The Present Truth, vol. 9
March 23, 1893
“Front Page” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
Before Jesus went back from earth to heaven He promised to to send the Comforter-the Holy Spirit-to abide with His people for ever, as His representative. Since it was by the anointing of the Spirit that He accomplished all His work here on earth (See Isaiah 61:1-3), it is evident that the presence of the Spirit is the same as the presence of the Lord. The same instruction, counsel, and works of love that came from Christ, are continued by the Spirit. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.1
In promising the Comforter, Jesus said, “And when He is come, He will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16:8. “By law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. But “the law is spiritual.” Romans 7:14. It is the nature of the Spirit, for the righteousness of the law is the fruit of the Spirit. Therefore there is no conviction of sin in any soul on earth, that is not the working of the Spirit of God. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.2
But while the Spirit convicts of sin it is always a Comforter. It is as a Comforter that it convicts. Few people stop to think of that. Remember that nowhere is it said that the Spirit condemns for sin. There is a difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction is the revealing of sin. But it depends on the person’s course after he has been convinced of sin, whether or not he will be condemned. For “this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19. The mere pointing out to a person that he is a sinner is not condemnation; the condemnation comes from holding to the sin after it is made known. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.3
Let the mind grasp the thought that the same Spirit that convinces of sin also convinces of righteousness. It is always a Comforter. The Spirit does not lay aside one office while it performs another. It does not leave aside the revealing of righteousness when it convinces of sin, nor does it cease to be a convincer of sin when it reveals righteousness. It does both at the same time, and herein is the comfort to all those who will take it. It convinces of sin because it convinces of righteousness. But let us consider this matter a little, and then meditate upon it. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.4
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God-the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. Therefore the righteousness revealed by it is the righteousness of God. Now it is only by looking at righteousness that we can know sin and its sinfulness. The law, by which is the knowledge of sin, is not sin, but is the expression of God’s righteousness. A man may look at sin, and if he has never seen anything else he will think it is all right. Even one who knows the right, may lose the knowledge of it by looking at sin, so great is the deceitfulness of sin. So the Spirit must reveal the righteousness of God in His law, before the sinner can know sin as sin. The apostle says, “I had not known sin but by the law.” Romans 7:7. So it is as the revealer of the perfect righteousness of God that the Spirit convinces of sin. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.5
It is evident, therefore, that the closer one comes to God, thus getting a more perfect view of Him, the greater will be his sense of his own imperfections. He gets this knowledge of sin, not by studying himself, but by beholding God. As an illustration, take man in relation to the works of God. When does one ever feel his insignificance so much as when in mid-ocean, or by its side? Its vastness makes him feel his littleness. So when one stands amid the lofty mountains. On such an occasion one does not have to look at himself to realise how small he is. It is while looking up,-beholding the mighty works of God,-that he realises that in comparison he is nothing. The psalmist says, “When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained; what is man that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” Psalm 8:3, 4. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.6
If this is a result of contact with and beholding the works of God, what must be the result when considering the character of God Himself. “The Lord God is a sun.” Psalm 84:11. He is greater than all the heavens. “Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy judgments are a great deep.” Psalm 36:6. As while beholding the visible works of God’s hands one feels his own physical insignificance, so in contemplating the righteousness of God, one is made conscious of his own spiritual lack. Now the message of comfort which God sends to His people, especially for the days immediately preceding His coming is this, “Behold your God! See Isaiah 11:1-9. That means that as a necessary preparation for His coming, He wants us to know our own lack of righteousness by beholding His righteousness. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.7
Thus far we have been speaking of the knowledge of sin by the righteousness of God. Now mark the comfort that there is in that same conviction of sin. Remember that the sensibility of a lack of righteousness is caused by the revelation of God’s righteousness. Also remember that the Spirit, that convinces of both sin and righteousness, is given to men. Christ said, “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John 14:16, 17. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.8
What necessarily follows from this? Just this, that whoever accepts the Spirit, which, by its revelation of the righteousness of God, convicts the soul of sin, and allows it to abide with him, thereby gets the righteousness which it brings. The sense of need in itself the promise of supply. It is God who produces a sense of a lack of righteousness, which is conviction for sin. But He does not do this in order to taunt the sinner, and cause him to despair. He does it for the purpose of letting the sinner know that He has that which will abundantly supply all that he lacks. In fact, it is by the very bringing of the supply of righteousness, that the soul knows itself to be simple. Therefore, whoever will take God exactly at His word need not be under condemnation for a single minute, although always, and ever anew, conscious of his own imperfections. As every new defect is pointed out, he may cry, “O Lord, I thank Thee that Thou hast this new thing to give me, and I take it as freely as Thou dost give it.” This is true rejoicing in the Lord. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 81.9
This is the truth that God was trying to teach ancient Israel, when He spoke His law from Sinai, and is what He has been anxious for us to learn all these years. The law was ordained “in the hands of a Mediator.” Galatians 3:19. That is, in the hands of Christ, for He is the “one Mediator between God and man.” 1 Timothy 2:5. He is Mediator because He reconciles us to God. Since the enmity consists in the fact that we are not subject to the law of God, the reconciliation consists in the putting of that law in the heart and mind. So Christ is Mediator because He is the medium through which the righteousness of God is conveyed to us. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.1
This was most forcibly illustrated at the giving of the law from Sinai. Some time before the people had been perishing with thirst, and God said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.” Exodus 16:5, 6. This was done, and the people drank and were revived. But the water which they drank was miraculously given by Christ. In fact it came directly from Him. The apostle Paul says that “they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4. The Rock which the people saw, and which Moses smote, was a symbol of Christ. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.2
But Horeb is another name for Sinai. So that the law of God was spoken from the very same mountain from which God had caused the water to flow, which was even then quenching their thirst. When God came down upon the mount, it was the very personification of Him and His law. No man could touch it without dying. Yet from it at that same time the water which gave life was flowing. This water, which, as we have seen, came from Christ, is a symbol of the Spirit which is given to all who believe. See John 4:10, 13, 14; 7:37-39. In that event God has given us a great object lesson. Although the law gives the knowledge of sin, and sin is death, the law comes to us in the hands of a Mediator, ministered to us by the Spirit; and “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” makes us free from the law of sin and death. It is thus that the commandment of God is life everlasting. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.3
Is there not the very essence of comfort in this? At the same moment that the knowledge of sin comes to us, righteousness to cover and take away all the sin is revealed. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Romans 5:20. The law, which convicts is spiritual, and the Spirit is the water of life, which is given freely to all who will take it. Could anything surpass the wonderful provisions of the grace of “the God of all comfort, the Father of mercies”? Who will not drink and drink again, and thus continually be filled. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.4
“I HEARD the voice of Jesus say,
Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one
Stoop down, and drink, and live.
