p. 122 | Review and Herald, Vol. 36, No. 16. (10/4/1870)

Review and Herald

Oct 4, 1870

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 4, 1870

A Growth in Grace.

By George I. Butler

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Pet. 3:18. The idea of a growth is a suggestive one; and it is brought to view in many scriptures.

“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Eph. 4:15. “As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” 1 Pet. 2:2. Says another, in whom we have great confidence, “Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, or a day. It is a continual growth in grace.” Testimony No. 8, p. 47.

The idea suggested is one consistent with reason, and in fact, taught by all nature. Why should it not hold good in spiritual things? In the vegetable and animal kingdoms, we see a germ, a beginning, a growth, and maturity; so in the spiritual. The apostle Peter, in one of the texts quoted, speaks of a certain class as babes, who need milk for their growth. The idea of babes implies a birth. I am one of those who fully believe that Christian conversion is referred to in Scripture as a birth. The life of holiness is spoken of as a new life. The carnal nature as the “old man.” The time comes when the old man dies, and of course the new life must have a commencement. That commencement is as properly called a birth, as the commencement of the old life was. Not only this, but the very agencies employed in bringing this spiritual life into being, are brought to view in the Scriptures. Now the knowledge and experience gained by this new life, thus ushered into existence, is the growth referred to. And this growth is just as necessary to a well developed life of Christian usefulness, as in the animal or vegetable kingdom. Of what earthly consequence would a child of a year old, who should never grow any more, be to the world? It must necessarily remain a burden to others, and of benefit to none. What benefit would the sprout from the acorn be, that should never reach a height greater than a foot from the surface? It might be of a nature to make the toughest of timber, if grown; but it would all be lost, if it remained such a dwarf. So of the Christian life. It must go on and gain an experience, and have that true, genuine knowledge which will fit it to act a part in life, to benefit others, and be an honor to the cause of God, illustrating the great principles of holiness.

Some feel to doubt their Christian experience unless it be characterized by something very striking or exciting. Certainly a deep sense of sin, and of its awful burden of guilt pressing us under its load, is a sign of the work of the Spirit upon the heart, in its office as a reprover. And a realizing sense of God’s pardoning love is ever to be remembered as a blessed spot in our experience, and an evidence of a genuine work of grace; and yet so far as a Christian life is concerned, there can be no better evidence of its genuineness than a continual growth onward and upward, overcoming those passions and appetites inherent in the flesh, through God’s favor breaking down the proud heart, and having blessed humility take its place, becoming meek and gentle in disposition, crushing out covetousness and selfishness, filling its place with benevolence and love; and, in short, becoming more and more like the blessed Saviour. A growth in these directions, I repeat, is to my mind the very best evidence of a Christian character, such as God owns.

When we can look back over our lives and see a progress in the direction indicated, it is good cause of encouragement; and yet that progress may be too slow to bring about the desired result in time. That result is indicated in the words of Paul: “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” That result must be brought about, or we never can share in the rest prepared for God’s people. We have every reason to hasten this growth, as eternal consequences are pending. Steadiness in growth is encouraging. That is the rule in nature. We don’t see trees taking a sudden leap for a day or two, then remaining where they were, or growing smaller; neither animals; a steady growth, even if slow, I have thought sometimes, was most to be relied upon. In nature, those things that shoot up with such remarkable rapidity, do not furnish the best permanent results. The basswood, cottonwood, or willow, are not the most desirable in the long run. They answer a purpose, but that purpose is not the most important. So of some Christian experiences: they seem to flame up with great brilliancy, but are not lasting. They go up like a rocket, but alas! they come down like a stick. No; the steady growth of the oak is far preferable. It starts from a small beginning, and makes but little pretension. If trampled upon, it resists decay, and continues to spread out its branches, and rear its head; and in presence of the fierce blast, it bends, but rarely breaks. The more resistance it encounters, the more the storm breaks upon it, the deeper it sends its roots—the firmer it stands; till finally it spreads out its broad arms, affording grateful shade to the flocks and herds, and protection from the storm, till even the fearful tornado can scarce injure it. Here is permanency. Here is usefulness. Such a growth as this, if not so brilliant, gives far better promise of final usefulness and success. Let us therefore grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Geo. I. BUTLER.

