The Present Truth, vol. 11
May 16, 1895
“Making Haste” The Present Truth 11, 20.
E. J. Waggoner
Making Haste.-It is a grand thing sometimes to be in haste. David said, “I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments.” And again, “I will run in the way of Thy commandments.” This language was inspired by the Holy Spirit, showing that God is pleased to have people go fast when they are in the right way. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.1
Going to Extreme.-The extremity is simply the end. Going to the extreme is simply going as far as one can go. Ordinarily people are not afraid of going to extremes. For instance, when they start to go to a certain place they are not satisfied unless they get fully there; to stop short of the extreme distance is to them a very mean position. So when one starts on the road to heaven, he ought not to be satisfied to come short of God. Therefore he ought not to be afraid of going to extremes in the Word of God, that is, of going to the full length of the Word. It is impossible to err in the way of going too far in the Word. That which is usually called going to extremes in the Word is in reality the turning aside from the Word, which is a different thing altogether. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.2
Faith vs. Fanaticism.—“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Fanaticism comes by not hearing the Word, or by not heeding what is heard. It is impossible for any man to be fanatical so long as he keeps within the limits of God’s Word. The fact that one begins with the Word does not insure him against fanaticism, for he may depart from it or substitute his own ideas and feelings for it. David said, “I have stuck unto Thy testimonies.” Therein is safety. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.3
“‘Let It Be’” The Present Truth 11, 20.
E. J. Waggoner
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31. How many have read these words, and have thought, “Oh, that it might be so!” And how earnestly they have tried to put away that evil speaking, together with “the root of bitterness” whence it springs, and have failed, because “the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.4
The same trouble has been found with the similar exhortation, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6. Oh, yes, if we only could; but how often have we resolved that we would not be betrayed into hasty speech, and have almost immediately been covered with shame because of the foolish things that issued from our mouth “before we thought.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.5
Again we read the Divine exhortation, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:3, 5. And similar to this is the exhortation, “Let brotherly love continue.” Hebrews 13:1. What a blessed state of mind this must be; and what a heaven there would be on earth, if such a state of things only existed, even among those who profess the name of Christ. Yet how many who have set this blessed ideal before themselves, find themselves wondering how it is to be attained. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.6
It is the man who is “carnal, sold under sin,” who is obliged to say, “To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” Romans 7:18. God is just and kind. He is not a tyrant, and He does not set tasks before His people without showing them the way to perform them. He not only shows the way, but supplies the power; the trouble is with our reading of His commands and exhortations. Let us read one more and see if that does not begin to suggest a way out of the difficulty. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.7
“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye faithful.” Colossians 3:15. Surely we cannot control the peace of God. We cannot manufacture it, and put it within our hearts. No; only God can supply peace, and this He has already done. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.” John 14:27. “I will hear what God the Lord will speak; for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints.” Psalm 85:8. The fact that only God can put His peace into the heart, and cause it to rule there, should indicate to us that it is He who is to fulfil those other exhortations in us. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.8
Once more we read, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom.” Colossians 3:16. This, together with the text quoted just before, tells us the whole secret. It is by the word of God that these things are to be done. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6. The word of the Lord, which sets before us these desirable attainments of thought and speech, is the agency by which they are supplied. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.9
