The Present Truth, vol. 10
October 11, 1894
“Getting the Light” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” “The opening of Thy words giveth light.” Psalm 119:105, 130. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.1
This is not a mere figure of speech, but an actual fact. Light does come from the word of God, because it is a light. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” Psalm 33:6. God said, “Let there be light; and there was light.” Genesis 1:3. As soon as His word went into the darkness, light came forth, even the light by which we are able to walk and work. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.2
This being the case, it is no wonder that the words of the Lord gives mental and spiritual light. There is light in every word of God, because light is life, and we are to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.3
Yet the experience of every one that regards the word of the Lord is that more light seems to come in from some portions of it than from others. Some parts seem to have no light at all. If we will think a moment, we shall find the reason for this. It is from the portions with which we are very familiar, that the most light seems to come. It is those passages which we have read many times, which seem like old acquaintances, and which we can recall without the book, from which the light streams so brightly. It is from these that new light ever and anon breaks forth. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.4
This should show us that the reason why we do not get light from other passages of Scripture, is that we have not studied them so as to become familiar with them. It is true that there are many which seem to give their light very clearly on first reading; yet even these reveal much more the more they are studied. But there are others so obscure that a first glance does not reveal any light. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.5
When we look to the sky there are certain heavenly bodies that give us much light. But there are many others so far distant that no perceptible light comes to us from them. There are stars so far distant that they cannot be discerned even by the most powerful telescope. And yet this earth does receive a measure of light from them. One may ask how we know this, if they cannot be seen even through the telescope. Their existence is revealed by photography. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.6
But we must not suppose that their photograph is taken by any “snap shot.” Even the long, tedious sitting that was required by the old-style Daguerreotype would be insufficient to leave the slightest trace upon the plate. The astronomer must direct his instrument to a certain portion of the heavens, and keep it steady there, having a bright star as his guide. For many hours must it remain in one position, until the light from those distant suns accumulates upon the plate, and reveals their presence. Then a multitude of tiny spots of light shows that in the infinite depths of space there is light for the one who has but the patience to wait for it. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.7
That is the way that the astronomer studies the heavens. He patiently looks into their depths, until the light is revealed to him. Even so should we study the Bible. We do not study the Bible by talking about it, but by looking at it. The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, even the word which by the Gospel is preached unto us: and therefore the infinite depth of the heavens is but an illustration of the infinite depths of God’s word. “O Lord, how great are Thy works! and Thy thoughts are very deep.” Psalm 112:5. Let the mind be open to the impress of the Holy Spirit, and continued meditation upon the word itself will reveal duties that are not dreamed of by the careless reader. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.8
“‘Made Sin’” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
We gain some faint idea of the infinite sacrifice which Christ made for us when we consider that God “hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin.” Ephesians 5:21. To realise its meaning fully would require that we fully comprehend the Divine nature of Christ and the nature of sin. Between the two there is an infinite gulf. The one is as utterly unlike the other as it possibly can be. Christ was infinitely pure: sin was infinitely loathsome and impure. Yet Christ was made sin for us. The serpent which Moses lifted up in the wilderness was a faithful representation of Christ upon the cross, not only because it hung upon the wood, but because it was a serpent, representing sin. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.9
Christ consented to be made the very thing that was most loathsome to Him and to His Father; to become that which was strictly unlike His Father as anything could be; and to be separated from His Father as far as sin is separated from Him, which is as far as the east is from the west. No wonder the Saviour, as He felt this awful gulf of separation yawning between them, prayed that the cup might pass from Him. But He drank the cup and endured the cross that we, who were made sinners by Adam’s fall, “might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” “We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 641.10
“Life in the Word” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
One great truth which men need at this day to learn is that there is life in the word of God. This was the lesson that the Lord endeavoured to teach His people of old whom He delivered from Egypt, while they were in the wilderness where those things usually necessary to sustain life could not be had; but they had not faith enough to learn it. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 642.1
It is stated that the Lord fed them with manna in the desert that they might “know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3. It required faith for them, under such circumstances, to know that they were daily receiving all that they needed to perfectly sustain their lives. The appearances were against it, and they had more faith in the appearances than they did in God. They became dissatisfied with the manna, and gave expression to their feelings by weeping and murmuring. They said, “Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all beside this manna, before our eyes.” Numbers 11:5, 6. Their language intimated that they were on the road to starvation. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 642.2
