The Present Truth, vol. 15

December 28, 1899

“The Birth of Jesus” The Present Truth 15, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

Many, many times since that night nineteen hundred years ago has the story of Christ's birth been repeated, yet PTUK December 28, 1899, page 817.1

“The old, old story is ever new.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 817.2

Everybody is familiar with every detail, yet no thoughtful, reverent person can ever read it without learning something. Indeed, so full of instruction is the narrative, that only a small portion of the Scripture devoted to this week's study can be taken under consideration. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 817.3

FULFILLING THE SCRIPTURE

“The fulness of time” had come. “And it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from C?sar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.” How little the Roman Emperor thought that he was simply an agent in the Lord's hands for the fulfilment of prophecy, and that his decree would be remembered only in connection with the birth of a King infinitely greater than he. Some hundreds of years before, it had been prophesied that out of Bethlehem should the Ruler of Israel come; Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, and the time was at hand; doubtless both were expecting the birth of the coming One in their home in Galilee; but “the Scripture cannot be broken,” and so the decree was issued, which brought them to Bethlehem. Who shall say that God did not move the Roman Emperor to issue that decree for the sole purpose of securing the fulfilment of His Word! How often men, bent only on carrying out their own will, have been simply the unconscious agents of God's will. God works all things after the counsel of His own will. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 817.4

HER FIRST-BORN SON

“And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger.” In no particular was Christ separated from mankind. A theology borrowed from paganism would allow Him nothing in common with us. Not only would it have Him so far removed from ordinary flesh that His mother must be born without any trace of sin in her flesh, but He must be so far separated from any connection with humanity that no other infant could ever occupy the same body that He had once inhabited; but all this is contrary to fact. There is no meaning to the word “first-born,” if no others are born afterwards. When Christ was buried, He occupied, as was fitting, a tomb in which no man ever had lain; but that did not prevent it from being used again. In all things He was made like His brethren. He was “born of the seed of David according to the flesh.” His flesh was just the same as that of all other men; He was one with us in all things, except in sin; and even there He is one with us, in that He takes our sin and shows us how to bear it so that it is destroyed. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 817.5

LOWLY LABOURING MEN

It was eminently fitting that the birth of Him who was to be the Shepherd of Israel,-“that great Shepherd of Israel,-“that great Shepherd of the sheep,” (Hebrews 13:20),-should be first announced to shepherds in the fields, and that they should be the first to make it known to others. “With the lowly is wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2. Of what use would it have been to announce the birth of Christ to the priests and rulers-worldly princes? They would have scoffed at it. “What! that babe in the manger a King! How absurd! What nonsense!” If anybody feels inclined to doubt that the rulers of the Jews would have mocked and scoffed at the idea that the little babe was a King, he has only to glance at the record of Christ's betrayal and crucifixion. Then they mocked Him because of His weakness, and derided His claim to being King. Matthew 27:39-48. They might have had the honour of announcing the birth of the Saviour, if they would have believed it. God always sends His truth to those who are willing to receive it. It has always been the case that reformations begin with what are termed the “lower classes.” They formed the bulk of the believers on Christ. The question was asked, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?” as though that proved that He could not be true. He was not in fashion. “Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” 1 Corinthians 1:26. He who despises a doctrine because its adherents are few and poor, would reject Christ for the same reason. “He that despiseth the poor reproacheth his Maker.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 818.1

“THE SIGN”

“And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” Of what should that be a sign?-A sign that a Saviour, Christ the Lord was born. “The Jews require a sign.” 1 Corinthians 1:22. Well, there they had a sign, and they always had it before them, for the same lowliness was continued through the whole of Christ's life. What a sign! Isaiah prophesied of the Coming One “mighty to save;” God had told David that He had “laid help on One that is mighty;” and now as proof that there had “come out of Sion the Deliverer,” the angel tells the shepherds that they will find a little helpless baby, wrapped up in a bundle, and lying in a manger. There He is! that helplessness is the sign. Wonderful! yet even so it was all through His life: “I can of Mine own self do nothing.” John 5:30. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 818.2

“God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” 1 Corinthians 1:27. He says, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. Therefore the Apostle Paul said, “When I am weak, then am I strong.” If that is so, then the weakest ought to be the strongest. Exactly. It is out of weakness that God has established strength, with which He stills the enemy and the avenger. Psalm 13:3. A little babe is the best manifestation of the power of God that overcomes the world. Of God's people it is said that they “out of weakness were made strong.” Hebrews 11:34. The whole of the Gospel is summed up in the acknowledgment that God is Almighty, and that we are absolute helplessness. God is everywhere, upholding all; therefore, as soon as one who has no strength recognises that fact, the mighty power of God manifests itself. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 818.3

