The Present Truth, vol. 10
May 3, 1894
“Front Page” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
When a man boasts of what his ancestors did, it may be set down as a pretty sure thing that he himself has never done anything of which one could boast. For the fact that he boasts of his ancestry, shows that he is a boaster, and no boaster will pass himself by for another, except in extreme necessity. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 273.1
“For What Purpose” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
For What Purpose.-For what purpose are you living here in this world? Not, What purpose have you determined to live for? but, What purpose is your existence here designed to serve? Jesus Christ said, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” John 18:37. This is the true purpose of every man’s existence, whether he realises the fact or not. We are here to witness to the truth. And what is truth? “Thy word is truth”; “I am the way, the truth, and the life”; and, “Ye are My witnesses.” By this will the success or failure of each life here be determined. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 273.2
“The Great Question” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
The Great Question.-The great question, the question that most vitally concerns each of us, is not, Am I getting wealthy? or Am I acquiring distinction? or Am I rising to a position of power? These are all secondary matters to the one great consideration, which is, Am I seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? In inspired biographies of men we find this point always made most prominent. We read generally at the commencement that “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,” or that “He did that which was evil.” This sums up the whole case, and the rest is but a narrative of particulars. When all other questions have faded and melted into the mists of time, this question still remains, looming broader and clearer as we near the threshold of eternity. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 273.3
“Moments with Psalm 63” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
“O God, Thou art my God.” The man who can say that from the heart, has the victory. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Our discouragements and defeats come when we forget God, or when, if we remember Him, we forget that He is our God. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 273.4
“My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” God is “the fountain of living waters.” Jeremiah 2:13. The water which proceeds from His throne is the water of life, for “with Him is the fountain of life.” His promise is, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty.” Isaiah 44:3. “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not for sake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys.” Isaiah 41:17, 18. This He literally did once (see Exodus 17:1-6; Psalm 105:41), and will again as literally do the same thing. But all this is to teach us how easily He can satisfy with righteousness the soul that thirsts for it. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 273.5
“To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” Some people think that it is only in the place of meeting that they can see the Lord. That is a mistake. We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together; but the soul who does not see the glory and power of God, except when he is in meeting, will have a hard life. God’s eternal power is manifested in the things that He has made, and “the whole earth is full of His glory.” Therefore not only in the house of prayer, but everywhere, may the earnestly-seeking soul feast his eyes upon the glory of God, and be changed by it into the Divine image. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 273.6
“Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee?” Such language could come only from one who could say, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.” “In His favour is life.” “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have by drawn thee.” Jeremiah 31:3. Because His kindness is everlasting, we may well say, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 273.7
“My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips; when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.” And why? Because Christ who is the Word of God, and the life of the written word, in whom is all the fulness of God, is the Bread of God. He who rightly meditates in the word, feeds upon Christ, whose flesh is true food. “The flesh profiteth nothing.” If bread could become the actual flesh of the Son of God, it would be of no value; but His words are Spirit and life. So the prophet says: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” Jeremiah 15:16. As cold water and good food cause a famished person to revive, and produce a feeling of joy and satisfaction; so the words of God, when one feeds upon them, must produce praise and thanksgiving. Those who have no words of praise, are the ones who do not feed upon the word. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 273.8
Let those who refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But children of the Heavenly King
Must speak their joys abroad.
PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.1
“Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.” “For Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” Isaiah 25:4. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.... He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.” Psalm 91:1-4. That is a place of safety where one may rejoice when trouble is raging. What tenderness is represented in the idea of God protecting His children as a hen broods over her young. “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.” Isaiah 66:13. He is “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.2
“My soul followeth hard after Thee; Thy right hand upholdeth me.” That is the reason for rejoicing, because at the right hand of God “there are pleasures for evermore.” The right hand of the Lord brings salvation. Psalm 17:7. “The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.” Psalm 118:16. “His right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory.” Psalm 98:1. “Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation; and Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great.” Psalm 18:35. He who is upheld by the right hand of the Lord, has a sure support. “Now unto Him that is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, the glory and majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.3
“Bought and Paid for, But Not Dedicated” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
An American religious paper speaks of a somewhat famous revivalist, a Mrs. Van Cott, who has just closed the twelfth revival that she has conducted in one place, and says: “As the result of her good work there, a fifty-thousand dollar church has just been dedicated.” That is a good deal, but if it is all, it is very little. One cannot help wondering if it is paid for, and if the church who meet in it are also dedicated. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.4
It is a bad combination when a meeting-house that has not been paid for is dedicated by people who have been bought and paid for, but not dedicated. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.5
“Beam and Mote” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
One of the strongest lessons that could possibly be given against criticising, fault-finding, and trying to regulate the conduct of others, is found in these words of Christ; “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” Luke 6:41, 42. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.6
