The Present Truth, vol. 15

October 5, 1899

“Saved!” The Present Truth 15, 40.

E. J. Waggoner

What a thrill of joy that word brings to anxious hearts when it announces that one whom death had seemed to claim as its sure prey, has been snatched from its jaws. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 625.1

A crowd of eager, excited people stand looking up to a window of a burning house, where the face of a friend and relative appears. A brave fireman mounts a ladder, clambers along seemingly inaccessible places, and brings down the imprisoned victim. What a meaning there is in the shout that goes up from the throng, “Saved!” Nobody needs to have it explained. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 625.2

A man falls overboard from the deck of a steamship, and has disappeared beneath the waves. He comes up, and is making frantic but vain struggles for life. But a sailor has seen him, and plunged in after him. The rescuer reaches the drowning man, and succeeds in supporting him until the ship's boat reaches them, and strong arms draw them both on board. They are saved! How gladly the word is passed along, and how sweet it sounds. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 625.3

Meet any one of those persons a few days afterward, when the incident of which he was a witness, or in which he may have participated, has already partially faded from his memory, and say to him, “My dear friend, are you saved?” and he will very likely say, “What do you mean?” “I mean what I say, Are you saved?” you reply. If he does not get angry with you for asking what he deems an impertinent question, he may say, “I don't know what I need to be saved from; I am in no danger.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 626.1

Strange, is it not, that the word “saved,” or “salvation,” when used in connection with Jesus as the Saviour, is regarded by most people as having an altogether different meaning from what it does when used in connection with some disease or impending danger? The reason is that people have been educated to think that Jesus has nothing to do with ordinary affairs of everyday life, and His work, as well as His person, is really regarded by them as more or less mythical. “Spiritual,” is the name by which it is commonly designated; but with most the word “spiritual” is considered equivalent to “mythical” or “visionary,” and not as indicating anything real. The fact is, however, that while the work of Jesus, the Saviour, like Himself, is wholly spiritual, it is the most real thing in the world, and touches human life and experience at every point. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 626.2

“Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins,” were the words of the angel Gabriel to Joseph. Who that has the least knowledge of the Bible is not familiar with them? Yes, people are familiar with the sound of them; but to too many professed Christians they are little more than a distant echo. So they go about, dimly conscious that in some sort of way they need salvation, yet not comprehending the reality of their need, nor the greatness nor the reality of the salvation which is right at their side, yea, even within them waiting their acceptance. Salvation from sin seems altogether an abstract thing to the majority of mankind, including many who pass as Christians. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 626.3

If men would read the life of Christ in the Gospels until He becomes to them a real, living being, going about doing good, healing the sick, relieving the oppressed, comforting the mourners, and feeding the hungry, and would just believe that He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever,” as really present with us now as He was in Judea centuries ago, and for the very same purpose, they would take more satisfaction in hearing about His salvation. They would see that it is something that has to do with every detail of everyday life, and they would find the way of salvation. For there is as real joy in the salvation which Jesus brings as in the rescuing of a loved one from imminent death; for that is just what He does; and, moreover, that joy is not a momentary thrill, but a constant, and ever-deepening experience. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 626.4

Suppose, my friend, you let the phrase, “salvation from sin,” which to you has only a technical meaning, drop out of your mind for a moment. Now think of some trouble, some difficulty, some habit that annoys and hinders you, from which you would like to be saved, to be kept. You can understand that, can you not. You are very nervous, starting at every sudden sound or a jar, trembling at any sudden announcement; or you are timid, easily alarmed, and frightened even by things which your good sense tells you are not to be feared; yet you have no control of yourself. You would like to be saved from that condition, would you not? Of course. Listen to the brief statement of and experience that has been repeated in thousands of cases. “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4. What would you not give for such salvation as that? Well, that is precisely the salvation which the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.” 1 John 4:18. Jesus Christ sweetly sleeping while the winds shrieked and the waves tossed themselves, or standing calm, unmoved, without a tremor, while the angry, howling mob, gnashed on Him, and yelled, “Crucify Him,” is an example of the perfect peace that is the possession of every one who fully accepts His salvation. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 626.5

“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Psalm 34:6. Mind, it does not say that the Lord saved him from having trouble, but that He saved him out of them all. What difference does it make how much trouble we have, if we are only saved from it, so that it does not crush or control us? “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Is not that practical? PTUK October 5, 1899, page 626.6

