The Present Truth, Vol. 11 (1895)

January 3, 1895

"Things Given Us" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

We have whatever has been given to us, unless we refuse to receive it, or throw it away, or lose it. This being the case, let us note some of the things that have been given us, that we may know how well off we are.

The Word of God.-Jesus said to the Father, "I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me." John xvii. 8. All that the Father has said to Jesus, His only begotten Son, He has passed on to us, so that we may know that we are sons of God just as surely as we know that He is the Son of God. What a rich gift this is!

Peace.-Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." John xiv. 27. The world gives only where an equivalent can be returned; Christ gives to those who have nothing, and does not recall His gifts. If there is any man, therefore, who doesn't have peace, it is because he doesn't care for it, or doesn't believe the Lord's word. If we believe the word that He has given to us, then we have the same peace that Jesus had.

Faith.-"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. x. 17. With the word of God comes the power to grasp and appreciate it. "For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Rom. xii. 3. The faith that is given is "the faith of Jesus," so that by it we may live the same just life that Jesus lived, for "the just shall live by faith."

Grace.-"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." Eph. iv. 7, 8. If we have not received the grace of God in vain, we have salvation, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Eph. ii. 8. And "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men." Titus ii. 11.

Glory.-"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory." Ps. lxxxiv. 11. He has given grace to every man, and the glory is ours also; for Jesus said to the Father: "The glory which thou gavest Me, I have given them." John xvii. 22.

Christ Himself.-"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 iii. 16. He "gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity." Titus ii. 14. But we have more than a share in Him; we each one have the whole of Him, if we but believe that He "loved me, and gave Himself for me." Gal. ii. 20.

Everything.-The riches of Christ are unsearchable. Eph. iii. 8. In Him are all things. Therefore "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Rom. viii. 32. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." Having all things, there is no possible chance for complaining or discouragement.

Don't Forget.-Let every one therefore continually say to himself: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." Ps. ciii. 1-5.

"Combating the Papacy" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

The Papacy is conducting an active lecturing campaign in England for the purpose of making converts from nominal Protestants to Romanism. A series of lectures are given, beginning with some subject not in controversy between the two bodies, as, that of the inspiration of the Scriptures, and calculated to make an impression favourable to the speaker and to Rome, and ending with such subjects as the rule of faith and the infallibility of the Pope.

In this the Papal prelates find an easy and congenial task, and are meeting with no small degree of success; for although some anti-Catholic bodies have started an opposition crusade, to answer the arguments of Rome, and to present counter charges against her, they are shorn of their strength by the fact that they are standing on Rome's ground, and endeavouring to fight her with her own weapons. There is in their attempt the deadly weakness of

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inconsistency. This Rome sees, and this she has no difficulty in showing. She knows how to use her own weapons, and to fight on her own ground. Her long experience has given her a training and resources which have made her incontestably superior in this respect to the forces with which she contends.

The only power that can meet and vanquish Rome is the word of God: and this weapon Protestants, so-called, have for the most part abandoned. Those who still essay to use it find it a useless weapon in their hands; for by adopting the foundation principle of Rome,-that of the authority of the Bible and the Church,-they have placed themselves in the same position, and the "sword of the Spirit" cuts through them as it does through Rome. Rome has simply to remind them of the fact that they have chosen this position, to force an instant relinquishment of the only weapon that she dreads.

When Protestants who profess to be guided in belief and practice solely by the word of God, quote that word against the corrupt doctrines and practices of the Roman Church, they are reminded by the latter that there is no warrant in Scripture for the observance of Sunday; and this being the truth, as they are forced to admit, they can defend their own belief in Sunday as the Sabbath and their observance of it, only by recourse to the authority of the Church as the interpreter of that word.

But this is precisely the platform of Rome; she contends for nothing more. And when once it is admitted that the word of God is not sufficient in itself, the claims of the Church of Rome to be recognised and followed as its interpreter are as good as the claims of any other denomination.

By what means, then, do "Protestants" who have in practice abandoned the word of God, hope to prove superior to Rome in the contest for the recognition and following of men? Can they win by argument, or by sophistry? No; Rome has a master hand for such weapons, and she is using them to demonstrate the inconsistency and weakness of the Protestant position. Every endorsement of her doctrines and methods by Protestants strengthens her hands. It throws the weight of logic upon her side. "Protestants" must now either return to the position of the supreme authority of the word of God, and conform in practice to that, or go on to a complete union with Rome, or be held up by Rome as a glaring example of inconsistency before the world. Rome will force them to choose in the matter, and indications are not wanting as to what the choice will be. The movement Romeward is becoming more and more definite and pronounced, and full union is the only place where it can end. This is what Rome wants, and which she confidently expects.

But meanwhile the word of God has not lost its power, and those who hold to it, and it alone, have not been forced by Rome to yield their ground. The fortress of true Protestantism remains the same: the rock is not affected by the removal of those who have left it. Rome will gain the victory over those who have chosen her ground and her weapons: the devil will overcome all those who fight him with fire. But this will not affect the cause or the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," is almighty in the hand of him to whom it is the supreme rule of faith. It will cut through all its foes, and all who trust to it will get the victory.

"Papal Infallibility" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

Papal Infallibility.-Aside from the wicked and blasphemous presumption involved in the claim that any creature is infallible, the Roman Catholic doctrine of infallibility is one of the most ridiculous things in the world. It is thought to relieve it of its baldness by saying that the Pope is not infallible except when he speaks ex cathedra. He is not infallible in ordinary conversation, and his opinions, and even on matters of polity or doctrine, are not to be received as infallible, unless it is stated that he speaks ex cathedra. But he himself is the sole judge as to when he thus speaks, and he can thus speak whenever he chooses. So he himself determines when he will be infallible and when he will not be. When he gets ready to give forth an infallible utterance, he virtually gives warning, saying, "Take care, I am infallible now." Either this must be done, in order that "the faithful" may know what is imperative and what is not, or else they must be left in suspense until the event determines whether or not he was infallible at any given time. And since when he does not speak ex cathedra, he must be infallibly sure of that fact, it follows that the claim amounts to the same thing as his complete infallibility. The Pope's claim is really this: "I am infallible all the time, but I do not choose to exercise my infallibility on all occasions."

"Studies in Romans. A Glorious Persuasion. Rom. viii. 31-39" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

We come now to the close of the eighth chapter of Romans. It is the Pisgah of the epistle, for from it the eye of faith sees the promised land a certainty. Perhaps at this point a very brief summary of the ground already passed over may be profitable. The following is perhaps about as briefly as it can be put.

In the first chapter we have the theme of the epistle put in a few words. It is the Gospel of Christ, the power of God unto salvation. It is to both Jew and Gentile, and has been made known to all through the works of God. The condition of men who have refused to learn of God is then described.

The second chapter shows us that at heart all are the same; that all are to be judged by one and the same standard; and that knowledge and high profession do not in themselves recommend any one to God. Obedience to God's law is the only mark of an Israelite indeed and an heir of God.

The third chapter emphasises the preceding points, and especially that there are no obedient ones. "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." But there is nevertheless hope for all, because the righteousness of the law is put within and upon all who believe in Christ, so that a man is made a doer of the law by faith. One God justifies both Jews and Gentiles alike through faith. Faith is not a substitute for obedience to the law, but insures the doing of it.

In the chapter fourth we have Abraham set forth as an illustration of righteousness gained by faith. We learn also that faith in Christ's death and resurrection is the only way by which to inherit the promise to the fathers, which promise embraced nothing less than the possession of the earth made new. The blessing of

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Abraham is the blessing that comes by the cross of Christ. And since the promise to Israel was only the repetition of the promise to Abraham, we learn that Israel consists of those in every nation who gain the victory over sin through the cross of Christ.

Abounding love and grace, and salvation through the life of Christ, may serve as the barest outline of chapter five.

New creatures in Christ may serve to bring to the mind of the faithful reader the main thought of chapter sixth. It sets forth death, burial, resurrection, and life with Christ.

In the chapter seventh we learn how close is the union between Christ and believers. They are married to him, so that they are "members of His body, of his flesh, and of His bones." The struggles by which freedom is secured from the first husband the body of sin, are vividly portrayed.

The eighth chapter, the crown of the book, describes the blessings of the free-born son of God. The hope of future immortality is the actual possession, through the Spirit, of the present life and glory of Christ. Those who are in Christ are predestined to eternal glory. And thus we are brought to

THE SHOUT OF TRIUMPH

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

EVERYTHING FOR US

The apostle has asked, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" The answer must be, "No one." God is greater than all, and none can pluck anything out of his hand. If he who has power to make all things work together for good is for us, then it is certain that everything must be for us.

But the question often arises in the minds of people, "Is God really for us?" People often wickedly charge Him with being against them; and even professed Christians sometimes think that God is working against them. When troubles come, they imagine that God is fighting against them. Now that question is forever settled by one fact, and that is, that God is he who gives himself for us, and who justifies. Read the question and answer:-

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's own chosen? Shall God, who justifies them? Impossible. Well, God is the only one in the universe who has the right to lay anything to the charge of any; and since he justifies instead of condemning, we must be free. We are free if we believe it. Whom does He justify?-"The ungodly." That leaves no doubt but that He justifies us.

And what about Christ? Will He condemn us? How can He, when He gave Himself for us? But He gave Himself for us, according to the will of God. Gal. i. 4. "God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." John iii. 17. He is risen again for our justification, and He is at the right hand of God for us. He interposes Himself between us and the death that we have deserved. Then there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.

"But," says one, "Satan comes to me and makes me feel that I am such a sinner that God is angry with me, and that there is no hope for me." Well, why do you listen to him? You know his character. "He is a liar and the father of it." What have you to do with him? Let him accuse all he will; he is not the judge. God is the judge, and he justifies. Satan's sole object is to deceive men, and allure them into sin, making them believe that it is right. Be sure, then, that he never tells an unforgiven man that he is a sinner. God does that by His Spirit, in order that the guilty man may accept the pardon that he freely offers.

