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Review and Herald, Vol. 29, No. 6.

The Sermon

Review and Herald

Jan 15, 1867

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 15, 1867

The Sermon.

By Eld. R. F. Cottrell

Preach the Word. 2 Tim. iv, 2.

GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS PROMISES.

BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.
“And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth; and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.” Josh. xxiii, 14.
This text, as will readily be seen, is a portion of the valedictory of Joshua, that ancient and distinguished servant of God, who, after the death of Moses, led the people of Israel across the Jordan and established them in their promised inheritance. In his old age and as his work was drawing to a close, he called for all Israel, with their elders and officers, and gave them his last admonitions and exhortations, as a dying father would give his last solemn exhortations to the children of his love, to whom his lips were now to be closed forever. He referred them to what God had done for them in the fulfillment of his promises. He could appeal to their own knowledge of the facts, concerning what the Lord had done for them. He could say to them, in the language of the text, “Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.” And by the faithfulness of God to them, he urged upon them the duty of being faithful to him. And he did not infer, like some in our times, that, because God had been so faithful, good and kind in all that he had done for them, he was all love and mercy, and consequently would not inflict his threatened wrath upon the disobedient. Far from it. Instead of this, he draws the following logical conclusion: “Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.”
God was faithful to all his promises in ancient times; he remains faithful still. All the prophecies that have a bearing on the times in which we live, are promises of God to us. We have not yet arrived at our promised inheritance; but are looking forward to the fulfillment of this his ultimate promise to his people. But all the promises or prophecies already fulfilled, are assurances of the fulfillment of the final one; and not only so, but they give us light upon the nearness of this crowning event. Prophecies that mark the steps of progress from a given point down to the end, are promises of God, the fulfillments of which are intended to give assurance to those that live in the time of the end. If these have been fulfilled in the order given, they give an assurance of God’s faithfulness, and thus guaranty the fulfillment of those that remain. Has not God fulfilled these promises? Has anything failed of all his promises thus far?
To make this matter understood, we will glance at some particulars. There are the promises of the four great kingdoms of earth, to be succeeded by the everlasting kingdom of God under the whole heavens. Dan. ii, vii. Has anything failed of this? Have not the four kingdoms appeared according to the promise, and have they not suited the description given exactly? Has not the Papacy also exactly fulfilled the description of the little horn, in its size, in its work of blasphemy and persecution, in its mutilation of the law of God, in the definite duration of its dominion, and in its present consuming state as it approaches the time of its destruction at the end by the brightness of Christ’s coming? Do we not know that not one thing has failed in this, and that the promised everlasting kingdom will surely come, and is about to be established? In all the details of these promises God has proved his faithfulness in the fulfillment of every item except the last—the giving of the kingdom to his saints. Will he fail in this? No! “He is faithful that has promised.”
The Lord Jesus also promised us certain signs in the heavens, when his second coming would be near, even at the doors. He promised that the sun should be darkened, that the moon should not give her light, and that the stars should fall from heaven as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when shaken of a mighty wind. Has one thing of this failed? No; all have been accomplished in their time and order. Some of us were eye-witnesses of the falling of the stars, and know by personal knowledge that the Lord has verified his promise. The Lord has been faithful in giving the promised signs. Will he fail of coming according to his promise?
Again, the word of God forewarned us of the great apostasy of the professed church; and though the apostasy is not a good thing, yet it is a good thing to be apprised of it, that we may be on our guard, and thus be saved from the deceptive influence and ruinous consequences of apostasy. By the great apostasy, I do not mean simply the Roman church. I trace the monster from its germ, in the days of the apostles, when the “mystery of iniquity” began to work, to its more full development in the man of sin, the Antichristian Papacy; thence onward through the various ramifications of law-established religion with the disgusting confusion of conflicting creeds and doctrines of men, till, finally, it reaches its goal or culminating point in modern Spiritualism, where, being full-grown, it openly repudiates the word of God, throwing off the mask, and with horrid impiety and blasphemy defying the God of the Bible.
These things so expressly foretold in the word of God, have taken place according to the numerous predictions. And, through the fermentation of this unholy leaven, the time has fully come when men professing godliness will not endure sound doctrine, but, according to their own perverted tastes, they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and have turned away their ears from the truth, and are turned to fables.
Of the popular fables of the present day, two are prominent. 1. The fable of the first-day Sabbath, which is now calling for legislative enactments in its support, preparatory to the final war upon the remnant of the true church, “that keep the commandments of God.” 2. The doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul, which Paganism bequeathed to the apostate church of Rome, which served, as Luther said, “to make the Pope’s pot boil,” and which is the chief corner stone of modern Spiritualism, the latest form of infidelity. The numerous predictions of this great apostasy have proved sadly true, its destructive work is moving forward among the people, and its final impious war against God and his people is evidently at hand.
But the Lord has promised his people an antidote against the destructive errors of this great apostasy, and a way of salvation from its fearful doom. He has promised us the proclamation of the judgment messages before the second advent, to complete the work of reformation, and thus prepare his people for the final

