Earlier text: Review of Elds. Law and DelapThe Discussion in Portland, Me.
QUESTION. The Seventh-day Sabbath observed by God's people prior to the crucifixion of Christ, is still binding upon mankind. Affirmative, M. E. Cornell. Negative, T. M. Preble. Cornell. We have some interesting things now before us. The Lord's day, the Elder tells us, is Christ's day, and that is the first day of the week; for Christ is Lord of the Sabbath-day. Is the first day of the week the Sabbath-day? If Eld. P. will find in the New Testament where the first day is ever called the Sabbath, any reference to the day, saying that it is the Sabbath-day, then he will have proved something. But what day was it? I shall claim that it was the seventh day, unless he can show that some other day is somewhere called Lord's day in the New Testament. But when Christ said he was Lord of the Sabbath-day, Eld. P. knows it was not the first day of the week. It was the old seventh day. If he can find that the first day has been sanctified, then he may claim that Lord's day is the first day. The fourth commandment, and also Isa. lviii, tell us what day the Lord's day is. The first day of the week is never called Lord's day in the Bible. It is admitted, or if denied, I will bring the proof, that John wrote his gospel after his return from the isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Revelation. And in that gospel he has occasion to refer to the first day of the week. Now if by the term Lord's day, in the Revelation, he had meant the first day of the week, and that was the term then given to that day, he would certainly have called it so when speaking of it afterward. But in his gospel he calls it simply first day of the week. Refers to Preble's assertion that God sanctified the day beforehand, and reads the record that he sanctified the day after, and because, he had rested upon it. Re-argues some points in relation to the penalty, showing that Preble admitted that the real penalty was the second death, so that the real penalty never has been changed, and no change of the law can be argued on that ground. He did not wish to be understood as repudiating the Emphatic Diaglott as a whole, but only some of its renderings, and among them the rendering of 2 Cor. iii, 7. The word there translated dispensation, has never that meaning. Everybody will say that that is false. As a whole, I like King James' translation the best of any. Eld. P. says that every day is alike in this dispensation; that we are to have holy work six days, and holy rest on the seventh day. Was it not just so in the former dispensation? I believe in keeping every day right, and the commandment shows how that is, by directing us to work six and rest on the seventh. Refers to what Preble calls Paul's accommodation meetings. But Paul preached to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews. Only one meeting can be found on the first day of the week. Acts xx. And I can show that that was an accommodation meeting. It was held because Paul was to depart on the morrow, and they were to see his face no more. Every Bible institution has a name. On this point Bro. C. made a strong argument, giving illustrations all through the Bible, and showing the names and titles of sacredness that have all along been applied to the seventh day, ending with Rev. i, 10, and showing also that no title of sacredness is ever given in the Bible to the first day of the week. Fifty-nine times the seventh day is called the Sabbath. The first day, never. The only title ever given to that day is a "working day." Eze. xlvi, 1. And God has set the example of working upon it. God never changes an institution of his. The seventh day is never called Jewish like the passover, the feasts of the Jews, &c. Preble. Eld. C. says that stoning to death was not the real penalty. But was it not all the penalty there was to that law given? I am glad he admitted so much in regard to the Emphatic Diaglott. He also admits that all days are alike. I thank him for that. The children of Israel were journeying the seventh day before the Sabbath in the wilderness. The word Sabbath occurs in the New Testament, and refers to the first day, too. In every instance where the first day of the week occurs it is sabbaton. Thus we have the first sabbaton, the second sabbaton, &c. He says it is the seventh of the sabbaton; but the Bible says it is the first of the sabbaton. Which will you believe? As soon as you pass the resurrection of Christ, you find first day sabbaton. The reason the disciples could not bear some things which Christ had to say to them, was because the Jews would persecute and put them to death for them. Pray that your flight be not on the Sabbath-day. You see we have to come down to the time when the New Testament was written to find the change. Cornell. My friend will keep the first day without any command; but will not keep the seventh day without its being commanded over again. Reads from Preble's tract of 1845, that those who keep the first day are "Pope's Sunday-keepers and God's Sabbath-breakers." He says the Gentile converts all went for the first day of the week; and I can tell you why; it was because the first day of the week was dedicated by the Gentiles or heathen, to the sun from ancient times, and called Sunday. Bro. C. here gave a thorough exposure of the fallacy of the seventh-part-of-time theory. We have no record of Christ's appearing to his disciples on the first day of the week, except