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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 20, 1874

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 44, No. 17.

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Southern Ill.

By E. F. Andrews

This meeting commenced according to appointment Wednesday evening, Sept. 30, and continued till Oct. 5. There were about seventy Sabbath-keepers in attendance. From the very commencement, the meeting was practical. We had three prayer and social meetings, and three discourses each day. The Lord by his Spirit witnessed to his truth, and set it home to the heart.
Especially was this evident on Sabbath, when the duty of parents to their children, Eph. 4:6, and the importance of “gathering with Christ,” Matt. 12:30, were presented. Many wept as they saw their failures on these points; and at our afternoon social meeting many of the testimonies borne were well wet down with tears; and as contrition and brokenness of heart was manifest, the Lord did especially draw near and give us his rich blessing, evincing the fact that “a broken and contrite heart” the Lord will “not despise.”
Oh! that God may help his dear children to carry out in their lives the sacred truth they witnessed to at this meeting. We must not think the work is done, and fall back into coldness and indifference; neither will it answer for us to become discouraged and faint by the way. But seeing that our Heavenly Father has shown us some of our faults, we must from the heart set about the work of putting them away from us. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and FORSAKETH them shall have mercy.” Confession is good as far as it goes, but is utterly worthless, unless connected with reformation of life.
We formed a very happy acquaintance with Bro. Crandall, Seventh-day Baptist from Farina, who came with his wife, daughter, and another sister, sixty-five miles to our meeting. Bro. and sister C. went away feeling very near to us, and left their testimony that God had greatly blessed them in meeting with us. May the Lord abundantly bless them, and may the time soon come when these two bodies of Sabbath-keepers shall see eye to eye. E. F. ANDREWS.