Some one will say, “But I know many Christians, and they are just as timid as other people, just as easily frightened out of their wits, and they have just as many troubles as others, and are cast down and overcome by them, too. They have just as many sicknesses, and, moreover, are very nervous and irritable, sometimes because of their weakened physical condition.” Very likely, but that does not prove anything against the reality of Christ's salvation. It only shows that these people have not yet learned Christ as they ought to when they profess to follow Him. They are in the school of Christ, but have not made much advancement yet. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth; and the word salvation is unlimited. The power that saves from sin, saved from everything that is in any sense a drawback to the individual. It saves us from sin just by touching us and filling at every point and in every detail of human experience. Learn to recognise Jesus as He reveals His power in all creation, accept Him as the Saviour from the most petty thing that mars your peace, and you will soon be saying, “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed [happy] is the man that trusteth in Him; O fear the Lord, ye His saints; for there is no want to them that fear Him,” and then “sin shall not have dominion over you.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 626.7

The world is full of sin; everybody and everything is faulty; therefore it is not any art, and requires no great skill, to find fault. Anybody can do that. But to find the good, to seek out and develop it,-that is a marvellous faculty, and must be learned from God Himself. His Divine skill and power are shown in finding and developing perfection where a critic would find nothing but faults, and would turn away in disgust. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 626.8

“The Gospel of Isaiah. The Great Case in Court” The Present Truth 15, 40.

E. J. Waggoner

Revelation 14:6: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and fountains of waters.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.1

Isaiah 41:1: “Keep silence before Me, O islands; and let the peoples renew their strength; let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together to Judgment.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.2

Isaiah 41:21-23: “Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob: Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show us the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods; yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.3

Isaiah 43:9-12: “Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled; who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, it is truth. Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know, and believe Me, and understand that I am He; before Me there was no god formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and beside Me there is no Saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you; therefore ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.4

Psalm 51:3, 4: “I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight; that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.5

Romans 3:4: “Let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That Thou mightest be justified in Thy sayings, and mightest overcome when Thou art judged.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.6

Isaiah 41:28: “I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.7

Romans 3:19: “Now we know that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.8

Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason [literally, “go into court”] together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.9

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.10

Isaiah 42:21: “The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.11

Isaiah 43:25, 26: “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put Me in remembrance; let us plead together; declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.12

Isaiah 45:22-25: “Look unto Me, and be saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength; and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.13

Romans 14:10, 11: “Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why doest thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.14

Before proceeding in our consecutive study of the book of Isaiah, it is necessary to take a general view of the main features of the chapters that follow, since they are so closely connected, and so devoted to one main thought, that we shall not get the full force of them if we go on studying small sections of them without first getting the greater theme in mind. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.15

The whole book of Isaiah is devoted to one great purpose, namely, that of showing who God is. Recall the opening words of the prophecy, where God contrasts His people with the brutes, who know their lord, while His people do not know Him. Since the prophet is sent to those who, through lack of consideration, do not know the Lord, it is self-evident that he must be commissioned to make God known to them in the clearest possible manner, and to bring forward the most striking evidences of His existence and character. Let the student take special notice of the frequent occurrence of the statement, “I am God,” and the continual contrasts between the true God and the gods of the heathen. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.16

The book of Isaiah, more than any other in the Bible, is based on the idea of a case in court. When one has learned the fact that the whole universe is a great court, in which a case is continually being tried, and God, the angels both good and bad, and all mankind, are concerned in it, the prophecy of Isaiah, and indeed the whole Bible, can be read with a great deal more pleasure and profit than before. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.17

By most persons the Judgment is doubtless regarded as the time when the Lord determines who are, and who are not, worthy to enter heaven. They imagine all the people of earth gathered about the throne, where an examination is held, and the characters of all men are passed upon. But such an idea as that does very slight justice to the omniscience of God. He does not need to study character in order to discern one's disposition. It is not necessary for Him to study anything. He does not need to make enquiry into a case, and to examine witnesses, as men do, in order to know the facts. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3. “The word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. When Jesus was here on earth, “He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man.” John 2:24, 25. The Lord, therefore, does not need, as man does, a time in which to cast up His accounts; for with Him the account is always kept. The exact status of every person living, and every act and every thought of every person who has at any time lived on this earth, could at any moment be set forth by the Lord, who inhabits eternity, and who fills heaven and earth. Therefore it is evident that the Judgment of the last day is not for the purpose of helping God to a decision as to the worthiness or unworthiness of any person. It will not reveal to the Lord a single thing that He did not know before. Indeed, it will be the Lord Himself who will reveal the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 627.18

