Earlier text: ETERNAL LIFE—ITS WORTHTIME-SETTING
By A. J. Dennis
Disreputable as time-setting is, it is not confined to those calling themselves Adventists. Rather an unusual feature of this pernicious practice was indulged in lately by one of the popular churches of the day. It was embodied in two sermons on the “millennium,” and was as follows:— Christ would not come till after the millennium, but at the end of that time he would come to judge the world. The millennium was explained to mean, in the judgment of the speaker, a thousand years of literal time. Now it is plain to be seen that if the beginning of the millennium be located, this, of necessity, would locate the second coming of Christ; for no matter when the millennium commences, the coming of Christ will be one thousand years from that date, according to this theory. In view of so necessary a conclusion, it would seem strange that one who thought that Seventh-day Adventists were setting the time because they thought the coming of Christ was “near, even at the door,” would presume to undertake the task of locating the time when the millennium would commence. But theory is often dearer than consistency, and so it appeared to be in this case. In speaking of the “signs of the times” in regard to the approach of the millennium, the 7th chapter of Daniel was referred to in connection with Rev. 12:14, and it was thought the “time, times, and the dividing of time,” or 1260 years, referred to the continuation of the papacy, and began about A. D. 737, at the time when the pope received universal temporal power. (Query. How is it that these days continue after his temporal power has passed away?) Another date was referred to (probably A. D. 538), but as it could not be right, it was passed over without even being named. Twelve hundred and sixty years forward from A. D. 737 would give A. D. 1997, which, added to what some consider the age of the world at the beginning of the Christian era (A. M. 4004), would give A. M. 6001. It was thought by some, that, as days are reckoned by sevens, every seventh day being a Sabbath, and as the years were formerly reckoned in the same way, every seventh year being a sabbath of rest for the land, and every fiftieth year a year of jubilee, the world, after six thousand years of trouble and sin, would have one thousand years of rest, during which the saints of God would “long enjoy the work of their hands.” It did not make much difference whether his hearers believed this theory or not, in the opinion of the speaker (and in our opinion, too, so far as any practical benefit to be derived from it was concerned); it was his theory, and he simply presented it as such. We think it very probable that the land will “enjoy her sabbaths” (2 Chron. 36:21), of which she has been robbed for six thousand years; but it would hardly be possible, if she is compelled to sustain the teeming millions with which our temporal-millennium friends are wont to people the earth during the millennial period. According to 2 Chron. 36:21, it was only while the land “lay desolate” that “she kept sabbath,” and if we adopt this theory, that the seventh thousand years are years of rest, analogy would require that it be desolate during the thousand years. It matters not, as to the fact of time-setting, whether the coming of Christ be at the beginning of the thousand years, as we believe it will be, or at their close. Any school-boy who has learned to cipher can readily tell that 1000 years from A. M. 6001, will be A. M. 7001. Thus it will be seen, that, in spite of himself, our friend has set the time of Christ’s second coming, even if he does not come, as he believes he will not, till the end of the thousand years. But we believe he has even named the year in which (if his theory of the time of the beginning of the millennium be correct), Christ will appear. We draw this conclusion from the fact that we believe Christ will come at the beginning of the thousand years. We will now briefly state why we so believe. By reference to Rev. 20:4–6, it will be seen that the beginning of the thousand years is to be marked very distinctly. Among other things, the “first resurrection” is to take place. By reference to 1 Thess. 4:16, it will be seen that the second coming of Christ is to take place at the time of the first resurrection. We think our friend hardly appreciated the position in which he placed himself by his improbable theory; but this is hardly the worst of it, the theory itself is very unreliable. The 1260 years naturally begin at the setting up of the papacy, A. D. 538, and close with its overthrow and temporary abolition, by the capture of the pope by Berthier, the French general, in 1798. But this did not mark the beginning of the thousand years; for the dead are not yet raised, and Christ has not yet come. Let our temporal millennium friends beware, when they find fault with the preaching of the near approach of the coming of Christ, calling it setting the time, when no time is named, lest, in searching for this (imaginary) mote, in some one else’s eye, they should afterward find that they were cherishing a beam in their own eye. Oh! praise ye the Lord for a truth so resplendent,
A pearl of great price from the deep of his word,
Where treasures unbounded, of love all transcendent,
Lie strewn for his saints in a largess unheard!
