Earlier text: ANCIENT TRANSLATIONSMost of our readers are probably well aware of the application we make of the term Babylon to the confused and corrupt Christianity of the present day. The popular religious bodies herein included, we understand met with a moral fall by their rejection of the great truth designed especially for these last days; namely, the coming and kingdom of our Redeemer. This change was announced by the second angel of Rev. xiv, as he uttered the solemn proclamation, Babylon is fallen! Believing them to be in this fallen condition from such a cause, we know of course that they cannot recover from that condition, until they first repent of the steps that led them to it—until they grieve for their past neglect, and walk up to the abundant light that now shines forth from the word of God. Nothing of this kind have they done; and yet they claim that a wonderful revival has taken place among them, a wonderful outpouring of the Spirit of God been realized in their very midst. We have therefore watched this movement with great interest, to note its progress, and more especially, its results; for by their fruits ye shall know them. We have no disposition to judge them except from their own testimony. Abundant testimony of this kind concerning their spiritual barrenness and moral destitution they furnished us between the year 1844 and the commencement of the recent supposed work of grace. But that testimony will not avail now; for should we bring it up they would meet us with the declaration that that is no evidence that they are fallen, because they have recently enjoyed a refreshing from the presence of the Lord. To convict them now then we must have testimony which bears date subsequent to these recent revivals. Very well. The prospect is that testimony of this kind will not be lacking. We have already laid before our readers some very startling disclosures when considered as a work of grace! They will recollect the statement that the chief conductor of "The Way of Life," (a paper originated under revival influence) who was withal one of the leading men on the committee on devotional meetings, was arrested and imprisoned on a charge of fraud in conducting said paper. They will remember that the committee ran the association into debt, the settlement of which gave rise to some very exciting meetings; and that services that were supposed to be gratuitous turned out to claim exorbitant remuneration. They will remember the statement of the Boston Congregationalist, that the revived piety of our churches was not such that from its mere existence could be inferred legitimate fruits; and its admission that the charge of Theodore Parker that a score of such revivals would never close a dram shop or liberate a slave, had some truth. They will also remember the statement of the Watchman and Reflector, that there had never been among the Baptists so lamentable a spread of church dissension as prevails at present; and that most of these alienations had their origin in the very midst of the recent awakening! We always had the impression, somehow, that a genuine work of the Spirit of God tended to love and union, instead of dissensions and alienation. When the reader has treasured up all these facts, we have some more of the same nature for him to read, digest, and lay up in mind. We take them from the N. Y. Independent. From the testimony it will appear that reports of religious interest are not always altogether reliable, and that the excitement has in a great measure been carried on by "fictitious narratives," "sensation style," "old stories of twenty years' standing revamped and made as good as new," and "exaggerated and highly colored statements of itinerant story-tellers," &c. It seems that some of its readers made inquiry of the Independent why it did not give reports, like other journals, of the religious interest in New York, to which that journal replies: "With regard to this city in particular, we have taken pains to inquire of pastors in various denominations, at intervals during the winter, concerning the state of religion in their churches; and the invariable answer has been that they know of no facts in their own churches or in their several denominations, which would warrant the impression given by some newspapers that there is now in New York a general and powerful revival, such as was enjoyed in this city a year ago. We mourn that such is the fact; but surely it would not make it otherwise, to report it otherwise. In some of the mission-schools and churches of the city, and occasionally in other churches, there have been during the winter marked evidences of a work of grace. But in the churches generally, we are sorry to say that such is not the fact. The daily concourse of persons at the Fulton-st. prayer-meeting—which is largely attended by strangers—is no indication of a general religious awakening in the community or of a revival in the churches. Other Union prayer-meetings in New York and Brooklyn have greatly flagged, or have been wholly abandoned. We have refrained from stating these facts, lest we might even seem to ignore or disparage a real work of