AN OFF-REPEATED DESIRE.

By C. M. Willis

“I WISH I WERE A CHILD AGAIN.”

Ask not for time to roll backward again, Back with its burden of heartache and pain; Years that are passed, oh, I would not recall, Draped with their somber funereal pall; Bright hours of childhood, I would not reclaim, Burdens of past years, I’d bear not again, Nearer, ah nearer, to-day seems the goal, Nearer the rest-day draws nigh to my soul.
Were we placed back in the sweet childish train, Back to its innocence, where were the gain? All that at distance seemed charming and sweet, Turning to treachery, fraud and deceit; All of earth’s anguish, its torturing pain, Lessons most bitter, to learn them again; Plucking its roses to find but revealed Cankering thorns, which their beauty concealed.
Back through the vista of long darkened years, Mournfully gazing through storm cloud and tears, Naught greets the vision but sighing and pain, Toil without recompense, loss without gain; Wearied with climbing the mountain-side steep, Wearied with sowing for others to reap, Tired of the untrue, the hollow, the vain, Oh! who would wish them to come back again.
No! let the past with its weariness rest, Its bitter experiences hid in its breast; Its longings unsatisfied, failures we mourn, Too bitter by far, to wish their return. Nearer each year brings the hour of release, Nearer to-day seems the haven of peace, Nearer the time when we’ll bear our sheaves home, Nearer the hour of the welcome, “Well done.”
C. M. WILLIS.
Charlotte, Mich.

Remarkable Fulfillments of the Visions. No. 2.

