The Present Truth, vol. 10

April 19, 1894

“Front Page” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The only way we may know what Christ would do if He were on earth in the flesh in the nineteenth century, is by studying what He did when He was on earth in the flesh in the first century. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.1

“I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:39. These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore are to be followed by Christians. The fact that it is not easy or natural to do so, does not affect the case a particle. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.2

Christ Himself, in His own actions, has given us all the comment upon the above text that is necessary. “I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting.” Isaiah 50:6. “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps; ... who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He saw suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.” 1 Peter 2:21-23. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.3

But the word of God reaches to the thoughts and intents of the heart, as well as to the actions; so that the commandment, “Resist not evil,” means not only that we are not to strike back, but that we are not to wish to do so, nor to indulge in harsh, bitter thoughts. Love “thinketh no evil,” or “taketh not account of evil.” Christ was oppressed and afflicted, and was led as a lamb to the slaughter; yet He opened not His mouth, except to say, “Father, forgive them.” That was the illustration of His own precepts. The words may be learned by anybody; the example can be followed only by those in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.4

“The Hearing Ear” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“He that hath an ear to hear,” said the Saviour, “let him hear.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.5

All persons have ears, but not all have “an ear to hear.” All have ears to hear the words that are spoken by men, but few, comparatively, hear the words of God. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.6

Yet God speaks to all persons, individually; for He is not partial, like one who has a few favourites to whom he speaks while passing others by unnoticed. God is no respecter of persons. He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have everlasting life; and His voice has spoken and still speaks the invitation, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.7

The reason why men do not know the will of God and the mind of the Spirit is not that God does not speak to them, but that they do not hear Him. The reason why men are not wise unto salvation is not that the voice of wisdom is silent, for we know that “Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief place of the concourse, in the openings of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words.” Proverbs 1:20, 21. But their ears are not open to hear what wisdom says. It is possible for men to stop their ears from hearing the words that are spoken to them by the voice Divine; and they very often do so, in order that they may not hear what is to them an unwelcome sound. Although that voice speaks only words of love and mercy, wisdom and life, men deliberately put them aside, and choose rather to listen to the dictates of the natural heart. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.8

It is sin that shuts out from men’s ears the sound of the voice of wisdom. Sin makes the ears dull of hearing to all words of spiritual truth. They are stopped up with self, a medium that transmits only such words as appeal to the selfish nature. The evil that is in all men by nature, if not removed by the free operation of the Divine Spirit, will so deaden if it does not wholly intercept the sound of the Divine voice that they will not be able to understand the words it speaks. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.9

In all the daily walks of life, that voice is speaking to us, and if we could but hear it, our steps would be taken in wisdom and our course would not be marked by frequent foolish and disastrous mistakes. And we could hear it, if we would earnestly seek by God’s help to get into the right condition. Other men have stood where they could hear and be guided by it, and God is no less desirous of this for us than He was for them. He is as ready to open the ears of men to-day, without respect to persons, as He has ever been in the past. The pious child Samuel heard the voice that was inaudible to the unfaithful Eli; and when the prophet came to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be king, he did not make a mistake and anoint the wrong one, although the circumstances were favourable for him to do so, because God spoke to him words of guidance, and his ears were open to hear them. So also when Philip went down toward Gaza and met the eunuch returning from Jerusalem, he was in no perplexity to know what he should do, but went immediately at the direction of the Spirit, and joined himself to his chariot, and instructed the eunuch in the knowledge of Christ. Philip’s ears were open to hear the words of the Spirit, and when an opportunity came to him to lead a soul to Christ, he saw it and knew immediately how to improve it. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 241.10

But how often is it the case with us that the opportunity comes and passes without being even discerned; or that we find ourselves in perplexity as to its nature and the way to improve it. We are not quite sure whether it is an opportunity or not; yet an impression comes to us and something seems to say to us that a chance is before us to say or do something that will advance-we know not how greatly-the cause of Christ; and while we are pondering and settling the matter in our own minds, the opportunity is gone! And perhaps just an instant too late, we discern its nature, and see the advantage that we might have gained by its means and the line of that for which we are working. The brightest opportunities, ofttimes, require to be most quickly seen and seized. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.1

If we were only where we could hear, and hear clearly, the voice of the Spirit, we should not at such times have the mortification and sorrow of seeing golden opportunity slip through our fingers. And may we not come into that condition where, like God’s servants of old, we shall hear and know what His Spirit says to us, as well as what is said by the spirit of evil? We have no difficulty in knowing the promptings of the latter. If self predominates in our natures, when the opportunity for temptation comes we have no trouble in knowing what evil thing it is that we are urged to do. Then if self is subdued and we are led by the Spirit, should we not be able just as readily to discern the promptings of the Spirit in opportunities that come to us from God? PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.2

The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. Romans 8:14. And as God never chains the will, those who are led by the Spirit must see the path and choose to follow in it. It is the office of the Spirit to reveal truth. It is the Spirit’s work to bring all things to our remembrance which God has spoken unto us. And therefore if we would be led by the Spirit,—if we would be able to discern and know how to improve the fleeting opportunities of our daily lives-we must be familiar with the word of God. The Spirit of God will never ignore that word, and if we choose to ignore it we cannot be led by the Spirit. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.3

Holy Scripture assures us that we may hear and understand the words that God speaks to us day by day, to guide our feet into the way of righteousness and peace. It is sin that separates a man from God so that the voice of God is not heard. Sin may even prevent God from hearing the words that man addresses to Him. Isaiah 59:2. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm 66:18. It is not strange, then, if at such times we cannot hear the voice of heavenly wisdom speaking to us. But if we confess our sins and turn from all our iniquities, then the promise is, “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, This is the way; walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.4

“Protection and Coercion” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

In the United States Senate a bill has been introduced entitled, “A Bill to protect the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, as a day of rest and worship,” etc. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.5

“Protection” to-day is a much more taking expression than coercion of men, yet both mean the same thing. The only way in which a day can be “protected” as a day of rest and worship, is by prohibiting everybody from labouring, and by compelling all to attend worship on that day. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.6

For example, here is a field that is to be protected from trespassers. Now it is no protection to the field, if none are prohibited from crossing it save those whose inclination does not lead them that way, and if those who wish to cross it, or to play upon it, are allowed full liberty to do so. So a day cannot be “protected” from being used for labour or recreation, except by forcibly compelling some to pay regard to it against their will. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.7

“Well, is there not of necessity the element of compulsion, or forcible restraint, in every law?” Certainly, and that is all right when the law is just; but we are not discussing the quality of law, but the propriety of a certain specific act of legislation. If it were within the province of civil government to legislate concerning Sunday or any other day, as a day of rest, then nothing could be said; but no law is a just law if by any reasonable application of it, it can possibly work injustice to anybody; and a law which declares men to be criminals for doing on one day that which is lawful in itself, and which the law allows on any other day, is unjust and inconsistent. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.8

