The intimate connection of the temple with its prototype, the tabernacle, is shown in the general arrangement and furniture of the building. Like the tabernacle it had its holy, and most holy, place. But these in all their dimensions, length, breadth, and height, were exactly double those of the tabernacle. Thus the most holy place was 20 cubits each way, instead of 10, and the holy place 20 by 40 cubits, instead of 10 by 20.
Besides these apartments there was a porch of 10 cubits at the entrance, and surrounding chambers for the use of the priests, besides various courts and covered porches surrounding the whole. Altogether it covered a large area, and presented an imposing and magnificent appearance. Rising from its commanding height like a mountain of marble and gold, it stood before the world a monument of splendor more gorgeous and wonderful than men had ever looked upon before. The carving of the walls of the house with figures of cherubim; the overlaying of it with pure gold within and without; the doors of olive trees adorned with carved work, and overlaid with gold fitted to the carvings with other innumerable and costly ornaments and embellishments, were accomplished at an expense, says Dr. Clarke, which it is impossible to estimate.
Two gigantic cherubim, of olive wood overlaid with gold, each 10 cubits high, were prepared for the most holy place, and put in position on either side of the spot upon which the ark was to rest. “And they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.”
Many of the vessels of the sanctuary were also enlarged and multiplied for the temple service. Ten golden candlesticks shed their light in the holy place, and ten tables held the consecrated bread which was placed each Sabbath before the Lord. 2 Chron. 4:7, 8.
At the expiration of seven years and six months from the commencement of the work, the building was completed, though the dedication did not take place till the following year, the twelfth of Solomon’s reign. Having all things prepared for this joyful occasion, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, to its new abode. 1 Kings 8. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. What a procession was that!
They also brought up the tabernacle. The original tabernacle was left at Gibeon thirty-eight years before; and it is generally supposed that David had erected a new one for the ark when he brought it to his city. Which of these was brought into the temple? Some think, both; but Dr. Clarke suggests what seems the more probable view that the original tabernacle was brought up from Gibeon, to be preserved in the temple as a relic, and the temporary one erected by David was destroyed.
What was in the ark? 1 Kings 8:9, states explicitly that there was nothing there save the tables of stone. Paul is supposed to say in Heb. 9:4, that it contained also the golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod. That these were originally laid up before the testimony is evident from Ex. 16:33, 34; Num. 17:10, but we find no record that they were put into the ark with the tables of the law. Paul, in Heb. 9:3, speaks of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all; and the word wherein, in verse 4, is simply the relative pronoun, “in which,” which may refer to the tabernacle as its antecedent, instead of the ark. With this view Paul’s language would simply affirm that in the most holy, or second apartment, were placed the golden censer, the pot of manna, Aaron’s rod, the ark, and the tables of the covenant; the tables, though contained in the ark, being mentioned separately from the ark by way of emphasis.
The passage from Hebrews then becomes similar to that in 1 Kings 8:21, which reads, “And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” In this passage, the word, wherein, refers, as in Hebrews, to the place, not to the ark. In the ark was God’s covenant which he commanded, the ten commandments, but not the covenant which he made with the children of Israel, which was a mutual agreement between himself and them. This was written in a book, and placed in the side of the ark. Deut. 31:26.
And this leads us to consider what is meant by this expression, “In the side of the ark.” Prideaux has explained it so fully in his “Connection,” Vol. i. p. 152, that we can do no better than to give his words: “As to the book, or volume of the law, it being149commanded to be put mittzad i. e. on the side of the ark, those who interpret that word of the inside, place it within the ark, and those who interpret it of the outside, place it on the outside of it in a case or coffer made on purpose for it, and laid on the right side; meaning by the right side, that end of it which was on the right hand. And the last seem to be in the right as to this matter; for, first, The same word, mittzad, is made use of, where it is said, that the Philistines sent back the ark with an offering of jewels of gold put in a coffer by the side of it. And there it is certain that word must be understood of the outside, and not of the inside. Secondly, the ark was not of capacity enough to hold the volume of the whole law of Moses, with the other things placed therein. Thirdly, The end of laying up the original volume of the law in the temple was, that it might be reserved there as the authentic copy, by which all others were to be corrected and set right; and, therefore, to answer this end, it must have been placed so as that access might be had thereto on all occasions requiring it; which could not have been done, if it had been put within the ark, and shut up there by the cover of the mercy-seat over it, which was not to be removed. And, fourthly, When Hilkiah, the high-priest, in the time of Josiah, found the copy of the law in the temple, there is nothing said of the ark; neither is it there spoken of, as taken from thence, but as found elsewhere in the temple. And, therefore, putting all this together, it seems plain that the volume of the law was not laid within the ark, but had a particular coffer or repository of its own, in which it was placed on the side of it. And the word mittzad, which answers to the Latin a latere, cannot truly bear any other meaning in the Hebrew language. And therefore the Chaldee paraphrase, which goes under the name of Jonathan Ben Uziel, in paraphrasing on these words of Deuteronomy—“Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant,” renders it thus, “Take the book of the law, and place it in a case or coffer, on the right side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God.”
