The Present Truth, vol. 10
August 30, 1894
“Front Page” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
“Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: again, He limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after so long a time; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 4:6, 7. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.1
A striking comment on this text is furnished by the Saviour’s parable of the supper. After many had excused themselves from coming, and the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind had been brought in, and still there was room, “the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:23. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.2
A promise had been made to Abraham, that his seed should inherit the earth; but “God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:17, 18. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.3
What stronger consolation and than this could we have? God has provided a feast and an inheritance, and has sent out His invitations. Men may treat the invitation as a light matter, but it is a serious matter with God. His honour is at stake. He has declared that the table shall be filled, and the inheritance fully occupied. He has pledged His very existence to that. Therefore “some must enter therein.” So necessary is it, that if all the men on earth should refuse to come, God would raise the children to Abraham from the stones of the ground. Matthew 3:9. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.4
The call is, “Come; for all things are now ready.” Luke 14:17. “The works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Hebrews 4:3. Nothing is lacking except the guests. There is no limit. “Whosoever will, may come.” No matter what their condition, whether poor, ragged, weak, diseased, maimed,—all are welcome. His love and power will make them fit to sit at the table, and to associate with the family of God in heaven. The deaf are made to hear; the blind to see; the impotent to walk; to the poor is given gold tried in the fire; and the ragged are clothed with the robe of righteousness. If those who are called are only willing, He will make them “to the praise of the glory of His grace,” for they are already “accepted in the Beloved.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.5
But none need think that they can impose upon the goodness of the Lord, or presume upon the necessity under which He has placed Himself to furnish His table with guests. Of those who make excuse it is said that they shall not taste of the supper. He is able to make fit guests out of the stones, and therefore is not under obligations to any person. But to the one who was willing, and who offers himself as a candidate, leaving himself wholly in the Lord’s hands, there is a world of comfort in the thought that no one can pluck him out, and that God’s very existence is pledged that he shall have a part in the everlasting feast. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.6
“The Work of the Spirit” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
When the return captives of Israel were about to undertake, in the face of great difficulties, the restoration of the temple and wall of Jerusalem, the word of the Lord came to them by Zerubbabel saying, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.7
The working of the Spirit of God is not by a manifestation of the might and power of men. This is just the opposite of what we would naturally suppose, since it is not natural for any great force to manifest itself among men without some imposing display on the part of those through whom it works. Human nature likes to make a show; but in the work of God, human nature with its likes and dislikes has to be laid aside, and the Divine nature and mind substituted in its place. The glory belongs to the Lord, and He does not derive His glory from any display on the part of man. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.8
We must learn, at the very outset, that the work of the Spirit of God is not attended by great display of anything that pertains to man, be it wealth, enthusiasm, power, or wisdom. If there is any display, it will be, as in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, so entirely disassociated from and superior to the power of man, that it will be evident to all that man had nothing to do with it, and that the glory belongs to God, and to Him alone. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.9
This great truth was illustrated in a visible and most striking manner before the prophet Elijah, when, thinking that he alone and all Israel remained a true servant of the Lord, he had fled at the threats of Jezebel and had come to Horeb, the mount of God. See the account in 1 Kings 19. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 545.10
Something more than mere fire and burning zeal is produced by the Spirit of God. Even the Pharisees had great zeal, and compassed sea and land to make one proselyte, but when they had drawn him into their ranks he was still the “child of hell.” The fruits of the Spirit are not summed up in zeal and enthusiasm-a grand parade and a great noise-but those fruits are “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,” etc. Galatians 5:22, 23. See also 1 Corinthians 13. It is the man who has not the Spirit who is anxious, as Jehu was (2 Kings 10:16), to display his zeal for the Lord. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 546.1
After all the mighty display and commotion of the whirlwind, the earthquake, and the fire had passed by, there came a “still, small voice,” and that was the presence of God. That was the manifestation of the Spirit; and when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went forth to commune with the Lord. And the Lord met him, and gave him a message and a work. The “still, small voice” was the voice of God, and wherever that voice is, there is the presence of the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit accompanies the word of the Lord. And therefore they who are bearing the word of the Lord are the ones who are doing His work and have His Spirit in their midst. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 546.2
God’s word is the Bible; and that word is going to “every nation and kindred, tongue” on the earth, not with great display and noise and commotion, but as a “still, small voice,” that speaks to the listener’s heart; and it will gather out of them all a people prepared for His appearing. Amid all the parading and shouting and blustering, the display of power and magnificence, this work is moving calmly and steadily forward, simple in its grandeur and silent in its omnipotence, bearing on its front the motto, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 546.3
“Knocking” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Knocking.-The Saviour says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7, 8. This is said to show how surely prayers to the Lord are answered. Yet many people fail to receive any answers to their prayers. Why is it?—Very often it is because they do not stay to see the door opened, but, like the mischievous boy in the street, run away as soon as they have knocked. People are in too great a hurry to be off. The instruction is, “Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14. And David said, “O Lord, in the morning shalt Thou hear My voice; in the morning will I order my prayer unto Thee, and will keep watch.” Psalm 5:3, R.V. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 546.4