grace. But now that we are accused of doing this very thing, we must frankly say to our brethren in the country that we do not give them such reports as are given by some journals of a great revival in New York, because after repeated and diligent inquiry we do not find evidence of a general revival in the city. "But why not report the incidents of the Fulton-st. prayer-meeting, and thus furnish materials of interest for prayer-meetings all over the land? With respect to remarkable incidents of divine grace as matters of newspaper report, we take it for granted that our readers will insist upon two things; first that they must be reliable, and secondly that they must be proper to be reported to the public. "Does a village prayer-meeting desire to be stirred by fictitious narratives, or by stories which no person would consent to have published concerning himself? Let it be understood that your prayer-meeting is to be reported in the village newspaper; and how soon will Mr. Talkative, and Mr. Sympathetic, and Mr. Excitable, and Mr. Exaggeration, monopolize the sacred hour. If some humble convert should tell the story of his sins and sorrows in the ear of Christian confidence, and find it repeated with emphasis and embellishment in the newspaper, who of that class would again trust himself to speak in a Christian assembly? Consider the inevitable effect of newspaper notoriety upon the tone of any prayer-meeting. The evil of this is provided against, as far as possible, in the management of the Fulton-st. meeting, which is in wise and safe hands. The three-minute rule is a severe check upon Mr. Talkative. But that the stories told at that meeting are not to be taken without abatement we know from more than one instance. The following 'thrilling incident' has gone the rounds of the newspapers, and has doubtless been used with effect in many prayer-meetings: "The Last Sheaf Gathered.—A gentleman related in Fulton-st., on Monday, the conversion of an aged sinner of eighty-five years. He had spent a long life in extensive business, and, with his pious wife, had reared four daughters, all of whom had united with their mother in the vows of God, and in years of faithful and persevering prayer for the stony-hearted husband and father, until three of the number had been successively called home to heaven, leaving him still hardened. Three sons had been liberally educated with the wealth of the father, and brought into the school of Christ through the fidelity of the mother, and two of them into the ministry. Still the head of that redeemed family remained an alien and a spiritual outcast from the eternal portion of his own household, and drew nearer the grave, with every hope for his son fading and closing in darkness of human view. The trial of faith was of the deepest; yet they still prayed on, and faithfully warned and besought him. At length, in the past winter, it pleased God to relieve the long, dark, and weary watch of these praying ones with a break of day. The old man was brought to his senses by the Holy Spirit, saw himself a perishing sinner, and with decrepit and trembling steps repaired to his wife's pastor to ask what he must do to be saved. When he felt that had found a Savior, and all was ready for his public confession of Christ, the aged frame of her who had been sustained to bring about, instrumentally, and to behold with joy this blessed consummation of her prayers, gave way, and she sank, in twenty-four hours, into her last sleep, saying, 'Lord, now lettest thou servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen thy salvation.' At the last communion of that church, the frail survivor kneeled alone at the altar, supported by one of his sons, and, as he turned away with tears coursing down the furrows of his face, he exclaimed, How wonderful! I have lived eighty-five years, and never tasted peace till now." "Upon this narrative the editor of The American Presbyterian makes the following comments: "The father of the principal editor of this paper is eighty-five years of age, and though he has for twenty years indulged a hope and manifested great respect for, and interest in, the subject of religion, he never had connected himself with the visible church till the first Sabbath in January last. Some weeks before, of his own free will and accord, he went to his pastor and made known his desire to connect himself with the church, and took the requisite steps to accomplish this duty. It is true that in the providence of God, our aged mother, who has been a member of the Orthodox Congregational Church much longer than we can remember, died suddenly in the interim between the examination or propounding and the act of reception into the church. "These facts, however, had no possible relation to each other as cause and effect, though as providential circumstances they had peculiar interest to the family. Some kind friend, who may by chance have heard these incidents, has seen fit to relate them, together with certain other statements of family history that are only partially true; and three of the New York religious papers have published the remarkable case, with