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.”
PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.5
“Abolishing the Sabbath” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
A New York daily speaks thus of the controversy over the opening of the World’s Fair on Sunday:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.6
“Another attempt to abolish the Sabbath is about to be made by the Chicago World’s fair managers.... Setting aside the observance of Sunday, Chicago doesn’t stumble at, but it is yet to be seen how Congress will view the question. The abolition of the Sabbath has virtually been accomplished in Chicago and certain other parts of the country, but as yet there has been no law of Congress enacted to that effect. This is what it is proposed to do, and it will not be long before the struggle will be on.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.7
The idea that the Sunday-sabbath may be abolished by an Act of Congress is very natural, when we remember that Sunday observance is solely of human origin. That most people really think so is shown by their fear lest it should lose the support of human laws. There is no such fear concerning the Sabbath of the Lord. The acts of men, or the decrees of kings, cannot affect it. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord,” and those who recognize it as such have no desire that human legislators should tamper with it. Its authority is the word of God, and men cannot abolish it. “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.” Psalm 119:89. Although disregarded by the most of mankind, it remains the same. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.8
“Studying the Bible” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
Few people know how to really study the Bible. And this is not always because they do not know how to study at all, for very often those who are good students otherwise, are poor students of the Bible, even though they want to understand it. In Proverbs 2:1-5 we are told how to study the Bible so as to understand it. Let us read the passage:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.9
“My son, if thou wilt receive My words, and hide My commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.10
When a man is convinced that there is rich silver or gold ore in a certain place, what does he do? He goes right there and digs in that very place. But how do people generally do with the Bible? Why as soon as they light upon a portion where there is special treasure,-and that means a place where there is special difficulty,-they immediately go off to some other place to dig. If they went to some other part of the Bible it would not be so bad, for there is treasure everywhere in the Bible, and whoever finds it in one place will be better able to find it in another; but they generally go to a library and begin to dig among the commentators, or they ask their pastor or some friend what he thinks it means. It is as though a man should find indications of gold in a certain place, and should straightway go off a hundred miles and begin digging. People are not so foolish as that in temporal matters. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.11
Another point: When a man is digging for silver or gold, he carefully examines every portion of the soil where he is digging. Whoever has seen men washing out gold knows that every particle of the soil is carefully examined. No matter what the style of mining, everything is in some way closely scrutinized. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.12
Here then we have the simple directions for studying the Bible. First go to the Bible itself, and to the particular passage which you wish to understand, and then give the most careful and patient attention to every sentence and every word. Let your mind dwell upon every word and every clause, noting its relation to what precedes and what follows, until you know for a certainty just what it says. Do not sit down to commit the passage to memory so that you can repeat it parrotlike. That is not study. But question the text, asking a question and letting the words of the text give the answer, until you cannot possibly think of it without thinking the very words. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.13
Many people who read the Bible a greal deal do not know what it says, because they read it carelessly, and do not let the Bible itself form their ideas. No one can hope to understand any portion of the Bible when he does not know for a certainty just what it says. This is self-evident, for it applies to everything. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 82.14
When the student knows what the text says, then what? Here is the instruction, “Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things.” 2 Timothy 2:7, R.V. How will He give us the understanding? By our considering what He says. That is, while we are diligently considering the text, the understanding of the text will come from the text itself. From what other place should we expect it to come? “For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6. The meaning of what the Lord says is in just the very words that He says. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.1
How long must one consider the words before he can understand it? That depends upon several things. We must be prepared to consider them for ten years, if need be, without getting impatient. We must have such confidence that wisdom and knowledge do come from the very words of the Lord that we shall be assured that they are really there, and that they are nowhere else. But much depends on the spirit in which we approach the study. The Spirit of God is the source whence the Bible comes; the Spirit is the life and power and wisdom of the word. When we come with hearts submissive to the Spirit, we shall not have to wait so long as we otherwise would. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.2
Remember that the righteousness of God is revealed to faith, and not to intellect. That does not put any discount upon intellect, but it simply exalts faith. God has given man talents of intellect, and expects him to use them, but not without faith. A very feeble intellect with faith will understand the Bible far more readily and more perfectly, than a giant intellect without faith. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.3
At the same time that one particular passage is being thus studied, do not neglect the reading and studying of other parts of the Bible. The Bible is a unit; one Spirit and one truth is in it all; and every part is thus directly connected with every other part. If the particular passage under special consideration is in the middle of a chapter, the student will find it necessary to extend his careful study back to the beginning of the chapter, and even to the beginning of the book; for no book in the Bible, unless it be Proverbs and Psalms, is made up of detached thoughts. A line of thought runs through each, and every text should be considered in its full connection. Then when it is used in the study of any special subject, it will not be misapplied. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.4
When the mind thus gets accustomed to dwelling upon the Scriptures, it is wonderful how light will come. Almost anything may serve to cause the light to shine forth from the word. While reading some other portion of the Bible, while listening to a discourse, in conversation even upon some other subject,-in short, in a thousand different ways,-the mind may be directed to the text that has been studied, and the light will shine forth. No one can tell in what way the Spirit will work, and what means it will use to lead the soul into the truth; only let it be remembered that in any case it is the Spirit that guides, and that the knowledge gained comes from the word itself, and not from any other source. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.5
“For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.6
“A Revival of Spiritualism” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
Within the past few weeks there have been several things that show that Spiritualism is by no means dead, and that it is exerting an influence in the world greater than ever before. This growing influence is seen no less in the comments of those who are sceptical upon the subject than in the words of those who make no difficulty in accepting everything. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.7
First in order are the experiences of Mr. W. T. Stead, editor of the Review of Reviews. These experiences are related at length in the Christian Commonwealth of February 2 and 9, wherein two lengthy interviews with Mr. Stead are reported. We will state the leading features as briefly as possible, but it will be necessary to quote quite largely from Mr. Stead’s own words. The interviewer began by asking Mr. Stead if he is a Spiritualist, to which he replied:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.8
“I never call myself a Spiritualist. I am simply an investigator of phenomena which as a rule are ignored by the majority of busy people. Certain facts have come before me, the only explanation of which seems to lie in a certain direction, but I am quite open to be convinced that the truth may lie in any other direction. If anyone can bring me a better working hypothesis than that of spirit return, I am perfectly willing to receive it. But at present it seems to me no other explanation fits the facts, and until a better explanation is forthcoming, I hold to my working hypothesis.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.9
To the question, “Are you sure of your facts?” Mr. Stead replied: “Yes, I think I may say that I am absolutely certain of my facts. But pray discriminate between facts which I know to be facts, and statements which may be true or may be false, but which are not yet absolutely verified.” And when asked what facts he is sure of, he said:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.10