“Discerning the Righteous and the Wicked” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
The righteous man is the man in whose heart abides the word of God. And this fact is not apparent through his outward circumstances. If we could look upon the heart as God does, and see with the clearness of His vision, we should be able to discern there either the presence or the absence of faith, and by that and that only we should know to which of the two great classes any particular individual belonged. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.1
Faith being the source of righteousness, its absence, and that alone, is the cause of wickedness. For all men are by nature wicked, having carnal hearts that are “not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” And the same human nature that manifests itself in murders, and drunkenness, and the lowest forms of vice and crime, is the common nature of all men. Only the accident of circumstances prevents its being manifested in all men alike. The highly respectable member of society, who yet knows not God, has nothing to boast of over the man whom society brands as an outcast, for the difference between them is not a difference in nature, but merely in fortune, for which he can take no credit to himself. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.2
When Adam sinned, he acquired a fallen and carnal nature, and only that nature could he bequeath to his children. All his descendants thus acquired his nature, it being transmitted by each parent in turn. And thus all men have received the fallen nature which Adam had, and only variations in the process of transmission, and in the circumstances with which men have been surrounded, have, outside of the grace of God, produced the differences in their life records. But with those who have received the grace of God, there has been a change in nature; and to this, and not to any variations of fortune, has the success of their lives been due. Even the Apostle Paul testified of itself, “By the grace of God I am what I am,” and said, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:10; Galatians 6:14. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.3
And therefore it is true that the man who is farthest away from God is he who least feels his need of Divine grace and of a different nature from the one which He has. This is illustrated by the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, who went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee thought that he had a better nature than other men, so he thanked the Lord that He was not as they were; but the publican, feeling his need, exclaimed, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner,” and went down to his house justified. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.4
No men are so hopelessly wicked as those who feel satisfied with themselves; and those who are most nearly self-satisfied are not the ones who manifest the greatest weaknesses and are guilty of the most crimes, but those who are able to make their lives conform to the world’s standard of morality and respectability. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.5
We may know how we ourselves stand before God, for that is a simple matter of knowing whether or not we believe His word. That word tells us to have all confidence in God and none in ourselves, or in the flesh. If we say amen to this, God by His creative power makes us righteous, and we stand justified in His sight. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.6
We cannot know the standing of others, because we cannot, as God does, look upon their hearts. We could only look upon the outward appearance, which is not an index to the nature of the life within. Therefore the exhortation is given us, “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart.” 1 Corinthians 4:5. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.7
So in Malachi we read of the time when the Lord will make up His jewels, and “will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” This indicates a time when those who do not serve Him will not be spared. “Then,” says He, “shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.” Malachi 3:17, 18. That will be the time when judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, and the saints possess the kingdom (Daniel 7:22) at the first resurrection. See Revelation 20:4-6. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.8
It is not our business now to know the hidden thoughts and motives of men’s hearts. Such knowledge would do us much more harm than good. All that concerns us here is to believe God’s word for ourselves and sow the seed of His truth beside all waters, passing no place by because it seems to be unfavourable, but having hope for all, through the mercy and grace so abundantly given to all in the Gospel. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 547.9
“Papal Dignities” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
The Lord told His disciples that among the Gentiles the great of earth were concerned about titles and dignities, but among His followers it was not to be so. There is but one Lord and Master, and he who is most truly the servant of all, is the greatest of all. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.1
The Papacy developed on principles exactly opposite, and the exaltation of one above another in honour has naturally followed the self-exaltation which led to the apostasy. In his last encyclical, the Pope referred to his predecessor as “of holy memory,” but there is evidently much conventionality in such references. A writer in the Contemporary shows how jealous the present Pope is of praise bestowed upon Pious IV. Failure to sufficiently guard against this once led to the publican humiliation of the learned Cardinal Pitra. The reviewer, who writes as a Catholic, says:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.2
This venerable Benedictine wrote a letter a few years ago to the clerical editor of a Catholic periodical in Amsterdam, in the course of which he recalled with melancholy pleasure the zeal and self-sacrificing spirit of Pius IX., during whose reign the Catholic cause was everywhere in honour. This eulogy of the dead Pope was held to be in some sort an insult to his living successor, and Cardinal Pitra was compelled to publish an abject apology, and to express his heartfelt regret for having unwittingly hurt the delicate susceptibilities of Leo XIII., whose diplomatic successes have rendered such incalculable services to religion. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.3
“Studies in Romans. The Justice of Mercy. Romans 3:23-26” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
The last lesson showed us that since all men are declared guilty by the law, there can be no righteousness in the law for any man, and that, as a consequence, if men were left alone with the law there would be no hope for any. The law is only the written statement of the righteousness of God, and therefore can impart no righteousness; but God is a living God, and His righteousness is a living righteousness; His Spirit has all-pervading power, and therefore He can put His own righteousness into and upon all that believe; for faith is the reception of God into the heart. In the reception of this righteousness “there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness; that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.4
QUESTIONING THE TEXT
