is not in any wise countenanced by this portion of scripture. Let us carefully attend to what the Apostle has written in this chapter. Two ministrations are presented. The one is the ministration of death; the other is the ministration of the Spirit. Verses 6, 7. The word "ministration" signifies service performed by a minister or servant. Hence, two classes of ministers are introduced. The one class is Moses and those who, after him, carried out the work of ministration which he began. The other class of ministers is the apostles, and those who carry forward the work commenced by them. The one class is the ministers of the Old Testament; the other class is the ministers of the New. The two objects concerning which these ministrations are performed, are denominated "death," and "the Spirit." Let us now inquire respecting the meaning of these terms as here used. What is meant by the word "death," in the sentence, "the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones?" We answer that it can only signify the words engraven upon the tables of stone; as though the sentence read, "the ministration of the ten commandments, written and engraven in stone." The reason why the law of God is called "death," may be gathered from the following scriptures: "the letter killeth;" "by the law is the knowledge of sin;" "The law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression;" "the law entered that the offense might abound;" "I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which was good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." What is meant by the word "Spirit" as used in this chapter? This word is definitely applied in verse 17: "Now the Lord is that Spirit." Then we understand that the law of God slays the sinner, and is hence denominated "death;" while the Lord is that Spirit who makes alive the sinner thus slain. Hence we understand the Lord from heaven to be the life-giving Spirit here referred to. With these remarks we introduce verses 7 and 8. "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away; how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?" Those who offer this verse as proof that the ten commandments are abolished, have fallen into that error by confounding the ministration of that which was engraven upon stones, with the law itself that was there engraven. Thus making the law of God and the ministration of that law mean the same thing. But the next verse by furnishing a perfect parallel to the sentence in question, exhibits the absurdity of that view. "How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?" No one will claim that the ministration of the Spirit is the Spirit itself. Let them treat verse 7 with as much consistency as they do verse 8, and they will avoid the error that the ministration of the ten commandments is the ten commandments themselves. But verse 7 must distinctly mark the meaning of Paul in the use of the word "ministration;" and no one who will carefully read the verse need to confound the ministration with the commandments. Notice the first clause of the verse: "But if the ministration of death written and engraven in stones was glorious;" now read the explanatory clause and you may understand what that ministration was, and in what its glory consisted: "so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance." Then the last clause of the verse is a distinct explanation of the first. The ministration or service to which Paul refers, was commenced by Moses when he took the ten commandments from Jehovah and brought them down to the people. That ministration was so glorious that the minister by whom it was performed, veiled his face to hide its glory. The full account of this interesting ministration of Moses may be read in Ex. xxxiv, 29-35. Nothing can be plainer, therefore, than the fact that by the word "ministration" in verse 7, Paul means not the ten commandments, but the service of Moses the minister, in bringing down from God that law which he had just engraven on the tables of stone. The ministration commenced by Moses, was carried forward through the entire period of the Old Testament. Moses placed the two tables in the ark, and placed the ark in the Most Holy Place of the typical sanctuary. Ex. xl; Deut. x. He then set apart the Levitical order of priesthood to minister before that ark while the typical sanctuary should continue. Ex. xxviii; xxix; Lev. viii; ix. When Moses brought down that holy law, it was to that sinful, rebellious people, but "condemnation" and "death;" for it could only show their guilt in the sight of God. It showed them exposed to its just penalty, and contained in itself no promise of pardon. But the ministration committed to the apostles and their successors, was expressly appointed to hold out pardon to the guilty, hope to the desponding, salvation to the lost. It recognizes indeed the great fact that the whole human family are under the just condemnation of the law of God, as its transgressors; [Rom. iii, 19;] but it bases its offer of pardon on the fact that Christ has died for the human family thus situated, [2 Cor. v, 14, 15,] and that all who will avail themselves of this great propitiation may be forgiven freely. The great subject of this ministration is Christ, the life-giving Spirit, who has died for us. The priesthood which Moses appointed to minister before the ark of the testament in the typical sanctuary, offered no sacrifice that could take away sin; it could only cite penitent sinners forward to the great Sacrifice that should be offered for the sins of men. But in the heavenly Sanctuary before the ark of God's testament stands that great High Priest who has laid down his life for the world, and who is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God through him. Heb. vii; viii; Rev. xi, 19. If therefore the ministration that could only exhibit man's guilt and just condemnation, was