The ark was brought into its position in the most holy place between the wings of the cherubim, and thus again became connected with the sanctuary after a separation of 136 years. God approved of all that had been done, to suitably prepare for his worship as adapted to that time, and as he had taken possession of the first tabernacle, Ex. 40:34, so now he takes possession of this: “And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.” 1 Kings 8:10, 11.
That was a day of joy in Israel. The thousands of offerings consuming upon the altars, the clouds of incense that rose above the temple, the sounds of the instruments of music, and the voice of the singers, the inimitable prayer of Solomon, the wisest of men, the glory of the new temple, the vast concourse of people, and above all, the crowning visitation of the shekinah, or visible glory of God, as he took possession of his dwelling, all conspired to render this
THE MOST IMPOSING RELIGIOUS SERVICE EVER PERFORMED IN THIS WORLD, EITHER BEFORE OR SINCE THAT TIME.
Twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep, constituted Solomon’s peace offering. Besides this there were his meat offerings, his burnt offerings, and his drink-offerings, besides the offerings of the assembled multitudes. Fourteen days the King and all Israel kept a feast unto the Lord, and then the people returned to their homes, blessing the King, and glad of heart for all the goodness of the Lord.
During Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness, the tabernacle, as we have seen, was fifty-six times called the sanctuary. From its entrance into the holy land, till its incorporation into the temple, it is nineteen times more called the sanctuary in the following passages:—
Josh. 24:26; 1 Chron. 9:29; 22:19; 24:5; 28:10; 2 Chron. 20:8; Ps. 20:2; 28:2, margin; 29:2, margin; 63:2; 68:24; 73:17; 77:13; 78:54, 69; 96:6, 9, margin; 134:2; 150:1.
U. S.
LOST TIME.
Among objections often met against the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is this: “Time has been lost and we cannot tell when the seventh day comes; therefore, that day cannot be binding.” When shown that the Sabbath was known and kept according to the commandment in the days of the apostles, then we are told time was lost in the change from Old Style to New Style. Many appear to make themselves feel perfectly secure while shielded with this excuse. We marvel how men professing godliness, claiming to love and obey the teaching of the Bible, can trifle as they do with a subject of such importance.
Not long ago, while in conversation with a minister on the subject of the Sabbath, he said time had been lost, and that no man could tell when the seventh day comes. This loss he maintained was owing to the change from Old Style to New Style. No reasoning on the point could convince him of his error.
I told him what the change consisted in, and why it was made, and labored to help him to see that it neither did, nor could, in any way affect the weekly cycle; whereupon I received from him some information entirely new in astronomical minuteness of observation.
He said the reason for the change from Old to New Style was this: The earth in its diurnal revolution falls about one minute behind in each revolution, causing a loss of about one minute every 24 hours, hence the necessity of the change. When asked for his authority on this, he quickly replied, “I am my own authority, I have looked it out.” Now it will certainly take another person of equally good discriminating powers of mind, to tell us how such a change would balance or correct the motion of the earth, and set this matter right.
But what was the change from Old to New Style? and why was it made? The following clear explanation of this matter, which I clipped several years ago from the Christian Almanac, answers these questions, and shows conclusively that not a moment of time was, or could have been, lost in the change.
“THE GREGORIAN YEAR, AND OLD AND NEW STYLE.
“The inquiry is often made, ‘What is the meaning of the expression, March 7, 1738–9?’ The real date is March 7, 1739. The civil or legal year in England formerly commenced on the 25th day of March. This practice continued throughout the British dominions till the year 1752. Then the new, or the Gregorian style was introduced, which makes the year commence the 1st of January. But before that period (1752), as some other nations had adopted the New Style, it was usual for English writers to designate both years, if the event occurred before the 25th day of March. Thus we have Washington’s birth designated, February 11th, 1731–2. That is, if the year commenced the 25th of March, it would be February 11, 1731; if the year commenced the 1st of January, it would be February 11, 1732, or, according to New Style, February 22, 1732.”