What can the word of the Lord do? Read Psalm 33:6, 9: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” “For He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.” “And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.” 1 Peter 1:25. The Gospel is the power, and the salvation, to everyone that believeth; and the power of God is seen in creation. Romans 1:16, 19, 20. Therefore the power by which the commands and exhortations of the Holy Spirit are to be fulfilled in us is the power by which the heavens and the earth were made. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 305.10
Turn then to the simple story of creation. God said, “Let there be light; and there was light.” Genesis 1:3. Again, God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place; and let the dry land appear; and it was so.” Verse 9. Again, God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so.” Verse 11. Once more: “God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light on the earth; and it was so.” Verses 14, 15. And thus we read throughout the entire story of creation. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 306.1
The darkness had no power in itself to bring forth light. The waters could not gather themselves together into one place. The earth could not make a mighty exertion, and send forth the trees laden with fruit. Much less could the sun and moon, and stars create themselves. That which was not, could not bring itself into existence. But at the word of God, saying, “Let it be,” everything came into being. The words, “Let there be,” so and so, carried with them the power of being. The thing required was in the words requiring its production. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 306.2
Now “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before prepared that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10, margin. And “it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His pleasure.” Philippians 2:13. We are to remember that the exhortations that we read at first are not the exhortations of a man, but that they are the words of God to us. The same One in the beginning said, “Let there be light,” and “Let the earth bring forth grass,” says to us, “Let all bitterness and wrath... be put away from you.” Just as the first was done, so must the other be accomplished. “For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” Isaiah 61:11. Therefore when we read the exhortations to let certain evil things be put away from us, and to let certain graces appear, we are not to regard them as commands for us to put them away, but as the agency by which the task is to be accomplished. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 306.3
God’s power to create is as great now as it ever was. He who in the beginning caused the ground to bring forth fruit, and who made a perfect man of the dust of the ground, can take these earthen vessels and make them “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” We are to become so familiar with the fact that God is Creator, that when He says, “Let this be done,” we shall at once and continually respond, “Amen, even so, let it be done, Lord Jesus;” and thus the new heart will be created, from which will proceed thoughts and words acceptable in His sight. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 306.4
“Drinking from the Fount of Paganism” The Present Truth 11, 20.
E. J. Waggoner
In the first chapter of Romans the apostle describes the fruits of the Greek philosophy. The same philosophers talk beautifully of art and culture and morals; but their teachings came from no other source than the natural heart of man, and of course only evil could be the fruit. It is not surprising therefore that there should be protests against devoting so much time to the study of the heathen philosophy in theological schools. The following from the Christian is timely:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.1
Shall we ever depose the Pagan classics? Their language may be beautiful, but why should our youth be compelled to drink in their heathen ideas and influences? Dr. Forsyth, of Cambridge, has raised the question, and we shall be glad if some useful discussion can be started upon it. If the Greeks sharpened their wits without learning a foreign tongue, might not Englishmen do the same? We know a head master of a large public school who thinks they might. If Greeks discussed moral and philosophical questions in the dim light of reason and conscience, why should not Englishmen always discuss them in the clearer light of the Gospel? It is certain we shall have pagan habits and practices so long as we had pagan teaching. Dr. Forsyth says:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.2
Invaluable as are the ancient classics to a liberal education, it has been to a large extent a misfortune that the classical element has been allowed to preponderate so much in the education of young ministers, in proportion to the New Testament and other great Christian classical fountains. Many ministers of Christianity know a great deal more about the literature of the classics than they do about the New Testament. Our boys in the public schools are taught in the pagan ideas of heroism-they become young Stoics, and not young Christians. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.3
“The New Creation” The Present Truth 11, 20.
