The Present Truth, vol. 9
November 30, 1893
“Who Is My Neighbor?” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Who Is My Neighbor?-This is the question that a certain lawyer once ask Jesus. The commandment, “Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself,” had just been quoted, and the lawyer asked the question as though it were a difficult thing to know who one’s neighbour is, so as to show love to him. The reply of the Saviour was the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which it is shown that anyone with whom we may come in contact is our neighbour, and that we are to show helpful love to all. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 545.1
Who Is My Brother?-This is a question that to many minds seems as difficult of settlement as the other. The phrase, “The Brotherhood of Man” is very common, yet it is almost always wrongly used. When used to indicate that all men are equally sure of salvation, whatever their profession or practice, and that all religions are from one common stock, then it is grossly perverted. But there is a sense in which it is true that all men are brothers, and he who studies the Bible carefully will learn that fact. As might be expected, the disciple who loved the Lord the most is the one who has the most to say about love to men. Let us read a few passages. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 545.2
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” 1 John 3:14. Does this mean that loving those who love us is proof of the new birth? The Saviour settled that, when He said, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” Matthew 5:46. A man may be a heathen and do that. So while it is true that they who love the Lord are brethren in a peculiar sense, as members of the household of God, the word “brother” is used in the Bible to indicate any fellow-creatures. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 545.3
“But whoso hath this world’s goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” 1 John 3:17. It is evident that that question is equal to a statement that the love of God does not dwell in a man who refuses to help a needy brother. But suppose we take the term “brother” here in its most restricted sense. Are we to suppose that a man may be indifferent to the wants of another, provided that other is a heathen, and still have the love of God dwelling in him? Certainly not; for the words of Christ have settled that. To be a Christian, then (for a Christian is one who has passed from death to life), means to have love for everybody, no matter who they may be. It is to have love-the love of God-dwelling in the heart. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 545.4
But the next verse settles the matter more clearly yet. “Hereby we perceive the love of God, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” That is, our love in laying down of our lives for the brethren, is of the same nature as God’s love in laying down His life for us. It is only His love in us that enables us to do that. But for whom did He lay down His life? Was it for His friends?—No it was for His enemies. “God commendeth His love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Romans 5:8, 10. The love of God, which is shed abroad in the hearts of Christians, is a love that embraces all mankind. It does not ask who the man is before deciding to give him help. The case then, seems to be this: As far as we are concerned, we are to treat all men as brothers; it must be left for them to show themselves unbrotherly, if they choose. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 545.5
“Heart Condemnation” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
“And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” 1 John 3:19-21. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 545.6
What are we to learn from this? A lesson of condemnation or of comfort? of self-confidence or of trust in God? The average reader sees nothing more in it than this, that if our heart condemns us, we are to know that God condemns us to as much greater degree as He is greater than our hearts. If that were true, then there would certainly be no comfort in the passage. Neither would there be any hope in it. For every man’s heart does condemn him, and if God condemns him also, where shall he go for mercy? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 545.7
Let us first read a verse or two in the book of Romans. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who shall be against this?” “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:31, 33, 34. More forcible still is the rendering, “Who shall lay a charge against the chosen ones of God? God is He that is declaring righteousness. Who is he that is condemning? Christ is He that died.” Or, as the margin of the Revised Version has it, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Shall God that justifieth?” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 545.8
The idea plainly is that when God justifies, nobody has any right to condemn. Moreover, we are told that God justifies, and that is evidence that He does not condemn. God sent His Son into the world as the representative of Himself.” God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” Now read, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17. Therefore God is not condemning even the wicked world, but is seeking to save them. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.1
Now let us go back to the text with which we started. Note the nineteenth verse: “And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.” Here is assurance, not despair. Assurance is necessary when there is something that would naturally cause fear. Sin is in the human heart, and that naturally produces fear of God. We judge God by ourselves, and therefore feel as though we must hide from Him. But when our heart condemns us, there’s something by which we may gain assurance. What is that? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.2
For an answer we have only to read the verses that precede, and we find that the entire chapter is devoted to showing the love of God. It begins, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” The marvellous love is shown in the fact that we are called the sons of God. That God receives sinful men, and calls them sons, is shown by Hebrews 12:5-11. If we were perfect, we should not need chastisement. God’s love is shown in that Christ died for the ungodly, and God justifies such when they believe in Him. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.3
In this we are to assure our hearts before Him, when our hearts condemn us. When we are borne down with a sense of sin, what hope should we have if that was only meant to teach us that God was condemning us to an infinitely greater degree? But “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” So when we are the most conscious of the sinfulness of our hearts, we may the more draw comfort from the assurance that God’s grace is infinitely greater, and that it justifies and saves from sin. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.4
Having seen, even from the common version, that the text teaches confidence in God’s love, which delivers from condemnation, let us read the passage in the Revised Version. “Hereby [that is, by the love of God] shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him, whereinsoever our hearts condemn us; because God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.5
We know that we are of the truth, not from anything that we have done, but because of the love of God, which He shed abroad in our hearts by His Holy Spirit. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Titus 3:5. In this fact we assure our heart whereinsoever our heart condemns us, and find comfort in the greatness of God. For when we are conscious of sin, then is the time when we may trust in the love and mercy of God. And when we trust the Lord our heart ceases to condemn us; because it has no reason to condemn us when God justifies us. So when our heart, through the knowledge of the love of God, has ceased to condemn us, we necessarily have confidence toward God. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.6
Let us for a moment look at this question from the other side. If we are to consider it from the basis of the human heart in one case, then we must do so in the other. Therefore if we are to know that God condemns us because our own heart condemns us, then we are also to know that He justifies us because our own heart does not condemn us. That really leaves God out of the matter entirely. That makes our only ground of confidence our own heart. But “he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” Proverbs 28:26. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” Jeremiah 17:9. If we trust in it we shall be deceived. If our confidence is in the fact that our heart does not condemn us, then we are trusting in vanity. No; our only hope is in God. The only just ground on which our heart will not condemn us, is the knowledge that God does not condemn us. Trusting in His love, we may have strong confidence. Our heart has no business to condemn us when God does not. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.7
So the Bible speaks only encouragement to the sinner. If it did otherwise, we could not be drawn to God, God is great, but He does not wish that fact to be a source of terror to men. In all creation He speaks to us of His power, in order that we may trust Him; for His kindness and mercy are equal to His power. “God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Also unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy.” Psalm 62:11, 12. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 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. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.8