It will be asked, “Do you then deny the right of government to appoint certain days as holidays?” By no means; but be it remembered that laws concerning holidays are merely permissive, and not mandatory. That is a law making a certain day a national holiday, gives people permission to rest, and find recreation, without danger of losing their situations, but does not compel any to cease from labour. On any holiday people who do not wish to rest are at liberty to work; but no Sunday law contemplates anything of that kind. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.9

The wise man has said that “Whatsoever God doeth, its shall be for ever.” Now in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and rested on the seventh day, which day He blessed and sanctified. So we read, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy works; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; and it thou shalt not do any work.” Just as surely as God commanded that the seventh day of the week should be kept holy, so surely He commanded that the other six days should be regarded as working days. Not that people are obliged to work every hour, but that the first six days are days in which people may work without sin. What God has permitted no man has a right to forbid. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.10

“The Sabbath was made for man.” Man was made first; the Sabbath was made for his aid and protection. The Psalmist, speaking to the righteous in the time of trouble, says, “His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” Psalm 91:4. The Sabbath is the protector; not the thing to be protected. The Sabbath needs no laws for its protection. When a day which men call the Sabbath, is “protected,” and men are coerced, then the day is put above the man. The Sabbath was made for man; but Sunday laws regard man as made for the Sunday. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.11

Such laws show a total lack of comprehension of what the Sabbath is, not simply as to the day of the Sabbath, but as to the principle of Sabbath observance. No man can injure the Sabbath of the Lord, sacred as it is, by working on it. The injury is to himself,—to his own soul. The Sabbath is just as sacred, just as valid, as though it had not been trampled upon by millions of people. It does not need protection. It is not like a glass vase, but is the very principle of life. If professed Sabbath-keepers should ask for, or be able to secure, laws against Sabbath-breaking, they would show that they knew nothing of the truth, life-giving character of God’s holy days; and when men ask for a law to “protect” Sunday as a rest day, they show that it has not in itself any of the characteristics of the true Sabbath of the Lord. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 242.12

The Bill in question makes an exception in favour of “works of necessity and mercy, and work by those who religiously observe Saturday, if performed in such a way as not to involve and disturb others.” It is strange that men think such provisions in a Sunday law to be evidences of liberality and breadth of mind. On the contrary, they are the very things which emphasise the wickedness and inquisitorial nature of the law. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.1

How can that be? Look at the matter for a moment. In the first place, the law provides for an inquisition concerning one of the Christian graces,—one of the fruits of the Spirit, mercy which distils as the gentle rain from heaven. Here is a man who is arrested for doing work on Sunday. He claims that it was an act of mercy; his accuser contends that it was not. It is the motive of the heart, rather than the act itself, that determines whether or not it was a merciful act. And so the court, in order to a perfect execution of the law, must take the place of God, to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart. You say, “They can’t do that.” Of course not; and that shows the wickedness and folly of a law which makes the attempt necessary. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.2

Again, another man is acquitted, although he has also worked on Sunday, because it is decided that his work was a work of mercy. Yet the man may have been actuated by the basest and most selfish motives. How many professedly charitable deeds are performed by schemers, who are working only for gain to themselves. The apostle tells of some who suppose that gain is godliness; and it is very easy for a man to be deceived in that way. But a Sunday law usually provides that fallible men shall be judges of secret thoughts. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.3

Those are exempted who “religiously observe Saturday.” But who is to tell whether a man has observed the Sabbath religiously, or whether he has abstained from labour on that day because his surroundings are such that he can work to better advantage on Sunday? So we see that in order to carry out even the most “liberal” provision of the law, a man’s religious character must be the subject of judicial investigation. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.4

Let it therefore be understood that any Sunday law, consistently carried out, involves a revival of the Inquisition. Why cannot Protestants who decry Church establishment see that civil laws enjoining religious duties are the perfection of Church and State Union? PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.5

“True and False Spirits” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.6

This Scripture has just as true an application to the present day as it had to the time of John. To-day, there are many false spirits gone out into the world. Not that there are in the world some strange and singular personages whom we may designate as false prophets, and whom we are to avoid; the spirits do not usually manifest themselves in that way. The manifestation of the evil spirit is most commonly simply the teaching of false doctrine, by the human agents whom the spirit employs. It may be a popular doctrine, and advocated by men of learning and culture, and yet emanate from a spirit not of God. The spirits must be tried before being believed, and the test to be applied is not the determination of the number or reputation of those who believe the spirit, after the wisdom of this world. It is a test provided by God Himself. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.7

What this test is we are told in the two verses following the one we have quoted. “Hereby know ye that the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.8

Every spirit that is of God, then, will confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. That this test is a plain and simple one will be evident when we consider the meaning of the phrase, “come in the flesh.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.9

In this simple expression is contained the whole Gospel. The very essence of the plan of redemption is the coming of Christ in the flesh. It is seen in the meaning of His name, “Immanuel”—God with us. “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5. Without Christ in the flesh—“the man Christ Jesus”—there could be no Mediator for man. All that Christ is to us, as sinners, He is by virtue of the fact that He has come in the flesh. All that He does for us, He does by virtue of this fact. Christ is the ladder of Jacob’s dream, with one hand resting upon the earth, and the other reaching to the highest heavens, thus symbolising united God and man; while the angels, those “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation,” descended and ascended upon it. Thus the whole work of God for the redemption of fallen man centres in the one mighty fact of the union of Jesus Christ with human flesh. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.10

To confess, therefore, that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is to exalt Christ as the Saviour of men; since He is their Saviour only by virtue of this fact. So we may read the text in 1 John 4. in this way; Every spirit that exalts Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men is of God; and every spirit that exalts not Jesus Christ as the Saviour of man is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Here is the test which God has given us. The true prophets, and the true teaching, will exalt Jesus Christ; all the false will not exalt Him, but will aim, either by open denial or by subtle insinuation, to turn the attention of men away from Christ to something else. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.11

The devil will never exalt the Son of God. His rebellion in heaven, which caused his fall and made him the devil, was due to his jealousy of Jesus, because the latter was exalted above himself. And his whole aim since that time-object for which all his energies have been bent-is the pulling down of Christ and the exaltation of himself. This he aims to do, and very largely has done, in the minds of men, by false teaching. By means of false doctrines he has turned the eyes of the vast majority of men away from the only Saviour, Jesus Christ, to something else; and always, in that something else, either openly manifested or disguised, is himself. He can appear as a demon, or as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and he adapts his work to the intellectual and moral conditions of the different races and peoples of the earth. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 243.12

“The things which the Gentiles sacrifice,” says Paul, “they sacrifice to devils and not to God.” 1 Corinthians 10:20. And all men, insofar as they depart from God, are worshippers of the devil; for it is the devil who causes them to look away from Christ, in order that they may look to and worship him. Satan has no difficulty in deceiving people so that they look to him, if only he can get them, through the reception of some false doctrines, to look away from Christ. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.1

