The Present Truth, vol. 14

February 10, 1898

“‘Altogether Vanity’” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

A sale of antiquities in a London auction room last week included one “lot” of special interest. In its report of the sale a morning paper suggested that,- PTUK February 10, 1898, page 81.1

If Ptolemy II., Philadelphus, King of Egypt, Antiochus Soter, King of Syria, and Alpina, wife of Seleucus, Queen of Babylon, could have foreseen that twenty-one centuries after their death and embalmment they would have been exposed, unrolled, to the small witticisms and smaller bids of a Covent-garden auction room, they would probably have preferred, like Imperial C?sar, to have been turned to clay, and as a less degrading alternative, to “stop a hole to keep the wind away.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 81.2

These kings played a stirring part in a stirring epoch of history. They lived in the early days of the division of the Macedonian empire, a period made the subject of such detailed prophecy in the eleventh of Daniel. This Philadelphus was the “king of the south” whose daughter, Berenice, was married to the “king of the north,” in the effort to make peace between Egypt and Syria. Dan. xi. 6. He maintained the glory of his father's kingdom, built great palaces in Egypt and completed the great Alexandrian library. Two centuries before he lived the prophet had described the main features of his reign and the tragic death of his daughter. All came to pass as predicted. Philadelphus had to leave his ships and legions and palaces, and while now his body is sold as a curiosity of the auction rooms, the “sure Word of prophecy” still lives, and still teaches men that “all flesh is grass.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 81.3

The curious crowd in the auction room, making merriment over the remains of these ancient kings who were once worshipped by courtiers, represents the world generally in its failure to learn the lesson of the vanity of all things of earth. The world is full of monuments of departed glory, and “change and decay” are written over the face of all the earth. Yet each generation glorifies itself as though its works would abide, and men neglect the life indeed, and spend their days in grasping after things that can be held for but a little while. This Babylonian queen, who doubtless graced a luxurious court, had to leave all the glitter and frivolity of gay society, and the jewels and the fineries, and here her body is, sold for a few pounds to a showman. It matters nothing what becomes of the dust; but what did her life profit her if she laid not hold of eternal life by faith? PTUK February 10, 1898, page 81.4

There was a man once, who might have kept the place that was his by adoption in a dynasty of Egyptian kings greater than the dynasty of the Ptolemies. He was in the family of Rameses II., the Pharaoh of the Oppression. The throne was his if he would but take it, and Rameses was old. But he saw something better. Moses “refused to be called the sons of Pharaoh's daughter,” and chose the “reproach of Christ” and “affliction with the people of God.” The mummy of Rameses II. May be viewed for a sixpence in an Egyptian museum today, we believe; and having rejected the life that abides the great Pharaoh can only come forth in the last time to the resurrection to the second death. Moses, who wanted something better than this world's glory and sin, has already begun to enter upon his reward, as by a special resurrection (Jude 9) he lives in heaven to-day (Matt. xvii. 3); but not less sure is the reward of every servant of God who sleeps in te dust of the earth, awaiting that time when all the saved shall be caught up “together” to abide evermore “with the Lord.” The small wits of Pharaoh's court doubtless made merry over Moses’ choice, and statesmen considered it contemptible fanaticism. The world is just the same to-day as of old. Men spend their time and sacrifice eternal life for just what they can hold in their hands for a few short years. They call it reason and common-sense, and despise the only sensible course, which is to take hold of something that may be held eternally, and that will keep eternally the one who holds it. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 81.5

Here are a few scriptures which point the lesson that God would have us learn from man's mortality:— PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.1

“Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.2

“They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches: none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.3

“All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.4

“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” Amen. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.5

“Compulsory Church Attendance” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

“The Transvaal Volksraad,” says a South African newspaper, “has decreed that officials shall in future be compelled to attend Divine service on Sundays.” It is not a solitary example of such laws, strange as it may sounds to hear of compelling church attendance. There is, in fact, a law now on the English statute books making it an offence for members of the Church of England to omit church attendance. Of course it is never enforced. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.6

When once Sunday laws are made, it is a simple step to compel officers of the law to attend church; and the next step is to compel the people generally. If it is the proper thing to force people to keep Sunday it surely follows that the State may prescribe how it shall be kept. Not all the preachers and others who are in this Sunday-law movement contemplate going so far as that, but they are not running the movement. The evil one himself is behind all compulsory religion, and men who are deceived “know not what they do.” But what would any preacher of the Gospel of Christ's grace and liberty say if it were proposed to compel people by law to attend his ministry? PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.7

The various religious bodies in America are preparing to establish missions and churches in the Klondyke region. No needier field, probably, will exist when the thousands who are preparing for the rush get into the country. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.8

“The Epistle to the Galatians. ‘Justified by the Faith of Christ’” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

Our last lesson covered the first ten verses of the second chapter of Galatians, but we did not particularly study the last portion of the section. Accordingly we shall begin our study this week with the sixth verse, in order to keep the connection. First, however, we must be able to take in at a glance all that has preceded, and this can be attained only by frequent and repeated reviews. Right here let us have a little formal general talk about PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.9

THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE

It is to be presumed that there are many who are following these studies, who wish not merely a better understanding of this particular epistle, but also of the Bible in general, and who, to this end, wish to know how to study the Bible for themselves, so as to get the best results. The way is very simple, so simple that it is despised by most people. Nevertheless it is not to be despised, for it is the royal way. In spite of the oft-repeated statement, which passes for a truism, that there is no royal road to knowledge, it is a fact that there is PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.10

A ROYAL ROAD

to the knowledge of God and His Word, and that it is the only road. Here it is, given by the king who went over it and proved it a success:— PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.11

“My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” Prov. ii. 1-6. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.12

That is the way the wisest man got his wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge concerning everything are to be found in the Word of God; and if you would understand the Word of God; and if you would understand the Word of God, you must study it. No man on earth can give you his knowledge. Another may aid you by his experience, so that it need not take you as long as it took him; he may direct you how and where to work; but whatever anyone really knows he must acquire individually. When you have traveled over a road a thousand times, you know every turn in it, no matter how many there are, and can see the whole way in your mind. So after you have been over a portion of Scripture time after time, thinking each time as you read it, you will at last be able to see the whole of it, and every separate statement in it, at a single glance. And when you can do that, you will see in it what no man on earth can tell you. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.13

But it is useless to think to understand a detached sentence that may present special difficulty, without reference to the connection. If I should bring you a letter, and pointing to a sentence near the close, should ask you to tell me what my correspondent means, you would at once ask, “What is he writing about? what does he say in what precedes?” If I should reply that I didn't wish you to know the subject of the letter, and would not allow you to read it from the beginning, you would say, “Then I cannot help you.” But if I should put the letter into your hands, asking you to help me to understand the difficult sentence, you would at once read the letter carefully from the beginning, making sure that you understood everything as you read, and then with all that preceded the difficult sentence clearly in your mind, you would expect to understand the sentence itself. Why will not men be as reasonable in their study of the Bible? PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.14

