Earlier text: S. D. Adventists and Their CriticsThe Shortness and Great Value of Time.
By C. A. Osgood
Although the time allotted to man in this world is very short, how many there are who seem to think and feel that before them is long life, in which they may enjoy pleasure, such as the carnal mind desires. Such do not at all realize the true value of time. Sometimes, when, unexpectedly, death stares them in the face, and they find that they have squandered their time, and their work is not done, they are frightened in view of the punishment that awaits them. So Altamont, who had spent his life in sinful indulgences, and disregard of his Maker, hearing the clock strike, exclaimed, “O time! time! it is fit thou shouldst thus strike thy murderer to the heart!” In these last days, it may emphatically be said, “The time is short.” The signs that should teach us when the Lord’s coming is near, have been seen. The great day of God comes on apace, and the season of probation will soon be gone. Time is of inestimable value, as it is the only period in which we may, by the grace of God, prepare ourselves to inherit eternal life. Those things which pertain merely to the present life, are of comparatively little importance. Hence Paul has said, “They that have wives should be as though they had none.” Not that men should neglect to perform the duties which they owe to their families; but that they should be so very anxious to fulfill their duties to God, and so earnest to secure salvation for themselves and others, that the attention they pay to their families will be considered a matter of less importance. “And they that weep,” he adds, “as though they wept not, and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not.” Earthly joys and sorrows should have but little influence upon us, when compared with future and eternal things. These afflictions are light, compared with the weight of glory the people of God will soon share. They continue but a moment, as compared with eternity. So with regard to earthly joys. They do not satisfy the desires of men. They continue only for a brief season. If the favor of God be not secured by us in time, we shall experience an eternal loss. If we gain an inheritance in the renewed earth, we shall possess eternal joys. “There will be no sorrow there,” no pain, no death. “They that use this world,” should use it “as not abusing it.” We can use it but a little while, and then it will be said to each individual, “Give an account of thy stewardship.” A strict account must then be rendered of the use that has been made of worldly possessions. How dreadful must be the account given by the unfaithful servant who has wasted his Lord’s goods! And how terrible his punishment, to be cast into outer darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth! But how blessed he to whom the Lord shall say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” C. A. Osgood. True Religion.
By GEO. KOON.
Our blessed Saviour has doubtless given us the best definition of true religion that can be given. He said to a certain lawyer, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matt. 22:37–40. This is true religion, and may be summed up in one word: Love, supreme love, to God, and equal love to our fellow-men as to ourselves. Love constitutes Heaven. Without it, there can be no happiness in any part of God’s universe. With it, in all its fullness and perfection, there can be no misery. No wonder, then, that the Master has said that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. This is the sum and substance of the religion of the Bible. Securely established upon this eternal and immovable rock, let the infuriated waves of infidelity roll and dash until their violence be spent, we cannot be harmed; but let us be careful never to belie our religion, or forget what it is. Let us remember that our religion is founded in love, and John says, “He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16. “He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:8. “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha.” 1 Cor. 16:22. If men would remember these solemn statements, they would surely no longer be content with the outward form, while their hearts know nothing of love to God and each other. They would no longer grasp the shadow, and miss the substance. Should any one inquire how we may know that we love God, or what are the evidences of true piety, we answer, The Bible has not left us in the dark on this subject. “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” saith the blessed Saviour. John 14:15. The apostle also tells us, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3. Every true Christian, therefore, will strive to keep God’s commandments, not from dread or slavish fear, neither as a burdensome duty, but from love to him. Again, he that truly loves God, will also love his brethren; for “if a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?” 1 John 4:20. “By this,” saith Jesus, “shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35. Such are some of the evidences of love to God and of vital piety. Unless we possess these evidences it is useless to talk about being religious; for we are yet in our sins, without God and without hope in the world; and if Christ comes and finds any of us in this sad condition, we are undone forever. “Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Eph. 5:14. It is very clear that, in his natural, unconverted state, no man can truly love God, or possess vital piety; because “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God; neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:7. The minds of all men are by nature carnal; but such minds cannot love God supremely while this enmity remains, hence they cannot be truly pious. The picture which the Scripture gives us of the condition of the natural heart, is most appalling and humiliating. It is said in Jer. 17:9, that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” The Saviour himself, speaking on this point, says, “Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man.” Matt. 15:18–20. Can such hearts love God, or be fit temples for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, without being regenerated? It cannot be; and yet thousands hope to be saved without a change of heart, vainly imagining that their professions of religion, and their attendance upon the worship of God’s house will take them to Heaven. Even many ministers of the gospel seem content with converting persons to the form of godliness, without the tangible evidence that they experience its power in their hearts. Oh! that men would awake to the importance of the fact, so clearly stated in the word of God, that without a change of heart no man can be saved. The Form and the Power.
