The Present Truth, vol. 9
June 1, 1893
“Front Page” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises [virtues, or excellencies] of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9. Whom is the apostle addressing? It is those who “have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” Such ones, coming to Christ the living corner-stone, are made living stones also, and “are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” This applies not to a special class of Christians, but to all, “for there is no respect of persons with God.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.1
This means, then, that all the people of God, whatever their earthly condition, are priests, capable of offering up “spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” But this does not mean that all or any of God’s people are capable of offering up a sacrifice that will be acceptable to God for the salvation of some other person or persons. Christ says, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” John 14:6. “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and man the Man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5. There is no human being who can stand between God and man; and there is no need of a mediator between man and Christ, for He is the Divine Man. He is the one link that connects humanity with Divinity. He is God by nature, and He took upon Himself the nature of man, so that men can have free access to Him, and through Him to God. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.2
There is therefore no special priestly class in the church of Christ. Each soul may come directly to the Lord for himself. No man can offer a sacrifice for another. “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him.” Psalm 49:7. How is it then that all our priests? and how can they offer up sacrifices acceptable to God? The answer is given in the text which says that all are priests. They offer up acceptable sacrifices by Jesus Christ. “This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” Hebrews 10:12. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.3
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” Psalm 51:17. A broken and a contrite heart is one that is broken in pieces and ground up. Not of much worse, is it? What is it good for? Nothing. And that is why it appropriates Christ, who is of infinite worth, a sacrifice that is always acceptable to God. Having nothing in itself, it trusts wholly in Christ. He is the surety of the new covenant, and so when He comes He will say, “Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Psalm 50:5. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.4
“God as a Companion” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
It has ever been the work of Satan to bear false witness against God, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44. It must be Satan, therefore, that has made so many people believe that God is harsh, and stern, and unapproachable; for the truth is that “God is love.” 1 John 4:8. So approachable is He that we may “come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.5
It is a fact that no man can come to God except through Christ. “No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6. “Through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Ephesians 2:18. But this is not because God is unapproachable, but because in Christ dwelleth “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Colossians 2:9. He is God, and the only manifestation of Divinity that can possibly be made to man. It is impossible to find God, except in Christ. They are one, so that where Christ is there God the Father is. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” John 1:18. “They shall call His name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23. When Christ was here on earth, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. This of itself should be enough to show all men that God the Father is the reverse of everything that is stern and forbidding. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.6
Jesus said, “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” Matthew 11:27. God was revealed in Christ, for Jesus said to Philip, when he had been asked to be shown the Father, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” John 14:9. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.7
Immediately after saying that He alone could reveal the Father, because the Father was in Him, Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matthew 11:28, 29. Christ was meek and lowly in heart; but He was but the manifestation of the Father; therefore that is the character of God. It seems too wonderful to be true, that God, the great Creator is meek and lowly in heart, but it is true, nevertheless. One trouble is that we have so meagre an idea of what meekness is. What Christ was, that He is still, for He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8. So God is now meek and lowly in heart, and that is why He can be a companion to men. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.8
The character of Christ when He was in heaven, glorified the Father before the foundation of the world, was the same as when He came to this earth. He did not assume a character for the occasion. He came to the earth for the purpose of showing man what the Father always is. Paul says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7. When was it that the mind was in Christ to make Himself of no reputation? It was when He was with the Father. The lowliness and meekness which He manifested on earth were His native characteristics. The mind which He exhibited on earth was the mind which He had in heaven before He came; and that was the mind of the Father. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 161.9
Taking upon Him the form of a servant, He served. “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” Matthew 20:28. “I am among you as He that serveth.” Luke 22:27. If He had come to earth clothed with the glory of heaven, He could not have come near enough to sinful man to serve them. All would have been afraid of Him. Therefore He took upon Him the form of a servant; but He did not take upon Himself that character of a servant, for He had that before. Although He is Lord of heaven and earth, He lives for the service of His creatures. So when He was here He “went about doing good; and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” Acts 10:38. Mark the expression, “for God was with Him.” That is given as the reason why Christ went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed. This shows the character of God. God with Him did those works. See John 14:10. He associated with the poor of earth, and ate with publicans and sinners, for “the common people heard Him gladly.” Thus He was illustrating the words of God, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15. And again: “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things hath Mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord; but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word.” Isaiah 66:1, 2. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.1
What are we to learn from all this? That as Christ and the Father are one, and Christ is but the manifestation of the Father; and as Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day and for ever, and God says, “I am the Lord, I change not;” therefore God will be the companion of men to-day, just as in Christ He was the companion of poor sinners eighteen hundred years ago, provided they will let Him. Of Enoch it is said that he “walked with God.” And they were men of the same nature as the men in this age of the world. The promise of Jesus is, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love Him, and make our abode with Him.” John 14:23. To those who are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and He with Me.” Revelation 3:17, 20. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.2
But we must open the door to Him, by acknowledging that we are poor and needy. God dwells with those who are of a contrite and humble spirit, because He Himself is of a meek and lowly disposition. He could not dwell with any others, for if He could they would try to lord it over Him; and although He is lowly in heart, yet He is Lord of all. Men feel themselves above the Lord, and therefore it is that He calls them to come and learn of Him. “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God?” Micah 6:8, margin. Just think of it! Mortal men feel themselves too good to walk with the Creator of heaven and earth! And what a wonder! If they will but let their pride go, they may have Him for a companion, and He Himself asks the privilege of being their companion! Could any higher honour be conceived? PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.3
Abraham was called a friend of God. 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8. That was because Abraham trusted the Lord, and accepted the companionship of God on His own terms. What is the chief characteristic of friends? It is that they open their hearts to each other. So God said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” Genesis 17:17. Because Abraham was His friend He revealed secrets to him. For “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant.” Psalm 25:14. So Christ says to us, “Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servant; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.” John 15:14, 15. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.4
One final lesson we must learn from these things. God is great,-the Creator and upholder of the universe,-yet is meek and lowly in heart. We learn then that true greatness is combined with humility. “Before honour is humility.” Indeed, God’s very greatness is in His humility. We cannot comprehend it, yet it is a most cheering and uplifting thought. We know that His greatness lies in His humility, because the Psalmist says, “Thou hast given me the shield of Thy salvation; and Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me, great.” Psalm 18:35. He makes us great by clothing us with His meekness, if we will but submit. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.5
