Review and Herald, Vol. 32, No. 19. (11/3/1868)

Review and Herald

Nov 3, 1868

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 3, 1868

CONDITIONS OF BECOMING HEAVENLY HEIRS.

By H. G. Buxton

BY H. G. BUXTON.

TEXT.— “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Cor. vi, 17, 18.

This scripture is of vital interest to the remnant people of God, as it proposes all they are now hoping and struggling for; viz., becoming children of the heavenly kingdom. This text naturally divides itself into two parts:

1. Present duty.　II. The reward.

I. In the first we see three successive steps mentioned: 1. Come out from among them.　2. Be ye separate.　3. Touch not the unclean thing.

The most noticeable events in the history of the church of God in the old dispensation were their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, their trials and journeyings in the wilderness, and final entrance into the earthly Canaan; and the events most noticeable in the experience of the church in this dispensation, are their fitting up, passing through trials, and translation into the heavenly Canaan.

We think there are points of striking similarity between these two great events; and, as we are surely the people of whom they were the type, we do well to take heed, and notice briefly some of their experience in connection with ours, especially, as Paul says, “Now all these things happened unto them for types [margin], and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” 1 Cor. x, 11, 12.

We remark first, that the first verse of the text contains a general summing up of, or conclusion drawn from, verses 14 and 15 of the same chapter, in which the apostle warns his Corinthian brethren against marriage, or union in any form, with unbelievers; and as God was thus particular to have his people separate and holy in the apostle’s day, as well as in the times of ancient Israel, will he not be equally so with the remnant? He is a God that changes not. Mal. iii, 6. And now we will proceed in a more specific manner with the steps heretofore mentioned.

1. What is it to “come out from among them”? In this clause the Lord addresses his people. Now if we can ascertain to whom the “them” refers, it will enable us to understand, in a measure, from what they are to “come out.” The great Advent movement of the past has developed a people looking for the Son of Man from Heaven. What did they do? Came out of the fallen churches and the world by scores and hundreds, and united in a body in church capacity; and now through the third angel’s message, God is calling to honest souls, “Come out;” and in a little from this, in the latter rain, the cry will go in mighty power to Babylon, or these churches, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and receive not of her plagues.”

But this has, and will, cost persecution and a great mental struggle, even as Israel was troubled by Pharaoh in not letting them go. See Ex., chaps. vii–x. Shall any who hear this message and see this people, hesitate to join them? Had any refused to unite with the body of Israel in Egypt, what would have been their fate? They would have been destroyed by the plagues. What became of those who saw the truth in 1843–4, but would not unite with the body? They were left to make shipwreck of their faith, and be snared by Satan. So in the future, the seven last plagues will come upon all but the 144,000, who are one perfect body. May the Lord help all his children to have moral courage to unite with the body, and experience the blessings and union of church organization.

But by thus coming out, are God’s people perfected? No; like the trees of the forest cut down and drawn to the place of building, they need to be trimmed and hewed. We then proceed to the next step, and inquire,

2. What is it to be separate? Here a good many limbs are to be taken off, and much wisdom is needed in doing the work. In uniting with the body of God’s people—commandment-keepers—have we not brought from the world and churches many habits, customs, and ways of thinking, that God’s people should not have, and which will exclude us from among the “holy ones” in the kingdom? Some of these we will notice. As before remarked, we think Paul teaches that it is wrong for believers to marry unbelievers, as light can have no communion with darkness; for then both become darkness. And again, “What! know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall he be one flesh.” 1 Cor. vi, 16. What did God say to his ancient people, on this subject? “Neither shalt thou make marriages with them. Thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods.” Deut. vii, 3, 4. “Else if ye do in anywise go back and cleave unto the remnant of these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.” Joshua xxiii, 12, 13. Please read Neh. xiii, 23–27.

There is a custom of unbelievers’ going to law one with another. Paul says to believers: “But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers. Now, therefore, there is utterly a fault among you because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren.” 1 Cor. vi, 6–8. And we think it advisable for us to heed the directions Paul gives, deviating only in cases of extreme necessity, with much wisdom.

