The Present Truth, vol. 14

June 30, 1898

“‘Thy Will Be Done’” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

“Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 401.1

These were the words by which Saul, the persecutor of Jesus of Nazareth, showed his acknowledgment of that same Jesus as his Lord and Master, the one who had the right to command his service. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 401.2

Up to the moment of his arrest while on the way to Damascus, Saul had been deliberately and persistently fighting against the Lord Jesus. He knew the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and thought that he ought to do many thing contrary to it (Acts xxvi. 9), which he also did; yet when, in response to his question, from the ground where he had been thrown, “Who art Thou, Lord?” the reply came, “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest,” immediately all thoughts of persecution vanished, and Saul at once acknowledged Jesus as Master. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 401.3

What a marvellous change! Here was a man who for weeks and mouths had been possessed of but one thought, namely, to fight against Jesus of Nazareth, yet as soon as Jesus met him and said, “I am Jesus,” instead of replying, “You're the one I'm after; I'm bound to exterminate your sect,” he asked, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” as meekly as though he had never had any thought but to serve this Jesus. What could have effected this change? PTUK June 30, 1898, page 401.4

The answer is plan: Saul had felt the hand of power upon him. Power such as he had never before experienced had laid hold on him, and he needed no one to tell him that it was supernatural. When the Spirit of God takes hold of a man, that man needs no formal introduction to the Spirit. When the Spirit sends strong conviction of sin, the man who a moment before might have been justifying himself, and might have been denying the existence of God, at once knows that it is the Spirit of God who is speaking to him, and he acknowledges the truth of what is said. So as soon as Saul learned that this Jesus whom he was persecuting was the one whose Spirit had seized him, he was as ready to serve as he had before been to persecute. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 401.5

But while Saul was now a willing servant, he had not yet learned the conditions of service. His thought was of something that he should do, whereas the experience that he was even then passing through was intended to show him that it is the Lord who works with His servants, since His alone is the power. The Lord did not tell Saul what he should do, but told him instead to go and listen to what should be told him later. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 401.6

Three days later the Lord sent Ananias to give Saul light. Ananias demurred, but the Lord over-ruled his objection, saying, “Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel; for I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name's sake.” Acts ix. 15, 16. Mark this: the Lord did not say that He would show Saul how great things he must do for Him, but how great things he must suffer, or experience for Him. This means not trouble merely, but joy as well; for the apostle learned that the suffering of tribulation means the sharing of joy. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 401.7

Paul was “a chosen vessel,” to bear the name of the Lord. A vessel does not itself do anything; it receives and gives out what is put into it. The work is done by the one using the vessels. So the Apostle Paul, writing of the wondrous privileges of the servant of Christ, in ministering the Spirit, said, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 2 Cor. iv. 7. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 401.8

It was a grand thing for Saul of Tarsus to say, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do;” for it showed that he recognised Jesus as his Master; but as he became acquainted with the Lord, he did not talk about what he had done or was to do. Although he could say in later life that he had laboured “more abundantly” than all the other apostles, he did not fail to add, “Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Cor. xv. 10. So when he and Barnabas came up to the conference in Jerusalem, “they declared all things that God had done with them.” Acts xv. 4. Again they told “what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.” Verse 12. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.1

This is the language of every servant of Christ. “Not I, but Christ.” When Paul was asked, “What must I do to he saved?” he replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” This was in harmony with the words of Christ, who, in reply to the question of the Jews, “What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” said, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” John vi. 28, 29. Belief is not a substitute for work, but it is the work. Faith works, because it lays hold of the Word of God, which is “living, and active.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.2

Christ is the great example of faithfulness in work. “I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day.” John ix. 4. “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” John iv. 31. Yet He declared, “I can of Mine own self do nothing” (John v. 30), “the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works” (John xiv. 10); and He was shown to be approved of God, “by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him.” Acts ii. 22. So it is God who worketh. If God had seen fit to correct Saul's language, when he yielded himself as His servant, He might have said, “What you are to do is to let Me do what I will.” Our highest prayer is, “Thy will be done.” God accepted Saul's tender of service without any reference to the language, because it was sincere. His only desire was that God should he glorified in him, no matter how. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.3

