DEAR BRO. WHITE:—I feel desirous to contribute something, if it is but a mite, to cheer the hearts of God’s scattered remnant, that are striving to keep all his commandments, and are rejoicing in the faith of Jesus; for I can truly say that the soul-stirring epistles of my dear brethren and sisters, as they come to us through the welcome messenger, the Review, causes our hearts to be enlarged with love in return towards God and towards them. O, I feel to praise the Lord, that I have been permitted to live to see so much truth as is now shining forth in these last days from his precious word. Our experience has been short, when compared with the most of you in the glorious doctrine of the Second Advent of our Lord. Therefore, we have not experienced many of the trials of faith that you have passed through, though we think we can see the hand of the Lord in them. It was not until the Fall of 1849 that myself and wife were blessed with the privilege of hearing the glorious doctrine proclaimed by the first and second angel’s messages. And with these glorious truths came the truth which reveals so clearly that man is mortal, and that immortality is a gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ; and that Jesus must come before his children can have immortality. And we felt that we could then pray with the Spirit, and with the understanding, come Lord Jesus, come quickly. And in these blessed truths, we were still rejoicing when the Lord sent his servants to us, a little more than a year since with the third angel’s message.
O how much reason we have to love and praise God for his mercy to us; his mercy endureth forever. O, I had not known sin, but by the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.—But, bless the Lord we feel that we can now say the law is holy, and the commandment holy just and good; that we delight in them, and are striving to keep them, the fourth not excepted.
And there are now six of us in this vicinity, that are striving to keep all the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, that we may have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city. Our hearts have been made glad again, by the coming of our brethren among us, giving meat in due season. We feel that the labors of Brn. Loughborough, and Edson, have been blessed among us. The faith of God’s children have been greatly strengthened, their lamps trimmed anew, and their lights shining more clear. After the meetings closed here, Bro. and Sr. Miller accompanied our brethren eighteen miles, to Gerry, to Bro. Stephen Pratt’s, myself and wife joining. The next day we held three meetings, those present seemed to pay good attention to the word spoken. May the Lord bless the seed sown. From Gerry we all went to Busti, thirteen miles farther, where we held meetings Sabbath and First-day, and the Spirit of the Lord attended the preaching of the word, and the prayer meeting held on Sabbath morning was one of those rich and heavenly seasons where the holy Spirit runs from heart to heart, and the place is made solemn by the presence of God. The Spirit remained with us through our meetings, and the prejudices of many were removed, and their objections taken away, and they left to fall upon the word of God. May the Lord by his Spirit guide their minds into the truth, that they may turn their feet into his testimonies, and make haste to keep his commandments.
O, dear brethren and sisters, what a blessed hope is ours. Well might David say, “great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.”—Ps. cxix, 165. May that holy law be written in our hearts, that we may be actuated by its holy principles, that we may realize the day in which we live, that it is a day of strong temptation, a day of thick darkness, when the love of many are waxing cold because iniquity abounds; but God is the hope of his people. O, if we put our trust in him, his grace will be sufficient for us. I long to meet you all in the kingdom, where there will be no opposition to God’s truth.
Yours in love, waiting for redemption till Jesus shall come, J. HAMILTON.
Fredonia, N. Y., March 6th, 1853.