Oh! the fountain of joy he, in love’s regal fashion,
As life-giving water, unseals from above—
What tender affection, what yearning compassion,
So richly unveiling his fullness of love. That God is our Father! Oh, heart-thrilling story!
His “children” shall rest ’neath the shade of his wing;
Farewell, then, to sadness; awake thou my glory,—
With love’s mellow chanting his temple shall ring!
For ’mid the rude storms of this life’s tribulation,
When Satan’s wild legions spring forth to destroy,
He spreads his “pavilion,” becomes my “salvation,”
And hideth me safe in unspeakable joy. Ah! was it not thus, when the foe, deeply angered,
O’er Mizraim’s plains flew on Israel’s track?
The “cloud of his presence,” by day as a vanguard,
At night was a warden of fire at their back!
And the ages proclaim, with an eloquent power:
“O trust in the Lord, ever trust him, ye saints!
He, the ‘Refuge’ and ‘Fortress,’ the ‘Rock’ and ‘High Tower,’
The ‘Strength of your heart,’ is not weary nor faints!” “His potent ‘right hand’ all his chosen investing,
Still casteth a ‘shadow,’ his love’s ‘secret place’!
E’en now, as with Daniel, swift peril arresting,
That shadow shall tell of the might of his grace!
O wanderer, try it; thy hope is well-founded;
The Lord shall thy Guide and thy Champion be;
His wisdom so lofty, his love so unbounded,
The power of his might,—all are purchased for thee.” The way to the refuge? Oh, is it not Jesus,
The “Man for a hiding-place” clearly foretold;
Who suffered from thralldom to sin to release us,
The “Rock” that was riven the lost to enfold?
The glory of Sinai and Horeb’s still voices
Tell of splendid revealings, of whisperings heard
By him who in Jesus’ cleft side now rejoices—
’Tis written in letters of light, in the word! O pavilion of God, on thy shelter relying,
When the “blast of the terrible” swelleth amain,
Safe housed in thy love, my soul is defying
The heat of the furnace—life’s uttermost pain!
Oh, haste to that “Covert,” that loved “Rock of Ages,”
And fully believe in his presence and power!
A “rampart of fire,” all our fear he assuages,
Most vivid in splendor in life’s waning hour! And thus—Hallelujah!—my Father in Heaven
By heart-speaking types my protection assures:
Not a place, not an hour, from life’s morn to its even,
But his fond, loving-kindness completely secures
My freedom from danger, my bliss never-fading,
My closer communion, my still deeper rest!
Oh, mighty compassion! Oh, sweet overshading!
Can even the “angels elect” be more blest? Then aglow with thy love, O thou sovereign Defender,
I pass to the cloud halo-bright with thy rays!
Enshrined in thy “presence,” my life thou shalt render
Luxuriant with blessing, perfumed with thy praise!
