The Present Truth, vol. 10
August 2, 1894
“Loved unto the Death” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
A God of freedom and liberty could not associate on equal terms with a slave. There must be some bond of sympathy, a common purpose, and a common life. Therefore those who associate with God, who will dwell with Him, must be free. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.1
We should get no pleasure or satisfaction out of associating with a person who is compelled against his will to be in our company. Even though we desired the companionship, it would be intolerable if it were of force and compulsion. Just so it would not be pleasurable to God for man to be in His presence against his will. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.2
Therefore those whom He desires to associate with Him must be just as free to take themselves away from His presence as they are to be there. When men who are perfectly free to reject the Lord choose His society and life, there is pleasure to God in that, and He is glorified in it. We are free to go, but we love His presence so much that we prefer to be with Him. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.3
The Lord longs for the society of men, and He loves us to the death. He has such a longing for man’s presence that He could not let him go. Man sold himself to the devil; but that grieved the heart of God. He so loved the world that He gave Himself. He could not endure the separation. He died for the love He had for us. Yes, He died of a broken heart, because of unrequited love. The death upon the cross was literally of a broken heart, and not because of the physical pains. That is the love that God has for men, and that love is still the power of the cross to draw men to Him. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.4
It is love that draws; not force. A man does not win a wife by the exhibition of force; but it is the love that he exhibits that gains the affections. The love of God is exhibited on the cross, that culmination of love that was so great that it broke even the heart of God. “I, if I be lifted up,” said Christ, “will draw all men unto Me.” It cannot be that any soul who will look at Christ lifted up on the cross can fail to be drawn. There He shows how much He wants men to be with Him. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.5
Much as He loves us, there could be no real communion if we were coerced. It is not simply personal contact with a loved one that a person wants. A man or woman might have their hearts broken by estrangement, even though the object of their love were with them personally. It is the fellowship of mind and heart that is wanted. So, even though we were taken to heaven, if that were possible, with the heart estranged from God, there would be the same separation that existed before. What God wants is not merely our contact, but our love. He uses language common to men; it is the same love, only of a degree infinitely higher than we can comprehend. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.6
It is for us to be one with Him; to be friends with Him. He has not deviated from His original purpose. He changes not. He made man thus free in order that, choosing Him, there might be the most perfect union; no constraint, no barrier between them. So God leaves men free even in his wickedness. It is His love that leads men free to fight against Himself. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.7
Oh, the longsuffering of God! He represents Himself as an husband with the wife whom he has loved estranged from him, and unfaithful to him. “Yet return again to Me, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 3. If there were that love in the human marriage relationship, that would bear with reproach, and which would not fail even though fought against, it would be a hard heart that would not yield to it in the course of time. So it is God’s love for man that allows him to smite Him in the very face. Whatever was done to Jesus in the Judgment Hall, we do when we slight Him. Still He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself. It is this love and the heart that breaks down the enmity, and wins our souls to Him that hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.8
“The Measure of Greatness” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
God in Christ came down to earth, making Himself on a level with men. He took on Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Humble and lowly in heart, He associated with men as with equals. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.9
Yet He was far above them all. None of the disciples, with whom He associated so freely, ever presumed to take undue liberties with Him. They all recognised Him as Master and Lord. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.10
Nor did they any less recognise Him as such when He was washing their feet at the last supper. In that humility was true greatness. Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? “He that will be greatest, let him be your servant.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.11
Greatness in the kingdom of God, therefore, will be in accordance with the measure of service. Who then will be the greatest, and always recognised as the greatest? The Lord Himself; because He has done the most service. He humbled Himself “more than any man.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 481.12
He came to earth and associated with men as an equal, in order that men might associate with Him in heaven as equals; yet He will always be the greatest; always recognised as greatest, but with every barrier broken down. He has broken down in Himself the barriers, so that there is freedom such as never entered into the heart of man; and such as the world never has known nor ever can know save as they find it in Jesus Christ. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.1
God is so great and has such power that He has broken down every barrier, and His subjects can freely come before Him and talk with Him, and can associate with Him in perfect freedom. Even now the Lord gives us the same access. “By whom also we have access by one Spirit to the Father.” So that now, not simply in the world to come when we shall see Him with our eyes, but just now, we have access to the secret of His presence, and may abide in the holiest, even in the secret place of God. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.2
Is not such liberty as this worth letting all the bonds go? He has loosed the bonds, and has opened the door of the prison, and no man can shut it. He has humbled Himself, and by His humiliation secured the keys of death and sin. Therefore there is not a power in earth or hell that can bind a single soul that is willing to be free. Whoever is in bondage is simply a willing prisoner. Whoever is in prison is there because he would rather be a slave than be free. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.3
“Summary Settlement” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
Speaking of the present controversy over the question of religious instruction in Board Schools, the Church Times says that “the sole point of difference between the majority and minority on the present Board is whether the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the incarnation are part of the common creed of Christians or not.” If they are, it would be allowable under the compromise to teach them; otherwise it would not. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.4