“To begin at the beginning, I may say I am absolutely certain, having verified it over and over again; that it is possible for some of my friends to use my hands as their own, they being at a distance from me. That is to say, a friend of mine at Newcastle is quite capable of using my hand here in London, and writing a message long or short, by the mere action of his mind upon my hand, without any telegraph or connecting wire.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.11
Mr. Stead then gave several instances of this, and also of his using the hands of his friends. Said he, “Some of my friends have written at distances of 300 miles, long narratives of journeys which they have taken, mentioning the trains by which they went and came, the money they paid for their tickets, the cost of their dinner at the hotel: in short, giving a multitude of minute details, which it was absolutely impossible for me to have divined.” Following are the details of one of the instances, which Mr. Stead gave at the request of the interviewer:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.12
“Some months ago I was at Redcar, in the north of England. A foreign lady who does some work for the Review, had to meet me at Redcar railway station about three o’clock. I was staying with my brother, who lives about ten minutes’ walk from the station. At twenty minutes to three it occurred to me that ‘about three,’ the phrase used in her letter might mean some time before three, and as I could not lay my hand upon a time-table, I simply asked her to use my hand and tell me what time the train was due; this, I may say, was without any previous communication with her upon the subject. She immediately wrote her name and said the train was due at Redcar station at ten minutes to three. I saw that I should have to leave at once, but before starting I asked her where she was at that moment. My hand wrote, ‘I am in the train at Middlesborough railway station, on my way from Hartlepool to Redcar.’ I then went off to the station. On arriving there I went up to the time-table to see what time the train was due. It was timed to arrive at 2:52. The train, however, was late; three o’clock came, and it had not arrived. At five minutes past three, getting rather anxious, I took a slip of paper from my pocket, and taking a pencil in my hand asked her where she was. At that moment she wrote her name (they always write their names at the beginning and end of each communication), and said, ‘I am in the train, rounding the curve before you come to Redcar station; I will be with you in a minute.’ ‘Why the mischief have you been so late?’ I mentally asked. My hand wrote, ‘We were detained at Middlesborough for so long; I do not know why.’ I put the paper in my pocket, walked to the end of the platform, and there was the train! The moment it stopped, I went up to my friend, and said to her, ‘How late you are; what on earth has been the matter?’ ‘I do not know,’ she said: ‘the train stopped so long at Middleborough, it seemed as if we never would start.’ I then showed her what my hand had written.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.13
The following, in reply to the question if the lady was conscious of having communicated with him in that mysterious manner, is worthy of careful note:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 83.14
“No, she had no knowledge whatever that she was writing with my hand, and she was considerably amazed at finding that she had done so. I had only seen her once before in my life. I give that instance because it is very simple and compact, and can be verified by reference to the lady in question, whose address I can give you if you like.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.1
It seems that Mr. Stead had been a writing medium for some time before he learned of this new phenomenon. It was through the spirit that controlled his hand that he learned that he could receive communications from the living. He says:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.2
“I had no idea, nor, so far as I know, had anyone, either in the Psychical Research Society, or among the regular Spiritualists, that the mind of a living person could use the hand of another person at a distance, and write a message. But the Intelligence that controls my hand, while writing one day suddenly wrote, ‘Why do you think it strange that I should be able to write with your hand? Anyone can write with your hand.’ ‘What,’ said I, ‘do you mean that living people on this earth can do so?’ ‘Try it; you will find that any of your friends can use your hand to write messages which they wish to communicate to you.’ This seemed strange, almost incredible, but I promptly put it to the test, and found that the fact was exactly as she had said.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.3
In the interview Mr. Stead gave several instances of communications from his familiar spirit, which professes to be the spirit of a young lady who died about two years ago. At one time the spirit gave him notice of the breaking of a printing machine which he was going to see tested, and thus saved him a useless journey. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.4
In all this, with the exception of the supposed communications from the living, there is nothing new. We have referred to the matter thus at length, in order that we might call attention to the new phase of Spiritualism, and especially that we might show how this thing is regarded by the religious press generally. Before going further, let us see what is the object of these communications. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.5
THE SOURCE OF THE COMMUNICATIONS
In the first place, it is useless to attempt to impeach Mr. Stead’s word. There can be no doubt but that everything has taken place just as he says it has. The question is, Whence do the communications come? To answer this is a very easy matter for one who depends wholly on the testimony of the Bible. They do not come in any instance from the spirits of the dead. That is certain, because “the dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. Of man it is said that “his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4. To every man it is said, “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:10. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.6
More than this, the Scriptures everywhere speak of the resurrection of the dead. To the question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” the reply comes, “All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee; Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands.” Job 14:14, 15. The “change” mentioned by Job is thus described by the Apostle Paul: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-58. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.7
Notice that this change does not take place until the coming of the Lord, and that at that time the dead are raised. That is the time when Christ calls, and the dead answer. Then they “live again.” And the apostle John, in prophetic vision, saw the result of this first resurrection, when the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, “lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Revelation 20:4, 5. Here is a living again; but that is impossible unless they once ceased living. And herein Spiritualism is directly in conflict with the Bible, because it teaches that there is no such thing as death; that those who are called dead do not cease to live; and therefore it teaches that there is no such thing as living again. Whoever, therefore, gives any heed to Spiritualism in any of its phases, must first part company with the Bible. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.8
The answer, then, to the inquiry whence these communications come, must be that they come from the spirits of devils. These devils are not the spirits of wicked men, but are “the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,” and who are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 6. This loss of their first estate was when “there was war in heaven; Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, which is called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:7-9. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.9
The Devil, as also his angels, are able to transform themselves into angels of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14, 15. Their work is to deceive, and this they are doing by making people believe that messages which come from them are from the spirits of departed friends. This is in full accord with the deception practiced upon Eve in the beginning. The serpent said to her, “Ye shall not surely die.” This was the way in which he compassed her fall; and the apostle says, “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.10
Mark how craftily he is working in this new development. For a long time the Devil has been at work sending messages by means of raps, writing, etc., purporting to come from the dead. These were for the purpose of getting people to believe more firmly the lie with which he deceived Eve, that there is no such thing as death. Now he gives similar messages, purporting to come from people who are still alive, so as to still more surely break down the idea that there is any difference between the living and the dead. The receipt of these messages, supposed to come from the living, will, more than anything that has ever been done before, serve to bring people to believe in the possibility of communicating with the dead. This is what they are for. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.11
This is the only possible explanation of the messages which Mr. Stead has been receiving from his living friends, as he supposes. Indeed, it should be suggested to anyone who reads the account, for he says, as has been noted above, that these communications are received when the friends themselves are often entirely unconscious that Mr. Stead is receiving any communication purporting to come from them. Of course the Devil could use their names without informing them of the fact....ed it is quite unusual for a man to know when his name is being forged. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.12
