The Present Truth, vol. 13

May 13, 1897

“‘Greater Works than These’” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.” John 14:12. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 289.1

The first question that almost invariably arises whenever this is read, is, “What greater works can anybody possibly do than the Lord did?” or, “How can anybody do greater works than He did?” To this the hearer is obliged to answer, “I don't know.” But the fact that we do not know, and cannot form any conception of the thing, has no effect upon it. Jesus has said it in the most positive manner, and that is sufficient. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 289.2

Let it be remembered that it is only those who believe, that can do these great works; and certainly no one who is not able to do the works, can be expected to know anything about the matter. But the very asking of the questions, “What?” and “How?” imply more or less unbelief. The person may not realise it, but there is at least a shade of doubt underlying those questions; there is a trace of the notion that we will not believe what we cannot understand. Now if there is unbelief even in the slightest degree, then it is certain that no works at all will be done; for “this is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” John 6:29. But if there is unbelief, there cannot possibly be belief. Therefore the one who questions this matter need not expect ever to know anything about it. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 289.3

“But it is not unbelief that prompts my questioning,“ some will say; “it is only a real desire to know what the works are, and how they are to be done.” In other words, it is curiosity. Well, of one thing we may be sure, and that is that whatever good works one has come from God; for that which was true of Christ must most certainly be true of us, “I can of Mine own self do nothing.” John 5:30. “The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” John 14:10. Since “it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13), it is not necessary for us to know how. Our part is simply to yield ourselves as instruments of righteousness. The instrument does not need to know what the one who handles it is doing, nor how he is able to do it. Nay, the instrument cannot know how, else he would not longer be the instrument. “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?” Psalm 106:2. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 289.4

Finally, it is useless to ask how we can do greater works than those which Christ did, for those who do them will be unconscious of them. When at the last day the Lord says to the faithful ones, “Come ye blessed of My Father,“ and enumerates the good works that they have done, they will wonderingly ask, “Lord, when did we ever do these things?” They will have been so yielded to the Lord that His mighty power will have wrought them in the most natural and unobtrusive way, just as it does through the growing plant. It is well that we are thus ignorant. If it were possible that the mighty works of God could be wrought through self-conscious folks, it would be most uncomfortable for those who were obliged to live with them. If we thought that we were doing greater works than Christ did; we should become so conceited and overbearing that nobody could live with us. Let us be content, yea, we may even rejoice, that we are weak and ignorant, since our Father is almighty and all-wise, and He is ours. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 289.5

“Discovering Truth” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

The astronomer does not make celestial bodies which his telescope reveals; they were in existence before he saw them, and all that he has done is to look steadily and patiently at some particular portion of the heavens, until the new light suddenly dawned upon his vision. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 289.6

Even so with a man searching for hid treasure or for something that is lost. He digs faithfully, or patiently searches for it, until he finds it; but when he has found it he cannot take any credit to himself for its existence. He did not manufacture it: he simply had the patience to keep looking until he found the right place, or till his eyes became accustomed to the light, and could distinguish objects. Then he had only to look and see that which was plainly visible. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 289.7

It is exactly the same way in the study of Divine truth. Truth and wisdom come from God alone. He is the Author of truth, because He is the truth. No man can manufacture or invent truth, for it exists from eternity. All that anybody can do is to open his eyes and see it. One reason why more people do not know and have the truth is that they think that to acquire it requires special qualifications and a sort of genius, whereas all that is necessary is open eyes. The natural man wishes to “work out” theories, so that he may have the credit of being wonderfully clever; but truth comes only to him who acknowledges his ignorance, and does not desire to gain applause for wisdom which does not and cannot originate with him. If our sight is defective, we have only to pray to the Lord to anoint our eyes with eyesalve, and open them, that we may behold wonderful things in His law. Revelation 3:18; Psalm 119:18. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.1

“‘A Poor Untutored Savage’ and His Bible” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

A religious journal gives the following story told by a missionary among the Indians of Western America:— PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.2

“An Indian boy, one of the converts in a mission school in the far West, surprised his teacher one day by rushing into the room where she sat, and throwing his Bible into her lap. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.3

“‘Take Bible!’ he said, in a voice of great excitement. ‘Can't be a Christian any more; want to fight!’ And he began to make fierce gestures with his arms and head. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.4