I long to be near thee, I know thou wilt guide me;
In view of this joy my heart merrily sings;
Till I see thee in glory, Oh, lovingly guide me,
Drawn close to thy heart ’neath the shade of thy wings. —E. C. Wrenford, in Christian Woman. “Thy right hand hath holden me up.” Ps. 18:35. A LITTLE bird came fluttering against my window one dark night. I raised the window, and it came in, but, dazzled by the light, flew wildly about, dashing against whatever happened to be in its way. Fearing it would injure itself, I caught and kept it until morning, and then let it go. The thoughts suggested by this apparently trifling incident have helped me so many times, that I have come to regard that little bird as a divinely appointed messenger to teach me a lesson of faith and trust. Could it have reasoned—as for aught I know it could and did—while I held it firmly in my hand, must not its thoughts have been: “Alas! alas! it is all over with me now. One of those terrible creatures that I have always so dreaded, has got me at last. He holds me in a grasp of iron. My frantic struggles are as nothing. Good-by to my free and happy life. It is gone forever.” Could it have understood my intentions in regard to it, could it have realized that never in all its life had it been so perfectly secure from all its enemies, quickly would its little heart have ceased its wild throbbings. It would have put its head under its wing and gone to sleep, as peacefully as when sheltered by its mother's wing, upon its native bough. So, when my plans have been thwarted, every way hedged up, and when nothing has remained for me but to be still and wait, and wonder what the Lord could mean by his strange dealings, it has been given me to feel that more lovingly, wisely, and firmly than I held that bird, the Lord's hand was holding me; that my good only, and my highest good, was the sole aim and object of the painful discipline through which I was called to pass. I felt sad as the bird spread its wings, and with a quick, glad cry, flew swiftly away. Had it learned to trust and confide in me, how gladly would I have been its friend and protector! Do we not often thus grieve our Heavenly Father, by rushing eagerly and thoughtlessly away from the loving hand that has been patiently trying to restrain us from evil and lead us to a higher and better life?— Christian at Work. It is strange that in a country whose language is stored with the choicest works of the human mind, and whose population is, as a whole, so well educated, reading aloud as a source of amusement and means of enjoyment is so little resorted to. There are many families, even in book-loving New England, in which a book or a chapter of a book, is never read to the family circle from one end of the year to another. The individual members of the family read, but all reading done in the family is silent reading. Only those who have visited in families where the gift of reading was cultivated as a source of family enjoyment, and the custom of reading aloud to the family practiced, can imagine what a help and blessing to the family life such a habit is. Music is well in its way, but its range of expression is far narrower than that of reading, and for that matter is far less practical in its adaptation to the family wants. Then, too, singing requires an instrumental accompaniment, and a piano costs money and requires too much practice on the part of the performer to be available for the many. The art of reading well is easily acquired and cheaply taught, and the expressions of literature are abundant and varied. If sorrow has fallen on the family, the needed antidote can be found both in prose and poetry. If fun is called for, then fun can be had at the asking; for the language is so full of humor, so quaint and subtle, that the bare recital of the author's words brings the point out and “sets the table in a roar.” History, tragedy, comedy, wit, pathos, sublimity, every spring at which the human mind loves to drink, can be opened, and the sweet waters be given freely to every one. How cosy those home readings may be made! Warmth, light, companionship, culture, happiness, are all included in them. How much you are missing, good people, if reading is not cultivated as one of the means of happiness and pleasure in your family circle; for in such an exercise there is a quickening of the imagination, an appeal to the judgment, which will teach the children more of literature in three hours than they can learn at school in three weeks. Next to the impulse of love as a means of drawing families together, is the influence of intellectual companionship. Cultivate this, good friends, and see how satisfactory will be the result.—Golden Rule. “A little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts and almonds.” Gen. 43:11. —THE worst of crosses is never to have had any. —GOD comes to see us, or to look upon us, without a bell. —BEGIN your web, and God will supply you with thread. —A CRIPPLE on the right road will beat a racer on the wrong. —PRAYER brings down the first blessing, and praise the second. —IT is rough to be poor, but to be ashamed of it is putting salt on a sore. —GOD has often a great share in a little house, and but little share in a great one. —WE waste our time in moments, our money in dimes, and our happiness in trifles. —SYSTEMATIZE your business, and keep an eye on little expenses. Small leaks sink great ships. —LET nothing foul or indecent, either to the eye or the ear, enter those doors where youth dwells. —ABSENCE destroys small passions and increases great ones, as wind blows out tapers and kindles fires. —NEVER reflect on a past action which was done with a good motive and the best judgment at the time. —FORBEARANCE is a domestic jewel, not to be worn for state or show, but for daily and unostentatious ornament. —SHE who does not make her family comfortable will herself never be happy at home; and she who is not happy at home will never be happy anywhere.—Addison. —“Piety,” remarked an Arkansas preacher to his congregation the other day, “does not consist in noise. The Lord can see you give to the needy just as easy as he can hear you pray the roof off.” —THE Glasgow Times says, that when a preacher goes astray, men who have been all their years of manhood covered with the same slime of wickedness, will roll their hypocritical eyes and swear that preachers are the worst men in the world. TRACT AND MISSIONARY WORKERS.