By John Norton Loughborough

In the spring of 1853, about six months after I commenced to keep the Sabbath, it was arranged for me to take a trip into the West. Passing through Ohio, I visited Michigan at the following points. I met Bro. Cornell at his home in Plymouth, and we went to Tyrone, Locke, and Jackson. At Jackson we parted, he to go and meet Bro. and sister White in meeting, at Tyrone, in the eastern part of the State, while I went on to Battle Creek, Bedford, and Hastings, and spent some two weeks. The Sabbath that I was at Hastings, Bro. and sister White were at Tyrone. At this point sister White had a vision, in which were presented to her the Sabbath-keepers in the State of Michigan, and the different influences that were working upon them to hinder their advancement in the cause of Christ.
Much was pointed out in this vision of which the brethren knew she had never been informed, either by letter or word of mouth; and this gave them great confidence in her testimony. One of the most striking things shown I will mention here. It was a matter known to no one present except Bro. and sister Cornell, and they had but just learned the facts while visiting the place where the thing occurred. As Bro. and sister Cornell knew that sister White was about to visit the State, they supposed she might have a vision, and concluded that if one was given, perhaps these facts would be shown. So they agreed not to write, or say anything to any one about the affair, and see what would be shown in relation to it. No one else had written to Bro. or sister White a word concerning it, and they had no personal knowledge that any such state of things existed anywhere in the State, till it was shown in vision.
As before intimated, the place where the affair occurred which I am about to mention, was at a distance from the place of the above meeting, being on the opposite side of the State, and no one was there who knew of the matter, save Bro. and sister Cornell, and they were pledged to each other to keep it secret till after a vision should be given. Although I had traveled with Bro. Cornell some three weeks, he had never hinted anything of it, even to me.
In the vision at Tyrone, sister White saw that there was a woman traveling in the State—but the place was not shown her—with a man who was not her husband. While her husband, being duped with the idea that God had called his wife thus to preach, was laboring with his hands to support them in their pernicious course, the woman was pretending that God had called her and this young man to travel as missionaries among the Indians. She pretended to talk in tongues, and to talk the language of a tribe of Indians called the Highland Gaelic tribe. Sister White was shown that the woman was deceived in relation to this matter, that she did not talk their language, that she merely used a gibberish of words, and spoke no language at all. She was shown the church where this woman lived, and the different members; some sympathizing with the woman, and some questioning quite severely her course, but hardly having light or strength to take their stand against it. She saw that this woman and young man had broken the seventh commandment while they were making such loud pretensions of being called of God to labor as missionaries in teaching the fourth commandment. She saw even what words the woman would use when she was reproved; that she would put on a sanctimonious look and say, “God knows my heart.”
This case was all written by sister White in the week between the meeting at Tyrone and the one held the following Sabbath at Jackson. This meeting was the week after my meeting at Hastings, and I was present. When I came to the house of Bro. Cyrenius Smith, in Jackson, Bro. and sister White and Bro. and sister Cornell were there. Bro. Cornell met me at the door, and we went into a grove near the house before I saw Bro. and sister White. He said to me that sister White had had a vision, and he told me the particulars, especially what was shown about the woman. He told me that sister White had written the vision out, and that he wished I would get a copy of it. Said that it was an exact description of the woman; that he knew the woman and her course; that Bro. and sister White had an appointment where she lived, but that they themselves did not know her place of residence, and would keep asking him if he knew, and he would evade a definite answer by telling them that if there was such a woman in the State they would probably find her, as they had appointments in every prominent place in the State.
I agreed with Bro. Cornell that we would say nothing to them about it, save that I would get a copy of the vision, and we would watch to see how the thing came out. So I went into the house, and after a few minutes’ conversation, I obtained the vision and wrote a copy of it, which I now have.
After the meeting at Jackson, Bro. and sister White, Bro. Cornell, and myself, visited Battle Creek, Bedford, and Hastings, before coming to Vergennes, Mich., the place to which this part of the vision applied. At Bedford, sister White said, “This is not the place where that woman is, but I have seen these,” and went on to point out the wrongs, particularly in one family where there were two sets of children, and the step-parents were not taking the right course. At Hastings she also had a word of testimony to bear to some, but said, “These are not the ones connected with that case.” We drove on to Vergennes, arriving there about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. We called first on a Bro. W., formerly a Christian preacher, whose house was some three miles from the place where the meetings were to be held. He lived in a log house near the road, and there was a large apple tree near by it. Bro. White, Bro. Cornell and myself, stopped under the tree, while sister White went into the house. We could hear every word which was said in the house. The conversation was all concerning her being wearied with her journey, the distance she had come that day, and such like conversation. We had stopped under the tree to make some arrangements about the order of meetings, who should preach, and what subjects should be introduced, &c. Presently she came out of the house, and said, speaking to her husband, “James, we have got to the church where that woman lives.” He said, “How do you know?” “Why,” said she, “I have seen the man and woman in the house in vision, connected with this case; and the man thinks the woman I saw is right, but his wife thinks she is wrong.” How did she know this? Not a word had been exchanged between them concerning the matter. Bro. Cornell soon had opportunity to whisper to me, and said that was the position Mr. W. and wife held relative to the said woman, exactly.