God can dwell with men, and not lose any of His dignity, because is truly great. When Christ washed the feet of disciples, He did not forget that He was their Master and Lord. John 13:13, 14. His friends and disciples, with whom He associates on terms of the most loving familiarity, do not forget that He is the Mighty One. It is that which makes the companionship so blessed, because while He manifests His tenderness and love, they know that He has the power to do all that His love prompts. And so in the earth made new, when “the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God shall be with them, and be their God,” and they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads (Revelation 21:3; 22:4), none in their exaltation will forget that He is great, and will presume upon His familiarity; because it was through humble submission to Him that they learned His greatness and gentleness. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” 1 Peter 5:5. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.6
“Let There Be Equality” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
There are few nuisances greater than that of smoking. It was borrowed from the savages, and its almost universal adoption is a mark of the savage element existing in man by nature. It is for this reason that smoking seems so terribly out of place in an otherwise seemingly refined woman. But we cannot see how those who try to defend tobacco-using as a harmless, and even beneficial habit, should object to a woman’s indulgence in it. The matter is vigorously expressed in the following paragraphs from the Echo:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.7
“An indignant English Mother” has written to one of the papers in a white heat of indignation because she came across two young women, apparently foreigners, who were smoking cigarettes in Regent’s Park, and she exclaims, “Surely the keepers have power to arrest any women smoking cigarettes.” No, indeed, that offence is not in the bye-laws. When those bye-laws were constructed no one dreamed that women would take to smoking except certain ancient dames in the North whose age and ugliness was some excuse for their indulgence in a little black cutty. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.8
But why this amazing indignation? If smoking is a good thing for men, it ought to be equally good for women. If it will whiten men’s teeth, and sweeten men’s breath, and brighten men’s appearance, why should not women indulge in the luxury? If it will soften sorrow or mitigate trouble, why should not women, who certainly have sorrows and troubles of their own, seek consolation from smoke-sucking? It is not right or seeming that a perennial source of satisfaction should be monopolised by the magnanimous and disinterested sovereigns of creation. If smoking is such a blessed comfort as its male votaries declare, the caterer who will institute Smoking Concerts for Women will be a benefactor of his race. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 162.1
“Saints” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
The term “saint,” is used in the Bible has altogether a different meaning from what it has in common use. In the common use there is seen the wonderful influence of Roman Catholic teaching, and how much it lingers among those who are the most “Protestant.” In ordinary use it is applied only to those in whom the Catholic Church, through its bishops and Pope, has decided are worthy of the title. But the Catholic Church calls none saints except those to whom it decrees that prayers may be made, and not until a long time after they are dead; whereas in the Bible the term is applied to men living, and to none others, for “the dead know not anything; ... also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6. “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Psalm 115:17. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.1
Several of the epistles of Paul are addressed to the saints living at such and such a place. He wrote “to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.” Romans 1:7. Again he wrote “unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.” 1 Corinthians 1:2. In both these instances the better rendering, as shown by the fact that the translator supplied the words, “to be,” is, “called saints.” It is a fact that God calls all men to be saved, but it is also a fact that those who heed the call of God in Christ, are called saints. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.2
The fact that God has called all men to be saints is hidden by the Catholic customs of applying the term only to a select few. That custom is responsible for the introduction of a false standard of morality, or in reality a double standard. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.3
It is responsible for the idea that common people cannot be saints; that they cannot attain to the degree of goodness necessary to make one a saint; but that in order for one to be a saint he must have nothing to do with the ordinary affairs of life, but must give himself wholly to what is called a “religious life.” The effect of this was naturally to discourage Christian effort on the part of common people, and also to make Christianity consist in forms and ceremonies, and not in exhibiting the life of Christ in all the details of every-day life. It ignores the fact that Jesus was the Son of God as much when He was working at the carpenter’s bench as when He was preaching upon the mount, or stilling the tempest. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.4
The Catholic Church in declaring some persons to be saints, and assigning others to a lower place, takes upon itself the work of judging the character of men, which belongs only to God. It is only carrying out a little more fully the principle acted upon by most professed Protestant bodies, in declaring of some people that they have gone to heaven, and saying of others that they have gone to hell. Thus they not only anticipate the Judgment Day, but take judgment entirely out of the hands of God. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.5
One of the most necessary things to remember is that God has called all men to be saints, and that those who accept Christ and His salvation are saints. It is only as this fact is recognised, that men will “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14. A few texts will show that among God’s people there are no distinctions, but that all are saints. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.6
The epistle to the Ephesians was addressed “to the saints which are at Ephesus.” Ephesians 1:1. Still more plain, as showing that the term includes the whole church, is the first verse of the epistle to the Philippians: “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” It is very evident that this includes the whole church at Philippi. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.7
Again, in closing the epistle to the Philippians, the apostle said, “All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Cæsar’s household.” Philippians 4:22. This is a very important text. It shows that there were saints in the court of Nero, one of the most cruel and profligate rulers that ever lived. In these times there remains so much of the old monkish ideas, that people think that in order to live a Christian life they must get into the midst of Christian surroundings, where they will hear scarcely a breath of unbelief. A man living in a neighbourhood of unbelievers becomes a Christian, and he at once begins to think of getting into a place where he can have “church privileges.” Young men and women engaged as servants to people who are not Christians, think that as soon as they accept Christ they must seek service in the family of believers. No greater mistake than this could be made. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.8
Of course there are circumstances under which it becomes impossible for an employe to retain his situation and to be a consistent Christian, as for instance when he is absolutely required to labour on the Sabbath. But in too many cases the evil is created by the imagination. The notion that Christians must be clannish lies too often at the bottom of the difficulty. Hear the counsel of the Scriptures: “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman; likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.” 1 Corinthians 7:20-22. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.9
Christ said to all His followers, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16. A light is of no use unless it shines in the darkness; so a Christian is of no use if his sole desire is to get away from the dark places of earth. The Saviour also said, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” But no matter how good salt is, it is useless unless it comes in contact with the thing that is in need of preservation. And salt that loses its savour by contact with that which needs preservation, is worse than no salt at all. So Christianity that has to be shut up in a cloister, or some other secluded place, is not worth preserving. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.10
True Christianity, will survive all lawful contact with the darkness of the world. Christ’s prayer was, “I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil.” John 17:15. Joseph in the house of Potiphar, Nehemiah in the court of Artaxerxes, Daniel and his three friends in the palace of the king of Babylon, are shining examples of saints in the midst of the worst kind of heathenism. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.11
When Christ shall come the second time, it will be “to be glorified in all his saints.” 2 Thessalonians 1:10. But He will be glorified in all those who believe on Him, for all His people are to be changed, and “fashioned like unto His glorious body.” Philippians 3:21. Therefore all who believe in Christ are His saints. A saint is one who is sanctified, and Christ is the sanctified heir of all that believe. He “of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.” 1 Corinthians 1:30. Christ is not divided. He is not one thing to one person, and another thing to another person. All that He is to one, He is to all. God is no respecter of persons, and therefore He has no special favourites among His children. Christ’s prayer for all who should believe on Him, was “that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.” John 17:23. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 163.12
And so the possibility for all, and that to which all are called, is shown by the inspired prayer and assurance, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.1
