Earlier text: Sanctification: or Living HolinessLook out for Traps.
By J. CLARKE.
Spiritualists claim to perform miracles, heal the sick, the lame, the blind; and in some cases they do succeed in restoring the diseased frame, by the power which animates the great body of Spiritualists. No doubt is entertained by most of the Seventh-day Adventists that Spiritualism is a revival on a large scale, of the ancient witchcraft, and that modern Spiritualism is a work of the Devil. The Arch-apostate is now endeavoring by every means to get a controlling influence over the affairs of men, so that he may be able to deceive them in regard to the second coming of Christ, and prevent them from listening candidly to the last warning call of God to man. During the present month of May, 1865, a physician claiming to do cures by divine power, hired rooms at the Oliver House, Toledo, and crowds daily went and came. Some came from a great distance to be healed, and some remarkable cures were performed, and a good deal of imposition and humbuggery was practiced. This physician practices on the principle of making the rich pay the bill, while the poor are operated upon gratis. Some ask, How can the Devil assist men in performing good works? For an illustration, we will suppose a case: B. has ten thousand dollars in U. S. bonds. A wants to get that money; so he calls upon B., borrows one hundred dollars for a short time, pays it punctually, with liberal interest, afterward borrows again, does the same as before, professes much honesty and gratitude, &c., gets into the good graces of B., borrows finally nearly all B. has, and runs away. Now A. had this in view all the time from the first, and there was not a particle of real honesty in returning those small sums, with liberal interest, and many thanks; for his object had all along been to obtain all29of B.'s money. So with Satan. He is now dispensing benefits to the extent of his power, that he may finally ruin the soul. But is it any harm to go and be healed? Again we will illustrate. Suppose that Gen. Lee, commander of the forces of the Southern Confederacy, had during the rebellion made presents to Northern men irrespective of pledges on their part; would not every good soldier have spurned his money? Suppose that C. had got a thousand dollars of him, and D., and E., and F., had each of them become enriched by him, would they not all of them have been despised and suspected by every good patriot? No: had I to walk upon crutches, I would hobble about a lifetime, if it was so long as Methuselah's, rather than receive a farthing's worth from the enemy of all good. Recollect this, ye who gape and yawn to see every strolling sight, that God's Spirit does no miracles to satisfy curiosity, or to excite admiration, or for a fee; and curiosity-seekers, and sight-seekers, do often lose at least their time, and fritter away their means, and sometimes the soul goes with lost time and means, down to oblivion. ThE following paragraph from a St. Louis paper, is only remarkable, compared with others of a like nature, on account of the universal sweep of its statement. The writer goes beyond anything that anybody else has yet attempted to make men believe. The war here having closed, he cannot see any anywhere else in the world. And not only does he see no war, but he can see no cause for any future war, either in this country or any other. "The wars of the world" he says, "are over for the present." Decidedly cool and complacent, but not quite so evidently true. Under the heading of "A Lull in the World," he speaks thus: "It is a singular coincidence that simultaneous with the closing of our civil war, the whole world is at peace. War worthy of being dignified as such does not exist in all the wide world. In Central and South America, there are or have been lately certain petty squabbles; there is occasionally a skirmish in Mexico, and it may be that a few hundred New Zealanders are occasionally fighting as many English red coats, but this is about all. The Great Powers of Europe are not only at peace, but there is no cause of quarrel apparent among them. Austria and Italy may not love each other; and the Pope may be the bone of contention; but the signs of a difficulty are fewer, and the prospects for pacifying difficulties better now than ever. As regards the relations of America to Europe, they are likely to remain perfectly peaceful. "When our war commenced, the great Chinese rebellion, which had been in progress half a score of years, still ran its bloody course. After the commencement of our war, there was the war of Russia against Poland; there was the war of Austria and Prussia, two first-class powers, against weak little Denmark; there was France against Mexico; the miserable war of Spain against San Domingo, and several affairs even less than the last named. Now there are but a few glimmering embers left of all these war fires. Indeed, it may be said that the wars of the world are over for the present, and that peace broods over the globe. Let that peace be preserved. Let us beat our implements of war into plow-shares and pruning hooks, that the earth may be made to blossom as the rose and teem once more with plenty." The Duty of Prayer.