E. J. Waggoner
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” “In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.” At the close of each day’s work “God saw that it was good;” and at the close of the sixth day, when everything was finished, “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31. Man himself was perfect, and all was as good as God Himself could make it. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.4
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:11. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.5
The Sabbath was the sign of the power of God’s word. He had spoken all things into existence; and now He rested in perfect confidence that His word would uphold that which He had created. The Sabbath of the Lord-God’s rest-is therefore the mark of a perfect, new creation. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.6
But man, to whom the dominion of the earth had been given, sinned. He sold himself to the enemy of God, and received death as his reward. By his sin the curse came upon the earth, so that God’s perfect, new creation was everywhere marred. But God was not defeated; His purposes cannot be thwarted, for He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” Therefore His love devised means to insure the carrying out of His original plan. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.7
“God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Christ was given to death, that man might receive the eternal life which had been lost through sin. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.8
But the cross of Christ is “the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18. The Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth.” Romans 1:16. But ever since the creation of this world the eternal power of God has been manifested in the things that He has made. Romans 1:20. Therefore the cross of Christ-the Gospel-is the same power that is seen in creation. The same power of God, by which man was created in the beginning, is now manifested through the Gospel to re-create him-to bring him back to the perfection which he had at first. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.9
This is shown very clearly in the Scriptures. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,” or, as the Revision has it, “there is a new creation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Of course there cannot be a new creature without there having been a new creation. So again, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10, margin. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.10
This new creation is signalised by rest. Christ says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. Whoever comes to Him is re-created,—made new,—and then he finds rest-rest in the Word God. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.11
As this new creation is the same as that wrought in the beginning, and by the same means, the word of God, so it has the same mark, namely, the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day. Notice these points:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.12
1. In Christ there is a new creation. In Him all things are created in heaven and in earth. Colossians 1:16. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.13
2. With the new creation in Christ, there comes rest. Even so it was in the beginning. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.14
3. Christ is of God made unto us “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Corinthians 1:30. He is the truth, and He sanctifies Himself, that we may be sanctified through the truth. John 17:19. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 307.15
4. The Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, on which Christ rested when He had finished the new creation in the beginning, is the sign of sanctification, which comes only through Christ. We read “I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.” Ezekiel 20:12. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.1
So now, as at the first, the Sabbath is the sign of the perfect, new creation. God has not changed, His power has not changed, neither has His sign changed. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.2
But this is not the end. In the beginning God had a perfect earth as the abode of perfect men. So again He will have a perfect abode for the men who are made complete in Christ,—a new earth for His new men. He says, “Behold, I create all things new.” And again, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things.” Revelation 21:5, 7. “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.3
This will be the same new creation that was in the beginning, at the close of the first six days; for it will be “the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:21. And since it is the same new creation, the same thing, namely, the Sabbath, will mark it; for we read God’s sure Word to the new men whom He has created in Christ:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.4
“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.5
If we would be part of God’s new creation, we must have it in God’s own way, and not refuse to allow God to place His own seal of perfection upon it. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.6
“We need no great opportunities to live nobly,” said a German writer. “As the tiniest dewdrop reflects the splendour of the whole heavens, so the most trifling word or action may be filled with the truth and love of God.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.7
The side of right is always the side of might. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.8
“The Sure Word. The Worship of the Beast” The Present Truth 11, 20.
E. J. Waggoner
Last week in this line of study we saw how completely the specifications of the prophetic symbols in Revelation 13. are met by the Papacy, both as regards character and history. Now, what is the worship of the “beast,” against which the world is warned by the loud proclamation of the “third angel.” Revelation 14:9. And what is the “mark” which, received in the forehead or in the hand of man, will condemn them to drink of the wine of the wrath of God? PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.9