“Words and Work” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
It is a common saying that “words are cheap,” and that is much easier to say than to do. And this is true, as concerns men. The Saviour said of the scribes and Pharisees, “They say, and do not.” Matthew 23:3. The difference between saying and doing is also forcibly shown by the Apostle James, thus: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:14-17. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.2
Words are of no more value than the one who utters them. If a man is a pauper, his promise to pay money is worthless. So if a man has no goodness in him, all his promises of goodness are but empty wind. And since “there is none that doeth good, no, not one,” it follows that there is none whose promises to do right are of any worth. The Scripture says, “Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” Psalm 39:5. Therefore the best promises of men are mundane things. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.3
Well is it for man that God does not ask him to make promises, but simply to accept the promises of God. On the principle that a word is worth only what the one who utters it is worth, the word of God is worth everything. His word is a real thing; it is not simply sound, but it is substance. While it is an easy thing for man to say and not do, it is a far different thing with God. With Him saying and doing are the same. His word is itself work. He “calleth those things that be not as though they were,” because when He speaks they come into being. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.4
Two utterances of the Saviour set this thing forth in a very forcible manner. When Philip asked to be shown the Father, Jesus told him that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father; and then He continued, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the very works’ sake.” John 14:10, 11. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.5
At first thought it would seem that in the above statement the Saviour made an abrupt change. He began to speak about words, and ended up with works. As proof that He represented the Father, He said, “The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” We should naturally expect that the antithesis of the statement “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself,” would be, “But the Father that dwelleth in Me, He speaketh them.” This would have been the exact truth, as we shall see presently; and it was in reality what Jesus said, because God’s words are works. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.6
In John 8:28 we have the same thing stated in opposite terms. “Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things.” Here He started out with a statement about works, and ended up with words. As in the previous text we are taught that the words of God are works, so here we are taught that the works of God are all in His word. With God a word and a work are the same thing. With Him to say is to do. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.7
Christ, as the only representative of Divinity to man, spoke the words of God. To Moses it had long before been said, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.” Deuteronomy 18:18. Therefore Christ, as God, has the power described in Romans 4:17: He “quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” The words which Christ spoke brought the dead to life. When the nobleman came to Jesus, entreating Him to come down and heal his son, who was at the point of death, Jesus did not go, but said to the father, “Go thy way; thy son liveth” (John 4:50), and the son was healed that instant. Even so “He sent His word, and healed them.” Psalm 107:20. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.8
Among all the works of the Lord, the heavens stand forth the most prominent. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” Psalm 19:1. “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands.” Hebrews 1:10. But now read, “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.” Psalm 33:6, 9. “And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2. Here we learn that God’s words are His works. He works by speaking. As soon as He had finished speaking, the work was all done. Therefore we see that it is impossible for God to speak and not do. This is the reason that “All the promises of God in Him [Christ] are yes, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” 2 Corinthians 1:20. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.9
But we have an explicit statement that the word of the Lord works. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.10
What a solid basis this gives for faith! With what confidence we may make our requests to God? We may rest upon His word, knowing that as it upholds the universe, it is able also to hold us up. When we are in need, and lift up our hearts to God, the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance some of the words of the Lord. When those words are thus brought to our minds, we are to accept them as the answer to our prayers. We are not merely to think of them as promising something that will be done in the future, but as actually doing all that they say. If we ask anything according to His will, we know that He hears us; “and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” 1 John 5:14, 15. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.11
Christ as the Prince of Peace, came preaching peace. Ephesians 2:17. “I will hear what God the Lord will speak; for He will speak peace unto His people.” Psalm 85:8. Therefore when the Lord speaks peace to us, we have His peace. He speaks righteousness; and since His word is life itself, and works, if we take His word, just as He speaks it, without any human modification, we have His righteousness. And the righteousness which comes by the word is active righteousness, because the word of the Lord works actually in all that believe. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.12
This one thing must not be lost sight of, however, and that is that it is only the word of the Lord that is work. Everything else is vanity. Only life can produce life. That which is dead, can produce only death. Therefore we must be sure to take only the word of the Lord, and must not modify it or add to it. Everything else will fail, but the word of the Lord abideth for ever. Therefore we “commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” Acts 20:32. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 164.13
“The Office of Bishop” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
When the Apostle and Paul wrote his epistle to the Philippians he began as follows: “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” Philippians 1:1. Nothing more than this text is needed to show how greatly the modern professed church has departed from the simplicity of the days of the apostles. Such a thing as more than one bishop in one city would be thought almost a crime in these days. Those denominations which use the term at all, so far from having more than one bishop in one city, have only one bishop over a large territory. So strong is the influence of Roman Catholicism, even this long time after the Reformation, that there is scarcely a denomination of Christians that is not an ecclesiastical institution, with more or less elaborate laws devised by men, for its direction. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.1
What is a bishop, in the true Scriptural sense? The only way to answer this question is to examine the texts which mention the office. Read in the first place Titus 1:5-7: “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee; if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God.” Here we note two points. One is that a bishop is the same as an elder, and the other is that there were to be a number of them in every city where there were believers. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.2
The first point is the one specially under consideration. The apostle speaks of the ordination of elders, and then proceeds to define the necessary characteristics of such officers, saying that certain things are necessary, because a bishop must be blameless. This text shows on the face of it that the terms elder and bishop are used interchangeably. An elder is a bishop, and a bishop is an elder. So it was in the days of the apostles, and so it ought to be now. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.3
In 1 Timothy 3:1-7 we find only the word “bishop” used, but the characteristics are the same as those given in Titus. Moreover here as in the epistle to the Philippians, the office of deacon comes immediately after that of bishop, showing that there is no intervening office. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.4
Now read 1 Peter 1:1-4: “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed; feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.5
Note the several points that we find here. 1. The Apostle Peter was himself an elder. He counted himself one among his brethren. 2. The work of the elders is to feed the flock; and therefore an elder is a shepherd; and this fact is shown by the references to Christ as the Chief Shepherd. It may be noted here that a shepherd is a pastor, the word pastor being simply the Latin word for shepherd. Peter, who said that he was an elder, was charged to feed the flock. John 21:15-17. From this last text we learn that the work of the elders is to feed not the sheep only, but the lambs of the flock as well. 3. The work of the elders or shepherds or pastors is to take the oversight of the flock which they are set to feed. We shall refer to this again in the next paragraph. 4. There are to be no lords among the elders, whom we have already learned are bishops. Therefore there can be no such thing as a “Lord Bishop” or an archbishop in the church of Christ. Those offices were made by men, and pertain only to a church founded by men, and not by Christ. Christ, who is “that great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20), “the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25), is the only Lord. For a man to allow himself to be called Lord Bishop is to put himself in the place of Christ. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.6
