Earlier text: The AtonementTHE AGE TO COME.
By R. F. Cottrell
THE doctrine that is served out under this title gives no place for the proclamation of the third angel's message. Consequently one or the other must be false. If the threatening and the outpouring of wrath so dreadful is to take place in the age to come, instead of a glorious age it will be an age of woe. Deliver me from anything worse than the age we live in. If the severest threatening of wrath, and the only one of unmingled wrath in the Bible applies over there, it must be a worse age than any that shall have preceded it. And this is called a glorious age to come. The message does not apply there. There is no possible place for it to apply except just before the second advent. And it is evident that probation closes with the close of the message. Then there will be no probation in the age to come. If no probation, there will be no such age—an age of a thousand years of mortality without probation. No use whatever of such an age. Christ is now a merciful High Priest. With the close of his ministration in the temple of God in heaven, he will put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and come to "repay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies." Isa. lix. Probation then will have closed; for he says, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be." Rev. xxii, 11, 12. This text applies itself to the second advent, and proves that there will be no conversions in the age to come. When Christ, who now offers mercy to sinners, says, Let them be filthy still, they will remain as they then are till every man is rewarded according to his works. It is essential to salvation that Christ should enter into the heavenly holy places to offer the merits of his own blood to cleanse us from sin. Heb. ix, 11-14, 23-24. He enters them but once. Verses 12, 25-28. Therefore none can be saved by his blood after he comes "the second time without sin unto salvation." All the wicked once dead, there can be none of them living upon the earth till they have a resurrection. This cannot take place till a thousand years from the first resurrection which takes place at the second advent. Rev. xx, 4, 5. Therefore the earth will remain desolate of wicked men for one thousand years. During this thousand years the saints will reign with Christ. Where? Not on the earth still lying under the curse, and desolated by it. Isa. xxiv, 6. They will be caught up to meet the Lord at his coming. 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. They would go to be with Christ and behold his glory, that glory that he had with the Father before the world was. Jno. xvii, 24. Christ is gone to his Father. Jno. xiv, 12; xvi, 16. In his Father's house are many mansions. He has gone to prepare a place for his disciples, and has promised to come again and receive them to himself; or, as Campbell renders it, "I will come again and take you with me, that where I am, there ye may be also." Jno. xiv, 1-3. Immediately before making this general promise to his disciples, Jesus made a positive promise to Peter that he should afterward follow him to the place where he was about to go. "Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards." Jno. xiii, 36. When Jesus comes again, Peter will certainly follow him to the place where he is now gone, that is, to the Father. Yes, all the saints will be taken to those mansions in the Father's house. This is a necessary conclusion. The saints are to reign with Christ a thousand years from the first resurrection. But they go immediately to heaven at the coming of Christ and the resurrection. Therefore the reign with Christ a thousand years will be fulfilled in heaven. During their reign in heaven they can sing in truth, "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth." Rev. v, 9, 10. At the close of the thousand years, the saints and the holy city descend to earth. The wicked are raised and come up on the breadth of the earth, and compass the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. Here they see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God and themselves thrust out. Fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. Rev. xx, 9; Luke xiii, 28. That is the fire to which the earth is reserved "against the day of judgment and perdition (utter destruction) of ungodly men." "The elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Pet. iii, 7, 12, 13. Beyond the burning day, that destroys ungodly men, the new earth appears. The earth will not be defiled with sin or sinners thereafter forever. The righteous alone shall dwell there. They shall reign there, not merely for a thousand years, but "forever and ever." Rev. xxii, 5. Should Christ reign with the saints on earth a thousand years immediately following the second advent, and, at the close of this period, continue to reign on the earth forever and ever, many of the scriptures referred to in this article would never be fulfilled. With the view presented here, there is a place for them all. There are a few prophecies used by our Age-to-come friends which present some difficulties in the minds of those that have not taken a close and definite view of the plan of salvation as revealed in the Bible. But when we learn what is clearly revealed of the close of the mediation of Christ in heaven, and the events which are to follow, we find established truths, with which every prophecy and every part of revelation must agree. And there is nothing very difficult in any prophecy, nothing that contradicts those great, first principles. Probation closes before the second advent, and there are no conversions in the age to come. The nations are dashed in pieces at Christ's coming. The earth is laid desolate. There is a remnant of the wicked, but they are slain. Rev. xix, 21. The saints reign with Christ a thousand years, commencing at the first resurrection. But the earth, their promised inheritance, lies under the curse, and desolated by it, till the close of that period—reserved unto fire to the day of the perdition of ungodly men, at the second resurrection. Therefore the saints reign with109Christ a thousand years somewhere else. But I must close. I did not intend to write one-fourth part so much. Having no order in my mind for a lengthy article, I have thrown out these thoughts in the manner I have, hoping to aid some inquiring minds, bewildered in the midst of the doctrine called Age-to-Come. If you and I, dear reader, spend the remaining moments of the present age in keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, we shall not only be raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus for a thousand years in the age to come, but in the "ages to come" we shall still taste of the riches of his grace in the inheritance of the earth made new. Eph. ii, 6, 7. SOUTHERN IOWA TENT.