So I would say to those who are reading these articles not merely as interesting matter, but with the desire to know the epistle. Study the very words of the text. Go over them again and again; and every time you begin the study of a new portion, go back to the beginning and review all that you have been over. It is a royal method, and it yields royal results. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 82.15

The first chapter of Galatians gives us a brief, comprehensive view of what the Gospel is, of the condition of the Galatian brethren. The second chapter, as far as we have gone, refers to the meeting held in Jerusalem, seventeen years after Paul's conversion, what was the subject of controversy, and Paul's relation to it. The apostle's sole burden was to preserve “the truth of the Gospel among the brethren.” Now we may proceed to the PTUK February 10, 1898, page 83.1

TEXT FOR THIS WEEK’S STUDY

“But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God accepteth no man's person;) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me; but contrariwise, when they saw that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the Gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (for He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles;) and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 83.2

“But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto Peter before them all: If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. ii. 6-16. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.1

Not in Doubt .—Paul did not go up to Jerusalem in order to get a difficult point settled. He did not go up to the apostles and elders to find out whether he had been preaching the truth or error for seventeen years. Those who were leaders among the brethren “added nothing” to him. He had seen the Lord Jesus, and he knew whom he had believed (2 Tim. i. 12); and as he had not received the Gospel from any man (Gal. i. 11, 12), he did not need that any man should teach him what it is. 1 John ii. 26, 27. He went up because the Lord sent him. The Lord knew that the brethren in Jerusalem needed his testimony, and the new converts needed to know that those whom God sent spoke the words of God, and therefore all spoke the same thing. They needed the assurance that as they had turned from many gods to the one God, the truth is one, and there is but one Gospel for all men. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.2

No Monopoly of Truth. -“Whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God accepteth no man's person.” There is no man or body of men on earth, that has a monopoly of truth,-a corner, so to speak, so that whoever wishes it must come to him. Truth is independent of men. Truth is of God, for Christ, who is the shining of His glory, and the very impress of His substance (Heb. i. 3), is the truth. John xiv. 6. Whoever gets the truth, must get it from God, and not from any man, just as Paul received the Gospel. God may and does use men as instruments, or channels, but He alone is the Giver. Every man on earth may be the possessor of just as much of the truth as he is willing to use, and no more. See John vii. 17; xii. 35, 36. He who would act the pope, thinking to hold a monopoly of the truth, and compel people to come to him for it, dealing it out here, and withholding it there, loses all the truth that he ever had, if he ever really had any. Truth and popery can not exist together; no pope, or man with a popish disposition, has the truth. As soon as a man receives the truth, he ceases to be a pope. If the Pope of Rome should get converted, and become a disciple of Christ, that very hour he would vacate the papal seat. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.3

The Biggest Not Always the Best. -Just as there is no man who has a monopoly of truth, so there are no places to which men must necessarily go in order to find it. The brethren in Antioch did not need to go to Jerusalem to learn the truth, or to find out if what they had was the genuine article. The fact that truth was first proclaimed in a certain place, does not prove that it can be found only there, or that it can be found there at all. In fact, the last places in the world to go to with the expectation of finding or learning truth, are the cities where the Gospel was preached in the first centuries after Christ, as Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria, etc. Paul did not go up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before him, but began at once to preach. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.4

The Papacy arose in part in this way: It was assumed that the places where the apostles, or some of them, had preached must have the truth in its purity, and that all men must take it from there. It was also assumed that the people of a city must know more of it than the people in the country or in a village. So, from all bishops being on an equality, as at the beginning, it soon came to pass that the “country bishops” (chorepiscopoi) were rated as secondary to those who officiated in the cities. Then, when that spirit crept in, of course the next step was necessarily a strife among the city bishops to see which one should be greatest; and the unholy struggle went on until Rome gained the coveted place of power. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.5

But Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a place that was “little among the thousands of Judah” (Micah v. 2), and nearly all His life He lived in Nazareth, a little town of so poor repute that a man in whom there was no guile said, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” John i. 45-47. Afterward Jesus took up His abode in the wealthy city of Capernaum, but was always known as “Jesus of Nazareth.” It is no farther to heaven from the smallest village or even the smallest lonely cabin on the plain, than it is from the largest city, or bishop's palace. And God, “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy,” dwells with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit. Is. lvii. 15. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.6

It Is God That Works. -“He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles.” The Word of God is living and active. Heb. iv. 12, R.V. Whatever activity there is in the work of the Gospel, if there is any work done, is all of God. Jesus “went about doing good,” “for God was with Him.” Acts x. 38. He Himself said, “I can of Mine own self do nothing.” John v. 30. “The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” John xiv. 10. So Peter spoke of Him as “a Man approved of God” “by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him.” Acts ii. 22. The disciple is not greater than his Lord. Paul and Barnabas, therefore, at the meeting in Jerusalem, told “what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.” Acts xv. 12. Paul declared that he labored to “present every man perfect in Christ Jesus,” “striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.” Col. i. 28, 29. This same power it is the privilege of the humblest believer to possess, “for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Phil. ii. 13. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.7

Recognising the Gift. -The brethren in Jerusalem showed their connection with God by recognising the grace that was given to Paul and Barnabas. When Barnabas first went to Antioch, and saw the grace of God that was working there, he was glad, “and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost.” Acts xi. 21-24. The other apostles perceived that God had chosen Paul for a special work among the Gentiles; and they gave to him the right hand of fellowship, only requesting that he would remember the poor among his own nation; and this he had already shown his willingness to do. Acts xi. 27-30. So Paul and Barnabas returned to their work. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.8

Withstanding Peter. -“But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.” We need not magnify nor dwell upon the mistakes of Peter or any other good man, because that is not profitable for us; but we must note this overwhelming proof that Peter was never considered the “prince of the apostles,” and that he never was, and never considered himself to be, pope. Fancy any priest, bishop, or cardinal, withstanding Leo XIII. to the face in a public assembly. He would be considered extremely fortunate if the papal guards allowed him to escape with his life for thus presuming to oppose the self-styled “vicar of the Son of God.” But Peter made a mistake, and that upon a vital matter of doctrine, because he was not infallible, and he meekly accepted the rebuke that Paul gave him, like the sincere, humble Christian that he was. Infallibility is not the portion of any man; and the greatest man in the church of Christ has no lordship over the weakest. “One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.9