By Jno. Byington
In Rev. vii, 2, the angel ascending from the east cries with a loud voice, saying, Hurt not the earth till the servants of God are sealed. Is not this the voice of earnest, effectual prayer? In Luke xviii, we have the parable of the importunate widow. The unjust judge grants her request lest by her continual coming she trouble him. Now says the Saviour, Shall not God avenge his own elect, whom he does love and regard though he may seem to delay or bear long with them? The answer is, He will avenge them speedily that cry day and night unto him. The following verse connects this earnest, effectual praying with the coming of our Saviour. Dear brethren, is it not time we pray more? Will the message of truth have a loud cry without more effectual, fervent prayer on the part of those who are looking for Christ's appearing? Would it not be well more frequently to have seasons of prayer when we meet our friends? I find some of our friends thrown into trial about some articles of dress. Get above this by crying earnestly to God for a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price. The World's Conversion a Fable. No. 1.
By R. F. Cottrell
It is natural to the human heart to cherish that belief which is agreeable to its own selfish feelings and desires. That which promises temporal good is ardently desired by the carnal mind. Mankind have always loved to hear prophecies of good concerning themselves; and this demand for smooth things is the great secret of the thriving business, and unequaled success, of false prophets and teachers in all ages of the world. The faith that a world of sinners, growing worse and worse with the Bible in their hands, and its increasing light flashing in their eyes (if they do not close them), are, in fact, growing better, and are on the very threshold of conversion to God, and that righteousness is about to run down our streets like rivers, as naturally as the waters of Niagara pour over the precipice, is a most soothing and comfortable faith to those who are disposed to be lulled to sleep in an easy position, where they may, in their pleasant dreams, imagine they witness the truth of the saying of the blind watchmen and false shepherds, "To-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant." Isa. lvi. Men in general desire the plan of salvation to be just wide enough to take them in without any special change; and next to the doctrine of universal salvation, as a somniferous potion with which to quiet the nerves of sinners, in the church and out, is the teaching that the narrow way to life is growing broader and broader, or that the multitude in the broad way are becoming so much better than ancient sinners were, that they are about to enter the narrow way as a matter of course. No one should give currency to a doctrine of this nature—a doctrine so well calculated to flatter those whose affections are riveted to the present world—without the best of evidence that it is true. Yet it is taken without evidence, and handed about without any apparent sense of responsibility. The present condition of the most highly favored and enlightened portions of mankind, so far from giving signs of the conversion of the world, justify the predictions of Scripture, that "in the last days perilous times shall come," that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse," that "because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold," &c.; and consequently unless the conversion of the world is most clearly taught in the sacred word, it is not deserving of the least confidence. That there is a future glory for the earth, is true. Nothing is more clearly revealed. But the question is, When? Is it before the second coming of Christ, or after? Is it before the resurrection of the saints to immortality, or after? Is it before the present earth and elements melt with fervent heat in the "day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men," or afterward? There will certainly be a time when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," when the "people also shall be all righteous," and "shall inherit the land forever," and "the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick," in short, when the "tabernacle of God," having descended from Heaven, shall be with men, "and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things" shall have "passed away." Will any of these things be realized during the present dispensation? Ignorance of the clearly-revealed assurance that the people of God shall, in their glorified state, "inherit the earth and dwell therein forever," has led many to think that those promises of future glory on earth are to be fulfilled in the last days of the gospel dispensation. They have thought it must be so, because of the erroneous idea that after the advent of Christ and the judgment, the Lord would have no further use for the earth, but would burn it up; having transported the saints to some ethereal heaven, and consigned the wicked to an eternal hell, in some unknown part of the universe, created for the express purpose of eternal torture. Thus from ignorance of the plainly-revealed doctrine of the destiny of the earth as marked out in prophecy, making it the place of recompense both to the righteous and the wicked, the way has been opened for fables to multiply, some of which, from a false stand-point, have a show of Bible proof. Of this class is the doctrine under consideration; but when viewed from the true stand-point, it will be found to have not the slightest foundation in the word of God. The first proof I adduce is the fact that, at the second coming of Christ, the world will be found in a condition similar to that of the antediluvian world at the time of the flood. If they were all righteous, having been converted by the labors of Noah, "a preacher of righteousness," such will be the case with those living in