ADDRESS TO THE BELIEVERS IN THE SECOND ADVENT NEAR.
By William Miller
MY DEAR BRETHREN AND FRIENDS:—Grace, mercy and peace be multiplied unto you, from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. In time past, I have traveled quite extensively in the United States and in Canada, publishing the glorious news of the near approach of the Second Coming of the dear Saviour, to tens of thousands, both of saints and sinners. With many of these I have formed the happiest acquaintance. It would afford me the greatest pleasure to meet those friends again, and renew an acquaintance so happy and endearing. But for this I cannot hope in this world. You will therefore permit me to address you, through the only medium now left me, on the glorious subject, which has occupied your and my attention for several years past. It may be the last time I shall be favored with, of addressing my friends scattered abroad, to whom I am bound by so many tender ties. As a friend of mine has conceived the idea of publishing another volume of my productions, which may fall into the hands of very many of my old friends who will see my face no more in this world, I avail myself of the privilege of appending to the same this address, containing my solemn, and perhaps last advice to you all, and thereby clearing the skirts of my garments of the blood of all. It is about eleven years since I first began to publish the doctrine of the Advent near; though I had been fully convinced of its truth long before, by a close and patient study of the Bible. But such were the difficulties attending its promulgation, that I was restrained from the duty for a long time. And when you consider the circumstances in which I was placed, you will not wonder that I shrank, for a time, from the responsibility. I was alone; "no man stood with me" for a number of years. I had to contend against the prepossessions and prejudices of the entire Christian community; the systems, talents, as also the superior education of the clergy; the religious press, and the political also, throughout the country; the institutions of learning, both literary and theological; the unbelief of the church; and, in short, the whole world were against me. Had you seen the old farmer then, without education, with but limited means, almost unknown, unaccustomed to public speaking; without sympathy, authority, or recommendation from men; going into the world with the Bible alone in his hand to bear a solemn message to a sleeping church and a stupid world;—a message so alarming as the announcement of the speedy coming of the last judgment, and the conflagration of the world;—a doctrine so contrary to the human heart, so opposed to all the received opinions of the community; had you seen me under these circumstances, I am disposed to believe that you would have pronounced me very visionary and fanatical. I speak not these things boastingly; God forbid; but rather to show my weakness and incompetency, and to magnify the wisdom and power of God, who is able to take worms to thresh mountains and the weak things of the world to confound the wise and mighty; and that you may value these things the more, as being of God, and remain steadfast, watching unto prayer. This view of the instrumentality which God has seen fit to employ in connection with the effects produced, will show that this cause and doctrine are of God. What other object could I have had in view, in preaching this doctrine, under the trying circumstances specified above, but to glorify God and save my fellow men? Yet how many unworthy objects and motives have been attributed to me, by many of the professed disciples of Christ and by a scoffing and unbelieving world! Take for examples the following from among the thousand lying reports circulated through the land:— "That it was for worldly gain!" How can this be true? Look at the circumstances. According to my calculation of prophetic times, there were but twelve years to the consummation of all things. If ever I got rich, it must be within this period of time. Now what were the facts? Four years of the time were spent in New York, Vermont and Canada; and all that the old man received would not amount to one dollar! Not that the brethren were not willing to give. No; for they often urged me to take; but it was wholly refused. Since which time, I had received some contributions, in order to bear my heavy traveling expenses; but my receipts have never exceeded my expenditures. But say they, "he has made it by his books." But, my brethren, this cannot be a motive; my books were not thought of nor written, until a number of years after I had gone out and published the doctrine. And then, again, the books were not published by me; but by those to whom I gave the privilege of publishing the first and second editions without charge. Does this look like speculation? "Well, then," says the opposer, "he does it to get a name, like the man who set the city on fire that he might obtain notoriety." This needs no argument to confute it. The man who could conceive as ridiculous and silly a motive, or impute to others such motives, would be considered, if justly dealt with, either a madman or a fool; particularly where there is not a particle of evidence to support such imputations. Then he does it to "raise up a sect or party." This needs no more argument than the former. To raise a party or sect, to exist certainly not more than twelve years, and now not more than one year—you cannot suppose it to be an object. Again, thousands, and even tens of thousands more of you can witness that I have begged of you to make no divisions in your churches or sects; that we had more than enough already. I have advised all men of