Making a Difference. -When Peter was at the conference in Jerusalem, he told the facts about the receiving of the Gospel by the Gentiles, through his preaching, saying, “God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” Acts xv. 8, 9. God put no difference between Jews and Gentiles in the matter of the purification of the heart, because, knowing the hearts, He knew that “there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” so that there is no other way than for all to be “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Rom. iii. 22-24. But after having been shown this fact by the Lord; after having preached to the Gentiles, and after having witnessed the gift of the Holy Ghost to them, the same as to Jewish believers; after having eaten with those Gentile converts, and faithfully defending his course; after having given a clear testimony in conference, that God made no difference between Jews and Gentiles; and even immediately after himself making no difference, Peter suddenly, as soon as some came who he thought would not approve of such freedom, began to make a difference. “He withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.” This was, as Paul says, dissimulation, and was not only wrong in itself, but was calculated to confuse and mislead the disciples. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.10

Contrary to the Truth of the Gospel. -A wave of fear seems to have passed over the Jewish believers, for “the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.” This in itself was, of course, not walking “uprightly, according to the truth of the Gospel;” but the mere fact of dissembling was not the whole of the offense against the truth of the Gospel. Under the circumstances it was a public denial of Christ, just as much as that of which Peter had once before, through sudden fear, been guilty. We have all been too often guilty of the same sin to permit us to sit in judgment; we can only note the fact and the natural consequence, as a warning to ourselves. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.11

See how the action of Peter and the others was a virtual, although unintentional, denial of Christ. There had just been a great controversy over the question of circumcision. It was a question of justification and salvation,-whether men were saved by faith alone in Christ, or by outward forms. Clear testimony had been borne that salvation is by faith alone; and now, while the controversy is still alive, while the “false brethren” are still propagating their errors, these loyal brethren suddenly discriminated against the Gentile believers, because they were uncircumcised, in effect saying to them, “Except ye be circumcised, ye can not be saved.” Their actions said, “We also are in doubt about the power of faith in Christ alone to save men; we really believe that salvation depends on circumcision and the works of the law.” Such a denial of the truth of the Gospel Paul could not endure, and he at once struck directly at the root of the matter. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.12

“Sinners of the Gentiles,” and Sinners of the Jews. -“If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? we who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Paul said to Peter, “We are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles.” Did he mean that they, being Jews, were, therefore, not sinners?—By no means, for he immediately adds that they had believed on Jesus Christ for justification. They were sinners of the Jews, and not sinners of the Gentiles; but whatever things they had to boast of as Jews, all had to be counted loss for the sake of Christ. Nothing availed them anything except faith in Christ; and since this was so, it was evident that the Gentile sinners could be saved directly by faith in Christ, without going through the dead forms which had been of no service to the Jews. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 84.13

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. i. 15. “All have sinned,” and stand alike guilty before God; but all, of whatever race or class, can accept this saying, “This Man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” A circumcised sinner is no better than an uncircumcised one; a sinner who stands as a church-member, is no better than one who is outside. The sinner who has gone through the form of baptism is not better than the sinner who has never made any profession of religion. Sin is sin, and sinners are sinners, whether in the church or out; but, thank God, Christ is the propitiation for our sins, as well as for the sins of the whole world. There is hope for the unfaithful professor of religion, as well as for the sinner who has never named the name of Christ. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.1

“Justified.” -“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law,” “we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified,” said the apostle. The meaning of the word “justified” is “made righteous.” In an accommodated sense we use the term “justified” of a man who has not done wrong in a thing whereof he is accused. But, strictly speaking, such an one needs no justification, since he is already just; his righteous deed justified him. But since all have sinned, there are none just or righteous before God; therefore they need to be justified, or made righteous, which God does. Now the law of God is righteousness. See Rom. vii. 12; ix. 30, 31; Ps. cxix. 172. Therefore Paul did not disparage the law, although he declared that no man could be made righteous by the law, meaning, of course, the law written on stones or in a book. No; so highly did he appreciate the law, that he believed in Christ for the righteousness which the law demands but can not give. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. viii. 3, 4. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.2

“The Faith of Christ.” -Much is lost, in reading the Scriptures, by not noting exactly what they say. Here we have literally, “the faith of Christ,” just as in Rev. xiv. 12 we have “the faith of Jesus.” He is the Author and Finisher of faith. Heb. xii. 2. God has “dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Rom. xii. 3), in giving Christ to every man. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. x. 17), and Christ is the Word. All things are of God. It is He who gives repentance and forgiveness of sins. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.3

There is, therefore, no opportunity for any one to plead that his faith is weak. He may not have accepted and made use of the gift, but there is no such thing as “weak faith.” A man may be “weak in faith,” that is, may be afraid to depend on faith, but faith itself is as strong as the Word of God. There is no faith but the faith of Christ; everything else professing to be faith is a spurious article. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.4

Here is comfort. Whoever will accept the faith of Jesus, has that which is as sure to work righteousness in him, and to save him, as the victory of Christ over sin and death is assured. He gives to us His own tried and approved faith. It has not a flaw, and we need not fear to use it; it will not fail us in any contest. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Eph. ii. 8. We are saved by nothing less than God's unchangeable Word, and by Christ's own personal confidence in that Word. We are not exhorted to try to do as well as He did, or to try to exercise as much faith as He had, but simply to take His faith, and let it work by love, and purify the heart. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.5

Believing Is Receiving .—“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John i. 12. That is, as many as believed on His name received Him. To believe on His name is to believe that He is the Son of God; to believe that He is the Son of God, means to believe that He is come in the flesh, in human flesh, in our flesh, for His name is “God with us;” so to believe on His name means simply to believe that He dwells personally in every man,-in all flesh. We do not make it so by believing it; it is so, whether we believe it or not; we simply accept the fact, which all nature reveals to us. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.6

It follow then as a matter of course that, believing in Christ, we are justified by the faith of Christ, since we have Him personally dwelling in us, exercising His own faith. All power in heaven and earth is in His hands, and, recognizing this, we simply allow Him to exercise His own power in His own way. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.7

Personal Experience. -The reader will now see the object of Paul's narrative. Instead of beginning with abstract argument, to convince the Galatians of their error, he began with telling his own personal experience. That led him to tell what he said on another occasion, when some had erred concerning the faith. But all the time he is dealing with facts. He is telling what he knows, and the burden of the whole is personal acquaintance with Christ. The Gospel is no dead thing, no abstract doctrine, no “works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves” (Titus iii. 5, R.V.), but a personal, acceptance of the personal Christ, who alone has power to work salvation. Christ as a living Saviour, always and everywhere present, always active and mighty to save, is the theme of the apostle's letter from first to last, but especially in the portion now before us, and that which follows. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.8