Through the papal system of religion, the devil has turned the eyes of men away from Jesus Christ to the priest, the Pope, and the virgin Mary. Through Spiritualism, and through the doctrine upon which it rests,—the consciousness of the dead-He turns men’s eyes away from Christ to the supposed spirits of the departed. And while professing to look to these agents for salvation and help, men are really looking to Satan and paying to him their homage; for the exaltation of man (the Pope and the priest and the virgin Mary and the “saints”) in the place of God, which is the central idea of the Papacy, is really but the exaltation of Satan in the place of God; for Satan is the originator of self-exaltation, and the one who, in men, prompts them to seek to be exalted in the place of God. And he is who, with his fallen angels, impersonates the spirits of the departed and holds intercourse with deceived men. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.2

By the doctrine of the Sunday Sabbath, also, he has turned the eyes of vast multitudes of professed Christians away from the Author of the true Sabbath, the seventh day; for in looking to a day upon which Jesus Christ, as Creator, did not rest, and away from the day which He sanctified and blessed, people must inevitably look away from Him as their Saviour. This will be evident when we consider that Christ is the Saviour of men through His power as Creator, redemption being but a work of creation,—making men new in Christ. Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.3

We may apply this test to any and every doctrine that comes before us. Whatsoever teaching does not exalt Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men, or which detracts in any degree therefrom, is not of God; and that teaching which does exalt Him as the Saviour of men, is of God. But remember that Christ can be exalted as the Saviour of sinners only by virtue of the fact that He has come in the flesh. Not what men may imagine to be an exaltation of Christ, but what God in His word has pointed out as the true exaltation-that which makes manifest His power to save-must be our guide in applying this test for detecting the true and false. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.4

“Your Crown” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

In the third chapter of Revelation we find this inspired exhortation: “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Verse 11. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.5

Most people would be greatly surprised if some person whom they knew to speak with authority should talk to them as though they possessed a crown. Nevertheless he would not be misstating the facts. You have a crown,—not a figurative one, not a fanciful something like the corona which tradition places around the heads of “saints,”—but one which is real, visible, tangible. You cannot see it, but nevertheless it exists, just as actually as any crown that was ever placed on the head of king or queen. It is a long way removed from you now, but it is no less real for that, and the day will come when you will see it and wear it if you are willing to accept the gift. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.6

Had you ever thought of that crown in taking account of your possessions? It is an exceedingly valuable one. It is of finer material and adorned with more precious gems than that now worn by the richest potentate of earth. And it represents to you far more than ever a crown represented to an earthly king. It represents not only that which is of greater intrinsic value, but that which is eternal instead of temporal. It represents everything that is truly worth possessing. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.7

That crown is “a crown of righteousness.” 2 Timothy 4:8. It represents the righteousness of Christ, which is the righteousness of God,—the only righteousness that the universe affords. That righteousness is as bright as the sun and endures eternally; and accordingly we are told that this crown of righteousness is “a crown of glory, that fadeth not away.” 1 Peter 5:4. It represents royalty,—the royalty of sons and daughters of the eternal King; the royalty of those who shall reign with Christ upon His throne. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.8

That crown is now “laid up” for you in the royal courts above, and it is for you to say now whether you will make your present hold upon it good for all eternity. Not all persons will ever come into the realisation of this priceless possession. It will be given, visibly and tangibly, to certain ones,—to those who love the appearing of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 4:8. Those who love the appearing of Christ are those who love Christ Himself,—those whose sins have been pardoned and who are prepared to meet him by having on His robe of righteousness. They are those who choose in this world to walk by faith, and not by sight, reason, or feeling; those who choose to suffer with Christ, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.9

If you have never believed or realised before that this treasure is yours, believe it now. God is no respecter of persons. He has given to you just what He has given to all, and that is His only begotten Son, and with Him, all things. The reason why men have not, is not because God has not given, but because they do not take. They pass through life seeking for wealth and counting over their possessions and planning how to get more, and never realise that they are heirs to a crown such as no king of earth ever saw, and to all of the eternal riches which it represents; planning what use to make of their possessions, taking no account of that part which is beyond all comparison most valuable and most enduring. This you cannot afford to do. And therefore it becomes you to heed now, if you have not heeded before, the words of the all-wise Counsellor, “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.10

“Springing Up Again” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Springing Up Again.-The gardener who tries to remove the weeds from his field by cutting off the tops will find the noxious growth springing up again very shortly. The roots must be dug up and destroyed. Just so when the Reformation started to root out the evils of Catholicism. The Reformers drove the Roman power out of Northern Europe; but instead of keeping on in the work of reform until the apostolic purity and simplicity of the truth was reached, the children of the Reformers were content to leave many of the old roots of the papal system, and traditions received from the corrupted church. Ever since, these roots have been sending out shoots, and gradually-now swiftly, the field is being won back. A newspaper says:— PTUK April 19, 1894, page 244.11

Roman Catholicism is spreading rapidly in the three Scandinavian kingdoms, which have been regarded ever since the days of King Gustavus of Sweden, as the stronghold of Protestantism. So great is the number of proselytes that the Vatican has just placed Denmark, Sweden and Norway under the pastoral care of three bishops. As usual, a feature of the work of propagation is the establishment of parochial schools, where the younger generation of Scandinavians are being educated in accordance with the doctrines of the Catholic Church. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.1

“Formalism in Prayer” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

There is not a hint in the whole Bible favouring such a thing as formalism in prayer. The scriptural idea of prayer forbids such a thing; as it is but the communion of the believer with his Lord, as a child would converse with its parent and ask for the thing desired, or give expression to the love and thankfulness that springs up in the heart. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.2

Where there is love and confidence it would be very unnatural for a child to approach the parent with set phrases and unvarying forms of speech. This, too, is not the true attitude of the believer in communion with God; for he belongs to the household of faith, and is talking with his Father. There is confidence without irreverence, and simplicity without familiarity. But there is nothing of formalism. The worship must be in Spirit, and the Spirit of the Lord must direct it. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.3

The Saviour said to the disciples, “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do.” When He gave them a manner of prayer, the Spirit of the Lord inspired writers who recorded it to give it in different language, showing that no form of words was to be followed. It was only a model in the manner of asking for the simple means of daily life. If one does not know what to pray for, it is the Spirit that must teach him. No other man can put into his mouth the words which express the language of his heart. The words are shaped from the heart, and not the feelings of the heart inspired by the words. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” The publican who prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” prayed from the heart a prayer that justified him, short though it was. The manner of the Gentiles, of which the Saviour warned us is recorded in history. Duruy says of the ancient Roman religion:— PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.4

But what belongs more particularly to the Roman religion is its formalism. There is no fervour or Divine aspiration, still less philosophic reflection in its piety. The words, attitudes and gestures are ordered by the ritual. To leave the established rule, even to be generous to the gods, was to go beyond what was proper, and to fall into superstition... For the ceremonies, all was settled before hand, even to the prayer, which should only rise from the heart, and soon they began to pray in forms which are no longer understood. In the time of the Antonines, the brotherhood of Arvales chanted songs which is dated back perhaps from Numa. It was needful, too, to repeat these ancient compositions with religious care, for a peculiar virtue attached to the very expressions. By the omission of one word a sacrifice became useless, a prayer vain .... When a consul had a religious formula to pronounce, he read it from the ritual, for fear of omitting or transposing a word. A priest followed the reading in a second book, in order to be sure that all the sacramental phrases were said aright. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.5

