The Present Truth, vol. 9
September 14, 1893
“Front Page” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“Turn you at My reproof; behold, I will pour out My Spirit unto you, I will make known My words unto you.” Proverbs 1:23. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.1
This is the promise of Wisdom which is but another name for Christ, “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3. He is “the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:24. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.2
Therefore the promise in the first chapter of Proverbs is identical with that recorded in the Gospel according to John. Jesus promised His disciples the Comforter, and said, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of [from] Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” John 16:13, 14. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.3
The Holy Spirit, then, makes known the things of God. It unfolds to us the meaning of the words of Christ. The psalmist exclaimed, “O Lord, how great are Thy works! and Thy thoughts are very deep.” Psalm 92:5. The Lord tells us, “As the heavens are high above the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9. But however deep and wonderful the ways and thoughts of God are, the Spirit is able to make us understand them; “for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God;” and “we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10, 12. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.4
We are told that God “made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.” Psalm 103:7. This was by means of His Spirit, for we read that He gave them His good Spirit to instruct them. Nehemiah 9:20. This was not because they were so good, for the chapter which tells us this is filled with the record of their misdeeds; but God sends His Spirit to convince men of sin, in order that it may bestow righteousness upon them. As disobedient as the children of Israel were, the Spirit of God was ready to make them intimately acquainted with the words and ways of God, if they would but listen to His reproofs. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.5
It is not in man to give to another an understanding of the words of God. The words of God are an expression of His thoughts, which are very deep; and only the Holy Spirit knows the deep things of God. The Spirit alone can give an understanding of the truth of God. Men are used by the Spirit, to open the Scriptures and present them to their fellows; but only the Spirit of God itself can give an understanding of them. There is therefore no such thing on earth as a class of men possessing the sole right and power to deal out the truth to less favoured mortals. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.6
For God is no respecter of persons. In far greater measure than sinful men are willing to give good things to their children, is God willing and able to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. Luke 11:11-14. The Holy Spirit is given to everyone who believes. John 7:39. And what must he believe? “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6. The Spirit is given without stint to everyone who desires it, and who believes that God gives it. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.7
Therefore the poorest and humblest may understand the words of God as well as the greatest. No one can have a monopoly of the knowledge of God. Everybody can believe, and whoever believes shall understand. No self-constituted priest is needed to stand between the soul and God, for the humblest soul may come boldly to the throne of God, through Christ the great High Priest, “who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way.” No man can hinder another from receiving the Spirit, and therefore no one can prevent another from finding and knowing God, if that other really desires to know Him. Then let the despondent ones, who have thought that they were too poor and ignorant to know God’s truth for themselves, take courage. The promise is without exception, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1. v. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.8
“Giving Men a Chance” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“What about those who haven’t heard the Gospel-the men who have never had a chance for salvation?” This question is almost invariably asked in these days, whenever the necessity for righteousness, and the certainty of judgment for all men, are preached. It seems to be quite generally taken for granted that the great majority of men have never had an opportunity to know anything about the Gospel, and consequently the theory of a probation at some time after death has been devised, as the only means by which all men could have a chance to accept the Gospel. To be sure, there are some who will have it that there must be a future probation for all who do not accept the Gospel in this life; but others arrange a probation only for those who they say “have not had a chance in this life.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 369.9
The question is easily answered. In the first place we must understand beyond all question, that God is just. The plan of salvation includes all 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. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. God says, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 14:22. Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every man. Hebrews 2:9. Therefore salvation is provided for all, and all are called to accept it. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.1
In the next place, it is certain that there will be no probation for any man after the coming of the Lord. When the Lord comes, there will be but two classes-the righteous and the wicked. To the first, Christ will say, “Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34. To the other He will say, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil, and his angels.” Verse 41. There is no intermediate class, and so the fate of all is decided when the Lord comes. Read also in this connection Revelation 22:11, 12. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.2
Still further: When Christ came the first time, He bore the sins of all men, and tasted death for every man. “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. But when He comes the second time, He comes “without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:28. He bears no sin then for anybody. And He “dieth no more.” Romans 6:9. He “offered one sacrifice for sins for ever.” Hebrews 10:12. Therefore if any were to be saved after the coming of the Lord, they would have to be saved without Christ; but that cannot be. “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. So it is absolutely settled that there will be no further opportunity for salvation after Christ comes. And since “the dead know not anything” (Ecclesiastes 9:5), but their thoughts have perished (Psalm 146:4), and in death there is no remembrance of the Lord (Psalm 6:5), it follows that all the probation that anybody ever has is in this present time, before death comes. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.3
The question then resolves itself into this: “Has everybody that has lived on this earth had a chance to learn the Gospel?” What saith the Scripture? Paul wrote to the Colossians, “We give thanks to God.... for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you.” Colossians 1:3-6. And again, he said that they would be presented holy before the Lord, “if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.” Verse 23. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.4
That is explicit enough, but the Scripture says much more. The apostle Peter speaks of the fact that God will judge the living and dead, and then adds, “For this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead.” 1 Peter 4:6. He does not say that it is now preached to them that are dead, but that it was preached to them that are dead. To how many that are dead?—“To them that are dead.” There is no exception; all that are dead have had the Gospel preached to them, and therefore they may justly be judged with the living. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.5
We might leave the matter here; but some will not be satisfied without an answer to the question. “How has the Gospel been preached to all who have lived on the earth?” It makes no difference if we cannot tell how; since the Bible says that it has been done, that is sufficient. Still we may partially answer the question. We cannot tell how many people have heard the Gospel through human agency. The number is much larger than is commonly supposed. But there is one way in which all have had a chance to know God, and that is through His works; and that they are sufficient, the next paragraph will show. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.6
The Apostle Paul tells us that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold [restrain] the truth in unrighteousness.” Romans 1:18. Notice that there is no exception; “all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” whether of Jew or Gentile, is to receive judgment from God. And the justice of this is shown in the two verses immediately following: “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.7
There is no excuse for any, because God has showed to everybody the truth concerning His power and Divinity. This means that He has preached the Gospel to them, for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Romans 1:16. The works of God, then, preach the Gospel, so that it is impossible that a person having the use of his senses should have lived in the world without having heard the Gospel. One more proof from Scripture must suffice on this point. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.8
The Apostle Paul having said that whosoever shall call on the Lord shall be saved, and having admitted that men cannot believe in Him of whom they have not heard, and that they cannot hear without a preacher, says, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, that bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” Romans 10:15-18. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.9