so glorious that Moses, its minister, had to veil the glory of his countenance, how unspeakably glorious must that ministration be, that offers life, pardon and salvation to the guilty, the condemned, the lost! Moses while performing that ministration had a veil upon his face; but in contrast with this, Paul says, "But we all with open [literally unveiled] face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Let us now inquire respecting the thing abolished in verse 7. That the word glory, inserted by the translators in its last clause, was rightly placed there, admits of certain proof. For the expression "teen katargoumeneen," rendered, "which glory was to be done away," is in the feminine accusative, and hence necessarily refers to "teen doxan," "the glory," which immediately precedes it, and is in the same gender and case, and not to "the diakonia," "the ministration," which is more remote, and is of a different case. On this point there can be no dispute. Hence the translators by inserting the word "glory" in the last clause of this verse, have faithfully expressed the sense of the original. Then Paul in verse 7, asserts the abolition of the glory of the former ministration. Verse 10 tells us that though that ministration was made glorious, yet in this respect it had no glory, by reason of the glory that excelleth. Now verse 11 will explain to us how the glory of the former ministration was done away, and also in what respect that ministration had no glory. It is more correctly rendered by Macknight than by our version. For "dia doxees" must signify, "by glory," and not the adjective, "glorious." As rendered by Macknight it reads: "Besides if that which is abolished, is abolished by glory, much more that which remaineth, remaineth in glory." Two important facts are determined by this verse. 1. That the glory of the former ministration was done away by the surpassing glory of the present ministration, just as the glory of the stars is done away by the glory of the sun arising in his strength. 2. And hence we understand that it had no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth, in the same manner that we understand that the stars have no glory when the sun shines. We will now quote verses 13 and 14. "And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished; but their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which vail is done away in Christ." Verse 13 being explanatory of verse 7, we have here a good opportunity to determine what was abolished. And we shall find its statement on this point the same as that of verse 7. When the veil was upon the face of Moses, "the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished." What then did the veil hide? for the answer to this question determines the whole matter. Were the tables of stone hidden by that veil? No verily. But it was the glory of that ministration, which glory in the estimation of the Jews still abides. The veil upon his face hid that which is abolished; but the tables of stone were neither hidden nor obscured by the veil: he held them in his hands. Ex. xxxiv, 29. The veil with which Moses hid the glory of his face still remains upon literal Israel. They still connect in an inseparable manner the great constitution, the ten commandments, with the glory that enshrouded Moses and that attended the Levitical ministration, not seeing that that ministration has given place to another of far surpassing glory. Israel cannot see that the hidden glory is gone; but as they can still see that holy law, they believe that that glory must abide as well as that law. Others at the present day fall into the opposite error. They can see that that glory is gone, and hence conclude that that holy law has gone also. They do not see that in the heavenly tabernacle, where our great High Priest is ministering for us, the ark of God abides as well as it did in the earthly tabernacle. Rev. xi, 19. They think highly indeed of the mercy-seat; but the law of God contained in the ark beneath that mercy-seat is despised and counted a thing of naught. Ex. xxv, 17-22; Heb. ix, 4. But the dream that the blood of Christ blotted out the moral law (the very thing that caused it to be shed) will be found vain and delusive in the day of God. The act of Moses in covering from the sight of Israel the glory that beamed from his face at the commencement of that ministration represented this great truth; viz., that that ministration with its glory was not to abide; and that when it should be succeeded by a ministration that could give life and pardon to guilty man, Israel would not understand the fact. To this day the vail is upon their heart. Every thing relating to the ministration and the glory in the reading of the Old Testament, is with them inseparably connected with Moses. This vail is done away in Christ; and when the heart shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Every thing relating to salvation and glory will then be associated with Christ and the better ministration.134 In this chapter, therefore, there is no intimation that the law of God is abolished. Those who make it teach such a doctrine, wrest the words of Paul to their own destruction. Even the verses on which such persons lay the greatest stress become a complete absurdity when made to teach the abolition of the ten commandments. For in the first place they have to assume that the word "ministration" instead of signifying service performed by a minister, [as the word invariably signifies, and is expressly so applied in the latter part of verse 7,] signifies the ten commandments. This absurd assumption is the basis of the doctrine. Let us see how consistent a doctrine can be erected upon this basis. It stands thus: If the ten commandments were glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses &c. Any one can see how incongruous such a statement would be. To say that