colorings, exaggerations, and misstatements of the facts, which are offensive to propriety and revolting to all proper views of truth and religion. The man who related the case, no doubt intended to give all the essential particulars correctly, and yet in such a manner as to tell with good effect. We do not believe he will be willing to hold himself responsible for the detailed statements. Indeed each of the three reports that we have noticed differs materially from the others, which shows that the arrangement and dramatic effect of these remarkable incidents were given by the skillful and wide awake reporters of the enterprising press at New York city." "Compare this simple statement of the case, as given by a son of that 'aged sinner of eighty-five years,' with a dramatic sketch of 'the last sheaf gathered,' and how evident it is that the Fulton-st. meeting was imposed upon, not intentionally, but really, and that the sympathies of thousands of readers of religious journals have been wasted over the fiction of 'The Last Sheaf Gathered.' The same tone of exaggeration—doubtless unconscious and unintentional on the part of the narrators—pervades many of the narratives which go forth weekly from the Fulton-st. prayer-meeting. The Oberlin Review, which cannot be suspected of a want of sympathy with revivals and revival narratives, thus remarks upon the style of Dr. Prime's volume on The Power of Prayer: "We are constrained to remark, however, that, while the style and spirit of the body of the book is good, there are too many specimens of the sensation manner of newspaper paragraphs to suit our ideas of what a record of the recent gracious visitation should be. The three or four first chapters are very objectionable to good taste from the jerky character of the sentences and the intensely intensified use of italics and pious epithets and ejaculations." This 'sensation manner' is a necessary result of173the practice of reporting through the press the free utterances of the prayer-meeting. An illustration of this 'sensation' style which must shock every sober and pious mind, is given in the following advertisement in The N. Y. Tribune: "The daily prayer-meetings at the John-st. church from 12 to 1, and from 3½ to 4½ o'clock, have the greatest attraction to the truly devotional, the Holy Spirit's influence in the conversion of sinners, and building up of saints. Send in your requests if you cannot come yourself. Direct JOHN-ST. PRAYER MEETING." The American Presbyterian notes an additional fact which is here in place: "We have observed that the same stories with variations have been repeated at Sansom-st., Fulton-st., and Old South chapel; and in some cases, stories of twenty years' standing have been revamped and made as good as new. This evil, which is to an extent unavoidable, is increased by this newspaper publicity. This pompous display and love of notoriety have done much to grieve the Spirit and retard the influence of these precious means of grace. We can excuse impulsive expressions and even exaggerations made in the fervor of religious feeling and interest; the prayer meeting is too serious and solemn a place for the exercise of the functions of the critic; and for the same reason we feel that it is no place for the newspaper reporter. Sincere christian brethren, who do not worship God to be seen and heard of men, ought to be protected against that unwarrantable liberty of publishing their prayers and exhortations in the corners of the streets and to the world in general. We protest against making these union prayer-meetings an arena for public display, or even a temptation for a vain-glorious exhibition of a natural love of notoriety." "There is another fact to be considered. Propriety forbids that the affairs of families should be laid promiscuously before the public. Yet this is often done with a view to magnify the grace of God, when it serves rather to gratify a prurient curiosity. Not long ago we copied from another journal a narrative of the death scene of one who was represented as a violent opposer of the gospel. The story was so printed that the party referred to could be easily identified. His surviving family, deeply grieved at this use of his name, sent a remonstrance to the religious press against the exaggeration and perversion of facts, which, in the best view of them, could only be painful to a highly respectable circle of friends. Let every reader make that case his own. We conclude with the remonstrance of The Am. Presbyterian against this form of abuse: "We remonstrate against the practice of reporting exaggerated and highly-colored statements of itinerant story-tellers, who may be both strangers to the reporter and the audience, and thus improperly scandalizing some inoffensive family by perverted statements, and relating of incidents of personal history, with which the public have no right to intermeddle. The instinctive love of the marvelous seems to make a well-told story relish, and the fact that it is to appear in half a dozen prominent religious papers has its influence both upon the relater and the reporter." FORESIGHT AND PERSEVERANCE OF THE DEVIL.
By R. F. C.