A NEW CHAMPION
But when Mr. Stead has been pursuing his investigations, the cause of Spiritualism has received aid from another quarter. A book first published by T. Fisher Unwin, entitled, “Do the Dead Return?” gives the result of a Church of England clergyman’s dealings with the spirits. The clergyman states that until three years ago he shared the generally received opinions respecting the phenomena of Spiritualism, and had ascribed them “partly to self-delusions and subjective impressions of particular minds, partly to fraud and trickery.” A book fell into his hands, from which he learned that several well-known and eminent men of science had, after long and patient investigation, become converts, and he concluded that the subject was one of great importance, and with “reverent and thoughtful examination.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.13
His first difficulty was with the fact that the Bible forbids seeking to the spirits of the dead; but this difficulty was removed when he “came in contact with a family in whose house the phenomena came spontaneously-unbidden and unasked for. Departed members of the family manifested their presence in an unmistakable manner. They gave clear proof of their identity, of the beneficent purpose of their return and communications.” Therefore he gave himself to the study of the subject, convinced that there was no longer any cause for hesitation on the ground of moral danger. He didn’t seek the spirits, he simply let them come to him. The little book which he has written gives in a clear, straightforward manner his experiences in spirit communication. These experiences he classifies under four heads, namely, spirit knocks, spirit writing, spirit voices, and spirit forms. That indicates the growth of his experience. First he heard the rappings; then he got more satisfactory communications through writing; then he developed sufficiently to be able to converse with the spirits; and lastly they appeared to him. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 84.14
It is unnecessary to quote his experiences, as it would require too much space. Suffice it to say that they are told with a candour and minuteness of detail that cannot fail to convince the reader that he is telling the exact truth as to what he heard and saw. The following, which is the closing paragraph of a full column notice of the book in the Daily Chronicle, shows the effect of the book upon the general reader:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.1
“The Psychical Research people seem to think that they have disposed of the ‘miracles’ of Spiritualism when they have found a conjurer who can imitate them. That, of course, is nonsense. The fact that a conjurer can do certain things by trickery is no proof that Spiritualists can not do them by other means. Hocus-pocus by a conjurer with a locked slate and a wisp of muslin has really not a great deal to do with the question whether Spiritualists can or cannot raise the dead. As well refuse to believe in a thunderstorm because they can produce first-rate lightning at the Lyceum.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.2
The clergyman himself says:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.3
“That the so-called dead return, and are able, under certain conditions, to hold intercourse with the living, I regard as a fact as well established and as undeniable as any fact in science.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.4
In another place he says of his experience in spirit writing, “If I were to doubt it, I cannot well see on what grounds I could reasonably credit the evidence of my senses respecting any other matter in life.” For our part, we cannot have the slightest doubt that he saw and heard all that he says he did. Those who think to combat Spiritualism by scouting the reality of its phenomena, are the very ones who will in the end be the most terribly deceived by it. There is a reality to them-the reality of the power of Satan. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.5
THE OBJECT OF THE MANIFESTATIONS
So much for the statement of the case. Now the question arises, What is the object of these manifestations? The Christian Commonwealth, in which the interviews with Mr. Stead appears, says:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.6
“But even allowing that Mr. Stead and all other mediums are not self-deceived, not victims of a delusion or deception, but are really dealing with occult forces or phenomena which cannot be explained by any known laws, it is still true that we may properly enough ask the question, cui bono?” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.7
To this Mr. Stead replied in his second interview as follows:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.8
“I am surprised to see in the editorial of the Christian Commonwealth the inquiry, ‘cui bono?’ I cannot understand how anyone could ask what good it is to know that your loved ones are living after death, and that they are still able to take an affectionate interest in your welfare. Those who can ask that are capable of asking ‘cui bono?’ of the existence of love itself. But apart from human affection and the enormous boon that it would be to poor suffering human beings who are mourning the dead who seem to return no more, the fact of spirit-return is of theological value, to which I should have thought the editor of the Christian Commonweath would have been keenly alive. In the passage from the correspondence in the Daily Chronicle, which you quoted at the end of the interview last week, Robert Buchanan puts the thing in a nutshell: ‘When all is said and done, the question between Christ, or Christianity, and the world is this,-Is there, or is there not, another life beyond this life we live? Everything hangs or falls by that?’ Now, clearly, if the spirit of one who has died can come back and communicate, as the Intelligence that guides my hand claims to have done, that question is solved, and solved once for all in the Christian sense.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.9
Thus when it is asked, What is the good of these phenomena? the answer is, that they demonstrate that there is another life. This sort of demonstration is taken in all seriousness by another religious paper, the Christian World. In its issue of February 9, there was a leading editorial of some length, with the heading, “A Bridge to the Unseen World.” It calls attention to the conflict between infidelity or agnosticism and Christianity, and quotes from two prominent sceptics, who claim that Christianity has up to date furnished no evidence that there is a future life. The article then proceeds thus:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.10
“The challenge to Christianity then is, if it would bring the world back to genuine belief in its supernatural histories, to produce corroborative evidence from contemporary phenomena. Mr. Stephen, in the essays just alluded to, declares that theology is unable to scientifically prove one single point of its connection about the supernatural. The remarkable feature of the present position is that exactly upon this crucial point a large and constantly increasing body of witnesses, whom it would be very difficult to convict either of fraud or of imbecility, are coming forward to declare impossible of production, is actually accessible. Our readers may remember a book by Florence Marryatt, to which we a short time ago drew attention, entitled, ‘There is no Death,’ in which the well-known authoress relates her experience of intercourse with departed friends, her dead daughter amongst them, on evidence which she declares as good as any which Stanley could produce of the truth of his assertions about his Central African forest.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.11
Then follow references to Mr. Stead’s revelations, and an enthusiastic notice of the book, “Do the Dead Return,” to which we have already referred; and the article closes thus:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.12
“We must leave these statements and the others of which this remarkable book is full, to make their own impression on the minds of our readers. Whatever theory may be formed of them, it is evident that the materialism and agnosticism which of late have so loudly claimed to represent the really cultured and sane mind of the age, and which flatly deny to man any knowledge of the unseen, are now being squarely challenged on their own ground. The agnostics must either explain these phenomena, or abate their own pretensions. The theme is ripe for a thoroughly scientific investigation and for a scientific verdict. The gainsayers and deniers of the age have a plainly-defined issue put before them. The New Testament is a record of spiritual phenomena and revelation. We are told that these things are incredible because nothing answering to them is produced now. It is time for materialistic agnosticism, in the light of what is declared to be actually going on in our midst, to prove that statement.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.13
We have quoted what others think is the object of these phenomena, and now we will point out their actual object. They are given for no other purpose than to throw discredit upon the Bible, and to lessen the dependence of people upon its testimony. Indeed, they are for the purpose of leading professed Christians to let the Bible go entirely, and to depend on something else. Do you ask how this can be? The answer is plain. The Bible is given for the sole object of revealing to men the fact that there is another life for them, and of showing them how to attain to it. “Well then,” says one, “I should think that these things are exactly in harmony with the Bible.” Not by any means, because they exactly coincide with the infidel objection that the Bible does not reveal a future life. And the lamentable fact is that professed believers in the Bible unconsciously agree with the doubters of the Bible, by admitting that communication with the spirits is necessary in order to prove that there is another life. Thus they virtually admit the charge of the sceptics, that the Bible does not teach the certainty of another life. This point alone should convince the thoughtful and reverent that the whole business of spirit communication is of the devil. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 85.14