And oh, think of the wondrous possibilities before the one who thus yields himself to God! Nothing is too hard for the Lord. All we have to do is to settle two things. First, whose we are, and second, His power. If we know that we belong to the Lord, so that He alone has the right to control us, and we have no voice in the matter, for we are not our own, and then realise that He is Almighty, there is no limit to what God can do with us. And so long as we remember that we are His, and that we have no power to do anything, being only vessels for the Master's use, we shall not become vain-glorious over the great things God may do with us. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.4

For let it be remembered that the greatest thing that God can do with any man is to work righteousness through him; and righteousness is humility. If we continually acknowledge that we are the Lord’s, and know that what He wants its to do is what He will do in us, we shall be kept from sin; for He will work in us, and in Him is no sin. Christ has “power over all flesh” (John xvii. 3), therefore if you “yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God;” it is certain that “sin shall not have dominion over you.” Rom. vi. 13, 14. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.5

God can do no wrong. He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” “His work if honourable and glorious.” “The works of the Lord are great.” “Whatsover God doeth, it shall be done for ever.” Doesn't it follow as plain as the day, that he who once for all, and always, acknowledges that he belongs to the Lord, for the Lord to do with him as He will, must be righteous to eternity? Settle it then, to whom you belong, and if you decide that you belong to God, which is the fact, your whole future is clear. Only one thing would God have you do, and that is to acknowledge that you are His, and to adhere to it. Whose are you? PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.6

“The Everlasting Gospel: God's Saving Power in the Things that Are Made” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

THE BEGINNING

Gen. i. 1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.7

Who was in the beginning? What did God do? Who created? When did God create? When were the heaven and the earth created? PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.8

From the texts in the preceding lesson recall and state the reason why the story of creation was written. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.9

John i. 1-4: “In the beginning was the Word, end the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him; and without Him was not anything made that hath been made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.10

Ps. xxxiii. 6, 8, 9; “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was (done); He commanded, and it stood fast.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.11

1 John 1. 1-3: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life: (for the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal Life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.12

1. The Gospel of John, which is wholly devoted to telling us how we obtain life through Jesus (ch. xx. 31), begins just where the story of creation begins: In the beginning God-the Word-created all things. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 402.13

2. The Word was in the beginning. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.1

3. Life was in the Word, and the Word itself was life,-the Word of Life,-that eternal life which was with God in the beginning. That which was in the beginning was Life. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.2

4. All things came from this Word, that is, from the Life. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.3

5. We are saved by the Life (Rom. v. 10), that same Word of life which was in the beginning, and by which all things were created. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.4

6. The Word, without which not one thing was created, “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John i. 14); “and this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.” 1 Peter i. 25. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.5

7. By the Word were all things created, and by the same Word of power are all things still upheld. Heb. i. 3. But this eternal power,-the power of an endless life,-that is manifested in the things that are made, is the power which God uses to save believers. So the story of creation is the preaching of the Gospel. The power that we see working in all nature is the Gospel in visible form. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.6

Col. i. 15-18: We have redemption, that is, the forgiveness of sins, in the blood of Christ, “who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in Him were all things created, in the heavens, and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through Him and unto Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.7

1. We have redemption through Christ's blood, that is, through His life (Lev. xvii. 11), the same life that was in the beginning, and from which all things proceeded. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.8

3. Not only was Christ in the beginning, but He is the Beginning. He is “the Beginning of the creation of God.” Rev. iii. 14. All things originate in Him. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.9

3. Christ is “the image of the invisible God.” But the invisible things of God are seen in the things that have been made. Rom. i. 20. Therefore in everything that has been made, Christ is to be seen. There is a world-wide difference between this truth and pantheism. The truth is that every created thing reveals God's power; the men of old “changed the truth of God into a lie” by saying that every created thing is God. So they worshipped and served the creature instead of the Creator. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.10

4. The fact that Christ is to be seen every created thing is also shown by the truth already learned, that Christ is the power of God,” (1 Cor. i. 24), and the eternal power of God is seen in “the things that have been made. Rom. i. 20. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.11