By R. E. Cottrell
I understand that the form of godliness is seen in religious assemblies for preaching, prayers, exhortations, and ordinances; and that the power is the renovating, transforming work of the Spirit of God upon the obedient heart, which is only manifested in the daily life, in good works, in following the example of Christ, keeping the commandments of the Father, and doing those things that are pleasing in his sight. These are the things that cause the Christian's light to shine, and by which he confesses Christ, and reflects his image, and thus manifests to those who see his good works the transforming power of the religion of Jesus Christ. But the thing is reversed at the present time. The power is only seen in the public assemblies. They meet together and have a powerful time, and when their season of worship is over, you do not see a marked distinction in their lives, evincing to all the transforming power which should distinguish them as the followers and imitators of Jesus. It does not cause them to be very circumspect in their obedience to all the commandments of God. But instead of this, the blessings which they receive in these powerful meetings, furnish them an argument against reforming their lives by keeping the commandments which they are neglecting. Reformation, they argue, cannot be necessary; because God accepts and blesses them without it. And how do they know that he accepts them while neglecting his commandments? Because they experience so much of the power of godliness in their meetings. I must differ from this, and claim that the form is seen in seasons of worship, and the power is only manifested in doing the will of God. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.” The form without the power was to be a leading characteristic of the religionists of the last days. And we see protracted meetings and the profession of religion growing more and more popular; but those who are willing to transform their lives by the teachings of the word of God, thus doing the will of the Father, are few. Spirit of Persecution.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
WE think that the Bible most clearly shows that our government will yet in some form oppress the people of God. If we read aright, a spirit of this kind is fast growing among the leading religious sects. At a recent meeting in honor of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, a reverend speaker said thus: “God forbid that our own religious freedom should ever be described as Gibbon described that of the age of Antoninus, from which he dates the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: ‘The various modes of worship (says he) which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosophers as equally false; and by the magistrates as equally useful.’ And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. Such a spirit of toleration—such religious liberty as that—even in an age of paganism, gradually led to the overthrow of the great empire of the Old World. What else but overthrow can it accomplish in a Christian age for the great republic of the New World?” Rev. Dr. Bellows spoke in the same strain at a recent dinner in New York. He said: “I am not a bit ashamed of their acrimony; for it was always in behalf of truth and virtue. I am not a bit ashamed of their narrowness. I am not a bit ashamed of their persecuting spirit, if you dare to call it by that language, as anything against them. They had that sort of sincerity and conviction of soul that made them feel they were the spokesmen of Almighty God, and very little patience had they with the sins and errors about them; and if they had been of that sort of liberal belief that is about as sure of one thing as another, and about as liberal of folly and sin as of religion and virtue, we should have no country to boast of whatever.” Straws show which way the wind blows. Reflections on Character and Providence
By Jos. Clarke
MEN become great by appreciating the works of others; and they become small by magnifying their own. We cultivate tenderness of heart by sympathizing with, and relieving the sorrows of, others; we become hard-hearted by withholding kindness from others and bestowing it upon ourselves. He who yields his will to God’s will, will be infinitely more firm and decided than he who holds to his own. Ignorance is the most inexcusable in those who seek to teach. Humility is not hurt by injury. In the great family of God there is no room for pride or ambition. In the winter months the warmth of summer would only cause injury; so in this life of trial, too much prosperity might prove an evil. When we read, we should consider that ideas are sometimes like seeds which must be planted and have time to germinate; others are more fully developed, and only need to be transplanted as trees from the nursery to the orchard. When the great wheel of providence (as it revolves in silence) comes around, we see the destroyer destroyed; the devourer devoured; the slanderer slandered; the cheater cheated; the hater hated; the deceiver deceived. Surely it is so. JOS. CLARKE. The Wise Delay.
