The Present Truth, vol. 9
August 24, 1893
“Front Page: Tired of Life” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
“Tired of life.” Such is one of the prominent headings in a recent morning paper, under which the “suicidal maniac” is discussed. It is a sad comment on modern life, that so many people seem so anxious to get rid of it. It is an unhealthy and unnatural state, for love of life is the natural condition of all who have life. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.1
How differently the Bible speaks of life. Read the promise of God to the one who sets his love upon Him: “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:16. Your life is represented as something most desirable, and the greatest promise God can make men is that He will bestow life without end. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.2
Read some of the statements of the inducement which God holds out to men: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10. “I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” Revelation 21:6. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.3
Life is the one thing to be desired. How is it then that so many grow tired of it? The Bible furnishes the answer. “To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6. The sinner is represented as carrying about with him a hateful “body of death.” Romans 7:24. “He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:12. Those who commit suicide because, as they say, they are “tired of life,” do not really know what life is. They are tired of death, and wish to end consciousness of it. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.4
With God is the fountain of life. He is life. Only he who loves God loves life. But in His presence there is fulness of joy. Therefore he who loves the Lord finds life a joy, and not a burden. The “joy of the Lord” is his strength. No Christian ever becomes weary of life. Even though he may suffer tribulation and persecution, that only brings Christ the closer, and in the midst of affliction he rejoices for the very joy of living. “O taste and see that the Lord is good,” and you will find, not a burden, but a “blessing, even life for evermore.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.5
“Recreation” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
This is the time of the year when everybody who can do so, leaves the city for the country, the mountains, or the seaside, for the purpose of finding recreation. And yet there are far more people who are obliged to keep up their daily round of toil, than there are who are able to take a holiday vacation. It is not the very poor only, who cannot leave their tasks; there are many whose labour demands their constant attention, and who are for this reason obliged to forego the pleasure that they would gladly take. It is for this larger class especially, that we write this. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.6
Recreation is not always obtained by those who go away for their holidays; for be it known that not all pleasure-seeking is recreation. Recreation means re-creation, reviving, refreshing. It means the receiving of new life. But very many who go away thinking to get recreation, come back jaded and weary, hoping to find rest at home, in their usual employment. We wish therefore to let the weary ones at home into a secret, which may also be profitable to those who go away. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.7
All life comes from God, for with Him is “the fountain of life.” Psalm 36:9. He is the Creator. Therefore He is the only one who can re-create. Whatever blessing of health and life any person enjoys, comes directly from God. “Do not err, my beloved brethren. 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 1:16, 17. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.8
Let us see, now, how the Lord can give to those who are obliged to stay at home and work, all the advantages that they could hope to gain by a trip abroad. How many there are who would choose the fields, and the cool waters. Well, those who know the Lord can say, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.” Psalm 23:1-3. He who knows this may have more real recreation, both for soul and body, than he who is lying in the cool meadows, but is ignorant of it. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.9
If we long for the mountains, or the ocean, we read, “Thy righteousness is like the great mountain; Thy judgments are a great deep; O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast.” Psalm 36:6. And in His righteousness He will be to us “as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Do not the very words bring a sense of refreshment? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.10
On these sultry days memories of mountains streams of clear, sparkling, life-giving water haunt us and tantalise us until the heat seems almost unendurable. Now let us find something that is more substantial than a memory, and which satisfies. “How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures. For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light shall we see light.” Psalm 36:7-9. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 321.11
Of course it is refreshing. Recreation, new life, is what we want, and with God is the fountain of life. We may drink it in as we would drink from the mountain spring, and find far more real refreshment. He who is with God, therefore, finds the truest recreation. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.1
This is evident, further, from the fact that the memory of former draughts from the pure spring, just as it gushes cool and sparkling from the earth, serves rather to increase our present discomfort than to allay our heat and thirst. It did not last. Even before we were home from our excursion we were vainly longing for more. Now listen to Jesus as He talks with the woman at the well of Samaria. It was a deep well, and the water was cool and good, but He said, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13, 14. We can carry it with us continually. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.2
That water is “living water,” and that is what we want. But how may we get it? Why, if you are taking it in now, if you receive these texts as the living words of the living God, spoken directly to you. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63. All this refreshment is to be found in the words that tell of it. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.3
Some one will say that this is imaginary. Not a bit of it. It is real. In the chapter just quoted from we have an example of the ability of Christ to give real recreation-the renewal of wasted energy. The day before several thousand people were in the hot and sultry desert, with nothing to eat, and Jesus fed them with bread, so that they were filled and refreshed. This He did, in order that they and we might know the real life that is in His Word. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.4
Take another instance. A nobleman’s beloved son was lying at the point of death. His frame was wasted away, and his life was being burned up with fever. What was needed? Something to stop the fever,-something cooling. The man went to Jesus and asked Him to come and heal his son. Jesus said, “Go thy way; thy son liveth.” “And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth.” John 4:46-53. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.5