But how can a man be sure that his own eye is so clear that he is justified in attempting a surgical operation on his brother’s eye? The man in whose eye the beam is, and who sees, or thinks he sees, a mote in his brother’s eye, is totally unconscious of the beam in his own eye. He thinks that the fault is all with his brother. So the fact that one is not conscious of a fault in himself, is not therefore any reason why he should think that he has not the fault, and that he can serve as a regulator for his brethren. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.7
Is it then impossible for one man to point out another’s fault to him, and to assist him in removing it? No; and here is the rule for doing it: “If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the Spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Galatians 6:1. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.8
The one who sees wrong in another must be actuated first of all by the desire to help and restore his brother, and not by any spirit of fault-finding. Then he must be sure that he himself is spiritual. This throws his gaze back upon himself, rather than on his brother; but specially does it direct his gaze to Christ. And then having found the Spirit of God as his own, he may go in the Spirit to his brother, but still considering his own fallibility and infirmities. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.9
No man can be a faithful preacher of the word to others, who does not preach to himself in every sermon that he preaches. No man can be a successful rescuer of lost souls, who does not recognise his own sinfulness. When a man is most conscious of his own failings, is the time when, if he trusts the Lord, he can best help others. No man can deal as he ought with any sinner, who does not see himself in that other’s sin, no matter what the sin may be. If he has not committed the same act in detail, he must know that he has the same nature, and that he has done that which is at least as bad, if not worse, when the different circumstances are taken into account. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.10
Such an one will not condemn, but will restore. He will not chill and repel the erring one, but will win him. The reason why Christ is so perfect a Saviour as He is, is because while perfectly sinless Himself, He comes to us as though He were one of us,—as though He had committed all the sins that we have,—perfectly identified with our nature, so that we are not afraid of Him. He is the only one upon whom we should look in our efforts for others. Let Him be the only model. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.11
“The Keeping Power” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
A power that is able to save is able also to keep. The apostle speaks of the believers as those “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” 1 Peter 1:5. The faith that does not claim the power of God in the daily stress of sin is not a saving faith. Whenever we fall into sin, it is because for that moment our faith has let go of the Lord, and we are not believing in Him. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.12
For “whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”—whosoever is believing. It is not a thing accomplished once for all time, but a continual process, if only we were but constant in believing. And while believing, the power of God keeps. For we read, “We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but He that is begotten of God keepeth him, and the evil one toucheth him not.” 1 John 5:18, R.V. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.13
It is a blessed truth that the one who is believing is shut in by the arms of the Lord, and the evil one cannot touch him. There is refuge, a covert from the storm. Oh, that we might learn to abide in the shelter; for we know well enough by bitter experience that we have not power to keep ourselves-not for one moment. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 274.14
In a world of sin and wickedness the one who is believing is being kept from the iniquity that surrounds him, that is even in his very flesh ready to spring upon him. When the three Hebrew captives were thrown into the furnace of fire, the fire had no power upon their bodies, “nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” There was with them in the furnace One who had said, “I will be with thee,” and “when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.1
He it is that is pledged to keep the believing one in the midst of the consuming fire of sin. We cannot endure it alone; we always fall, and the fiery darts strike into the soul. The prayer of David must be ours continually, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a constant spirit [margin] within me.” Thank God, when our faith has not held Him fast, and we find the enemy has found us and touched us, there is still the promise following the injunction, “sin not.” “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” He looses and sets us free again. But He sets us free that we may hold steadfastly by a firmer faith to Him. In the bitterness of sin we are taught our own weakness and worthlessness, and in the sweetness of His forgiveness we are taught His power to save. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.2
“Tradition” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
Tradition.-A church paper makes the following comments on one of the tendencies noticeable in Nonconformity to-day:— PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.3
Tradition! A remarkable article in a Nonconformist paper upon tradition has the following suggestive sentence: “Mediately or immediately we owe to tradition all that we know of Christianity.” Further on, the writer advises Nonconformists to teach their people more about the great Church traditions and the splendid heroisms associated with them. Just so; but what would the writer have said ten years ago about traditions? Truly the Dissenters are moving. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.4
Churchmen or Dissenters moving toward traditions are surely moving in the wrong direction. It is a mistake to suppose that the knowledge of Christianity rests upon tradition. The knowledge of Christ is an actual living experience, and the knowledge that the Scriptures are the word of God is not received by tradition-for the Lord needeth not that any man should testify of Him-but is proved every day in the life of every real Christian. Christianity is not an ecclesiastical formula, but a life. The believer finds actual life in the Scriptures, and needs no testimony of men to tell him that he is living by the word. Ecclesiastical tradition has always led wrong. Christ went counter to the “traditions of the elders,” and charged them with making void the commandments of God by their traditions. The Reformers were met everywhere by the cry, “Tradition! tradition!” It is not a move toward tradition but toward the fountain head of truth, the word of God, that is needed now. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.5
“Work of John the Baptist” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
When the angel Gabriel foretold to Zacharias the birth of his son John, he said: “He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the Spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:15-17. Thus his work was to be one of preparation for the coming of the Lord. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.6
In what way was this preparation to be made? We have the answer in the inspired words of Zacharias, after the birth of John: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:76-79. In fulfilment of this, we find that John came “preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Luke 3:3. His message was, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.7
