The Present Truth, vol. 8
November 17, 1892
“A Wonderful Revival” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
A Wonderful Revival.-“And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord.” Acts 9:35. Whom did they see? They saw Æneas, who had kept his bed eight years, with the palsy, and had been healed. Peter had seen him and said, “Æneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole; arise, and make thy bed.” And he arose immediately. What was the result? All that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord. The most notable thing about this is not the great number that were converted. It is that they turned to the Lord, and not to Peter. It is not always a cause of rejoicing when there are many conversions reported as a result of work done. The question is, Did they turn to the Lord, or to the minister? How can people be brought to turn to the Lord instead of to the minister? By doing as Peter did, making Christ prominent. Said he, “Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.” Peter was not in the transaction. Christ did the work, and to Him was the glory given, and people turned to Him. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 353.1
The Drawing Power.-In the record of the healing of Æneas there is a great lesson for all ministers and teachers of the Word. If they turn people to themselves, it were better that they did not do anything. It is not always the case that those who turn people to themselves instead of to the Lord, do so purposely. They are in earnest, and want the work to stand, but very often it happens that their zeal is not according to knowledge. Men often in their zeal for the work give it their impress, instead of that of the Lord. How can this be avoided? Only by letting the word of God do the work. When the religious teacher tries to add to the force of the word, he takes from it. It is quite natural to think that the simple setting forth of the word alone will not make enough impression. Teachers feel it necessary to “stir up” the people. The desire to see the people stirred is a laudable one, but they should remember that “the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Open the word; hold it up; and Christ, who is in the word will draw the people to Himself. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 353.2
Men Whom God Can Use.-When those who profess the truth of God have allowed self to become so thoroughly dead that only Christ shall appear in all they do, then there will be mighty works done. Then may be fulfilled the words of Christ, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go on to My Father.” John 14:12. But those works cannot be done as long as there is any likelihood of anyone’s taking any of the credit to himself. Those who do them must have this Spirit which was in Christ; “The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the work.” Verse 10. When men allow the Spirit of Christ to dwell in them and control them, and are willing and anxious that He alone should be glorified; when, like Samson, they can rend a lion with the strength given them of God, and tell neither father nor mother of it,-then will the kingdom of God come with power. Through such men God can work. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 353.3
Doing God’s Work.-The work of preaching the Gospel by whatever means, is very properly called the work of the Lord. People who engage in Gospel work are said to be engaged in the Lord’s work. How often do we think what that means? Because the force of the expression is so much lost sight of, a great deal of work is not the work of the Lord at all. Only the Lord Himself can do the Lord’s work. Jesus said of Himself, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.” John 4:34. But He also said, “The Father that dwelleth in Me,” “He doeth the works.” And again, “I can of Mine own self do nothing.” John 5:40. How much more, then, must this be true of us? Suppose a man goes to work in his own strength, and calls what he does the work of the Lord; what is he really claiming for himself? Simply this, that he represents God on earth; that he himself is capable of doing as well as God Himself. That is the spirit of the Papacy. It is the beginning of the manifestations of “that man of sin, who... sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.” The difference between him and the Pope of Rome is only one of degree. It is not meant that everyone who does work in his own strength is consciously acting the part of the pope. They think that they are doing the work of the Lord. Even so it was with the Papacy in its beginning. Men were deceived then, and the same deception works to-day. None of us are so safe from the possibility of being thus deceived that we do not need to be sharply reminded of our danger. Let God do the works in us, and let Him have the glory. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 353.4
“Be of Good Courage” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
A discouraged man is not good for anything. This is well understood in all the affairs of life. In election campaigns we find the party manager sending out the most cheering news, and insisting that victory is sure. Even though there are adverse circumstances, they will say nothing about them, but keep the minds of the people encouraged with the thought of victory. They know that this is their only hope of success. If the people should be allowed to think that the issue is doubtful, they would become discouraged, and then they would not make any efforts. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 353.5
And going into battle the most stirring tunes are played by the bands, so that the soldiers may be filled with the thoughts of victory. Alexander’s soldiers were said to be invincible; but the only reason of their continued victories was that they were continually of good courage. They were no braver than other men, but they were filled with the idea that their commander could not lose a battle, and therefore they had no fear of defeat. And because they expected to win, they did win. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 353.6
So in the Christian life we are exhorted to be of good courage, because only in that lies our hope of victory. And if our courage is good there can be no doubt of victory. It is no vain confidence that we are to have, but confidence that comes from the certainty of victory. It is not confidence in ourselves, but in God. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Ephesians 6:10. “Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:1. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.1
And why strong in Him? He Himself gives the reason. “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. He has overcome the world; therefore everyone that trusts in Him will also overcome the world. In Him the victory is already gained. “This is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4, R.V. Christ has spoiled principalities and powers, so that when we meet them in His strength, they have no power against us. So we may well be of good courage, knowing that in the Lord there is no possibility of defeat. If any are not of good courage, if they doubt, it is because they do not have confidence in the power of the Leader, in whom alone there is victory. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.2
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:5-8. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.3
“Christ the Liberator” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
“And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from the thine infirmity. And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.” Luke 13:10-13. In the verses following we find the statement made by Christ, that the woman had been bound all those years by Satan. Christ loosing her, was therefore a direct evidence of His power over Satan. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.4
In this miracle we have an illustration of the loosing of men from the bondage of sin. Sin binds its victims. “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” Proverbs 5:22. “Everyone that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin.” John 8:34. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4); therefore the bondage is that of a law-breaker. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.5
So the poor woman with the spirit of infirmity accurately illustrates the condition of the sinner. She was bound down; so is the sinner. She was bowed together so that she could not lift herself up. She was obliged to go looking down toward the earth. So the psalmist, describing his sinful condition, says, “Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up.” Psalm 40:12. The woman would fain have walked upright, but she could in no wise lift up herself. So the sinner would often gladly do that which is right, but he is not able. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Galatians 5:17. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.6
Nevertheless the sinner’s case is not hopeless. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” This being the case, we may come “boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15, 16. Christ said that this scripture applies to Him, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” Luke 4:18. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.7