By J. H. Waggoner
The meetings in Pleasant township, Monroe Co., (near Eddyville), have been in progress over two weeks. Yesterday, Sunday, the morning was very rainy, so that our congregations were not so large as a week before. This morning we went to the Des Moines river, and sixteen were buried in baptism, including three from Newbern. Others will be baptized, probably, in the course of a week. All who have come out here are apparently very firm in the truth, and it is truly cheering to see those so strong in the faith now who were so deeply prejudiced before hearing. We have been especially encouraged by the hearty reception of the truth by Eld. J. A. Luke, a Disciple preacher, residing in this township. As Bro. Luke and his companion stepped into the water, to be baptized, he stopped and gave an intelligent reason of his hope and action to the large concourse of people at the river side. To-morrow Bro. Shortridge will leave for home, and thence go north, by request of Bro. Snook, who is obliged to come south, and wished to make the exchange. I much regret that Bro. Snook will not be able to reach this place till after the close of this meeting. We hope that the weather will permit us to hold another tent meeting this fall; we are anxious to improve every opportunity of warning our fellow creatures of the impending destruction of the wicked of earth. May God give power to the truth and hold the winds till his servants are sealed, is our prayer. Monroe Co., Iowa, Aug. 26, 1861. MEETINGS AT EAGLE HARBOR, N. Y.
By M. Hull
Our meetings at Eagle Harbor commenced July 11, and held over five Sabbaths. Freedom was given to preaching the word of the Lord. The signs of the times at present are so ominous that it does not require so much of an effort to get up an interest now as in former times. Bro. and sister White were with us over one Sabbath and first-day. We were cheered and much revived by their presence, especially as we were worn down by excessive labor. Bro. White preached five discourses, all of which were timely. But especially did his discourse on scriptural conversion and sanctification have the desired effect. Sister White’s testimonies were very pointed, and seemed to remove prejudice which existed against her and her visions. Eld. P. A. Smith, of Rochester, came to our meeting and invited me to engage with him in a friendly discussion of the Sabbath question. So we entered the arena and went into a twelve hours’ combat, which resulted in the glory of God. The Lord permitted his truth to shine brighter after the discussion than it did before. Eld. S., and all his brethren (so far as we know), are convinced that the remnant who keep the commandments of God suffered nothing from the attack, that the law of God lives, and will live, despite all their efforts to put it down. Feeling that their artillery is too light, that the truth can stand against more than they are able to bring against it, they have resolved to let us alone. Eld. Smith conducted himself like a gentleman, and we can but hope that he will yet have his eyes opened to behold wondrous things out of the law, that he will yet see that he is in the dragon’s service, desert his captain, and come over and help us repair the breach. Eld. C. F. Sweet (Age-to-come believer) heard a part of the discussion, and manifested evident signs of agony. After the discussion was over he arose and spoke a few words, in which he set a snare for me; but it was too transparent. “It is in vain that the net is set in the sight of any bird.” It failed. So he announced that he would speak in the tent the next night on the “higher law.” We were all very anxious to know where he would find a higher law than that of God, so we gave him a hearing the next night. I am sorry to say that his law was such that the people would not endorse it. They preferred the law of God. If he fairly represented the higher law in his discourse, it consisted of slang, low buffoonery, and abuse of seventh-day keepers in general, and sister White and the visions in particular. But as the people had seen sister White and heard her speak, he did not succeed in creating a prejudice in that direction. He related several anecdotes about Bro. Rhodes and others. Our ministers had cracked walnuts with him on the Sabbath, &c., &c. Therefore there is a higher law. We tried to be honest and listen with attention; but we could not see how the premises would support