Whoever believes that miracle, must know that the word of the Lord has cooling, refreshing, and healing properties. Nothing is so good in fever as cool water, both within and without. Many physicians have testified as to the value of water in fevers, and how the skillful application of it has reduced the temperature and saved the patient’s life. But all this was accomplished by the word of Jesus, which is living water. Therefore we know that in His word we may find on the hottest day refreshment for the body. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.6
At another time Simon’s wife’s mother, “was taken with a great fever; and they besought Him for her. And He stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her; and immediately she arose, and ministered unto them.” Luke 4:38, 39. Many other instances might be mentioned, but these are sufficient to show the life-giving power of the word of the Lord. Now what the Lord wants us to do is to take His words for all that they are worth, and use them in our every-day life. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.7
That which we call nature is simply the ordinary working of God. The sunshine, the air, the dew and the rain, the great mountains, the broad ocean, the crystal springs, and the laughing mountain stream, all come from Him. They exist because of His word. When He spake, they immediately appeared, because they are all in His word. Therefore we may find all the benefit of them in His word. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.8
Try it, and you will find that it is true. The words of the Lord are restful. They give peace. Without them, a person may fret himself into a fever on the coolest day, or in the deepest recesses of the mountains. With them in the heart, he may find the fever of his blood allayed even in the crowded city, on the hottest day. When you have learned that the words of the Lord are righteousness and life, and that we may drink them in as water, you can say with the psalmist:- PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.9
“My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches. Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.” Psalm 63:5-7. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.10
“True Faith” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22. These are words that apply as well to us as to the disciples, to whom they were first spoken. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4. Yet though faith is so important to the Christian life, few people really have it. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.11
There is a great deal that passes for faith among religious people, that is not faith at all. True faith is simple belief of God’s word. True faith does not mystify the word; it does not explain away the miraculous; it does not “account for” this or that statement of Scripture. It feels no need of accounting for anything that the Bible says. It does not bring human suppositions and explanations into the matter at all. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.12
This is why most men will not exercise true faith. It is too simple a thing for them. They want to make some display of their own wisdom; they want to understand Scripture in some way that will reflect credit on themselves,-on their ability to reason, discover, and conjecture. And so we see the word of God twisted and perverted and “explained” until its meaning is all but lost, and opposers of the truth scoffingly assert that “anything can be proved from the Bible.” This all comes from a lack of faith. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.13
Faith never questions; it believes implicitly. It is satisfied with the simple fact that God has said so, and if the statement that He makes is unexplainable to human reason, it makes no difference. Faith simply asks, What has God said? and when it finds what God has said, it says, That is so! God has said it, and that settles it. Here is the simplicity of true faith. It does not have to bother with human theories and explanations, but simply accepts a thing just because God has declared it. To believe implicitly and unquestioningly whatever God says is very much easier than to try to believe in it with some human wisdom worked in. It is so easy that anyone, high or low, learned or simple, who will still believe, can do it. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 322.14
“Denying Self” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
What is it to deny self? Most people, if not all, have in their minds a certain conception of the meaning of self-denial; but popular conceptions of things are not always true ones, especially in regard to Christian virtues. Self was never known to give the correct definition of self-denial. This can only be obtained from the Word of God. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 323.1
The second chapter of Philippians tells us very clearly in what true self-denial consists, “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; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-8. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 323.2
This was the example set by Christ in self-denial. He left all the riches and glory and honour that were His at the right hand of His Father, and came to this earth to live a life of toil and poverty and hardship and sorrow, in order that He might give to fallen man the riches and glory and honour that He had left in heaven. He “pleased not Himself,” and of His own self He did nothing for He said, “My Father, that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” See John 5:19, and 14:10. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 323.3
Self-denial means, to the Christian, to do as Christ did. As Christ did nothing of His own self, so the Christian must do nothing of his own self. He must keep self repressed at every point, so that it will not be seen in anything. He must put it away altogether. But how often it is that self finds occasion to glory in some particular act that it can hold up to public view! This is the definition that self gives of self-denial. It is some particular act of self-denial on the part of an individual, held up and paraded as a virtue. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 323.4
True self-denial is the total suppression of self, not at one point merely, but at all points; not for some particular occasion, but always, to the end of life. It is a process which self cannot survive. The Christian is never conscious of being a hero; he never counts his self-denial a virtue. In his life he sees all the imperfections and failures; for he has a view of the life and virtues of Him who was equal with God, but left all and came to earth and suffered and died for His enemies. He has no desire to serve himself in any way, but only to have Christ dwelling in him, working and doing whatever is in accordance with His Divine will. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 323.5
“The Necessity of a New Heart” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