Des Moines, Iowa, Sept. 12, 1870.

The Burial of Jesus.

JESUS was dead. With blood-matted hair and marble features, drooping eye-lids and bowed head, with deathly pallor and pierced hands and feet, with anguished countenance and gaping side, the Son of God hung upon the cross. That dreadful cry, “My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?” had thrilled with strange emotion all who heard it. There seemed to be in it the wail of ages of sin and woe, the gathered agonies of a thousand lost souls. But all was now over; the struggle, the anguish, the quenchless thirst, the fevered frame, the wailing prayer, and the last sob and sigh.

The evening shades were coming on, and an unearthly stillness hung over Calvary. Never before had such strange scenes been witnessed in Jerusalem. Accursed of God and man, forsaken by every friend until he stood alone, the King of glory had patiently submitted to the cruel and disgraceful death. And though quivering with pain, and faint with the loss of blood, the hand of human love was not suffered to relieve him; no kind voice cheered him to his awful death; the pitying angels could not rescue the spotless Prince. High on the cross he hung, bleeding and white, God’s dying Lamb, the King of kings, grand in his martyrdom, sublime even in the grasp of the tyrant death:—a dead monarch on a throne of torture. Oh! marvel of the ages! Is this feeble form the Christ who shall have all power in heaven and earth? Is this pale hand the one that shall control the universe? Is this dead victim, the mighty One whom death and hell cannot bind? Are these lusterless eyes the orbs that shall become like flames of fire? Are these bloodless lips that uttered the faint cry, “I thirst,” the lips of Him who shall one day descend from heaven with a shout, with the chief angel, and with the trump of God? Even so: Amen.

But will the holy Lamb remain till morning upon the tree, the sport of the winds and the prey of the night-bird? Nay, verily. A holy task is now to be performed. Oh! rich, rare privilege! Two men with their attendants approach Calvary. They bring an order from the governor, and demand of those on guard the body of the Nazarene.

Standing beside the cross, they look up at the dead Master through their tears. Weep, oh, men of Jerusalem; he died for you. Begin the sacred task. “Send back our dead tenderly,” said a governor, calling for dead soldiers who had fallen far from home. If deeds of love toward those who die for their country, seem holy, what shall we say when men come to bury Him who died for the world? Chosen to high honor are ye, oh! servants of God. What were the countless riches of the one, or the mastership held in Israel by the other, compared to this never-to-be-forgotten act of love; the sad, sweet privilege of burying God’s dearly beloved Son! When our beloved

die, we, with inexpressible tenderness, prepare them for burial, and lay them away beneath the sod. This was God’s dear Son who was dead; his only begotten. Who shall take him down from the cross tenderly? How unfasten the cruel nails? How disentangle the crown of thorns?

Oh! that we had been there on that eventful night to share the task with solemn care. No ambition so holy, no other work so coveted as this. Carefully, now. Draw the iron from those mangled hands and feet. The royal head hangs drooping; hold it up with gentle hands, let it rest on thy shoulder, Joseph. Far richer is this privilege than to count over all thy silver and gold. Tenderly, O men, for never did human arms bear such a precious burden. Those eyes have looked love, and flashed unearthly brightness, but they are rayless now. Those hands have ever been stretched out to guide, and heal, and bless, and save; but they are wan, and white, and powerless, now. Take them into thine own, O Nicodemus, and wonder and adore. He is still thy Lord. They give back now no clasp, but one day he will place upon thy head, and on the brow of thy selected companion a crown that fadeth not away. He who remembers and loves the dead King in the season of his shame and dishonor, shall by that King be remembered when he comes again in his glory. Softly, now. Bathe with water the bloody forehead, and comb out the matted locks. Press your lips to the cold, white brow, for a greater sinner once dared to kiss his worn feet. Now fold the still hands over the quiet breast; wrap the loved form in the snow white linen; hide the pallid face under the napkin and the shroud. It is well; now bear him away. The gate of hades is open: lower the holy sleeper into the tomb: take the last look. Death is lord now, but Almighty Love folds the dead Lamb asleep on the bosom of the Infinite. Well done, ye servants of Jesus! now the task is over; turn homeward with measured steps. Do angels light your way? Did these two men dream of Eden on that night?

