p. 55 | Review and Herald, Vol. 35, No. 7. (2/8/1870)

The Order of Events in the Judgment.

NUMBER FOURTEEN.

The fact that the resurrection of the righteous is declarative of their acceptance in the sight of God, and, therefore, proof that the investigation and decision of their cases precede that event, has been very distinctly stated by some of the clearest minds in the Advent ranks. The late Sylvester Bliss, for many years editor of the Advent Herald, thus states the case:

“We are inclined to the opinion that the judgment is after death and before the resurrection; and that before that event the acts of all men will be adjudicated; so that the resurrection of the righteous is their full acquittal and redemption—their sins being blotted out when the times of refreshing shall have come (Acts 3:19); while the fact that the wicked are not raised [for 1000 years], proves that they were previously condemned.” Advent Shield, p. 366, published in 1845.

He saw the fact perfectly distinct that there can be no trial of the righteous after they have been made immortal. But it is very evident that he did not well understand when and how the examination of their cases should take place. Elder Josiah Litch, one of the ablest writers in the early history of the Advent movement, states this subject even more distinctly than Mr. Bliss. In his Prophetic Expositions, written in 1842, on pp. 49-54, he uses the following language:

“THE MEANING OF THE TERM ‘JUDGE.’

“1. It is used in the Bible in the sense of a trial according to law and evidence; the idea being drawn from a civil or criminal court. . . .

“2. It signifies a penal judgment; or the execution of judgment.

“The terms are both used in reference to the judgment of the human race. All men will be brought to trial, or into judgment, and all their deeds and their moral characters will be examined, and their everlasting states will be determined by the evidence produced from God’s books, including the book of life, which will decide the moral character and everlasting destiny of each individual of Adam’s race. If their names are found in ‘the book of life,’ they will be saved; and if not found there, they will be cast into the lake of fire, the second death. But the degree of reward or punishment will be graduated by what each one has done. . . .

“THE TRIAL MUST PRECEDE THE EXECUTION.

“This is so clear a proposition that it is sufficient to state it. No human tribunal would think of executing judgment on a prisoner until after his trial; much less will God. He will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil.

“But the resurrection is the retribution or execution of judgment; for they that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life. ‘We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.’ ‘In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’ Here is clearly a retribution in the resurrection. It will be administered when the saints are raised. But no more certainly than they that have done evil will come forth damned, or ‘to the resurrection of damnation.’ They will come forth to shame and everlasting contempt. The saints will be raised and be caught up at once to meet the Lord in the air, to be forever with the Lord. There can be no general judgment or trial after the resurrection. The resurrection is the separating process, and they will never be commingled again, after the saints are raised, no matter how long or short the period to elapse between the two resurrections; it is all the same so far as the separation which the resurrection produces is concerned. If there is no more than a second which elapses between the two resurrections, the separation it makes is final.

“These two senses of the judgment are recognized in Rev. 20:12. ‘And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.’ This is the trial of the dead in the invisible and spiritual world, BEFORE JESUS CHRIST COMES IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN. The only evidence on which the trial proceeds is, the books and the book of life.

“They tell the whole story, and we must abide the issue of the trial on that testimony. The dead, as dead, were judged. Then follows, in the next verse, the penal judgment, in connection with the resurrection: ‘The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged [judgment was executed on them] every man according to their works.’ There is no reference here to a trial or to the opening of the books; but simply a penal judgment. Judgment will be executed, finally, on each party; the righteous and the wicked, each one at the time of their resurrection; the righteous at the first resurrection, and the wicked at the final resurrection.

“GOD, THE ‘ANCIENT OF DAYS,’ WILL PRESIDE IN THE TRIAL.

“1. Daniel 7:9, 10, presents the Ancient of Days coming on his throne of fiery flame; the judgment is set and the books opened. He is distinct from the Son of Man, spoken of in verse 13, when he comes to the Ancient of Days.

“2. Revelation 20:12, tells us it is God, before whom the dead stand and are judged.

“THE SON OF MAN WILL EXECUTE THE JUDGMENT.

“Thus the Saviour declares, John 5:27: ‘And hath given him authority to EXECUTE JUDGMENT also, because he is the Son of Man.’ Also 2 Cor. 5:10: ‘For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.’

“Also Paul’s testimony in the Acts of the Apostles: God ‘hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.’ What we are assured of by the resurrection of Christ, is the execution, in the resurrection, of a righteous judgment on all men.

