Review and Herald, Vol. 36, No. 7. (8/2/1870)

Review and Herald

Aug 2, 1870

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 2, 1870

Review of Wellcome and Goud.

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

(Continued.)

“MOSES’ NEW COVENANT.”

A FEW more remarks on the objects and differences of the covenants made by Moses, as presented by the book, may not be out of place. Thus they write:

“Once more from Moses’ new covenant. ‘Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth which the Lord thy God giveth thee forever.’ Deut. 4: 40.” Page 155.

The obligation and promise of this text they present in contrast with the obligation and promises revealed in the ten commandments. But no such contrast nor difference exists.

1. The context forbids it. In all this chapter Moses was rehearsing things in their past experience, especially in connection with the giving of the law on Sinai. In verse 36 he said, “Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he showed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.” He then exhorted them to obey God’s commandments, as quoted, and immediately proceeded to point out the cities of refuge on the east side of Jordan. And the proclamation of God’s mercy, verse 31, as before referred to by them to prove that the new covenant is the subject of this chapter is in the midst of a warning against the violation of the second commandment; and the same offer of mercy is given in that second commandment.

2. The promise of the text, Deut. 4: 40, is the very same that is contained in the fifth commandment. “That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

3. The objects which they assign to the commandments of the new covenant which they say was made by Moses, are precisely those which the Scriptures ascribe to the commandments which God spake to Israel. Thus they write:

“The commandments of this [new] covenant, are for our life and good. Some of these are: ‘Hear O Israel. The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.’ Deut. 6: 4, 5. ‘Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord.’ Lev. 19: 18.” Page 152.

1. That the new covenant is for our life and good, is true; but that is no evidence that Deut. 6 refers to the new covenant. For in this respect there is no difference between the law and the gospel. Paul says the law was ordained unto life. Rom. 7: 10; and Messrs. W. and G. have affirmed that this refers to the ten commandments. And so Moses said unto the people:

“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Deut. 30: 15–19.

That this refers to the commandments given at Sinai, cannot be disputed. The blessing of “life and good” was offered to the people who were soon to pass “over Jordan to go to possess” the land; and the commandments for “life and good” were evidently the condition of the covenant made with that people. And again, Moses speaks in the very chapter referred to by them, Deut. 6, in a manner that cannot be mistaken, pointing out the law given to that people who came out of Egypt.

Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land, which the Lord sware unto thy fathers. To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the Lord hath spoken. And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt: and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: and the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us. Deut. 6: 17–25.

This law was for “life and good,” because it was “righteousness” to obey it; and this agrees with Paul, who says “the law is spiritual.” Rom. 7: 14. Had they fulfilled the righteousness of that law, it would have been well with them: God would have loved and blessed them. And Jesus came as the mediator of the new covenant, not to make void, but to establish, the law. Rom. 3: 31, and to take away the carnal mind which is not subject to the law, and to thus enable his followers to fulfill the righteousness of the law. Rom. 8: 4–7.

2. They declare that Deuteronomy refers to another law than that given at Sinai, because the matter of the book was spoken nearly forty years after the law was given at Sinai; and then they quote Lev. 19 as a part of that new law, given forty years after, though Lev. 19, was spoken less than one year after they left Egypt, and before they left Sinai! If such a method of proof is accepted, anything may be proved.

Evidence against their assumption may be found on every page of Deuteronomy. In all the passages to which they refer, Moses was assuring them that great benefit would be the result of their keeping God’s commandments; and to affirm that these refer to the new covenant, because a blessing would attend obedience, is to assume that this were not the case in regard to God’s law. But this is contrary to the whole tenor of the Scriptures; contrary to the express declaration of Jehovah, as stated in the covenant made with Israel. Ex. 19: 5–8. On this point the proof is inexhaustible; I only add one testimony from Messrs. Wellcome and Goud. They say:

“If Adam had obeyed the law of God, which he might, and ought to have done, no death would have entered, nor curse blighted, the fair creation of God, which he had pronounced ‘very good.’ Then we, his posterity, in pursuance of that law, would have gained the promised dominion.”

Here is justification, life, and salvation, by the law, as plainly and positively as we have ever stated it. And so we find, that when they refer to the plain, undeniable facts of the sacred record, they take common ground with us; but when they try to evolve their theory, then they deny the facts and contradict all they have before said. Then we find ourselves in conflict with them.

