Your ShelfYour Projects

Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. XXXI, No. 8

The Sermon.

Advent Review and Sabbath Herald

Third-day, February 4, 1868

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, February 4, 1868

The Sermon.

By Wm. C. Gage

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; PREACH THE WORD. 2 Tim. iv, 2.

THE CONVENIENT SEASON.

BY WM. C. GAGE.
TEXT.— “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season I will call for thee.” Acts xxiv, 25.
By an examination of the context, we learn the circumstances which called forth these words. The apostle Paul had been summoned to appear before Felix, a Roman governor, to explain to him, and to his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, “concerning the faith in Christ.” “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled,” and made answer in the words of our text.
In presenting a few ideas in connection with this subject, we would inquire
I. TO WHOM IS THIS REPLY ADDRESSED?
The persons engaged in the conversation were Felix and the apostle. But as we examine the nature of Paul’s preaching, and the manner in which it was received, we shall see that although the reply is addressed personally to him, it is virtually a response to the monitions of the Holy Spirit. In proof of this we will notice
1. The nature of the preaching. The grand basis upon which the apostle founded all his gospel discourses, the law of God, is first presented to the attention of Felix. This is shown in the fact that Paul reasoned first of “righteousness,” which we might show by abundance of Scripture testimony, is conformity to the law of God. With all the eloquence of a cultivated tongue and a gifted intellect, he boldly and fearlessly pleads the integrity of a law which convicts men of sin; by which “all the world are become guilty before God;” and on account of the immutability of which the Son of God gave up his life for a guilty world.
He next reasons of temperance, concerning the violation of whose principles, as we learn from history, this proud ruler was exceedingly guilty. His unbridled passions had led him unto many an intemperate and sinful transgression, and upon this point we may imagine he was particularly sensitive.
His mind, thus wrought up by the searching pointedness of Paul’s preaching, is now prepared for the third point in his discourse: the judgment to come. A time in which God will try every work, and in which unrighteousness and intemperance will receive its just recompense of reward. A time in which all the secrets of men’s hearts will be revealed, all their motives searched out, and every deed examined in its true light. This kind of reasoning, pointed, close and logical, produced an impression upon the mind of the haughty Roman governor, and this brings us to notice,
2. The effect of this preaching. As his transgressions were thus laid open before him, and the enormity of his guilt made apparent, together with the certainty of a coming judgment, when all his sins would be reckoned against him, Felix trembled. This proves the presence of God’s Spirit. Without it, all the eloquence of Paul, with his clear reasoning and logical deductions, would have utterly failed to move upon the obdurate hearts of his listeners; with it, even a Felix is made to tremble. But, alas! the sweet promptings of the Holy Spirit are resisted, and the reply “Go thy way,” is urged against its influences, which if heeded might persuade him to be a Christian, and secure to him the favor of God in that coming day of judgment.
This plea illustrates the refusal of the awakened sinner to attend now to the matter of salvation, and as such, we will examine it further, considering
II. THE DANGER OF MAKING THIS PLEA.
The language of the text supposes that the one who urges this request intends at some future time to attend to the subject of the salvation of the soul. The conscience is awakened, the presentation of the law of God has convicted of sin, the need of Christ and the certainty of eternal death without him, are made apparent, and now is the accepted time.
How dangerous, then, to resist the Spirit’s influences. How unlikely that this combination of favorable circumstances will again occur. Continuation in sin hardens the conscience, deadens the sensibilities, and blinds the mind against the just claims of God’s righteous law.
The danger of this plea is further evinced in the fact that “this time” may be the last. The Spirit of God will not always strive with the hearts of men, and it may be grieved away for the last time. The preaching of the gospel or other influences which have awakened conviction now, may at another time utterly fail to produce a similar effect, and the sinner may become so hardened that even the thunders of Sinai would fail to again awaken to a sense of the awful danger of continuing in the transgression of God’s holy law.
Consider, also, the nature of this answer. Suppose that some earthly monarch or titled lord were to prepare a banquet and invite us to be present. Although we might have the best of reasons for not attending, reasons which would be sufficient under any circumstances, should we dare repulse the messenger by such an answer as “Go your way; wait my convenience for presenting your invitation?” Could we expect the invitation to be repeated and urged upon us, again and again, or should we not feel absolutely certain that even a civil refusal would be sufficient to cause the messenger to withdraw his presence immediately? And if we would not be thus disrespectful to a fellow-mortal, even although he comes in the capacity of a servant, what shall we do when the King of high Heaven comes to us by his Holy Spirit, and extends to us an invitation which we can have no reasonable excuse for refusing; an invitation not only to partake of the heavenly banquet at the marriage of