From this sketch of the ancient Roman forms of worship and prayer, we can readily determine the source of the ritual and formalism which was brought into the church when that “falling away” came. In the Latin prayers recited to the ears of those who cannot understand them, and in the repetition of the same prayers year after year, we have in the Roman Church of the present day the counterpart of the ancient pagan worship. And some of these things are clinging to communions which were supposed to have come out from Rome in Reformation days. It is a return to New Testament faith and simplicity and power, and to the word of God that is needed. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.6

“The Jewish Rulers and Their Deeds” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

It is a popular fallacy, into which many fall quite unconsciously, that the Jews in the days of Christ’s flesh and of the early church were an exceptional class of men-more wicked and murderous than men are nowadays. The Bible teaches us, however, that the works of the flesh pertain to the flesh, and not to the times. Human nature is the same in all ages, and it manifests itself in a very similar manner under similar conditions. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.7

One thing those Jews shared in common with quite a proportion of human kind in the present generation: they denounced the wickedness of their fathers, and looked upon former ages as barbarous. They built the tombs of the prophets, and said, “If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them of the blood of the prophets.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.8

But when the Saviour came, He taught the people not as the scribes—“book-men” as the Anglo-Saxon version puts it—speaking only the word of the Father. The practice of following the word of God, and rejecting the traditions of men, made His ways very unpopular with the rulers. Their errors of life and teaching were exposed, and the truth was undermining their very existence as religious leaders of the people. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.9

We read the lesson badly when we fail to see that the story is one of men of the ordinary kind of flesh, who, having rejected truth and its Author, while professing loyalty to truth, were led on to the commission of the very sins of which they condemned in their fathers. It was not because they delighted in bloody deeds more than other men, but as He was challenging their authority, and unsettling the minds of men as to the forms and traditions of the elders, established by common consent and usage, they easily deceived themselves into a belief that they were acting for the good of society and the nation in crucifying Jesus. John 11:50. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.10

Saul the persecutor was evidently not a man who delighted in cruelty. His whole manner of life forbids such an opinion of him. He thought he was doing God’s service, and his case exactly illustrates the lengths to which a man of naturally cultured and not unkindly disposition may go when he is deceived by the idea that God commissions men to advance truth or put down error by employing force, either by personal violence or by the forms of law; for there is no difference. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.11

The Sanhedrin that murdered Stephen was not composed of men who had no regard for a reputation for mildness and justice. Archdeacon Farrar gives an interesting sketch of the ordinary methods of this body in his “Life and Work of St. Paul.” He says:— PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.12

Generally speaking the Sanhedrin were not a sanguinary tribunal. They shuddered at the necessity of bloodshed, and tried to obviate its necessity by innumerable regulations. So great was their horror at putting an Israelite to death, that any means of avoiding it seemed desirable. Simeon Ben Shatach is the only conspicuous Rabbi who, for his cruelty in deciding causes, is said “to have had hot hands.” Josephus expressly marks it as disgraceful to the Sadducees that, unlike the rest of their nation, they were savage in their punishments. We are told that if even once in seven years-a Sanhedrin inflicted capital punishment it deserved the opprobrious title of “sanguinary.” The migration of the Sanhedrin forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem from their “Hall of Squares,” which was beside the great Court of the Temple, to the Chanujoth or “shops,” which were under two cedars on the Mount of Olives, is expressly stated to have been due to their desire to get to a greater distance from the sacred precincts, in order that they might not feel it so sternly incumbent upon them to inflict the strict punishments of the law. But if, after strict and solemn voting, a man was condemned to any of the four capital punishments, the utmost care was taken to remove from the punishment all semblance of vindictive haste.... PTUK April 19, 1894, page 245.13

On pronunciation of the sentence the condemned was handed over to be Shoterim or Lietors of the Sanhedrin, and led to the place of execution. An official stood at the door of the Judgment Hall holding in his hand a handkerchief; a second on horseback was stationed just inside of the first, and if, even at the last moment, any witness could testify to the innocence of the condemned, the first shook his handkerchief, and the second galloped at full speed to bring back the accused, who was himself allowed to be led back as many as four or five times if he could adduce a single solid proof in his own favour. Failing this he was led on with a herald preceding him, who proclaimed his name, his crime, and the witnesses on whose testimony he had been condemned. At ten paces distance from the place of death he was bidden to confess, because Jewish no less than Roman law valued the certainty derived from the “confitentem reum” and the Jews deduced the story of Achan that his punishment would be, as regards the future world, a sufficiently complete explanation of his crime. A bitter draught containing a grain of frankincense was then given to him to stupefy his senses and take away the edge of terror. At four cubits’ distance from the fatal spot he was stripped bare of his upper garments, and according to the older and simpler plan of procedure was then stoned, the witnesses simultaneously hurling the first stones. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.1

This was not the kind of hearing that Stephen found, when they rose up and slew him in an outburst of fury, just as any mob might do. This body that generally had respect for at least the forms of fairness and justice, by taking one step after another in their opposition to truth, had lost all restraint; and as their conduct was condemned by the truth, they took the course that intolerance always has taken and always will take to silence the reproving voice-they used the power which they had at hand. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.2

No sort of natural disposition is able to restrain from excesses of evil when the spirit of intolerance rules the heart rather than the Spirit of grace. Many times since, sage men, who reprobated the acts of the Jewish rulers, have sat in council and condemned the innocent in the name of Jesus as the Sanhedrin did in the name of God. And whether the victims were innocent or guilty in the religious conduct of their lives makes no difference; for to his own master every man must give an account. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.3

“The Children’s Bread” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Children’s Bread.-Given two men earning the same wage, say the small amount which the ordinary and skilled working man receives, one of them an abstainer and the other not, and it is usually not difficult to tell from the appearance of the home and family which one it is that uses his money for the benefit of his family, and which one for the drink. The money spent at the public-house not only takes away the comforts of the home, and sometimes the children’s bread, but the use of intoxicants is gradually undermining the wage-earning power of the man. Greedy corporations are cruel, and grind the faces of the poor, but not less cruel is the drink evil, against which it is in the power of every man to strike forthwith. An American Evangelist remarks: “In Chicago I saw marching a body of working men, 18,000 strong, carrying a banner inscribed, ‘Our Children Cry for Bread;’ and they marched straight to a picnic ground, and drank 1,400 kegs of beer.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.4

“God’s Plan and Man’s Way” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The growth and congestion of the great cities, and the consequent increase of vice and squalor is a serious sign of the times. It is not altogether because of scarcity of land, as we might suppose under the peculiar land laws in this country and in all Europe; for in America, where there is plenty of land, the same process of crowding into the larger cities is going on. A writer in the Humanitarian says there are in London alone 50,000 families who have but one room to each family. This overcrowding, whatever may be the direct cause, is one of the results of sin. When the Creator placed man in a garden, and committed to his posterity the work of making all the earth like Eden, He showed what the Divine plan was. But man chose his own way, and ever since the fall this has been the opposite of God’s way. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.5