If the word of John the Baptist had ceased with his death, it would have but little interest for us. We should read of it as a bit of history, interesting as an attractive story, but not personally concerning us. This is the way it is too often read. But that is a grave error; for the work of John the Baptist has not yet ended. We do not mean merely that the influence of his work has not ceased, but that the message which was committed to him is a live message still, and is still to be proclaimed by those who are the Lord’s servants. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.8
CHRIST’S SECOND COMING
For it should not be forgotten that the mission and work of the Baptist reaches up until the coming of the Lord in glory, to give reward to His faithful people. John came in fulfilment of the “words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Luke 3:4-6. See also Isaiah 40:3-5. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.9
After comparing the above two passages of Scripture, read farther in the fortieth of Isaiah. Note that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and that all flesh is to see it together. Compare this with Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father, with His angels; and then shall He reward every man according to his works.” Also Revelation 1:7: “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every I shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.” “And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30. Note also that the voice is to say, “Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.” Isaiah 40:9, 10. This, compared with Revelation 22:12, shows plainly that, although John the Baptist’s personal work ended soon after the baptism of Christ, the message which he began to proclaim reaches until Christ’s second coming in glory. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.10
For in this study it should be remembered that John the Baptist himself stands for a movement. While he was a man of marked characteristics, he stands not as a single individual, but as a great force-a reformation. This is seen by the quotations in the preceding paragraph, and by the words of John to the messengers whom the Jews sent to ask him, “Who art thou?” John said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as saith the prophet Esaias.” John 1:23. If you turn to the book of Isaiah again (chapter 40.) you will see that it is the “voice” that is given prominence. The Saviour said that John was “more than a prophet.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 275.11
REPENTANCE AND FAITH
Thus we find that John the Baptist stands as the type of those who shall proclaim the second coming of Christ, and his message is the message which is preached to prepare people for that great event. Let us examine it briefly. He preached “repentance” and “remission of sins.” “Sin is the transgression of the law.” To preach remission of sins, is to preach turning away from sin; and this agrees with the words of the angel, that he should turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. That means that he was to preach the commandments of God; and that he did so is shown in his reproof of sin, and in the instruction which he gave to enquirers. But remission of sins is only through faith in Christ, and this John also preached, as we learn from Acts 19:4. His preaching was therefore the same as Paul’s,—“Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21. And this is the message which prepares for the Lord’s return; for those who are waiting for him, are “they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. It is the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, that is to prepare men to meet the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.1
THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
The commandments of God are ten, in which are summed up every other precept of the Bible. They comprise “the whole duty of man.” The one which is plainest of all, yet least understood, is the fourth, which reads thus:— PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.2
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in 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 May 3, 1894, page 276.3
This enjoins the observance of the seventh day of the week, the day which the Jews professed to keep, and which John and Jesus actually kept. The entire law, including the fourth commandment, is the “way” of the Lord. Therefore those who are the followers of John the Baptist, in preparing the way of the Lord, must, in their preaching of the coming of the Lord, preach the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, the seventh day of the week. Those who truly preach such a message, deserve the name of Seventh-day Adventists. Such was John the Baptist. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.4
INFANT BAPTISM
John preached the “baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” This dictates that he did not baptize infants. His message was, Repent, and believe. Repentance and faith were the indispensable conditions. Without these things none could be baptized by John. But infants cannot repent and believe. They have no knowledge of sin, and no ability to believe. Therefore those who take up and carry on the work of John the Baptist,—the work of preparing a people for the coming of the Lord,—will have nothing to do with the so-called baptism of infants. They will not thus caricature one of the most solemn ordinances of the Gospel. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.5
BAPTISM IS IMMERSION
We said “so-called baptism,” in speaking of the ceremony performed on children; for sprinkling, whether applied to infants or adults, is not baptism at all. It is nothing like baptism. The words “baptize” and “baptism” are the original Greek word spelled with Roman characters. They are not translated, but only transferred; so that when we use them we pronounce them very nearly as the ancient Greeks did. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.6
Now by those words the Greeks always meant “to dip in or under water.” A Baptistarion meant “a bathing place,” or “a swimming-bath,” and we have the same word in the form of “baptistery.” There is no instance of the use of the word “baptize” by the Greeks, in the sense of sprinkle. We have before us the standard Greek-English Lexicon, by two Churchmen, Henry George Liddell, D.D., Dean of Christ Church, and Robert Scott, D.D., late Dean of Rochester, and Master of Balliol College, Oxford, and they give no hint that the idea of sprinkling ever attached to those words. Those clergymen had doubtless sprinkled many babies, calling the act “baptism;” yet as scholars they well knew that there was no more authority for calling it baptism than for calling it flying. The word Baptistes, which is the word used in the New Testament for Baptist, as John the Baptist, is defined in Liddell and Scott’s Lexicon, “one that dips: a baptizer.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.7
John went down into the water with Jesus, and baptized Him, just as Philip did with the eunuch. They both “came up out of the water.” This is all in keeping with the meaning of baptism, which is a memorial of the death and burial of Christ. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” Romans 6:3-5. “Buried with Him in baptism, and wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.8
TEMPERANCE
The forerunner of Christ was strictly temperate, and thus we learn that temperance will be a prominent characteristic of those who are preparing the way of the Lord. His life emphasised his teaching. He was a living protest against extravagant living. Ministers and religious workers who conform to popular customs of eating and drinking, especially drinking, will be accounted “good fellows” by the world, but they will not influence it for good. The world loves preachers whose lives give a silent sanction to worldly habits. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.9
