It was not without design that the Lord left no image or picture of his holy person behind him. He put the question of worshiping an image of himself out of sight by leaving no image. There is not even the shadow of authenticity upon any reputed relic. We are not even sure of the site of Calvary or Gethsemane, the place of his crucifixion or his burial. Even the mount of his ascension is not known or named. The “fragments of the true cross,” the “holy coats,” etc., are all impostures. Nobody but the most superstitious and ignorant Romanists believes that there is on earth one genuine relic of the Lord, or of his mother, or indeed of any early saint.
There was a design in this. Considering all things,—the reverence and love of the apostles, for instance,—it is very strange that there is no word for ages of any relic of our Lord’s early life, and that “the discovery of the true cross,” in the fourth century, by Helena, should have been so suspiciously a cooked-up thing.
No picture and no relic, whose genuineness is even probable, exists of our Lord, or of his apostles, or indeed of any early Christian worthy. One cannot help connecting the strange fact with that second commandment which our Roman Catholic brethren are in the habit of omitting from their list, and with the petition in the Lord’s prayer.
The pictures, so-called, of the Virgin—there are scores of them, in all positions, and they are highly reverenced by our Romish friends, and dilettanteized and sentimentalized over by many of our Protestant friends—are, we all know, when we think, only portraits of women by no means always reputable, the mistress of the artist, painted as the Madonna in one picture and as Venus in another.
The pictures, so-called, of our blessed Lord are more shocking still. An Italian beggar man or thief, with a picturesque beard and hair, is painted, and the painting labeled with the holiest name!
The pictures of the apostles are conventional. A monk with a lion is St. Mark, a monk with an eagle is St. John, a monk with a sword is St. Paul, and one with a big key is St. Peter. They are merely pictures of the most picturesque old loafers the painter could find for his model.
Here, then, is where the Romish argument fails to reach us. We have heard it a score of times, and expect to a score or two more. We admit, in one way, its force. We do venerate the pictures of great men. We do love, and might perhaps “salute,” the picture of a very dear friend. We are free to acknowledge we should deeply venerate the picture of our Lord, or of one of his apostles. But when our Romish friend puts us in front of a dime lithograph, manufactured in Ann street, and tells us that is our Lord’s picture, we beg leave to retire before our disgust gets the better of us. Or, when he soars a step higher, and shows us the picture of a picturesque Italian bandit, and says that is Christ’s, and we should salute it and kneel before it, we respectfully decline so stultifying ourselves and insulting our Master. Or, again, when he presents us to the portrait of a young woman of questionable life, with an infant in her lap, and demands that we shall reverence this picture as that of the Virgin Mother and her child, we might beg that he will please to go no further. The thing is getting unbearable. His anxiety to reverence “sacred pictures” is rapidly carrying him beyond Christian decency. —From Dr. Hugh Miller Thompson’s “Copy.”
KANSAS T. AND M. SOCIETY.
By Chas. F. Stevens
The third annual meeting of the Kansas Tract and Missionary Society was held at Neosho Falls, Kan., May 23, at four o’clock P. M. President in the chair. Prayer by Eld. Geo. I. Butler.
Chas. F. Stevens was elected secretary pro tem. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.
It was moved and carried that a committee of three be appointed by the chair to nominate officers for the ensuing year; whereupon the following persons were named for said committee: J. H. Cook, Wm. E. Dawson, J. A. Ashbaugh.
Adjourned.
SECOND SESSION.
The second session was held May 26, at 5 o’clock P. M. Prayer by J. S. Thorp.
The Committee on Nominations reported as follows: For President, J. N. Ayers, Garnett, Anderson Co.; Vice-president, J. Lamont; Secretary, A. J. Stover, Oswego, Labette Co.; Treasurer, John Heligass. For directors: Dist. No. 1, Reuben Worrick; No. 2, J. H. Coffman; No. 3, T. H. Wakeman; No. 4, Wm. Dail; No. 5, A. A. Reed; No. 6, A. G. Miller; No. 7, John Riley; No. 8, E. H. Fortner; No. 9, H. C. Main; No. 11, A. W. Cone; No. 12, A. J. Stover; No. 13, J. P. Henderson.