But what was the truth of the matter? The context shows. The Lord sent quails upon the camp, and “the people stood up all that day and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails.” Verse 32. They had an abundance of strength and life, or they could not have done this. They were without all those things which had sustained their life in Egypt; yet they lived, and their physical powers were unimpaired. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 642.3
“The word of God is living, and active.” Hebrews 4:12, R.V. This is no figure of speech, but a simple statement of the fact which the Israelites proved in the wilderness when the Lord fed them on His word. The word of the Lord is power. And the commandment of the Lord is not given us to be a test of our power, but a measure of His power. The Saviour, speaking of His sacrifice and laying down His life, said, “No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.” John 10:18. He might have said, This power have I received of My Father; it would have meant the same. And we, since we have received commandments from God, which command the fullest and highest perfection, need not look upon them with despair, wondering how we are to attain to the Divine standard, but say in faith, This power have I received of My Father. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 642.4
“Studies in Romans. ‘Saved by His Life.’ Romans 5:1-10” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
We have now passed through the first four chapters of Romans. A very brief review may therefore be taken, so that we may preserve the chain of thought. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 643.1
Chapter one gives us a brief statement of what the Gospel is, and tells us where it may be learned, and the condition of men who reject it. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 643.2
The second chapter shows that not alone those who have lost the knowledge of the true God, but all men are in condemnation. All men are partakers of the same sinful nature. Disobedience to the law of God is heathenism, no matter what profession the disobedient one may make. Righteousness, the circumcision of the heart, comes only by the Spirit of God. And there is no circumcision except that of the heart. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 643.3
The third chapter sums up the argument that all men, whether called Jews or Gentiles, whether so-called heathen or professed Christians, are to be judged by the same law, and that all are alike guilty. The law is universal in its jurisdiction, and as it condemns all, none can get righteousness by it, although it is the statement of the righteousness of God. But God has promised righteousness to men, therefore they must get it aside from the works of the law, namely, in Christ. In His blood there is redemption for Jew and Gentile alike. A man is made a doer of the law by faith alone, without the deeds of the law. This is the mystery of the Gospel. It is Christ in men, the hope of glory, and God in Christ working His own righteousness. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 643.4
The fourth chapter has taken up the case of Abraham as an illustration of righteousness by faith. He was made righteousness by his faith in the promise of God, and God gave him a seal of that righteousness. But the promise of God to Abraham was that he should have a son, and that he should be the father of all the nations of the earth, and that he and the numerous posterity that should come to him through the promise, should have the earth for an everlasting possession. The promise of the son through whom all this should be fulfilled, was made after it was humanly impossible for him to have a son, yet he was not weakened in faith. See Romans 4:19. So “through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” Hebrews 11:11. Isaac was the child of promise, born of the Spirit, through faith. See Galatians 4:23, 28, 29. The faith which was imputed to Abraham for righteousness, namely, faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, will bring us the same righteousness, and make us heirs with him of the same promise. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 643.5
The fourth chapter is really a parenthetical illustration, so that the fifth begins where the third closes. We therefore proceed with the subject of PTUK October 11, 1894, page 643.6
RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Romans 5:1-10. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.1
QUESTIONING THE TEXT
What have the preceding chapters set before us? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.2
Justification by faith. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.3
Being justified by faith, what do we have? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.4
“We have peace.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.5
What peace do we have? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.6
“We have peace with God.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.7
Through whom do we have peace? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.8
“Through our Lord Jesus Christ.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.9
What else do we have through Him? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.10
“We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.11
What do we therefore do? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.12
“Rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.13
What else? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.14
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.15
Why do we glory in tribulations? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.16
“Knowing that tribulation worketh patience.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.17
What does patience work? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.18
“And patience experience.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.19
What comes with experience? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.20
“And experience hope.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.21
And what does hope not do? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.22
“Hope maketh not ashamed.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.23
What therefore must hope do? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.24
It must give boldness. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.25
How does it give this boldness? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.26
“Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.27
How is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.28
“By the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.29
What evidence have we that God will give us all these blessings? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.30
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.31