To the woman that was bound Christ said, “Thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” So it is with His word that He loses men from the bondage of sin. “Then said Jesus to those Jews which had believed Him, If ye abide in My word, then are ye truly My disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31, 32. The Jews boasted that they were not in bondage, but Jesus showed that they were, by saying, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin. And the bondservant abideth not in the house for ever; the Son abideth for ever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Verses 34-36. The bondage, therefore, is the bondage of sin, and the freedom which Christ gives is the freedom from sin. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.8
Christ said that it was by the Spirit that He gave liberty. So we read that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17. The Spirit gives liberty, because it is righteousness; it is the source of the law, for “the law is spiritual.” Romans 7:14. The fruit of the Spirit is obedience to the law. For “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22, 23. Those who have this Spirit, and are led by it, are free, because they keep the law; for the psalmist said, “I will walk at liberty; for I seek Thy precepts.” Psalm 119:45. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.9
As Christ healed the poor, infirm woman by His word, so He sets sinners free by His word. His word is law; He speaks the words of the Father; and the commandment of God is life everlasting (John 12:50), because it is His own life. The words that Christ speaks are Spirit and life; and since it is the Spirit that makes free, it is evident that the reception of the words of Christ will make the sinner free. As the bondage is the bondage of sin, and the words of Christ are the words of righteousness, the receiving of those words is in itself the freedom from bondage. Simple faith in the word of Christ is sufficient to give the sinner his liberty; but to every one who has thus been made free, the words of inspiration come, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.10
“Regulating Conscience by Law” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
A few days ago the papers of the city were making merry over the fact that a poor man, an object of charity, wanted to change his religion. The item was headed, “The Pauper’s religion,” and read thus:- PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.11
“Are British paupers becoming fastidious? According to a South London contemporary, one of the residences in a workhouse on the south side of the Thames has sent a letter to the guardians who have charge of him, intimating that he desired their permission to change his religion. At present he is a member of the Church of England, but he has discovered a flaw in one of the Thirty-nine Articles, and therefore wished to become a Roman Catholic. The guardians gravely considered the matter, and decided that the thing could be done only by consent of the Local Government Board. The applicant was therefore referred to the gentlemen at Whitehall.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.12
It is, indeed, a strange affair. In the first place it is strange that any man, however poor, should think that his conscience is subject to those upon whom he is dependent for support. That, however, is doubtless the result of this training. Never having been allowed to exercise his conscience in the form of religion which he professed, he dares not exercise it in changing. It is stranger still that men of presumably good education and advantages should seriously consider such an application. They must either think that a poor man can have no conscience, or else that conscience is like a suit of clothes, which one can take off and put on at the will of those who may give it to him. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 354.13
Religion is not a form. It does not consist in the forms. Neither is it a theory. It is a life. To be sure, forms appear in the exercise of religious practices, for whatever exists necessarily has some form; but all people do not necessarily have the same forms. But these forms, whatever they may be, are not religion. That is, they are not the Christian religion. All other religions than the Christian religion consist wholly of forms. And herein Christianity may be distinguished from all false religions. They are dead forms; it is a living thing. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.1
Any other religion than the Christian religion may be changed at the pleasure of those in power. It may be regulated by Act of Parliament, the same as the tax on tobacco. People may not like to change their religious forms at the command of the State; but when there religion consists in forms, and the right of the Government to interfere in matters of religion is granted, they have no more reason to complain of any change that may be made, than they have to complain of any other political action. They must submit to it till they can induce the lawmakers to make another change. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.2
But the case is far different with the Christian religion. No man can accept or reject that at the wish or command of another. It is the very life of the man. A man cannot change the colour of his skin, or the state of his health, at the decree of a court. An act of Parliament cannot remove the poison from the blood; and a man who is burning up with fever cannot cool his blood and diminish the rapidity of its flow, at the command even of the king. Even so cannot the real religion of Jesus Christ be changed at the will of another. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.3
Before God there is no difference in man. The pauper in rags, and living in a workhouse, is of as much value in His eyes as the prince in velvet and gold, living in a palace. One is his Master, even Christ. “I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11. Whether the man be rich or poor, “to his own Master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up; for God is able to make him stand.” Therefore, “Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Romans 16:4, 10. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.4
From what has been said about the Christian religion in contrast with other religions, which stand in forms, some may get the idea of religion which is regulated by law is not the Christian religion. That is exactly the idea that is meant to be conveyed. Religion regulated by civil law,-enforced religion,-is of the very essence of Paganism. Fortunately there are very many who are connected with legal religion, who were moved by the spirit of Christianity. They are those of whom Jesus said, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd.” John 10:16. May the time soon come. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.5
“The Perfection of Wisdom” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
“Let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” At first thought it would seem as though these two statements had no connection with each other; but when we consider another text, we shall find that the second depends on the first. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.6
The wisdom here spoken of is the wisdom that comes from above, for it is wisdom that God gives. Now in James 3:17 we learn what the wisdom is that comes from above. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy.” Patience, then, is the wisdom that God gives, and which may be had for the asking in faith. So that we might without violence to the text paraphrase it thus: “If any of you lacketh patience, let him ask of God, who will giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.7
But does not this narrow the text very much? If it is only patience that we are to get by asking God, are we not deprived of very much comfort that we have been in the habit of taking, in the thought that we can get help in our understanding of the Scriptures, and of how to conduct our affairs? No; patience marks perfection. He who has patience in perfection is a perfect man, lacking in nothing. So we may further read the text, If any of you lack any good thing, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. For “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.8
In the Psalms we read, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments.” Again in Job, “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” Patience is wisdom, and the keeping of the commandments of God is wisdom. Therefore patience is the keeping of the commandments of God. This also we are plainly told in other parts of the Scriptures. The apostle Paul writes, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of law.” Romans 13:10. But in 1 Corinthians 13:4, 5 we read what love, or the fulfilment of law is: “Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked.” This is patience; it is the keeping of the commandments; it is the only true wisdom. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.9
In Revelation 14:12 we read a brief description of those who are prepared for the Lord when He comes. “Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” This shows plainly that patience is the keeping of the commandments of God. But patience is perfection; when it has been allowed to complete its work, it makes one ready for the coming of the Lord. And this only shows that the keeping of the commandments of God is perfection. It is that which makes one ready for the coming of the Lord. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.10