By Susan Emer
THERE is much in the history of Lazarus to interest and instruct us. How expressive the appeal from the sisters: “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” How calculated to touch the compassionate heart of the Saviour. To look on the outward appearance, we should expect him to go at once to his sick friend. How mysterious that his love for them should cause his delay. For we read, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.” Meanwhile the sisters with sad hearts were watching by the side of their much-loved brother. What suspense marks each passing moment! With what anxiety do they wait the return of their absent Lord. For well they know that if he should but speak the word, their brother would at once be restored to health again. But still he comes not. They witness his eyes closed in death, and behold him clad in the habiliments of the tomb. Ah! why does he thus tarry? But how dim is all human foresight when compared to his. Dry those tears, thou stricken ones. Leave all with Him who is too wise to err; and in the end, all will prove for the best. It is impossible to determine the vast amount of good accomplished by that two days’ delay. As I have meditated on the wisdom and power of the Saviour, I have been nearly lost in wonder and admiration. The good thus wrought may be compared to a rivulet that enlarges in its onward course till at length it is lost in the mighty ocean. In the first place, it confirmed the faith of his disciples; and who can tell the joy of the sisters, as they behold their brother brought back from the dominion of death? And how it added to their joy to witness so many of their kinsmen converted to the faith. For history says that four thousand were brought to believe on the Messiah on account of this transaction. And the Lord may have wrought through these in the salvation of many more. Nor does it stop here; it points forward to the time when the voice that bade Lazarus come forth, shall again call to life the countless millions of the redeemed. What a thought! May we be there to share the reward of the faithful, to hail with joy the glorious morn that ends our sorrows here, and bids us welcome to all the bliss of Heaven. This is, we believe, the sin the apostle speaks of when he says, “The sin which doth so easily beset.” And indeed as we look about us, we come to the conclusion that it does “easily beset;” for we can see it all about us, on every hand, among the high and the low, the rich and the poor. Professors and nonprofessors are alike infected with this terrible disease. This unbelief may well be termed infidelity, not of that kind, the drama of which was enacted a few years since in France, which declared that there was no God, and death was an eternal sleep; but of a more subtle nature. It declares that there is a God, the God of nature, a first great cause. But as to what this God is, no one is able to tell. The commonly received ideas are that he is a kind of a vague, indescribable something, which is everywhere, and yet nowhere; that he is a God of love, so much so that he will never destroy anything he has ever created; that all men will be saved at last; that there is no such thing as evil, but what men call evil is “undeveloped good;” that there is no devil, save what is found within one's own self; that there should be no law, save man's own reason; and that the marriage ceremony is but a mockery, as parties are married at first sight. By these sentiments, they strike right at the very foundation of all society. And more than this, to more effectually disarm and overpower those who may be inclined to venture to oppose these hellish principles, they dare deny that God has made a revelation to man. This is not done all at once, however; for they are subtle. They begin by finding fault with some portions of God's word; and as they draw their victims closer and closer, they denounce whole chapters, then whole books, and lastly away goes the whole Bible. Thus we are left without chart or compass, drifting, we know not where, on the sea of time. These are some of the sentiments I heard, not long since, fall from the lips of a far-famed, “inspired orator.” And one of these prodigies of wisdom said to me not long since in a public manner, that Jesus Christ was no better than any other good man, and that his blood was of no more account than that of any other good man. Truly, this must be “treading under foot the Son of God, and counting the blood of the covenant of no effect.” Verily, why should we sleep? The devil is not asleep, if we are; he is improving his time, if we are not. May God help reader and writer to awake, and discharge the great responsibilities that rest upon us. THE SIN OF BELIEVING.