5. We have redemption in Christ, because in Him all things were created. Thus we see that the power of redemption is the power of creation. The work of redemption is indeed nothing less than creation. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.12

6. In Christ all things hold together; every tangible thing is held in permanent form by Him, and in Him alone men are complete. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.13

7. The Head of creation is the Head of the church. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.14

8. Christ is the Beginning and the end. Nothing can be begun or completed without Him. “In the beginning God.” Christ is “the Beginning.” This is the story which every created thing tells us. Let these words be so deeply engraved in the mind, that it will be impossible to think of undertaking anything apart from Him. Let Him have His rightful place as the Projector and the Accomplisher,-the One who works both to will and to do. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.15

“The Beginning and the End” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

Jesus Christ is the Beginning, the source, of the creation of God. Rev. iii. 14. Apart from Him not one thing was made. John i. 3. In Him were all things created; that is to say, all things spring from His Being, so that He is “the everlasting Father;” for He is the first-born of all creation. Col. i. 15-17. He is the image, and effulgence, the wisdom, and the power of God.All the works of God are begun and completed in Him. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.16

The eighth chapter of Proverbs is the call of wisdom; but Christ is the wisdom of God, so that the words are the words of Christ concerning Himself. In the twenty-second verse we read: “The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old.” Now there is in the Hebrew of this verse no word indicating “in,” so that, as expressed in some translations, it properly reads, “the beginning of His way.” Christ is the Beginning of God's way, as stated in Rev. iii. 14. Also the word rendered “possessed,” in Prov. viii. 23, is the same as that used by Eve when Cain was born, “I have gotten a man” from the Lord. So we may read the text thus: “Jehovah brought Me forth, the beginning of His way, before His works of old.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.17

With this passage compare 1 Cor. i. 24; John i. 1-3 ; Col. i. 15-17; and Rev. iii. 14. Then continue reading in Prov. viii. 24-31:— PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.18

When there were no depths, I was brought forth;
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills was I brought forth;
While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields;
Nor the beginning of the dust of the earth.
When He established the heavens, I was there
When He set a circle upon the face of the deep;
When He made firm the skies above;
When the mountains of the deep became strong;
When He gave to the sea its bound,
That the waters should not transgress His commandment;
When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
Then I was by Him as a Master Workman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him;
Rejoicing in His habitation earth;
And My delight was with the sons of men. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.19

“In the beginning-God.” And Christ, the Word of God, is the Beginning of His way. “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Col. ii. 9. Therefore through Him alone we have access to the Father. He died for us, that He might bring us to God.” 1 Peter iii. 18. What we must come to, therefore, is the Beginning. Contrary to the usual idea, the Beginning is not what we start with, but what we are to come to. True we ought to start at the Beginning, but we do not, and because we do not, none of us start right. And because we do not come to the Beginning, we keep “out of the way.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 403.20

“Whosoever, shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.” Luke xix. 17. Where does a little child begin to learn?—At the beginning. It does not think that it knows anything, and so allows itself to be taught. It accepts truth by faith, and so it learns. So we, like children, should begin at the beginning, and then we should begin right, for when we come back to the beginning, we come to God. If men would trust in the Lord with all their heart, and not lean to their own understanding (Prov. iii. 5), they would always do and say the things that are right, and would make no mistakes whatever. They could not go wrong, for it would be the Spirit of the Lord thinking and working in them. The reason why we fail is because we assume that we are able to originate plans and to think for ourselves, and do not recognise God as the only Beginning. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.1

We are so anxious to get to the end, that we almost entirely lose sight of the Beginning. Just as though it were possible ever to attain the end while ignoring the Beginning! But we are too impatient to “wait on the Lord.” We are like, the man who is not content to sit quietly on board the steamer and be carried to his destination, but must needs leap into the sea, and try to swim there by himself. Of course he will drown if he doesn't get back into the ship. So with us, unless we abide in Him “who is the Beginning.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.2