The keeping of the commandments of the Lord can be found only in the life of Christ. He alone, of all those who have trod this earth, fully kept the law. But He gave Himself for us, so that we may also have the perfect keeping of the law in ourselves if we can only say in truth, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. So in Christ is found patience and perfection, and fulness of wisdom; for in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Moreover, Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God. That is the reason why the keeping of the commandments of God constitutes perfect wisdom. The keeping of the commandments of God is the possession of the life of God; and since He is the source of all wisdom, whoever has that life is in connection with the source of wisdom. “For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light shall we see light.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.11
The encouraging thought in all this is that if any lack wisdom, they may ask of God and receive it freely, without being upbraided for their lack. If any lack patience, if they lack righteousness, they may receive it from the Lord. They do not need to fear to come to Him and ask, even though their failures have been many. He does not upbraid. He has given us blessings and opportunities, and we have not used them. He has made known to us the way of righteousness, and we have not walked in it. He has given us blessings, and we have not learned them. He has given us talents, and we have buried them in the earth, or squandered them. And now we are sensible of our need, and want that which before we despised or neglected. What shall we do?-Come and ask for more. Shall we come fearful that we shall meet with a repulse? Shall we expect that He will say, “What have you done with that which I gave you before? If you had made a proper use of that, you would not need to be begging for more.” That is the way that man would do; but God is not a man. No; He tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Come boldly, not fearfully. And He will not upbraid. We are not to come as to one who holds a rod in his hand, cringing as if in fear of a blow. He will not reproach us with our past failures, and make us feel as if we had no right to ask for anything since we have been so idle and ungrateful. He “giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not.” Then come and “taste and see that the Lord is good; there is no want to them that fear Him.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 355.12
“Religious Persecution in Vienna” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
The following interesting account of the persecution of the Methodists in Vienna, is taken from the Daily News, of October 26. It is, as will be seen, written from Vienna. Our comments upon the matter will be found in the article that immediately follows this one:- PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.1
“The Methodist body in this city, which since its foundation has undergone persistent and systematic persecution at the hands of the police authorities, has for the present been completely broken up, the decree for its suppression, which was issued last December, having been effectually carried into force. It was in 1869 that the first Methodist preacher came to Vienna under the auspices of the Stuttgart Wesleyans, and in a short time he gathered around him a body of Austrian and German co-religionists, numbering about 100. From the outset the congregation thus formed was subjected to many needless police restrictions, some of which were practically prohibitory. The worshippers were driven from one quarter of the city to another. Their prayer meetings were allowed and prohibited by turn, and their Sunday-school was closed altogether under the following circumstances. A little girl who attended these Sunday classes, on one occasion quoted a text of Scripture in the hearing of a priest. “Where did you learn that?” he sharply inquired. The child returned a truthful answer, and the result was that very shortly afterwards the school was summarily shut up by the police acting under the instructions of the Roman Catholic authorities. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.2
“In 1890 a wealthy lady of this, who is extremely well known in Viennese society, and has held an official appointment at Court, warmly espoused the cause of the persecuted Methodists, and became a member of their communion. At her own expense she provided the congregation with a handsome mission hall and a house for the pastor in the Trantsohn Gasse. Down to July, 1891, the mission was conducted with marked success. Mr. Rosch, formerly of Stuttgart, was the pastor. Under his ministrations, the numbers of the Methodists increased, and at the morning and evening services on Sundays the mission hall was usually crowded. In July, 1891, a Servants’ Home, open to young women of all religious denominations, was started in connection with the mission, but this movement was promptly vetoed by the police, and had to be abandoned. The ostensible reason for this suppression, as stated in the police edict, was that it was under the superintendence of a minister of a religion which was not recognized in Austria. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.3
“A missionary movement among the Vienna postmen, in which Sir Arthur Blackwood while here took a deep interest, was suppressed in a similarly peremptory manner, notices being posted in the various branch offices forbidding the postmen to attend the mission services under pain of instant dismissal. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.4
“The members of the Congregation, finding their evangelistic efforts thwarted on every side, now worshipped privately amongst themselves, but even this was not to be tolerated. One day in the beginning of December last the emissaries of the Vienna police presented themselves at the pastor’s house, and demanded of the Rev. Mr. Rosch a copy of the articles of the Methodist Church. Mr. Rosch searched for some time among his books, and at last found an old copy of the twenty-five Articles which John Wesley had chosen out of the thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. He handed this document to the detectives. They left, and on Sunday the 13th came a police decree suppressing the congregation altogether. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.5
“The official explanation vouchsafed was this. The book containing the Twenty-five Articles had been confiscated by the Staatsanwalt (Public Prosecutor) on the account of the 22nd Article, which stated that the sacrifice of mass was a blasphemous deceit. Accordingly Mr. Rosch was prohibited from preaching in Vienna. It was pointed out to the authorities that the Lutheran Church, which had been recognized in the Austro-Hungarian Empire for upwards of a hundred years, had had the same article in its creed, and only rescinded it a few years ago in consideration of the fact that it was an offence to the Roman Catholic Church; and that the Articles of Faith of the English Church at Meran in the Tyrol, at Marienbad, Trieste, and elsewhere throughout Austria contain the 22nd Article in question. All protests were unavailing. The Courts of Appeal were resorted to. There are of these four in Austria, and the case has been carried through them all, but with only the result that the plea concerning the offending Article of Faith has been abandoned, and the contention by which it is now sought to justify the prohibitory edict is that the meetings of the Methodists had become too large to be tolerated under the right of private worship in Austria. To confute this new pleas is impossible, since the laws of Austria do not specify what maximum number of people are allowed to attend a private religious meeting. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.6
“Baffled in the Court of Appeal, the minister and his congregation presented a petition to Baron Gautsch, the Austrian Minister of Education, praying for recognition by the State. This petition was lodged nine months agao, and the only reply it has elicited was to the effect that the membership of the body is too small to entitle it to State recognition. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.7
“Thus for the present this centre of religious work remains closed and the congregation disbanded. The clergyman dare not open his mouth in public, and should a member of his late flock visit him a detective follows into the house, which is under constant police surveillance. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.8
“Lessons from the Persecution in Vienna” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
Everybody who reads the account of the systematic persecution of the Methodists in Vienna, as given in the preceding article, must feel sympathy for the oppressed, as well as indignation at such unjustifiable proceedings. Such a course cannot be excused on any just grounds. We would have it understood by all who may feel unfriendly to Christianity, and who may site such instances of persecution as evidence against it, that there is no Christianity in it. Men who are professed to be Christians have often persecuted others, but Christianity never persecutes. Christianity is from Christ the Lamb of God; and it is as impossible for Christianity to persecute for any cause whatever, as it would be for a lamb to devour a wolf. In so saying, we are passing no sentence upon men who in time past have engaged in persecution. God alone knows the motives that prompted them. Many of the men were doubtless sincere. But if they thought that they were acting in accordance with the principles of Christianity, they were pitiably ignorant of those principles. We can simply say that persecution is not of Christ, but is of the devil; with those who have persecuted, we have nothing to do; they are in the hands of the just Judge. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.9