John the Baptist did not compromise with the world, thinking thus to win it to Christ. He preached the plain truth, no matter how unpopular it was, and took the consequences. So those who truly engage in the work which he began, will proclaim the truth, and the whole truth, even though it be unpopular, and though men in the highest positions are offended. It was not the rulers, but the common people, that heard Jesus gladly. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 276.10
POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST
Lastly, we find the secret of John’s loyalty to the truth, in the fact that he was filled with the Holy Ghost. John went before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elias.” “It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth.” 1 John 5:6. And so those who are preparing the way of the Lord, by proclaiming the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, can do so in reality only as they are led by and filled with the Holy Ghost. This is the promise of the Saviour, to fit men to be witnesses for Him. This it is that makes baptism more than a mere form, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.1
“The Senses or the Heart?” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
The use of elaborate ritual in the Roman services is thus defended by Archbishop Satolli in the International Journal of Ethics:— PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.2
Eye and ear become the channels of temptation and corruption, and it is only through the senses that images of a higher sort can be awakened, nobler aspirations aroused, and virtuous actions secured. Such notions... are amply verified in the history of Protestantism, the positive forms of which are coming back to ritual and liturgical observance. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.3
But our Lord taught the truth that transformed men’s lives-and the only truth that can do so-and what sort of ritual could be constructed for the teachings and example of Christ, or of the apostles either? Men do not go to the New Testament for precedents in the ritual, but to later days, when the majority of the church had fallen away from the purity of the truth and compromised with the ritual and doctrines of Paganism. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.4
The teaching of Christ was not dependent on spectacular displays, but appealed directly to the heart; because sin is a malady to the spiritual nature, and not a disorder to the senses. By the teaching of the Gospel men learned that the kingdom of God was not meat and drink, or ritual and dress, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God convicted of sin and revealed righteousness alike in the cases of the blind who could not see, and the palsied who could not feel. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.5
The fact that there is a “coming back” to ritual among Protestants that encourages Rome, only shows that the same influences are now operating that brought the corruptions into the early church soon after apostolic days. When the word of God is not followed indeed, and the power of the Spirit is not relied upon alone, human nature will always suggest these compromises with natural religion, which by appeals to the senses seek to make men righteous by making them feel religious. The real nature of sin is thus lost sight of, and the true power of the Gospel is not laid hold of. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.6
“The Church and the Word” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
The church of Christ should ever be inseparably connected with the word of God. The church is the body of believers who have been “called out,” as indicated by the Greek word “ecclesia.” They had been called out by the word; and so long as they adhere to the word, they are led by God, and fulfil the purpose He had in separating them from the world. But when they neglect the word, and turn from it to go in ways of their own choosing, they frustrate His purpose with respect to them, and though preserving the same external appearance, soon cease to stand in a position where God recognises them as His church. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.7
And this is what the church, in all ages of the world, has done. Its history is closely interwoven-so closely as to be almost identical with-a history of apostasy from God. We read of the church that was in the wilderness, when the Angel spake to Moses in Mount Sinai (Acts 7:38), and note the almost continual acts of apostasy which marked their course down to the time when they filled up the measure of their iniquity by rejecting Christ, as related by the martyr Stephen. And had we the history of the church since that time, penned by inspiration, it would differ from the former only in details, and not in its general tone. There would be seen the same frequency of departure from God, the same hatred and intolerance toward the righteous, and spurning of the counsel of those sent by God to show them their errors. And as the church went further and further into apostasy, the time came when men were called upon to choose between the church and the word, and those who chose to obey God left the church in order that they might be free to worship God in the way that His word directs. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.8
When this took place, there was a reformation in the church; not a reformation of the church, for no church was ever reformed. Reformation and conversion apply to individuals, and not to organisations. There were some good men in the days of Luther who laboured under the impression that the Church of Rome could be reformed. Ere long they discovered their mistake. The Reformation was not a reformation of the Roman Catholic Church, but a reformation of men and women who had been in her communion, partaking of her false doctrines. And thus it has been with all reformations, before that time, and since. The church has continued to exist in outward form and ceremonies, and even to increase in wealth and members, for a church is always popular in proportion as it conforms to worldly standards of life, so that the masses of the world can by an easy step transfer themselves within the supposed portals of salvation. But the love, the truth, the faith, and all those elements essential to the true church of Christ, remained with the individuals who came out of the body which had departed from God; and these then became the church. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.9
As by the word individuals were called out to form the church, so by turning from the word, they go back again to the rudiments of the world. “Take heed, brethren,” writes the apostle, “lest there be in any of you and evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12. Departure from God comes by unbelief. “I know,” says the prophet, “that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Jeremiah 10:23. But “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105. The word, and not the church, is our safe reliance in the things that pertain to salvation. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.10
How is it with us to-day? and how is it with “the church”? We are told that “in the last days perilous time shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,” etc., “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.11
The power of godliness, which these deny, is the Gospel,—“the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” Romans 1:16. The true church has the power of God; and from those who, though “having a form of godliness,” do not manifest its power, we are exhorted to “turn away.” The power of godliness is the power of the word of God. The words that Paul spoke were “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 1 Corinthians 2:4. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,” and by the same word are our sins forgiven, and our hearts cleansed. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 277.12