on the day of his resurrection. Met with them once on a fishing day. Pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day. Bro. C. gave the true exposition of this passage, which the reader will find in full in History of the Sabbath, pp. 132-138. Discussed the frequent references to the Sabbath in the book of Acts, and contrasted these with the one instance of preaching on the first day. Makes a strong argument on the fact that the Sabbath commandment is in the very bosom of the decalogue, and the whole law is perfect and holy, and hence cannot be abolished. Preble. Eld. C. quotes Webster to show that Sunday was anciently dedicated to the sun. We could give him a rich treat from Noah Webster. [Eld. P. here read from Webster concerning Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, claiming it as a triumphant argument; to which Eld. C. subsequently replied by referring him to Webster's definition of the word soul, and asking him if he would endorse that!] Refers to his Sab. tracts, and says, I told you in my first speech that I got bewildered and observed the seventh day three years. I am twenty years older now, and have had a chance to learn something. I ask my heavenly Father to forgive me this error, if he has not already done it. I have seen distraction in families from this seventh-day Sabbath-keeping. It makes confusion and quarreling, women refusing to cook, &c. The whole number of Seventh-day Adventists have not been converted from sin to holiness, but are proselytes from other churches. They have broken up churches. This State is witness to it. He says that according to my view, any seventh day is the Sabbath, notwithstanding I have given evidence that the first day of the week should be observed by Christians in commemoration of redemption. In Acts xviii, where Paul preached to the Gentiles, some argue that it was the Sabbath between. Now what kind of a Sabbath could come between two Jewish Sabbaths? It would be the first day of the week would it not? And the great crowd assembled because it was the first day of the week, was what caused the Jews to be so enraged. When he refers to the ten commands, he wants to know if the nine commandments are abolished. I guess he thought he was arguing with Miles Grant, in New Hampshire. But I am not Miles Grant. I believe they are all brought over. In order to commemorate the redemption of our world, we must commemorate it on the first day of the week. We can commemorate both creation and redemption by the first day of the week. One of the reformers believed in the seventh-day Sabbath, Carlstadt, a fiery, crazy sort of a fanatical person, who went on till war was declared, and so perished. Cornell. He asks me to give him notes in writing. I cannot speak and take notes for the negative too. I have referred to some things several times, and he has not tried to notice them. The first point I have to notice now, is his effort to get up sympathy, and create prejudice against the Sabbath, by asserting that it has a bad influence, creates confusion, breaks up churches, &c. I repudiate such a course. It is unworthy any cause. Others have made the same complaint against Adventists. The same things have been said about the immortality doctrine; and every new truth is open to the same objections. Christ said that he came not to send peace on earth but a sword. The truth will always make division where all do not embrace it. As a specimen of the contradictions my friend indulges in, you will recollect that he has taken the position that the commandments were dead, done away; but now he says that they are all brought over and written on the heart. Miles Grant had the commandments brought over and the fourth left out. Preble has them abolished, then all brought over and written on the heart, then the fourth changed. If the Sabbath was abolished at the cross, how could it be changed at the resurrection of Christ? Those who have kept the seventh day, he says, have been miserable fanatics ever since the days of Christ. I could mention several miserable fanatics who have kept the first day. See the Catholic church for example. My arguments on the Sabbath being placed in the midst of the moral law, and the immutability of the law, have not yet been touched. Preble. In regard to a discussion of the History of the Sabbath, I should like to have it go through the World's Crisis, but I have no control over it. I am ready to meet Andrews or anybody else. And if the Crisis cannot be opened to it, will they shut it out of their paper? The divisions Christ refers to, are divisions between saints and sinners. That is bad fruit because it divides saints, and is contrary to the gospel. He says that I say that those who keep the seventh day crucify Christ afresh. I deny that I said so. I have not said that the ten commandments were dead; I said law. I never said that all who kept the seventh day were fanatics. I said the principal movements were made by such. They were by heretics and visionary men and women. Refers to testimony of Justin Martyr, and reads from Reeve's translation, Vol. i, p. 163. Refers to 1 Cor. xvi, 1. On the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, &c., and reads from Eusebius in relation to this custom, p. 159. [Here Eld. P. fell into the singular mistake of making Dionysius of Soter's time, A. D. 170, mentioned by Eusebius, the same as the Dionysius of Paul's time mentioned in Acts xvii, 34.] Reads again from his articles. The Morning Cometh.