In the midst of all the perversion, the Lord, by the Gospel, has been working to bring about His original purpose; for the devil has not power to thwart the Lord. The Gospel offers to all men who prefer the Lord’s way an inheritance in just such a land as was set before man at the first. It will be the same land purified and renewed; for the Apostle Peter says: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also; and the works that are therein shall be burned up.... Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” And the prophet Isaiah says of this new earth and its inhabitants: “They shall build houses, and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” Isaiah 65:21, 22. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.6

There will be no overcrowding and poverty in that land. Here is a richer Gospel for the labouring man than was ever devised by a politician or social economist, and the earnest of this inheritance is given now to everyone who will admit that God’s way is best, and yield himself to God. It is not an ideal conceived by the mind of man which cannot be worked out in actual life because of sin and selfishness; but it is the Lord’s own real ideal, and there is power with Him to take away the sin and selfishness of all who will allow Him to, and bring them into the promised possession. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.7

“The Fruits of the Carnal Mind” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Fruits of the Carnal Mind.-It is not practicable to live the life of Christ in the world to-day without letting the natural man die, and yielding the life to Christ for Him to live it in the flesh, the same as He did in Judea and Galilee. It will then be the same life; for “He cannot deny Himself.” Therefore it is for the believer of the Gospel to faithfully present to men the message of salvation from sin and self. The evils that are in the world grow out of sin; and so long as there are sinners the one remedy is the word of faith. The old Gospel may not suit the men who want the world managed after their ideas of the right method, but it is the power to save men out of the world, and from the destruction which will surely come upon its sin. No formal profession of Christianity can save the nation; but the life of Christ received by faith can save the believer from the evils that are in the world. The harvest of the earth is ripening. No one knows how long a time will elapse, but we are surely drawing near the time when that voice from the altar will say to the One who sits upon the cloud, “Thrust in Thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.” Some of the indications of the ripening of the field of the world are thus summed up in a leader in the Echo newspaper:— PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.8

There are thousands-scores of thousands-in our midst ready to enlist as soldiers, to be taken to Africa or anywhere else to shoot down with machine guns thousands of negroes. There is another class of men so convinced that they are right, and sufficiently fanatical, as to risk their liberties and their lives to war against society. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these men throughout Europe, inspiring each other, in public or in secrecy, to carry on this war at all hazards; and they have to a considerable degree the accumulated fruits of civilisation at their mercy, not so much, perhaps, by bonds as by other and less hazardous methods of destruction. There is the fact, and it is deplorable and appalling. No one knows what a day may bring forth. The social atmosphere is charged with electricity. The classes are glaring at each other. The Anarchists and the Socialists are ready to strike again society, and society is ready to strike the Socialist and the Anarchist to the dust. Scarcely a day passes without a startling act of violence. And what makes the mischief all the more significant is that the causes and the effects are all most cosmopolitan in character. And this condition of things exists after centuries of Christian preaching and vaunted civilization PTUK April 19, 1894, page 246.9

“The True Reason” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Supreme Court of the State of Michigan, U.S.A., has decided that a law compelling barbers’ shops to be closed on Sunday is within the police power of the State. It holds that “the best reason for maintaining the police power of the State to prohibit citizens from engaging in secular work on Sunday, is that experience has shown that one day’s rest in seven is necessary to the physical welfare of the individual.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.1

But the fact is that experience has shown nothing of the kind. There have never been any better specimens of manhood, physically, than the ancient Greeks and Romans, who knew nothing of a weekly recurring rest day. In a time when nations existed only by the power of the sword, and fighting was little more than an athletic contest between the individual soldiers of two armies, the physical welfare of citizens was the chief concern of governments; yet no Pagan nation has ever known any such thing as a weekly rest day. That is sufficient to disprove the fallacy so widely spread, that the physical welfare of man is the chief object of the Sabbath rest. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.2

But even suppose it were, why should the State interfere in the matter? It is certain that regular nightly rest is far more necessary to one’s physical welfare than a weekly rest, yet no nation thinks of enacting laws requiring that all the people shall sleep from 10:00 P.M. till 6:00 A.M. or from midnight till eight o’clock in the morning. If any legislative body in the world should presume to pass such a law, there would be a general protest against such an arbitrary exercise of power. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.3

But no such law will ever be passed, because, although the securing of a sufficient amount of sleep every night is very essential to the health of the body, it has nothing to do with any system of religion; while Sunday laws are in the interest of religion. The claim that they are a physical necessity is nothing but an excuse that has been devised in America to conceal the fact that Church and State are united there as well as in the Old World. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.4

In connection with the above it may be well to call attention again to the real nature of the Sabbath of the Lord. The fourth commandment gives no hint of its being a physical necessity, as will be seen by the reading of it:— PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.5

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy works; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; and it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.6

The Sabbath was given in Eden, before the fall, and would never have been broken but for the fall. But in Eden it was not necessary for physical rest, because there was no such thing as physical weariness. There was labour, but it was sin that made labour weariness. See Genesis 3:17-19. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.7

Moreover, the Sabbath is to be observed throughout eternity by the redeemed saints in the earth made new, when Eden is restored. Isaiah 66:22, 23. This also is positive proof that the Sabbath is not an institution for man’s physical welfare. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.8

The true Sabbath is the Lord’s rest. But “the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary.” Isaiah 40:28. “God is a Spirit,” and consequently His rest cannot be physical rest. No; the sole object of the Sabbath is to remind man of God and His great power,—His power to maintain unfallen beings, and to redeem those who have fallen into sin. It is spiritual rest, and the true keeping of it is sanctification and eternal life. See Ezekiel 20:12; John 17:3. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.9

He who knows what the true Sabbath is, will never suppose that it can by any possibility be a matter for civil legislation. And no one who knows what the true Sabbath is, will give any heed to human attempts to enforce the observance of a false Sabbath. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.10

“‘Singular’ Facts” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“It is,” says a writer in Christian World, “a singular fact, of which history is, nevertheless, fertile in illustrations, that prisons are apt to get as their occupants two classes of people, the best and the worst:” the reason being, as the writer says, “that these have alike set themselves against the recognised public opinion of their country.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.11

History certainly is fertile in the illustrations of the truth enunciated long ago by the inspired writer, that “all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” And being so fertile in illustrations, it is strange that anyone should account such a fact to be singular. “Which of the prophets,” said the martyr Stephen to the Jews, “have not your fathers persecuted?” And it might likewise be asked, Which of the world’s great reformers since Stephen’s time have not also experienced persecution? For men of this class to escape passing any of their days in prison cells, to say nothing of meeting the worst things, has ever been the exception rather than the rule. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.12

Such facts seem singular to us only because we ourselves become influenced by public opinion, and do not view them in the light of God’s word. In reality, they are not singular at all. One of the most important lessons to be learned from Scripture is that things in our Christian experience which seem strange to us from a natural point of view, are really but natural things in the workings of Divine providence. Seen with the eye of faith, the singularity that seems to invest them disappears, and we discover that they are only such things as must needs come in the process of preparation for a home with God. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.13

