The Present Truth, vol. 10
June 14, 1894
“Front Page” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord.” Isaiah 55:7. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 369.1
What is the necessity for this?—“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 369.2
“Didn’t Think” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Didn’t Think.-When reminded of the performance of some misdeed which comes very naturally to us, we are prone to excuse ourselves with the statement, “I didn’t think.” That is a mistake. True, we did not think of the right thing; but our performance of the deed was due to the fact that our thoughts were unconsciously running in that channel. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Matthew 12:34. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7. If a man did not think evil, he would not do evil. No man ever yet committed a sin that he had never thought about. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 369.3
Right Thoughts.-But we cannot cease thinking. God does not wish us to, for He has given us brains with which to think. The secret of right doing is right thinking. If we could always think of the right, we should never do the wrong. But how shall we think of that which is right?—Here is the answer that the Lord gives: “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts.” Hebrews 8:10. The holy, just, and good law of God in the mind will insure our thinking upon “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report.” And with these thoughts in the mind, the actions will correspond. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 369.4
Controlling the Thoughts.—“It is easy enough to say that if we had right thoughts we should act rightly; but that is only putting the difficulty one step farther back; how can we think of what we ought?” The promise in the new covenant tells us, “I will put My laws in their mind,” says the Lord. He alone can do it. Give Him the ordering of your ways, and He will give you right thoughts. “Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.” Proverbs 16:3. The Spirit of God can do that which is impossible for man. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 369.5
“Elements of Faith” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Elements of Faith.-To have faith is to believe God’s word; not merely a part of it, but all of it, so far as the individual has heard it. It is to believe not only that God is, and that He rewards them that seek Him, but also that we ourselves are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:17. Unless we believe this, our faith will lack one essential element, namely, a deep, earnest longing for God’s help. God gives to people in proportion to the earnestness of their desire; and the reason why people who seem to approach God and petition Him intelligently do not receive more from Him, is simply that they do not want it badly enough. It was the poor helpless woman who suffered for years and spent all her living upon physicians in vain efforts to find relief,—she it was who obtained immediate help when she touched the hem of Christ’s garment, while the multitude who thronged Him, feeling no need of His help, received nothing. It is earnest, importunate faith that prevails. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 369.6
“The Promise of His Coming” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Our Lord had been on earth among men for several years. He had gathered about Him a little band of disciples who loved Him. Their eyes had seen Him, and their hands had handled Him, and they had walked and talked with Him as with a friend. His kindness and love had bound them to Him. And now He tells them that He is going away. He had previously told the unbelieving Jews that He was going away, and that they should die in their sins, and could not follow Him. That caused His disciples no trouble because they believed on Him, and He surely would take them with Him wherever He went. But no; unto them also He said, “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek Me; and as I said unto the Jews; whither I go ye cannot come; so now I say to you.” John 13:33. What wonder that the disciples were sorely troubled at this announcement. But it is not in the heart of the loving Saviour to cause His children pain. “Though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.” Lamentations 3:32. So He said to them:— PTUK June 14, 1894, page 369.7
“Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 370.1
This promise is as sure as the word of God; and the word of God is a sure as His throne. We know that Christ was once here upon earth; therefore we may know that just so surely will He come again. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.1
“I will come again.” That means “another time,” “once more.” When He was here before, that was His first coming. So when He comes once more, that will be His second coming. That is what we are plainly told by the apostle, in words almost identical with those of the Saviour: “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:28. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.2
A thousand texts could not make the matter any plainer, that Christ will certainly come again. Therefore as it is certain that no one is a believer on Christ unless he believes all the words of Christ, there cannot be the slightest doubt but that every believer in Christ must believe in His second coming. And every lover of the Lord must look for and love His appearing. To such, a crown of glory is promised at His coming. 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.3
The doctrine of the Lord’s coming, therefore, and the thought that it is very near, is not a thing with which to frighten people. Of course those who do not love the presence of Christ’s representative, will be troubled at the thought of His appearing. But the fact is, that the Holy Spirit is only “another Comforter,” and that Christ is the Comforter. The thought of His coming is therefore a comfort to His followers. “The glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” is the “blessed hope” that cheers His disciples in this present evil world. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.4
“A Personal, Visible Coming” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
We have the promise of the Saviour that He will come again, the second time. The question now is, How will He come? So long a time has passed since He was here before, that many have entertained the idea that the coming of Christ is the same as the death of His saints. They think that He comes whenever a saint dies. A moment’s thought should be sufficient to show us that this cannot be true, because in that case there would be many comings of the Lord, whereas the Scriptures speak only of His second coming. Other proofs may be given, to show that the second coming of Christ has no connection whatever with the death of good people; but at present we will be content with reading the exact manner of His coming. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.5
We turn to the record of the ascension of Christ, and we find that He led His disciples out as far as Bethany, “and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” Luke 24:50, 51. “While they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they look steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.6