every sect not to separate from their brethren, if they could live among them and enjoy Christian privileges. I have often given my advice to those who have complained of persecution among their brethren, to live down persecution by well-ordered lives and godly conversation. Surely, my brethren, you will say this doth not look like sectarianism. And then, to cap the climax of arguments, a Rev. D. D. of the Baptist order cries out, "It is all moonshine." "Amen," says the Universalist minister. This is argument well endorsed. My opponents have been in the habit, too, of spreading false reports, in order to destroy the influence of what they could not confute, and by ridicule try to destroy what in sober reason they could not condemn. They have published my death in the public papers, when some of them knew it to be false. They have published and reported over and over again, that I had altered my prophetic time a hundred years. They have published the foolish story, that I would not gamble away my little home, in order to convince wicked and corrupt men that I believed the doctrine that I preached. They have told and published that I built a stone wall instead of a rail fence on my farm. Some have gone into distant places and reported that I was building a large house with money I got for preaching, when the truth is, I built a house in 1817, of small dimensions. They have reported that I was insane, and had been in a mad-house seven years; if they had said a mad world fifty-seven years, I must have plead guilty to the charge. They have reported, that, for preaching this doctrine in many places, I have been cast into prison. They have reported that, city authorities had ordered me to leave their jurisdictions and not to preach publicly within their borders. Here let me state, as an act of justice to my country, and honorable to our rulers, that in no case has any officer, in any city or town that ever I have been in, or under any government, interfered between me and my duty, or misused me in any manner; but wherever I have had any occasion for their assistance, I have found them prompt and energetic in their measures, and kind and gentlemanly in their manners. I wish I could say as much of some of our bigoted clergymen. These, and many more foolish and false reports, have been circulated through our country; yes, and by those who ought to be examples of the flock and shepherds in Israel. And now let us take a view of the effects produced by the promulgation of this doctrine, and see how much evidence we have that it is of God. 1. Wherever this subject has been presented to the people with any fairness, it has been invariably said, and you yourselves are witnesses, that it produced a general reading and searching of the Bible; our enemies themselves being witnesses also. This cannot be called a bad effect. 2. Wherever this fruit has been seen, ("the searching of the Bible,") it has produced a complete revolution with a large majority of such in their faith and hope. And whereas some did not believe that Christ was ever coming again to the earth, or, if he did, it was a great while yet to come, and of course there could be no such thing as watching for his return with such; now they are anxiously looking for his glorious appearing. This must have the happiest influence on the mind and life of every individual who thus believes. Again, many were of opinion, that the church in some future period would enjoy a long time of unexampled prosperity; while those who had slept would sleep on for 1000 years, and some supposed 365,000 years; and of course they would not be united with their brethren, nor be satisfied, until a vast number of years had rolled away, for the resurrection could not take place until after that period. Now they believe in the near approach of the resurrection, and the final union of all the saints. * There is a great difference between their former and present faith, as well as hope. And you can all judge which is most Scriptural, and congenial with the Christian heart. 3. There were many, very many, sleeping and slumbering over this important subject, of the coming of Christ, the judgment day, and the glorious reign. Now, in every part of the Christian world, the cry is being made, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him;" and the response is heard, "Come tell us of these things." And you, my brethren, are my witnesses, many of you, that hundreds, yea thousands, have been as it were, chained to their seats for hours, silent as the tomb, to hear this subject discussed.90 4. In every place where this subject has been judiciously preached, and the necessity of repentance properly enforced, the sceptic, the deist, the Universalist, the impenitent and the careless of all classes, have been made by the power of the Spirit to see and feel their danger, and to seek for the forgiveness of their sins by repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Many of you, my brethren, can witness to the saving influence of preaching the "kingdom of God at hand," as a motive for repentance, and to a godly life and conversation. 