It may further be said, that the evil of persecution is in no wise abated by the fact that those who are persecuted may actually hold erroneous views and practices. No man was ever persecuted who was not thought by his persecutor to be in error. To say that it is wrong to persecute those who hold the truth, but justifiable when people are in error, is to set one’s self up as the judge of what is truth. That is popery. And so everyone who persecutes, no matter in what degree, is to that degree a pope. It will be seen that papacy has not always been and is not now confined to the Roman Catholic Church. We repeat, that it makes no difference what the religious opinions of men may be; they are not to be persecuted on any account. For his religious opinions and practices a man is answerable to God alone. No earthly tribunal, whether religious or secular, has any right to sit in judgment on people for their religion. In this matter majorities cut no figure. This question has nothing to do with the right of the majority to rule, for in matters of religion nobody has any right to rule another. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 356.10
Scripture authority for these statements is not wanting. Jesus said, “If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12:47. “The servant is not greater than his Lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” Therefore since Christ Himself declared that He did not judge any man who refused to believe His words, it is most certain that no man, nor any body of men, has that right. Whoever assumes it, thereby sets himself above the Lord. Again Jesus said to His disciples, “As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.” John 20:21. Now for what purpose did the Father send Him? He Himself tells: “For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him.” John 3:17. Therefore he who presumes to judge another is doing that which Christ never sent anybody to do. Of course this does not refer to the sentence of the civil magistrate concerning crimes against persons or property. So much for persecution in general. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 357.1
When Peter, in his zeal for the Master, drew his sword and cut off the ear of one who was about to seize the Lord, Jesus rebuked him, saying, “all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” We may not conclude that all who perish with the sword have taken the sword, for many perish unjustly; but the Saviour’s words do to show that when men take the sword it is no more than might be expected that the same thing should be used on them. We are reminded of this by the fact that but a few weeks ago there was a mass meeting held in the city of Chicago, where representative Methodist clergymen, among others, advocated the use of the boycott upon all who did not join with them in Sunday rest. It is needless to say that the boycott is one of the meanest forms of persecution. Now we do not say that this justifies the persecution of Methodists in Vienna or anywhere else; for we should protest most earnestly against the persecution even of a Torquemada; but it suggests a few questions, which we will ask in the next paragraph. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 357.2
We are certain that none will more roundly denounce the persecution in Vienna than our Methodists brethren themselves. The question is, Can they do so with good grace, in view of the position taken in Chicago? which circumstance, we are sorry to say, is not an isolated one. Is that which is wrong in Austria right in America? Or, to change the form, If persecution in any form whatever, is right in America, is it not all right in Austria? Or, Is it right for Methodists to persecute, and wrong for Catholics? We express no opinion in the matter, but would like to know what our friends think of the thing. Another question that is suggested by the action at Chicago, and elsewhere in America, is this; If the Methodist body were recognized by the Austrian Government, and there should be a movement on foot among the Catholics of that country, to enforce the observance of Sunday, as there is by both Catholics and Protestants in America, would the Methodists join in it, and aid in oppressing even to extinction, a smaller sect that did not regard Sunday as a holy day, but as an ordinary working day? By their action in America, have not our Methodist friends cut themselves off from the right to protest against the wicked persecutions in Vienna? If this bitter experience should open their eyes to the evil of persecution in every degree, it would not have been suffered in vain. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 357.3
May we not learn a lesson from the action of the Austrian police in the matter of the reference to the mass, in the Articles of Faith? If the Articles of Faith contain no reference to any other religious practices, or, better still, if there had been no published Articles of Faith at all, would not the Methodists have fared better? Suppose it be granted that the mass is a gross error; it is not the only error in the world nor in the church; and consistency would require that if one error is to be noted in a church creed, all errors should be similarly noted; but that would be impossible. Therefore the only way seems to be to declare only the truth and let that deal with error as it meets it. The same principle applies to any form of Articles of Faith. Truth is infinite. It is utterly impossible for any uninspired writing, or for all the uninspired writings that could be published in the world, to make a perfect statement of the truth. Therefore whoever sets forth Articles of Faith, or any form of creed, as an expression of what he believes, must necessarily believe less than the truth, no matter how correct his Articles may be in themselves. If the Methodist pastor in Vienna could have said, “We have no articles; the Bible contains the only rules of faith, and we follow its truth as fast as it is revealed to us,” would not his position have been much stronger? He who stands on the Rock of the Word, has a position that cannot be shaken. If every religious body would follow most strictly the Word of God alone, presenting its teaching in such a way that no one could oppose it without openly opposing the Bible, the work of evangelizing the world would speedily be accomplished. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 357.4
The fatal error of the Methodists in Vienna was in petitioning for recognition by the State. Thereby they conceded the right of the Government to suppress them. Whatever the State grants it may take away. For any religious body to ask for recognition by the State, is to admit that without such recognition it has no right to exist; and that is, of course, to admit that the State is justified in suppressing it. The very worst thing that any State can do for religion is to “recognize” it. Christianity is in the world by the authority of the King of kings, and not by any earthly sufferance. It has nothing to ask from the State, because the State has nothing to bestow upon it. It has something of inestimable value to bestow upon kings, and all in authority, as well as upon men in the humblest station; but no man, and no Government, has anything that can be given to Christianity, to better it. Man is less than God. “All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him as less than nothing, and vanity.” Isaiah 40:17. Whoever, therefore petitions the State for protection in the exercise of religion, or even by any means admits the right of the State to have anything to do with religion, either in the way of protection or suppression, thereby shows, either that the religion which he professes has not the sanction of God; or else that he does not know the power of the God of whom he serves; or else that he thinks the power and authority of men to be greater than that of God. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 357.5
Although the Methodists are not recognized in Vienna, and as a religious body they are outlawed, yet they have as good a chance as the apostles did. Indeed they are better off. Here is a statement of the relation which Christianity sustained to the Roman State. “All the ancient religions were National and State religions, and this was especially the case with the Romans, among whom the political point of view predominated in everything, not excepting religion. The public apostasy of citizens from the State religion, and the introduction of a foreign religion, or a new one not legalized by the State (religio illicita), appeared as an act of high treason. In this light was regarded the conversion of Roman citizens or subjects to Christianity. ‘Your religion is illegal’ (non licit esse vos), was the reproach commonly cast upon Christians, without referring to the contents of their religion; to this was added the striking difference between Christianity and all that had hitherto been dominated religion.”-Neander’s Memorials of Christian Life, chapter iii. Yet in the face of this, the early Christians proceeded to preach the Gospel without, apologizing to the State, or asking any favours of it. When forbidden to preach, the apostles said to the rulers, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to harken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” They were successful, too, in their preaching, and their success was due to their trust in God, and to their refusal to admit the right of the State to interfere in matters of religion. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 357.6
“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God; which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is; which keepeth truth for ever; which executeth judgment for the oppressed; which giveth food to the hungry.” Psalm 146:3-7. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.1
“National Prayers” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