The case then stands thus: When God tells a man that he is a sinner, it is in order that the man may receive his pardon. If God says that a man is a sinner, then he is a sinner, and ought to acknowledge it, but "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." And this is true, no matter who tells us that we are sinners. Suppose that Satan tells us that we are sinners; we do not need to parley with him, or to stop a moment to discuss the question; we can let the accusation go, and comfort ourselves with the assurance that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. God doesn't condemn even when He convicts of sin; and nobody else has any business to condemn. If they do condemn, their condemnation does not amount to anything. Therefore there is no condemnation to those who trust the Lord. Even Satan's accusations may serve as encouragements to us; for we may be sure that he will never tell a man that he is a sinner, so long as that man is in his power. Since God is for us, everything is for us.

EVERLASTING LOVE

"The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." Jer. iii. 3. Since this is so, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" His love is everlasting, and knows no change. And His love is for us; therefore nothing can separate us from it. Our own deliberate choice can reject it, but even then His love continues the same; only we have in that case removed ourselves from it. "If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful; He can not deny Himself." 2 Tim. ii. 13.

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, separate us from the love of Christ? Impossible, since it was in those very things that his love for us was manifested. Death itself can not separate us from His love, since He so loved us that He gave Himself to die for us. Death is the pledge of His love. Sin, that separates us from God, does not separate us from His love, for "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." "Him who knew no sin be made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. v. 21, R.V.

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." It must be so, since everything is for us. Since Christ suffered hunger, and distress, and peril, and even death itself, in order that He might deliver us, all those things are for us. It was through death that He gained the victory for

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us; therefore even in death we gain an overwhelming victory. Those whom Satan persecutes even to death, gain the greatest victory over him. That which seems to be a victory for Satan, is his most crushing defeat.

Behold, what a wonderful provision God has made for our salvation! It is easy enough to see that if Satan did not trouble us at all, we should be saved. If our enemy would leave us entirely alone, we should have no trouble. So on that side we are safe. But he will not leave us alone. He goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Very well, God has so ordered it that even his attempts to destroy us help us along. Death is the sum of all the ills that Satan can bring upon us, and even in that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

A GOOD PERSUASION

"For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Isa. xxx. 15. "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." Heb. iii. 14. Our faith is the victory. God alone is our strength and salvation. Therefore our strength consists in confidence in Him. "Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Isa. xxvii. 5.

The apostle Paul had been "in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft." He says: "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." 2 Cor. xi. 24-27. Surely he is one who can speak with the authority of great experience. Hear, then, what He says:-

"Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

NO FEAR FOR THE FUTURE

Only to those who wilfully reject the love of God is there "a fearful looking for of judgment." Christ says to us, "Be not therefore anxious for the morrow." He does not desire that we should have our minds filled with fear and anxious forebodings. Some people can never be at rest, even under the most delightful circumstances, because they are afraid that something terrible will happen by and by. Now it makes no difference what may come, since neither things present nor things to come can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are assured that things to come, as well as things present, are ours. 1 Cor. iii. 22. Therefore in Christ we may sing:-

"Let good or ill befall,
It must be good for me,
Secure of having Thee in all,
Of having all in Thee."

"'I Would Have Told You'" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

"In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John xiv. 2. These words of the Saviour, spoken to His disciples just before His betrayal, manifest His unchanging interest in their welfare and that of His church. He would keep nothing from them which it is for their interest to know. He would not leave them to speculate over any point of truth which pertains to their salvation.

His assertion that He would not have left the disciples ignorant concerning the nature of His Father's house is an assurance that He has not left them ignorant concerning the path by which that house is to be reached. As we are told elsewhere in His word, "His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." 2 Peter i. 3.

Therefore there is no room for speculation concerning the things which pertain to salvation. None of these things have been withheld from us; they are all revealed in the word of God. We find there a knowledge of God. We find there a knowledge of God's will, which is His law. We find Jesus saying, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments," and citing the law which says, "Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal," etc. Matt. xix. 17, 18. If that law had been changed, He would have told us. If that commandment which says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work," had been meant to apply in this age to the first day of the week, He would have told us. But so far from telling us this, He has expressly declared that not one jot or title should in any wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matt. v. 18.

Not speculation, nor reasoning, but the knowledge of Christ, is the source from whence we learn what things pertain to life and godliness. Speculation is not knowledge, nor is spiritual knowledge deduced by the reason of man. It is revealed in the word of the Lord. And he who feels obliged to speculate, and infer, and reason upon the word in order to find out the truth, may thereby know that what he needs is a closer acquaintance with Christ. When we know the Saviour well enough we shall know that He has Himself revealed to us every part of the way from earth to that place whither He has gone. He has told us all things which pertain to a saving knowledge of the truth.

"Politeness" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

Many people pride themselves on their politeness, who never offer a word of thanks to the Giver of all that they have. True politeness does not ignore a favour because it comes from the Lord. It is a manifestation of the life within,-of the fragrance of the pure and upright principles that control the heart. Righteousness is both beautiful and fragrant. If God could be imposed upon and His favours bought, doubtless men would be much more obsequious to Him than they are. But politeness is not a form; it is not a medium of exchange. It is not a mere polish; it is indicative of the nature within. A polish can be put upon deal and similar woods, but it is a fraud; its only purpose is to deceive the eye. It is altogether different from the polish which comes from the fineness of texture of the wood itself. So the character must be of the right texture before the true polish can appear. And it must be made so by the converting power of God.

There is no truth but God's word.

"The Kingdom of Babylon. Babylon's Golden Age" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

"Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold." Dan. ii. 37, 38.

How simple are the words of Divine truth! In the most direct manner, Daniel rehearsed the greatness of the empire over which Nebuchadnezzar reigned, and declared that it was represented by the golden head of the terrible image. The expression, "Thou art this head of gold," does not refer to Nebuchadnezzar as an individual, but as the representative of the most magnificent empire that the world ever saw. It was to Nebuchadnezzar that Babylon owed her wonderful prosperity. Rawlinson says:-

"Nebuchadnezzar is the great monarch of the Babylonian Empire, which, lasting only eighty-eight years-from B.C. 625 to B.C. 538-was for nearly half the time under his sway. Its military glory is due chiefly to him, while the constructive energy, which, constitutes its especial characteristic, belongs to it still more markedly through his character and genius. It is scarcely too much to say that, but for Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians would have had no place in history. At any rate, their actual place is owing almost entirely to this prince, who to the military talents of an able general added a grandeur or artistic conception and a skill in construction which places him on a par with the greatest builders of antiquity."-Seven Great Monarchies.

It was fitting, therefore, that Nebuchadnezzar should stand for the empire.

The extent of the Babylonian Empire is indicated in verse 38: "And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all." This means universal dominion. A few years later, the prophet Jeremiah bore testimony to the same effect. The kings of Tyre, Edom, Moab, etc., with Zedekiah, king of Israel, were contemplating a revolt from Babylonian rule. To show them the folly of such an attempt, the prophet, by the command of the Lord, sent messengers to them, saying: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come; and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him." Jer. xxvii. 4-7.

This language is not figurative nor hyperbolical. It is plain history and is substantiated by the writings of profane historians. The "Encyclopedia Britannica," art. "Babylonia," after telling how Nabopolassar, ruler of the province of Babylonia, revolted from Assyrian rule, says:-

"The seat of empire was now transferred to the southern kingdom. Nabopolassar was followed in 604 by his son Nebuchadnezzar, whose lone reign of forty-three years made Babylon the mistress of the world. The whole East was overrun by the armies of Chaldea, Egypt was invaded, and the city of the Euphrates left without a rival."

The city of Babylon was described by Herodotus as follows:-

"The city stands on a broad plain, and in an exact square, a hundred and twenty furlongs in length each way, so that the entire circuit is four hundred and eighty furlongs. While such is its size, in magnificence there is no other city that approaches to it. It is surrounded, in the first place, by a broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rises a wall fifty royal cubits in width, and two hundred in height.

"And here I may not omit to tell the use to which the mould dug out of the great moat was turned, nor the manner wherein the wall was wrought. As fast as they dug the moat the soil which they got from the cutting was made into bricks, and when a sufficient number were completed they baked the bricks in kilns. Then they set to building, and began with bricking the borders of the moat; after which they proceeded to construct the wall itself, using throughout for their cement hot bitumen, and interposing a layer of wattled reeds at every thirtieth course of the bricks. On the top, along the edges of the wall, they constructed buildings of a single chamber facing one another, leaving between them room for a four-horse chariot to turn. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all of brass with brazen lintels and sideposts.

"The city is divided into two portions by the river which runs through the midst of it. This river is the Euphrates, a broad, deep, swift stream, which rises in Armenia and empties itself into the Erythrean [Arabian] Sea. [The river does not flow directly into the Arabian Sea, but into the Persian Gulf.] The city wall is brought down on both sides to the edge of the stream; thence from the corners of the wall, there is carried along each bank of the river a fence of burnt bricks. The houses are mostly three and four stories high; the streets all run in straight lines, not only those parallel to the river, but also the cross streets which lead down to the water-side. At the river end of these cross streets are low gates in the fence that skirts the stream, which are, like the great gates in the outer wall, of brass, and open on the water.

"The outer wall is the main defence of the city. There is, however, a second inner wall, of less thickness than the first, but very little inferior to it in strength. The centre of each division of the town was occupied by a fortress. In the one stood the palace of the kings, surrounded by a wall of great strength and size; in the other was the sacred precinct of Jupiter Belus, a square enclosure two furlongs each way, with gates of solid brass; which was also remaining in my time."

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The royal cubit was twenty-one inches. The reader will therefore see that the outer wall of the city was eighty-seven fifty feet high. The city was divided into two parts by the Euphrates, which ran diagonally through it, the banks of which were protected by walls, and the following means of passage from one part of the city to the other was devised:-

"In each of these walls were twenty-five gates, corresponding to the number of the streets which gave upon the river; and outside each gate was a sloped landing-place, by which you could descend to the water's edge, if you had occasion to cross the river. Boats were kept ready at these landing-places to convey passengers from side to side; while for those who disliked this method of conveyance a bridge was provided of a somewhat peculiar construction. A number of stone piers were erected in the bed of the stream, firmly clamped together with fastenings of iron and lead; wooden draw-bridges connected pier with pier during the day, and on these passengers passed over; but at night they were withdrawn, in order that the bridge might not be used during the dark. Diodorus declares that besides this bridge, to which he assigns a length of five stades (about one thousand yards) and a breadth of thirty feet, the two sides of the river were joined together by a tunnel, which was fifteen feet wide and twelve high to the spring of its arched roof."-Rawlinson.