the Lamb, but to dwell forever in the courts of his Royal Majesty? Would not a refusal under such circumstances be exceedingly hazardous? Were it not for the fact that the compassion of God is infinite toward poor fallen man, the fate of the person refusing would be inevitably fixed, and his doom forever sealed; but mercy still lingers, and time is yet measured out, while the sweet Spirit of God strives yet a little longer with the sons of men. Oh! beware, lest it be grieved away for the last time. Do not commit the fatal error of supposing your case an exception; that your desire to be saved will excuse you from making the necessary effort, for the work of preparation to meet the Lord is an individual work, one which each must perform himself. Those who are saved must make a mighty struggle, and improve upon every privilege and opportunity. There is none too much time to make preparation for the great day of final accounts, and certainly no one can afford to lose a single opportunity to make his “calling and election sure.”
But aside from the danger of making this plea, there is also another point involved, which we will briefly notice:
III. THE PRESUMPTUOUS MISTAKE.
1. The mistake made by those who thus reply to the Spirit of God, is apparent as we examine the nature of its office. This is a plea of convenience. “When I have a more convenient season I will call for thee.” One prominent tendency of the carnal heart is to consultits own convenience, not only in temporal matters, but in the more important business of securing eternal salvation. Thus we find that the vast majority of mankind, although willing and even anxious to be saved, come short of eternal life simply because they wait for a convenient time. By so doing they commit the mistake of supposing that the Spirit of God can be made subject to the beck and call of man. “I will call for thee.” What assurance have they that their call will be heeded? None at all. On the contrary, the probabilities are greatly against the idea, and they are likely to learn, sooner or later, the mistake they have committed.
Many a poor soul has grieved away the Spirit for want of a convenient opportunity to heed its warnings, and then when the time of convenience came,—the hour of sickness and distress, or the bed of death,—they have found their call insufficient to secure its soothing presence. Even their earnest, agonizing cries, imploring the consoling and quieting ministrations of the heavenly visitant, have failed to summon it to their side, and they have learned, alas! too late, the fatality of their mistake.
2. The presumption of this mistake is the feature which occasions us the greatest astonishment, as we examine the provisions God has made for fallen man.
First, the plan of salvation is devised. Although utterly undeserving of favor, a way has been provided, by which we may escape the justly-deserved penalty of God’s law, and have eternal life. The Son of God has given his life a ransom, that whosoever believeth on him shall never die, and although we may have been plunged into the depths of sin and degradation, so low even as to despise ourselves and loathe our very existence, yet the richness of God’s mercy is sufficient for us. Though our sins be as scarlet, we may by the blood of Christ be washed from every stain, and become in the sight of Heaven, as white as snow.
Secondly, God has placed in our hands a knowledge of this glorious plan. We have the Scriptures of divine truth, from whose sacred pages we may learn how to avail ourselves of this plan, and secure its benefits to the saving of our souls. The description of these merciful provisions is also accompanied by merciful warnings and instructions, by giving heed to which we may make salvation ours to enjoy, here and hereafter.
We are warned by the experience of others—those who have slighted or lightly heeded the offers of mercy, and in consequence have sealed their own destruction. We are comforted and instructed by the example of those who have remained steadfast in the midst of temptation and trials, having respect unto the recompense of reward, and by holding fast to the ways of truth and holiness until their course was finished and their battles all fought, have received the blessed assurance that a crown was laid up for them, to be given at the appearing of Jesus. We have, then, the plan of salvation, and a complete guide book or manual of instructions by which that plan may be made available. These two considerations alone should be sufficient to move the hearts of men with gratitude to God for his mercy. But as if to leave man without excuse another gracious provision is made:
Thirdly, the office and work of the Holy Spirit. Notwithstanding we have the plan provided, and a complete knowledge of its rich provisions placed within our reach, the mercy of God is still further manifested in the faithful and persuasive influences of his Holy Spirit, impressing these truths upon our hearts, and gently entreating us to make salvation the great work of our lives. It comes to us in the night-watches, in the providences of God, in the hearing of the preached Word, or in the reading of the Scriptures, setting home to our hearts the solemn truths of God’s word, and the necessity for our making sure work for eternity.
How presumptuous, therefore, is the great mistake committed by man in supposing that this gracious messenger can be summoned at his pleasure. When God has made so many promises it would seem that man ought to make all possible haste to turn in with the overtures of mercy, lest the golden opportunity be lost forever, and the voice of Mercy be silenced by that of stern Justice, calling for the execution of the penalty of violated law. Yet such is the hardness which sin imparts to the heart, and the blindness which it throws over the mind, that man even presumes to repel the advances of the Comforter until such a time as suits his own convenience.