Now the King lies in state; let the cherubim visit and look upon him. Sleep on blessed Master, till the summons of the mighty God shall break thy slumber, and thou hear it said, “Ascend the skies, and sit upon my throne!” In the day when thou returnest to earth again, O Christ, thou wilt remember those who performed for thee the last funeral rites; and who wrapping thy dead form with spices in the winding-sheet, laid thee tenderly, and perchance with sobs and sighing, in the tomb. What a meeting, when the once dead Jesus and those who handled his body, and with awe and reverence clasped God’s dead Lamb in their arms in the memorable descent from the cross, stand at last on the mount, face to face! And what a change from that awful night at Calvary to the high noon of immortality and the bliss of the age of ages.

It may not be ours to shelter Jesus under our roof as did Lazarus, to sit at his feet as did Mary, to lean upon his breast as did John, to feel the clasp of his rescuing hand as did Peter, to walk by his side and hear him converse, as did the disciples bound for Emmaus, to anoint his body for the burial as did the woman who loved so much, or to take him down from the cross, and tenderly lay him in the grave, as did Joseph and Nicodemus; but Jesus still lives, and we can all do something for him. We may not bury the dead Christ, but we can live for the living Christ. We can believe in him, serve him, love him, adore him. We can please him, honor him, do his will, obey his precepts, receive his great salvation, and magnify his truth. We can associate with his people, labor in his cause, help to save the souls for whom he died, and spread the glad tidings of his reign. We can clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick and the imprisoned, shelter the distressed, compassionate the deaf, the lame, the maimed, and the blind, give to the poor, and bless a perishing world.

And lest we suppose that in doing all these good deeds to suffering humanity we miss our mark, and have no return for love lavished and labor spent, our blessed Lord has plainly told us that whatever we do to the least of these humble followers, whom he is graciously pleased to style his “brethren,” we do it unto him.

We then who sometimes wish that we had been near to anoint the Saviour for his burial, or take him down from the cross, can do these kind deeds to the Lord when we comfort, care for, and bless his people, or when we bury his poor friends. The head and body are one in all interests; so is Christ and the church. Doing for them we do for him. Let us then do all things for his people as “unto the Lord,” whether it is to the little ones under his training, the aged servants of Jesus under our charge, or the church of the Beloved in all the earth. And the King who notes and records each and every act of love toward himself or his own, and who will alike remember the dying thief, and the rich and honored men who found him a grave when others denied him decent burial; this King, who is soon to come, will remember us when we appear in his kingdom and glory.

Reader, have you done all you can for Jesus? Think of it.—The Christian.

WITH YOU ALWAYS.

By M. E. Piper

“Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end.”—Bible.

Who speaks such words of kindly cheer? Who says, Lo, I am ever near? I watch above, around thy bed, In sickness, soothe thy aching head, In sorrow thou may’st lean on me, I will thy friend and surety be?

Though in the valley’s silent shade Thy tangled path awhile is laid, Or through the billows wild and deep, Or up the mountain’s rugged steep, Yet I’ll be near thee day by day, My arms shall hold thee all the way.

And can it be, poor mortal, I, Have such a Friend forever nigh? Lord, I confess, faint-hearted, weak, I thought some other good to seek. Forgive distrust. Henceforth I’ll be Content with such a Friend as thee.

M. E. Piper.

The Lord’s Poor.

By E. A. A.