The church is the body of Christ; but it is Christ, the Head, who speaks. “The church in the wilderness,” of which Stephen spoke, “received the lively oracles to give unto us.” The oracles were not spoken by them, but by God; and the exhortation is given by Peter, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” 1 Peter 4:11. When the church forsakes these oracles, and speaks her own words, she loses the power of the word, which is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” And when this is true of men, whether claiming to be the church of Christ, or a part of it, it is time for those united with it to remember the exhortation, “From such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:5. Turn from the traditions of men to the word of the living God, that you may know His power unto salvation; and He will give you a place among them that are sanctified through the truth. John 17:17. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.1
“An Example Worth Following” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
At the recent thanksgiving service held in the Great Assembly Hall, Mile End Road, one of the speakers related an incident that ought not to be passed lightly by. In the village where he was preaching in 1889, a revival was in progress. Some people not religiously inclined got up a ball, which was so well attended that they resolved to repeat it. Those who were conducting the meetings felt that this would be a great detriment to their work, but they had not the authority to stop it. Accordingly they took to prayer, asking the Lord to frustrate the plans of the managers of the ball. On the evening of the ball, they held an early prayer-meeting, and the minister went from the meeting to the ball-room to see the answer to their prayers. He found but two couples present. Prayer had accomplished what nothing else could have done. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.2
We commend this experience to many in these days who are making vigorous efforts to suppress by law everything that is not in harmony with religion, and some things that are in harmony with religion, but not with their ideas of it. Let them leave the matter in the hands of the Lord, and give themselves to the ministry of the word. If the thing to which they object be a sin, God can deal with it better than they can, for He is all-powerful, and He is more opposed to sin than any man can be. “The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its work.” And if perchance the thing to which they are opposed be not a sin, but they themselves are in error, then by leaving it in the hands of God, they save themselves the sin of fighting against Him. There needs to be a fresh study of the words of the Apostle Paul, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.3
“The Seventh, or One Seventh?” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
Suppose I call on a friend who is ill, and he asks me to assist him in taking his medicine. He says that on the shelf I will find seven bottles, numbered in order from one to seven, and he asks me to bring him the bottle of quinine, stating particularly that it is the seventh bottle, and in order to make the matter sure, he repeats that it is the seventh bottle, the one numbered seven. I go to the shelf, and bring him the first bottle, from which he takes a dose of arsenic, thinking it to be quinine, and the result is he dies. Am I guilty, or not? Did I obey his instructions, or did I not? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.4
Every one will say, “To be sure you are guilty; he told you plainly which bottle to bring, and you deliberately brought another one.” But I have a plea to make in self-defence. I claim that I did exactly as I was told, and the proof I offer is this: “The seventh bottle was evidently one-seventh of the number of bottles on the shelf; when he told me to bring the seventh, it was plain enough that he wanted one out of seven; I brought in the first one, which any one must admit was one out of the seven and one-seventh of the whole number; and therefore I claim that I literally fulfilled his request.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.5
Who would be satisfied with so lame an excuse? Would they not reply: “It is true enough that the seventh bottle was one-seventh of the whole number, and that the first was also a seventh, and so was every other bottle. It is true that your friend wished for only one bottle, which would be only one-seventh of the whole number; but it is also true that he plainly specified which one he desired. He told you to bring him the seventh bottle, and you deliberately disobeyed his instructions.” Everybody would agree that I was criminally negligent, nor would they be convinced by my assertion that I carried out the spirit of his instructions, even if I did ignore the letter of them. All would agree that when a man says the seventh, he means that particular one, and not any one-seventh that may be most convenient. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.6
Now the Lord has said, “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.” Exodus 20:8-10. Suppose that instead of resting on the seventh day, I rest on the first day, and say that I am obeying the commandments; that all that the Lord requires is one-seventh part of time, and that the first day is just as much one-seventh part of time as the seventh day is; will those who condemned me in the first instance, justify me in this? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.7
I might say that in keeping the first day I am keeping the spirit of the commandment, instead of the letter; but by that very statement I should convict myself of breaking the commandment. For how can one know what the commandment means, except by what it says? If God had meant us to keep any seventh part of time, would He not have said so, instead of explicitly naming the seventh day? Shall we not admit that God knew how to express the spirit of His commandment in plain words? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.8
Some of our readers have often said, “I believe that we ought to keep one day of the week, but I don’t think it makes any difference which one.” Now let me ask you a few questions. They are these:— PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.9
What makes you think that you ought to keep one day of the week? Why do you not think that you ought to keep one day of the month only? Or, why do you think that you ought to keep any day at all? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.10
You can give no answer, except that the fourth commandment says so. You may refer to custom, but that is against you; for the greater part of the inhabitants of the world are still in heathen darkness, and the heathen know nothing whatever of a weekly rest. No people have any semblance of a weekly rest day, except those who have come under the influence of the Bible. The Bible requires that men should rest at regular intervals, one day in each week, and plainly specifies that that rest day shall be the seventh day, the last day of the week, and not the first. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 278.11
And now since it is evident that the commandment of the Lord is the origin of the idea that a weekly rest day ought to be observed, how can those who recognise that necessity, excuse themselves from keeping the very day which the commandment of the Lord requires? If my mouth would be stopped because I disobeyed the instructions in regard to the medicine, contenting myself with one-seventh, when I was told to bring the seventh, what will be their condition when they are brought face to face with the law in the judgment? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 279.1
