Unbelief is the parent of sin. Had not the word of God been doubted, sin would not have entered the world. But doubt entered first, and was followed by transgression. Hence, in order that fallen man may be benefited by the gospel of salvation, and restored to the favor of God, first of all things, faith is necessary, and obedience follows as a natural consequence. There can be no acceptable obedience without belief, "for without faith it is impossible to please God."
Our faith must have a controlling influence upon our actions; and therefore it is vastly better to believe the truth than to believe the opposite of the truth which is a lie. Hence the idea that it matters not what one believes if he is only sincere, is a great mistake, and will prove fatal to thousands who choose to believe a lie rather than to obey the truth. Jesus prayed for his disciples, "Sanctify them through thy TRUTH; thy word is truth." Those that receive not "the love of the truth," are left "to believe a lie;" and the consequence is condemnation. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Jno. xvii, 17; 2 Thess. ii, 9-12.
Satan knew that he could not introduce sin into157the world while faith in the word of God remained unshaken. Hence he first whispers a doubt: Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? He then comes out boldly and contradicts the word of the Lord, saying, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
This is the first discourse on the immortality of the soul. Like many an orthodox sermon, it has three grand divisions. 1. Ye shall not die. That is, you are immortal and cannot die. This doubtless was the idea conveyed. 2. There are more gods than one. 3. Man may become a god. Ye shall be as gods. By disobedience you may obtain desirable knowledge and be as gods.
Here, happy creature! fair, angelic Eve!
Partake thou also, happy though thou art,
Happier thou may'st be; worthier canst not be;
Taste this, and be henceforth among the gods.
Thyself a goddess, not to earth confined,
But sometimes in the air, as we, sometimes
Ascend to heaven, by merit thine, and see
What life the gods live there, and such live thou.
This grand plan of the enemy, laid in the garden, has been followed out with the most unconquerable perseverance. The grand fundamental idea is that man is immortal—that he cannot die. And though death entered into the world, and men saw the awful sentence, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return, verified before their eyes, yet Satan was not long in persuading the heathen philosophers that the man proper did not die, that man had an immortal soul that went to be with the gods when separated from the body by what is called death, and that those that distinguished themselves in this life—the mighty emperors and heroes—were deified, or became gods. And, as a consequence, these human gods were worshiped under the title of demons. Hence, what is called "doctrines of devils," in 1 Tim. iv, 1, is more properly rendered by Macknight, "doctrines concerning demons," and by Wakefield, "doctrines about dead men." Thus Satan stuck to his text, Ye shall not die, but be as gods. He knew that if men believed this, they must disbelieve the word of God, Dying thou shalt die. They could no longer believe man was of the dust and turned to dust again; but when the body fell, the man himself—the little god that had dwelt in the flesh—migrated to fairer climes, the elysian fields, or the spirit-land that we hear so much about at the present day. Thus what was called death, by the Author of life, was only an emigration—a thing not to be dreaded as expressive of God's abhorrence of sin, and the penalty of transgression against his holy law. So the heathen were blinded and made to believe Satan's lie in preference to God's truth.
But it is objected that the Jews, as well as heathen nations, held the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. To this we reply, that the question is not what professed Jews or Christians have believed upon the subject, but what do their oracles teach? If we follow the faith and practice of apostate Jews, we may have other gods besides the one only living and true God set forth in their Scriptures. If the belief of Jews in the immortality of the soul is to be taken as proof of the doctrine, their frequent idolatries may be taken as a proof of a plurality of gods. Why refer to false professors of religion, and those that the Lord Jesus called hypocrites, to prove one point of faith, and reject their testimony in other things? To leave the Scriptures that God gave the Jews, and talk about what the Jews believed, is like quoting the faith of the Roman Catholic church for christian doctrine, instead of the New Testament.
Satan has always been persevering in his efforts to make men believe his lie, and the Jews were always too ready to receive the fables of the heathens with whom they came in contact. Dr. Campbell says, "Before the captivity, and the Macedonian and Roman conquests, the Jews observed the most profound silence upon the state of the dead, as to their happiness or misery. They spoke of it simply as a state of silence, darkness and inactivity. But after the Hebrews mingled with the Greeks and Romans, they insensibly slid into their use of terms, and adopted some of their ideas on such subjects as those on which their oracles were silent."