“THE TIME OF THE TRIAL OF THE DEAD.

“Is it under the opening of the sixth seal of Revelation sixth chapter, where the servants of God are sealed. . . . And under the seventh seal (chap 8:1) when there is silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour; when the great Mediator ceases to plead for sinners, the day of grace ends; then the judgment or trial will proceed on the living inhabitants of the earth. That done, Christ will appear in the clouds of heaven, and come to the Ancient of Days and the scene of trial, to announce the verdict with a shout, and deliver all his saints as soon as they are declared innocent, or justified, and raise them to eternal life in the twinkling of an eye. We are now justified by faith; we must, however, be declared justified at the day of judgment, before the effects of the fall will be taken away, and the saints be restored to God’s perfect image and glory.

“THE 25TH CHAPTER OF MATTHEW.

“This chapter does not, as has been supposed, describe the great trial, but the separation between the righteous and wicked, which will be accomplished by the resurrection of the just. And when the separation is accomplished, Christ will address each party, and show why he has made this separation. But through the whole scene, he acts the part of the executor of judgment. . . . [Query. Did the judgment, or trial of the dead, begin to sit when they took away the Papal dominion in 1798? See Dan. 7:26, compared with Dan. 7:9, 10.]”

The reader cannot fail to be deeply interested in these extracts from Bliss and Litch. We do not indorse every idea. Indeed, there is a degree of confusion in the language which shows that the subject was not wholly clear. Thus while Elder L. teaches that the session of the judgment must be before Christ comes, and even thought it might have commenced at the end of the 1260 days, he seems also to teach that Christ comes to this tribunal when he descends to earth. This cannot be as has been fully shown in a former article.

But this reasoning of Elder Litch, relative to the investigation and decision of the cases of the righteous before the resurrection is weighty and conclusive. It is worthy of notice that he places this judgment of the righteous at the tribunal of the Father, as presented in Dan. 7. He believed that this part of the judgment work was to be fulfilled while the living were yet in probation; for he suggested that it commenced in 1798 with the ending of the 1260 years. These able writers saw the fact that this work must take place before the resurrection of the just, but they did not see the time and place for the work. They did not see the heavenly sanctuary, and therefore had no clear idea of the concluding work of human probation, as presented to us in the Saviour’s ministration before the ark of God’s testament. The temple of God in Heaven reveals the very nature of this work, and the prophetic periods mark its time. The proclamation of the angel that the hour of his judgment is come, and his solemn oath to the time, gives to mankind the knowledge of this great work, and the certainty that the present is the time of the dead that they should be judged. This doctrine is of the highest practical importance. It shows that we are now in the antitype of the great day of atonement. Our business should be the affliction of our souls and the confession of our sins.

Humiliations.

THESE are not pleasant, but they are very profitable. They give us true views of ourselves. They help us to find our right place. They serve to show what manner of spirit we are of. Some persons profess to serve God, when a secret desire for promotion is the mainspring of their zeal in his cause. How much better that such persons should meet with humiliating disappointments than that they should be apparently successful. The effect will be to cause a decided change. They will discover the baseness of the motives that have prompted them to activity in the cause of Christ, or if they do not, they will forsake that course in disgust at their failure to procure promotion. Not so with those who love our Lord in sincerity. The humblest place in the house of God will be by them preferred to the highest exaltation that the service of sin, of self, and of the world, can give.

Welcome to humiliations. They are like our Lord's crown of thorns, painful to wear, and sure to be the occasion of many blows upon our heads from the reeds in the hands of our enemies. But they are a mark of honor, as well as abasement. They indicate our willingness to suffer with Christ. They evince our willingness to bear the cross of Christ. They are a part of our badge of discipleship. Faith esteems them, though at present sharp and painful, as of more value than all the treasures of earth; for it looks forward through the telescope of God's word to the time when the crown of thorns shall be changed into a crown of inexpressible loveliness, and of priceless value. Then every thorn will become a ray of glory, and every pang of anguish be changed to joy unutterable. Welcome the cross of Christ! Welcome the shame, the pain, the humiliation! Welcome the humble life of Christ's disciples, and welcome at last their infinite reward!

The School of Patience

—Reckon that a lost day in which you do not enjoy sanctifying communion with God.

—No school is more necessary to children than that of patience, because either the will must be broken in childhood or the heart in old age.

Is it Blindness?