How many, alas! in that great day of final accounts, will find they have committed the fatal mistake, and brought ruin and everlasting destruction upon their souls by refusing to heed the still small voice, and making now the time for preparation to meet God in peace.
And now a few remarks by way of application, and I leave the subject with you for contemplation and meditation. The foregoing principles are applicable in all ages and dispensations. Wherever the gospel was preached and mercy offered, whether to Adam or to Abraham, to the Jews or to the Gentiles, these ideas may be applied in all their force. But if there was ever a time when and a people to whom they are especially important, that time is now, and the people those who are heeding the voice of the third angel’s message.
As we look over the history of this cause, from its beginning unto the present time, we shall hardly find a year so full of importance as the year 1868 promises to be. The people of God are making an earnest, determined effort to arouse themselves, and be more energetic in the work of overcoming. Some are trying to heed the counsel of the true and faithful Witness, by purchasing of him the gold tried in the fire, by putting on the white raiment and by anointing their eyes with eye-salve.
And in this connection permit me to call your attention to this counsel, as found in Rev. iii, 14-21. If it is dangerous for the unconverted sinner to turn a deaf ear to the warning voice of God’s Spirit, how much more dangerous for the lukewarm, backslidden Christian, again and again to refuse to “hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” When the faithful Witness stands at the door of our hearts and knocks for admission, shall we not commit a presumptuous mistake by saying, “Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season I will call for thee?”
This, dear friends, is the convenient season. When God’s Spirit chooses to come unto us, yea, when we are especially invited to avail ourselves of the glorious privileges offered to those who will open the door to admit the true Witness, when we may partake of the repast made glorious by his presence,—then is the convenient season. No time is so well adapted to the work of zealous repentance, and the purchase of the true riches of His grace.
We are living in a time of great unbelief. The world at large is steeped in infidelity, and even some of those whom we had thought well grounded in the faith, are becoming infected with this spirit. How important, then, that we have faith, the gold tried in the fire; that faith which will pass the test of the crucible of affliction and trial, and like refined gold, come out purer and brighter for it all. What season can be more convenient than the present for us to learn our poverty, and to have a realizing sense of the fact that we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked. When the Spirit’s influence is being exerted upon our hearts, leading us to see the necessity for making thorough work, we shall be better able to take the necessary steps toward the purchase of the gold and the white raiment, that we may be truly rich, and have our nakedness covered from the gaze of our enemies and the enemies of truth.
The importance of this subject is increased by the importance of the times in which we live. If Felix trembled in view of a judgment to come, what should be the feelings of the backslider, who is living in the time when the “hour of his judgment is come.” If indeed we are now in the time “when judgment must begin at the house of God, . . . what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
Oh! let us consider well these things, and endeavor to have a just and proper appreciation of the solemnity of the times in which we live; and as we enter upon the duties of another year, let us form resolutions which will enable us to make greater progress in the work of overcoming than we have made during the past year. Let us profit by the experience of the past. Doubtless all of us, as we look back over the year just gone, can see many places where we have deviated from the straight and narrow path, and many things which have given us cause for deep and heartfelt sorrow and repentance. But let us commence the new year with a determination to improve upon the last.
This is an appropriate time for self-examination. Search the heart, and see if love for God and his truth are uppermost there. See if there is a leaning toward the world, and a lingering desire for its follies and fashions. If so, you have commenced the year wrong, and should immediately make a determined, earnest effort to get right, and make a start in the right direction.
But perhaps some are discouraged, and think the convenient season has passed with them, and that all their efforts would utterly fail to secure salvation. Be assured, dear friends, that if any feeling for your own case remains in your heart, any anxiety for your salvation, even although you may have grieved that Spirit many times, there is still a chance for you. A vigorous effort now, while the gracious messenger waits for you, may avail you much in the work of overcoming, and may finally result in your acceptance with God, and your salvation with his people on Mount Zion.
May we all feel the importance of making the present the convenient season to gain new strength, to covenant anew with the Lord, to search our hearts with a firm purpose to overcome, that those of us who are permitted in the providence of God to see the close of 1868, may be able to report progress in the work of overcoming, and increased strength of purpose to go through to the kingdom and to receive the crown of life to be given to all those that love the appearing of our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