Politics. In this we think those who love the coming and setting up of the everlasting kingdom will not have much interest nor duty to patronize secular newspapers, political gossip, or help place men in office, who in a little time will issue laws against these commandment-keepers. Rev. xiii, 15–17. Neither will God’s children find it consistent with duty to bear arms in the government. Our coming King said to his disciples, “Put up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword,” Matt. xxvi, 52; “My kingdom is not of this world, then would my servants fight, if my kingdom were of this world.” John xviii, 36.

Our Heavenly Father here gives us a privilege and responsibility of winning our friends to the truth, and not of their drawing us away from the truth, however minutely; and in all our intercourse, whether by writing or visiting, to use such opportunities; not to engage in neighborhood gossip and the pernicious practice of “taking tea,” so-called, of going so far toward their sympathy as to mention even a single fault or trial of our brethren and sisters; but to carry these latter to the Lord and to those only whom they concern. And right here how important the words, Remember Lot’s wife. Here Satan will use his most intricate and insinuating devices. And right here, too, Jesus says, “If any man love father, or mother, or houses, or lands, more than me, he is not worthy of me;” and he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my father, mother, brother, and sister. And Paul gives some testimony relative to our company, in 1 Cor. v, 9–11. But we should embrace every occasion to speak and practice the truth, and, if possible, get such a hold of their interest and affections as to win them to serve the Lord.

The society of God’s children will be dearer to us than all other. Consider our father Abraham leaving his home and kindred. Consider the children of Israel being separate in interest and business from all around them. Consider good, old Noah; and then those who “have their conversation in Heaven,” and are living soberly, righteously, godly, &c. Have we neighbors whom we think we ought to visit? It will not take many months to test them; and if there are then no signs of their obeying the truth, and we continue their company as intimate as ever, it would seem that we have other interest besides the truth, and place ourselves on dangerous ground.

We are now brought to the polishing of the sticks of timber, and thus preparing them to enter into the frame of the building; and this leads us to inquire.

3. What is it to “touch not the unclean”? The first verse of the next chapter, 2 Cor. vii, has an intimate connection with, and throws some light upon, this question: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God;” and further, “I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Rom. xii, 1. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Cor. iii, 16, 17. Here, then, we find a cleansing of the body, or commencing to obey the laws of health, in order to have a place ready for God’s Spirit to dwell in. Is any such work as this going on among us? Yes; the health reform. Then, in walking out in all the light of this reform, we shall be cleansed and receive the finishing work. Well, says one, this don’t seem to me to have much to do with getting into the kingdom of God.

Listen to the holy apostle: “For this ye know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Eph. v, 5. Here disobedience to the laws of health, including “secret sins,” which it is the province of the gift of prophecy to reprove and correct, is among the things that shut persons out of the kingdom. Was any such work as this given to ancient Israel? “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.” Isa. lii, 11; also, Ex. xxix, 4; xv, 26; xvi, 4–35; Lev. xi–xv; Num. xi, 4–6; xv, 38–40; Deut. xxii, 5.

Now hear Paul speak of Israel, concerning this subject, in 1 Cor. x, 5–10: “But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”

This has a most forcible application to the “remnant.” The lesson we derive from it is, that we should not fall away from the health reform and other cleansing truths, as ancient Israel did from theirs. “Now all these things happened unto them for types; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Cor. x, 11. We cannot here speak in detail of the health reform, but only as a whole, showing its all-important work in making clean vessels to receive the “latter rain.” My brethren, are we temperate in all things? Temperance is one of the Christian graces. 2 Pet. i, 6. The truly temperate man is the only consistent man that lives.