the conclusion. We never heard a stronger effort to create prejudice. He impugned the motives of those who delight in the law of God, and was even silly enough to accuse me of having money at stake. He disgusted the people so that they arose en masse and left him talking. The next night we calmly reviewed his discourse, and although he would not permit us to correct his misquotations, we invited him to sit in the stand, take notes and correct any error that we might make in representing his discourse. We consider it no interruption for a person to correct us while we are speaking. Eld. Sweet accused us of misrepresenting him as much as a dozen times while we were speaking, but his correction always made the matter worse for himself. We tried to show his no-law and Age-to-come-ism up in its native deformity. And surely the Lord gave us help. The people could see where the truth and Spirit of the Lord was. When we sat down Eld. Sweet arose and commenced his harangue again, accusing us of misrepresenting him, &c. At this juncture a voice was heard in the congregation saying, “We heard enough of you last night!” Then the congregation arose and left him again. We pitied the man, but it could not be helped. Our entreaties for them to hear him were in vain. After he had corrected us so often, when he and the congregation knew that we were right, for him to get up and whine about misrepresentations was so contemptible that the people would not hear it. We held meetings two Sabbaths after the discussion. A goodly number have commenced keeping the commandments. Thirty were baptized. Others would have been, but were hindered by their parents. Others say, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a christian,” while many others are investigating. May the Lord help all to come out right. Our meetings in N. Y. have been profitable this summer. About one hundred have embraced the truth at the two meetings. This is encouraging. New York is now an interesting field. My prayer is, Lord, send out more laborers. I would that the tent could run longer, but my strength is gone. I must have rest. I could not have stood it as I have had not the brethren stood right up to the work. They were always on hand with their prayers, exhortations and means. The cause must prosper where the brethren take hold as they do here. The brethren in this State are going to try to make a stronger effort next year than they have ever made before, feeling assured that the Lord will bless. We realize that the time is short, and what we do must be done quickly. The time of trouble is right upon us.
M. HULL. CRACKING THE COMMANDMENTS.
By G. W. A.
The following article aptly illustrates the cases of those who, in order to dodge plain duties and gratify tastes not always the most safe, walk in the sparks of their own kindling. Paul the aged said, “Abstain from all appearance of evil,” but there have ever been those who will venture just as far over into the Devil’s ranks as they can without hazarding the certain loss of their souls. We give the incident below, not for the humor it contains, but for the principle it illustrates. LAST summer, when I was in the country, I knew an Irishman named Patrick. Patrick heard, one Sunday morning, that his neighbor, Barney O’Flynn, had a fine cow to sell. He was afraid if he waited until Monday that some one else might buy the cow, and as he wanted it very much, he went down that Sunday morning, when the following conversation occurred: “Mr. Barney,” said Pat, “sure I’ve bin towld that you are afther sellin’ the cow.” “An’ a mighty fine cow the cratur is,” said Barney. “Me boy,” continued Pat, “if it wasn’t Sunday, sure, an’ agin the directions of the rale church, I should be for axin’ the price of the cratur.” “An’ if it wasn’t Sunday, as you most properly observe,” said Barney, “I should say the price of the baste was forty dollars, sure.” “Well, Barney, if it wasn’t Sunday, I should say that I’d pay yez thirty-five dollars an’ take her.” “I faith, I should say, if it wasn’t Sunday, you might have her; an’ that I’d wait till Tuesday mornin’ for yez to come an’ take her away, an’ I wouldn’t sell her to any other sowl.” The two then parted to go to church; but on Monday morning Patrick came to Barney’s farm with the thirty-five dollars, and took away the cow; and both of them flattered themselves that they had not broken any commandment.—S. S. Times. ALL RIGHT OR ALL WRONG.