How is the righteousness of God manifested apart from the law? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.5
“By faith of Jesus Christ.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.6
In whom is it manifested? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.7
“Unto all and upon all them that believe.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.8
What distinction is made between people? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.9
“There is no difference.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.10
Why not? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.11
“For all have sinned.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.12
In sinning, of what have men come short? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.13
“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.14
While in this state, what do those who believe receive? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.15
“Being justified.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.16
How justified? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.17
“Freely.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.18
By what? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.19
“By His grace.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.20
Through what? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.21
“Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.22
How did this come about? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.23
“Whom God hath set forth.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.24
What for? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.25
“To be a propitiation.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.26
“By what means? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.27
“Through faith in His blood.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.28
What does He declare? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.29
“To declare His righteousness.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.30
Whose righteousness does He declare? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.31
God’s righteousness-the righteousness of Him who set Him forth. See Psalm 40:6-10. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.32
For what is God’s righteousness declared in Christ? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.33
“For the remission of sins that are past.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.34
Of what is this a manifestation? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.35
“The forbearance of God.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.36
Why is it that God’s own righteousness is declared for the remission of sins? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.37
“That He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.38
“No Difference.”-In what is there no difference? There is no difference in the way in which men receive righteousness. And why is no difference made in the manner of justifying men? Because “all have sinned.” Peter, in relating to the Jews his experience in first preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, said, “God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” Acts 15:8, 9. “Out of the heart of men,” not of one class of men, but of all men, “proceed evil thoughts,” etc. Mark 7:21. God knows the hearts of all men, that all are alike sinful, and therefore He makes no difference in the Gospel to different men. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.39
“One Blood.”-This lesson is one of the most important to be learned by the missionary, whether laboring at home or abroad. Since the Gospel is based on a principle that there is no difference in men, it is absolutely essential that the Gospel worker should recognise the fact, and always keep it in mind. God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Acts 17:26. Not only are all men of one blood, but they are also of “one kind of flesh.” 1 Corinthians 15:39. The great burden of the epistle to the Romans, as has appeared up to this point, is to show that so far as sin and salvation therefore are concerned, there is absolutely no difference between men of all races and conditions in life. The same Gospel is to be preached to the Jew and to the Gentile, to the slave and to the freeman, to the prince and to the peasant. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 548.40
Coming Short.-People are fond of imagining that what are called “shortcomings” are not so bad as real sins. So it is much easier for them to confess that they have “come short” than that they have sinned and done wickedly. But since God requires perfection, it is evident that “shortcomings” are sins. It may sound pleasanter to say that a bookkeeper is “short” in his accounts, but people know that the reason for it is that he has been taking that which is not his, or stealing. When perfection is the standard, it makes no difference in the result, how much or how little one comes short, so long as he comes short. The primary meaning of sin is “to miss the mark.” And in an archery contest, the man who has not strength to send his arrow to the target, even though his aim is good, is a loser just as surely as he who shoots wide of the mark. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 549.1
“The Glory of God.”-From the text we learn that the glory of God is His righteousness. Notice, the reason why all have come short of the glory of God is that all have sinned. The fact is plain that if they had not sinned they would not have come short of it. The coming short of the glory itself consists in sin. Man in the beginning was “crowned with glory and honour” (Hebrews 2:7) because he was upright. In the fall he lost the glory, and therefore now he must “seek for glory and honour and immortality.” Christ could say to the Father, “The glory which thou gavest Me, I have given them,” because in Him is the righteousness of God which He has given as a free gift to every man. It is the part of wisdom to receive righteousness; and “they that be wise shall shine.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 549.2
“Being Justified.”-In other words, being made righteous. To justify means to make righteous. God supplies just what the sinner lacks. Let no reader forget the simple meaning of justification. Some people have the idea that there is a much higher condition for the Christian to occupy than to be justified. That is to say, that there is a higher condition for one to occupy than to be clothed within and without with the righteousness of God. That cannot be. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 549.3
“Freely.”—“Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” That is, let him take it as a gift. So in Isaiah 55:1: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” It was the epistle to the Romans that accomplished the Reformation in Germany. Men had been taught to believe that the way to get righteousness was to purchase it either by hard work or by the payment of money. The idea that men may purchase it with money is not so common now as then; but there are very many who are not Catholics who think that some work must be done in order to obtain it. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 549.4