This, and many other testimonies that might be cited, will show how Jews obtained this doctrine. Satan has done his best to make all men believe it; for he has a grand, ultimate design in view. His plan has ever been to cause men to reject the word of God. That word has lived, and there have always been a few that have believed it. It seems that Satan foresaw that copies of the Bible would abound in the last days, and has been, from the beginning, pursuing a regular plan of operations to increase his temptations as light increases, so that the last generation of men, by a belief of his first lie, may be prepared to reject all the increasing light of divine truth, and come out boldly, and totally reject the word of God. Like a cunning gamaster, he has concealed his "hand," professing that his doctrine is the doctrine of the Bible, thus preparing the way to play off his "last card," and make men openly reject that very Bible that they have claimed as teaching the prime article of their faith—the immortality of the soul.
This last card, by which Satan intends to "sweep the board," is Spiritualism. After getting his favorite doctrine into the creeds of all the churches, and generally admitted by those outside of the churches, he opens, as it were, a new plan of operation, and, in the character of an angel of light, proposes "to draw mankind together in harmony, and convince skeptics of the immortality of the soul." A skeptic, in Satan's vocabulary, is one who believes the Bible means what it says, on the subjects of death and immortality. The number of these, though few, was increasing at the time when spirit manifestations arose. The Advent doctrine and the unscriptural theories by which it was opposed, had awakened a spirit of inquiry in honest minds concerning what the Bible taught on these momentous subjects, and the result was, that Bible students were receiving God's truth, and rejecting Satan's lie. Therefore, though the mass of men believed the lie, something must be done to head this skepticism, which was opposing itself against his most ancient and favorite doctrine. R. F. C.
(To be Continued)
Prepare for the Coming Storm
RUMORS of a European war are rife. Indications are thickening that that time is upon us which the prophet saw, when, looking into the dim future, he exclaimed, "The nations were angry." What follows? "And thy wrath is come," is the next utterance of the prophetic word. Rev. xi. 18. We know from the chart of our voyage that it will close in perils. We know from the sure word of prophecy that trouble awaits the world—distress of nations with perplexity. The prophetic command has gone forth, "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men!" Are we seeking that righteousness and meekness which will procure for us a hiding place in the avengerful day? We might do this with more heart and zeal, some may say, if affairs were not at present quiet—if the storm was already bursting. But do you not see it gathering? Do you not behold its thickening gloom? Do you not hear its distant mutterings? Is the dread stillness that just precedes its awful fury the time for sloth and stupor? Must we wait till the tornado breaks upon us ere we commence the work of preparation? A prudent man foreseeth the evil, says the proverb, and hideth himself. Now is the time to work. Would that we could echo through all the land the divine and imperative warning, "Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth!"
The Spirit of Christian Charity
It is recorded of Tyndale that having once escaped the cruel hands of his enemies, and entertaining nothing but the tenderest charity towards them, he said to them: "Take away my goods, take away my good name, yet so long as Christ dwelleth in my heart, so long I shall love you not a whit the less." This is the spirit we like to see; and all in whose hearts Christ dwells will not be slow to show it forth. That selfish sensitiveness in regard to our own rights, our own honor, and our own property, which so often reigns in unsanctified hearts, melts away before the spirit of genuine christianity.
THE CHURCH TAKES THE LEAD IN SLAVERY.
In a "Tract for the Times," by Henry T. Cheever, we find the following facts which it would be well to remember.
"In the year 1833, the Presbytery of Chillicothe, Ohio, adopted a strong paper, reprobating the system of slavery, and setting forth its intrinsic, inherent, and inexcusable wrongs. A copy was sent to the Stated Clerk of the Synod of Mississippi, embracing at that time the States of Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Alabama. At the meeting of the Synod in the Fall of 1834, at Port Gibson, in the church of which Rev. Zebulon Butler, D.D., was then and still is the pastor, Rev. James Smiley preached the opening sermon, in which he argued the righteousness of slavery from the Bible. . . . This was the beginning of Bible slavery in this country. The year after, Mr. Smiley amplified his sermon into a book, now famous as 'Smiley on Slavery.' . . . To Dr. Smiley belongs the honor, or dishonor, of first endorsing and defending Slavery from the Bible. Rev. Dr. Fuller, an eminent Baptist clergyman, then of Charleston, South Carolina, next followed; then Dr. William Winans, of the Methodist Church; then, and not till then, politicians chimed in, and made the welkin ring with the 'God-ward side' of slavery."