By R. F. Cottrell
DARKNESS covers the earth, and gross darkness the people; and it seems as if the darkness was growing denser and denser still. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many is growing cold. The world and the professed church present a dark picture for our contemplation; but they are only filling up the outline given before in prophecy. Satan is permitted to bring his power to bear against the truth, and against those who hold it. But there is a limit to his power. When God gave his servant Job into his power, it was with this reserve: "but save his life." And so it is at present. The lives of the servants of God are not given into the power of Satan. The Lord has a work for them to do, and though the enemy may be permitted to afflict, he can not take away their lives—they will live to accomplish their work. Amid the moral darkness of the world, we have seen by faith in God's word that the morning is coming, the Lord is about to come and save his people. There are true-hearted Christians who are trying to penetrate the darkness, and get a glimpse of the morning light. They begin to see unmistakable signs of the coming morning. The watchman saith the morning cometh, and also the night. The Lord is coming to save his people and destroy his enemies. It will be morning to the former, and night to the latter. The Lord is represented by the prophet as saying upon this occasion, "The day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redeemed is come." The Lord is on the side of his people whom he is preparing for the advent. He is delivering his servants61 that have been oppressed by the Devil. Morning is breaking. The latter rain is coming. The powers of darkness cannot long prevail to hold in check the final work of the Lord. The Lord will work for the deliverance of all those who are living up to the light given. Let us heed all the teachings of the Lord; cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. Then the beaming light of the coming morning will shine upon us in all its splendor, and our pathway shall be as the shining light, which shineth more and more, even to the perfect day. Could we realize how willing the Lord is to help us in the way of well-doing, we should take courage to labor on in this good cause of the Lord; and we would not displease him by distrusting his faithfulness and love. He is waiting to be gracious. He desires to bless us. Let us prepare ourselves to receive his blessing. Let us cleanse the temple, that he may come in and dwell with us. He is faithful that has promised, who also will do it. Report from Bro. Cottrell.
By R. F. Cottrell
BRO. WHITE: Since my last report, from Catlin, I have been laboring in a place entirely new, in Corning, Steuben Co., N. Y., five miles from the village of that name. Held meetings here from Dec. 17 to the close of the year, giving seventeen discourses. The going was bad much of the time, and the congregations were small with few exceptions. However, I trust that good has been done. Seven, I believe, publicly confessed that I had preached the truth on the Sabbath question, by rising to their feet. May God help them to realize the importance of living up to their convictions, and of keeping all the commandments of God. I have reason to think that some are established in the truth and will prove steadfast. It was expected by friends there, that there would be a discussion on the Sabbath question when I came, as a minister who often preached there had signified that he was ready to meet the question; but to their disappointment he did not appear till the last day in the afternoon, and I had closed my meetings. Then, instead of meeting what I had preached, he tried to prejudice the people against the Advent movement in the past, and upon the immortality question, a question I had not introduced. I do not say that he took this course because he knew that he could not meet the truth I had presented on the Sabbath; but if he was not aware of it, Satan was; and he is the instigator to all opposition to the truth. I would say to the friends there, hold fast what you have learned, and in due season other points of truth shall be fully vindicated, God's word honored and his justice, goodness and mercy, truth, love, and righteousness maintained; and those false imputations against his character, which represent him as an implacable, unmerciful tyrant, delighting in the eternal anguish of those he has made, repelled. Be patient, brethren and sisters, and in your patience keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, and God will keep you, lead you into all truth, and prepare you for a place in his kingdom which is at hand, even at the doors. Men Speak as They Believe.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