For He is “the Beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Rev. xxii. 13. So when we have got to the Beginning, lo, we are at the end! In Him all fulness dwells, “and of His fulness have all we received.” In Him we find all things, from first to last. To go back to the Beginning and to be taught like little children, that is, to take simple statements of fact, and to believe them, and not to profess to know anything except what we have been told (allowing God to be the Teacher) seems altogether too simple. We are ambitious for the complex wisdom of the world, which is foolishness. But when we humble ourselves to be children and to walk with God and learn of Him, then we find out that the simple beginning contains the sum, of all wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. i. 7); but that does not mean that something else is the end of it for “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,” Job xxviii. 28. Men regard the Beginning as something they advance from, and look back to; whereas it is what we are to come to and abide with. When we come to Christ, the Beginning, we have the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls. 1 Peter i. 9. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.3

The last message of the Gospel directs us to the Beginning, as the preparation for the end. “Worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” To fear God and give glory to Him, is the whole duty of man. To live in constant recognition of Him as “the Author and Finisher,” and to allow all our works to be begun and wrought and finished in Him, in righteousness, because He is righteous. The devil has sought to beguile us from “the simplicity that is in Christ,” and has succeeded; now as the end approaches, the call is sounded “with a loud voice” for us to come to the Beginning, and to remain there, that we may rejoice in the end. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.4

The Gospel of John begins where Genesis begins, and Revelation ends with the beginning. So the Gospel is an infinite circle, ending where it begins, and enclosing the universe. If we are content to abide at the Beginning, God, we have everything. If we despise the Beginning, we have nothing. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.5

There are infinite possibilities of knowledge and achievement in the Lord. He is the One “which is, and which was, and which is to come.” Rev. i. 1. His name is I AM. Wherever and whenever we receive Him, we find the Beginning and the end. In Him alone we learn the truth of that which has been; His Word therefore is the only authentic history. In Him only do we know the truth and reality of that which is; so His Word is the only true text book of science. And He by His Spirit reveals to us things to come, because He takes the things of Him who is to come, and shows them to us. John xvi. 13, 14. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.6

This is not philosophical speculation, but is simple truth. O that we all might be simple enough to see it, and faithful enough to abide in it! Then we should let all our works be wrought in God, and they would be perfect. We should not boast so much about being “independent thinkers,” but should allow God to think for its, and our thoughts would be, as much higher than ordinary human thoughts as the heaven is higher than the earth. This would not be the slavish following of another, for the service of God is freedom. It would be God thinking in us, not instead of us. And why should He not, since He is our life? Who should use our brains and our muscles, except the One in whom we live, and move, and have our being? He is able, for He is the Beginning. Whatever He does not begin in us is nothing. When the light of the Sun of righteousness shines on it, it will be found to be emptiness. Let us then speedily learn the Beginning of God's Word, and find in it the sum of all revelation. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.7

“Notes on the International Sunday-School Lessons. Elijah, the Prophet. 1 Kings xvii. 1-16” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

JULY 10

It was the work of Elijah, the Prophet, to be a witness for the true God and the power of His word at a time of general apostasy in Israel. Ahab was the king, and he “did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” When he was at the very height of his sinful course, Elijah came to him with this message: “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not he dew not rain these years, but according to my word.” From another scripture we learn that this is an illustration of the power of prayer: “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.” James v. 17. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.8

When the prophet said, “but according to my word,” it was not a self-assertive boasting of his own power, but in answer to his prayer of faith the Lord had entrusted him with His own word of power to speak, and thus did it become his word. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.9

DISTINGUISHING SIGN OF THE TRUE GOD

The giving, or the withholding of rain is one of the ways by which the true God is made known as distinguished from false gods. “Are there any among the vanities of the heathen that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not Thou He, O Lord our God?” Jer. xiv. 22, R.V. “Nevertheless He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” Acts xiv. 17. Thus did God, in His tender mercy, preach the Gospel of His mercy and His righteousness, and call the attention of all the people to Himself as the only true God, through the prophet Elijah, when the people were being led away into idolatry through the wickedness of Ahab. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 404.10