For instance, we find this word to us in the pages of inspiration: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” 1 Peter 4:12. We are prone to look for a pleasant experience in this life, notwithstanding the lessons contained in the lives of others, and when we come to face trial and calamity, it is natural to regard ourselves as singularly unfortunate. Yet from the word of God we learn and are comforted by the fact that ours is but the common fortune of every Christian. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.14

Another thing that we are not to regard as strange is that the emissaries of Satan often appear in the guise of the servants of Christ. Very often it is the case that good people are thrown into great perplexity and almost shaken from their footing on the rock of faith by the sudden revelation of a fact like this. But the apostle speaking of them says, “No marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 11:14, 15. Viewed in the light of revelation, this becomes not a singular fact but only one to be naturally expected. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 247.15

We need count it no strange thing if in following the directions of God’s word we are obliged to go contrary to public opinion, and share the experience of those who have braved that opinion before us. What Christian, could he have lived in the time of Noah, or of Abraham, or of Elijah, or of Pontius Pilate, would wish his course to have been shaped by public opinion? Nor is public opinion of any greater value to-day. The only opinion that concerns the Christian life is the opinion of God. Taking His opinion and ordering our lives by it, though here we may seem to be alone, we are standing on the side of the eternal majority. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 248.1

“The Promise Fulfilled” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Of this man’s seed hath God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.” Acts 13:23. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.1

Men often make promises that they cannot or do not fulfil. But God’s promises are as much better than man’s promises as the heavens are higher than the earth. He never promises anything that He cannot do; and He never forgets; and He cannot lie. Therefore when God promises anything, it is just as sure as though it were already done. He may not do it just when we think He will, or in just the way that we suppose He will, but we may be certain that it will be done at the right time, and in the very best way, and exactly as He promised. So do not be afraid to trust Him, though He seem to wait long sometimes; He has not forgotten, and He will surely keep His promise. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.2

Last week we learned of the wonderful promise concerning the “Lamb of God:” God so loved lost and dying man that He promised to send His only begotten Son to die for them, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.3

Thousands of years passed by and God had not yet fulfilled His promise. The Lamb of God had not yet been slain. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.4

Had God forgotten His promise? Could it be possible that God would not keep His word? No, never. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.5

Many thought He would never keep His word, and they stopped looking for Him. But a few faithful ones still believed and watched and longed for the Saviour. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.6

And were they disappointed? Oh, no. God never disappoints those who trust in His word. God had for a long time been quietly preparing the way for His coming Son. It was then time for Him to appear. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.7

Suddenly a glorious light appeared in the sky one night. Bethlehem’s plains were lighted up with multitudes of heavenly beings. An angel’s voice was heard speaking to the believing shepherds. Listen! What did he say?— PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.8

“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a SAVIOUR, which is Christ the Lord! And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.9

Ah, the long-looked-for day had really come. The promise was to be fulfilled. The innocent Lamb of God was about to be slain. He was already lying a helpless babe, in the manger at Bethlehem! PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.10

“Glory to God in the highest” was sung by the angels, and echoed in the hearts of the shepherds; for was not that the best news that could ever come to a fallen world? Man was to be redeemed from the power of Satan and from his cords of sin! PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.11

Do you wonder that the shepherds left their sheep and went with haste to Bethlehem? We read that they stopped not until they had found Mary and Joseph, and had seen with their own eyes, their Saviour, the Creator of heaven and earth,—“lying in a manger!” And they returned glorifying and praising God and telling everyone they saw of the glad, glad news which the angel brought. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.12

And the blessed babe grew,—just as other babies grow. And when He was eight days old His name was called “Jesus,” because He was to save His people from their sins. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.13

We should be glad to tell you of the joy of Simeon and Anna when they saw Him in the temple of Jerusalem, and of the wise men who came from the far east to worship Him and give Him presents, but you must read that for yourself in your Bible. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.14

Although the few who had believed the promise were filled with unspeakable joy when He came, the many who had not believed the promise, were not glad to see Him; and their hearts were filled with hatred toward the One who had come to save them! King Herod sent his soldiers and tried to kill Him, but Joseph had been warned in a dream and had taken Jesus and His mother and fled by night into Egypt. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.15

After the king’s death they returned and lived in a town called Nazareth; and Jesus “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” But He never thought that He knew too much to help and obey His parents. He helped His father at the carpenters’ trade, and was subject unto them both in everything. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 253.16

He came as a little child that He might know all the trials and temptations of a child, so that He might know how to comfort and help you as well as older people. He made it possible for you to be as kind and lovely and perfect a child as He was, if you yield to God’s Spirit as completely as He did. Satan tempted Him to be naughty in the same ways that he tempts you, but Jesus never yielded to him once, because He allowed God, His mighty Helper, to stay with Him every minute. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.1

He was so perfect that at His baptism, when He was about thirty years old, the voice of God sounded out of heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.2

After His baptism, He was in the wilderness among the wild beasts, without food, for forty days and forty nights tempted of the devil. But though so weak and hungry and tired, His heart was so filled with the precious words of God that He could drive Satan away with them every time. And that shows how we also may drive him away. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.3

And Jesus began to preach, and He went from city to city healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, giving sight to the blind and life to the dead, and doing good to all. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.4

But He was hated and rejected, and cast out of the synagogues, betrayed by one of His own disciples, crowned with thorns, and finally crucified between two thieves! No wonder that the sun hid its face, and the earth shook, and the rocks were rent. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.5

But the fearful price was paid. The Lamb of God had shed His precious blood to redeem us from the power of Satan. A “way” had been opened through the wall of sin back to God. God had “according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.6

And the joy of it is that this way back to God is a “living way,”—not a dead way. Jesus lives again! PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.7

On the third day, angels rolled the stoned away from the tomb and Jesus rose triumphant with the keys of death and the grave; and after forty days He was taken up in a cloud to heaven where He still lives to help and lead us along, like a shepherd, in the right way. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.8

And we have the promise that in the same manner in which He was taken up into heaven, He will come again, to take those who have accepted Him as their Saviour to reign with Him for ever. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.9

Then will He welcome them back to God, back to Eden, and back to everything that they had lost by sin. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.10

When you are tempted to sin, think of the price that Divine love has paid for you, and yield to Him His own, and let Him save you. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.11

“Bees as Anarchists” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

There is, it seems, a way of making bees turn Anarchists. It consists in submitting them to a regimen of alcoholised honey. They, after some time, acquire a liking for it, according to Dr. Büchner, who has made the experiment. Under its influence they lose two of their normal instincts-that of work and that of hierarchy. They become anti-socialistic, and abandon themselves without scruple to theft and brigandage. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.12

“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-A very severe blizzard was reported April 10, in New Brunswick, with snow more than a foot deep. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.13

-The Italian police have been warned that, a large number of Anarchists are likely to visit Italy. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.14

-One hundred and thirty-seven valuable horses were burned to death in a fire at Baltimore, U.S.A., causing a loss of $300,000. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.15

-The Manchester Ship Canal will be opened by the Queen on May 21. The Prince of Wales will open the Tower Bridge about the middle of June. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.16

-It is said that another attempt to legalise marriage with the deceased wife’s sister is to be made by the introduction of a Bill in the House of Lords. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.17