As we sat under the tree a few teams drove up, of those who lived a little distance from the place, who were coming in to attend the meeting, most of them supposing there might be a meeting that evening. As a load would drive up, sister White would tell us just what position each one occupied relative to the woman’s case. A load consisting of four persons came up. She told us the two on the front seat thought the woman was right, that the two on the back seat thought she was wrong. Another load all thought the woman wrong. So she would tell us how they all stood. Bro. Cornell and I were where we could whisper a word occasionally without their observing it, and he told me that he was acquainted with the whole of them, and that she had picked them out as to their position in the case of said woman, every one of them, exactly. Finally sister White said, “This must be the church, for about all who have come yet, I have seen in connection with this case.” “But,” said she, “I saw another man who is not present now. He has sandy whiskers, sandy complexion, and something peculiar about his eyes.”
Just then someone spoke and said, Bro. P. is coming. She looked up and said, “Oh! that is the man; he had spectacles on, is near sighted.” Query. How could she tell that a man whom she had never seen, only in vision, and who was then ten or twelve rods off, wore spectacles because he was near sighted? We concluded she must have had a nearer view of him in vision.
Nothing more, special, happened that evening. We tarried most of us at that house till the next morning. Had no meeting that night. Nothing was said concerning the woman, but other topics of conversation were introduced.
The next morning early, we went some three miles to the place of meeting. The brethren of this new country had made ample preparations for the congregation by seating a large new barn, both in the bay, on the floor, and over the stables; but had made no stand for the speakers. When we arrived at the barn, we took a new wagon box and turned it upside down, which served a very good purpose as a stand, as it was well bolted together. A common light stand was placed on one end of the box, and chairs were used for seats. At the time of which I am about to speak, Bro. White stood at one end of the stand preaching, Bro. Cornell sat next to him, I sat next to Bro. C., and Sr. White, as the seats were filled, sat in a rocking chair, at my left hand, on this temporary rostrum. Bro. White had been speaking about fifteen minutes, when three persons came in and took their seats,—a woman and two men, one, a young man; the other, an old man. The woman took her seat by the door, while the two men came directly opposite Bro. White, and sat down; the old man just behind the young man. Immediately after they had taken their seats, Sr. White whispered and asked me if Bro. Cornell knew the woman she had seen in vision. Instead of directly answering her question, I asked, “Why?” Said she, “That tall woman who just sat down by the door, on the corner seat, is the woman; and this young man with the green coat on, just in front of James, is the man that she is traveling with.” She said, “Ask Bro. Cornell if he knows them.” I turned to ask Bro. Cornell if he knew these persons, but before I could ask him, he eagerly whispered to me that they were the ones. I turned and told Sr. White that he knew them, and that they were the ones, which was the first time she had an intimation that Bro. C. knew the woman.
At the close of Bro. White’s discourse, Sr. White arose and told the people what the Lord had shown her concerning the condition of the church there, and especially the course of this woman, and the young man and her husband. The people knew that Sr. White came into the house from her stopping place, which was some three miles from their place of meeting, that the woman came some two miles from an opposite direction, and that they had never seen each other. In hearing her testimony, she pointed directly to this woman, told the congregation she was the one she meant; that it was the one who sat by the door. The man she was traveling with, was the one that had the green coat on, and sat directly before the stand, and that the old man sitting in the next seat behind him, was the husband of the woman. Sr. White told the people, too, what they had been doing. That these persons, while making great professions of holiness, had broken the seventh commandment. The people looked in astonishment. We, too, looked anxiously, to see what this Mrs. A. would say to so grave a charge. Sr. White had no sooner taken her seat than the said woman arose, put on a very sanctimonious look, and said, “God knows my heart,” and sat down.
Sr. White told the people what she had seen; that this woman did not talk any language when she pretended to talk with tongues. This man and woman neither said, or even intimated, that they were not guilty of the crimes charged to them. All she would say, when questioned, was, “God knows my heart.” But more of this in the sequel.