They saw Him go up bodily into heaven; He will come in like manner as they saw Him go up; therefore He will come in person, so that He can be seen. This is what we read in Revelation 1:7: “Behold He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him.” There will be no doubt or uncertainty about the matter when He comes. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.7
Read again the words of the Apostle Paul, who wrote just what he had received from the Lord Himself: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede, or go before] them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 16. There will be no mistaking that event. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.8
Compare with this last text the words of the fiftieth Psalm, verse 3: “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him.” It is the same testimony. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.9
Again our Lord tells us how clearly His coming will be seen by all living on the earth. If someone shall say that Christ has already come, and gone away again, or that He is in some secret place, we are not to believe him. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:27. No one on the earth can be ignorant of that grand event when it takes place. Therefore we are assured that Christ’s coming has not yet occurred, but that it is still future, an object of hope to all who love Him. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.10
“Receiving His People” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
We know from Christ’s own promise that He will come again, and we also know from the infallible word that His second coming will be as real and as personal as was His first advent, although with infinitely more glory. But why is He coming? what is the necessity for it? There must certainly be a necessity for it, because the Lord does not trifle; and so we ask, What is the object of the second coming of the Lord? We have only to listen attentively to the words of Christ, to know exactly why it is necessary for Him to come to this earth again. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.11
Turning to His promise, we read, “I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.12
Why is He coming?—To receive His children unto Himself. What for?—In order that where He is, there they may be also. What then is the inevitable conclusion?—That Christ’s people cannot be with Him until He comes the second time. They cannot be with Him in any other way than by His coming to take them to Himself. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.13
If the promise of Christ were heeded as much as it should be, there would be no uncertainty as to the state of the dead, and the way and the time of the saints’ going to be with their Saviour. They are asleep, and cannot be with the Lord until, with the righteous living, they are caught up to meet Him when He comes the second time. Read what the Apostle Paul says by the word of the Lord:— PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.14
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.15
What has become of all those who have died in faith in Christ?—They are asleep. “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39, 40. They are not with the Lord, and cannot be until He comes to awaken them. To say that departed saints are with Christ now, is virtually to deny the promise of Christ, that He will come again for the purpose of receiving His people to Himself. For if they were with Him now, there would be no necessity for Him to come to receive them. But Christ does not utter nonsense. He said that He would come, and for the sole purpose of receiving His people to Himself. Therefore it is just as certain as the words of Christ, that Christ’s people cannot be with Him until His second coming, which is still future. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.16
Once more we read the plain statement of the Scriptures: “Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.17
With these statements in mind, we can understand why the coming of the Lord is called a “blessed hope.” It is the time when “His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.” It is the time when His people shall be like Him, for they shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:2. It is the means by which they may be with Him whom having not seen they love. It is the only way by which they can see Him and be with Him. Therefore it is the object of their intense longing. In this world they are oppressed, but the Divine encouragement is, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:7, 8. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.18
“Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God.” Isaiah 40:1. The message of comfort is that the Lord is coming. It is the one thing with which mourners are to be comforted. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” Let no one presume to offer anything else as comfort than that given by “the God of all comfort.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.19
“‘The Times of Restitution’” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Although the promise of the coming of Christ is written on almost every page of the Bible, the Apostle Peter, tells us that “there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” 2 Peter 3:3, 4. Those who do not love the coming of the Lord, do not look for it, and those who do not look for it, soon cease to understand even the plainest signs of its approach. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.20
But it is not a fact that all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. When God had finished creation, He “saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31. He put all things in subjection under the feet of man. But sin entered, and the earth was cursed for man’s sake (Genesis 3:17), and “now we see not yet all things put under him.” Hebrews 2:8. “The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, and the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath a curse devoured the earth.” Isaiah 24:4-7. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 371.21
In the first chapter of Hebrews we read the words of the Father to the Son: “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thy hands; they shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.” Verses 10-12. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.1
So we are told that those who say that all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation, overlook the fact of the flood, which once destroyed the earth, and that the same word which created the earth in the beginning, which pronounced the curse upon it, and brought the flood which destroyed it, has declared that it shall again be destroyed by fire. “The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:12, 13. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.2