“The Devil’s Best Weapon” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Doubt is the most effective weapon in the hands of Satan. When he can lead a person to doubt, it is but an easy step to open transgression of the Divine will. The devil works by persuasion; he is not allowed to work by compulsion. But to persuade the heart he finds it necessary to fill it with doubt. Doubt is the wedge by which he gains access to the human soul. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.9
The apostle writes, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12. It is unbelief that leads an individual to depart from Him. When Satan came to Christ in the wilderness, he prefaced his temptations by the words, “If thou be the Son of God;” and he prefaces his temptations now also with an “if,” not an honourable one perhaps, but one which nevertheless is felt in our hearts. He uses every means to induce doubt,-the evidence of the senses, the evidence of reason, and even of the word of God; for Satan can quote the Bible as readily as anybody, as we find him doing when he tempted Christ. Of course he perverts its meaning, and is always sufficiently erroneous either in his quotation or his application of it to turn it into a lie; but those not versed in the Scriptures are often deceived thereby. Indeed, whenever the devil cannot deceive a person by getting him to trust in his reason or his natural senses for the discernment of spiritual truths, he will assail him with Scripture (in a perverted form, of course), and then if that person be not grounded in the word of God, he will have nothing to withstand Satan’s attack. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 546.10
We doubt by looking away from God,-by looking away from the Word, which is God manifest in the flesh (1 John 1:1, 14), and letting that Word leak out of our hearts. When we look away from God, our finite eyes see nothing but that which would lead us to doubt. We could see nothing in ourselves, in our neighbours, in science, in philosophy, or in any earthly thing to which we may look, that will testify to the truths which pertain to salvation. Their testimony seems to us to be rather in the opposite direction. Darwin and Huxley looked at science; Voltaire at philosophy. The modern sceptic looks at his neighbours and sees their shortcomings, and many others lose their faith by looking at themselves, but he who looks at God, at His glory revealed in the face of His Son Jesus Christ, leaves no avenue open for doubt. Looking always unto Jesus, you will not stumble in running the race that is set before you. Hebrews 12:1, 2. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.1
“Heathen at Home” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
A friend has sent us a paper from which we clipped the following:- PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.2
We have right in our midst in Lancashire as absolute a heathenism as exists among the dwarfs of central Africa. At Manchester, a little girl of six or seven stepped into the witness-box, and the following conversation ensued between Justice Grantham and her: “Now, my little girl, you go to school? Yes, sir. You know what the Bible is?—No. Nor of Jesus Christ? No. Do you know where you will go if you tell lies? I don’t know. Do you go to school every day? Yes, sir. Do you hear the Bible read?—No, sir. You know what the Bible is?—No. Nor of Jesus Christ? No. Do you know where you will go if you tell lies? No. Do you know it is wrong to tell lies? I don’t know. Do you go to school every day? No.” Needless to say the child was not sworn, and the judge subsequently said it did not say much for the education given in-well, he supposed he should not say Board Schools, because he believed there was some kind of religious education given there. But the reflection in this case is not so much on the school as on the guardians of the child. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.3
The closing remark is just to the point. But some one will say that the guardians of the child may be almost heathen themselves, or they have no regard for God even if they know of Him. Then upon whom does the responsibility rest?—Evidently with the professed Christians, whether ministers or not, whose duty as followers of Christ is to seek and to save the lost. It is a most significant fact, that in a case of this kind the first thought is to fix the responsibility upon the State, or upon some State institution, instead of upon the church. This would not be so if the church had not been shifting its proper work upon the State. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.4
“Christ and Moses” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17. There seems to be a strange prejudice against Moses, on the part of a great number of professors of religion. If anything is quoted from his writings, the reply is, “Oh, that was written by Moses;” or, “That is in the law of Moses;” as though that fact were sufficient impeachment of its authority. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.5
Doubtless the reason for this prejudice is found in the text above quoted: “The law was given by Moses.” The prejudice against Moses is not against him primarily, but against the law, with which he was so closely associated. We do not find people taking exceptions to other portions of Scripture, on the ground of their authorship. Men do not say, “Oh, that was given by Paul,” or, “That is in the writings of Jeremiah,” when passages are cited from those writers. And the reason doubtless is that in the writings of Moses are found the things that most directly cut across the man’s ideas and practices. “The law was given by Moses,” and therefore Moses is discredited. The law is not despised because Moses wrote it, but Moses is discredited because he wrote the law. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.6
No matter what men may think of Moses and his writings, neither he nor they are in the least discredited in the Bible. To those who spoke slightingly of Moses, the Lord said, “Hear now My words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all Mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold; wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” Numbers 12:6-8. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.7
Again, after the death of Moses, it is recorded, “There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel.” Deuteronomy 34:10-12. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.8
Almost the last word of the Old Testament refers to the very last days of the earth’s history, when “the works that are therein shall be burned up,” and the righteous saved; and to the people at that time is given this exhortation: “Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” Malachi 4:4. And then Elijah the prophet is promised, to bring these things to remembrance so that utter destruction may not come upon the earth. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.9
The above text presents the fact that the law of Moses is not something that originated with him. “Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel.” Throughout the books of Moses we find the teaching prefaced thus, “And the Lord said unto Moses.” Accordingly Moses said to the children of Israel, “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Deuteronomy 4:5, 6. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.10
So we find that Moses, like all the other prophets, spoke only the words of the Lord. He made no claims for himself, and nothing originated with him. It is customary to speak of him as a great legislator, but he was such only because he acted as the mouthpiece of the Lord. The law was given by Moses in the same way that precepts were given by the other prophets, and by the apostles. Peter said that he himself wrote, “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour.” 2 Peter 3:2. But the Apostle Paul said, “The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 14:37. He thanked God that the Thessalonians received the word which he preached, not as the word of men, “but as it is in truth, the word of God.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13. The apostles did not give commandments on their own authority, but from God. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.11
While the Lord spoke the ten commandments with His own voice, in the hearing of all the people, the details of the law were communicated to them only through Moses. He it was who wrote them in a book, for the permanent use of the people (for none could look upon the tables of stone in the ark); and to him we are indebted for a knowledge even of the fact that they were ever spoken by the Lord. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 547.12
To throw discredit upon Moses, is to throw discredit upon Christ. The Lord spoke thus unto Moses, concerning Christ, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of Him.” Deuteronomy 18:18, 19. And Christ said to those who did not believe Him, but who professed to believe Moses, “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believed not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?” John 5:46, 47. So whoever slights Moses, thereby rejects Christ. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.1
GRACE AND TRUTH
Turn again to the statement that the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. That is not an intimation that there is a contrast between the law and the truth, for the law is the truth, as we read, “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth.” Psalm 119:142. The contrast is between the power of Moses, and that of Christ. The contrast is the same that would be between Christ and any other man than Moses. The greatest man that ever lived is only a man, while Christ is God, having life in Himself. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.2
In order to get the full force of the words which we have quoted from the first of John, we should read from the fourteenth verse to the eighteenth. With these connect the first verse. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.... And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.3