The idea of worship pertains primarily to God. All worship is supposed to be given to Him. But God, who sees not as man sees, and who reads the secret motives and intents of the heart, knows the difference between real worship and that which is only form. “God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24. Form and ceremony alone cannot constitute worship of God. There must be spirit-or sincerity-in it, and there must be truth. And truth is a most essential element. Zeal and dogma without truth make up the spiritual composition of bigots. The difference between Saul of Tarsus and Paul the apostle was that Saul did not know the truth, and Paul did. Saul was trying to worship God in his own way; Paul had learned God’s way. “Ye shall know the truth,” said Jesus, “and the truth shall make you free.” There can be no real worship of God without freedom; for “where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty.” And again, Jesus said of the Pharisees, “In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.10
Worship which God cannot accept is not worship of Him, but of something else. Men may think they are worshipping God when in reality they are worshipping that which is enmity against Him. Paul said, “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.” 1 Corinthians 10:20. The same apostle also speaks of those “whose god is their belly” (Philippians 3:19), and of the heathen nations who “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.” Romans 1:25. The truth of God cannot be changed into a lie without a perversion of the worship, so that it is no longer the worship of God. And in this matter “no man can serve two masters;” he cannot worship God and something else, for to worship that which is not God is to deny God. There is but one God, and therefore but one power which can be rightfully worshipped. And to acknowledge the authority of any power that is against God, is to put that power above Him. In just this way “the beast and his image” may be put before God, and so worshipped. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.11
In close connection with the message that warns men against “the beast,” is a message which calls upon men to worship the true God. The “third angel” is the third of three which the prophet saw flying “in the midst of heaven,” having each a message to proclaim to the inhabitants of the earth. He says: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:6, 7. Immediately “another angel” followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen;” and “the third angel followed them.” The worship of the true God and the worship of “the beast” are put in opposition to each other. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 308.12
THE SIGN OF GOD’S POWER
To worship the true God is to “worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” The true God is the Creator. “All the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” Psalm 96:5. How may we know that the one whom we worship is the Creator? What marks us as truly worshippers of Him? Obviously, it must be something connected with that which distinguishes Him as the true God. That, as we have seen, is His power to create. Now He has left men a memorial of His creation. In the Scripture narrative we read: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.1
The memorial of creation is the Sabbath. It is therefore inseparably connected with the worship of the true God. “He hath made His wondrous works to be remembered.” Psalm 111:4. When we remember God we remember that He is the Creator, the One who “made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” It was that men might not forget Him, that the Sabbath was instituted. When God finished His work He “saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31. So on the Sabbath day may we cease from our own work and behold the wonderful works of the Lord, that they are very good. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.2
The Creator placed His memorial in the very bosom of His law. The fourth commandment reads, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.3
Had this commandment been kept, men would not have forgotten the true God, the Maker of heaven and earth. They would not have forgotten that His works are very good, and that He is the fountain of goodness. They would not have likened Him to a stern, harsh judge, whose wrath must be appeased by pains and penances. They would not have forgotten that all life and power proceed from Him, and therefore that in Him, and only Him, all His creatures, always and with all confidence, may put their trust. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.4
That the Sabbath is a memorial of the true God, and its observance a sign, or mark, of our proper relation to Him, is plainly stated. “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Exodus 31:13. The thought is repeated in Ezekiel 20:12, 20: “And hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.5
By observing the day which has been set apart as God’s memorial, to keep it holy, we signify that the one whom we worship and serve is the Creator. By disregarding that memorial we disregard Him who made it, and by wilfully ignoring it we signify that we have no allegiance to Him. And we may, by observing another day in the place of that which He has sanctified, go even further, and declare that we own allegiance to a power which stands opposed to Him. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.6
The first angel’s message calls the attention of men to Him that made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of waters, and must therefore call their attention to the Sabbath, which alone designates Him. All who keep God’s Sabbath are worshippers of Him; it is a sign between them and Him. None of them can be worshippers of “the beast and his image,” and receivers of his “mark.” No person can have the sign or mark of the true God, and the mark of the “beast” upon him at the same time. The two things are diametrically opposed to each other. And since the sign of the true God in His relation with His people is the Sabbath, it is upon the point of Sabbath observance that the distinction will be drawn between those who worship Him, and the worshippers of “the beast and his image.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.7