Thus we see that Satan, by incessant and persevering efforts, has turned the current of the popular theology of the present day in opposition to the word of God, and thus prepared the way for his last grand and mighty enterprise, to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. He knows that the prophecies concerning the time of the end are being fulfilled; that the signs of the coming of Christ have appeared, and that the Advent messages have been announced to the world. He has but a short time to work, and he is improving it. He knows that God is about to pour out his Spirit upon his people, and that signs and wonders will be done in the name of Jesus; and he is preparing the people by false miracles to reject the true; and to attribute the work of God to the agency of the spirits. Thus the true manifestations of the Spirit of God will be generally rejected. Our only shield is the word of God. The Lord has caused the Bible to be published in the world, so that all may have it and be prepared for this time, if they will; so we are left without excuse. As the Devil has always opposed the word of God, declaring it false, so the great controversy will be terminated on this very question. In fact, the great question before the people is, the Bible or no Bible. Sectarian controversies will narrow down and terminate in this one great question, the mass of religionists rejecting the Bible. It has long been tending to this. Men have been unwilling to give up the errors of their sectarian creeds for the most clear and explicit declarations of the Word. Take the Sabbath question for an example. While the Bible says, the seventh day, the creed and popular practice say, the first day, is the Sabbath; and Protestants who profess to take the Bible, and the Bible alone, for their guide, still have followed tradition instead of truth. But being pressed on this point for Bible testimony and finding none, they next say, the Sabbath is abolished—there is no Sabbath. Again, when shown that the Sabbath is found in the midst of the holy, just and good law of God, and it is seen that they cannot reject it and hold that law, the next step is to say that the law is abolished—the ten commandments are dead. There is but one step more, and that is, from no law to no Bible. And the great mass of professors of religion will take that step, rather than give up their errors and embrace the unpopular truths of the Bible. They will have it that they are immortal. They will choose the Devil's lie, and reject the truth of God's word. I said they will take this step; they are already taking it. They are departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits. The churches are being flooded with spirit manifestations. I find church members that will deny this. They say the churches have nothing to do with Spiritualism; and before we finish our conversation, they will disclose the fact that they themselves are in the habit of attending circles, of taking part in them, and are, at least, semi-believers. The churches, so-called, are the bulwark of Spiritualism. If they did not hold the prime article of the Devil's creed, but little could be effected by it. But Satan's first great lie, that deceived our mother Eve, and caused our first parents to disobey the word of God, is now leading men to reject the Bible with all its beaming light, and fitting them for destruction. If men will follow the teachings of the Bible, it will root out their errors and unite them together in the truth. The blame of sectarian discord does not rest on that blessed book, though many charge it there. The teaching of the Bible is not yea and nay. The Scriptures are able to make the man of God perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And now, dear reader, will you have this Bible? Will you receive the engrafted word which is able to save your souls? Will you keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?—will you obey the third and last special message, which God is now sending forth to warn men of the approaching wrath? Which will you have, the Bible or Spiritualism? Your choice will soon be made; which will you have? You may be prepared for glory, honor and immortality at the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the saints; or you may fancy yourself immortal now, reject the word of truth, and find, too late to rectify the error, that you have been led by the Devil—have believed a lie—and are prepared to drink the unmixed cup of the wrath of God. I repeat it, will you have the Bible? O, dear brethren, do we realize the awfully solemn crisis which is upon us? Are we doing what we can to save our fellow-men from the day of wrath? Are we praying to God for the outpouring of his Spirit—for the refreshing from his presence, to qualify us for the great work? We see that Satan works with power and signs and lying wonders. Shall we not pray, and labor, and strive, that we may be in a position that God can work through us, to save men from the strong delusions of Satan. O, for a perfect consecration to the will and work of God! O, for a thorough sanctification through the truth! that we may have a just sense of the importance of the Third Angel's Message, and of the responsibility resting upon those that know the truth. May the Lord help us to prepare for the work, send us the refreshing, that we may save some from the awful delusions that seem ready to engulf our race in one common destruction.