BEAR THY CROSS.

By Mary E. Guilford

Would'st thou be clad in robes of white, The victor's crown upon thy brow, And stand on Zion's glorious height? Then bear thy cross in meekness now, For whoso beareth not his cross, Unworthy proves himself to be, Of Christ, who for us suffered loss, And bore our sins on Calvary.
If thou would'st make thy peace with him, And in his all-prevailing name Find pardon free from every sin, Then bear thy cross—despite the shame— And count it joy that for his sake Life's bitter burdens you can bear, And all your evil ways forsake, In Heaven's bright joys at last to share.
The saints' redemption draweth near: A few more days of care and grief, A few more days to toil on here, Then Christ will come and bring relief. Then meekly bear thy cross, until For thee shall dawn that brighter day. In all things strive to do God's will; His laws and precepts all obey,
That when the last loud trumpet's sound Shall bid the sleeping saints arise, You may with that glad throng be found, Who joyful will ascend the skies, Thy warfare ended, victory won, No more the heavy cross to bear, But safe within thy heavenly home, Eternal joys are thine to share.
MARY E. GUILFORD. Castalia, Ohio.

CONVERSATIONS ON IMPORTANT SUBJECTS. NO. 3.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.
Minister. Now, brethren, if you are ready, we will go on with our conversation. If any of you have any-thing further on your minds, be free to talk it out.
Sister C. Since our last meeting, I have been thinking much on the subject of the visions. No one can tell how I feel about it. You have removed many objections from my mind which have troubled me before. I cannot express how I have felt about this subject. I want to do just right. I am willing to make any sacrifice in the world to know the truth and obey God, but I cannot believe without evidence. I would give any thing in this world only to know whether Sr. White's visions are of God or not. The Lord knows my heart, that I want to be his child.
Min. Pardon me, Sr. C., but it is my candid opinion that you do not care to know whether her visions are of God or not. I do not believe you would give one dollar to know.
Sr. C. What! do you mean to say I lie?
Min. Not exactly that; but I think you are very much deceived about your willingness to sacrifice. Let me ask you a few questions. Have you read Sr. White's writings clear through? Have you studied them carefully?
Sr. C. No, I have not.
Min. Have you read her Testimonies?
Sr. C. No.
Min. Well, now, have you read them at all? Have you read any of them?
Sr. C. I confess that I have not.
Min. Have you not been able to buy them? They only cost a small sum, and if you could not have bought them, some one would have lent them to you.
Sr. C. Oh, yes! I know that; I have seen them on the stand a good many times for sale, and could have bought them if I had desired to; but I was afraid that if I should read them, I should believe them and be led away by them as others have been.
Min. Now you see that I told the truth. You have not interest enough in this matter to give ten cents to know about it. I do not believe you care enough about it to spend one day's time to get light upon it.
Sr. C. But I think you are altogether too severe upon me.
Min. Very well, let us see about that. You only live about ten miles from N.; Sr. White was there a short time ago and spent several weeks. She spoke a good many times, and had testimonies for several persons whom you knew. Did you attend those meetings?
Sr. C. I did not.
Min. Sr. White was at A. two Sabbaths, only a few miles from your house, where you often attend meetings. Did you hear her speak there?
Sr. C. Well, I confess that I did not.
Min. Well, have you ever sought a personal interview with Sr. W.,—asked her questions, or in any way tried to become acquainted with her, to know of what spirit she is, and what her character is?
Sr. C. No, I have not. There, I don't feel as though I cared to. I have heard so many stories that I do not know what to believe; but the Lord knows my heart, and how I have wept over this matter for days.
Min. I have not one particle of sympathy for your tears. You are deceived by the Devil. I repeat what I said on the start, You would not give one dollar, nor spend one day, nor go one mile, to know about this matter. You are willingly ignorant about it. You have had every opportunity to learn, but have improved none of them. You are prepared to believe every wicked report that is circulated about the visions, and totally unprepared to know anything in their favor. Suppose that one of your neighbors should be very desirous to know about the Sabbath question, but would neither attend meetings where the subject was discussed, nor read books upon it; would you have a great deal of faith in his desire to know about the Sabbath? You would not. We judge you by the same rule.