Instead of being for the purpose of revealing all the details of the lives of men to God, as so many seem to suppose, the Judgment is for the purpose of revealing to men their own selves, and to make known to them the details of the life of God. Two texts that are quoted in the beginning of this lesson will help to make this appear. Compare Psalm 51:3, 4 with Romans 3:4. In the first instance it is stated that God will be justified when He speaks, and be clear when He judges. In the second, which is a citation of the first, it is stated that He will be justified in His sayings, and will overcome when He is judged. Since the last is but a repetition of the first, and that too by the Spirit, we may be sure that both texts mean exactly the same thing. Therefore we learn that when God judges He Himself is judged. The result will be that He will win the case and be justified. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 628.1

That last word, “justified,” turns our attention to the points in the case. From the very beginning the character of God has been called in question. Satan and his followers have sought to justify their rebellion against God by charging Him with injustice, indifference to the welfare of His subjects, cruelty, and harsh despotism. We see all this set forth in the temptation with which Satan induced Eve to take the forbidden fruit. The Hebrew of the words rendered in Genesis 3:1, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” is not by any means fully expressed by that rendering. The serpent's question is accompanied by a covert sneer, a contemptuous sniff, as he says, “Is it so, that God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” The tempter affects to doubt that even God should be capable of doing so mean a thing as that, thus artfully implanting in the mind of Eve the idea that she has been unjustly dealt with. Then when she repeats the prohibition, the serpent comes out boldly, and says, “Ye shall not surely die; for God knoweth that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be like God, knowing good and evil.” He made her believe that God had deceived them in telling them that they should die if they ate of that tree, and that He had told them that story merely to frighten them away from it, because He knew that if they should eat from it they would be equal to Himself, and thus He would lose His prestige and authority over them. By insinuating that God was exalting Himself at their expense, the adversary caused her to feel that she was abused, and to imagine that she had found in the serpent a friend who would help her to secure her rights. From that day to this God has been maligned and willfully misunderstood. Satan's charge of injustice has been repeated by men, and his insinuations have sunk so deeply into the minds of the world, that it does not seem so fearful a thing even for professed followers of the Lord to question His dealings with them. Every doubt is but the echo of the words with which Satan tempted our first parents to sin. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 628.2

Who has not heard God charged with all the sin and misery in the world? Because God is all-powerful, men say that He is responsible for all the wretchedness; or else, if it be claimed that He is not responsible for it, they say that then He is weak; and in any case they make the presence of sins and misery the fault of God. The spirit of Satan, the prince of the power of the air, works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2), and it is one of the most difficult things in the world to convince anybody that God is love. Absolute trust in God as a tender, loving Father, is a very rare thing, so much so that those who trust Him fully in every detail of life are accounted mildly insane, and unfitted for practical life. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 628.3

The character of God is therefore on trial. God calls upon men to come into court and prove their charges against Him, and His only defense is the revelation of Himself to them,-the setting forth of His whole life before them. In Isaiah 1:18, where we have, “Come now, and let us reason together,” the Hebrew literally rendered is, “Come now, and let us go into court together, saith the Lord.” He has been charged with unrighteousness, and His people take up this charge as an excuse for turning away from Him; but God rests His case upon the fact that He forgives sin, and cleanses from all unrighteousness. He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and this He will do though they be as scarlet. “He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.” 1 John 3:5. He never committed a sin, and is not responsible for sin, yet He takes it upon Himself in order that it and all its consequences may for ever be removed. The Judgment is for the purpose of making this clear before every being in the universe; and when that is done, every mouth will be stopped. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 628.4

The trial is now progressing; the Judgment will be merely the summing up. The Judgment will reveal no new feature that all men may not learn now, or else it would then appear that all men had not had a fair chance. In this present time, while the case is before the jury, which is composed of all creatures, God makes a perfect and complete revelation of Himself and His character, manifesting Himself in all the things that He has made for the benefit of mankind, but chiefly in Jesus Christ whom He has sent. There is no need for anybody to be ignorant of the true character of God. Even the most degraded heathen are “without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20. When in the Judgment men are made to see that to which they have so long willfully shut their eyes; when everything that has been done by men, and by God for men, since the creation, and even God's tender provision for men before the creation of the world, and also the underlying motive of all the acts that have been committed, are set forth before the universe, there will not be found a soul, no matter how malicious and hateful, who can open his mouth to say another word against the love and justice of the Creator and Redeemer. Every one will be compelled by evidence that cannot be evaded, to confess to God, and to bow the knee in token of His right to rule. Even Satan himself will at last be forced by the power of love to acknowledge that “the Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.” Psalm 145:17. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 628.5