The public buildings of the city were on the same magnificent scale. Of one of them we read:-

"The most remarkable edifice in Babylon was the temple of Bel, now marked by the Babil, on the northeast, as Professor Rawlinson has shown. It was a pyramid of eight square stages, the basement stage being over two hundred feet high, two other statues of gold, a golden table forty feet long and fifteen feet broad, and many other colossal objects of the same precious material."-Encyclopedia Britannica.

"The great palace was a building of still larger dimensions than the great temple. According to Diodorus, it was situated within a triple enclosure, the innermost wall being twenty stades, the second forty stades, and the outermost sixty stades (nearly seven miles) in circumference. The outer wall was built entirely of plain baked brick. The middle and inner walls were of the same material, fronted with enameled bricks representing hunting scenes. The figures, according to this author, were larger than the life, and consisted chiefly of a great variety of animal forms."

"But the main glory of the palace was its pleasure-ground-the 'Hanging Gardens,' which the Greeks regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world. This extraordinary construction, which owed its erection to the whim of a woman, was a square, each side of which measured four hundred Greek feet. It was supported on several tiers of open arches, built one over the other, like the walls of a classic theatre, and sustaining at each stage, or story, a solid platform, from which the piers of the next tier of arches rose. The building towered into the air to the height of at least seventy-five feet, and was covered at the top with a great mass of earth, in which there grew not merely flowers and shrubs, but trees also of the largest size. Water was supplied from the Euphrates through pipes, and was raised (it is said) by a screw working on the principle of Archimedes."-Ib.

The city thus briefly outlined, well deserved the title given to it by the prophet,-"The glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency." To the mind of man it would seem that the city so substantially built must stand for ever, but God had spoken to the contrary. Without pause, the prophet said: "And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee." Dan. ii. 39. Jeremiah, when he spoke of the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar's empire, foretold its fall, and also told under whose reign it should fall. He said:-

"And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come; and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him." Jer. xxvii. 7.

Thus we find that in the days of Nebuchadnezzar's grandson the kingdom of Babylon should pass away, and other nations and other kings should establish themselves, and serve themselves of this kingdom. And in the direct record of the fall of Babylon, given in Daniel v., Nebuchadnezzar is repeatedly spoken of as the grandfather of Belshazzar, the king who was reigning in Babylon at the time of its fall. See verses 2, 11, 13 (margin); also "Seven Great Monarchies," Fourth Monarchy, chap. 8, notes 179, 185, and paragraph 51. The exact fulfilment of prophecy in the fall of Babylon will be noted in the next number.

"A Meek Soul" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

A zealous soul without meekness is like a ship in a storm,-in danger of wreck. A meek soul without zeal is like a ship in a calm that moves not as fast as it ought.

"Spurgeon on Sunday Laws" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

"I am ashamed of some Christians because they have so much dependence on Parliament and the law of the land. Much good may Parliament ever do to true religion, except by mistake. As to getting the law of the land to touch our religion, we earnestly cry, 'Hands off! Leave us alone.' Your Sunday bills and all other forms of Act-of-Parliament religion seem to me to be all wrong. Give us a fair field and no favour, and our faith has no cause to fear. Christ wants no help from C?sar. Let our members of Parliament repent of the bribery and corruption so rife in their own midst before they set up to be protectors of the religion of our Lord Jesus. I should be afraid to borrow help from Government; it would look to me as if I rested on an arm of flesh, instead of depending on the living God. Let the Lord's day be respected by all means, and may the day soon come when every shop shall be closed on the Sabbath, but let it be by the force of conviction, and not by force of the policeman: let true religion triumph by the power of God in men's hearts, and not by the power of fines and punishments."-Extract from one of Spurgeon's Sermons.

We are glad to be able to agree with every word of the above. Of course Mr. Spurgeon meant Sunday when he said, "Let the Lord's day be respected by all means, and may the day soon come when every shop shall be closed on the Sabbath, but let it be by the force of conviction, and not by force of the policeman;" but with his words we can heartily agree, since "Lord's day" and "Sabbath" are terms that designate the seventh day of the week, and no other. Nevertheless the principle is correct in any case: Let every man act according to his convictions, and not according to force or policy. A religion that cannot stand without aid or "protection" from civil government, is not worth the paper that is wasted in framing the laws for its support.

"Justifying the Catholic Church" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

Justifying the Catholic Church.-The Catholic Church well understands that in the recognition of Christmas, which is so general, she has a strong hold upon professed Protestants. So the paper that represents that branch of the English Church which would feel insulted if it were not called Catholic says:-

We are thankful to see the Separatists so busily condemning, one by one, all the grounds of their separation, and justifying their mother the Church. Every Dissenting newspaper publishes a Christmas number, and prints a Christmas day sermon: and almost every meeting-house will be

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opened on Christmas day. This is a more hopeful sign for the recovery of union than all the compliments of Grindelwald.

And, again:-

We do not ask Dissenters to justify the Church by their words. They are themselves justifying her by their deeds.

We are glad to see these things. We hope that "the Church" papers and speakers will press them more and more, until those who do not wish to be Catholic will see that the only way they can keep from it is to obey the word of God alone, and to forsake everything not commanded by it.

"Rome and the Orthodox" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

The Daily Chronicle's Rome correspondent telegraphs that when the Cardinals reassemble in conference they will discuss the question of union between Catholicism and the "Orthodox" Church in Russia. At the Pope's request they will elaborate a scheme for the union of the churches, which will be submitted to the St. Petersburg Synod. The Pope does not expect immediate results, but he wishes to pave the way for ultimate action. The Czar's action at the time of his marriage indicates that the Pope's overtures will receive a "respectful hearing" in Russia as well as in England; and thus the time is drawing near, which was foretold by the prophet, when "all the world wondered after the beast, and they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" Rev. xiii. 3, 4.

"Giving Praise" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

The Psalmist exclaims, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Ps. cvii. 8, 15, 21, 31. Why, indeed, should not man praise the Lord for these things? Are not His goodness and wonderful works manifest? Yes, they are seen and felt on every side. Is praise a difficult thing to produce? No; it is no more difficult than to speak. And yet few and faint are the words of praise that ascend to Him from a world overflowing with His gifts. The fact only shows the paralysing power of sin. It is sin that stops the voice of praise and blinds the sight to the tokens of the goodness of God. He says, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me;" and it is when men glorify Him that He can let His glory be seen upon them. This is what would follow if men would but praise Him as the Psalmist desired. The glory of the Lord would be seen in the earth to the wonder of all and the salvation of many sinners.

Every sin is a testimony against God and in favour of him with whom sin originated. Sin began with a failure to give praise to God. Lucifer wanted some of that praise for himself; and ever since that time he has been endeavouring to secure the praise of men. There is praise enough in the world, but it is not bestowed where it is due. Praise belongs unto God; it is due to Him alone; but men are willing to praise even things inanimate, rather than Him. If men would not manifest such base ingratitude and blind folly, God would do wonderful things for them beyond all that they have seen or imagined. The loss is theirs, not His. What good would it be to do more while His wonderful works that are now done are passed by almost without a word of recognition or praise?

"The Surviving Paganism" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

The Daily Chronicle, in a leader on ecclesiastical festivals and the religious idea bears witness to the paganising of the church after apostolic days. The absurd suggestion that the Christian religion was preserved by alliance with paganism and political power is of course wholly untrue. It was not Christianity that thus allied itself with earthly powers. Real Christianity in those days was kept alive by the preservation of the living word, and by the little bands of believers who were persecuted by the apostate Church which had forsaken God and joined itself to another master. Speaking of the medi?val darkness surrounding this confederacy in evil the Chronicle says:-

"It must never be forgotten how much of the elements of Paganism had been incorporated into medi?val Christianity. The union of the Church with the Roman Empire was, doubtless, inevitable and necessary. The tares had to grow with the wheat, as the symbolism of the parable has it. When the early fervour of the Church had died away, it is very doubtful whether Christianity would have been preserved as a commanding fact and universal formative influence in Europe had it not been for the political power with which it was so closely united. And yet what a price this was to pay for the spread of a nominal Christianity! Even to-day, more than fifteen centuries after the time of Constantine, Christianity is credited with ideas and customs that are, as all scholars know, absolutely Pagan, and which, under other names, were familiar to the minds of Greeks and Romans for centuries before the Christian religion was born among the hills and by the Lake Galilee."

"The Way of Escape" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

The Way of Escape.-It is the will of God that men should live without sin, and He has made provision that they may do so. We are inclined to think that at times we cannot help being overcome, but this is a mistake. Paul writes, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to men; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Cor. x. 13. The way is there; the only trouble is that we fail to see it. We look at the temptation, we look at ourselves, and we seem to be hopelessly trapped. Ah, we do not see Christ! He is the way of escape. There is no sin in that Way. We have but to see and fly to it, and we are safe. It is only when we look away from Him that danger comes.

"In the Piedmont Valleys" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

The life of the Italian peasant in the upper valleys of the Piedmont far from the beaten paths of tourists' travel, is a very simple one, and arduous. The sustenance must be gathered from the soil in some way, and here, where nature has piled the mountains one upon another, it requires a struggle to gather the necessaries of life.

Our farmers who cut their supply of hay for the winter from smooth meadows, or even perhaps sometimes from steep hillsides, which slope at an angle that makes the swinging of the scythe an inconvenient exercise, will be prepared to sympathise with the hay-gatherers who climb from crag to crag to gather a bundle of grass, and then pick their way again down the mountain sides to their homes, bearing the burden upon their backs.

