TEN MONTHS' ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE IN NAPLES, ITALY.
By H. P. Ribton
Our labors in the hall where for ten months we have called on all to come out of Babylon, and worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea, have come to a close. We have had to combat with everything that could combine to render our labor unsuccessful. Our hall, the only one that after much searching we were able to get, was badly adapted for a room in which to hold meetings. The hierarchs of the man who has set himself above God, and thought to change times and laws, hold their worship in gorgeous temples, where every day a new god is manufactured, adored with incense, and then eaten. The humble followers of Jesus of Nazareth are considered unworthy even to inhabit the houses of these worshipers, and think themselves fortunate if they can even get an abandoned wine cellar in which they may celebrate the praise of their meek and lowly Master. Yet in our labors the Spirit of God has been with us, the strong arm of God has upheld and protected us. Our lives have been in danger. Several times our meeting has been broken up by stones and fireworks hurled against and into our hall, and on one occasion, after having come out, there was a manifest evidence of the presence of God's angel with us, without which we would all have been murdered. A young man insulted one of our brethren, and he imprudently retaliated. A hand to hand combat ensued. Our enemies came round us in numbers. They were armed with stones, knives, and revolvers. Sr. R. interposed between the combatants and separated them. A drinking house and a Catholic church were opposite our meeting room, and our adversaries had come out of the latter inflamed with wine and fanaticism. A woman urged them against us with wild gestures, and a voice cried out, “Why do we not stone them?” Yet after our brother was dragged away by force from his assailant, we walked calmly past our enemies, and not an arm was raised against us. In our spiritual contests the presence of our God with us has been not less manifest. I need not recount the violent and persistent opposition we have met with from those who should be our brethren in combating the blasphemies of Babylon the mother, the warnings that have been preached and printed against us, the unjust and untruthful titles conferred upon us; it is the same spirit which everywhere makes war against the apostles of the third angel's message. But Michael our Prince has contended for us, and truly we may call his name Immanuel. And our warfare is of a difficult nature. We are obliged to be always armed at all points; for until we arrive at the meeting we do not know what the nature of the contest will be. At one time we have to preach to the lawless and fruitless Antinomian, who revels in his release from all the obligations of God's moral law. At another time we seek to wake the apathetic soul that is dead to all religion and a slave to the law of carnal passion, and this is the state of the great mass of the people here. Now we have to bring the Bible and church history to bear on the bigoted and tradition-fed Catholic, and now we have to open the book of nature with the cold, scientific infidel, who believes in nothing but matter. Yet blessed be God's name our progress has been onward, the Sabbath has been recognized by many, warmly and actively taken up by some, and new souls have been born to Christ in our humble hall. With what joy did we hear Christ openly confessed by several who knew him not, one of whom had been an infidel. Even within the past week there has been joy amongst the angels; for a deist with whom we have had long arguments has not only accepted Christ as his Saviour, but has begun to work for him by bringing in others, and expresses a desire to labor still further when he returns to his home in the country this month. And already from our little center the proclamation of the Sabbath has gone forth to Genoa and Turin in the north, Bari in the east, and Sicily and Malta in the south; while in Egypt two little churches of Sabbath-keepers have been formed. These have sent me a most pressing call to come to their aid. Blessed be the name of God, who has made his unworthy servants the means of doing this much in the seat of Antichrist; may he enable us to do greater things, and bless all our brethren who are laboring to build up his church of commandment-keepers out of all tongues and people so as to soon complete the number of his elect and hasten his coming! Our greatest pitched battle has been on the subject of eternal punishment and the immortality of the soul, and there our victory has been complete, as I have related. I have many times invited our antagonists to a discussion on the Sabbath, but none have yet responded, although urged by members of their congregations who have left them from conviction on the subject. Owing to the influence of the Catholic priesthood, it is almost impossible to obtain a room in Naples where the gospel may be preached. God has, however, in a most unexpected manner, provided us with another hall. It is smaller than the first one, too small if our number increases, but it suffices for our present wants, and is in many ways better suited for our work. We believe the prayers of our brethren have aided in procuring a blessing from on high on our past work, and ask them to continue their prayerful sympathy, in the hope that we may yet receive a greater blessing in our new seat of labor. Already new work is opening upon us, and we trust that this new little hall will be the abode of the Spirit, wherein many new souls will be born into the kingdom of Christ.