In order to make the above statements more fully clear, it is needful to remember that a year is designated to include the exact period of time which the earth takes to make one revolution around the sun. This is accomplished in 365 days and nearly 6 hours; but as the calendar must consist of complete days, these six hours are omitted, and in four years they make up a whole day, when one is added to the year, making what is called a leap-year. This, however, is not strictly correct, for it is ascertained by accurate calculations that a solar year is exactly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 57.7 seconds; consequently, in putting on the six hours, we add 11 minutes 12.4 seconds in four years. This in the course of 158½ years would amount to 24 hours, or a complete day. If this were permitted to go on, the 1st of January would gradually fall back toward midsummer; and in the time of Pope Gregory XIII. (1582), it was found that the vernal equinox, which, A. D. 325, happened on the 21st of March, actually occurred on the 10th. The Pope, for the purpose of restoring the correctness of the calendar, ordered 10 days to be dropped that year. This reformation was called “the New Style,” while the former calendar was denominated “the Old Style.” This New Style was not adopted in England until 1752, when it was found that another day had accumulated. An act of Parliament was then passed, in which it was directed that 11 days be dropped out of the calendar in 1752.
In this country the Old Style was not discarded in colloquial discourses until about fifty years ago. To guard against the disarrangement of the calendar in future, chronologers now omit the leap-year at the end of three or four centuries, which plan is formed to balance the excess of 11 minutes 12.4 seconds, this being added by making every fourth year leap-year, as people generally suppose. The year 1800 was not a leap-year, for one of these intercalary days had accumulated, and was dropped; and the same will have to be done in 1900. There are now, therefore, twelve days difference between the Old and New Styles; and in order to compute the date of events correctly, and not fall into blunders which even some able historians have not avoided, we should recollect to allow ten days for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, eleven for the eighteenth, and twelve for the nineteenth. A. S. HUTCHINS.
FAMILY DEVOTIONS.
By J. O. Corliss
There is no duty enjoined on the Christian which carries in its performance a more potent influence for good than that of family devotion. Not only is the actual participant benefited, but there is a solemnity attending family worship when properly conducted that extends to all who may compose the family circle, causing them to pause and reflect upon the goodness and mercy of God.
Especially is this the case with unconverted children. “All the duties of religion,” says Dr. Dwight, “are eminently solemn and venerable in the eyes of children. But none will so strongly prove the sincerity of the parent; none so powerfully awaken the reverence of the child; none so happily recommend the instruction he receives, as family devotions, particularly those in which petitions for the children occupy a distinguished place.”
We believe it to be the duty of every parent who professes to love God to see that family devotions are kept up. Says the psalmist: “Evening, and morning, and at noon will I pray, and cry aloud; and he shall hear my voice.” The prayers of Cornelius came up before God for a memorial, and God highly favored him for his faithfulness in calling upon him with all his house, by sending a special message telling him what he ought to do. May not God remember us also by our prayers, and send the truth into the hearts of our children and friends?
Especially should the mother pray with and for the children. Next to the divine efficiency, her influence is all-pervading, and most powerful. The characters she traces upon the heart of her child are deep and indelible, as though written with a pen of steel. She may have passed away, yet they remember her prayers. Her influence is still visible to enforce those early lessons, and mold the mind into durable form. “One thing” said a young man converted from infidelity in relating his experience, “I could never get over; that was, the pious example and conversation of my mother. When I had fortified myself against the truth by the aid of Hume, and Voltaire, yet, whenever I thought of my mother, I had the secret conviction which nothing could remove, that there was a reality in religion.”
There is a latent power connected with the devotions at the family altar, which will reveal itself at some time. Though the family may have been broken up, and scattered, yet, as the memories of home throng the mind, the morning and evening prayer circles will be lived over again, and early impressions for good will be revived, which may result in true penitence and reform. Then let every family have its altar of prayer. J. O. CORLISS.