By H. F. PHELPS
Having shown the sin of unbelief, let us see if there is not also an error in believing. But charity “believeth all things;” yes, all things that are spoken by the inspiration of God’s Spirit. But nowadays there are many, very many, things spoken by inspiration. Yes; but by the inspiration of the “father of lies,” who is “transformed into an angel of light,” and would make us think he is the best friend we have; but the end is death. See how he deceived our first parents in the garden of Eden, and through them, all the human family. He promised them life of greater enjoyment, if they would only yield to the clamors of appetite. Here we see the folly of believing too much. But there are some things which more nearly concern us in our every-day life. Even this very day, some agent of this great deceiver may have been tempting you with a sweet morsel in the form of a bit of scandal against some neighbor. Of course, the tattler would not be willing to vouch for the truth of said report; but “they say so,” and he may have even whispered, “I hardly believe it;” but yet the very act of telling it shows that it was believed, or at least they could almost wish it were so. And so it goes from one mouth to another; many persons no doubt, would wish it were so rather than to be found telling things that were not true; in other words, acknowledging that they were found “taking up a reproach against their neighbor.” How many of this class will the Judgment day reveal! and how many of those, about whom the world love to talk, come off far better than those who love so well to do the talking! Will they love to talk as well then? I think not. “Every mouth shall be stopped.” Who would not shun this class? Christian Faith and the Powers of Mind
CHRISTIAN faith, more than any or all other modes of discipline, sharpens the perceptive, and invigorates the active powers of the mind, clarifies the judgment, purges the understanding from prejudice, sweeps away bedimming fogs from the reason, inspires unity of aim and effort, and attaches the solemnity of duty, the sanction of an unslumbering conscience, to whatever is worthy of pursuit and endeavor. The Lottery Question.
By Editor
A FEW nights ago a dispatch was published in this paper, which stated that a certain ticket in a certain western lottery drew a prize of $10,000. This dispatch will go into nearly all the public journals. The effect will probably be an impulse to the lottery business in general, as well as a great increase of the business of the particular lottery named. It is bad enough to have a whole State wrought up into a gambling fever, as was the case during the recent California library lottery; and we insist that the press dispatches ought not to be used to keep up this fever and to cheat the press into thousands of dollars’ worth of gratuitous advertising. In this connection, it will be interesting to note how church lotteries (a branch of the lottery subject which may claim a separate article) are regarded by the pagan Japanese. A lottery scheme was put on foot in Yokohama to pay for a church organ. “But public sentiment,” says an exchange, “revolted against the idea of serving the interests of religion by gambling, and the government prohibited the enterprise.” The Japan Mail says: “The easy virtue of the Christian, thus publicly rebuked by the paternal care of the pagan government, is a slur we shall not easily forget, and a reprimand by which we may well be stung.” What have the Christian people of Spain and Portugal, where lotteries are conducted by the government, and of some of our States where they are authorized by Legislature, to say to this? Since the publication of our article in No. 5, entitled “A Very Poor Joke,” a friend in California has kindly sent us the facts upon which the article from the Crisis, there made the subject of criticism, was founded. We did not deny that the inhabitants of Alaska, the territory recently purchased by the United States from Russia, differ in their reckoning of time from the people of the United States. But we felt very certain that a statement containing so many inconsistencies must rest almost wholly upon a misconception of facts; and the information with which we have been furnished very fully sustains that conclusion. We have no wish, and still less have we any occasion, to misrepresent any matter in the slightest particular. From the communication of our informant it appears that there are in Alaska about 10,000 communicants of the Greek church, most of whom came into the country from the Russian possessions in Asia, across Behring’s Straits, bringing with them the reckoning of time as found in Asia. They were consequently one day in advance of those inhabitants of the American continent who have received their reckoning of time westward around the world from Asia, instead of eastward across Behring’s Straits; and the day which to us is Saturday, is to them the first day of the week; and the one which we call Sunday, they reckon as Monday; and so on. These facts we have never denied. Let us now look at the statement of the Crisis respecting the ship’s crew, which upon one occasion visited Alaska. We quote, italicising such portions of the statement as we wish particularly noticed. The Crisis said: “On one occasion a ship’s crew arrived at Alaska, which had carefully kept the first day during their voyage; but found on their arrival that the Alaskans’ Sunday came a day earlier. The captain required his men to keep the same day as the Alaskans. The crew prosecuted the captain for requiring them to work on their Sabbath; and the case was tried in the California court, and a decision was given against the captain.” This is the statement of the Crisis. What were the facts? We have received a copy of some of the proceedings of the court in which a case of this nature was tried, from which it appears that one John Johnson, shipped on board the American bark Cyane, D. R. Small, master, for a round trip from San Francisco, Cal., to Unalaska, in Alaska Territory, and return. While lying in the said port on the 26th of December, 1869, the master of the vessel ordered the said Johnson to perform secular labor, or leave the ship. This 26th of December was, according to the reckoning of the Alaskans, Monday; but according to the reckoning of the crew which had come from California, it was Sunday. Johnson refused to work, and was discharged. He brought suit against the vessel, and in the District Court of the United States for the District of California, in which cases of admiralty are tried, recovered his wages. This is all that appears from the records. Compare this with the statements of the Crisis. 