When will this be?—It will be at the coming of the day of the Lord. It will be at the second advent, for the coming of the Lord and the end of the world are placed together. Matthew 24:3. It is at the coming of the Lord that He sends His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, “and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Verse 31. And the Saviour further says that in the end of this world “the Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Matthew 13:40-43. Then will all things be as they were in the creation, and so will they continue throughout all eternity. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.3
But notice this thing, namely, that all this takes place at the second advent of Christ. We learn from the Scriptures that when the Lord comes it is for the purpose of taking His people to Himself. It is the second advent. And they also tell us that He will not come from heaven until the time for the restoration of all things. “And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets, since the world began.” Acts 3:20, 21. This allows no place for a secret coming of the Lord, to take from this earth a few of His people, leaving the earth and the remainder of the inhabitants just as they were before. The first advent was not a secret affair. “This thing was not done in a corner.” Even so, and much more so will the second coming be. It will be as much more loudly heralded than the first, as its glory will exceed that of the first. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.4
“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare His righteousness; for God is judge Himself.” Psalm 50:3-6. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.5
“The Close of Probation” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:27, 28. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.6
A thousand theories about the future probation might be written, but they could never shake the simple statement made in these two verses. The statement is so clear that no one need misunderstand it. As it is appointed unto men once to die, so there will be only one more coming of the Lord. That will be His second coming. The judgment is in connection with the second coming of Christ, for we read, that He “shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.” 2 Timothy 4:1. And again, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.” Psalm 96:11-13. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.7
The judgment at the coming of the Lord will include all nations. See Matthew 25:32. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the books, according to their works.” “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.” Revelation 20:12, 13. Thus we see that there will not be a man who has ever lived on this earth, who will not be judged at the second coming of the Lord. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.8
And that coming and that judgment will mark the close of the probation of every man. Of course the probation of many will have closed long before, at death; but there will never be any more probation for any man after the coming of the Lord. Read again what the text says: “Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.9
“Without sin.” What does that mean?—It means just what it says. Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:24. The sins of the whole world were upon Him; for He tasted death for every man. Hebrews 2:9. He still bears the sins of men, for we may see Him set forth crucified before us. Galatians 3:1. “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” 1 Corinthians 5:7. “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” is to be the theme of every Gospel preacher. So long as He bears sins, a guilty man may come and lay all their sins upon Him, and be relieved of the heavy load. So long there is hope for men. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.10
But when He comes the second time it will be “without sin.” There will be no more sacrifice for sins. His work will have been completed, and His coming will be preceded by the words, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust sill; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:11, 12. There will then be two great classes: those who have accepted the Lord, and have been cleansed from all sin; and those who have rejected Christ, and chose to bear their own sins, accounting that their own ways are right. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.11
Christ was once offered. He “offered one sacrifice for sins for ever.” Hebrews 10:12. He will never offer Himself again. “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. Now the case is very simple. Christ was once offered to bear sins. It is only as men lay their sins on Him, that there is any hope for them. There is no other one by whom men may be saved. But when He comes the second time, He will not bear anybody’s sins. Therefore it follows that when the Lord comes the second time there will be no more probation for any creature under heaven. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.12
That coming will be for one particular purpose, namely, to gather to Himself His faithful followers. He will say, “Gather My saints together unto Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” All who have accepted His sacrifice will then be changed and caught up to meet Him in the air; “and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 372.13
“The Lord Helps in Little Things” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Have you ever thought that the Lord helps people only when they are in some dreadful calamity or affliction? Very many think that the common everyday sort of trials that come must be borne without any special help from God; for can we not worry through them ourselves in one way or another? PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.1
It is expected that in a trial so deep that it is not in human flesh to endure it, the Lord will put His strength upon the sufferer. But there are many Christians who struggle on under little discouragements and burdens and perplexities that they know they can endure, without rolling the little things upon the Lord and finding joy in them. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.2
The Lord is so great that He can regard little things. You remember that when the sons of the prophets in the days of Elisha (2 Kings 6.) went out to cut down trees for their house, one of them lost his axe. It fell into the river. An axe is not such a valuable possession, though doubtless more costly in those days than now; but to a poor man with only a little, that little is his all. In this case, too, the axe was not his own, and he cried, “Alas, master! for it was borrowed.” The Lord relieved the poor man’s anxiety by causing the iron to float upon the water, and the man put out his hand and took it up. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.3
Is there not encouragement in this story to go to the Lord with the little things, and let Him help to bear them? To a rich man a matter of a few shillings may not be worth a thought. But to one who is struggling to earn his daily bread by honest toil, these little things become great. Believe that the Lord is so interested in His children’s welfare that He longs to help in the small perplexities, and you have the secret of a happy life. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.4