Bro. B. I think, Sr. C., that you have not taken the right course in this matter. You should have read and investigated the subject. I have done so to some extent, and I must say that I am very favorably impressed thus far. I hope you will take pains to get the visions and read them.
Sr. C. Perhaps I have looked at things in a wrong light.
Min. It leaves us no chance to say any thing to Sr. C. about the character of the visions, of their purity, and of their influence upon those who read them, &c., because she knows nothing about them, whether they are bad or good. If God has sent his servant to us with special warnings for these times, we cannot neglect them and be guiltless. If we do so, we shall soon find ourselves in the dark. This, I find is the case with all who oppose and neglect the visions. Ever since the message began, different men, at different times all the way along, have risen up and fought the visions, yet professed to believe the rest of the message. Now, have they prospered? Has God been with them? Has the cause advanced under their labors? They have started papers, published books, sent out preachers, &c., to preach the Sabbath and oppose the visions. Every time these persons have made a failure and come to naught. After a short time they generally give up the whole truth. I notice, also, that those members in different churches who are the strongest, are the ones who read the visions most, and have the utmost confidence in them. They are the pillars of the different churches. On the other hand I know of several in this vicinity, who have within the last year, as they themselves confess, backslidden and lost their religion by opposing the visions. This would not be so if the visions were not of God. This ought to teach us caution in this matter.
Bro. D. This thing has had as strong weight in my mind as anything I have seen in favor of the visions; that is, that those who oppose them invariably backslide and give up the truth, while those who endorse them have the blessing of God.
Min. Bro. G., how are you getting along in your investigation of the visions? Have you concluded they are of God, or not?
Bro. G. I have not fully made up my mind yet. I like them very well so far as I have read; but I do not wish to endorse a thing till I know the reasons why. When I see clearly that they are right, I will step out upon them as quick as any other man. You must give me time to investigate.
Min. That is very plausible, indeed; but I would like to know how long you have been investigating?
Bro. G. It has been about a year and a half since I have had the writings.
Min. You have had Spiritual Gifts and the Testimonies this length of time, have you?
Bro. G. Yes.
Min. Have you read them through?
Bro. G. No, I have not.
Min. Have you read them half through?
Bro. G. No, I have not done that.
Min. Have you read them any?
Bro. G. Well, I confess, the fact is, I have not read but a little in them; none to speak of. I have had so many other things to attend to, and my Bible to read, and other reading matter, that I could seem to get no time.
Min. You say that we must give you time to investigate, and that you cannot believe them until you are thoroughly informed and satisfied on the subject. It is my opinion, Bro. G., that at the rate you have been investigating since you began, you will need the whole temporal Millennium in which to decide; but, by the way, have you not in the mean time borrowed and read the book against the visions?
Bro. G. Well, yes! I—I did. I thought I would like to know what they had to say against them.
Min. Now, Bro. G., do you not see that this was entirely wrong? How could you tell whether their statements were true, whether their quotations from them were correct, or whether they did not misconstrue their meaning, unless you had first read the visions? Do you not see that you took the right course to fill your mind with doubt and prejudice against the visions before you had read them. You think that it did not have this effect on your mind; but I know that it did, because you have not had sufficient interest in the visions to read them. I hope you will see this in a different light, and take a different course.
Bro. B. I would like to ask again, why God should choose a woman for this important work. I know that he has used women before to give revelations to the world, but this seems to be a work of so much more importance that it looks different to me.
Min. I have several answers to give to that question. 1. As Jesus once said, so I think it is still: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.” This is one good reason. 2. Paul gives another good reason: “For I see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called; but God has chosen the foolish of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things that are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.” This is a good reason why God should choose one who would be despised by the world, instead of choosing some learned and eloquent man. In this way the power of God and his truth can be better shown.