Some one will here ask, “Will everybody then be saved?” Not at all; the confession of the wicked will come too late to be counted to them for righteousness. Those who then for the first time confess the love and righteousness of God will not be moved by faith. Although they will acknowledge that God is good, they will have no love for Him. If their probation were continued, they would still go on in the same course of sin. They love sin more than God, or else they would yield to the tender mercy of God while it is now revealed in Christ. Their confession will be only to the effect that the punishment about to be inflicted upon them is just, and but the natural fruit of their own deeds; that they are but receiving the wages for which they have worked all their lives. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 629.1

We have read that in the Judgment God will be justified in His sayings, that is, in the sentence which He announces. Every word and act of His life will be justified. But we must remember that this Judgment is preceded by a trial, in which there are witnesses. God calls upon all men to be witnesses for Him, and He has a just claim upon their testimony. But Satan is active with his bribes, and he steals away many of God's witnesses. All the world are now taking sides either for or against the Lord. “He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad.” Matthew 12:30. Men are now identifying themselves either with the Lord or with the great adversary. It is evident, therefore, that so surely as God is justified will all those be justified who have cast in their lot with Him, and those who have rejected Him, and have challenged His right to rule, declaring that He should not rule over them, must necessarily take themselves out of His dominions when the controversy is ended. But since “His kingdom ruleth over all,” it follows that for those who reject God no place in the universe will be found. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 629.2

This is the time for the friends of God to declare themselves. It is true that in some things appearances are against the Lord, but that is only because of our short and distorted vision. We are not wise enough to understand all the workings of God, and we have not exercised ourselves in divine things sufficiently to have our minds toned up to their proper capacity; but enough is made plain to us to enable us to form an opinion. If we declare ourselves on the side of the Lord, even though we cannot explain everything, we are truly His friends. Enemies may fling their accusations against Him, but we will say, “I do not know all the circumstances, and therefore I cannot give you an explanation of this transaction, but this one thing I do know, that God is just and good, and that if we knew all about this thing of which you accuse Him, you yourself would be compelled to acknowledge that it reveals only the tenderest love and goodness.” Such a friend is appreciated by the Lord, and will be acknowledged by Him before the world and angels, at the last day; while those who are ready to doubt the goodness of God at every step, eagerly seizing upon every insinuation which the devil whispers in their ears, thereby shut themselves off from all connection with Him. Character will not be formed, but only declared, in the Judgment. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 629.3

This is but a brief outline of the case. In the lessons that follow we shall see other features set forth. This court trial is the greatest affair in the universe, and the attention of the student will be called to it in every lesson henceforward. If we all can but realise that we are involved in this case that is now being tried, it would transform our lives. If we but place ourselves close to the throne of grace and view the case as it progresses, it will make clear to us every question that vexes the world. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 629.4

“A Birthmark” The Present Truth 15, 40.

E. J. Waggoner

The Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion gives an account of the first of a course of Catholic Evidence lectures at the Central Hall, Acton, by Monsignore Vaughn, on the relation of the Catholic Church to the Bible, and says:- PTUK October 5, 1899, page 629.5

In the course of a splendid address he showed that while Protestants rely upon the Bible and the Bible only, they did not stick up to it, and gave several instances of their inconsistency, including their keeping the Sunday as their Sabbath instead of Saturday. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 629.6

It will be hard for the most of professed Protestants to repel this charge. The keeping of Sunday instead of the Sabbath of the Bible is the thing which marks the most of the churches of Protestantism as true daughters of the Roman Catholic Church. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 629.7

“Children's Corner. Some ‘Carnivorous Plants’” The Present Truth 15, 40.

E. J. Waggoner

How is it that the birds, the insects, the fish, many animals, and even many people, now feed upon other living creatures, instead of only upon the plants which God said should be their food? Perhaps what we told you last week about the plants has brought this question into your minds. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.1

It is because the curse that came upon the earth through man's sin has had an effect upon the whole creation, and changed and perverted the nature that God gave to His creatures in the beginning. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.2

It is still the life of God that is seen in all things. This is shown in the wisdom and skill that the animals have, in their tender love for their little ones and often in their kindness to one another when in difficulty or trouble. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.3

But God's will is not now “done on earth as it is in heaven,” and as it will be when God makes the earth new and fills it with new creatures. For then, He says, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Holy Mountain.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.4

But we are not now going to talk about the animals. We want to tell you about some plants that have such an unnatural and perverted appetite that they are not content with the good food that God has provided in the earth for their roots to suck up, and in the air for their leaves to absorb in the way we told you of last week. These are called “carnivorous plants” just as the animals that feed upon the flesh of others an called “carnivorous animals.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.5