The Bishop of Manchester’s anxiety over possible disestablishment of the church is that in such a case there would be no prayers at the opening of exhibitions, etc. He has said, “As long as the nation remains religious, great and solemn occasions will arise, such as national deliverances, or even the entombment of national heroes, when the nation will require a religious organ through which to address its prayers or thanksgivings to God.” Whereupon the following question naturally arises: If the nation has thankful feelings, why cannot it express them for itself? Surely every person who is thankful is the proper individual to express that thankfulness. If Mr. A. is thankful, it would seem strange for him to hire Mr. B. to express his thankfulness for him. So whenever the nation wants to pray, we should say, Let it pray. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.2
It will probably be answered that the nation is not an individual, capable of speaking and acting for itself, as a man. That is true, and therein lies the fallacy of the idea of a national religion. What is a nation? It is a body of people. There can be no nation without people, and the word “nation” is synonymous with “people.” Then surely, if the nation is ever thankful it can express that thankfulness; or if it wants to pray, it can do so. To this it will naturally be objected that if there is no form of religion established by law, there will be no prayer or thanksgivings offered by the nation, since there is so large a portion of the nation that cares nothing for such things. Exactly. And so an establishment of religion is simply a form without the fact. It provides for prayer when there is no feeling of prayer, and that is a mockery. It provides for expressions of thanksgiving when there is no thankfulness. In short, it is simply organized and enforced hypocrisy. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.3
If any number of individuals in the nation, no matter how large or how small, feel like praying and offering thanksgiving, by no means hinder them; but if any do not feel that way, by no means force them to act as though they did; and do not fancy that it will do any good for somebody else, in their stead, to express the thankfulness which they do not feel. The idea that a nation can be made religious by legal enactment arises from forgetfulness of the characteristics of human nature and of true religion. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.4
“All Saints’ Day” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
From one of a series of articles entitle “Thoughts for the Times,” in a Protestant paper, we extract the following paragraph:- PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.5
The festival of All Saints Day, although so entirely in accordance with the tenor of the Gospel, can be traced to a Pagan source, being an adaptation of one of the sublimer conceptions of idolatry. Some broad-minded heathen worshipper conceived the idea of a temple for all the gods, giving rise to that splendid Roman edifice known as the Pantheon, on which the genius of the architect had been lavished, and in which became enshrined all the known deities, amid such splendour as art and welfare could provide. But under the guiding hand of Pope Boniface III., in the seventh century, this temple was dedicated to the memory of all martyrs; the 1st of May being set apart for the festival. Subsequently the date was changed to November 1, and the commemoration placed on a wider basis as an “All Saints’ Day.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.6
In the Epistle to the Ephesians we read the following injunction: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:17, 18, R.V. But this is by no means to be considered as authority for praying for the saints who have died, anymore than we are to think that when Paul said to the Corinthians, “All the saints salute you,” he meant that those who were dead joined in the salutation. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.7
Why should not dead saints be prayed for? Because it can do them no good. They are not in a condition to be benefited by prayers. Here is what the Scripture says of the dead:- PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.8
“Put not your trust in princes, neither in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 144:3, 4. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.9
“The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Psalm 115:17. Effectual prayers always bring blessings; and for blessings received saints always give thanks to God; therefore since the dead do not praise the Lord, it is evident that prayers for them are useless. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.10
“For the grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth.” Isaiah 38:18. Why can they not hope for the truth of God? The answer is given in the following scripture. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.11
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:10. “For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.” Verses 4-6. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.12
These are some of the straight declarations of Scripture concerning the condition of the dead. They show that they cannot profit by any prayers that may be offered in their behalf, and that therefore to pray for them is a vain repetition. More than this, we learn from the Scriptures that there is to be a resurrection of the dead, and that fact shows in itself that the dead are not in a condition to enjoy happiness or to suffer pain. If they were, there would be no need of the resurrection. The apostle Paul, in combating the idea that some had that there would not be a resurrection, said, “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ risen; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” 1 Corinthians 15:16-18. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.13
Think of this a moment. If there were to be no resurrection of the dead, the saints who have died would be perished. Now suppose there were to be no resurrection; would that change the condition of the dead? Of course not. They would remain just as they are now. But in that case they would be perished. Therefore they are now in the same condition that they would be if they were for ever blotted from existence. All that stands between them and that fate is the resurrection. But that is a sure thing. They sleep in Jesus, and their resurrection is as sure as His. Their life was given to the Lord while they lived, and He still keeps it for them, to clothe them with it at the resurrection. When the Lord comes, and the trumpet sounds, and the living are changed, then the corruptible puts on incorruption, and the mortal puts on immortality. Then, as in their life-time they had the life of Christ manifested in their mortal bodies, they have the same life manifested in their immortal bodies. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 358.14
All this is sufficient reason why there should be no “All Saints’ Day” in which prayers for the dead are offered. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.1
The festival is indeed, as the paragraph quoted says, of heathen origin. That of itself would be sufficient to condemn it. No good thing ever came of heathenism. There were men among the heathen with whom the Spirit of God strove, and in every age there have been men who have, even amidst the darkness of heathenism followed the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and have risen above their fellows; but from heathenism nothing good ever came. And even those men of whom we have spoken, added nothing to the sum of religious knowledge. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not indebted to any man. It is from above. Heathenism is from beneath. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.2
Outside of the Gospel there has never been any knowledge of immortality and a future life. Christ “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:10. Heathenism talked about immortality, and longed for it, but knew nothing of it. The philosophers deluded man with the thought that they already had it; but it was but a delusion; for they knew nothing of Christ, or if they knew of Him they rejected Him; and without Christ there is no life. The heathen doctrine of immortality was the doctrine that men are by nature gods. In order to have immortality by nature they would have to be gods, for life and immortality are attributes of God alone. He gives them to those who accept Him. So it was in keeping with heathenism to erect a temple to all the gods; but for those who professed Christianity to substitute the names of martyrs for those of the gods, and to perpetuate the worship of all the gods under the form of prayers for (and to) all saints, was but to continue heathenism under the name of Christianity. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.3
It is not bringing a railing accusation to say that there is very much Paganism that has crept into professed Christianity, for it is freely acknowledged by all. Query: If there was a need of a reformation from heathenism in the days of the apostles, must there not now be the same need of the reformation from the heathenism that has crept into the Church? PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.4
“The Secret of Reformation” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
When Wycliffe was translating, or was about to translate, the Bible into the English language, he wrote these words:- PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.5
