The Present Truth, vol. 9
December 7, 1893
“Front Page” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
Physical power moves the arm of men, intellectual power the arm of the nation; but spiritual power moves the arm of God. Prayer can set in motion the mightiest force in the universe. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 561.1
“Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are,” although he stands out boldly in sacred history as one who had power to shut up heaven so that it should not rain, and to open heaven and bring down its rain or its fire upon the earth. We are not to think of Elias, or Moses, or Isaiah, or the other prophets, as men different in their origin or nature from ourselves. They were all subject to the same passions, and of themselves had no more power than we have; but they yielded themselves to God, and thus became instruments in His hands. That is all the difference. When we will fully yield ourselves to Him, God will make us His instruments,-not, perhaps, to call down fire or to withhold rain, but to do work which is no less His work, and no less honourable and needful than that done by His prophets of old. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 561.2
We are apt to think that the work of God is some visibly great work, something that affords some striking manifestation of superhuman power and majesty, like some of the mighty miracles never performed by the prophets or the apostles. But this opinion comes only from the finite nature of our human minds. The human mind would naturally have concluded that the Lord was in the wind, or the fire, or the earthquake, that passed before the fugitive Elijah on Mount Horeb; but we learn from the record that God was not in these, but in this “still, small voice.” It is “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 561.3
We are told that John the Baptist “did no miracle,” and yet Jesus said, “Among men that are born of woman, there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.” His work was the work of preparing the way for the Son of God, and as the prophet tells us, every valley was exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked was made straight, and the rough places plain. Isaiah 40:3. That was as great a work as was ever done through men. And so likewise our work is no less a great work though there be nothing about it especially calculated to arrest the eye or startle the senses. If through us the still small voice speaks, and is heard by other hearts around us, we are doing a greater work than that of producing tornadoes and earthquakes. It is a mightier miracle to work upon and change the human heart, than to work upon inanimate matter, which has been given no will power of its own. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 561.4
The power of God is the same power in all ages, and the same in all persons through whom it is manifested. And all persons through whom God manifests His power are the same in nature; all are of like passions with ourselves. If we will believe this, it will be to us a source of much encouragement. Elias had power to shut up the rain or to call it down, and to bring down fire from heaven. These are the two grand agents of destruction,-the one, that which destroyed the earth in the days of Noah, the other, that which will destroy it again in the day of Judgment, which comes in our day. But to the righteous, God places even these agencies of His wrath in subjection. And so we, men of like passions with Elias and all the prophets, having like them the righteousness of God, who is the “same God over all” and equally “rich unto all them that call upon Him” may have all confidence in the day of His appearing. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 561.5
“True Riches” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
True riches do not consist in the possession of gold, or real estate, or government bonds, or any of the many things which we commonly associate with the idea of riches. True riches cannot be seen with the natural eye. Gold can secure to an individual many advantages, but it cannot save him from accident, loss of physical and mental power, or of life itself. The true riches consist in that which secures to the soul the highest blessings, and benefits which will never be lost. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 561.6
True riches are not laid up in earthly banks, but are stored in the bank of heaven. We are exhorted, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Matthew 6:19, 20. In another text we are told how to lay up treasure in heaven: “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.” Luke 12:33. By disposing of our earthly riches, in the right way, we may obtain the true riches. That which is done for the sake of Christ here, is a deposit in the bank above, which will never be lost. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 561.7
But the true riches cannot be purchased with money. The obtaining of them is not dependent upon the possession of earthly wealth. The poorest and humblest of mortals possess them as well as the kings and potentates of the financial world; yes, even easier, for earthly gold is naturally a barrier to the possession of the wealth of greater value. And this is the satisfactory thing about the true riches,-all may have them. Inequalities of earthly fortune are no barrier in the way of any in obtaining this wealth. It is a gift, and anyone may have it who will take it. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 561.8
The faithful and true Witness says, “I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.” Revelation 3:18. Are you seeking for earthly wealth? Pause and listen to these words of Christ, for they are addressed to you. His counsel cannot be disregarded except at a price which no man can afford to pay. You are not too poor to buy, for we buy of God, “without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1. And what is the “gold tried in the fire”? The fire is that which will enable us to endure it. Peter refers to this in language addressed to those who “now, for a season, if need be, .. are in heaviness through manifold temptations.” He says, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6, 7. The gold is faith, and faith, we are told, “worketh by love.” Galatians 5:6. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.1
Have you faith and love? If not, you may buy them “without money and without price” of Him who counsels you to obtain them. He has such gold to sell; He has gold that has been tried in the fire. It is His own faith and love, which were tried in the furnace of affliction while He was “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” here on the earth. It is faith and love that have stood every test to which humanity can by any means be subjected. If such faith and love are in our hearts, they will keep us amidst all the trials and temptations of this life, as they kept the Saviour while He lived and walked in human form among the inhabitants of Judea. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.2
Are you seeking for earthly riches, to the neglect of the true riches, the gold tried in the fire? If you are, then God says unto you, “Thou fool” (Luke 12:20); for “so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:23. Seek first the true riches, and all other riches will come after them,-if not immediately in this life, then when our brief existence here is ended; for the children of Abraham by faith are heirs with him of the whole world. Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:7. “Hearken, my beloved brethren,” writes the Apostle James, “hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?” James 2:5. Are you one of the “poor of this world”? Then be satisfied if you are “rich in faith;” for you are an heir of all things, and no reversal of fortune can take the inheritance from you. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.3
The Apostle Peter writes, “And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindest charity.” 2 Peter 1:5-7. Here is marked out the road to wealth, and all may enter it who will. There are not too many competitors in the way to lessen in any degree the certainty of success. These are golden steps, at the top of which are riches that infinitely exceed all the fortunes of earth, awaiting whomsoever will come and take them. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.4
“The Purpose of Truth” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
To the Jews Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.5
The Saviour here stated the purpose for which men need the truth. Not that a man may be exalted, not that he may be exalted, not that he may take advantage of his fellow-men, but that he may be free, is the purpose for which he should search for the truth. If men could first realise that without the truth they are in bondage, they would search for the truth with more earnestness and with a different spirit than is commonly to be seen at the present time. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.6