At this point in the comparison, the sticks are ready to be placed in “the building, fully framed together, growing unto an holy temple in the Lord,” Eph. ii, 21, by the reception of the latter rain. We will now consider

II. The reward.

1. What is it? “I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you; and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” What a heart-cheering, soul-inspiring promise is this! to be received at the court of Heaven, and belong to the royal line; yes, even to become sons and daughters of the King of that heavenly clime; have all the love and protection that the great God of Heaven can bestow; receive all the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, referred to by Daniel, in chap. vii, 27, “And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him;” which Isaiah more fully describes in chap. lxv, 17–25; also, to which Paul alludes, in Gal. iii, 29: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise;” and which are more recently revived in the hearts of God’s children (Spir. Gifts, vol. i, pp. 209, 210), which we have not space to notice.

2. When will it be given? We begin to receive, when we commence to serve the Lord; and it comes more fully and freely as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, enabling us to cry, “Abba Father,” and to come boldly to the throne of grace and cast all our burdens upon our Father; and it is more fully given when “the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. iv, 16–18. Yes; deep comfort do these words afford to those striving to become heirs of Heaven.

My brethren, the remnant of the Israel of God, expecting his Son from Heaven and an entrance through the gates of massive pearl, are you weary? Anew, your journey pursue. Does the way seem rough? “It cannot be long; I’ll smooth it with hope, and I’ll cheer it with song.”

My whole being flows in gratitude to God for the privilege of having a place to work and to suffer in these things, so as to receive the “more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Shall not the heavenly inheritance make us content to be poor in this world, if rich in faith? Shall not the lovely society of the whole family in Heaven induce us to be amiable and truly polite to our companions, our children, our brethren, and all around us? Shall not the ceaseless round of worship in Heaven incite us to be punctual in secret prayer, to maintain the family altar all the time, and to attend public worship? Shall not the perfect obedience of every created being in Heaven to law, induce us to be “willing, and obedient” to law, both physical and moral; and so we become sons and daughters of the Lord, and have “an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” in obedience to coming out, being separate, and being clean, assisted by the Spirit and availing blood of Jesus. Amen.

THE INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT.

By L. M. Gates

And is the righteous Judgment near? And must my life, disclosed, appear Before the eyes of One, Who is of purer heart and eye One sin to pass unheeded by, Uncanceled by his Son?

Must every idle word and thought Be fully in subjection brought? And every motive pure? Must selfishness be laid aside, Impatience, envy, malice, pride, That I the test endure?

Must I most full confession make, That 'gainst my name, for Jesus' sake, Pardon may be engraved? That every sin may be erased, The whole dark catalogue effaced, And I forever saved?

Most solemn thought! ’tis even so; And every thing I say, and do, Is chronicled on high. Forbid, O Lord, that I be found Asleep upon enchanted ground, Nor watch thy coming nigh.

L. M. GATES.

Dodge Co., Wis.

PERILOUS TIMES.

By M. C. Cyphers

NEVER was there a time when the human heart was so fully given to selfish interests as at the present. Go where you may, in whatever society you mingle, a day's sojourn will convince you that men everywhere are seeking their own pleasure and profit. These are, indeed, sad times. The Spirit of God has about ended its important work with the children of men. Many have resisted the admonitions for the last time. It has withdrawn itself from them forever.

The testimonies that God has been pleased to give his people have revealed the sad fact, that we, as a body, do not possess that self-sacrificing spirit that characterised the believers in the first message. Do we believe that these messages are from Heaven? Is it a reality to us that Jesus is about to shut the door? Then there will be no more mercy for us. The last opportunity to do good will be past. We can no more relieve the fatherless, nor make glad the widow's heart. Then it will be known who are truly the Lord's. He will keep his people. But we have not reached that time. Thank God, probation lingers. Mercy still whispers, Pardon, to the repentant heart.

A few will overcome; they will possess the character of Christ, without fault, and blameless, in wide contradistinction to that large company that will fall a prey to the seven last plagues.

M. C. CYPHERS.

Greenville, Mich.

A SKETCH OF EXPERIENCE.