-The rival “holy coat”—that of Argenteuil-is to be exhibited, after being concealed from view since 1680. The priests declare that it is none other than the seamless robe of Christ. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.18

-According to information which has reached Berlin the Brazilian insurgents have bombarded the city of Rio Grande. Ten Government war-vessels have been despatched to oppose the insurgents. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.19

-Continued dry weather in Germany is causing some uneasiness for the winter sowings. Scarcely any rain has fallen in the provinces and the winter sowings have suffered considerably, especially the rye crops. Long-continued drought in France is beginning to cause disquietude in the agricultural districts. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.20

-A Ministerial crisis is believed to be imminent in Bulgaria, owing to a difference between M. Stambouloff and the Minister of War. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.21

-In the Lower House of the Hungarian Diet the Bill for the introduction of obligatory civil marriage has been adopted by 281 votes against 100. The result was received with great enthusiasm. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.22

-It is reported from Madras that the Mussulman fanatics who recently attacked the Hindoos in the Malabar district fiercely resisted the British troops, and thirty-three Mussulmans ware killed and two wounded. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.23

-A general strike has been ordered by the United States Mine Workers’ Convention, to begin on the 21st inst. In the coke region of Pennsylvania troubles have again broken out, riots and raids having been caused by the strikers. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.24

-The latest development of the crisis in Newfoundland is the resignation of the Ministry, the Governor having refused their request to dissolve Parliament. Mr. Goodridge, leader of the Opposition has undertaken to form a Government. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.25

-Turbulent demonstrations have taken place at Valencia, in Spain, in connection with the departure of pilgrims for Rome. The pilgrims were attacked, but repulsed their assailants, who were finally dispersed by the police and civic guards. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.26

-On April 11 ratifications of the International Convention against the sale of spirituous liquors in the North Sea were exchanged at The Hague between the Governments of the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain and Germany. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.27

-A Ministerial crisis is believed to be imminent in Bulgaria, owing to a difference between M. Stambouloff and the Minister of War. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.28

-It is reported from Madras that tho Mussulman fanatics who recently attacked the Hindoos in the Malabar district fiercely resisted the British troops, and thirty-three Mussulmans ware killed and two wounded. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.30

-A general strike has been ordered by the United States Mine Workers’ Convention, to be-gin on the 21st inst. In the coke region of Pennsylvania troubles have again broken out, riots and raids having been caused by the strikers. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.31

-The latest development of the crisis in Newfoundland is the resignation of the Ministry, the (lovernor having refused their request to dissolve Parliament. Mr. Goodridge, leader of the Op-position has undertaken to form a Government. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.32

-On April 11 ratifications of the International C’rvention against the sale of spirituous liquors in the North Sea wore exchanged at The Hague between the Governments of the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain and Germany. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.34

—From St. Petersburg it is announced that the Russian Minister of Education intends to restrict the number of Jewesses attending the Russian gymnasiums, on the ground that they exercise an unfavourable influence on the Orthodox students. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.35

-A destructive fire is reported from M ilwankee, U.S.A., the disaster having originated in the Davidson Theatre. ‘When the fire seamed to be under control the roof suddenly fell in, carrying with it over twenty firemen. Of this number nine were killed. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.36

-On the night of April 10 five separate firms occurred in the town of Boom, near Antwerp. 1L is believed that they were the work of f,hc brick-makers on strike in the place. The attitude of the strikers became so threatening the next evening that the gendarmes were ordered to charge them as they were pillaging a shop. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.37

-News has reached Shanghai of soother at-tack upon foreign missionaries and their c’.hristis,c followers. Tho French mission house, at I f sianfu, in the Province of Shensi, have boon horned, while the priests have been maltreated and imprisoned. The French Legation in Pekin has demanded redress for this outrage, from the Chinese Government. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.38

—The Queen has loft Florence for Coburg, in view of the approaching marriage of her grand-children, the Grand Duke of Hesse and Princess Victoria of Edinburgh. The bride’s cake stands six feet in height and weighs 1501bs. A German superstition prohibits the bride from wearing pearls on her wedding day, the pro7erh being, “The more pearls the more tears.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.39

—Further startling and enormous discoveries of gold have just been made in the vicinity of Imthamhli, on Unguzu River, and prospectors declare that the richness and permanency of the fine is probably unparalleled in gold mining. Dr. Jameson reports from Buluwayo, confirming the news of immense new discoveries, and the consequent excitement among the prospectors is very great. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.40

—It is authoritatively stated that in the inter-views between the Emperors William and Francis Joseph at Abbazia, and in that between the Emperor William and Ring Humbert at Venice, the question of a general disarmament was raised and discussed, although the only conclusion their Majesties appear to have come to was that it would be a matter of extreme difficulty to find a solution for it. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.41

—The Berlin papers announce that, in spite of the prohibition of the police, scale experiments were made April 2, within closed doors, with the coat invented by the tailor. Herr Dowc, which he claims to be bullet proof. Herr Dowe, it is etatod, put on the garment, and allowed himself to hn shot at, with the result that the be let proof capacity of the coat was fully demonstrated, tits wearer sustaining no injury. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.42

—A Ministerial crisis is believed to be imminent in Bulgaria, owing to a difference between M. Stambouloff and the Minister of War. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.43

—In the Lower House of the Hungarian Diet the Bill for the introduction of obligatory civil marriage has been adopted by 281 votes against 100. The result was received with great enthusiasm. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.44

—It is reported from Madras that tho Mussulman fanatics who recently attacked the Hindoos in the Malabar district fiercely resisted the British troops, and thirty-three Mussulmans ware killed and two wounded. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.45

—A general strike has been ordered by the United States Mine Workers’ Convention, to be-gin on the 21st inst. In the coke region of Pennsylvania troubles have again broken out, riots and raids having been caused by the strikers. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.46

—The latest development of the crisis in Newfoundland is the resignation of the Ministry, the (lovernor having refused their request to dissolve Parliament. Mr. Goodridge, leader of the Op-position has undertaken to form a Government. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.47

—Turbulent demonstrations have taken place at Valencia, in Spain, in connection with the departure of pilgrims for Rome. The pilgrims were attacked, but repulsed their assailants, who were finally dispersed by the police and civic guards. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.48

—On April 11 ratifications of the International C’rvention against the sale of spirituous liquors in the North Sea wore exchanged at The Hague between the Governments of the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain and Germany. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.49

-The Berlin papers announce that, in spite of the prohibition of the police, scale experiments were made April 2, within closed doors, with the coat invented by the tailor. Herr Dowc, which he claims to be bullet proof. Herr Dowe, it is etatod, put on the garment, and allowed himself to hn shot at, with the result that the be let proof capacity of the coat was fully demonstrated, tits wearer sustaining no injury. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.57

-From St. Petersburg it is announced that the Russian Minister of Education intends to restrict the number of Jewesses attending the Russian gymnasiums, on the ground that they exercise an unfavourable influence on the Orthodox students. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.58