Neither Moses nor any other men can put truth in the hearts of men. The righteousness of God is that which we are exhorted to seek (Matthew 6:33), and that is expressed in the law of God. Isaiah 51:5-7. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Men may preach, but He alone can put the righteousness and truth of God into the hearts and lives of men. The law was given by Moses; but although the law is righteousness and truth, no man ever yet obtained righteousness and truth from the law. All the law can do is to tell us what we ought to do; but it does not work out its own requirements for us, and in us. It is a grand thing to declare the law to men; it is a most wonderful thing to be used as a speaker for God, to declare His word faithfully; but the best man who ever lived could not save a single soul. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.4
“But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Remember that the law is the truth. Psalm 119:142. So the law comes by Jesus Christ, but it comes with grace. He says that the law is in His heart (Psalm 40:7, 8), so that when He dwells in the heart by faith (Ephesians 3:17), the law is necessarily there; and thus the truth is in the inward parts, as the Lord desires. Moreover since in Him is life, it is manifest that when the law comes into us in Christ, it is life to us. “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.5
Christ is the declaration of God. The exhortation to us is, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. God says, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” But no man hath seen God at any time, and therefore how can we know how to be holy as He is holy?—“The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” Christ is in the bosom of the Father. That is His home. He is with God, because He is God. All the attributes of the Godhead are His, “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Colossians 2:9. “And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” That is, in Christ all the fulness of God is conveyed to us (Ephesians 3:17-19), and consequently all the righteousness of God. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.6
Now it is evident that no man, however good, could do this for us, because in the first place no man can have any goodness except what is necessary for himself, and, in the second place, no man can live in another. No man can live another’s life for him. Only Christ, who gave Himself for us, and who is able to live in us, can bring into our lives the righteousness of God, making His life our own. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.7
GRACE AND TRUTH FROM THE BEGINNING
And now comes the most important question, When did grace and truth come by Jesus Christ? At what particular time in the history of the world does Christ bring the righteousness of the law into the hearts of believers? Is it only since His first advent, and His resurrection? Did God lay upon men before Christ came, the burden of getting righteousness out of the law by their own efforts, and only since His crucifixion give to men the blessing of righteousness through Christ? What saith the Scripture? The first chapter of John is sufficient to settle the matter for us. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.8
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.... And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” John 1:1-18. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.9
What is the Word?—The Word was God. Who is the word?—Christ is the Word. When was the Word?—“In the beginning was the Word.” How far back does that reach?—“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, and yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth hath been from of old, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2, margin. Where is Christ always?—He “is in the bosom of the Father.” What always dwells in Him?—He is always “full of grace and truth.” The law is ever in His heart. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8. What then is the necessary conclusion?—Simply this, that there has never been a time since the existence of man, when the righteousness of the law could not be fulfilled in everyone who would allow Christ to dwell in his heart by faith. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 548.10
THE ENTERING OF THE LAW
But let us particularise. We will take the days of Moses, and the very time of the giving of the law. Surely if we can find that the righteousness of the law came to Christ then, and through Him only, the question will be settled for all time. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, said of Moses, “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the Angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers; who received the lively oracles given unto us.” Acts 7:38. The Angel that spoke to Moses in the mount Sinai was the Angel in whom is the Name of God (Exodus 23:20-23), even the Lord Jesus Christ. That angel was to go before the children of Israel, and lead them into the promised land; and we read that “they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed [went with] them; and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4. The law was ordained by angels, “in the hand of a Mediator” (Galatians 3:19), and there is but one “Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5. Christ, therefore, was in Mount Sinai, and gave the law to Moses, to give to the people. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.1
“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:20, 21. The law could only make sin to appear “exceeding sinful.” Romans 7:13. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. Therefore the giving of the law could only make prominent the sins which already existed by the law. “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” 1 Corinthians 15:56. The law makes sin to abound, not because the law is sin, but because it is the declaration of perfect righteousness. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.2
“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Where does sin abound?—Where the law is. Where was the law?—It was most emphatically at Sinai. Then when was sin made to abound?—Most certainly at Sinai. But what superabounds wherever sin abounds?—“Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Then what was in infinite abundance at Sinai?—The grace of God, which is by Jesus Christ. And what does grace do?—“By grace are ye saved.” Ephesians 2:8. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:5-7. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.3
So we find that in the very giving of the law, by which is the knowledge of sin, the grace of God which brings salvation from sin, was present. For Christ was there, the giver of the law to Moses, and He is always full of grace; grace and truth come by Jesus Christ. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.4
Very forcible are the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians concerning this matter. He says that God has made us sufficient to be ministers of the new covenant; not of letter, but of Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. 2 Corinthians 3:6. Men are associated with Christ in the work of salvation. “As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. God does the work, the apostle says of his desire to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, “Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.” Colossians 1:29. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.5
MINISTRATION OF DEATH AND LIFE
Following on in the third of the second Corinthians, we find the apostle making a contrast between the ministration of death and the ministration of life; the ministration of the condemnation, and the ministration of the righteousness. The law was death, and so it is still to every sinner. Moses ministered only the law to the people, and therefore his was the ministry of death. Yet it was with glory, for as he talked to the people the skin of his face shone so that they could not bear to look upon it. See 2 Corinthians 3:7; Exodus 34:29-35. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.6
But the ministration of the righteousness was there also, for Christ was there in His glory, with grace “according to the riches of His glory.” So we read, “Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech; and not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished; but their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.” The vail over the face of Moses was indicative of the vail that was over their hearts. If their hearts had not been vailed by unbelief, he would not have needed to vail his face from them. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.7
“Which vail is done away in Christ.” Not now merely, but whenever the heart turns to the Lord. It was at that very time done away in Christ. For Moses, who “endured as seeing Him who is invisible,” and who talked with God face to face, did so without a vail over his face. He took the vail off when he went into the mount to talk with the Lord. That which was possible for Moses, was possible for all the people, if they had possessed the same faith that he did. For read what the apostle says further:- PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.8
“Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:17, 18. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.9
Instead of “open face,” read “unvailed face,” as in the Revised Version, and the thought is preserved, for the references to the face of Moses, which was vailed. The vail, however, as we have seen, was on account of the children of Israel. Moses put a vail on his face, to save them the trouble of putting vails on all their faces. It was the same as if all the people had vails upon their faces. For himself no vail was necessary, for He talked with the Lord with unvailed face. Now that the vail was significant of the unbelief that was in their hearts, and was made necessary because of that unbelief, we learn definitely from the next chapter, in which the apostle says:- PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.10