THE RELIGIOUS AMENDMENT.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
The position of those who insist upon Christianizing our government is truly marvelous. Their organ, the Christian Statesman, sees the corruption, the utter rottenness, of government officers and political parties, and also that in the history of the past such corruption as now exists here has been the certain prelude to national overthrow; and yet a firm hope is cherished that amid this teeming corruption we are suddenly to arise to the eminence of a truly Christian government, an eminence that has never been attained by any earthly government during the more than eighteen hundred years of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Such a transformation would be marvelous in the extreme. The faith and hope they entertain is bold indeed. It looks for wonders; wonders not exceeded by a resurrection of the dead. This, God has promised; but the other, never. The hope of the resurrection is sure; because it rests in the promise and the power of God, the God who spoke the universe from naught. But how men can expect that out of the mass of civil and political rottenness which they see existing, purity is suddenly to arise, and that from the prevailing iniquity and infidelity a pure, moral, and truly Christian, government is about to come forth, and all this without a single promise of God to that effect, is a thing too wonderful to be expressed in words; “expressive silence” itself can only faintly point the amazement due to so bold a hope.
And it is not only contrary to all appearance, and without a promise of God, but in direct opposition to what God has said of the latter days of the dispensation. “The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter days some shall depart from the faith;” “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse;” “in the last days perilous times shall come;” and “when they shall say, Peace and safety, sudden destruction shall come upon them.” Said Jesus, “Because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved;” and, “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.”
The religious amendment which they demand has no other hope of success but by securing the suffrage of one or another of the corrupt political parties. When it shall be clearly seen that this “Christian party in politics” holds the balance of power, the most corrupt and degraded politicians will not scruple to espouse their cause, in order to their own advancement, and aid in the glorious work of fabricating what the world never saw, a government truly Christian. Then the fabled millennium of “peace and safety” will have begun. Out of the rotten materials of a degenerate republic, out of iniquity and infidelity, the true spiritual reign of righteousness and peace, the kingdom of God on the earth, is to be built! And this by the suffrages of a corrupt people, and contrary to the word of the living God! Did men of sane mind ever entertain a hope so preposterous?
R. F. COTTRELL.
A MOTHER'S DYING CHARGE.
By S. Osborn
[The dying charge of the wife of Alexander Campbell to her family contains so many good admonitions to the young, and breathes such a noble spirit of reform, I send it to the Review for publication. S. Osborn.]
“I say to you, then, with all the affection of a mother, and now about to leave you, I entreat you as you love me and your own lives, study and meditate upon the words and actions of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember how kindly he has spoken to and of little children, and that there is no good thing which he will withhold from them who love him and walk uprightly.”
“With regard to your father, I need only I trust tell you that in obeying him you obey God; for God has commanded you to honor him, and in honoring your father you honor Him who bade you do so. As to your conversation with one another, when it is not upon the ordinary duties of life, let it be on subjects of importance, improving to your minds. I beseech you to avoid that light, foolish, and vain conversation about dress and fashion so common among females. Neither let the subject of apparel fill your hearts nor dwell upon your tongues. You never heard me do so. Let your apparel be sober, clean, and modest, but everything vain and fantastic avoid. . . . I have often told you and instanced to you when in health the vain pursuits and unprofitable vanities of some females who have spent the prime of life in the servile pursuits of fashion. . . . And what and where are they now? Let these be as beacons to you. I therefore entreat you neither to think of, nor talk of, nor pursue, these subjects. Strive only to approve yourselves to God and to commend yourselves to the discerning, the intelligent, the pious. Seek their society; consult their taste, and make yourselves worthy of their esteem.”
“But there is one thing which is necessary to all goodness, which is essential to all virtue, godliness, and happiness—I mean necessary to the daily and constant exhibition of every Christian accomplishment, and that is to keep in mind the words that Hagar uttered in her solitude, ‘Thou God seest me.’ You must know and feel, my dear children, that my affection for you and my desires for your present and future happiness cannot be surpassed by any human being. The God that made me your mother has with his own finger planted it in my breast, and his Holy Spirit has written it upon my heart. Love you, I must; feel for you, I must; and I once more say unto you, Remember these words and not the words only but the truth contained in them, ‘Thou God seest me.’ This will be a guard against a thousand follies and against every temptation. . . . I have already, and upon various occasions, suggested to you other instructions which I need not, as indeed I cannot, now repeat. . . . That we may all meet together in the heavenly kingdom is my last prayer for you, and as you desire it, remember the words of Him who is the way, the truth, and the life.”
Seeking the Will of God
He that seeks nothing but the will of God will always find what he seeks.
Courtesy and Kindness
He that sows courtesy reaps kindness.