By James White
We have something to say to the officers and workers in the blessed cause of tract and missionary work. Dear brethren, you have done a great work. Through you our publications have gone to the ends of the earth, and by their means chiefly we now have missionary stations in Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, besides the Canadas, and at many other points on the Western continent where we have no State Conferences. We repeat it, you have done a great work. Let us call to mind what has been accomplished. 1. You are thoroughly organized, and are ready for any effort that will advance the cause. To bring this about has called into action genius, vigilance, and patient labor. Elder Haskell, under God, has accomplished a great work. You have witnessed his sincerity, his sacrifices, his incessant labors and patient toil, and have worked with him. Already you have done a work, the magnitude and importance of which eternity alone can tell. But the period of your greatest success and usefulness is before you. Go forward. As President Allen, of the S. D. Baptist University, said, our publications are the “right arm” of our strength. 2. In this work of thorough organization, with persons, many of whom have not the elements of order in them, and considering the activity with which the tract and missionary work has been carried forward, the experiences of all who really love the cause of Christ have not been pleasant. Many have not realized the importance of that order and correctness in doing business that has been urged upon them. And Satan, ever ready to take advantage of the situation, has brought sadness upon certain ones, which has led to inaction. But these are rallying and will yet come nobly up to the work. 3. Others have felt that the calls for means have been too urgent and unqualified. Here Satan, of course, has been ready to step in and excite covetousness, sadness, and a rebellious spirit which in some cases has led to refusal to pay pledges made in good faith. Suppose we admit that the experience of ten years has helped those who have managed these things, then what? What if they could not see clearly the end from the beginning? Are these the only men who have erred? Charity invites patient looking over the situation before passing severe judgment on those men of God who have felt the hand of Providence upon them urging them on to a great work. To them the field of labor they were entering was a new one. They entered upon their work more as an experiment than that which had been laid out and tried by others. The hand of Providence seemed to open paths before them, and urged them on. Did they make some false motions? It is a wonder that they made so few. Did they overact in a few cases? Not a tithe as many instances of this kind occurred as those in which cautious hesitation prevented many from doing anything. Shall we look for men who never make a mistake? Shall we expect those who are overwhelmed with toil and care, so that they have hardly time to mature plans, to always keep a perfect balance? The man who spends half a lifetime in getting his balance, and the other half in keeping it, can do nothing else, and is of as little value as a corn cob. He can growl at Providence and retard the great wheel of reform by putting his almost worthless body before it, and never perform one liberal act for God and humanity. A demand for perfection would come from those with better grace after they had done something themselves. On the whole, those who have managed the great work have managed wisely and well. 4. Those who have a heart to work should work on faithfully and energetically. They should feel that they are working for God, and that Satan knows it and is doing all he can do to discourage them. The fault-finders want the work to stop. And if the workers become discouraged, and become faint-hearted and weary in well-doing, this will please them, and Satan and his angels will hold jubilee. The Lord lives and reigns; brethren, work on. This is the only way to help those who are hindered by the temptations of Satan. 5. With the experience of the past we can better lay plans for the future. Times are hard. Our publishing houses are embarrassed. Every Tract and Missionary Society in the land should be completely out of debt before January 1, 1880. Every State, and every district, and every church in the district, and every member of the Tract and Missionary Society should work to this point. The reading matter to be circulated by the Tract and Missionary Societies will be considered at the soon-coming Conference. If we have a pioneer sheet, it should be a live one, ably conducted, and the price as low as can be afforded for one of four pages. Such a sheet can be sent out from Battle Creek, postage paid, for fifty cents a volume of fifty numbers. Such matter as The Life of Christ and the Apostles, Christ in the Old Testament and the Sabbath in the New, and the great truths bursting in upon us upon the grand theme of redemption through Christ, should hold a large place in such a sheet. And the volumes, pamphlets and tracts from the pen that wrote the articles on the life of Christ should be put into all the families where they will be read the coming year. There is power in them to remove prejudice and reach the hearts of the people, to be found in no other works. We close on this subject for the present with these lines:— “Soldiers of Christ arise,
And put your armor on;
Fight, for the battle will be ours;
We fight to win a crown.” “The battle’s almost o’er;
The race is nearly run;
Then with our glorious conquering King,
We’ll sit down on his throne.” HEALTH AND TEMPERANCE ANNUAL.