THE MARK OF PAPAL POWER
What then constitutes the “mark” of the “beast,” or the mark of Rome in its Papal form? We need not conjecture about this, for Rome herself has told us. Her own claims and assertions, boldly published, make the matter plain. We cite from her doctrinal text-books. The “Abridgment of Christian Doctrine” says (p. 58):— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.8
“Ques.-How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days? PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.9
“Ans.-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow all of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.10
Now, however, even these “other feasts” are rapidly receiving the honour of Protestant recognition. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.11
The “Doctrinal Catechism” says (p. 351):— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.12
“Ques.-Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.13
“Ans.-Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.14
Rome points to the “act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday” as the sign of her power and authority. And well she might, if she could in reality effect such a change; for the power that can change or abrogate a law, is superior to the power which made the law; and the power that commanded the observance of the seventh day is God Himself. God points to the Sabbath as the sign of His power; the papacy points to “the act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday” as the sign of her power. And as by keeping holy the day which God commanded to be kept we manifest our allegiance to Him who is the Creator, so by observing the day which the Papacy has set apart to be observed in the place of the Sabbath, we do homage, though it may be ignorantly, to the Papacy in the place of God. And when, with the evidence clearly before us that the first-day sabbath rests not upon the authority of God but upon that of “the Church,” we choose to observe it in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord, we signify that we own allegiance to the Papacy and not to God. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 309.15
HOW IT CAME ABOUT
And this evidence is now before us; for nowhere in the Word of God is Sunday mentioned as the Sabbath, or as a sacred day, or a day to be religiously observed, while on the other hand the history of the Papacy plainly reveals the steps by which “the Church” substituted the observance of the first day for that of the seventh. Sunday-the day of the sun-was the great festival day of the pagans, the day most honoured in their worship; and as the purity and simplicity of the Christian worship became gradually lost, and the pagans were brought in large numbers into the Church, still retaining for the most part their pagan beliefs and practices, a strong influence was exerted toward giving special honour to that day. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.1
The strong antipathy felt toward the Jews also moved many who had little regard for either Scripture or reason, to wish to observe a different day from that observed by the Jews. But the Papacy-that principle of self-exaltation which had come into the Church and was seeking to manifest itself, which prompted the disciples of Christ to dispute which should be the greatest, and later on prompted many similar disputes until the controversy was finally settled in favour of the Bishop of Rome-the Papacy found in Sunday a stepping-stone in the direction of that spiritual and temporal pre-imminence to which it aspired, and acted accordingly. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.2
In the year 196, Victor, Bishop (or Pope) of Rome, undertook to compel all the churches to celebrate the Passover on Sunday. This was a claim to supremacy. The historian Bower says of it, “This bold attempt we may call the first essay of Papal usurpation.” History of the Popes, vol. 1, p. 18. And Dowling terms it, “the earliest instance of Romish assumption.” History of Romanism, p. 32. Although unsuccessful at this time, Rome never abandoned the claim, and finally, at the Council of Nice, A.D. 325, she carried her point. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.3
Another very important step in the elevation of Sunday to a position of supposed sanctity, was the edict of Constantine, commanding cessation from secular business on that day. This was issued in 321 A.D., two years before he became even a nominal Christian, and is pagan in all its features. It said:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.4
Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades, rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for selling corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by Heaven. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.5
Of this edict Mosheim says:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.6
The first day of the week, which was the ordinary and stated time for the public assemblies of the Christians, was, in consequence of a peculiar law enacted by Constantine, observed with greater solemnity than it had formerly been.-Mosheim, cent. 4, part 2, chap. 4, sec. 5. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.7
Dean Milman says of it:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.8
This rescript, commanding the celebration of the Christian Sabbath, bears no allusion to its peculiar sanctity as a Christian institution.... But the believer in the new Paganism, of which the solar worship was a characteristic, might acquiesce without scruple in the sanctity of the first day of the week.... In fact, as we have before observed, the day of the sun would be willingly hallowed by almost all the pagan world.-History of Christianity. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.9
Still the Bible Sabbath-the seventh day-was regarded as the Sabbath, and continued to be generally observed as such for many years. On this point Coleman says:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.10