But the simple fare, the bracing atmosphere, and the out-of-door labour make hard muscles and sturdy limbs. And the mountains which shut in these valleys and seem at first sight to be rather against the people who find homes amongst them, have often in centuries past been heaven-provided places of refuge for the persecuted, and may be again when Rome again secures the power for which she is seeking. The following paragraphs from "The Great Controversy," by Mrs. E. G. White, show how the early Piedmontese were saved from destruction when Rome set herself utterly to "wear our the saints of the Most High:"-

"For centuries the churches of Piedmont maintained their independence; but the time came at last when Rome insisted upon their submission. After ineffectual struggles against her tyranny, the leaders of these churches reluctantly acknowledged the supremacy of the power to which the whole world seemed to pay homage. There were some, however, who refused to yield to the authority of pope or prelate. They were determined to maintain their allegiance to God, and to preserve the purity and simplicity of their faith. A separation took place. Those who adhered to the ancient faith now withdrew; some, forsaking their native Alps, raised the banner of truth in foreign lands; others retreated to the secluded glens and rocky fastnesses of the mountains, and there preserved their freedom to worship God. . .

"Behind the lofty bulwarks of the mountains,-in all ages the refuge of the persecuted and oppressed,-the Waldenses found a hiding-place. Here the light of truth was kept burning amid the darkness of the Middle Ages. Here, for a thousand years, witnesses for the truth maintained the ancient faith. God had provided for his people a sanctuary of awful grandeur, befitting the mighty truths committed to their trust. To those faithful exiles the mountains were an emblem of the immutable righteousness of Jehovah. They pointed their children to the heights towering above them in unchanging majesty, and spoke to them of Him with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning, whose word is as enduring as the everlasting hills. God had set fast the mountains, and girded them with strength; no arm but that of infinite power could move them out of their place. In like manner he had established his law, the foundation of his government in Heaven and upon earth. The arm of man might reach his fellow-men and destroy their lives; but that arm could as readily uproot the mountains from their foundations, and hurl them into the sea, as it could change one precept of the law of Jehovah, or blot out one of his promises to those who do his will. In their fidelity to his law, God's servants should be as firm as the unchanging hills. . . .

"The mountains that girded their lowly valleys were a constant witness to God's creative power, and a never-failing assurance of his protecting care. Those pilgrims learned to love the silent symbols of Jehovah's presence. They indulged no repining because of the hardships of their lot; they were never lonely amid the mountain solitudes. They thanked God that he had provided for them an asylum from the wrath and cruelty of men. They rejoiced in their freedom to worship before him. Often when pursued by their enemies, the strength of the hills proved a sure defense. From many a lofty cliff they chanted the praise of God, and the armies of Rome could not silence their songs of thanksgiving."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Pope has created three new "apostolic vicariates" in the lake district of Central Africa.

-It is estimated that a ton of gold, used in stopping teeth, is annually buried in American cemeteries.

-No less than 105 persons lost their lives during the great of Friday and Saturday, December 21, 22.

-The Indian National Congress is in session at Madras, 1,150 delegates and 3,000 visitors being present at the opening meeting.

-The steamer Abydos was lost in the storm of December 22, near the Isle of Man, and her crew of twenty-two men were drowned.

-A new yacht has boon built for the Czar, 425 feet in length, with 10,000 horse power, and manned by a crew of over 300 men.

-The transatlantic steamship record Eastward has been reduced by a recent voyage of the Campania to five days nine and a-half hours.

-No fewer than 6,336 persons were injured and 172 killed in the streets of London in the last year. Cycles caused injury to over 600 persons.

-The British flag was hoisted in November at Jebu Remo, West Africa, and the country declared to be formally annexed to the British possessions.

-The position of the Jews in the southwest of Russia, where they have been treated with great severity by Count Ignatieff, is now, by the removal of that official, said to be greatly improved.

-At a recent meeting of Holland Socialists held at the Hague, it was decided to replace the old Dutch Socialist League by a now organisation, the Congress of which should hereafter be held in public.

-A Russian physician has been testing how far animals can count. He declares that the crow can count up to ten, and is thereby superior to certain Polynesian tribes of men, who cannot got beyond five or six.

-Recently in Madrid thousands of people paid fabulous prices and fought their way into the arena to witness a deadly combat between an African lion and a five-year-old Spanish bull. To the surprise of the spectators, the bull quickly defeated the lion.

-The total loss caused by the Chicago railway strike last summer in loss of wages, destruction of property, and cutting off of traffic, has been computed by the federal commissioners at about seven million donate. Besides this, twelve persons lost their lives.

-A railway accident, attended with fatal consequences, occurred on Christmas day at Dallas, Texas, by the collision of two passenger trains on the Texas Central Reeds. Sixteen people were killed. The accident was due to the defective working of the air brakes.

-In Georgia, U.S.A., a negro suspected of a crime was pursued by whites to a town inhabited by coloured people. Because they refused to give him up, fighting ensued, nearly twenty blacks being killed, and many others injured. Women, it is alleged, were subjected to violence and outrage.

-The "purification" of New York City officialdom still goes on, end has now taken hold of the police. As a first result of the trials for bribery and blackmailing, Captain Stephenson, a member of the force, has been sentenced to three years and nine months' imprisonment, and to pay a fine of 1,000 dollars.

-During the progress of a negro fair in Alabama, U.S., December 23, some drunken negroes became noisy, and an attempt was made to eject them, when one of the men fired a shot, and a regular riot ensued, during which knives and pistols were freely used. Four persons were killed and thirteen others mortally wounded, among the latter being several women.

-Never before has the Parcel Post carried so many Christmas presents. Even in London alone they numbered hundreds of thousands, and the various carriers were equally deluged, the vans being engaged all day on Sunday delivering pack-ages. A writer estimates that the extra expense incurred by the community at the Christmas season amounts to thirteen millions sterling.

-During the storm on Saturday evening, Dec. 22, a railway goods wagon was blown from a siding on to the main line at Chelford, on the London and Northwestern Railway, with the result that a collision took place a moment later with a heavy express train, which was running at a high speed. Several cars were demolished and thirteen of the passengers were killed, while many others were injured.

-The treachery of the French artillery Captain Dreyfus has brought on him a terrible punishment. He was found guilty by a court martial of selling to a foreign Power certain documents connected with the national defence, and was sentenced on Saturday to transportation and perpetual imprisonment in a fortress, and to military degradation. It is now proposed in France that treason on the part of any officer or ones in the army shall he punishable by death time of peace as well as in time of war.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 1.

E. J. Waggoner

The "apostolic delegate" in the United States, Mgr. Satolli, has promulgated an edict of the Pope, placing under the ban of the Church as secret societies the Oddfellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Sons of Temperance.-Reuter.

At Warwick, where a clerical majority of the School Board, decided to introduce the "Apostle's Creed" "with proper explanations," the parents of 250 children have sent in notices to withdraw their children from religious instruction. An attempt has been made to conciliate them by saying that it is only desired to teach the creed without explanations; but if the parents are true Protestants they will refuse to be caught.

Ever since the creation it has been true that the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord (see Isa. vi. 3), and that the heavens declare it. Ps. xix. 1. The trouble is that men are so self-centred that they do not recognise it. The work of the Gospel is to lead men to recognise the glory of God in His works, and to do all things to His glory. When the Gospel shall have been finished, then "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. ii. 14), and then God will be all in all.

The Catholic Church has nearly recovered the place in Germany, which it lost to the Reformation. Count Bernstorff, of Berlin, has written an article for a syndicate of religious weeklies, in which he says that "Protestantism has done much to tone down Catholicism in Germany, and make it something vastly different from the Catholicism of Spain, Italy, and other countries." It is stated that "in many important questions Catholics and Protestants are at one," which is true, because in some of them Protestants have gone back to Romanism, and in others they never separated. Whenever Protestants, so-called, and Catholics are alike, it may be set down as a fact that Catholics are the dominating force. It is significant that the principal point of likeness that is noted to the credit of Catholics is in their support of efforts to secure Sunday as a rest day. Protestants in their blindness think that Rome is coming over to them, when she is simply caring for her own.

The Church Times says: "Christmas day is the only day in every year upon which all sorts of conditions of men, willingly or unwillingly, pay some degree of graceful homage to the Catholic Church." Fortunately there are some yet who do not bow the knee to Rome, and doubtless there are many others who will refuse even this tribute when they learn that in recognising Christmas Day they are exalting, not Christ, but the Catholic Church.

The same paper says further concerning the Pope's efforts for unity:-

All Christians cannot but sympathise with the Pope's sincere and holy desire for the healing of the wounds of Christendom, and they will receive with all due respect any appeal he may judge fit to put forth.

We are Christians, but we beg to be left out of that statement. As followers of Christ we cannot give any hearing whatever to anything any pope may say. The most that the Pope can do to heal the wounds of Christendom is to become a Christian himself, and in order to be a Christian he would need to cease to be Pope.

In the memorial which is being circulated as a protest against the consecration, by the Archbishop of Dublin, of a bishop of the Reformed Church in Spain, one of the strong reasons against the recognition of that Church by the Anglican Church is that in its Prayer Book "The Office for the Baptism of Infants" contains no reference to any "mystical washing away of sin," and it omits the idea expressed by the words, "seeing now that this child is regenerate," or, "that it hath pleased Thee to regenerate this infant with Thy Holy Spirit."

Old and young come to him with their problems of life. He enters into their feelings, he knows their temptations, and appreciates their weaknesses. While stern in his judgment of sin, he loves the sinner. Many are the hours of vicarious suffering he has spent, with the sins of others weighing him down.

Of whom is this spoken? of the Lord Jesus Christ? He is the only one to whom it can rightly apply, but it actually appeared in an American religious paper with reference to a minister who has recently achieved distinction as a director of politics. What a blessing it would be if people would trust the Lord as readily as they will a man. Hero-worship is largely superseding the worship of the Lord in the church that bears His name.

"Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. i. 21. But there would be no chance for Him to save His people from their sins if they got rid of their sins before becoming His. Sinners, therefore, are the Lord's people. "This Man receiveth sinners." They belong to Him, because He has bought them. "Christ died for the ungodly." He receives sinners, and claims them as His own people, in order that He may save them from their sins. The person, therefore, who thinks that he is too sinful for the Lord to accept, is doing His best to deprive Jesus of His rightful office, that of Saviour.

A Christian is one who not only professes belief in Christ, but who is an actual follower of Him. Christ says of Himself, "I am meek and lowly in heart." He is one who does not exercise lordship, but who serves. Least of all is he who sets himself up in Christ's stead. The Pope of Rome claims to be Christ's vicar on earth. He claims to have the authority of Christ on earth. That is to put himself in the place of Christ, and thus to be antichrist. But Christ and antichrist have nothing in common. Therefore wherever the Pope is honoured and exalted, there Christ is dishonoured and denied.