By John H. Waggoner

I once heard a Methodist minister in Illinois, speaking against the observance of the Sabbath in the present dispensation, say that the direction in Matt. 24:20, proved no more in favor of observing the Sabbath, or of its sanctity, than of winter! This, I supposed, was said on the spur of the moment, but did not suppose any one would ever risk his reputation for candor or good common sense by saying it deliberately, or leaving it on record as his settled conviction. But I was mistaken. In the “North-Western Christian Proclamation,” a Disciple monthly published at Buchanan, Mich., of September, 1869, is No. 4 of a series of articles entitled, “Abolition of the Jewish Sabbath.” In answer to the objection to the writer’s view raised on the above text, he says:

“Christians were exhorted to pray that their flight from Jerusalem be not on the Sabbath-day. (Matt. 24:20.) We do not perceive that this passage demonstrates the sanctity of the Jewish Sabbath in this dispensation, more than the sanctification of the winter; for the command is that they should pray that their flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day.”

It is barely possible that the writer was so deeply prejudiced that he supposed the above remark was an answer to the objection; yet it does not seem probable, inasmuch as we can hardly imagine that a writer for a monthly religious journal could be so ignorant as to suppose there was a parallel between the Sabbath, and winter, in respect to sanctification. Every one who has read the Bible knows that the following presentation of facts and contrasts is correct:

God rested the seventh day from the work of creation, and adopted it as the memorial of his work. No such fact is recorded concerning winter.

God blessed and sanctified the seventh day. He did not sanctify the winter.

He commanded that we keep holy the seventh day. He surely did not command that we should so keep the winter!

He pronounced blessings on them that keep, and curses on them do not keep, the seventh day. * Nothing of the kind was ever spoken concerning winter, or any other part of the year. All these facts belong exclusively to the Sabbath, or seventh day. All are aware that the Sabbath was recognized as an existing institution in the days of our Saviour, and by our Saviour himself.

And to pass it by as parallel in respect to the above facts with winter, is merely to slur over important Scripture truth to sustain a feeble theory. Such a course may meet the approval of fellow-mortals as deeply prejudiced as themselves, but when “God shall bring every work into judgment” on the authority of “his commandments,” Eccl. 12:13, 14, such perversions of his sacred word will appear in their true light. J. H. WAGGONER.

The Closing Messages.—No. 24.

By Roswell F. Cottrell

The reign of the papacy has passed away—the forty-two months of the beast have expired, his power to persecute to death the saints of God has ceased, and he has been led into captivity. But the effect of his corruptions of the word of God remains, and there arises another power to enforce them. As the beloved disciple, our brother in tribulation, saw the ten-horned beast carried into captivity—a prophecy which had its fulfillment, as we have seen, in 1798—he immediately adds: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” See Rev. 13:11-18.

Of this beast, about 1750, Mr. Wesley said: “He has not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he must appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast.”

Doubtless Mr. Wesley was correct. He could not see this beast before he appeared. These descriptive prophecies are not to be understood till their application is developed in the fulfillment. A ruling power to arise in the world is pointed out, not by naming it, but by describing its features and acts in such a way as to distinguish it infallibly from every other power that shall arise. Then when a government arises in the right order and manner, precisely fulfilling the description given, it is positively certain that it is the power intended in the prophecy.

Now we claim that the description given of the two-horned beast has been so far fulfilled in the features and acts of the United States as to leave no reasonable doubt that this is the power pointed out in this prophecy. We will give some reasons for this belief; premising that it is reasonable to expect, or rather that it is unreasonable not to expect, that a government occupying the conspicuous place of our own, in the civil and religious world, should be noticed in the prophecies which mark out the world’s history down to the end.

1. It is “another beast.” The one with ten horns is called “the first beast;” this of course is the second; succeeding the first in the time of his reign, but not in the same dominion; for the deadly wound that takes away the dominion of the first is healed, and after this they are contemporary—the second causing his subjects “to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed,” and doing his miracles to deceive in his “sight.” The fragmentary remains of the old Roman empire, with its crowned heads and ruling hierarchy, constituted the first beast. This, though slain in 1798, has revived; and as it comprehended the whole European material, I submit that another beast or government existing thenceforward contemporaneously with it, must necessarily be found in another place.