How often are Divine truths treated more as curiosities than as living principles which can save the soul. The Bible must not be searched as though it were but a great museum filled with the relics of the religious thought and life of a bygone age. Its truths are not given for the purpose of gratifying any inclination of the natural heart. Their purpose is, as Paul wrote to Timothy, to make men “wise unto salvation.” He who comes to them with any other purpose in view will fail entirely of attaining the end which God by their means has placed within his reach. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.7
To the tempter Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The word of God has been given to men that they may live. Life is in it, and if men will feed on the word, its life will be in them. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.8
When God spake the law amidst the lightnings and thundering of Mount Sinai, the terror-stricken Israelites removed afar off and said to Moses, “Let not God speak with us lest we die.” God cannot speak to man directly, for he cannot bear it. So He has veiled His terrible Majesty in the flesh of humanity, and His word has come to us through His apostles and prophets, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. But it is none the less the word of God, and no less entitled to our reverence and implicit faith than though it came sounding in our ears with the awful tones of the voice of God, accompanied by lightnings from heaven, and convulsive tremors in the earth. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.9
If the Jews had accepted the truth which Christ gave to them, it need not have been written of them, as it was by Paul, that “Jerusalem which now is... is in bondage with her children.” Galatians 4:25. But they did not want truth for the purpose of becoming free, for they imagined themselves to be already in possession of freedom. The use they made of truth was to exalt themselves, to bind it upon their garments in ostentatious display, while they flattered themselves that they were thereby elevated above the remaining majority of mankind. And they were elevated above them in point of privilege, but that only laid upon them a greater responsibility of obedience to the Divine requirements. Having only their own exaltation in view, they lost sight of the truth they most needed to learn,-that Christ had come to free them from bondage, and that only by accepting Him they become “free indeed.” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.10
Self blinds the spiritual eyesight to the needs of the soul, so that the individual fails to see that he needs the truth-the word of God (John 17:17)-because he is in the bondage of sin, and thinks that the chief value of truth is to exalt him above his fellows. It leads him to view the study of the word of God as an optional matter, and not a necessity. No one can see the grandest and most important truths that are to be known, so long as self stands in his line of vision. When we approach the word, self, with all its preconceived wisdom, must be put away. We must come with a sense of our need, and a belief that life and freedom are contained in its sacred truths. He who will do this will know the truth, and experience the “glorious liberty” prepared for the children of God. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 562.11
“The Church vs. Christ” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
It is well-known that Archdeacon Farrar and Canon Knox Little appear as the champions of the evangelical and the Romanist parties, respectively, in the Church of England. Farrar protests against the idea of a sacrificing priesthood, the Mass, and auricular confession, all of which Knox Little defends, claiming that the Church of England prayer book authorises them. The latter has written a reply to Farrar’s denunciation of Sacerdotalism, which reply is highly commended by the Church Times in its issue of November 24. On the point of receiving the communion fasting, as to whether or not it is as a mere matter of self-denial, or as an honour to the Lord, whose real presence is claimed to be in the bread and wine, the Church Times says:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.1
This particular phase of the question does not, however, touch the essential point of Canon Knox Little’s controversy with Archdeacon Farrar on the binding force of the custom of the Catholic Church. The Canon does not go as fully as we could wish into the important question whether it is sinful to break the fast before communion. No one has ever stated that it is wrong in itself to eat food before communion; but if the established custom of the church is the law for Christian people, and that is one of the fundamental principles of jurisprudence, then there must be sin in breaking such law, just in proportion as there is willful disregard of ecclesiastical authority. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.2
There is much more in this than the simple question of fasting communion and the real presence. The whole matter of the source of authority in matters of religion is involved. Is it “the church” or is it Christ? If “the church” is decided to be the source of authority, then the question is, What is the church? If “the church” is the lawgiver, who are they who are to obey? It is evident that as soon as it is claimed that “the church” has the power to make laws, it is also claimed that “the church” consists of something else than the body of professed believers in Christ. For in this latter case, we should have the anomaly of the individual members making laws for themselves, and that would be anarchy. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.3
The idea that “the church” is the lawgiver, therefore, implies that a certain class compose “the church,” and that all who join the church must join those few, so that joining the church would be something distinct from joining Christ. This is the Roman Catholic theory, that “the church” consists of the “clergy,” and that they control and make laws, while the people-the “laity”-have only to obey their “superiors.” This is founded on Cyprian’s dictum that “the church is in the bishop.” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.4
We hope our readers will pay special attention to this point, because it is the very foundation of the Papal fabric, and because that idea has so strong a hold upon professed Protestants. What “our church” says and allows, and the “customs of the church,” have a great deal to do with directing the course of many who nominally repudiate the pretensions of Rome. And now, having called attention to the main point involved, let us see where the sole authority in matters of religion rest. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.5
Read again Ephesians 5:23, 24: “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be subject to their own husbands in everything.” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.6
Again, we read that God hath set Christ “at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to in the church.” Ephesians 1:20-22. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.7
Here we find that Christ is the Head in all things; that “the church” itself needs to be saved, and is to be subject to Christ. It is subject, therefore, and not in authority. It needs to be saved from sin, instead of being the one to set the standard of righteousness. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.8
Again we read, “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.” James 4:12. Who is that one Lawgiver?—The prophet Isaiah answers: “The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King: He will save us.” Isaiah 33:22. “Sin is the transgression of the Law.” 1 John 3:4. And since God is the one Lawgiver, it is evident that sin is the transgression of the law of God, and not of any law of “the church.” If anyone ever should sin in deviating from any custom of “the church,” it would be only because he violated the law of God, and not because he did not conform to the custom of “the church.” When “the church” presumes to originate customs and laws, or when it claims lordship in customs and laws which Christ has given, it is usurping the place of Christ, the true Head, and thereby becomes antichrist. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.9
“The Authority for Sunday” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
In the same connection as that which we have quoted in the preceding article, the Church Times proceeds to speak of the necessity for people to be present at communion, whether they partake or not. This “necessity” is of course on account of the custom of “the church.” Speaking of Canon Knox Little’s treatment of this subject, under the head of “Eucharistic Worship,” the Church Times says:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.10