By R. F. Cottrell
THE Lord is now fulfilling the proclamation of the third angel of Rev. xiv, or he is not. If not, the whole Advent movement in the past is all a farce—a false fulfillment of prophecy—and so far as the unsealing of the book and the increase of knowledge in the time of the end (Dan. xii) are concerned, we are left in the dark upon the broad ocean of time, with neither chart nor compass, and no light-house in view to guide us into port. It is true there have been signs in heaven and upon the earth; signs in the sun and moon and stars, on earth distress of nations with perplexity. But, besides these, knowledge is to increase on the prophetic numbers. There is to be a movement in the church—the trumpet is to be blown and the alarm sounded just before the day of the Lord. A warning of the approaching wrath is to be given before that wrath is poured out. Joel ii, 1; Rev. xiv, 9–12. If these warnings are not being given, they are to be given in the future, before the coming of the Lord; and no one has any reason to look for the coming of the Lord till the hour of God’s judgment, the fall of Babylon, and the solemn warning of the third angel, have been proclaimed in their regular order. Are you an Advent believer? Do you believe the nations are angry, and that the wrath of God is at hand, and that the battle of the great day is just before us? Then know that the third angel is now warning us of the close of probation and that day of wrath. The third angel’s message is professedly being preached. This preaching is true or false. It has this evidence of truth, that it follows the proclamation of the first and second messages; for just such messages have been announced before. Now if this third message is false, the two that have preceded it are false. If this is the case, and the day of the Lord is at hand, every Advent believer should raise his voice in fulfillment of the solemn cry, “Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.” But you will not undertake this. It is impossible to raise an interest in such a cry. And why? Because the true time-message was given in 1844; and there have been feeble, false and foolish attempts to repeat it since that time, enough to disgust a believer and to confirm an infidel. Now, my Advent brother, this time message must be preached in the world, before the coming of the Lord; and if it has not been announced, it is your duty and mine to announce it. The present position of the nations shows that there is but very little time in which to preach, in succession, all these three messages. But we shall not engage in preaching the time message, for the Spirit of the Lord does not lead us out in that way. It cannot be done; for the Lord does not move it, and the world will not hear it. Why? Because the Lord did move it, and the world did hear it in 1844. It began to assume a loud voice in 1840, and when we came down to 1844 the second message was announced, and as clearly, though not so extensively, heard. These announcements have been made, and we cannot make them again. Therefore there is no alternative for a believer in the Bible, but to receive the third angel’s message; for it has been as truly announced as the others, and that in its proper order. Do you say these messages will not be fulfilled, in order to prepare a people for the Lord? In that case, you deny the truth of the Bible. Do you say they have not been truly announced? You deny the providence of God in fulfilling his own word, which not only stands pledged to fulfill, but to guard from a false fulfillment. Do you say that the first and second messages have been fulfilled, but that the third is false? You make God a liar and deceiver, and yourself worse than a common infidel. Know then that our Father is at the helm. Receive the third message as it is in truth, the word of God—the only message that, while it warns of coming wrath upon the disobedient, can fit us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Will all the other signs of the advent be fulfilled, and these messages remain unfulfilled? Nay, verily. All of God’s word is true. There is no evading this point. These messages locate themselves, to every candid, unsophisticated mind, just before the advent of110Christ; and it is clear from the language of the third message, that all that are prepared for translation at his coming, must be prepared by obedience to this last message. How clear and easy the way to the willing and obedient. The terms of the third message are being made plain and easy to the comprehension of a child. O, for the child-like spirit that is willing to receive and obey it. It is no hard and difficult thing to understand, when we are willing to obey. When we are willing to receive and obey all of God’s truth, there is sweet peace. We rest secure on the mighty arm of God. We rest in this; that the Lord Jesus will soon be revealed to settle the troubles of earth, and reward those that love and obey him. We rest in the thought that he who has begun the fulfillment of the messages to prepare his people, will finish them gloriously. Never tell the Lord that you believe the Bible, while you do not believe the fulfillment of the warning messages contained in it. Do not receive a part and reject a part. Don’t say that the first message made you an advent believer, and condemn yourself by rejecting the third. They are all right, or they are all wrong.
