p. 135 | Review and Herald, Vol. 26, No. 17. (9/26/1865)

Earlier text: Popular Errors and Their Fruits. No. 5.

Go Forth and Weep.

By E. S. Willard

BROTHER, sister, are you going forth under a sense of duty to try and save souls?

Be comforted.

Do you meet with opposition where you have the least cause to expect it? Are you wounded in the house of your friends? Have they no sympathy for your efforts? And yet do they love God and try to serve him day by day? Do these things cause you to weep as you go? Thank God for it.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Bless God for the trial that made you weep. There is efficacy in tears. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. How consoling these words the heart that needs them only knows!

As a little company of sowers went forth to sow, one day, their way led through a lot that had never been broken by the plow. Only a dim road passed through it mostly covered with sorrel and oak bushes; but to their surprise every now and then on either side of this road, and in it, stood tall heads of rye, sometimes several stalks in a bunch. The secret was this. Last year ripe grain was hauled through this lot; and it scattered, and took root, and here it was before them.

They gathered an instructive lesson as they went on and talked. This is the way we have to do in spiritual things. The field is the world. It is uncultivated. We must go forth and sow the seed of the kingdom, and trust God to give it root in the hearts of men.

And as this rye had come up here most unexpectedly and under the most unfavorable auspices, even so may it be with our labors. In the morning we are to sow our seed, and in the evening we must not withhold our hand, for we know not which will prosper, this or that, or both alike together. May our pathway through the world be thus marked even as this blind road. Thus they were cheered on to their evening toils. Thus may you be cheered, my brother and sister God is able to bless your labors under the most trying circumstances, and all the more for the opposition. Then go on, brother, go on sister,

“For soon the reaping time will come, And angels shout the harvest home.”

[E. S. Willard.

Letters.

By Editor

"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.

Pressing Onward to the Kingdom

By I. O. Thompson

From I. O. Thompson.

BRO. WHITE: I take this opportunity to say a few words to the scattered brethren and sisters through the Review. I feel to praise God for his continued mercies to me and mine. God has strengthened me to stand up under past afflictions. I feel to say with the poet,

“This world is all a wilderness, This world is not my home.”

Though sorely afflicted, and oppressed with cares and troubles of this world, yet I am determined to press my way onward and upward. I feel to praise God that he has permitted me to hear the sound of the third angel’s message, and gave me a heart willing to obey him in keeping all of his commandments and the faith of Jesus.

Hear what the voice of Heaven proclaims, For all the pious dead; Sweet is the savor of their names, And soft their sleeping bed.

They die in Jesus and are blessed, How sweet their slumbers are! From suffering and from sin released, And freed from every snare.

Saved from this world of toil and strife, They’re resting in their Lord; The trials of their mortal life, End in a rich reward.

In hope of eternal life,

I. O. THOMPSON.

Chesaning, Mich., Sept. 17, 1865.

Encouragement to Press Onward

M. H. Brown, of Pine Island, Minn., says: I believe the Lord is willing to forgive all of my backslidings and coldness in the past, and I feel to press my way through to the kingdom of God with the remnant. I am thankful for the labors of Bro. Sanborn in Minnesota. They were meat in due season to me. I am encouraged, and by the grace of God am determined to overcome and stand on Mount Zion with the redeemed. Pray for me, and the little church at Oronoco, that I with them may have strength to stand through the plagues which are right upon us.

Obituary Notices.

By John Matteson

DIED, March 1, 1865, Bro. Albert R. Smith, aged 22 years, son of Bro. Harvey H. Smith. He was wounded in the battle of River's Bridge, on the 4th of February, and died from the effects of wounds and typhoid fever, in the hospital of Beaufort, S. C. This young brother was drafted, and could not obtain exemption from bearing arms, though he applied for it. His letters breathe a humble and Christian spirit. Remarks on the occasion by the writer, Aug. 13. JOHN MATTESON. Melrose, Jackson Co., Wis.

Lydia M. Mills

By E. M. C.

DIED, in Pleasant Spring, Dane Co., Wis., of dysentery, Lydia M. Mills, wife of John M. Mills, aged 69 years, 2 months, and 12 days. Sister Mills embraced the third angel's message about ten years ago, and remained steadfast in the faith until her death. Though this mother in Israel has gone down to the grave, yet her family and friends have the comforting hope that she sleeps in Jesus. E. M. C.