The above-named persons were elected to their respective offices, with the exception of the nominee for treasurer. On motion duly seconded, A. J. Stover was elected treasurer for the ensuing year.
Voted, That Dist. No. 10 be dropped from the records, and the territory divided between Dists. 9 and 11, Greenwood county being annexed to Dist. No. 9, and Coffey and Woodson counties to Dist. No. 11. It was then voted that Dist. No. 13 be changed to Dist. No. 10.
Adjourned.
CHAS. F. STEVENS, Sec. pro tem.
FLOWERS ON DINING TABLES.
Nothing can equal the beauty and appropriateness of flowers at meal time, and during the season they should never for once be absent. It is a custom which should become universal among rich and poor. Even grasses and leaves and ferns add cheerfulness to the room, and to the hearts of those assembled around the board. Very pretty ornaments are made by uniting fruits and flowers. Such fruits as have long stems or grow on slender branches are better suited, such as strawberries, cherries, currants, gooseberries, etc. But no matter what the flowers or fruits or what may be used to put them in, let them be found upon the tables during floral season. Set the children to preparing the dinner-table bouquet; it will prove a useful lesson to them; and beget a love for flowers and floral ornaments.—Temperance Blessing.
A BEAUTIFUL FLORAL ORNAMENT.—
Take a soup plate or pickle dish, and fill it with sand. Moisten the sand with water, and heap it to a cone, and then thrust into the wet sand flowers and foliage enough to cover the whole surface, and you will have, if you arrange it well, the most beautiful floral ornament that can be imagined. This is an excellent way for arranging short-stemmed flowers, or those the petals of which are too soft to be tied without injury among stiffer ones. Or place in the center of your soup plate a tea cup, a child's mug, or a wine glass, in which insert a made bouquet, and then, filling the plate around it with sand, proceed as above. This will give a better cone than the first method.
ELDER HIMES.
By James White
We have recently found a letter addressed to us by Eld. J. V. Himes, soon after the Lansing camp-meeting. It is written in the spirit of kindness. He speaks of the hospitality shown him upon the camp-ground in terms of gratitude. He speaks of his disappointment in not being able to confer with Mrs. White and the writer relative to the signs of the times and the near coming of Christ, because of Mrs. White’s arduous labors and our many cares and feeble state of health. He states that although we differ on some points of practice, yet he would not say or do anything to wound our hearts, and that for what he has said which would have this tendency he asks forgiveness. Cheerfully and heartily we forgive. And more, we never can forget to respect the man who acted so noble a part in the first angel’s message, which message we fully believe was in the direct providence of God. Eld. Himes acted a liberal part in publishing a defense in response to a wicked article that went through his paper against Mrs. White and her work. Whatever may have been the mistakes and errors of Eld. J. V. Himes, we shall ever extend to him the friendly hand, and bid him a hearty welcome to our hospitalities should we have opportunity to do so. We wish that those who have tried to crush him were as willing to confess their faults and sins as he is.
JAMES WHITE.
THE COMING STORM.
As S. D. Adventists have, in years past, expressed their convictions from the prophecies that a time of trouble was approaching which would bring distress of nations with perplexity and cause men's hearts to fail them for fear, culminating in the great destruction of the last day, they have been set down as alarmists, uttering their warnings and creating fears, without cause or occasion. But the indications of such approaching trouble are now too apparent to be ignored, and the staid religious and political papers of the land are becoming as intensely alarmists as ever we have been.
The country is becoming thoroughly aroused by the evils which already perplex, and the dangers which so alarmingly threaten us; and such leaders of thought as the Independent, Scribner's Monthly, Christian Union, Advance, Presbyterian, N. Y. Tribune, and other papers are loud in the utterance of their apprehensions of what may be experienced in this country, unless the storm can be averted.