“Faith and Unbelief” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” Hebrews 11:4. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.1
We have learned that God fulfilled His promise. Jesus, the Lamb of God, really came and was slain and raised again, that guilty man might have a way back to God and all that he had lost. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.2
But Jesus did not come until after Adam and many of his children were dead. Yet every one of them that accepted this “Way” that God provided, and believed God’s promise, and died trusting in the coming Lamb to save them, is safe; for God’s promise was as sure as though it had already been fulfilled. They were cleansed from every sin and will live again with God and angels in Eden, when Jesus comes the second time and calls them from their graves. And the promise is that we, too, may join that happy throng and go with them to be with the Lord, if we also accept the Lamb of God for our Saviour. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.3
The Lord has told us in the Bible about many of those who died in faith, and also of many who died in unbelief. He has told us of the faithful, that we might be encouraged by their victories; and He has told us of the unbelieving, that we might be warned by their defeats. The closer we study the story of their lives, the better we shall know how to be saved ourselves. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.4
The first ones that God tells us about are Cain and Abel, because they were the first children that Adam and Eve had. Cain was the elder and Abel was the younger. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.5
When Adam was created we read that he was in the image of God,—beautiful, glorious, perfect, partaking of all the goodness and life of God. But he lost all of that by following Satan. And when we read of Adam’s children we find that they were in Adam’s own likeness, and after his image,—weak, frail, sinful, partaking of all the evil and dying nature of Adam. You see he could give to his children only what he had himself. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.6
Cain and Abel, therefore, were in as much need of a Saviour as Adam was, and their only hope of salvation was in Jesus, the coming Lamb of God. If they believed in Him, He would cleanse them from every sin, and keep them from sinning day by day, and finally restore them, with all of the believing ones, to Eden and its joys. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.7
Oh, did they accept the “Way” which God, at such great cost, had provided? Did they have faith in the precious blood that was to be shed for them? Notice carefully, and you will see. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.8
We read in the fourth chapter of the Bible that Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain was a tiller of the ground. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.9
“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.10
Why was Abel’s offering accepted and Cain’s rejected? Was God partial? Did He love Abel better than Cain? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.11
Oh, no, for read that the Lord talked with Cain and said, “If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted?” He will accept anyone who comes to Him by faith in Jesus. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.12
In Hebrews 11:4 we are told that it was by faith that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.13
Ah, now we see why Cain was not accepted,—he tried to come to God in his own way, in place of in God’s way. He did not have faith in the cleansing, saving power of the blood of Christ. He thought that some other way would do just as well as the way God had commanded. But without faith in Jesus all the sacrifices in the world could not do him any good, for there was no other way under heaven whereby he could be saved. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.14
Without the blood of Christ there is no remission (pardon) of sin. But Cain showed his unbelief in the blood of God’s Lamb by not bringing a lamb and offering its blood as his sacrifice. By bringing an offering of the fruit of the ground, without any blood, he showed that he thought he could be saved without Christ’s blood. For God had commanded that all who believed in the blood of Christ should bring the blood of a lamb in their offerings. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.15
Notice: Abel had faith in Jesus, therefore he was careful to obey Him in every little thing; but Cain did not have faith in Him, therefore he was not careful to obey Him in every little thing. Your actions will always show whether you have faith or not. If you really believe God and have faith in His Son you will obey Him. And without faith in Jesus it is impossible to please God, or be accepted, or be saved, no matter what you may do. Why? Because “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” “Neither is their salvation in any other.” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.16
1. What wonderful promise did God make to lost man concerning His Son? Genesis 3:15. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.17
2. Was the promise ever fulfilled? Acts 13:23. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.18
3. When?—Long after Adam and many of his children were dead. Luke 2.-24. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.19
4. Then are they all lost?—No; everyone who believed the promise and died in faith is safe. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.20
5. When will they live again? John 5:28, 29; Hebrews 9:28. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.21
6. If we have faith in Jesus, what has the Lord promised us? Hebrews 11:39, 40; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.22
7. About whom has the Lord told us in the Bible?—Of many of those who died in faith, and of many who died in unbelief. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.23
8. Why has He told us about them? 1 Corinthians 10:11. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.24
9. About whom does He tell us first? Genesis 4:1-15. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.25
10. In whose image was Adam created? Genesis 1:27. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.26
11. What became of all this when he sinned? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.27
12. In whose image were Adam’s children? Genesis 5:3. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.28
13. Then what did Cain and Abel need, as much as Adam? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 285.29
14. Did they believe God’s promise, and accept Jesus for their Saviour? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.1
15. How do you know whether they had faith or not? James 2:26. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.2
16. What does faith always lead people to do? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.3
17. What does unbelief lead people to do? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.4
18. What did Abel bring for an offering? Genesis 4:4. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.5
19. What did Cain bring for an offering? Genesis 4:3. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.6
20. What had God told them to bring? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.7
21. Then which showed faith, Cain or Abel? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.8
22. Why were they to shed the blood of a lamb when they offered a sacrifice? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.9
23. If they did not do this, what would it show? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.10