It is through the ministry of the rain that the Lord usually provides food for the people, for “the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.” Isa. lv. 10. But when the necessities of the case render it desirable, the Lord can just as easily provide food in some other way; and so when He told Elijah to hide himself “by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan,” He said, “I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” This method seems miraculous to us simply because it is a departure from God's usual methods, unless perchance we have failed to recognise the direct agency of God in providing us with daily food. He feeds us just as truly as He fed Elijah by the brook, but usually it is in co-operation with our efforts, for which He supplies the power, that the result is obtained. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 405.1

GREAT POWER THROUGH WEAK INSTRUMENTS

The channels used through which to supply food to Elijah are suggestive of God's ability to use the most dependent instrumentalities with which to accomplish His purpose. The ravens cannot supply themselves with food: “Who provideth for the raven his food?” “He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.” Job xxxviii. 41; Ps. cxlvii. 9. “They neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them.” Luke xii. 31. So also the widow woman was by her very circumstances more dependent than the one whose husband might be expected to provide for the needs of the household. But by using such instrumentalities as these to feed the prophet Elijah, God is proclaiming the fact that He “hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty,” and shows His ability to accomplish His purpose. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 405.2

The prophet of God, through whose word the rain was stayed, and through whose word it came again, was himself thirsty and needy of water, and like any other man, he asked the favour of a drink. He said to the woman, “Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” In like manner, many years afterward, “a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,” Himself the giver of the water of life, said to a woman, “Give Me to drink.” Thus do power and weakness touch each other, and thus is the power of God magnified through weakness. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 405.3

FOOD FROM THE WORD

It was by the word of the Lord that there came to be meal in the barrel and oil in the cruse in the first place, for “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that He may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.” Ps. civ. 14, 15. It is by the power of the same word, making the earth to bring forth the annual increase, that meal is kept in the world's barrel throughout the year, and that famines are averted. But people forget this because they see the grain growing in the fields, and so comparatively few receive it as the direct gift of God. They eat by sight rather than by faith. In the case of the widow woman it was purely by faith, her faith in the word of the Lord to her through the prophet Elijah, “The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 405.4

Thus while the Lord was preaching the Gospel of His power and righteousness to His own people by withholding His usual blessings, on account of their departure from Him, He was by the same prophet proclaiming the same Gospel of His power find righteousness among the heathen, and offering special blessings to be received through faith in His word. The Saviour Himself cited this experience of Elijah with the widow woman, when the unbelief of the people of His own city prompted the question, “Is not this Joseph's son?” “And He said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.” Happy are those who, like the widow of Zarephath, receive the word of the Lord, the message of His own power to save, without stumbling at the messenger, and so learn to live by the word. For “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 406.1

“‘Where Wast Thou?’” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

When God “answered Job out of the whirlwind,” He began at the beginning, saying: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.” Job xxxviii. 1. The same question could be asked of every man who lives, or who has ever lived, and not one of them could say word. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 406.2

Everything else in the whole creation was made before man was. Man was the last of all. When he came into being, he found everything complete; and every man that has ever been born has found everything waiting for him when he arrived. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 406.3

Why this arrangement? Evidently so that no man could have any chance to lay claim to share with God the honour of creation. It is a fact that no man can create. This needs no argument. Men work, and effect changes in form and appearance of many things; but no man ever yet added the slightest particle of matter to the substance of the earth or to anything that exists; and no man ever can do it. Yet such is the conceit and self-assertion of the human mind that if God had performed any new act of creation after man came into being, man would surely claim that he himself had done it. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 406.4

Even as it is, men are very prone to exalt themselves above God. The only thing that will keep them-us-from doing this in some form or degree, is to remember “who is the beginning.” We are wont to pride ourselves not a little upon the fact that man was made last-“the crown of creation;” it may serve to abate that pride if we think that God made man last because there was no use for him before; there was nothing that he could do, he would have been hopelessly in the way of the progress of creation, and what is more, he would not have been able to maintain himself. God had to provide all things first, so that man, the most helpless of grated things, might be able to live. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 406.5

If all men had but kept in mind this simple truth, and had remembered that in Christ, who is the Beginning, “were all things created,” and “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together,” there would never have been a pope, great or small. “Seekest thou great things for thyself; seek them not,” says the Lord. Let us rather be content to remain children, keeping close to the Beginning. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him,” as the beginning, “and He shall direct my paths.” What He begins He will carry too successful completion. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 406.6

