The Present Truth, vol. 15

August 3, 1899

“The Gathering of Israel. Ezekiel's Great Vision. Ezekiel 37:1-14” The Present Truth 15, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

THE RESURRECTION, AND THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about; and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 481.1

“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones: behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 481.2

“So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 481.3

“Then said He unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 481.4

“Then He said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. [Revised Version, “We are clean cut off.”] Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put My spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land; then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 481.5

The most cursory reading of this chapter is sufficient to show that it deals with the resurrection of the dead. It is a most literal description of that event. Some one will say that it is a representation of the restoration of the Jews to their own land. That is exactly the truth, for that is what the text itself says; but it also tells us that the restoration is to be effected by the resurrection. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 481.6

In the eleventh verse the children of Israel are represented as saying that they are clean out off. Death cuts man off from the face of the earth, and is apparently the destruction of his hope; for the promise is that the children of Abraham shall inherit the earth, yet they die without having any share in it. Accordingly the scoffers say, “Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” 2 Peter 3:3, 4. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 481.7

But “the righteous hath hope in his death.” The Apostle Paul writes: “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For 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,” etc. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16. The promise of the land to Abraham included, and was based upon, the resurrection, and Abraham so understood it, else he could not have died in faith, not having received the promise. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 481.8

The children whom Herod slew in order to kill the infant Jesus represent all the dead children of Israel. Rachel, the wife of Jacob, is represented as weeping for her children; but all the children of Israel are her children just as much as were the innocent babes who were slaughtered by the tyrant. Now read what is said of the death of her children:- PTUK August 3, 1899, page 482.1

“Thus saith the Lord: A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.” Jeremiah 31:15-17. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 482.2

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:26. Those who are dead are in the land of the enemy, but God has promised that they shall come from that land, and shall return “to their own border.” So we see that the return of the children of Israel to their own border, to their own land, is by the resurrection of the dead. That is the hope of Israel. The Apostle Paul was seized and bound by the unbelieving Jews because he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he said, “For the hope of Israel am I bound with this chain” (Acts 28:20), and to another congregation of the Jews he said, “Of the hope and resurrection of the dead am I called in question.” Acts 23:6. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 482.3

There is therefore no hope for Israel except in the resurrection at the coming of the Lord; but that hope is a “lively hope,” to which we are begotten by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3. Christ's resurrection is the surety of the general resurrection. And from this we may learn that every righteous person is counted as Israel, and will be included in the restoration; for it is by the resurrection of the dead, through Christ, that Israel are restored, and what Christ does for one He does for all. There are no people who have some special interest in the death and resurrection of Christ, that others do not have. Since it is by the resurrection of Jesus that the children of Israel are restored to their own land, it follows that everybody who sleeps in Jesus, and is raised from the dead through Him, is an Israelite, waiting to be redeemed from exile in the enemy's land. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 482.4

“By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.... Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Hebrews 11:9-13. Now we know that they did not inherit the promise; for God, in making to Abraham the promise of an innumerable seed and an everlasting inheritance in the land wherein he was a stranger, said to him: “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” Genesis 15:13-16. David said, “I am a stranger with Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” Psalm 39:12. And he repeated this statement when at the height of his power he handed the kingdom over to Solomon. 1 Chronicles 29:15. All the faithful are alike waiting the return of the Lord, and the resurrection, as the consummation of their hopes. It was by faith in the resurrection of the dead that Abraham offered Isaac. Hebrews 11:17-19. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 482.5

The prophet says that as he prophesied according to the command of the Lord, “there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.” Verse 7. In the Revised Version we find “earthquake” in the place of “shaking,” and the margin gives “thundering” in the place of “noise.” This agrees exactly with the description of the resurrection at the coming of Christ. “For 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.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. When Christ died upon the cross, “the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” Matthew 27:51-53. Three days afterward “there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.” Matthew 28:2. So we see that the resurrection of the dead is accompanied by an earthquake. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 482.6