For whom did Christ die? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.32
“Christ died for the ungodly.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.33
In what condition were those for whom Christ died? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.34
“Without strength.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.35
What is the greatest love known to man? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.36
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13. Compare with Romans 5:7. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.37
But what is the love of God for us? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.38
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.39
When did Christ die for us? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.40
“While we were yet sinners.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.41
Since we were sinners, in what relation did we stand to God? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.42
“Alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.” Colossians 1:21. “The carnal mind is enmity against God.” Romans 8:7. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.43
What did Christ do for us when we were enemies? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.44
“Died for us.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.45
What does the death of Christ do for us? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.46
“When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.47
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, of what may we be much more sure? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.48
“Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.49
Faith Works Real Righteousness.-The first verse of the fifth chapter begins with “therefore.” “Therefore being justified by faith,” etc. The word “therefore” indicates that what follows is a natural conclusion of what goes before. What has gone before? The story of what Abraham gained by faith. He gained righteousness by faith, but it was by faith in the promise that he should have a son. That son was the child of faith. But the same faith that resulted in the birth of Isaac, also brought righteousness to Abraham. And the same will also be imputed to us, if we have the same faith. Therefore, we are taught that the righteousness of faith is as real as was the son that was born to Abraham through faith. Righteousness by faith is not a myth. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.50
Peace.-What is peace? Most people have the idea that it is a sort of ecstatic feeling. They think that peace with God means an indescribable heavenly feeling; and so they always look for that imaginary feeling as evidence that they are accepted with God. But peace with God means the same thing that it means with men: it means simply the absence of war. As sinners we are enemies of God. He is not our enemy, but we are his enemies. He is not fighting against us, but we are fighting against Him. How then may we have peace with Him? Simply by ceasing to fight, and laying down our arms. We may have peace whenever we are ready to stop fighting. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.51
“Peace with God.”-Note that when we have peace with God we are not simply at peace with Him, but we have His peace. This peace has been left on the earth for men; for the Lord has said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” John 14:27. He has given it to us. It is ours, therefore, already. It has always been ours. The only trouble has been that we have not believed it. As soon as we believe the words of Christ, then we have in very deed the peace which He has given. And it is peace with God, because we find the peace in Christ, and Christ dwells in the bosom of the Father. John 1:18. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.52
Peace and Righteousness.—“Great peace have they which love Thy law.” Psalm 119:165. “O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” Isaiah 48:18. Righteousness is peace, because our warfare against God was our sins that we cherished. God’s life is righteousness, and He is the God of peace. Since the enmity is the carnal mind and its wicked works, peace must be the opposite, namely, righteousness. So it is simply the statement of an obvious fact, that being justified by faith we have peace with God. The righteousness that we have by faith carries peace with it. The two things can not be separated. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.53
Peace and Feeling.-The question is asked, “Can one have peace with God and not have a feeling of peace?” What says the Scripture? “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” What brings the peace? The faith. But faith is not feeling. If it were necessarily the case that there must be a certain feeling with peace, then if we did not have that feeling we should know that we were not justified; and then justification would be a matter of feeling, and not of faith. The verses which follow show us that we may have peace in tribulation as well as when everything goes smoothly. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.54
Glory in Tribulations.-This does not mean that we are to seek for martyrdom, as some in the early centuries did. But it means, as it says, that in the midst of tribulations our peace and joy continue the same. This must necessarily be the case with peace that comes by faith. Peace that depends on feeling will depart as soon as we begin to feel tribulation. But nothing can make any difference with the peace that comes by faith. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.55
Tribulation Worketh Patience.-What is patience? It is endurance of suffering. The root of the word “patience” means suffering. We see this in the fact that one who is ill is called “a patient.” That is, he is a sufferer. People often excuse their petulance by saying that they have so much to endure. They think that they would be patient if they did not have to suffer so much. No, they would not be. There can be no patience where there is no suffering. Trouble does not destroy patience, but develops it. When trouble seems to destroy one’s patience, it is simply showing the fact that the person had no patience. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.56
When Does It Work?-The statement is that tribulation worketh patience. Yet there are many who become more and more irritable the more trouble they have. It does not work patience with them. Why not?—Simply because they are not in the condition that the apostle is describing. It is only those who are justified by faith that tribulation works patience. Nothing but faith in God can keep one perfectly patient under all circumstances. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.57