But they may say they do not teach justification by the law now; they only say that man would have been justified by the law if he had never transgressed it. Well, that is exactly our position; we have never taken any other. And that is all we ask to vindicate all that we teach in regard to the law as a rule of moral obligation, containing in itself the principles of justification

and salvation. To carry out these sacred principles, and to save man from further transgression, and free him from the condemnation and death which he had brought upon himself by transgressing the law of God, the Son of God came into the world. His object was, according to one of his inspired followers, “to put away sin.” Not his own, for he had none; he never transgressed the law of his Father. But no one’s sin is “put away” who continues to sin, or transgresses the law. This places before us the true object of the gospel, of which Messrs. Wellcome and Goud have no more than a faint glimpse in their book.

On the subject of the covenants I find the following strange application of Scripture. Referring to Paul’s letter to the Galatians, they say:

“Again he says, ‘For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate [Sarah] hath many more children than she [Hagar] which hath an husband, [Abram]; for Hagar had become Abram’s wife. Gen. 16: 3.’ Page 55.

Their application would be correct if it were a fact that Sarah ceased to be a wife when Abram took Hagar; but such was not the case. Sarah had a husband as well as Hagar. See Gen. 17: 15. “And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.” Sarah was the real wife, instead of Hagar, and Abraham was her husband, instead of Hagar’s. And Paul, after using these persons as an allegory, to represent the two covenants, with their corresponding Jerusalems, applies the words of Isaiah to the two Jerusalems; but he does not apply the prophecy to Sarah and Hagar, for it will not apply to them. “Jerusalem which now is,” had been owned and blessed of God; her children were called his children. There is a time, according to the New Testament, when the New Jerusalem is to be taken as “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Rev. 21: 9, 10; Matt. 25: 1–3. But before the marriage the Lamb is gathering out from the nations children to present to the New Jerusalem when they are called to the “marriage supper.” Compare Rev. 19: 9; Luke 12: 35–37. In this sense believers in Christ are the children of the New Jerusalem. Then, and thus only, can we make an application of the words of Isaiah.

But who are the children of the free woman? They who are themselves free; for the free woman could not have bond children, more than the bond woman could have free children. But what is the freedom of the gospel? They teach that it is freedom to transgress the law. I think it is freedom from sin. See Rom. 6: 6, 7. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” The bondage, they say, is obligation to keep God’s commandments; I think it is a state of sin, which is transgression of the law. On page 358 they say that Paul calls it “a law of bondage;” but Paul never says any such thing; it is “false witness” against the inspired writer. Paul said it would justify man if he had kept it, and Messrs. Wellcome and Goud have said the same thing. Paul said it was spiritual, and was ordained to life, and the carnal mind is not subject to it. Does this sound like calling it “a law of bondage?” Why do they not quote the text where he says so? It does not exist.

But Paul does speak in Gal. 4 of bondage, verse 9. What does he mean? Let us see. 1. When they were in bondage they knew not God. Verse 8. Did they keep his law? 2. They “did service unto them which by nature are no gods.” Did they therefore keep the commandments of the true God? 3. They observed “times.” This, according to Deut. 18: 9–12, and other texts, was a heathen custom, “an abomination to the Lord.” Does this indicate their obedience to the law of God, which is holy, just, and good? of which he told his people if they kept it they would be a “holy nation?” Ex. 19: 5, 6. 4. When released from bondage, they were redeemed from the curse of the law.” Gal. 3: 13. If they had kept the law they would never have been under its curse; and if the law were abolished they would not be redeemed from the curse of the law, for no such thing would then exist from which to redeem them. And 5. They had to be redeemed from the curse of the law that the blessing of Abraham might come on them, (Gentiles). This shows that transgression of the law, which alone brings the curse, shuts us out from the blessing of Abraham. Does this indicate that it is a law of bondage? does it not rather show that bondage is by sin or transgression? They are the seed of the bond woman who persist in transgression, who chose to remain under its condemnation, rather than to have the carnal mind removed by Jesus Christ in order that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in them. Rom. 7 and 8. It is humiliating to see professed teachers of the gospel of Christ who draw their conclusions with no more discrimination than the ox draws his load. It is heart-sickening to see multitudes hang upon their words as if they were the words of life, notwithstanding they destroy the force of God’s law which is holy, just, and good, and spiritual, by which every work will be judged. They put evil for good, and darkness for light, teaching that obedience to God’s commandments is bondage, and transgression of law, which is sin, is the only way of gospel liberty! May God save the people from such an awful delusion, and deliver them from the hands of blind leaders.