It is by the breath of God that men live. “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” Acts 17:25. In His hand is the soul of every living thing, “And the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:10. Job said: “All the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils; my lips shall not speak wickedness.” Job 27:3, 4. If He thought only of Himself; if He gathered and kept to Himself His Spirit and His breath; all flesh would perish together, and man would turn again unto dust. See Job 24:14, 15. He takes away the breath of man and beast, and they die, and return to their dust; but He sends forth His Spirit, and they are created, and He renews the face of the earth. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 482.7

Accordingly God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind, and say, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” From this we see that the wind that plays upon our cheeks, and that refreshes us as we draw full inspirations into our lungs, is the breath of God. Surely it is so, because we breathe the air, and yet we have the breath of God in our nostrils. Our breath is the same as Adam’s. Adam's breath the second minute that he lived, and the third, and the fourth, and so on, was exactly the same as the first moment. Moreover, neither Adam nor any of his descendants has ever had any power over the breath, either to start it or stop it. Ecclesiastes 8:8. It comes involuntarily. For a minute, by a great effort, we may hold our breath, and then it will come in spite of us. No man could commit suicide by voluntarily refusing to breathe. The breath comes arbitrarily while we are asleep and entirely unconscious. Therefore it is plain that not only did God breathe the breath of life into Adam's nostrils in the beginning, but that He continued doing so, and has performed the same operation for every man that has ever lived, every moment of his life. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.1

How near God is to us! So near that we can feel His breath in our faces; so near that He is face to face with us, breathing into our nostrils. How real it is that He is “not far from every one of us.” And He is just as near us when we fall asleep in death; for all the righteous ones “sleep in Jesus,” and the same breath that keeps us in life now will revive the dead from their sleep in the grave. “The hour is coming when all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.” John 5:28, 29. And this resurrection from the dead is but the same process by which those who are dead in trespasses and sins are now quickened, and made to pass from death to life. Therefore we may know that if we believe God the life of righteousness will be just as easy as for that is what will give it to us. “The just shall live by faith,” but every man, whether just or otherwise, lives by breathing; therefore that which makes a man righteous is the fact that he breathes by faith. Our hope in Christ and His resurrection rests in the fact that God has surrounded the earth with an atmosphere of grace. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.2

“The Gospel of Isaiah. Hezekiah's Tribute of Thanksgiving. Isaiah 38:9-20” The Present Truth 15, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

(ISAIAH 38:9-20, LOWTH'S TRANSLATION.)

9. T HE WRITING OF HEZEKIAH KING OF JUDAH. WHEN HE HAD BEEN SICK, AND WAS RECOVERED FROM HIS SICKNESS: PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.3

10. I said, when my days were just going to be
cut off,
I shall pass through the gates of the grave;
I am deprived of the residue of my years! PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.4

11. I said, I shall no more see Jehovah in the land
of the living!
I shall no longer behold man, with the in-
habitants of the world! PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.5

12. My habitation is taken away, and is removed
from me, like a shepherd's tent;
My life is cut off, as by the weaver; He will
sever me from the loom;
In the course of the day Thou wilt finish my
web. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.6

13. I roared until the morning, like the lion;
So did He break to pieces all my bones. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.7

14. Like the swallow, like the crane did I twitter;
I made a moaning like the dove.
Mine eyes fail with looking upward;
O Lord, contend Thou for me; be Thou my
surety. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.8

15. What shall I say? He hath given me a
promise, and He hath performed it.
Through the rest of my years will I reflect on
this bitterness of my soul. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.9

16. For this cause shall it be declared, O Jehovah,
concerning Thee,
That Thou hast revived my spirit;
That thou hast restored my health, and pro-
longed my life. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.10

17. Behold my anguish is changed into ease!
Thou hast rescued my soul from perdition;
Yea, Thou hast cast behind Thy back all my
sins. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.11

18. Verily the grave shall not give thanks unto
Thee; death shall not praise Thee!
They that go down into the pit shall not await
Thy truth; PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.12

19. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as
I do this day;
The father to the children shall make known
Thy faithfulness. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.13