Although this defense of Slavery was at first strongly condemned by the churches generally, yet it reveals to us the fact that the attempted justification of Slavery by the Bible, originated in the church; and this the church South have now generally adopted. We find in this enough to justify the remark of Albert Barnes, that "there is no power out of the church that could sustain slavery an hour, if it were not sustained in it."
The Moral Law Is Universal
"Every one of these" (the great moral laws announced at Sinai), says Tappan, "utters a universal and necessary moral truth. Duty as here presented is not arbitrary but rational. Logic, p. 241.
GURNEY ON THE SABBATH.
FROM a small work on the Sabbath, by J. Gurney, an English author, the American edition being edited by Prof. Stuart of Andover (Mass.) Theol. Seminary we make the following extract. Although Mr. Gurney observed Sunday and taught men so, he says some good things relative to the Sabbath, previous to the time when he finds it necessary to make a change. In all such cases, we believe in gathering the good into vessels and casting the bad away. On the distinction between moral and ceremonial laws, Mr. Gurney says:
"Nothing can be more palpable than the distinction maintained in the Scriptures between the ten commandments (those delivered from mount Sinai) and the civil and ceremonial institutions of the Mosaic code. The former were laws as old as the world itself, applicable to all men, and essential to the maintenance of a true theology and of a righteous life. The latter, though mixed up with much that was moral (or derived from these laws,) were intended for the national welfare and adapted exclusively to the peculiar religious circumstances of the Hebrews. Accordingly the former were pronounced by Jehovah himself during a visible and awful display of his glory; whereas the latter were communicated to the people only through the intervention of a human law-giver. On the same ground, while the civil part of the law of Moses, was committed to the magistrate, and the ceremonial part to the priest; each was steadfastly maintained as important for its particular purposes. It was the moral part of that law—it was the ten commandments both in their principles and in their details, on which the preachers of righteousness ever delighted to dwell. These were the constant theme of the rebukes, the entreaties and the exhortations of the prophets.
"In taking this view of the subject, it seems impossible to separate the fourth commandment from those which precede and follow it. It was delivered with the same solemnity as its fellows, and was written on the table of the covenant by the same finger. It is, moreover, important to observe that it fitly concludes the first table of the covenant, and as fitly introduces the second. The first table relates to the worship of the true God. It proclaims his unity and the sanctity of his name, and forbids all idolatry. How could it be better concluded than by the law of the Sabbath, which renders the worship of God practicable, by breaking the train of our temporal pursuits, and by setting apart one day in seven for this express purpose.
"So also the strength of the second table which unfolds the moral obligations of man to man, will ever be found to lie in the remembrance of the Creator of the universe; because on his will alone are these obligations founded. Now the Sabbath was the appointed means of perpetually reminding man that he is himself a creature, and that God is his Creator, and Sovereign.
"It was a current saying among the talmudists that, 'he that denies the Sabbath, is like to him who denies the whole law.' Rabbi Levi of Barcelona says, that 'the object of the Sabbath to the Israelites, was that, having no other business, they might fasten on their minds that the world had a beginning, which is the authority that draws after it all the foundations of the law.'
"Accordingly we find that while most of the ceremonial law was instituted by Moses, perspectively, that is, with a view to its being put into practice after the Israelites had settled in the land of Canaan, the Sabbath was strictly observed even during their journey in the wilderness." pp. 33-35.
CONSCIENCE.
By A. S. Hutchins
It is not uncommon to hear conscience spoken of at the present time, as approving of a course which we think the word of God condemns. It is also frequently spoken of as some unerring or infallible faculty or power of the mind, which always keeps a close and untiring watch over all our actions, and never allows us to move wrong without a timely reproof or admonition. Hence it is not an easy matter to convince those entertaining such a high respect for their consciences, of any wrong practice, except they first feel the smilings of this monitor.
I have, says one, a monitor within my breast, which approves when I do right, and disapproves when I do wrong; and as I feel no condemnation for pursuing this or that course, therefore it cannot be wrong.