the ministration was glorious so that they could not behold the face of the minister, is a statement perfectly consistent, being indeed the very thing that Paul has affirmed; but to say that the tables of stone were the subjects of this glory, and yet, have that glory only appear upon the face of Moses is reasoning from unlike to unlike. If the tables of stone constituted the glorious ministration, why was not the vail which hid that glory wrapped about the tables of stone, and not placed before the face of the minister? The answer is obvious. It was the service performed by Moses that was thus glorious; and that glory was hidden when Moses veiled his face. It remains that we quote two or three texts in which Paul directly teaches the perpetuity of the law of God. The word of Paul was not yea and nay, so that he does not affirm a doctrine in one place and deny it in another. 1. The following is Dr. Bloomfield's translation of 1 Cor. vii, 19, with his note appended:
"Circumcision is of no moment, and uncircumcision of no moment; but keeping the commandment of God is something of consequence; i. e., as being the test of genuine faith." 2. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long upon the earth." Eph. vi, 1-3. In this text it is certain that Paul enforces the duty of children to their parents, by the commandment which he quotes, thus acknowledging its supreme authority. Nor can the argument from this text be evaded by saying that he quoted it from a revised code which Christ had established. For it is a fact, that although Christ has quoted this commandment, he has never appended a promise to it; much less has he added the one here quoted by Paul. But it is also a fact that this commandment does stand in the decalogue not only as its first commandment with promise, but with the very promise in question annexed. Hence it is certain that Paul acknowledges the fifth precept of the decalogue as the fountain-head of all authority on this point. 3. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Rom. iii, 31. Now it is an interesting fact that the verb "katargeo" which in 2 Cor. iii, is rendered "done away," "abolished," is the same one that in Rom. iii, 31, is rendered "make void." We have shown that the word is not used in 2 Cor. iii, with reference to the law of God. As a demonstration of the truth on this point, we present these words of Paul to the Romans. In the strongest manner he expresses his abhorrence of the sentiment that the law of God is abolished. Those who make Paul in 2 Cor. iii, utter a sentiment which in Rom. iii, he solemnly disavows, should pause and reflect, lest they thus wrest his words to their own destruction. J. N. A. Speaking of the Image.
By R. F. Cottrell
AND he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. . . . And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Rev. xiii, 15, 17. When the image has power to speak, he will be able, not only to decide who are heretics, but also to tell what shall be done with them. They shall "be killed." The first beast received the power to kill of the dragon: the image will receive the same power and authority from the two-horned beast. The dragon power of the ten-horned monster gave his seat and authority to the Catholic church: the dragon power of "another beast" will give his authority to another church. Give civil power into the hands of Protestants, and the result will be a "holy war" against heretics. To worship the image is to submit to his authority. All must bow or be killed. To deprive one of the privilege of buying and selling, unless he cultivate a fruitful soil, must terminate in death by starvation. And implements are nescesary to cultivate the soil. In short, to live in society without buying or selling is next to impossibility. But is there no other way, by which we may escape the wrath of the image, but by the reception of the mark of the beast and his image? Yes, we can submit to his authority another way. We can have the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. It is evident that we can have a share in the name of the beast and have the privilege of observing the Sabbath of the Lord. But we must be in season in this matter or the image will be completed, and we shall be too late; and then there will be no alternative but to receive the mark, or brave the wrath of the image. Before the image is made, we can become incorporated and known in law, as one of the many names or denominations; or we can unite with some one name already thus known, and go to the polls and with our votes help make the image, thus securing an interest in the name. But when the image is completed the book of names will be closed—the 666 shares of stock will all be taken, and then if we belong to a people adjudged in law to be "no people," we must receive the mark or be condemned to death. But, thanks be to God! the saints will be caught away to the sea of glass, having "gotten the victory over the beast, and and over his image and over his mark, and over the number of his name." Recollection and Religious Retirement
By Richard Cecil
Recollection is the life of religion. The Christian wants to have his heart elevated more above the world by secluding himself from it as much as his duties will allow, that religion may effect this, its great end, by bringing its sublime hopes and prospects into more steady action on the mind. I know not how it is that some Christians can make so little of retirement. I find the spirit of the world a strong135 assimilating principle. I find it hurrying my mind away in its vortex, and sinking me among the dregs of a carnal nature.—R. Cecil. In 2 Cor. iii, is from the Greek word diakonia, and occurs as follows: Luke x, 40. Martha was cumbered about much serving,
Acts i, 17. had obtained part of this ministry.
25. he may take part of this ministry
vii, 1. neglected in the daily ministration.