ORTHODOXY tells us that all the Bible writers were believers in the inherent immortality of all men, the conscious state of the dead, endless misery, eternal hell torments, &c., &c. These, and similar terms, are found freely interspersed in all modern orthodox writings. But it is a significant fact that not one of these terms is found anywhere in the Bible. The Bible is a large book and was written by many different writers in many different ages, and under almost every conceivable circumstance. Yet not once has a single one of them used one of these phrases which so much abound in modern theology. Would this be so if they had believed as the moderns do? We cannot think that it would. Somewhere they would have expressed their faith in terms too clear to be mistaken. I have been reading the “Book of Mormon,” or the Mormon Bible. It claims to be a revelation from God, and is written in the style of the Old Testament. It claims to be a history of the lost tribes of Israel, which was written at the time many of the last books in the Old Testament were written. But any one who is not blind to all reason, can readily see that it is a production of modern times. All the modern phrases of immortal-soulism, are scattered all through this book. I will quote some from it. “For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster, the Devil, and death and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.” Second Book of Nephi, Chap. vi. “His (the sinner’s) final doom is to endure a never ending torment.” Book of Mosiah, Chap. i. “Perhaps (we had) been consigned to a state of endless misery and woe.” Book of Alma, Chap. vii. “Therefore, as the soul can never die,” &c. Id. Chap. xix. The word of God will “lead the man of Christ in a straight and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked, and land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God.” Book of Helaman, Chap. ii. Speaking of dying, he says, “That I might go down in peace, and my immortal spirit may join the chorus above, in singing the praises of a just God.” Book of Mosiah, Chap. i. “The spirit and the body shall be re-united again, in its perfect form.” Book of Alma, Chap. viii. Of the martyrs the writer says, “We know that they are blessed for they have gone to dwell with their God.” Id. Chap. xiv. The Book of Mormon is not a large book, yet we might multiply these phrases to an indefinite extent. It is very manifest that the writer of this book believed in the doctrine of immortal-soulism in all its parts, the same as the orthodox do; hence he spoke just as they do. Oh how rejoiced our orthodox friends would be to find such terms as these in the Bible! But alas! they cannot find them. Why not? Very manifestly because the Bible writers believed no such thing, hence they never wrote it. Men speak as they believe. The above quotations prove two things: 1. The writers of the Bible did not believe in immortal-soulism; for if they had they would have written it out as this writer has. 2. The “Book of Mormon” is directly opposed to the Book of God. The Punishment of the South.
By J. Clarke
NEVER did an army enter the field more boastingly than did the army of the confederate States in 1861, and '62; and never was an army more subdued and humbled, than the Southern army was in the final disasters at the fall of Charleston and Richmond. Hoping for an empire, Jefferson Davis inherits a prisoner's cell, and his people who looked forward to the supremacy of the slaveholding aristocracy, now are doomed to behold their former slaves become freedmen; and the profitable human chattels are now transformed into men, and the once rich slave-trader, has become in many instances a pauper; and worst of all, it is their own madness that has done it all. Northern diplomacy labored hard to strengthen the falling fortunes of the South, but hot Southern blood would rule or ruin; and ruin came—that is ruin to the Southern tyrants. Soldiers of the Southern army, after leaving about half a million of their comrades to slumber in their dreamless beds, upon many a battle-field, have gone home ragged, and lean, and hungry, without pay, without money; gone home to share in the poverty their rashness has brought upon their country. With the keen and bitter reflections of men who have baffled themselves they mutter their demoniac rage in curses too fearful to repeat, as they realize the fearful retribution of justice upon traitors, whose hands red with blood, and faces dark with crime, witness against them. This is not the end; for the test oath is a bar against them in congress; and the continuation of martial law in the South, is a sure indication that our government intends to hold the authority still among those faithless States, who would prefer the annihilation of the freedmen to his enlargement. But the act of congress abolishing the "peculiar institution" of slavery, which should take effect Dec.62 18, 1865, was the final stunning blow to slavery. Alas who can tell the agony of the statesmen of the chivalric and proud Southern dynasty, as on Christmas the freedmen celebrated the jubilee of freedom. To say that the freedmen can, in all cases, avail himself of the blessings of liberty; to say that he is in all cases fit to govern himself, is more than we can affirm. It is still in the power of the citizen to make the freedman's life a life of misery. But one thing is certain; the proud oppressor has been terribly rebuked. The slave power has been shaken and subdued; and the Southern demagogue who once boasted that he would yet call the roll of his slaves upon Bunker Hill, has ere this, not only ceased his wicked boasting, but has failed to retain his slaves even at home. No more will the philanthropist who hates slavery be stigmatized as fanatical. Northern men with southern sympathies, will no more destroy the printing presses of antislavery men. To God be all the glory; for the North has really done this from necessity, contrary to its own will by the hand of God. "I Want."