Pleasant Spring, Wis., Sept. 10, 1865.

Margaret Isabella Terwilleger

DIED, in Pleasantville, Iowa, Sept. 11, of bloody flux, our dear little daughter, Margaret Isabella, aged 3 years, 11 months, and 11 days. Sorrowing we laid her in the tomb to wait the summons of the last trump, which will call her forth to life again.

JOHN & K. F. TERWILLEGER. Pleasantville, Iowa, Sept. 13, 1865.

Death of Emily M. Baker

By H. F. Baker

DIED, Sept. 19, 1865, of malignant fever, Emily M. Baker, wife of H. F. Baker, aged 27 years and 5 months. Brethren and sisters, pray for us in our affliction; yet we mourn not as those without hope; for she died triumphing in a Saviour's love, and in hope a glorious resurrection. H. F. BAKER.

Orthodox Denial of the Resurrection

Orthodoxy vs. the Resurrection of the Body.

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS declaim with some earnestness against the growing faithlessness of the orthodox in reference to the doctrine of the resurrection. This often causes a squirming with those who have not clean gone to said error, and occasionally a flat denial that such is the case. To sustain our position that the popular churches are eminently Sadducean in their creed (see Matt. xxii, 23) we quote the following from an editorial of one of the leading journals of the Episcopalian Church, in an article on Passion Week and Easter:

"The Congregational paper of Illinois has been writing systematically against the resurrection and the general judgment, for months past, and we have heard no word of warning or of protest. It has declared that there is no resurrection of the flesh, in so many words: that the soul's going to Heaven, immediately after death, is all there is. The body is not needed at all.

"And this is not the only case. Evidently the mass who have accepted the folly and blasphemy of Spiritualism, could have done so only because they had never been trained in any belief in the resurrection. The common teaching about the state after death, that the good go at once to Heaven and the bad at once to hell, has made the resurrection superfluous, and led to the denial of its existence. Why bring a saint of six thousand years' standing out of Heaven, or a sinner, of as many, out of hell, to go through the farce of a judgment, or receive the useless clog of a body? In truth, we question seriously whether the mass of the members of the so-called 'Evangelical Churches' are not utter unbelievers in that article of the creed, 'I believe in the resurrection of the body.'"

QUERY. Is it any worse for a Seventh-day Adventist to preach the truth than for an Episcopalian? I trow not. G.

Calling Things by Their Right Names.

By J. Clarke

A FEW days since, I was out hunting a stray cow, and often inquired of people whom I met, and in describing her, and when she left, I said, "She left the pasture last Saturday." I did this, not wishing to introduce my own views of the Sabbath, as I had little time to discuss, and did not wish to be odd, and many times during the day did I make this inquiry.

Finally, I inquired of some people who make Sunday the Sabbath; and they replied, that although they had not seen the cow, yet they thought that as a drove had passed on the Sabbath, it was possible she had gone with the drove.

I was now ashamed of my pusillanimous condescension, and determined hereafter not to be outdone by the votaries of error in outspoken, courageous clearness in my expressions; and I shall, with the help of God, call the seventh day the Sabbath, in all companies, and in any situation; and the name Saturday shall be used by me only as a word of explanation.

When I think of that day's work, I feel ashamed. What a noble opportunity I had of speaking for truth! As often as I inquired, I might have set those of whom I asked information, to thinking like this: "That man calls Saturday the Sabbath; well, he is not ashamed of it. I wonder if it is not possible that he is correct." And who knows what conclusions might be reached?

J. CLARKE.

Portage, Ohio.

Note from Bro. Rodman.

By P. C. Rodman

Oh, that the Lord would send forth laborers into his vineyard. I believe if nothing more could be afforded us in this region, it would be a good move for Bro. Cornell to come through here on a flying visit, stopping in Lafayette one Sabbath and first-day, then at South Kingston another Sabbath and first-day, then if he could come to Ashaway and give a course of lectures we will do our duty, and I believe God would bless.

Yours in hope and love.

P. C. RODMAN.

"Coats of Skin."

