p. 346 | The Essex Camp-Meeting

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · Sep 9, 1875

The Essex Camp-Meeting.

FRIDAY EVENING.

THE sermon on Friday evening was given by Elder D. M. Canright, upon the subject of the Advent.

He spoke of the extreme views of two classes; one of which has set the time for the coming of Christ and the end of the world at several different times; the other of which believes that we can tell nothing about it, whether Christ will come to-day or a thousand years hence.

The speaker took the ground that, although "no man knoweth the day nor the hour," yet we may know when the event is near. His position he very ably proved from the words of Christ in Matthew 25:33: "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door." He then proceeded to give some of the signs of the last days. Referring to Daniel 12:4:—"many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased,"—he spoke of the many wonderful inventions of the nineteenth century.

Why is this so? Are the men of this age naturally more wise than they were years ago? No. The hand of God is in it. The present facilities for traveling were contrasted with those of former days, and the speaker maintained that this was a wise provision of the Almighty for the carrying of the last message of mercy to the inhabitants of all the earth. He showed that the fact that the gospel has been preached in every part of the globe was a fulfillment of Matt. 24:14, and the sign of the end of the world. He referred to the age of the world which the best chronologers place at about 6,000 years, and the general belief that a great change will take place at the end of the six thousand years, which he claims would be not the conversion of the world, but the second advent.

Another sign he claimed is found in modern spiritualism, which he claimed is plainly foretold in Rev. 16:13-14; Matt. 24:22-27, &c.

As another mark of the end of the world there shall be an unnatural condition of the elements. He read Rev. 11:19, and called the attention of the audience to the terrible storms, floods, winds, earthquakes, and tidal waves, that have become of late so startling and frequent.

The moral condition of the world was taken as another proof, reasoning from Matt. 24:37. The world was very wicked in the days of Noah, see Gen. 6:5. He showed by quotations from several of the leading newspapers that the press is alarmed at the terrible contagion of crime at the present day. The political aspect of the world, the preparations for war (see Joel 3:9; Rev. 11:28), &c., he claimed were just what the Lord said they would be in the last days.

The meeting was held under the large canvas tent, which was well filled. The best attention was given by the audience; and good order has prevailed from the first.

SATURDAY FORENOON.

Saturday morning a sermon was preached by Elder James White upon the Advent.

The speaker claimed that the angel of Rev. 10, represents a great message to go to the whole world. This is represented by his standing with one foot upon the land and one upon the sea. The angel "cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth," verse 3, showing the earnestness with which the message is to go. The little book which the angel held in his hand represents the book of Daniel. In proof of this he showed that the book of Daniel, which gives a history of the world in advance, was to be sealed up till the time of the end (Dan. 12:4), when knowledge should be increased. What kind of knowledge? Answer: That which pertains to the end. The angel has been talking about the end.

As a second proof: The angel lifts his hands and swears that time shall be no longer. Then this little book which the angel holds open is one that contains time, prophetic time, and can be no other than the book of Daniel which contains the great prophetic periods—that book which was to be sealed until the time of the end. That this is prophetic time of which the angel speaks he clearly proved, showing the inconsistency of the idea that the angel refers to the end of the world, the end of days and nights, of literal time, when he swears that time shall be no longer.

Those that entertain the latter idea say that this refers to the coming of Christ and the resurrection; but right at that very time John speaks of another thousand years.—Rev. 20:4. The time evidently is prophetic time, and the speaker claimed that that ended in 1844.

The angel of Rev. 14:6, represents a message that was to be preached, proclaiming the hour of God's judgment at hand. This message has been given in the present century. The angel of verse 8 is another message relative to all corrupted Christianity upon which the speaker had not time to comment. In the 9th verse, and onward, another message follows, containing the most terrible warning within the lids of the Bible against those who worship the beast and his image and who receive his mark.