Those who read the prophecies aright are not taken by surprise in this matter, and we have no occasion to act as though any new revelation had been made to us. There are those bearing the Advent name who have lost their message and have scarcely any other stock in trade but the “signs of the times.” The zeal of such rises with prodigious effervescence when some startling event transpires, or some great revolution is impending, but as readily subsides when the event becomes old, or the danger passes.
The true basis of our faith is the purpose of God as revealed in his word. But yet these signs have their place and are entitled to their share of consideration as corroborative evidence. The moral and political phases which the world now presents, would be no definite indication of the last days, had not prophecy connected this condition of things and the last days together. On the other hand, if, having the predictions, no such state of the world was evident, it would show that we had not yet reached the time for the fulfillment of the prophecy. But when we have them both together, all doubts, like metals in the mingling flames of a compound blow-pipe, instantly melt away.
All the baleful elements which led to the reign of terror in France in 1793 and 4, are now at work throughout all Europe and America, threatening to precipitate upon the world within a few weeks or months at most, the direst, because the most wide-spread, calamities the world has ever seen. In relation to the times and prospects we quote a few of the now extensively published opinions of the press.
Scribner's leading topic in the March number is entitled “An Epidemic of Dishonesty.” It calls for some concert of action to preach down or pray for “the removal of this awful epidemic of dishonesty.” It says that while the head is orthodox, the heart and life are heterodox, and until these are reached as they are not now, this epidemic will continue and become a national disease like the leprosy in Arabia.
The present Congress is characterized by such unwise and unsatisfactory legislation, that the Philadelphia Ledger declares that the country will keep an informal day of thanksgiving when its law-makers disband.
The Tilden-Potter resolution introduced in the House of Representatives, which looks to the ousting of Mr. Hayes from the presidential chair, the N. Y. Independent denounces as revolution, “and what that revolution would involve,” it says, “no one can tell until the facts themselves should become their own reporters.” Again, referring to the Congress by which the votes were counted it says:—
“The action of the latter settled the question and put it beyond controversy, except by a quo warranto proceeding under law; and, if the question thus settled is to be unsettled by a subsequent Congress, and thus this Government is to be Mexicanized by a defeated and revolutionary faction, then the people may as well understand first as last that the days of the Great Republic are numbered. We are not alarmists without an occasion; yet we cannot conceal from ourselves, and will not from our readers, the fact that there are immense possibilities of mischief in this new movement of the Democrats.”
The municipal debts of our cities are becoming a source of perplexity, increased taxation, and consequent distress. The twelve largest cities of the Union have more than doubled their municipal debts within the last ten years, thus swelling the annual taxation to $80,000,000, or about $16 per capita of their entire population.
Of the Communistic movement the Christian Statesman says:—
“That the Communists are drilling in various cities, and maintaining a semi-military organization, can no longer be denied. A call was issued last week in St. Louis, for all Internationals who had seen military service in this or other countries to meet for organization. Three or four hundred men assembled in response to the call, and the object was declared to be to organize military companies to maintain the rights of workingmen against the police. We are no alarmists. We have no fear that Communism will ever destroy American institutions. It did not destroy France, and probably never will, but it gave infinite trouble, and will again. It will do the same in America. It is no wiser to ignore social dangers than to exaggerate. The semi-military organization of Roman Catholics in their various societies, displayed occasionally in public processions, is another fact which, however inveterate optimists may flout it, their leaders are careful to maintain.”
Of the threatening dangers of Communism, and their immediate cause, the Presbyterian says:—
“We have mutterings of a storm in our political and social sky. Angry flashes are shot athwart the land, ominous enough to awake the stolid and heartless, were it not that many may be deceived by names. It is called Communism, Internationalism, Workingmen's Associations, Red Republicanism, which in themselves are bad enough, but under these are concealed real want, which is more to be dreaded than deviltry. The desperate in purpose are leading the desperate in condition, and when combined they are fearful; and if a divorce is not obtained between honest need and organized conspiracy, and the former relieved soon, and the latter stamped out, we may have a fearful crisis, to meet perhaps in blood. There is no time for trifling. The extremes of need and of diabolism are making a junction, and like two charged clouds, when brought in contact, a tempest will ensue.”