When the Lord would cleanse His people,-those who professed to be serving Him,-from all their idols and their filthiness (Ezekiel 36:25), He said to them, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel 36:26-28. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 324.1
This is the only way that any person can be brought into a condition where he can walk in the statutes of God, and keep His judgments. He must experience a change of heart. The same thing is declared in the thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 324.2
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; .. but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Verses 31-33. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 324.3
The Israelites had the law of God written upon tables of stone and preserved in the sacred ark. They had heard the law spoken from the summit of Mt. Sinai by the voice of God, and had heard it repeated by Moses; but they did not have it written upon their hearts, and the result was they did not keep it. The record of their lives is a record of transgression, of worshipping idols, and other iniquitous practices by which they violated the Divine statutes and judgments. They intended to keep them, and professed to be keeping them; perhaps even persuaded themselves that they were keeping them; but they were not. The conditions under which they tried to serve God made the keeping of His law an impossibility to them. Not that these conditions were imposed upon them; they were simply the conditions of every man in his natural state. The law of God was not written in their hearts. They were hardened through unbelief, so that their hearts would not receive the impress of the principles of God’s great moral code. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 324.4
A change of heart is the great requisite felt by the repentant sinner as he turns to God. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. Thus David prayed after he had gone in the way of the carnal heart and grievously sinned against God; and his prayer is echoed by every repentant soul. The clean heart for which he prayed is one upon which is written the principles of righteousness. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 324.5
All who are truly converted have these principles upon their hearts, the agency by which they are written being the Spirit of God. Thus Paul writes to the church at Corinth: “Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” 2 Corinthians 3:3. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 324.6
As the heart is, so is the life; for “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” It was the apostle’s trust that the Corinthian brethren would in their lives be an epistle unto their fellow-men, wherein would be read the virtues of Christ and the power of God unto the salvation of believers. All persons who have the Divine law written in their hearts will be the epistles of Christ. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 324.7
The Jews among whom Christ walked when upon the earth had the law of God everywhere about them, but in the one place where its living principles were most needed it was absent. It was held up before them in their synagogues; they wore it in letters upon their garments; they had it in their minds, so that they could repeat it from memory; but they were constant and flagrant violators of its requirements. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites”! was the stern denunciation upon them from the lips of Jesus. “Ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” Matthew 23:25. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 324.8
No one ever made a greater outward show of piety and reverence for God than did the Pharisees, yet all that did not save them from the most terrible condemnation. Neither will it avail anymore for the most respectable professor of Christianity to-day, who has not experienced the needed change of heart. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.1
All along from their day to ours, the devil has led men to try to be servants of God without undergoing this change; and it has been one of his most successful devices. He has led men to think that if they kept the law of God often before their eyes and upon their lips, they would be living about as God would have them. So they have surrounded themselves with pictures of the Saviour and the names connected with His ministry, and with images of Himself and His mother and the apostles and “saints,” wore crucifixes upon their breast-as the Pharisees wore the law upon their phylacteries-and in every way by their surroundings and outward practices endeavoured to convince themselves and others that they were the true servants of God. But however well they succeeded in deceiving themselves and their fellow-men, they did not in the least deceive God. His eye read their hearts, and He knew who were His and who were mere pious hypocrites, like the scribes and Pharisees. He knew whether they were His subjects at heart, or whether forms and ceremonies and imposing houses of worship and pictures and images served only to hide the secret iniquity of hearts that were still carnal. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.2
Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you.” It is Christ dwelling in the heart by faith (Ephesians 3:17); it is God dwelling with the spirit that is humble and contrite (Isaiah 57:15). We may have the precepts of God upon the walls of our churches and our homes, and upon the tablets of our memories, and sounding often in our ears-and all this is proper and well; but if they be not written upon our hearts we are but subjects of the kingdom of darkness. “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.3
“Faith and Credulity” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
It has been remarked that the present is an age of unbelief and also of wonderful credulity. The statement is true, and there is nothing strange about it either. Unbelief is not absence of all belief, but only of a certain kind of belief. It implies a belief opposite in nature to that which is absent. The man who calls himself an agnostic, only seeks to hide under that term a belief which is just as real as anyone’s, but which, generally, he has not the courage to avow and maintain. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.4
The apostle Paul, in his letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:4), speaks of this age of unbelief, saying that men “shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” The result could not be otherwise, for when people turn away from the truth there is nothing left for them to believe but error, and they grow credulous as a natural result. There is nothing in the world more credible than the statements of God’s Word. They who refuse this and try to construct a material and a spiritual world upon some hypotheses of their own, may consider themselves wise, but in reality they are the most credulous persons in existence. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.5
“War Declared” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