“If our Gospel is vailed, it is vailed in them that are perishing; in whom the god of this world hath planted the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4, Revised Version. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.11
The vail, therefore, is unbelief, and that was the great trouble with the Israelites. See Hebrews 3:18, 19, 4:1, 2. Christ was with them, “full of grace and truth,” but they did not believe, and consequently they were not saved. Moses believed, and he entered into close communion with the Lord, and his face was transformed by the heavenly glory. If they had believed, then they could have viewed the glory of the face of Moses, and even greater glory, for the progress is “from glory to glory,” in an increasing measure. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 549.12
What is the glory of God? It is His righteousness. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 2:23. Sinning is coming short of the glory of God; therefore righteousness is the attainment of His glory. In the account of the first miracle that Jesus performed after He began His earthly ministry, we read, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory.” John 2:21. This miracle, like all others that He did, was one of helpfulness. It was done for the purpose of supplying need. Therefore we learn that the glory of God is manifested in helping the needy. The glory of God is shown in His grace. So John says of the Word which dwelt among us, “We beheld His glory, full of grace and truth.” Those who are made children of God, are “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” Ephesians 1:6. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.1
Therefore the glory of God which transfigured the face of Moses, was an indication of the change in character that would be effected by the glory of His grace, in all who believe. Moses himself received the law not only in his hands, but in his heart, through the grace of Christ, with whom he conversed in the mount. If the children of Israel had had the same faith, they also would have found the same grace and truth by Jesus Christ. Then Moses would have been as much a minister of the new covenant as anyone can be. Not all the Israelites were unbelieving. There were seventy elders who were permitted to see the glory of God, and they at least would be able to look upon the face of Moses. So God made him, as well as the apostles, sufficient to minister the grace of life. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.2
In closing, note that fact that the law was ordained “in the hand of a Mediator,” namely, Christ, who is the “one Mediator between God and men.” What does that signify?—Simply that although the law in itself is death to any man, God did not leave men to deal with it alone. He did not give the law to them by Moses, simply, leaving them to meet it face to face in their own strength; He gave it to them in Christ, in whom it is life, if they would but receive Him. Christ receives the curse of the law again Himself, and passes the blessing of it along to all who believe in Him. He takes the death sting from it, so that in Him it becomes “the law of the Spirit of life.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.3
The law is in the heart of Christ. Out of the heart are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23. Therefore the life of Christ is the law of God. It is not a substitute for the law of God, but it is the very law of God. His life on earth was the manifestation of the law as life; it was a specimen of the life which He will live in every one who will receive Him. He does not change. He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” Therefore His life to-day is the same that it was eighteen hundred years ago. Looking to Sinai we see a statement of the law of which Christ is the Mediator; looking to Judea we see the same law in action; and looking to Calvary we see the life flowing for us, by means of which the law may dwell in us. He is the Mediator of the new covenant, to write the law in the hearts of men; for He dwells in the heart by His Spirit, and thus becomes the Medium through whom the righteousness of the law is wrought out in men. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.4
“‘Evidence’ in Spiritual Things” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
An exchange, speaking of the growing tendency toward dabbling in the occult, of which Mr. Stead with his Borderland is perhaps the most conspicuous example, says,- PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.5
The man who nowadays makes up his mind to be deceived finds no obstacle to complete success. He has always the “evidence of his senses” to help him, and certainly could not find a more efficient ally. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.6
This is true, and it is something which every person would pass unharmed through the midst of the dangerous delusions of our day, should bear in mind. But the evidence of the senses, but the evidence of faith, will be the safeguard against the deceptions which are now coming, and continue to come more and more, in the spiritual realm. The Bible speaks of some upon whom God should permit strong delusion to come, that they should believe a lie, because they received not the love of the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 11. Do you have the love of the truth? If you do, then you have the safeguard against these delusions sent by Satan to draw souls to perdition; for he is to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. Matthew 24:24. And the elect are saved from the deceptions, not because they have keener intellects and finer reasoning powers than other men, but because they are the elect; that is, those who by the love of the truth, have made their “calling and election sure.” 2 Peter 1:10. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.7
The truth is the word of God. “Thy word is truth.” John 17:17. To love the truth, is to love the word of God. The truth is unpopular; it is unpleasant (to the natural heart); it involves sacrifices and hardships. But if you have the “love of the truth,” all this will make no difference in your attitude towards it. You will, like our Saviour, “endure the cross, despising the shame” keeping in view the joy that is set before you, and having “respect unto the recompense of reward.” And our joy, our reward, as Christians, is Christ Himself. He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” If we have the “love of the truth,” we will gladly give up all that we may obtain Him. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.8
“The Open Door” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
“I am the door; by Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9. These are the words of Christ, the Good Shepherd. Again He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6. He is the way and the door by which a man may find access to a more desirable place than he now is in. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.9
By nature, all persons are in a state of bondage. They are born into a prison, and this prison is represented by the carnal nature. Men may not realise the fact, like the Jews who said to Christ, “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man;” but the truth is not affected by man’s ignorance. “Whosoever committeth sin is the bond servant of sin.” John 8:34. All men are by nature sinners. “Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is He brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19. Satan is the author of sin. Satan overcame Adam, and thus the whole human family were brought into the bondage of sin. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.10
But “the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8. The Son of God, therefore, will destroy sin, and when sin is destroyed, its bondage is also gone. Christ is the way out of the dark realm of sin and bondage. He is the door that opens into the realm of light and liberty. In announcing His mission to the world, He quoted the prophetic words of Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” This is release from the bondage of sin. It is the opening of the prison doors to them that are bound by the chains of their own evil natures, so that Satan, through them, leads them captive at his will. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 550.11
The prison door is open; the shackles are loosed. This is the glad tidings of the Gospel to the fallen children of men. Jesus Christ has repealed the law of the realm of bondage, which is the “law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2. He has substituted in its place the “law of the Spirit of life.” He has overcome Satan, and overcome the world, so that all the power of evil in Satan and in the world is made subject to His will, expressed in this law of the Spirit of life. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.1
Why then are not all men free? Ah, freedom has come to them, but they do not know it. Like the poor slave who (as we are told) was kept in bondage by his wicked master in the Southern States of America long years after the emancipation proclamation by President Lincoln, so mortals are kept in ignorance now of that greater emancipation proclamation contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are kept in ignorance by their wicked master, the devil. He does not want anyone to know that there is freedom and light and life in Christ. He could not prevent this freedom to man; so he tries to prevent them from receiving it by keeping them in ignorance of it. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.2
But the message to you, reader, and to all who hear the glad tidings of the Gospel, is, the freedom is here. Life and immortality are here; they have been brought to light through the Gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10. The work of liberation is not a future work, but one already accomplished. It only waits your acceptance. If you say as did Paul, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?” you may also say, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The deliverance is yours, if you will take it. The prison door is open; will you walk out, or remain in your bondage? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.3
“Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” So spake Joshua to the children of Israel, as recorded in Joshua 24:15. They could choose themselves whether they would be servants of God or not. And the same power of choice lies with each of us. The secret of success in this matter lies in the use of the will. We can will to serve God, or we can will to serve the God of this world. “To whom ye yield yourselves to obey,” says Paul, “his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16. Every sin is prefaced by yielding on the part of the sinner; and every righteous act is also prefaced by yielding; but in the one case the yielding is to Satan, and in the other case to God. And the moment of temptation, when it seems that we must fall, we may yield ourselves to Him, and in that condition we will not yield ourselves to Satan, for we are controlled by the one to whom we yield ourselves. And when you yield your will to God, you do not thereby lose your will, for God allies it with His own, which is a source of incalculable strength. And then you will know that “it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.4
“Choose You This Day” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
“Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” So spake Joshua to the children of Israel, as recorded in Joshua 24:15. They could choose themselves whether they would be servants of God or not, and the same power of choice lies with each of us. The secret of success lies in the use of the will. We can will to serve God, or we can will to serve the god of this world. “To whom ye yield yourselves to obey,” says Paul, “his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16. Every sin is prefaced by yielding on the part of the sinner; and every righteous act is also prefaced by yielding; but in the one case the yielding is to Satan, and in the other case to God. In the moment of temptation, when it seems that we must fall, we may yield ourselves to Him, and in that condition we will not yield ourselves to Satan, for we are controlled by the one to whom we yield ourselves. And when you yield your will to God, you do not thereby lose your will, for God allies it with His own, which is a source of incalculable strength. And then you will know that “it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.5
“Christian Growth” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
Growth is the process of development by which that which is immature advances toward a state of perfection. Growth is as much a possibility and a necessity of spiritual life as a physical life. The spiritual life begins with a birth,-the “new birth.” The individual is then a babe in Christ. Were he always to remain a babe he could not become a soldier of the cross, enduring hardness in the service of his Master. He could not partake of the strong meat which, with the more simple “milk of the word,” is provided in the Gospel of Christ. From the condition of a babe, he must pass to that of the full stature of manhood in Christ; and this can only be done by growth. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.6
What are the essentials to growth? Almost anyone can tell what is necessary to the growth of a plant, but scarcely anyone seems to understand what is necessary to development as a Christian. Yet it needs no greater effort to know what is necessary in the one case than in the other. A Christian is but a plant in the garden of the Lord; and spiritual plants, like any other plants, need plenty of water, good soil, and sunlight. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.7
All these the Lord has provided for His garden, and it only remains for His plants to assimilate what they find. But there is a strange perversity about these plants of the human kind, that is not seen in the physical world. The Lord to the prophet Jeremiah complains of His people of old that though He had planted them “a noble vine, wholly a right seed,” yet they had “turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine;” and thus it is with many now who have enjoyed like privileges. There is no fault in the provision that God has made; but there is an evil principle which finds its way into the plant and perverts its nature, causing degeneracy and ultimate loss of all that is noble and good. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.8
It is the nature of a plant to turn towards the sun; but in God’s spiritual garden are seen some plants that try to grow in another way. There are some that try to grow by something inherent in themselves. Of course, no growth can be attained in this way. Imagine a plant trying to make itself grow, exerting itself,-if it could be capable of exertion-to become higher and stronger and to strike its roots more deeply into the soil! The idea is absurd; yet this is what many people think they must do in order to grow as Christians. But Christ said, “which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?” Luke 12:25. Who would think of exerting himself in order to grow physically? It is true that exercise influences growth, but it is not the cause of growth, nor is there anything that man can do to cause it. The principle of development is in every human organisation by nature, and asserts itself as a principle of all living beings; and all that man can do is to secure those conditions within which this principle can operate to the best good of the individual. So it is in the spiritual world. The principle of growth is implanted by God at the new birth, and only needs right conditions to cause the babe in Christ to grow up to the full stature of Christian manhood. Man can interfere with this principle, and repress it, but he cannot create it. But the devil, who understands all this, continually sets men to work to try to make themselves grow by exertion. He would have men think that by taking thought and doing a large amount of good works they can add a cubit to their stature in Christ. And men try this plan, as they have been doing for ages in the past, and keep trying it until they find that it does not work. They find that after years of such efforts, they are not any stronger Christians than they were at the start, nor reach higher up into the spiritual atmosphere of heaven. Then they become discouraged, and the devil, who knew what the result would be, comes and tempts them, and finds them ready to fall an easy prey to his devices. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 551.9
But there is no impossibility in the way of Christian growth. The difficulty was, they did not understand the nature of that growth. They did not know the conditions under which alone it could take place. They were not instructed by that which God has revealed in His word and in nature. A plant grows and reaches up and becomes stronger without any exertion on its own part. It simply looks to the sun. It feels the vivifying influence of its rays, and reaches up toward the source from which they come. The whole process is simply an effort to get nearer to the source of its life. In the soil it finds water and the various elements that enter into its composition as a plant, and the principle of assimilation within it, which it has so long as it looks at the sun, draws up the substances through the roots and into the stem and leaves. The plant simply lets the process go on according to this law of assimilation which its Creator gave it. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.1
So it must be with the plants in the heavenly garden. They cannot grow by looking at themselves; they cannot grow by looking at other plants around them. They must look at the sun. Neither must they exert themselves to assimilate that which is necessary to build them up and make them strong, but simply let the process of assimilation go on according to the “law of the Spirit of life” that has been put within them. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,” is the exhortation that is given us. It will be in us if we will let it. All God wants of any person is to let Him work in him. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.2
Man is continually doing something to hinder God’s work. He is continually putting self in God’s way. He refuses to submit his will to God’s will. And this is all the difficulty about living the Christian life. It is not a difficulty of performing works, but the difficulty of making the right choice, of yielding to God and not to self, of looking to Christ and not to something else, and of letting His mind and His spirit be in us. He is our Sun, the “Sun of Righteousness.” Malachi 4:3. If we will look steadfastly at Him as the plant does at the sun that shines in the heavens, if we will make it our constant effort to turn toward Him as the plant does to the source of its life, and to reach up more and more toward the brightness of His face, we shall experience no difficulty in obtaining the full measure of growth that we desire. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.3
But we need not expect to realise the fact that we are growing, any more than we can realise that we are growing physically by trying to note changes in our stature from day to day. If the plant should turn its head away from the sun to look at itself and see how fast it was growing, it would soon cease to grow; and just so with the Christian. When he tries to see himself growing spiritually he is taking one of the most effective means to stop his growth entirely. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.4
There is no cause for discouragement therefore in the fact we do not at any time realise this process of growth. It is taking place just as truly as it takes place in the physical world, and we need not make the outcome a matter of anxious concern. The outcome will be that which the Apostle Paul describes in his letter to the Ephesians, for whom he prayed that they might be strengthened by the inward presence of the Spirit, “that ye, been rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the length and breadth and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.5