20. Jehovah was present to save me; therefore
will we sing our songs to the harp,
All the days of our life, in the house of
Jehovah. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.14

In this writing we learn why it was that Hezekiah was so much troubled when he learned that he must die. It was because it did not mean an entrance into a larger life with greater possibilities, as some would have us believe. Death is not life, in any sense of the word. The message to Hezekiah was, “Thou shalt die, and not live.” If death had meant life under far better conditions than are possible on this earth, then we may be sure that Hezekiah, who all his life had “walked before the Lord,” would not have had any objection to it. But he knew better. When the word came to him, he said, “I am deprived of the residue of my years.” It was not that he was going to live in another place, under somewhat changed circumstances, much as one will go to a distant country;-a man does not weep sore over that, even if the country be not quite so good as the one he is leaving;-Hezekiah wept because he was not going to live anywhere any more. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.15

“I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.” But this could not be if at death Hezekiah were going to be with the Lord. He had learned to see the Lord in His works and ways, but now this delight was to be cut off. He could no longer behold God or man. The same thought was expressed by David, when he had been delivered from death. He said, “I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 116:9. It is a fact that “God hath given to us eternal life,” so that the life that we now live, if it be by faith, is but the beginning of that which we shall live in the world to come. The future life will be but a continuation of this, so that while we live, whether in this world or that which is to come, we may walk before the Lord. At this present time we may walk in the light of His countenance (Psalm 89:15, 16), and in the new earth His servants “shall see His face” (Revelation 22:4); but “in death there is no remembrance” of the Lord (Psalm 6:5); only by the resurrection, at the coming of Christ, can the righteous dead “ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 483.16

In verse 12 Lowth has it, “My habitation is taken away,” while our common version has it, “Mine age is departed.” The Revised Version has the same, with “habitation” in the margin as an alternative reading. The Hebrew allows both renderings, and both are in reality the same, since so long as a man lives he must live somewhere. When a man's life is taken away, his habitation is taken away; and if there is absolutely no place for him to live, it is because he has no life any more. Most vivid expressions are used to indicate the great change that death brings. “My life is cut off, as by the weaver; He will sever me from the loom; in the course of the day Thou wilt finish my web.” Life is likened to a web in the loom, the threads of which are composed of moments; Hezekiah's web was about to be cut off from the loom incomplete. An end was to be made of him. This explains the reason of his great sadness at the thought of death. It does not, however, excuse Hezekiah's lack of resignation to the message of the Lord. Death is an enemy, and always hateful, and the fact that God Himself allows one of His servants to suffer it, does not in the least make it any more attractive; but the fact that the Lord Himself does allow His servants to die, and that even in death they do not suffer anything that He has not suffered, should make them resigned, and even happy, in the face of it. “The righteous hath hope in his death.” Christ, who died, is alive for evermore, and has the keys of death and the grave, so that, although Satan has the power of death, he can hold no one except at the pleasure of the Lord. The grave can no more hold a child of God beyond God's will than it could hold Jesus after the third day. Therefore although the grave is indeed a hateful, terrible place, no one whose life is hid with Christ in God need fear it. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 484.1

“Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” What kind of place is the grave?-It is “the pit of corruption.” That is where people go at death. The patriarch Job said, “If I wait, the grave is mine house; I have made my bed in darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.” Job 17:13-14. The land of darkness, and the shadow of death, is “a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.” Job 10:21, 22. Yet the Christian, who knows the Lord, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike, may fear no evil, even in the valley of the shadow of death. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 484.2

We must not think that Hezekiah's prayer for deliverance from the grave was wholly selfish. No; the reason why he wished to live, and not go into the grave, is thus told by him to the Lord, “For the grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth.” “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Psalm 115:17. The psalmist also said, “I cried to Thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made my supplication. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? shall it declare Thy truth?” Psalm 30:8, 9. Thus we see that it is not wrong to ask the Lord to keep us from the grave: much of the Psalms, which are given for our guide in the matter of prayer and praise, is composed of this very petition. Again we read, “Mine eye mourneth because of mine affliction; Lord, I have called daily upon Thee, I have stretched out my hands unto Thee? Wilt Thou show wonders unto the dead? shall the dead arise and praise Thee? Selah. Shall Thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? or Thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall Thy wonders be known in the dark? and Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” Psalm 88:9-12. From this we get the facts as to the nature of the grave, and the conditions there. Who that has ever looked into an open grave cannot appreciate the description? PTUK August 3, 1899, page 484.3