This alone is sufficient to reveal the folly of the whole arrangement. A doctrine is to be taught the public children if it has a place in the popular creed, no matter what is said about it in the Bible; and if not found in a creed it must not be taught, be it never so plainly set forth in scripture. Conscience and truth must be sacrificed for the sake of the compromise; and this is what always follows a compromise in matters of religious faith and practice. As truth cannot compromise with error, or good with evil, and as there must be either a compromise or a controversy where conflicting interests are represented, the only consistent and peaceful solution of the problem is to leave religious teaching out of the schools entirely, and in the hands of parents and the church, where it belongs. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.5
“Studies in Romans. Form and Fact. Romans 2:17-24” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
In the first chapter, it will be remembered, we have a representation of the case of the heathen. In the second, as far as already studied, we have the case made general. In the verses immediately before us, we have in unmistakable language the direct, personal charge. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.6
“THOU ART THE MAN.” Romans 2:17-24
“Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest His will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest they boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.7
QUESTIONING THE TEXT
To whom does the apostle now address himself? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.8
“Behold thou art called a Jew.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.9
In what does the one called a Jew rest? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.10
“And restest in the law.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.11
Of what does he boast? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.12
“Makes thy boast of God.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.13
What does he know? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.14
“And knowest His will.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.15
How is it that he knows God’s will? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.16
“Being instructed out of the law.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.17
Knowing the will of God through being instructed out of the law, what is he able to do? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.18
“Triest the things that differ.” Marginal reading. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.19
Of what does his knowledge of the law give him confidence? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.20
“An confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.21
What, and what only, does he have in the law? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.22
“Hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.23
What questions imply that he has not the fact, or the truth of the law? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.24
“Dost thou steal?” “Dost thou commit adultery?” “Dost thou commit sacrilege?” “Through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.25
What shows that these leading questions are really positive charges of breaking the law? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.26
“For the name of God is blasphemes among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.27
A Professed Jew.-Are professed Christians to throw away this portion of the book of Romans as not applicable to them, since it is addressed to a professed Jew? By no means. Professed Christians are the very ones who are meant by the apostle. Read the description: Thou “restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest His will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.” Whom does he address?—Every one who professes to know the Lord, no matter by what name he is called; every one who thinks himself fully qualified to instruct others in the way of the Lord. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.28
“Called a Jew.”-It should not be overlooked as a trifling matter that the apostle does not say, “Behold, thou art a Jew,” but, “Behold, thou art called a Jew.” People are not always what they are called, nor what they call themselves. Beginning with the seventeenth verse the apostle settles the question of who are Jews. Before we have finished the chapter it will seem that by using the word “called” he meant to intimate that the one addressed and described in the following verses is not really a Jew, and is not considered so by the Lord. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 482.29
Claiming to Be Jews.-In Revelation 2:9 we read, “I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” And again, “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” Revelation 3:9. From this we see that to be a Jew indeed is so high an honour that many will falsely claim it. Yet the people called Jews have been held in contempt by the greater part of the world, for many hundred years. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.1
At no time and in no part of the world, since the New Testament was written, has it ever been an object for anybody to claim that he was a Jew, in the common acceptation of the term. The Jews as a class have never been in such honor that it would benefit one’s prospects to be called one. But it has been and is very often an advantage for a man to be known as a Christian, and very many have falsely made the claim, in order to better their business prospects. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.2
Jew and Christian.-It is not straining the text at all to say that when “Jew” is used in these verses, it means what is now known as “Christian.” This will be apparent if we consider what a real Jew is. We may quote enough to show that from the beginning a true Jew was one who believed in Christ. Of the head of the race the Lord Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56. He believed in the Lord, and it was counted to him for righteousness; but righteousness comes only through the Lord Jesus. Moses, the leader of the Jews, esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.” Hebrews 11:26. The rebellious Jews in the wilderness tempted and rejected Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:9. When Christ came in the flesh, it was “His own” that received Him not. John 1:11. And to crown all, Christ said that no one could believe the writings of Moses unless he believed on him. John 5:46, 47. Therefore it is evident that no one is or ever has been a real Jew unless he believes in Christ. He who is not a Jew indeed is of “the synagogue of Satan.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.3
“Salvation Is of the Jews.”-Jesus said to the woman of Samaria at the well of Jacob, “Ye worship ye know not what; we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews.” John 4:22. Christ himself was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh,” and was therefore a Jew; and there is no other name than his “under heaven ... whereby we must be saved.” No other people on earth, besides the Jews, have ever had so high a name. No other people have been so highly favoured of God. “For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” Deuteronomy 4:7, 8. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.4
Resting in the Law.-As stated in the verse last quoted, the Jews had committed to them the most perfect law in the universe, God’s own. It was called “the testimony,” because it was for a witness against them. They were not taught that they could get righteousness out of it, although it was perfect, but the contrary. Because it was so perfect, and they were sinners, it could have nothing but condemnation for them. It was designed only to drive them to Christ, in whom alone they could find the perfect righteousness that the law requires. “The law worketh wrath” (Romans 4:15), and Christ alone saves from wrath. But they “rested in the law,” and therefore rested in sin. They “trusted in themselves that they were righteous.” Luke 18:9. They found no righteousness, “because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” Romans 9:31, 32. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.5