During the early ages of the Church, it [Sunday] was never entitled “the Sabbath,” this word being confined to the seventh day of the week, the Jewish Sabbath, which, as we have already said, continued to be observed by the converts to Christianity.... The observance of the Lord’s day was ordered while yet the Sabbath of the Jews was continued; nor was the latter superseded until the former had acquired the same solemnity and importance which belonged at first to that great day which God originally ordained and blessed.... But in time, after the Lord’s day was fully established, the observance of the Sabbath of the Jews was gradually discontinued, and was finally denounced as heretical.-Ancient Christianity, chap. 26. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.11
It was at the Council of Laodicea A.D. 364, that the line was at length sharply drawn in the matter of Sabbath observance. Bishop Hefele gives the decree of this council thus:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 310.12
Christians shall not Judaise and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honour, and, as being Christians, shall if possible do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaising, they shall be shut out from Christ.-Canon 29. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 311.1
Such are a few of the testimonies that may be gathered from the ecclesiastical history concerning the supposed change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. The Sabbath has not been changed, for it rests upon the power and authority of God; but the attitude of men toward it has been changed, and the honour and reverence due from them to the seventh day, it transferred to the first day. We have seen in what way, by what power, and at what time, this change was made. And Rome boldly avows the fact, and points to the change as the proof of her authority and power. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 311.2
THE ISSUE BEFORE THE WORLD
The Reformation called out the Protestant bodies from the communion of Rome, but did not separate them from all her errors, and to this error the Protestant world has largely clung, in spite of the fact, which the simplest can see for themselves and which eminent men among them have acknowledged, that Sunday observance is entirely without foundation in Scripture. Professing to take as their rule of faith the Bible and the Bible alone, they have, by their persistent adherence to Sunday, exposed to their enemies the fatal weakness of inconsistency, and a point of vulnerability in their spiritual armour which invites attack and overthrow. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 311.3
And now Rome challenges the Protestant world to prove themselves entitled to the confidence of mankind as the possessors of the true principles and practices of the Gospel of Christ. She has taken her stand upon the vantage ground given her by this Protestant adherence to an institution having no support in the Word of God, but resting solely upon the traditions of men and the authority of “the Church.” In thus abandoning the Word of God Protestants have abandoned the only weapon that can give victory against Rome,—the “sword of the Spirit.” Ephesians 6:17. When an appeal is made by them to Scripture against any dogma or practice of the Papacy, Rome has but to remind them that there is no Scriptural warrant for the observance of Sunday, and they are obliged to yield their ground. Having indorsed Rome’s position, consistency demands that they should be one with her; for if Scripture alone is not a sufficient foundation of faith, there is no reason for refusing the traditions and authority of the Roman Church, since they are as good as any that can be had. Certainly it is not strange, under the circumstances, that a constant and widening stream is flowing from Protestant communions into the fold of Rome. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 311.4
Every day this issue between the sabbath of Rome and the Sabbath of the Lord-between the sign of the authority and power of Rome and the sign of the power of God-is being more clearly brought before the world. God is calling the attention of men to Himself as the Creator and Redeemer, and to His Sabbath, which marks those who keep it as worshippers of Him who alone has creative and redemptive power; while on the other hand the Papacy is striving to draw the world to herself, and to a confession of allegiance to her. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 311.5
Not only is this issue before the world, but it is being forced upon the attention of men, and they will be forced to a decision respecting it. There are laws upon the statute books in this and other lands requiring the observance of the first day of the week as a day of rest; and while for a long period these have been for the most part a dead letter, of late there have been marked manifestations of returning life. Scores of conscientious Sabbath-keepers in various countries have within the past few years been indicted and fined for refusing to honour the papal Sunday, and a number have suffered imprisonment. In all nations there is a forward movement in the direction of a stricter observance of Sunday. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 311.6
And this will not stop here; for the message of God is moving on and speaking in louder tones to all nations, and calling men to worship the true God by keeping holy His Sabbath; and day by day the conflict deepens. Ere long all will find themselves in a position compelling them to decide whether they will knowingly choose to acknowledge the power of “the beast,” and thus receive his “mark,” or embrace that which is the sign of God’s power as Creator and Saviour, and thus mark themselves worshippers of Him. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 311.7
“Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” The day of choice for good or evil comes to all men; but by their own choice the destiny of man is determined. And happy is he who “this day” decides to honour God by keeping His holy day, and esteems the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of this world. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 311.8
“News of the Week” The Present Truth 11, 20.