The Bible teaches that there is another life for men, if they will have it. It also teaches that the dead know not anything, and that there is no possibility of communicating with them. Spiritualism, and this embraces as we have seen many who are not called Spiritualists, says that the dead do return and communicate, and that this is the only sure evidence of another life. Here is a direct conflict. Both cannot be true. Whoever accepts Spiritualism must throw away the Bible; and he who does that throws away all the morality of the Bible. This seems like a severe charge to make; but it is not a charge, it is a simple statement of fact. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.1
LIFE PROMISED IN THE BIBLE
That the Scriptures do promise a life altogether different from the natural life of men, must be plain to the ordinary reader. Speaking by the command of God to men alive in the flesh, Moses said: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that thou and thy seed may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.2
David, inspired by the Spirit of the Lord, said: “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell [the grave]; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:8-11. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.3
At the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus said: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:14-16. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.4
To the people He said: “I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:9, 10. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.5
To the young men who came to Jesus saying, “What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Jesus said, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.6
The apostle Paul declares himself to be “an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” Titus 1:1. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.7
All these promises of life are spoken to living men. They are promises of a life that they are not in possession of; they are promises of another life, even of an endless life. They are promises of a life that is not natural to man, and which cannot be found except in the Gospel of Christ, for life and immortality are brought to light in the Gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.8
THE CERTAINTY OF ANOTHER LIFE
Now the question comes, “Can we know positively that there is another life?” Here is what the Christian Commonwealth has to say upon the subject:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.9
“When Spiritualists can show to us that their new revelations have made them more active in doing the things which Christianity enjoins, we shall then be more inclined to look seriously at the claims they make.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.10
“But we do not see that there is anything in these messages which is of any importance, except what Christians believed before on the testimony of the Scriptures. And this is precisely our difficulty with the question which Mr. Stead has raised. He talks about Mr. Robert Buchanan’s desire to know that there is a future life. But this is precisely what Mr. Buchanan cannot know, neither can Mr. Stead know it. The doctrine of a future life is necessarily an appeal to faith, and not to knowledge.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.11
Herein the Christian Commonwealth is opening the way for the full acceptance of Spiritualism, when it shall have become a little more pronounced, and popular. It claims that from the Bible man cannot positively know that there is another life. But Spiritualism claims to demonstrate the fact. Now when the writer of those words sees the exact representations of his dead friends, and grasps their hands, and talks with them, receiving messages from them, and reminders of events that happened long ago, he will be ready to say that he knows. Such a test is sure to come sooner or later. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.12
The truth is that God wants us to know that there is another life. The apostle John writes: “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” 1 John 5:10-13. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.13
Christianity is not conjecture, nor a blind dependence upon uncertainty. It is positive knowledge. But how is it possible for men to know that there is another life? The answer is, By faith. We know it by faith. As shown in the text just quoted, those who believe know that they have eternal life. Faith enables us to lay hold of that life, and know of it by actual experience. The apostle Paul exhorts us to lay hold of that life, and know of it by actual experience. The apostle Paul exhorts us to “lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Timothy 6:12. A man is to know the fact of another life, because he lives it; for the Scriptures say that “the just shall live by faith.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.14
The apostle John also says: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:1-3. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.15
Eternal life, even the life of God, dwelt in Christ. The disciples who were with Christ on earth, saw the manifestation of that life. They have declared it to us, that we may have the same fellowship that they had. And how can this be? Jesus says: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20. And again: “If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” John 14:23. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.16
This is how we may know the certainty of eternal life. Christ, in whom is that life, is to dwell, not simply in our houses, and to walk and talk with us, but to dwell within us. Our knowledge does not depend upon communications from spirits which contradict the Bible, but on the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to His word. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.17
Here is the experience of the Christian: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. If anyone asks the real believer about another life, he can reply with positiveness that he knows that there is such a thing. If asked how he knows, he can point to the word of God, and can say that by believing he is now in actual possession of another life, even the life of Christ, and that is a “ future life” too, continuing to all eternity, because Christ is alive for evermore. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 86.18
In what does this life consist? In righteousness. It is received through the Spirit, because “to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” And the apostle says: “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10. Righteousness and life are identical. “If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” Galatians 3:21. But as righteousness cannot come by man’s own acts, since it is entirely foreign to his natural life, there must be another life given, in order that he may have righteousness, and that life of righteousness is in Christ. He who has Christ has the life. The knowledge of another life, therefore, is simply the knowledge of righteousness through Christ. To say that a man cannot know that there is another life, is only to say that there is no such thing as actual, absolute righteousness. Or else it is to say that a man has righteousness in himself. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.1
DENYING THE GOSPEL
When in the settlement of any question the Bible has less authority with people than something else has, they have virtually repudiated it as a whole. The evidence of the possibility of life after death is furnished in the Bible in the numerous cases of the raising of the dead, and by the resurrection of Christ Himself, by means of which all other cases of resurrection were accomplished. Now when people require spirit communications in order that they may know that there is another life than this, it shows that they do not believe the Bible record concerning the miracles of Christ and of His own resurrection. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.2
What then? Simply this, that as they have taken the communications of the spirits as better evidence of a future life than the statements of the Bible, they will most naturally take what the spirits say about any point of doctrine and practice, in preference to what the Scriptures say on the same point. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.3
The apostle John says: “He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” Therefore whenever people claim that it is necessary to receive communications from spirits in order that they may be sure that there is another life for man, they show their disbelief of the record which God has given, and thus charge Him with lying. And when God has been thus charged with lying, the authority of His word is forever at an end with those people. Thus professed Christians are putting themselves on the same ground with professed infidels, in relation to the Bible. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.4
Thus Spiritualism is from first to last against the Gospel. It is against it, in denying the plain statements of the Bible, and it is still further against it in claiming that man has life, and therefore righteousness in himself. It leads to trust in man instead of in Christ, since it exalts man to the place which God alone occupies. More and more people are resting their knowledge and hope of heaven upon their dead friends, and not upon Christ. Mr. Stead and also the Church of England clergyman speak of the comfort which these communications give to those who have lost friends. But when men depend upon such things for comfort, where is their dependence upon “the God of all comfort, the Father of mercies”? PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.5