Boasting of God.-This is something different from making one’s boast in the Lord. Psalm 34:2. Instead of rejoicing in the Lord’s salvation, the Jews boasted over their superior knowledge of God. They did indeed have more than others, but they had nothing that they had not received, yet they boasted as though they had not received it. They glorified themselves, rather than God, for the knowledge that they had; and therefore they put themselves in the condition of the heathen who “when they knew God, glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations.” Whatever reader is inclined to censure the ancient Jews for their vain boasting, let him remember how he himself has often felt on comparing himself with the inhabitants of heathen countries, and with the “lowest class” in his own land. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.6
God’s Will His Law.-The apostle says that the Jew knows the will of God, because he is instructed out of the law. This is sufficient to show that the law of God is His will. Indeed, no argument should be needed on this point. The will of any government is expressed in its law. Where there is an absolute ruler, His will is always law. God is an absolute ruler, although not an arbitrary one, and as His will is the sole rule of right, it follows that His will is law. But His law is summed up in the ten commandments; therefore the ten commandments contain a summary statement of the will of God. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.7
The Form of Knowledge and Truth.-Although the ten commandments contain a statement of the will of God, which is the perfection of wisdom and truth, they are only a statement, and not the thing itself, just the same as a picture of a house is not a house, although it may be a perfect picture. Mere words written in a book or graven in stone have no life; but we know that the law of God is life everlasting. Only in Christ can the living law be found, since He is the only manifestation of the Godhead. Whoever has the life of Christ dwelling in him, has the perfect law of God manifest in his life. But he who has only the letter of the law, and not Christ, has only the form of knowledge and of truth. Thus, the law is often rightly said to be a photograph of the character of God. But a photograph or other picture is only the shadow of the reality; it is not the very substance. He who has Christ has both the form and the substance, since one can not have a thing without also possessing its form. But he who has only the statement of the truth, without Christ who alone is the truth has the form of godliness without the power thereof. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.8
Hard Questions.-In verses 21-23 the apostle asks some hard questions: “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?” Let each soul that has been wont to pride himself upon the correctness of his life answer these questions for himself. It is easy and natural for a man to pride himself upon his “morality.” Men who are not Christians comfort themselves with the thought that they live “moral” lives, and that therefore they are as well off as though they were Christians. Let all such know that there is no morality except conformity to the law of God. Everything that is in any respect below the standard of that law is immorality. Knowing this, let them see if they have perfectly kept that law. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 483.9
“Dost Thou Steal?”—Most people will say, “No; I am honest in all my dealing.” Very well, but let us not decide the case offhand. Let us examine the Scripture. It says, “The law is spiritual.” Romans 7:14. “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. No matter how correct we are in our outward acts, if in spirit or thought we have transgressed, we are guilty. The Lord looks at the heart, instead of the outward appearance. 1 Samuel 16:7. Again, it is just as wrong to steal from God as to steal from man; have you given God his due? Have you dealt in a perfectly honest way with him? Hear what He says: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.” Malachi 3:8, 9. Does this mean you? Have you rendered to God that which is his due in tithes and offerings? If not, what will you answer when the word of inspiration asks, “Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 484.1
“The Law Is Spiritual.”-In the fifth chapter of Matthew the Saviour has set forth the spirituality of the law. He says that unless our righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we can not enter the kingdom of heaven. What was their righteousness? He said to them, “Ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Matthew 23:28. Therefore, unless we are righteous inwardly, we are nothing. God desires “truth in the inward parts.” Psalm 51:6. Following on in the fifth chapter of Matthew, the Saviour shows that one may break the sixth commandment, which says, “Thou shalt not kill,” by the utterance of a single word. He also shows that we may break the seventh commandment which says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” by a look and a thought. The same principle of course obtains with all the commandments. This being the case, it becomes one to be very careful about saying that he has perfectly kept the law. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 484.2
Some have said that the ten commandments are a very low standard, and that a man might keep them all and still not be worthy of admission into respectable society. Such know nothing about the law. As a matter of fact, a man may break all the commandments, and still figure as a shining light in the “best society.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 484.3
Name of God Blasphemed.—“The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.” Who has done this? The one who teaches the law, and who says that one who teaches the law and who says that one should not take the name of the Lord in vain. When David sinned in the case of Uriah’s wife, God said to him, “By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” 2 Samuel 12:14. That is, he was a professed follower of the Lord, and by his violation of the law of the Lord he had given unbelievers a chance to say, “There, that is a specimen of Christianity.” Who is there that can say that as a professed follower of the Lord he has always correctly represented the truth? Who is there that must not admit to himself and God that either by his words or actions he has very often misrepresented the truth which he professed? Who is there that has not by his failures, either in teaching or acting, given people a miserably inadequate idea of what true godliness is? In short, who is there that must not say yes to the apostle’s question, “Through breaking the law, dishonourest thou God?” And since thus the name of God is blasphemed through professed Christians, who is there that can declare himself guiltless before God’s law? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 484.4
“Explaining Spiritualism” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