But we apprehend that, with many, the difficulty lies here: they do not consider that our conscience is dependent upon our education, and that it may be quick and active, or stupid and inactive. The man who desires to enjoy the approbation of his divine Master, will find his conscience approving when he does what he has been made to believe is right, and disapproving when doing that which he was educated to believe is wrong. Hence if his education has been right, his conscience will naturally lead him in the right direction, and so vice versa.
Says Covel, "A conscience well informed, and possessed of sensibility, is the best security for virtue, and the most awful avenger of wicked deeds; an ill-informed conscience is the most powerful instrument of mischief."
"The rule of conscience is the will of God, so far as it is made known to us, either by the light of nature, or by that of revelation. With respect to the knowledge of this rule, conscience is said to be rightly informed, or mistaken; firm, or wavering, or scrupulous, &c. With respect to the conformity of our actions to this rule when known, conscience is said to be good or evil. In a moral view, it is of the greatest importance that the understanding be well informed, in order to render the judgment or verdict of conscience a safe directory of conduct, and a proper source of satisfaction."
Says another writer, speaking of conscience, "It may be weakened, perverted, stupefied, defiled, and hardened, in various ways; and its decisions are more or less clear, just, and imperative, according to the degree of improvement in the understanding and heart, and especially according to the degree in which its purity and sensitiveness have been preserved and cultivated."
I have often been surprised while conversing with our First-day friends on the claims of the fourth commandment, to find so many of them apparently perfectly contented with the observance of the First-day Sabbath, simply because they do not feel the reprovings of conscience. Now we ask, Is this a safe course to pursue? Here is the word of God blazing before us, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." But conscience says the first day is the Sabbath, and you will be safe to keep it.
This course reminds us of the Apostle's question respecting the unbelieving Jews [Rom. iii, 3, 4.], "For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar."
But let us come to the word of God, and see if we can find license there for holding conscience as an infallible guide.
"Thy word the choicest rules imparts,
To keep the conscience clean."
Says Paul, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." Acts xxiii, 1. See also chap. xxiv, 16; Rom. ix, 1; 2 Cor. iv, 2; 1 Tim. i, 5, 19; iii, 9; 1 Pet. iii, 16. In these quotations the Apostle speaks of a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Also of a "good" conscience, and a "pure" conscience, &c. And well would it be if conscience were always kept thus.
But this is not so, for we hear the same Apostle speaking in Titus i. 15, of a defiled conscience. Says Cruden on this text, the conscience becomes defiled "when it is blinded and perverted, so that it cannot judge of its own actions. This evil conscience is sometimes quiet, sometimes stirring and troubled. It accuseth when it should excuse, and excuseth when it should accuse. The conscience also even of the best, is now and then erroneous and doubtful."
Again, we read of an "evil" conscience, [Heb. x, 22.] and again of a class in the last days, "speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron." 1 Tim. iv, 2. A seared conscience we understand to be, "quite extinct and cut off, or utterly hardened, which has lost all sense of feeling."
From the facts thus far gathered from the word of God on this subject, the conclusion is undeniable that conscience is by no means a safe guide at all times.
We would say then to all desirous of a conscience "void of offense toward God, and toward men," earnestly and perseveringly seek for the light and truth from the word of God, educate and regulate conscience by the Bible, and not the Bible by conscience. Be sure that it is kept good, and pure, and then act in accordance with your sober and honest convictions of duty. Otherwise the conscience that would lead one to do right to-day, may become defiled and seared and excuse him for doing wrong in the future.
In further demonstrating this fact, we shall perhaps be allowed to insert here the Indian's figure bearing on this point. He said that conscience might be represented by a three-cornered instrument in the breast, having sharp points, and capable of a revolution. The first time one does wrong a revolution is produced, which scrapes and hurts severely; and so on, the revolution continuing with each succeeding wrong. But said he, some men's conscience has turned over so many times that the corners are rounded and smooth, so that he is not hurt though it revolve again and again.
Is not this actually a solemn fact with some at the present time? Has not conscience often urged them forward to duties which they have continued to neglect, till they suppose it is a good conscience that justifies them in their disobedience? "EXAMINE YOURSELVES."
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Our Mother.