See how God has removed all possible ground for complaint and discouragement. If He had said, “My strength is made perfect in the power of the ocean, the whirlwind, the tempest, and he who can exhibit the most might, the most endurance, is the one who approaches most nearly to Me,” then we might well have expected many sighs of discouragement. Then the complaint, “Oh, I'm so weak, I know I can never overcome,” might have been in place. But how is it? Why, He has manifested Himself in the lowliest, humblest, poorest, weakest possible form, and has said that there is the perfection of His power. That is the wisdom of God, and the power of God. It is all the power He asks or expects anybody to have. So whenever a person would begin to complain, or to excuse his failure, by saying, “I'm so weak,” he finds his mouth stopped. At the very weakest point anybody can be, there he finds the Lord. God says, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble.” Isaiah 57:15. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 818.4

THE FIRST ADVENT INCLUDES THE RECORD

The span of Christ's manifestation in the flesh is from the manger to the cross. In weakness He came, and in weakness He ended His work. “He was crucified through weakness.” 2 Corinthians 13:4. Nevertheless “He liveth by the power of God,” and that is how we are to live. Christ is coming again; but His coming in the clouds of heaven, “with power and great glory,” will be only the manifestation of the power that lay in the manger and hung on the cross. The “hiding of His power,” is from His side, where once the spear pierced, but where the stream of glory issues. Hebrews 3:4, margin. He is King of glory solely because of His humility. Philippians 2:8, 9. He is coming to save His people; but He will save at His second coming only those whom He has already saved at the cross. That manger in Bethlehem is capacious enough to contain all mankind: it contained Divinity. The second coming will be only the complete manifestation of the first. In the manger Christ was the Son of God; but it was the resurrection from the dead with power according to the Spirit of holiness, that demonstrated the fact. When He comes again, it will be for the purpose of showing all men that He really lives. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 818.5

“GREAT JOY”

“Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” What is the joy?-A Saviour! PTUK December 28, 1899, page 818.6

“Joy to the world! the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room;
And heaven and nature sing.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 818.7

When Philip went down to Samaria, and preached the Word, so that devils were cast out, and the afflicted were healed, “there was great joy in that city.” Acts 8:8. There is always joy in victory, and God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. God does not wish the world to go bowed down with sorrow. He says, “Look up! Lift up your heads.” Christ, the anointed King, came to proclaim liberty to the captives; “to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Isaiah 61:1-3. This joy is “to all people;” then let everybody be glad and rejoice in the great salvation that by the grace of God has appeared to all. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 818.8

OUR SAVIOUR

For unto you, is born a Saviour. The message is to you, whosoever you are who read these lines, and to everybody else. The Saviour is born to you. “The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart;” that thou mayest do it. Romans 10:8. Somebody says that a child was born to Mary that night. Oh, no; He was born to you. He did not belong to her, but to the world. He is “the Son of man.” He is your Son, and mine. He is our child, and formed within us, He is “the hope of glory.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 819.1

UNHESITATING FAITH

The shepherds said one to another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” They did not say, Let us go and see if this thing is so. Ah, how very cautious we are when God speaks; we cannot believe until we have tried every test. God comes, making known the most exceeding great and precious promises, such as would make men leap for very joy, and lo, straightway they begin to devise some means to keep from accepting them. They try every way possible to prove that the promises are only a delusion. Men act toward God's promises just as a child does toward bitter medicine. One would think, to see how loth men are to take God at His word, that he is announcing some terrible calamity, something to be dreaded, instead of a blessing to be enjoyed. So they hold it off, until when at last they do hesitatingly embrace it, after every possible objection has been removed, half of its sweetness for them is gone. But the shepherds, as soon as they heard the message of God's great salvation, said, Let us go and see this thing which is come to pass, which God hath made known unto us. There is an example for us. You need not wait to hear the word of the Lord, for it is speaking now. Believe it, and “the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 819.2

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.” Psalm 37:23, 24. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 819.3

“Let It Shine” The Present Truth 15, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