The Lord is a great deal nearer to men than many think. In Him they “live and move,” as Paul says. Every motion that we make in going about our work is actually by the strength which the Lord gives. He sustains us physically for our duties, and He is so near that He knows the slightest burden that rests upon the tired worker. He not only knows, but He asks us to cast that burden upon Him. Try it in the common work and little troubles of life, and you will find the rest that He promises. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.5
“The Scribes and the Scriptures” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
At the first advent of Christ, the scribes were saying that He could not come until a certain event had taken place. This is shown by the question of the disciples as they came down from the mount of transfiguration: “Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?” Matthew 17:10; Mark 9:11. In our own day, while we are waiting for Christ’s second advent, in power and glory, we find this history repeated. The scribes-or those who occupy the seats of authority and learning in the church-are saying that certain events must occur before Christ can come again; and their sayings are largely believed. The millennium, say they, must come first, or, the Jews must first return to their ancient land and inhabit it as of old. By this means the attention of vast numbers is largely diverted from the thought of Christ’s second advent. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.6
The scribes based their assertions upon the Scriptures; for the prophecy had foretold the coming of Elias before the day of the Lord, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and of the children to the fathers. Malachi 4:4. Predictions made to-day are likewise professedly based upon Scriptures; and as the people are generally but little acquainted with the inspired word, they are quite ready to believe that the popular theories regarding the millennium and the return of the Jews are somewhere and somehow supported by Scripture; especially as it makes no particular difference to them how either event is ushered in. The current theories concerning them are but palliatives to soothe and lull to sleep those who ought to be aroused and stirred to earnest action over the prospect of their Lord’s return. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.7
The reckoning of the scribes was wrong; for the Saviour said, “Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed.” “Then,” we read, “the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist.” Matthew 17:12, 13. Nor are the scribes of our day any nearer the truth in their theories of what must occur before the coming of Christ. But as long as people are content to know so little of the word of God, they cannot avoid falling into all manner of spiritual deceptions. The only safety for any individual in this respect lies in studying and knowing that word for himself. The student of Scripture must search deeply and thoroughly into his subject if he would be made wise unto salvation. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.8
The Lord says it is for lack of knowledge that His people perish. Hosea 4:6. And the knowledge which they lack is the knowledge of His word. Without that word they are without a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path (Psalm 119:105), and that they should miss the way is inevitable. That word is the revelation of Jesus Christ, who is “the true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” 1 John 1:9. But there are many false lights, and he who has not the true light will inevitably be attracted to one of them, and thus be led astray. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.9
The important question for each of us is not, Why say the scribes this or that? but “What saith the Scriptures?” The Scripture is for us as well as for them. The Holy Spirit, the Guide into all truth, is free to all who ask for it in faith. But the tendency of the age is against prayerful and reverent study of the word of God. A great deal is written to criticise the word, but little or nothing to urge upon people the necessity of knowing what it says. The Christian must not allow himself to drift with the current, but must set his face steadfastly against all worldly and atheistic sentiments, whether coming from the publicans or the scribes. “What saith the Scriptures?” If you would enter into life, you must be able to answer this question. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.10
“Under the Curse” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
To those who are looking for the second coming of our Lord, according to the promise, the world is full of signs which indicate that His return is near, “even at the doors.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.1
The unsettled state of the whole world, and the Spirit of unrest and strife is causing men of the world anxiety. The business and financial depression that have troubled every civilised country are a symptom in the case. The militarism of the Old World shows that there is utter lack of confidence in one another among the nations. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.2
Jesus said that just before the end there would be “upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth.” Luke 21:25, 26. The distress and perplexity are apparent, and the situation grows more complex. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.3
The curse of militarism has strained the resources of all Europe to the verge of bankruptcy; but the danger of war has led every nation to go on and on, though peace and disarmament are talked about. Now a new reason is urged for keeping up the military system. Public Opinion says:— PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.4
The leading Austrian journal, Pester Lloyd, has published a series of articles in defence of the military policy of the European Governments. It begins by inquiring what would be the condition of the Europe of to-day without its great armies, and what would be the position of justice, freedom, and progress. There is, it says, a hatred of things as they are in millions of souls over the world, and if it were not for militarism that hatred would seize the weapons of destruction and lay the existing order of society in ruins, together with all the gains of thousands of years of progress. Nihilism, Social Revolution, Anarchism, and Fenianism are but the changing phenomena of one disease of our time-namely, the blind resistance of huge masses to civilisation. Without its enormous armies, Europe would fall a helpless prey to this revolutionary impulse. Dynamite would be the dictator of the world. The bombs are silent only so long as they fear the repeating-rifle. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.5
As it was in the days of Noah, so now, as the Lord said it would be, the land is filled with violence. The flood then destroyed the earth. By the same word, we are told, the heavens and the earth which are now “are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:7. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.6
“The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath a curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” Isaiah 24:4-6. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.7