A SHORT article on “The Lord’s Poor,” in a recent number of the REVIEW, has led one of our readers to send in the following beautiful selection for publication.

There is a beautiful painting of a consoling Christ. Gathered about a figure whose whole attitude and expression indicate divine compassionateness, is a group of afflicted persons.

A mother with bowed and aged form, is weeping over the pallid, upturned face of a dead son. A cured lame man, in the first excitement of his new found strength, is seen leaping and shouting. A woman, pale and emaciated by disease, with lips pressed closely to the hem of his mantle, is lifting her trusting eyes to the Consoler’s face. A father, grasping tightly a ferocious and demoniacal boy, is pressing through the crowd to gain the gracious Healer’s ear. Fair motherly forms, clusters of timid, sweet-faced children, and scores of tottering, wretched, pain-worn, and care-stamped creatures, over whose countenances joy and health is breaking, as the sunshine sometimes flushes the dark and rugged face of storm-clouds, are all eagerly waiting to receive the blessings which are falling from the uplifted hands of the consoling Christ.

But there is one gift which fails to be represented. No earthly possessions, or human honors are being conferred upon that company. The humble bearing and the mean array of the Consoler speak too plainly of his inability to bestow worldly treasures. He stands there to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to comfort the distressed, to bless the little ones, to loose the prisoner from the demon’s grasp, and free the sinner from his bands of sin,—but his only answer to the ambitious supplicant who seeks pre-eminence for her children, is the reproving word, “Ye shall drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but for whom is it prepared of my Father.” Matt. 20: 23.

It is worthy of note, that the only two occasions on which our Lord refused to grant the blessings which fallen humanity besought at his hand, were when ambition and avarice presented their pleas. At all other times his benevolent heart responded to the needs of the hungry, the griefs of the distressed, the yearnings of the weary, and the weaknesses of the tender.

From those days when the consoling Christ walked the earth forgiving sin and dispensing comfort, until the present hour, the followers of Jesus have ever been more familiar with poverty, than they have with wealth. And the brightest examples of patient, trusting humanity, have always been found in lowly dwellings, amidst poverty and obscurity. Of that great company of worthy ones “who, through faith, subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, and obtained promises,” it is written, “They wandered about in sheepskins, and goatskins, being destitute.” Yet this suffering of poverty in the Christian has always had a peculiar dignity and luster. It has been the privilege of their calling, and the foundation for their rejoicing.

“Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him.” Nor have they been called to bear the sorrows of such an inheritance alone. They but follow Him who was cradled by poverty, nurtured by toil, and buried by charity. “How can she feel for me, when she has never been through what I have?” said a poor woman of a rich one. But of Christ we can say, “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich.” We best love those who understand our needs; so Jesus stooped down to our condition, and took our poverty that he might shew there was sympathy in Heaven, and might bridge over the distance between our wretchedness and the Father’s wealth.

Courage, then, ye children of want! While the Bible abounds in promises for the poor, it contains only threats and cautions for the rich. Yours is the poverty which maketh many rich. “Do not be surprised, brother,” said a wealthy lady to a fashionable young man who found a humble clad woman in his elegant parlour; “This is a king’s daughter, but she has not on her fine clothes.”

Soon the days of suffering will be over. God will not “forget the congregation of his poor forever.” They shall yet be satisfied with the fatness of his house. Foot-sore and weary, with sad hearts and toil-worn faces, in soiled and mean apparel, beneath burning suns or chilling frosts, we now travel the rounds of urgent duty or of needful labor, while the rich, full of leisure, in their gay equipages and costly raiment, with their bright faces and careless hearts, in scorn, pass us by. But a time of dreadful change approaches; and I shed more tears for them than for myself as I think of it. You who have followed the Lamb in his lowly ways, esteeming his reproach greater riches than the world’s treasures, shall then “hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on you, nor any heat.” But the day which brings refreshment and plenty to you, shall bring wretchedness and desolation to those “who have been rich and lived in wantonness on the earth.” Blessed poor! happy sharers in Christ’s humiliation! forget your woes, and your wants, and with some of your Lord’s yearning for the lost, pity and pray for the rich.—E. A. A.