It is not necessary to say to one who really knows the Lord, and the joy of His salvation, that he should let others know of it, for the gladness will not be hid. God has called us out of darkness to His marvelous light, on purpose that we may show forth His excellences. “The life was manifested,” and wherever it is cherished it cannot fail to be manifested. Simply let the light shine as it comes to you, that is, let it shine in you, and others will be sure to see it. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 821.1

“An Offering” The Present Truth 15, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

How happy Abraham and Sarah must have been when at last they held in their arms the little boy, Isaac, for whom they had waited so long! We may be sure that they taught him just as soon as he was old enough to understand, all about the promise of his birth, and that the seed of Abraham should be “as the stars of heaven for multitude,” and that he was the one through whom this promise was to be fulfilled. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.1

Remember that Isaac was “born of the Spirit,” and so the beautiful fruits of the Spirit must have been early seen in his life: “Love, joy, peace, a long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” What a sweet child to have in the home, and how happy he must have made his parents. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.2

But remember, dear children, that you too may be born of the Spirit, just as he was, and that “Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,” so that you too may be loving, joyful, peaceful, kind as He was, and be a delight and blessing to those around you. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.3

After many happy years, when Isaac was growing into a strong young man, God spoke again to Abraham; and this time his voice filled the loving father's heart with grief and trouble: “Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains that I will tell thee of.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.4

How could this be, when God had said: “In Isaac shall thy seed be called,” and had told him that through Isaac he was to become “the father of a multitude?” And if now he should slay Isaac, how then could the promise of God be fulfilled? PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.5

All these perplexing thoughts must have passed through Abraham's mind, as well as the anguish of having with his own hand to take the life of his only and much-loved son. Yet so perfect was his faith in God's word, that he did not hesitate for a moment, but early in the morning he rose up and started off with Isaac to the place that God had told him of. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.6

“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, ... accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead.” Abraham believed in “God which quickeneth the dead,” and he knew that God who had given Isaac to him could bring him back again from the dead, which would not be any more wonderful than his birth had been. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.7

As they drew near the place where the offering was to be made, “Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand and a knife.” What a picture: Isaac carrying the wood upon which he himself was to be offered, and Abraham bearing the knife and the fire which were to slay and to consume his own son. “And they went both of them together.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.8

“And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father, and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering; so they went, both of them together.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.9

At last, at the place God told Abraham of, the altar was built, the wood made ready, and the time had come for Isaac to learn that he was the offering that God chosen. He might have refused to be offered, and could easily have escaped if he had wished to do so. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.10

But no: he had come all the way with perfect trust in his father, not knowing what was to be the end of the journey, and now that this was made known to him they still “went both of them together.” Freely Abraham offered his son to God, and freely Isaac gave his life, sharing his father's faith in God's promise. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.11

“And Abraham stretched forth the knife to slay his son; and the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.12

“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and behold a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up instead of his son.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.13

What a joyful journey home the father and the son must have had! To Abraham it was just as though he had received Isaac again from the dead, and to Isaac as though he were newly risen, for the life that he had freely given up had been given to him again. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.14

Before this time God had “preached the Gospel unto Abraham;” but some of its lessons he could never have understood without this trial. And the story of it is to teach us also some sweet Gospel lessons about which we will talk another time. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 826.15

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth 15, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

-A leading member of the French Automobile Club has wagered 100,000 francs that he will ride sixty-two miles in an hour on his new electric car. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.1

-Over ?30,000 has been raised by the American friends of Britain and London, for fitting out the hospital ship Maine, for service in South Africa. She sailed December 18th. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.2

-The Health Protection Society of Cleveland, U.S.A., have undertaken a campaign against the side-saddle for women, which they hold to be injurious, and they advocate the ordinary masculine position on horseback for women. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.3

-Li Hung Chang, the noted Chinese statesmen, has recently been appointed Minister of Commerce, which is regarded as a step in the right direction, as it will doubtless help to greatly improve foreign commercial relations with China. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.4

-In London there more than 100,000 persons of the criminal class known to the police, and three-fourths of these have at one time or another been charged with burglary or housebreaking. During the past year there were nearly 2,000 reported burglaries in London, more than half of these being unoccupied houses. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.5

-The plan of the Emperor to increase the German navy has been formulated and has been submitted to the Reichstag by Prince Hohenlohe, and broadly speaking, entails the expenditure of ?17,000,000. Germany has now seventeen battleships constructed or in the course of construction, and this Bill contemplates that the number will be doubled, not for aggressive warfare, but for protection of its acquired interests in other parts. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.6