It seems that science, so-called, has come forward in the person of Mr. F. W. H. Myers with another “explanation” of the phenomena of spiritualism. We are informed that this individual “gave a most interesting and eloquent address before the Psychical Research Society at the Westminster Town Hall on Friday evening [July 13], in which he attempted to indicate a possible explanation of certain spiritualistic phenomena, particularly those vouched for by or connected with the late Mr. Stanton Moses, the well-known spiritualist.” Here is the “possible explanation,” as summarised in Public Opinion:— PTUK August 2, 1894, page 484.5
Mr. Myers then proceeded to suggest that as we acted on our hair or on any particular object by molecular action, and as we did the same on persons at a distance by means of telepathy, so it is at least conceivable that spirits have the power of acting on the molecules by some selective action at present unknown. He pointed out that this supposition of some unseen power being able to influence these molecules with something similar to the “soothing demons” postulated or imagined by the late Professor Clerk Maxwell in his statements of the molecular theory. The molecules might be varied either in speed or direction, and he thought that in this way there might be some explanation of the remarkable experiments with burning coals carried on by Mr. Hume.... Mr. Myers went on to say that he thought the great secret of life might possibly be found in the junction of biological and physical science, which must join somewhere, and he thought that the direction he indicated gave some slight augury of important discoveries in the years yet to be. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 484.6
Here is the wisdom of man. Here is an illustration of the aid which “science” renders toward an understanding of spiritual truths. This is what we should have to take were it not for the word of God. But most fortunately we are not without that word. And so while volumes of unintelligible nonsense have been written to enlighten man concerning the occult matters of the spiritual world, a single phrase from the book of God makes the whole subject of Spiritualism clear to us, so far as it is important for anyone to understand it. “The spirits of devils working miracles”—these few plain words of Inspiration (Revelation 16:14) present the whole domain of spiritualistic phenomena before us in a moment, as a flash of lightning reveals the landscape hidden by the obscurity of night. But such is the blindness of unbelief that instead of taking the simple, plain statements which the Omniscient has given them on this subject, men prefer to take such “explanations” as the foregoing, and base their beliefs on “molecules” (which no man has ever seen), “telepathy” (which is simply a name given to something that no one understands), and other things equally beyond the ken of human faculties. Such is the credulity of unbelief. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 484.7
“The Soul, Resurrection, and Punishment” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
The following statement and question has been sent in with a request for an answer:— PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.1
Man at his creation received a soul, or spirit, from God; in departing from God, man forfeited the life of God breathed into him. At the resurrection will that life, or spirit, or soul, be lent to him again, so that he can be punished, seeing that it was by the spirit or soul that he offended? PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.2
There seems to be a slight confusion in the mind of the questioner, as to the terms “soul” and “spirit,” and in regard to the account of the creation of man. It may be sufficient to say of those terms that no definition can be given of them that will apply in every case. They are variously used in the Bible, and it is useless to attempt to define them. It is no more necessary that we should know just what portion of man is always referred to by the terms “soul” and “spirit,” than that we should know the exact composition of our bodies in order to enjoy good health. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.3
LIVING SOULS
In the record of creation, however, and in many other places, the whole man is called a soul. This is perhaps the most common use of the word. As such it is by no means synonymous with “spirit.” In Genesis 2:7 we read that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Note well that it does not say that a soul was breathed in him, but that the man that God formed, himself became a living soul as soon as he received the breath of life from God. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.4
The term “living soul” is not, however, distinctive. It is applied to the lower animals as well as to man. The same Hebrew words that in Genesis 2:7 are translated “living soul,” are in Genesis 1:24 translated “living creature.” If in Genesis 2:7 we had, “man became a living creature,” it would be perfectly correct; so also would it be as proper to translate Genesis 1:24 thus, “And God said, let the earth bring forth the living soul after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth, after his kind.” Indeed, even in the English translation the fact appears that the lower animals are called living souls, as in Revelation 16:3: “And the second angel poured out his vile upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.5
BREATH OF LIFE
Not only are the lower animals called living souls, but they are said to have the same breath of life that men have. In Genesis 7:21, 22 we read of the flood: “And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.6
So likewise we read in Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20: “For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above the beast; for all is vanity. All go on to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.7
Of man we read, “If He set His heart upon men, if He gather unto Himself His spirit and His breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” Job 34:14, 15. But of beasts we read likewise: “Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled; Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created; and Thou renewest the face of the earth.” Psalm 104:29, 30. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.8
THE DIFFERENCE
Someone may say, “You are making out that a man is no better than a beast.” Not so; there is a vast difference, and the Bible shall tell us what it is. Bear in mind that we are simply quoting the Scriptures, and not giving a theory of man’s invention. The record of creation gives the relative position of man and all the lower animals. “And God said, Let Us make man in our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.9
So the Psalmist says, “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.” Psalm 8:5-8. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.10
Man was made in the image of God, to be a companion for God and the angels. Yet he is as dependent upon God for life as are the beasts over which he was given dominion. There is no life but from God. In Christ all things were created, in heaven and on earth, and in Him all things consist. Colossians 1:16, 17. His word gave existence to all in the beginning, and it is the same word that maintains their existence. Man has no more power in himself than the grass. “All flesh is grass.” “Surely the people is grass.” Isaiah 40:6, 7. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.11
“All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory.” 1 Corinthians 15:39-41. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.12
And yet it is the glory of God that shines in the whole heavens. But God has made each star to be the bearer of a certain amount of light, and the star that gives comparatively little light is just as perfect as the star that gives ten times as much; because equally with the other it is just what God designed it to be. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.13