By James White
* FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND COPIES SHOULD BE CIRCULATED.
The Health and Temperance Annual for 1880 is ready. In the second edition is a leaf devoted to brief sketches of the lives and temperance principles and labors of Elders Joseph Bates and James White, with their portraits. Of these men who were the first to labor in the cause of present truth and in the temperance reform, the Annual says:— “Thousands of those who read this page will recognize in the accompanying portrait the kindly face of one of the veterans of temperance reform in America, who was well known among temperance reformers half a century ago as Capt. Bates. After following the sea for more than twenty years, during which period his life was often miraculously preserved by a kind Providence who had work for him to do in after years, he settled down with an ample fortune in an eastern city, and engaged in the temperance reform, of which he was one of the earliest advocates, being instrumental in organizing the first temperance society in America. The narrative of his life, written chiefly by himself, is a work of the most thrilling interest, and one which should be in the hands of the young everywhere. Few men of more dignified character or more unselfish disposition have left records of their lives as examples worthy of emulation.” “The first edition of the Life of Elder Joseph Bates was exhausted a long time ago, and the call for it has been so great that a new and greatly improved edition, edited by Eld. James White, for more than thirty years one of his most intimate friends and co-laborers, has been issued and is for sale at the REVIEW AND HERALD Office. The work is one which ought to be in every family. 320 pp., price $1.00, postpaid. “Address REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.” “The original of the portrait opposite needs no introduction to the readers of the Annual, as there can be few of them to whom both the name and the countenance of Eld. White are not familiar as the leading man in one of the most interesting, and in many respects remarkable, religious movements this or any other country has ever known. At an early age Eld. White entered the ministry, in which he has been an active laborer for more than thirty years, having in that time accomplished an amount of work rarely equaled in a single lifetime. Eld. White has always taken a strong stand in favor of temperance, being in this respect far in advance of most workers in this branch of reform, having for many years advocated and practiced abstinence not only from liquors of all sorts, but from the use of tobacco, tea and coffee, and all other narcotics and stimulants. He has, in fact, for nearly thirty years, promulgated the principles embodied in the pledges and constitution of the American Health and Temperance Association, of the executive committee of which he is chairman. “In response to the constant demands for such a work, Eld. White has prepared a volume of ‘Life Sketches,’ which is not only a deeply interesting account of the remarkable life and labors of the author, but also of Mrs. White, who has been closely associated with her husband in his work, and incidentally of the various religious and other reformatory movements which he has been chiefly instrumental in inaugurating. In press, nearly ready. About 600 pp. Elegantly bound, containing fine steel engravings of Eld. and Mrs. White. Price, postpaid, $1.50. “Address REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.” We imagine that we hear some of the tract and missionary workers exclaim: “Four hundred thousand copies! Never!! No, we can do no such thing! No, never!!” Hold, dear friends! We have not yet asked you to circulate 400,000 copies of the Annual for 1880. It has been offered to you for just two-thirds what it cost. Should you circulate as many, it would be a loss of just $2,000 to the REVIEW Office, to say nothing of the expense of handling it, and what Dr. Kellogg deserves for his services in preparing it for the press. Should you circulate 400,000 copies at one dollar per hundred, the Office could hardly stand the strain just now. We suggest that the Health and Temperance Annual for 1880 be circulated through the mail at once by the members and friends of the American Health and Temperance Association. There should be 11,000 of these on the continent. These can dispose of 400,000 Annuals easily, if each person will purchase and circulate gratuitously to their neighbors and friends quantities ranging from twenty-five to one hundred copies. Such an Annual will be a present to be prized by all reading, thinking, sensible people. And there are thousands of persons among us who have each a hundred such friends to please by presenting to them a copy of the Annual. Let us figure. Suppose: 1000 persons take 100 each—100,000