E. J. Waggoner
-The barking of a dog on earth can, it is said, be distinctly heard by balloonists at an elevation of four miles. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.1
-About 8,000 deaths have been paused by an outbreak of cholera in the Pescadores islands, the epidemic being now, however, near its end. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.2
-One effect of the war in the far East, it is said, will be a serious curtailment of the world’s supply of camphor, under restrictive measures recently emoted by the Japanese Government. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.3
-Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, is a very flourishing city, having nearly 2,000,000 inhabitants, with several hundred daily papers and periodicals. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.4
-The Chamber of Agriculture advises the prohibition of the sale of foreign milk in this country, unless it has been sterilised, and until the Board of Agriculture is satisfied that there is no possibility of the spread of disease. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.5
-Gambling at Monte Carlo appears to be declining. The receipts of the gaming-tables for the past year were nineteen million francs, three million less than the previous year’s income, and five million less than that of 1892. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.6
-The first blood has been shed in the French war upon Madagascar. A French telegram from Majunga says that in the French assault on Marovoay, on May 2, the Malagasy had 800 killed, including several important chiefs. The French lost one man only. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.7
-The Austrian Emperor has been visiting the region devastated by the recent earthquake, and expressed his sympathy with the ruined people. At Laibach, out of 1,350 houses, only 156 were intact. Of the 30,000 inhabitants 10,000 had deserted the town, and 15,000 were living in temporary barrack dwellings. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.8
-The Cuban insurrection is said to be practically ended, the rebel leaders having abandoned the cause in despair. Meanwhile a revolution has broken out in Ecuador, a novel feature of which was that at one place the Government barracks were stormed by a band of women and the political prisoners were released. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.9
-The Chinese Emperor has written an autograph letter each to the Tsar and to the President of the French Republic, asking their assistance in bearing the expenses of the war with Japan, and promising in return to grant special commercial advantages. The expenditure of 100,000,000 taels is contemplated in the purchase of ships and outfits. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.10
-In one of the Western States of America the compulsory Sunday observance crusade has taken the form of a proposition that home missionaries, except in emergencies, be not allowed to travel on Sundays, and that the societies ought not only to disapprove of the use of Sunday train service by its missionaries, but refuse financial aid to any church for a pastor whose regular appointments involve Sunday travel by train, even for the purpose of preaching the Gospel. Concerning observances which are sanctioned by Scripture, however, these same parties display a “liberality” which amounts to practical indifference. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 318.11
“Back Page” The Present Truth 11, 20.
E. J. Waggoner
“You cannot rule men’s hearts by breaking their heads,” said a speaker the other day, protesting against force in matters of religion. There is an old saying teaching the same truth, “One man can lead a horse to water, but twenty cannot make him drink.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.1
When John Bunyan, in the Bedford jail, was thinking out that wonderful allegory, the Pilgrim’s Progress, those who fancied that they had silenced the voice of the preaching tinker by shutting him up little thought that when they were forgotten his book would be read in eighty-seven different languages, as it is to-day. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.2
It is only two years since our work began in Finland. The workers have had to labour under difficulties owing to the attitude of the Russian authorities who rule in Finland, but a report just received states that last year there were over ?1,200 worth of publications sold in the principality, and companies of believers are being established in the truth here and there. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.3
Last week our publishing department placed an order for the printing of a ten thousand edition of “The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan.” As this is a work of over seven hundred pages it will be seen that this is a large edition; but the sale of the book makes it possible to give large printing and binding orders. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.4
As this book is a study of the controversy between truth and error since the days of the apostles, sketching the apostasy of the early centuries and the progress of the Reformation which must continue until the end, it deals with present-day issues, and we are glad to see it going to the people. It is now being published in five languages, English, German, French, Danish, and Swedish. The companion volume, “Patriarchs and Prophets,” by the same writer, Mrs. E. G. White, is being published in the same languages (the French, we believe, not yet completed) and also in the Dutch and Spanish. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.5