By E. B. Saunders
Most of the professing Christians of our day have much to say about our Father, while our Mother is not known among them, or if known, is not appreciated as a mother ought to be. But who is our Mother? some will ask. Let us examine the Scriptures and learn. It is admitted by all that Christ is the Father of his people. Those who will be saved are counted as the seed, or children of Christ. "A seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation." Ps. xxii, 30. "His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven." Ps. lxxxix, 29. Here the righteous, or those who will be saved, are meant, for they are to endure forever. Who does not see the propriety of calling the faithful his seed, or his children? Seeing then that we are counted as the children of our Lord Jesus Christ, if the simile is a good one we must have a mother also. And if we are legitimate children, our mother will be the wife of our Lord. But who is the wife of our Lord? See Rev. xxi, 9, for an answer. "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the New Jerusalem." This is sufficient here to show who the wife is.
Let us now see if we are the children of the New Jerusalem. Paul, speaking of the Jerusalem that now is, says that she is in bondage with her children. "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all," and then he quotes Isa. liv, 1, to prove it. By reading the remainder of the chapter, we find that the New Jerusalem is the subject of the prophecy. Compare verse 5 with Rev. xxi, 9; also verses 11, 12 with Rev. xxi, 18, 19. The gathering of the nations is also mentioned. Compare verse 15 with Rev. xx, 7-9. "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord." Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the acknowledged servants of the Lord. This then is their heritage. But they looked for a city whose maker and builder is God, and he hath prepared for them a city. See Heb. xi. We learn also [Isa. liv, 5] that the maker and builder of the city is also her husband. This city is also called Zion. Heb. xii, 22; Isa. lx, 14. "And they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel."
Having now found that we are, or shall be, the children of both our Lord Jesus Christ and the New Jerusalem, let us inquire if we are yet born unto her: if we are now being "dandled upon her knees," or are now being comforted "as one whom his mother comforteth." It is well known that the marriage of the Lamb is to immediately precede the second advent of Jesus, and immediately after the advent, the saints eat the marriage supper. Now Christ is ministering before the ark, consequently the marriage is not yet consummated. If Zion's children are born before the marriage takes place, they will be illegitimate, consequently it is plain that they will not be born until afterwards.
It is evident from reading Isa. lxvi, that Zion's children will not be born until after the voice of the Lord is heard roaring from on high, [compare verse 6 with Joel iii, 16; Amos i, 2; Jer. xxv, 30; Isa. xlii, 13] which evidently does not take place till the day of recompense to his enemies; which will be at his second coming, when Zion's children will be manifested, for the earth will cast out the people of God now hid away in her pits and vaults. Then will "a nation be born at once," for the earth shall cast out her dead, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, wakened by the sound of the trumpet, or the voice of God roaring out of Zion. Then, and not till then shall we be "dandled upon her knees," and nourished by the tree of life in the midst of Zion. Then the new birth is the resurrection or the change to immortality. As Christ is the first-born from the dead, we shall expect to see in him one who has been born again, as a specimen of Zion's children, and of what we shall be. We see him like the wind, appearing suddenly, and disappearing in an instant; so will all be who are born from above; and we, not being in that state yet, it follows that we have not been born again. Though not born, yet we may have been begotten by our Lord Jesus Christ, through the gospel; not by hearing the word preached, but by believing and obeying, manifesting our faith in Christ by our actions. The first action which shows our faith in a risen Saviour, is baptism; then having put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man, we have a prospect of rising in the first resurrection.
To those who are ready to cry out because we believe that a man is not regenerated till the resurrection, we will say that we would not undervalue the importance of conversion, or the necessity of putting off the old man, but let us not denominate this change of feelings the new birth. It is a popular doctrine, and one well calculated to lull the world to sleep, that the Jews will be gathered into the land of Palestine before the Saviour comes. With such, Israel and the Jews are one and the same. Let us see how long they are to be given up to be despised and cast off. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth; then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel." Micah v, 2, 3.
We learn from Isa. lxvi, that Zion is "she which travaileth," consequently they will be given up until the resurrection, when they will be redeemed from the hand of him that was stronger than he, by being redeemed from the grave, where they are kept until Zion brings forth her children, when the remnant shall join the resurrected dead, and together up to Zion. May your name, kind reader, be among those dear children who will rejoice in the lap of our mother, Zion. E. B. Saunders.
Letters.
By Myrta E. Steward
"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another."
From Sister Steward.