“Still Alive” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

There are frequent reminders from various parts of the country that the old Sunday laws have still sufficient life in them to bring people before the courts. And the spirit of intolerance is always alive. The Daily Chronicle said the other day:— PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.9

“When will people learn that it is impossible to enforce a religious observance of Sunday by law? Or when will Parliament spare half an hour for the repeal of our ridiculous Sabbatarian Acts? Now and again some poor old woman in a slum is summoned by a spy under a Statute of Elizabeth for having sold him two kippers on a Sunday; and now at Caversham, near Reading, three men have been prosecuted for playing football on Sunday afternoon, contrary to an early Act of Charles I. The magistrates, under the chairmanship of Lord Saye and Sele (whose name in itself savours of Charles I.'s reign), of course, dismissed the summons, not because it was spiteful and ludicrous, but because the three men ‘did not constitute a concourse of non-parishioners within the meaning of the Act.’ The Act forbids all sports and pastimes on Sundays to any concourse of non-parishioners, whilst all of us, even if parishioners, are debarred from bear-baiting, bull-baiting, interludes, common plays, or any other unlawful exercises or pastimes such as are so popular amongst all ages and all classes to-day. It is a strange thing that the moment we touch law we seem as a nation to lose our sense of absurdity. And as to people who get up summonses of this kind, they are undoubtedly the direct descendants of those Puritans who hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 85.10

The weak point in this protest is in that phrase about enforcing the “religious observance” of Sunday. The Chronicle fails to see that enforced Sunday rest is itself the enforcement of religious observance, for the Sunday is a religious institution. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.1

“Notes on the International Sunday-School Lesson. The Twelve Sent Forth.—Matt. x. 1-15” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

FEBRUARY 20

Parallel accounts are found in Mark iii. 13-19; vi. 7-11 and Luke ix. 1-6, but the one in Matthew is the fullest. Connect this lesson with the last verses of chapter nine, where we are told that Jesus had compassion on the multitude, because “they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.” Jesus bade His disciples pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out labourers into His harvest, and the next thing mentioned is that He called His twelve disciples to Him, and sent them forth. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.2

POWER AND AUTHORITY

“He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” Verse 1. In the margin we find “over” instead of “against,” and the Revised Version reads: He “gave them authority over unclean spirits,” etc. Still more emphatic is the record in Luke 9:1, 2; “He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure disease. And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and heal the sick.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.3

Some suppose that this commission has expired, and that miracles no more occur in the church; but that is equivalent to saying that the preaching of the Gospel has ceased; for the power by which the devils are cast doubt, and the sick are healed, is the power by which the Gospel is preached in its fulness. The Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation unto every one that believeth.” Rom. i. 16. The preaching of the cross is to those who are saved “the power of God.” 1 Cor. i. 18. Now the power of God is unlimited and undivided; wherever the power of God is displayed, there nothing is impossible. The power of God is the same now that it was nineteen hundred years ago. The same power that saves men's souls, heals their bodies, and cast out devils. If we say that we do not see such power accompanying the preaching of the Gospel, that shows, not a defect in the Gospel, but in the relation of men to it. If the power is not manifested, then it is for each Christian to ask himself, Why? PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.4

But as a matter of fact, the same power and authority which Christ gave to the twelve is manifested to-day wherever the Gospel is really preached, and souls are saved. The Gospel is the power of God to salvation from sin. It purifies the heart by faith. Acts xv. 7-9. Now all men are by nature sinful, and therefore under the power of Satan. Eph. ii. 1-3; Acts xxvi. 16-18. Satan is the author of sin: “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.” 1 John iii. 8. Just to the extent that one is a servant of sin, is he under the control of Satan. When therefore a soul is saved from sin, he is simply delivered from the power of the devil. The man in whom Christ dwells by faith, has had the devil cast out. Thus it appears that wherever the Gospel is really preached, and wherever there is real conversion, there has been the miracle of the casting out of devils. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.5

God does not do things simply to astonish people, and to cause them to stare. Many people long to see miracles and wonders, just as they long for any excitement or sensation. God does not gratify the curiosity of such. But He is continually working miracles, however, and they who do not see them would soon cease to see anything marvellous in the raising of the dead from their graves. Those who serve God in Spirit and in truth, acknowledging His power in all things, are continually lost in wonder at His marvellous works. To them there are no little things, for the least thing that God does is miraculous, because it is infinite. “The weakness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Cor. i. 25. When men are living by God's Word, and are continually recognising His power, they do not go wild when something is done that even the unthinking call a miracle. They know that miracles are God's natural working. When the young man fell down from the third storey, while Paul was preaching, “and was taken up dead,” the Lord by Paul restored him to life, and the apostle continued his discourse. It was not because the people were unappreciative, but because they lived in constant appreciation of God's power and working. When professed Christians learn to recognise God in all His works, and acknowledge His wonderful working in all things, so that if a dead man should be raised to life they would not give the world the idea that the manifestation of such power is an unusual thing on God's part, we may expect to see the early days of the church restored. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.6

That which Christ said to the twelve, He says to all. To every Christian, even the humblest, He gives “power and authority over all devils.” “Resist the devil, and He will flee from you.” James iv. 7. With the shield of faith we are able to “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Eph. vi. 16. Christ “suffered for us in the flesh,” that we might arm ourselves “with the same mind.” 1 Peter iv. 1. He “suffered being tempted.” Heb. ii. 18. When the devil tempted Jesus, the Lord said to him, “Get thee hence, Satan,” and the devil left Him. Matt. iv. 10, 11. There was power and authority over the devil, which is given to every believer. Take it, use it, and rejoice in it. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.7

THE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL

Jesus said to the twelve as He sent them forth, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.8

There is something about this charge that is not perfectly clear to our present understanding. The explanation will doubtless be found in the condition of the twelve at that time, since we see that even after Jesus ascended, it was a long time before there was much preaching to any besides the Jews. But of one thing we may be sure, and that is that the words of Jesus to them did not mean that they should be narrow in their sympathies and labours. The Gospel from the beginning, even as to-day, is for “all people.” Luke ii. 10; Acts i. 8. Let us note a few items concerning the lost sheep of the house of Israel. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 86.9

The Son of God came because “God so loved the world.” John iii. 16. He gave Himself “for the life of the world.” John vi. 51. By the grace of God He tasted death “for every man.” Heb. ii. 9. Yet He Himself said, “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. xv. 24) although He was sent “that the world through Him might be saved.” John iii. 17. Moreover at the very time that Jesus said that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, He was about to grant the request of the heathen woman, and heal her daughter. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 87.1

Again, the Apostle James, recalling how “God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name,” said that this was in fulfilment of the words of the prophets, as it is written: “After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord.” Acts xv. 14-17. So we see that the house of Israel is restored and built up by the conversion of the Gentiles. “All Israel shall be saved” by the bringing in of “the fulness of the Gentiles.” Rom. xi. 25, 26. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 87.2