2. The course of empire, as also the light of civilization and Christianity, has, like that of the natural sun, been from east to west. The first great empires noted in symbolic prophecy, Babylon and Medo-Persia, had their seat in Asia; Grecia was in Eastern Europe, and Rome still farther west, fully occupying the ground to the Atlantic coast. Civilization and Christianity have crossed the Atlantic, and the gospel sun, having compassed the globe, sheds its evening rays upon the American continent. Where else should be found the great empire which is to act so conspicuous a part, in connection with the church, in the last act of the world’s great drama? And where else should the closing message of probation, the message which is to warn the church of her last great conflict with earthly power, take its rise?

3. The time of the rise of the two-horned beast should evidently be, as Mr. Wesley says, at the close of the forty-two months of the first beast; for at the point where John sees the first beast go into captivity he beheld another beast “coming up.” The pope was taken a prisoner of war in 1798, and carried into captivity. At that point of time what new empire, dominion or power, was just rising to the notice of mankind? No one whatever in all the world but the United States. The present independent sovereignties of the New World were all, at that time, but colonial dependencies or appendages of the governments of the Old, except the United States. Our Declaration of Independence was twenty-two years old; the war of the Revolution was in the past; and in that very year, 1798, the treaty with France—the last tie that bound us in any way to the dominions of the Old World—was broken off, and the United States stood up boldly in the face of the whole world with this motto: “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.”

4. The manner of the rise of this beast, as contrasted with that of the first beast, gives a clue to its locality. The first beast, as also Daniel’s four beasts of which it was the fourth, rose up out of the sea. The winds strove upon the great sea, and the result was, these beasts came up from the sea. Dan. 7:2, 3. Winds are a symbol of war—these kingdoms arose by conquest. Waters are the symbol of “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Rev. 17:15; Ps. 124. By the agitation of the great sea of nations the first beast with its ten crowned horns, was developed. In contrast with this, the second beast comes up out of the earth; as though, away from the strivings of the people, it grew up in a territory previously unoccupied. This points to the new government just then growing up peaceably in the wilds of America, like a plant out of a rich soil.

Since history unconsciously records the fulfillment of prophecy, we give an extract from the Dublin Nation, published some twenty years ago, which shows that the manner of the rise of the United States corresponds exactly with the prophecy of a beast “coming up out of the earth”:

“In the west an opposing and still more wonderful American empire is EMERGING. We islanders have no conception of the extraordinary events which, amid the silence of the earth, are daily adding to the power and pride of this gigantic nation. Within three years, territories more extensive than these three kingdoms, France and Italy put together, have been quietly, and in almost ‘matter of course’ fashion annexed to the Union.

“In seventy years, seventeen new sovereignties, the smallest of them larger than Great Britain, have peaceably united themselves to the federation. No standing army was raised, no national debt sunk, no great exertion was made, but there they are. And the last mail brings news of the organization of three more great States about to be joined to the thirty. Minnesota in the north-west, Deseret in the south-west, and California on the shores of the Pacific. These three States will cover an area equal to one-half the European continent.”

5. The lamb-like horns of this beast, with no crowns, present a striking contrast to the crowned horns of the first beast, and are suggestive of a mild and free government like our own. This, together with the fact, that when the image is called for, the call is made “to them that dwell upon the earth, [this beast’s territory,] that THEY should make an image,” (vs. 14), clearly points to a democratic, and not a kingly form of government, a government where the ruling power is in the hands of the people.

A horn is an emblem of power, whether civil, or ecclesiastical. The papacy was called a horn in prophecy even before the three were plucked up to give it place. It was at first a purely ecclesiastical power,

and received no civil jurisdiction till A. D. 755. Our government has no crowned rulers in whom its power is vested; but there are two fundamental, ruling principles which are the elements of its power and greatness. It is well known that it was to find an asylum from oppression, ecclesiastical and civil, that the first settlers of our country encountered the perils and hardships of a wilderness life, so far from the abode of civilization. They had felt the combined tyranny of kingly and priestly rule, and they desired, it is said, to found a state without a king and a church without a pope—a government that would secure to all, their God-given rights in all things, both civil and religious. The result has been a government founded upon the acknowledged principles of equal rights in civil affairs, and equal protection in matters of religion. The grand doctrine of the Declaration is, “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And recognizing the rights of conscience, and of private judgment, and the fact that matters strictly religious, pertaining to man’s duty toward God alone, are above human legislation, the Constitution declares that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Was there ever anything more lamb-like! Equal rights and equal obligations—equal civil rights in the government, and in its management, and equal obligation to respect the religious rights of all others. Protestantism both in church and state—protesting alike against civil and ecclesiastical despotism. How mild, how lamb-like are these two principles! How God-like! for God is no respecter of persons. Where these principles are carried out there can be no tyranny, civil or ecclesiastical—there can be no slavery, and no religious persecution. No human government was ever before founded in such principles as these. None ever proposed so mild and gentle an exercise of power. How strongly it contrasts with the lion-like powers of the Old World—the “dreadful and terrible” beasts! It is not so much of a wonder that sanguine and superficial persons have imagined that this government was the everlasting kingdom which the God of Heaven was to set up.