The curse is sin. The curse came because man disregarded God’s authority, and thought He did not mean exactly what He said. Man deviated just a trifle from God’s command-but that deviation was a lawless denial of God’s authority. The curse has continued to devour the earth from that day to this, and the spirit of lawlessness has ruled the world. It is not surprising that as the end of all things approaches, this spirit should lead to such a state of society as we are forced to consider to-day. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.8
The work for every believer is to stand loyally by God’s word, His law, His ordinances, and His everlasting covenant, the Gospel. The ruin is coming, and the day of final reckoning is approaching; but that is the day of final salvation to those that believe. So the darker the picture presented by the world, the more earnestly every child of God should be working to save the lost and perishing. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.9
“The Meanest Side of Human Nature” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Did you ever have the experience of giving to one in need, and continuing to do so until no longer possible to keep it up, and then finding that what you had done only made the individual feel that you were under special obligations to him, and had grievously wronged him when your benefactions ceased? PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.10
It is an experience which reveals the darkest side of human nature. Yet so weak is human nature that nearly every one who has had anything to do with business management, and with all sorts and conditions of men, knows something about it. Instead of thankfulness for favours received, which perhaps required real self-denial on the part of the giver, the recipient shows only hatred when the favours cease. It is only the bestial and brutal in depraved natures that wounds the hand that blesses, and knows no such sentiment as thankfulness. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.11
When one feels depressed over such an experience, it is a good time to think about the favours which the Lord has granted to all men. He has given us “life, and breath, and all things,” and yet sometimes we have taken these things as our due, by justice, and have not thanked the Lord from the very soul for these common blessings which come so bountifully. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.12
Really, the Lord has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3); “the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11); but all men will not take what is brought to them, and men are often so faithless that they do not believe that all blessings have been given; and so they take from the Lord continually, without thankfulness, and at every trial or misfortune are ready to charge God with injustice. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.13
Unthankfulness is a great sin. It was because man glorified not God, “neither were thankful,” when they knew Him, that the world went into heathenism. Romans 1:21-25. The same unthankfulness changes professed Christians into actual unbelievers. In these cultured days men do not always give up the profession, the form; but the person who receives life and all things from God, and takes them without thanksgiving as a matter of course, is just as much a heathen as the man who does the same thing without the profession. It is unspeakably mean for a man to treat another man in this unthankful manner. Is it not unspeakably mean for man to treat the Lord in the same manner when He has given His “unspeakable gift”? PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.14
“A Mistaken Zeal” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
A Mistaken Zeal.-When certain Samaritans refused to give Jesus and His disciples lodging, James and John said to Him, “Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But He turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.” Luke 9:54-56. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.15
The two disciples thought that they were prompted by zeal for the Lord. But He gave them to understand that He did not countenance such actions. He came to save men’s lives, not to destroy them. Hence it follows that the putting of men to death, for either their opinions or their practices, even though done professedly in the name of Christ, has been only of the devil. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.16
It is quite likely that there was as much personal resentment in the proposal of the disciples, as there was zeal for the Master. It is very easy for men to dignify their selfishness and intolerance with the name of Christian zeal. There has never been a time of persecution in this world, when the greater portion of it was not the gratification of personal malice. If the men had been acquainted with Christ, in whose name they professed to act, they would not have sought to punish others for not agreeing with them. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 373.17
“The Christian Home” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
The Scriptures open to us very little of the child-life of Moses, but we know that the faith of godly parents dedicated him to the service of God in infancy, and that the wise-hearted training and instruction at his mother’s knee prepared him, under God, to withstand the temptations of the royal court of Egypt, and become the deliverer of his people. The first impressions and influences of childhood-how powerful for good or for evil! The simple annals of many a humble home, if laid before our eyes, would show in the care of a quiet, Christian mother, and the counsel and example of a praying father, the spring of the good that has flowed out to bless hundreds and thousands through the efforts of devoted sons and daughters. Well may it be said that the hand of Susanna Wesley, the mother of the Wesleys, rings the bells of the Methodist chapels around the world. And if we should ask the source of the marvellous missionary activity of the early Moravians-and to-day one in every sixty-five of their adult members is labouring as a missionary-we should find it in those little Hernhut home-circles, where the children daily breathed in the holy inspiration of the missionary cause. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 377.1
A beautiful and inspiring picture of a Christian home, where missionaries were trained for the work of Christ, is given in the autobiography of that devoted man, John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides. His father, it is said, “had a strong desire to be a minister of the Gospel; but when he finally saw that God’s will had marked out for him another lot, he reconciled himself by entering with his whole soul into this solemn vow,—that if God gave him sons, he would consecrate them unreservedly to the ministry of Christ, if the Lord saw fit to accept the offering, and open up their way.” His offering was accepted, and he lived to see three of his sons engaged in the ministry. It will do us good to follow the writer into that Scottish cottage in the village of Torthorwald. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 377.2