R. F. C. SUSTAINING THE TRUTH.
By W. Phelps
BRO. SMITH : I have just taken up Review No. 19, and read Bro. Sanborn's call for help to sustain Bro. Ingraham in the field. I hope the brethren will feel the weight of the precious cause and the worth of precious souls, and wake up to the subject. Bro. Ingraham must be kept in the field. The Lord is soon coming, and the harvest is great and the laborers are few, and precious souls are perishing all around for want of the truth. I am aware that brethren are mostly poor, and some are very poor, but most all can do something to help on the cause if they feel a responsibility on them. Some would do something to help on the precious cause if they only had means that they had no other use for. Others mean to help the cause after they have accumulated a certain amount of property; then they can do a great deal. Dear brother, the cause may not need any of your help by that time: Now is the time to help while the cause is suffering for want of it. There are some that are willing enough to help the messengers if they will only ask them for it. One brother once said to me, Bro. Phelps, if you want any thing that I have got you must let me know it. Well, I do not think this is right. If the Lord of the harvest has sent the messengers into the wide harvest-field to labor, he has also laid the responsibility upon their brethren to inquire after their wants. I know the messengers feel a diffidence about asking their brethren for aid to sustain them in the field. I have been acquainted with some brethren that seemed to think when they were helping the messengers, they were doing it because they were objects of charity. I often think of a remark that a Sabbath-keeper once made in relation to helping a messenger a great deal, and then, said he, he never thanked us for it either. Well, that might have been. But I don't know of any messenger that is an object of charity. I don't know of any that can't take care of themselves and families if they were to leave the field and go to work with their hands. But God has laid on them the burden of souls, and they deprive themselves of the society of their families and go forth into the wide harvest-field trusting in God, declaring the good news of the kingdom at hand. And while they do this, it is the duty of their brethren to sustain them in it. It is one commou cause that we are engaged in. It is the last message of mercy to a dying world. All are alike interested in it. I hope the brethren will wake up to this subject and take hold anew. I feel that what is done must be done quickly. I feel to gird on the armor anew and never give over until the victory is won. In hope of soon seeing the King in his beauty. The Christian Life in God’s Pattern
“A christian man's life is laid in the loom of time to a pattern which he does not see, but God does; and his heart is the shuttle. On one side of the loom is sorrow, and on the other is joy; and the shuttle, struck alternately by each, flies back and forth, carrying the thread, which is white or black, as the pattern needs; and in the end, when God shall lift up the finished garment, and all its changing hues shall glance out, it will then appear that the deep and dark colors were as needful to beauty as the bright and high ones.” Systematic Benevolence.
By J. B. Frisbie
DEAR BRETHREN: I offer a few thoughts on the subject of Systematic Benevolence. I have felt that something should be done, or some plan should be entered into that the cause of present truth should not be hindered; that each brother and sister might have the opportunity to help forward the work. And as it is more blessed to give than to receive, that each may share in this blessing in helping to bear the burden in sending the truth to a starving world, who are perishing for the saving truth of God's word, remembering that the widow's two mites were counted more than the gifts of the rich which were much, which were of their abundance. If you want to feel much more interested, increase your treasure in heaven. Money in the bank of heaven is far better than wealth on earth and money at interest here. Methodist "class-meetings," which so many profess to love so well, were first instituted to raise a penny a week from each member, dividing churches into classes of twelve each, one of them a leader, to meet every Thursday night at a place appointed to pay in their penny. Finally they began to inquire how their souls prospered, and thus originated the so-called "class-meetings." This money was to pay for building meeting-houses, and to support the ministry. This worked well in the day of it, as most of the Methodists in England were poor. If the churches and scattered brethren and sisters will enter upon the plan already proposed, and be punctual every week, the cause will not lack the necessary means to go ahead. You will soon have the satisfaction of knowing that your little contributions are sending the present truth to new fields of labor, and be able to read the heart-cheering letters from new converts to whom you have assisted in sending the truth, with the hope of seeing such on mount Zion to help sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Some have suggested one or two difficulties. One is, to make the change exactly every week. This may not be necessary. Put down in the little book the amount every First-day, then lay by a little more or less as the case may be. Another difficulty is, they have not the money on hand. Let such write down in the book every week the amount, and when the way opens to get the means lay by the amount as soon as possible. It is a fact easily learned that where there is a will there is a way. Let us all remember that the work is the Lord's, and that we are bought with a price; let us glorify God in our bodies and spirits which are his. Salvation is the object for which we labor, toil and strive. If we miss of this we lose all that is dear to man. Yours in hope of immortality. J. B. FRISBIE. Communication from Bro. A. Byington.