5. We have the consolation of seeing many of our best ministers renouncing the doctrine of the temporal millennium, believing in the Second Advent as near at hand; and the kingdom of God in its glorified state about to be established on the ruins of the kingdoms of this world—the resurrection of the just, and judgment of the saints—the reign of Christ on the earth 1000 years—then the resurrection of the wicked, and the finale, or close of the judgment. I know and have heard of more than three hundred in the United States, and in all probability double that number may be found! Fifteen years ago, there were none, publicly known, in these United States. "This is the Lord's doing, and marvelous in our eyes." And what is equally as marvelous, is, that there are some among all Christian nations who are proclaiming this doctrine, and these, too, all coming out about the same time! Again, we find some of them among all sects or denominations, except among Universalists, and as they are the sect to which Paul alludes, [1 Thess. v, 3,] the reason is very obvious why none of them believe. What has caused all this great movement to one point? Have our periodicals accomplished this? No, my brethren; five years ago not an individual could be found who had moral courage enough to edit a paper advocating these doctrines. Have societies been formed to carry the news? No. Have missionaries been sent out by any board or sect? No. Have seminaries taught their students and sent them out to tell the church of the approach of her blessed Lord? No. What has revived and brought this soul-reviving news to the suffering children of God? Have wicked men? Our opponents dare not accuse us thus. What then has moved the wheel that rolls this blessed sound, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh!" Is it Satan? Look at the effects, and tell me what objects he could have in opposing his own kingdom. How inconsistent he must be to oppose his own children thus! See how angry they are, how it disturbs their ranks! Will Beelzebub cast out devils? Again, where this doctrine is promulgated, see our churches waking up and trimming their lamps; see sinners converted—saints lifting up their heads and rejoicing! Has Satan become a missionary of this cast? No, my brethren, reason and common sense tell us better. What then has called out some of every class, of every sect, in every place, and in all lands, with different gifts and discordant views on other points, to harmonize in this? The answer must be obvious; a child could tell us what: it is the Spirit and power of God. It is he who has promised "to do nothing but he revealeth to his servants the prophets." He can move upon the mind of his servants to read his Word. He can open it to their understandings. He can call them to publish it far and near. He can protect them from the anger of men and the fowler's snare. He will do his will on earth as in heaven, and no one can say, Why doest thou thus? A few words to the dear brethren scattered over the land, in every church, and among all sects, who believe in the near approach of the Lord Jesus. My dear brethren, you will remember the joy of your heart when you first had evidence to believe that the day of the Lord was at hand. Many of you I have seen, and have seen you too, at the moment when the evidence came home to your minds, and your hearts leaped for joy—I have seen your countenances lighted up with a beam of glory, like that which shone in the face of Moses, when he came down from the mount. I have often heard the whispered ejaculation, "God grant that it may be so." I have often, very often, heard from a warm and animated heart, expressed by voice, the loud response, "Amen!" I have often felt, when retiring from the house of worship, the warm pressure of a hand, accompanied with a "God bless you, my brother." I have received many written epistles, full of expressions of love and gratitude to God for the good news of a coming Saviour. Need I say to such, watch, lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping? No; as well might I say to the loving mother, "Forget not your lovely babe." What shall I say? I will say, Rejoice; for now your salvation from all sin is drawing nigh. Keep the faith, and soon you will receive a crown which is laid up for all those who love his appearing. I will say with the Apostle, 1 Peter i, 13, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." And may I not say with our beloved brother Paul, 1 Cor. i, 6-8, "Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Go on, my brethren, in well doing; encourage, I pray you, those dear servants who are willing to publish the news of a coming Saviour, the kingdom of heaven at hand. You know how your souls were fed, and now will you feed others? Remember that those who are willing to preach this good news are many of them poor and persecuted servants; even their own sects treat them harshly, turn them from their doors, and shut their pulpits against them. And shall it be said in that glorious day, "Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me," unto any of you? No, no, I pledge my word for you. I know many of you have done otherwise by me. Some of you will remember, when the old man was turned from a clergyman's door and pulpit in a cold winter's night, you opened your doors, chafed his stiffened feet and hands, and warmed his cheerless heart by your kindness. Go thou and do likewise to others who are the servants of Jesus, and a cup of cold water will not be unrewarded. Then when opportunity offers, forget not to communicate to the messengers of Christ. A word to those who, by reading or hearing the Lectures on the coming of the Son of man, have been convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of a judgment, and have fled for refuge to the blessed Saviour. I would say, hold on by faith, let no man take your crown of rejoicing from you; are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? You, undoubtedly, many of you, have been ridiculed by an unfeeling world; you have been taunted by the bigoted professor; you have heard the scoffs of the profane, and have sometimes been wounded by the barbed arrows of calumny. Let none of these things move you; remember your Saviour also suffered all these things in the flesh, and that all things work together for good. Your trials are preparing you for the kingdom. The time is at hand. Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain: for God will bruise satan under your feet shortly. I hope to meet you where sighing and sorrowing will be done away, where there will be no foes, where the last enemy, death, will be conquered, and the family of the redeemed meet in one general assembly. Oh! there will be joy, and immortal life, when we shall meet again! Therefore let me persuade you to be faithful, even to the end. If any of you should feel your hearts grow cold, and relax from your duty, and have strong doubts of your interest in the kingdom, go to the Bible, pray for the Spirit of God to help you, examine this doctrine of the coming of Christ, the resurrection and judgment; if you are a child of God, you will love the doctrine; if you are not, you will hate it. Whatever you may think of yourself, whatever doubts or fears you may have, your heart must be the thermometer on this subject; your affections, like quicksilver will rise or fall as you come in contact with this glorious theme. If a man love Christ, he will love his appearing; if he hate him, he will hate to see him come. This rule cannot be broken. Now, if, on close examination, you do love the thought, cast out away your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. The cares and conversation of this world have choked the seed, not destroyed it. Then let your conversation be in heaven, whence we look for the Saviour. And now to all men who may read this address, I would say, Sirs, what is your prospect after the scene of this short life shall have closed? Have you an interest laid up in heaven? Do you possess that religion which assimilates to the life and examples of Jesus Christ? You must acknowledge if there is a religion on this earth, that would be pleasing to God, or honorable to man, it must be that kind manifested in the principles, life, and character of Jesus Christ. If God sent his Son into the world, it was partly to give the world a code of laws, by which man might be reconciled to God, and worship him in spirit and in truth. And if that code was ever given to the world, it must be the Bible. Therefore, I would solemnly inquire, have you that religion? Are you prepared for eternity? Have you done the work which you have often promised God and your own soul you would do, before death or judgment should come upon you? Must you, can you, will you slumber on, in your mantle of unbelief, in your vices of carnal security, until the last blast of Gabriel's trump shall awake you to shame and everlasting contempt? Oh, my friends, be wise, be cautious how you spend your time; it is but a span at most, and soon that span will be run out, and time itself with us must end. Be rational, be candid. Where can be the harm in being prepared? You all in your hearts answer, none. Very well, then, it is better to be ready and not go, than to go and not be ready. Let me pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. There is religion for you, it is free as the mountain brook, it is plenteous as the dew on mount Hermon, it is as rich as the fruits in Autumn, there is "enough and to spare," it is ever green as the foliage in the Spring. Why then perish? What reason can you give for your rejection of Christ? He is the one whose day our fathers desired to see, and kings waited for. Prophets foretold his birth, and declared his work from times of old. And will you not believe? Will you not hear Moses and the prophets, nor Christ and his disciples? Then in vain would it be for me to try to persuade you to get religion: "For if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither would they one though he went from the dead." Let me close by quoting to you the apostle Peter's words, Acts iii, 19-21: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heavens must receive, until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began.—Daily Mid. Cry, 1843. WHAT is the principle that unites the Advent Children in the sweetest union, without the formal constraint of organization? Is it not the power of a living faith, a faith that works by love, and the true and only principle of Christian fellowship? There can be no room for sinister motives in such union. This faith embraces little of earth, and necessarily excludes all worldly ambition. Those who receive spiritually the Bible truth, of Christ at the door, are weaned from the things of time, and looking for a better country; they begin to lift up their heads and rejoice, and therefore love and cling to the same spirit, wherever they find it, without respect of persons. A hope that rests alone on the coming of Jesus, offers slight inducement to the Pharisee, the sensualist, or the lukewarm professor. Such have no sympathies that throb in unison with this faith, and if, perchance, through love of novelty or excitement, they company91awhile with the waiting band, they soon become weary, or in the hour of trial and temptations are offended and go away. They have no church-discipline to fear, nor the restraint of popular sentiment, which to other religious communities often bind the dead to the living. Thus the true wheat is continually sifted, and the chaff passing away, without any danger of one precious grain being lost. The Adventists would have no constraint but that of love, and no faith but that which receives every word that God hath spoken. These combined, in the immediate prospect of our coming Lord, make the soul patient, long-suffering, and not easily offended. They use the world as though they used it not, and count all things present as dross, feeling that trials and sufferings of a moment, are not to be compared with the glory that will shortly follow. They have no sect to establish, no organization to sustain, and are not careful to secure the smile of the rich or the great. But they do anxiously desire that all men should come to the knowledge of the truth, and are therefore diligent and unsparing in the use of their utmost means, to send the glad news of his coming on every wind. The sound has gone forth, and its echoes are returning from every clime, and the next voice that we expect to hear will be Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.