Here is a picture of one of them, which, is called “Venus's Fly-trap.” I need not tell you why it is called a fly-trap, for you will see how the cruel prickly leaves fold over the poor little unsuspecting fly that has alighted on it. Crushing it to death, the leaves suck in the juices from its body, and then open again and seeming innocence for another victim. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.6

There is also the sundew, which grows in this country in soft, marshy places. Its leaves are covered with stiff hairs, at the end of which are little drops of sweet moisture that attract insects to come and feed. But like the fly-trap this is only a snare, for the insect soon becomes entangled in the hairs, of the leaves which fold over and feed upon it. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.7

These plants do not use these things for their food, any more than we ourselves need to feed upon animals; for God has provided abundant nourishment for them in just the way that He meant them to take it, which we may be sure is the very best way for them. They thrive when they are not able to get any of the living food that they crave, for they can draw up food from the earth just as other plants can. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.8

You may have heard too of the “pitcher plant.” The end of each of its long green leaves is shaped like a pitcher and filled with sweet, intoxicating juice. Ants, flies and all kinds of insects come to this plant attracted by the contents of the pitcher. But, like people who drink intoxicating liquors, they soon lose their senses, and become the prey of the deceitful plant that has lured them to their death only that it may feast upon their bodies. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.9

The article following this one will tell you of a much larger plant than any of these, which will feed not only on birds and animals, but even on human flesh when it gets the opportunity. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.10

When man sinned, God said to him, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake.” Since the ground itself is cursed, every thing that comes from it, which includes everything that lives on it, bears more or less of the curse. It is much more plainly seen in some things than in others, but it rests upon all, and all things must be redeemed and made new before the plan and purpose of God can be carried out in the earth. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.11

In the beginning God said to man, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” But now there are many trees and plants which bring death instead of life to those who eat of them or even breathe their deadly odours. Perhaps we will tell you about some of these another time. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.12

The promise we spoke of, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Holy Mountain,” takes in not only men and animals, but the plants also. Then they will again give out nothing but life; their murderous tendencies will be taken sway, and only God's pure, unperverted life of love will be seen in all things. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 634.13

“Suicide Made Easy” The Present Truth 15, 40.

E. J. Waggoner

Some time ago we had the curiosity to read one of the quack medicine advertisements that are so regularly thrown in at the door. Two or three sentences in it were so striking that we repeat them here, omitting the name of the vaunted remedy, because we do not wish in the remotest way to assist in advertising such stuff. The reader can put in the name of almost any medicine he sees advertised, and it will fit. This particular medicine was lauded as a foe to indigestion. The advertiser said:- PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.1

“No, thank you, I'll take no cheese. I like it, but it does not like me.” How often we hear people talk so about some article of food or another! Things that please the palate do not suit the stomach, and to eat them means the pain and distress of a sharp indigestion.... They are afraid to eat. Instead of being the best of friends, as Nature intended, food has become an enemy. Now, eating is not only a necessity, but should also be one of our chief pleasures. The use of— makes it so. A moderate dose taken immediately after eating will enable you to digest almost anything you relish; and being digested, your food will do you good and strengthen you. As you get confidence in the power of— to prevent and overcome indigestion, you will enjoy your meals and no longer feel afraid of them. You can eat the things you like. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.2

That the medicine is designed especially for the purpose of enabling people to gratify their appetites without feeling any ill-effects therefrom, is evident not only from the foregoing, but from the following two paragraphs:- PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.3

— Pills prevent ill effects from excess in eating or drinking. A good dose at bedtime renders a person fit for business or labour in the morning. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.4

The wisest and most cautious of us are sometimes tempted to eat and drink too much, and sit up too late at night. When we have been guilty of this indiscretion there is nothing in the world like — to speedily correct the unlucky results and to send us off to business next morning with a clear head and elastic step. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.5

There is no question that a medicine thus advertised will find many purchasers; for almost all the ills that people suffer arise from errors and excesses in eating; and since most people love to eat so well, merely for the pleasure of eating, that even pain will not deter them from gratifying their appetites, it follows that the promise of unlimited self-gratification without accompanying or following pain, will prove an unfailing attraction. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.6

The Apostle Paul tells about men “having their conscience seared with a hot iron,” and there are very many who have got into that sad condition. Most of us know what it is to have our fingers seared with a hot iron. The skin is not blistered, so that it comes off, but hardened, so that it has no feeling. Fingers in that condition cannot distinguish between soft and rough substances; all things have the same feeling. It is not at all pleasant. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.7