“In the cities, where Communism is now growing so rapidly, untold and indescribable sufferings exist among those who would toil if they had any opportunity. And we are not guessing at this state of things. As pastors, we know it, until our hearts feel at times as if they were leaden, over the greatness of their privations, and our utter impotence to help. It is said in the last stages of hunger the stomach itself begins a kind of self-digestion, and then the victims see phantoms of devils. And if this starving process goes on much longer men who, with the most ordinary provisions for sustenance, are peaceful and well-disposed members of society, will not only see phantoms of devils, but will make society see them before long.”
The Sabbath Recorder in an article headed, “What are We Coming to?” says:—
“We are not an alarmist, but confess to an uneasy state of feeling. We are not among those, if any such there be, who think that there were no occasions for fear in the past, and that only evil exists at the present time. Nevertheless, we believe that the society of to-day is thoroughly honey-combed with evil of the most threatening character. Nor is this evil confined to the outside world, but in many instances those at one time standing high in the confidence of the churches have proved rotten through and through.”
“But this is only a drop in the bucket. Society, to its center, is corrupt, and doctrines the most destructive are everywhere prevailing.”
“Nor is this all. The foundation of the social fabric is assailed, and society is threatened with total disruption. Communism, that foe of the Old World, in many places is here an organized force, having its center in the great cities, but spread widely through the land, and at present is growing rapidly. This is not simply an idle, foolish sentiment, but is an organized, unlawful, brutal force, with sword, gun, and saber in hand. Nor is this organization committed to the defense of the country, but it is the drilled enemy of law as ordained for the protection of our social system. If it be said this evil is of too diminutive a character to excite fear, only numbering as its adherents those in the humbler walks of life—that no one should argue from this cause the general corruption, then we call attention to the political condition of our country. We know that from the organization of our government, political corruption has existed in many forms, but yearly this corruption has increased, until the doctrine that might makes right, if not openly professed, is boldly and shamelessly acted out. Peculation and gross dishonesty, not only here and there, but almost everywhere appear. But this is an organized evil. Rings are everywhere formed for plunder or its equivalent, and it is next to impossible to break them up, as witness the gigantic struggle in the city of New York a few years since. There is, however, another form in which this evil is working, which is worthy of the most serious and thoughtful attention of every citizen, and that is the corrupt management of the politics of the government, especially in the planning and conducting of our political campaigns. This is a growing evil, and we should awake to the fact.”
“Reader, are there not things transpiring in this country at the present time that suggest to us that we are on the verge of revolution? It is not in the province of this paper to advocate mere party measures as such, but may we not speak out when rash and destructive measures are violently pressed against the protests and remonstrances of the more thoughtful, sober, and experienced? Or, when vagabonds and the unthinking masses, who congregate at groggeries and other schools of vice, organize, and with the implements of death, thread the streets of our cities, is it not time to speak out? We warn our citizens, declaring there is danger, and to shut our eyes to this is not wise.”
The N. Y. Tribune, in an article headed, “The Danger Ahead,” calls attention to the fact that the Communists are securing control of the powerful “Trades Unions,” and thus becoming strongly fortified for the carrying out of their aims. It says:—
“In Chicago secret labor organizations, numbering three or four thousand men, have been armed, and for some weeks have been drilling in that city. There is little attempt to disguise the purposes of these organizations in this country. Sheltered by freedom, they are here to destroy freedom. They are preparing ‘for open warfare against social order and civilized society. It is high time to give this matter serious attention. Men who love order, or have property to lose, cannot afford to treat with indifference the steady advances of Communism in this country.”