24. Could their sins be washed away without the blood of Christ? Hebrews 10:4. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.11
25. Could any one else save them? Acts 4:12. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.12
26. Then if they did not have faith in Jesus, could they please God, or be accepted? Hebrews 11:6. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.13
27. Whose fault was it, then, that Cain’s offering was not accepted? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.14
28. Must we come to the Father now in the same way that they did then? John 14:6. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.15
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
-It is proposed by the Government to have all general elections take place on Saturday. The Jews have protested against it. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.16
-The Wellman expedition, led by an American journalist, and which will make a rush for the North Pole, has just sailed from Norway. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.17
-Small-pox is unusually prevalent in Chicago, the city pest hospitals being so full that no more patients can be accommodated, although from twenty to thirty new cases are being reported daily. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.18
-Greece has suffered severely from earthquake shocks, a number of villages being destroyed, causing death to 252 persons and injuries to 150 more, and leaving large numbers destitute of food and shelter. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.19
-An extraordinary quantity of wheat has been need as food for live stock in the United States during the past winter, owing to its cheapness. The results are said to have been highly satisfactory. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.20
-A St. Petersburg doctor, for making a wrong diagnosis and unskilfully operating upon a lady patient, has been sentenced to a week’s imprisonment, and to pay 1,000 roubles down, and a yearly allowance of 300 roubles to the patient. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.21
-In remembrance of the plague of last year, fruit-growers in Cambridgeshire are waging a war of extermination against queen wasps, to prevent them forming nests. A price has been put upon their heads, a penny being paid for every dead wasp. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.22
-The anarchist Polti who was recently arrested in London, said that pie had intended to kill Inspector Melville and other officers, and place a bomb in the Royal Exchange with the view of destroying as many of the bourgeois and capitalist class as possible. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.23
-A project is on foot for establishing direct water communication between Kherson on the Black Sea and Riga on the Baltic, by way of the Dnieper to Orsha and the Dwina to Vitchsk, and cutting a canal between Orsha and Vitchsk. The cost of the work is estimated at ?3,000,000 sterling. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.24
-Since 1800 the number of those who speak the German language has increased from 30,000,000 to 70,000,000; the Russian started with the same figures and increased in about the same ratio: the French increased from 30,000,000 to 50,000,000, while the English, starting with less than 20,000,000 has grown to 125,000,000. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.25
-The final results of the general elections for the Dutch Second Chamber have been received from ninety-seven out of 100 districts. The party opposed to the Premier, Dr. Tak van Poortvliet, has gained an unexpectedly decisive victory, having obtained fifty-five seats against forty-two secured by the Government. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.26
-Reports received at Columbus (Ohio) allow that the strike of coal and coke workers has affected 8,000 men in Alabama, 5,000 in Tennessee and Kentucky, 2,000 in West Virginia, 5,000 in Indiana, 28,000 in Ohio, 26,00 in Illinois, 1,800 in Iowa, 2,000 in Indian Territory, 1,800 in Missouri, 50,000 in Pennsylvania, and Michigan. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.27
-It is announced that a great strike has been declared in the district of Plotrkow, a great industrial centre in Russian Poland, situated on the German frontier. The miners, ironworkers, and men employed in other industries, have all joined the movement, demanding shorter hours of labour and increased pay. Troops have been sent to the strike centre. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.28
-A telegram from Moscow announces that the extensive Burlly Weaving Mills at Ivanovo-Vosnessansk were almost completely destroyed by fire on the night of the 22nd. Ten persons perished in the flames. Owing to the disaster some 1,200 workmen are thrown out of employment. Property to the estimated value of 1,750,000 roubles was destroyed. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.29
-The tunnel which carries the Colorado Midland Railway through the Rocky Mountains, at Hagerman Pass has just been completed. The tunnel is close upon two miles long, and it is bored through solid gray granite. Its completion involved three years and twenty days’ work, each day comprising twenty working hours. The tunnel is 10,890ft. above the sea level. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.30
-Serious agrarian riots have taken place at Hodmezö-Vasarhely, in Hungary, owing to a dispute between the labourers and the landlords, who mostly belong to the nobility, consequent on the refusal of the latter to grant an increase of wages and a reduction of hours. Finally the rioters came into collision with the troops, sixty of the former being wounded and one killed. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.31
-Cholera has made its appearance in Lemberg, Galicia, and “cholerine” is raging in Lisbon, Portugal, where there were recently 104 cases and three deaths in twenty-four hours. At the Spanish frontier stations of Valencia, Alcantara, Badajoz, and Tuy, stoves have been erected far the disinfection of the clothing of persons arriving from Portugal. Strict watch is also kept upon the whole of the Portuguese frontier. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.32
-Jabez Balfour having obtained a medical certificate that his health would not permit him to remain longer in prison, a judge in Argentina has authorised his removal to a private house, where he is now kept prisoner, pending the decision respecting his extradition. Balfour’s lady friend has rejoined him, and is said to be well provided with money. The press being on his side, his escape is regarded as certain. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.33
-The conveyance of messages by pigeons will, in the opinion of experts, form an important feature in the naval war of the future. Some of the Whale Island birds were tried when the Hero was at Portland, and they all made the flight in remarkably quick time. As a result, a homing establishment has been formed at Plymouth in addition to that at Portsmouth. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.34
-The Welsh Disestablishment Bill has at last been introduced by Mr. Asquith into Parliament, accompanied with an interesting speech from that official. It fixes Jan. 1, 1806, as the date of commencement of its operation, allows full compensation for life interests of incumbents, and provides for the retention of fabrics of churches, parsonages, chattels, etc., in the hands of the disestablished sect; the nationalisation of cathedrals; glebes and burial-grounds for the parish; permanent concessions; and for disestablishment by it slow process, not complete till the death, or retirement under the annuity, of all the present incumbents. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.35