R. F. COTTRELL. A GOOD FOUNDATION.
By Uriah Smith
"Charge them that are rich," says Paul to Timothy. Many times the sacred writers have seemingly found it necessary to charge the rich. Riches are regarded in the word of God as a talent no less so than any other endowment. They seem also to be regarded as a more difficult talent to manage than many others, and more liable to perversion, if we may judge from the number of special directions and warnings given in reference to them. To a right use of them there are also many special promises. Let us continue the quotation already commenced: "Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate." And what promise is appended to this course of action? It follows: "Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." 1 Tim. vi, 17-19. Glorious promise to those who are rich in this world's goods! Glorious end to be attained by a right use of the mammon of unrighteousness! Inestimable privilege of putting uncertain riches into such an investment with the certainty of so infinite a profit! A good foundation against the time to come, and a strong hold upon eternal life! Who can estimate the value of these in dollars and cents, or any of the advantages which they confer upon us here! And the great index-finger of the signs of the times is now pointing to the present day as the period in which they that are rich should haste to make good their title to this promise; for verily the time draws near when they, and all, will need a good foundation on which to rest. The "time to come" is opening before us: the time when it will not be sufficient to have our house built near the rock only; when it will not be enough to have some good stones amid the sand upon which it is founded; when it will not answer to have one end, merely, of the house upon the rock, and the other in the sand; but it must be all upon the rock and upon that alone. Happy they who when the storm comes shall find their house so founded! Happy they who then find that they have such a hold upon eternal life that there is no danger of the cable's parting in the hour of trial, and they being swept away into everlasting oblivion. With the sentiment expressed by Paul to Timothy, above quoted, that with the right use of riches, eternal blessings and honors may be gained, agrees the parable of our Lord in Luke xvi, 1-12. The directions of verse 9 are, "And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations." Here it is represented that the rich may so use the mammon of unrighteousness, or worldly riches, as to make everlasting friends thereby. Of whom can they make such friends? Answer: Of God, Christ, and good angels; and they, when the earth is removed like a cottage, and all things are shaken that can be shaken, will receive them into everlasting habitations. Great then are the advantages, and precious the promises, but fearful the responsibilities involved in riches; for that malevolent being who is ever searching to take advantage of the weak points of human nature, has given them the power of charming with a double charm; and those who break not away from the influence of the unhallowed fascination, but bury their Lord's money, will wake at last, and soon, to the fearful sentence, "Go to now ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you." James v, 1. No wonder, therefore, that the Holy Spirit, through the sacred writers, has deemed it proper to give over and over, solemn charges to them who are rich in this world's goods. May all who are stewards of the unrighteous mammon, give them timely heed, and thus avail themselves of that which is given as a special promise to the rich, namely, to lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, and lay hold on eternal life. U. SMITH. INCREASE OF LIGHT DEMANDS INCREASE OF PIETY.
By D. Hildreth
PEOPLE greatly wonder that the children of Israel served idols. But there is a greater wonder existing at the present time. We cannot for a moment suppose that they disbelieved in the existence of a God, but they borrowed the heathen notion that he had left the affairs of the world to the control of other agencies. There is a belief at the present time which is no better than this. It is pantheism. The pantheist believes that there is a God, and that he created the world, but he believes that he has left it to the control of natural laws, and has no more to do with it than we have with the moon. Thus science has been perverted to serve the purpose of the Devil. Here is a greater wonder than the idolatry of the Israelites. No matter how great the light, infidelity will always exist. Still later the Jews rejected the Messiah who had come according to prediction. Their condemnation was greater than that of any preceding age, because they sinned against greater light. We now come to our own age. The people of the present generation have the concentrated light of six thousand years shining upon them. More light than any other generation has had, and yet their wickedness is without parallel! It would seem that mankind are infatuated. Such hypocrisy, and such a time-serving religion as exists at the present time must call down the vials of God's unmixed wrath. With the multiplied warnings and examples of six thousand years before them, they still reject the truth of God. We have now reached the last example in this six-thousand-year lesson. It is for us to supply the remaining figures and make out the grand total or result. Shall we swell the numbers to the glory of God, or shall we swell the enemy's columns? Shall we join the army clothed in white, or shall we enlist under the black flag? It depends on us whether we will be the actors on the stage