There are many, however, who seek just such a condition for their consciences. They sometimes feel condemned for their evil practices, and they wish to be free from the feeling of condemnation, but have no notion of leaving off their evil ways. Now everybody must know that such a condition is the very worst thing that can come to any person. Sin is sin, whether a man is conscious of it or not; and “sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.” So long as the conscience makes one uncomfortable over sins committed, there is hope of repentance and salvation; but when the conscience is dead, and one can commit crimes and still feel perfectly easy, the case is about hopeless. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.8

What would you say now, if somebody should advertise a means by which sinners could be relieved of all compunctions of conscience, while still pursuing their sinful ways, “fulfilling the desires of the flesh?” Would you not say that he was in a most accursed business? But that is in reality what these patent medicine vendors are doing. A man sins against his own body, and therefore against God, because the body is the temple of God; as a result he suffers pain. This pain is the physical conscience, or remorse. It is not the sin, but is the evidence that sin has been committed. Now comes along a man who says: “I can give you something that will deaden that pain, and benumb your nerves, so that you can eat any sort of indigestible matter without consciousness of it.” The injury to the system is just the same whether one feels it or not; the pain that follows the eating of improper substances is calculated to deter the misdoer from repeating the act; but when one promises to take away the pain, so that the harmful things can be eaten and enjoyed, it is nothing else than promising an easy and pleasant way of committing suicide. Such people are enemies of the human race. We need not advise any action being taken against them, but we can shun their evil counsel. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.9

Let the reader be assured this fact, that perfect food can never injure the system when taken at proper times and in proper quantities. Even when these precautions are not heeded, it is not the food itself, but the abuse of it, that does the injury. Food which the Lord has created to be eaten with thanksgiving, if taken as God designs that it should be, can never do any injury and will never produce pain. It does only good, and produces nothing but pleasure, not only during the act of eating, but afterwards. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.10

Further, let it be accepted as a fixed fact, that no amount of medicine of any kind whatever can do away with or in any degree modify the evil effects of errors in diet. The taking of medicine for indigestion is as useless and as senseless as learning and saying prayers, or wearing a hairshirt to cleanse the soul from sin. Both are most pernicious, because they lead a person to think that he can continue in sin with impunity. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.11

What everybody ought to know is that “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Sin, of whatever kind or degree, will do injury, and will involve the penalty, so long as it exists, no matter what the sinner does. In the matter of eating and drinking, as well as in every other act of life, this rule applies: “Put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well.” Let no man deceive you with vain words, and do not listen to anybody who says that you can safely sin. If you sin, “be sure your sin will find you out.” There is only one way to avoid the wages of sin, and that is to get rid, entirely rid of it. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.12

“God has arranged every nerve and sinew and muscle in the body, and He undertakes to keep that body in order if the human agent will work in harmony with Him.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 637.13

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth 15, 40.

E. J. Waggoner

-London enjoys a greater area of open spaces than any other capital in the world. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.1

-Dr. Lange, of Munich, Germany, has invented an instrument for taking a picture of the inside of a living person's stomach. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.2

-On account of the strained relations existing in the government, the entire Austrian Cabinet resigned in a body on the 24th ult. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.3

-More than 200 persons perished by a recent earthquake in the villayet of Aidin, Asia Minor. In connection with the earthquake, steams of sulphurous water sprang out of the ground. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.4

-A Lecture Bureau of the United States has made Captain Dreyfus a bona fide offer of ?20,000 for one hundred lectures to be delivered in that country during the coming autumn and winter. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.5

-Mr. Thomas Beck, who entered the service of the London and North-Western Railway Company in 1848, has just retired on a good-service allowance at the age of seventy-four years. He has run over 3,000,000 miles. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.6

-During the past week, the deaths from the plague in the Bombay Presidency have amounted to 4,505, while in Bombay City and Poona, the numbers that have succumbed amount to ninety-four and 501 respectively. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.7

-Damage to the amount of nearly ?1,000,000 at the same time was done to the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, on the 23rd ult. by fire. The 1,500 horses on the premises were terrified by the flames, and stampeded, injuring many people in their wild runs through the streets. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.8

-At Guildhall, a boy twelve years old, applied for a place as errand boy, secured it, and in less than two hours stole ?25 from the safe and disappeared. It was, as afterwards learned when the youngster was caught, a deliberately planned affair, inspired by reading “penny dreadfuls.” PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.9