Will It Always Work?-Will tribulation always work patience in those who believe the Lord?—Yes, invariably. “Well,” says one, “I am sure that anybody would be impatient if he had as much to trouble him as I have.” Question: Would Christ become impatient if He had the things to endure that you have? Did He not have as much to endure, and more? You must admit that He did. Was He impatient? “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.” Isaiah 53:7. Then if He were in your place, He would be patient. Why, then, do you not let Him be in your place? Faith brings Christ into the heart, so that He is identified with us, and therefore He bears the burdens. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.58
“All Patience.”-There is no limit to the patience that comes by faith in Christ. This is the inspired prayer: “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” Colossians 1:10, 11. That is, we may be so strengthened by the glorious power by which Christ endured suffering, that we may have all patience even though suffering long, and may rejoice in the midst of it. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.59
Patience Works Experience.-In what does it work experience? It works experience in the peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Many people confuse Christian experience with Christian profession. They speak of having had so many years of “Christian experience,” when it may be that they have never really experienced the blessedness of the life of Christ. They have made a profession of religion; but real experience means the actual proving of the power of the life of Christ. When one has that experience, it is not a difficult matter for him to tell something of his experience when occasion calls for it. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.60
“Not Ashamed.”-Hope makes not ashamed. Why? Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. “And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” 1 John 2:28. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17. There can not possibly be a more trying day than the day of Judgment. Therefore it is certain that those who will then not be ashamed or afraid, will have boldness now. And he who has boldness with God ought certainly not to be afraid of man. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.61
“The Love of God.”-The reason why hope makes not ashamed is that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Note that it does not say love for God, but the love of God. What is the love of God? “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:3. The Holy Ghost, then, puts into our hearts obedience to the law of God; and it is that which gives us boldness in the day of Judgment, and at all other times. It is sin that makes men afraid. When sin is taken away, then fear is gone. “The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.62
“Christ Died for the Ungodly.”—“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15. “This man receiveth sinners.” Luke 15:2. Strange that people will allow a sense of their sinfulness to keep them away from the Lord, when Christ came for the one purpose of receiving and saving them. He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him (Hebrews 7:25); and He says that those who come to Him He will in no wise cast out John 6:37. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.63
“Without Strength.”-It was when we were yet without strength, that Christ died for the ungodly. Of course; because He died for the purpose that we might be strengthened with might by the Spirit. If He waited for us to gain some strength before giving Himself for us, then we should be lost. When were we without strength? Just now; and even now Jesus Christ is set forth evidently crucified among us. Galatians 3:1. “Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” Isaiah 45:24. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.64
Righteous and Good.—“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.” Our English translation does not indicate the difference between the two words used here. The righteous man is the just man, the man who is careful to give every one his due. The good man is the benevolent man, the one who has done us many favours, and who does for us more than we could justly claim. Now, no matter how just a man may be, his integrity of character would scarcely lead one to die for him. Yet it is possible that for a man of great kindness some would even dare to die. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.65
The Greatest Love.-That is the highest measure of love among men. One may lay down his life for his friends, “but God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,” and therefore enemies, “Christ died for us.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.66
“For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man’s mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.”
PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.67
“Reconciled by His Death.”-God is not our enemy, but we are or have been enemies to Him. Therefore He does not need to be reconciled to us, but we need reconciliation to Him. And He Himself, in the kindness of His heart, makes the reconciliation. We “are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13. How so? Because it was sin that separated us from Him, and made us enemies; and “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. Being cleansed from sin, we must necessarily be reconciled to God. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 644.68
The Gift of Life.—“The life of the flesh is in the blood.” “For it is the life of all flesh.” Leviticus 7:11, 14. In that Christ shed His blood for us, He gave His life for us. But inasmuch as the blood is applied to us, to cleanse us from all sin, He gives His life to us. In the death of Christ therefore, if we are crucified with Him, we receive His life as a substitute for our sinful life, which He takes upon Himself. Our sins are remitted through faith in His blood, not as an arbitrary act, but because by faith we exchange lives with Him, and the life which we get in exchange has no sin. Our sinful life is swallowed up in His boundless life, because He has life so abundantly that He can die because of our transgressions, and still live again to give life to us. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.1