(To be continued.)

No Tears in Heaven.

By Sarah F. Sharp

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things have passed away. Rev. 21:4.

No tears in Heaven, no mourner’s cry, The weeping ones will hush each sigh, All moistened cheeks will then be dry, God wipes the tears from every eye, In Heaven.

No death in Heaven, no sin nor pain, No yawning grave, no burial train, No cruel war, no loved ones slain, For life and peace will ever reign, In Heaven.

There’s rest in Heaven; saints, dry your tears, Lift up your heads, calm all your fears; For when the Son of God appears, You’ll reign with him a thousand years, In Heaven.

There’s joy in Heaven; a blood washed throng, Strike golden harps to a new song, And angels will the strain prolong, And music sweet will flow along, In Heaven.

Sarah F. Sharp.

Sandusky Co., Ohio.

L. D. SANTEE

By L. D. Santee

Suffering.

“Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn, and he will heal us. He hath smitten, and he will bind us up.” Hos. 6:1. Afflictions have the effect of drawing us nearer to God, or of exciting in us a spirit of perverseness and rebellion. When pain, sorrow, or temptation, comes, the unarmed soul with its carnal mind is overborne, vanquished, and cast down into deeper wretchedness, instead of rising triumphantly through them to new heights of love and purity. When the sinner having no arm to lean upon but the arm of flesh, is cruelly torn by the keen darts of sorrow, until every nerve is quivering with anguish, and he walks with uncertain steps, groping blindly, where, oh! where, shall he turn for comfort? Should he walk abroad in the hope that nature would pour consolation into his troubled breast, he sees, alas! that the curse is devouring the earth. All nature, both animate and inanimate, is groaning for redemption, being burdened with sin until hills and valleys are worn and disfigured with the trail of the serpent. The destroying elements are at work, and he turns his sad eyes away, realizing that the fashion of this world passeth away. That the material universe is subject to change and decay, and that nature is even now in the sere and yellow leaf. Should he turn to his fellow-man, he finds that suffering is the common lot of all. A smiling outside may hide a sad and weary heart, even as the graceful ivy hides the crumbling column; and he sees the aptness of the psalmist’s words, “He [man] cometh as a flower and is cut down. He fleeth as a shadow and continueth not.” When darkness shadows his life, when the yawning tomb is burying from his sight the beloved, when hope is well nigh gone, and he longs to sink down into nothingness, and be numbered with the things that were, then comes the language of our text, like an angel of mercy to lift the despairing one into life and light: “Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.” Oh! bitter, desperate, despairing heart! come to Him who alone is able to calm thy troubled beating. Come to the crucified One, and let his blood wash from thee the stains of sin. Let Him who has suffered for thee, guide thy tempest-tossed soul out of the turbid waters of strife, and into the haven of rest and peace.

The language of our text is addressed to those who have strayed far from the Lord, and who are afflicted by him in order to cause them to return. He takes away their supports, that he may save them as they are sinking. In mercy his hand is stretched to hide the false beacon, that their eyes may be attracted by the true. When a man is called to endure affliction, and is sanctified thereby, he becomes a disciple of suffering, the only teacher that can develop faith, and bring out men’s deeper and better nature. We do not mean merely a breath of vexation, such as moves the spirit, as a puff of wind that ruffles the wave, but real suffering that melts the heart, and consumes the alloy by its fiery breath. No one has suffered enough until he is patient in suffering. “Made perfect through suffering,” are the wonderful words we read concerning the Captain of our salvation; and we must walk in his steps. If we have tribulation until the dross is consumed, and we come forth sanctified, purified, and chastened, then is the will of God in us accomplished. Says the psalmist, “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” When we can look up and say, Not my will, O God, but thine, be done; then is the Spirit of Christ transfused into us, and in his word we may find consolation for which we search in vain through all nature. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Heb. 12:11. Sorrow is a gardener that causeth flowers to spring in waste places. If we are sanctified by the afflictions that fall to our lot, when we have suffered until the dross is consumed and we reflect the image of the Refiner, then he who spoke peace to the troubled waters will dispel the clouds whose dark shadows have hung over us, and we shall find in the infinite love of God a balm for our sorrows. Then it will be our desire that God may be all in all. The language of our hearts will be,

“Let me dwell with the King in his beauty, And I ask, oh! I ask for no more.”