By I. D. Van Horn
I HAVE had many serious reflections of late, upon the import of these two words, caused principally by hearing the brethren and sisters in different localities bear their testimony in our social meetings. Sometimes these meetings are cold and formal, but little zeal for the truth is manifested, and like the door on its hinges, we go to and from them realizing but little if any benefit therefrom. On such occasions we often hear testimonies given in a careless and almost indifferent manner, in substance as follows: "I want to know my duty, and be willing to perform it at all times. I want to be a Christian, and have a more realizing sense of what God has done for me. I want more of the Spirit of God that I may be willing to obey him in all things. I want to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. I want my heart cleansed from all sin. I want to overcome and go with the remnant to Mount Zion," &c. Thus they go on expressing their "wants" till I have thought sometimes they might be when the Lord comes, like one of whom we read, "weighed in the balances and found wanting." Now I am not going to say that it is wrong to express these wants; but I believe the place to express them is in the closet, where God alone can hear us. I believe it is the Christian's privilege to obtain what he wants of the Lord; and when he has done so, let him go to the social meeting and tell that he has had his wants supplied, has gained the victory over sin, and been able to resist temptation. Then his testimony will be effectual in the encouragement of others, and God's name will be honored and glorified. There is probably not an individual in the world that does not want eternal life; yet there will be but few of them saved, because they will never make an effort to obtain what they want. It becomes us therefore, as believers in present truth, to make our calling and election sure by working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt us in due time; casting all our care upon him, for he careth for us. Let us go to him in meekness and ask him for the things we need, that our wants may be all supplied, and we fitted for a home with the redeemed in the kingdom of God. Quarterly Meeting at Carlton, N. Y.
By R. F. Cottrell
THIS meeting, held Jan. 13 and 14, was certainly one of the best, perhaps I might say the best, we have ever enjoyed in this section. The church was edified and encouraged, and sinners were converted to God. Five took a decided stand to keep the commandments of God, and another so nearly committed himself that there is not much doubt that he will embrace the truth. Among the thoroughly decided, was the husband of our faithful sister E. M. Prentiss of Parma. Two or three of them, relatives of Bro. D. M. Canright, had never before made public confession of their faith in Christ. They remained after the meeting was dismissed, unwilling to leave the place till they should receive further instructions in the work in which they were so newly engaged, and to have prayers still offered in their behalf. We instructed them to believe that Christ was willing to do for them what he came into the world to do for sinners, and after a solemn, and deeply interesting season of prayer in their behalf, they left for their home rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. May God still bless them and lead them all the way through to the kingdom of God. Quite a number of others who attended our meetings were evidently deeply interested hearers of the solemn truths pertaining to the present time, and we trust that the good work will not stop here. May God help them to realize the importance of obedience, and may they not harden their hearts by delay. Little Sins.
By Delia A. Eddy
If we would be saved through the mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must resist by his grace the least of little sins. If we allow little sins and suffer them to stay for a moment in our hearts, little though they be, they open the door for larger ones. Open the door of our hearts ever so little to any sin, and the sin will soon be master of the house and all that is therein. We must check the first thoughts of evil, we must stop them at the door, and push them back. We must take pains to turn the current of our thoughts when we find them inclined to run in an evil channel. Our enemy begins with little trifling sins that we may be the less frightened when he proposes greater ones. He first casts a little dust into our eyes, and then a little more, and soon we become blind indeed. The hardening and blinding and deadening of a soul is not quickly done. Ask the most wicked and profane, whose consciences seem seared as with a hot iron, and they will tell you there was a time when they felt uneasy about a little fault, and keenly felt that act of disobedience, and some slight transgression. Oh, who then can doubt that it is little sins that lead us from God. If from such have grown all the iniquities that have been acted in the world, all the bold rebellions against God, and the crucifying of Christ afresh, are we aware how far we may be drawn away from the blessed side of Christ if we allow little sins to have their way, and note them not? Alas, it is the little foxes that spoil the vines. Watch these little sins and we shall not be drawn into greater ones. With all our watchfulness, all our prayers, our wrestling against the powers of darkness, and all endeavor to keep pure hearts, we are often overtaken in a fault, and our souls often stained by acts of disobedience, and infirmities. What shall we be if we watch but little, and let offenses creep in, and take no account of little matters, and only care to keep out and restrain the greater floods of wickedness? Although the heart is deceitful beyond measure, yet God says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." May God enable his people to watch each thought, and be on their guard against letting little sins find a dwelling-place in their hearts. If we indulge once in an impure thought, it will come again, and its stay will be longer, and it will be harder to shake it off; and it will not come alone. All those who have gone the farthest into sin, and who now feel the mastery of some favorite sin, must confess that the evil began with little sins, that pressed themselves into their hearts, and they did not check them at the first. May the Lord sanctify his people that they may walk in the light as he is in the light, and while we are in the land where the wheat and tares must both grow together until the harvest, which is the end of the world, may we now be preparing ourselves for the time when Christ shall come to thrust in his sickle and reap; for then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Then no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isa. xxxv, 9, 10.