“As the faith of the church is contained in the Scriptures, the more these are known in their true meaning the better; and inasmuch as secular man should assuredly understand the faith they profess, that faith should be taught them in whatever language may be best known to them. Forasmuch, also, as the doctrines of our faith are more clearly and exactly expressed in the Scriptures, than they may probably be by priests,-seeing, if I may so speak, that many prelates are but too ignorant of Holy Scripture, while others conceal many parts of it; and as the verbal instructions of priests have many other defects,-the conclusion is abundantly manifest that believers should ascertain for themselves what are the true matters of their faith, by having the Scriptures in a language which they fully understand. For the laws made by prelates are not to be received as matters of faith, nor are we to confide in their public instruction, nor in any of their words, but as they are founded on Holy Writ,-since the Scriptures contain the whole truth. And this translation of them into English should therefore do at least this good, namely placing priests and bishops above suspicion as to the parts of it which they profess to explain. Other means, such as the friars, prelates, the Pope, may all proved defective; and to provide against this, Christ and His apostles evangelized the greater portion of the world, by making known the Scriptures to the people in their own language. To this end, indeed, did the Holy Spirit endow them with the knowledge of tongues. Why, then, should not the living disciples of Christ do in this respect as they did?” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.6
The work of translating the Scriptures into the language of the people has now been almost completed. Since the days of Tyndale it has been an easy matter for anyone to get a copy of the Bible in the English language, and the Book has been translated into almost every language under heaven. Still the work of the Reformation is not complete. It is not enough that the Bible should be furnished in the language of the people; it must be read and studied by the people. It is of little use to have the Bible, if the words of man are to be taken as to what it means, instead of reading it for one’s self. To too great an extent at the present day, as in the days of Christ, when the people had the Bible in their own tongue, the fear of God is taught by the commandments of men, rather than by the word of God. So the work of the true teacher is to take the Bible which the people have ready to their hand, and bring them face to face with it. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.7
To be a follower of the Reformers does not mean to believe just what they believed, and nothing more. To be a worthy follower of the Reformers is to be activated by the same spirit that moves them. That was loyalty to the word of God. Their principle was that the Bible should settle all questions; that it, and it alone, was the truth. They did not know all that the Bible teaches. No man has ever yet known it all. Sometimes, also, they were mistaken in their views of Scripture, and made the common mistake of teaching what they thought instead of what they knew. Whether a man is right or wrong, if we follow the man we shall surely go wrong; for at the best we shall get only partial truth; but if we follow the Scriptures just as they read, we cannot make a mistake. Only they are true followers of the Reformers, who have the same loyalty to the word that they had, regardless of what they thought about certain points. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.8
Let the question which Wycliffe asked be pondered well; why should not the living disciples of Christ do as the disciples of old did, in bringing the Bible to the people, that they may read it without the interpretation of men? When this is done as it should be, there will be a greater Reformation than has ever yet been known. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.9
“Separate from Sinners” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
“Separate from Sinners.” -When the leper came to Jesus, saying, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean,” “Jesus put forth His hand and touched him.” The leper was an unclean being, and great was the fear of contagion; yet Jesus was not afraid to touch him, and He suffered no injury from the touch. This is a likeness of Christ connection with sin. He “bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:24. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. Yet although He was made to be sin for us, He “knew no sin.” He “did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” He could come into the closest contact with sin and not be defiled by it. He received sinners, and was their friend, associating freely with the worst of them, yet He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” Hebrews 7:26. So may it be with us, if Christ dwells in us. We may work for the degraded, coming in contact with them, and giving them the sympathetic touch, as He did, and not be defiled. We may be “unspotted from the world,” while coming close to it as Christ did. It is possible that we may not be in high repute with the world for so doing; but that matters nothing if we have the mind that was in Christ, who “made Himself of no reputation.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.10
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 359.11
“‘He Careth for You.’ 1 Peter 5:7” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
It matters not who you are, the Bible says that God careth for you. God who, in Christ, created the heavens and the earth by His word, and upholds them by the word of His power, He who placed the sun, and moon, and stars in the firmament, who clothes the earth with verdure, and gives life to every living creature,-“HE careth for you.” Does the world seem cold and unfriendly? Are your friends powerless to help, or have they gone away, or forsaken you? Do not become disheartened. There is still friendship and love and help for you. “There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother”; “He careth for you.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 1.1
Do you belong to a despised race, or nation, or family? Are you poor in this world’s goods, without a home to call your own, or enough clothes to keep you warm? Have you been unable to obtain an education? It matters not what is your colour, nationality, and ancestry, wealth, or education. Look up, and take courage. “God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.” And “Hearken, ... hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?” Here is a Friend who will not treat you with scorn or derision. If you come to Him sincerely He will receive you graciously. He is interested in you. He is able to do all things, and longs to help you. He even does not wait for you to come to Him, but for long days and weeks and months and years He has been waiting and knocking at the door of your heart. Why has He waited so long and knocked so often? Why is He so anxious to be your Friend and Helper? This is why “He careth for you.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 1.2
Are you burdened down with a load of sin? Does the world draw its Pharisaical robes around it and point to you and say, “He is a sinner. There is no hope for him. We did all that we could, but we could not save him.” Perhaps the world has done all that it can for you, but God has not exhausted His power. He still “careth for you.” “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” “God so loved the [sinful] world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” “Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Then no matter how full of the darkness of sin your heart may be, you have one Friend who will bring you light, joy, righteousness and peace, if you but let Him in. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 1.3
Is your name unknown in the world? Are you but a humble labourer, lost sight of in the crowded streets of the great city, in an out-of-the-way place in the country, or in some far-away isle of the ocean? Do not let this discourage you. You are known and thought of and loved in heaven. “He careth for you.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 362.1
One time a coloured man, an Ethiopian, was riding along in his chariot on the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. He longed his heart to know about Jesus and was therefore carefully reading his Bible as he sat in his chariot. But he could not understand what he read. God saw him all the time, and knew that he was an honest searcher after light. He cared for him so much that He told a fellow, a disciple who was preaching to large audiences in the city of Samaria, to leave his work and go fifty or sixty miles down there on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, and explain to that Ethiopian what he was reading. Acts 8:26-39. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 362.2
In the tenth chapter of Acts we read of a certain man in Cæsarea, called Cornelius, who loved God and did just as nearly right as he knew. But he did not know for himself that Jesus who had taught and done wonderful things in Judea was really the Messiah, the one through whom he must receive remission of sins. God knew his name, and how he had prayed every day and given alms. He cared for him, and sent an angel from heaven to tell him where to send for one who would teach him more about his Saviour. The angel said, “Cornelius, thy prayers and thine alms art come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter; he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea-side; he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.” Notice these directions: God told Cornelius Peter’s name, and the name of the man in whose house he lived. He also told what occupation this man followed, and in what city was his house, and in what part of the city. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 362.3