Dear Brethren and Sisters: I have often been admonished and encouraged by reading your communications, and feeling willing to cast in my mite towards the support of this most interesting part of our interesting paper, I try, for the first time to write to you. I feel a union with the people of God. Do we not all belong to one family—our mother the New Jerusalem, our Father, God, our elder brother, Jesus? And what a perfect family we'll all make at last, when we get home. I re-
joice that God requires us to be perfect; that eventually our dear, blessed family shall bear no "spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." Glorious thought! I feel that God's requirements are all, not only just but reasonable and merciful, and I am glad that we may and can "yield ourselves servants to obey" him; that there is one so great and good to whom we may give ourselves, all our cares and enjoyments, our all, and feel that he will take care of us, and that he knows just how to use us where we can do most for his blessed cause. Yes, thank the Lord that to-day I feel that I can submit my all to him, and cling to him as a little child does to an earthly parent, while passing through dangers and darkness. But I long for more, even perfection. God help me to attain to it. My mind has been dwelling upon the promises of God. How vast they are! No wonder that Peter called them "exceeding great and precious promises" too, and Paul declared he counted all things but loss &c., that he might win Christ. And can not we, dear brethren and sisters, count all earthly possessions and enjoyments but loss, that we may secure Jesus and a home in his everlasting kingdom, with immortality and eternal life! What a promise! Exceeding great and precious! How our minds run out and our hearts swell in trying to reach its extent. It is inconceivable; and then it is a life of happiness, a life of holiness and love—love running and returning from heart to heart. Not a discordant or unholy thought or feeling will be in all the countless multitudes of the redeemed. And can it be this state is attainable by poor fellow mortals, even ourselves? Oh it is of the wonderful condescension of God! And how can it be our hearts are not always overflowing with love and thankfulness to him who has done, is doing and has promised to do so much for us? Bless his holy name, he knows we are but dust, and so his mercy and love is with us day after day.
We find the churches here, at Adario, and Mackford, in a prospering condition. I think, the Holy Spirit makes his abode with many dear brethren and sisters in these places. May they be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. I believe God has a people in this State; but my heart is pained while I remember many whom I have loved in the truth, now far away in the Age-to-come. Oh can not such see that a doctrine that bears such "fruit," that leads to coldness and death, (spiritual,) cannot be accepted of God? Even admitted it were truth, in what does it concern you? Can it lead you to a closer walk with God? Does it cleanse from any sin? do you feel after dwelling upon it, better fitted to lead dying souls to Jesus? "We shall know them by their fruits." Do remember "now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation;" not after the change of dispensations and the Saviour has left the mediatorial seat.
Brethren in Wisconsin, look at the effects of this doctrine in our own State. How many of all who believe it have not left practical godliness and consecration to God, for a dying, theoretical religion? Few indeed, as far as I can learn. Has not this fact a voice for you? Time has been when God accepted and blessed you—your sick were raised. (Do not now tempt God by attributing the works of his Spirit to any other cause.) I recall the happy seasons we have spent together. My heart turns to you as it did then, but it is to remember that devotion has given place, I fear to a fearful extent, to theory and coldness. Is it not so? Search your own hearts, be true to yourselves and to God. Oh it pains my very soul, when I contrast those days with the present. You certainly can yourselves see the change. And may we never begin around159your family altars and in your prayer-meetings witness what we have in by-gone days? Arise! "arise from the dead and Christ shall give you light." Do you not see that in your present dark situation, you are not prepared in many instances to discern truth from error? Otherwise what did Paul mean when he said, "The things of the Spirit, are spiritually discerned." And why then are you so sure you have the truth? Oh do, I entreat, make one more effort. Come to Jesus, humble yourselves, submit all into his hands just as you are, and go about doing his will, asking of him guidance, not only regarding your duty, but also his truth. He has promised wisdom to those who lack. Be persuaded to ask for his assistance, and go about getting perfected for the kingdom of God. Do have more care for yourselves and your own probation, which you admit will soon close, than for theorizing upon a probation for a race of beings no more precious than the sinners of our own land, whom you might now be instrumental in leading to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Do try to get into a position where you may use all the talents God has given you for the salvation of the many around us sinking fast, we may say, almost daily, beyond the reach of mercy. Get a religion that has a life, a present zeal and work in it; and then while you may never take of the "heathen" for followers of the Lamb, you may be sure of other stars in the crown of your rejoicing. If God has called you, it is into a vineyard, and he expects you to labor; otherwise, your places will be filled with others who will eventually take your crowns—so that the kingly and priestly office of the saints you will never fill after all. We can trust the future with our kind heavenly Father, and be assured, dear brethren, we shall with David be satisfied when we awake in his likeness. Then let us give our attention to present truth and present duty, and we shall find enough to occupy our entire hearts and time.