“The teacher spoke calmly to him, and tried to impress upon his mind the necessity of sticking to his religion, no matter how much he might be tempted to give it up. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.5

“‘I can't!’ he exclaimed; ‘want to fight? Must fight; can't have. Bible, can't be Christian any more. Big Indian steal Winona's corn. Winona fight big Indian. Can't love God and hate his mother, laying his hand upon his heart. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.6

“It took a great deal of reasoning and explaining to make him understand that it was the ‘fight’ that was in him, and not the ‘Christian’ that he must give up; but at last he was convinced that the teacher was right, and, taking his Bible, he went back to the big Indian and read the passage the teacher had pointed out: ‘Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.’ PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.7

“What a lesson might many professing Christians learn from this poor, untutored savage! They seem to love their Bibles and prize them above everything else.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.8

Yes, indeed they might. Is it not grotesque that the churches send missionaries to savage tribes to teach them that it is wicked to fight and kill, while yet at home these same churches and professors of Christianity regard it as quite in keeping with Christianity to engage in civilised warfare? Chaplains are provided to encourage the soldier and look after his religions interests, and not a few cases are on record where a chaplain has achieved a reputation by fighting with his men. Why not? He is there to put the approval of religion upon killing. Why should we not kill and mutilate as well as preach? It is an awful thing-a horrible apostasy-that in these days, so far from being for peace, the churches of Christendom, by teaching that it is not contrary to Christianity to fight and kill, are actually forces making for war. If the churches and those who profess Christianity could learn from this poor untutored savage, the war-lords of the world wouId have to alter their plans. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.9

“A Present Help in Trouble” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

The following paragraph from the London Echo, is most suggestive. They are not few who follow the calling which this young Italian professed. Every land has always its army of the hungry and discontented:— PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.10

There is a significant and pathetic, undertone in an account. of Pietro Acciarito, who made the attempt upon King Humbert; which is published in the Roman Messaggero. When he was asked at his examination, “What is your calling?” he replied, “A sufferer of hunger.” “But that is no calling,“ said the magistrate.” “It is nowadays in Italy,“ answered the young man. “I know many suppose that it is their calling to be carpenters, or painters, or masons, or locksmiths, and so forth; but there is not one of them who can get bread enough to fill his belly by following his supposed calling. Hence, they are all..., as I have done, that they are really called to suffer hunger.” When Acciarito was further asked what he could say to justify himself for making an attempt upon the life of the King he answered, “I never thought of doing it; but when I saw carriage after carriage rolling by filled with well-dressed and well-fed people, and was told that the King himself had given a sum of 24,000 lire as a prize at the races, I wondered why so many should be hungry when there was money in the land, and all the more as so many do nothing to earn their money. Then I quite lost my head, as I remembered that I worked so hard, and cannot even earn a crust of bread.” The half-insane assassin, and the learned professors of economy in half the universities, are puzzled by exactly the same problem of our modern social life. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.11

Yet it is believed by many that Acciarito was the tool of an organized band of Anarchists, and that it is not the expression of an individual or local feeling which found vent in the attempt upon the life of King Humbert. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.12

The Daily Mail, in the course of an article concerning the recent explosion on the underground railway, says:— PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.13

One factor in the case which seems significant is that the outrage follows hard upon the attempt on the King of Italy's life. It is a principle of Anarchism-at any rate the Anarchists assert it-that society should be terrorized at a number of different places simultaneously; in fact, that outrages should have an international character. If the Anarchists really work up to this principle, then the conjecture is legitimate that the one explosion is the work of one of their band. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.14

This supposition may or may not have any foundation of fact in the present case, but it is most suggestive that there exists this principle of action, both expressed and tacit, among these apostles of the cult of destruction; and that this is known and exerts its influence upon the world. Such a fact, at this time, is very suggestive of the accumulated reasons for fear and anxiety which the passing years are rapidly heaping up for those whose hopes are based on temporal things. There are certainly many wars and continued rumours of wars, while at the same time those things are steadily increasing which are likely to cause men's hearts to fail them for fear of those things which are coming on the earth. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.15

There is a place of safety, and there is but one. David appreciated that when he wrote the eighteenth psalm: “The Lord is my rock and fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust.” “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear.... God shall help, and that right early.... The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.... He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth: He breaketh the bow, and cuteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Ps. xlvi. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.16

“Trust the promise, and God will make good the performance.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 290.17

“The Promises to Israel. The Lost Tribes of Israel” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