By Anson Byington
DEAR BRO. SMITH : Although scarcely able to write legibly, on account of a severe bruise on my right shoulder, I must make an effort to review your remarks on my letter contained in the Review of the 10th inst. Without saying that the Review has ever changed its position with respect to slavery—without saying how far my confidence in it has been misplaced, I must say, emphatically, that no press, no pulpit, no ecclesiastical or political combination of men, however fervent in its prayers, or beneficent in its alms, however earnest and fearless in its rebuke of the slave-owner as a violator of the divine law, can be an available auxiliary in the cause of emancipation, while it makes no effort to give the slave the protection of human law. If we would ever see the laws of our land protect all its inhabitants, our moral suasion must be brought to bear on those who make them, on law-makers, and on makers of law-makers. You say, "the tyranny of oppression secludes the slaves beyond our reach;" an assertion which I utterly deny. For, although we may not be able to give bread for their hunger, or medicine for their disease, nor even Bibles for their enlightenment, yet every opportunity we have to elect civil officers, whose official power, if rightly and constitutionally exercised, would secure liberty to all alike, brings us within reach of "the man fallen among thieves." I know Adventists will say they have no beast on which to set him, that they are all on foot themselves; that although they were even slaves, and although their good Samaritan neighbors, mounted on the able steed—the Federal constitution, should offer to take them on, they would not dare to venture on the back of a beast who, though his horns be like those of a lamb, yet speaks as a dragon, and who has so often thrown so many of his riders. But I have the full confidence that the powerful steed is perfectly manageable, that with prudent care, and steady rein, (with impartial legislation,) he would carry us, wounded man and all, safe to the inn—to the halls of public justice where the cure by impartial judicial action would be certain. I admit that the legislation, not only of the slave States, but also of the nation, is dragonic enough to warrant the application of the prophecy of the two-horned beast to our government, but I deny that our Federal constitution any where speaks as a dragon; but on the contrary, I maintain that its prohibitions and provisions are ample to nullify all Sunday laws, as well as slave laws, and to fulfill its promises in the preamble to establish justice, and secure liberty, the great ends for which it was ordained of God through the people of the United States, and that "we the people" are morally responsible for its just and faithful administration, whatever may be the meaning of the prophecies, or however near the second advent. This, to Adventists, may seem impracticable, or if not impracticable, to be but a secular and secondary interest, compared with the rescue of God's people from fallen Babylon, as it truly is, when viewed only in its secular aspects; but, if the blood of the slave shall be found in our skirts in the final judgment, if our final condemnation shall proceed on the ground of our neglect of duty "to the least of these," it will then seem to have been a matter of primary, rather than of secondary importance. Indeed, there is really nothing secondary in morals, for although the first great commandment in the law enjoins supreme love to God, yet the second is like unto it, "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Is the human ruler—the governor of a State, or the president of the United States, under primary and moral obligation to be just, ruling in the fear of God? So are his constituents under equal obligation to elect such governors and presidents as they have good reason to believe will be just. Is God's holy law the higher and universal law? and does it recognize the rightful existence of human law and human rulers at all? If so, it must require the just administration of the law by the ruler, as well as the obedience and submission of its subjects. Reformers must rebuke unjust rulers, and their constituents, as well as rebellious subjects. Need we go to the South to find the proper subjects of this reform? not at all. There is no one State in our whole thirty-three, that has given the fugitive slave the full benefit of her constitutional175 State sovereignty, in protecting him from the prowling kidnapper, nor has any one of them ever sent a delegation to Congress, by whom the slave's constitutional right to liberty and citizenship has been manfully maintained. So that there are men enough about our doors under the dominion and bondage of this political sin, of which they must repent or perish, on whom reformers might afford to expend some little effort. So long as I shall remain firm in my views of the constitution of our country, as expressed above, I shall feel my obligation to spend time, and breath, and money, for their promulgation and maintenance. Nor can I well afford to patronize any pulpit or periodical professing to be a moral reformer, which denies or ignores this obligation. But if you can prove these views to be incorrect, and show that our constitution is a "covenant with hell, and an agreement with death," if its alleged pro-slavery guarantees can be fairly made out—if its guarantees of liberty, and prohibitions of slavery can be fairly and fully explained away, then will your obligation cease to act under it. But if human government be an ordinance of God, you cannot claim our confidence as a true and available reformer, until you put forth your efforts and influence for positive revolution, or for dissolution of our national compact, and re-organization on the basis of the Declaration of Independence. Or, if it be admitted that all human government is of the Devil, there will be no difficulty in believing that the Prince of darkness will hold his dominion to the end. Although I have long been a reader of your columns, I have never asked to occupy space in them. If you can afford to publish the above, whatever strictures you may subjoin, I shall by no means insist on having the last word. Yours in hope of an inheritance in that everlasting kingdom, whose government needs no reform, where the servant is free from his master.