“The living, the living he shall praise Thee, as I do this day.” In this there is something more than a point of doctrine for us. Notice in all the scriptures that have been quoted, that the inability to praise the Lord in the grave is the reason why these faithful servants of the Lord wished to be delivered from it. The matter of praising the Lord makes all the real difference between death and life. The man who does not praise the Lord is as dead. Idols of silver and gold, the work of men's hands, which are in every respect the farthest removed from any likeness to the God that is in the heavens working all things after the counsel of His own will, are thus described: “They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not; they have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” Psalm 115:3-8. That is to say, that every one who does not trust in the Lord is like a dead piece of metal. The man who sees nothing in the world for which to praise the Lord, does not see anything, for all His works praise Him (Psalm 145:10), and is the same as though he had no eyes. And he who does not speak to the praise of God is as though he had no mouth at all; and if his feet and hands do not move in the service of the Lord, then he is as though he had no life. “Dead in trespasses and sins.” The same Psalm that tells about the deadness of idols and of those who trust in them, tells us that “the dead praise not the Lord.” See a man that does not praise the Lord;-he is dead, and needs to be made alive. As surely as a man is alive he will praise the Lord. “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 484.4

One thing more must not be overlooked in reading this tribute of thanksgiving. Hezekiah said to the Lord, “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” Sin and death are inseparable. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12. God redeems our life from destruction, and heals all our diseases, because it is He that forgives all our iniquities. Psalm 103:3, 4. In the directions for prayer for the sick, given by the Apostle James it is said that “the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” James 5:15. Not that we are to understand by this that everybody who dies is a sinner: far from it; “the righteous is taken away from the evil to come” (Isaiah 57:1), and a blessing is pronounced upon those who die in the Lord. Revelation 14:13. Yet if it were not for sin, there would be no death. We have inherited mortal bodies, and they are allowed to go into the grave; but it is the power by which sins are forgiven, and the very forgiveness itself, that insures our resurrection from the dead. There will be a people, however, in the last days, just before the unveiled revelation of the glory of Christ in the heavens, who will represent Christ so completely that death will have no power over them, and they will be translated to heaven without seeing death. “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51. Therefore “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 484.5

“The ‘Mystery’ of God” The Present Truth 15, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

When Nebuchadnezzar dreamed and it passed from him so that he could not recall it, he demanded of the magicians, the astrologers, and soothsayers to declare to him the dream with the interpretation. But to them it way a secret that none could reveal, according to their own confession, “except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.” Because they were unable to do this, the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men should be slain, because, as he said, “ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 485.1

Then the captain of the king's guard brought Daniel and his companions to put them to death, as they were counted among the wise men. But Daniel confidently told him that if he would give him a little time he would make known the dream with the interpretation. Then with his companions he sought mercies of the God of heaven concerning the matter, and the simple record is, “Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 485.2

This secret that they desired to know was the secret of God. He only could reveal it, and they knew it. But their experience is simply the experience of finding out the Gospel secret. The knowledge of this secret is to every individual just as much a matter of life and death, as was the knowledge of the king's secret to the wise men of Babylon. And just as only God could make known to Daniel and his fellows the secret they desired, so a knowledge of the Gospel can be revealed only by Him. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 485.3

In the Gospel the word used to represent this secret is “mystery.” Christ said, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God,”-“the mystery which was kept secret since the world began.” This secret, according to the apostle is in 1 Corinthians 3:16, is “God manifest in the flesh,” or “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Galatians 1:17. He is then the “mystery of godliness;” and anyone who knows what it is to have Jesus Christ dwelling within him, knows the Gospel secret, and in no other way can he know it. And yet it is a mystery after all. No one can explain it or reason it out, because the deep things of God are beyond human reason. It must simply be accepted as a fact. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 485.4