Dear brethren and sisters, pray for us that our "whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
MYRTA E. STEWARD.
Hancock, Wis., March 21st, 1859.
WILL YOU BE A PILGRIM?
By Mrs. R. Smith
Will you come in with the pilgrims, though a remnant they may be,
And know the blessed privilege of gospel liberty?
Will you take the name of Christ, and be redeemed by sovereign grace,
And find in him from every storm a sure, safe hiding-place?
Will you part with earth's delusive joys, with all its vain delights,
And "bear the consecrated cross," to have the christian's rights?
They have a right to call on God; and he's vouchsafed his aid,
The ancients said, We'll trust in thee, nor ever be dismayed.
They said 'tis nothing Lord, with thee, with many or with few,
To put a mighty host to flight, and all our foes subdue.
Will you go against the multitude, in his own strength and name?
He fought their battles and he's still unchangeably the same.
Their hope's an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast too,
And buoys their spirits up in all the conflicts they go through.
Will you have this hope to cheer you, to an unfading crown—
A crown that far outshines this world, with all its grand renown?
They've no abiding city here, but look for one to come,
A glorious city all illumined to be their final home.
O will you suffer sorrow here, and have a home in heaven,
A kingdom that will shortly be, to all the faithful given?
Mrs. R. Smith.
West Wilton, N. H.
A New Believer’s Testimony
Bro. S. A. McPherson writes from Berlin, Mich.:
"Bro. Sмітн: For the first time I now attempt to say a few words in favor of the Review, although I cannot express the satisfaction and comfort I have taken in reading it and comparing it with the word of truth.
"It has been but about one year since I embraced present truth, and I praise the Lord that I was ever led to see my lost condition, without hope in the world. By searching the word I soon found that
I must keep all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus if I would have a right to the tree of life. And now my prayer is that I may walk in the light while we have it, lest I be left in darkness. While I read the letters from the brethren and sisters, I obtain strength and new courage to press my way on, trusting in Jesus, who is able to deliver the godly out of temptation. My determination is to apply more faithfully the eye-salve, adding to faith, virtue; to virtue, knowledge, and by his grace assisting, to stand with the children of God amidst their trials and conflicts here, that I may stand with them on mount Zion."
Christian Growth and Consecration
By I. S. Chaffee
From Bro. Chaffee.
BRO. SMITH: I have been attending meetings near Portage City, Wis., with Bro. Welcome and some others. There was good attendance and very good attention from the people, also a great interest for the salvation of souls. Much of the Spirit and power of God was manifest there, and many were made happy in a Saviour's love. Our labor was to get souls converted to God, so that they would love him with all the heart, and then let them take the Bible and live according to the rules therein laid down, and not on doctrines, without the grace of God in the heart. I like to see christians that have enough religion in the heart to lead them to obey a truth when they see it. Paul says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Now when we have once consecrated all to God, let us keep all upon the altar, and then we shall grow in grace; but remember, as soon as we take anything off the altar, we shall begin to grow cold in the service of God. Then pride will creep in and begin to manifest itself in our dress or appearance, and instead of reading the Bible, it will be the magazine, perhaps, or some novel, or painted story in the newspapers, and next will be mingling with the world, &c.
Brethren and sisters, let us examine ourselves every day, and see if we are in the faith, and that we continue in the love of God, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world. It is a very sure sign when a brother or sister's vacant seat is seen in the prayer-meeting, without a good cause, that there must be something wrong. Let us search our hearts and see if we have not let in something which has crowded out the love of God.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Let us see that we have no condemnation resting upon us. O, the blood of Christ can cleanse from all sin, and the least stains that sin has made. O that no brother or sister would rest short of this free and present salvation. O that I for one might be an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. I feel to praise God for his goodness towards unworthy me. I have encouragement to press my way on, for grace is sufficient for us. My trust is in God. Although I walk through the valley and shadow of death I will fear no evil, for his rod and his staff they comfort me.
Yours in hope of eternal life.
I. S. CHAFFEE.
Ordino, Wis., March, 1859.