This is no exception. In many other places in the Bible we find that men have been described just as minutely. “Heaven is well acquainted with the history and business of men in every grade of life. God is cognizant of the daily employment of a humble labourer, as well as of that of the king upon his throne.” Therefore you may be sure that God knows you. He knows your name, and where you live, the very road, and number of your house or lodgings. He knows your daily occupation, your daily cares, the trials, heartaches, and temptations. But best of all, “He careth for you.” He says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 362.4
You never need to fear if you let this good, powerful, faithful, loving Friend in, and allow Him to abide with you every day. No wonder the question is asked, “If God be for us who can be against us?” He is stronger than Satan and all his temptations, and wiser than Solomon and all his attendants. He fainteth not, and never gets weary. The darkness and light are both alike to Him. And if we but allow Him, He will stick closer than a brother; and, He Himself says, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” “Lo I am with you all way, even unto the end of the world.” Do we not need such a friend? Can we find another so unselfish and true? PTUK November 17, 1892, page 362.5
“The Love of God in Men” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
We have learned from our Bibles that God is no respecter of persons. He cares for us, no matter who we are or where we live. He cares for us at all times, through all the changes of life. Although we deserve nothing, He cares for us when others will not or cannot, and even when we cannot, or will not care for ourselves. He “is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “He is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn, and live ye.” “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” He was just as anxious and willing to save those who lived before the flood as He has been to save those who have lived since the flood; just as willing to forgive the Ninevites as He is to forgive you and me. As we glance back over the history of the world and note God’s dealings with men, we can see Him clearly as pictured by the pen of inspiration: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 362.6
How different is man by nature! If there come into the assembly a man with a gold ring, and goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, how natural it is to have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit down here in a good place, and say to the poor, Stand thou there, and sit here under my footstool. How natural it is for the teacher to show partiality among his pupils, to encourage and help most the very ones who need it least. How natural it is for us to be willing to do more to help those of our own class or nationality. How we draw back involuntarily from those who are ignorant and degraded; how hard really to care for them and love them as the Master loved them. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 362.7
And yet it is possible even for man to partake of this Divine nature, and have this same Godlike feeling toward those around him. We read in Galatians that this love is one of the fruits of the Spirit of God. No other Spirit can bear such fruit. But thanks to the impartial Father of all, we read that whosoever will may come and drink of the fountain of life freely. We also read that Jesus is the fountain of life, and that the Holy Spirit is the water of life (Psalm 36:9; John 7:37-39). Then you and I may drink freely of the Spirit of God! You and I can bear the fruits of the Spirit! How? Jesus tells us: “Without Me ye can do nothing.” “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.” All that we need to do is to open the door. In other words, we are to let Jesus know that He is welcome, that we are willing to give up our ways and our nature, and take His ways and His nature. Then we are assured that He will come in with His Holy Spirit and abide with us. His Spirit in us will bear the same fruit that it does in Him. Then, and never till then, can we “walk even as He walked,” and love even as He loved, “Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” The love of God is unchanging, and therefore will work the same way in our hearts that it does in His heart. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 362.8
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
-Reports still continued of severe gales on the Atlantic. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.1
-The gold production of the world for last year was 6,033,000 ounces. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.2
-A barber has been fined at Bolton for shaving customers on a Sunday. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.3
-The average daily delivery of meat at the Smithfield markets is 1,005 tons. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.4
-The cost of a first-class battleship, carrying 600 men, is about £1,000,000. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.5
-The Italian Government is considering a plan to monopolize the petroleum trade. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.6
-On Sunday, Nov. 6, Dr. A. T. Pierson began his ministry at Metropolitan Tabernacle. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.7
-Heavy floods have been experienced in various parts of England, checking farm work, and injuring crops. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.8
-The Emperor William has sent £2,500 towards the maintenance of orphans at Hamburg, whose parents died of cholera. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.9
-The Queen’s household is a vast establishment. About a thousand officials of various ranks receive salaries from Her Majesty. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.10
-In the United Kingdom there is one licensed house to every 220 of the population, while for every clergyman in the land we have no less than six drink-shops. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.11
-Eighteen tenants on one large estate in Norfolk have given notice of their intention to throw up their farms in consequence of the present agricultural depression. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.12
-The Ottoman War Department has concluded a contract with a German firm for the supply of 50,000,000 cartridges and an enormous quantity of gunpowder. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.13
-Mr. Thomas Mann stated a few evenings ago that he believed it to be an under-estimate to say that there are at present 100,000 men on the streets of London without work. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.14
-No less than 59,765 barrels of apples arrived in London from the United States and Canada, the last week in October; still they did not make any appreciable difference. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.15
-The Legislative Council of New Zealand has decided, by thirteen votes to eight, not only to give the franchise to white women, but to extend the privilege to Maori women also. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.16
-Of the 649,616 gallons of distilled spirits sent by the United States to Africa in the eleven months ending May 31, Boston contributed 627,122 gallons. It was mainly New England rum. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.17
-One of the missionaries to Uganda reports that he found his bicycle a great help and comfort. He covered nearly his entire journey on it, and found the narrow paths in the country well adapted to it. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.18
-A rich Jew, named Loria, has just left a fortune of fifteen millions of francs for founding in Milan a house of employment for artisans out of work. If the idea is not carried out before the end of 1893 the legacy is to pass to Turin. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.19
-The Due de Morny, an amateur photographer, is stated to have made a discovery by which he has been able to photographically impress paper of any size or thickness. By this means a likeness can be fixed like a monogram on paper. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.20
-Nine new languages have been added to the Bible Society’s list of additions of the Bible during the past year. Four of these are African, two for the Russian Empire, one for China, one for the West Indies, and one for the New Hebrides. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.21
-Thirty cotton mills in the Ashton-under-Lyne district have ceased work, owing to a protest against a proposed reduction of five per cent in wages. About 13,000,000 spindles have ceased running, and about 60,000 men are out of employment. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.22
-Amongst the Laos, a people inhabiting the district of Siam, in the neighbourhood of Chiengimai, the tea leaves are not used for making an infusion, as in other countries, but are prepared wholly for the purpose of chewing-a habit almost universal in that country. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.23
-A form of sport very popular in Normandy is that of flying kites, some of which are of very large dimensions. There has been a competition recently at Rouen on the heights of Saint Catherine, the victorious kite rose to the height of 2,000 metres, and would have soared higher but for lack of string. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.24