The Pope talks beautifully about peace and concord among nations, but probably there has not been a time during this century when the Vatican was not stirring up strife. Its policy has been to prevent any understanding between France and Italy, and now the troubles caused by the Papal representative in Austria are understood in political circles to have been brought about by “the desire of Rome to detach Austro-Hungary from the Triple Alliance, thereby improving the opportunity of the Vatican to re-capture the temporal power in Italy.” PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.6
It is a much worse misfortune to lose our patience, or good temper, or any of the virtues of a good character in the sight of God, than to lose merely our reputation among men; for all those virtues are of infinite value, and we ourselves can never replace them after they are gone. Yet do we not sometimes lose both patience and good temper over a matter as small as a sixpence? That is the common way with real humanity. Surely there is no worse way of being “penny wise, pound foolish” than this. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.7
At the recent annual meeting of the “Lord’s Day Observance Society” the Chairman declared of various societies which organise Sunday lectures, etc., that they “had not the least chance of having their own way in England; the Lord’s Day Observance Society did not intend them to have their own way.” Now it is undoubtedly a bad thing for men to have their own way. The Lord invites all men to give up their own ways and take His ways. But the trouble with the Sunday-law movement is that it is founded on the rejection of the Lord’s way, and, going further, it seeks to compel men to take its own way. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.8
There is such freedom in Christ that the very bondage which is for His sake is more attractive than what men call liberty, without Him. The Apostle Paul tells in his epistle to the Philippians how this was true of his “bonds in Christ” while at Rome, saying that “many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds,” were “much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Philippians 1:13, 14. From his very bonds they gathered courage to speak more boldly in the path he had taken; for those bonds only made more manifest “the glorious liberty of the children of God,” which they have in Christ. Romans 8:21; Galatians 5:1. The only bondage that is to be feared is the bondage of sin. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.9
The truth is not an unlovely thing. The Lord lays no duties upon men to make the way hard for them. “His commandments are not grievous.” The way of truth is the way of Jesus Christ, the path in which He loved to walk. To receive the “love of the truth” is to receive the love of God, shed abroad in our hearts. With this every yoke becomes easy and every burden light, and every commandment is a promise of life; for only by the life of Jesus can the Word be fulfilled in us. The Christian life is not an irksome, formal obedience for fear of being lost; but a walking in love, which brings joy and peace. However great the cross which the truth brings, it is in the cross that we daily find the life of Jesus. To shun the cross is to refuse to be crucified with Him, and to refuse to live with Him. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.10
The Standard, referring to the remarkable development of the custom of drinking the teas grown in India and Ceylon, which are much stronger in their character than the Chinese teas, formerly popular, observes:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.11
Whether the undoubted increase in the consumption of tea is the unmixed blessing which the Chancellor of the Exchequer assumed it to be, is open to question. Doctors tell very sad tales about the growing tendency of women to rely upon the stimulant as a substitute for nourishing food. There is intemperance and other things besides the drinking of beer, and the deterioration of nerves from theine and caffeine may, with some reason, be set against the evils of intoxication. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.12
The New York Observer (Presbyterian), in its issue immediately following Easter Sunday, had the following note:— PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.13
The observance of Good Friday increases in New York and Brooklyn. In many of the churches there were morning services in harmony with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and also special commemoration services from noon till three o’clock. The music and indeed all of the exercises were of a simple and solid character, in contrast with those on Easter Sunday. The Easter services in the churches of all denominations, in this city and Brooklyn, were last Sunday usually impressive both as to music and floral decorations. It is evident that the observance of Eastertide grows more and more popular. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.14
As the Observer has always been noted for its pronounced Protestantism, the fact that it seems to acquiesce in this adoption of Roman Catholic customs is quite significant. PTUK May 16, 1895, page 320.15