Add to all this the exceptional atmospheric disturbances of these days, the cyclones, tornadoes, tidal waves, the terrible famines in Asia, and the political unrest of all Europe, the eastern difficulties still unsettled, and the nations putting themselves to the last degree of exertion to prepare for impending strife, and who dare prophesy peace and safety? and who can fail to see that we have reached the preliminary movements of the great battle of Armageddon?
APPEAL FROM ITALY.
By John Nevins Andrews
The following appeal for help comes from those who have embraced the truth through the labors of Bro. Ribton, at Naples. It was written by them of their own accord, and not at the request of Dr. Ribton. They sent it to me to be forwarded to the General Conference Committee, at Battle Creek. I send the original, with twenty-two names appended, and I send also a translation to be printed in the REVIEW. I know not what words I can use that will add to the force of this appeal. When I was in Naples a small hall was found that could be had if we would lease it for nine months. But it was not even furnished with seats, and it was very uninviting. Just opposite to this hall is a Roman Catholic church, with an image of the Virgin in front, and this prayer to her inscribed in stone: “Show thyself to be a mother.”
I could not regard such a hall thus situated as a promising place for the preaching of the truth. It would cost fifty francs ($10) per month, and it must be furnished with seats and lamps and other necessary things by us. But Bro. R. had sought a hall for many months, and this was the first one that could be had. It was first offered while I was there, and there was no other which we could obtain. At first I was averse to hiring the hall. I told Bro. R. that if the hall was hired I feared that I could do nothing for his personal expenses, and that he would suffer for means to sustain his family. But he said nothing could be done in Naples without a hall, and that he would trust God to sustain him in the work. I was at last perfectly satisfied that it was duty to hire the hall. But as it is easy to make mistakes even when we think we are right, I determined in my own heart that if there should be nothing accomplished by the preaching in the hall, I would as soon as possible replace in the funds of this mission all the money that I should take for the expense of the hall.
Our lease expired May 4, and cannot be renewed only at much higher figures; but it is not desirable to continue in that hall. Now what has been accomplished? Bro. R. has preached in it a great number of times. In one letter to me the past winter he says: “The past fortnight I have preached sixteen times, written many letters, and made many visits.” The opposition has been so violent that they have been obliged to have the police station guards at the door. Stones have been thrown through the181windows, and on one occasion a quantity of fire works were exploded within the hall, so that his congregation was obliged to disperse. It has been at the peril of assassination that Bro. R. has continued his labors. And now behold the result. Here is a company of twenty-two persons who unite in such a declaration of their faith as is expressed in the following appeal. Several of these persons are able themselves to become teachers of the truth to others.
These brethren ask that means shall be sent to sustain and enlarge the work in Italy. I second this request with as earnest entreaty as my heart can utter. Naples is one of the dark corners of the earth; but there God is causing the light to shine. Is it not a great privilege to do something to help in such a work? But why not let the Italian converts sustain the work in Italy? Those who ask this question know not the situation of Italy. The wealth is all in the hands of a few wicked men. The mass of the people are extremely poor. There are no openings as in America, for men who live by their labor to ever gain even a moderate competency. I will say in behalf of these friends that they will do all that they can; but they must have help for the present. I have hitherto taken great responsibility with regard to the work in Italy. It would be a great relief to me if some member of the General Conference Committee would visit Italy, and make report as to what ought to be done.
It seems from some facts which Dr. Ribton writes me that there is a providential call to send the truth to the island of Sicily. For a very small sum one of Bro. R.’s helpers in Naples might be sent to do this work. There is a Baptist minister on the east coast of Italy who has had our paper for some time past, and who is convinced of the truth. He has a great desire to see Bro. Ribton, so much so that he proposes, when he can, to visit Naples. But Bro. R. ought to go at once and visit him. I have not been able to send him means for this.
For a year or more we have been sending the paper to certain friends in Alexandria, in Egypt. There is in that city a considerable number of Italians who associate together for worship, and who understand the French language. The reading of our paper has convinced this entire company that Christ is about to come again. Five of these persons have received the Sabbath. Dr. R. must go before long and visit them. We are sending a number of our papers to the island of Malta, and it is not unlikely that we shall soon have a call for help from that island.