Making Prayer to Be a Work.-The writer was once talking with a man in regard to righteousness as the free gift of God, the man maintaining that we could not get anything from the Lord without doing something for it. When asked what we must do to win forgiveness of sins, he replied that we must pray for it. It is with this idea of prayer that the Roman or Hindu devotee “says” so many prayers a day, putting in an extra number some days to make up for omissions. But the man who “says” a prayer, does not pray. Heathen prayer, as for instance when the prophets of Baal leaped and cut themselves (1 Kings 18:26-28), is work; but true prayer is not. A man comes to me and says that he is starving. Afterwards he is asked if anything was given him, and he says that he received some dinner, but that I made him work for it. When asked what he had to do for it, he replies that he asked for it. He could hardly make any one believe that he worked for his dinner! True prayer is simply the thankful acceptance of God’s free gifts. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 549.5
Redemption in Christ Jesus.-We are made righteous “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” That is, through the purchasing power that is in Christ Jesus, or “through the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Ephesians 3:8. This is the reason why it comes to us as a gift. Some one may say that everlasting life in the kingdom of God is too great a thing to be given to us for nothing. So it is, and therefore it had to be purchased, but since we had nothing that could buy it, Christ has purchased it for us and He gives it to us freely, in Himself. But if we had to purchase it from Him, we might as well have bought it in the first place, and saved Him the task. “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:21. “Knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; but with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19. The blood is the life. Leviticus 17:11, 17:14. Therefore the redemption that is in Christ Jesus is His own life. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 549.6
Christ Set Forth.-Christ is the one whom God has set forth to declare His righteousness. Now since the only righteousness that is real righteousness is the righteousness of God, and Christ is the only one who has been ordained of God to declare it upon men, it is evident that it can not be obtained except through Him. “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 549.7
A Propitiation.-A propitiation is a sacrifice. The statement then is simply that Christ is set forth to be a sacrifice for the remission of our sins. “Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:26. Of course the idea of a propitiation or sacrifice is that there is wrath to be appeased. But take particular notice that it is we who require the sacrifice, and not God. He provides the sacrifice. The idea that God’s wrath has to be propitiated in order that we may have forgiveness finds no warrant in the Bible. It is the height of absurdity to say that God is so angry with men that He will not forgive them unless something is provided to appease His wrath, and that therefore He Himself offers the gift to Himself, by which He is appeased. “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death.” Colossians 1:21, 22. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 549.8
Heathen and Christian Propitiation.-The Christian idea of propitiation is that set forth above. The heathen idea, which is too often held by professed Christians, is that men must provide a sacrifice to appease the wrath of their god. All heathen worship is simply a bribe to their gods to be favorable to them. If they thought that their gods were very angry with them, they would provide a greater sacrifice, and so human sacrifices were offered in extreme cases. They thought, as the worshipers of Siva in India do to-day, that their god was gratified by the sight of blood. The persecution that was carried on in so-called Christian countries in times past and is to some extent even now, is but the outcropping of this heathen idea of propitiation. Ecclesiastical leaders imagine that salvation is by works and that men by works can atone for sin, and so they offer the one whom they think rebellious as a sacrifice to their god not to the true God, because He is not pleased with such sacrifices. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.1
Righteousness Declared.-To declare righteousness is to speak righteousness. God speaks righteousness to man, and then he is righteous. The method is the same as in the creation in the beginning. “He spake, and it was.” “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.2
God’s Justice In Redemption.-Christ is set forth to declare God’s righteousness for the remission of sins, in order that He might be just and at the same time the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. God justifies sinners, for they are the only ones who need justification. The justice of declaring a sinner to be righteous lies in the fact that he is actually made righteous. Whatever God declares to be so, is so. And then he is made righteous by the life of God given him in Christ. The sin is against God, and if He is willing to forgive it, He has the right to do so. No unbeliever would deny the right of a man to overlook a trespass against him. But God does not simply overlook the trespass; He gives his life as a forfeit. Thus He upholds the majesty of the law, and is just in declaring that man righteous who was before a sinner. Sin is remitted sent away from the sinner, because sin and righteousness can not exist together, and God puts His own righteous life into the believer. So God is merciful in His justice, and just in His mercy. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.3
“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in His justice,
That is more than liberty.”
PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.4
“Holy Scripture or Tradition?” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
FOUR WITNESSES, ON THE BASIS OF SUNDAY OBSERVANCE
We might make it fourteen or forty, but will give space for only four to testify to the grounds of Sunday observance. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.5
TERTULLIAN SAYS TRADITION
Tertullian is the first ecclesiastical writer who applies to Sunday the term “Lord’s day,” although he makes it plain that in his time it was a day of special merth and license, the idea of Sabbath rest not entering into it. He wrote about A.D. 200, but already the larger portion of the church had taken the leap headlong into the apostasy which the Apostle Paul saw at work in the church even in his day. Of the origin of “offerings for the dead,” the sign of the cross, and the manner of Sunday observance, Tertullian says:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.6
If, for these and other such rules, you insist upon having positive Scripture injunction, you will find none. Tradition will be held forth to you as the originator of them, custom, as their strengthener, and faith as their observer. That reason will support the addition, and custom, and faith, you will either yourself perceive, or learn from someone who has. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.7
THE CHURCH OF ROME SAYS TRADITION
We have only to choose between many of authoritative utterances on the question made by Rome, but the following from the “Doctrinal Catechism,” a standard work, will suffice: PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.8
QUESTION.-Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.9
ANSWER.-Had she not such power... she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.10
THE SACERDOTALIST SAYS TRADITION