Our meetings closed and we went on our way; but the people were anxious to know still further about this woman’s course. After we were gone, the woman gave out an appointment for meeting, of course, being anxious to do something to redeem her character in the eyes of the people. Quite a large company of people assembled the next Sunday to hear what the woman would say. Some of her hearers told me what I am about to relate concerning her meeting. She did not, in her meeting, for an instant, deny what had been shown concerning her, but tried to go on as though nothing had happened. She was in the habit of talking in what she called tongues, in her meetings, and they were expecting she should talk with tongues again. It so happened that she had been speaking but a few minutes before an Indian of the very Highland Gaelic tribe passed the house, with his gun, hunting. Some of the congregation went out and told him there was a woman in the house going to talk in his language. He went in and sure enough she broke off in her discourse and commenced her “Kene keni, kene kenoo, kene kenee,” &c. The Indian sat with his eyes and mouth open, seeming to be in astonishment. After she stopped her Indian talk the Indian arose, gave a whoop! and ran out of the house. He picked up his gun and was hurrying away, when those who had called him in, went after him, and asked him, “What about it?” He said: “Very bad Indian, that! Very bad Indian!!” They asked him “Why?” He said, he did not know one word she had said. This, of course, demonstrated to the people, and to us, that the vision concerning this woman not talking the language of that Indian tribe, was correct. This ended the efforts of the woman at preaching and traveling with the young man in that neighborhood.
Circumstances have since transpired which prove still further the truthfulness of the testimony given in this case. A Bro. G. who lived in the place, who was not then a Sabbath keeper, attended the meeting in which the said vision was related, and this very circumstance and testimony concerning the course of the woman, awakened in him an interest which led him to investigate and embrace the present truth. He was ever after a full believer in the Gifts. But still, he thought if he could get a testimony from these persons, it would be a help in convincing others of the truth of the said testimony given. It so happened that about two years after the above-mentioned meeting, the tide of opposition was so strong against the young man, Mr. P., who had traveled with Mrs. A., that he concluded to leave the place. As he was about leaving, Bro. G. saw him one day, and said to him: “Mr. P., you are about to leave this neighborhood; before you leave, there is one question I would like to ask you. You recollect that vision Sister White had about you and Mrs. A.? I have ever believed those visions since the investigation I gave them at that time. You have reason to know whether they are true or not, especially the one which was given concerning you and Mrs. A. I do not ask for information to use against you, but I ask for my own benefit. The young man at first hung his head, and said nothing. The brother still pressed him to answer the question, and he at last said: “Mr. G., that vision concerning us was too true.”
About six years after the above circumstance, the Michigan tent was pitched in Greenville. A company were brought out on the truth, and Sabbath-meetings established among them, which were to be held at the house of Bro. M. As the brethren and sisters were assembling for one of the first of these meetings, this same Mrs. A., from Vergennes, came in, having located near Greenville. She introduced herself by name, and requested the privilege of preaching to the Sabbath-keepers in their meetings. Sister W., the mother-in-law of Bro. M., began to suspect that all was not right with the woman, and so began to question her. Said she, “I did n’t know that Seventh-day Adventists had women preachers. I know Sister White goes with her husband, but I did not know that they had women traveling as you seem to be. I have not seen your name or appointments in the Review, and I notice most of the preachers say something in the Review.” “Oh,” said Mrs. A., “My appointments are not in the paper, but then I talk sometimes.” But still, sister W. had fears that all was not straight, so she began to question her on different points of the truth, but the woman professed to believe all the present truth.
Finally she happened to think that all who were firm in the present truth, believed the visions of sister White, and she said, “Mrs. A., what do you think of the visions?” “Oh,” said Mrs. A., “I think sister White is an excellent woman; but perhaps I do not look upon those visions just as you do.” “Well,” said sister W., “what do you think of them?” “Oh,” said she, “I don’t wish to say anything against them, for fear I shall be found fighting against God.” Just at this time, Bro. Bates who had come into a remote part of the neighborhood the night before, came in with a brother, was introduced to different ones, and, finally, to Mrs. A. “Ah!” said he, “Mrs. A. is here is she?” “Why,” said sister W., “do you know Mrs. A.” “Yes,” said Bro. Bates, and he went on to tell about the vision, &c., concerning Mrs. A. Sister W. looked at the woman with astonishment, and said, “Is that so, Mrs. A.?” Said she in reply, “I told you, sister W., I did not wish to say anything against the visions for fear I should be found fighting against God.”
“Well,” said sister W., “if such a thing as that was shown about me, I should not fear to fight against it, if I knew it never had happened.” “Well,” said she, “I shall not say anything against the vision for fear I shall fight against God.” This, as all must see, was a virtual admission, on her part, of the truthfulness of the testimony.
So, to us, in this whole case, there is a striking proof as to the source from whence these visions proceed. Works of darkness were reproved and brought to light by the testimony, wrongs in the church corrected; and this is the characteristic of true gifts.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