Christ said, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Matt. xxviii. 29. Now since a vicar or vicegerent is one who takes the place of another, and acts in his stead, it is evident that the claim that Christ has a vicar on this earth is a denial that Christ Himself is with His people. The Papacy, therefore, is as opposed to Christ as darkness is to light. There are very many honest, sincere Catholics, who serve God to the best of their knowledge; but Catholicism itself is antichristian. For Catholics we have only love; for Catholicism we are not allowed to have any sympathy.

January 10, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

"And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus." Matt. xiv. 28, 29.

The greatest use that is made of the incident of which this is a partial record, is to moralise over Peter's subsequent failure. It is well to learn from it to look steadfastly to Jesus instead of to self and the dangers around us; but there is more than this that may be learned from the narrative.

In the first place, however, let us guard against the idea that it was pride or vainglory that prompted Peter's request that he might come to Jesus on the water. The request was evidently the impulse of Peter's warm heart. It was quite natural that a feeling of vainglory might come over him when he found himself walking on the waves as on the solid earth; but there was no time for selfish calculation in the instant that Jesus was revealed to His disciples; and selfish calculation was not a part of Peter's disposition.

There was no real need for Peter to go to Jesus on the water. There was no material object to be gained by it. He wanted to be with the Lord, it is true; but the Lord was coming direct to the boat, and Peter could have been with Him in a minute or two at the most, by sitting still in the boat. Yet it was not foolhardiness on the part of Peter, and the Lord did not reprove him for desiring to come. Why not?

Did you ever see a man coming home from his work in the evening, and then see a little way down the road a little form rush out of the gate and run to meet him? The child saw its father coming, and could not wait for him, but must run to meet him on the way. Would you try to reason with that child, and tell him that his action was wholly unnecessary? That the father could be with him in a moment if he could only wait? And would you expect the father to reprove the child for his impatience to get with him? The child's eagerness is most refreshing to the weary father.

If you know anything about such a scene as this, and can appreciate it, then you can understand Peter's request to be allowed to meet Jesus, and why the Lord said, "Come." Peter's ardent love, that was impatient of delay, was most grateful to the Master. What if there was no real need of Peter's coming? Love does not take account of such things. Such love as Peter's must not be discouraged by the slightest rebuff and the Lord on His part was too desirous of winning the confiding love of His children to say, Nay, when one of them said, "Let me come."

With what fresh delight we can now read the gracious invitation. "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And how forcible are those other words, "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out." So I am glad that the loving Lord said to Peter, Come, and that there was power in that word to bring him, at a time when it was not specially necessary that he should come: for now I know that much more will He gladly receive me when I fly to Him for refuge from the sins that beset me. The invitation has been given. His arms are stretched out for us; as soon as His love awakens a response in our own hearts, and we wish to be with Him, we are there, for His love draws us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"The Waves and the Rock" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

It is impossible to imagine what some of the song-writers would do if they were shut off from likening the Christian life to a voyage upon the ocean, and the Christian to a man in a boat, tossed by the waves, and buffeted by the winds. But if they had a strick regard for Scripture imagery, they would be forced to forgo such illustrations.

The Bible does refer to the sea, but not as affecting the Christian. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." Isa. lvii. 20. It speaks also of the man who does not have faith in God, but who wavers. "He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." James i. 6. But such a man receives nothing from the Lord.

When a ship is in the sea it must of necessity be more or less at the mercy of the wind and tide. Perhaps this is the reason why so many who have accepted the idea of the "Gospel-ship" as scriptural, have supposed that instability is a necessary part of Christian experience. They expect to be up and down, according to the state of the tide.

But what saith the Scripture? The Christian is not on the restless waves

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but on the solid rock. The Lord "brought me up out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." Ps. xl. 2. Walking upon a rock is vastly different from being rocked in the boat.

The wind and the waves have no effect upon the rocks. The tide rises and falls, but the rock remains unchanged. The fierce waves beat against it with a thundering sound, but it moves not. It does not even tremble. Therefore he who is upon the solid rock cannot be affected by the ebb and flow of the tide, nor by wind or weather. Jesus said, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock." Matt. vii. 24, 25.

Jesus Christ is the everlasting Rock. "He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Ps. xcii. 15. His word is the same as Himself. "For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." Ps. cxix. 89. "The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever." Ps. cxi. 7, 8. "They are spirit and they are life," even His own eternal life. Reader, where are you? Are you floating upon the sea? or are you established upon the Rock?

"Hard to Bear" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

There would be less complaining over adversity if we would remember that one of the hardest things for a human being to bear is prosperity. There is, indeed, only one condition under which this is possible, and that is when self is dead; for wherever self is, prosperity and pride are sure to go hand in hand.

Even the Apostle Paul could not bear the special marks of God's favour bestowed upon him in visions and revelations, and was given a thorn in the flesh, the "messenger of Satan" to buffet him, lest he should be exalted thereby. It is natural to seek favours from God without thinking of the thorn in the flesh.

John and James desired of Christ that they might sit one on His right hand and the other on His left, in His glory. The Saviour asked them, "Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" "They said unto Him, We can." Mark x. 37-39. But there came a time soon afterwards when they would not have answered the question in this confident manner. In the garden of Gethsemane, when He drank of the cup, they with the other disciples, filled with sorrow and amazement, "forsook Him and fled."

"How to Find Strength" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

"And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened." So wrote the prophet Daniel in describing a vision given him by the side of one of the rivers of Babylonia. For three weeks Daniel had been mourning, having eaten no "pleasant bread" nor tasted meat or wine. Dan. x. 3. He was mourning and praying on account of the sins of his people and the captivity into which they had been brought. He felt not only for himself but for the multitude of his nation in the land of their captivity, and for the temple of his God, which was lying in ruins in a far-off land. The weight of so much trouble pressed heavily upon him, and in his sorrow he turned for help to the Lord. He talked with the Lord, and the Lord, by His angel, talked with him; and the prophet received strength and light.

The course of Daniel and his trouble is the course for us. Human sympathy is comforting and helpful, but the tale of sorrow is rarely lightened by being poured into human ears, and the burden of each is a heavy one of itself; but only tell the trouble to the Lord, tell it in faith, and the burden lightens at once. Talk to God as to a Father, and He will talk to you. The Lord is no respecter of persons. He is as willing to talk with any one of us as He was to talk with Daniel.

Although Daniel was "greatly beloved" by the Lord, the words which were spoken to him did not relate only to him, but were spoken in reality to us who live long after his day, when the prophecies he wrote were to be fulfilled. The favours which were seemingly bestowed upon Daniel and upon all the prophets, in the communications given them from God, were in reality bestowed upon us.

This is what Peter tells us in his first epistle, when speaking of the prophets and holy men of old, he says, "Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into." 1 Peter i. 12. The Lord had us in mind when He sent mighty angels from heaven with communications to His chosen prophets and apostles. Can we say, then, that we are not "greatly beloved" as well as they? Has God not given to us as much as He gave to them, and will He not do for us what He did for them? We are assured that having given us His Son He will with Him "freely give us all things," and that He "giveth to all life and breath and all things." Acts xvii. 25; Rom. viii. 32.

In talking to the holy men of old, God was also talking to us; for "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Rom. xv. 4. God was so anxious to talk with us, for our learning and comfort, He spoke to us long before we were born. And upon our entrance into the world, we find His words waiting for us, to give us the hope and strength and comfort with which they are filled.

When we come to the Scriptures, we come to God, and in them He talks with us, as truly as He ever talked with human flesh; and, unlike the words of man, His words are ever fresh, applying always to the present hour and our present circumstances. God courts an audience with us, and His time and place are always ready. He knows all our weakness and our sorrow, and so has invited us to come to Him, that we may find hope and comfort, and say as did Daniel, "When He had spoken unto me, I was strengthened."

"Catholic Union with the Eastern Church" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

Every reader of the PRESENT TRUTH, as well as many who have not read it before this number, will remember something of the Pope's efforts to secure the union of the Eastern Church with the Roman Catholic Church. In an extended comment on this, the Church Times says:-

If, as is hinted, he intends to follow up his action by a similar appeal to the Anglican Communion, and if his appeal is based on a similarly general recognition of our unquestionable Catholicity in doctrine and discipline, he may rely on a respectful hearing.

The present Pope is an astute politician, and it may be depended on that he knows how to put his case so as to secure that "respectful hearing" from those who are so ready to listen.

"The Fall of Babylon. The Word of God Fulfilled" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

One hundred and thirteen years before Cyrus was born, Isaiah called him by name, and said, one hundred and seventy-six years before it came to pass, that he should let the people of Israel go from captivity. But Babylon was to fall before Israel could go free; and the prophet also said that Cyrus should take that mighty city. Isa. xlv. 1-5. In the fourth year of Zedekiah, B.C. 597, Seraiah was sent as an embassador to Babylon on business to the king; and by him Jeremiah sent a copy of the prophecies contained in the fiftieth and fifty-first chapters of Jeremiah. Seraiah was to take the prophecy with him, and when he reached Babylon, he was to read it all, and when he had finished the reading of it he was to bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates, and say, "Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her." Jer. li. 59-64.

In that prophecy Jeremiah said that the power of the Medes should destroy Babylon. Verses 11, 28. Isaiah said that Elam should be joined with Media: "Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media." Isa. xxi. 2, 9. Yet only a short time before Babylon fell, Elam was one of the provinces of the Babylonian Kingdom. Dan. viii. 2, 2. Elam was the Susiania of ancient geography, and Cyrus was of Elamite origin, and the recognised chief of the Susianians, and when he began to spread his conquests, the Susianians (Elamites) only waited for the opportune moment to revolt from Babylon and join the standard of Cyrus. The armies of Media and Persia were united under the command of Cyrus, and left Ecbatana, the capital of Media, in the spring of 539 B.C., on the expedition against Babylon.