Canon Knox-Little is an able spokesman for the Sacerdotal party in the Church of England, and in his appeal in behalf of the authority of “the Church” he finds in the common practice of Sunday observance an admission on the part of the Protestant wing of the Anglican Church of the very thing involved in the Sacerdotal controversy-the superiority of tradition over the Scriptures. Arguing for “fasting communion,” which his Protestant opponents declare to be unscriptural, he says in his work “Sacerdotalism,” published this year: PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.11
It is certain that our Lord when on earth did observe Saturday, and did not observe Sunday; but no one, as far as I know, has ever been called a “sacerdotalist” for departing from His undoubted habit of “resting the seventh day.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.12
Again he says:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.13
Their effort to strictly adhere to our Lord’s example to the letter, in spite of the usage of the Church, implies that they know better what our Lord desired than His Church. If they are consistent, as I have said, they must keep Saturday, not Sunday, as the day of rest. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.14
THE AMERICAN EPISCOPACY SAYS TRADITION
The “Explanation of the Catechism,” put out by the Protestant Episcopal Church of America, the American branch of the Church of England, says of the Sunday:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.15
The day is now changed from the seventh to the first day, ... but as we meet with no scriptural direction for the change, we may conclude it was done by the authority of the Church. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.16
Who cannot see by these testimonies that the Sabbath question involves the whole question of loyalty to God or to men, of the word of God or the word of man? The Apostle Paul said that the apostasy that was to come would exalt man above God. The apostasy came, and has developed before the world, and every step in the development has been taken in the name of the Church and Church authority. But we have only to go to the word of the great Head of the church, and to His life as our example to learn the truth. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.17
“The Lord’s Prisoner” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Such was the Apostle Paul, as he frequently testifies in his epistles. He was taken prisoner on his way to Damascus, where he was about to make prisoners of those who believed in the Lord. The Lord frequently arrests people in their career of sin, to bring them for a moment to a realisation of their own helplessness, in order that they may see where they stand, and have a favourable opportunity to choose the way of life. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.18
But the Lord never keeps anyone a prisoner against his will. His prison is not a dungeon; for the Lord does not need to shut a person up in order to have possession of him. Nor are His bonds such as those which confine men kept in custody by the powers of earth. They are bonds which do not in any wise interfere with the captive’s liberty. They do not hold him in one place, but draw him about, it may be to the most remote parts of the earth. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 550.19
“The love of Christ constraineth us,” said the apostle; and this is the bond which holds every prisoner of the Lord. The Lord desires and seeks to bind every person to Himself by the cords of love. Such bondage could never make any person sad, for love is the only thing in the world that can make one happy; and being bound to Him, He is in the same bondage that we are in. Happy is that person who, when the Lord arrests him, is willing to continue His prisoner. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 551.1
“A Healthy Constitution” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Every medical man knows the importance of a good constitution and healthy blood and tissue in cases of wounds. Many men who appear in good health find by some accident, not serious in itself, that they really are not in sound health, and are retarded in the process of recovery by conditions of which they were ignorant. The following from a medical journal shows one of the advantages of careful and hygienic living which physicians are well acquainted with:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.1
A young labouring man was brought to a certain hospital with a badly lacerated hand. He had fallen upon an old cotton hook, and it had gone entirely through the palm of his hand, carrying with it rust and dirt. The wound was kept open so that it would suppurate freely and be readily cleansed. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.2
As time passed on, the hand became very much swollen, and turned black, and the surgeons watched very carefully for signs of blood poisoning, fearing that the entire hand would have to be amputated to save the life of its possessor. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.3
These signs not appearing, it then became the question whether more of the hand could be saved than the thumb and the first two fingers. As the hand became no worse, the surgeon delayed operating on it, and after a time, it began to mend, and finally healed entirely, to the surprise of the surgeon. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.4
“Young man,” he said to the patient, as the danger was passing away, “do you use alcohol in any form?” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.5
“No, sir.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.6
“Do you use tobacco?” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.7
“No, sir.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.8
“That is what saved your hand.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.9
“Rescuing the Children” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Among all the philanthropic agencies, there are perhaps none that appeal more strongly to the sympathies than those engaged in rescuing the children from the streets and slums of our towns, and from depravity and destitution everywhere. This is building a barrier along the edge of the precipice, to keep little feet from falling into the abyss of vice and lifelong uselessness. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.10
Foremost in this work are Dr. Barnardo’s Homes, so well known to all. At the present time there are nearly five thousand children cared for in the Homes, being taught and useful trades and discipline, and surrounded by an atmosphere of home, so far as it is possible to provide this in a large institution. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.11
We are able to give from Dr. Barnardo’s monthly organ, Night and Day, some sketches from life of the kind of candidates for training that are constantly presenting themselves for admission, or are being sent in by those co-operating with the Homes. The group of boys in the picture were admitted on a day. The Doctor says of them:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.12
“After inquiring minutely into their antecedents, I found that there was not one of them who had at any time been charged with dishonesty, or been guilty of any graver fault than playing pitch and toss in the streets, a form of gambling to which almost every street boy gives way at some period or other of his life. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.13