Now we will turn to the twentieth chapter of Acts. There we learn that when Paul was on his last journey to Jerusalem, “from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.” Verse 17. We read the verses following, which contain the substance of his talk to them, until we come to verse 28, where we read, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.7
Here we learn, as in the epistle of Peter, that the elders are shepherds, charged with the duty of feeding the flock. As Peter exhorts the elders to take the oversight of the flock, so Paul says that the Holy Ghost has made them overseers to the flock. An overseer is one who is over. The word overseer is the literal rendering of the Greek word; from which comes our word “episcopal,” which means “pertaining to a bishop.” Therefore we find again that elders and bishops are the same. What the apostle really said to the elders of Ephesus was, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.8
If the reader will now read again all the texts which have been quoted, comparing each one with all the rest, he will see that the following facts are true concerning bishops:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.9
1. A bishop and an elder are exactly the same. 2. There is to be not merely one bishop over several churches, but there are to be several bishops in one congregation. 3. An elder or a bishop is also a pastor or shepherd. Every pastor of a church is a bishop. Therefore the Bible contemplates no such thing as a single church with a single pastor. It enjoins more than one pastor, who is an elder, and a bishop. 4. Elders or bishops are not to be lords; there is but “one Lord,” the chief Shepherd. The office of Lord Bishop is not of Divine origin. We shall see at another time where it originated. We may note therefore that the pastors of a local church are as much bishops as is possible for any men to be, provided they are true pastors, feeding the flock. The question of supremacy is settled by the following words of Christ:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.10
“But be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” Matthew 23:8. “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 165.11
“Beginning and Finishing” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:3-6. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.1
Among all the encouraging things in the Bible, there is none more encouraging than this. For the confidence expressed by the apostle is confidence inspired by the Holy Spirit; and it applies to us as well as to the saints in Christ which were at Philippi, to whom the epistle was immediately addressed. Let us note some of the precious lessons that may be learned from it. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.2
In the first place we learn that there is no work that is good except that which is done by the Lord. “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.” James 1:17. Not only does everything that is good come from the Lord, but every good thing comes from Him. That is, every good thing that God has He gives to men. “No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11. Some people think that God is especially good to certain people; but the fact is that He is just as good He can be all the time, and is equally good to everybody. “He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 5:45. “The Lord is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Psalm 145:9. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.3
But the apostle here refers especially to good that is done in men, and which appears in their lives; to those things which make people refer to one as “a good man.” Since “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:18), it follows that there is no good deed done except that which is done by the Lord. To this the whole of Scripture gives witness. “Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!” Psalm 31:19. “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:21. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:3. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5:19. If people would always remember this, it would be an effectual bar to pride and self-conceit. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.4
The Spirit of God strives with the wicked, to lead them to choose the ways of God. Genesis 6:3. Christ is working to draw all men to Himself. John 12:32. Some will not heed the voice of the Spirit, but resist it; but there is not even a good desire in the heart of man that is not planted there by the Lord. It is grace that has put enmity between man and Satan. Christ lights every man that cometh into the world. John 1:9. Whoever opens his heart by faith to the first glimmer of that light, and allows it to remain thus open, will be glorified by it as surely as God lives; for the light will shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day. Proverbs 4:18. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.5
“This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” John 6:29. In Christ all things are in created, that are in heaven and in earth, whether things that may be seen, or things unseen. Colossians 1:16, R.V. He is “the beginning of the creation of God.” Revelation 3:14. Creation began in Him, and in Him is complete. The same power by which the worlds were created, is the power which works righteousness in men. For as “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showth His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1), so “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained (prepared), that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10. So as all creation stands perfect in Him, those who believe in Him to the saving of their souls are “complete in Him.” Colossians 2:10. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.6
Jesus Christ is the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.” Revelation 1:8. He is “the author and finisher of faith.” Hebrews 12:2. And as all power in heaven and earth is in His hands, He is able to perfect that which He begins. So everyone who has yielded to the desire for good which the Lord has planted in his heart, may be assured that if he continues to yield as he did at the first, the work will be perfected in him. But he must remember that he himself has no more power to complete the good work that is begun, than he had to begin it. Having begun in the Spirit, which is the only way that a beginning can be made, it is impossible to be made perfect by the flesh. Galatians 3:3. Only the power that begun the work can finish it. Let this be a check on boasting. “Thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded but fear.” Romans 11:20. Yet let it be an encouragement. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Colossians 2:6. The work begins and is completed in the submissiveness of faith. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.7
Lastly, let us learn that the Lord is not one of those who begin a work without first counting the cost. “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.” Acts 15:18. He knew before He undertook the salvation of man just how great a work it was. “He knew what was in man.” John 2:25. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. And He knew just how great the sin was, and how weak the flesh is. Knowing all this He deliberately undertook the work of saving all who should believe in Him. Therefore it is that “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth.” Isaiah 42:4. The Lord is longsuffering. He is infinite in patience. We sometimes become discouraged at our failure; but let the thought that the Lord is not discouraged, inspire courage in our hearts. Let His courage be ours, as it may well be, since the work which is to be done, and which we find so difficult is His work. Therefore even in our failure we may derive courage from the Lord, and say, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” Micah 7:8. “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.8
“Ashamed of Luther” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
Here is an interesting item bearing on one of the most important signs of the times, namely the drifting of so-called Protestantism into Catholicism:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.9
“Although Germany is the leading Protestant power on the Continent, it has been decided that in the new Parliament building being erected in Berlin, in which there will be the busts of scores of princes, generals, scientists, poets, and other men prominent in the history of the Fatherland, there shall be no bust of the greatest of all Germans, the Reformer Martin Luther. It had been regarded as a matter of course by the building commission that Luther should be included among those thus honoured, but the determined protests of the Ultramontanes and the desire to keep the Centre in good humour has influenced the authorities to exclude him. Naturally the Protestants of Germany are more than indignant at the slight put upon the Reformer’s memory.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.10
The trouble is that men have almost completely lost sight of what Protestantism is. The Reformation started with the Bible, and there was never any real reformation that did not come from the word of God. But not even the Reformers themselves had all the light, and were not always consistent in opposing Rome only with the Bible. The majority who followed in the train of the Reformers saw only the political bearing of the movement, and consequently opposed with the sword. This is the aspect of a great deal of the “Protestantism” of to-day, and since political religion is the very soul and life of Catholicism, it naturally thrives under such “protesting.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 166.11
“Gospel Temperance” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
In these days when the enactment of law is the almost universal panacea for all evils, it is refreshing to hear an occasional note in favour of the Gospel, which alone is the power of God unto salvation. Such a note we find in the following paragraphs from the Christian Commonwealth:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.1