of truth, or on the stage of error. It depends on us whether we play well our part or not. We have the light of present truth in addition to the light possessed by others. What will be our punishment if we sin against such great light? It has seemed to be the idea among Sabbath-keepers that if they did not overcome they would only be lost. But the terrible plagues soon to be poured out, and the awful second death, will take hold on such with great fury. The reason is obvious; the greater the light the greater the condemnation. Talk no more about giving up; if you do, the terrible judgments of God will overwhelm you. How slack we have been as a people! Slow to leave our sins and idols, and still slower, if possible, to plant the graces in their room. The time has come to sound the alarm in the ears of the lukewarm and backslidden people of God. Listen to him who says, "I will spue thee out of my mouth." This is not a meaningless denunciation. It will be fulfilled, and that speedily. We have trifled with God until his long-suffering is nearly exhausted. We have been talking for years about giving up, and about not overcoming, when we should have been overcoming and getting fast hold of God. It is a shame to say that we cannot overcome. The Lord has told us that we can overcome, and commanded us to do so. The trouble is, we have not chosen eternal life, we have only desired it. We have waited for God to do what he has commanded us to do. He has never said, "I will make you zealous," but "be zealous." Our slackness must be astonishing to the angels that daily attend us. Struggling for years to get the victory over a single habit or idol. We should be deeply ashamed of our course. Can we get the victory over wrong and filthy habits? Never think of asking such a question. Leave them at once and flee from them as from a poisonous serpent. Do not stop to question the correctness of your brethren's judgment, but admit that you are charmed. Break the spell, and then you will see things just as your brethren do. Light is increasing, and if we do not turn away from our sins when they are made known the Lord will turn away from us. We must become such a people as were never on the earth. Our lives must be in perfect accordance with the teachings of the Bible. After Jesus leaves the Sanctuary, one sin, even of ignorance, would keep us out of the city. Are we making diligent inquisition for our sins, that we may know them and put them away? or are we cherishing them? As every sin must be made known and eradicated, our constant prayer and earnest inquiry should be, What is there yet about me that is wrong? and when a wrong is made known, to confess and forsake it. But there are some that pursue an opposite course, and when wrongs are made known, try to justify themselves and persist in their course. The Lord is going to have a submissive people, who will cheerfully obey his every wish. Let the people of God plead with him to revive the pure, living testimony in the church. TRUST IN THE LORD.
By A. L. Guilford
READER, in whom do you trust? Do you trust in yourself, that your own arm can deliver you? Do you trust in your riches, that they can deliver you; or in your friends, that they shall be able to deliver you? It is all in vain. All earthly supports will fail when the trying hour shall come. Pray stop a moment and ask yourself this question: In whom do I trust? and give yourself no rest until you can say with God's servant David, "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed, deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me, deliver me speedily. Be thou my strong rock for an house of defense to save me." We are truly living in a grand and awful time. The Arch-deceiver of mankind is full of wrath, for he knows that his time is very short; and therefore he is more than ever on the alert to turn away unstable souls from the truth; and those whom he cannot lure in this way he will strive to lull to sleep so that they may leave some duties unperformed, and God be displeased thereby; and the wicked who will not obey God, but despise his truth, he is leading with headlong haste down to destruction. And as probationary time has almost111expired, and we are swiftly nearing the final consummation of all things, the faster are they being hurried to the vortex of eternal ruin. Moreover the apostle has exhorted those who have known the right way to fear lest a promise being left them of entering into his rest any of them should come short of it. Say, then, dear reader, in view of these things, is it not a fearful, solemn time, and is it not of the utmost importance to determine immediately in what or whom your trust is placed? Let not Satan deceive you. Of this you may rest assured, that God, who is plenteous in goodness, and full of love and compassion for fallen man, will not suffer any honest one who is earnestly striving to know and do his will, to be deceived by our great adversary the Devil, without giving them a timely warning, which if heeded will save them from destruction. Trust then in the living God; for he is able and will deliver all his faithful, trusting ones. Though all around is strife and commotion, and soon the final storm will sweep over the whole earth, and all earthly kingdoms be broken in pieces, yet if you will trust in God he will deliver you and bring you safe to his everlasting kingdom. ABIDE WITH ME.
By E. W. Darling
Come in, blest Jesus, and abide with me;
Here is my heart, cleanse it from every stain;
Descend and sup with me, and I with thee;
Prepare me to receive the latter rain. Grant me the eye-salve, Lord, that I may see;
And that I may be clothed, white raiment grant.