1. It says the crew had carefully kept the first day during their voyage. Nothing appears from the record that they were such zealous Sunday-keepers. This is all gratuitous on the part of the Crisis. They had simply preserved their reckoning from the standard of California, and found themselves, on arriving at Alaska, one day behind the inhabitants of that place, who had brought their reckoning from Asia. 2. It is said that the captain required his men to keep the same day as the Alaskans. The record speaks of only one of the crew, the said Johnson; and the requirement made of him was not to observe the day the Alaskans kept, but to work on the day he kept, because it was in Alaska a secular day. This is exactly the opposite of the statement made by the Crisis. Now we can easily conceive of a captain’s taking advantage of circumstances and requiring one of his crew to work on a day which he wishes to devote to rest. But we can hardly conceive of a captain who would compel his crew to conform to the religious observances of a different church on a foreign shore, and rest on a day they had not been in the habit of observing. Sea-captains are not generally such religious prodigies. We said we believed such a sea-captain to be a myth. We believe so still. When we can learn of such an one, composed of real flesh and bones, it will modify somewhat our ideas of human nature. 3. It is said that the crew prosecuted the captain. The record says it was one man, not a whole crew. 4. It stated that the case was tried in the California court. It should have said, in the District Court of the United States for the district of California; which conveys quite a different idea. Respecting the difference in reckoning between the people of the United States and Alaska, and what day the latter should keep as the Sabbath, we need not speak, as that was fully discussed in the article of Eld. J. N. Andrews in last week’s Review. Thoughts on the Book of Daniel.
VERSE 27. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain. The cause of Antony’s overthrow was the desertion of his allies and friends, those that fed of the portion of his meat. First, Cleopatra, as already described, suddenly withdrew from the battle, taking sixty ships of the line with her. Secondly, the land army disgusted with the infatuation of Antony, went over to Cæsar, who received them with open arms. Thirdly, when Antony arrived in Libya he found that the forces which he had there left under Scorpus to guard the frontier, had declared for Cæsar. Fourthly, being followed by Cæsar into Egypt, he was betrayed by Cleopatra, and his forces surrendered to Cæsar. Hereupon in rage and despair he took his own life. Verse 27. And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. Antony and Cæsar were formerly in alliance. Yet under the garb of friendship, they were both aspiring and intriguing for universal dominion. Their protestations of deference to, and friendship for, each other, were the utterances of hypocrites. They spoke lies at one table. Octavia, the wife of Antony and sister of Cæsar, declared to the people of Rome at the time Antony divorced her, that she had consented to marry him solely with the hope that it would prove a pledge of union between Cæsar and Antony. But that counsel did not prosper. The rupture came; and in the conflict that ensued, Cæsar came off entirely victorious. Verse 28. Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. Two returnings from foreign conquests are here brought to view; the first after the events narrated in verses 26 and 27, and the second after this power had had indignation against the holy covenant, and had performed exploits. The first was fulfilled in the return of Cæsar, after his expedition against Egypt and Antony. He returned to Rome with abundant honor and riches; for, says Prideaux (ii, 380), “At this time such vast riches were brought to Rome from Egypt on the reducing of that country, and the return of Octavianus [Cæsar] and his army from thence, that the value of money fell one half, and the price of provisions and all vendible wares were doubled thereon.” Cæsar celebrated his victories in a three-days’ triumph, a triumph which Cleopatra herself would have graced, as one of the royal captives, had she not artfully caused herself to be bitten by an asp. The next great enterprise of the Romans after the overthrow of Egypt, was the expedition against Judea, and the capture and destruction of Jerusalem. The holy covenant is doubtless the covenant which God has maintained with his people, beginning it with Abraham, and renewing it, since Christ, with all believers in him. The Jews rejected Christ; and, according to the prophecy that all who would not hear that prophet should be cut off, they were destroyed out of their own land, and scattered to every nation under heaven. And while Jews and Christians alike suffered under the oppressive hands of the Romans, we think it was in the reduction of Judea especially