Such comfort as that is the comfort of the heathen. Comfort without Christ is perdition. This is why so much space is given to this matter. It is a vital one. Satan is preparing a snare for all the people on the earth, and unconsciously many are falling into it. There is only one way of escape, and that is the acceptance of Christ through His word. Christ dwells in the word, and thus it is that man is to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” He who allows himself to depart in the slightest degree from the straight reading of the Scriptures, has no safeguard. Just to the extent that one does not take the Scriptures, does he not take Christ. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.6
Now mark the inevitable result. The Inspired Word says that just before Christ’s coming Satan will work “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.7
When one rejects the truth there is nothing left for him but to believe a lie. And so the men who are fondly hoping that in Spirit communication they will be able to find that evidence which Christ alone can give, are unconsciously inviting every delusion that Satan can invent. “No lie is of the truth.” Satan is the father of lies, and is therefore the author of spirit communications, which deny the truth of the Bible. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.8
Fortunately there is no need for anybody to be deceived. “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19. God’s word is the standard; it is the only safeguard. By it, and by it alone, man can live, not only now but eternally, for the word of the Lord endureth for ever. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.9
“Preparing for an Inquisition” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
Under the supervision of Dr. Parkhurst, New York has a vigilance league, which aims at having at least one capable man in each of the 1137 electoral divisions of the city, with the following work outlined for each:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.10
“The duty of each of those men will be to make himself thoroughly conversant with all that concerns the district under his charge. It is recommended, in order to ensure thoroughness, that each supervisor should prepare a chart of his own district, with the names of residents so fast as he may come to know their names, nationality, etc. Buildings used for other than purposes of residence should be considered in detail, and their character noted so far as such memoranda can be of any use in securing the results already specified. This will include schools and saloons, a full account of which latter will embrace such particulars as the brewer under whose auspices the saloon is run, the general tone of the place, the relations subsisting between it and the policemen on the beat for the captain of the precinct; whether it is kept open in unlawful hours, the age and character of its customers, whether it is licensed, and if so whether its existence is necessitated by the paucity of saloons in the neighbourhood, or whether people living in proximity are enduring its presence under protest. The survey and tabulation must, of course, include a statement as to all houses of prostitution, pool-rooms, policy-shops, and gambling-houses in the district.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.11
The reader will readily see that every preparation has been made for a first-class inquisition, when a rigid Sunday law comes to be enforced. For all that machinery will be brought to bear upon the artisan or the day labourer who obeys God rather than man in the matter of Sabbath observance. In fact, they will suffer by it far more than anybody else, because they will not use bribes, and others will. There are trying times ahead for those in the United States who will persist in clinging to the liberty of the Gospel. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 87.12
“Wealth a Burden” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
Someone has been interviewing Mr. Vanderbilt on the subject of wealth, a subject upon which he ought to be able to speak with some assurance. He is reported to have said:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 91.1
“Such wealth as mine to too heavy a burden for any man is bear. The weight of it is crushing me and killing me. I have no pleasure in it and no one for it. in what respect am I really better off than my neighbour who has only half a million dollars? He commands more readily than I do the real happiness of life; his house is as comfortable as mine; he is healthier than I, because he has less an; he will probably live longer than I shall; and, above all, he can trust his friends.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 91.2
He is truly to be pitied. Think of carrying a burden for which one has no use, and in which he takes no pleasure, and which is crushing the life out of him. And this is the exact situation of the possessor of so much wealth. Perhaps the most pitiable part of the matter is that he does not seem to know that he is not obliged to carry the heavy burden. He could very quickly unload it if he would. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 91.3
Which do you choose, the fleeting riches and pleasure of this world, or the everlasting joys and treasures hid in Jesus? Remember you cannot have both. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 91.4
“The People of India” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
We have already learned that there are about ten times as many people in India as in England and Wales, and about one-sixth as many as in the whole world. If you could put all of the people of India in one long line, and make them march past you, day and night, at the rate of one every second, it would bake more than nine years for them all to pass by! PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.1
And what a sight it would be! There would be Europeans with white skins like yours, rich natives with skins that are almost white, and then a great many with yellowish skins, others nearly brown, and still others perfectly black! PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.2
You would find that all of the Indian people have black hair and black eyes. What an army of dear little black-eyed children! some with just such roguish, dancing bright eyes as yours, but many with a sad wistful look that would make your very heart ache. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.3
You would probably see the Viceroy (the man appointed by the Queen to govern India) riding in his silver howdah on the back of a large elephant, with a golden umbrella over his head; the government officers in great state; and the rajahs (native princes) also on elephants and dressed in costly garments. Following these you would see priests from the temples, soldiers from the army, merchants from their shops, and servants from their various places of labour. High and low, rich and poor, people from the hot lowlands, the cool hills, and the snow-covered mountains; people from the cities, with all the knowledge and refinement and fine clothes that civilisation and wealth can give; and people from the wild jungles with no education, no refinement, and no clothes. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.4
I imagine I see you hold your breath and shut your eyes when the opium smokers and their families pass by. No wonder, for they are almost like walking skeletons clothed in a few filthy rags. Poor people! what can we do for them? PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.5
“What are in those strange long boxes carried on the shoulders of the natives?” Why, don’t you know? Those contain the high caste ladies who are not allowed to be seen by men outside of their own families. It would never do for them to be seen in such a motley crowd, so of how few have laid hold of the only they are shut up tightly in their palanquins. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.6
It is indeed a motley crowd,-fifty different races of people, and two hundred wild tribes, and all talking away in ninety-eight different languages, and a much larger number of dialects! You could not understand them if you should try. Even if you had a Bible in their own language and should give it to one of the Indian ladies, it would do her no good unless you should learn her language and then teach her how to read it; for even queens in India have not been taught to read or write! PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.7
You could not help noticing how religious they all are. There are the Hindu, Mohammedan, Parsee, Jain, Silk, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Christian, and many other forms of religion. I suppose the Mohammedan children pray oftener than you do, and besides learning the words of their prayers, they have to learn a great deal about how they are to stand when they pray, how to clasp their hands, and throw themselves on the ground, and count beads, etc. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.8
But isn’t it sad? Although all of this vast army of dying souls are reaching out in every direction for a god who can save them, very, very few indeed have really laid hold of the right one! PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.9
What shall we do, allow them to sink in utter despair, and die without hope and without help? Though you are but a little child, God will show you some way in which you can help these poor people, if you ask Him. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.10
“Only One” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