By G. W. MITCHELL

In the fore part of 1842, two small tracts fell into my hands; one by Wm. Miller, of Low Hampton, N. Y., the other by Lewis H. Hersey, Boston, Mass. Both contained the same startling declaration, that the twenty-three hundred days, of the prophecy of Daniel, ended in 1843. I read, and believed. The Midnight Cry fell into my hands in the same manner. I took, and read, it until it ceased to be published. In 1844 I attended a meeting at McConnelsville, Ohio, where I heard Wm. Miller, J. V. Himes, and others, lecture on the first angel's message. After that I was a reader of the Advent Herald until 1860. I knew not what was going on outside of the Advent Herald; although I was aware of something being said on the Sabbath question; but the editor of that paper calmed the waves so nicely that I only saw a gentle ripple.

In 1844, I got possession of the works of Elds. French, Fitch, and Storrs, on the Life and Death question. I read, and saw that man had no immortality by creation, or, at least, he lost all claim to it at the fall.

In 1857, I heard of Advent papers, issued at Battle Creek, Mich., and saw a small tract claiming the seventh day to be the Sabbath. This I was disposed to believe, but I had grown cold, and was almost lost in the cares of the world. But it pleased the Lord to trouble me, and that tribulation compelled me to visit Iowa City, where I met with Seventh-day Adventists who gave me their books to read. Among these was a work on the sanctuary, and twenty-three hundred days of Daniel. I examined it, and believed the truth set forth. The fact is, I had only given my assent to the teaching that the earth was the sanctuary; for I considered the argument very weak. Then I read, to my astonishment, that the earth was to roll on in silence for one thousand years after the second coming of the Lord Jesus. This was just what I needed; for the idea of the wicked dead rising out of the new earth was irreconcilable with the views I had imbibed of the destiny of the unjust. Then I read, and saw that the two-horned beast of Rev. xiii, was the symbol of the United States.

This I had no trouble in believing, as the testimony was clear, and besides this, I had never fully subscribed to any of the conflicting theories that the two-horned beast was the Roman Hierarchy—the Eastern Empire of Greece and Turkey, or that it was France and Italy under Napoleon the first.

Then I saw the claims of the fourth commandment, and commenced keeping the Sabbath, August, 1861. Then the errors of the trinity were dispelled, and I saw, for the first time, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Then the law of God, as a basis of both the old and new covenants, the cause and nature of conviction, of repentance, of conversion, the atonement, the seal of the living God, the new birth, etc., came in like floods of light. Praise God, O my soul, for such heavenly wisdom.

Then the visions of Sr. White were handed to me, and I read a few chapters, but did not commit myself, as I read with indifference. But some months after, I read Spiritual Gifts, and Testimonies for the Church, with care, and found my mind filled with solemnity; for I believed they were dictated by the Spirit of truth.

Then the health reform was presented, and I saw the necessity of taking hold of it. I had lectured on temperance, and given my voice against the use of tobacco, in 1840; but I concluded that the story was only half told, as I saw there was more intemperance in eating than in drinking. But the great trial with me was to quit the use of coffee. It was the only stimulant I used, and to give it up was almost like taking off my right arm, and I am not yet free from its temptations. Then to obey the second angel's message required some courage; for I had united with the church when a

student, in New York City, and to separate from my kind brethren in the West, was making some sacrifice.

And now, in reviewing my past life, I am astonished at the goodness and mercy of God toward me, at my conversion, the glorious truths of the three angels' messages, Spiritual Gifts, the health reform, &c. What do I owe to him? Eternal obedience to his law and the sayings of Jesus. But to overcome appears, at times, almost too great a task; for I am so weak, so vile, compared with the requirements of God's holy law. I am sad and weary, having been so long alone, surrounded by scoffers and persecutors. The only Seventh-day Advent messengers I ever heard were Elds. Snook and Brinkerhoff, and where are they?

Brethren and sisters, please remember me in your prayers. It is the first time I ever asked you, this being my first communication for the REVIEW.