There is something more to this secret than simply the abstract knowledge of it. To him who knows it, it is a “well of water springing up into everlasting life,”-not alone to himself, but to others also. Christ will in him be manifest in the flesh, and the works that the Master did for those around Him, he will do. In his everyday life, the Saviour will be lifted up, and thus others will be, drawn to Him. John 12:32. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 485.5

“Witness for the Truth” The Present Truth 15, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Christ said to Pilate, “For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” The Christian is to bear witness to the truth in his daily experience, not to say that he believes this or that, but to witness for the truth by being the truth. Wherever Jesus went as He moved among the people, in His attitude toward them, in His speech, in the way in which He set principle above custom, He bore witness to the truth. “As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you,” were the Saviour's words to His disciples, and those who go forth as witnesses for the truth must bear that witness as Christ did. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 487.1

“Little Folks. A Lesson from the Heat” The Present Truth 15, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

THE LAW OF LOVE

Remember that in all these things which we have been studying together lately, we are learning of God Himself. “All things come of Thee,” said King David, and in all things in nature that we can see, and even in things that we cannot see, like the air and the heat, the laws of God's own life are written. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.1

“The laws of nature” are the law of God's life which is in all things controIling everything according to His will of love for all. Therefore “the Book of Nature” is really “the Book of the Law,” the book where God has written for us “the great things of His law,” and in all these things we are studying the law of God. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.2

Read the first Psalm, and you will see that His special blessing is upon the one “whose delight is in the Iaw of the Lord,” and who studies it and thinks of it by day and night. As we see the laws of His life working in all the things that He has made, we shall learn from Him such lessons of practical wisdom that He says of the one who does this: “Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.3

Let us then, dear children, as we go on with our study of God's great works, pray earnestly the Psalmist's prayer: “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.4

“God is love; His nature, His law, is love;” and so in all these different forms of His life we may learn the lesson of His love. See how plainly this is written for us in what we have been talking about lately, the heat, produced by the sun's rays, God's glory which He has “set upon the heavens.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.5

In the description of love which God has given us in 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, we are told that love “seeketh not her own.” Love gives itself out freely wherever there is need. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.6

It is one of “the laws of heat,” called the “conduction” or “diffusion” of heat, that it gives itself out constantly from things of a higher to those of a lower temperature, until there is “equalisation,” an equality of temperature, until they both have exactly the same degree of heat. Last week we spoke of how, when cold water is set upon the fire, the heat from the fire passes into the water, until it has received all that it is possible for it to hold. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.7

If you want to cool anything, you put it in a cool place, or against something cold, or plunge it in cold water. It soon becomes cooler, while the air, the water, or whatever is brought in contact with it becomes warmer. This is because it has parted with some of its heat to warm that which had less. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.8

We sometimes blow upon anything hot when we want it to cool quickly, and we are doing the same thing when we fan ourselves this hot weather in order to keep cool. This sets the air in motion and makes it pass more quickly over us, and as the air is cooler than our bodies, each puff of air carries off some of the heat. For the law of heat is “equality” or having “all things common,” so whatever has any degree of heat must give it out to anything having less with which it is brought in contact. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.9

So the more cool air that passes over us, the more heat our bodies give out. Fanning or blowing does not make the air any cooler, but warmer; it makes whatever is fanned or blown upon cooler, because it gives out its warmth to the air which is colder than itself. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.10

If you take a stone, or any cold object, in your hand, and hold it there a little while, you will find that it gets just as warm as your hand; your body gives out some of its heat to warm that which does not have so much, until there is an equality. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.11

You see how God has written the law of His love even in your very body. If you yield fully to His life which fills you, He will write His law of love in your heart by His Holy Spirit, so that you will be just like Him. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.12