Bro. B. I confess that this has been the way that God has always done in the past. I don't know as we should complain if he should choose to do the same now.
Bro. A. Can Sr. White have a vision concerning different individuals at any time she chooses?
Min. Far from it. She has no control of the matter. She cannot have a vision at any time she wishes, nor avoid having them if she would like.
Bro. A. But I would like to know how we can tell whether Sr. White's visions are from the Lord or not. Others, also, profess to have visions, and to be prophets and teachers, and to come with special messages from the Lord. They will even show signs and wonders, do great cures, reveal secrets, &c. I don't know whom to believe, nor whom to disbelieve.
Min. There is a rule in the Bible by which to prove all men. 1. The prophet says, “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them.” This is an infallible rule by which to try men. If any one claims to be a teacher sent from God, who teaches men to disregard or lightly estimate the law of God, or to go contrary to it, we may be sure that he is a false prophet; but, on the other hand, if the burden of his testimony is to reprove men for breaking the law of God, if it is to exalt the character of that law before men, teach its sacredness and obligation upon us; if he will even do this at the risk of incurring the displeasure and wrath of his fellow-men, because it is unpopular and opposed by the mass; if he does all this, you may take it as one of the best of evidences that that man is from God. Do you not think that this is so?
Bro. A. Oh, yes! that is manifestly so; for nothing else but the fear of God would prompt them to this.
Min. Very well; now you formally believe in the Sabbath and the law of God. You know that they are unpopular and opposed by the world. You also are well aware that the burden of Sr. White's testimony from the very beginning has been particularly on this point?
Bro. A. Yes, that is a strong evidence to my mind that her testimonies are from the Lord.
Min. Christ has also given a rule by which to try them: “Ye shall know them by their fruits,” said he. Now I appeal to you who have read her testimonies, and have heard her speak, whether the fruit of them is not good, whether the reading of them does not cause you to fear for yourself, that you do not imitate Christ closely enough; whether they do not cause you to search your heart more closely, to read the word of God more, to pray more, to be less worldly and more devoted to God, to be more strict in your daily life, in your walk and conversation? Do they not lead you to the word of God instead of from it? Do they not reprove sin, rebuke wickedness, and expose wrongs and hypocrisies?
Bro. A. Yes, I verily acknowledge that they do all of that, and more too. I am pretty well satisfied that a deceiver would not teach thus.
Bro. D. Yes, this has always been a strong evidence to my mind that the visions were of God. I could see no other reason why Sr. White should do and suffer what she does, and teach as she does, unless the Lord was in it. False prophets teach for gain; hence they will always preach peace, and flatter their followers, that they may be applauded and supported by them. Reproving and rebuking wrong is no part of a false teacher's work.
Bro. E. Yes, we all know that false teachers never do that; on the other hand, the burden of Sr. White's testimony is the rebuking of individuals for their wrongs, and often, too, those who are her very best friends. This shows, to my mind, that she feels compelled to do it by the Lord.
Bro. B. Well, brethren, I have listened to this conversation with great interest. I have had many objections to the visions, and I think they are about gone. I see things in a different light from what I have before. As it is now about time to retire, I wish we might have another meeting to-morrow, and have more present, and have some other things talked over.
Min. Very well, I will meet you to-morrow, and as many more as will come.
CARVING CHARACTER.—Did you ever watch a sculptor slowly fashioning a human countenance? It is not moulded at once. It is not struck out at a single blow. It is painfully and laboriously wrought. A thousand blows rough-cast it. Ten thousand chisel-points polish and perfect it, put in the fine touches, and bring out the features and expression. It is a work of time; but at last the full likeness comes out, and stands fixed and unchanging in the solid marble. So does a man carve out his own moral likeness. Every day he adds something to the work. A thousand acts of thought and will, and efforts, shape the features and expressions of the soul. Habits of love, piety, and truth, of falsehood, passion, or goodness, silently mould and fashion it, till at length it wears the likeness of God, or the image of a demon.