The vine is just as perfect a plant as the oak, although much smaller and more frail. The life of God makes each one just what God designed it to be. Although there is the same life power in each, there is the greatest difference between them. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.14
So although beasts have the same breath of life from God that men have, there is the greatest difference between them. God designed the beast to be only a beast, and His life makes it what it is. Excepting what the beasts suffer on account of man’s sinfulness, they are perfect in their sphere, as God designed them to be. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 485.15
But God made man alone in His own image. He was made to rule, and in that respect he was designed to be an associate of God, although inferior to and dependent upon Him. Man is capable of everlasting progression, providing he submits himself to the power of God’s life. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.1
MAN’S FALL
Things have changed since the creation. “God made man upright;” but now “they are all gone out of the way, but they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Romans 3:12. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.2
God made man little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honour; but now “every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” Psalm 39:5. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.3
God made man to have dominion over the works of His hands; He put all things in subjection under his feet. “For in that He put all in subjection under him.” Hebrews 2:8. “But now we see not yet all things put under him.” Ib. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.4
There is this difference between man and beasts, that man has been given the freedom of choosing for himself what he will be. The beast has no such choice. It is this freedom of will that gives to man the possibility of being a companion of God. The Creator has for ever set man’s will free, and He Himself will not force it. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.5
Now it is a sad fact that men have chosen evil instead of good. They have chosen their own way instead of the way of God; and consequently they have fallen as far below God’s design for them as the earth is lower than the heavens. Isaiah 55:9. Still they have the power to choose whom they will serve. Joshua 24:15. The Lord says, “See, I have set before thee this day, life and good, death and evil.” “Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed they live.” Deuteronomy 30:15, 19. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.6
But if they refuse this gracious invitation, the word is, “For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they would none of My counsel; they despised all My reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.” Proverbs 1:29-32. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.7
It is often said that certain vicious men, are making beasts of themselves. This is a striking expression to indicate how low they have fallen. But it is not a fanciful idea. Thus the scripture says of those who trust in themselves and their riches, “Man being in honour abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish. This their way is their folly; yet their posterity approve their sayings. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.” “Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.” Psalm 49:12-14, 20. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.8
What a fall this is! from the position of lords over the earth, to the level of the brute, so that they die like brutes, with no hope! How does it come to pass!-By their not choosing the fear and knowledge of God. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Instead of allowing the life of Christ to work in them all that He has designed for them, and to perfect them in His Divine image so that they can be fit companions for Him, they allow the life to do for them only what it does for the beasts,—give them mere earth life. And so the utter destruction which they will finally suffer will be simply that which they have chosen for themselves. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.9
THE RESURRECTION OF JUDGMENT
Jesus said, “As the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man. Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation,” or “of judgment.” John 5:26-29. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.10
There are two resurrections: one to life, the other to judgment and perdition. He who believes and obeys the Lord, shall not come into judgment or condemnation, but is passed out of death into life. John 5:24. Christ appears for them, because His life is their life. But all who reject Christ must come into judgment with no Advocate, and thus stand only in their own works; and as the way that they have chosen is the way of death, there will be nothing but death for them. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.11
Only those who choose Christ, and abide in Him even unto death, so that they “sleep in Jesus,” can be made alive in Christ. All others will be raised just as they went into the graves—“having no hope, and without God in the world.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.12
The mystery of life can never be fathomed by man. Only the Author of it can understand it. We cannot know how God keeps us alive in this world, neither can we understand how He gives to us eternal life. It is enough for us to believe the fact, and leave Him to do the wonder. So we cannot understand the difference between the life of the Christian and that of the sinner. Yet there is a difference, for one is passed out of death into life, and the other abideth in death. 1 John 3:14. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.13
The same mystery will exist in the resurrection, only the difference will be far more apparent. The righteous will be raised immortal. The glory that was before in them unseen by the world, will then be revealed (Romans 7:18), and they shall “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Matthew 13:43. But the wicked will appear just as they were. As they lived and died without Christ, so will they be raised without Him. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.14
If the question be asked, “How can the wicked have a resurrection, and not to life?” the answer must be that it will be the same with them then as now. They will receive life from the Lord, and to all appearance have the same life that the righteous do, yet it is not the same. They pervert the gift of life, so that it is only death for them. We cannot understand how; we can only know the fact which the Bible states. God who keeps them in existence now, in order that they may have an opportunity to choose immortality and eternal life, can bring them up from the graves in the same condition, in order that they may see and receive the result of their choice. It is virtually the same as though their time in the grave had not been, but their life had continued without break until the final judgment. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.15
Thus the part of the question is answered, which asks if at the resurrection the life which God gave man in the beginning is lent to him again, so that he can be punished. That life is lent to men during his whole career; otherwise he would have no chance of choosing eternal life. God gives to every man eternal life for him to accept or reject, just as he may choose, and He gives to man the life by which he accepts or rejects that gift. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 486.16
WHY RAISED TO JUDGMENT?