When His Spirit filled the disciples on the day of Pentecost, we are told in the book of Acts that they “had all things common.” “Neither said any man that ought of the things that he had was his own,” but “they distributed to every man according as he had need.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.13

This shows us what God is, for it was His Spirit resting on them that made them do this. He does not keep His glory to Himself; for Jesus said: “The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them.” Though everything in all the universe is His. He shares it all with every one of His creatures, and each may take just what he needs. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.14

Here is a lesson of love for each little child to practise every day. All that God gives to you it is His law of love that you should not call it your own, but be ready always to share with those to whom He has given less than you, to give of what you have to every one you meet just according to his need. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.15

Even if you have nothing but a light happy heart, you can give smiles and bright kind words to those who are downcast. If you have strength and health you can help those who are weak. “Bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 490.16

“Sleep as a Restorer” The Present Truth 15, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Sleep as a Restorer .-Children grow more rapidly during the night. In the daytime, while the child is awake and active, the system is kept busy disposing of the wastes consequent on this activity; but during sleep the system is free to extend its operations beyond the mere replacing of worn-out particles. This is why so many invalids need so much rest and sleep. The system has been taxed for years beyond its ability to repair the tissues, and hence the organism has become worn and disabled from the accumulation of waste products, and disease has resulted. With the proper conditions restores, and a season of perfect rest, nature will reassert herself, clearing up the clogged and dirty tissues, and restoring the organs to their normal condition. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.1

“Jottings” The Present Truth 15, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

-An egg of the Great Auk was sold in London last week at auction for 300 guineas. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.2

-In the province of West Gothland, Sweden, a strange disease has broken out which attacks cattle and human beings alike. Many are succumbing to its effects. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.3

-An Anglo-Hungarian syndicate is soliciting the concession for a railway from Mesopotamia to the Persian Gulf, whereby the journey to India will be greatly shortened, and a vast tract of country opened up to trade. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.4

-On the 16th July 9,000 men employed by the Brooklyn electric tramway lines went on strike, because of refusal to redress certain grievances and establish a regular working day of ten hours. The cars are being run under police protection, 2,000 policemen being engaged on this special duty. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.5

-The latest trust is by Spiritualists. According to Dalziel such a trust has just been organised at Washington, U.S.A. “Only members of the trust are to be permitted to materialise spirits for their patrons, and the prices of séances are to be raised. It is intended to discourage the public belief in non-members of the trust, by asserting that such spirits as appear at their séances are evil, or at least untrustworthy.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.6

-A violent earthquake shock was felt at Rome, Italy, and the surrounding country. Many houses were reduced to ruins, and much damage done. Shortly before the earthquake Etna broke out into eruption. The mouths of the volcano at present number fourteen, of which four emit fire and three sulphur. Over the central crater hangs an immense plume of smoke towering to a great height. The imposing spectacle is attracting large numbers of foreigners to Sicily. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.7

-In official statements lately published, some startling facts are given concerning the number of suicides in the various armies of the world. Austria heads the list, the average rate for the year being 131 per 100,000 men. The French come next, with 92 suicides for each 100,000 men. Germany is given at 68; Italy 45; Belgium 24; Engalnd 23 (nearly all of them being in India); Russia 20 (which is believed to be far below the actual number), and Spain comes in at about the bottom of the list with 14. There are more suicides among the officers than among the privates. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.8

-The final report of the Royal Commission on Licensing has been issued. It is a Blue Book of 330 pages, and there are many recommendations upon which the whole body of the Commissioners are in practical agreement. Among them are a large reduction in the number of public-houses with limited compensation to the owners; the making of simple drunkenness a crime without other disorderly conduct; that either husband or wife may be entitled to judicial reparation for habitual drunkenness; the sale of any kind of intoxicants to children under ten years old prohibited; habitual drunkards to be placed on a black list and license-holders warned not to serve them; to be drunk when in charge of a child of tender years to be a punishable offence; and complete Sunday-closing to be extended throughout Wales and Monmouthshire. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 494.9