There is a popular, almost universal, idea that at the time of the Babylonish captivity, ten of the twelve tribes were wholly lost, and that only two tribes could be mustered to return to the land of Palestine at the close of the seventy years. So deeply rooted is this notion, that almost everybody knows at once what is referred to whenever the expression, “The ten lost tribes,“ is used. How this idea came to prevail, we shall not now stop to enquire, but shall content ourselves with ascertaining what the Bible has to say upon the subject of the lost Israelites. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.1

JUDAH AND ISRAEL

First, however, it may be well to note a common misconception concerning the terms “Judah” and “Israel.” When the kingdom was divided, after the death of Solomon, the southern portion, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, was known as the kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital; while the northern portion, consisting of the remaining tribes, was known as the kingdom of Israel, with headquarters at Samaria. This northern kingdom it was that was first carried captive, and the tribes that composed it are the ones supposed to be lost. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.2

The misconception is that the term “Jews” is limited to the people of the southern kingdom, namely, to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and that the term “Israelites” signifies only those tribes composing the northern kingdom, supposed to be lost. Going on in the line of this supposition, “the warm, ungoverned imagination” of some speculative theologians has fancied that the people generally known as Jews are from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin alone, and that the Anglo-Saxon race, or more specifically, the people of Great Britain and America, are the Israelites, or, in other words, “ten lost tribes” discovered. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.3

CHARACTER, NOT NATIONALITY

It is easy to see how this theory originated. It originated in an utter failure to comprehend the promises of the Gospel. It was invented in order to bring in the Anglo-Saxon race as inheritors of the promises to Abraham, the fact having been lost sight of that those promises embraced the whole world, without respect to nationality, and that “God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.” Acts 10:34, 35. If men had believed that “an Israelite indeed,“ is one “in whom is no guile” (John 1:47), they would have seen the folly of the idea that no matter how wicked and unbelieving people may be, they must be Israelites simply because they are a part of a certain nation. But the idea of a national church and of a national religion is wonderfully fascinating, because it is so much more pleasant for people to suppose that they are to be saved in bulk, regardless of character, instead of through individual faith and righteousness. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.4

BIBLE TERMS THAT OVERTHROW UNFOUNDED DISTINCTIONS

A few texts of Scripture are sufficient to show that the terms “Jew” and “Israelite” are used interchangeably, each being applicable to the same person. For instance, in Esther 2:5 we read that “in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.” But in Romans 11:1 we have the Apostle Paul's statement, “I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin;” and the same Apostle said, “I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus.” Acts 21:39. Here we have one man of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew, and another man of the same tribe, an Israelite, and at the same time a Jew. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.5

Again, Ahaz was one of the kings of Judah, and reigned in Jerusalem. See 2 Kings 16:1, 2; Isaiah 1:1. He was a descendant of David, and one of the ancestors of Jesus according to the flesh. 2 Kings 16:2; Matthew 1:9. Yet in 2 Chronicles 28:19, in an account of the invasion of “the south of Judah” by the Philistines, we are told that “the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.6

When the Apostle Paul had returned to Jerusalem from one of his missionary tours, “the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help!” Acts 21:27, 28. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.7

The reader can readily see the naturalness of this, when he remembers that all the twelve tribes were descended from one man, Jacob, or Israel. The term “Israel” is therefore applicable to any or all the tribes; while, because of the prominence of Judah, the term “Jew” came to be applied to any of the children of Israel, regardless of their tribe. In speaking of the covenants God says that He will “make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Hebrews 8:8), in order to make it unmistakable that the new covenant is to be made with the entire, undivided people, just as the old covenant was. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.8

Thus we see that the term “Jews” is rightly applied to the same people as is the term “Israelites;” but we must not forget that, strictly speaking, “he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:28, 29. The reckoning of the tribes has been lost among the people called Jews, but that makes no difference; they may be called Israelites just as properly as Jews; but neither term is in strict propriety applicable to any of them except to those who have real faith in Jesus Christ; and both terms are, in the strictly Scriptural sense, applicable to any who have such faith, though they be English, French, Greek, Turk, or Chinese. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 291.9

NONE OF THE TRIBES “LOST”