Comments on Romans xiv, 5, 6.

By M. E. Williams

Wm. Patton, D. D., in the Cottage Polyglott Testament, says: “Verse 5. Another esteemeth.] The apostle is here speaking of the Jewish fasts and festivals; and of course his observations do not regard the Sabbath which was instituted at the creation; and which, being a type of ‘the rest that remaineth for the people of God,’ must continue in force, as all types do, till the antitype, or thing signified, takes place; that is, till the consummation of all things.”
Had I ceased to read here, I should have concluded the writer was an observer of the Sabbath, of course; for though he calls the Sabbath a type, instead of a memorial, yet, as it was to last till the consummation of all things, he is under obligation to keep it until that time. But lo! his comment on verse 6 reads thus “ ‘To the Lord he doth not regard it.’ Perhaps the English idiom, and the true sense of the words would be better preserved by rendering, ‘He that disregardeth the day, to the Lord he disregardeth it.’ This, we apprehend, refers only to the Judaic holidays, and especially to the seventh-day Sabbath, to which the Gentiles, having adopted the first day of the week instead, might reasonably refuse conformity.”
Surely, thought I, this D. D. has crept out of a very small hole, so small that I cannot perceive it.
Worse than the fox of the desert with his seven holes, which, if you stop up one, speedily makes his way out at another, this man shuts up his only one, and in a moment you find him out on the other side. It reminds me of the man of whom the poet sang, who had a long and beautiful cue, which hung behind him, but which he desired should hang before, that he might with greater ease admire its beauties; who imagined if he turned him about he should accomplish his desire. So he turned round and round, but all in vain; the cue would still persist in hanging behind him. Only, it seems that this man in turning about imagines he has accomplished his object. For one moment he tells us the Sabbath must continue in force till the end of all things; the next, it is of no consequence, and we may disregard it. One moment, it is not a Jewish festival; the next, it is nothing else. If he had only explained to my dull comprehension how he got there, it would have been a satisfaction.
I would like to ask what right the Gentiles had to adopt the first day of the week, instead of a day which was to continue till the consummation of all things?
M. E. WILLIAMS.
Randolph, N. Y.
Continue reading: Report of the Battle Creek Bible Class.