Temperance and the Church.

Rev. T. L. CUYLER writes as follows to the Christian at Work. His words are worthy of thoughtful consideration:

There is really one ugly fact which we as Christians must not ignore—either in our conventions or in our churches—and this ugly fact is, that tippling is increasing frightfully in the community, and that drunkenness is making inroads into our congregations, is blackening some names on our church rolls. I do not believe there is a church of any considerable size in our country which does not contain some members who are to-day endangering themselves by tampering with strong drink. “If some of our members do not stop drinking we shall have to discipline them,” said the deacon of a prominent church to me lately. The deepest anxiety I feel for several members of my own large flock, is that they may fall under the dominion of that ensnaring cup “which is a mocker,” and which upsets a Christian’s brain just as soon as any other man’s. Some are endangering themselves by using ale or wine every day as a medicine. Others are tempted to take it in the chop-houses and the restaurants. “Nearly every gentleman around me calls for liquor with his dinner,” was the testimony of one of my church officers to me last week.

And so the drinking usages and the curse of drunkenness are eating their way into social parties, into our congregations, and too often into the ranks of the communicants at the Lord’s table. I could give facts that would astound those who never look “under the

crust,” and see what the devil is about, with his “sapping and mining” apparatus. Our Christian conventions ought to ventilate this important question with thoroughness, and yet with prayerful tenderness and wisdom. It is not a pleasant topic to handle, but it must be handled. Some of the time spent in talking about the sweetness of “Christian union” had better be given to a discussion of that bitterness of death which wine and whisky are causing in every social circle. This whole work of saving men and women from drunkenness belongs to the followers of Christ. They have no more business to leave it to outside organizations, to “orders” and lodges,” and other benevolent societies, than they have to leave the care of all God’s poor to police officers or keepers of almshouses.

Every Christian church ought to have a temperance wheel in its machinery as much as a Sunday-school wheel. Every minister ought to preach and to practice abstinence from the social glass. If alcoholic drinks poison the body and endanger the soul, then the physical and spiritual effects of strong drink ought to be carefully explained from the pulpit. Teachers ought to do this, too in the Sunday-school. The temperance pledge might be wisely used in every class where the children are old enough to understand its force and binding consequences. I have always thanked God that I signed a total abstinence pledge in childhood. It kept me from tampering with the “hot toddy” in college, and from “taking just a little” when I went to a wedding or a dinner party. —Sabbath Recorder.

The World Converting the Church.

We clip the following from the Boston Journal of March 4th.

“The Young Men’s Christian Association of Meriden, Conn., purposes to erect a new building this spring. In addition to two stores, the building will contain a bowling-alley, coffee and refreshment-room, library, conversation and amusement-room, and gymnasium. There will also be a hall arranged for private theatricals, etc. The estimated cost of the structure is $20,000, and it is thought that the rents and revenues of the establishment will nearly pay for it in ten years.”

The Young Men’s Christian Associations have doubtless accomplished much good, but if the above is indicative of the course to be generally pursued by them (which we hope it is not), then we predict their efficient labor for the advancement of the cause of Christ to be near an end. “Private theatricals” will be found but a stepping-stone to the public theatre, and though members in some respects may have “a form of godliness,” it will be manifest that they are “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.”

The festivals of various names connected of late years with churches of different denominations are working to the same end. Who can draw the line between the church and the world on such occasions? No thorough, enlightened Christian can be satisfied that festivals are Christ-like in which “grab-bags,” “guess-cakes,” “post-offices,” and similar means are resorted to for the purpose of raising money for church-building, etc. Only imagine such a festival held in the apostolic age: Paul, for example, putting his hand into a bag and pulling out a rag-baby amid a roar of laughter; Peter paying out a few cents (for he would not be likely to have much silver and gold unless he got it by miracle, as he did the money to pay his tax) for a piece of cake—hoping to be lucky enough to find a ring in it: “the beloved disciple” charged an exorbitant price for a letter in the church post-office— which he pays rather than to appear mean by refusing to do it; or a large number of the primitive disciples appealing to the flesh by announcing a turkey-supper, or an oyster-supper at a hotel, for the purpose of getting money out of the men of the world, and having a good time themselves! All these things have been done in our day. What has changed, Christianity or its professors? Is the church converting the world to Christ, or the world converting the church to the devil?