He pleads earnestly for the liberty of the English Churchmen to be present at the offering of the Holy Sacrifice, whether they are going to receive or not; but it is not so much a question of liberty as of duty. It is as much a custome of the Catholic Church to hear Mass every Sunday as it is to receive Holy Communion fasting. We might ask Archdeacon Farrar why he insists on the observance of Sunday, as we suppose he does, and he could give no adequate answer except that it is enjoined by the Church; but the same Church has laid down as the one obligatory devotional exercise the hearing of Mass, whilst communion on any other Sunday than Easter Day is left to the conscience of each individual. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.11
We should very much like to know how Archdeacon Farrar, or any other professed Protestants, would answer the above question. It really seems as though it is the “evangelical” portion of the Church of England, that is in the dilemma, while the Romanising portion is consistent. We say consistent, but not correct. The “Protestants” reject the Mass and fasting communion, as Romish customs, while they cling closely to Sunday observance, which has no other authority than the custom of the Roman Catholic Church. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.12
Ask a Ritualist or an avowed Roman Catholic why he keeps Sunday, and he can promptly reply, “Because it is a custom of the Church.” Ask a professed Protestant why he keeps Sunday, and he can make no other reply; for the Bible gives no more sanction to Sunday observance than it does to the worship of images. But in returning that answer, the professed Protestant would convict himself of inconsistency, because he indignantly spurns the Mass and other customs of the same church. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 563.13
The truth is that the Roman Catholics have not nearly so difficult a task before them, to win England back to the allegiance to Rome, as many suppose. If Churchmen and other observers of the first day of the week, do not repudiate that practice as strongly as they ever did the Mass and the infallibility of the Pope, they will be forced into the Catholic Church by their own sense of consistency. It will not be long before the issue will be set squarely before them, and we wait with deep interest to see what they will do. May God help many thousands of them to accept the truth. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.1
One word more ought to be added. We have said that if a professed Protestant were asked why he keeps Sunday, he could make no other reply then that it is the custom of “the church.” And therein he would show that he is not indeed a Protestant. Not all professed Protestants would make such an answer. We know of many who, if they were asked why they keep Sunday, would each promptly and emphatically reply, “I do not.” If asked why not, he would reply, “Because I am a disciple of Christ, and because Sunday observance has no authority but that of “the church.” If asked what he does do, he would reply, “I keep the Sabbath of the Lord our God,-the seventh day of the week,-upon which Christ, ‘by whom the worlds were made,’ rested, and which He blessed and sanctified, and of which He declared Himself to be Lord; the day which He Himself observed when He was on earth.” Who would dare accuse him of sin in thus following the precepts and practice of the Lord? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.2
“A Free Conscience” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
The following item is from Truth:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.3
A striking example is reported to me from Gloucestershire of the manner in which religious persecution is still practised in our midst. In the village of Brockworth feeling has recently run very high between the High Church and Low Church parties. The vicar and the High Church party being in the ascendant, the Protestant Union sent out lay-readers to hold private religious meetings. A cottage where such meetings were held was occupied by a woman whose son was gardener to a lady connected with the High Church party. The son was actually informed that his mother must stop the meetings at her cottage, or he must take lodgings in another house and undertake not to support his mother out of his pay. The young man naturally declined to accept either alternative. As a consequence he was summarily dismissed from his situation. Such is the extent to which liberty of conscience prevails in rural England in 1893. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.4
Such is the extent to which religious bigotry prevails in “rural England in 1893,” and doubtless in cities as well. But the writer is mistaken in supposing that such actions are any infringement of liberty of conscience. The incident itself shows that the young man’s conscience was not bound. No laws nor persecution can better any conscience that is not already in chains. God has placed the conscience beyond the reach of narrow-minded bigots. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.5
“Putting the Creature Above the Creator” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
At the dedication of a Catholic church, called St. Joseph’s in a town in Wisconsin, U.S.A., the preacher, who had among his hearers Monsignor Satolli and the bishop of the diocese, delivered the following:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.6
Joseph was the head of the family; the foster father of Jesus; the spouse of Mary. Jesus was subject to him, so the Scriptures say, not only loving him, but was a dutiful child, obeying him readily. A mere wish of Joseph had the power of command for Jesus. The relations of the three are not now changed, although the surroundings are; the Virgin Mary is still the spouse of St. Joseph, as Jesus is still the foster child. That Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, is still the perfect spouse, and Jesus still subject to Joseph, his foster father, gives some idea of the high position in heaven of Joseph; with the exception of the blessed Virgin he alone of all the saints, takes for strength; for even Mary and Jesus pay homage to Joseph, what they could pay to no one else. Therefore his influence with the Fountain of Grace must be powerful; a mere wish of Joseph equalling to Jesus as a command. This immense influence Joseph uses in the interest of the welfare of his clients, and as protector of their temporal interests. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.7
The New York Independent, from which we clipped the above, says of it: “This is very curious language, and makes assertions which no human being living can justify by any knowledge.” That is true, but it is no less the truth. The whole truth is that it makes assertions the falsity of which every living person can demonstrate by the surest knowledge. We will note three points. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.8
Take the statement that Jesus pays homage to Joseph, and that Joseph exercises authority over Jesus, using his influence over Jesus in favour of his “clients.” That would make Joseph superior to Jesus, and the most important factor in the salvation of men. Now let us read a few Scriptures. Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, said of Jesus, “Neither is their salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be say.” Acts 4:12. The name of Joseph and of the Virgin Mary are excluded. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.9
Again, after speaking of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Apostle says: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name that is above every name; that the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.” Philippians 2:9, 10. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.10
The scripture tells us that Christ “upholds all things by the word of His power,” and that after he had “by Himself purged our He our sin” He “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:3. To make Him pay homage to a created being, is to exalt the creature above the Creator. This fact, therefore, shows that Roman Catholicism is the direct, lineal descendant of heathenism. See Romans 1:21-25. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.11
Again, the Apostle Peter assures us by inspiration that Jesus “is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him.” 1 Peter 3:22. The Bible affords ample evidence by which anybody may detect the fallacy of the assumption that there is any creature that is above Jesus, or that divides honours with Him. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.12
But the simplest and strongest evidence has not yet been given; that is that neither Joseph nor Mary are in heaven, to influence Jesus by their prayers or commands, or to look after the temporal interests of earthly “clients.” Not only so, but they are utterly unconscious of and indifferent to all the idolatrous adulation that is paid to them. Read the words of Scripture:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.13
“The living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.14
“Put not your trust in princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:3, 4. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.15