-From the Tablet, a Catholic publication, it is learned that quite a percentage of the Parochial School patronage comes from Protestants, in one school “sixty per cent. being non-Catholics.” An interesting item in connection with the report is that in this particular school “every child was presented for examination in religious instruction.” “As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined;” so it is not to be wondered at that there is so little difference between much of the so-call Protestant faith in England and Catholicism. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.7

-Mr. Justice Grantham, in his charge to the Grand Jury at the Autumn assizes for the County of Durham, a few days since, made the following observation which needs no comment: “I have been coming among you for many years to assist in the administration of justice; but I am sorry to say that only with the exception of one occasion I have never had to charge the Grand Jury of the county with such a terrible list of crime as we have to deal with on the present occasion. It is a black calendar, and drink is manifestly the cause of the state of things. There are three murders, four manslaughters, eleven of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and two of shooting, and, in nearly every case drink is that the bottom of the act.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.8

-One Cororner in East London held fifty-two inquests during last week, which is counted almost as a record-breaker. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.9

-It is reported that an armed company of Kurds recently pillaged the Armenian village Kostur, and massacred about 300 inhabitants. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.10

-A violent cyclone passed over portions of Mozambique on the 18th inst., doing immense damage to house property, with no small loss of life. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.11

-General Henry Lawton, second in command to General Otis, head of the American forces in the Philippines has just been killed by a Filipino sharp-shooter. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.12

-The American liner Paris has been purchased from the Underwriters, and it will be reconstructed, and fitted with new engines and boilers, and will bear a new name-that of an American city. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.13

-The Woman's Missionary Friend says that according to the last census taken in the presidency of Madras, there were 23,938 little girls under four years of age, and 142,606 between the ages of five and nine years, who were married. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.14

-Severe shocks of earthquake were experienced in different parts of Germany on the morning of the 18th instant. At places houses were shaken to their foundations, but there has been no loss of life reported, and the damage done was not serious. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.15

-An expedition has been organised by Baron Toll, of Russia, to explore the Islands of New Siberia and the Sannikoff country, to which so far as known, no man has yet penetrated. The expedition will set sail from the Norwegian port in June next. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.16

-In the last twelve months no fewer than 17,000 umbrellas were left in London cabs and omnibuses.Some 3,000 purses containing sums up to ?250, left in these public vehicles, were taken by drivers and conductors to the Lost Property Office, Scotland-yard. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.17

-Captain Leary, naval governor of Guam, the largest island of the Ladrone group, has found it necessary to the establishment of his authority in the island, to expel from it all but one of the seven Catholic friars who had practical control of affairs under the Spanish regime, because he states that the friars resisted every decree and effort at reform, no matter of what character. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.18

-A plan is on foot whereby it is represented that India can be evangelised on inter-denominational lines. It is to select Eurasians in India, bring them to England, educate and train them for missionaries, after which they will return to India as native missionaries. The headquarters of the work is to be in London, and the first experiment is to be with eighteen or twenty of these persons. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.19

-The Prince of Wales has accepted the Presidency of the Congress of the National Association for the prevention of Consumption, which is appointed to be held in London in the early spring of 1901. Everywhere the people are waking up to the fact that consumption is indeed the Great White Plague, which is claiming its victims by almost unnumbered thousands, and every effect possible is being made to stay its fearful ravages. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.20

-An old family Bible was recently purchased with other books at an auction sale in London, and when it was opened for perusal some time afterward, there were found pasted between two of the leaves six five pound notes. On the back of one of the notes was a written statement, dated in 1840, to the effect that the writer had worked hard for the money, but having no lawful heirs had made “whosoever shall own this Holy Book her lawful heir.” Perhaps this will give a little impetus to Bible reading. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 830.21

“Back Page” The Present Truth 15, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

It must not be supposed that everybody who is in the gutter is there because he loves that place. Many who are in the “horrible pit” and the “miry clay” would gladly get out, but they do not know how; they have not strength to help themselves out, and they do not know of any power sufficient to lift them out. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.1

There are thousands who are bound by the courts of debasing sins, who have nearly worn themselves out trying to break loose, and have not been able. They are looked upon by others as being gross and depraved, whereas they have strong desires for a better life, and bitterly bewail all their own bondage. There are many unjust judgments rendered in this world. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.2