In that prophecy which Jeremiah had sent to be read in Babylon, it was said to the people of Israel: "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord. And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler." Jer. li. 45, 46. Here was given a definite sign by which the people of Israel might know when to escape from Babylon, and from the ruin that was to fall upon her. There were to be two rumours of danger to Babylon, and the rumours were to be a year apart. As stated above, Cyrus started for Babylon in early spring, B.C. 539, but he went only about half way that year. The cause of this delay is stated by Herodotus:-

"Cyrus on his way to Babylon came to the banks of the Gyndes, a stream which, rising in the Matienian Mountains, runs through the country of the Dardanians, and empties itself into the river Tigris. . . . When Cyrus reached the stream, which could only be passed in boats, one of the sacred white horses accompanying his march, full of spirit and high mettle, walked into the water, and tried to cross by himself; but the current seized him, swept him along with it, and drowned him in its depths. Cyrus, enraged at the insolence of the river, threatened so to break its strength that in future even women should cross it easily without wetting their knees. Accordingly he put off for a time his attack on Babylon, and, dividing his army into two parts, he marked out by ropes one hundred and eighty trenches on each side of the Gyndes, leading off from it in all directions, and setting his army to dig, some on one side of the river, some on the other, he accomplished his threat by the aid of so great a number of hands, but not without losing thereby the whole summer season. Having, however, thus wreaked his vengeance on the Gyndes by dispersing it through three hundred and sixty channels, Cyrus, with first approach of the ensuing spring, marched forward against Babylon."-Book 1, chap. 189, 190.

Here then were the two rumours which Jeremiah said there should be: First, when Cyrus started from Ecbatana, the rumour reached Babylon, and the Babylonians made ready to meet him in defence of the city. But he stopped and stayed a year, and then started again for Babylon, which would be the cause of the second rumour. This was what the people of Israel were waiting for; then they knew it was the time to get out of Babylon, for then would surely be violence in the land, ruler against ruler. And thus that prophecy was certainly fulfilled beyond all reasonable dispute.

In the spring of B.C. 538 Cyrus proceeded to Babylon without hindrance. Nabonidus, the king of Babylon, drew up his forces in the plain outside of the city, prepared to give battle. Cyrus attacked him at once and easily defeated him. Nabonidus himself took refuge in Borsippa, while the greater part of his army escaped within the walls of the city, where Belshazzar was in command. When they all got within the mighty walls of Babylon, with all the brazen gates securely fastened with heavy iron bars, they felt perfectly secure, and laughed defiance at Cyrus and all his forces, and at all his efforts to force his way in. But Cyrus had already made a success of turning the river Gyndes out of its banks, and he determined to do the same thing for the Euphrates. Euphrates ran directly through the city, under the walls, and Cyrus determined to turn the waters out of the channel, and then, under cover of darkness, follow the bed of the river into the city. This also was in fulfilment of prophecy: "A drought is upon her water; and they shall be dried up." "And I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry." Jer. l. 38; li. 36. Thus spake the prophet sixty years before, telling what should be, and the following are the words of the historian telling what was:-

"Withdrawing the greater part of his army from the vicinity of the city,

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and leaving behind him only certain corps of reservation, Cyrus marched away up the course of the Euphrates for a certain distance, and there proceeded to make a vigorous use of the spade. His soldiers could now appreciate the value of the experience which they had gained by dispersing the Gyndes, and perceive that the summer and autumn of the preceding year had not been wasted. They dug a channel or channels from the Euphrates, by means of which a great portion of its water would be drawn off, and hoped in this way to render the natural course of the river fordable."-Seven Great Monarchies (Rawlinson).

Isaiah was shown in vision that Babylon would fall in a time of feasting. "Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower, eat, drink," and that in the midst of it she would be attacked. "Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield." Chap. xxi. 5, 9. And thus says the history:-

"When all was prepared, Cyrus determined to wait for the arrival of a certain festival, during which the whole population were wont to engage in drinking and revelling, and then silently in the dead of night to turn the water of the river and make his attack. All fell out as he hoped and wished. The festival was held with even greater pomp and splendour than usual; for Belshazzar, with the natural insolence of youth, to mark his contempt of the besieging army, abandoned himself wholly to the delights of the season, and himself entertained a thousand lords in his palace."-Ib.

Daniel was in Babylon that night, and tells what happened there: "Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father [grandfather, margin] Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein."

Jeremiah said it was "a land of graven images," and prophesied that they would be "mad upon their idols." Chap. l. 38. And Daniel says that in that night's feast which he saw "they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." Dan. v. 1-4.

Isaiah, one hundred and seventy-six years before, said that their night of pleasure should be turned into fear. Chap. xxi. 3, 4. Daniel tells what did it: "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." Chap. v. 5.

Isaiah in vision pictured him thus in his fear: "My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me;" "therefore are my loins filled with pain, pangs have taken hold upon me; . . . I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it." Daniel tells what was the reality. "Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." Chap. v. 6.

Isaiah showed he would call in the astrologers: "Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee;" "none shall save thee." Chap. xlvii. 13, 15.

Daniel says the king did so: "The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; . . . but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied." Chap. v. 7-9.

This was the scene in the king's banqueting-house, but it was only a sample of what was going on all over the city, for it was a national feast. Says William Hayes Ward, in the Sunday School Times:-

"We are told in Daniel that Babylon was captured on the night of a great feast to the idol gods, at which the wives and concubines joined in a wild revelry. But the women were not in the habit of feasting with men-how is this? An account, by Cyrus himself, of his capture of Babylon, was dug up only three or four years ago. In it he declares that Babylon was captured, 'without fighting,' on the fourteenth day of the month Tammuz. Now the month Tammuz was named in honour of the god Tammuz, the Babylonian Adonis, who married their Venus or Ishtar; and the fourteenth of Tammuz was the regular time to celebrate their union, with lascivious orgies. On this day of all others, the women took part in the horrible rite; and it was in this feast of king, princes, wives, and concubines, that Babylon was taken and Belshazzar slain. The Bible is fearfully and wonderfully corroborated."-Vol. 25, 42.

Jeremiah had said sixty years before: "And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and rulers, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts." "In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wait, saith the Lord." Jer. li. 57, 39.

The following is the statement of Rawlinson as to what was going on outside of the king's palace, as well as in it:-

"Elsewhere the rest of the population was occupied in feasting and dancing. Drunken riot and mad excitement held possession of the town; the siege was forgotten; ordinary precautions were neglected. Following the example of their king, the Babylonians gave themselves up for the night to orgies in which religious frenzy and drunken excess formed a strange and revolting medley."-Seven Great Monarchies.

The end of the night's carousal will be considered next week.

"Studies in Romans. Who Are Israelites? Rom. ix. 1-18" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

The ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters of Romans are devoted especially to the answer to this question, so that only a portion of it can be dealt with in this article. The matter has, however, been so clearly indicated in the studies of the second, third and fourth chapters, that we may pass over this ground more rapidly than we otherwise should. This does not mean that the chapters themselves should be dismissed with slight study, for there is no part of the Bible that has more to yield to the patient student; but our work of leading the student to it may be the more quickly done, in consequence of what has already been done.

At first sight it would seem that the subject of the epistle is entirely changed. A more general view will show us that the apostle here carried out the original subject, showing who are heirs of God's promise, and how only it is to be obtained.

PAUL'S LOVE FOR HIS BRETHREN

"I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh; who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, at this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth); it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth." Rom. ix. 1-18.

This is a long portion of Scripture for study, but if it is diligently questioned, to see exactly what it says, it will not be found so difficult as it is usually thought. We can put only a few of the many

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

that might and should be asked.

What burden does the apostle say that he carried continually?

"I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart."

For whom did he have this sorrow?

"For my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."

How great was his love and sympathy for them?

"I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren."

Who were these brethren?

"Israelites."

What privileges did they have?

"The adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises," and "the fathers."

What other great honour was theirs?

"Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came."

If their condition was so bad, notwithstanding all the promises, how could the integrity of God's word be shown?

"For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel."

Who only of Abraham's descendants are the seed?

"In Isaac shall thy seed be called."

What is said of the children of the flesh?

"These are not the children of God."

Who are the seed?

"The children of the promise are counted for the seed."

What shows that the children are "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"?

"When Rebecca also had conceived, . . . the children being not yet born. . . . it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the young."

How did the verdict in after years agree with this?

"Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."

Is there then unrighteousness with God?

"God forbid." Not by any means. He "without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's works." 1 Peter i. 17.

On what then does every man's salvation depend?

"It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."

For what purpose did God say to Pharaoh that He had raised him up?

"That I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth."

What is the conclusion?

"Therefore He hath mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth."

Both Jews and Greeks.-Although Paul was "the apostle of the Gentiles," he did not forget his "kinsmen according to the flesh." Wherever he went he sought out the Jews first, and preached to them. To the elders of Ephesus he said, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts xx. 20, 21. Paul's solicitude for all classes, even for those who were personally strangers to him, shows, more than anything else, his likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Israel's Advantage.-"What advantage then hath the Jew?" "Much every way; chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Rom. iii. 1, 2. So here we read a wondrous list of things that pertain to Israel: the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises. A terrible thing it is indeed to prove unfaithful amid such inestimable privileges!

"Salvation Is of the Jews."-Thus said Jesus to the woman of Samaria at the well. John iv. 22 "Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came." The Bible was written by Jews, and a young Jewess was the mother of our Lord. As man, Christ was a Jew, of the tribe of Judah. When we read that "we are saved by His life," we know that it is by His life as a Jew. There is no divine gift and blessing for man that was not "to the Jew first," and for the knowledge of which we are not indebted to the Jews.

Nothing from the Gentiles.-The Apostle Paul says of the "Gentiles in the flesh," that they are "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world."

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Eph. ii. 11, 12. The covenants, the promises, even Christ himself, all belong to the Jews, and not to the Gentiles. Therefore whoever is saved must be saved as a Jew. "God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name." Acts xv. 14.

Accursed from Christ.-It makes no difference whether we use the word "accursed," or "anathema," or "separated." All mean the same thing, and express the most deplorable condition. To be without Christ is to be without hope and without God in the world. Eph. ii. 12.

It was in that condition that Paul would have been willing to be placed for his brethren according to the flesh, if it would have done them any good. What does that show? Simply this, that Israel according to the flesh was, and is, in just that condition accursed from Christ, "having no hope, and without God in the world." But since all the promises of God are in Christ (2 Cor. i. 20), those who are separate from Christ have no part in the promises; and therefore we learn anew the fact that Israel after the flesh, as a nation of earth, have not and never had any claim upon God above other nations; that God never made any special promises to Israel after the flesh, more than to any other people.