Yours striving to overcome.

G. W. MITCHELL.

Zanesville, Ohio.

And the Spirit of the Lord Began to Move Him at Times

By Mary W. Howard

“And the Spirit of the Lord Began to Move Him at Times.” Judges xiii, 25.

MY attention was riveted as I read these words. How many times I had passed carelessly over them without receiving any impression, I will not attempt to say. The fact is known to all, that in different positions of mind sentiments sink into the heart, when at other times the same presentations pass unheeded, making no impression. But as I read it this time, I was thinking, why am I not now as in days that are gone? I had been reading the confession of a brother in REVIEW, No. 13. The force of each word seemed so truthfully applicable to myself (only, unhappily, I had not the frankness to confess it,) that it made me reflect.

At times, I had mourned that the Spirit of the Lord moved me less frequently than before, and wondered that an abiding presence could not be enjoyed, and sometimes had even been almost ready to discredit the evidence of my own experience. I was conscious that this was sorrowful proof of my spiritual relapse—a relapse that I fear still holds me in thrall, though I do desire to hear, as it were, a voice behind me, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. Ah! can it be that there lies the root of the declension? Have I heard the voice, but refused to walk in the way? Sad examples of such derelictions are, alas, too frequent, not only in the past, but present.

Of old, Balaam and Judas were each favored of the Lord. Unto Balaam, prophetic visions were opened; and Judas enjoyed the sweet fellowship of Jesus and the disciples; but to what good purpose? Former manifestations and experiences availed not for them. Balaam came, ere the end of his career, to be designated as “Balaam the soothsayer,” Joshua xiii, 22; and Judas’ sad history is familiar to all. Matt. xxvii, 3-5.

Balaam, although unwilling to take the necessary care to live the life of the righteous, had prayed, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.” Num. xxiii, 10. When importuned, he had said, “I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord,” yet the apostle tells us that he “loved the wages of unrighteousness;” and so we infer that the motives of his heart decided his destiny; that, being let down step by step from his better position, when he had been held in check, when he had heard the words of God, known the knowledge of the Most High, and seen the visions of the Almighty, Num. xxiv, 4, 16; or, perhaps, pushed upward by the flatteries or bribes of mistaken friends, to a dizzy, bewildering height, he had fallen from the favor of God, and “Balaam the soothsayer” became his fitting designation. Before the sacred historian drops him as a prophet, his eager looking toward worldly emolument, obtained for him the command to go as he desired; yet we are told that “the anger of the Lord was kindled against him, because he went.” Num. xxii, 22.

In Balaam, we see illustrated the responsibility of so living that “we serve our generation by the will of God.” It is written for our warning and example. Let his course lead others to beware, lest a like disastrous forfeiture of rectitude become theirs.

MARY W. HOWARD. Malone, N. Y., Oct. 11, 1868.

IS THE SABBATH JEWISH?

By Francis Gould

We answer, It is not. Such an idea has no foundation in truth. There is a large class of individuals at the present day, who tell us that the Sabbath was made exclusively for the Jews, and that it was numbered among the types, shadows, and carnal ordinances of the ceremonial law, which was nailed to the cross at the crucifixion of Christ.

In order to elucidate clearly the point before us, that the Sabbath of the Lord is not Jewish, it may be proper to notice, first, at what time in the history of our world the Jews originated. We cannot trace them back prior to Abraham. The Scriptures declare him to be the father of that nation. The Jews themselves call Abraham their father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. Art thou greater than our father Abraham which is dead? and the prophets are dead; whom makest thou thyself? John viii, 39, 53. The word Jew is derived from Judah, the grandson of Abraham. The Jews were identified as the true people of God, from their earliest existence to the time when the partition wall was broken down at the ushering in of the gospel dispensation.