This assures us that everybody has heard the Gospel of peace. As proof, the apostle says, “Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” Whose sound, and whose words? The sound of the works of God, and the apostle was quoting from Psalm 19, which reads: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Ever since the creation, the sun, moon, and stars have been preaching the Gospel in a language that all men can understand if they will. And in every generation, and from every class of people, some have listened to the word of the truth of the Gospel, and have believed. Some “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Revelation 7:9) will stand before God in white robes, as evidence to all the unsaved that they are without excuse. And in all the host of the lost there will not be one soul to charge God with injustice, for every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 370.10
“Move to Adjourn” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“Resolved, that the Christian life is one of gloom.” Perhaps you do not remember having heard this resolution read anywhere, but we dare say you notice something about it that sounds familiar. Some one has presented that resolution to you, and asked you to endorse it. Can you say that you have never assented to it? It has been presented a great many times, not only to you, but to all who have any thoughts of living a Christian life; and its author has had a wonderful success in pulling it off for truth. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 371.1
This resolution is drawn up by the devil, the father of lies. He comes to you with a company of his imps, choosing some opportune time, and with a voice full of the semblance of a mournful reality; he repeats the words. “I move,” he says, “that the Christian life is a hard, toilsome, and gloomy one.” The motion is at once seconded by his imps, and you-you, it may be, give your assent. So it is moved, seconded, and carried unanimously that the Christian life is hard and cheerless and full of gloom. You are discouraged and tempted to give up, angels are made sad, and the devil and his imps rejoice. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 371.2
You know the wicked falsity of the whole proceeding. Your whole Christian experience, if it has been genuine, tells you so. Genuine Christian experience is based on belief in the promises of God. You know, if you have taken God at His word, that He “is a Sun and a shield”; that Jesus Christ is the “Sun of righteousness,” and “the bright and morning Star,” that rises upon you and dispels your night; that “the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow;” that “the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace”; and that the psalmist spoke with no impropriety when he said, “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” You know the peace, and joy, and satisfaction that comes into the heart from believing and trusting God. You know the brightness of the hope that is set before you, that is always in sight to the eye of faith. Then do not allow Satan and his evil company to hold a meeting with you and pass a joint resolution on the gloominess of the Christian life. Keep these texts and others before your mind, and when the prince of darkness comes next time to discuss Christianity with you, and begins his old story of “I move that the Christian life is one of gloom,” you say, “I move that we adjourn!” Angels will second that motion, and the devil and all his imps will have no power to prevent its being executed. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 371.3
“‘Come Thou with Us’” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you; come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.” Numbers 10:29. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 371.4
We are journeying unto the land of which the Lord has said to His people in this age, “I will give it thee.” The Israel of to-day are not the literal seed of Abraham, but they are the spiritual seed, the children of promise. “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” Romans 9:6-8; 4:13; Galatians 3:7. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 371.5
The promise to Abraham was that he should be the heir of the world; and the same promise reaches down to us to-day; for “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29. Abraham did not receive the promise, for, said the martyr Stephen, “He gave him none inheritance in it the land of promise, no, not so much as to set his foot on” (Acts 7:5); nor did his descendants receive it, nor any of the faithful who lived after him. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Hebrews 11:13. This has been the lot of God’s people in all ages. They have been but strangers and pilgrims, knowing that “here we have no continuing city” (Hebrews 13:14), but looking, as did Abraham, for “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:10. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 371.6
It is true that the literal descendants of Abraham did enter and possess the land of Canaan, but that was not the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham that he should be the “heir of the world.” The Israelites possessed but a very small portion of the world, and their tenure of that was only maintained by almost continual war with the surrounding nations. They did not obtain that for which Abraham and the patriarchs looked. They did not enjoy the promised rest. “For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Hebrews 4:8, 9. The promise to Abraham and to his seed is yet to be fulfilled. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 371.7
The promise is, as we have seen, that they shall inherit the earth. It is not an inheritance in heaven, or on some distant star or planet, but here, where they have sojourned as strangers, and amid trials and temptations and persecutions have fought the good fight of faith. But they will not inherit the earth in its present state, for now it is given over to the dominion of sin and evil. It is under the rule of “the god of this world” (Satan), who “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” 2 Corinthians 4:4. Also Peter tells us that “the heavens and earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto the fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:7. “For behold,” says the prophet Malachi, “the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1. And we, says Peter, “according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 371.8
We are journeying to this land, this new earth, of which the Lord has said to the seed of Abraham, I will give it you; and we are nearing the end of the journey. We are “looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” 2 Peter 3:12. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.1
The day dawn is near at hand. If we inquire, in the language of the prophet, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? the answer is, “The morning cometh, and also the night,”-the morning of eternal day to those who are the seed of Abraham, and the night of eternal death to such as are not the children of faith. Isaiah 21:11, 12. “The night is far spent; the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Romans 13:12. “This Gospel of the kingdom,” said Jesus, “shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.2
We are living in the day of the fulfillment of these words. Already the proclamation of the hour of God’s judgment (Revelation 14:7) has encircled the earth. Every nation and kingdom has been entered, and dwellers in the uttermost parts of the earth have heard the voice of them “that preached the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.” Their sound has gone “into all the world, and their words unto the ends of the world.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.3
A little work yet remains to be accomplished, and “then shall the end come.” Then “the saints of the most the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” Daniel 7:18. That is the kingdom of the Son of David, the Seed of Abraham, to whom the promise of inheritance was made. The prophet beheld the time when “there was given Him dominion, and glory, and the kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him.” Daniel 7:14. This kingdom and dominion His saints will share with Him. Verse 27. Then the heirs of the world will enter upon their inheritance-the new earth purified from sin and every trace of the curse-and enjoy with faithful Abraham the rest which has so long been promise. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.4
To this land of promise we are journeying, and we would that every man might share in this inheritance. Come thou with us. “Set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth,” for “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof.” Colossians 3:2; 1 John 2:17. It is hastening on to the burning day, when “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.5
Already war and commotion, pestilence and earthquake, distress of nations with perplexity, signs in the heavens and in the earth, the sea and the waves roaring, and men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after the things that are coming, betoken the approach of the day of God. It is the rumbling of the chariot wheels of the coming King. “The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father, with His angels; and then shall He reward every man according to His work.” Matthew 16:27. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.6
The reward of the faithful is the inheritance promised to Abraham. Set your face toward Zion, and away from the city of destruction. “For evil doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalm 38:9-11. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.7
Come thou with us to this inheritance. “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst, Come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. “Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.8