It may be asked, “Why should the wicked be raised at all, since it is only for death? When once they have gone into the grave, why not leave them there for ever? Could not God’s wrath be satisfied without bringing them up for the purpose of formally consigning them to eternal perdition?” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.1
Such questions are common, and very natural, but they show a failure to comprehend the object of the last Judgment. A few words will suffice to make the subject clear. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.2
God is just. “The wages of sin is death.” Those who sin against the light that He gives them, are treasuring up unto themselves wrath “against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Romans 2:5. God’s justice demands that He give them that for which they have laboured. Let it also be remembered that the judgment of God is not retaliation. It is simply the giving to men of that which they have chosen. Moreover, the judgment is not simply for those who suffer the results of their own way, but for the benefit of all God’s universe, that all His creatures may have the clearest evidence that He is just and true. This will be for their eternal comfort, because then there will be no shadow of a chance for anyone to doubt Him. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.3
Thus: In the judgment God Himself is on trial, as well as the people. We read, “Let God be true, but every man a liar; ... that Thou mightest be justified in Thy sayings, and mightest overcome when Thou art judged.” Romans 3:4. Men, following the lead of Satan, have bitterly accused God of indifference to the needs of His creatures, and even of harshness and injustice. Many have died with that false charge upon their lips and in their hearts. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.4
In the judgment everything will be set forth clearly before the eyes of all creatures. A panorama of the history of earth will be presented to them. It will not be such a history as men write, but everything will appear in its true colours. Now we see only a little of the ways of God and men, and only the surface of that. Then we shall see everything in one view, and the secret motives will appear. All the dealings of God will then be manifest, for it will be the “revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” And every secret act and thought of men will also appear. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.5
There will then be opportunity for anyone to step forward if he chooses, to impeach God to His face before the multitude. Men may then repeat, if they can, their charges of injustice on the part of God. Surely this is but simple justice to the wicked, to the righteous, and to God Himself. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.6
But in all that vast multitude there will not be found one to repeat his accusations against God. They will then see that they have spoken evil of those things which they knew not, and every mouth will be stopped. Every knee shall bow to God, and every tongue shall “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Earth will join heaven in singing, “Thou art righteous, O Lord, which are, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus:” “Even so, Lord God Almighty; true and righteous are Thy judgments.” Revelation 16:5, 7. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.7
“The Pope Fulfilling Prophecy” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
The tribute of adulation and worship which is paid to the Pope on occasions of his public appearance in St. Peter’s Church, which adjoins the Vatican at Rome, is thus described by a writer in the Fortnightly Review:— PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.8
The scenes that have lately been witnessed in St. Peter’s bear witness to what may be called an extraordinary recrudescence of Papal popularity. Imagine twenty thousand persons closely packed from early morning till six o’clock in the vast area beneath Michael Angelo’s dome. At about five o’clock a wild shout was heard from the multitude in the distance outside. It was known that the Pope had left his apartments in the Vatican, and was descending by private passage into St. Peter’s. The instant he entered, a cry of enthusiasm arose within at the bottom of the dim church, which was taken up by the expectant multitude. Very slowly borne high aloft by his guards, the old man moved up the middle aisle, seated on his royal throne, robed “in white samite, mystic, wonderful.” He wore the red slippers and was shadowed by the tall peacock fans (imperial peculiarities imported from Persia by Caligula, and adopted by the Popes after the third century when the seat of government was removed to Constantinople and the Pope became joint magistrate of Rome and assumed imperial power). From the moment that Leo XIII. entered until he disappeared in the far distance, an almost invisible speck at the high altar, and the service commenced, the roar of enthusiasm never ceased rolling like thunder throughout the building. The scene was repeated as the Pope passed back again down the aisle at the close of the service. He rose majestically, and bowed in blessing to the right and to the left. It was a scene fraught with singular spiritual and temporal associations never to be forgotten. Leo XIII.’s personal popularity in part explains a reception which certainly no other potentate in the world could at present command. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.9
How marked is the contrast between this scene and any scene in the life of the Saviour or of any of His apostles or prophets! The Son of God, at the end of His earthly life, was led bearing His cross amid the cheers and derision of the mob, to the place of crucifixion. His pretended vicar, at the close of his earthly career, sits in a magnificent temple, surrounded with every token of pomp and magnificence, and borne aloft above the heads of a vast audience, from whom he receives adulation and worship. Jesus said, “The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” These words alone are sufficient to stamp the Pope as antichrist. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.10
But how forcibly such a scene calls to the mind of the Bible student the inspired language of Paul to the Thessalonians: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Thus does the Pope unwittingly fulfil the prophetic word. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 487.11
“News of the Week” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
-About 3,200 lives were lost in the recent Brazilian rebellion. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.1
-The Queen is said to be mistress over ?3,000,000 worth of solid gold plate. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.2
-No less than 87,000 gold claims have been registered in Mashoneland up to the present date. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.3
-The reduction in the steerage rates to Europe is causing a great exodus from the United States. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.4
-The difference of time between Greenwich and New York is 4 hours, 55 minutes, 56 seconds. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.5
-Of the 440 disused burial-grounds in London, all but 172 have been turned into recreation-grounds for the living. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.6
-Count Kalnoky’s retirement from office is said to be forthcoming, the probable cause being his opposition to the Hungarian civil marriage Bill. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.7
-The Mayor of Lyons has refused an offer of ?2,000 made hint by an Englishman for the carriage in which M. Carnot was riding when assassinated. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.8