L. D. SANTEE

Prof. Stowe on the Decalogue.

PROF. C. E. STOWE, D. D., is writing a series of articles in The Christian Union, on the “Revision of the English Bible.” In his number 2, published in the Union of June 25, 1870, we find the following on the Decalogue:

Our translators have sometimes erred by not giving a literal translation of the Hebrew in cases where a literal rendering would be much more striking and emphatic than the rendering which they have adopted. For example, in respect to the Decalogue, they often write the Ten Commandments where it is in Hebrew, THE TEN WORDS. Both phrases occur in the Hebrew, and it would have been much better in both cases to adhere to the literal rendering. This is not trifling, for Moses asserts that THE TEN WORDS differ from all the rest of the Pentateuch, because they were written directly by the finger of God, and not by Moses as God's amanuensis, which was the case with the other portions of the Pentateuch. Let the reader carefully compare the following texts: Ex. 17: 14, 24; 12: 31; 18: 32; 15: 16; 34: 28; Deut. 4: 13; 5: 22; 10: 1-5; 9: 10, 11. Ex. 20: 1-20.

In these passages it is explicitly asserted that the Decalogue, The Ten Commandments, as we generally term it, but THE TEN WORDS, as is generally in the Hebrew, differ from all the rest of the Mosaic Law, in that they were spoken with an audible voice, amid thunderings and lightnings and the sound of trumpets, in the hearing of all the people, by God himself, which was not the case in regard to any other portion of the law; that they were engraven by God himself on the two tables of stone, and not by Moses as his amanuensis, as all other portions of the law were.

Thus THE TEN WORDS stand out by themselves, distinct from all the other words of the law; and the fact is very carefully noted in the original record; but the impression of it is very much weakened to the English reader by the failure of our translators to give a literal rendering. Deut. 10: 4, literally translated, reads thus: “He wrote on the tables according to the first writing THE TEN WORDS, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire.” Compare Ex. 31: 18: “Two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God;” and Ex. 17: 14, “The Lord said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book.” Moses was himself to write the Pentateuch at the dictation of God, but not THE TEN WORDS. They were written directly by God himself, without the intervention of an amanuensis, and they were so written twice over, and that is the only portion

of the Bible that ever was so written. The mysterious writing in Dan. 5: 25, was, all admit, by the intervention of an angel. The TEN WORDS are all in their own nature of perpetual obligation; they do not belong exclusively to the Mosaic code, and an English translation, literally exact, would have done much to prevent the mistake made by so many in regard to the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath, which, as to its essence, was established at the creation, and will continue till the end of time.

Report of Labor.

By N. Orcutt

APRIL 30 and 31, I spent with the church at East Richford. In company with Bro. Albert Stone, the next Sabbath, met with them again. At the close of the afternoon service, baptized seven, three of whom united with the church at Richford, three with the church at Enosburg. One was rebaptized. The church at Richford have reason to be encouraged, to strive harder for the divine approbation and favor.

May 18, left home on a tour to southern Vermont. Sabbath, May 21, met with the scattered remnant in Addison Co., at the house of Bro. A. Prescott, in Bristol. Enjoyed freedom in preaching the word. Here I met for the first time Bro. S. D. Yaw, from Chittenden, Vt., who embraced the truth at Addison, under the labors of Bro. Cornell, about one year since. Was rejoiced to find him established in the truth, and to learn that his companion was with him, striving to keep all the commandments.

May 22, in company with Bro. Yaw, and Bro. C. P. Whitford, drove twelve miles to Addison, and at the earnest solicitation of the Advent brethren there, spoke to them upon the pending controversy which God has with the nations.