Thus we see that the Gospel which the twelve were sent to preach was not a narrow one. It differed in no respect from that which God sends to us and which we are to proclaim to others. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isa. liii. 6. So we are the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and unto us is the word of this salvation sent. “And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Then, as ye have freely received, even so, freely give. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 87.3

“Back Page” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

“Japan is doing her utmost,” says a Japanese press correspondent, “in preparing for war.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.1

“The war spirit is in the air,” says the Christian World, “and the danger is evidently keenly realised by the leaders of parties.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.2

One of our brethren in Japan says that “two young officers of the army have recently embraced the truth, resigned their positions, and are now taking steps to prepare themselves to preach the message to their countrymen.” Good. “The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.3

The mortality, through poverty and ignorance and vicious living in great industrial centers is appalling. Recent returns show that in the Manchester township, for instance, “37,674 boys out of every 100,000 die before the age of five.” Among adults the death rate among labourers in the towns is nearly twice that of agricultural labourers. When the Lord set man in the world He put him on the soil to till the ground. That is still the place where he lives longest and enjoys the best health. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.4

A general, overlooking one of the recent engagements on the Indian frontier, said of some of the young British troops to his associate: “Look at them; they are fair devils for fighting. I am proud of them.” Why shouldn't men in war fight that way? We have it on the authority of Scripture that “the spirits of devils” are the agents who are stirring up the world to the battle of the great day. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.5

At a tame deer hunt the other day, in which “gentlemen” and “ladies” and hounds took part, a deer with an eye torn out by a barbed-wire fence and exhausted and fallen into a ditch, was given whisky in the effort to stimulate it to run further so that the pack of men women and dogs might chase it. Little wonder that wars increase when such things are called sport by the ruling classes. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.6

A Monte Carlo press correspondent says:— PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.7

The suicide season here may be considered as fully started. Two successful attempts and one abortive have occurred during the last week. The gambling rooms are more crowded than at any time since the visitors commenced arriving in November last, and it is now almost impossible to reach the tables; players and lookers-on stand five or six deep round them, and hundreds of impatient people promenade the saloons awaiting anxiously an opportunity to try their luck. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.8

All the world that does not choose the true riches, but seeks only for what may be grasped in this life, may see itself as in a mirror in this picture of life at the beautiful gambling resort. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.9

“Just Like Him” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

Just Like Him .—“And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that He entered into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him, whether He would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against Him.” Luke vi. 6, 7. It is not so very strange a thing to see an afflicted person in any assembly; why then should these Pharisees be so specially on the watch when they saw this one present? What was it that made them think that Jesus would heal them?—Ah, it was because it was just like Jesus to heal any afflicted person whom He saw. What wonderful tribute those jealous Pharisees paid to Christ! And what a wonderful comfort this contains for us! We are infirm; but He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and whenever He sees infirmity, His impulse is to heal. He is on the lookout to do good. “He delighteth in mercy.” Therefore, Be of good cheer; “Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.10

“Holding the Winds” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

Holding the Winds .—Here are some of the head-lines on a single page of a morning paper one day last week:— PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.11

Moorish Trouble; Russian Threats; Japan Active in Preparing for War; Decisive Moment Approaching for the Struggle; French Naval Weakness; Frontier Operations; A Ministerial War Note; Great Blizzard in America; Channel Disaster; The Rush to Klondyke; Fighting the Plague, etc. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.12

Thus the world goes day by day. If the Spirit of God were not holding the winds of strife and restraining the lawlessness of men, the world would come to universal chaos at once. God restrains in order that the Gospel of His kingdom may be preached. He is coming soon, and these signs show that He is “even at the door.” Are you ready and doing the work He has left you to do? PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.13

“Mohammedanism and Christianity” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

The New York Independent recently contained an account of an interview with a Mohammedan theologian, who set forth the Moslem creed, of which the following is the closing summary:— PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.14

There is no god but God, and Abraham is the Friend of God.
There is no god but God, and Moses is the Speaker of God.
There is no god but God, and David is the Seer of God.
There is no god but God, and Jesus is the Spirit of God.
There is no good but God, and Mohammed is the Prophet of God. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.15

The Christian World remarks on this that “the dignity ascribed by him to Jesus, including, apparently, more than is claimed for the Prophet of Islam, is all the more remarkable in view of the bitterness of his co-religionists toward Christians.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.16

It is strange how persistently people who ought to know better will cling to the idea that the Turks are persecutors of Christians. True, they have killed many Armenians, but if it were Christians that they were trying to exterminate, they would have killed the Greeks, who, as a race, profess and practice Christianity just as much and as well as the Armenians do. But in all the agitations, the Greeks were safe. The Armenians have suffered at the hands of the Turks, because of the acts of the revolutionary party among them. All Armenians are naturally suspected; but an Armenian who is known to have no sympathy with revolution, and who is enough of a Christian to be subject to authority, is unmolested in Turkey. The Turks are a long way off from being Christians themselves, but they have a better idea of what true Christianity is and is not than do many who call themselves Christians. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.17

“Let it Grow” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

Let it Grow .—“So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.” Mark iv. 26, 27. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.18

What does the farmer do after he has cast the seed into the ground?—He goes to sleep at night, and about his business in the daytime. What does he do, to make the seed grow?—Nothing? Why not?—Because he doesn't know how it grows. Since “he knoweth not how” the seed grows, it is therefore impossible for him to do anything to make it grow; and so like a sensible man he lets it grow. It is a grand thing when a man knows enough to keep his hands off, and not interfere in a thing of which he knows nothing. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 96.19

“Warning and Invitation” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

FEBRUARY 27

REJECTED OPPORTUNITES

“Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.” Matt. xi. 20-22. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 97.1

Similar language followed concerning Capernaum, in comparison with Sodom. Of those cities where the most wonderful works of Jesus were done, nothing remains but the name. Plants that have been cultivated, and then left to themselves, are in a much worse condition than those that have never been cultivated. So the parts of the earth where the greatest light of the Gospel shown in past ages, are now the most benighted. If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! Matt. vi. 23. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 97.2