“A Great Delusion” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

The jubilee of modern spiritualism is being celebrated this year. At the International Congress, which opened on the 22nd, the President is reported as saying that he confidently anticipated the enrolment in their ranks of the Society for Psychical Research at no distant date. In his experience he had seen material objects moved without any visible physical contact, and had also seen writing done by invisible intelligent beings-on one occasion over 900 words been written in six seconds. In addition to this he had seen materialised forms gradually built up in the middle of a well-lighted room, apparently out of the side of the medium, who was all the time distinctly visible. He had, moreover, scores of times seen, touched, and held converse with beings who were certainly not present in the flesh. Some people require palpable proofs of spiritualistic theories; but, to be convinced spiritualist, these phenomena constituted a mere A.B.C. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 407.1

The fact that these wonders are wrought by Spiritualism, while it proves the existence of invisible beings, does not verify the common idea of consciousness in death. The Scripture speaks of the “spirits of devils working miracles” which deceive the whole world, and warns us, “when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits;” “should not a people seek and to their God? To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. viii. 19, 20. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 407.2

Judged by this test the “invisible, intelligent beings” above referred to are clearly seen to be spirits of darkness. If those who are now rejoicing in the spread of modern spiritualism would but seek to the law and to the testimony, they might know that they have “the god of this world,” “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” Instead of the success of the movement being an occasion for jubilee, it should rather lead to distress of mind on the part of those connected with it and prayerful watching in the case of all. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 407.3

“How to Prosper” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

We read of David, while at the court of Saul, that he “behaved himself wisely in all his ways,” or, as a marginal reading expresses it, “he prospered.” This was noticed by those with whom he those associated,” and he was accepted in the sight of all the people.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.1

If one would prosper he must behave wisely, but that is what people find it so difficult to do. We sometimes think that if we had only received a better education, or a superior training, or if our surroundings were not so unfavourable, we would not get along so badly as we do. But remember that David had not been brought up among soldiers and statesmen. His training had been among the sheep, and it was a great change to be set over men of war; yet even with his youth and inexperience, “David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul: so that his name was much set by.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.2

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” No doubt this question came to David as he found himself surrounded with new and strong temptations, but he had learned the answer: “By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.” “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.3

It was because David listened to the Word of God, and meditated upon it, that he did wisely and prospered so greatly. Perhaps he was thinking of his experience in Saul's house, among careless and wicked companions, and how God gave him prosperity, when he wrote the first Psalm. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.4

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel
of the wicked,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
And in His law doth lie meditate clay and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams
of water,
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The wicked are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth
away. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.5

Moses had told Israel, hundreds of years before, that if they would keep the commandments of the Lord, the nations around them would say, “Surely this great nation is a wise, and understanding people.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.6

There is a reason why men prosper when they receive the Word of God. The Word itself is bound to prosper. The Lord says of His Word that goeth forth out of His mouth, “it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” So that when we receive the Word of God into our own hearts, it will prosper there. It is sure to prosper wherever it is, and if we will not have it, it will prosper in others who will receive it. That is why God sends His Word to us, that it may prosper in us, and thus we will prosper too. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.7

To Joshua the Lord said, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.8

When David's time came to die, he charged Solomon his son to walk in God's ways, to keep His commandments, “that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.” Many of the kings of Israel and Judah did not walk in the way of the Lord, and none of them prospered, but of King Hezekiah it is written that “he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments:” “And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.9

Christ Himself testified, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart;” and so, of Him it is written, “the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.10

And in Thy majesty ride on prosperously,
Because of truth and meekness and righteousness.
Thou hast loved righteousness and hated wickedness:
Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee
With the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. Ps. xlv. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.11

God gives men prosperity in His Word. If His Word dwells in us richly, it will be in all wisdom, and we shall do wisely and prosper. We shall even have the wisdom and prosperity of God, which is more than mind can conceive. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper. And this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” In Christ we are made not only righteous, but wise and prosperous. 1 Cor. i. 30. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.12