A most remarkable temperance crusade is in progress in the State of Connecticut. The crusade is conducted by the younger Mr. Murphy, and its success has been greater than anything of the kind in the history of the temperance movement. Mr. Murphy confines himself entirely to what has been called “Gospel Temperance” or “moral suasion,” and by showing charity towards all he has practically carried whole communities in favour of total abstinence. After the continued mockery as regards our temperance legislation, may it not be that our road to victory is that followed by Mr. Murphy? PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.2
At any rate, there is at present little hope that our help will come from legislation. And in view of this fact would it not be well for temperance agitators to put on the armour as of old, and make their appeal direct to the people to become total abstainers without the intervention of the law? We can soon get rid of the public-houses if the people will give up the drink habit. While we believe in the prohibition of the drink traffic, at the same time we believe still more in the prohibition of the drink habit. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.3
“Religion in the Schools” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
The question of religious teaching in the public schools is the subject of a great deal of controversy at present. Not but that religion is already taught, but there is a party that want it taught a good deal more decidedly than it is at present. They want the “mysteries” taught to the children. Now there is nothing in the Gospel that children may not comprehend as readily as adults, and there is nothing that may legitimately be taught to anybody, in the line of religion, that should not be taught to children; but the question is as to where it should be taught, and who should teach it. “God hath set some in the church, first, apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers.” 1 Corinthians 12:28. The teaching of religion, therefore, is the work of the church, and not of the State. Moreover, it is wholly contrary to the teaching of the Bible, that religious teaching should be forced upon people against their will, or that any should be taxed to support any religious teaching whatever. “For His name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.” 3 John 7. That was the way the early disciples went forth. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.4
“The Gospel Is a Gift” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
The Gospel is a gift. To tax people for a gift is an absurdity. To come with a message of love and peace to people, which brings the news of free salvation, and then compel them to receive it, and tax them for it, is to deprive that message of all its love and peace and freedom. But some will say that the Gospel must be supported. True, but not by forced contributions. “God loveth a cheerful giver;” and that means that He takes no pleasure in compulsory giving. “Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart, shall ye take My offering,” said the Lord to Moses. The moment that the raising of funds for the support of the Gospel teaching is regarded in the light of payment for instruction received, that moment the Spirit of the Gospel is gone. The Gospel can be propagated only by free gifts. Christ gave Himself, not in payment of a debt, but for those who had no claim upon Him. Those who receive the Gospel in the spirit in which is given, will also give freely, not as payment for what they have received, or may receive, but for the benefit of others. Giving on any other terms may support an ecclesiastical establishment, but it can never help the Gospel. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.5
“The Bible” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
The Bible is not like any other book. It is Divine; all other books are human. Books which are only the product of the mind of man, may be thoroughly mastered by the mind of another man. But the Bible is the production of the Spirit of God, and therefore can be understood only by the aid of the Spirit of God. When therefore the Bible is studied, whether in the home, the school, or the church, merely as an ordinary text book, its object is perverted. Men say that it is as necessary to study the history recorded in the Bible as that recorded in any other book. Yes, it is a great deal more necessary, for the Bible history is the only key to all other; but it is only when we study it as inspired history that we get any benefit from it. It is utterly impossible to get a correct idea of the Bible narratives, if we do not study them in the light of God’s great plan. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.6
More than this it is a sin to regard the Bible as an ordinary book, and to study it as one would Cæsar’s “commentaries” or Green’s “History of the English People.” One of the great sins of the Jewish priest was that they “put no difference between the holy and profane.” Ezekiel 22:26. Anyone who regarded the Bible as he would a book of profane history, does incalculable injury to his own soul. He not only misses the point of the historical narrative but he makes it more and more difficult for him to be impressed by sacred things. Let the Bible be studied as the word of God, and it will impart wisdom that will be the wonder of the world. See Deuteronomy 4:5, 6. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.7
“Church Establishment” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
It would seem that the men who are so zealous for a church establishment must be wholly destitute of a sense of humour. The reason doubtless is that the union of professed Christianity with the State is so incongruous a thing that those who adopt that principle become lost to a sense of consistency. Otherwise they could scarcely sing with a sober face, PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.8
“The Church’s own foundation,
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,“
PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.9
to open a meeting called for the purpose of protesting against any interference with the union between Church and State; nor, while strenuously pleading for continued support from the throne of England, that if that support be withdrawn, the Church’s influence and power will be destroyed, could they sing, PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.10
“O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:
PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.11
Beneath the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone.
And our defence is sure.”
PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.12
Those were the hymns sung at the great meeting in the Royal Albert Hall, in “Defence of the National Church.” There is a lack of harmony here. The Church of England may well depend upon the throne of England, but the Church of God depends only on the throne of God. For it to recognise any other power would be to discredit the power of God. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.13
“Treaty” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
There is quite a general protest in the United States against the clause in the treaty with Russia, which binds the American Government to extradite refugees accused of attempts on the life of the Czar, since the expression of an opinion adverse to the Government is in Russia construed as an attack on the Czar. But those who protest do not seem to realise that such an action on the part of the United States Government is exactly in line with the principles which many of them are advocating. Where the free exercise of religion is prohibited by law, there can be no freedom of any kind; and the United States is getting an unenviable notoriety in the line of interfering with religion. When, as in Tennessee, grand juries interrogate children and women as to what is said in religious meetings, in order that they may bring an indictment against God-fearing men, it is no wonder that sympathy should be manifested with Russia and oppression. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 167.14
“Afghan Estimate of Human Life” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
In the New York Independent Thomas P. Hughes, D.D., for many years a Church of England missionary to India, relates some incidents of his life on the Afghan frontier, among which we find the following, which shows how lightly human life is regarded. It is a good illustration of the text, “The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty“:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.1
In 1870 the whole of India was aroused by the assassination of Lord Mayo, the Viceroy of India, at the Andaman penal settlement. The assassin was an Afghan named Shore Ali; a native of the Peshawar Valley. I remember him well as orderly to the Commissioner of Peshawar. Share Ali, like every living Afghan, had a family fend, and he had murdered two of his enemies outside the limits of that “red line” which marks the British Empire on the map, and had even boasted of the deed to his muter, the Commissioner of Peshawar. For this, of course, he received no punishment; but he killed his third enemy within the boundary of British Territory, and for this the Commissioner sent him to penal servitude for life. Shen Ali considered himself deeply wronged, and in revenge took the life of Earl Mayo, an Irish nobleman who, had he lived, would have undoubtedly proved himself to be one of the greatest among the many great rulers of British India. I may here remark that Mohammedans, Afghans or otherwise, regard murder as purely a family matter, and not as an offence against the State; in fact, such is the case amoung the Hindus, also. In Cerebrum, for instance, if a man kills a cow he is sentenced to death, but the life of a human being can be atoned for by a few years’ imprisonment! It is impossible to get Oriental races to view the crime of murder from a Christian standpoint. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.2
I have often repeated it story (which, although true to the very latter, has always excited an incredulous smile among my American and English friends), which illustrates the very slight value which an Afghan places upon human life. On one occasion among my guest was an Afghan chieftain from Kunar with a large retinue of servants. As my custom was, I invited the chief and his party to an evening entertainment in my library. I showed him a magic lantern, I explained to him the movement of the magnet, I sent shocks of galvanism through his stalwart frame, I illustrated and explained the method of the telegraph. The chieftain and his servant, were all deeply interested. When the entertainment was over, the chief dismissed his servants and sought a private interview with me in my study. Drawing his chair near to Mine, in a confidential mood, he said: “Sir, it is very evident that you are a man of science, an alchemist, and medicine man of high attainments. May I inquire if you have a poison which, if administered, will take effect about a week or ten days afterward?” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.3