that the exploits mentioned in the text were exhibited. Under Vespasian the Romans invaded Judea, and took the cities of Galilee, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where Christ had been rejected. They destroyed the inhabitants, and left nothing but ruin and desolation. Titus besieged Jerusalem. He drew a trench around it, accordingly to the prediction of the Saviour. A terrible famine ensued, the equal of which the world has, perhaps, at no other time witnessed. Moses had predicted that in the terrible calamities to come upon the Jews if they departed from God, even the tender and delicate woman should eat her own children in the straitness of the siege wherewith their enemies should distress them. Under the siege of Jerusalem by Titus a literal fulfillment of this prediction occurred; and he, hearing of the inhuman deed, but forgetting that he was the one who was driving them to such direful extremities, swore the eternal extirpation of the accursed city and people. Jerusalem fell in A. D. 70. As a honor to himself, the Roman commander had determined to save the temple; but the Lord had said that there should not remain one stone upon another which should not be thrown down. A Roman soldier seized a brand of fire, and climbing upon the shoulders of his comrades, thrust it into one of the windows of the beautiful structure. It was soon in the arms of the devouring element. The frantic efforts of the Jews to extinguish the flames were seconded by Titus himself, but all in vain. Seeing that the temple must perish, Titus rushed in and bore away the golden candlestick, the table of show-bread, and the volume of the law, wrapped in golden tissue. The candlestick was afterwards deposited in Vespasian’s temple to Peace, and copied on the triumphal arch of Titus, where its mutilated image is yet to be seen. The siege of Jerusalem lasted five months. In that siege eleven hundred thousand Jews perished, and ninety-seven thousand were taken prisoners. The city was so amazingly strong that Titus exclaimed when viewing the ruins, “We have fought with the assistance of God.” The city was completely leveled, and the foundations of the temple were ploughed up by Tarentius Rufus. The duration of the whole war was seven years, and one million four hundred and sixty-two thousand persons are said to have fallen victims to its fatal horrors. Thus this power performed great exploits, and again returned to its own land. Verse 29. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. The time appointed is probably the prophetic time of vs. 24, of which we have previously spoken. It closed, as already shown, in A. D. 330, at which time this power was to return and come again toward the south, but not as on the former occasion, when it went to Egypt, nor as the latter, when it went to Judea. These were expeditions which resulted in conquest and glory. This led to demoralization and ruin. The removal of the seat of empire to Constantinople was the signal of the downfall of the empire. Rome then lost its prestige. The western division was exposed to the incursions of foreign enemies. On the death of Constantine the Roman Empire was divided into three parts, between his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II., and Constans. Constantine II. and Constans quarreled, and Constans being victor, gained the supremacy of the whole West. He was soon slain by one of his commanders, who in turn was shortly after defeated by the surviving emperor, and in despair ended his own days, A. D. 353. The barbarians of the North soon began their depredations, and extended their conquests till the imperial power of the West expired in A. D. 476. This was indeed different from the two former movements brought to view in the prophecy; and to this the fatal step of removing the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople, directly led. It is rarely that we find the startling signs of the present time commented upon, and in the same breath slurs and sneers thrown out against those who think these things so significant of coming events. But these flippant remarks against “our Millerite friends,” are themselves as significant as the others; for in the last days just such things were to be. We have nothing to say in palliation of the course of the Antinomian Adventists, who, by their foolish time-settings, give such occasion to sensible people to cherish disgust, and express ridicule, for anything that bears the Advent name. Meanwhile we will try to bear patiently the reproach to which we are subjected by these unfavorable circumstances, and hope to the end for the grace soon to be revealed. “Social morals are sadly out of order; crimes are increasing fearfully; murders, not traceable to insanity and drinking, but to cool and deliberate planning. We boast a refinement of civilization that borders on perfection, superabundant and self-sustaining; but the egotism of our civilization kills the spirit of religion, and like a ship all sail and no anchor, our national life whirls on, where, alas, where? In the meantime, our Millerite friends, so the eastern papers say, have appointed another day for final destruction, which, should it accomplish its end, will save much bother and settle a good many vexed questions of theology and politics. The eleventh day of February is the day beyond which, according to their theory, the year of grace is to go no farther, and eighteen seventy-one, is to have the honor of being the last of revolving cycles. The world has been merciless in its ridicule of those children of prophecy, and the church at large has not regarded them with a friendly eye; but there are worse doctrines daily enunciated than that which finds its warrant in the emphatic declaration of the word, ‘Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.’” To Correspondents.