the close of the gospel dispensation; and of course none will flee to the rocks and mountains to hide from the presence of the Lamb. In such case it cannot be a "day of wrath," for the Lord Jesus cannot "be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ;" because none of this evil character can be found upon earth, the whole world having been previously converted to God. "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. xxiv, 37–39. "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke xvii, 30. This proof is too plain and positive to need an argument. Before the flood men had been going from bad to worse, till Jehovah could bear with them no longer; therefore he brought the flood, as an apostle says, "upon the world of the ungodly." These testimonies being true, the mass of mankind will be ungodly at the time of the second advent. It may be said, in reply to this, that Satan, who will have been bound during the thousand years of the triumph of the church in the conversion of the world, will be loosed for a little season, and deceive and overthrow the mass of them that had been godly for a thousand years; and this accounts for the world's being found, at the advent, in the same ungodly state of those in the days of Noah. Those who will read Rev. xx with care, will find that the first resurrection, in which all the "blessed and holy" ones forth to "live and reign with Christ a thousand years," takes place at the time when Satan is bound; and the rest of the dead, the wicked, "live not again until the thousand years are finished." These, being raised from the dead at the time when Satan is loosed, are the subjects of his deceptive power, till fire comes down from God out of Heaven and devours them. But this "second death hath no power" upon those that had part in the first resurrection, those who lived and reigned with Christ during the thousand years. Not one falls away from that blessed and holy number. Those that are deceived by Satan after the two resurrections, are those that were the subjects of his deceptive power in this life. Some have said that this vast multitude, "the number of whom is as the sand of the sea," are the children that will be born to the righteous during the thousand years. But it seems to me that it would detract greatly from the glory and blessedness of that triumphant period, for the people of God to know that, at its close, their children would be cut down before their eyes by fire from Heaven. But we have seen that the first resurrection takes place when Satan is bound, at the beginning of the thousand years. This resurrection does not take place till the personal advent of Christ. "For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. This text, in connection with Rev. xx, proves that the resurrection, to "reign with Christ," or to "ever be with the Lord," takes place at the personal advent of Christ, when the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven. This is the time, and not a thousand years afterward, that the mass of men will be found ungodly, as in the days of Noah. And as the flood "took them all away," so these will all be slain in that great day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb, and after lying dead for a thousand years, during which the earth will be desolate of men, the saints, immortal and glorified, having been taken away to reign with Christ in Heaven a thousand years, they will come up in the second resurrection to meet their final doom in the lake of fire. It is at the second advent that, probation having closed, the saints are rewarded with immortality. "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Luke xiv, 14. It is then that the people of God are changed from corruptible to incorruptible, and from mortal to immortal, according to Paul in 1 Cor. xv; and, having received the gift of God which is eternal life, they will be for ever safe, for ever with the Lord; first in Heaven for a thousand years, then, returning to earth, witness the final conflagration in which the wicked are cut off (the earth is "reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.") 2 Pet. iii, 7. "When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." Ps. xxxvii, 34, and, lastly, enter upon the glorious inheritance of the renovated earth and "dwell therein" and "reign for ever and ever." Rev. xxii, 5. But the mass of mankind will be found unconverted, at the coming of Christ, and will remain unconverted still; for he comes to reward every man according as his work shall be. Rev. xxii, 11, 12. How fearfully deceptive then is the doctrine that the whole world will be converted before the coming of Christ! Much of what is called religion has no roots. It is set up and propped, or it may be inserted in the soil, but it is not planted. It is like the twigs which in our childhood we took, and with gleeful delight put in our mimic gardens, but which never grew.—A tree is never truly planted if it be dead. You can no more be said to plant a dead tree than a stone pillar. The pillar may be as deeply and as firmly fixed in the earth as the tree, but no one would speak of it as planted. It has no sympathy with the soil. It is held up by mechanical pressure and constraint. A tree is never planted except it is living and establishes vital affinity with the soil. When its roots begin to send forth its tender fibres, and they suck in their appropriate nutriment from the soil, and transmit it through trunk and branch and twig, then it is planted. It has taken hold of the earth, and therefore it lives. But when the earth only takes hold of it, and the tree does not return the friendly grasp, it is dead. And when it is dead, the soil which once fed its life, rots it, just as the atmosphere, which is our vital air while we are living, will hasten the putrefaction of our bodies as soon as our last breath is drawn. Explanation Wanted.