Men sometimes think that they are more likely to prosper in this life by not paying any heed to the Word of God. Very likely when Saul was hunting David up and down the country, to take his life, others thought that it was Saul who was prospering and not David, and Saul became David's enemy continually.” Let us lay hold of God's Word and trust only in that for wisdom and prosperity. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 408.13

Delight thyself also in the Lord;
And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord;
Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
And He shall make thy righteousness to go forth
as the light,
And thy judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him:
Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in
his way,
Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices
to pass
Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing.
For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not
be:
But the meek shall inherit the land;
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of
peace. Ps. xxxvii. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 409.1

“For the Children. In the Beginning” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” This question that the Lord asks will bring at once to your minds the first verse in the Bible, which tells us of the time when God did this great work. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.1

Let us put with this another text which will heap us to answer the Lord's question. “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning.” We are His works, for “it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.2

So the Lord says to each one of us, “Before I formed thee, I knew thee,” How long before? “From the beginning” all His works are known to Him. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.3

Then do you not see that your beginning was not, as you have perhaps thought, the time when you came a tiny, helpless baby into this world? Long ages before this, God thought about you; you were in His mind. This is where you began, in the thought of God. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.4

When, therefore, in the beginning, God spoke out the thoughts that were in His mind, when He laid the foundations of the earth and said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” you were there, in God's thought, and therefore in the word which expressed the thought. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.5

Every little child that ever has been or ever will he born into this world, was a part of the great plan of God which He had in mind when He made the world. The Apostle John heard this son, which was being sung before the throne of God; “Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are, and were created.” But it is the living and powerful Word of God which He says “shall accomplish that which I please.” So all God's work of creation is done by His Word, and all that He hid in His mind in the beginning will be worked out by the Word which He spoke in the beginning. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.6

Read in the 139th Psalm, verses 14 to 18, what the Psalmist David says of the way in which he was thought upon and “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God. Then like him you will exclaim, “How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.7

Study the precious Word of God that you may find out more and more of His precious thoughts of you. Do not make any plans for yourself, but seek only to know what is the plan that He has had in mind for you “from the beginning.” Give yourself fully to Him that His powerful Word may work out in you just that which He pleases. Then will His will be done in you, and you will be made, as He said in the beginning, “in His image, after His likeness.” PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.8

Is it not a sweet and wonderful thought that the great God, who created and upholds the heavens and the earth, thinks upon us? And not only so, but that as a loving Father He has been thinking of us and planning for us long before we appeared in this world. All the little things that come in our everyday life have been thought of and ordered by Him. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.9

How precious and important this makes each day of life, and how earnestly we should seek to learn just what He wants to teach us every day, and do just what He would have us. Perhaps some of you know the little poem beginning, PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.10

I cannot do much, said a little star,
To make this dark world bright; PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.11

But I'll cheerfully do the best I can,
For I am a part of God's great plan. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.12

Read the verses for “Little Children” on this page, and you will see some ways in which you may fit into God's great plan of love, and be used by Him to bring light and blessing to those who are in darkness and sorrow. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 411.13

“Back Page” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

The Bible tells us about the river of life. Only in heathen mythology, and in songs composed for Christians to sing, do we read anything about the “river of death.” Would it not be better to take our songs from the Bible than from mythology? PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.1

Let no one forget that “that which may be known of God,-all that may be known of God,-is revealed in the things that are made. For two thousand years men had no other record of God than that which is written in the leaves of the forest and on all creation. Enoch and Noah walked with God by the light which shines from the Word in nature. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.2

Even now, although the Bible has been translated into so many languages, and circulated so widely, there are many millions of people who have never seen or heard of it; and yet out of these tribes and peoples some will be saved (Rev. vii. 9), showing that all might be saved if they would, without the written Word. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.3

This is no disparagement of the Bible; far from it. The Bible is the Word of God, and is profitable and necessary. It would not have been necessary if men had heeded the revelation of God in nature; but now that men have become blinded by the deceitfulness of sin, it is necessary that they should have something to point them to the power and Divinity of God. The Bible is thus an index, a guideboard. It does not reveal the glory, but tells men where to look to see it. It directs them to Him that made all things, and whose saving power is still seen in them. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.4