We are not told to grow in the knowledge of self or the knowledge of our sinfulness or that of our neighbours, but “in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18. We cannot know His grace and all His attributes unless we see them; and we cannot see them unless we look to Him. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.6
“A Necessary Distinction” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
The Parliament of Religions at Chicago has been marked by some vehement attacks by men of one religion on another religion, and Christianity, as was to be expected, has had a full share of the storm. Vive Rananda, the popular Hindu monk, says the correspondent of the Chronicle, denounced our commercial prosperity, our bloody wars, and our religious intolerance, declaring that at such a price the Hindu would have none of our boasted civilisation:- PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.7
You come, with the Bible in one hand and the conqueror’s sword in the other-you, with your religion of yesterday, to us, who were taught thousands of years ago by our Richis, precepts as noble and lives as holy as your Christ’s. You trample on us and treat us like the dust beneath your feet. You destroy precious life in animals. You are carnivores. You degrade our people with drink. You insult our women. You scorn our religion-in many points like yours, only better, because more humane. And then you wonder why Christianity makes such slow progress in India. I tell you it is because you are not like your Christ, whom we could honour and reverence. Do you think, if you came to our doors like Him, meek and lowly, with a message of love, living and working, and suffering for others, as He did, we should turn a deaf ear? Oh, no! We should receive Him and listen to Him, as we have done our own inspired Richis (teachers). PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.8
We all know that war, commercial prosperity, and shameful treatment of women, have nothing to do with Christianity, but we see also that heathen nations inevitably associate them with Englishmen, who, as a nation, profess to be Christians. They seem to say, “These be thy gods, O England!” But we must distinguish between Englishmen and Christians; between the seed of Adam and the seed of Christ; between old creation and the new.-The Christian. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.9
[But the trouble is, that the Hindus cannot be expected to make that necessary distinction. It is impossible that they should, since Christians themselves foster the delusion by calling England a “Christian country.” The natural conclusion is that in England all are Christians, just as in a Mohammedan country all are Mohammedans. Where Christianity is identified with any nation, it is placed on a level with Paganism.-ED. P.T.] PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.10
“Englishmen and Machine Guns” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
We expected to hear of the complete and final overthrow of the unhappy chief or sovereign of Matabeleland. How can undisciplined savages, without artillery, withstand or successfully assail Englishmen, who call to their aid the machine gun? It appears that Lobengula knew after the first battle that he was beaten. But the younger men in his rude forces were not so ready to acknowledge the necessary superiority of white men. They insisted on fighting another battle. Individually these savages are brave men. Let them meet any foe on equal terms and they would not easily be driven off the field. The inequality in this instance is too great. Seven thousand Matabele, resolute and daring, attacked the South Africa Company’s forces. After an hour’s fighting even these young warriors were compelled to retreat. What else could they do? The machine gun with deadly aim literally sent forth hundreds and thousands of bullets, which thinned the advancing ranks. And ultimately convinced the most heroic that success was impossible. Of the one thousand wounded or dead natives left on the field of battle, nine hundred were laid low by bullets from the machine gun. The company’s loss was, three killed and seven wounded. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.11
This is not war-it is butchery. It seems to us that the next war in Europe on a large scale will be so revoltingly deadly, so unheroic in its killing, that, while Christians can do none other than weep over the massacre, civilised men must he ashamed of the slaughter. Is it not time to put an end to this horrible business? The four chief sinners among the nations impoverish their populations to perfect weapons and engines of destruction, and in training men to use them. Here is a note of their expenditure on war:- PTUK November 30, 1893, page 552.12
| Great Britain, | £50,000,000 |
| France, | £56,000,000 |
| Germany, | £38,000,000 |
| Russia, | £34,000,000 |
| £178,000,000 |
We hope that the scientific slaughter of so many hundreds of Matabele warriors will make Christendom ashamed of outdoing in real savagery and cruel barbarism the most bloodthirsty tribes on the dark continent itself. We regard the news from the seat of war between the South Africa Company and the chief of Matabeleland as most revolting. War is seen there in its true character. There is nothing so unchristian, so inhuman, so insanely cruel as the slaughter of men by machine guns. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 553.1
[The above is from The Freeman, and the sentiment expressed is one with which all right-minded people must agree. Surely we need not wait until the next war in Europe, in order to be ashamed of the slaughter; and yet, after centuries of it, so-called “Christian Nations” do not seem any more ashamed than at the beginning. Although the Freeman uses a common expression, saying that the slaughter of the Matabele is not war but butchery, it expresses the truth in the last paragraph where it says, that “war is there seen in its true character.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 553.2
But what about the question, “Is it not time to put an end to this horrible business?” How is it to be done? The word of God says: “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence even of your own lusts that war in your members? Ye lust and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain.” James 4:1, 2. So long as the cause of war exists in human hearts, it will be as impossible to stop it by councils and legislation, as it would be to stop a river’s flood by throwing a dam across its mouth. Make the heart pure, and the actions will be the same. This cannot be done by wholesale, but for individuals, through “the preparation of the Gospel of peace.” Soon, however the Prince of Peace will come to reign, and, after a last battle, wars will be made to cease to the ends of the earth.] PTUK November 30, 1893, page 553.3
“A Lesson from the Vine” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
We have learned from the grass that we have no reason to be proud; from the flowers, that God cares for us and is able to clothe us with the purity of the lily; from the tree, that we should be rooted and grounded in Christ and bring forth fruit unto God. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.1
But what can we learn from little vines that cannot even stand alone? We see them creeping along the ground, twining around a string or stick, climbing into trees, and clinging to anything that they can reach with their curly little tendrils or claspers. By noticing carefully see that even they are beautiful and useful, and have a work to do that no other plant or tree can do. We find them clambering over the dull city houses, and hanging graceful festoons down their bare walls. We observe them creeping slyly up the trunk of some dead tree, and throwing over it a mantle of living green. We see them decorating our porches and walls and fences with bunches of fragrant blossoms and bright berries. In the heat of summer we sit beneath the shade in the cool arbour, and in the days of autumn we feast upon the clusters of pink and white and purple grapes that hang from their fruitful branches. No, no, this earth would not be what it is to us without the beautiful vines. The more we look at them and study them the more we see in them to admire, and the more we feel like praising God for this another token of His love. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.2
The grape-vine does not die down every year like the morning-glory and many other vines. It loses its leaves, but the largest stalk that is rooted in the ground remains, and in the spring it puts out new leaves and new branches, and then how fast they grow! PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.3
What makes those young branches grow so fast? What makes them bear such lovely fruit? If you would look just inside of the hard bark which covers the stalk and branches, you would see. There are many little hollow pipes or tubes there, through which a thin watery juice, or sap, goes up from the roots to the leaves, and then from the leaves back again to the roots. It is the sap that runs from the vine into the branches that gives food to the branches, and keeps them alive and makes them grow and bear fruit. It really is the sap that forms the fruit. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.4
You have noticed how quickly a branch withers and dies, but it is broken or cut off from the main vine. It cannot live, or grow, or bear fruit alone, for when it is not united to the vine the sap cannot run into it. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.5
Jesus says that without Him, you are just as helpless as that little branch is without the vine. You cannot bear the fruits of His Spirit alone, any more than a little branch can bear the fruits of the sap alone; for do you not see? you cannot have the Spirit without being united to Jesus, any more than the branch can have the sap without being united to the vine. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.6