War is declared against us! not by the French, not by the Germans, not by the Russians, nor by the Chinese, but by enemies more powerful than all these nations together,-by our own fleshly lusts, our natural longings after sinful pleasures. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.6
It is not war against our poor frail bodies, but what is infinitely worse, it is a war against our souls. It is a war before which men’s faces may indeed turn pale and their hearts fail them for fear, if they have not an impenetrable armour, and an all-powerful Captain. If we gain the victory it means life and happiness that will run parallel with the life of God. If we are overcome, it means darkness and death that shall have no awakening. It is then a war the most momentous, the most fraught with grave consequences of any that has ever been declared on earth. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.7
It is a war from which we cannot escape, because it follows us wherever we go. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.8
It is a war which we cannot end, once for all, and then never more be troubled with it. It will continue as long as there is life in us. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.9
But there have been men who by nature were no better nor stronger than we, who have fought in this battle and been faithful unto death and come off more than conquerors through Him that loved them. And God Himself gives us encouragement to believe that you and I also may do the same. Then let us not sink down in discouragement and say it cannot be done and we are as good as overcome already, but let us go straight to our Father in heaven and ask Him how this may be accomplished. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.10
We turn to 1 Peter 2:11 and He says, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against your souls.” In other words, refrain from them, don’t give up to them. Perhaps you say, That is just what I’ve tried to do again and again, but I can’t put them away, they are more powerful than I, I cannot do the things that I would. Be patient, perhaps the Lord has more to tell us about it. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.11
In 2 Timothy 2:22 He says, “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Here He tells us that we are not only to abstain from these lusts by fleeing from them when we see them coming, but when we turn our backs upon them we are to follow after righteousness, faith, charity, peace. Perhaps we have tried to flee from the longings after sin without seeking something better in its place. If our hearts become filled and satisfied with good thoughts there is no room for longings for bad thoughts. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.12
But we read again in Titus 2:11, 12: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” Here we learn again that the grace of God teaches us to deny worldly lusts when they come begging for our favour. But notice further, the grace that teaches us that we must deny worldly lusts does not then leave us alone to fight it out the best we can, but the same grace that warns us of our danger, provides the remedy,-“The grace of God that bringeth salvation” teaches us, etc. Then the same grace that teaches us to deny the lusts will give salvation from them if we will allow it to. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.13
But let us listen again to His gracious words. Romans 8:13. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Ah, have we not now arrived at the secret of our failures? We have been trying to mortify and put down our sinful desires in our own strength, and as they have been stronger than we, we have been defeated every time. But here we learn of a Spirit that is stronger than the spirit of evil, and the promise is if we will allow this Spirit of God to dwell in us it will mortify every evil desire that shows itself, and we shall live; we shall not be overcome. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 325.14
But how are we to get this Spirit? He tells us in the thirteenth chapter and fourteenth verse; “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, too fulfil the lusts thereof.” We get the Spirit of Christ by putting on Christ, and when we do this we are to make no more provision or calculation to give up to the lusts of our flesh, “for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other.” Where one is the other cannot remain. When we put on Christ we therefore bid goodbye to our lusts for ever, and instead of our ways and our desires, we choose Christ’s ways and His desires. And since He furnishes the power by which we can keep these lusts from coming and making their home in our heart again, we are stronger than they as long as we hold to Jesus. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.1
But can we know how to put on Jesus? Yes, He tells us in Galatians 3:27, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.2
But how can we get into Christ and Christ in us? We read again in Ephesians 3:17, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.3
How can we get faith? “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.4
Then if we hear God’s word and receive it “not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God,” it will effectually work in us that believe, because it brings Jesus with His Holy Spirit of power into our hearts. Thus, “though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3, 4. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.5
Then do we not need the Word, the bread of life, more than we need our necessary food? Can we hope to grow in the spiritual life and have strength to overcome and keep out these deadly foes without daily partaking of this heavenly bread? We are apt to think that when we once put on Christ we have nothing more to do, when we once take a full meal of this heavenly bread and a full draught of this living water, we shall for ever be satisfied and never more be weak or faint. But we cannot eat enough of this in one day to last us all the rest of our lives, any more than we can eat enough physical food to last us the remainder of our lives. We must continually, daily, feast upon His words of life, and then the promise is that we shall grow thereby, grow stronger and stronger. We need not worry about how it is done, or how we are going to meet these foes when they assail us. But if we lay hold of fresh supplies of strength every day, the victory will finally be ours, not because of our strength, but because of Christ the Mighty One who has lived in us. He is the “captain of our salvation,” and He is our “armour of light” that is able to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy. With such a Captain and such an armour can we not with courage engage in this great war? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.6
“Go forward, Christian soldier,
Beneath His banner true;
The Lord Himself, thy Leader,
Shall all thy foes subdue.
His love foretells thy trials,
He knows thy hourly need;
He can, with bread of heaven,
Thy fainting spirit feed.
PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.7
“Go forward, Christian soldier,
Nor dream of peaceful rest,
Till Satan’s host is vanquished,
And heaven at last possessed;
Till Christ Himself shall call thee
To lay thine armour by,
And wear in endless glory,
The crown of victory.”
PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.8
“Supplying Our Need” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
“But my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory.” Mark it well; “all your needs.” Consider as well, also, that God does not promise to supply everything that we may crave. “But,” says one, “in that case we can never be satisfied; we shall always be longing for something.” Not so; for the promise is, “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house.” Psalm 36:8. He who has every need supplied ought to be satisfied. The reason why more people do not experience the satisfaction is that they do not realise that God knows what will supply their needs better than they themselves do. Some men think that they must have whisky to satisfy their thirst, whereas it will only increase it. Now if while they are craving the alcoholic drink, someone supplies them with a good, cooling draught, which satisfies their thirst, are they not much better off than they would have been if they had been given the object of their desire? So God often supplies our need by withholding the really hurtful thing that we have set our hearts upon, and giving us that which He knows is best. Our part, then, is to refrain from getting our desires fixed on any certain thing, as though that alone could satisfy us, and to trust His superior wisdom, to give us the thing that we really need. When we pray from the heart, “not my will but Thine, be done,” we shall always have the desires of our hearts, and shall always be satisfied. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.9
“Begin To-Day” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
“And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” Acts 24:25. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.10
The Roman governor Felix had sent for the apostle, that he might hear and pronounce judgment upon his cause; but suddenly he found himself at the bar of judgment instead of the apostle; and as Paul “reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.” He saw a change demanded in his own life if he would be prepared for the issues of the future; but he said to himself, Not to-day. “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” But though Paul remained a prisoner in his charge two years, there is no record of his having found that “convenient time,” when he sent for the apostle and heard further “concerning the faith in Christ.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.11
To the unrenewed heart, the future is always a more convenient time for attending to the interests of the soul, than the present. This is always a suggestion of the devil. He keeps before the mind’s eye the ignis fatuus of a future convenient day, when the heart will feel like attending to spiritual things, and the individual can prepare for the judgment to come, without the effort that would be necessary at the present hour; and meanwhile he makes it more and more difficult and inconvenient each day for the individual to take a step towards God. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.12
It is as true in spiritual as in temporal matters that success demands the vigorous improvement of to-day. To wait for a more convenient season is only to court defeat and eternal loss. When the destiny of the soul is at stake, convenience is not to be consulted. While the sentence of death hangs over it because of transgressions, the opportunity to escape and gain the life eternal must be improved at whatever costs. If the saying that “delay is dangerous” is good as a worldly maxim, how much more should it be regarded when it concerns the danger of the loss not of earthly possessions, but of eternal life in the world to come. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 327.1
In the words of solemn import the Word of God appeals to the careless, world-loving soul to delay not the work of repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near.” “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Psalm 95:7, 8; Isaiah 55:6. “Exhort one another daily, while it is called To-day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13. Delay hardens the heart. To reject the light that you have now will never prepare the way for its future reception. To turn from the still small voice that speaks to you to-day will never lead you to heed the invitation that may come to you to-morrow. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 327.2
Life must be lived in the present, and the present means to-day. To try to live in to-morrow or in yesterday, is but to dream away to-day. The devil doesn’t care how much you dream; he is not troubled over your pleasant anticipations and good intentions. There is no difficulty to him in storming castles that are built in the air. He doesn’t care a farthing about what you are going to do, but only about what you are doing. He has no anxiety about where you intend to be to-morrow, so long as he can keep you where he wants you to be to-day. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 327.3
God knows that man must live his life one day at a time. And He has accordingly made His relation to him that of an ever-present Help. He does not give strength and grace to-morrow, but for to-day. He “is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1. Any other arrangement would be useless, because- PTUK August 24, 1893, page 327.4
“Strength for to-day is all that we need;
There never will be a to-morrow;
For to-morrow will be but another to-day,
With its measure of joy or sorrow.”
PTUK August 24, 1893, page 327.5
To-day is yours,-yours to make the choice for good or evil, life or death. “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” Joshua 24:15. “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day; and a curse, if ye obey not the commandments of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28. It is the hour of God’s judgment (Revelation 14:7), and you have a case pending at the great tribunal. No life record will escape the searching investigation. You cannot put off the solemn issue. Prepare for it early. Begin to-day. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 327.6
“Christ the Bearer of Burdens” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
“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. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.1
This is the invitation of Christ, the world’s Redeemer, to all those “that labour and are heavy laden” in the journey of life. It is the invitation of Him who “hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4); of Him who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15); who has been “in all points tempted like as we are.” He knows fully the nature of the responsibility He is assuming; and He is fully able to assume it, for He has said, “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth.” Matthew 28:18. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.2
It is a very easy thing to cast our cares and our sorrows upon Him who has thus made Himself the great Burden Bearer of the race, yet how few seem inclined to avail themselves of the privilege. He does not force us to give Him our burdens; we can’t carry them ourselves if we choose to. But He stands ready to take freely every load that is laid at His feet. Yet it is almost always the case that we take our burdens to our earthly friends, instead of to the Lord. We go to them for their sympathy-which perhaps they are not slow to give-and we talk over our troubles with them, and get such satisfaction from it as we can; but ah, who ever knew their burden of tears and grief to get any lighter by this process? Who ever found that it did not, on the contrary, make it even heavier than before? And besides this, it has added to the load of others who already have burdens enough of their own. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.3