—Selected. THE doctrine of the Second Advent is received by Faith, and only such as have faith, can or will receive it. But if faith is necessary to its reception, why should it any longer be thought a strange thing that so few receive it? To this the objector may reply, "Because it implies that but small amount of faith remains upon the earth." And are we to suppose that among such a mass of professing Christians there are but a handful of real possessors? In order profitably to answer this, it may be necessary to attend briefly to two other questions. And 1st, What is faith? 2d, What are some of the fruits of faith? The apostle James says that faith without works is dead. If then any man say he has faith and has no works, is it therefore certain that he has faith? And do those judge him hardly who deny it him? It may seem so, but let it not be forgotten that it is God's judgement, not man's. But what is faith? Hear Paul: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We learn that it is substance. And if substance, it is something substantial, something felt, exercised, enjoyed. Of holy men and women, possessed of this precious substance, it is said, "These all died in faith, not having seen the promises, but were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were pilgrims and strangers on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly if they had been mindful of the country whence they had come out, they might have had opportunity to have returned; but now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city." Such is the nature of faith, as exhibited in some of its fruits. It makes its possessor unmindful of the country whence he came out, and causes to spring up in the soul a desire for a better country, that is, an heavenly. Old things have passed away; all things have become new. The promises of God are no longer a dead letter, but are full of life-giving power, and are embraced as the dearest treasure. And having them, well may he forego worldly treasures, and account himself a pilgrim and a stranger on the earth. If such is the gospel faith, who will affirm that there is much of it in the church at the present time? If we call up to our recollection the various churches within the sphere of our knowledge, and count the names of such as possess unequivocal marks of real faith, how many can there be found? How many are there that would themselves dare to claim these marks? Or if some, forgetting for the time their splendid houses, costly equipage, and expensive manner of living, (saying what shall we eat, and what shall we drink,) should claim them, would not a remembrance of these fine things, and the means by which they were procured, cause the blush of shame to mantle their countenances? Verily it would! Looking then at what faith is, and considering the fruits and marks of it, and comparing them with the marks exhibited by the mass of professing Christians, are we authorized to conclude that there is more than a handful, comparatively, who have real faith? Let those disposed to find fault with this reasoning, think candidly before they decide against it. If they will do so, independent of the interrogation of Christ so full of alarming meaning, "When the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth?" they will see that there is no warrant for the opinion that the majority of professors are not destitute of faith, the power of godliness, while they have the form thereof. But, though this may be so, is it not unkind in one to say it? If there were no necessity for its being said, it might be so, but when it is remembered that souls are stumbling over a popular church into perdition, the eternal interests of those stumbling, and also of those who are the occasion of it, require that it should be exposed, and he who can look on and behold such a state of things and not be sad for it, and ardently desire that it were otherwise, must himself be in a state not to be preferred to the one he contemplates. But the question may be asked, and is frequently asked with great earnestness, "If it is indeed true that Christ's Second Advent is near, even at the door, why is it that such learned and wise men as Professors Stuart and Pond, also such as Rev. Messrs. Dowling, Folsom, Dimmick, Skinner, and others of like character and calling, are not believing and advocating the doctrine, instead of making efforts to prove to the world that the end is not yet? Why should it be known by such men as Miller, Litch, Himes, Fitch, and so on, instead of the class before named." Answer. Why was it that in the days of Christ's personal ministry, a knowledge of his Messiahship was hid from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes? Or why was it that Simeon, [Luke ii, 25-35,] had knowledge respecting the first appearing of our Lord, which none of the Gamaliels were in possession of? And why was it that even a woman, Anna, the prophetess, was preferred before them, and made the repository of this knowledge? "The Lord giveth grace to the humble." "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." Of Simeon it is said, "He was a man