“Saved by His Life.”-Christ did not go through the pangs of death for nothing, nor did He give His life to us for the purpose of taking it away again. When He gives us His life, He designs that we shall keep it forever. How do we get it? By faith. How do we keep it? By the same faith. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Colossians 2:6. His life can never end, but we may lose it by unbelief. Let it be remembered that we have not this life in ourselves, but “this life is in His Son.” “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:11, 12. We keep the everlasting life by keeping Christ. Now it is a very simple proposition that if we have been reconciled to God by the death of Christ, if His life has been given to us for the remission of our sins, then we shall much more be saved by that life since He has risen from the dead. People sometimes say that they can believe that God forgives their sins, but they find it difficult to believe that He can keep them from sin. Well, if there is any difference, the latter is the easier of the two; for the forgiveness of sins requires the death of Christ, while the saving from sins requires only His continued life. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.2
By What Life?—By the life of Christ, and He has but one. He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8. It is by His present life that we are saved, that is, by His life in us from day to day. But the life which He now lives is the very same life that He lived in Judea eighteen hundred years ago. He took again the same life that He laid down. Think what was in the life of Christ, as we have the record in the New Testament, and we shall know what ought to be in our lives now. If we allow Him to dwell in us, He will live just as He did then. If there is something in our lives that was not then in His, we may be sure that He is not living it in us now. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.3
“The Source of Authority” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
The readers of PRESENT TRUTH cannot have failed to notice the prominent place that the Sabbath question has occupied in the last few numbers. Its prominence is not due to any efforts of ours, but is that which it demands for itself, and which it rightly has. It will be remembered that the recent discussion of the matter was brought about through the efforts of “The Lord’s Day Rest Association” to secure the better observance of Sunday, which was called the Lord’s day. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.4
We have no sympathy with any human laws concerning the Lord’s day, because we are sure that the Lord is fully able to care for His own day; and because it is the height of assumption for feeble subjects of the King of kings to take the reins of His Government into their own hands; but if any such laws were to be made, it would be only reasonable to first be sure which day is the Lord’s day. Unfortunately those who are so concerned about the Lord’s day, seem never to have thought of this phase of the question. Or, at least, they have not thought that there could be any question about the matter. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.5
That we are not at all forcing the Sabbath question, will appear to everybody who reads the religious papers. In every one of them there are frequent articles treating of the importance of the better observance of the Sabbath. Quite recently the English Churchman had an editorial on the subject, from which we take the following two paragraphs:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.6
The Sabbath was instituted by God when He ceased the work of creation. It was appointed for man in his pure, unfallen state, and though Adam afterwards rebelled, the institution was never abrogated. God knew that one day’s rest was good for man’s body and soul; and as He sanctified the Sabbath, how can men dare to desecrate it? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.7
When the Israelites were commanded to remember to keep the seventh day holy, there was a special reference to the creation, as it was but the re-enactment of its earlier institution. They were to remember it, as a thing which was ordained long ago. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” It was hallowed and blessed by God. It is therefore of universal obligation. So long as men exist, the law of the early Sabbath will remain. By His sovereign authority, He instituted it, and no man on earth has a right to set it aside. Man’s proper rest is in God. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.8
This is very good. It would be better, however, to say that the giving of the commandments from Sinai was the repetition of the first law than to say it was the re-enactment of it; because God is never under the necessity of re-enacting His laws. “They stand fast for ever and ever.” He often has to repeat them for man’s benefit, but one enactment is sufficient for ever. But the point which is stated very plainly is that the Sabbath commandment is precisely the same now that it was when given in Eden, and repeated from Sinai. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.9
Farther on the Churchman’s article says:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.10
A blessing attends the proper observance of the Sabbath. In England the Bible and the Sabbath have been great blessings; but now, men are tampering with God’s word, and encouraging the idolatrous system of Rome. The true Christians will neither give up the Sabbath nor the Bible. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.11
This also is good. We cannot be to watchful against the encroachments of Rome. Where Rome comes in, there the Bible goes out. Romanism means the exaltation of the human above the Divine. It means either the total extirpation of the Bible, or else, what is the same thing in effect, the substitution of man’s ideas for its simple statements. The English Churchman is very active in its opposition to the growth of Romanism and the Church of England, and in this it does well. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.12
Among the leaders in that branch of the Church of England which delights in the name “Catholic,” and which is really Roman in everything except the acknowledgement of Leo XIII. as Pope, Canon Knox-Little is one of the first. In arguing for the Roman Catholic plan of fasting communion, he thus illustrates the Roman treatment of the Bible:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.13
And first, my dear Dean, I turn to the Scriptural aspect of the question. I do not think this is the point in the present controversy, as I have already said. The point is loyalty to the Church of England, whether Scripturally she is right or wrong.—Sacerdotalism, p. 68. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.14
Farther on He gives an illustration of how little he regards the authority of God’s word, in a way that seems to us to be unfortunate for those members of the Church of England who call themselves “Protestant,” against whom the Canon is arguing. He says:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 645.15