SEBASTOPOL, MICH.
By H. M. Kenyon
CLOSED my labors at this place April 24. Here is where Bro. Robert Sawyer held a Sabbath-school several years ago, which stirred up quite an interest among the people to read our publications, and several embraced the truth as the result. This series of meetings has established such more fully, and several others have taken their position with us, among whom is Eld. John Sloan, who has preached for the Christian denomination for upwards of twenty years. He has taken a decided stand for the truth, and as soon as circumstances will admit he will devote his time to the presentation of the truths of the third angel’s message. Opposition has been very strong, both in a public and private manner. One opposition sermon of three hours’ length resulted in favor of the truth with the candid portion of the community. It is hoped that our brethren at Potterville will look after the interest here, as there is quite a strong influence in favor of the truth. H. M. KENYON.
Allegan, April 27, 1876.
CANVASSING
By Jos. Clarke
Of late it has been suggested that we send our late REVIEWS, SIGNS, HEALTH REFORMERS, YOUTH'S INSTRUCTORS, tracts, &c., to our absent friends and acquaintances, each generally accompanied by a letter or postal card, introducing the subject, and presenting the paper sent in a proper light.
This plan seems to us a very good way for many of us who are confined at home. We can take as many copies of our good papers as we feel disposed to send for, and then with a supply of postal cards, wrapping paper, mucilage, &c., we can with a very small outlay, send these winged messengers over the land and the sea to all our acquaintances.
Then we can write to our friends to give us names of those whose minds are studious; and we can keep as large a list as we please, by getting our neighbors to give us the names of their friends; then as our weeklies furnish us forty-six or forty-eight copies per year, and our monthlies twelve copies yearly, we can with sample copies reach very many, especially if we take a number of our papers for this purpose.
Here is A who takes one copy; he can send one every week, with a line, or postal card, making forty or fifty papers and letters per year, to as many different persons if he chooses. B takes five copies; he can send two hundred papers, and to as many persons if it is best; and C if he takes ten copies, can reach ten times as many as A can.
This is certainly an easy and a very cheap way of doing good; so that no one can be wholly excusable for inactivity; and if all unite in this work, who cannot serve the cause more directly in some better way, a great work will be done. It is not drudgery, but it is a high and holy pleasure to be a co-worker with God in the salvation of men.
Jos. CLARKE.
COME, LABOR ON!
Come, labor on!
Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,
While all around him waves the golden grain,
And to each servant does the Master say,
“Go, work to-day”?
Come, labor on!
Claim the high calling angels cannot share—
To young and old the gospel gladness bear;
Redeem the time; its hours too swiftly fly,
The night draws nigh.
Come, labor on!
The laborers are few, the field is wide,
New stations must be filled, and blanks supplied;
From voices distant far, or near at home,
The call is, “Come!”
Come, labor on!
The enemy is watching night and day
To sow the tares, to snatch the seed away;
While we in sleep our duty have forgot,
He slumbers not.
Come, labor on!
Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear;
No arm so weak but may do service here;
By feeblest agents can our God fulfill
His righteous will.
Come, labor on!
No time for rest till glows the western sky,
While the long shadows o’er our pathway lie,
And a glad sound comes with the setting sun,
“Servants, well done!”
Come, labor on!
The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure;
Blessed are those who to the end endure—
How full their joy, how deep their rest shall be,
O Lord, with thee.
—Sel.
NEW YORK.
By S. B. Whitney
SINCE my last report I have visited Sweden twice. A few have proved themselves stony-ground hearers, but the rest are firm and growing. They have regular meetings and Sabbath-school established, and the interest seems to be extending to other neighborhoods around them.
Bro. and Sr. Prentiss of Brockport have taken a lively interest in the success of these efforts, and invited me to speak at their house, which I did. About thirty of their neighbors gathered in on a short notice. The Baptist minister there also expressed a desire to have me preach in his church, and the last time I was in the place, Bro. P. having informed him of my coming, he called on me and very courteously invited me to do so, saying as he left, “Take all the liberty you wish; talk as long as you have a mind to, and say what you please. We probably need some things you have to say to us.” His conduct was all of the same character, and was the more gratifying from the fact that he is acquainted with our peculiarities as a people.
I also visited two sisters in Weedsport, one of whom has been keeping the Sabbath for some years; but the other, a very refined and intelligent widow lady with two fine children, aged respectively nineteen and seventeen, has but recently taken her stand upon it. Both embraced it by reading; one has heard but little preaching upon the present truth, and the other not any. They joined the Tract Society and made a donation to the cause, and are anxious to have meetings.