We have printed French tracts till we have nearly all that are needed to cover all the ground of our faith. We have nearly a sufficient variety of German tracts to answer the same purpose. Our expenses in the publication of French and German tracts for some time to come will be much smaller than heretofore. But now comes the same work for Italy. We have printed an excellent thirty-two-page tract, “The Sabbath of the Bible,” in the Italian language. We have also in type, “The Sunday.” The expense of a sixteen-page tract, 5000 copies, for press work and for white paper, is about $20, the paper being of nearly the same quality as that used in our American tracts. We do all the work ourselves except that of the press, and as our printers work without wages the money expense on our publishing work is for press work and for white paper.
Yet the living expenses of those who do this work must be met. This means house-rent, fuel, food, and clothes, and whatever may be really necessary. We must take from the funds of the mission the greater part of this expense, but beyond this we are not willing to take anything. We study to make our living expenses as small as possible, and to practice the strictest economy. We know that the money raised for this mission is given by many who must deny themselves in order to give. We therefore seek to use it so that every dollar shall count.
I am fully in agreement with the caution of Bro. White that those who are in want or in poor circumstances should consider themselves excused from contributing to this part of the work. In general, these persons are in danger of going beyond their duty. They may give where their brethren who know their circumstances can advise with them as to how much they should give. But if our brethren who have wealth, and who are adding to it from year to year, will open their hearts and their purses to supply the missionary treasury at Battle Creek, so that this Italian work can be sustained, we promise them that not a dollar shall be wasted. If you would like to have your money used for tracts in Italian, we will print them for you at the above rates. Or if you would choose to help in the living expenses of those who do the work, you can do so.
But we beg that the appeal of these Italian friends may be regarded. There can be no greater privilege than that of giving in so sacred a work. Our paper must soon be printed both in Italian and in German. It will cost some money; it will cost also much labor, and care, and patience to print in these languages. But we are sowing the seed in Europe, and it is already springing up in distant places. Whatever money our friends raise goes into the hands of the General Conference Committee to be appropriated from time to time, according to their best judgment. The following is the translation of the appeal from the Italian brethren.
J. N. Andrews.
THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHRISTIANS OF NAPLES TO THEIR BELOVED BRETHREN IN AMERICA.
Very Dear Brethren in Jesus Christ: We, the undersigned, who have recognized the perpetuity of the moral law, the sacred duty to observe all the commandments of God, not excluding the fourth, that is to say, the sanctification of the Sabbath of the Lord, and who have received the doctrine of the near advent of Christ, unite to send you our fraternal salutation, and to express our gratitude for the interest that you, and especially our dear Bro. Andrews, have had for our dear country, and for the aid you have sent us, by the means of which we have been able to hear these great doctrines. We are now desirous to unite as a church. It has been unfortunate for us that our hall which we have occupied hitherto has not, because of its unhealthful condition and its unfavorable location, permitted a numerous auditory. In a few days we must leave this hall; nevertheless we feel the need to meet together often to confirm one another in the faith and to instruct one another in the word of God, and to announce to the thousands who surround us, who are in ignorance, superstition, and idolatry, the good news, the commandments of God, the gospel of the kingdom, and to preach to them: “Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
But besides ourselves who have already recognized these great truths, there are many persons who desire to hear these subjects preached, and to study all these questions; but we see that this is impossible without a better hall, and without an Italian journal equal to LES SIGNES DES TEMPS, and without tracts in the Italian language. Without these, we fear that the good fruit already obtained will in part be lost.
We are exceedingly grateful to our dear Bro. Ribton that he has, with zeal worthy of a Christian in apostolic times, instructed us in the word of God, and given discourses of profound interest upon the prophecies, upon the fourth commandment, and upon the striking signs of the near advent of Christ. He has labored beyond his strength in this work; and though he has an ardent desire to preach the word of God, he is not able to dedicate himself entirely to the work of the Lord, because he must also labor for the support of his family.