These two texts are sufficient to settle for ever any question as to the souls of the departed being in purgatory or paradise. If the Scriptures were believed, there could never be any saint worship, prayers for the dead, or masses to help souls out of purgatory. Of all the faithful souls of old, the apostle says that they have not received the promise, “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:40. When the Lord descends, and the last trump sounds, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living changed, and together all will meet the Lord, and ascend with Him to heaven. “And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. Then Joseph and Mary, with all the redeemed saints, will render humble and grateful service to Jesus, the only Mediator between God and man, the Saviour of mankind. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 564.16
“Rome Is Gaining” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
The English Churchman of Nov. 16, contained some correspondence between the Protestant Alliance and the Home Secretary, in regard to Roman Catholic processions. They refer to a royal proclamation issued in 1852, warning against violation of an Act of Parliament passed in the tenth year of George IV., which enacted that no Roman Catholic ecclesiastic nor member of any of the religious orders of the Church of Rome, should exercise any of the rites of that Church, or wear any of the habits of his order, except in the usual places of worship. The Protestant Alliance calls attention to the report of the Roman Catholic procession, and prays Her Majesty’s Government to take steps to enforce the law. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.1
The Home Secretary promised that the matter should receive attention. About three weeks later, having received no reply, the Alliance sent another letter to the Home Secretary, asking what action had been taken, whereupon the Secretary replied that Her Majesty’s Government did not purpose to take any action in the matter. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.2
This decision is all right in itself, for such a discrimination against Roman Catholic processions was unjust, and out of place; nevertheless the incident shows that a great change has taken place in the attitude of the English Government towards the Roman Catholic Church. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.3
“Women’s Christian Temperance Union” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
There is a “Women’s Christian Temperance Union” in a town in Nebraska, U.S.A., which has introduced a new line of work. Its members, some of whom are the wives of the leading men in town, and all of whom had been considered highly respectable, got the idea that some of the young ladies of their acquaintance were not as discreet as they should be. Accordingly they set about reforming them. Decoy letters were written to the young ladies, who were thereby induced to visit the park in the evening. There they were seized, bound, and gagged by the eminently respectable ladies aforesaid, who wore masks. After all the girls had arrived, they were most cruelly flogged by the women, who were armed with great whips. Some of the girls in their struggles had their clothes nearly torn from them. Of course great indignation was aroused, but the women gloried in their deed and boldly justified themselves. The affair has been compromised by each of them paying a nominal fine. They still retain the name “Christian,” and are preparing an extended sketch of the raid for the publication. The worst of the matter is that many people who recognise the dastardliness of such conduct, will think that it is really prompted by Christianity, since its perpetrators bear the name. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.4
“Rome’s Challenge to Protestants” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
The watchful eyes of Rome are ever alert to discover a wrong move in the camp of Protestants. They are alert to note any vantage ground which may be given her through the blindness and perversity of those with whom she is contending for the mastery. Rome is wise. She has access to the treasured wisdom of centuries of experience, and inconsistency has not blinded her eyes to the true situation. And she has discovered a vantage ground of the utmost importance to her ends,-one from which she can compel the large majority of Protestants to acknowledge themselves inconsistent in their course for the past three hundred years, or to admit (tacitly if not openly) the claim of Rome that not the Bible alone, and the Bible as interpreted by itself, the Bible as interpreted by the Church “Fathers,” and tradition with it, is the correct basis upon which the Church of Christ should rest, a claim as false as it is presumptuous. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.5
This vantage ground for a successful warfare with Protestantism as represented by the various so-called “orthodox” sects, she has long seen; but the time has now come when Protestants themselves, by their frantic seeking for State aid to uphold one of Rome’s institutions, have given her the opportunity of using this vantage with telling effect; and our Rome has risen to the occasion, and has issued a challenge to the Protestant world for a combat on the latter’s own ground, which they must either accept or ignore. But if they accept it, Rome well knows that the ground is utterly untenable for them, professing as they do that the Bible and the Bible alone is their only rule of faith. And on the other hand, if they reject or ignore it, it is a tacit confession of their own weakness, which in the popular mind must greatly tend to the advantage of Rome. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.6
This challenge appears in the Catholic Mirror, the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons in the papacy and the United States. Its nature will appear from the following heading under which the Mirror published four leading editorials, one for each of four consecutive weeks:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.7
The Christian Sabbath: The Genuine Offspring of the Union of the Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church His Spouse. The claims of Protestantism to any Part Therein Proved to be Groundless, Self-Contradictory, and Suicidal. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.8
The following short quotation from the Mirror’s first article will set in view the leading facts of the situation: PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.9
Our attention has been called to the above subject in the past week by the receipt of a brochure of twenty-one pages, entitled “Appeal and Remonstrace” embodying resolutions adopted by the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists (Feb. 24, 1893). The resolutions criticise and censure with much acerbity, the action of the United States Congress, and of the Supreme Court, for invading the rights of the people by closing the World’s Fair on Sunday. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.10
The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as their teacher, who can find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from the seventh to the first. Hence their appellation, “Seventh-day Adventists.” Their cardinal principle consists in setting apart Saturday for the exclusive worship of God, in conformity with the positive command of God Himself, repeatedly reiterated in the sacred books of the Old and New Testament, literally obeyed by the children of Israel for thousands of years to this day, and indorsed by the teaching and practice of the Son of God whilst on earth. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.11
Per contra, the Protestants of the World, the Adventists excepted, with the same Bible as their cherished and sole infallible teacher, by their practice, since their appearance in the sixteenth century, with the time-honoured practice of the Jewish people before their eyes, have rejected the day named for His worship by God, and assume, in apparent contradiction of His command, a day for His worship never once referred to for that purpose, in the pages of that sacred volume. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.12
After noticing the “loud and impassioned invectives” against Sabbath desecration, with which Protestant pulpits so often ring, and “the fanatical clamour of the professed Protestant ministers throughout the length and breadth of the land, against opening the gates of the World’s Fair on Sunday,” the Mirror proceeds to an examination of the ground upon which Protestants stand in their observance of Sunday, from the standpoint of “the Bible, and the Bible alone.” “The discussion of this paramount subject,” it declares, is not “above the capacity of ordinary minds, nor does it involve extraordinary study, it resolves itself into a few plain questions, easy of solution“:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.13
First, Which day of the week does the Bible enjoin to be kept holy? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 565.14
Second, Has the New Testament modified by precept or practice the original command? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.1