“Socialism and Christianity” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Socialism and Christianity.-Many people fancy that modern Socialism is a step towards primitive Christianity-the Christianity of Christ and the apostles; but there is as great a difference between them as there is between earth and heaven. “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” Acts 2:44, 45. “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own.” Acts 4:32. This was not the result of a claim made by the poor, and a forced distribution of the property of the more wealthy, but the result of individual unselfishness. They all had one mind, and that was the mind of Christ. Socialism says, “Your property belongs to me as much as to you.” Christianity says, “Give”; Christianity says, Receive.” There is a world of difference. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.9
“The Drink Cure” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.10
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.11
We have heard much of late about cures for drunkenness. And men in America has made a fortune out of credulous people who believe that by swallowing an unknown mixture, and having another solution injected into their arms, they could for ever be cured of drunkenness. More recently, Mr. Stead has publicly advertised for five confirmed drunkards, who are the children of drunkards, whom he proposes to so effectual cure by means of a new remedy which they are to swallow, that they will for ever after hold alcoholic liquor in abhorrence. And yet with all these “sure cures” for drunkenness, and with thousands who in their sober moments earnestly desire to be free from the drink bondage, drunkenness is on the increase in every country. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.12
Drunkenness is a sin, and not a disease. Of course men inherit a tendency to drunkenness, just as they inherit a murderous or a thievish disposition. Those who advocate medical cures for drunkenness, may be sincere in their desire to promote temperance, but, as a matter of fact, they are working against it. They are helping to establish the idea that drunkenness is no more wrong morally than is rheumatism or consumption, and are inducing people to put their trust for salvation from it in that which is worthless. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 372.13
The Scriptures quoted above class drunkenness with theft, murder, adultery, covetousness, idolatry, etc. Therefore it is as absurd to think of curing it by taking medicine, as it would be to think to cure a man of a disposition to steal, murder, or commit adultery, by inducing him to swallow some patent nostrum. The logical outcome of a generally-received idea that drunkenness is a disease, that may be cured by drugs, would be the discovery and advertisement of a sure cure for licentiousness, and there would be men claiming to cure pride, covetousness, and hatred in two months, provided the patient would take his mixture thrice daily. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.1
But there is a remedy for drunkenness, as well as for all other forms of sin. A fountain has been opened for sin and uncleanness. Zechariah 13:1. The Apostle Paul said to those to whom he had said that thieves, drunkards, adulterers, extortioers, etc., cannot inherit the kingdom of God: “And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.2
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15. “If we confess our sins, He faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous.” 1 John 1:9. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Verse 7. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.3
This is a sure cure. No case is too hard for the Great Physician, for “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.” Hebrews 12:25. And it costs nothing, but may be had “without money and without price.” There is hope for every sinner, however degraded, for the Lord says, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth” (Isaiah 45:22); and Jesus says that He will in no wise cast out any that come to Him. Then do not spend your labour for that which satisfieth not, but come to Christ, and find healing from every earthly ill. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.4
“Saturday, Sunday, and the Sabbath” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
We have received the following letter, which speaks for itself:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.5
Permit me to call your attention to the error in your issue of Aug. 17th, where our Sunday is repeatedly called the “seventh” and “Sabbath” day. Surely it only needs a reminder to cause an acknowledgement of the fact that Saturday is the seventh day of the week, and always was, and is at the present day, the Jewish Sabbath. Everyone who receives even a partially-completed religious education is taught the reasons for the Christian and apostolic observance of Sunday, the “first day of the week,” as the day of rest. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.6
The writer was momentarily shocked when the above lines first met his eyes. Could it be possible that so egregious a blunder as to call Sunday the seventh day of the week had found its way into PRESENT TRUTH? A little examination showed that it had not been done. God forbid that we ever should do such a thing. The article in question was written for the express purpose of showing that by no possibility could Sunday, the first day of the week, be the Sabbath. Unfortunately our correspondent seems to have the idea so fully fixed in his mind that Sunday is the rest day, that he has assumed that any reference to “the Sabbath,” by a Christian, must mean Sunday. Let us see if a few points cannot be made so clear that any can see them, whether they believe them or not. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.7
1. In the Bible the days of the week are not named, but numbered, with the exception of the seventh day of the week, which is named the Sabbath. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Exodus 20:10. The seventh day, the last day of the week, is the only day of the week that is honoured in the Bible with a name. But that seventh day-THE SABBATH-is not Sunday. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.8
2. “The Sabbath day according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56) is the day before the first day of the week. Compare the verse above referred to with the first verse of the next chapter, and also with Mark 16:1 and Matthew 28:1, where we find that the Sabbath immediately precedes the first day of the week, and that when the first day of the week begins, the Sabbath is “past.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.9
3. Let it be remembered that the statements concerning the Sabbath and the first day of the week were written long after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by Christian men, and for Christians, and also for those who through their words might become Christians. Therefore, as surely as the Scriptures are the word of God, and the perfect guide for Christians, that is, the guide which if heeded will make perfect Christians, the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath for Christians. The writers of the Bible, the prophets and apostles, knew of no other Sabbath. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.10
4. The seventh day of the week is not, and never was, the “Jewish Sabbath.” Such a thing is unknown in Scripture. Read again: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Exodus 20:10. The Lord Himself calls it “My holy day.” Isaiah 58:13, 14. It was made for man in Eden, at the close of the six days of creation, thousands of years before there was a Jew in existence. Genesis 2:1-3. True, the Jews kept it, except when they apostatised from God, but that did not make it their day. Christ kept it, and His life is the model life for all men. “He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also so to walk even as He walked.” 1 John 2:6. The disciples, as we have seen, kept it, and the Holy Spirit has set the Divine seal to the fact that it is the Sabbath. He who would find any other name for it, or would find any other day appointed as a day of weekly rest, must go elsewhere than to Holy Scripture. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.11
5. The reasons for “the Christian and apostolic observance of Sunday,” are not so apparent as our correspondent thinks. From an influential Presbyterian journal, the editor of which must be supposed to have had at least a “partially-completed religious education,” we quote the following statement:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.12
“It is now seen, as it is admitted, that we must go to later than apostolic times for the establishment of Sunday observance.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.13
The venerable Dr. Scott, the commentator, in his comment on Acts 20:7, says:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.14
“The change from the seventh to the first appears to have been generally and silently introduced, by example rather than by express precept.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 373.15
And the Christian at Work, the above referred to, also said editorially:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.1
“Some have tried to build the observance of Sunday upon apostolic command, whereas the apostles gave no command on the matter at all.... The truth is, as soon as we appeal to the litera Scripta [the literal text] of the Bible, the Sabbatarians [those who observe the seventh day of the week] have the best of the argument.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.2
The fact that the change from the seventh to the first day of the week, was “gradually and silently introduced,” as Dr. Scott says, shows that the change was a part of that “falling away,” of which the Apostle Paul wrote, which was the result of the working of the “mystery of iniquity.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-7. Chamber’s Encyclopedia (art. “Sunday”) says:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.3
“Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the sabbatical observance of that day is known to have been observed, is the edict of Constantine, 321 A.D. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.4
That law commanded city people to rest “on the venerable day of the sun,” the chief heathen festival day, but allowed those who were “situated in the country” “freely and at full liberty to attend to the cultivation of their fields.” Yet notwithstanding the fact that this law allowed all who lived in the country-the majority of the people-to work on Sunday, the ecclesiastical historian, Mosheim, says that in consequence of it, Sunday was “observed more sacredly than before.” Anyone, therefore, can readily judge how much sacredness was attached to Sunday as late as 321 A.D. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.5
6. It should not be forgotten that “Saturday” and “Sunday” are not the exact equivalents of “the seventh day of the week,” and “the first day of the week.” The Sacred Record says that “the evening and the morning were the first day,” “the evening and the morning were the second day,” etc. Genesis 1:5, 8. The “evening,” according to the Scripture, which must be our sole guide in everything pertaining to the Sabbath, begins at the setting of the sun. See Deuteronomy 16:6; Joshua 10:26, 27; Mark 1:32. The day properly begins and ends with the setting of the sun. “Saturday” and “Sunday” are heathen names, and are applied to two days beginning and ending midnight, according to the change made by the heathen. The “seventh day of the week” begins at sunset on the sixth day, commonly called Friday, while “Saturday” does not begin until midnight, several hours later. Those who rest on “the Sabbath day according to the commandment” begin their rest at the setting of the sun on the sixth day. Thus the Sabbath of the Lord begins several hours before “Saturday” begins, and ends several hours before the beginning of “Sunday.” Strictly speaking there are no, or at the most very few, observers of the first day of the week, which begins and ends at sunset. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.6
7. Let it therefore be understood that whenever the PRESENT TRUTH mentions the Sabbath, it means “the Sabbath according to the commandment,”-the seventh day of the week,-the day immediately before the first day of the week. Let it never be supposed that the PRESENT TRUTH calls Sunday either the seventh day of the week, or the Sabbath. For all this it claims no other authority than the plain word of God, and for this or any other religious act it will recognise no other authority than that. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.7
“Pilgrims and Strangers” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
The people of God are, and have been in all ages, pilgrims and strangers in the earth. They have been such because it has always been a necessity to them. As servants of God, owing and maintaining their allegiance to Him, there was never any other course for them to take. When man fell, the earth which had been given to him for his possession and his abode as a “son of God” (Luke 3:38) past into the possession of the one by whom the man was overcome. Man was overcome by Satan, and became his servant; for the Scripture says, “of whom a man is overcome, of the same is He brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19. Consequently all that man possessed passed under the dominion of Satan. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.8
Satan thus became the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and he spake not untruly when he said to Christ on the mount of temptation that all the glory of the kingdoms of the world was his, and he gave it to whomsoever he would. Luke 4:6. The world became his dominion, and all the descendants of Adam became his subjects. The vast majority of these have chosen to remain under his rule, but a few in every age have renounced the dominion and service of Satan, through the provision made therefore by the sacrifice of Christ, who died to redeem man and that which man had lost. By thus renouncing allegiance to Satan they necessarily renounced all desire for home or position in the kingdoms of this world. They looked by faith to a future country, and to a city whose builder should be the Lord. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.9
The promise was made to Abraham that he should be the heir of the world. Romans 4:13. Isaac and Jacob were heirs of the same promise. Hebrews 11:9. The Seed of Abraham, which was Christ (Galatians 3:16) was also Heir with Abraham, and all who are Christ’s are heirs likewise. Galatians 3:29. But Abraham received not the dominion of the earth, nor has it yet come to any of his descendants. “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now,” being still under the dominion of the author of pain and death. Romans 8:22. Abraham sojourned by faith in the land of promise, and “looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:10. And his descendants, the spiritual seed, also died “not having received the promises,” but having confessed by their lives that they were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Hebrews 11:13. When the heavens and the earth that are now, which by the word of God are reserved under fire (2 Peter 3:7), shall have passed through the burning day, and from their ashes creative power shall have called forth a “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13), then the promise will have its fulfillment; the meek shall inherit the earth, and “the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and shall possess the kingdom for ever.” Daniel 7:18. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.10
The children of faith have never reckoned this world to be their home, or counted its riches and honour and power as the objects for which their efforts here should be put forth. They have never been imbued with the idea of subduing a part or all of the dominions of the god of this world, so as to make it the dominion of Christ. They have never looked for a country here wherein should dwell righteousness, or in which they should be anything else than strangers and pilgrims. For earthly power and dominion they have never sought nor cared. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.11
But with the subjects of Satan it has been just the reverse. They have never counted themselves pilgrims and strangers here. Their lives have never declared that they seek a country other than this for the realisation of their ambitions and their hopes. They have sought ever for power, wealth, and honour among men. They have sought for possession and dominion on the earth. And not merely those who made no pretence of allegiance to God-though openly worldly and irreligious-are to be reckoned in this class; it includes nearly the whole Christian church as well. But it is a mark of worldliness, wherever it may be found. Temporal power, temporal dominion, belong to him who is the “god” and “prince” of this world, the one by whom Adam was overcome, and to whom, consequently, he lost his possession, the earth; the one to whom every person not born again yields a natural allegiance; the spirit that has ever ruled in the “children of disobedience.” This is his, to be given to whomsoever he will, and must remain his until the day when “the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up;” for “the heavens and the earth that are now, by the same word [the word of God] are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:7, 10. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 374.12
The church therefore is entirely out of her sphere when she seeks for temporal power; and that person is greatly deceived both in his own heart and in respect to the nature of Christianity, who imagines that it is the church’s place to be established in wealth and power and dominion here, to rule earthly governments and countries and kingdoms. The Church of Christ cannot legitimately fill any position or occupy any station here that is not consistent with that of a stranger and pilgrim in the earth. The mission of the Church, and her only mission, is to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15. Therefore the Church or individual that is looking to any country, or any place in this earth for the attainment of dominion and honour among men, is moved by another Spirit and following another leadership than that of the Author of Christianity. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.1
“Suffering with Christ” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” 1 Peter 4:1. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.2
There are various kinds of suffering, and the severest kind is not that which is of the body alone. The suffering of Christ for us in the flesh was during His whole earthly ministry, and not alone while He was being buffeted by the rude soldiers, scourged before Pilate, and nailed to the cross. In 1 Peter 3:18 we read that Christ “suffered for sin the just for the unjust.” The sins were not His own, but ours. He who knew no sin, was made to be sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.3
“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5, 6. Since He suffered because of our sins, and was bruised for our iniquities, it must be that His suffering in the flesh was all the time that our sins were on Him. But that was from the first, for He was made to be sin for us; He was “made under the law” (Galatians 4:4), literally, “born under the law,” as we read in Revised Version. He was sent “in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin” (Romans 8:3), being in all things made “like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:17. So during the whole of His earthly life Christ was bearing our infirmities, and suffering for us in the flesh. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.4
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15. “For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:18. This is how Christ suffered for us in the flesh. His suffering was in the resisting of temptation. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.5