But when we come to Jesus with our load, what a difference! When we have told Him all our sorrows, how much lighter the burden all at once becomes! and we experience the rest that He promised to the weary and heavy-laden. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.4
But let no one burden themselves with borrowed troubles, for all these they will have to carry alone. Jesus has not offered to take upon Himself our imaginary troubles, but only those which are real. He has said, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” To borrow trouble is to distrust God. Our blessings are not sent to us weekly or monthly, but “daily”; as He has taught us to say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Thus there is no occasion to burden ourselves with the imaginary troubles, which are usually the hardest to bear. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 326.5
“Grasping Too Much” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
“Daniel Quorm” tells us this story. “When I was a little boy, helpin’ mother to store away the apples, I put my arm round ever so many o’ them, an’ tried to bring them all. I managed for a step or two. Then out fell one, an’ another, an’ two or three more, till they was all rollin’ over the floor. Mother laughed. ‘Now, Dan’el,’ says she, ‘I’m goin’ to teach you a lesson.’ So she put my little hands quite tight round one. ‘There,’ said she, ‘bring that, an’ then fetch another.’ I’ve often thought about it when I’ve seen folks who might be doin’ ever so much good, if they didn’t try to do too much all to once. Don’t go tryin’ to put your arms round a year; an’ don’t go troublin’ about next week. Wake up in the mornin’, an’ think like this: ‘Here’s another day come. Whatever I do, an’ whatever I don’t do, Lord help me to do this-help me to live it to Thee.’” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 330.1
One day at a time, one hour, one minute,-yes, one second is all the time we get at once. So our best course is to “Do the next thing next.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 330.2
“Day and Night” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
“And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.” Genesis 1:3. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.1
This earth was not always so bright and pleasant as it is now. We learned last week that when God created the earth it was covered only with water and darkness. But God, in his goodness, did not leave it so. The first thing that He did was to make it light. And do you know how He did it? God commanded the light to shine right out of darkness; and it did! (2 Corinthians 4:6.) He just said, “Let there be light;” and there was light. How wonderful! “Surely the Lord is a great God.” “Who is so great a God as our God?” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.2
And God gave names to the light and the dark. “He called the light Day; and the darkness He called Night.” But it takes both the light and the dark to make a whole day, for the rest of the verse says that “The evening and the morning were the first day.” Say it over slowly and see which came first, the evening, or the morning. Yes, the evening, or darkness came first, for you know the earth was all dark until God made the light. So the first part of the first day was all dark, but after God said “Let there be light,” the rest of the day was light. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.3
You see the dark part was first, and then the light part; first the evening, and then the morning. The Bible says that every day begins in the evening, just as the first day did. The evening or dark part of the day, always comes first. But we shall learn more about this in another lesson. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.4
Can you count? If so, count these straight marks: I I I I I I I. Now you can tell how many days there are in every week, for there are just as many days in a week as there are straight marks here on our paper. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.5
Do you remember what was done on the first day of the first week? If you will read again in the first chapter in your Bible, you will see that there were three wonderful things made (Put three little marks through the first straight mark so that you may remember how many things were made on the first day): God created the heavens, and the earth, and the light. And that means, you remember, that He spake and they were; He commanded and they were created! Name them over and over again, for you should never forget that on the first day God, by His Word, created the heavens, the earth, and the light. “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth,” “And God said, Let there be light; and there was light,” “And the evening and the morning were the first day.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.6
1. Why can you see things so much more easily in the morning than you can in the night? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.7
2. Who made the beautiful light? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.8
3. When did God create the light? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.9
4. What other things had He created before that? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.10
5. Then what three things did He create on the first day? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.11
6. How did God create the light? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.12
7. What name did God give to the light? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.13
8. What name did God give to the darkness? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.14
9. And yet what did it take to make the whole day?—Both the darkness and the light. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.15
10. Which part of that first day came first,-the dark part or the light part? Genesis 1:5, last part. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.16
11. Then according to the Bible, when must every day began? In the evening. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.17
12. What is the colour of light? Matthew 17:2. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.18
13. Name some white things. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.19
14. What is the colour of darkness? Proverbs 7:9. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.20
15. Name some black things. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.21
16. Which part do you like best, the light or the darkness? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.22
17. Why? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.23
18. Do you know how many days there are in every week? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.24
19. What do we call the first day of every week?—“Sunday. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.25
20. What did God do on the first day of the first week? PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.26
“‘Let There Be Light’” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
Naughty thoughts and feelings and actions are called sins. When a person’s heart is full of sin he cannot see what he ought to do, and he stumbles and makes even more foolish mistakes than though he were blind, or were walking in the blackest darkness. So God calls sin blindness and darkness. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.27
Every man, woman, and child in the world has sinned. Therefore the hearts of even little children are full of the dangerous darkness of sin. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.28