The 12th verse reads: "Here is the patience of the saints." This applies to the present time, the time when we are waiting in suspense, in expectation of the coming of Christ. "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Verse 12. Right down in the last days, then, will be a people that will keep the commandments of God just as they read, the fourth one not excepted. Such a people the Seventh-day Adventists profess to be. This does not refer to the blind Jews, for the last words of the verse add that they have also the faith of Jesus. The speaker said that he thanked God that he was connected with a people that have a whole Bible, one that embraces the law of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He spoke of the disappointment of the Advent people in 1844, and showed how clearly this was marked out in Rev. 10:9, 10, by the little book that the angel told John to eat. This was not a literal book, of course; but the sweet taste of it represents the joy with which the news of the advent was received in 1844, and the bitter taste which followed represents the terrible disappointment which fell upon the people when the time passed. In the 11th verse the angel said, "Thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings." This work the Seventh-day Adventists have been doing for the last 25 years. Upon this point he spoke of the providence of God in the success of their printing establishments. About 25 years ago the first issue of their paper was carried to the post-office in a small carpet bag. Now the issue of periodicals from their Office at Battle Creek, Michigan, in one week recently amounted to three hundred bushels, or nearly two tons weight. They are printing largely in French, German, Swedish, and Danish, besides the English.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

Elder D. M. Canright addressed the congregation from Rev. 4:11. In this chapter John describes what he saw in Heaven. In the verses preceding the text, the holy beings in Heaven are represented as worshiping God; and they exclaim, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." The great idea that the speaker wished to convey was that everything was made for God's pleasure; and if any man lives his lifetime seeking his own pleasure only, regardless of glorifying God, he will find, when he comes to settle his account, that he has made a terrible mistake.

The first object of the gospel, even, is the pleasure and glory of God. This is put first all through the Scriptures. In the ten commandments duty to God is put first. In the Lord's prayer the name of God is hallowed first. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done" in Heaven and earth, is put before "Give us this day our daily bread."

The speaker maintained that we are not our own (1 Cor. 6:19); that the air we breathe, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, all belong to God; that the talents we have, whether they be for preaching, the work of making money, are given by God, and that for them we are all accountable. The man who has a talent for making money is just as accountable for the use he makes of his talent as is the man qualified to preach, for his.

He quoted Deut. 8:18. He said that many in the church would not do any thing because they could not hope to be great men; but God has a place for every one. Men with small talents have been so blessed in the exercise of them that they have become very gifted.

The reward will correspond to the service rendered. The speaker referred to the life and great labors of the great apostle Paul, and said that doubtless thousands will be saved through them. Unquestionably Paul's reward will be unspeakably glorious.

Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. All who are saved will owe it to him; and when the Saviour shall look upon the host of the redeemed, what inexpressible joy will fill his heart? "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." The speaker said the joy of the Lord will consist in beholding the fruits of his labors.

After the sermon, Mrs. E. G. White gave a powerful exhortation, following which invitations were given to backsliders, those who did not enjoy all that light and freedom which they desired, and all such as wished to start for the first time, to come forward. Prayer was offered, and the blessing of God rested down with such power that many were melted to tears. The attendance was good, quite a number being present from the village, from Burlington, and other places.

SATURDAY EVENING.

Mrs. White spoke to a large congregation from the following words: "And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry; and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon, and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves;" &c., Mark 11:12, 13. Drawing a beautiful picture of the appearance of the temple as the rays of the setting sun shed their soft light upon the city, Mrs. White described the ride of Christ into Jerusalem.

She then spoke some time upon the sorrow of Christ as he wept over Jerusalem. "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." Luke 19:42. He had come to his own people and they had rejected him. The very people whom he left the courts of Heaven to save would not receive him. The Jews with their religious forms and great professions of holiness, the speaker compared to the boasting fig-tree covered with its green foliage and the appearance of a fruit-ful tree, but was barren, having nothing but leaves; and the Gentiles who claimed no religious virtues, she likened to those trees which had put forth no leaves, which made no pretensions to fruitfulness.

She urged that the words of Christ as he was descending the mount of Olives, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace, etc."—that these words were uttered with reference, not only to the inhabitants of Jerusalem before him, but to the people of all succeeding time. There is a truth for every age, and it belongs to the peace of every people to know the truth that belongs to its day.

She spoke at some length upon the light that has shown out upon the heavenly sanctuary. Away down in the last days in the time of judgment, John saw the temple of God open in Heaven, "and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." Rev. 11:19. This was especially called attention to the law of God, his testament, which we find in his temple in Heaven. The Jews held the Old Testament and cried out, "The Father, the Law, away with Christ!" while the popular religionist of the present day, equally blind, exclaimed, "Christ, the love of Christ, Jesus only, away with the Law!" The speaker claimed that the law and gospel should go hand in hand, and that John should have this to be the case with a people down here in the last days. "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12. The Seventh-day Adventists claim to be this people. They take the whole Bible, Law and Gospel. The speaker exhorted all to receive the truth; to know the things that are for their peace, even in this day; to be in earnest so that when the Master comes they may be found to bear good fruit, and not leaves alone."—Free Press.