ANSON BYINGTON. Nicholville, N. Y., March 28th, 1859. NOTE. We have no strictures to offer on the above. Our brother has made a declaration of his position, as we have of ours. Time will shortly determine the best policy.—ED. ALWAYS REJOICING.
By Mrs. R. Smith
If our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence in God,
We can bear the world's reproaches, we can bear affliction's rod;
If we suffer with the Saviour we shall also with him reign,
Here we cast our burden on him, with the promise he'll sustain. What though false reports are started, and believed by those we love?
We can love though they turn from us, we can plead for them above;
Lord, impart the Holy Spirit; for the want of this they erred,
Had they waited for thy teachings, they the Shepherd's voice had heard; Would have known thy stately steppings when thy glory was displayed,
Would have felt the holy influence, and thine urgent call obeyed,
O, withhold no blessing from them, for the wrong dealt out to me,
But for Jesus' sake have mercy; mercy, Lord, is all our plea. Jesus has pronounced a blessing on those falsely here accused,
Who for his sake are derided, persecuted and abused;
He has said, Rejoice, in that day ye may be exceeding glad.
Greater still our joy in heaven, when in robes of glory clad. He will hide in his pavilion, there we're safe from every foe,
Under the Almighty's shadow we can through disasters go;
Well can we bear wrongs and censure, while God knows our innocence,
While he justifies us freely, is our shield and our defense. Glory to the Lord my Saviour! glory to his holy name!
O, for his sake I can suffer, bear reproach and grief and shame!
Who, with such a friend as Jesus, can be troubled or dismayed?
Who while on the waters walking, said, 'Tis I, be not afraid. He can still the raging tempest, him the winds and waves obey;
While we sail these seas of trouble, he will smoothe and calm the way.
Soon the ship will be in harbor, storms and tempests all be o'er;
O how blest the glorious landing, tossed with sins and griefs no more! "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Prov. xxviii, 13. Confession is an awkward business for the carnal heart, therefore let no one set himself to this business, unless he is fully determined to make thorough work, and persevere until the carnal mind is thoroughly subdued and renovated. But if one is bound for the celestial city, let him comply with all Scripture regulations, for thus, and thus only, will the attempt to escape from sin and Satan be successful. Let all things be done decently and in order, says one. Again he says, those who strive must strive lawfully, else they will not win the crown. He who refuses to confess open sins, does reverse the order of God, and fails to strive lawfully, and though he may attempt reform, yet it will be in vain, while public sins remain unconfessed. Oh humility, thou excellent grace, come into my heart, and there dwell until confession shall become to me easy and edifying; until by constant exercise of this privilege, I may learn to abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes; until I can say, Behold, I am vile. O Jesus, may I never become too proud to confess fully and freely whenever I offend in thought, word or deed; and as my sin may be against God or man, even so may my confession cover the whole ground. Secret things belong to God, and common sense and reason and the word of God forbid the unnecessary exposure of those sins which are hidden from the public eye, and have no direct bearing upon the public interests. Such unnecessary confessions are often no doubt instigated by Satan. But when one offends manifestly against the brethren, or against any individual, or church, or society, it becomes one's duty to confess his fault; that is, if he truly repents, and if one truly repents of sin his confession will follow. It will be the spontaneous effusion of his heart, now warm with a sense of Jesus' pardoning grace. But fearful is the state of that heart which can flatter itself with the idea that reform in life can be effected, and that Jesus will manifest himself to the soul that remains too proud to say, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight. He may make many prayers and confessions to God, but unless God's order is observed all such prayers will be in vain. Go to the brother, or sister, or church, whose feelings thou hast lacerated, and freely confess; then go to God. Then thy brethren will pray and weep over thee, then shall thy light rise out of obscurity, then thy soul will melt in love and joy, and peace and confidence shall be restored, and thou shalt realize the blessedness of that man whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.