Speaking of the people of India, and of how few have laid hold of the only One who can save them, makes me think of something I heard Dr. Pentecost tell a short time ago. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.11
Two men have fallen overboard and are in great danger of drowning. The people on the steamer are much excited of course, and in their efforts to save the men, one gentleman, scarcely knowing what he does, throws his walking-stick out to one of the men in the water. Another gentleman, not so much excited, runs and gets a life-preserver and throws that to the other man in the water. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.12
As drowning men always catch at anything within their reach, so these men, when they come up, stretch out both hands, one laying hold of the walking-stick, and the other laying hold of the life-preserver-the only things within their reach. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.13
Although both take hold in just the same way, there is a great difference in the results: One man is held up above the water and is saved, while the other man sinks beneath the water and is lost. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.14
Why is it? Why is the man with the walking-stick lost, when he lays hold of it just as earnestly and in just the same way as the other man lays hold of the life-preserver? Why, it is because he has laid hold of the wrong thing! A walking-stick has no power to keep a drowning man from sinking, no matter how he takes hold of it. But the life-preserver cannot sink, therefore a man cannot sink as long as he keeps his hold on it. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 92.15
Now that is the way with so many of those poor people in India. They have laid hold of something, but alas, they have not laid hold of the right thing; and therefore they are sinking lower and lower in destruction and perdition. They have felt the need of a Saviour, and have reached out and laid hold of gods many and lords many; but no matter how earnestly they have laid hold of one of them, no matter how much they have believed in him, he has not been able to save them, for they have laid hold of the wrong one. Those idols have no more power to save them than the walking-stick has power to save the drowning man, for, do you not remember? there is only one name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved; and that name is Jesus! Acts 4:12. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 93.1
You may trust that your father or your mother can save you; you may believe that a certain church can save you; you may think that your good works will save you, or money, or some great idol; but no matter how earnestly you believe in them, just as surely as you lay hold of any of these things and trust in them to save you, just so surely you will be lost for ever. Jesus is the only one that can save you. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 93.2
Dear young friend, have you laid hold of the right one? Have you laid hold on Jesus? Do you believe in Him? Have you given yourself to Him? He is the only one who can save you from sin, the only one who can save you from eternal death. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 93.3
“No other name has e’er been giv’n
To souls by sin depraved;
No other name in earth or heav’n
By which we can be saved.”
PTUK March 23, 1893, page 93.4
“Alcohol and Tobacco Against Hard Work” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
When Dr. Nansen, the Norwegian Arctic explorer, was in Greenland, neither he nor his comrades allowed a single drop of alcohol to pass their lips, and, to remove all source of temptation, the alcohol which they were compelled to carry with them for boiling their kettle, was previously rendered nauseous by being mixed with wood naptha. When asked if he did not regard alcohol necessary in case of sudden emergency, Dr. Nansen replied, “It is often supposed that, even though spirits are not intended for daily use, they ought to be taken upon an expedition for medicinal purposes. I would readily acknowledge this if anyone could show me a single case in which such a remedy is necessary; out till this is done I shall maintain that this pretext is not sufficient, and that the best course is to banish alcoholic drinks from the line of necessaries for an Arctic expedition,” and he added, “Though tobacco is less destructive, it is extremely harmful when smoked or chewed in cases of severe physical exertion, and not least so when the supply of feed is not abundant, for it injures the digestion and reduces the nervous power and capacity for endurance as well as tenacity of purpose.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.1
“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
-The watch industry of Switzerland is to be made a Government monopoly. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.2
-The United Kingdom last year imported oranges and lemons valued at no less a figure than £2,062,661. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.3
-Ninety ladies and gentlemen met a few days ago in Edinburgh, and publicly prayed for the defeat of the Home Rule Bill. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.4
-A disastrous cyclone has visited the States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, destroying whole villages and killing many people. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.5
-In the past ten years the consumption of beer in the United Kingdom has increased by 1,273,864 barrels. Excise duty was paid last year on no fewer than 32,201,167 barrels. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.6
-The new general of the Jesuits has given orders to his brethren in the United States not to discuss the school question any more. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.7
-A room in the House of Commons will soon have to be set apart to store the numerous monster petitions against the Home Rule Bill. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.8
-At the final football tie for the Scottish Cup at Glasgow, last week, one of the players named Connor, who had just scored, dropped down dead from excitement and exhaustion. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.9
-A French Deputy, in the hope of reducing drunkenness, suggests that the manufacture of intoxicating drinks should be a Government monopoly, which would yield £40,000,000 a year. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.10
-Up to the end of last year the trustees of the Peabody Donation Fund had provided for the labouring poor of London 11,273 rooms, with washhouses and laundries, occupied by 20,114 persons. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.11
-The stone lion at Lucerne, erected in memory of the bravery of the Swiss Guards killed at the Tuilleries in 1792, is so decayed by the effect of the weather that restoration is declared impossible. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.12
-The “safest place in the world” is declared to be the cabin of an ocean steamer. In 1892 there were 650 million passengers by steamships, of whom 240 people were lost, of one in every 2,708,338. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.13
-According to official returns, the revenue of the Russian Empire from January 10, to December 1st of last year amounted to 1,011,934,000 roubles, against 817,888,000 roubles as compared with the year 1891. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.14
-One of the latest discoveries of Roman Fetishism is the supposed house where; the Blessed Virgin lived along with the apostle John in Ephesus. The ground enclosing the dwelling is to be purchased, and pilgrimages have already been organized. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.15
-Juvenile smoking in Canada is now prohibited. The Legislative Assembly of Quebec has forbidden the sale of tobacco to persons under eighteen years of age, while boys under fifteen years found smoking are to be punished by fine or imprisonment. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.16
-A missionary from India recently stated that “if the people of India were so divided among all the missionaries of all societies, so that each missionary had 50,000 people depending upon him for the Gospel, there would still be 200 millions who had not heard the Gospel.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.17
-By the steamer Britannia 1000 bags of American mail were landed at Queenstown on March 9. The same day the out-going steamer, the Majestic, took on board 664, bags, making 1620 bags in all, the largest amount of American mail that ever passed through, Queenstown in one day. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.18
-On Saturday night, March 4; the town of Sandgate was the scene of a serious suite-dance of land. The damage done extends for about a mile east and west, and about 600 yards inwards from the sea-line. About 200 houses have been wrecked. The land has sunk in some places seven, eight, nine, and ten feet. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.19
-The yearly consumption of imported eggs in the United Kingdom is put at a value of something like £4,000,000. France and Germany furnish more than half of the supply, Belgium, Russia, and Denmark coming next in order as egg exporters to England. The Canadian instalment has increased to 33,000,000 eggs in a single year. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.20
-It is reported that cholera is steadily increasing its ravages in Russia. It is especially virulent at Ecatherinoslaff. The number of cases recorded in the Government of Podolek alone, according to the official reports, from December 26 to January 16, were 536, and the death 196. In most of the southern Governments, where the warm weather is already commencing, the mortality from the terrible scourge is very high considering the time of the year. The Governments of Bessarabia, Ecatherinoslaff, and Penza seem to be the most affected. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 94.21
“Back Page” The Present Truth 9, 6.