By Editor
Wm. SHIPPER, Wis.: In reference to the points treated of in your communication, we refer you to the History of the Sabbath, and the tract entitled The Two Covenants, issued at this Office. J. C.: Is it certain that the poet in the hymn, “Celestial Army,” refers to Rev. 19 : 14? Taking the description given in the hymn, we find as many points of resemblance in the company spoken of in Rev. 7 : 9, as in the armies of Heaven, in chapter 19 : 14. In chapter 7 they are not, to be sure, called armies; but in chapter 19 they are not said to be in possession of palms or crowns. In chapter 7 they are said to have white robes and palms; while in chapter 19 there is not a particular mentioned to correspond to the description of the poet, except the fact that they are called armies. Setting aside this particular, on which the ideas of the poet seem to have been77somewhat confused, all the rest will apply well to the company of chapter 7 : 9. The National Reform Movement.
In Review No. 7, we gave a preliminary report of the Convention assembled in Philadelphia the 18th ult., to agitate the question of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In the N. Y. Tribune of Jan. 25, we find the following additional particulars concerning the meeting:— On the second day, numerous verbal amendments to the resolutions entangled the meeting for a time in confusing points of order. The exciting event was the advocacy by Prof. McIlvaine of the University of Pennsylvania of the following amendment to the preamble of the Constitution: “We, the people of the United States, acknowledging Almighty God as the ultimate source of all authority and power in civil government, and the moral laws of the Christian religion as of paramount authority, in order to secure a more perfect Union,” etc. This substitute was vehemently opposed by almost all the speakers, as “failing to recognize the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ,” and was rejected by a vote almost unanimous. The keynote of the meeting, as thus struck by one of the speakers, was: “As at present, rejecting the authority of God in our Constitution, we are a nation of atheists; if we adopt the resolution of Dr. McIlvaine, we become deists; if we abide by the report submitted, we stand before the world as a Christian nation.” The meeting adopted the above resolutions, and thus maintains the platform practically ratified by the first General Convention, viz.: “We labor to secure such amendments to the Constitution of the United States as will suitably express our national recognition of Almighty God as the author of National Existence, and the source of all power and authority in civil government; of Jesus Christ as the ruler of nations, and of the Bible as the fountain of law and the supreme rule for the conduct of nations.” Amendments to the Constitution.
THE JANESVILLE (Wis.) Gazette, at the close of an article on the proposed religious amendment to the Constitution, speaks thus of the effect of the movement, should it succeed:— “But, independent of the question as to what extent we are a Christian nation, it may well be doubted whether, if the gentlemen who are agitating this question should succeed, they would not do society a very great injury. Such measures are but the initiatory steps which ultimately lead to restrictions of religious freedom, and to commit the government to measures which are as foreign to its powers and purposes as would its action be if it should undertake to determine a disputed question of theology. Moreover, the world has had some experience on this subject, and that experience has not been favorable to the assumption of the right of one man to interfere with his neighbours’ religion, or to make any proclamation whatever thereof. If the government of the United States—which means the people—will exert all its energies to establish justice, it will do much more to aid the cause of religion than it can possibly do by taking any action of the kind contemplated in the circular to which we have referred.”