The Three Messages of Warning

conflict with the powers of darkness, and for complete and final victory. These special messages of warning are some of the good things which the Lord has promised. The first of these was to announce the end of prophetic time—the hour of judgment come. Has he fulfilled this promise? He has. The message has sounded loudly through the earth: “The hour of his judgment is come.” Unbelief doubts and dishonors God; but faith gives him credit for what he has done. The second message promised was a proclamation of the fall of Babylon. Has it been heard? It has. This is a fact that cannot be erased from the page of history. The third and last solemn message of warning promised, was to complete the work of reformation from papal traditions, and develop the true church, characterized as those that “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” thus ripening them for the “harvest of the earth,” which is to follow. Has this message come? It has; it is a present truth. These are joyful and welcome messages to the people of God. They bring everlasting good news to those who love Christ’s appearing. These then are some of the good things that the Lord has promised us here in these last days. He is faithful in fulfilling these promises; not one thing has failed thereof.
We are in the time of expectation; the perils of the last days are thickening around us. Oh, that we had special help from Heaven to guide us through the gathering gloom! Had God promised us the aid of those special teachings of his Spirit which he granted to the primitive church, it would certainly be a “good thing.” Could we be taught and led as God led Israel by Moses and Joshua, how gladly would we accept the hand reached down from Heaven to lead us. Has the Lord promised us such a thing? He has. When Jesus conferred the gifts of the Spirit upon his disciples, and assigned them their work during his personal absence till he should come again at the end of the world, he said, “And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” The end has not yet come, and the promise still stands good. The church reformed and restored to primitive faith and practice, will enjoy the gifts then given, and realize the fulfillment of the gracious promise. Besides, we are plainly informed concerning the remnant of the seed of the woman—that portion of the church who are to pass through the last persecution—a persecution against those that keep the commandments in obedience to the third and last message—that they not only “keep the commandments of God,” but “have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. xii, 17. The inspired definition of “the testimony of Jesus” is the “spirit of prophecy.” Rev. xix, 10, xxii, 9.
God then has promised his people who obey the last message and keep the commandments of God, as the primitive church did, the spirit of prophecy for their comfort and guidance. He has promised this precious gift to guide his people through the perils of the last days, and to sustain them amid the fiery trial of their final persecution.
Truly this is a good thing the Lord has promised us. Has he failed in fulfilling it? Has one good thing failed? Not at all. Had this one promise failed, we should be left in doubt; but not one thing has failed of all the good things the Lord has promised us. The crowning promise then will be fulfilled—the Lord will come to those that look for him, and eternal life and an everlasting kingdom will be their reward.
But as the promises are sure, so the wrath threatened upon the unbelieving and disobedient will surely be executed. The message the Lord has called us as a people to proclaim is from Heaven; and whether we are saved by its warning, or sink under its threatened wrath, God has been faithful and will be.
May we, my friends, see and acknowledge God’s faithfulness in his promises fulfilled, obey him in all that he now requires, and in the ceaseless ages of eternity rejoice in the fact that not one thing failed of all the good things which the Lord in his great mercy and abounding goodness promised us; but that the Red Sea and the Desert have been past, and we are forever safe in the land of our promised inheritance.

My Father.