By Editor
EDITOR REVIEW AND HERALD, Dear Sir : I take the liberty to drop you a few lines of inquiry, which if you will answer in the Review or otherwise, you will enlighten me very much. I find in "Testimony for the Church, No. 7," by Ellen G. White, the following language, which I am unable to harmonize with the facts in the case: On page 4, it reads thus: "Thousands have been induced to enlist with the understanding that this war was to exterminate slavery; but now they are fixed. They find that they have been deceived; that the object of this war is not to abolish slavery, but to preserve it as it is." Again on page 5: "They see no good results from the war only to preserve the Union." Again on the same page, "If they succeed in quelling this rebellion, what have they gained? They can answer, discouragingly, Nothing. That which caused the rebellion is not removed. The system of slavery, which has ruined our nation, is left to live and stir up another rebellion." Now, friend Smith, I am not seeking to get into any argument, but merely seeking for truth. Therefore I hope to get an explanation from you, in any way that may suit you best. Yours seeking for the truth.
G. N. SAPPINGTON. Lynerville, June 2, 1865. We understand the statements above referred to in "Testimony No. 7," had reference to matters simply as they then existed. We do not understand that they had any reference to any turn that events might take subsequent to that time. And when we read, "The object of this war is not to abolish slavery," we take it to mean, not that that event never would come in as an object of the war, but only that it was not then, at the time the testimony was given, its object. And this, probably, no one will now deny. Indeed, Mr. Lincoln has expressly affirmed that abolition of slavery was brought in only as a military necessity; that if he could, he would have restored the Union as it was, slavery and all. And this being so, we believe, not only from the "Testimony," but from other evidence, that many who entered the service at that time were grievously disappointed to learn that they were to fight, not for the direct extinguishment of slavery, but to restore the Union as it was. But then they could not help themselves, as they were fast in the service. The turn events have since taken, must be very gratifying to such, those of them who have lived to see it. But this would not destroy the fact of their disappointment at the beginning. And then had our rulers been able to carry out their designs as they then existed, and had they restored the Union as it was, slavery retained, what would have been gained? We answer, Nothing, as every Republican, at least, will be ready now to acknowledge. We are therefore unable to see any discrepancy between the statements in the "Testimony," and the course of events, as they have existed, and do at the present time exist.—ED. A Christian minister, calling at the house of one of his friends, found him and his wife in the deepest distress from the sudden death of their only child. He attempted to console the distracted parents; but the mother replied, "Ah, sir, these consolations might assuage my grief for the loss of my child, but they cannot blunt the stings of my conscience, which are as daggers in my heart. It was but last week, I was thinking, 'My child is now twelve years of age; his mind is rapidly expanding; I know he feels and thinks beyond the measure of his years, and a foolish backwardness has hitherto kept me from entering so closely into conversation with him as to discover the real state of his mind, and from making a vigorous effort to lead his heart to God.'" "I then resolved to seize the first opportunity to discharge a duty so weighty on the conscience of a Christian parent; but day after day my foolish, deceitful heart said, 'I will do it to-morrow.' On the very day he was taken ill, I had resolved to talk with him that evening; and when he at first complained of his head, I was half pleased with the thought that it might incline him to listen more seriously to what I should say. But oh, sir, his pain and fever increased so rapidly that I was obliged to put him immediately to bed; and as he seemed inclined to doze, I was glad to leave him to rest. From that time he was never sufficiently sensible for conversation; and now he has gone into eternity, and has left me distracted with anxiety concerning the salvation of his precious soul. "Dilatory wretch! had it not been for my own sin, I might now have been consoling myself with the satisfactory conviction of having discharged the duty of a Christian parent, and have been enjoying the delightful assurance of meeting my child before the throne of God and the Lamb. Oh, the cursed sin of procrastination. Oh, the ruinous delusion that lurks in the word to-morrow!" Mothers, remember the duty which you owe to the souls of your children. Often remember them before the throne of grace. Restrain not the religious training which is needful for them—which is needful to prepare them for Heaven. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Mothers, take warning! FULFILLING signs are thickening round,
With anger all the nations shake;
And soon the trumpet's thrilling sound
The righteous dead to life shall wake. Both earth and sky, from far and near
Portentous signs and tokens show,
That soon the Saviour will appear,
To cheer his waiting flock below. And as the days of Noah were,
So shall the day of Jesus be;
The fullness that the righteous share,
Shall from the wicked sternly flee. Bright clouds of glory now surround
The ransomed little company,
While songs and praises shall resound,
They're from the beast and image free. Yea, come dear Lord, Redeemer, Friend,
Bring on the great illustrious day,
When war and bloodshed all shall end
And sin and death be washed away. And then in robes of endless light
We'll live in bliss without alloy;
For nothing in God's holy sight,
Shall change or mar our endless joy. C. H. ROGERS.