“Is it not magnificent work to take such lads as these away from the allurements as well as from the sufferings of a street life, to a place them under firm discipline, to teach them the duty and privilege of hard work, and then, after a sufficient period of testing and training, to send those who have proved themselves worthy of it out to a colonial life?” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.14
Such specimens of boy life we all are familiar with. In the ordinary course of street development we might predict with tolerable certainty their evolution into the hopeless, drink-sodden, and perhaps criminal adult life which present so difficult a problem to the Christian worker. Happy indeed is the lot of the boy who is snatched away from this and turned into promising channels of usefulness. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 555.15
It is a far cry from a London slum to the broad prairies of the West, where the free expanse of land and air, and the possibilities within reach of the strong arm and ready mind are enough to awaken the feeling of manly independence and self-respect in the heart of almost any youth. But last year 834 of the young people were thus sent to Canada. Of the 24,000 children who have passed through the Homes, nearly seven thousand are working their way into manhood and womanhood in other and less crowded lands. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 556.1
Another picture, a little girl awaiting admission on the door-steps of the Home in Stepney Causeway, gives another view of the raw material that is taken in to be worked up. It is sometimes a mystery how some of the applicants contrive to secure their tattered clothing to their bodies. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 556.2
The work of such Homes as these represents more than simply an effort to clothe and feed destitute children. Any municipal or state institution might undertake that. But no such public institution can supply the Christian motive, the love for souls, and the influence begotten of this. This is the secret of the success of such work. Mere philanthropy, as the word is commonly understood, might supply the machinery, but only the real love of Christ and of souls that are precious to Him can do the work which the little waifs and strays of our streets need to have done for them. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 556.3
“Doing Something Great” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Did you ever wish you might have a chance to do something very good and great? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.1
The three Hebrew captives boldly refused to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel went into the lion’s den rather than conceal the fact that he prayed to God. Peter and John answered without fear when the Jewish rulers commanded them to stop their preaching. Paul preached before Felix, the Governor, Herod the King, and Nero, the great Emperor of Rome. Since that time men like Wycliffe, Luther, and others, about whom we have read, have had the same boldness to be true to God, when almost all the world were against them. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.2
“But no such chance will ever come to me,” I hear someone say. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.3
Don’t be too sure of that. The opportunity to be true to God comes every day to every one. What we must learn is to make use of it. “Redeeming the time,” is what we are told to be doing in Ephesians 5:16. If you will look at the same first in the Revised Version you will find it is written in the margin, “Buying up the opportunity.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.4
Those whom we have just mentioned, and the scores of others whose names will be thought of by every one who reads the Bible stories, simply bought up the opportunities that came to them. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.5
Sometimes the most difficult things are not the facing of lions, or imprisonment. One of the greatest things that can be done is to keep one’s temper when angry words have been spoken. Or it is to tell the exact truth when tempted to tell a lie. Or it may be to stand true when those we are with are planning some mischief or undertaking that a true manly or womanly child of God could not join in with a clear conscience; or to speak for God and truth when others laugh at us and think us simple. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.6
These may not seem great things, but they are. The Lord knows that we need His power to give us the victory in fighting against our evil ways and dispositions-and such a victory is as great a one as the world knows. Solomon says, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” Proverbs 16:32. There is a chance for every one of us to do mighty deeds. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.7
The longing to do some great thing-such as the world calls great-has kept many from doing the really great things. And it is good of the Lord, too, that He has made it so that the great things in His sight are such as even the youngest can do. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.8
GREAT DEEDS
In Matthew 25. we read that “when the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,” then He will give every man his reward. And what kind of deeds do you think the Lord will speak of in that great day? Read these verses and see:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.9
“Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.10
To do such things for the Lord Himself is surely as great a service as anyone could do-as great a thing as we could think of, and how had they done this? They do not remember that they had ever done such wonderful things, and so they ask the Lord when all this happen. This is His answer:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.11
“Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.12
Then the great things with God are those things that men call little, and we have the chance of doing them every day. The little kindnesses, the cheery word, giving food to the hungry, clothing to the naked, these are the things that show the real love there is in the heart. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.13
These words show us that Christ is not ashamed of the hungry, and ragged, and destitute. Do you think He loves those children who have clean and pleasant homes more than those who have no real home or mother’s care? Of course not; for He loves us, and not because we are good, but because He is good. It is because we need Him so much that He has such a pity for us. He calls the needy ones His “brethren,” and that high honour is just as freely given to the child in rags and tatters as to the nicely-clothed and well fed. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.14
In that day when the Son of man comes in His glory, there will be many also who have really done some things that they thought were great. They will say to the Lord that they have done “many wonderful works.” Matthew 7:22. But He will say He does not know them, because they did not give Him food when hungry, and clothing with naked, and did not visit Him when sick or in prison. They will be greatly surprised-as greatly surprised as the others were when He said they had done these acts-and these last will ask when they fail to do these things for Christ when He was in so great need. He will then say:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.15
“Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.16
They were longing to do something great, and had not done the things which the Lord calls great. They had not bought up the opportunities that came to them almost every day. It was because they did not have the real love of God, and the love for others in need which that love always gives. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.17
There are many ways in which even our little folks may bring some joy and happiness into the lives of those who have little of either. A good text to think of is found in Luke 14:12-14. As you think about it, I am sure the meaning of it will be plain to you. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 557.18
Do not dream about doing great deeds sometime. The greatest deed a man can do is to do his duty, and this we can do every day. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.1
“News of the Week” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
-A plot against the life of the Emperor of Austria has been discovered. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.2
-Negroes are said to be flocking to England from America in large numbers. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.3
-The great Russian Army man?uvres at Smolensk have for some unexplained reason been countermanded. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.4
-The great fire in Flume Harbour, Hungary, continued to burn for six days, in spite of all attempts to subdue it. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.5
-It is reported that the Nicaraguans are imprisoning and murdering some of the foreign residents at Bluefields. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.6
-During a regatta at St. John, New Brunswick, the yacht Primrose sank, and the owner and seven of the crew were drowned. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.7
-A large brick building in Worcester, Mass., collapsed Aug. 21, and three men and twelve children were buried in the ruins. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.8
-After all that has been written about feathered women, it is said that birds are to be worn this autumn in hats and bonnets. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.9
-Mr. Altgeld, Governor of Illinois, has issued a proclamation appealing for help on behalf of the starving strikers and their families in the town of Pullman. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.10
-Over 11,000 textile workers employed in the mills at New Bedford, U.S., have struck owing to a reduction of their wages by the owner. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.11
-At San Jose, Cal., a large chimney fell at night on a small brick house, in which two families, consisting of sixteen persons, were living, and killed fourteen of them. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.12
-At Sacramento, Cal., two houses were completely demolished and six persons instantly killed by a dynamite bomb, Aug. 21. There is every reason to suppose that the act was due to Anarchists. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.13
-It is said that in Switzerland a milkmaid or man gets better wages if gifted with a good voice, because it has been discovered that a cow will yield one-fifth more milk if soothed during the milking by a pleasing melody. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.14
-There seems to be a substantial shrinkage in the professional incomes of men at the bar just now. Lawyers complain that work of every kind is very scarce, and the practices of even well-known men are seriously reduced. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.15
-According to information from Kingston, Jamaica, despatches have been received there from Port-au-Prince, stating that President Hippolyte is seriously ill and not expected to live. A revolution in Haiti is said to be inevitable. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.16
-The Kaybles of Morocco have revolted, defeated the Spanish force sent against them, and inaugurated what promises to be a serious rebellion. Warships have been dispatched thither by the British, Spanish and Italian Governments. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.17
-A serious riot arising from popular prejudice against sanitary precautions took place in the Cosack village of Borgustan, in the Caucasus, and many of the people were ordered to charge them. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.18
-The official cholera bulletin issued at Berlin by the Imperial Boarde of Health reports that from noon on the 13th to noon on the 20th instant, there were twenty-three deaths from the disease, and thirty-two cases in the German Empire. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.19
-Skeletons of a human family have been found in Moravia along with mammoth bones. The skeleton of the man was of enormous size. This find is said to dispose of the theory of scientists who contend that man did not exist during the mammoth period. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.20
-Ritualism appears to be rampant in Canterbury. It is stated that many parents have removed their children from some local Church schools on the ground that they object to their children being taught to bow and cross themselves. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.21
-The tramway cars at Chemnitz, in Saxony, have no conductors, and the payment of fares is left to the honour of the passengers. There is a fare box at either end of the cars, which are moved by electricity on the trolley system. By doing away with conductors a saving of 44,000 marks has been effected. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.22
-The Italian Colonial authorities are endeavouring to colonise Massowah. A number of Italians at Tunis have been engaged to proceed thither, where they will be given land grants. They receive a free passage with board and lodging until settled on the land. Only single men are selected, but about 6,000 have already been engaged, most of them being Sicilians. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.23
-A number of Government scientists who have been engaged in a survey of Popocatepetl, Mexico, have now reached the summit of the volcano, whose altitude they have fixed at 19,648 Spanish feet above the level of the sea. The circumference of the crater is 14,000ft. An elaborate study is being made of the smoking rents and other phenomena of the volcano. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.24
-About 99 per cent. of the operations for cataract are now successful. Experts assert that the other 1 per cent. would not be unsuccessful but for the fact that some patients are handicapped with impurities of the blood that increase the difficulties following the operation. The removal of cataract has ceased to be esteemed a very serious matter for either patient or surgeon. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.25
-While no very reliable news has been received concerning the war in the East, it is reported that the Japanese have been defeated at Ping Yang, to the north of the Korean capital, with great slaughter. The Chinese, it is said, followed up their success, and drove the Japanese out of Chung Hwa. The news is discredited by the Japanese officials. The Japanese are reported to have come to an agreement with the King of Korea who has declared his independence of China, and has appointed a Reform Cabinet. Japanese nobles have subscribed 80,000,000 dollars for war expenses, which they have loaned to the Government without interest. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 558.26