-Telegrams from America indicate that the national authorities are becoming apprehensive as to the progress of the Coxeyite movement. Instructions have been sent to various local officials to employ State troops to prevent the mob from obtaining possession of railway trains. Collisions have already occurred between the Coxeyites and the police at several places. Fresh bands of men, however, continue to be formed all over the country, although the prospect if any considerable number of them reaching Washington seems to be becoming more remote, and dissensions are reported from some of the Coxeyite camps. Mr. Coxey is said to have organised the movement with a view to getting himself nominated as Populist candidate for the Presidency. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 286.36
“Back Page” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
To meet the call made for the article, “The Sin of Witchcraft,” which appeared in this paper a few weeks ago, the matter has been reprinted as a tract. See the announcement on the preceding page. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.1
Raising snails for the market is becoming a profitable industry in America. The most of the snails consumed as yet, however, come from France and Switzerland, where snail farming is said to be a great deal more lucrative than wheat growing in England. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.2
The Roman Catholic authorities have just decided that Joan of Arc is henceforth to be known as “Venerable.” Inasmuch as the Maid of Orleans was born nearly four hundred years ago, she might and doubtless would have been called venerable, by general consent, two or three centuries ago, if she had only been alive; but since she was murdered when she was twenty years old, the ceremony which took place in Notre Dame, Paris, was but a ridiculous farce. “The dead know not anything,” yet people in this “enlightened” age continue to pray to them. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.3
It is stated positively that the German Emperor has submitted a scheme of disarmament but only to the King of Italy, and the Emperor Francis Joseph, but also to the Czar. A conference was to be called by the Czar, to meet in St. Petersburg, but the Czar declined. “M. Barthelemy Saint Hilaire declares in an interview that the first appeal in favour of disarmament must come in general terms from the Pope. The influence of the Vatican and its hierarchy would be sufficient to engender an instinct of peace among nations, which might bring them to the threshold of disarmament.” Really, the Pope seems to have become already the biggest man in Europe. How long will it be before the old man of the Vatican will be dictating the policy of the different nations? PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.4
One of the anarchists (an Italian) recently arrested in London for manufacturing dynamite bombs, said that he meant to use the bomb at the Royal Exchange. When asked by the police why Italians should come here to do such things, he said:— PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.5
England is the richest country, and at the Royal Exchange there would be more rich people together than at any other place. I would have thrown my bomb and escaped if I could; if not I should have been taken. I am taken now, but I should have blown up a good number of the bourgeois and capitalists in the exchange. It would only be execution for them after all. We do not ask English people to come to Italy every year. Yet they come with the money made by the workers here. For us there is no frontier. The bourgeois are the same all the world over. Riches means robbery. If I have failed, others will take my place. One or two have failed, but the third will succeed. I have no religion, but am set upon carrying out my idea. If we do not succeed by one method we will adopt others, but succeed we shall, and in two or three years there will not be a Government in existence either here or elsewhere. This is my religion. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.6
The Church Family Newspaper speaks as follows on the point of the popularity of Easter as a season for holiday making:— PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.7
Its popularity goes far back into the history of England; for, before our Saxon ancestors were converted to Christianity, they were in the habit of keeping high festival at this time of year in honour of Oster, the goddess of the Spring. The Church, when it got the upper hand, substituted the Festival of the Resurrection, and gave a mistaken interpretation to those feelings and beliefs about the “revival of nature,” which Paganism had connected with the season of bud and blossom. And herein, we think, is to be found the explanation of the holiday-making and excursion-taking which we have noted as so specially characteristic of Easter rejoicing. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.8
That is the exact truth; it shows that the Easter festival is essentially Pagan, and that the presence in the professed church of Christ is due to that spirit of compromise which led the church to adopt the heathen customs and ceremonies, in order to swell the conquests of the church, thinking to make ample amends by giving a mystical interpretation to those customs. By so doing they made “Christians” of the heathen, but they also made Christianity appear to be only an adaptation of Paganism. But true Christianity is not in any way allied with Paganism. It is not the reform or remodeling of Paganism, since the temple of God has no agreement with idols. What an anomaly it is, that a form of Christianity that is based on Paganism should set about trying to convert the heathen. “Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?” PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.9
“Force a Failure” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
Force a Failure.-The writer of a series of papers on “The Peoples of Europe” in the Leisure Hour, deals with Germany in the April number. One paragraph shows how futile it is to try to make people religious by official interference and legal enactment:— PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.10
Notwithstanding all the Emperor’s efforts, a religious spirit has not grown up in Germany; it is still the land of freethought or religious indifference. Since Sunday closing has been made obligatory, the public-houses are now more frequented-that is the only difference. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.11
“The Opium Revenue” The Present Truth 10, 18.
E. J. Waggoner
The Opium Revenue.-The immense sum which is obtained in revenue from the opium traffic has been, of course, the only reason why this trade has been cultivated and encouraged by successive Governments, and why wars have been fought to gain an entrance for the drug into China. But the revenue derived from a vice encouraged is a staff that is sure to pierce the hand that leans upon it. The revenue in every land from beer and spirits is far less than is required to partially relieve the misery and poverty caused by drink, and to take care of the criminals who are led into crime by intemperance. So the testimony of those who know is that the opium habit is demoralising the habitual users of the drug, and is impoverishing them. And now the revenue is going down. According to statistics just published, the opium revenue is now sixty million rupees, while ten years ago it was eighty million. And yet the use of the drug increases. The market value has gone down because China is self-supplying in the interior, and even exporting to Siam and other states, while Persia is competing successfully for the coast trade. Meanwhile the wealth-producing capacity of all these peoples is being reduced by the curse. PTUK May 3, 1894, page 288.12