Third, Have Protestants, since the sixteenth century, obeyed the command of God by keeping ‘holy’ the day enjoined by their infallible guide and teacher, the Bible; and if not, why not? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.2
It is not our purpose to reproduce all that the Mirror says in its examination of the texts of the Old and New Testaments, which relate to the observance of the Sabbath. The examination is conducted in a style both clear and logical. As Sunday is never once referred to in the Bible as the Sabbath, there is no great chance for argument from the standpoint of “the Bible and the Bible alone,” since there is only one side to the controversy. All that can be done is to examine the texts which speak of the Sabbath, and note the fact that in every case reference is made to the seventh and not to the first day of the week. Anyone with a Bible and concordance can make the examination for himself. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.3
Some statements made by the Mirror “in conclusion” will show the attitude of Rome towards Protestants in this matter. She says:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.4
The history of the world cannot present a more stupid, self-stultifying specimen of dereliction of principle than this. The teacher demands emphatically in every page that the law of the Sabbath be observed every week, by all recognising it as “the only infallible teacher,’ while the disciples of that teacher have not once for over three hundred years observed the Divine precept! That immense concourse of Biblical Christians, the Methodists, have declared that the Sabbath has never been abrogated, while the followers of the Church of England, together with her daughter, the Episcopal Church of the United States, are committed by the twentieth article of religion, already quoted, to the ordinance that the Church cannot lawfully ordain anything “contrary to God’s written word.” God’s written word enjoins His worship to be observed on Saturday, absolutely, repeatedly, and most emphatically, with a most positive threat of death to him who disobeys. All the Biblical sects occupy the same self-stultifying position which no explanation can modify, much less justify. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.5
Their pretence for leaving the bosom of the Catholic Church was for apostasy from the truth as taught in the written word. They adopted the written word as their sole teacher, which they had no sooner done than they abandoned it promptly, as these articles have abundantly proved, and by a perversity as wilful as erroneous they accept the teaching of the Catholic Church in direct opposition to the plain, unvaried, and constant teaching of their sole teacher in the most essential doctrine of their religion, thereby emphasing the situation and what may be aptly designated “a mockery, but delusion and a snare.” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.6
And now notice how history sustains Rome in this attitude, as shown in the following language of a Protestant writer:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.7
“It was upon this very point that the Reformation was condemned by the council of Trent. The Reformers had constantly charged, as here stated, that the Catholic Church had apostatised from the truth as contained in the written word. ‘The written word,’ ‘The Bible and the Bible only,’ ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ these were their constant watch words; and ‘the Scripture, as in the written word, the sole standard of appeal,’ this was the proclaimed platform of the Reformation and of Protestantism. ‘The Scripture and tradition,’ ‘the Bible as interpreted by that church and according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers,’ this was the position and claim of the Catholic Church. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.8
“This was the main issue in the Council of Trent which was called especially to consider the questions that had been raised and forced upon the attention of Europe by the Reformers. The very first question concerning faith that was considered by the council was the question involved in this issue. There was a strong party even of the Catholics within the council, who were in favour of abandoning tradition and adopting the Scripture only, as the standard of authority. This view was so decidedly held in the debates in the council, that the pope’s legates actually wrote to him that there was ‘a strong tendency to set aside tradition altogether, and to make Scripture the sole standard of appeal.’ But to do this would manifestly be to go a long way toward justifying the claims of Protestants. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.9
“By this crisis there was devolved upon the ultra-Catholic portion of the council the task of convincing the others that ‘Scripture and tradition’ was the only sure ground to stand upon. If this could be done, the council could be carried to issue a decree condemning the Reformation, otherwise not. The question was debated day after day until the council was fairly brought to a standstill. Finally, after a long and intense mental strain, one of the ultra-Catholic members came into the council with substantially the following argument to the party who held for Scripture alone:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.10
‘The Protestants claim to stand upon the written word only. They profess to hold the Scripture alone as the standard of faith. They justify their revolt by the plea that the Church has apostatised from the written word and follows tradition. Now the Protestants’ claim, that they stand upon the written word only, is not true. Their profession of holding the Scripture alone as the standard of faith, is false. Proof: The written word explicitly enjoins the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. They do not observe the seventh day, but reject it. If they do truly hold the Scripture alone as their standard, they would be observing the seventh day as is enjoined in the Scripture throughout. Yet they not only reject the observance of the Sabbath enjoined in the written word, but they have adopted and do practice the observance of Sunday, for which they have only the commission of the Church. Consequently the claim of “Scripture, alone as the standard,” fails; and the doctrine of “Scripture and tradition” as essential, is fully established, the Protestants themselves being judges.’ PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.11
“There was no getting around this, for the Protestants’ own statement of faith-the Augsburg Confession, 1530,-had clearly admitted that ‘the observance of the Lord’s day’ had been appointed by ‘the church’ only. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.12
“The argument was hailed in the council as of Inspiration only; the party for ‘Scripture alone,’ rendered; and the council at once unanimously condemned Protestantism and the whole Reformation as only an unwarranted revolt from the communion and authority of the Catholic Church; and proceeded, April 8, 1546, ‘to the publication of two decees, the first of which enacts, under anathema, that Scripture and tradition are to be received and venerated equally, and that the deutero-canonical [the apocryphal] books are part of the canon of Scripture. The second decree declares the Vulgate to be the sole authentic and standard Latin version, and gives it such authority as to supercede the original text: forbids the interpretation of Scripture contrary to the sense received by the church, ‘or even contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers,’ etc. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.13
“Thus, it was the inconsistency of the Protestant practice with the Protestant profession, which gave to the Catholic Church her long-sought and anxiously desired ground upon which to condemn Protestantism and the whole Reformation movement as only a selfishly ambitious rebellion against church authority. And in this vital controversy the key, the chiefest and culminative expression, of the Protestant inconsistency, was in the rejection of the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, enjoined in the Scriptures, and the adoption and observance of the Sunday as enjoined by the Catholic Church. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.14
“And this is to-day the position of the respective parties to this controversy. To-day, as this document shows, this is the vital issue upon which the Catholic Church arraigns Protestantism, and upon which she condemns the course of popular Protestantism as being ‘indefensible, self-contradictory, and suicidal.’” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.15