It is more dangerous than common darkness, because it will cause us to miss the way to heaven, and will cause us to fall into the snares and pitfalls of Satan and be destroyed for ever. We cannot go to our heavenly home without light a bit better than we can on a dark stormy night go over a dangerous road to our earthly home without light. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.29
Lamp-light or fire-light or electric light, or even sunlight is not powerful enough to drive the darkness of sin out of our hearts. Nothing but the mighty light of God’s word can do it, the word which in the beginning said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” We cannot fill ourselves with light any more than the earth could. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.30
God is longing to say to your naughty heart, “Let there be light.” Just as sure as He does, your heart will be filled with the marvellous light of His own purity and goodness instead of with the darkness of your impurity and sin. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.31
But God will not speak light into your heart unless you want Him to. If you want to do wrong, and disobey your parents, and be selfish and unlovely, He will allow you to do so; but if you are tired of sin, tired of your own way, and really want to give it all up and do God’s way, just tell Him so, and let Him send His word, “Let there be light,” into your heart. Then Jesus the light and righteousness of the world will fill your heart; for Jesus is the Word of God. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 333.32
Then as long as you daily study and obey His word you may walk in His light. But if you choose your own will, and grieve Him away, your heart will again be as dark and full of sin as ever. Jesus alone is the light of life, and you must walk with Him every day, if you would “walk in the light.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.1
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
-By a fire at the Senate Hotel, Chicago, eight persons lost their lives. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.2
-Professor Carl Miller, the eminent German artist, has died at Neuenahr. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.3
-Seven people lost their lives in a railway disaster near Milton, Virginia, U.S.A., August 16 PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.4
-Fire has destroyed 100 houses in Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A., rendering 1,500 people homeless. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.5
-The British Indian Government is about to undertake a punitive expedition against the Kachins. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.6
-A very severe drowth, accompanied by intense heat, prevails throughout Spain, and cattle are suffering severely. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.7
-The New Zealand Parliament has passed a Bill conferring the franchise on women both of the European and Maori race. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.8
-Serious floods have occurred in Galicia and Hungary, involving great loss of life and considerable destruction of property. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.9
-Crime in Russia is distinctly increasing. During the last year there were perpetrated no fewer than 2,401 murders, of which 763 were cases of infanticide. During the same period there were 1,736 suicides. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.10
-A boat load of seventeen excursionists were drowned in the river Shannon, on the evening of August 16, by the capsizing of their boat. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.11
-A Frenchman, M. Boutau, has devised an apparatus by which an instantaneous photograph of the sea bed can be obtained in deep water. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.12
-Trouble is anticipated between the United States and Japan through a collision of their respective interests in the Hawaiian Islands. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.13
-No other country in the world produces as many eggs as France. Her trade in this department last year reached the gigantic sum of £40,000,000. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.14
-It is reported at Eagle Pass, Texas, from Monterey, that President Dias has called out the Mexican troops to put down a revolt at Cardenas. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.15
-Serious labour riots between French and Italian workmen are reported from Aigues Mortes. Ten Italians are said to have been killed and forty wounded. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.16
-The entire stock of the DeBeers Company’s diamonds, (South Africa) were recently sold to a syndicate for £1,000,000, being the largest transaction in diamonds ever made. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.17
-Destitution is lamentably prevalent in Johannesburg, South Africa. During the last fifteen months starving men have been supplied with 22,000 meals, and 8,489 applicants were given beds. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.18
-The cholera is still spreading rapidly throughout Russia, and has obtained a good foothold in Central Europe, particularly in Naples, Berlin, and the Austrian province of Galicia. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.19
-The coal strike still continues to extend, with no prospect of a speedy settlement of the difficulty. Meanwhile a scarcity is beginning to be felt by ship owners and those who run furnaces. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.20
-The canal across the Isthmus of Corinth has just been opened by the King of Greece. The modern Greeks have thus completed what Alexander the Great projected, Julius Cæsar decided upon, and Nero actually commenced. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.21
-Petitions signed by 1,078,609 persons have now been presented to the House of Commons against Home Rule, by 1,239,019 against Church Disestablishment in Wales, and by 1,161,900 against Local Veto in regard to the liquor traffic PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.22
At the Tuberculosis Congress in Paris, the cremation of consumptive patients was advocated, it being contended that earth-worms bring to the surface the bacilli which infest the dead, and in dry weather they may be inhaled in the form of dust. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.23
-Religious riots have broken out in Bombay between the Mohammedans and Hindus, which have resulted in considerable loss of life and property. Two mosques and four Hindu temples have been sacrificed, and order is with difficulty maintained by the police and military forces. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.24
-A terrible railway accident occurred near Pontypridd, in South Wales, on the evening of August 12. A train filled with passengers was rounding a curve at a high rate of speed, when several of the coaches left the metals and plunged down an embankment, resulting in death to twelve persons and severe injuries to many others. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.25
-Telegrams from Buenos Ayres again point to a disturbed state of affairs in Argentina. Fighting has taken place at La Plata, between Radical and Federal troops, in which the former appear to have been worsted. The Federal Congress at Buenos Ayres has decided in favour of the establishment of a state of siege throughout Argentina, and Federal intervention in Santa Fe and san Luis. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.26
-The international Behring Sea controversy appears to have finally reached a settlement, the Court of Arbitration having rendered their decision in the matter, which seems to be satisfactory to both governments concerned. The decision declares that Behring Sea is not a closed sea, and adjudges damages to be paid to Canadian sealers by the United States to the amount of 1,500,000 dols. but places restrictions upon sealing which will operate in favour of the United States. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.27