“But why were there not mighty works done in Tyre and Sidon and Sodom? why were they not given a chance as Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum?” This is a question that very naturally arises. It would seem as if it can be answered only by reading why Jesus did not perform many miracles in Nazareth: “And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Matt. xiii. 58. God leaves no one to perish through any fault of His. All that can be done, He does for all. He has not left Himself without witness in any nation. See Acts xiv. 16, 17. There is not a spot under heaven where God's heavenly messengers-the sun, moon and stars-have not proclaimed the Gospel. Ps. xix. 1-4. Compare Rom. x. 15-18. To every one is given and the light to enable him to be saved. In some places it is possible to do more work than in others; yet the seemingly less favoured places cannot complain that they are discriminated against, since they do not appreciate and use the light they have. They have only themselves to blame if the mighty works which would be convincing are not done in them, because their own unbelief has shut those works out. The man who refuses to receive instruction is as culpable as the man who receives it and turns away from it. God is just, and every tongue will swear to it in the Judgment. Isa. xlv. 22-24. No tongue can be lifted against Him in the Judgment (Isa. liv. 17), but every mouth will be stopped. Rom. iii. 19. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 97.3

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

“At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father; and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” Matt. xi. 25-27. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 97.4

What! thankful that the Gospel has been hid from some? Yes, since the hiding of it from them, is the revelation of it to babes. That is indeed a most wonderful way of hiding the Gospel, namely, to make it so plain and simple that even babes can understand it. Surely no “wise and prudent” man will ever have the face to accuse God of impartiality on that ground. Fancy a wise man who has “not been able to see the evidence for the truth of the Gospel,” coming to the Lord, and saying, “You hath hidden these things from me, and have revealed them only to little children; and it is not fair!” “Ah, but how does it happen that they are revealed to babes? how is it possible for them to understand these deep things?” The only reply can be, “Because you have made them so simple.” And then the report would come, “And do you, who boast of your wisdom, mean to say that you could not comprehend a thing that was so easy that a child could grasp it?” The wise man would be at a loss for a reply, would he not? PTUK February 10, 1898, page 97.5

“Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” 1 Cor. i. 20, 27. Little children recognised the Messiahship of Christ, when doctors of the law saw nothing but an uproar. Matt. xxi. 15, 16. “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. xviii. 3. Thank the Lord, that He has made the way so very easy and simple that a child can know it. No one need err unless he is wise in his own conceits, and despises the truth because it is so plain. Yes, truly we may well join with Christ in thanks to the Almighty Father. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 98.1

We sometimes hear about people who believe in God, but cannot accept Christ; that is, they believe in God, but are not Christians. We hear of them, indeed, but we never see them; for there are no such folks in existence. No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son reveals Him. It is impossible to know who God is, to say nothing of believing on Him, except through Christ. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” John i. 18. Christ is the revelation of God to man. John xiv. 7-9. His name is, “God with us.” Matt. i. 23. “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Col. ii. 9. Whoever knows and worships the one true God, in spirit and in truth, is a Christian. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 98.2

THE EASY BURDEN

Who that reads the Bible is not familiar with the gracious invitation in Matt. xi. 28-30. Christ gives rest, because in Him God's work is complete, and finished work well done brings rest. Our labours weary us, and wear us out, since they are never done; they are always imperfect. Our best work is sin. “All our righteousness are as filthy rags.” Isa. lxiv. 6. But in Christ everything was created (Col. i. 16, 17), and when it was all finished, “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Gen. i. 31. The eye of God could see no chance for improvement. And as the works were thus “finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb. iv 3), so the rest was then prepared; and the proof of it is found in the fact that “God did rest the seventh day form all His works.” Christ is the Creator and therefore the Redeemer, since redemption is creation (2 Cor. v. 17; Eph. ii. 10; iv. 24); and since the Sabbath is the sign and seal of perfect creation, it is in Christ that we find the Sabbath indeed, God's rest, which is the seventh day. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 98.3

Sabbath means rest. “Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.” Eze. xx. 12. It is by the Sabbath that we know God. But we have just read that it is only in Christ that we can know God. So we see that the Sabbath is in Christ, and Christ is in the Sabbath. He is the Word, by which everything was created and upheld, and so He calls us to Him to find the Sabbath, namely, rest on the eternal Word. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 98.4

What assurance have we that in Him we shall find rest?—This, that His burden is light. What is His burden?—“The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isa. liii. 6. He “beareth the sins of the world.” John i. 29, margin. How many sins does He bear?—“The sins of the whole world.” 1 John ii. 2. And how does He bear them?—Easily. It is true, they nailed Him to the cross, and laid Him in the tomb; but He “endured the cross,” and lives in spite of “the pains of death; because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.” Acts ii. 24. All the sins of the world cannot crush Him. Why?—Because He destroys them. Although He has the sins of the whole world on Him, you may look at Him ever so closely, and you will not see a single sin. The longer you look, the more righteousness you will see, but never a trace of sin. With all that load of sin on Him, He enjoys everlasting rest and peace; “for He is our peace.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 98.5

Well, then, He is certainly the one to come to, for I cannot endure the burden of my own sins. Although I have only my own sins to bear, the weight is greater than the whole world. I am heavy laden, and can find no rest because of my sins. Isa. lvii. 20. They crush me. But Jesus bears them, too, and since He finds the burden so light, I will let Him bear them all alone, and I will rest in Him. The rest is waiting; why not enjoy it? Who will not say to the Lord, PTUK February 10, 1898, page 98.6

“Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,
Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come!
Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee!
Out of my sickness into Thy health,
Out of my want, and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin, and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee!” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 98.7

“The Epistle to the Galatians. The Ever-Present Cross” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

Our last lesson in Galatians, closing with verse 16 of the second chapter, showed us that men are saved only by faith in Christ, and that faith in Him is a personal matter. It is by “the faith of Christ.” His own personal faith, and no other, that we are justified; and this faith of Christ we get by receiving Christ Himself. Believing in Christ is receiving Him; and when Christ dwells in the heart by faith, and is thus recognised as Lord. He exercises the faith which alone is able to save; for PTUK February 10, 1898, page 99.1

The Law Can Not Justify .—“By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. ii. 16. Shall we say, “Then we will away with the law”? That is what every confirmed criminal thinks. Persistent law-breakers would gladly do away with the law which declares them guilty and will not say that wrong is right. But the law of God can not be abolished, for it is the statement of the will of God. Rom. ii. 18. “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Rom. vii. 12. We read the law, and find in it our duty made plain. But we have not done it; therefore we are guilty. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “There is none that doeth good; no, not one.” Rom. iii. 23, 12. Moreover, there is not one who has strength to do the law, its requirements are so great. Then it is very evident that no one can be justified by the works of the law, and it is equally evident that the fault is not in the law, but in the individual. Let the man get Christ in the heart by faith, and then the righteousness of the law will be there also, for Christ says, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Ps. xl. 8. He who would throw away the law because it will not call evil good, would reject God, because He “will by no means clear the guilty.” Ex. xxxiv. 7. But God will remove the guilt, will make the sinners righteous, that is, in harmony with the law, and then the law which before condemned them will witness to their righteousness. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 99.2