“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” —Advent Herald.

True Prosperity.

By John Matteson

NOTHING will ruin a man more easily than prosperity. In adversity the soul draws near to God; but in prosperity the Lord is easily forgotten. When Jacob was an exile from his father's house, a lonely stranger in the wilderness, with a stone for his pillow, then he drew near to God, and he was truly prospered; for he obtained an experience that fitted him for the kingdom of God.

Do you say he was prospered when he obtained sheep, and cattle, and property? So he was. But that all belongs to the meat that perishes. That was not the true riches, hence not true prosperity. That did not make him more acceptable with God. Is it not true prosperity to be made rich toward God? That night when Jacob wrestled with the angel, I think he was wonderfully prospered; for God became his portion, he obtained the blessing of Heaven, and became the father of the faithful.

The man who fully departs from every evil way, who obeys the law of God and delights therein, has this remarkable promise: “Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Ps. 1. Such a man will not do anything but that which is pleasing to the Lord. But it is not so easy to become such an one. We have been so depraved, so corrupted, it takes many bitter cups to heal us. Shall we not drink them, and be thankful for them? The position of a preacher is one of the most difficult in this message. Many such have been prospered in the past with seemingly great success. They have become corrupt and turned again like the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire, despising the holy commandment once delivered unto them. They are hastening down to destruction. I greatly fear and tremble. The road is very narrow. On the right and left I see the path is full of snares. I shrink from the terrible responsibility laid upon a teacher. But if there is no other way of duty, I pray give me no more prosperity than is good for me. Give me true prosperity. Simplicity, humility, heavenly love, humble zeal. Let me labor in a humble sphere, and be happy to do little things for the Master day by day. Let me be poor and despised with God's people, a vessel prepared for glory. This is true prosperity.

JOHN MATTESON.

Every Hour Charged With Duty

Every hour comes to us charged with duty, and the moment it is passed it is registered for or against us in the final account which all must give of their actions.

“MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND.”

PSALM 31:15.

Father, I know that all my life — 2 Cor. 6:18. Is portioned out for me, — Ps. 31:15. And the changes that will surely come, — Job 14:1. I do not fear to see; — Prov. 14:26. But I ask thee for a present mind — Deut. 5:29. Intent on pleasing thee. — Ps. 119:38.

I ask thee for a thoughtful love, — Ps. 116:1. Through constant watching wise, — 1 Thess. 5:6. To meet the glad with joyful smiles, — Rom. 12:15. And wipe the weeping eyes; — 1 Cor. 12:26. And a heart at leisure from itself, — 1 Cor. 13:5. To soothe and sympathize. — Job 29:11–16.

I would not have a restless will — Isa. 57:20. That hurries to and fro, — Prov. 19:2. Seeking for some great thing to do, — Rom. 12:16. Or secret thing to know; — Deut. 5:29. I would be treated as a child, — Ps. 131:2. And guided where I go. — Ps. 73:24.

Wherever in the world I am, — Ps. 37:23. In whatsoever estate, — Phil. 4:12. I have a fellowship with hearts — 1 John 1:7. To keep and cultivate; — Eph. 4:8. And a work of lowly love to do — 2 Cor. 5:14, 15. For the Lord on whom I wait. — Ps. 25:5.

So I ask thee for the daily strength, — Deut. 33:25. To none that ask denied, — Matt. 7:7, 8. And a mind to blend with outward life, — John 17:15. While keeping at thy side, — Ps. 37:34. Content to fill a little space, — Ps. 84:10. If thou be glorified. — John 15:8.