2000 “ “ 50 “ =100,000
8000 “ “ 25 “ =200,000
So 11,000 persons would take 400,000 We now offer the Annual by mail, postage paid, at the following rates:— 100 copies to one address, $2.15
50 “ “ “ “ 1.10
25 “ “ “ “ .60
10 “ “ “ “ .25
5 “ “ “ “ .15
3 “ “ “ “ .10
single copy .05 Father Bates, the health and temperance hero, the man who first led out upon the Sabbath question among us, sleeps. The memory of this noble, good man is precious. Though dead, he speaks. His good face is given in the Annual, with a sketch of his life. Let it be repeated in our Annual for 1880 not less than 400,000 times. Friends of the Health and Temperance Annual, be in season, be in earnest. Before your numerous friends have a chance to take to their homes the comic and drug-advertising almanacs, put 400,000 of the Health and Temperance Annuals at as many firesides. Let the orders come in with the cash, and let the Annual go out to the people. J. W. SAVE YOUR POSTAGE.
By James White
ANOTHER PLAN TO CIRCULATE THE ANNUAL.
It is true that the postal law is favorable to the circulation of reading matter, so that it costs but one cent to send a single copy of the Annual to any part of the United States and the Canadas. Yet this would amount to the handsome sum of $4,000 on 400,000 copies of the Annual. We suggest a plan that will save a large portion of this sum. It is this: Let the Tract and Missionary librarians, or some live person they may appoint in each church, thoroughly canvass the church, and ascertain the number of copies of the Annual each member will take, pay for, and circulate. These figures can be brought or sent to Battle Creek at the time of the General Conference, when the plan can be perfected to ship them by rail and save the postage, excepting to the most distant parts of the field. This would reduce the cost of the Annual about one-third, and give it a very extensive circulation without burdening the Tract and Missionary societies, which are now badly in debt. Canon Farrar, whose “Life of Christ” has had a wide circulation, has now written a work entitled, “Life and Work of Saint Paul,” which is published in two large volumes by E. N. Dutton & Co. From a notice of this work in The Independent of Oct. 16, we take the following paragraph:— “He regards the apostle as mistaken in some of his views as to our Lord’s second coming, but protects himself from a charge of heresy here by insisting that this was a subject on which revelation was expressly withheld. The work is conceived in the most reverent and believing spirit.”149 This last sentence, in view of what precedes it, sounds like the most biting sarcasm. What reverence or what faith is there in treating the writings of the apostle in this manner? Paul wrote by inspiration; yet creed-bound, spiritually dead, withered-away and plucked-up theologians, eighteen hundred years afterward, discover that he undertook to write upon a subject upon which revelation had been “expressly withheld;” and although he treated it just as though it was a subject which had been, like other truths, revealed to him, yet he made a mistake! Not a whit more astonishing would it be for some one to arise and say, “The evangelists were mistaken in what they wrote about there ever being such a person as Jesus Christ here on the earth; but then, I must not be accounted a heretic for so writing, because this is a point on which information was ‘expressly withheld.’” It is said that one verse in every 35 of the entire New Testament, and one in every 25 in Paul’s writings, speaks of the second coming of the Lord. Talk about revelation being “expressly withheld” on such a subject as that! The very ink should blush that records the thought. We suspect this plan is adopted as the only way to get rid of the great doctrine of the second coming of Christ. But any subject in all the Bible could be set aside in the same way, and with just as much reason. This is the baldest kind of infidelity, and all the worse because it comes from the pen of a churchman, and under the sanction of religion. The General Conference.