The question is, What are Protestants going to do about it? What are they going to reply to Rome’s challenge? or will they make no reply at all? Whichever it be, they are in a sad dilemma, for who does not see that Rome intends to make vigorous use of the weapon which they by their inconsistency have put in their hands, to greatly accelerate the influx from without into her fold? There is just one thing left for Protestants to do to save themselves from the overthrow in which such weakness must end, and that is to stand squarely and consistently upon the position defined in the rule they profess to have adopted,-“the Bible and the Bible alone,”-by repudiating the Sunday sabbath as an institution not sanctioned by Scripture, and returning to the Bible Sabbath, the “Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” the seventh day of the week. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 566.16
But it is not a question for some denomination or body, but for you. What are you going to do? It is a question between your own soul and your God. Will you observe the Sabbath which He has instituted as the memorial of His creative power, and thus acknowledge yourself a worshipper of the true God, “that made heaven and earth,” or will you cling to the Sabbath which “the Church” (of Rome) actuated by that spirit of apostasy which Paul said in his day did “already work” (2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8), instituted as the sign of her authority, thus repudiating the principle of “the Bible and the Bible alone,” and making yourself a worshipper of that power which stands in opposition to the power that creates and redeems? The issue is raised; the decision must be made; and upon your choice will depend your eternal welfare. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 567.1
“Christmas in Gaol” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
In his account of how he spent Christmas in an gaol, Mr. W. T. Stead pays his respects to gaol chaplains as follows:- PTUK December 7, 1893, page 567.2
Gaol chaplains have great opportunities, and some of them are great frauds. There was one wretched creature who was officially charged with ministry to my spiritual welfare when I was in Goldbath Fields, who might have been a tolerable groom, although I should have been sorry for his horses, but who as chaplain was simply intolerable. Our chaplain at Holloway was a good old gentlemen, well-meaning and diligent. But even he occasionally set our teeth on edge. I nearly threw a hymn-book at his head that Christmas morning in Holloway. I am sure that I was not very wrong in repressing that healthy, instinctive desire to emphasise my protest against his inhuman doctrine. The good man was appealing to his congregation to lead better lives, and in the course of his appeal he said, “I do not appeal to you by your love for your wives and children; I do not appeal to you by your domestic sympathies and your love of home. The fact that you are here shows that you have long ago trampled all these finer feelings out of existence.” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 567.3
He says also that “there is no doubt that their office tends to harden them from human beings into near perfunctory machines.” This is doubtless true, and it is not through the fault of the men themselves, but their office as officers of the State. A man who has to preserve his dignity as a government officer cannot possibly show the loving sympathy with sinners and unfortunate men, that should be shown by a servant of Christ alone. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 567.4
“Which Shall It Be?” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
In the solemn scene grouped together on Calvary we have all the three possible forms of death. We have the death of the Sinless; we have the death of the sinner who repents; and we have the death of the sinner who puts away repentance. Which of the three shall yours be? It cannot be the death of the Sinless. That belongs to Jesus alone. Therefore your death, as that of a sinner, is limited to two possibilities-that of the penitent and that of the impenitent. How awful is that of the latter, close beside the former, and Christ as near to the one as to the other, only to be put willfully and, as far as we see, hopelessly away. In that other criminal, as near the opened fountain, as welcome, had he asked it, to the living water, no conversion is seen; in his last end there is no testimony and no prayer, and if he believed not that Christ was He, must he not have died in his sins? It is as fixed as destiny, but it is fixed by choice. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 569.1
Were it not for the equal promise, revived by the record of all the great sinners whom the Cross has saved, we should all despair; but as it is we all may and, if we believe it, must hope. He who remembered that penitent in His own hour of mortal sorrow, will not forget us now. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 569.2
“Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.”
PTUK December 7, 1893, page 569.3
“Look Up!” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
Looking done, when there is a crown of glory just above his head! Looking down, raking to himself the worthless straw and small sticks and the dust of the floor, when there are the eternal riches hanging over him! Dressed in filthy rags, when there are beautiful garments awaiting his upward look! What is the matter with the man? Why does he not look up? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 571.1
Should we not rather ask, What is the matter with us! and why do we not look up? For have we not been doing just what this man is doing? Have we not been so taken up with the perishing things of earth that we have lost sight of the imperishable treasures? Have we not become so accustomed to looking down that it is well-nigh impossible to look up, even when we are told of the priceless riches above us? And have we not drawn our “filthy rags” of self-righteousness close about us, and failed to realise that we are “wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 571.2
‘Tis true that the Father of all has filled the earth and seas with wonders for the comfort and service of man; and “He has made His wonderful works to be remembered,” and to be appreciated; but they were made to lead our minds upward and not downward, to cause us to worship and serve the Creator and not the creature. He plainly tells us that we are to set our affections “on the things above, and not on things on the earth”; thus we are to “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world,” for “the world passeth away and the lust thereof.” “Here we have no continuing city,” but we are to “seek one to come, whose builder and maker is God” for He hath prepared for us a city. We are to be “strangers and pilgrims” here, with our citizenship in “a better country, that is, an heavenly,” His own “meek and quiet Spirit.” Is there bread and water on earth? there is better Bread and Water in heaven. Are there mansions down here? there are better mansions up there. Have we friends below? we have a better Friend above. Do we belong to the royal families of the earth? it is better to be sons and daughters of the King of kings and Lord of lords. There are no pleasures and no treasures of earth but that will soon pass away never to return. Therefore the Lord counsels us to lay up our treasures in heaven where moth cannot corrupt nor thieves break through and steal, and to seek the pleasures that are for ever at His right hand. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 571.3
Then let us “look up.” Let us seek “first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” If we look down and seek earthly things, we shall receive only earthly things, but if we look up and seek first the heavenly, we shall receive both the heavenly and all that is necessary of the earthly! PTUK December 7, 1893, page 571.4
“A Three Days’ Work” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
A man can make but a few things in three days, even when he works hard and has plenty of material out of which to make them. But did you ever stop to think of a great number of wonderful and beautiful things that God made in only three days? And the greatest wonder of all is that He made them by His word! PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.1
On the first day, you remember, God made the heavens and earth and light. On the second day He made the firmament, that is, the air, and sky, and clouds. On the third day He gathered the waters together into seas, caused dry land to appear, and all kinds of grass, herbs, and trees to grow. He just said, Let these things be; and they were! There are so many stones and grains of sand in the earth, so many trees, plants, and flowers on the earth, and so many clouds above the earth, that no one but God can count them. But in all these things that God made, He made no mistakes. He looked at them and behold they all were good. Just think, God made things by His word; He made so many in only three days that no man can count them; and He did not make a single mistake! How much more wise and powerful than any man. And He it is who is our heavenly Father, who loves us and cares for us, and gives us everything that we have; who loves and cares for the smallest thing that He has made. Surely we need not be afraid to trust such a Father. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.2