In the wish that Paul expressed, he showed how completely he was given up to the Lord, and how much he shared in his Spirit. Christ gave Himself for men, consenting even to be separated from God, in order that He might reach and save the lost. There is none other name under heaven whereby men can be saved, and consequently Paul's being accursed would not have saved his brethren, as he very well knew. But he simply showed how desperate was the case of the Jews, and how great was his solicitude. While no human sacrifice can avail, men are privileged to share Christ's sufferings for others. Paul says of himself, "who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is the church." Col. i. 24.

Circumcision Made Uncircumcision.-We have before read the words, "If thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision." Rom. ii. 25. This language was addressed to the Jews, who in the same connection were charged with breaking the law. Rom. ii. 17-24. In the 31st verse of this present chapter we also are told that Israel did not attain to the law of righteousness. And the reason is that they did not accept Christ, through whom alone the righteousness of the law can be obtained. So again we find that Israel, Paul's "kinsmen after the flesh," were not Israelites at all, but Gentiles, separate from Christ, "having no hope, and without God in the world."

No Failure In the Promise.-This is a sad state of things. All the promises belong to Israel, and there is nothing from God for any other nation, and yet the very people known as Israel are accursed from Christ. Nevertheless the word of God has not failed, "for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel." The unbelief of some cannot make the faith of God without effect. Rom. iii. 3. If every literal descendant of Jacob were lost, that would not weaken in the least God's promises to Israel, since the true Israelites are only those who believe the promises.

The Seed of Abraham.-"In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Isaac was the child of promise; therefore those who believe the promises of God are the seed of Abraham. To the Jews who were self-satisfied because of their descent, John the Baptist said, "Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Matt. iii. 9. He could do that as easily as he could make man in the beginning from the dust of the earth.

The Flesh and the Promise.-"They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." This text alone should forever set at rest the speculations about the return of the Jews to old Jerusalem, in order that God's promises may be fulfilled. Still more should it put an end to the absurd notion that any nation, as England or America, constitutes Israel, and is heir to those promises of God.

God's Foreknowledge.-When the children were not yet born, and had done neither good nor evil, it was said of them, "The elder shall serve the younger." God knows the end from the beginning, and could tell what each one would do. The choice was in accordance with what is said of God, "who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." 2 Tim. i. 9.

"Esau Have I Hated."-This was not written until many years after the death of both Jacob and Esau. "Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord; yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness." Mal. i. 2, 3. Of his descendants it is said that they shall be called, "The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever." Verse 3. And why? "Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever." Amos i. 11. Jacob, on the other hand, while no better by nature than Esau, believed the promises of God, and was by them made partaker of the divine nature and thus an heir of God and a joint heir of Jesus Christ.

No Unrighteousness with God.-Mark well verses 14-17 for evidence that there is no arbitrariness in God's choice. It is all of mercy. "He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." So it is all of "God that sheweth mercy." The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord (Ps. cxix. 64), and "His mercy endureth forever."

God's Purpose for Pharaoh.-The case of Pharaoh is cited by the apostle as an illustration of the statement that "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." "For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth."

It is immaterial whether this refers to the bringing of Pharaoh to the throne, or to the preserving of him up to that time. One thing is certain: it does not teach us, as is commonly

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supposed, that God brought Pharaoh to the throne for the purpose of wreaking his vengeance upon him. It is astonishing that any professed Christian could ever have dishonoured God by such a charge against him.

The purpose of God in raising Pharaoh up, or causing him to stand, was that he might show to him and in him his power, and that his name might be declared throughout all the earth. This purpose was accomplished in the destruction of Pharaoh because of his stubborn resistance. But it would have been accomplished just as well, and much better for Pharaoh if he had listened to the word of God. Pharaoh saw God's power, but would not believe. If he had believed, he would have been saved, because the power of God is salvation to every one that believeth.

Pharaoh had an imperious will. His one great characteristic was steadfastness, pertinacity degenerating into stubbornness. But who can estimate the power for good that Pharaoh would have been if his will had been yielded to the Lord? To yield to the Lord would have meant a great sacrifice, as men count sacrifices, but no greater than that which Moses had made. Moses had given up the same throne, to cast in his lot with God's people. A wonderful and honourable position was offered to Pharaoh, but he knew not the day of his visitation. It involved humiliation, and he rejected it. As a consequence he lost everything; while Moses, who chose to suffer affliction with the people of God, and to share the reproach of Christ, has a name and a place that will endure throughout eternity. The mercies of God rejected turn into curses. "For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein." Hos. xiv. 19.

"Hardening Pharaoh's Heart" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

When the Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh to demand the release of the children of Israel, He said, "I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no not by a mighty hand," or, "but by a strong hand;" and again, "I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go." Ex. iii. 19; iv. 21.

This is by many supposed to show that Pharaoh could not help himself, but that he was obliged to exhibit stubbornness, and to refuse to allow Israel to go forth. As a consequence, they doubt the justice and mercy of God. They think that God purposely made Pharaoh just what he was, in order that He might make an exhibition of him.

If that were true, it would be an exhibition of God's denial of Himself. For justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne; mercy and truth go before His face. Ps. lxxxix. 14. He is love, 1 John iv. 8. "He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men." Lam. iii. 33. He is longsuffering, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter iii. 9.

God says that He raised up Pharaoh in order to show in him His power, and that His name might be declared throughout all the earth. Is it not strange that people should from this at once jump to the conclusion that God raised up Pharaoh on purpose to cast him down? Is that the only way that God has of showing His power, and making His name known? Most assuredly not. His power is shown in His salvation; and His wondrous works declare His excellent name. See Ps. xiii. To conclude that God wilfully hardens men's hearts, and makes it impossible for them to do right, in order that He may torment them, argues very little, if any, acquaintance with God.

Let us note a few points in the narrative of God's dealings with Pharaoh, which will indicate how Pharaoh's heart was harden. When Moses and Aaron first appeared to Pharaoh, certain miracles were performed. These were counterfeited by the magicians, so that the king, who loved a lie better than the truth, refused to believe the Divine message, although evidence was given that the power with Moses was superior to that with the magicians. This was repeated several times.

The magicians, however, could not remove the plagues that they brought in imitation of those brought by the Lord, and so, when the plague of frogs became intolerable, Pharaoh appealed to the servants of God, saying, "Intreat the Lord, that He may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord." Ex. viii. 8. It will be seen that Pharaoh had learned who the Lord is. According to his request, Moses cried unto the Lord: "and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the field." "But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he harden his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said." Verse 15.

Again, swarms of flies plagued the people, and Pharaoh again relented. "And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go." Ex. viii. 30-32.

Other plagues were sent, all the details of which are not given, and Pharaoh still refused to keep his word. Then the terrible hail came, mingled with fire, so that the crops and flocks were destroyed. "Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail." "And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Intreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer." Ex. ix. 26-28.

Here was a confession of sin, and an acknowledgment of the Lord and His righteousness. The result showed that Pharaoh's sorrow was not a godly sorrow, but only the sorrow of the world, produced by fear; nevertheless God took him at his word. This is an evidence of the kindness of the Lord, and of His unwillingness that any should perish. Although He can read the heart, and knew Pharaoh's insincerity, and that he would not hold fast to his confession and promise, that made no difference. God acted as though Pharaoh's repentance was sincere, so that he could have no excuse.

"And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the Lord had spoken by Moses." Ex. ix. 33-35.

Thus we see that it was the mercy of the Lord that hardened Pharaoh's heart. When the judgments of God came, he repented; but as soon as favour was shown him, he became stubborn again. Thus he mocked the Lord, and despised His mercy. Where

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can the Lord be blamed in this affair? If a man will not be moved either by judgments or by favours, what can be done for him? He despises the goodness and forbearance and longsuffering of God, and after his hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto himself wrath. He brings his own destruction upon himself, and God is clear.

The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever. Even in the punishment of the wicked, God does not forget mercy. The sun that melts the wax, hardens the clay. The same glory that transforms those who yield themselves to God, consumes those who are contentious and do not obey the truth. And so the dealing of God with Pharaoh is cited by the apostle, in the ninth of Romans, as an evidence of the mercy and longsuffering of God.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

-A disastrous fire occurred Jan. 2 at a laundry establishment in West London. Eight lives were lost.

-The lifeboats round our coasts during the past year were launched 995 times, resulting in the rescue of 625 lives.

-It is stated that the buying and soiling of young boys and girls, chiefly the latter, is regularly carried on at Tripoli under Turkish rule.

-There is civil war in Peru. The Peruvian Government troops have lug lewd a defeat upon the followers of Pierola, the insurgent leader, at Juni.

-A lamp exploded at a Christmas party in Oregon U.S.A., setting fire to the hall. Forty-one persons were burned to death, sixteen others being injured.

-Baron Hirsch's "land of promise," in the Argentine Republic, for persecuted Jews now extends to 444,750 acres, and hundreds of families have been conveyed thither. Already the baron has expended ?376,369.

-Eighty persons suffered from poisoning, some very severely, after drinking soup, which had been distributed amongst the customers at a public-house near Birmingham, as a seasonable gift on New Year's Day.

-The financial crisis in Newfoundland is said to have involved the inhabitants in almost complete financial ruin, and it is feared that hundreds will perish from want during the cold winter.

-A daily mail to America is now proposed via Southampton, in connection with the American and German lines of steamships which touch at that port, and possibly a French line. As a consequence Liverpool lines are being put upon their mettle.

-A steamer arriving at New Orleans, according to a Central News telegram, reports a series of terrible floods in Colombia. The settlement of Gavia, it is stated, has been washed out by fierce torrents, fifty of the inhabitants being drowned.

-Lin Pun Yi, at the imperative request of the Chinese Emperor, has been put in command of the Chinese forces, in place of Li Hung Chang. Cold weather has now blockaded the coast with ice, interrupting communications between land and sea. Anarchy reigns at Moukden.

-An amnesty has been granted to rank and file soldiers and sailors who were declared deserters in the last naval revolt in Brazil. It is expected that this act of the Government will entirely pacify the State of Rio Grand do Sul, and restore general peace in the country.