Mauston, Wis. Labors in Michigan.
By John Byington
Bro. White: I spent Sabbath, May 27, with the church in Newton. This church now numbers more than at any previous time. Our meeting was well attended, and I think our brethren here will yet get nearer the Lord. June 3, I was with the church in Caledonia. Here are some honest souls that I believe purpose to live it through, come what will. They have an interesting Sabbath School. The youth are attentive, and some of them converted. But it has seemed to be the lot and portion of this church to have trial and division among them. At our business meeting we tried to search for the wrong, and two were disfellowshiped, all being satisfied that it was not duty to bear longer with them. Others made hearty confessions, and we hope will be more watchful in the future. The individual was called upon to prove the accusations that he had circulated widely against Bro. Hardy. But not the least evidence was brought. We offered longer time to bring evidence, but it was not desired. Therefore the church considered the reports slanderous and untrue. Bro. H. confessed to neglect of duty, but I believe will try to rise. As I had to return to Battle Creek, it made me about one hundred miles travel, mostly by private conveyance, to reach my next appointment in Oneida. By riding in the dust and hot sun, I felt well nigh overcome, but felt the Spirit resting upon me; and my meetings here on the Sabbath were refreshing. I had one meeting on first-day (quite a number of outsiders were in), and then went six miles to attend to baptism. To-day am getting some rested. Grand Ledge, June 12, 1865. Talk, merely for the sake of talk, is contemptible. It can do no possible good. While we admire frankness and plainness of speech, while the honest expression of honest sentiment, commands universal respect, the inveterate "blower" is an object of detestation. The "freedom of speech" which stands at the head of certain newspaper columns, cannot have reference to rattle-headed, shallow-headed, vindictive persons who talk just to make a noise. But while some plead loud for freedom of speech, they reserve to themselves the right of prescribing to others the form, the subject and the style of speech. What shall be said and how it shall be uttered, certain proscriptionists claim the right to dictate. Give us a soul, filled with lofty noble sentiment, a mind of intelligent and practical cultivation; and then unfetter the lips, and let the tongue carry the precious burden of thought. Certain persons have souls of such excessive tenderness, that words must be carved and shapen in the most meaningless manner to suit. They are just like a good old lady, educated in the "straitest" way, who lived over among the New England hills. Her minister had grown too plain, too pointed, and the sensitive old lady could not endure it. In the course of time another one was employed. After listening to a sermon from the new minister, she was asked how she liked him. "Liked him," said the old lady, "he is the blessedest man I ever did hear. He didn't say one word about politics, temperance, religion or anything else." It is no use to attempt to please these tender spirits and retain one particle of your manhood. Few persons seem to have a proper idea of the full import of this term. Being next to godliness, the term, cleanliness, implies perfect purity in all our mental and organic relations. Many persons who are exceedingly nice and fastidiously neat in their attentions to the external skin, and in matters of apparel, bedding, rooms, furniture, etc., are notwithstanding, extremely heedless in regard to internal conditions and external surroundings. They will continually take into their stomachs and lungs such aliments and miasms as poison the blood and befoul the secretions; while they will permit the elements of contagion to accumulate to any extent in their cellars, yards, cesspools and out-buildings. I have known half a dozen members of a family to be prostrated with typhus fever, the chief cause being stagnant water and rotting vegetables in the cellar. Offal and garbage—dead and decomposing vegetable and animal matters of all kinds—in or around any dwelling, are a prolific source of disease. The hog-pen of many of our farmers causes more strange, putrid, and even fatal diseases than most persons suspect. I can hardly conceive of a fouler concentration of malignant and pestilent miasms than those which always emanate from a den of swine while undergoing the process of fattening. If folks will persist in keeping piggeries, they should be located so far from the dwelling-house that the abominable stench thereof will not be offensive to noses polite. WASTE OF TIME.—"Our lives are spent either in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them."—Seneca. IMMUTABILITY OF GOD.—"God is as it were the fixed point on which revolve all the creatures in the universe, without partaking himself of their revolutions."—Saurin. A Testimony Concerning the Sabbath