-A destructive fire is reported from Milwaukee, U.S.A., the disaster having originated in the Davidson Theatre. When the fire seemed to be under control the roof suddenly fell in, carrying with it over twenty firemen. Of this number nine were killed. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.59

-On the night of April 10 five separate firms occurred in the town of Boom, near Antwerp. It is believed that they were the work of the brick-makers on strike in the place. The attitude of the strikers became so threatening the next evening that the gendarmes were ordered to charge them as they were pillaging a shop. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.60

-News has reached Shanghai of another attack upon foreign missionaries and their Christian followers. The French mission house, at Hsianfu, in the Province of Shensi, have been burned, while the priests have been maltreated and imprisoned. The French Legation in Pekin has demanded redress for this outrage, from the Chinese Government. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.61

—The Queen has left Florence for Coburg, in view of the approaching marriage of her grand-children, the Grand Duke of Hesse and Princess Victoria of Edinburgh. The bride’s cake stands six feet in height and weighs 150lbs. A German superstition prohibits the bride from wearing pearls on her wedding day, the proverb being, “The more pearls the more tears.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.62

—Further startling and enormous discoveries of gold have just been made in the vicinity of Imthambli, on Unguau River, and prospectors declare that the richness and permanency of the fine is probably unparalleled in gold mining. Dr. Jameson reports from Buluwayo, confirming the news of immense new discoveries, and the consequent excitement among the prospectors is very great. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.63

—It is authoritatively stated that in the interviews between the Emperors William and Francis Joseph at Abbazia, and in that between the Emperor William and King Humbert at Venice, the question of a general disarmament was raised and discussed, although the only conclusion their Majesties appear to have come to was that it would be a matter of extreme difficulty to find a solution for it. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.64

—The Berlin papers announce that, in spite of the prohibition of the police, scale experiments were made April 2, within closed doors, with the coat invented by the tailor. Herr Dowe, which he claims to be bullet proof. Herr Dowe, it is stated, put on the garment, and allowed himself to be shot at, with the result that the bullet proof capacity of the coat was fully demonstrated, the wearer sustaining no injury. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 254.65

“Back Page” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Someone has wisely said: “The first chapter of Genesis never made an infidel, and no explanation of it can remove infidelity.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.1

The Stundist movement began in Russia in 1865. There are no more than two million Stundists in the empire. It is a Bible reading movement. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.2

It is surely a healthy sentiment that led the Baptist missionaries and delegates in conference in Ceylon to resolve that “we strongly recommend that the title ‘Reverend’ be discontinued by all the ministerial brethren.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.3

A vicar of the Church of England writes pathetically to the English Churchman, asking what further steps can be taken by way of resistance to Ritualism, which means Romanism. The latter of which the following is a portion, shows the desperate state of the case:— PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.4

The efforts which are now being made are very good so far as they go, but I am sadly afraid they will not prove effective. We have lecturing, preaching, distribution of pamphlets, and the very excellent Protestant Van Agency of the Church Association. All these carry out their designed intention of educating the people. So far so good: and let us push them forward to the utmost of our power. But education is a very slow process, and what makes matters worse is that, whilst we are educating in truth, our opponents are educating in error, and from various causes their success is likely to be far greater than ours. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.5

Among the discouraging things in the contest against the growth of Romanism in the Church of England, a clergyman numbers those ministers who hold “the fallacy that the best way to oppose error is to preach the truth.” But that which makes the outlook so dismal is the fact that there are so many men in the church who call it a fallacy to think to oppose error by preaching the truth. So long as that idea prevails, Romanism will surely gain ground, for that is the very principle of Romanism. If the early Christians had held fast to preaching the truth, and had not thought that there was a quicker and surer way of combating error, there would never have been any Papacy with its ritualism. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.6

“Spiritualism” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Spiritualism.-Those who are awakened to the progress of Spiritualism, or “Spiritism” as some call it, recognise the fact that it is an element that must be reckoned with in Christian work. A correspondent of the Record writes a long letter showing that it is making headway in Church of England circles. He says it “seems to have received a fresh impulse and to be making most mischievous progress.” He speaks of a number of clergymen, who, to his personal knowledge, have fallen fully into the delusion. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.7

“How to Kill Gorillas” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

How to Kill Gorillas.-In the Pall Mall Magazine Mr. R. C. Garner, who spent some months in West Africa studying the habits of animal life in its native haunts, tells of the death of a young guerrilla which he had caught, and which had become much attached to him. The animal had some traits quite human-like, and was quite a companionable pet in the lonely days and nights which Mr. Garner spent in the iron cage in which he made his home in the forest. One day the guerrilla exhibited signs of sickness. Mr. Garner consulted with the native about the symptoms. “He assured me,” he says, “that it would die, and asked me if I drank tobacco, which is the native expression for smoking; when I replied in the affirmative, he informed me that tobacco smoke was absolutely fatal to a gorrilla, and many other natives confirmed the statement.” The animal exhibited symptoms of gastric poisoning, and shortly died-killed by inhaling tobacco smoke. It is fortunate that tobacco smoke does not serve all animal life in the same way; but is it reasonable to suppose that smoke that poisons a gorrilla in a few days is harmless to life and children or others, even though evil may not be apparently traceable to it? PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.8

“A Wise Answer” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

A Wise Answer.-When John the Baptist was preaching in the wilderness, the soldiers came to him among others, and asked him, “What shall we do?” His answer was, “Do violence to no man.” A man with less of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, might have said, “Leave the army at once,” and thus have got them into trouble, and got himself branded as a mover of sedition. But John did not presume to take upon himself the responsibility of telling them how they should act, but gave them a simple Gospel precept, throwing the responsibility upon them. Soldiers who “do violence to no man,” will soon find a place outside the ranks. The Christian soldier is the man who never fights with carnal weapons, and whose only sword is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.9

“The Laughter of Children” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Laughter of Children.-In the window of a public-house in the City we noticed the other day a card proclaiming the virtues of a certain brand of whiskey, in which, it was stated, would be found the odour of June meadows, the singing of birds, the laughter of children, etc. Walking but a few steps further, one found children playing about the narrow streets whose ragged clothing and pinched and hardened features told all too plainly the fact that the means and the strength which were their due from the parents who had brought them into the world were dissipated at the liquor shop. The sorrowful features of the poor little victims of intemperance, who hardly know what the healthful, hearty laughter of childood is, give the lie to the picturesquely worded advertisement. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.10

“Habitual Drunkenness” The Present Truth 10, 16.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Habitual Drunkenness.-According to figures furnished by the records of the Liverpool courts, the liquor habit, when once firmly established, has a stronger hold upon women than upon men. They either have less power to resist the appetite, or have less constitutional strength to bear up under the continued use of liquor. A letter in the Times shows that the number of individuals apprehended once only during the time covered by the records was: men, 3,487, women, 1,922; apprehended twice, 185 men, 257 women; three times, 73 men, 82 women; four times, 11 men, 42 women; five times, five men, 21 women; six times, 1 man, 10 women; seven times, 2 men, 11 women. This is the highest number of apprehensions of men, but the number in the case of women runs up to twenty-four apprehensions. PTUK April 19, 1894, page 256.11