-Owing to the influx of persecuted Jews from Russia into Jerusalem, that city now has a population of about 50,000 inhabitants, against 20,000 in 1870. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.9
-An outbreak of cholera at Adrianople is officially announced. Travellers proceeding from that city to other parts of Turkey have to undergo five days’ quarantine. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.10
-A hurricane, followed by a sudden fall of temperature, passed over various parts of Spain on July 25, causing great damage in the western, northern, and central provinces. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.11
-The New Zealand House of Representatives has practically shelved the Bill to allow women to sit in the House. The Bill entitling women to hold any public office has been rejected. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.12
-A German officer has reached Honolulu on his way to find an island in the Pacific, where he and his associates can live the life of monkeys, subsisting solely on fruits, and going naked. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.13
-Experiments with the teleautograph were successfully tried between Dover and London. Facsimiles of the messages sent were reproduced, even to the dotting of i’s and crossing of t’s. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.14
-Betsy Shelton, a resident of Kentucky, U.S.A., is ninety-six years old, and the parent of fourteen children, 117 grandchildren, 282 great-grandchildren, and nineteen great-great-grandchildren. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.15
-According to a letter from the Congo, written by Baron Dhanis the murderers of Emin Pasha have been been captured and tried by a court-martial. Other captures have also been made. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.16
-Scotland claims to have the highest factory chimney in the world. The Townsend shaft at Port Dundas is said to be 468ft. high. The highest American chimney is at Brooklyn, and has an elevation of 300ft. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.17
-On a recent Sun day morning the Metropolitan, assisted by all the chief clergy of St. Petersburg, recited public prayers in the Cathedral of St. Isaac that the further progress of the cholera epidemic might be stayed. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.18
-Mr. Pinkert, the inventor of a land-and-water tricycle, started recently from the French coast on his machine, intending to cross the channel to Folkestone. He was rescued by a shipping smack in mid-channel in a dangerous situation, having been unable to make the progress he anticipated, and suffering from a severe attack of seasickness. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.19
-Insanity is raid to be greatly on the increase in England. The returns show that on January 1 there were 92,067 persons in our lunatic asylums, an increase of 2,245, this following an increase of 1,974 in the preceding year. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.20
-It is announced from Odessa that the entire system of south-western railways in Russia will pass to the Crown during the autumn of this year, and that the Crown will begin the management of the railways from Jan. 1 next. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.21
-Princess Alix, who has been betrothed to the Czarewitch, is reluctant to give up her religion and profess that of the Greek Church, as required by the Russian marriage law, and this is causing it some delay in the performance of the anticipated ceremony. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.22
-In England 231 families live in houses which pay over ?1,000 a year rent; 9,211 pay between ?500 and 21,000; 8,033 pay between ?200 and ?500; 101,948 between ?650 and ?100; and 3,624,608 pay less than ?20 a year for the houses in which they live. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.23
-The proportion of paupers in London in the middle of June was 224 per 10,000 of population, as compared with 226 in the previous month, and 214 in Juno 1899. In West Ham the rate per 10,000 was 225 last mouth. 249 in the previous mouth, and 201 in June, 1893. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.24
-While in 1965 there were only 3,010 miles of ocean cable in existence, there are now between 150,000 and 160,000. Of that mileage probably ninety per cont. has been the work of private enterprise, at a cost of about ?57,010,000 sterling. The other ten per cent., carried through by various Governments, has involved en outlay of between ?1,000,000 and ?5,000,000 sterling. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.25
-The coal strike in Scotland is still unsettled. At a meeting of coal masters in Glasgow. July 25, it was decided that it would serve no good purpose to meet representatives of the Miners’ Federation. It was further stated that the coal masters cannot in the present state of trade give an advance in wages, but they are still quite willing to meet their own workmen in their respective districts. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.26
-In the French Chamber of Deputies during the discussion of as clause in the Anti-Anarchist Bill prohibiting the publication of Anarchist trials, a remark was made which elicited loud protests from the Press gallery. The President at once ordered the expulsion of all the journalists present, and although they were afterwards invited to return, they refused to do so, M. Denoix, the offending deputy, was challenged by the Pressmen to a duel with one of their number, but the challenge was afterward withdrawn. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.27
-A telegram dated at Athens, July 25, says: “Stormy weather has prevailed for some days past off the coasts of Greece, and several terrible boating disasters are reported. A boat capsized off the Island of Pores last night, and several persons were drowned. This, following on the tragic fate of M. Boudouris, master of ceremonies at the court, his wife, and the secretary of the Crown Prince, who were drowned near Phaleron on the previous day, and the loss of six young officers owing to a similar accident not long since, has cast a general gloom over the community hero.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.28
-The difference between China and Japan relative to their respective interests in Corea seem now to have reached the stage of open conflict, though as yet there has been ho officially-reported declaration of war. China has recently sent 12,000 troops to Corea, and the Japanese garrison at Seoul have engaged in fighting with some native forces, but no definite and reliable reports of hostilities in the peninsula have yet been received. Meanwhile the “great powers” are jealously watching each other, in the fear that some one of them will attempt to reap undue advantage from the situation. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.29
-Recently Mr. Ward, the ex-Mayor of Leeds, and Mr. Wilson, keeper of the Colosseum Theatre, were sued by the Lord’s Day Observance Society for penalties under the semi-obsolete statute of 21 George III., c. 49, by which a fine art exhibition opened on Sunday may be proceeded against as a “disorderly house.” The gist of the Leeds case was that a Sunday audience first paid to go into the Colosseum, and secondly, when inside, laughed at Mr. Max O’Rell’s jokes and were visibly entertained by Mr. Fred Villiers. To be “entertained” or “amused” on Sunday is the mischief aimed at by the Georgian statute above alluded to. The jury felt bound to convict, but boldly told the judge that the law ought to be repealed. The final decision of the ease has not yet been reached. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 494.30
“Back Page” The Present Truth 10, 31.