Sabbath and first-day, 28 and 29, met with the brethren and sisters from adjoining towns, and several members of the Advent church in Addison, at their house of worship, and spoke to them twice on the Sabbath, and once on first-day. The scattered ones in Addison Co. seemed to be encouraged, and arranged to sustain meetings twice each month. This is a step in the right direction. May they be blessed in their efforts to draw near to God, and the leaven of truth work until spirit, soul, and body are sanctified.

I formed the acquaintance of a young man in New Haven, (Bro. R. F. Barton,) who has been keeping the Sabbath about a year, and is in harmony with the body upon all points of present truth. He has never heard a discourse from any of our people, or met before a preacher of our faith. What an incentive to faithful, persistent effort in scattering our publications.

Sabbath and first-day, June 4 and 5, spoke twice each day to the friends at Jamaica. June 10, went to Boston, where I spent two weeks. I trust and believe I shall be benefited by the privilege of listening to the lectures under the tent at South Boston. June 18, had the privilege of speaking to the brethren and sisters assembled for their Sabbath meeting at Sr. Temple's, 41 Shawmut Avenue, Boston.

On my return to Vermont, I stopped one day with Bro. Joel Crandall, of Athol, Mass. Enjoyed a very pleasant, and I trust a profitable, interview with him and his companion. Bro. and Sr. C., though isolated, and without the privilege of associating with those of like faith, are strong in the truth. May the Lord bless and keep them, and open the way before this dear brother to labor more efficiently and publicly in the cause.

On my return, spent two Sabbaths with the church at Jamaica. Preached eight times, and enjoyed some good seasons with them at their homes. This dear people, if they keep very near the Lord, have reason to expect better days. They have a neat, convenient house of worship, which they expect will be dedicated within a few weeks; and with the blessing of the Lord, their influence for good upon those around may be felt, and their hearts encouraged by seeing added to their numbers such as shall be saved. May the enemy be thwarted in his plans to distract and overthrow.

July 5, enjoyed an excellent meeting with the few in Andover, at the house of Bro. R. M. Pierce. I had liberty in speaking the word, and was blessed in hearing testimonies from those present.

Sabbath, July 9, spoke twice to the few at Bristol, at the dwelling of Bro. Prescott. Was cheered by the testimony of one who, reined up to a choice between obedience to God and the loss of eternal life, chose the good part, bore her first public testimony, and nobly took her stand with those who keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus.

First-day afternoon, preached to an attentive audience at a school-house near Bro. Prescott's.

Sabbath, July 16, preached to the church here. After an absence of eight weeks from home, find my companion enjoying usual health. Grateful for the watchcare of my heavenly Father, and for countless blessings bestowed. I hope after a few days' rest, to engage anew in the work of the Lord with more earnestness, more fitness for the sacred calling, and more success attending the effort put forth.

“’Tis sweet to work for Jesus— There’s resting by-and-by.”

N. ORCUTT.

Bordoville, Vt., July, 1870.

The Cause in California.

By J. Ferguson

THE cause of present truth seems to be moving on in this State. A meeting of the different churches was held at Bloomfield, Sabbath, July 8. We had a good meeting. The sweet Spirit of the Lord was there.

An excellent discourse was given by Bro. Loughborough, from 1 Peter 4: 5, 7, 17. After the close of the sermon nearly all the brethren and sisters took part in a short social meeting. It was a sweet meeting. Praise the Lord.

Three in that place expressed their determination to live nearer the Lord. Others are deeply affected. The labor in that place is not in vain. The fruits, I believe, will be fully realized in the world to come. The third angel’s message is gaining ground. We hope the few that have taken their stand will be true to the Lord till he comes. Oh, precious hope, soon to live with Jesus forever!

The cause in Petaluma is on the increase. The brethren in that place seem to be in the work. The work in Healdsburgh is also prosperous. The most of the brethren in that place pull well together. When all are willing to do their part, the burdens are light. The Lord wants such men and women in his cause. Let us love one another. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Rom. 13: 10. But perhaps says one, I am so weak I do not think I can do much. Well, perhaps you cannot. Do what you know to be your duty. If you would move out, and do duty, as it presents itself, you would soon become an efficient worker for Christ. Some have such an exalted opinion of self as to overlook small things. They look for some grand display, and overlook their duties even in their families.