Now as to the “lost tribes.” That the ten tribes were no more lost after the close of the Babylonian captivity than they were before, is as plain from the Scriptures as that the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were not lost. How does anybody know that these two tribes were not lost, that is, lost to sight?—By the simple fact that we find reference to them after the captivity; individuals belonging to those tribes are mentioned by name. In the same way we know that the other tribes existed as distinct after the captivity as before. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.1

Not all the people of Israel were carried away to Babylon; the poorest and least prominent were left in their own land. But the majority of all the tribes were taken away, and so in the royal proclamation at the close of the seventy years, the permission to return was universal, as follows:— PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.2

“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a royal proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is the God), which is in Jerusalem.” Ezra 1:1-3. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.3

The permission to return was unlimited, but not all of any tribe took advantage of it. All the tribes, however, were represented; but those that remained were not thereby necessarily lost. A family cannot be said to be “lost” because they live in a foreign country. Later on Artaxerxes in his commission to Exra wrote: “I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of His priests and Levites in my realm, which are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.” Ezra 7:13. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.4

“ALL ISRAEL” REPRESENTED

Immediately following the proclamation of Cyrus we read, “Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.” Ezra 1:5. We know that the services of the sanctuary were re-established, and none but Levites could be employed in them; and in Ezra 3:10-12 we read that when the foundation of the temple was laid, “they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with symbols to praise the Lord.” Even after the resurrection and ascension of Christ we read of Barnabas, “a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus.” Acts 4:36. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.5

In Luke 2:36-38 we read of “Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher,“ who recognised the infant Jesus as the Lord, “and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.6

Here we see representatives of two of the ten tribes that are supposed to have mysteriously disappeared, expressly mentioned by name as dwelling in Jerusalem. It is most certain that a thing cannot be lost when you know exactly where it is. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.7

The other tribes are not specified, but in Ezra 2:70 we read, “So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.8

When the Apostle Paul was on trial for his life, before King Agrippa, he said, “Now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.” Acts 26:6, 7. Here we find that the twelve tribes were in existence in the days of the Apostle Paul, and were looking forward in hope to the fulfilment of the promise which God made to the fathers. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.9

Again, the Apostle James addressed his Epistle “to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” James 1:1. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.10

We have here sufficient evidence that no one tribe of Israel was ever lost more than another. All tribal distinctions are now lost, and no Jew can tell to which of the twelve tribes he belongs; and so in that sense, not merely ten, but all of the tribes are now lost, although all the twelve tribes are represented in the Jewish people scattered over the earth. God, however, keeps the list, and in the world to come will put every person in his proper place, for the city for which Abraham looked, the capital of the inheritance promised to him and his seed, the New Jerusalem, has twelve gates, and on the gates are “the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” Revelation 21:12. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.11

WHOM THE LORD COUNTS AN ISRAELITE

The last two texts suggest another fact, namely, that God's reckoning of the tribes is not after man's reckoning. “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7), and “he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; ... but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart.” Romans 2:28, 29. All those who are saved will “enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14), but each of those gates has the name on it of one of the twelve tribes, showing that the saved compose the twelve tribes of Israel. This is evident also from the fact that “Israel” means an overcomer. The Epistle of James is addressed to the twelve tribes, yet there is not a Christian who does not know that its instruction and promises are for him. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.12

And this brings us to the fact that in reality all the tribes are lost, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6); therefore when the Lord Jesus came, He said, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10. He declared, “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), at the very moment when he was about to confer a blessing on a poor, despised Canaanitish woman, a descendant of those heathen who inhabited the land before the days of Joshua. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.13

Here at last we have located the lost tribes of Israel. Not ten only, but all of the tribes are lost, so completely lost that the only hope of their salvation is in the death and resurrection of Christ. In this condition we find ourselves, and therefore we can read with delight, as pertaining to us, the promises concerning the gathering of Israel, which we shall next consider. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 292.14

“The Pope's Army” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

The Pope's kingdom, unlike Christ’s, is altogether of this world, and hence do his servants fight. An Italian paper says that he has just reorganised his personal forces. The worst of it is that his influence is able sometimes to set greater armies in motion than this little one which guards the Vatican and keeps up the semblance of his temporal sovereignty. This alone, however, ought to teach his followers that the Papacy is an anti-Christian power. An evening paper, quoting from the Italian Catholic journal, thus describes the army:— PTUK May 13, 1897, page 294.1

