COMMUNICATIONS by Albert Stone

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Dec 20, 1853

COMMUNICATIONS.

By Albert Stone

Communication from Eld. A. Stone.

DEAR BRO. WHITE:—The little company of brethren and sisters in this place remain steadfast in the truth, and in love to all of the commandments of God.

We feel that the Sabbath is a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and we believe that all those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, though now lightly esteemed by the world, will ultimately ride upon the high places of the earth, and be fed with the heritage of Jacob their father; because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Truly, the message of the third angel justifies the past, sheds light on the present, and directs us in the future. Praise the Lord! If this brief note should chance to meet the eye of any of my former Advent brethren, who stand aloof from the Sabbath of the Lord, and the message of the third angel of Rev. xiv, and who still hold that the 2300 days of Dan. viii, are not ended, I would respectfully suggest to them a few thoughts for their consideration.

Dear Brethren, you embraced the Advent doctrine under a strong conviction that the Lord would come in 1843-4. You came up to the seventh month movement in the Autumn of 1844 with the fullest confidence that the points by which your theory was sustained were invulnerable. You rejoiced in the blessed hope, and were doubtless, prepared for the event, and great was your disappointment when the time passed, and the Lord did not come. Since the time passed you have pondered, and wept, and sighed, and prayed, and searched; but as yet you have not seen the weak point in your faith, which made it possible for the Lord not to come as you expected. In this labored effort, many strong points of the Advent faith have been overturned. For instance, the two first messages of Rev. xiv, by one writer are carried back, one, to the reformation under Luther and his associates, the other to the time of the apostles, the third is placed in the future. By some of you the 2300 days are separated from the 70 weeks. Others among you say, the signs that our Lord gave to indicate his speedy coming have not transpired.

Now why this labored effort to mutilate and separate what God has joined together by the ministry of Prophets, of Angels, and of his Son? Now brethren, let all these points remain where God has put them, and where you were willing to have them, when you could rejoice in them more than you can now, and just go with me to Dan. viii, 14. and read that verse just as it stands in the Bible, and not substitute "Earth," for "Sanctuary," and the difficulty vanishes at once.

God has not said "Unto 2300 days, then shall the Earth be cleansed;" but, "Unto 2300 days, then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed."

What shall it profit us, brethren, to mutilate the whole chain of Advent truth, for the sake of retaining this one error? This error, arrays itself against every Advent truth in the Bible, and its tendency is to make all who receive it, like itself. It is a hateful, blinding, tempting, deceptive error; it injures your enjoyment, it obscures your view of much important truth, and tempts you to give up the whole subject, and seek enjoyment in worldly objects.

Dear Brethren, I entreat you to review this great subject once more; especially the Sanctuary and the 2300 days. That those days are ended is proved by Chronology, by Astronomy, and by the Bible;—that the Sanctuary to be cleansed is not the earth, is evident from the fact that the earth is no where in the Bible called a Sanctuary. But I must not lengthen this communication; I will close, by wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. ALBERT STONE. Eden, Vt., Dec. 6th, 1853.