“Our home consisted of a ‘but’ and a ‘ben’ and a ‘mid-room’ or chamber, called the ‘closet.’ The one end was my mother’s domain, and served all the purposes of dining-room and kitchen and parlour.... The other end was my father’s workshop, filled with five or six ‘stocking frames,’ whirring with a constant action of five or six pairs of busy hands and feet, and producing right genuine hosiery for the merchants of Hawick and Dumfries. The ‘closet’ was a very small apartment betwixt the other two, having room only for a bed, a little table, and a chair, with a diminutive window shedding diminutive light on the scene. This was the sanctuary of that cottage home. Thither daily, and oftentimes a day, generally after each meal, we saw our father retired, and ‘shut the door;’ and we children got to understand by a sort of spiritual instinct (for the thing was too sacred to be talked about) that prayers were being poured out there for us, as of old by the high priest within the veil of the most holy place. We occasionally heard the pathetic echoes of a trembling voice pleading as if for life, and we learned to slip out and in past that door on tiptoe, not to disturb the holy colloquy. The outside world might not know, but we knew, whence came that happy light as a new-born smile that always was dawning on my father’s face; it was a reflection from the Divine Presence, in the consciousness of which he lived. Never, in temple or cathedral, on mountain or in glen, can I hope to feel that the Lord is more near, more visibly walking and talking with men, than under that humble cottage roof of thatch and oaken wattles. Though everything else in religion or by some unsinkable catastrophe to be swept out of memory or blotted from my understanding, my soul would wander back to those early scenes, and shut itself up once again in that sanctuary closet, and, hearing the echoes of those cries to God, would hurl back all doubt with the victorious appeal, ‘He walked with God, why may not I?’” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 377.3
Then there was also “that blessed custom of family prayer, morning and evening, which my father practiced probably without one single omission till he lay on his death-bed, seventy-seven years of age; when, even at the last day of his life, a portion of Scripture was read, and his voice was heard softly joining in the psalm, and his lips breathed the morning and evening prayer, falling in sweet benediction on the heads of all his children, far away, many of them, all over the earth, but all meeting him there at the throne of grace. None of us can remember that any day ever passed unhallowed thus: no hurrying for market, no rush to business, no arrival of friends or guests, no trouble or sorrow, no joy or excitement, ever prevented at least our kneeling around the family altar, while the high priest led our prayers to God, and offered himself and his children there. And blessed to others, as well as to ourselves, was the light of such example. I have heard that, in long after years, the worst woman in the village of Thorthorwald, then leading an immoral life, but since changed by the grace of God, was known to declare that the only thing that kept her from despair and hell of suicide, was when in the dark winter nights she crept close up underneath my father’s window, and heard him pleading in family worship that God would convert ‘the sinner from the error of wicked ways, and polish him as a jewel for the Redeemer’s crown.’ ‘I felt,’ she said, ‘that I was a burden on that good man’s heart, and I knew that God would not disappoint him.’” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 377.4
Before the age of twelve, young John Paton had resolved to be a missionary, or a minister of the Gospel; and as he wrought at the frames of his father’s work-shop from six in the morning till ten at night, he used the spare moments at meal hours for study. “How much my father’s prayers at this time impressed me,” he said, “I cannot explain, nor could any stranger understand. When, on his knees, and all of us round him in family worship, he poured out his soul with tears for the conversion of the heathen world to the service of Jesus, and for every personal and domestic need, we all felt as if in the presence of the living Saviour, and learned to know and love Him as our Divine Friend. As we rose from our knees, I used to look at the light on my father’s face, and wish I were like him in spirit, hoping that, in answer to his prayers, I might be privileged to carry the blessed Gospel to some portion of the heathen world.” Not less powerful in that cottage home was the work of “that noble mother of ours, whose high spirit, side by side with her humble and gracious piety, made us, under God, what we are to-day.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 377.5
“The very discipline through which our father passed us was a kind of religion itself. If anything really serious required to be punished, he retired first to his closet for prayer, and we boys got to understand that he was laying the whole matter before God; and that was the severest part of the punishment for me to bear. I could have defied any amount of mere penalty, but this spoke to my conscience as a message from God. We loved him all the more, when we saw how much it cost him to punish us; and, in truth, he had never very much of that kind of work to do upon any one of all the eleven-we were ruled by love far more than by fear.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 378.1
We cannot follow the story of his father’s life further in the sketch. “His happy partner, ‘Wee Jen,’ died in 1865, and he himself in 1868, having reached his seventy-seventh year, an altogether beautiful and noble episode of its existence having been enacted, amid the humblest surroundings of a Scottish peasant’s home, through the influence of their united love by the grace of God; and in this world, or in the world, all their children will rise up at mention of their names and call them blessed.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 378.2
As we read this loving tribute of a great missionary to his parents’ life and training, we do not wonder that he should say that his father’s life is much more worthy, in many ways, of being written than his own. The beauty and the power of the Christian home is the same, whether in the little village nestling among the Scottish hills, or in our own bustling cities. Wherever such homes exist, there we shall find a very gate of heaven, and a recruiting station for the church and the mission field. And when the happy parent can meet his Lord with the words, “Behold I and the children which God hath given me,” he will also enter into the labours and the joys of those who, around the hearth-stone, were trained to be loyal soldiers of the cross. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 378.3
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
-London has 15,000 policemen and 15,000 public-houses, but only 6,000 teachers. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.1
-A scientist declares that a cubic inch of air in the London streets contained 1,640,000 particles. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.2
-The town of Yahualica, in Mexico, was destroyed by a terrible storm on Juno 3, ten persons being killed and others injured. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.3