We conclude, then, that the leading features of our government—Republicanism and Protestantism—are what are symbolized by the two horns like a lamb. What other government under heaven presents so striking a contrast to those of antiquity, as is implied in the change from the crowned horns of a beast like a leopard, with feet like a bear, and mouth like a lion, to these crownless, harmless horns like those of the gentle innocent lamb?

The speaking of this beast like a dragon, is the enactment of laws directly contradicting its lamb-like appearance and profession. This, with the exercising of “all the power of the first beast,” is mainly in the future, after the formation of the image, in the time of trouble following the close of probation. Then he will wage a war of extermination against the people of God, but the Lord will appear for their deliverance. Dan. 12:1; Rev. 12:17; 14:1-5. If any doubt the possibility of such acts under this free and enlightened government, we refer them to the accursed institution of slavery so long tolerated in this land of “equal rights,” and the persecution of Quakers and Baptists in New England. “If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?”—What will they do when restraining influences are gone, and wicked men are given over to the power of Satan?

R. F. COTTRELL.

The Nature of an Unquenchable Fire

THE action of fire is not to preserve but to destroy. It lives upon that which is cast into it, or upon which it preys. It dissolves substances into their original elements, and changes them mainly into gaseous matter. The great and terrible conflagration of the last day will differ from every other in this grand fact, that in consequence of such chemical changes as the Creator will make, even the water shall burn as pitch, and the dust as brimstone. That fire shall devour every element, and then cease to burn for lack of fuel. It is not the property of fire to annihilate matter, but to dissolve it, and change its form of existence. The fire of the great day shall do this to the whole substance of our globe.

But if it be an unquenchable fire, must it not burn to all eternity? One thing is very certain in that case, viz., that if the fire never ceases to burn, there must be an eternal creation going on; for the fire is continually devouring, and however vast the pile of fuel, unless it be absolutely unlimited and infinite, it must at last be all devoured. Indeed this is precisely the work of an unquenchable fire. It is to burn till it has utterly consumed all the fuel. Take the following as an illustration. God told the people of Jerusalem, when that city was threatened by Nebuchadnezzar, that if they would keep the Sabbath, their city should stand forever; but if they would not, in this, hearken to his voice, he testifies thus: “Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” Jer. 17:27.

The people of Jerusalem would not heed this gracious warning. They put the Lord to the test to show whether he was in earnest. The last chapter of Jeremiah gives us the fulfillment of this warning. For we are told that Nebuzar-adan, the servant of Nebuchadnezzar, came to Jerusalem, “And burned the house of the Lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire.” Jer. 52:13.

Thus we see that this unquenchable fire did utterly devour every thing that could burn. But that fire is not in process of action. It did its work. It could not be arrested. But when that work was done, the fire ceased. Such is the nature and the work of an unquenchable fire.

JOHN MATTESON

By John Matteson

Report.

In Centerville I had to meet some very fanatical opposition by the United Brethren minister. On the second night of his protracted meeting he threw out every wicked and mean insinuation against us that he could think of. When his meeting closed I gave notice to review him. He objected, and ordered me arrested; but none would heed his orders. He said he had a good mind to lay his hands on me. Then he tried to hire the house for his own use, but the trustees refused. After much disturbance I got a hearing. Order was restored, and all stayed. A good and, I trust, lasting impression was made on the minds of the people. The majority of his own members lost confidence in him, and some of them decided to have no more fellowship with him. He confessed before all, after I got through, that I had witnessed a good experience in religion, but my doctrine was dark infidelity. He then withdrew his meeting, and I continued meetings undisturbed through the week. Several have taken a stand for the truth. I do not know yet how many.

I intend to visit again after a while. Organized a Bible Class with fourteen members, before I left.