And if some things I do not ask — Eph. 3:20. In my cup of blessing be, — Ps. 23:5. I would have my spirit filled the more — Ps. 116:12, 13. With grateful love to thee— — Ps. 103:2. And careful—less to serve thee much — Micah 6:7, 8. Than to please thee perfectly. — Col. 1:10.

There are briars besetting every path, — Job 5:7. Which call for patient care; — Heb. 10:36. There is a cross in every lot, — Eccl. 7:14. And an earnest need for prayer; — 2 Sam. 22:7. But a lowly heart that leans on thee, — Cant. 8:5. Is happy anywhere. — Isa. 26:3.

In a service which thy love appoints, — Rom. 12:1. There are no bonds for me; — 2 Cor. 3:17. For my secret heart is taught “the truth” — John 14:17. That makes thy children “free;” — John 8:32–36. And a life of self-renouncing love, — Matt. 16:24. Is a life of liberty! — Gal. 5:1.

—Selected for REVIEW.

Our Influence.

By Adolphus Smith

Many seem to forget the fact that the church is composed of individual members, but view it as a body over which themselves have no manner of influence, and sit as critics, and judges, upon the fault of others, forgetting that themselves are as intimately connected with, and exert as great an influence over, the church, as do the various members of the human body over that body.

There is no such thing as hiding our influence. Whether we will, or not, the church is affected by it. Although sins be committed in secret, and in the eyes of man we be faultless, known unto the Lord are all our ways, and our thoughts are not hid from his gaze. A church may, until it exert itself to get rid of the evil, be rendered almost powerless to accomplish any considerable good, by the secret unholy life of one of its members. Although the children of Israel were doubtless ignorant of the fact that a trespass had been committed in their midst, they were smitten before their enemies for Achan’s sake; and, until the guilty one was brought to punishment, the heart of the people was as water, and they could not stand before their enemies. The trespass of Achan cost the entire defeat of the Hebrew army, and the lives of thirty-six men, besides that of all his own family. The punishment was severe, but it shows us that we may not with impunity sin against God; and that we may exert a great influence for evil over the church and our fellow-men, though our trespass may be hidden from the eyes of all but God and angels.

It would be infinitely better for those who persist in leading unholy lives, to withdraw from their connection with the church, that it may go free, and accomplish its destined work, than to remain unconverted within its connection, and at last suffer for their own transgressions and the ruin they have brought upon the cause.

Although a point may be reached in the downward career at which repentance is unavailing and from which return is impossible, yet, no ordinary backslider should entertain the discouraging thought that such is his case, but should immediately return to the Lord in the way he has appointed, with fasting and weeping and rending of the heart, and not the garment; for such have the assurance of acceptance and pardon.

ADOLPHUS SMITH.

What God Does is Best.

A Rabbi reached a city late in the evening; the gates were shut, and he must sleep outside in the open air. What God does is the best for me said the Rabbi, and laid himself down to rest.

In the night a storm arose which extinguished the light of his lantern, and a lion came and devoured the ass on which he rode. Still the Rabbi said, what God does is best for me.

At daylight he found that a band of robbers had plundered the city in the night and murdered the inhabitants. Said I not continued the Rabbi, what God does is best for me?

We sometimes learn in the morning why God put us to inconvenience the night before—The Talmud.

The Cure of an Evil Tongue

THE cure of an evil tongue must be in the heart. The weights and wheels are there, and the clock strikes according to their motion.

Thoughts on the Book of Daniel.

CHAPTER IX. (VERSES 25–27 CONCLUDED.)

The momentous declaration made by the angel to Daniel, “Unto two thousand three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” is now explained. In our search for the meaning of the sanctuary and its cleansing, and the application of the time, we have found not only that this subject can be easily understood; but lo! the event is now almost accomplished. And here we pause to reflect a moment or two upon the solemn position into which we are brought.