-A play is to be performed in New York and heard in a London theatre through the telephone, and seen through the kinetoscope. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.4
-The floods on the Fraser River, British Columbia, are reported to have assumed alarming proportions and to have caused an enormous destruction of property. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.5
-There has been a great falling off in the emigration from the United Kingdom this year, the number being 77,188, against 145,151 in the same five months of last year. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.6
-Women in Victoria are agitating for their “rights.” They have formed an organization “to obtain the Parliamentary franchise for women on the same terms as are applied to men.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.7
-A hundred years ago Benjamin Franklin bequeathed ?1,000 to an American city, which was to accumulate for a century. The sum now amounts to ?66,000, and will be expended in building a technical school. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.8
-The two British troopers charged with suppressing a message of submission from Lobengula, and appropriating a present of ?1,000 forwarded by the king, were found guilty at Buluwayo, and sentenced to fourteen years’ penal servitude. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.9
-A logan-stone, larger than the one at Land’s End, has been discovered on the island of St. Mary’s, Scilly. It is 21ft. high, 55ft. in circumference, and weighs 313 tons. The stone is so nicely poised that one person can easily put it in motion. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.10
-Three large houses at St. Johns, New Brunswick, were, destroyed by fire, June 3. The loss is estimated at $250,000, of which $130,000 is covered by insurance. A fire at Ottumwa, Iowa, on the same day destroyed property valued at $225,000. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.11
-Reports received at Berlin from Myslowitz, on the Russian frontier, announce that the number of cholera patients has increased to such an extent that the lazaretto at that place is overcrowded, and huts have been erected for the reception of invalids. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.12
-It is estimated by some experts who have considered the question, that the cost of constructing a railway from Mombasa to the shores of Lake Victoria Nyanza would probably exceed four millions sterling. The ground is extremely difficult, and the highest point on the route is about 8,000 feet above the sea. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.13
-According to advises from Salvador, received in Panama, the Government troops, under General Antonio Ezeta, the President’s brother, have been defeated in a battle against the rebels in Santa Ana, and 600 were killed, including the General himself. It is added that President Ezeta has resigned in favour of General Bonilla. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.14
-Details have been received at New York regarding the terrible railway accident which recently occurred in Salvador, and in which President Ezeta had a very narrow escape. It appears that President Ezeta, with 1,500 troops, started on the 3rd ult. to proceed by rail to the assistance of the Government troops operating against the rebels at Santa Ana. The insurgents, it is said, learning of the approach of these reinforcements, removed some of the rails on a steep gradient. The train, on reaching the spot, was completely wrecked, eight cars being telescoped. Two hundred of the troops were killed and 122 were injured. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.15
-Mr. H. H. Johnston, British Commissioner for Africa who has just arrived in England, fully confirms the news of the absolute defeat and submission of Makanjira, the slave-trading chief of Nyassaland. Mr. Johnston firmly believes that his surrender puts an cod to all the slave-trading in Nyassaland. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.16
-The United States Government has paid $1,000,000 to the Cherokee Indians for the surrender of territory, which was immediately visited by immense crowds of speculators, many of whom hoped to prey upon the Indians, each one of whom meekest; ?33 as his or her share. The territory had formed the hunting-grounds of the Cherokees for generations. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.17
-A strike of 50,000 colliers is threatened in Scotland. The masters have forced on them a reduction of wages. The men are about to take a ballot as to whether they will accept it. Last year they joined the Miners’ Federation. If they decide to accept the reduction, they will thereby cut themselves off from the Federation, which will support them if they stand out. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.18
-Advices received at Shanghai front Corea report that the rebellion in that country is becoming serious. Two thousand Chinese troops, who have been drilled by foreign officers, have been sent from Tientsin to suppress the rising. The British Fleet, according to Reuter’s Shanghai correspondent, is waiting at Port Hamilton, prepared to protect the foreign residents in Corea if necessary. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.19
-The insurrection in the province of Kirin, in Manchuria, China, has attained considerable dimensions. It arose from agrarian disputes between the Chinese colonists and the natives of the Mongol provinces. Mounted banditti, armed with repeating rifles, who have joined in the movement, have defeated the Imperial troops in every engagement, and have occupied several important positions, including Sarsing Arsenal, at Kirin, containing 100,000 stand of arms. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.20
-An alarming report has appeared in the Italian Secolo from the pen of Signor Colajanni, a Member of the Chamber of Deputies. He declares that he has received news, from Sicily that 30,000 miners are without bread, and threaten to set fire, to the crops, on the plea that if they are condemned to die of hunger they wish others to share their fate. Brigandage has assumed such proportions in the island that owners of land are abandoning the cultivation of the soil. In consequence of this news Signor Colajanni has left already for Sicily. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.21
-By mail from Shanghai it is learned that a disastrous freshet took place on the night of April 20 on the River Han, which flows into the Yangtse, near Hankow. At this time of the year the mouth of the Han is usually crowded with junks and boats. The water rose upwards of six feet in one hour, and the enormous rush wrecked or carried away hundreds of boats. It is impossible to estimate how many lives were lost, but already (between April 22nd and 23rd) over 400 bodies have been washed ashore at Yangle, a little farther down the Yangtse. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.22