Of the phrase, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin," Gen. iii, 21, Mr. Bush in his Notes gives the following explanation:

"Of skins. That the beasts whose skins were allotted for a covering to our first parents on this occasion had been slain, it is natural to suppose; and there were no purposes for which they could have been slain, except those of food, of sacrifice, or of clothing. That they were not slain for food is evident from the fact that the grant of animal food was not made till the days of Noah. Chap. ix, 3. Neither can it be admitted that they were slain merely for clothing; since it cannot be supposed that Adam would immediately after the sentence of the divine displeasure, have dared to kill God's creatures without his permission. Nor is it likely that God should order them to be slain solely for their skins, when man could have been supplied with garments made of other materials. It follows then that they must have been slain with a view to sacrifice."

A Synod in Holland.

A CORRESPONDENT of the London Weekly Review gives an amusing account of a visit to the Reformed Secession Synod of Holland. On entering the church, fumes of smoke darkened the room. A long table stretched along the place where the women had sat during preaching the evening before, which was lined on either side by members and ruling elders, while at the head of this there was a transverse table, at which sat the moderator, the professor, and other official men. Every man was either smoking or preparing to smoke. The moderator held a pipe in one hand, and a wooden hammer, with which he called attention, in the other. The clerk wrote and puffed, too, while on the table, from one extremity to the other, boxes of lucifer matches, plates of tobacco, paper, pens, &c., were mingled in most admirable confusion.

The Popular Paradise.

Dr. Chalmers, a high orthodox divine, thus satirizes the popular idea of Paradise:

"The common imagination that we have of Paradise, on the other side of death, is that of a lofty ærial region, where the inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended upon nothing—where all warm and sensible accompaniments, which give such an expression of strength, and life, and coloring to our present habitation, are attenuated into a sort of spiritual element, that is meagre and imperceptible, and utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals here below—where every vestige of materialism is done away, and nothing left but unearthly scenes that have no power of allurement, and certain unearthly ecstacies with which it is felt impossible to sympathize."

STUDY AND RELAXATION.—

I have many times returned to my study with greater vigor, and to the bosom of my God with increased delight, after a short relaxation amidst the flowers of poetry, or those of the garden, in music, in cheerful conversation with a few friends, or a ramble through the fields and woods, a tug at the oar, or in fellowship with the spade, the ax, or the hammer.

Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. St. Paul.

Appointments.

The General Conference Committee arrange for Eld. Wm. S. Ingraham to preach in Iowa, as follows:

Knoxville, Sabbath and first-day, Oct. 7 and 8.

Sandyville, " " 14.

Morrison neighborhood, " " 15.

Eddyville, evening, " " 24.

Fairfield, " " 26.

Mt. Pleasant, Sabbath and first-day, " 28 and 29.

Washington, evenings, Nov. 1 " 2.

Pilot Grove, Sabbath and first-day, " 4 " 5.

Palestine, " " 11 " 12.

Lisbon, " " 18 " 19.

Marion, " " 25 " 26.

Fairview, " " Dec. 2 " 3.

Note. As Elder Ingraham is comparatively a stranger in Iowa, it would not be advisable for him to enter into the work of establishing order in the churches, or the settling of church trials, or the managing of church business. It is the design of the Committee that Bro. Ingraham, on this tour, give himself, as far as strength will admit, to the preaching of the word. As he has of late suffered quite severely with fever and ague, brethren should not expect of him more than two meetings a day on Sabbaths and first-days, nor urge him into meetings through the week more than in his judgment his strength will admit. GEN. CONF. COM.

Quarterly Meetings in Wisconsin

By Isaac Sanborn

Providence permitting, I will meet with the brethren of the Johnstown church, Rock Co., Wis., Oct. 7 and 8, in Quarterly Meeting, and we hereby invite brethren and sisters from other churches to meet with us.

I will also meet with the brethren of the Little Prairie church, in Quarterly Meeting, Oct. 14 and 15. Meetings will commence in both places at the commencement of the Sabbath.

Isaac Sanborn.

Western New York Quarterly Meeting Omitted

By R. F. Cottrell

As the State Conference comes upon the time of our Quarterly Meeting in Western N. Y., the latter will be omitted. R. F. Cottrell.

Latest News Concerning Brother White

The latest news we have concerning Bro. White, is a private letter bearing date of the 18th. He was then, in company with Brn. Smith and Loughborough, detained at Rochester, N. Y., on account of the rainy weather. We presume before this they are at their place of destination. G.