4. to the ministry of the word.
xi, 29. determined to send relief unto the
xii, 25. they had fulfilled their ministry,
xx, 24. the ministry, which I have received
xxi, 19. among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Rom. xi, 13. I magnify mine office:
xii, 7. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering:
xv, 31. that my service which I have
1 Cor. xii, 5. differences of administrations,
xvi, 15. themselves to the ministry of the saints,
2 Cor. iii, 7. if the ministration of death
8 the ministration of the Spirit
9 the ministration of condemnation
— the ministration of righteousness
iv, 1. seeing we have this ministry,
v, 18. the ministry of reconciliation;
vi, 3. that the ministry be not blamed:
viii, 4. the fellowship of the ministering to
ix, 1. the ministering to the saints,- For the administration of this service
- the experiment of this ministration
xi, 8. wages of them, to do you service. [lit for min[1]istering to you]
Eph. iv, 12. the work of the ministry,
Col. iv, 17. Take heed to the ministry
1 Tim. i, 12 putting me into the ministry;
2 Tim. iv, 5. make full proof of thy ministry.
11. profitable to me for the ministry.
Heb. i, 14 sent forth to minister for them
Rev. ii, 19. know thy works, and charity, and service. Discordant Opinions.
By Editor
Under this head, we find the following in the Bible Examiner for December. "We are all too apt to think others must see as we do or there can be no fellowship with them. Now we are as likely to err in this matter as others. but we abhor it in ourself and all others. The positive spirit on prophecy, relating to events future, or now passing, till more plainly developed—which is manifested by some—we deeply regret; because we think it tends to anything rather than the promotion of brotherly love. There are, at this time, several different opinions among those who believe the coming of Christ the second time is near. "One class have believed, and taught, that the event would certainly occur this year. Though we were perfectly satisfied, from the commencement, that they were mistaken in their calculation of time, yet many of them were men we much loved and esteemed, and we did not feel called upon to take a public stand against them, believing that we could better serve them, and the cause of truth, by a kind course toward them, while at the same time they all understood we did not agree in their theory. We knew a short time would realize their expectations or satisfy them of their mistake. "Another class maintain that before Christ can come 'the second time,' Russia must overrun Turkey, and the Jews be restored to Palestine. With this view we do not agree, at all; but we do not feel disposed to enter into a controversy about it, which must be exceedingly profitless, and call off attention from what we regard as far more important matters to this dying world. We do not affirm that this view is not correct; but we have no faith in it; and es-sentially in the positive assumption that these things 'must' be done 'before' the Lord can come. "A third class agree with the foregoing so far as relates to Russia overrunning Turkey; affirming that Russia is 'the king of the north,' spoken of, Daniel xi, and must overflow Turkey before Christ can come 'the second time;' and that, hence, until Turkey is overwhelmed by Russia, we can have no scriptural hope of our Lord's return from Heaven. With this view we have no more sympathy than with the previous one. But, as we said of that, so say we of this; we do not say that such events will not take place before Christ's return, but to affirm that they must, positively, we think is overstepping our province as fallible mortals. We do not believe that Russia is 'the king of the north.' It is our opinion that any power that reigns over Syria is—for the time being—'the king of the north,' spoken of Daniel xi; hence that the Turkish Dynasty is now that power. If Russia, Austria, England, or France should become possessed of supreme power over Syria, then it—which ever it might be—would become 'the king of the north.' Till then none but the Turkish Dynasty occupies that position, in our opinion. Our views of Russia, Turkey, and France are known to our readers. No arguments, nor ridicule, that has yet appeared, has in the least shaken our mind; yet we do not affirm that we are right; events may convince us that we are wrong in this matter. We have no theory at stake, and shall feel, we think, no mortification to find we are—just what we believe all others to be—fallible." Occasioned by the Death of Anna White. She hath passed Death's chilling billow,
And gone to rest;
Jesus smoothed her dying pillow—
Her slumbers blest. Parents saw with grief unspoken,
Only in tears,
Their sweet bud of promise broken—
Youngest in years. In yon, lonely grave, a Brother,
Friends, weeping, laid;
Called so soon to see another,
As lovely, fade. God support, while hopes have perished
In Sorrow's tide;
While a Sister, loved and cherished,
Sleeps by his side. Precious seed had she been sowing
On Life's broad field;
Rich will be the harvest, showing
The sheaves t'will yield. Youth and children now are sighing,
Who feel her worth,
That her cold, pale form is lying
Low in the earth. From the bitter cup that's given,
We should not shrink;
Since the mandate is from Heaven,
That bids us drink. Sleep, dear Sister, kind and tender,
To friendship true,
While with feeling hearts we render
This tribute due. When the morn of glory, breaking,
Shall light the tomb,
Beautiful will be thy waking,
In fadeless bloom. Where no wintry winds are blowing
No burial train,
Crowned with gems celestial, glowing
We'll meet again!