I replied: “I have no such poison; but may I ask for what purpose you want it?” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.4
Drawing his chair still closer to Mine, he, in a low whisper, said; “I want to take the life of my enemy.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.5
I sprang from my chair with indignation, and exclaimed: “It is very evident that you do not understand the work and office of a Christian minister. I am not here to take life, but to save it.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.6
“Don’t get angry Padre Sahib,” he said, placing his hand gently upon my shoulder. “If you will only sit down quietly and listen patiently to my story, I will tell you the circumstances under which I want that poison; and then, after all, you will see that I am not the villain you take me for.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.7
“I am open to conviction,” I said; “proceed with your story.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.8
He then related as follows: “Some time ago a mortal feud existed between myself and the chief of a rival tribe. For many years this man sought my life; but he never found me alone nor could he seize me unguarded and unarmed. But one summer’s night, when we were all sleeping on our beds in the open court facing my house, this man crept stealthily to my cot, and, raising his dagger, plunged it violently through the cot under which he thought I was sleeping. It so happened that I was not sleeping in my cot that night, but my beloved child, a little maid of ten years, was. The villain’s knife had pierced the heart of my favourite child! I sought revenge. I pursued the man over hill and dale, by night and by day; but I could not catch him. But one evening, when I was in my chamber alone, he came to me unarmed, and, casting his turban at my feet, begged that I would spare his life. The sight of my enemy, who was in our country esteemed a warrior of renown, pleading at my feet, touched my heart, and I forgave him. “But, “he continued, heaving a deep, heavy sigh, “an Afghan never forgives. And when I saw you do those wonderful things, and felt those shocks of lightning pass through the nerves and sinews of my body, I thought to myself this man is a man of science, and if he could give me a poison which I could put in the food of my enemy, when I entertain him as my guest, and which would take effect a week or ten days afterward, so that I never could be suspected, then I could take the life of the murderer of my beloved child and yet keep my word and pass as a man of honour among my own people.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.9
This story is perfectly true, and it illustrates that strange contradiction of character, that admixture of base treachery and impulsive sense of honour with low meanness and great personal bravery which, all combined, form that strange complexity of the Afghan character which is utterly beyond the comprehension of an Occidental mind. It perplexes the English ruler is well as the Christian missionary: PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.10
“Indian Dress and Ornaments” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
If you were to visit India you would be much interested in the different styles of dress, for the people there do not dress at all as you do. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.1
For four or five years, sometimes longer, “the children run about with no clothes on at all, except that the boys wear a charm tied round their waists with a string, to frighten away the evil spirits; and the girls, besides the charm, wear as many jewels as they can get-necklaces, bracelets, and bangles on the ankles.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.2
But after they grow older many of them seem to pay more attention to their clothing and ornaments than they do to their houses and gardens, for it is said that out of houses and courts that hardly look fit for a dog-kennel, come ladies in very grand clothing! PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.3
They wear so many bright colours that it makes their clothing appear very gorgeous. A lady thus describes a group of little Hindu girls who were off on a holiday with their lady missionary:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.4
“One child wore a pale primrose-coloured chuddah (the shawl they wear over their heads), another was dressed just like a daffodil. There were several little brides; one dressed in a red silk skirt trimmed at the bottom with a deep border of real silver, and a pale pink chuddah trimmed with the same costly trimming. Most of them carried little round looking-glasses fastened to their thumbs.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.5
Another lady speaking of the little girls that attend her school, says, “They look so pretty in their native dresses, some of which are very bright coloured. All wear small nose rings.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.6
Still another lady missionary who visits the homes of the Indian women to teach them, says:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.7
“In a house where I was to-day our pupil [a Hindu lady] wore a bright red skirt, and a bright yellow veil over her head; she wore it so that it quite covered her face. This is because she is a bride, and in her father-in-law’s house. She had a black loose jacket trimmed with green silk and gold braid-was she not smart? She had a great many earrings in her ears, and a nose ring in her nose, and her arms were covered with bracelets, and her feet with anklets.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.8
“In another house where we went the women were Mohammedans, and dressed rather differently. They were long, loose drawers, dyed some pretty colour, pink or yellow or green. Their veils are the same as those of the Hindu women. In this house, which was the doctor’s, the women wore very nice clothes made of fine material, but they had not on much jewellery.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.9
Sometimes you will see girls in “soft silk draperies of the most delicate tints imaginable, and boys in oriental dress with rich velvet caps embroidered in costly designs.” Some dress in all sorts of beautiful embroideries, laces, and thin white cloth sown with pearls or glistening with beetles’ wings. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.10
Even the men like to wear fine clothing, for grand ones are sometimes seen in the processions with white satin coats, and bright scarlet umbrellas held over them. “Finger rings, earrings and toe rings are also worn by the men.” All Brahmins, as well as the other “twice-born castes,” wear a sacred thread, made of twists of cotton, which hangs from the left shoulder across to the right side. Religious Brahmins wear round the neck a rosary of hard nuts of certain trees, which they count when saying their prayers. Those who worship Siva wear a rosary of another kind of nuts, and those who worship Vishnu, a rosary of still another kind of nuts. And the Hindus all wear some kind of mark on their foreheads, that shows what their religion is, and what god they worship. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.11
The Hindu men generally wear two snow-white cloths, each from two to ten yards in length. There are no pins, buttons, or strings, but they are fastened by simply folding one part within the other. Many, however, among the educated classes now wear made-up tunics, while others wear loose and tight trousers, like the Mohammedans, the latter fastening them on the left side, and the former on the right. The turban or head-dress is a long, narrow piece of cloth worn around the head, sometimes of one colour, and sometimes of another colour. Many wear no head covering at all. “Stockings are scarcely ever seen, and many go without shoes. Sandals or native slippers, peaked and turned up at the toes, and turned down at the heels, are usually worn outside, but never inside the house.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 172.12
The high-caste woman wears a tight-fitting bodice and a long garment from six to twenty yards in length, which she winds round and round her body. It may be a wholly white garment of widowhood, or rich coloured silk, or coloured cotton with the end handsomely figured. The low-caste woman had not the bodice, only the cloth. The women wear no head-dress, but a single fold of cloth drawn up over the head. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.1
All women are very fond of jewellery, which they wear on their arms, wrists, necks, and fingers, in their ears and noses, round their ankles, on their toes, and in their hair. Some spend nearly all of their money on jewellery. Instead of a wedding ring the married women wear a twisted thread around their necks, on which is one or more small gold jewels. This, as well as all other jewels, are stripped off of the widows as soon as their husbands are dead. The poor coolie women who labour so hard in carrying baskets of clay, etc., on their heads, do not dress so well. Their clothes are dirty, and some have hardly any clothes at all. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.2
As in this country, the rich are richly dressed, and the poor are poorly dressed. There are many different costumes among the labouring classes, each class of workmen being dressed according to their work. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.3
Would you like to dress as beautifully as some of these high-class ladies of India? If so, read the next article and you will find how you can have clothing that is far more beautiful than theirs. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.4
“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
’Mid hosts of sin, in these arrayed,
My soul shall never be afraid.”
PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.5
“Dress and Ornaments for You” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
No matter how poor you may be, you may dress better than any of the fine gentlemen or ladies of India, if you wish. You may have clothing and ornaments that are far more beautiful and more costly, that will never fade and never wear out, and that never can be destroyed! PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.6
The wonder of it is, you may have them for nothing! A Friend has sent a letter saying that He will give them to you, if you wish! PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.7
This Friend saw you, although you may not have known it, and He saw something about you that perhaps you have never noticed. He saw that you were not dressed nearly so well as you thought you were. He knew of clothing so much better than yours that the very best that you ever put on looked like filthy rags to Him. He knew that when He should come, for He is coming soon, you would know how worthless your clothing is, and would feel ashamed to see His face. He knew that your present clothing could never protect you from the burning heat of the fires of the last day, when all the wicked will be burned up. He was not willing for you to be destroyed, for He loved you. He left His beautiful home, became poor, came to this earth, and in weariness and painfulness wrought out for you a beautiful pure white robe, and an ornament such as this world cannot give. It cost Him His precious life, but He willingly gave that up for the love wherewith He loved you, and for the joy that He knew He would feel to see you clothed and safe in the trying time that is coming. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.8
The name of this dear Friend is “Jesus”; the name of the costly robe that He worked out for you is “The righteousness of God”; the name of the priceless ornament is “A meek and quiet spirit.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.9
You see the robe is not made of cotton or silk, but of good works,-of kind thoughts, gentle words, and loving acts. It therefore cannot be worn on the outside, but on the inside. You cannot put it on yourself. Jesus alone can take away your naughty feelings and naughty actions, and fill you with this love and kindness and good works. He does this by coming into your heart Himself, by His Spirit. He wants you to give yourself all up to Him, and let Him use your tongue to say kind words, your hands to help others, your feet to run on errands of mercy, your whole mind and body to do as He did when He was on earth. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.10
Oh, will you let Him clothe you with this beautiful dress? Will you let Jesus in, and let Him take away the filthy rags of your own goodness, and clothe you with the glorious garments of His spotless purity? Will you let Him take away your selfish, unkind spirit and fasten in your heart the ornament of His own meek and quiet Spirit? PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.11
It grieves His heart when He sees you seeking to adorn yourself in the flimsy finery and worthless ornaments of this earth, for it shows that you do not care for the better clothing that He has suffered so much to provide for you. It shows that you have forgotten how His head wore the shameful crown of thorns that yours might wear a crown of gold; how He wore a plain, seamless coat that you might wear the beautiful robe of His righteousness, and how He meekly and quietly suffered that you might have the ornament of His meek and quiet Spirit. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.12
Although feathers and flowers and costly trimmings and jewellery may for a time cause man to look upon you with more favour, it does not have that effect upon God. He looketh not on the outward appearance, but upon the heart. He knows that all such things will soon pass away, and that only inward beauty and ornaments will be accepted in the great day of judgment. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.13
Jesus therefore says of your adorning, “Let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which will not perish, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” 1 Peter 3:2, 4. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.14
Again He says in 1 Timothy 2:9, 10, that women should adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but with good works.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.15
In Proverbs He says, “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother; for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.16
Here are beauty and clothing and ornaments that you need not be ashamed to wear among your friends on earth, or among the great company of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues that shall stand before the throne of the great God, clothed with white robes and with palms in their hands. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 173.17
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
-Severe storms with floods, are reported from the United States, especially from Ohio and Pennsylvania PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.1
-The petitions already presented to the House of Commons against the Home Rule Bill contain over a million signatures. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.2
-Fifty-three per cent. of the lunatics in the asylums of “Bengal are there solely as the result of using hashish, a preparation of Indian hemp. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.3
-The National Committee of the World’s Fair has decided by thirty votes against twenty-seven in favour of the opening of the Exhibition on Sundays. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.4
-The Correctional Tribunal at Mulhousen (Alsace) has sentenced a young Alsatian woman to three weeks’ imprisonment, and a fine of 16s., for shouting “Viva la France.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.5
-The Legislative Council of New South Wales has adopted a resolution in favour of Australasian Federation, and generally approving the Commonwealth Bill drafted by the Sydney Convention. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.6
-It is said that there are five printing presses in Iceland, and that ten newspapers and eight magazines are published. If this is so, the Icelanders must be as a class about the most literary people in the world. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.7
-Reuter’s telegram from Budapest, May 17, says: In the Lower House of the Hungarian Diet to-day the Government, amid great applause, introduced the Bill assuring freedom to all religions denominations in Hungary. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.8
-In Iceland the past winter has been the finest on record, the lowest temperature registered being 12deg., which is not as low as we had in some parts of England. In the three months to the end of February there were no frosts at all. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.9
-At a meeting of the Religious Tract Society, Miss Ashburner, who is about to return to mission work in Mongolia, referring to the great power of the mother-in-law over the Chinese women, declared that she knew even a Christian preacher who had had to beat his wife in order to please his mother. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.10
-In connection with the Russian student who was lately found murdered, it is reported that the society to which he belonged contemplated the assassination of the Czar and the Czarewitch, as well as of several of the prominent members of the Government. He was murdered because he would not carry out his part of the affair. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.11
-Mr. Alfred W. Stokes, public analyst of Paddington, recently called upon to make an analysis of a patent medicine, was unable to discover any remedial agent whatever. After recounting what he did not find in the supposed compound, the analyst declares that there was at any rate one substance-water. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.12
-An Act of Parliament passed during the last Session at Toronto provides that a curfew bell is to be rung in all cities, towns, and villages throughout the province at nine o’clock at night, and that all persons under 17 years of age found after that hour in the streets without the permission of their parents or guardians are to be punished by fine and imprisonment. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.13
-A speaker at one of the Church Missionary Society meetings said that the Turkish authorities at Constantinople refused to allow the circulation of the Epistle to the Galatians, supposing that it was a letter addressed to the people of Galatia, the suburb of Constantinople. When corrected on this point, to make sure they demanded the certificate of St. Paul’s death! PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.14
-The United States Government enacted a law that all Chinese, in the country, who should not register their names by the fifth of May, should be sent back to China. The Act was an open violation of the treaty with China, but was passed, like other Chinese exclusion Acts, for political purposes. Very few of the Chinese registered, but those who did not will not be exported, since to do it would cost over five million dollars, and there are only thirty-five thousand available for the purpose. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.15
-President Cleveland has signed the extradition treaty between Russia and the United States. The treaty has not yet been published, but it is known that conspiracy against the life of the Czar is to be an extraditable offence. In Russia this includes everything from throwing a bomb at the Czar, to criticizing the methods of the Government, so that the American Government will be simply as one paper puts it, “the watchdog of Russian Absolutism, as forty years ago it was a slave catcher for Southern planters.” There is much dissatisfaction over the treaty, and most enthusiastic meetings, addressed by prominent citizens, protested against its ratification. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.16
-The Echo says that the blow aimed at the Church of England by the Welsh Suspensory Bill, comes at a most opportune time for the Church as an establishment. “It comes when the Imperial sentiment is aroused to full activity, and when other powerful interests feel themselves threatened. An attack simultaneously made on different interests has simultaneously called into existence common combination for common defence. When the House of Lords is attacked, as it is pretty sure to be when it rejects the doomed Home Rule Bill, it will have behind it, not only the lauded aristocracy, but the capitalist class; not only the Church, but the great drink interest; not only, as a rule, the commercial class, but the Imperialistic sentiment.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.17
-Dr. Pentecost spoke at the annual meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society, and took occasion to speak of the educational system adopted by most of the denominations in India, namely, the system of educating heathen men in secular education for secular purposes. This system, he said, reversed the Divine order, which was not Go ye educate and then preach, but, “Go, preach,” It was subsidised by a Government, which, to say the least, was not intensely favourable to the missionary enterprise. It employed two heathen teachers for every one Christian teacher. It gave a minimum of the Gospel which saves, to a maximum of knowledge which puffs up. Its tendency was almost invariably to lose the missionary in the educationalist; and its results were seen in the conversion of less than one in every thousand students. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 170.18
“Back Page” The Present Truth 9, 11.