LESSON FOR THE WEEK

“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” Gal. ii. 17-21; 3:1. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 99.3

What Was Destroyed? -“If I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor,” R.V. We ask again, What was destroyed, the building up of which will prove us to be transgressors? Remembering that the apostle is talking of those who have believed in Jesus Christ, that they might be justified by the faith of Christ, we find the answer to the question in Rom. vi. 6: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Also Col. ii. 10, 11: “Ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power; in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” That which is destroyed is the body of sin, and it is destroyed only by this personal faith of Christ. It is destroyed in order that we may not serve sin. But now if, after having believed in Christ, we put our trust in something else, it is evident that that which was destroyed by faith is built up by lack of it, and so we are found transgressors through our own fault; for Christ is not the minister of sin, but of righteousness. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 99.4

“Dead to the Law.” -Many seem to fancy that “dead to the law” means the same as that the law is dead. Not by any means. The law must be in full force, else there could be no death to it. How does a man become dead to the law?—By receiving its full penalty, which is death. He is dead, but the law which put him to death is still as ready as ever to put to death another criminal. Suppose now that the man who was executed for gross crimes, should by some miraculous power come to life again, would he not still be dead to the law?—Certainly; nothing that he had done could be mentioned to him by the law; but if he should again commit crimes, the law would again execute him, but as another man. Now Paul says that he through the law is dead to the law, that he might live unto God. By the body of Christ he is raised from the death which he has suffered from the law because of his sin, and now he walks “in newness of life,” a life unto God. Like Saul of old, he is by the Spirit of God “turned into another man.” 1 Sam. x. 6. That this is the case is shown by what follows. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 99.5

Crucified with Christ. -“I am crucified with Christ,” says Paul; “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Christ was crucified; He was “delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” Rom. iv. 25. But unless we are crucified with Him, His death and resurrection profit us nothing. If the cross of Christ is separated from us, and outside of us, even though it be but a moment of time and an hair's breadth of space, it is to us all the same as if He were not crucified. No one was ever saved simply by looking forward to a cross to be erected and a Christ to be crucified at some indefinite time in the future, and no one can now be saved simply by believing that at a certain time in the past Christ was crucified. No; if men would see Christ crucified, they must look neither forward nor backward, but upward; for the arms of the cross that was erected on Calvary, reach from Paradise lost to Paradise restored, PTUK February 10, 1898, page 99.6

and cover the entire world. But let us note particularly in the following paragraphs how it is that Christ must be crucified in every soul that derives any real benefit from the sacrifice. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.1

Sin a Personal Matter. -Christ was delivered for our offenses. He “His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Peter ii. 24. He bears the sins of the world. John i. 29. But every man is guilty only of the sins which he himself has committed. Now I do not sin where I am not, but where I am. Sin is in the heart of man: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within.” Mark vii. 21-23. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jer. xvii. 9. Others have sinned as well as I; but their sin is not mine, and I do not have to answer for it. What I need is freedom from my own personal sin,-that sin which not only has been committed by me personally, but which dwells in the heart,-the sin which constitutes the whole of my life. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.2

What I Can Not Do. -I can not free myself from sin. “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” Prov. v. 22. “For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord.” Jer. ii. 22. My sin is committed by myself, in myself, and I can not separate it from me. Cast it on the Lord? Ah, yes, that is right, but how? Can I gather it up in my hands, and cast it from me, so that it will light upon Him?—I can not. If I could separate it but a hair's breadth from me, then I should be safe, no matter what became of it, since it would not be found in me. In that case, I could dispense with Christ; for if sin were not found on me, it would make no matter to me where it was found. I should be clear. But no works of any kind that I can do can save me; therefore, all my efforts to separate myself from my sins are unavailing. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.3

Christ Bears the Sin in Us. -It is evident from what has been said that whoever bears my sins must come where I am, yea, must come into me. And this is just what Christ does. Christ is the Word, and to all sinners, who would excuse themselves by saying that they can not know what God requires of them, He says, “The Word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” Deut. xxx. 11-14. Therefore, He says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Rom. x. 9. What shall we confess about the Lord Jesus?—Why, confess the truth, that He is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, and believe that He is there risen from the dead. “Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?” Eph. iv. 9. The risen Saviour is the crucified Saviour. As Christ risen is in the heart of the sinner, therefore, Christ crucified is there. If it were not so, there would be no hope for any. A man may believe that Jesus was crucified eighteen hundred years ago, and may die in his sins; but he who believes that Christ is crucified and risen in Him, has salvation. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.4

What a glorious thought that, wherever sin is, there is Christ, the Saviour from sin! He bears sin, all sin, the sin of the world. Sin is in all flesh, and so Christ is come in the flesh. Christ is crucified in every man that lives on earth. This is the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation, which is to be proclaimed to all. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.5

Living by Faith. -In the tenth chapter of Romans, as already noted, we learn that Christ is in every man, “a very present help in trouble.” He is in the sinner, in order that the sinner may have every incentive and facility for turning from sin to righteousness. He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” John xiv. 6. There is no other life than His. He is the life. But, although He is in every man, not every man has His righteousness manifested in his life; for some “hold down the truth in unrighteousness.” Rom. i. 18, R.V. Now Paul's inspired prayer was that we might be strengthened with might by the Spirit of God in the inner man, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;” “that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Eph. iii. 16-19. The difference, then, between the sinner and the Christian is this: that, whereas Christ crucified and risen is in every man, in the sinner He is there unrecognised and ignored, while in the Christian He dwells there by faith. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.6

Christ is crucified in the sinner, for wherever there is sin and the curse, there is Christ bearing it. All that is needed now is for the sinner to be crucified with Christ, to let Christ's death be his own death, in order that the life of Jesus may be manifested in his mortal flesh. Faith in the eternal power and Divinity of God, that are seen in all the things that He has made, will enable any one to grasp this mystery. The seed is not quickened “except it die.” 1 Cor. xv. 36. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John xii. 24. So the one who is crucified with Christ, begins at once to live, but it is as another man. “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.7

The Life of the World. -“But Christ was actually crucified eighteen hundred years, and more, ago, was He not?” Certainly. “Then how can it be that my personal sins were upon Him? or how can it be that I am now crucified with Him?” Well, it may be that we can not understand the fact, but that makes no difference with the fact. But when we remember that Christ is the life, even “that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us” (1 John i. 2), we may understand something of it. “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men,”—“the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John i. 4, 9. The scene on Calvary was the manifestation of what has taken place as long as sin has existed, and will take place until every man is saved who is willing to be saved: Christ bearing the sins of the world. He bears them now. One act of death and resurrection was sufficient for all time, for it is eternal life that we are considering; therefore, it is not necessary for the sacrifice to be repeated. That life pervades and upholds all things, so that whoever accepts it by faith has all the benefit of the entire sacrifice of Christ. By Himself He “made purification of sins.” Whoever rejects the life, or is unwilling to acknowledge that the life which he has is Christ's life, loses, of course, the benefit of the sacrifice. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.8