E. J. Waggoner
Over 200 summonses have been issued against Sunday traders in Birmingham. At last accounts thirty-five small tradesmen, chiefly tobacconists and sweet-sellers, had been fined a reduced penalty of one shilling, without cost. The prosecutions are carried on under the old Act of Charles II. The prosecutors are a “Watch Committee,” whose self-appointed duty is to spy out who are doing work on Sunday, which the law does not sanction, even though such watching of others obliges themselves to do that which would be a violation of the Sabbath if Sunday were the Sabbath. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.1
The Birmingham Sunday agitation presents some of the absurdities of Sunday legislation. That tobacconists admit that the law does not sanction their trading operations on Sunday, but they claim that they have as good right to sell tobacco on Sunday as the publicans have. And here is where the beauty of the law comes in. It seems that the publicans’ licence admits of their selling only liquor in the prescribed hours on Sunday, and not tobacco. They have assumed that, being legally open, they might as well sell the latter as the former; but the Watch Committee proposes to test the matter. If the point can be established, then the publicans will be prosecuted for selling cigars on Sunday. The non-legal mind may have some difficulty in seeing the fine point of prosecuting a man for selling cigars, while he may sell beer unmolested, but such it seems is the necessary thing in order to establish justice and morality, and vindicate the sacredness of “the venerable day of the sun.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.2
In the House of Lords, Thursday, the 16th, the Bishop of Salisbury introduced a Bill “to provide for better freedom for religious introduction in Board Schools.” He said that there are ninety-one Boards which allow no religious instruction whatever; but if you allow the Bible to be read without notice or comment, and some allow hymns without any Bible reading. What the Bishop means by “freedom for religious instruction,” therefore, is doubtless compulsory instruction. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.3
If anybody can tell us the difference between this and compulsory attendance at church, we should be glad to learn. The children must of necessity attend school, and religious instruction in the schools is to be not merely optional, but compulsory. But the only object of the church is to give religious instruction, and so the schools are really churches, in a way. Many people who would exclaim against compulsory church attendance on Sunday, see no inconsistency in the same thing every day of the week. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.4
The clergy are up in arms against the “Welsh Suspensory Bill,” which means that no new interest shall be created in the established church in Wales, which is a part of the English Establishment. Referring to this Bill, the Bishop of Manchester said:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.5
“It seems a poor and cowardly thing to attempt to destroy the entire English Church by a piecemeal surgery. This Bill means war-and a religious war-with all its painful consequences.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.6
There can be no war if the church people do not fight; and Christ forbade His followers to fight even in defence of His own life. And is it not a humiliating confession for a Bishop to make, that “the church” will be destroyed if deprived of Government support? Jesus Christ is a much better foundation; the church that is built on Him cannot be destroyed even though bitterly persecuted by all the Governments of earth. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.7
The Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion in summing up the results of the Pope’s Jubilee, says: “Rulers, such as the Emperor of Germany, who have to contend against the forces of socialism, and who fear lest their own authority and the welfare of the State may be imperiled by revolutionary movements, look to the Supreme Pontiff for such moral aid as will safeguard them from the danger by which they are threatened.... The democracy of America, too, struggling for progress under new and trying conditions, welcome with cordiality the guiding influences of the Holy See. Thus it is that the necessity of the Papacy is felt more and more.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.8
The above is not merely the outburst of Catholic enthusiasm, but is a calm statement of the hold that the Papacy is gaining upon the nations. As if to emphasize the last part of the paragraph, the New York Independent says: “We can join heartily with our Catholic fellow-citizens in congratulations to Pope Leo XIII. on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee, celebrated this week. He has proved one of the wisest and best men that have ever occupied St. Peter’s chair. It was a wise remark which he made the other day, that Gladstone and he were the oldest rulers of Europe and the two youngest in their ideas. His sympathy with Republican governments and free institutions, and with the spirit of the age, endears him to Americans.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.9
“And all that dwell upon the earth, shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear to hear let him hear.” Revelation 13:8, 9. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.10
The passage of the Home Rule Bill is the one great thing before the present Parliament, and although there has been some bloodshed because such a bill has been passed, there is prospect of much more being shed if it should pass. A correspondent of the English Churchman and St. James’ Chronicle, speaking of the possibility of its passage says: “Nothing is more certain than that it will prove a fearfully dark day to England, for she will then be handed over to the tender mercies of the Irish priesthood and the professional agitators, who will become the virtual rulers, and utter ruin and misery must ensue. If ever in the history of our beloved country there was a call for prayer it is at the present crisis.” To which the editor adds: “In the presence of a great national disaster impending over us there is urgent necessity for united and constant prayer that this danger may be averted.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.11
Immediately following the above in another letter, which reads, in part, thus:- PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.12
“Our Protestant brethren in Ireland are up and doing. They acknowledge that no time should be lost in preparing themselves for resistance, should the Home Rule Bill become law, and a Parliament be established in Dublin. They do not mince matters; but, weighing the consequences, openly advocate the laying in of stores, the collection of arms, and the training of men willing to serve should civil war become a necessity. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.13
“Is it not then a fitting time for us Protestants of Great Britain to be striving also, to let our co-religionists in Ireland know that from us they shall receive more than sympathy? That we, too, can give them armed and trained men and officers, that our wealth, our lives, our future are at their disposal, and that, God helping us, we will not stand by looking on, leaving them alone to face the terrible ordeal, but both in prayer and power, help them to win a victory, and be free for ever from a sacerdotal yoke, which knows no pity, feels no compunction, and is, and ever has been, a curse to the land over which it has sway.” PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.14
We offer no comments upon the merits of the case; but we wish merely to call attention to the incongruity of training men, collecting arms, and shedding blood in the cause of what professes to be the religion of the Prince of Peace. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world, else would my servants fight.” Therefore when men fight, it is certain that they are not labouring in the interest of Christ’s kingdom. PTUK March 23, 1893, page 96.15