Listen to what Jesus Himself says about it: “I am the vine, ye are the branches. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; nor more can ye, except ye abide in Me.” John 15:4. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.7
We learned in our lesson from the trees, that the fruits of the Spirit which we should bear, are named in Galatians 5:22, 23. They are, “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.” They are loving thoughts and looks and actions, kindness to those about us, and doing as Jesus does in all things. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.8
Now “who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” In other words, Who can make these pure, good actions come out of an impure, wicked boy or girl? Not one. It is impossible. There is no good spirit in their heart, so of course there can be no fruits of the good Spirit come out of their hearts. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.9
But if that bad child comes to Jesus, and allows a good Spirit of Jesus to come into his heart and take the place of the bad spirit that fills him, then he can do right and bear all the good fruits of the Spirit, for then he is united to Jesus, the True Vine, and the good fruit-bearing spirit of the True Vine is running through him. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.10
Jesus says, “He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit,” and “herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.11
But when a child tries to do right and bear the fruit of the Spirit alone, without believing in Jesus or allowing the good Spirit of Jesus to come in, he is just as foolish as a little branch would be if it should try to bear grapes alone, without allowing the sap to come into it from the vine. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.12
It is the Spirit of God alone that can do good actions, and we can obtain it only through Jesus the True Vine. Therefore you and I cannot do one good act or overcome one temptation without keeping close to Him and allowing His Spirit to use us as it will. Jesus says, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.13
Now, my child, are you willing to be kept near to Jesus, and willing to let Him use you? Are you willing to give up your own naughty spirit, and allow the Spirit of God to use your hands and feet and tongue and eyes and ears and the whole body? If so, you may be a fruitful little branch of the True Vine and bear much precious fruit to glorify God. If not, the heart of the good Master will be sadly grieved when He comes and finds after all His loving care, that you are bearing nothing but bad, bitter fruit, and that you must be gathered with the bad branches and cast into the fire. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.14
But He is “not willing that any should perish”; He says that He has no pleasure in their destruction. He loves His little branches, and longs to see them all connected with the True Vine, and bearing good fruit so that they never shall need to be cut off. He sees you, and knows how you have been trying to live without Jesus, the Vine. He knows that without Him you will wither and die. He therefore pleads with loving tones, “Turn ye, turn ye; for why will ye die”? Come to Jesus, and then you can live and bear good fruit. Oh, will you come? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 557.15
The fruit tree teaches you to bring forth fruit unto God; the vine teaches you how. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.1
1. What does the grass teach us? 1 Peter 1:24. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.2
2. What may we learn from the flowers? Matthew 6:28-33. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.3
3. What do the fruit trees say to us? Romans 7:4, last part. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.4
4. Did you ever see a grape-vine? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.5
5. What makes its branches grow? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.6
6. What causes its branches to bear fruit? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.7
7. Could they not live and bear fruit just as well without the vine? Why not? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.8
8. What soon happens to a branch when it is taken away from the vine? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.9
9. Of whom should the grape-vine always cause us to think? Of Jesus. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.10
10. Why? Because He says, “I am the True Vine.” John 15:1. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.11
11. Of whom should the branches make us think? Of ourselves. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.12
12. Why? Because Jesus says, “I am the True Vine; ye are the branches.” John 15:5. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.13
13. How is Jesus like a grape-vine? John 15:4. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.14
14. How are we like branches? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.15
15. What can a little branch do without the vine? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.16
16. What can we do without Jesus? John 15:5. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.17
17. But what can a little branch do when it is united to the vine? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.18
18. And what can we do when we are united to Jesus? John 15:5. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.19
19. What kind of fruit does Jesus, the True Vine, bear? Galatians 5:22, 23. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.20
20. Then what kind of fruit will we bear when we are as closely united to Him as the branch is to the vine? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.21
21. What will happen to all the branches that will not allow the True Vine to give them life and strength? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.22
22. Whose fault will it be? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.23
23. What is done with dead branches? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.24
24. Do you and I need to be burned up among the dead branches? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.25
25. What does the loving Father in heaven plead with us to do? Ezekiel 33:11. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.26
26. Tell, now, what the grape-vine says to you? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.27
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
-Prince Alexander, late ruler of Bulgaria died suddenly at Gratz, Austria, where he was buried Nov. 20. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.28
-A Dalziel’s telegram, dated Cape Town, Nov. 22, says: There are reports of great damage done by floods in the north-eastern portion of the colony, especially at Port Elizabeth and Grahams-town and in Aliwah North. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.29
-An Austrian has invented a machine which is said to solve the problem of aerial navigation. The sails are to be worked by steam, and the progression of the machine will be on the same principle as the flight of a bee. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.30
-The committee of the unemployed, finding that their case is not to be considered during the present session of Parliament, have decided to organise a monster procession, when the poverty of East London will be paraded in the West. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.31
-Eighty persons have been arrested recently at Warsaw on suspicion of being connected with a Nihilist conspiracy. The prisoners, who mostly belong to the literary or student class, are lodged in the citadel, and great excitement prevails. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.32
-Reports from South Africa state that the “war” is ended, and that the main portion of the Matabele have placed themselves under the “protection” of the British forces. King Lobengula is reported to have been captured by the raiders of the Chartered Company. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.33
-The civil war in Brazil stilt drags on, with much desultory skirmishing and damage to property, but with no decided change in the positions and prospects of the contending forces. The latest reports from the scene of action are favourable to the Brazilian government. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.34
-In accordance with the new law of March, 1893, the German national fast day was observed Nov. 22, instead of between Easter and Whitsuntide, as has been the case hitherto. The public offices and theatres were closed, all business was suspended, and no evening papers were published. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.35
-The Chronicle’s Rome correspondent, in discussing the prospects of the successor to Leo XIII. in the Papal chair, states that Cardinals Vannutelli and Di Pietro are believed to be the beet candidates for the succession. He adds that the projected canonisation of Joan of Arc seems likely to fall through. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.36
-The police at Montreal became aware of a plot on the part of French Canadians to blow up the Nelson Monument in that city, on Nov. 20, and apprehended three men as they were about to carry out their nefarious design. A strong anti-British sentiment prevails in the French quarter of the city. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.37
-A Madrid telegram represents the state of affairs created by the war in Morocco as critical, and as likely to lead to a split in the Ministry. The Government must, it is declared, obtain terms of peace such as will satisfy public opinion, or it must continue the war without risking international complications. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.38