Study the Bible with an earnest desire to know the will of God, that you may do it, and you will see wondrous things out of God's law. And when the Spirit of God has revealed unto you what no natural eye has seen, and no ear heard, and what has never been devised by the human heart, you will be able, with the eyes of your enlightened understanding to see the footsteps of God everywhere, and to walk and talk with Him. Then you will know that the glory of the Gospel shone as brightly before your eyes were opened to see it in creation. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.5

Many good people are still hugging the delusion expressed in the following paragraph from an article in the Youth's Companion on “Electricity in Modern Warfare”:— PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.6

The effectiveness of some of the more recently developed electrical devices has not yet been tested in actual warfare, but it is safe to say that their use will certainly hasten the day when war will prove so destructive and so terrible as to be avoided, it possible, by all civilised nations. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.7

It doesn't work that way. The greater the preparation for war, the more probability of it. The training of pugilists does not tend to diminish prize fighting, but on the contrary promotes it. No matter what engines of destruction are invented, nations will fight just as readily as when they met hand to hand, provided each one thinks that it is a little stronger, and has more destructive weapons than the other; and “patriotism” requires that each one shall believe this. It is indeed true that these war preparations are hastening the time when there will be no more war, but it is only by hastening the last great battle that will end with the coming of the Lord to consume the fighters and to give the dominion of the earth to peacemakers. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.8

Even if the Spanish-American war is not the beginning of Armageddon, as was suggested by a European writer when it began, it is proving a factor in the preparation for it. It is bringing the United States into such connection with the other Powers of the world, that it cannot fail to be involved in the great battle that is coming. Writing of the jealousy with which Europe regards both England and the United States, President Washburn of Robert College, the American College at Constantinople, says:— PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.9

We can never get back to the position which we occupied before this war, whether we desire to do so or not. Henceforth, in self-defence we must share the burdens of Europe and have a navy and an army strong enough, at least, to defend our liberty and our rights. We must cease to concern ourselves only with local politics and try to comprehend the world politics which centre in Europe, for Europe will never again forget us or lot any opportunity escape to put us down, to destroy our influence, to limit our commerce, to bring us into subjection to the Old World. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.10

The enthusiastic American sees in this cause for rejoicing over his country's rapid development and future power; but the student of the Bible sees in it the sure tokens of its speedy destruction. But the downfall of earthly Governments weans the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God, which calls for rejoicing; so that the only sad feature in the prospect is that so many are carried away with the noise and excitement of war and its seeming successes, and are not preparing the way of the King of peace. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.11

A German Professor has written an article for the Deutsche Revue, in which he says that America has no right to interfere in Cuba and that “a country where lynch law survives is unfit to play the judge of other countries.” To this the New York Independent frankly says:— PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.12

That is a shot that hits and hurts. There is too much justification for the rebuke. Nothing else is such a shame to this country abroad as the prevalence of lynch law in certain portions of it. It is of no use to explain or palliate, for to the foreigners ours is all one country, and the whole country is held responsible for what is not prevented in certain States. It is not worth while to make excuses, and the right way is to thank every foe that smites us for it. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.13

“He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” A criminal is not the proper person for judge. But there is no nation on earth that is not to a greater or less extent guilty of injustice and even cruelty to some persons, if not to some classes. And so no nation has any right to act as censor of another. In short, war is condemned by every principle of right, and has not and never has had any other reason than that given by the Apostle James, chap. iv. 1, 3. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.14

At the public conference of the Navy League held on the 23rd, the most advanced suggestion was made by a clergyman, who thought it might be necessary to fall back upon conscription and considered the principle one that might be adopted. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.15

“A Mistake” The Present Truth 14, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

A Mistake .—In one of the papers last week there was a large head line, “Christians Show Fight,” and underneath was information to the effect that “The Christian Albanians have taken the offensive and attacked both Mussulmans and the troops.” We needed no second report to assure us that this was entirely a mistake. That some non-Mohammedan Albanians had attacked Turkish soldiers, and killed some of them, we could easily believe, but that no Christians were engaged in the struggle, we were certain; for Christians follow the precept and example of Christ. PTUK June 30, 1898, page 416.16