By Ellen W. Searle
Bro. White: It is my pleasure to aid for the object specified in the Review of June 6. I therefore improve an early opportunity and herewith inclose $10 as a thank-offering to the Lord, for the truth I first heard from Bro. Bourdeau and others at Peterboro. It was then and there that I found the fourth precept of the law written upon my heart. And from that time the Sabbath has been my delight and joy, and I trust it will be, onward, to the time when “from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come up to worship before the Lord.” One point of truth after another has been presented to my mind, as I have been able to bear it, and now I feel that I am rooted and grounded in the faith, and with the blessing of the Lord will press onward toward the mark for the prize.
Ellen W. Searle.
Temple, N. H. Lord, what a change within us one short hour,
Spent in thy presence will avail to make!
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take!
What parched grounds refresh, as with a shower!
We kneel, and all around us seems to lower;
We rise, and all, the distant and the near,
Stand forth in sunny outline, brave and clear;
We kneel, how weak! we rise, how full of power!
Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong,
Or others—that we are not always strong—
That we are ever overborne with care—
That we should ever weak or heartless be,
Anxious or troubled—when with us is prayer,
And joy, and strength, and courage, are with Thee? Several years since a vernal flood on one of our noble rivers swept away part of a bridge which had spanned the waters. In a gloomy night, an incautious traveler passed over the spans remaining from one shore to the middle of the river, and suddenly fell to the sweeping current below, with a cry of distress, heard, but unanswered till too late. Skeptic, whether you deny the existence of a creating, redeeming God, or the necessity of being born again, you will be left in the darkness of a coming night, with only an earthward span over the dismal waters. "Escape for thy life!"—P. C. H. “Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.”
This department of the paper is designed for the brethren and sisters to freely and fully communicate with each other respecting their hopes and determinations, conflicts and victories, attainments and desires, in the heavenly journey. Seek first a living experience and then record it, carefully and prayerfully, for the comfort and encouragement of the other members of the household of faith. R. M. PHILO
By R. M. Philo
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: I am still striving to gain an inheritance in the better land, yet many times my trials are such that I am fearful that I may not be able to withstand all the devices of the powers of darkness in the last days. But when I remember what my Saviour has done for me, how he gave up all the glories of his heavenly home, the homage of all the angelic host, and descended to this sinful world, and here by those who should have bowed with reverence at his feet, was reviled, hated, mocked, crowned with thorns, and finally suffered a shameful death upon the cross, to save poor, sinful man; then I feel to bow my head in shame and repentance, that I have dared to murmur at the trials and crosses that have beset my pathway. Just and right are all our trials; for though now I should love him and strive ever to obey his will, yet it can never make recompense for the years that I have lived in sin and rebellion to his laws. Therefore, if I am ever saved I shall truly be a sinner saved by grace, purchased by the blood of the blessed Redeemer. I do feel as though the perils were thickening around us, and temptations in such deceiving forms that unless we have on the whole armor of God, we shall be caught in the snares prepared by the emissaries of Satan. I know that it is all important that I arouse from all lethargy, and have my heart filled with the love of God. Oh, that I may be enabled to look away from all the cares and turmoils of earth, to him who alone can sustain my feeble frame and drooping spirits, and finally enable me to come off conqueror, yea, more than conqueror, through him that hath loved us, and finally reach that haven of rest that Jesus has gone to prepare for his followers. What a blessed thought! Oh, what a glorious hope! If we are only meek and humble followers of Jesus, we shall soon inherit eternal life; soon be gathered into the fold of God, where none can molest, nor evils ever come. And if my way prove dark and dreary, and sorrows press heavily, and temptations should wage fiercely around me, I will put my trust in my heavenly Father, who is able to lead me through. Pray for me, that I may ever be found doing my duty, and when Jesus shall come, be among that number that can sing the song of victory. Steen's Conversion to Sabbath Truth