-A Barcelona telegram states that a nest of Anarchists has been discovered in that city, the police having lighted on an Anarchist club, which they searched, discovering a number of explosives and other things, showing the club to be a revolutionary and Anarchist centre. Two hundred supposed Anarchists are under arrest in Madrid. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.39
-America is suffering from a strike on the Lehigh Valley Railway, which is being accompanied with a good deal of violence. It is reported from Wilkesbarre, Pa., that upwards of 27,000 men will be thrown out of employment owing to the strike. Those men are engaged at about sixty collieries, which will be compelled to close for want of railway trucks. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.40
-A telegram from Quebec states that the greatest destitution prevails among the Canadian Indians. From Labrador to British Columbia reports have been received giving the most harrowing details. One Indian town in the northern part of the province of Quebec has lost every one of its inhabitants by famine. It is known that at least 400 Indians have already perished from hunger, and it is believed that thousands more will starve to death before the winter is over. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.41
-Terrific gales swept over the English Channel, Nov. 19 and 20, and numerous wrecks, with much lose of life, are reported from ail parts of the British Isles and from the coast of the continent. The steamer Hamshire, of London, foundered off the coast, and the crew took to the boats; but in the terrible sea the boats were broken up and twenty-one persons are thought to have perished. Altogether about 240 persons are reported to have lost their lives in the storm, and over 500 have been rescued from sinking vessels. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.42
-Herr Reichard, a Protestant student of theology, and Herr Sonnenburg, a publisher of Troves, were condemned some time ago to six and three weeks’ imprisonment respectively for making a “slanderous” attack on the usages of the Catholic Church, and “insulting” the Bishop of Troves in a pamphlet published by them under the title of “The Holy Coat Pilgrimage to Troves in the Era of Bishop Korum.” The sentence on Herr Reichard has now been commuted into one week’s detention in a fortress, and that on Herr Sonnenburg into a fine of 100 marks. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.43
-The Chronicle says: “The relations between Austria and the Vatican are becoming steadily worse. For centuries past this Roman Catholic country has consistently supported, so far as was compatible with its independence, the claims of the Pope. This, however, carne to an end when it was found that the Pope had, so to speak, given his pontificial blessing to the Franco-Russian entente. The degree of intimacy which the relations between the Pope and Russia have reached is shown by the fact that the Vatican has consented to the Roman Catholic liturgy being celebrated in Poland in the Russian language. The negotiations on the subject have lasted for nearly a century, the Vatican having persistently opposed all appeals for the employment of the vernacular, on the ground that it was the spiritual protector of the Poles. Nov the agreement in question is expected to be signed during the next few days. Needless to say it will carry with it the exposure of the Poles to the Russification of their country through the medium of the Church.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 558.44
“Back Page” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
It is wonderful how good words are abused. “Protection” is one of them. For instance, in view of the way the Matabele have been slaughtered, who could read the statement that “the remainder of the tribe is gradually placing itself under the protection of the British forces,” without being impressed that there is a grand satire in it? PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.1
“Liberty,” especially “religious liberty,” is another term that has had to suffer. Many crimes, both before and since the death of Madame Roland, have been committed in its name. Those who are diligently working to have strict religious teaching in all the public schools, are doing so in the name of liberty, and here is how it works: At a recent meeting of the managers of a certain school in London, a candidate for the situation of assistant teacher was asked if he had “the Archbishop’s Certification of Proficient in Religious Knowledge,” and when he answered in the negative, he was rejected, and another was chosen, whose educational standing was so low that he was ineligible according to the rules of the Board, but who had the Archbishop’s certificate. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.2
Russian “orthodox” missions, it is said, have proved a total failure among the inhabitants of the Kirghese steppes, and will probably soon be withdrawn. Mohammedanism, on the other hand, is being embraced by the Kirghese almost en masse, being spread by Tartar teachers who have always enjoyed the privilege of free proselytism among them. Of course there is little choice between the Mohammedan and Greek religions, but it is a great pity that a people so ready to embrace a new religion should not have had opportunity of hearing and accepting the religion that is unto salvation. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.3
“Christianity-Yes? or no?” That is the way the matter was recently put by Sir Richard Temple, when talking of the School Board election, which would determine the question of religious teaching in the schools. That is the question to be decided by the coming election. No wonder conscientious people tremble when they contemplate the slender thread upon which the existence of Christianity hangs. Just think of it! The fate of Christianity to be decided by a popular election. It may be so with what is known as “English Christianity,” but it is not so with the Christianity of Christ and the Bible. “The foundation of God standeth sure.” Popular elections can neither help or hinder the cause of true Christianity. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.4
The question whether or not the doctrine of the Trinity, according to the definition of the Catholic Church, shall be taught to the little children in the public schools, has been agitating the London School Board for many months. The idea of Christianity that is held by those who are clamouring for State instruction in religion, is shown by a remark of the leading agitator, who said that Churchmen must do all they possibly can “to force this proud Board to bow its head before the Son of Mary.” Such Christianity is on a par with the politeness of the child whose mother takes its head in both her hands, and forces it to make obeisance to a visitor. We believe and are sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that He is God, but we also know that forced homage to Him is no better than professed heathenism. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.5
The coxswain of the volunteer life-saving crew at Aldeburgh, near Harwich, which did good work in saving lives during the recent terrible gales, is a fishermen who has had much experience in life-saving. His father and grandfather both lost their lives in rescuing shipwrecked sailors. When asked, after his return from the work of the last storm, how many lives he had saved, the brave fellow replied, “I’m sure I don’t know; I don’t keep count of ‘em.” That is the way with hundreds who are doing some of the best work in the world. They are not keeping count of what they are doing, so as to report it. It is highly probable that the bravest deeds and the best work that has been done in this world will never be publicly heard of till the Judgment. In many cases the doers themselves are unconscious of it. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.6
The projected beatification of Joan of Arc-so it is announced from Rome-is likely to “fall through.” So poor Joan must wait some time longer yet before she can become a saint. But if it is her life that has made her such, why is it not a fact to-day? Truth is not manufactured by the decisions of men, lay or ecclesiastical. But the “saints” of the Catholic Church are manufactured by that church; and she can as well undertake to manufacture saintliness, as to manufacture saints, since the latter cannot exist without the former. No one, however, can be less concerned over the matter than Joan herself, sleeping, as she is, unconscious in her grave. Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalm 146:3, 4. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.7
“The Next Pope” The Present Truth 9, 35.
E. J. Waggoner
According to advices received from Rome, the Papal world is beginning to be seriously agitated over the consideration of the question of the next pope. The Rome correspondent of the Chronicle says, “The next vote of the conclave seems in truth, almost restricted to two names,-Cardinal Serafino Vannutelli, and Cardinal di Pietro.” PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.8
Whether this statement be correct or not, there is little doubt that Leo’s successor will be an Italian, since only that nationality seems able to afford any abundance the quality of material of which pontiffs are made. History tells of but one English pope. Glancing over the long list of those who have occupied the pontifical throne since early times, we find few other names besides those that are Italian. Germany has fared a little better than England, while America has been left out altogether. The nations which produced the world’s great thinkers, its statesmen, its philanthropists, its missionaries, its leaders and all that tends to the progress and betterment of mankind, do not compare with Italy in furnishing men qualified to stand at the head of “the Church”! PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.9
And this is true enough of the Catholic Church; but it is not true of the true church. The church of Christ needs no man to stand at its head, for her Head is Christ Himself. PTUK November 30, 1893, page 560.10