The only right and charitable course is to assume that everybody desires to do better, and then to show the way. Christ is the way. He is the higher, the highest, life. By Him men can not only see the desirableness, the infinite advantages of the perfect life, but can attain to it. “It is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” He has already descended “into the lower parts of the earth,” so that there is no pit so deep but He can lift us out. He is there for that purpose. He has redeemed all who are “snared in holes” and “hid in prison houses.” He has proclaimed absolute liberty to all captives. It is true that no one need stay in bondage unless he loves his chains, but the fact that people are in that condition does not necessarily prove that they love it. Show them the light of life, and many will gladly walk in it. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.3

Those who are indulging in sentiment over the closing of the nineteenth century, and the beginning of the twentieth, may have the satisfaction of knowing that they can say all their fine thoughts over again next year, when the century really ends. It takes one hundred years to make a century, and in beginning to count, we always begin with one. It takes nineteen hundred full years to make nineteen centuries. The first century began with the year 1, and the twentieth century will begin with the year 1901. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.4

This beginning and ending of the century is after all only an arbitrary manner. It was long after the birth of Christ before anyone began to reckon from it. And when, after several hundred years, the birth of Christ was used as the date of a new era, the time of His birth was not accurately ascertained, and the date was set three or four years this side of the actual event. Christ was born three or four years after the year, 1 A.D. as a matter of fact more than nineteen centuries have already passed since the birth of Jesus, and we are now well into the twentieth century. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.5

Whoever stops to think of this, will see that there is no special sacredness or importance attaching to the closing year of the century, or the beginning of the new one; for as a matter of fact, the closing of the century, next year, will be just nineteen hundred years since-nothing in particular. Nominally it marks nineteen hundred years after Christ; actually it does not. It is only an instance of how far everybody is off, who tries to celebrate the events in matters of religion. People will sit up till midnight on the 31st of December, to “watch the old year out,” calmly unconscious of the fact that to begin the year in midwinter is altogether unnatural and arbitrary, and that even allowing that midwinter, instead of spring, were the close of the year, whoever watched for it at midnight would be several hours too late, since the natural day closes at sunset. So people go on, celebrating things at times when they could not possibly have occurred; and the one thing which God wishes them to celebrate-the Sabbath-they ignore. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.6

Two men, both well-known in the world, yet differing most widely from each other, died on the 22nd inst. One, the Duke of Westminster, one of the richest men in England; the other, Dwight L. Moody, one of the greatest evangelists in the world. While they Duke was known as an upright, honourable man of the world, it is safe to say that the plain, unlettered preacher, of lowly birth, and reared in poverty, will have a hundred mourners to the nobleman's one. There is probably not a village in the world, where the English language is spoken, nay, not one where the Bible is known and Christian literature is read, where Moody's name is not known, and unknown thousands have been helped by hearing his talks or reading his simple writings. The nobleman gave money freely; the preacher gave life. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.7

“If thou be the Son of God.” This was one of Satan's strong temptations, and still is. Christ had heard the words from heaven, “This My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and now the devil would make Him doubt them. Everything combined to strengthen the doubt that the devil suggested. Jesus was alone in the wilderness, surrounded by wild beasts, and hungry. No one, not even the members of His own family, understood Him and His work. How natural the thought, “If I were the son of God, I should not be thus forsaken;” but Jesus did not yield to it. He withstood the temptation, that we may also. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.8

For there is no temptation that besets us more frequently than this. True we have all the promises of God, and His assurance that He has accepted us in the Beloved, and that He is our Father; yet the enemy will seek to make us believe that the words which we have heard were spoken to somebody else. We have heard the Lord speaking to our souls, but others have not recognised the voice, and so we have been tempted to think that perhaps we were mistaken. Such a suggestion must not be listened to; it is dishonouring to God. To think that He does not care for us, because we are so weak and poor and unworthy, is to charge Him with being like selfish man. The Father has no respecter of persons. Christ, the emaciated and forsaken in the wilderness was as much the Son of God as when on the mount of transfiguration, and He asserted His relationship. To as many as received Him He gives power to become the sons of God. PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.9

There is an abundance of evil in the earth. Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, “deceiving and being deceived;” but it does neither ourselves or anybody else any good to dwell upon the particular evil deeds that are perpetuated. It is the goodness of God, not the wickedness of men, that leads to repentance. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” PTUK December 28, 1899, page 832.10