“It is divided into five separate bodies, which are known as the Noble Guard, the Swiss Guard, the Palatine Guard, the Gendarmes, and the Fire Brigade. The first of these, that is, the Noble Guard, is commanded by Prince Altieri, and is composed of fifty young members of the Roman nobility. Each member of the corps receives from three to four hundred lire a month, and a special club is maintained for their use and amusement. The Swiss Guard numbers one hundred strong, and the men are specifically selected for their youth and strength. Their duty is to guard the doors and entrances to the Vatican, and they are armed with the Remington rifle. As under the old regulations they will still carry the halberd while on parade. The Palatine Guard is divided into two companies, commanded by General Erostarosa, who has under him a staff of two majors and four captains. This corps raised from among the citizens of Rome, is called out only on special occasions. The gendarmes number one hundred, under the command of Colonel Taglifletri, and are recruited from ex-soldiers of the Italian army, specially recommended by Italian Bishops for their religious fidelity and fervour. The firemen, or pompiers, number thirty, and are always in the Vatican.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 294.2

“Abstemious Living” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

Abstemious Living. -The advantage of living temperately is often strikingly shown in hospitals by the rapidity with which those who have thus lived recover from wounds. Many a man who has lived grossly and thought he was in good health, has found in case of some trifling accident that his vital forces were actually low, regarding the healing process. A despatch from the Larissa hospital illustrates this. A war correspondent speaks of the wonderful vitality of the Turk, and says:— PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.1

“The doctors also remark upon the extreme rapidity with which their patients recover from their wounds, and attribute it to the abstemious lives they lead, drinking no wine, and eating very little meat.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.2

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

-Over-three and a quarter millions in India are still receiving famine relief. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.3

-The Emperor of Germany stands twenty-first in the direct line of succession to the British throne. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.4

-The Papal Ablegate to Canada has gone to Winnipeg to give his personal attention to the Manitoba school question. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.5

-The most extensive cemetery in the world is that of Rome, in which over 6,000,000 human beings have been interred. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.6

-The Queen has now seventy descendants-seven children, thirty-three grandchildren, and thirty great-grandchildren. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.7

-The Blackwell tunnel, under the Thames, will be opened, with appropriate ceremonies, by the Prince of Wales, on May 22. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.8

-Turkey is proposing to call out more troops, and will soon have half a million men under arms, most of them in European Turkey. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.9

-Australian frozen meat exporters have advised their London agents that they are shipping 20,000 carcases of mutton to be distributed among London poor during the Jubilee celebrations. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.10

-During the Queen's reign the revenue of the Kingdom has doubled, but the expense of army and navy has increased threefold. And next year ?700,906 is to be added to the normal coat. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.11

-The Anglo-American Arbitration Treaty has been rejected in the United States Senate. A two-thirds majority was neccesary for its passage, this it failed to receive, though only by two votes. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.12

-Both the Transvaal and the British Government are making ready for war in South Africa at a rate which bodes anything but good for peace. All round Africa there is strife and preparation for it. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.13

-There are said to be over twenty million widows in India, a fourth of whom are under twelve years of age. They number about one in every five females in India, while only about one male in twenty is a widower. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.14

-Dr. Koch's specific against the rinderpest in South Africa has failed, and it is now conceded that nothing in human calculations can delay the progress of the pestilence to the Cape. Thousands of cattle were inoculated, but one-third died of the pest. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.15

-At the late annual meeting of the Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control it was said that the Nonconformist places of worship now furnish seating room for nearly a million more listeners than the Church of England. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.16

-The plague which has been subsiding in Bombay is raging in other parts. In Portuguese India it is very virulent. Several thousand natives from this district who tried to enter British India to escape the infected districts were driven back by the authorities. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 302.17

“Back Page” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

“I do not love God, and it does not seem as though I ever could; how can I learn to love Him?” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.1

Thus writes an inquiring soul. The only answer is, Get acquainted with God. The trouble with our friend is a lack of acquaintance with God; for “he that loveth not knoweth not God.” 1 John 4:8. “And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.” Psalm 9:10. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.2

Don't trouble yourself about “trying to love God.” Love doesn't come in that way. Love is a spontaneous growth springing from acquaintance with one who is loving and lovable. Get acquainted with God, and you can't help loving Him. The god whom you are trying to love, is not the true God. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.3