-The arctic regions seem likely to become ere long a rendezvous for summer tourists. At the end of the present month, says the Chronicle, a vacation party will leave New York by special steamer, will stop at Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, will cruise round the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts, and then cross the Davis Straits for the west coast of Greenland, visiting the fjords, the Norse ruins, the fossil beds, etc., and then proceed north, entering Melville Bay about July 25. The bear and seal will then he duly hunted, and the present site of the Peary headquarters will be visited. The excursion will return to New York about the middle of September. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.23
-The popular vote in Switzerland on the subject of the “right to work” shows that while that country is intensely democratic, Socialistic ideas have not yet made very great progress there. The Socialists made a great effort in favour of their pet project, and by dint of great assiduity they obtained 52,387 signatures to a petition for a referendum or plebiscite on the question. This being so, the Government under the Constitution, were bound to give facilities for the referendum. The people had to vote “yes” or “no” to the question whether in their opinion every citizen willing to work, but unable to get employment, had a right to have work found for him by the State. The answer was an emphatic “No,” 203,000 have voted against the tremendous obligation thus sought to be thrust upon the Executive, while, only 75,000 were in favour of it. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 382.24
“Back Page” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
The Y.M.C.A. Jubilee Convention, just closed, was the largest delegated religious convention ever held in Great Britain, numbering 747 voting delegates, and 1,160 visiting delegates. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.1
One of the leading London publishers is reported to have said the other day, “All fiction! nothing nowadays pays but fiction.” This is just what might be expected in a time when, as the apostle says, “they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and be turned unto fables.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.2
The editor of Griffin’s Journal, said to be the most careful student of American Catholic history which the church can boast, has been looking over the text-books in history issued by Catholic publishing houses, and says:— PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.3
There are no school mysteries known to me with so many errors as those for Catholic schools. But correcting them has brought disfavour on me. Errors people like are preferred to truth. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.4
The same could doubtless be said of the Catholic histories of any other country. Remember that the above is the statement of a Catholic. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.5
The Church of England has just held a Missionary Conference at which representatives of the Church were present from every mission field. Sixty Bishops were in attendance. If the statement made by the Rev. R. P. Ashe is true, and it was not contradicted, it would seem to be time for something to be done. He said:— PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.6
After a century of effort, the expenditure of many noble lives, as well as some millions of money, the Church of England (extraordinary to say) has signally failed to establish one solitary or single native Church in any part of the world-that is to say, a Church self-governed, self-supporting, and expanding, or exhibiting any true signs of vitality as a Church. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.7
The Archbishop of Canterbury says that disestablishment “would place all discipline and jurisdiction in jeopardy, and absolutely prohibit our united deliberations in Synod. Those are of the securities which we now have for the teaching of spiritual truths, and the Bill would strike them away. Yet more, it would deprive the poor of all their rights to the public and private ministrations of religion, which have been theirs for ages. And we cannot but believe that such sweeping interference with religion would have a wide and evil effect on morals.” PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.8
The ordinary Christian finds it difficult to comprehend how the withdrawal of State support and control from the church would hinder spiritual instruction. The history of the church in the Acts of the Apostles, and what we know of it since, shows us that almost all the real spiritual work ever done by the Christian church, has been done in poverty, and in spite of the opposition of those in authority. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.9
“By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have loved one to another.” John 13:35. Only the love of God, which is shed abroad in the hearts of those who believe in Christ, can cause people perfectly to love one another; so that wherever this perfect love is manifested, even the world knows that a supernatural power is working. But this is not all. The love of God is the life of God; and the life of God is light; and a shining light cannot be hid. Therefore when pure love is burning in a soul, the influence will be felt, and souls will be won to God. Christianity is summed up in the one word, love. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.10
“Church Magnificence” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Church Magnificence.-The proposal to spend an additional ?100,000 for decorations in St. Paul’s Cathedral, while depression and distress are everywhere prevalent in the kingdom, is not one that can tend to the glory of God, but rather toward the state of things observable in Roman Catholic countries, where magnificent cathedrals are filled with shabby, indigent, and ignorant worshippers. If Church people would believe and remember that the Almighty dwelleth not in temples made with hands, but that the human heart is His temple and dwelling-place, there would be less money spent in useless ornamentation of church buildings, and more in the work of making human hearts a fit dwelling-place for the Holy Spirit. It is the inward adorning that God looks upon with approval. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.11
“A Great Invention” The Present Truth 10, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
A Great Invention.-The man who, like M. Turpin, can devise a machine which will vastly multiply the death-dealing powers of modern military implements, becomes at once a conspicuous and envied figure before the world. But the inventor of that which confers blessings upon mankind is often scarcely heard of. He finds no government ready to buy his invention, for governments are interested more in increasing their military power than in promoting the welfare of individuals. It is to the Gospel, and not to any nation or form of government, that man must look for help. So long as earthly governments exist, the question of what will kill the most men in the shortest space of time will overshadow all questions of individual welfare. The hope of the individual lies in the fact that the time is coming when the kingdoms of this world will “become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” Revelation 11:15. And that time is now nigh at hand. PTUK June 14, 1894, page 384.12