But what about the Sabbath? We find it stands as an existing institution long before the Jews originated, and was in force as a rule of moral action, and as a portion of the law of God to develop character, and lead men to honor his holy and righteous government. The Bible plainly sets forth that the Sodomites were sinners before the Lord, exceedingly. Gen. xiii, 13. How came they to be sinners? We learn from the Scriptures that “where there is no law there is no transgression, and sin is the transgression of the law.” They could not have been sinners unless they had transgressed some existing law. What law was it? It must have been the law of ten commandments, which was afterward written on two tables of stone.

The Sabbath was instituted in the garden of Eden. “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Gen. ii, 2, 3.

The types of the ceremonial law related to the great plan of human redemption, and pointed forward to Christ; and at his death that law was taken out of the way. But the Sabbath points back to the creation of the world, and is a sign, token, or memorial, of God’s creative work. “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Ex. xxxi, 16, 17. We learn from the above scriptures that the Sabbath is not Jewish, nor a type, but a memorial between God and Israel forever, that Israel should remember God, and the works which he had made. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, night unto night sheweth knowledge. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Ps. xix, 1, 2; xxiv, 1, 2.

But there arises a query, in the minds of some, who constitute Israel. Some tell us that the term means only the natural descendants of Abraham, the Jews; we think that such a view cannot be correct. The Scriptures use it in another sense. The meaning of the word Israel is “Prince of God.” We are informed that Jacob wrestled with the angel of God till the break of day, and he prevailed with God. The angel said unto Jacob, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God, and with men, and hast prevailed. Gen. xxxii, 28. We infer from this, that all righteous persons, whose ways please God, and who walk and prevail with God from day to day, whose faith and works are accepted before him, are, with Jacob, virtually called princes of God, and hence constitute the true Israel; and where we find the true Israel, we find the Sabbath, irrespective of any nation, or particular class of people.

Paul clearly sets forth the subject. Let us hear him: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. iii, 16, 29. Also in Rom. ix, 6, 8, we find the following declaration: “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. But who are the children of promise? They are those who keep the commandments of God, the conditions on which the promise is based. The Jews did not fulfill those conditions. “Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, (the ten commandments, see Deut. iv, 13,) then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. And all the people answered together, and said, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Ex. xix, 5, 6, 8. The Jewish nation did not fulfill the conditions of the covenant according to agreement, consequently God took away the promise from them, and transferred, or gave it to another people, a people who loved to revere and honor God by fulfilling the conditions of his holy covenant.

Again, we learn from Rom. xi, that the Jews are compared to a good olive tree, but, through unbelief, many of the natural branches were broken off. Those that remained stood by faith in the promises of God. And in reference to those that are broken off, Paul says, “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in.” Rom. xi, 23. The partition wall being removed, the Gentiles, all who stand by faith, are grafted in among them, so that they become one people, and one tree. The prophet had a view of this grafting process, when he said, After those days saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jer. xxxi, 33. The third angel’s message, the last message of mercy, is calculated to finish the work, uniting those who will come to Christ the living vine, and making up the breach in the law of God by the restoration of the Sabbath of the Lord, which has been trodden down by the wicked powers of earth. Dear reader, may it be said of us, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. xxii, 14.

FRANCIS GOULD.

Stowe, Vt.

ON THE OTHER SIDE.

We go our ways in life too much alone; We hold ourselves too far from all our kind; Too often are we deaf to sigh and moan; Too often to the weak and helpless, blind; Too often, where distress and want abide, We turn and pass upon the other side.

The other side is trodden smooth, and worn By footsteps passing idly all the day; Where lie the bruised ones who faint and mourn Is seldom more than an untrodden way. Our selfish hearts are for our feet the guide; They lead us by upon the other side.

It should be ours the oil and wine to pour Into the bleeding wounds of stricken ones; To take the smitten, and the sick and sore, And bear them where a stream of blessing runs. Instead, we look about,—the way is wide, And so we pass upon the other side.

O friends and brothers, gliding down the years, Humanity is calling each and all In tender accents, born of grief and tears! I pray you listen to the thrilling call! You cannot, in your selfishness and pride, Pass guiltless by upon the other side.