Since then I have been four weeks near Ft. Lincoln. The brethren who live south of Mound City, live from two to five miles round Ft. Lincoln. I did not intend to stay here long, but was drawn into a discussion with the Methodist minister, on the immortality question. He was the leading man of that class in the county, and was looked up to by all. We continued six sessions. House crowded to overflowing. The notary public of the place officiated as chairman. Question decided in favor of the truth by committee at close of debate.

After this I tried to follow up the interest. Weather not very favorable. Prejudice strong on account of failings and difficulties among our brethren, of long standing. Small attendance. Some convinced of the truth. Prospect of a few being gained. Had some solemn and searching meetings with the brethren. Better feelings and union are being established among them. Have organized a Bible Class with sixteen members.

Commenced preaching last Sunday in this place—Mapleton—six miles west of Ft. Lincoln, by urgent request of one of the leading men in society. This is a small village on the prairie. A beautiful farming country around it. A large and convenient schoolhouse. Good attendance and interest to hear so far. Plenty of openings to preach in this country. School-houses free, for all denominations, every where.

JOHN MATTESON

Mapleton, Kan., Jan. 25, 1870.

Looking at the Best Side

Dr. Johnson was wont to say that a habit of looking at the best side of every event is far better than a thousand pounds a year.

Meetings in Michigan.

By Joseph Bates

SABBATH, Jan. 1, 1870, a good gathering of brethren and sisters from Tompkins, Leslie, Parma, and Grass Lake, came to the Monthly Meeting in Jackson and were strengthened to press their way onward in the message.

Jan. 3 and 4, by invitation of Sr. M. A. Eaton, we held two evening meetings in her house at Grass Lake. One decided to keep the Sabbath. Some were anxious, and there seemed to be a good opening for some brother to give a course of lectures in the place.

Jan. 5 and 6, held two evening meetings with the brethren in Leslie. Bro. Byington, on his way to St. Charles, united with us at our last meeting. We trust some were benefited and encouraged to urge their way onward in the good work of the Lord.

Bro. A. Richmond took me with his team seven miles to Bunker Hill, where we labored from the 7th to the 11th, and held five meetings. The brethren here seemed very thankful for our visit, as there had been no one to visit them since my last, in Feb. 1869. They manifested a readiness to hear and to be overcomers, that they may be saved when Jesus comes.

Jan. 11, Bro. Bailey took me in his sleigh to Alaiedon, where we commenced evening meetings and visiting from house to house. Bro. Waggoner and Littlejohn came on the 14th, and continued the meetings over the Sabbath and first-day, much to the edification and encouragement of their hearers.

Sunday, the 16th, their newly-erected meeting-house was dedicated. Bro. Waggoner preached to a crowded house from the words, “Preach the word.” 2 Tim. 4:2. Bro. Littlejohn followed in the P. M. from the testimony in Mark 16:14-30. Both discourses were listened to with stillness and deep attention; we trust some good was done. At the close of each discourse the elders of the church gratuitously distributed our pamphlets and tracts to the retiring congregation, who thankfully received them. Our prayer is, that they may read and believe.

By persevering effort and patient labor, a few enterprising, faithful brethren have, in a few months, erected, finished, and furnished, a neat and commodious house that will accommodate some three hundred worshipers of God. The Lord bless and strengthen them by adding to their numbers such as shall be saved, is our prayer. Monday, the 17th, Bro. Briggs brought us all to the railroad station in Mason. During this last tour we have distributed a few hundreds of our late tracts and pamphlets, especially to our fellow-passengers in the cars. Some have received them very thankfully. I have noticed that quite a number continue to read, and some come to my seat to ask questions and converse on the subject matter of the work they have been reading. Some say they cannot read in the cars. I say to such, pocket them, and read and distribute them when you get home. Thus the fruits of hard, mental labor become flying messengers to plead and instruct tens of thousands of our fellow-men that may be benefited and eventually saved by their instrumentality.

I well remember when I read Eld. T. M. Preble’s short article on the Sabbath of the Lord, (afterwards in a small tract,) some twenty-six years-ago: how I said, “THIS IS TRUTH!” and decided from henceforth to keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. So others, who may have tracts based on Bible testimony placed in their hands, may be as forcibly and silently convinced.

JOSEPH BATES.

Monterey, Jan. 26, 1870.