-San Francisco, U.S.A., has passed an ordinance, prohibiting expectoration in street-cars or public places, the violators to be punished by fine and imprisonment. A millionaire of the city claimed the right to do as he pleased, but was promptly dealt with, for the last offence being sentenced for twenty-four hours in the county gaol. Spitting in public places is one of the most fruitful sources of consumption, and should be prohibited by law. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.10

-During the recent earthquake in Alaska, the spectators saw a tidal wave, apparently thirty feet high, approaching the town of Yakutat. Before it reached the shore, however, the bottom of the harbour opened and the wave spent its force in the chasm. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.11

-There have been constant rumours that the world's supply of rubber is about to give out under the constant demand of the tyre makers. News is just at hand of the invention of a substitute for rubber, called oxaline. Its cost is only one-tenth that of rubber, and it is said to be just as serviceable. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.12

-There is a genuine steel famine in America. Builders are not able to meet their contracts, railway companies cannot complete new lines on time, and it is feared that the construction of new boats for the navy will be delayed on this account. It is the result of the operation of the huge steel and iron trusts in that country. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.13

-The White Star liner Germanic, from New York, brings the intelligence that on the 6th ult. she spoke the whaler Era flying signals of distress, and on sending a boat to her, found that for two years and three months she had been frozen in the sea near Hudson Bay. The crew were about out of provisions, which were supplied. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.14

-A typhoid fever epidemic be broken out in Tring, Herts, and although three weeks have elapsed since the first case occurred, there is no abatement of the disease. In one small area of the town there are sixty cases. Fortunately the mortality is not great. The cause is attributed to the pollution of the wells from the recent heavy rains. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.15

-General Otis, Military Governor of the Philippines, applied the Exclusion Act of the United States to the landing of Chinese on the islands. His action has caused much comment, calling forth are emphatic protest from China's Minister at Washington, and the U.S. Cabinet has just decided that in the act he had exceeded his authority. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.16

-At Darjeeling, India, during the evening of the 26th inst., there was a succession of earthquake shocks, accompanied with very heavy rainfall and terrible landslips. Twenty inches of rain fell in twenty-four hours, immense damage to property, and the killing of hundreds of people were the result. At one place a bazaar was completely overwhelmed, and two hundred persons were killed. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.17

-Admiral Dewey reached New York on the battleship Olympia, Sept. 26th, from the Philipines, and was received with a demonstration such as was never accorded a naval commander in the United States before. Among other presents received was the largest silver loving cup in the world. And all this because he annihilated the Spanish naval fleet at Cavite last year, destroying at the same time over 2,000 lives. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.18

-What promises to be the greatest wheat “corner” in the history of America reported to be in progress now in Chicago, backed by the multi-millionaire Armour, who has elevators at his command for holding 50,000,000 bushels. Grain gambling is proving the ruination of thousands of people in America, and these “corners” always prove disastrous in the end, not only to the producer but the consumer as well. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.19

-An effort is being made in Canada to induce the Government to purchase and slaughter every tuberculous cow or steer in that country. At a late meeting of the Canadian Medical Association, the statement was made that the disease is so prevalent in Great Britain that its eradication was not only impracticable but impossible; but on account of the rareness of the disease in Canadian cattle, if those that were affected were thus disposed of, it would be very beneficial to Canadian breeders, as the rest of the world would then have to buy of them, in order to get healthy animals. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 638.20

“Back Page” The Present Truth 15, 40.

E. J. Waggoner

The satisfactory conclusion of the negotiations between Germany and France for the establishment of telephonic communication between Paris and Berlin, is regarded as an event of considerable political as well as commercial importance. For those two cities to be on speaking terms is significant beyond the fact that they are nearly eight hundred miles apart. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.1

Commenting on the Pope's exhortation to the Catholics of Brazil, both priests and laymen, to make their influence felt in politics, the Catholic Times says that his words “should be taken to heart by Catholics not merely in Brazil, but throughout the world,” and adds these significant words: “The future for us will be what we shall make it. If we act with public spirit, and in a broadminded way, our right to utter a dominant note will be admitted.” Domination is what the Papacy is seeking in every land. It would not be the Papacy if it were otherwise. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.2

There is nothing like war, or something or somebody that is suggestive of war, to stir up the people of these “Christian nations,” in “this enlightened age” to the wildest pitch of enthusiasm. Just now the city of New York and a good share of the United States is in a delirium of excitement over a man whose sole act by which he has acquired fame is that under cover of darkness he stole into a harbour with his war ships, and at his leisure shot to pieces and sunk a lot of ships that were at anchor, and incapable of resistance. Still “‘twas a famous victory.” It is fast getting to be the case that if a man has only, with all “the pomp and circumstance of war” destroyed a lot of lives and property, he is regarded as a hero. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.3