Well, as to certain specific statements of Scripture which are said to forbid the teaching of fasting communion. What are they? The primary argument of opponents is that our Lord instituted the Blessed Sacrament “after supper.” It is difficult to believe that fairly instructed persons who use this argument are in earnest, and sincerely believe what they say. It would be just as sensible to argue that you are a “sacerdotalist” for observing the Lord’s day, instead of observing the Jewish Saturday. 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.”—p. 75. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.1
Still further:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.2
Their efforts strictly to 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 October 11, 1894, page 646.3
But the English Churchman, as the special organ of Protestantism in the Church of England, will not have it that the church is above the Bible. And herein it is right. On the opposite page from that which has the article on the Sabbath, from which we have quoted above, we read in an argument concerning the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.4
Now the VIIIth of those Articles shows that the Creeds of the Church bind only because “proved by warrant of Holy Scripture;” the XXth limits the authority of the Church by Scripture; the XIXth shows that the Church is fallible; and the VIth limits all necessary truth to what is “read in Scripture, or may be proved thereby,” ignoring altogether the opinions of “Fathers” or “Grandfathers,” except so far as they may be able to justify themselves by that touchstone. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.5
With all these quotations let us read once more from the Churchman’s Sabbath article. It says:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.6
The change of day from the seventh to the first day of the week does not alter the obligation of its observance. It is equally God’s command with the first day or the seventh. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.7
The Protestant reader must ask the Churchman for its authority. The Bible nowhere speaks of any change in the day of the Sabbath, and the commandment reads the same to-day that it always did. This is admitted. What we are waiting to have explained is how a commandment which says the seventh day can be obeyed by keeping a different day altogether. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.8
Let us take a simple illustration. We will suppose in order to make some necessary repairs, the city authorities have ordered all traffic across London Bridge suspended, and have posted a notice to that effect. This notice is properly regarded. As soon as the repairs have been made, it becomes necessary to close Blackfriar’s Bridge for the same purpose. Accordingly the same notice as before is posted, and the traveller reads that all persons are forbidden to cross London Bridge. A simple-minded man sees the notice, and proceeds on his way across Blackfriar’s Bridge, when a policeman stops him, and asks why he does not regard the order. “What order?” is his surprised inquiry. “Why the order not to cross this bridge,” says the policeman. “But I did not see any such order,” replies the man. “There it is,” says the policeman, pointing to the notice. “But that says London Bridge,” says the man, more surprised than before. “Oh, that makes no difference,” replies the policeman, “it means Blackfriar’s Bridge as well as London Bridge. The change of bridge makes no difference with the order, and you must go back.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.9
Such a case is really not supposable. If such a thing really should occur, every paper would most unmercifully gibe the men who were so foolish as to suppose that an order against crossing London Bridge would serve equally well to prevent the crossing of Blackfriar’s Bridge. Yet this is what wise Doctors of Divinity do with the law of God. Truly, as the English Churchman says, “Men treat God as they would be ashamed to treat one another.” PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.10
How will the Churchman, and those who hold with it, justify themselves for their treatment of the Sabbath of the Lord? They justly refuse certain practices of Rome because they are contrary to the life of our Lord, and the Bible. But Canon Knox-Little has given them a point which no one has seen fit to try to answer. If Romanism is shown in the substitution of one human practice for that of Christ, why is it not shown in the substitution of a day which He did not keep, for the one which He did keep? And if men persist in keeping the substitute day, how can they say that they do not put the authority of “the church” above that of Christ Himself? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.11
Has it never occurred to those who argue against the abrogation of the Sabbath, or rather, the course of men who act as though it were abrogated, that men have just as much right to ignore the commandment altogether, or to abrogate it, as they have to change it in any particular? The Protestants of England have a hard battle before them with Rome, but they must learn that they will be defeated as long as they occupy Romish ground. Indeed, they are defeated before the battle begins. Let them insist that the Bible is above all human authority, and then let them be consistent with this when they come to the fourth commandment. If they swerve in this particular, they are gone. But all Protestants know of a surety that the change of the Sabbath is that upon which Rome bases her claim to supreme authority, and that the final struggle between true Christianity and the Papacy will be over the Sabbath question. This is the question of the day. Shall we take the Bible as the supreme and sole authority, or shall we accept human dogmas and practices instead? PTUK October 11, 1894, page 646.12
“News of the Week” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
-Many women who are not cyclists now walk about the streets of Paris in knickerbockers. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.1
-A serious convent scandal has been discovered in Naples, and the Lady Superior is under arrest. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.2
-Cholera has broken out in Constantinople, and several deaths from the disease have already occurred. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.3
-Nearly 200 non-commissioned German officers have been arrested on suspicion of being guilty of political intrigues. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.4