Though we have lacked the means necessary to work to good advantage, yet in a few months’ time we have accomplished relatively greater results than any of the evangelical churches of this city; though they have existed here for many years, and though they have sufficient means. It is with profound grief that we see that we are not able to respond to the growing demands of this work in its present state.
For these reasons we make appeal with confidence to you, dear brethren in the same faith, in the hope that with the fraternal love that you have already testified in our behalf, you will be able to aid us to obtain a hall suitable to receive the people that desire to attend, and so that Bro. Ribton may be able to devote all his time to those who desire to learn the great facts concerning the advent of our Lord.
We all believe that the Son of man is near, even at the door, therefore we burn with desire to announce, while yet there is time, this great truth to our brethren.
We regret extremely, dear brethren, that we have not the means necessary to sustain the work ourselves, as do our brethren in other places; but owing to the peculiar situation of our country, we are all poor; a part of our number are students who receive from their parents scarcely the means to live; the others are persons who by their labor sustain their families with difficulty.
Receive, dear brethren in Jesus Christ, our salutation and love which abides forever.
[To the foregoing appeal were appended twenty-two names of the brethren and sisters in Naples.]
BOGUS SANCTIFICATION.
By James White; Ellen G. White
Eld. S. H. Lane, Dear Brother: We are pained to learn the condition of Bro. B., and to know that Satan is pushing him on to cause disaffection in the Indiana Conference under the pious guise of Christian holiness. Both you and ourselves fully believe that holiness of life is necessary to fit us for the inheritance of saints in light. We contend that this state must be reached in a Bible way. Christ prayed that his disciples might be sanctified through the truth, and the apostles preached of purifying our hearts by obeying the truth.
The professed church of Christ is full of the spurious article, and one distinct feature of it is, the more one drinks into the spirit of popular sanctification, the less he prizes the present truth. Many of those who are the open opponents of God’s Sabbath, the third angel’s message, and the health reform, are among the sanctified ones. Some of them have even reached the almost hopeless position that they cannot sin. These, of course, have no further use for the Lord’s prayer, which teaches us to pray that our sins may be forgiven, and but very little use for the Bible, as they profess to be led by the Spirit.
Now we do not doubt the sincerity of Bro. B. Satan has taken advantage of the weakness of his body, with which his mind is of course in sympathy. We do not doubt but he is led by a strong spirit, which he thinks is the Spirit of God; but God’s Spirit will never lead one in a course that is contrary to his word, or that leads to separation from that people who are giving the last message of mercy.
Is Bro. B. preaching the Laodicean message? That is well; but let it be borne in mind that the person who has become so sanctified that he cannot sin is the veriest Laodicean. The true Witness appeals to such in these words: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” What a terrible deception! They think they are complete in Christ, and know not that they are wretched, blind, miserable, poor, and naked.
We would recommend that Bro. B. be treated at the Sanitarium, at Battle Creek, for the improvement of his health. It is hoped that this, in addition to the strong influence for the truth there, would greatly improve his physical, mental, and spiritual condition; for no matter what a man may preach under the spirit of strong delusion, he is sure to have some followers, however great may be the heresy. Unless he can be helped, loss will be sustained to himself and the Conference in Indiana.
We warn our brethren of the Indiana Conference and elsewhere. Our position has ever been that true sanctification, which will stand the test of the Judgment, is that which comes through obedience of the truth and of God.
The position which we have both taken in our writings is too plain to be misunderstood. Much of our most laborious labor for the past thirty years has been to meet that fanaticism which has grown out of the teachings of ultra holiness. God is leading out a people, but it has been Satan’s effort all the way to induce certain ones to set up their judgment against that of the body, and thus lead them away from the body to certain ruin. Thus have self-deceived souls fallen all the way along during the history of the third angel’s message. Those who are led by fanaticism will gradually feel in harmony with those who fully reject the truth, and unless they can be arrested in their course will, sooner or later, be in the ranks of our bitterest opponents.