Report from Monroe, Iowa.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

I WAS with Bro. Butler at Knoxville some four weeks ago. Then he and Bro. Morrison came with me to Monroe. We had an excellent meeting and the effect was good. The result of our debate with Mr. Johnson was far better than we had supposed at first. Several more have embraced the truth and many have become our friends who were not before.

We have organized s. B. here, amounting to $268 per year. By urgent request I have begun lectures two and a half miles from town in a school-house. The interest has been the very best so far. The church members in Monroe have sent to Illinois and obtained a man to come and expose Adventism. He begins this week to “expose and refute Advent errors.” I shall have to hear him, which will close my lectures for the present.

I have just finished building my house, and have moved into it. Have had to work very hard to do it; laboring during the day with my hands and walking to and from my lectures at evening. But we now have a home, for which we are thankful to God. This will now be my permanent address.

D. M. CANRIGHT.

Report from Ohio.

By I. D. Van Horn

SINCE my last report of the 10th inst., I have continued my meetings up to Sunday evening, the 23d. The house was then closed against me. The house is owned by the Methodists, but they, having no society here now to occupy it, allow the Lutherans to use it. They are not very strong and have no meetings now. There were a few Lutherans and a Methodist man that did not like the truth well enough to hardly come out and hear for themselves, and when they found that some were interested, they rose up and closed the house.

But this all has the appearance of working for our good. Another house, about three miles from this, also belonging to the Methodists, has been opened, and I have been invited to hold meetings in it. I have accepted the invitation, and shall commence meetings there this Wednesday evening, the 26th. At a meeting last week I took an expression of the people on the Sabbath question and fifteen arose, being convinced of the truth. Not one arose in favor of Sunday. Last Sabbath in our meeting a man and his wife who never had made a profession before, declared their determination to keep the Sabbath of the Lord and be Christians. Could we have continued our meetings, no doubt others would have followed their example. I have hopes that they will yet do so. Most of those interested can attend my meetings in the other house that has been opened for me. I think some good will be done here, yea, there has been already. I hope to remain humble, so that the Lord can work through me Thus to the advancing of his cause. The Lord has been good to me and I will praise him. To him belongeth all praise, and honor, and glory.

I. D. VAN HORN,

Townsend, O., Jan. 26, 1870.

Sayings on Faith and Contentment

THE heavenly Bridegroom will not put out a believer's candle because of the dimness of its burning; nor overshadow a believer's sun because of the weakness of its shining.

BEES find the flowers, not because they are symmetrical and beautiful, but because they have honey in them. If sinners are ever attracted to the churches, it will not be by the observance of stated and stately forms, or by the display of gaudy paraphernalia, but because there is salvation in them.

A CONTENTED heart is an even sea in the midst of all storms.

Joy may be the fortune of sorrow, but sorrow is the lot of all.

Caution Regarding Moving West

By James White

NOTE.—We publish Bro. Rogers’ reply to Bro. Ramsey’s “word of advice,” as he informs us the brethren feel grieved with Bro. Ramsey’s article. I did not see Bro. Ramsey’s note till after its appearance in the paper. I then thought it was too unguarded in its ex pressions. My own observation of soil and crops in Northern Missouri forbid my receiving his statement in full, while I fully indorse the advice to such as are “well situated in the East.” The spirit of moving has ruined multitudes. We would be glad to know that proper caution was observed in all cases in this respect. Few are aware of the trials and privations to which they subject themselves in moving so far, and especially to a new country. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” J. H. W.

JESSE BARROWS

By Jesse Barrows

From Bro. Barrows.

DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: It has been a long time since you have heard from me through the REVIEW. It is not because I have lost my love for the truth; no, it is because there are so many more to write for the REVIEW now, than there were some twenty years ago when I first embraced the truth, that I have kept still. The Review has ever been a welcome messenger to me. While I read those cheering epistles from the brethren and sisters, it cheers my heart to press on with God’s people. I had the privilege of attending the New England Camp-meeting, last fall, and hearing those solemn truths and straight testimonies that were proclaimed by God’s servants; also the privilege of meeting with some of the tried friends that have toiled on through all the Advent movement. I believe their straight testimonies found a lodging place in my heart. I believe I have profited by the privilege I enjoyed. My privileges of meeting with the people of God for the last five years have been somewhat limited; but I can say the truth never looked more precious to me than now. I want to confess all my sins that they may be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come.

Yours in hope of eternal life when Jesus comes,

JESSE BARROWS

Washington Co., Vt., Jan. 1870.

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