At the recent Health Congress at Blackpool, a paper was read by Dr. Adler, Chief Rabbi of London, on the antiquity of sanitation, reference of course being made to the regulations found in the books of Moses. Those rules were given by the Lord Himself, and, when followed, produced the healthiest people that ever lived. Let it be noted, however, that inoculation was not included in the list of preventives of disease. Perfect cleanliness within as well as without the body, is the sum of the whole matter. Clean food, pure water, fresh air, plenty of sunlight, regular, muscular exercise, and a clean conscience, will ward off any plague known. It may be said that vaccination and inoculation have saved many lives. No doubt they have served a purpose, and will yet do so among people who find that course easier than keeping themselves thoroughly clean; but to fill one's body with death, as a means of warding off death, is unscriptural and unscientific. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.4

A prominent religious journal finds fault with the Speaker's Commentary for the following note found in it:- PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.5

Untruth has been held by all moralists to be justifiable towards a public enemy. Where we have a right to kill, much more have we a right to deceive by stratagem. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.6

Why not? If men may set aside the sixth commandment, may he not also ignore the eighth? As a matter of fact, it would be absolutely impossible for any military operations to be “successful” if the leaders adhered strictly to the truth. Lying is inseparably connected with killing. The error of the commentary lies in the assumption that it is right to kill. As a general thing, the code of “moralists” is entirely different from that of the Bible. Too much of the “morality” of this age consists in the justification of one evil because of the existence of another. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.7

A case of what the Daily Chronicle aptly calls “tragic justice” has just occurred at Eastbourne. A doctor mixed some medicine for a patient, who, after taking a portion of it in water, complained that it made her ill, and stated that she believed it had poisoned her. The doctor was nettled at the suggestion, and to convince the patient that the medicine was harmless, he took a large dose himself, with the result that he could scarcely reach home, and died shortly afterwards. The medicine, on analysis, was found to contain a large quantity of strychnine. If nobody would ever take any medicine until the doctor had first given it a thorough trial on himself, there would be much less taken, and the death rate would be materially diminished. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.8

“‘What of the Night?’” The Present Truth 15, 40.

E. J. Waggoner

“Watchman, what of the night?” is the question asked in the prophecy. The answer is, “The morning cometh, and also the night.” What the darkness of that night will yet be before the morning dawns, may be gathered from the following items, taken respectively from the London Morning Herald and the Manchester City News. The first is concerning the class of songs that are picked up by the children at the cheap music halls and sung even by Sunday-school children returning from a day in the country, in spite of the efforts of teachers to stop them:- PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.9

They glorify the basest passions of men, they deride honour and purity; elevate drunkenness to a grace of life, profligacy to a virtue. The “patriotic” songs-senseless, cowardly, selfish, an insult to every foreigner that may be present-are a by-word among us. There is no wit, no humour, grace, daintiness, poetry, or even mere prettiness of sentiment, to be found in any of these effusions. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.10

But they are sung in the streets-they are the only songs the children of London seem to know. What notions they put into childish heads; what sordid principles; what mean and miserable ideals! The children of London know no songs that they ought to sing; they pick up the ignoble, despicable views of life that float around them, and who can estimate the affect of these views, taken in conjunction with their environment, upon thousands of children whose homes are in the slums, the miserable back-streets of our city? PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.11

The next shows another phase of city life, which is but too common:- PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.12

A little lad, with pinched face and poorly clad, came out of a public-house in London with rum “for his mother” in a teacup. Within a yard he drank some, and in another twenty yards tasted again, and gave a little girl some. The writer prevented two other children from having a taste, and no doubt the mother would have thanked him, not perhaps for preventing young children from drinking raw spirits, but for safeguarding her rum. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.13

If this case may be taken as a fair sample of what is occurring in thousands of instances every day, it shows the existence of a most powerful agency for the production of the love of drink and habit of drinking at an early age. The boy said that he was nine years old and the girl five, though they both looked younger, as the city slum children often do. The conditions of life in the slums are not conducive to a vigorous childhood, and, if they are supplemented by spirit-drinking, the prospect of seeing a healthy city population grow up is not bright. PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.14

It is very easy to see how “darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people;” yet we have the assurance that in the midst of this pitchy darkness “the glory of the Lord” will be seen upon some people, making a light to which those who love light rather than darkness may come. Who will be bearer's of a glory of the Lord, and thus help to usher in the glorious morning? PTUK October 5, 1899, page 640.15