“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5), and we are taught (Luke 11:13) that God is more ready to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, than a parent is to give good things to his children. The Spirit has, indeed, been poured out upon all flesh (Acts 2:16, 17), so that the gift of love has been bestowed upon us even before we ask it. Air and water, the first essentials to life, and the freest of the gifts of God, are the best representations of the measureless gift of the Spirit, and so of the infinity of God's gift of everlasting love. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.4

“But how can I get acquainted with God?” Oh, that is not difficult. He is “not far from every one of us” (Acts 17:27), and is very accessible, for He invites everybody to come to Him. Through Christ all men of every class and nation “have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Ephesians 2:18. Begin to hold conversations with Him. Do not be afraid of intruding, or of putting yourself forward; for when you speak to the Lord you are only replying to the words that He has already spoken to you. If you consider what He has said to you, you will be at no loss to know what to say to Him. You cannot expect to love one with whom you are not acquainted; but what is more natural than the growth of love between persons who frequently converse together. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.5

We get acquainted with God also through His works. “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Psalm 33:5. All His works praise Him. The evidences of His love and loveliness are stamped upon every leaf and flower; they descend with the rain, and flow with the streams; they shine in the sunbeams, and are diffused in the air. “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him;” for unto you who believe “He is precious.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.6

“The Birmingham gun trade has not,“ says the Daily Mail, “been so busy as it is now since 1870. In this opinion all the leading gun-makers of the Midland city concur. It is significant that Birmingham should always be busiest on the eve of a war.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.7

Buddhism is said to be making considerable progress in America, specially in Boston, the centre of New England culture. It means, doubtless, no acceptance of a new religion, but the cultured triflers with moral truth have merely found a name for their irreligion. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.8

“Individual Work” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

Individual Work .—It is interesting to note that Mr. Charles Booth (no relative of the “General”), who probably knows more about the condition of the people of London than any other man, finds as the result of his studies that “almost every social and economic question ... derives its ultimate practical importance from a more widely spread and more human care for the individual,“ and that the hope of uplifting the fallen lies not in State enterprise or Collectivism, but in “the reform of the individual by the individual.” God saves men, not in bulk, but as individuals; Christ died for the world, but only in that He tasted death “for every man;” therefore all who would join Him in His work, must labour individually for individuals. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.9

“Inciting to War” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

Inciting to War .—It does not augur well for the prospects of peace, when leading church teachers declare that the three conditions of justifiable warfare are, the command of the prince, a just cause, and a good intention-and that the first cause “relieves the individual soldier from all moral responsibility for his military action;” that “it is lawful for Christian men at the command of the magistrate to wear weapons and to serve in the wars;” and, even worse still, that “in war men have the opportunity of rising to higher levels of virtue than they would have thought possible of attainment.” Such teaching is not calculated to make men acquainted with God as the One who “maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth.” He who “hath the power of death, that is the devil,“ has, by means of his skill in passing himself off as an angel of Iight, attained to a very prominent position as a religious teacher, so that counsels of war and death are largely supposed to be a part of the Gospel of life and peace. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.10

“Reunion” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

Reunion .—The Moscow correspondent of the Standard, in a recent issue of that paper, writes as follows concerning the Archbishop of York's visit to Russia:— PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.11

The visit of Dr. Maclagan has aroused among all classes of society in Moscow an interest amounting to enthusiasm. One of the most popular local papers remarks that, rightly understood, the visit means more for the Orthodox Russians than even the Greco-Turkish war. The union of the Greek and Anglican churches has been the constant topic of conversation of late, and whatever be the practical result of such a movement, no doubt such a union has been advanced a step by the cordial reception given everywhere to the Archbishop of York. PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.12

“In Russia” The Present Truth, 13, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

In Russia .—The work of Sabbath reform goes on in Russia. From a recent report we learn that it has obtained a foothold in St. Petersburg. “While the difficulties in this great field are rather increasing than lessening,“ says the report, “the Lord is mightier than all, and in spite of prison and exile the truth advances. One active worker has recently been exiled, only to carry the truth there.” A few weeks ago the London newspapers reported the escape from the Caucasus of a band of exiled Protestants, who had suffered much at the hands of inquisitorial priests. Among them, it appears, was one of our Seventh-day Adventist brethren. They escaped into Roumania. “But they had hardly set foot in a freer land, and mentioned the glad tidings in a Russian settlement there,“ says the report from one of our Society's workers, “ere a Russian priest had our brother arrested on the charge of being a Russian spy.” PTUK May 13, 1897, page 304.13