E. J. Waggoner
A landslip occurred at Vaerdalen, near Trondhjem, Norway, on the 18th, resulting in the loss of one hundred and twenty lives, and destruction of property to the amount of 1,000,000 kroner,-over £55,000. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.1
The United States Supreme Court has decided that, the infamous Geary Chinese Exclusion and Registration Act is constitutional. The Supreme Court is doing its best of late to bring the United States Constitution into contempt. The decision was not unanimous, however; one judge was absent, and of the eight remaining, three, including the Chief Justice, dissented from the opinion of the majority. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.2
The Russian police have now turned their attention to the Pashkovites, an energetic body of Protestants, whose adherents are generally found among the upper classes of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Priests of the Russian Church are in the habit of attending Pashkovite meetings in St. Petersburg, and engaging in theological controversy with those present, with a view of catching expressions hostile to the church. Proselyting by means of the police is peculiar to a State Church. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.3
The New York Central Railway Company is breaking its own record for speed. Its new engine two weeks ago took the Empire Express train from Syracuse to Buffalo, and for a portion of the distance made the unprecedented time of a mile in thirty-two seconds, which is a rate of one hundred and twelve and one-half miles an hour. With the Compania, the Gigantic, and other and swifter steamers that may follow, unity of action for the whole world will be more possible than for a single nation a few years ago. “This they begin to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.4
When the World’s Fair at Chicago was opened it was announced that the grounds would be closed on Sundays. A large crowd went to the gates the first Sunday, having understood that they were to be open, and were furious at being denied admission. Later it was announced that the grounds would be opened on Sundays, but that the buildings would be kept closed. Now the news comes that the buildings are to be open, but that no machinery will be running. How this compromise will suit all parties remains to be seen. It will doubtless be a disappointment to many mechanics, and it is sure not to please those people who want all to be made to act as though they kept Sunday, even though they care nothing for it. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.5
“A significant article on disarmament is published by the Oservatore Romano. It urges that as a preliminary to international disarmament international peace must be established by the suppression of sacred societies, race hatred, and national jealousies.”-Catholic Times. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.6
That’s very good. And now will some wise person tell how to suppress secret societies, race hatred, and national jealousies? It is a truth that all talk about disarmament and universal arbitration is folly, as long as race hatred and national jealousies exist; and these are the natural products of human nature. “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” James 4:1. So long as men are what they are, wars will continue. The only thing to do, therefore, is to preach the Gospel of Jesus, which will produce peace in all that believe. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.7
Arrests for Sunday labour are now getting very common in certain portions of the United States. One striking feature is that, with a few insignificant exceptions, the persons arrested are all conscientious and faithful observers of the seventh day of the week. Others who make a profession of keeping Sunday, or who do not profess to keep any day, work on Sunday at the same time, and are unmolested. Recently in Maryland a man was arrested and sent to gaol for thirty days for working in his field on Sunday. The work was of a quiet nature, and there was no disturbance. A minister on his way to church saw the man at work, and informed against him. The writ was served on Sunday, which made it illegal, nevertheless it was allowed to stand. A Sunday law being itself a piece of injustice it is quite fitting that justice should be ignored in every part of its application. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.8
In Lloyd’s Newspaper of April 23 there was an account of an inquest regarding the death of a man who was alleged to have died from poisoning by pork from Ostend:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.9
“Dr. Stephenson, analyst to the House Office, gave it as his opinion that the pork contained a chemical poison, the greater part of which disappeared by absorption during life. Death was caused by chemical poisons produced by the excreta of bacteria. The coroner having remarked on the fact that this pork, which would produce death, seemed wholesome and fit for food, not only to an outsider, but even to a butcher, the jury returned a verdict of ‘Accidental death.’” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.10
At its best state the hog is an unclean animal, utterly unfit for food. A direct command of the Lord forbids its use, and all who violate the commandment must expect to suffer the consequences. It is only occasionally that death is traced directly to pork eating, as in this instance, but for that very reason the danger is augmented. Nobody can habitually partake of the flesh of swine, in any form, without being injured not alone physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.11
The Archdeacon of London says:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.12
“It is one of the peculiarities of our ancient and complex ecclesiastical system that the idiosyncracies of a Prime Minister can alter the personal complexion of a whole diocese, and, if he is long enough in office, of almost the whole Church, by the appointments to bishoprics.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.13
The Rev. A. R. Buckland, writing in the same journal,-the Review of the Churches,-also says in regard to Church patronage:- PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.14
“There is no age qualification; an infant can present, the guardian guiding his head. There is not even a moral qualification; the patron may go straight from the Divorce Court or from gaol to present a clergyman to a cure of souls. An Atheist, a Mohammedan, a Theosophist may present equally with a Wesleyan or a Baptist. Some day the Church may find, with amazement, that a Unitarian is, as Prime Minister, choosing its bishops.” PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.15
Why not? A State church is a church dependent on the fluctuations of politics. The only way to avoid such fluctuations is to have the State a despotism, in the hands of one man, or to provide that none but those who profess, and will swear to maintain, a certain creed shall hold office. There is at present too much individual freedom in England for the consistent working of an Established Church. Union of Church and State, and individual liberty, cannot exist together. Just to the degree that the union is complete is there despotism and tyranny. PTUK June 1, 1893, page 176.16