“Back Page” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
The Assyriologists at the British Museum have discovered, some contract tablets brought from Babylonia, a tablet recording the sale of a Babylonian “beer-house.” It dates from over 2,000 years B.C. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.1
An Indian correspondent reports discontent and dissatisfaction amongst the natives of India. Of rice, the chief food supply, he says, “Last year they suffered from scarcity, from which they have not yet got over, and in the event of another such year as the last there is sure to be a famine, with all its horrors.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.2
In an interview, a native of West Africa, a Methodist, who is now in London, was asked if the Roman Catholic form of worship, with its ritual and mysticism, did not have a special attraction for the native mind. He said:— PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.3
I don’t know what their service is like in England, but their service on the West Coast does not attract the people. The natives look upon it as another form of their own worship-that is, they believe them to be European idol-worshipers, and even call them by that name, so that we have nothing to fear from them. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.4
The National Protestant Church Union publishes an appeal and memorial addressed to the Bishops of the English Church, calling attention to the fact that “not a few of the distinctive errors of the Church of Rome” are taught by service books which are being widely used in the Establishment. The Bishops are appealed to to take steps to discountenance and suppress these works. But it is a well-known fact that the bench of Bishops is a most unsatisfactory court of appeals for the Protestant. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.5
In one of the Catechisms to which the attention of the Bishops is called the question is asked, “By what means are sins forgiven?” It would be a simple thing to quote any one of a score of texts giving a direct answer to the question; but it is not to teach the word of God that these books are written. The answer given is, “Sins are forgiven chiefly by the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Penance.” Prayers and sacrifices for the dead, the sacrifice of the Mass, the real presence, confession to priests, and many other ultra Romish practices are taught in these manuals, and are being received on every side by people who have been taught to look to men’s teachings rather than to the Bible for themselves. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.6
“Not Yet” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Not Yet.—“We must hope that we are entering on a period when in every nation the idea that man should be suppressed in the name of religion will be rooted out. Charity alone can lead souls to the light.” These are the words of a Roman Catholic authority, recently uttered in New Zealand. But the Church which he represents has acted contrary to the sentiments in every line of her history, wherever the power has been in her hands. And the spirit of the Papacy finds so natural a home in the natural heart, that the lesson of history, to say nothing of the word of Scripture, must teach us that so long as sin is in the earth, so long will men be oppressed in the name of religion. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.7
“Whose Image and Superscription?” The Present Truth 10, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
We are sure that our readers will find the article on page 546, entitled “The Pope’s Bell Ringing in Basel,” very interesting. The story, however, is not yet finished. The article came just too late for last week’s paper, and since then there have been new developments, of which we have been informed by letter. We will therefore in few words bring the account as nearly as possible up to date. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.8
The article closes with the sale of household goods of the director of the publishing house, who is our correspondent. Before he had reached his home after the sale, he was summoned to appear before the court again, to answer for Sunday labour. Concerning this Brother Holser writes:—“The result of our trial last Thursday was that they fined me 200 francs, and sentenced me to three weeks in prison besides. In case they do not pay the fine, it will take forty days in prison to satisfy that.” This will make a total of sixty-one days’ imprisonment for labouring peacefully on the first day of the week, after having “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.9
Brother Holser presented before the court the Bible reasons for his course, and why it was not possible for him as a Christian to observe Sunday. But the prosecuting attorney said that he seemed to be ignorant of the fact that “the State had no creed, i.e., nothing to do with religion.” But if the State has nothing to do with religion, why does it seek to compel men to rest on Sunday? PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.10
Some will doubtless think that the city of Basel is simply “guarding the right” of other people to rest on Sunday, and protecting them from disturbance. But it can be clearly shown that this is not the case. Directly in front of the office where the work is done, for which Brother Holser is to be imprisoned, is a large green where there are foot-ball games, companies of soldiers drilling, officer’s shouting commands, target-shooting, etc. Whatever noise might be made in the printing office is more than drowned by the noise on the green, yet no one thinks of being disturbed by that. The conclusion is inevitable that there is a “disturbance” occasioned by Sunday labour, except when the labourers keep the Sabbath of the Lord. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.11
By the labour that has been done in the Imprimerie Polyglotte, nobody has been injured in the slightest degree. Nobody has been molested, nobody has been hindered for keeping Sunday, nor disturbed in his rest. There has been no damage to life or property. Yet fines and imprisonment are imposed. We emphasise this, not for the purpose of holding up the Government to reproach, but to show the nature of the Sunday institution. No such arbitrary action would be possible in connection with any really Christian institution. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.12
The Gospel brings freedom. It knows nothing of force. And the fact that the Sunday institution allows and even demands persecution in its behalf, is in itself sufficient evidence that it is wholly opposed to the Gospel. There are absolutely no grounds upon which fines and imprisonment for Sunday labour can be defended, except on the papal ground that the traditions of men are above the law of God. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.13
Brother Holser writes: “Personally I care not a straw about the inconvenience of a little of prison life. This is so little in comparison with what others have suffered, that I should be ashamed to mention it as a hardship.” It is with no spirit of complaint or fault-finding that this matter is set forth, but that all who will read may see the ground on which Sunday observance stands. It has only the arbitrary and cruel power of man; the gentle power of God is not in it. PTUK August 30, 1894, page 560.14