By James White
The time of our General Conference is at hand. Important matters are to be considered at this annual assembly of the representatives of our people. There should be as full representation of the presidents and secretaries of the Missionary and Temperance Societies as consistent. The great questions which will decide the work for our people for the coming year will be patiently considered, and, we hope, correctly decided. God is merciful to his people, and jealous of his honor and work, and is still speaking to his people. Let this be the prayer of every sincere heart, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” J. W. ADVERTISE! ADVERTISE!!
By James White
THE customs of the times in which we live are such that but little can be done without advertising. Our institutions are struggling hard with financial embarrassments. And one reason why we urge the circulation of 400,000 copies of the Health and Temperance Annual is that it may go out everywhere, to be placed by as many firesides, a perpetual advertisement of our College, our Sanitarium, our Publishing Houses, and our Health and Religious Publications, which are a power in the land. Brethren, one and all, come to our help. Friends, stand by our institutions and our work in this trying crisis. Help us advertise. Send your orders for the Annual at once. Since the commencement of last Sabbath, Oct. 25, the meetings in Battle Creek have been directed to the special object of a revival of the work of the Lord in our midst, and we are happy to say that some tokens of good appear. Bro. White gave two addresses Wednesday and Thursday evenings to those who came out to the Biblical Institute, filled with good counsel in reference to the great principles of this work. He dwelt upon the instructive experiences of the past, especially showing the connection of the spirit of prophecy with this cause, in a manner to inspire confidence and fortify the mind against the approach of any doubt that God has had this movement under his providential care from its very beginning. Sr. White spoke at the commencement of the Sabbath to a full congregation, on the solemnities of the Judgment. Our attention was called to the unerring records of those books which will be opened, from which every one will be judged according to his works. With great power she urged upon all the importance of making the record on the side of devotion and consecration, and not on the side of defects and failures, expressing, at the same time, her thankfulness that we have not yet reached, in our present condition, the last deciding scene, but that there is yet opportunity to be zealous and repent, and wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. Sabbath forenoon Bro. White spoke from 1 Pet. 4:18, and Sr. White, in the afternoon, on Heb. 12:1-4. Both enjoyed great freedom; and though the congregation was so large, the very best of attention was given throughout. At the close of the remarks of Sr. White in the afternoon, opportunity was given for those who wished to start in the service of God, or to start anew in that service, to show it by coming forward. There was no special urging; but while appropriate hymns were being sung, there was a very encouraging move and deep feeling in the congregation. The numbers who came crowding forward were so many that all distinction was finally lost between them and the rest of the congregation. Testimonies, accompanied with penitent tears, were borne, and the subduing, melting influence of the Spirit of God was present in a large degree. For this we all felt very thankful. Sunday evening the usual district meetings were held, conducted by the different ministers present, and from these good reports are received. Nine ministers are thus far in from abroad. We hope for still more interesting religious meetings, for a profitable Institute, and for an encouraging Conference. THE SUNDAY QUESTION IN BALTIMORE.