Victor Hugo Predicts Revolution in France

VICTOR HUGO predicts a revolution in France if Napoleon lives two years longer.

DRIFTING.

Such is the condition of those who are clinging to a theory which, in some of its parts, is out of harmony with the word of God. In their endeavors, when put under pressure, to make such parts harmonize with the word, they are obliged to change and modify, which throws other parts of their theory out of joint; and thus they are driven from one point to another, like a mariner drifting on the ocean without anchor or rudder.

We have an illustration of this in those who hold the view that the earth is to be renewed for the habitation of the saints, immediately on the second appearing of Christ. The difficulty involved in this view is this: The resurrection and final destruction of the wicked are placed by the Bible one thousand years after the second appearing of Christ and the resurrection of the saints. Rev. xx, 1-6. If, then, the earth is made new at Christ's second coming, we have the countless hosts of the wicked dead, slumbering in the bosom of the new earth. And how could the earth be renewed, melted with fervent heat, and made over throughout, pure and free from the effects of the curse, and the guilty dust of the wicked remain untouched? Then we have the wicked raised out of the new earth, at the end of the thousand years, come up over its fair surface like the locusts upon Egypt, drive the saints back into the city, and finally perish by fire from God out of Heaven. All this upon the new earth! according to this view. But this is a difficulty of sufficient magnitude to endanger the stability of any theory which adopts it as a component part.

That such a point could long remain without some effort at re-adjustment, so as to harmonize it with reason, if not with Scripture, was not to be expected; and the attempt has at length been made. Wm. Sheldon comes out in the Voice of the West, of Oct. 27, 1868, with an article headed, “We do not claim that the Wicked will rise out of the New Earth.” What, then, does he claim? Why, that the resurrection of the wicked is at the same time with the resurrection of the righteous, and not a thousand years afterward, as Rev. xx so plainly states. Here is a full acknowledgment of the difficulty; and such is Mr. S.'s anxiety to get out of it, that he does not hesitate to undertake to explain away one of the plainest scriptures in all the Bible, to accomplish his purpose.

He attempts to justify his present position from the declarations that the tares are to be gathered and burned in the end of this world; that the wicked are to go away into everlasting punishment when the righteous go into life eternal, and that those who know not God, and obey not the gospel, shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, when he comes to be glorified in his saints. These statements, he says, prove that the wicked are punished at the end of this age, and not a whole age afterward, which would be a second punishment, and necessitate a second judgment, which is more than the Scriptures warrant. These scriptures which he quotes do not alter the testimony of Rev. xx; but if the interpretation he gives of them is correct, they prove the non-resurrection of at least a portion of the wicked. So far, then, he is simply playing into the hands of the non-resurrectionists, without relieving the difficulty of his own position. He says: “It is all clear in my own mind now, after having been befogged for many years.” We think, though he seems to imagine that now all is clear, that he is getting deeper into the fog than ever before.

We submit to the reader if the following is not more reasonable: Let the scriptures, above quoted, apply only to the living wicked when Christ comes; and this does not militate against a resurrection when the wicked are raised to answer for their own personal doings; let the earth remain desolate a thousand years, as described by the prophet, Isaiah, while the saints are in the New Jerusalem, the mansions of the Father's house above, reigning with Christ, judging the world and fallen angels, 1 Cor. vi, 2, 3; that is, apportioning the punishment due according to the record of their deeds. At the end of the thousand years the saints and the city come down, the wicked dead are raised from the earth, which has rolled on in silence and gloom for a thousand years, and come up around the city, the camp of the saints. Fire comes down from God out of Heaven, the elements, and the earth also, melt with fervent heat, the perdition of ungodly men takes place, and from the fire that destroys sinners root and branch, the earth comes forth purified, to be the eternal abode of the saints.

With this view there is nothing out of harmony, and no explaining away of scripture necessary; but we have a straightforward and natural order of events, that accords with reason, and is sustained by revelation.

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