1. What are carpenters? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.3
2. Did you ever watch them at their work? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.4
3. How many things can a man make in three days? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.5
4. How many things did God make in only three days?—So many that no man can count them. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.6
5. Out of what did He make them? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.7
6. Can we make things thus? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.8
7. And did you ever see a man who never made mistakes? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.9
8. Did God make any mistakes in His work? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.10
9. Which, then, is wiser and more powerful, God, or man? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.11
10. What does He do for the smallest thing that He has made?—Loves and cares for it. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.12
11. What does the Bible call Him? “Our heavenly Father.” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.13
12. Do you think that we need to be afraid to trust such a Father? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.14
13. What did God make upon the first day? Genesis 1:1-5. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.15
14. Which part of the day comes first, the dark part, or the light part? Genesis 1:5, last part. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.16
15. Which do you like better, light or darkness? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.17
16. How may our path always be as pleasant as the shining light?—Proverbs 4:18; John 8:12. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.18
17. With what was the earth at first covered? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.19
18. What did God say on the second day?—“Let there be a space, or firmament between the waters.” Genesis 1:6. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.20
19. And what happened?—Part of the waters rose right up from the other waters and were bound up in clouds, and the air was made in which they float. Genesis 1:7. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.21
20. Can you see the air? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.22
21. And how do you know that there is air? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.23
22. How may we know that God is? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.24
23. What did God do on the third day? Genesis 1:9-13. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.25
24. What would happen to us if the water were taken away? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.26
25. But can it cause us to live for ever? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.27
26. Of what fountain must we drink if we would have eternal life? John 7:37; 4:14. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.28
27. Is there enough for all?—“Whosoever will.” Revelation 22:17. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.29
28. What would we do without the riches of the dry land? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.30
29. What does God say about our loving them? Colossians 3:2. Why? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.31
30. Where does He tell us to lay up our treasures? Matthew 6:26. Why? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.32
31. Is God pleased when we do not notice or think about the things that He has made? Psalm 111:4. Why not? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.33
32. Name some other things through which He wishes to teach us useful lessons. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 573.34
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
-A military expedition against the Sofas, a West African tribe, has been started from Sierra Leone. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.1
-The Jews are preparing to emigrate in large numbers from Bessarabia in the early spring. They will go to Argentina. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.2
-The French and Italian Governments have within the past fortnight experienced a reconstruction of their respective Cabinets. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.3
-A serious shock of earthquake has occurred at Montreal. Much injury was done to property, though so far no loss of life is reported. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.4
-News from Calcutta states that a serious engagement has taken place between a force of Gwalior police and a band of Dacoits. Seven of the Dacoits were killed and three of the police. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.5
-Senator Palmieri, the director of the observatory on Mount Vesuvius, after conference with the other officials, has come to the conclusion that the present activity of the volcano presages an eruption on a large scale. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.6
-According to a Tangier telegram the Riff tribes in arms against the Spaniards at Melilla have been sending criers throughout the Shinhaza district, urging the followers of Islam to join them against the Nazarenes. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.7
-The persecution of Stundists and Baptists in Russia continues with unabated severity. The Baptist meeting house at Tiflis has been shut up by the police, and the congregation assembles for worship in the mountains outside of the town. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.8
-During the year ending in March, 1893, the Bible Society has placed on the list of its versions nine which are entirely new. These include one for Central Asia, one for India, two for Australasia, and five for Africa. The total number is now 313. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.9
-One of the largest and most influential Presbyterian Churches of Baltimore, U.S.A., has seceded from the Presbyterian body, as a result of the Briggs controversy which recently ended in the condemnation of Prof. Briggs by the General Assembly. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.10
-The demand for Sunday opening of public, libraries, says the Chronicle, is evidenced by the figures for Sunday attendance at the Manchester libraries during the past year. These show that 314,193 visits were paid in the twelve month, or 6,412 each Sunday. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.11
-Influenza in an exceedingly acute shape is making many victims in the provinces of Posen and East and West Prussia, the disease in many cases developing into inflammation of the lungs. At several manufactories one-fourth of the workmen are on the sick list. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.12
-A Bill modifying the McKinley tariff has been drawn up by the Democratic majority of the Committee of Ways and Means of the United Status House of Representatives. The measure reduces the duty on a large number of articles, and places many others on the free list. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.13
-Volapiik is threatened with a rival universal language called ‘Esperanto.’ The inventor claims for Esperanto that it is equally suitable to prose or poetry. There are only sixteen rules in the grammar, and the language can, it is said, be completely acquired in a few days. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.14
-A Belgrade correspondent of a German paper states that ex-King Milan is again in want, of money, having spent since his abdication 3,500,000 francs. It is feared that the ex-King may attempt a fresh coup d’état, and it is added that he has advised King Alexander to suspend the constitution. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.15
-A coal strike is in progress in Scotland, owing to the refusal of the coal owners to grant the men a shilling advance on the present price of labour. The stoppage is already affecting other industries. Coal has risen more than fifty per cent., and many worker, whose employment depends upon a supply of fuel have been rendered idle PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.16
-A district of Persia comprising the city of Kuchan and the surrounding territory has been desolated by earthquake shocks which began Nov. 17 and continued for a week. The city of Kuchan and neighbouring villages were completely destroyed, with an estimated loss of 19,000 lives, and 50,000 domestic animals. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.17
-The German Emperor, addressing some recruits, said: “I want Christian soldiers who say their Lord’s Prayer. The soldier should not have a will of his own, but all of you should have one will, and that is my will. There exists only one law, and that is my law. And now go and do your duty, and be obedient to your superiors.” PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.18
-A serious railway disaster is reported from Limito, near Milan, an express train having collided with a goods train, owing, it is believed, to a thick fog, which prevented the signals being seen. The wrecked train caught fire, and many people were burnt to death. The loss of life is estimated at twenty-two, and an equal number were seriously injured. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.19