DELIA A. EDDY, Bro. White: I send you the following extracts, which you may use as you think best. "That is but a melancholy religion, and a poor philosophy, which directs man to his own natural strength. Past ages have made trial of that strength, and while, in earthly things, man has attained admirable excellence, he has never been able to dissipate the darkness which hides God from his soul, or to change a single inclination to evil. The highest attainment in wisdom of the most aspiring minds, or of the souls most eager after perfection, has been to despair of themselves. It is, therefore, a generous, consoling, and supremely true doctrine, which discovers to us our impotence, that it may declare a power—of God—by which we can do all things; and that is a noble Reformation which vindicates on earth the glory of Heaven, and pleads before man the rights of the mighty God."—D'Aubigne. "In all ages it has been seen how great is the power of any prominent idea to work upon the inert mass of mankind, to rouse the spirit of a nation, and to urge its votaries by thousands, if need be, on to the field of battle, and into the very jaws of death. But if an idea whose origin is earthly has a potency so great, what limit shall we set to the power of one communicated from above, when God himself has opened men's hearts to receive it? Not often, in the world's history indeed, has such a power been exerted; it was displayed, however, in the infancy of Christianity; at the period of the Reformation it was exhibited again; and it shall be witnessed once more in the latter days."—Ibid. Luther, in answer to his friend Spalatin's question, "What is the best method of studying the Scripture?" says: "It is most plain we cannot attain to the understanding of Scripture either by study or by strength of intellect. Therefore your first duty must be to begin with prayer. Entreat the Lord to deign to grant you in his rich mercy rightly to understand his word. There is no other interpreter of the word of God but the author of that word himself; even as he has said, 'They shall all be taught of God.' Hope nothing from your study, or the strength of your intellect, but simply put your trust in God, and in the guidance of his Spirit. Believe one who has made trial of this method."—Hist. of Ref. Can we not see in this the secret of Luther's strength and power in wielding that two-edged sword? For or Against.
By M. J. Cottrell
A NEW year with pages unsullied and bright,
Has opened before us, and here all must write,
Must write here a record to stand through all time,
A dark blotted record, or one that will shine. We shall not write this record with pen and with ink,
But with deeds that we do, and thoughts that we think,
The word, if a pure one, comes forth from pure thought,
And 'tis thus with the deed if good it has wrought. Each day is a page,—oh how pure, and how fair!—
On which we must write, oh let's write it with care,
For the record must stand and in future must tell,
If this year to us given, was ill used, or well. It also must tell, either for or against,
Our right to the white robes prepared for the saints,
The bright jeweled crown, and the city of gold,
The harp, and the palm, which the victors shall hold. Either for or against our right to that stream,
Whose water is life,—not life like a dream
Fading and fleeting,—but life that's undying,
Life that knows nothing of sinning, or sighing. Either for or against our right to that land,
Where all is bright beauty, and glory most grand,
Where flowers ne'er fade, for they bloom by the side
Of the bright flowing stream with its life-giving tide. Either for or against, our right to behold
The King in his beauty—oh beauty untold—
To gaze on that brow once crowned with the thorn,
That brow which for us was once bleeding and torn. Either for or against, I would grave those words deep
On my heart's inmost tablet; their import to keep;
And to Heaven, I'd seek for wisdom and grace,
That the record which I, on these pages shall trace, May be such as shall tell for my right to behold
The King in his beauty, with scepter of gold;
To join in the song the immortal will sing;
To praise in bright glory, our Saviour and King.