The first recorded temptation was the forty days’ temptation in the wilderness. The last was in the Garden of Gethsemane. In both these instances He most emphatically “suffered, being tempted.” He kneeled down and prayed, saying, “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:42-44. This was a most powerful temptation of Satan, as is shown by the fact that when Jesus had foretold His sufferings and death, and Peter had said, “Be it far from Thee, Lord [Pity Thyself]; this shall not be unto Thee” (Matthew 16:22, margin), He replied, “Get thee behind Me, Satan; thou art an offence unto Me; for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Verse 23. The same spirit that was seeking, through Peter, to induce Jesus to shun the cross, was working with inconceivably greater force in the garden, for the same purpose. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.6
But in this crowning temptation Jesus was steadfast, as in all others. He was perfectly submissive to the will of God. In that temptation Satan exhausted his power upon the Son of God, but without effect. When that trial was over, the great victory was won. No more temptation came to Him, for there was nothing more that could come. The final victory for man was gained in that night struggle in Gethsemane. Therefore it is to that time that the Apostle Paul directs our minds in the following exhortation:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.7
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of (our) faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:1-4. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.8
Christ did that very thing. In the greatest trial that any being ever passed through, He resisted unto blood. “With His stripes we are healed.” Through His suffering, He “obtained eternal redemption for us.” The victory over sin is to be obtained by us through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we come back to the words, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” What suffering, and what kind of suffering is here referred to?—Evidently to the suffering that Christ endured. Christ suffered for sin; we are to arm ourselves with the same mind; and having done that, His sufferings will be borne in us, and they will prove as effectual in us as they were in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.9
It is no fancy that the sufferings of Christ are to be experienced by men who shall overcome. The Apostle Paul expressed this as his desire, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.” Philippians 3:10. And again, “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:5. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.10
There can be no question but that the man who resists sin as Christ did, will not sin. But the only way in which this can be done, is to have Christ Himself living in us His own life of resistance to sin. He alone of all those who have lived on earth, committed no sin. “Ye know that He was manifested to take away our sin; and in Him is no sin.” 1 John 3:5. God was manifest in the flesh in order to demonstrate His ability to live in the flesh of man. He stands at the door of every heart and knocks, craving admittance. If He is given full permission to come in and take up His abode in any heart, He will resist sin with the same strength that He did eighteen hundred years ago, for He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 375.11
“Essentials and Non-essentials” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
What are the “essentials” and “non-essentials” of the Christian religion? From the ideas expressed by people on the subject it would seem that the “non-essentials” of Christian faith and practice were very numerous. No one, perhaps, would be able to define just what they are, still the belief in their existence is both wide-spread and firm. Of course, if the “non-essentials” cannot be defined, it is equally impossible to say what constitutes the “essentials.” In practice, each individual adjusts the matter to suit himself. The “essentials” he endeavours to put in practise, and the “non-essentials” are practised so long as their observance is not a matter of too great inconvenience. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 376.1
There has been an effort made for many years to bring about a union of the various bodies of Christendom upon the basis of these “essentials” of the Christian faith, but the movement has made little progress. The united wisdom of these various bodies has not been able to produce a satisfactory statement of what these essentials are. The prospect, to many minds, is an alluring one; but the more the ground is explored from which the proposed union must come, the more does the subject become involved in obscurity. There is a vengeance about it which prevents the promoters of the enterprise from getting hold of anything tangible. The basis upon which it must rest is altogether unstable. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 376.2
Turning to the Bible, from whence all truth upon questions of Christian faith and practice must be drawn, we find it altogether silent regarding the “non-essentials” of which we are speaking. The only information it gives on the subject is of a negative kind. And this fact is sufficient to account for the confusion that exists with regard to it in the minds of men; the question is one which exists only in the human imagination, and concerning which each man is his own source of authority. The only authority on the subject-other than the negative information of the Scriptures-is human reasoning, dictated by self-interests. When God wrote the Bible to tell man what things he must do to be saved, He left the non-essentials out. Whatever the Bible has set forth as man’s duty in this relation to God, is essential; and whatever the Bible has left unmentioned, is not essential. All the practices and forms and observances pertaining to religious worship, that are not specified and enjoined in the Bible, are non-essentials. And they are so entirely non-essential that they have no rightful place in Christian faith or practice whatever. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 376.3
This belief in non-essentials pertaining to the service of God is not peculiar to our own day. It has been manifested in all ages. The Bible tells us of the experience of some who held this belief in ancient times. Cain did not think it essential that his sacrifice should consist of a lamb, as Abel’s did, and he brought the fruits of the ground, but his offering was not accepted. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, on one occasion did not think it essential to offer one particular kind of incense before the Lord in the tabernacle; “and there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” Leviticus 10:1, 2. King Saul did not think it essential that a sacrifice to God should be offered by one particular man when it necessitated a long delay, so he offered the sacrifice himself. The sacrifice was the essential thing; the particular person offering it was a non-essential. But when Samuel who was to have offered the sacrifice, appeared, he told Saul that obedience was an essential thing, and that the kingdom should be taken from him for his transgression. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 376.4
The ancestors of the idolatrous heathen did not think it essential to worship God in the particular way that was practised by those who feared God, and decided it would make no difference if they worshipped Him through something that their eyes could behold, just as Roman Catholics to-day think it makes no difference if they worship God through an image, since it is God, and not the image that they worship; but the result was that “they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” Romans 1:22, 23. And their descendants speedily sunk into the lowest depths of ignorance and degradation. It is not necessary to refer to all the examples given us on this point. It is evident enough that man, in venturing upon this ground, does so at a terrible risk. It is evident that the wise and only safe course to be pursued, is to regard nothing as non-essential which is enjoined upon us in God’s word. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 376.5
It is at the peril of our souls that people undertake to decide that there are essentials and non-essentials in that which concerns their duty to God, and to determine what these are. When God speaks, it is man’s place to hear and obey, without reference to his own views of what the situation requires; and when God has not spoken, it is man’s place to know nothing on that point, and to be silent both in word and deed. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 376.6
“Clouds” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Clouds can sometimes look very threatening, but there is only one kind that can really harm us. It is the kind spoken of in Isaiah 59:1, 2:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.1
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.2
No other clouds, however threatening, can shut us away from the Sun of Righteousness. But sin cherished in the heart covers us with a pall of blackness. As long as we hold on to it we cannot see a ray of light. At any moment it is liable to burst upon us in all its fury and carry us down to destruction. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.3
But there is hope for us even then. When we let go of sin and really want it removed, and allow Jesus to speak light into our souls, that instant the cloud disappears and the blessed light shines in. Then He can say to us, as He did to ancient Israel, “I have blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.” Isaiah 44:22. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.4
Trials, sicknesses, and troubles of various kinds are sometimes called clouds. But these clouds need not frighten us at all. They cannot harm us if we but have faith and ever cling to the Master. He is near us though we cannot see Him, for He says so, and “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.5
“Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings o’er your head.”
PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.6
“These very days of dreariness are sent us from above;
They do not come in anger, but in faithfulness
and love;
They come to teach us lessons which bright ones
could not yield,
And to leave us blest and thankful when their
purpose is fulfilled.”
PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.7
“We do not need to see through the dark clouds. We have only to lie in Jesus’ arms and let Him carry us along. He knows the way. To Him ‘the darkness and the light are both alike, and the night shineth as the day.’ PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.8
“A mother took her baby in her arms to carry her up stairs to bed. Through a long hall, and up the circular stairs, without any light she wended her way. The baby clung closely. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.9
“‘Darkee, darkee,’ she lisped, ‘baby ‘faid.’ PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.10
“‘Baby needn’t be afraid, mother knows the way,’ mamma said cheerfully, hugging the little one still more closely; and the baby was quiet, there was no cry or word of alarm. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.11
“When the door was opened into the light, pleasant bedroom, the little one clapped her hands with delight. ‘Mamma knows the way,’ she repeated, ‘baby no more ‘faid.’ PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.12
“In the simple trust of the little child let us contemplate the dark clouds before us. We would prefer sunlight it is true, but if our Father sends clouds it is not to alarm us, only to test our faith. It is that we may get the sweetness, and comfort, and real joy of trusting. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.13
“When we open our eyes in the bright shining of the better land we shall thank God for the clouds through which he carried us so tenderly and safely. ‘I would rather walk in the dark with God than go alone in the light.’” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 379.14
“The Handiwork of Man and God” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
The handiwork, or handwork, of a man is really the work that he has done with his hands. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.1
You can tell a great deal about a man by looking at his works,-the things that he has made. If he finishes off the smaller things as carefully as he does the greater, and takes pains to make the hidden parts as perfect as those parts that are plainly seen, you say that he is a faithful workman. The man who can make a steamboat is wiser, you say, than the one who can make only a row boat, and the man who can by his word set a whole army in motion is more powerful than the one who can send out but one man. The one who chooses to make only those things that are for the convenience and comfort of those around him is more kind than the one who chooses to make things to weaken and destroy his neighbour. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.2
But did you ever stop to think of the great difference between the handiwork of God and the handiwork of man? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.3
The wisest man that ever lived could never make a ship out of nothing, and hang it upon nothing, and cause it to make regular trips year after year, and year after year, for thousands of years. Yet look at the earth which carries millions of people and animals and all the things they need,-their houses, gardens, pasture lands, forests, and everything else, at the rate of thousands of miles an hour. God but spoke the word, and it was. He hung it upon nothing and it does not fall. It daily and yearly travels in its appointed track and passes the stations at the appointed seasons. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.4
Look at its twinkling lights. What man could even count them? Yet they came at God’s call, are upheld by His word, and daily do His bidding; and He knows them each by name. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.5
How perfect even now is the earth in every part! How full of light and beauty! The tiniest flower or the eye of an insect is formed as perfectly as the loftiest tree or the highest mountain. Think of the faithfulness of the Master workman! PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.6
What man could put life into the smallest blade of grass? Yet see grass, flowers and trees, and insects, birds and animals, and men, women and children, all living and growing by the power of the life-giving God. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.7
What man in his handiwork has shown such kindness? Out of the ground grows every tree and plant that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. In the ground are treasures for man and beast. The waters and the air are filled with things of beauty and comfort; and the heavens with their light and warmth and beauty are a continual reminder of the love and kindness and goodness of God, as well as of His glory and power. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.8
How mean, how weak, how ignorant does man appear when we compare his handiwork with the handiwork of God. “When I consider Thy heavens, and the work of Thy fingers, the moon and stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the Son of man that Thou visitest him?” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.9
“The God of nature and of grace
In all His works appears;
His goodness through the earth we trace,
His grandeur in the spheres.”
PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.10
“First Impressions” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Early impressions are always lasting. The ideas which are stamped upon the mind in the plastic period of childhood, do not easily wear away when the material of character has become hardened. How important then, that these early impressions should be truthful, and such as will draw the soul toward that which is good and pure in later years. The following item is to the point:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.11
“Prof. Henry Drummond says he got his first conception of God from Isaac Watts’s old hymnbook in which there was a picture of a great, somber thunder cloud, black as night, in the middle of which was a piercing eye. Since then, though not without struggle and pain, God to him has evolved from a detective into a Father. Well may he say:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.12
“‘It is almost impossible to obliterate childish impressions, and hence we should take the utmost care to guard our children against bad books, bad theology and a bad conception of the Father.’” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.13
“The Firmament” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” Psalm 14:1. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.14
Did you ever watch the steam rising out of the tea-kettle and floating off in the air? If you look at it closely it looks very much like little tiny drops of water floating about. And that is really what it is, for if you hold a cold tin over it, the tin soon will be covered with water. When the sun comes out bright and warm after a rain, you can see steam or vapour, like this, rising from the wet pavements; in a few moments the water that was on them has all gone up in the air, and the pavements are dry. Some mornings when you look out of the window the air is so full of fog, or vapour, that you cannot see across the street. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.15
When the earth was first created, you remember it was all covered with water. Part of this water was in vapours and fogs, like that which you have seen, only very much thicker. Job 38:9. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.16
On the second day, the next day after the heavens and earth and light were made, God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,” that is, Let there be a space between the waters. It was the same as though He had said, “Waters, do not stay together any more, but let there be a space between you.” And it was so! Part of the waters (those which were in vapours) rose right up, away from the other waters (Jeremiah 10:13), and there was a great space between them and the others! And God filled this great space or firmament with air. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.17
Some of these waters which rose up, God bound in thick clouds (Job 26:8), and others float around in such fine specks that we cannot see them. Even in a bright clear day, there is a great deal of water mixed up with the air. And God balances these clouds full of water and keeps them from breaking, and causes them to be driven by wind from one place to another where rain is needed. Then he causes them to let the rain come gently down in small round drops upon the thirsty plants and trees. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.18
When we look up through this great firmament which God made, it looks blue, almost like a blue curtain or roof above our heads. We call it the “sky.” This beautiful space or firmament above us which looks so blue, which is lighted with the twinkling stars, and in which are the air and the wonderful clouds,-this we call the “heavens.” How grand and beautiful! PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.19
We cannot see the air, but we know there is air and wind because we see what it does. In just the same way we know there is a God. We cannot see Him, but we know that God is, for we see all around us and over us the wonderful things that He has done-things that no one else could do. No wonder that the Bible says, “The heavens declare [or tell of] the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” In other words, the wonderful things in the firmament show us some of the glory of God, and some of the work that He is able to do. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.20
1. Did you ever watch it rain? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.21
2. Did you ever catch any rain? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.22
3. What is it? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.23
4. From whence does it come? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.24
5. How did water first get up so high? God put it there. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.25
6. When? On the next day after He made the heavens and earth and light;-on the second day. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.26
7. Did God take the waters in his hands and put them up there, or how did He do it? He did not touch them at all. He just said, “Let there be a firmament [or space] between the waters,” and all at once there was a great space between them; part of the waters rose right up away from the other waters and stayed there! PTUK September 14, 1893, page 380.27
8. Can you make a space between things in that way? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.1
9. With what did God fill the firmamant? Air. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.2
10. What did God do with some of the waters that rose up? He bound them up in thick clouds. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.3
11. And when God sees a certain place in the earth that needs rain, what does He cause these clouds to do? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.4
12. Do we know when the rain is needed as well as God does? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.5
13. Instead of complaining, then, and looking cross when it rains, what should we do? We should be happy, and should thank God for sending the beautiful rain just when we need it. If He did not send it just when He does, we might be ill, or the plants or trees might not grow, and then we would not have any good food to eat. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.6
14. Can you think of anything else for which the clouds are good? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.7
15. When we look up through the vast firmament, how does it look? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.8
16. What do we call this blue that looks so much like a blue roof? The sky. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.9
17. Then on the second day when God said, “Let there be a firmament,” what three things did He really make? The air, the sky, and the clouds. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.10
18. What name did God give to this firmament? or the air and the sky, and the clouds? The heavens. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.11
19. What do the heavens declare, or tell us? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.12
20. And what does the firmament or heavens show us? His handiwork, or the work that He has done. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.13
21. Can anyone but God do such wonderful things? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.14
22. You cannot see the air, but how do you know that there is air? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.15
23. You cannot see God, but how may you know that God is? PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.16
“In the sun, the moon, the sky;
On the mountains wild and high;
In the thunder, and the rain,
In the groves, the wood, the plain;
In the little birds that sing;
God is seen in everything.”
PTUK September 14, 1893, page 381.17
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
-King Milan of Servia is dangerously ill. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.1
-War with the Matabeles is anticipated in South Africa. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.2
-Low water in the Nile is causing considerable anxiety at Cairo. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.3
—The Clyde steamship Alva is thought to have been lost at sea. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.4
-Crops in Norway are reported to have been much damaged by frost. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.5
-Serious apprehensions are felt in India of a renewal of the Hindu riots. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.6
-A strong feeling prevails in France against foreigners residing in that country. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.7
-The attendance for the first three months at the World’s Fair numbered 7,000,000. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.8
-The Primrose League is gaining numerical strength. The membership is now 4,160,561. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.9
-The Czar has ordered the Russian autumn manuvres to take place on a magnificent scale near the Austrian frontier. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.10
-A revolutionary plot which was to have been put in effect Aug. 14, in Spain, was discovered and suppressed by the government. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.11
-It is estimated that the unemployed number ten per cent. of the workmen of the country, or three quarters of a million men. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.12
-According to the latest news from Uganda the country is quiet, and the natives are cordially co-operating with the missionaries. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.13
-News by steamship from Japan, received at Victoria, B.C., report the destruction of several Japanese villages by fire, with terrible loss of life. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.14
-The latest use of aluminium is in the manufacture of slate-metal. It is claimed that the metal will mark on slate, will not break, needs no pointing, and will last a long time. A German company is now engaged in this manufacture. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.15
-Roman Catholic mission stations in the province of Hupoh, China, have been attacked by mobs, which compelled the priests to flee for their Iives. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.16
-A good deal of the sugar now used is made from beetroot. France has this year grown 4,715,000 tons of the root for manufacturing purposes. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.17
-A collision took place between a World-Fair express and a goods train near Batesville, Indiana, resulting in the death of six persons and injury to many others. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.18
-The city of Rio Janeiro is in a state of great excitement owing to the demand made by the commander of a Brazilian squadron lying off the city, for the resignation of the government. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.19
-In spite of the recommendations of the supreme sanitary board, the Austrian Emperor insists upon the military manuvres taking place in Galicia, though the district is cholera-infected. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.20
-The Tower Bridge, now nearing completion, will have cost £800,000. In its construction there have been used twenty-four million bricks, 415,000 tons of granite, and nearly 16,000 tons of iron and steel. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.21