By Catharine M. Shepard

How inexpressibly sweet for the Christian to look up and say, My Father! We know how well parents love to do their children good, and when we feel that we are God's children how easy it is to trust in him! Do troubles thicken around us? He has promised he will never leave nor forsake us. Does keen anguish come upon us so that we feel that our hearts are breaking? Our Father does not willingly suffer us to be afflicted. We must be crucified to the world. Our Saviour has suffered far more than this for us, and shall we not be willing to suffer with Christ if we would reign with him? Oh, the love of God in giving his Son to die for a race of rebels! Oh, for that love to be the ruling principle in my heart. Then shall I develop a character like that of my divine Lord, and those around me will see the likeness.
My life has been a scene of afflictions and trials severe, yet I can look back and see that goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life. My trials and afflictions have all had the effect to show me the sinfulness of my nature, and my need of a Saviour. It is wrong to murmur or complain of afflictions, for at such times the Christian is compelled to lean constantly on Jesus, and continually feel that without help from God he must perish, and therefore will be gaining an experience which can be gained in no other way.
“Far more the treacherous calm I dread, Than tempests bursting o’er my head.”
But it is very little calm we can expect here in the perils of the last days. The little space that is left us should be well improved in preparing for the coming storm.
As all nations of the earth are making great preparations for war, and every thing is preparing for the great day of the Lord, should not we be getting on the whole armor of his righteousness, that we may be able to stand when he appeareth. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which can never be removed, but abideth forever. Oh, the wondrous love of God, and the matchless depths of a Saviour’s love. O my soul, why should I ever lack faith in God? I am reminded of the words of an ancient poet who wrote thus.
“Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made Were every stock on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry; Nor would the scroll contain the whole Though stretched from sky to sky.”
What an exalted privilege is ours, to be his children, if we will only keep his covenant! Truly his commandments are not grievous, and Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden light, for God is love.
CATHARINE M. SHEPARD.
Beaver Dam, Wis.

Idleness and Vice

The things that you can safely put off until to-morrow are idleness and vice.

Certification of Bro. Loughborough’s Statement

By M. E. Cornell

“I HEREBY certify that having examined the above statement of Bro. Loughborough, I find it correct in every particular, as nearly as I can remember. M. E. CORNELL.

Christ not Our Lawgiver.

By Kitto

“John 1, 17: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.””
In reference to this text, the Reformers declared it to be improper to call Christ a new lawgiver. This was an objection which drew forth against them the anathema pronounced in the sixth session of the Council of Trent: ‘If any man should assert that God granted Christ Jesus to mankind only as a Redeemer in whom they should trust, and not also as a lawgiver whom they should obey, let him be accursed.’ (Conc. Trid. Sess. iv, Can. 21.)
It is, however a fact, that Christ did not give new laws, but only new motives for keeping the moral precepts more or less clearly known to Jews and Gentiles, by making it a prominent doctrine, that love is due to God and to men in general, even to our enemies, and that intentions are of greater moral importance than outward acts.
The characteristic of the doctrine of Christ does not consist in new laws given, but rather in the forgiveness offered for past transgressions, and in the guidance of the Holy Spirit promised to his true disciples.—Kitto.

The World's Conversion Before the Advent.

LUTHER says: “Some say that before the latter days the whole world shall become Christians. This is a falsehood forged by Satan that he might darken sound doctrine; beware, therefore, of the delusion.”
Melancthon says, “The true church will always suffer persecution from the wicked to the end of time, and in the church itself the good and evil will continue blended together.”
John Knox says of this world's universal reform: “It never was or yet shall be till that righteous King and Judge appear for the restoration of all things.”
John Milton in “Paradise Lost” says— “Truth shall retire, Be struck with slanderous darts, and works of faith Barely be found. So shall the world go on, To good malignant, to bad men benign, Under her own weight groaning, till the day Appear, of reparation to the just, And vengeance to the wicked, at return Of Him, thy Saviour and thy Lord.”
Matthew Henry says: “As long as the world stands, there will still be in it such a mixture as we now see. We long to see all wheat and no tares in God's field; but it will not be till the time of ingathering,—till the winnowing day come—both must grow together till the harvest.”
Cotton Mather says: “Without doubt, the kingdoms of this world will not become the kingdoms of God and of his Christ, before the pre-ordained time of the dead, in which the reward shall be given to the servants of God. They who expect the rest promised for the church of God to be found anywhere but in the new earth, or any happy times for the church in a world that hath sin in it,—these do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the kingdom of God.”
George Whitefield says: “Christ's church while in this world will be a bush burning with fiery trials and afflictions of various kinds.”
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