We have seen that the sanctuary of this dispensation is the tabernacle of God in Heaven, the house not made with hands, where our Lord ministers in behalf of penitent sinners, the place where between the great God, and his Son Jesus Christ, the “counsel of peace” prevails in the work of salvation for perishing men. We have seen that the cleansing of the sanctuary consists of the removing the sins from the same, and is the closing act of the ministration performed therein; that the work of salvation now centers in the heavenly sanctuary; and when this sanctuary is cleansed, the work is done, and the plan is finished! Then the great scheme devised at the fall for the salvation of as many of the lost race as would avail themselves of its provisions, and carried forward for 6000 years, is brought to its final termination. Mercy no longer pleads, and the great voice is heard from the throne in the temple of Heaven, saying, It is done. And what then? All the righteous are safe for everlasting life; all the wicked are doomed to everlasting death. No case can be changed, no destiny averted, beyond that point.

And we have seen (and this is what brings the solemnities of the Judgment to our own door) that that long prophetic period which was to mark the commencement of this final work in the heavenly sanctuary, has met its termination in our own generation. In 1844 the days ended. For twenty-six years the final work for man’s salvation has been going forward. This work involves an examination of every man’s character; for it consists in the remission of the sins of those who shall be found worthy to have them remitted, and determines who among the dead shall be raised, and who among the living changed, at the coming of the Lord, and who, of both dead and living, shall be left to have their part in the fearful scenes of the second death; and all can see that such a decision as this must be rendered before the Lord appears. Every man’s case is to be determined by the deeds done in the body, and each one is to be rewarded according to his works. In the books of remembrance kept by the heavenly scribes above, every man’s deeds will be found recorded; in the closing sanctuary work, these records are examined, and decision rendered in accordance therewith. It would be most natural to suppose that the work would commence with the first members of the human race; that their cases would be first examined, and decision rendered, and so on with all the dead, generation by generation, in chronological succession along the stream of time, till we reach the last generation, the generation of the living, with whose cases the work would close. How long it will take to examine the cases of all the dead, how soon the work will reach the cases of the living, we do not know. As above remarked, for twenty-six years this work has already been going forward. The light of the types, and the very nature of the case, forbid that it should be of long continuance. John, in his sublime views of heavenly scenes, saw millions of attendants and assistants, engaged with our Lord in his priestly work. Rev. 5. And so the ministration goes forward. It ceases not, it delays not; and it must soon be forever finished.

And here we stand; the last, the greatest, and the most solemn crisis in the history of our race immediately impending; the great plan of salvation about finished; the last precious years of probation almost ended; the Lord about to come to save those who are ready and waiting, and to cut asunder the careless and unbelieving; and the world—alas! what shall we say of them!—deceived with error, crazed with cares and business, delirious with pleasure, and paralyzed with vice. They have not a moment to spare in listening to solemn truth, nor a thought to bestow upon their eternal interests. Let the people of God, with eternity right in view, be careful to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust, and prepare to pass the searching test, when their cases shall come up for examination in the great tribunal above.

To the careful attention of every student of prophecy, we commend the subject of the sanctuary. In it is seen the ark of God’s testament, containing his holy law, and suggesting a reform in our obedience to that great standard of morality. The opening of this heavenly temple, or the commencement of the service in its second apartment, marks the commencement of the sounding of the seventh angel. Rev. 11:15, 19. The work performed therein is the foundation of the third message of Rev. 14, the last message of mercy to a perishing world. This subject explains the great disappointment of 1844, by showing that we mistook the event to occur at the end of the days. It renders harmonious and clear, past prophetic fulfillments, which are otherwise involved in impenetrable obscurity. It gives a definite idea of the position and work of our great High Priest, and brings out the plan of salvation in its distinctive and beautiful features. It reins us up, as no other subject does, to the realities of the Judgment, and shows the preparation we need to be able to stand in the coming day. It shows us that we are in the waiting time, and puts us upon our watch; for we know not how soon the work will be finished, and our Lord appear. Watch, lest coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.

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