By James Steen
BRO. WHITE: I have long desired to relate something of my experience in the cause of truth. Myself and wife have been members of the United Presbyterian church for many years; but we have had placed in our hands some of your publications, and the Review and Herald, by a kind friend who came a long journey to see us. We have carefully perused them, and compared them with the Bible, and having strong desires to know the truth, the Lord has been pleased to make known to us the truths of his holy word. At first the doctrine seemed very strange to us both, compared with what we had been taught in the orthodox church. Our attention was first called to the Sabbath question, and from the Scriptures learning that there was no divine authority for observing the first day of the week instead of the seventh, but that it was a direct contradiction of the fourth commandment, we felt it our duty to obey God rather than man, and so commenced to keep God's Sabbath. It is about one year since we took this stand. We know of no one who is keeping the Sabbath near us. Our seats are vacant in the church. We have no Sabbath-keeper to converse with. We have never heard a lecture on present truth, but greatly desire to. We are cast out by some of our old friends on account of our new doctrine, as they call it. We have been reading the Review for nearly one year, and are firm believers in the truths that it advocates. We feel lonely; but we know that we have the promise of one who never deceives his people, that he will never leave nor forsake those who put their trust in him. We delight in reading the testimonies of the dear brethren and sisters. We think that there might be great good done here, as there is some excitement on the subject of present truth. We feel thankful that we have been favored with this light. We are willing to suffer for the truth's sake, and we desire the prayers of this people, that we may have grace given us to stand through the perils of these last days.
JAMES STEEN.
Leavitt, Ohio. Encouragement in the Truth
By E. Macomber
BRO. WHITE: It being a matter of great consolation to me to have the evidence that I am on the Lord's side, and to know there are others in this wicked world that share this consolation with me, as I hear from them week after week, I feel encouraged to struggle on against the powers of darkness, having confidence in God's word, that Israel will prevail, and that the time is not far in the distance when the saints of God will pass through the pearly gates into the city of God, there to eat of the fruits of life's fair tree, and die no more. “Oh, blissful state! shall I be there,
In all those joys to have a share?” I shall if I comply with all of God's requirements. I thought how sad would be my condition after struggling against the adversary of my soul, to find at the end of the journey that I had neglected even one duty. I feel thankful to our heavenly Father for the blessings bestowed upon us as a church, for the glorious light upon his holy law, for testimony whereby our faults are made manifest, and the church is brought into a unit, as it is written, John xvii, 22. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one.” I can see the spirit of preparation for the future, developing itself among us, which I think is very necessary, and am much comforted while the work is progressing to see the almighty arm of Jehovah made manifest in our behalf. The folly of those who oppose the truth is being brought to the light, so that all discerning minds may see it at a glance. The Lord bless Israel, and build them up on their most holy faith. Amen. Your brother in hope.
E. MACOBER. God as Our Constant Companion
I SEE where Christians in general are wrong. We do not make a companion of God. We should trust him more as a friend, not as a distant friend, but always near, close to us, so that we are never alone, but continually in his company. DIED, in North Paris, Me., June 12, 1865, Bro. Calvin Washburn, aged 68 years, 1 month, 22 days. He was one of the pioneers in the faith, being among the first to embrace the message, and it has ever since been his constant endeavor to faithfully live up to the light of its precious truths. He died in triumphant faith in the resurrection, which he requested should be made the theme at his funeral by some one of like precious faith. Discourse by the writer, from 2 Sam. xiv, 14.
WM. C. GAGE. DIED in Oronoco, May 20th, 1865, of scarlet fever, Julius Elmer, son of Cornelius, and Alcinda Campbell, aged 6 years, 1 month and 7 days. Funeral services by the writer.
W. M. ALLEN.