The Elk advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa.) 186?-1868, 1866-11-29
Correspondence If ibe 1lta,aii.
LETTERS TO .HEDFCTS.
N1fNIRER EOER-

from the Apocalypse; and [ proposed
to show why these two passages have no
more weight with me than the others
you have quoted in favor Of your posi-
tion. One of these texts-ch. 3, V. 2G
occurs in the message to Thyatira.-
Christ charges the faithful at Thyatira
to hold fast " that which We have
already, hold fast till | come. And he
that ovcrcomcth and kccpcth my works
unto the end, to him will I give power
ever the nations: and he shall rule
them with rod of iron as the vessels
Of a potter shall they be broken to shiv-
ors : Cvcn rs | have received of my Fa
thcr" As said before, this seems to
me to refer to the future, and not the
present time; when Christ shall re.
ceivc the heather for his inheritance,
and the uttormost parts of the earth for
lis possession" Sec ID Psalm.
As in the text, " hold fast hW Icoaae."
When Christ shall again " come," he
will come as king-not, as before, in
the "iorm Of a servant and then
rule over all nations, as well as the house
of Jacob Ihen those who have suffer-
cd with Christ through the ages of
tribulation, will reign ruth Him. Then
the saints shall possess the hinydom,
whereas, in all previous ages they have
been little hcck," subject to various
Affections, generally poor and despiscd-
for "not many Of the mighty and noble
are called but God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound
the mighty.
And so in ch. 3, V. 10, the same
thought occurs The redeemed sing,
"Thou art worthy, for thou vast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood, and hast made us unto our God
kings and priests and are sheH reign
On the co,th." Just before this is your
remaining tcxt-Rcv. 5, S-the four
and twenty elders having golden viaIs
full Of odors, which are the prayers of
the saints" " which symbol I suppose
was designed to teach us that God hears !
the prayers Of the saints q. c. His peo.
pie living on the carth) and remembers
them-that they are, as it were, pre-
serce1 Jefore him contiaualy, to be on.
S'Ccre1 IN due Scas0n. These are &C.
ceptca petitions; prayers thai have
come up like sweet incense before God,
and have secured for the suppliants an
answer Of peace.
But what is there here about the " in.
vocation of saints?" There is nothing
to Indicate that these prayers were offer.
cd to the twenty.iour elders or that
they were requested by the saints to of.
fer up their prayers to God. Until this
is shown, the passage avails nothing ia
proof of your doctrine.
l have now considered all your cita.
tions from Scripture in support of your
position, and indicated what seems to
me the true Interpretation I cannot
but wish you had given at least rctcrcn-
ces to other texts, which you say might
have been adduced ; for cannot find
any except the 2Sth chapter Of the first
book Of Samuel. There Saul, because
God would no longer answer him, seeks
help from Samuol-asl;ing the witch Of
Endor to bring him up. But this exam.
pie would not argue much in your favor,
for Samuel siuncd in consulting the
witch and was punished for it, as ap.
pears from l Chron. 10, II. And yet
this is the ouly example Il have found
in the Bible Of Il person stillin the body
making a request Of any kind to a dc,
parted saint, The rich man in the par,
able had himself departed this life,
when he asked Abraham to send Lazar.
us to his relief. SO that in all the
Scripture, so far as | am aware, there is
not one passays which speaks of the
saints GU earth making requests of those
in Heaven in the manner described in
your letters. And not only so, but
there is aot one passage which even
mentions your doctrine in clear
and unmistakablc manner. IF you had
known Of one you certainly would have
quoted it: for one such text would
have more weight III the argument than
all you could gather from uninspired
sources. All your Soriptural proof is
mere Inference; and that not from the