Have just received a letter from a gentleman in Pennsylvania inclosing five dollars, with a promise to send that amount or more every quarter, stating that he takes the REVIEW and SIGNS, and is a little interested in our cause, and inviting a preacher to call on him. S. B. WHITNEY.
Frankfort, N. Y., April 30, 1876.
WISCONSIN
By John Atkinson
During this Conference year I have visited twenty-four churches in the Wisconsin Conference, and have stirred them up to duty and diligence in the cause. Systematic Benevolence in some places has been increased, but in consequence of the frost killing the corn in some localities, and the chintz-bug injuring the wheat in others, and the pressure of money matters, many of the people are poor. It is possible in some places to urge the matter so hard that some pledge beyond their means. Quite an amount of money was raised on their Tract and Missionary Society pledges.
I also visited some isolated ones, who have been brought out through tract and missionary labor. Some of them are very intelligent, humble, and devoted souls. I have baptized fifteen. There are others that expect to go forward when practicable.
I have been laboring of late at Liberty Pole. Gave seventeen discourses. The result is that the church is strengthened and encouraged, four have embraced the truth, and others I think will do so. To God be all the glory. I have just closed my labors at the Sand Prairie church, it being a quarterly meeting occasion. Four united with the church; three by letter and one by baptism—twelve additions this Conference year.
The cheering reports from all parts of the field are very encouraging, progression being apparent almost everywhere. It would seem that the third angel’s message is swelling into the loud cry. May God help me to keep even pace with it, so that when called to give up my commission my work may be well done.
JOHN ATKINSON.
KNOX CO., MO.
By J. H. Rogers
At the earnest solicitation of Bro. Wren, of this place, I came here the 19th ult. Have been engaged since in lecturing and explaining our position on present truth to the people. The work has been introduced here by Bro. Wren who after hearing a few discourses by Bro. Cook in Kansas came to this place, still pursued the investigation of our position, embraced it, and has been engaged in lecturing and circulating reading matter till the interest has been quite general in this portion of the country, and I find about a dozen keeping the Sabbath and desiring organization. Hope I shall be able to help them some, as I can remain but a short time. Thus the Lord is opening the way for his work in North-eastern Missouri also. Brethren, let us be diligent. J. H. ROGERS.
Greensburg, Mo., May 2, 1876.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
By Arthur W. Bartlett
Having poor health, and being somewhat embarrassed in my financial affairs, I concluded to abandon preaching for a time, and to accept a position as teacher in a public school until I could extricate myself from debt. Meanwhile I have circulated thousands of pages of tracts and improved several opportunities to bring the matter before the people, yet never by a course of lectures; none having been given on the Sabbath as yet in this city. The fruits are beginning to appear. An excellent family have embraced the truth, mainly through reading matter furnished them by my mother.
I presume the first Sabbath meeting ever held in the city by Christians was held last Sabbath. There were eight present, five of them adults, and the Lord was with us. This is encouraging to us; for only a few months ago no Sabbath-keepers were found in the city, and we consider this meeting the nucleus of a prosperous S. D. A. church.
I shall begin my public labors in behalf of the truth as soon as my school closes. This is a city of 110,000 inhabitants, and we fully realize the effort which must be put forth on our part to deliver the third angel’s message. ARTHUR W. BARTLETT.
1066 N. Illinois Street.
The Furnace Reveals Our Dross
It is not until we have passed through the furnace that we are made to know how much dross was in our composition.
INSPIRATION AND THE LANGUAGES
By A. C. Bourdeau
The Holy Scriptures were written by inspiration—holy men of old wrote them as they were moved upon by the Holy Spirit. While it is very probable that the Hebrew tongue existed before the books of the Old Testament commenced to be written, it is very evident that the inspired writers, the prophets, greatly improved that language, breathed into it a new life, and thus they were, under God, the fathers of the Hebrew tongue. The same may be said of the Greek language, in which the books of the New Testament were written, and of the writers of the gospel.
The decalogue, or the moral law engraved on tables of stone by the finger of God, and the pentateuch, or the five books of Moses, are the most ancient writings in the world. God was the creator of the Hebrew tongue. Written language was doubtless of divine origin. The Creator of the universe set the first copy when he wrote the ten commandments, which are the great foundation and center of the Holy Scriptures.