-Those clergy who recently seceded from the Establishment in consequence of the Lincoln judgment are said to be preparing a revised Prayer-book which is to be “strictly Protestant.” If they would let each one take the Bible alone as a guide to prayer, there would be no doubt about the Protestantism. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.25
-The parish authorities of St. Mary Woolnoth, which has really a fine interior, though but an ugly building outside, state that while £1,200 has been spent in trying to hermetically seal the vaults, the smell of human remains is still very disagreeable. This is said to be one cause of the emptiness of city churches. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.26
-Her Majesty’s first-class battle ship Royal Oak has been launched at Birkenhead. The report states that “the religious portion of the ceremony was performed by the Bishop of Chester.” This shows another benefit gained by an established religion. Without it war could not be surrounded with the sanction of religion. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.27
-The East Coast express, from Scotland to London, collided early in the morning of the 2nd with a goods train near Thirsk Station, nine persons being instantly killed, and a large number seriously injured. The train was going at the rate of sixty miles an hour, and the carriages were all totally wrecked, with the exception of the Pullman car. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.28
-The anarchists are becoming a terror to Paris. Anonymous letters of a threatening character have for some time been sent to the office of the Carmaux Mining. Finally a bomb was discovered in the outer office. It was carried by the police to the police station, when it exploded, shattering the building, and blowing six persons into fragments. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.29
-During the service for the vigil of All Saints, which was being held in an ancient church in the village of Vinagora, Upper Austria, a violent gale arose, and the clattering on the roof caused a woman to cry out that the tower was falling. A terrible panic ensued, in which twenty-five persons were crushed to death, and many more were seriously injured. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.30
-The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Russia were received at the Vatican by the Pope a few days ago, and as a mark of special favour were allowed to see the handkerchief which St. Veronica handed to the Saviour as He was on the way to Calvary, and which bears the impress of His face. “Permission to view it is given only in very rare and exceptional instances.” If it were otherwise, the fiction would soon be exploded. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.31
-The beds of onyx in Arizona are of such vast extent that several carloads are shipped daily from one mine. This mine is said to represent an almost solid body of the beautiful stone, measuring one mile by a mile and a half an acre. A piece of onyx, the largest ever dug, was recently removed from the mine, which measured twenty-three feet by ten feet, and twenty-six inches thick. The Arizona onyx is finer than the Mexican, and will take a very high polish. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 366.32
“Back Page” The Present Truth 8, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
Sunday, October 30, was observed by the Hindus as a day of universal prayer to the Supreme Deity, for the purpose of ascertaining the best means by which their religion could be maintained. This was suggested at a conference of cultured Hindus, held at Benares. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.1
The Chronicle compliments the Free Church Congress on the position take that, “Members of Free Churches in England cannot recognize any other headship than that of their Divine Founder,” and notes this point, which is too often forgotten, that “of course if a church accepts State aid, it must, whether it likes it or not, in these days submit to State control.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.2
Direct telephone connection has recently been made between New York and Chicago, a distance of 960 miles. On the day of its formal opening extended conversations were carried on by people in the two cities; and the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner” and the recitation of Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade,” in Chicago, were distinctly heard in New York. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.3
After an outbreak of fever last summer, which was supposed to be due to the eating of “ice cream” obtained at the street barrows, a chemist examined a dozen samples of the article. Seven of them consisted of frozen water, sugar, and starch; four contained milk, water, and sugar; one was simply frozen lemon ade. Not one of the specimens contained any cream. They were all utterly unfit for the human stomach. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.4
Thirteen Seventh-day Adventists, one of them seventy-five years of age, have been indicted in Tennessee for doing their own private work quietly on Sunday. In view of previous persecutions in that State, these indictments mean the conviction of all of the men, and conviction means imprisonment and hard labour on the roads in the chain-gang. The worst of it is that there are many people in all parts of the United States, who applaud the actions of the Tennessee inquisition. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.5
The new Chicago University is to have the largest telescope in the world, far surpassing the Lick telescope. The lenses are to be forty-five inches in diameter, and have already been secured. Those in the Lick telescope are thirty-six inches. By the way, the manner of opening the University, a few weeks ago, is worthy of note, to be followed in other cases. Five hundred students were present at the opening, and after chapel exercises all went to work the same as though the institution had been open for years. There was no speech-making whatever. On being asked about it, President Harper said that he believed in work rather than in talk. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.6
A gentleman who was for many years associated with Mr. Spurgeon writes thus to the Chronicle:- PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.7
“It is impossible to understand the state of affairs at the Metropolitan Tabernacle without fully realizing the extreme difficulty by which the pathway of the present pastor-in-charge is beset. Over 5,000 members were never before gathered in one Nonconformist church, and under the most favourable circumstances it might be considered as almost Utopian to think of their being kep together by any one surviving human power, now that the great leader, whose authority they never disputed or challenged, has passed away. For anyone to have to follow such a man in the pastorate as the late C. H. Spurgeon must necessarily be a sore trial.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.8
That is an interesting picture of the state of affairs at the Tabernacle; but it is truly a pity that anybody should think of trying to keep a body of 5,000 church members together by “human power.” The Spirit of God, however, can hold together many times that number. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.9
There are often a two sides to a story. The papers, religious and secular, never tire of telling of the savage cruelty of the king of Dabousey, and of his hatred of the missionaries. Doubtless these cannot be exaggerated, but it is possible that some of his savagery may be due to those who are not savages. To a messenger who was sent to intercede for the many people set aside for sacrifice, the king is reported to have said:- PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.10
“You say that your people abhor the thought of men being sacrificed; that their religion teaches them that this is a crime. Now, we have a ‘God man’ at Whydai, and does he set an example to my people such as I would wish them to follow? Does he not drink till he talks foolishness? Does he not make my people drunk? Away. I want none of your ‘God people.’” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.11
The words of the apostle apply to some who are “called” Christians, as well as they did to those who were called Jews: “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.” Romans 2:21-24. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.12
A recent paper contains this item:- PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.13
“Much corn remains ungathered in Yorkshire, and in some instances has been quite spoiled. Last Sunday and Sunday week, the weather being fine, farmers were engaged in carrying their crops, with the sanction of the clergy.” PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.14
This should set some people to thinking. If Sunday observance is of the Lord, what right had the clergy to sanction Sunday labour? And if it is not of the Lord, does not the Lord Himself sanction labour on that day, no matter what the season of the year? No man or body of men can give another any right to break a commandment of God; neither can they make obligatory what God has not commanded. Therefore the only question to be asked is, “What does the Lord say?” and the answer will invariably be found in the Bible. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.15
Some idea of the vastness of heathen darkness may be gained from the statement that if one person undertook to supply the women and girls of India with Bibles, and was able to distribe 20,000 a day, it would take over seventeen years of daily work to supply them all. PTUK November 17, 1892, page 368.16