E. J. Waggoner
A business man said: “Nothing required so much grace from God for me as to give Him a full tenth when I was making money very fast.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.1
It is said that the Duke of Argyle does not allow a public-house on the island of Iona. The nearest public-house and the nearest policeman are six miles away. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.2
China and Japan are called “heathen” nations to distinguish them from the “Christian” nations of the West. But is it suggestive to notice that they settle their differences quite after the manner of their Western neighbours. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.3
The missionaries who are seeking to get into Tibet from the Indian frontier find both the Chinese and British authorities acting in concert to hinder them. Calcutta papers refer to the workers as “meddling missionaries.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.4
“If you banish a Stundist you must cut out his tongue” is a saying that has passed into a proverb with the Russian police. The man who loves the Lord sufficiently to cling to Him under persecution does not keep still in his exile. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.5
The overcrowding in the large cities of the world leads to disease and death, as well as low morals. Dr. Shaw, in the Century, says of Berlin that, “in a population of 1,315,000, the 73,000 people who lived in one-room tenement quarters supplied nearly half the entire number of deaths.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.6
Official reports on the plague at Hong Kong state that up to June 120,000 persons had died of the epidemic. It had its origin in the filthy quarters of the city. The cholera that has been making its way westward to Russia this summer also follows the lines where least attention is given to cleanliness and sanitation. It is physically true that the pestilence walketh in darkness. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.7
The managing director of the Cunard Steamship Company, Sir John Burns, having been appealed to by a British chaplain in the Mediterranean, has given directions that no ships belonging to that company shall work cargo on Sundays in ports abroad, any more than they would do so at home. The reason of the appeal is that Sunday cargo work in Foreign and Crown Colony ports puts an effectual stoppage to Sunday worship aboard British vessels. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.8
A correspondent of The Morning Star, who is engaged in work for the Jews in Jaffa, writes: “At Jerusalem there is very great distress; the poverty and misery are beyond description.” Yet he sees in the presence of those Jews in Jerusalem the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecies of the glorious return of the Jews, when the Lord says, “For perhaps I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.” Isaiah 60:17. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.9
Speaking of the agricultural outlook a newspaper says:— PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.10
The problem is indeed a difficult one to solve. English farmers are crying out about foreign competition, and yet the foreign competitors are complaining that they are all ruined. Labour leaders from all countries say that the state of agriculture is deplorable, and is seriously threatening the stability of their markets for labour. And yet look at the growing harvest-field of the world. In Southern Europe, where the new crop is coming to hand, it is exceeding the most sanguine expectations of its producers, and from all parts come similar reports. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.11
Yet men’s hearts are filled with forebodings for the future, and “for looking after those things which are coming on the earth”—“upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity.” Luke 21. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.12
In a little work on the labour question in America, Mr. W. T. Stead says that the chief cause of the social troubles there, which are as formidable as the world has ever seen, is the gathering of wealth into the hands of the few. He says:— PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.13
The Americans possess sixty billions of wealth. Nine per cent. of the families own 71 per cent. of this, leaving but 20 per cent. to the remaining 91 per cent. of the families. The 9 per cent. is composed of two classes-rich and millionarires. Of the latter there are over 4,074 families. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.14
So, in a degree, it is in all the world. Such wealth is not used, but simply hoarded, rusting and useless. The word of the Lord said that such things would come to pass. James says to these rich, “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you.... Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” But it is for the poor as well as the rich to beware of covetousness; for it is one of the sins which the Apostle said would make the last days perilous. A man’s life does not consist of the abundance of the things which he possesseth. PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.15
The descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty, says the Portsmouth Evening News, seem to be bent on atoning, as far as they possibly can, for the sins of their forefathers. According to the latest reports from Pitcairn Island, they are a God-fearing set of men and women, and are strong in the faith of the Seventh-day Adventists. They actually have a mission schooner, which has made several cruises in the South Pacific, leaving teachers, medical missionaries, and literature in various groups. The schooner is manned in part by Pitcairners, and the Chief Magistrate of the island is with the ship as one of the Managing Committee, “as keen and practical and intelligent a man as though his life had been passed in any of our cities.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.16
Here is an extract from a recent letter from a Pitcairner, which throws an interesting light upon the work of some of our naval officers of to-day:—“H.M.S. --- came in yesterday. Sabbath, the captain came ashore and attended the Sabbath school. He offered the opening prayer, reviewed the primary division, and at the close gave a parting address to the whole school. He expressed himself as highly pleased with our school system, and was so glad that all the people attended. He said our school is the best organised school he ever saw, and he had seen many, for when at home in England he was superintendent of a Sunday-school. He is a really Christian man.” PTUK August 2, 1894, page 496.17