M. J. COTTRELL. As some certain persons please us by a sort of sympathy, we know not why, so others displease us by a sort of antipathy, which we can give no account for. It is somewhat difficult entirely to conquer these aversions, because sometimes they proceed from nature and constitution; but we may prevent the outward appearance of it, by suppressing all contemptuous and reproachful language. Antipathy thus governed, may be compared to a wild beast chained. As long as you keep it confined, it is not able to do any hurt; but if you once let it loose, it is incredible what mischief it will do to yourself and everybody else. As long as you give no outward testimonies of your aversion, it will be attended with no ill consequence, provided you do not please yourself with such thoughts, but rather endeavor to suppress the irregular motions they may occasion. But if once you give way to your antipathy, by doing everything which that dictates, in a little time you will contract a great deal of guilt. Therefore bear with patience whatever is shocking to you in other people, and neither by word or gesture discover the aversion and uneasiness that they give you, though it may be sometimes a complaint that might be justifiable. But this is a great instance of a strong virtue. [Copied from a work on Devotion, by Robt. Nelson, of England, 1708, by J. Clarke.] Will We Hear that Prophet?
By P. C. Rodman
"BLESSED are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely (lying, margin) for my sake." Shall we repine, or go about murmuring as too many are apt to do? Hear him in the following verse: "Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Matt. v, 11, 12. "What is a little scourge of the tongue?" says Whitefield. "What is a thrusting out of the synagogue? the time of temptation will be, when we are thrust into an inner prison and feel the iron entering into our very souls. God's people may be permitted to forsake us for awhile; but the Lord Jesus can stand by us. And if thou, O dearest Redeemer, will strengthen me in my inward man, let enemies plunge me into a fiery furnace, or throw me into a den of lions, let us suffer for Jesus with a cheerful heart, his love will sweeten every cup, though never so bitter." And again, in the language of another, "When trials press us sore let us remember our strength is in Him who is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him; for he is our High Priest, ministering still for us in the Heavenly Sanctuary." THE POOR CARED FOR. There's not a poor man, whom the rising sun wakens to go forth to toil for his daily bread, who may not as distinctly assure himself of his carrying with him the ever-watchful guardianship of the Almighty, as though he were the leader of armies or ruler of nations.—Melville. From the above, it appears that the work of apostasy on the part of Elds. Snook and Brinkerhoff has proceeded faster than any of us could have anticipated. Having surrendered so many of the fundamental principles of present truth, how long it will be before the whole system will be abandoned by them, the reader can judge. Their downward course commenced with opposition to the visions. Long weeks they spent framing and writing out objections, and blowing up to a white heat in their own hearts, the fires of opposition against the cause of present truth and its leaders. Carefully concealing all this, they came to our Conference last May, passed through the meeting with the most saintly hypocrisy, lisping not a word concerning, nor asking any explanation of, their alleged difficulties, and giving us, Judas like, as they left, their tokens of sympathy and fellowship. Scarcely had they reached their home, ere they threw off the mask, and launched forth into high-handed rebellion, which they have since denounced as a "crazy opposition" to this work. At the meeting held in Pilot Grove, Iowa, in June following, the objections of these men against the visions were all explained by sister White, to their professed satisfaction. She proposed also to explain them to the people there assembled, but B. and S. being apparently unwilling to have their weakness exposed, objected to it, as unnecessary. Soon followed their confessions in Review No. 8, last volume, in which they acknowledged that their eyes had been so far opened that they could see that the work in which they had been engaged, was the work of the Devil. But notwithstanding all this, it seems that they have so soon relapsed into more than their former condemnation, a distressing spectacle of reckless instability and self-deception. Verily the sin of rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. We learn that even now, Bro. Ingraham calls upon B. F. S. for his objections, proposing to answer them, and he refuses to state them; but in Bro. I.'s absence he throws them out in a way to create as much confusion as possible in the minds of the brethren. The indications of such a course cannot be mistaken by the honest. Did he possess a pure and ingenuous spirit, and were there points which really troubled him, he would gladly avail himself of any help to remove his difficulties, rather than resort to the mean tricks of the demagogue to forward his own cause. All goes to show that he is not actuated by honest motives, but is determinedly bent on doing the work of the enemy. Some time since, B. and S. sent in their resignation to the Gen. Conf. Committee. This committee have for some time been unable to act, on account of the sickness of two of its members, which they well understood. The Devil has truly picked his time for this charge upon the cause of truth. Many of the brethren in Iowa are doubtless waiting for something to be done in this matter; and but for the present condition of the committee, something would have been done before this. In view of this state of things, we take the responsibility of making this statement, and of saying to the loyal in Iowa, to hold on steadfast and unmovable; and the difficulties with which the enemies of the truth would fain trouble you, shall be explained, and probably soon. U. SMITH,
G. W. AMADON,
J. M. ALDRICH.