-A horrible discovery has been made near Warsadin in Croatia. A band of men have been detected in making a regular business of the mutilation of children, their crippled victims being afterwards disposed of to persons who send them out to beg in the streets of large towns, when their deformities excite the pity of the charitable. Three men have been arrested, and in the house occupied by them a number of implements were found for the forcible production of deformities. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 334.28
“Back Page” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
Then Lord said: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:16. Throughout the Bible belief is made the one condition of salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31. The Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” Romans 1:16. “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.” Isaiah 7:9. Without belief there can be no salvation; with it, salvation is sure. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.1
Some people imagine that this is arbitrary and unjust. They say that it does not seem reasonable that one person should be saved because he believes a certain thing, while another, equally good, should be lost, because he does not believe that thing. The trouble is that they do not realise what Bible belief is, nor what we are to believe. Now man has no business to question the justice and reasonableness of God’s requirements, and for the reason that God has given us overwhelming evidence of His justice; and His justice is not simply coupled with love, but it is love. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.2
It is not by the belief of arbitrary and independent statements that men are saved. God does not make a statement of fact, and say, “Believe this or I will destroy you.” The belief that saves is belief in God or Jesus Christ, who is the only manifestation of Divine power and goodness and wisdom to man. Belief means appropriation, identification with. Belief on Christ is the acceptance of Christ as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He alone has life. Our lives have been forfeited, and through Jesus alone can we get life. If a man who cannot swim is in deep water, it can be said of him that if he will seize the rope that is flung to him, he will be saved, but that if he will not, he must be drowned. No one would say that we were condemning him to death as a punishment for not grasping a rope. So he who will not believe is lost, not as a punishment for unbelief, but because belief is the laying hold of Christ; and he who rejects Christ rejects life. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.3
Here is the one thing to be kept in mind: The belief which saves a man, is the belief that effects a change in his character, and not merely the passive assent of the mind. If the belief of any given thing cannot affect one’s character, there can be no celebration in it. But this does not exclude anything that is written in the Scriptures, for the Spirit of Christ was in the men who wrote the Bible, and therefore belief in Christ means belief in His word. “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried; He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.” Psalm 18:30. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.4
When the friends of J. G. Paton knew that he was about to enter the mission field, they tried hard to deter him. One old gentleman thought to keep him back by repeating again, “You will be eaten by cannibals.” Finally Paton said to him:- PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.5
“Mr. Dixon, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms. I confess to you that if I can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; and in the great resurrection day, my resurrection body will arise fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.6
That was not only philosophical, but it indicated some of the spirit that led Paul to say, “None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.7
In some things men make much finer distinctions than the Lord does. Thus the different systems of religion are all labelled, so that there are, according to men, many grades between Christians and heathen. The common idea is thus stated in an article written for children:- PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.8
“Some people call everybody who is not a Christian ‘a Heathen,’ but this is not quite fair. We should not call anyone who professes to worship God ‘a Heathen.’ The Mohammedans, for instance, are not ‘Heathen,’ for they worship God. But then they do not worship God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and their sacred book, the Koran, is not to be compared with our Holy Bible.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.9
All agree that a heathen is one who worships some other god than the one true God. Now Jesus has said: “I and My Father are one.” John 10:30. And again: “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” John 14:6. Therefore those who do not acknowledge and worship Jesus Christ do not worship God; and they who profess to worship God, but who reject Christ, are worshipping a god of their own devising, and not the God of the Bible. And so we find that the Bible recognises only two classes of men, Christian and heathen. This should not cause those who profess to be Christians to look with contempt upon others, but to consider themselves, lest, while professing to be Christian, they may be by the Lord classed among the heathen. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.10
We are not very much in favour of the plan of writing biographies while the subjects are still living, and we are convinced that the Bible supplies incentives to missionary labour far exceeding anything that has been written since; but a little book entitled “John G. Paton, His Life Work,” strikes us as being one of the best missionary biographies. It tells briefly, yet clearly, the story of the life of the one who was instrumental in converting the natives of the New Hebrides islands from cannibalism to Christianity. The book is a pamphlet of 66 pages, with the low price of one penny. Published by Alfred Holness, 14, Paternoster Row, London, E.C. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.11
“A Contrast” The Present Truth 9, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
A Contrast.-“In the beginning God created the heaven and earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3. “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. This is plain and definite; a child can understand it. Now listen to the opening words of a recent book entitled, “Reveries of World History, from Earth’s Nebulous Origin to its Final Ruin,” and note the contrast:- PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.12
“In the beginning, obedient to the word of Eternal Law, the chaos of Earth circled in the vastness. Formless and void in the profundity, out of formlessness, a form evolved. PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.13
Diffused in vapour, condensing by the force of gravity, and absorbing gaseous matter from its nebulous surroundings, the World wandered through limitless space, ordered by the natural but mysterious government of inexorable Law, etc, etc.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.14
That is truly a “nebulous” description. After reading the two accounts, who can doubt that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men”? Surely all who have not become so “vain in their imaginations” that their foolish minds are utterly darkened, must agree with the Chronicle, that “the old is better.” PTUK August 24, 1893, page 336.15