The Bible has been translated into nearly three hundred languages. And it is remarkable how the inspired word of God has greatly improved, elevated, and sanctified the languages into which it has been translated, by unfolding its rich treasures, and pouring into them a large variety of new terms, breathing into them a new life, and subliming them with the energies of a celestial flame. Inspiration has effected much in transforming the languages, even through the preachers of the gospel. This is well illustrated in the following item relative to “Calvin and the French language,” taken from the Montreal Witness:—
“It is remarkable, surely, that the two great reformers of Europe should have been each the creator of the language of his native country. Calvin was the father of the French tongue, as Luther was the father of the German. There had been a language in these countries, doubtless, since the days of their first savage inhabitants, a ‘French’ and a ‘German’ before there was a Calvin or a Luther. . . .
Calvin found French, as Luther had found German, a coarse, meager speech—of narrow compass, of small adaptability, and the vehicle of only low ideas. He breathed into it a new life. A vastly wider compass, and an infinitely finer flexibility, did he give it. And, moreover, he elevated and sanctified it by pouring into it the treasures of the gospel, thereby enriching it with a multitude of new terms, and subliming it with the energies of a celestial fire. This transformation in the tongue of France the reformer achieved by the new thinking and feeling he taught his countrymen; for a language is simply the outcome of the life of the people by whom it is spoken.
“That Calvin was the father of French Protestantism, is, of course, admitted by all; but we less often hear it acknowledged that he was the father of French literature. Yet this service, surely a great one, ought not to be passed over in silence. It is hard to say how much the illustrious statesmen and philosophers, the brilliant historians and poets, who came after him, owed to him. They found in the language, which he had so largely helped to make fit for their use, a suitable vehicle for the talent and genius by which they made themselves and their country famous. Their wit, their sublimity, and their wisdom would have been smothered in the opaque, undramatic, poverty-stricken, and inharmonious phraseology to which they would have been forced to consign them. There is no more powerful instrumentality for fashioning language than the gospel.”
Truly, the Bible is the inspired word of God—the revealed will of God to man, and should be the man of our counsel, our rule of faith and practice.
“Holy Bible! book divine!
Precious treasure, thou art mine!”
A. C. BOURDEAU.
HUMILITY
By M. Wood
If any people should be filled with this heavenly grace it is that people who are looking for the speedy coming of the Lord—that people whom God has condescended to visit, reprove, rebuke, and lead by the influence of his Holy Spirit into the light of the third angel’s message. “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8. “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5.
Says our Saviour, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matt. 11:29. How much we have to humble us, and keep us low before the Lord, if we look to the rock whence we were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence we were digged; if we look back on the days of our unregeneracy spent in sin and folly, and reflect on our ingratitude, inactivity, and numerous imperfections manifested since the Lord has called us by his grace. Let us look to Gethsemane and to Calvary, and feel humbled as we consider ourselves the cause of the Redeemer’s agonies and bitter death. Or if we look forward to the triumphant march into the city of the great King, with God’s seal in our foreheads, palms in our hands, and crowns upon our heads, eternal salvation granted or provided by free grace for such poor, vile, and unworthy creatures, let this be cause for humility.
Each and every one of these views is enough to lay us in the dust before the Lord. We ought to be humble, for God is humble. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly. Humility is a characteristic of saints. Ps. 34:2. The humble are heard of God; Ps. 9:12; 10:17; they enjoy the presence of God; Isa. 57:15; they are delivered by God; Job 22:29; they are lifted up by God; James 4:10; they are exalted by God; Luke 14:11; 18:14. Paul in his epistle to the Colossians, says, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering,” &c. Col. 3:12–14. And Peter adds, “Be clothed with humility.” 1 Pet. 5:5. The doctrines of the Bible are humbling; for they make man nothing, and Jesus all in all. Grace is naturally humbling, so that if we have much grace we shall have great humility. God loves humility. Saints admire humility. Heaven is the home of humility, and solid happiness springs from humility.
Dear reader, let us encourage humbling views of ourselves; and while we walk humbly with God, let us wear the garment of humility before our fellow-men, and ever bear in mind the words of the great apostle, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” Phil. 2:3; Gal. 5:26; Jas. 3:14.
M. Wood.
Self
SELF.—Do you want to know the man against whom you have the most reason to guard yourself? Your looking-glass will give you a fair likeness of his face.—Whately.