-Eight Anarchists have been arrested at Marseilles in connection with a supposed plot to blow up the Italian Consulate there. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.5
-An Anarchist attempt was made upon the life of Senor Iglesias, President of the Costa Rican Republic. The would-be assassin fired five shots without effect. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.6
-The Mahdi is stated to have killed many Egyptian prisoners, and to be fortifying Omdurman and Khartoum in view of an expected attack by Italians or British. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.7
-The zebra, which was regarded as untameable, has been made to go in harness. A pair of zebras have recently been driven in this way in the streets of London. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.8
-Mexico and Guatemala are having trouble with each other over the international boundary line, the Mexican Government alleging that Guatemalans are committing depredations in her territory. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.9
-The elections to the Japanese House of Representatives have lately been held, the result being the choosing of 109 members of the Government party, 149 of the Opposition, and 39 Independent member. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.10
-The New York World publishes a despatch from Caracas stating that a waterspout occurred near Valencia, Venezuela, on Sept. 28, by which 1.50 persons were killed and serious damage was done to crops. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.11
-Great storms have been raging in the tropical seas of the Western hemisphere. Half the town of San Domingo has been destroyed by a cyclone, and a large steamer, a sailing ship, and a schooner have been sighted aground on the coast of Florida. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.12
-Although the electric light is gradually coming into use, according to the latest estimate about twelve million tone of coal are consumed per annum for gas-making in the United Kingdom, over a quarter of that amount being consumed in London. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.13
-The Vatican is in communication with France, which has a protectorate over Catholic missions In China, in order that it may intervene with other European Powers in favour of the missionaries, who have sent to the Propaganda very alarming reports. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.14
-On Oct. 2 the city of Wichita, Kansas, was seriously damaged by a tornado, and on the following day the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, was visited by a similar disaster, which partially wrecked the State penitentiary. Property was damaged to the extent of $500,000. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.15
-The members of an Italian criminal association known as the Male, Vita wore sentenced at Lucent, sixty-eight of them being condemned to terms of imprisonment varying from five to ten years, while fourteen were acquitted. The objects of the society were robbery and rapine. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.16
-Cardinal Monescillo, the Primate of Spain, has issued a pastoral letter declaring the recent consecration of a Protestant Bishop of Madrid to be contrary to the Spanish Constitution. He describes the ceremony of consecration as a violent transition from toleration to freedom of worship. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.17
-Extraordinary scenes continue to take place daily at “St. Winifride’s Well,” Holywell, the Welsh Lourdes. Crowds of halt, blind and lame, after leaving the water, crawl to the statue of the saint, and there, all dripping and shivering with cold, they pray for her miraculous aid. Many “miraculous cures” are reported. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.18
-The Dutch are doing a good deal of fighting in the East Indies, and have recently met with several reverses. They have captured four forts at Mataram after a most determined resistance on the part of the Balinese, who lost heavily. One of the forts was immediately occupied and strengthened. On the Dutch side one officer and eleven men were killed, while four officers and forty-five men were wounded. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.19
-Frequent reports are received from Odessa of the arrest of young men, chiefly Poles, suspected of complicity with their compatriots in Poland. There can be no doubt that there is an alarming unrest and dissatisfaction among the young Poles of Russia and Germany, and although no particulars in any way reliable have yet transpired, it is generally believed there that the young Poles arrested in Odessa and in various parts of Russian Poland are members of one and the same revolutionary organisation. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.20
-A leading physician at Buenos Ayres was in the habit of inviting two or three guests to dinner. A short time later one or more of them would die, When in all twenty guests had thus plied the physician was arrested, but no trace of poison could be found in the bodies. It then transpired, from a statement by the cook, that the physician had been giving his guests cholera, germs in their drink, presumably to test the effects of microbes upon human beings. The physician killed himself in his cell by means of a drop of poison placed in a capsule, which he had hidden away in a hollow tooth before his arrest. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.21
-The Chinese have evacuated Korea and retreated hastily southward, pillaging and burning the villages on their way. The Japanese are advancing and are landing troops by their fleets at various points. Disorder and anarchy reign at Pekin, and it said that the Emperor has made all preparations for flight to some inland stronghold in the event of a Japanese victory on Chinese soil. As his government is unpopular, this would, it is said, precipitate a revolution. Meanwhile the Chinese are displaying more and more hatred toward all foreigners, and the situation has become so alarming for the latter that steps are being taken to send the European women and children to Shanghai, which is considered the safest place for them now in China. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.22
“Back Page” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
If the children of the Board Schools could comprehend the wordy and somewhat bitter controversy over the religious question they would doubtless form novel conclusions as to the principles of the Christian religion. The controversy well illustrates the absurdity of making religion a branch of politics. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.1