ANNIE R. SMITH. ONE DROP AT A TIME.
By Smith
"Life," says the late John Foster, "is expenditure; we have it, but are as continually losing it; we have it, but are as continually wasting it. Suppose a man confined in some fortress, under the doom to stay there till death; and suppose there is there for his use a dark reservoir of water, to which it is certain none can ever be added. He may suppose the quantity is ever great; he cannot penetrate to know how much, but it may be very little. He has drawn from it, by means of a fountain a good while already, and draws from it every day. But how would he feel each time of drawing and each time of thinking of it? Not as if he had a perennial spring to go to. Not, I have a reservoir, I may be at ease. No! but I had water yesterday—I have water to-day; but having had it, and my having it to-day, is the very cause that I shall not have it on some day that is approaching. And at the same time I am compelled to this fatal expenditure! So of our moral transient life! And yet men are very indisposed to admit the plain truth, that life is a thing which they are in no other way possessing than as necessarily consuming; one that even in this imperfect sense of possession, it becomes every day a less possession." Smith. LEONARD EGGLESTON
By Leonard Eggleston
DEAR BRO. WHITE:—You have been sending me the Review some four or five months without any pay. Neither have you heard anything from me, before this, as to whether I was being benefited by the reading of it or not. Here let me say to you, that the Review is received by me each week with a glad heart. I have been greatly benefited and instructed by it; and for ten times its yearly cost, I would not be deprived of its instructions. Some of its leading doctrines were entirely new to me; but now I am full in the faith of all of them. Last March or April was the first that I learned any thing definite with regard to the Sabbath-keeping Adventists.136 About that time I was furnished with a few numbers of the Review, and some tracts: the "Signs of the Times," the "Sanctuary" and some Sabbath tracts, all of which I read with much interest. And compared their teachings with the word of God, and was fully convinced that they contained truths brought out to prepare a people to be in readiness for the coming of their Lord. And from the commencement of my investigation, light has been coming in on every side; the Bible is to me a new book. I have perused its sacred pages with ten fold more interest than ever before in my life. I can now behold in its teachings a beauty and harmony that I never before discovered; and my mind is now prepared to understand many things that I did not understand before. I had no idea that the day of the Lord's coming was so near. I understood nothing with regard to the heavenly Sanctuary, and nothing definite with regard to the fulfillment of the prophecies. But thanks be to God, that I live in these last days, and had my eyes opened to see the bible in its true light. Eight months ago I believed that I had an immortal soul, destined to live through a boundless eternity, in bliss or woe. I did not understand that the penalty for Adamic transgression was the reducing of the whole man to the dust, and that the penalty for personal sins was a death that meant cessation of existence. But now all is plain. And I rejoice that whereas I was blind, I can now see. I am striving day by day to overcome all besetments, and to lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset me, and to run with patience the christian race. Myself and companion have been endeavoring to keep the Sabbath of the Lord since the middle of June, and now as the week rolls round and Sabbath returns, we feel that it is a day of sacred rest, and we find sweet consolation in keeping it beneath our own roof. Although we labor under many disadvantages, surrounded as we are by a Sabbath-breaking community, and deprived also of the privilege of meeting on the Sabbath with the brethren of like precious faith, yet we feel that it is good for us to obey God, by keeping all of his commandments, and having the faith of Jesus. The reason that I have not sent the pay for the Review before this, is because that I have been so poor that I could not well get the $1 to spare to send, but I now send you $1.50 to pay for some of Bro. Stephenson's work on the Atonement. The other $1.50 I procured from a friend of mine to pay for the Review, and $0.50 worth of the Signs of Times which he wishes to distribute among his friends. He has been investigating four or five weeks, and is convinced that the second Adventists have the truth. He is sixty years old, has been a methodist many years; but has but just begun to understand the Bible in its true light. As often as I can I shall send you my mite to help carry forward the cause of Christ. Yours in hope of immortality at the appearing of the Saviour.