The Faith of the Son of God. -Christ lived by the Father. John vi. 57. His faith in the word that God gave Him was such that He repeatedly and positively maintained that when He died He should rise again the third day. In this faith He died, saying, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.” Luke xxiii. 46. That faith which gave Him the victory over death (Heb. v. 7), because it gave Him the complete victory over sin, is the faith which He exercises in us, when He dwells in us by faith; for He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” It is not we that live, but Christ that lives in us, and uses His own faith to deliver us from the power of Satan. “What have we to do?”—Let Him live in us in His own way. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” How can we let Him?—Simply by acknowledging Him; by confessing Him. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 100.9

The Gift for Me. -“Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” How personal this is. I am the one whom He loved. Each soul in the world can say, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Leave Paul out of the question in reading this. Paul is dead, but the words that he wrote are yet alive. It was true of Paul, but no more so than of every other man. They are the words which the Spirit puts in our mouths, if we will but receive them. The whole gift of Christ is for each individual me. Christ is not divided, but every soul gets the whole of Him, just the same as if there were not another person in the world. Each one gets all the light that shines. The fact that there are millions of people for the sun to shine upon, does not make its light any the less for me; I get the full benefit of it, and could not get more if I were the only person in the world. It shines for me. So Christ gave Himself for me, the same as if I were the only sinner in the world; and the same is true of every other sinner. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 101.1

Christ Not Dead in Vain. -“I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” If righteousness came by the law, then there would have been no use for the death of Christ. The law itself can do nothing except point out men's duty; therefore, to speak of righteousness coming by the law, means by our works, by our individual effort. So the text is equivalent to the statement that if we could save ourselves, Christ died for nothing; for salvation is the one thing to be gained. Well, we can not save ourselves; and Christ is not dead in vain; therefore there is salvation in Him. He is able to save all that come unto God by Him. Some must be saved, else He has died in vain. So the promise is sure. “He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand, He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” Is. liii. 10, 11. “Whosoever will,” may be of the number. Since He died not in vain, see to it “that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” PTUK February 10, 1898, page 101.2

Christ Crucified before Us. -“Who did bewitch you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified?” R V. The first part of the verse, concerning witchcraft, we shall leave until next week. What we are now concerned with is that Jesus was set forth before the Galatians, when Paul preached to them, as openly crucified before their eyes. So vivid was the presentation that they could actually see Christ crucified. It was not skilful word painting on the part of Paul, nor imagination on the part of the Galatians, for then it would have been only deception. No; it was an actual fact; Christ was there, crucified, before their eyes, and Paul by the Spirit enabled them to see Him. We know that it was not Paul's skill in making beautiful word pictures that enabled them to fancy that they saw the crucifixion, for elsewhere Paul says that he determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and that he purposely and carefully refrained from using the wisdom of words, for fear that he should make the cross of Christ with effect. 1 Cor. i. 17, 18; ii. 1-4. Christ is crucified before us, and each blade of grass, each leaf in the forest, reveals the fact. Yea, we have the testimony in our own bodies. Many there are who can testify that it is something more than a figure of speech, when the apostle says that Christ was crucified before the eyes of the Galatians. They have had the experience. God grant that this study of Galatians, before it is finished, may be the means of opening the eyes of many more, so that they may see Christ crucified before their eyes, and know Him crucified in them and for them. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 101.3

“Toward Cesarism and Popery” The Present Truth 14, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

“THE DOMINANT INSTINCT OF THE NEW TIME”

The January Review of Reviews, in its survey of the world, drew attention to one feature of political life worth thinking of. The trouble in Austria furnished the immediate text for the remarks, but since the Review was published the troubles in the French and Belgian Chambers have added emphasis to what was said:— PTUK February 10, 1898, page 101.4

The collapse of the representative system of Vienna but emphasises the conviction that is slowly gaining ground, both in the Old World and the New, that representative government is breaking down.... For years past the difficulty of legislating at Westminster has been the nightmare of our practical men. The Parliamentary machine is as hopelessly blocked. In Greater New York, New Year's Day witnessed the establishment of Mr. Croker as the veiled dictator of an English-speaking community larger, more powerful, and infinitely mnore wealthy than the total population of the American Colonies at the time when they revolted from British rule. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 101.5

We are indeed, it would seem, on the verge of a strong reaction against the old accepted formulas of democratic government. The faith of the people in the people, as the agency to be used for governing the people, has been rudely shaken.... There is everywhere a perceptible reaction in favour of government by the Capable as opposed to the government by the counting of noses. To find your capable man, to put him in power after having found him, to give ever more and more power to his elbow, is becoming to an increasing extent the dominant instinct of the new time. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 101.6

With human nature's readiness to lay blame anywhere except where it belongs, people have always blamed governments or the forms of government for their ills, not stopping to see that the trouble is in the people, in the individual man. So one party has followed another into office, almost with the regularity of a swinging pendulum, and by revolutions or by less violent agitations forms of governments have been changed and constitutions tinkered; and the social ideal is farther off than ever. The Gospel would teach men that the tree must be first be good if the fruit is to be good. But God's wisdom is foolishness to the world, and so the world goes on, in its foolish way, expecting to build a good building with bad materials. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 102.1

This tendency which the Review of Reviews notes as the characteristic of the new time is a perfectly natural one. Sage old Benjamin Franklin understood this. In the federal convention which met to frame the United States’ Constitution after the colonies had revolted against the powers that were, he said:— PTUK February 10, 1898, page 102.2

I think that a general government necessary for us, and that there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in a despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 102.3

That is the tendency of men and society generally, because it is the tendency of human nature, of man as he is. In the political world it runs towards C?sarism or dictatorships, and in the religious world the current runs toward popery. This latter is so because so much of religion is fashioned after the world and is of it. The tendency is to look to popes, to assemblies, to strong pulpits for leading, instead of to the living God. The message of the everlasting Gospel for this very time: “Fear God and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come,” is the very message to counteract this looking to man. This Gospel delivers by working from within, the Divine power transforming the man. In this way God builds up His kingdom. Instead of joining the political scientist in the hopeless task of trying to patch up this sinful world, it is the work of Christians to go to every creature with a message of “the world to come,” and with the “power of the world to come,” too. And it is coming soon. These tendencies noted are but signs that the day is hastening when the utter consumption determined will come upon the world. Let every man who will believe it take hold of the Gospel which will save him from the world now, and go forth with a message that will save others from it. PTUK February 10, 1898, page 102.4