-There are, according to the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, 400 floating wrecks at the present moment in the Gulf Stream within a distance of 1,350 miles. These are a great menace to any vessels of lesser size than the trans-Atlantic liners, as they give no warning of their presence in time to avoid what may be a disastrous collision. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.20
-Emperor William and Count von Caprivi have each been made the recipient of an “infernal machine,” sent by some miscreant unknown. As their suspicious appearance cat. sod them to be turned over to the police and opened by the latter with great care, the plot of the sender failed and no explosion resulted. In unskilful hands, however, the opening would have boon attended with terrible results. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.21
-A late steamer arrival at Victoria, B.C., brings word from Alaska that there have been four earth-quakes during the summer at St. Augustine Island (Chorna Borna), where the mountain is now emitting douse clouds of smoke, forewarning another eruption. The natives, remembering the devastation caused by the eruption twelve years ago, are deserting the island in haste, abandoning all their interests. The last eruption rendered useless all existing charts of the neighbouring waters, causing five shipwrecks. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.22
-A telegram to the Vossiche Zeitung from Kovno, gives an account of a terrible affair which is reported to have taken place at Krosche, a small town in the government of Kovno, about thirty miles from the German frontier. The authorities at that place, it is stated, received orders from the Russian Government to close the local Roman Catholic church, and to prove it this from being done, the Roman Catholics assembled in the church, and occupied it day and night. Finally a detachment of troops led by the government, one night forced their way into the building, and attacked its occupants with drawn swords. Before the building was cleared twenty persons were killed and more than 100 were wounded. The remainder then fled, but were pursued by Cossacks, and in attempting to escape across a neighbouring river, a large number of them were drowned. Some hundreds were taken prisoners, and are to be tried before a court-martial. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 574.23
“‘Can’t Remember’” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
“Can’t Remember.”—One of the most common complaints that we hear from religiously-inclined people is that they cannot remember what they read in the Bible. This they usually attribute to their poor memories. They wish that they had memories equal to that of some of their acquaintances, but since they have been deprived of that blessing, they resign themselves to what they suppose is their fate. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.1
Now the fact is, in nine cases out of ten, that the same people have very good memories. Engage them in conversation on their special line of work, and they will tell all the details, the state of the market, etc., with a minuteness that will astonish you. Some of these “poor memory” people can give you all the gossip of the neighbourhood for years back, without losing a link. And yet they “can’t remember” a Bible text. The man who can in the dark lay his hand on any article among the hundreds or thousands in a shop, where the woman who can do the same thing with her household affairs, or who can tell what every woman of her acquaintance wears, even to the exact shade of every ribbon, cannot tell where a single passage of Scripture may be found. Why is this? PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.2
The answer is simple. The trouble is not with the memory, but with the attention. They give their minds to the one thing, and not to the other. It is the thing that makes a distinct impression on the mind, that we remember. A person may read half a dozen chapters in the Bible every day, in a desultory manner, and not remember anything. It is not to be expected that he should. But let him become so interested in the subject that for the time it fills his mind to the exclusion of everything else, and he will never forget it. It is not always the length of time that one bestows upon a thing, that makes him remember it. If the impression is vivid, a minute will serve to accomplish what hours would otherwise fail to do. It is not by any means always the case, but it is so very often, that “poor memory” is but another name for “poor interest.” That same person will remember without difficulty that in which he is deeply interested. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.3
The writer has often tried a plan which was very effectual in teaching him to remember the location of a text. It was very familiar, would come to his mind at appropriate times, but where to find it he could not tell. To turn it up in the concordance will do in case of emergency, if he must have it then, and the concordance is near; but the trouble is that the concordance is needed time after time for the same text. The first time the writer put the plan into use, he thought the desired text was in Isaiah, but was not sure but that it might be in Jeremiah, or even Ezekiel. So he began at the first verse of Isaiah, and read till he found it. In that case he found it before reading the book of Isaiah quite half through. He never forgot it. Sometimes he has had to read the Psalms half through in order to find a text, and it has paid, because he has not only fixed that one in mind, but has learned many other things as well. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.4
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This is a comforting assurance to those who have little or no ability to read the Bible, or who, by reason of age or infirmity, have little power of memory. There is life in every word that proceeds from God. One need not necessarily know all the word of God, in order to have life from it. If he knows but one word of God, and knows it as the word of God, it is life to him. If he knows more, that is life to him. Of course, if one has much of the word, and ignores part of it, he gets no life at all from any of it; because to ignore one word of God, is to ignore it all, since one life is in it all. Man must live by every word of God; but if only one word comes to him, he will get life from that. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.5
“Back Page” The Present Truth 9, 36.
E. J. Waggoner
The Bishop of Liverpool has just delivered his fifth triennial charge. In it he dwelt upon the “unhappy divisions” in the English Church, which, he says, “are far more serious than any we have ever had to face in the Established Church since the era of the Reformation. He described the church as “drifting, drifting, drifting, and in imminent danger of shipwreck.” He says that the inevitable result of these divisions, if they are not healed, will be “the disruption and complete breaking up of the Establishment to England.” This he regards as the greatest possible calamity, not to the church only, but to the State, so much so that he would far rather see “any one of the sects established in this country, than see the State ceasing to recognise God.” The bishop evidently confounds recognition of a church with recognition of God. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.1
It is stated that in the elections just concluded in New Zealand, the women voters, who exercised the franchise for the first time, gave their votes, as a rule, to the candidate professing Christianity and “advanced temperance.” Many people will doubtless hail this as a wonderful addition to the cause of Christianity, but thoughtful ones will see in it a special bid in favour of hypocrisy. When a profession of Christianity is generally considered essential to public office, every political hack in the world will at once profess Christianity, and will shout himself hoarse in his anxiety to demonstrate the strength of his profession. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.2
From the Chicago correspondent of the Congregationalist (Boston, U.S.A.) we learn that Mr. Stead has been in the former city, lecturing the ministers. The correspondent says: “He has addressed our ministers, and with an earnestness which carried everything before it, urged them to seek some kind of union with the leaders of the Trades Unions. He has secured the appointment of a committee to bring this about.” The result of such an alliance will be simply that the church will carry on its work more in accordance with worldly policy. The proper work of the church is to save people, but no one will ever be converted through trade unionism. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.3
It is estimated that there are about 10,000,000 Spiritualists in America, and 12,000 mediums. PTUK December 7, 1893, page 576.4