The agitation existing in the city of Baltimore on the Sunday question, has already been referred to in these columns. A friend has sent us a package of Baltimore papers containing sermons on the Sunday question, and other allusions to the exciting theme. Most prominent just now, seemingly, are the sermons of J. B. Van Meter, pastor of the Mount Vernon Methodist Episcopal church. After laying down some general principles based on the declaration that “the Sabbath was made for man,” he is reported in the Baltimore American of Sept 29, 1879, as saying:— “These are the broad principles that are to guide us in the observance of the Lord’s day. We are left to apply them as best we can and as honorably as we will. We must work out our Sunday theories from these principles, for there is not a single specific precept in the Bible bearing on the subject, except Paul’s command to make charitable contributions on that day.” Then when we have made charitable contributions on that day, we have kept the only law there is for Sunday. But how much has this to do with the Sabbath? Judging from one more declaration, which we present below, we conclude that Mr. V.’s views of the Sabbath are much like those of the Christian Union; namely, that it is an institution wholly in the hands of men, to be manipulated by them according to their own pleasure. He says:— “I do not hesitate to affirm that the strict application of the fourth commandment to the modern world is an impossibility. As the Sabbath was made for man, it must bend and accommodate itself to the peculiarities of his ever-changing and ever-progressing history.” Then he goes on to say that certain branches of business must be carried on on Sunday, and that “when a man engages in an employment that necessitates Sunday work, he ought not to have laid on his conscience the sense of sin.” He apologizes for recreation on that day, and does not blame “the added hour of sleep” on Sunday morning. It would never do to let such views of Sunday, from a minister of the gospel, go unrebuked; hence another Methodist, H. E. Johnson, Independent, takes him to task for such loose views. Mr. J. plants himself squarely upon the fourth commandment, having yet to learn, what he must some day learn, that that commandment can never be made to enforce the Sunday Sabbath. This agitation is waking up the people everywhere to this great question; and the more people wake up to it the more the agitation increases. Let it go on. It is destined to shake this citadel of papal error as it has never been shaken before. THE EUROPEAN MISSION.
By John Nevins Andrews
A longer period has elapsed since writing my last report than I intended to permit before writing again. I have desired to speak of a marked improvement in my health, and have waited in the hope of being able to do this. But it has seemed almost impossible for me to gain strength. The World's Evangelical Alliance held its session in this city during the first week of September. All denominations were represented from all parts of the world. I made great calculations on doing something in behalf of the truth at this Conference. I hoped to become acquainted with many during the session of the Alliance, and I selected a large quantity of publications to give to such as I thought would be benefited by them. But I was obliged to keep my bed during the entire period that the Alliance was in session in this city. I deeply regretted my situation, but could not change it. My strength returns very slowly, but I hope every day for a marked change in answer to prayer. During this period of feebleness I have dictated much writing, and attended to many matters of business. I have made the best use of my time that the circumstances have admitted. One thing which we have undertaken to do I hope will be of much service to the cause of God. We have attempted to obtain the names and addresses of many thousand persons who speak the French language. This will enable us to introduce our paper to the attention of the general public, and I trust will be of great advantage to the cause of truth. To show the bitter spirit which prevails in some places I will mention the fact that the authorities at Orbe, Canton Vaud, have assessed a tax upon Bro. Ertzenberger on the basis of an assumed salary of 20,000 francs, or $4,000. He has appealed to the higher authorities at Lausanne, and I have sent a statement in his behalf showing that he receives for his services as missionary only enough to furnish his food and clothes and pay his traveling expenses. The persons who have assessed this tax know well that Bro. Ertzenberger is a poor man. They have placed this immense tax upon him in order to drive him out of the Canton. Bro. E. will appear before the authorities at Lausanne, and present documentary proof with respect to his income, and make oath to the same. We hope the authorities of the Canton will correct what the city authorities have done. I have confidence that the Lord is about to work for us in Switzerland, and I hope in my next letter to report myself in active service in the field. A Baptist lady writes from Geneva that she has commenced to observe the Sabbath. We have the same news from a lady in Canton Vaud. In a former report I spoke of Sabbath-keepers in the Turkish empire; I have since learned that there are fifteen in this company.