-A widespread Nihilist conspiracy against the life of the Czar is reported to have been discovered at Moscow, leading to the arrest of a large number of university students and several professors. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.22
-September 4 was “Labour Day” in America Processions representing the various industries passed through the streets in all the leading cities and towns and no serious disturbance was reported in connection with the demonstrations. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.23
-The coroner for East London held sixteen inquests in one day, nearly all the deaths having been brought about through strong drink. On account of the extraordinary evidence the coroner asked if there were any sober people in the neighbourhood. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.24
-A circumstantial report has reached London of the death of Emin Pasha, which states that he was killed by Arabs in the Manyema country out of revenge, together with his escort of thirty Nubian soldiers, and their bodies devoured by cannibals. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.25
-Reports from the various districts affected by the coal dispute indicate a gradual collapse of the strike. Disturbances have been reported among the miners in Derbyshire, and in South Yorkshire, and at several collieries the strikers have done much damage. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.26
-The Home Rule Bill passed the House of Commons by the usual government majority, and is under consideration by the House of Lords, by whom it will doubtless he thrown out. The promoters of the bill do not look for its passage by both houses prior to 1895. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.27
-The cholera epidemic in Europe shows no signs of abatement. At Grimsby and Hull cases continue to occur daily, and the disease is marching inland, one death having occurred in the district of Masborough, Rotherham, and one also among the employees in the House of Commons. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.28
-A railway collision occurred near Chicago, resulting in the death of ten persons and injury to twenty-five others. Another collision occurred between a passenger express and an accommodation train thirty miles from Valparaiso, Indiana, about twelve persons being killed and many injured. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.29
-A popular vote in Toronto, Canada, on a proposal to run street cars in the city on Sunday, resulted in showing a majority of 1,000 against the proposal, out of a total of 27,000 votes. Compared with a similar vote taken in January, 1822, it appears that the number favouring Sunday cars has increased by nearly 3,000. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.30
-The Roman Catholic congress connected with the World’s Fair at Chicago began its session in the morning of September 4, to continue for ons week. A glance at the programme for the session shows that the purpose is to promote the effort that is being made by the Pope and the Catholic Church to win the favour of the labouring classes. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.31
-A terrible railway disaster is reported from New York, a part of the Western express, one of the fastest trains on the Boston and Albany Railway, having fallen through a bridge over the Westfield River, near Chester, Massachusetts. The engine had safely crossed the bridge (which was under repair) when the latter gave way, and four cars were precipitated into the river. Fifteen passengers were killed outright, and thirty-six injured, many fatally. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 382.32
“Back Page” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
Speaking of the martyrs of 1593, Mr. R. F. Horton said in a recent sermon:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.1
“There still exists in England a kind of tyrannical public opinion which forces men into specific forms of worship when they have no heart in the matter; and we want to realise, as these martyrs did, that it is better not to worship at all than to worship under compulsion, or to worship with any ulterior ends of social or pecuniary gain.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.2
It is stated in The Hospital, that about five and a half pounds of tea, per head, are consumed annually in England. This is equal to about thirty-seven gallons of the fluid; and this makes no note of those who do not drink it. The paper above referred to says that the people are yielding with all the weakness of the inebriate to nerve and stomach diseases consequent on tea-drinking. It anticipates the time when temperance advocates will plead with people even to substitute beer for the more harmful tea. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.3
The New York Observer is now publishing a series of articles, the object of which is to prove that Calvin had nothing whatever to do with causing the death of Servetus. It has been but a few years since the same paper published a series of five articles designed to show that Calvin was justified in compassing the death of the brilliant Spaniard. The inconsistency is one that will always occur when faith is built upon fallible men instead of the infallible word of God. He who builds only on the word, is never put under the necessity of making apologies. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.4
“They that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee, for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.” Psalm 9:10. What is the name of the Lord? It is a “glorious and fearful name,” and here is, proclaimed by the Lord Himself: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Exodus 24:6, 7. To know God is to love and trust Him. To know Him is eternal life. It is impossible for one to know the Lord and not to trust Him. Consequently it is only those who do not know the Lord, that will be destroyed. But no one need be unacquainted with Him, for He has declared His named in all the earth. “O taste and see that the Lord is good; there is no want to them that fear Him.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.5
There are very few more pernicious ideas than that the majority must always be right, or that, right or wrong, the majority ought always to have their own way, regardless of the wishes of the minority. Here are some plain and simple statements of fact from the New York Independent, which are worth thinking about:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.6
“The majority may rule like tyrants, to the suppression of the rights of the minority, a majority can make slaves of a minority, and has done it often. That only is a free government in which the minority as well as the majority are free, a principle not easy always to understand or to apply. It is a very common and a very subtle and dangerous error to imagine that the majority has the right to interfere with the liberty of the minority, either through the tyranny of law, or the tyranny of society, where the tyranny of voluntary organisation.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.7
It is said that in Tinnevelly it is the native custom to use a necklace, instead of a ring, in the marriage ceremony, and the Church of England missionaries there have consented to change the marriage service so that it reads, “with this necklace I thee wed.” Some of their brethren at home, however, are protesting against the crime involved in the change. The thing which puzzles us is to know what connection either a ring or a necklace has with a wedding. How a man can wed a woman with a ring or a necklace any better than without, is one of the mysteries that nobody has ever attempted to explain. In this, as in many other things, custom that has come down from pagan antiquity, stands in place of a reason. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.8
In the September number of the Contemporary Review, Archbishop Farrar gives expression to some vigorous Protestantism. He denies that he is a priest, except in the “sense in which all Christians, laymen every whit as much as presbyters, are so-called;” and He declares that his office is simply that of presbyter. Speaking of the Church of England, he says: “If she taught the doctrines of Sacerdotalism, of Transubstantiation (or anything at all akin to it), of unconditional priestly absolution, and of the duty of auricular confession, I for one would leave her communion tomorrow, and in leaving it I would shake the dust from off my feet.” As there is a large and influential body of men who hold that the Church of England does teach those things, it is more than probable that the Archdeacon and others may have an opportunity to show their Protestantism in a practical way. The High Church party has scant courtesy for “Protestants.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.9
“Asking Amiss” The Present Truth 9, 24.
E. J. Waggoner
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” So wrote the apostle James in his letter to the church. Thus it is with a great many prayers that are offered to-day. “If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us.” 1 John 5:14. But the majority of prayers that are offered are not asked “according to His will,” but according to the will of man. A notable instance of this is now before the public. The committee on religious congresses at the World’s Fair have issued a request for universal prayer on behalf of these great religious conclaves, in which we find this paragraph:- PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.10
“It is suggested that on one day in September the religious teachers of the world call public attention to this first great effort of mankind to realise their common religious fraternity. And the request is earnestly preferred, and sent out to all those who believe in a divine order and the government of the world, and to work and wait for a kingdom of God on earth, that during the month of September in 1893, at some special time and places of public worship, devout supplication should be made that this historic meeting of the children of one Heavenly Father may be blessed to the glory of His name, to the advancement of spiritual enlightenment, to the promotion of peace and goodwill among the races and nations, and to the deepening and widening of the sense of universal human brotherhood.” PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.11
Thus all sounds pretty good, but we can have no faith whatever in any prayer that is offered to God with the spirit and the understanding that the Christian religion can unite with pagan systems of worship and be placed on a level with them in a common religious fraternity, or in behalf of the enterprise which seeks to bring this about. Nothing of this kind can be according to the will of God; for the will of God is revealed in His word, which makes a difference as high as the heavens between the Christian religion and all other religions whatsoever. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.12
We would suggest that this great congress be opened by reading these words from 2 Corinthians 6:14-16: “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” Pending the answers to these questions, it will be in order to entertain a motion to adjourn sine die. PTUK September 14, 1893, page 384.13