It is said that some years ago, at the close of a visit to Denmark, the Czar bade good-bye to his nieces, the daughters of the Prince and Princess of Wales, saying “Good-bye my dears; you are going back to your happy English home, and I to my Russian prison.” The prison life has at last, apparently, worn out even the superb constitution of the Czar. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.2
With the pending removal by death of the occupant of the Russian throne, who is known to exert a strong influence for peace in European politics, and the prospective overthrow of the Chinese government and breaking up of the empire, either by the arms of Japan or by internal revolution, with all the great powers of the world standing ready to assert their claims and defend their “rights” in the matter, the outlook for a continuance of European tranquillity is more alarming than it has been for years in the past. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.3
The prosecutions under the Sunday law in Switzerland, which we have reported, and which are now pending in the courts, are not without good results in awakening a livelier interest in the question of religious liberty. The Swiss correspondent of Evangelical Christendom, the organ of the Evangelical Alliance writes in the October number:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.4
Professor G. Godet publishes in the Journal Religioux an article in favour of religious liberty for the “Sabbatistes.” They have been punished once with a fine, and another since with a fine and three weeks’ imprisonment for having printed books on a Sunday. As at Bale all the beershops, theatres, and ball-rooms are open on a Sunday it is evident that it is hatred against a religious sect that is the reason why the Sabbatarians are persecuted. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.5
The Baptist having commended the editor of the Bristol Mercury for reporting Sunday’s sermons in Monday’s paper, a correspondent very appropriately called attention to the fact that Monday’s paper is the one requiring Sunday work in its preparation. This is apparently overlooked by those who would forcibly suppress the Sunday paper in the interests of the Sunday. Replying to the correspondent the editor of the Mercury writes to the Baptist:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.6
So far as my reading goes, the Sabbath is Saturday, and that evening our compositors have absolutely free and to themselves. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.7
Thus the Sabbath question is being agitated here and there. A correspondent of the Church Review (Anglican) names various Catholic feast days, and asks, “Why is Sunday popularly exalted over (say) the Ascension of our Lord, or the Assumption of our Lady? “Why Sunday,” he asks, “more than any other holy day of obligation?” This is what the Church of Rome says also; for it boasts that there is no more authority for Sunday than for any other feast days of the Church of Rome. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.8
People who live sumptuously, eating richly seasoned foods, and drinking stimulating beverages, frequently go for a season to some watering place and take the waters and adopt the simple fare recommended, deriving great benefit. If they would live more simply at home, and drink hot and cold water, nature’s beverage for mankind, they would doubtless derive the same benefits throughout the year. The appetite that has been whipped and driven by artificially concocted stimulants until it is jaded out does not know what good living is. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.9
Mgr. Satolli has been interviewed by a representative of the Public Ledger, Philadelphia, U.S.A., in reference to a report that the papal delegate would return to Rome at the end of the present year. He said: “I cannot tell whether I shall return to Rome at the end of the present year or not. But, whether I go or remain, the Apostolic Delegation at Washington is a permanent institution. If I should be recalled, another would be appointed in my place.” Rome has her hand upon the throat of the western republic, and is determined not to remove it. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.10
“Alive for Evermore” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
Alive for Evermore.-The Catholic doctrine of the real presence does not suggest a living Saviour to the worshipper. The Bishop of Laval argues for the infallibility of the Pope by urging that in the sacrament the presence of Christ is dumb, but in the person of the Pope the presence is a living one. The Catholic perversion of the Gospel leaves a dead Christ to the world, and every man must save himself. This is the heart of the whole system. But Jesus Christ sends the message to all, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold I am alive for ever more.” To the believer the promise, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” brings a real presence and a living one. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.11
“Better than the Lord” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
Better than the Lord.-Unbelief always makes out that men are better than the Lord. Some doubting soul says he is willing to come to the Lord, but he does not believe the Lord is willing to accept him and take away his sin. That is only one way of saying that self is better than God. The Roman Catholic way of saying the same thing is plainer and more direct. Thus the Bishop of Clifton says:— PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.12
Many of you know by your own experience that prayers which have been addressed directly to God have remained unanswered, while when you have invoked the intercession of the Blessed Virgin they have been speedily granted. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.13
Unbelief is all of one religion, and ever since the beginning it has exalted the human above the Divine. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.14
“The Fear of God” The Present Truth 10, 41.
E. J. Waggoner
The Fear of God.-What the fear of God is was shown in the life of Abraham, when he endured the great test on Mount Moriah. When the angel had arrested the patriarch’s hand as it was about to give the fatal blow, the Divine messenger said, “Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.” Genesis 22:12. The obedience of Abraham did not come from that fear which is inspired by tyrants. How he regarded the Lord is shown in his wonderful conversation with Him on the day before the destruction of Sodom, when he appealed to God’s righteousness and mercy. Abraham had placed God first in his affections when he took Isaac to Mount Moriah, and when He is first in our affections, and only then, can we be truly said to possess the fear of God. PTUK October 11, 1894, page 656.15