just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him." Of Anna, that "she served God with fasting and prayer, night and day." Let such as would know about the Second Appearing, learn from this how to prepare themselves to obtain the knowledge they desire. But it is still demanded, "Why is it that men who have spent but little time comparatively, upon the prophecies, should know more about them than Smith, Bush and others, who have made them their study for so long a period?" Answer. Why was David, a shepherd boy of Bethlehem, chosen to be king over Israel? Or why was Amos, a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore-fruit, called to be the prophet of the Lord? Or why were the shepherds of Bethlehem selected as the individuals to receive the visit from the angel of the Lord, who came to announce the birth of the Saviour, and to be honored with a sight of the glory that shone around them on the occasion, and to be enraptured with the music of the multitude of the heavenly host? Why was not the Sanhedrim selected, and all this glory revealed to them, and, the time for it so ordered as to take place when they were assembled in council? "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." Another inquiry is often started; viz., "If the doctrine is true, why is it that so many, under the influence of a course of Second Advent lectures, receive the word with apparent gladness of heart, and afterwards fall from it?" It is because it is not mixed with faith. They hear as did many who attended upon the ministry of the Saviour and John. It is said of Herod, that he feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy, and he did many things and heard him gladly. The common people heard the Saviour gladly. But in all these cases where the word was not mixed with faith, it had been better for them not to have heard. To have had the word mixed with faith, they should have searched the scriptures daily, as the noble Bereans did, to see if these things were so, and not have received them on the say-so of any man. And like Anna, they should have fasted and prayed for light, and as soon as light came, thanked the Lord for it and confessed it, and sought on till more came, and confessed that also. Works and faith too should have been mixed by determining to place a more just estimate on the opinion of man, so that it might in no way interfere with duty to God. And now, dear reader, whoever you may be, and whether you belong to a church or not, have you faith, or are you destitute of it? Realize that this is an important question, one that should not be dodged, nor hastily dismissed from your thoughts. Look it then fully in the face; ponder it well, and decide it intelligently. Say, reader, have you faith? Do you, like Abraham, believe God? Or are you still in doubt whether or not God hath spoken? Looking at the various conflicting opinions which exist and prevail, are you still like Pilate, inquiring, "What is truth?" If you are with Abraham, then are you upon the Rock; if with Pilate, you are driven about by every wind of doctrine, or else stoically indifferent, which can hardly be possible in these times, when men's hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking for those things that are coming upon the earth. If you are with Abraham, you are taking heed to the teaching of the Bible, as to a sure word of prophecy—if with Pilate, you are taking heed to the opinions of men, as the more sure and safe guide. Now while we would not underrate the opinions of men, especially of those esteemed, learned and good, but would treat them with due deference; yet we feel bound to caution you to beware how you exalt such opinions, and what expectations you build upon them. Feel, reader, that learned professors and pastors, professedly learned and informed, though they may lead you to indulge in hopes you will never realize, yet you alone must answer to God for the use of the power he has given you. The pages of inspiration are open to you as well as to them. The means of understanding those pages are within your reach, equally as within theirs. To you it is said as well as to them, "The natural man discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God; they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." And to you it is said, "Anoint thine eyes with eye salve that thou mayest see." Again, "there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding." And again, in reference to the good things which parents bestow upon their children, "How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Reader, have you availed yourself of these means? Have you retired from human society, and shutting yourself up with God, have you kneeled down before him and humbly and fervently asked the Holy Spirit to enlighten you? O precious reader, wake up from thy slumbering! Cease from man, and betake thee to thy closet, thy Bible and thy God, supplicating his forgiveness for thy past neglect? Haply thou mayest yet obtain it, and receive the light of those concerning whom it is said, they "shall understand;" and also, "ye are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief." Oh tarry not! Have faith! Believe, oh believe! Come within the circle of Divine love and mercy! Come where the Lord can consistently bless you! Yield yourself up without delay to serve and obey the Lord! You are, and must be, the servant of him to whom you yield yourself servants to obey. Quit, oh quit the service of sin, and choose the service of Christ!—Phil. Alarm—1843 "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works; shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know O vain man, that faith without works is dead." Jas. ii, 18-20.