“Back Page” The Present Truth 15, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1. It is because of the lack of faith that so many Christians feel that there is no real substance, no satisfying, sustaining evidence in their experience. Instead of always rejoicing, it would be nearer the truth to describe them as always murmuring. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.1

They murmur for the same reason that ancient Israel did. “They forgat God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt: wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea.” Psalm 106:21, 22. It always seems to us a very wicked thing that Israel should forget the great things God had done for them. It was, but it is just as wicked for us to forget Him too, or to query in our hearts, “Is the Lord among us or not?” It is a sin to forget that God is our salvation, and that He has promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.2

Let us not forget that God is with us, but believe it. Then consider how much it means. He is not like us, weak and inconstant. The universe is upheld by His command, the innumerable angels do His will, all nations before Him are as nothing and “none can stay His hand, or say, What doest Thou?” What a wonderful effect it must have upon anyone's life to spend his days in the presence and under the protection of such a Being! Suppose trials, difficulties and Satanic assaults come upon us. What can they do if the Lord of hosts be with us? PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.3

Read what happens to God's enemies when they come into contact with Him. “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.” Psalm 68:1, 2. Certainly. Nothing else could possibly happen. So if we will only remember that God is with us, never to forsake us, we will know that we are perfectly safe, and that for the enemy to come to close quarters simply means destruction to himself. Satan knows this too, and it not at all anxious to try his strength with the Lord. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.4

The mistake we make too often is to think that we are alone, and think only of ourselves as meeting the assaults of the enemy. When we remember that God is with us, so that it is He who must bear the brunt of the fighting, that alters the situation entirely. Satan's whole strength is not to be compared with God’s; therefore we are quite safe, and can dwell confidently. So we read on, “But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Sing unto God, sing praises to His name.” PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.5

Now here is an opportunity for us to discover whether we are believers or infidels. Do we walk in weakness and fear, often falling, or do we go in the strength of the Lord? Do we become discouraged because we are so sinful, or do we rejoice that God's righteousness is upon us? God says He is with us, and that in Him we live and move and have our being. Therefore our life is made up of ourselves and God. He is everything, we are less than nothing. How much thought do we bestow upon Him, and how much upon ourselves? Do we remember Him more than ourselves, or is it the other way about? the life which acknowledges God in all its ways will be as much better and higher than the life which forgets Him, as the life of an angel is better than that of the brutes that perish. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.6

“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For thou art the glory of their strength; and in Thy favour our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.” Psalm 89:15-18. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.7

“There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in His excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.” Deuteronomy 33:26, 27. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.8

Work on Christ's lines will be successful, as His was. He had no difficulty in getting the ears of the people. The secret of His success was that “He went about doing good.” Christianity has not changed. All the world knows of Christ is what it sees revealed through His representatives, and when their work is entirely different from that of the Saviour, He is not revealed, but His character is misrepresented. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.9

There are many people who are physically weak because of lack of exercise. So there are many who are spiritually and mentally weak because they do not exert themselves. One good rule for a Christian worker is never to refuse to do any work that comes in his way, whether it be small or great. Do not despise the small things, and do not be afraid to take hold of the great ones. God gives strength according to your need. If you never take hold of any work that is beyond your strength you will never have any reason to expect more strength. There will be no occasion for God to give you more. No one can ever learn anything, if he never reads anything that is beyond his present capacity. Always be ready to every good work, and God will work in you to show the perfection of His strength in your weakness. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.10

It is very easy for men to see the marks of the curse everywhere. In plague and pestilence, in famine and in drought, in havoc and disaster, in ruined homes and blighted lives, the deadly working of the curse is seen. But the curse is the cross of Christ. Christ has been made a curse for men. Galatians 3:13. It is He who bears its weight, and wherever we see the curse, we see Christ crucified. When we see it in our own lives, we are not to be discouraged, for wherever the cross is there is Christ. Where sin abounds grace does much more abound. Christ crucified is the power of God. “Though He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God.” 2 Corinthians 13:4. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. PTUK August 3, 1899, page 496.11