Give me tried gold that I may ever be,
Rich toward my God, nor earth's vain treasures want. No longer cold or lukewarm would I live;
I am ashamed of my self-righteousness;
My heart, my all, to thee I freely give;
O, pardon all that I have done amiss. Each kind rebuke that thou dost send in love,
I'll ever cherish as a token fair,
Which thou dost give thy erring child, to prove
That for my soul thou hast a tender care. Rebuke me not in wrath, O Lord, I pray,
Nor chasten me in hot displeasure here;
But gently lead me in the narrow way;
For toward thy name I have a godly fear.
E. W. DARLING.
Wawkon, Iowa. Faithful Giving and Christian Readiness
By James White
Dear Bro. White: Enclosed please find draft of ten dollars, it being the amount for my share in the "Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association." I am very happy now to be able to send it in; for I judge the Association must stand in need of all their due as fast as it possibly can be paid in. I do not say this because I have been enabled to send mine in; but this is my feeling in the matter. The Lord has highly blessed me with health of body and success in business, which has enabled me to send in sooner than I thought would be possible for me when I took the share. Surely the "gold and silver are his, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." Why then should we, poor mortal creatures, dictate and plead inability to promise and pay in our tithes and offerings into the storehouse that there may be meat in the Lord's house. "Prove me herewith," saith the Lord. That is, try and see if it is not so; see if I will not pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Mal. iii, 8–12. The refreshing from the presence of the Lord is near at hand. The loud cry of the third angel's message is upon us. How many are going to be able to receive it? Only those dear brethren or sisters who plead earnestly with God, and are striving with all their might to overcome every sin. Such are the ones that will come off victorious. But the careless and indifferent will fall out by the way, and be lost sight of. I am astonished at myself often, that, knowing these things, I suffer myself so easily to be overcome by the insinuations of Satan. O may the Lord give me and mine strength to overcome every sin, and finally come off victorious and stand with the 144,000 on mount Zion, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. My whole sympathies are with this people as a body, and none at all with those self-righteous and fault-finding spirits which are manifest here and there. My prayer is that I may not be overtaken in this way. I would rather seek to be humble and in union with those whom I fully believe have the burden of this work laid upon them. I would have but a poor opinion indeed of that soldier who, while the army "fitly joined and compacted" were marching out to meet the foe and win the prize, should step out and begin his fault-finding, and to dictate the works and movement of the body, and begin his march by himself, aiming precisely at the same end and object however, as the army from which he separated. Think you not that any good government would reject such a person? Yes. The most that any loyal person could say in favor of that man would be that he might, I say might, be honest in his motives; but no one certainly could have confidence in his judgment. May the Lord help his people, and save them in these days of peril, and give us a humble spirit, to seek meekness and righteousness, that we may be hid in the day of the Lord's anger, is my prayer. Yours in hope of eternal life.
E. M. Davis. Bearing the Strait Testimony
By Jonathan Chase
Bro. White: I love to read the epistles from my brethren and sisters coming through the Review from week to week; it does rejoice my heart; and not only these, but the truth, the doctrine that is advocated in its columns, I believe to be present truth. The strait testimony that is now borne, I bless God that I ever heard, and I feel that I have a heart to obey its injunctions. I am sorry that any who have listened to the proclamation of the third angel and have embraced the doctrine, and commenced keeping the commandments of God and run well for a season, should turn away from the holy commandment delivered unto them, and this, too, on account of the strait testimony. Brethren and sisters, if we cannot bear the strait testimony here, and now, how do we expect to stand when the Son of man is revealed? for says the prophet Malachi, "But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?" Mal. iii, 2. Agreeably to request published in Review, the church in Hundred Mile Grove spent August 3, as a day of fasting and prayer, and felt truly that God was well pleased. The Spirit of the Lord was with us, and the church was encouraged. Yesterday (Sabbath) we met at Bro. Rankin's to attend to the ordinances of God's house, and had a heavenly sitting together in Christ. Glory to his name! Most of the church felt encouraged to travel on in the good road to the kingdom. Brethren pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, run and be glorified among us. Your brother striving to overcome,