Well, says one, if I could preach like such a one, it would be all right. But if you can’t preach you can pay your Systematic Benevolence; just the very duty, perhaps, the Lord wants you to perform; and if you are faithful, as you advance the way will be open for you. The Lord knoweth them that are his.

Another may say, I cannot talk like Bro. or Sr. so and so, or I would take part in the meeting. Perhaps you neglected retiring to your closet to ask the Lord to give you strength to bear your part in the performance of duty; or to bear your testimony in the great congregation in humility.

You ask such an one about his business in this life, and he will not leave a stone unturned, except something that is necessary for his interest to keep secret, and he can tell just where that interest is every time. Let us seek the Lord more earnestly. Time is short. Let us make clean work for the Judgment.

“Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Rom. 12: 2. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Pet. 1:13. Let us be strong in the Lord. Jesus is soon coming to gather his faithful ones home.

The company at Green Valley is still doing duty. Bro. Miner, who has been kind to the cause, opened his house for meeting purposes. We hope the Lord will assist him in procuring a comfortable home for his dear family. Bro. Kellogg was called away to visit his family, and was not present at our good meeting. We trust the Lord will grant him a speedy return to the work.

The work in Santa Rosa is laboring under some disadvantages. Our meeting-house is not completed, but it is the intention of the brethren, if the Lord will, to complete the house this fall. Besides, we have strong prejudice to work against, but thank God for victory so far. Satan has tried hard to confuse the minds of some, but it is to be hoped that they will recover in time. Who will suffer Satan to throw them from the track and cheat them out of eternal life? “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matt. 24: 13. “These things,” says Christ, “I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16: 33.

We feel to express our grateful thanks to those kind friends who have the burden of the work in the Eastern States. My heart was cheered in reading Bro. White’s reports. May the Lord bless his faithful servants. We are thankful for the good Testimonies. Praise the Lord for the light of present truth. We hope that in the Lord’s own good time we shall meet with those tried friends of the cause we esteem so highly. Dear brethren and sisters, let us be in earnest in the work.

J. FERGUSON.

Sonoma Co., Cal.

Jottings on Unconverted Ministers and Evil Speaking

By Jos. Clarke

Jottings.

CAN a farmer leave his fields and run a steamboat? Can a collier teach school? Can a novice command an army? Can a clown become a general? Can an idiot build a railroad? Can ignorance instruct? Can dumbness teach elocution? Can deafness criticize music? Can death resurrect? Can darkness produce light? If so, then can an unconverted, proud, self-complacent minister point souls to the Lamb of God, to him that taketh away the sins of the world.

Churches cannot boast; for if their ministers are in a low state of spirituality, or have none at all, it is but an index of their own want of life. See Hosea 4:9.

Ps. 140:11: “Let not an evil speaker be established,” &c. Oh! the evils of evil speaking! What a vagabond is an evil speaker! See that woman that has been deserted by husband and sons! Only her terrible tongue has done all this! Her family, vagabonds in the earth! When prosperity smiled for long years and years, she grumbled and talked, and slandered and talked beyond endurance. It grew upon her. Now who wants her about them? No one accuses her of other faults. This alone has ruined a family. Friend, be you old or young, rich or poor, take care of your tongue. Check that censure, that whisper. Let your neighbors' affairs alone. Think of something else. Read the Bible; history, in fact, keep your active mind busy. There is a world of useful knowledge before you; useful books upon every useful subject. Do not, I beg of you, waste the time by studying your neighbor's character, but build up a character yourself, within yourself.

Jos. Clarke.

Sultan and Khedive Headed Toward War

THE long-pending troubles between the Sultan and his Viceroy in Egypt are to end, it seems, in war. Russia has interfered, but not as a peacemaker, and, assured of the Czar’s powerful aid, the Khedive prepares for war. It is well known that he has drawn much of his armament from this country, has shipped sixty thousand Remington rifles, and has more under contract, and has enlisted numbers of American soldiers as officers of his battalions. Such a struggle is likely to lead to other European complications of more serious nature, and this speck of war may possibly become, in brief time, a cloud obscuring no small part of Europe.—N. Y. Tribune.

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