-It is reported that as a result of the Czar's clemency, 20,000 sentences in Russia have been either commuted or lightened. The Czar has addressed a highly complimentary letter to Count Shouvaleff, the new Governor-General of Warsaw, in which his Majesty speaks of the preservation of universal peace as being dear to his heart as it was to the heart of his fatter.

-A despatch from Apia, dated Dec. 27, states that serious disturbances have taken place outside the Apia district, and the collection of taxes for the past year has not yet been attempted. A native has been sentenced to death, and several others have been imprisoned, for killing three blacks. They were preparing to eat the bodies when they none arrested.

-It is stated that in all probability, trouble will shortly occur between France and the West Indian Republic of San Domingo. On several occasions French citizens have received very rough treatment at the hands of the native Government and it has always been difficult to obtain satisfactory reparation. Satisfaction is now to be enforced by the presence of French ships of war.

-The immunity of Jews from consumption is ascribed to the great care exercised by them in rejecting the flesh of all animals infected with tubercular disease. All the internal organs of the animal are most carefully examined, and the lungs are submitted to most minute scrutiny. If any tubercle is detected in the lung the whole carcase is rejected.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

A few years ago France gave, on an average, three million francs for Peter's Pence. The amount has been diminishing, and last year it was less than a million.

It is stated that General Lord Wolseley has had an interview with Miss ("Major") Lewis, of the Salvation Army, and has approved of the plan which she has adopted for the "Salvation of the Army and Navy."

A disturbance which nearly terminated in a riot occurred recently at Brannan, Bohemia, where a great crowd of peasants had collected at a spot in a neighbouring wood to view an apparition of the Virgin Mary. They were with difficulty dispersed by the gendarmes.

The pardons granted by the Russian authorities, reported to be 22,000, are apparently in the cases of persons convicted of really criminal offences, and it is said many of those released have already found their way back to prison for new misdemeanours. The thousands of really honest Christians who are imprisoned and banished for doing right, are not sharing in a general amnesty. It is an illustration of the spirit which animated the old cry, "Release unto was Barabbas!"

There is a Churchman by the name of Daniel, who has written a book about the Prayer Book. The Bishop of Wakefield has been trying to get his people to study the Prayer Book, and among other helps he recommended "Daniel on the Book of Common Prayer." Not long afterwards he received a letter from a layman, who said that he had read all through the Book of Daniel, and could find no allusions to the Prayer Book. The Bishop tells the story as a good joke at the expense of the layman, but to us it seems as if the joke were on the church. The man went to the Bible for light, just as he should have done, and found that his church is making use of a book as an authority which has no warrant whatever in the Sacred Word; for if he had read the entire Bible, he would have found no more reference to the Prayer Book than he did in the Book of Daniel.

Speaking last week on the vast armaments of Europe, Sir Edward Clarke aptly said that to attempt to justify these on the plea that they tend to prevent statesmen from engaging in war, was senseless. They might as well put kegs of gunpowder about the house in order to make the servants careful with the matches.

The Chronicle began its summary of the year 1894 with these words:-

It can scarcely be said that the year which has just closed has left behind it many pleasant memories or lingering regrets, though it has unquestionably provided much material for the historian. It has been a year of violence, and bloodshed, of depression and anxiety, of much political commotion and of scarcely less economic dislocation.

It is a true outline, and by the word of God we know that the unrest and perplexity will continue until the coming of the Lord. The Lord, in giving the signs of the end predicted "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity."

It is characteristic of the untrained mind that it must have an opinion. It knows nothing of suspense; and any opinion is better than none. It never suspects that it has not the slightest right to the great bulk of its opinions. Consequently there is a popular demand for opinions, and the demand creates a supply. Hence that barren mockery and pretense of knowledge which forms so large a part of public opinion and journalistic production.-B. P. Brown, LL.D., in Christian Advocate.

This is a truth that is worth considering; and in nothing is it more true than with respect to the Bible and matters of religion. On no other subject do people think themselves so well entitled to express opinions without any previous thought or study. Consequently very much that people put forth as their thought as to the meaning of a portion of Scripture, is but an occasion of their lack of thought.

The evil that results from such loose expressions of opinion is incalculable. It is much more than the leading of other people to trust in fancies and speculation; it is a positive barrier to learning. For he who can satisfy himself, and possibly others, with an opinion offered off-hand, without any thought, is not trouble himself to spend hours and days in patient thought. Conceit is the deadly foe of solid progress. Modesty is one of the things most necessary to true learning. He who refuses to express an opinion when he has not gained a right to it by particular thought and study, and who when he does not know a thing compels himself to acknowledge it, is the one who will give diligence to be ready to answer from positive knowledge.

Among the mission reports in a recent number of the New York Independent, there is one from China, of which the following are the first two and the last paragraphs:-

Not long since, after passing out of the east gate of Peking, a mob gathered about myself and wife, began revilling, then throwing mud, gravel, stones and bricks, and at last one man kicked us. Then I knocked him down. They continued thus to amuse themselves at our expense for about a half hour before we could get to a place of safety, from which we returned home.

The matter was at once reported to the American Minister. Mr. Denby took it to the Foreign Office, who caught the rascal who had caused the mob, and he now wears a wooden collar about four feet square, inscribed with the incident related above.

We believe we are safe in remaining here. We all expect to be very careful and trust the Lord.

In the absence of a practical acquaintance with the precepts of Christ, a proper sense of humour might sometimes save people from glaring inconsistencies.

It is wonderful how silent a man can be when he knows his cause is just, and how boisterous he becomes when he knows he is in the wrong.

"Joy in Believing" The Present Truth 11, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

Joy in Believing.-Of the Philippian Jailer it is said that he rejoiced "believing in God." Acts xvi. 34. The Norwegian version has it that he rejoiced "because he believed in God." That is reason enough for rejoicing. He who really believes in the Lord must rejoice. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." "And not only so, but we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. v. 1, 2, 11. "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Rom. xv. 13. He who does not rejoice does not believe.

January 17, 1895

"Christianity for the Individual" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

Since the religion of Jesus Christ has to do with the heart, the inner life and thought, of men, and not merely with outward acts, it is evident that it must deal with individuals, and not with masses. The following texts of Scripture plainly show this.

"Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat." Isa. lv. 1.

"We see Jesus. . . crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man." Heb. ii. 9.

"For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work." Mark xiii. 34.

Consequently the Lord says: "Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. xxii. 12.

In order that we may properly carry on the work assigned, "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Eph. iv. 7. The Spirit distributes gifts for the work, "dividing to every man severally as He will." 1 Cor. xii. 11.

For the manner in which men perform the work left them by the Lord, every man is responsible to God alone. "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own Master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up; for God is able to make him stand." Rom. xiv. 4.

The same principle applies also in matters of faith. "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." "Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God." Rom. xiv. 5, 22. Jesus said, "If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not." John xii. 47. "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Rom. xiv. 12.

Since no man can answer for another in the Judgment day, but each one must give account of himself, it is evident that no one can believe for another, or prescribe another's belief. Each man stands accountable to God for himself, independently of priest or minister.

It is further evident, also, that no man can be justified before God for believing something just because some other person does, even though that thing be true. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." Rom. x. 10. Faith is the appropriation of the living presence and power of Christ, in His word. Accepting a theory merely, and that, too, on the authority of some other person, is no more like real faith, than taking food at another person's hands and putting it in a safe place in the cupboard is like eating.

Some one will ask, "How about hearing the church, if each one is to decide his own faith and practice for himself? Is each individual to set himself and his ideas in opposition to the church?" By no means. And this brings up a principle that is too often lost sight of. A few words may suffice to set it forth.

First, let it be understood that "the church" is not a law-making body. "There is one lawgiver," and that is God. The church is composed of members who, although they have different offices and different work, are in their relation to God absolutely equal. The greatest minister, even though he was called Pope, has no more authority to lay down rules for faith and practice, than the poorest and most ignorant child, and a thousand men assembled in council, have no more authority in matters of faith than each man has individually. Truth rests on God's word, and not in numbers or influence.

That which is committed to the church is the word of God. This, and this alone, is to be spoken. This we are to hear. The fact that a number of men are agreed on a certain point, is no evidence that the thing is true. In a matter of faith, one hundred men are as likely to be wrong as one man is; and they are all sure to be wrong if they say anything aside from the word of God. Therefore if "the church" does not speak the word of God, it is no more to be listened to than is any individual.

The "right of private interpretation" is not involved in this question. It is not a matter of interpretation, but of loyalty to the plain word of God. For one man to accept an interpretation of Scripture simply because another man says that it is correct, is to accept that other man as pope; but for each man to set his own judgment and authority against everybody else, and to interpret Scripture according to his own judgment, is to make himself a pope, and that is no better. What then shall we do?-Accept the Holy Spirit, the divinely-appointed guide. The gift of the Holy Spirit is to every man, to guide him individually

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into all the truth, which is the pure word of God.

The Spirit will not lead a man to set himself in opposition to his brethren. He will take the word of God just as it reads, and humbly rest upon it. If all in the church do the same, there will be perfect unanimity because the word says the same thing to every man. But if his brethren do not the same, he will not fight them, nor create a rebellion. The child of God will never resist authority. He will hold to the truth, and if the "authority," whether it be the Church or the State, condemns him, he will submit to the condemnation and punishment, yet not compromising the truth. In this way he will be a true follower of the Master, "who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously;" yet who never swerved in His steadfast witness to the truth.

"The Papacy Against Peter" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

That the Papacy, which professes to be built upon "blessed Peter," is really against Peter, is abundantly clear from making a comparison of Peter's testimony with that of the Papacy, as made recently to PRESENT TRUTH on the point of the Church's foundation. No less contradictory to Peter's words is the Papacy's testimony concerning the Shepherd of the "flock of God." The Papacy affirms that "the supreme charge of the sheep and lambs-that is, the whole flock of Christ, is entrusted to his-Peter's care (John xxi. 15-17). 'Thus,' writes Mr. Allies, 'Peter had simply what the other apostles had collectively. He had promised and engaged to him, first and alone, the supreme government, a portion of which was afterwards promised to them with him. . . . He had the supervision of all entrusted to him alone, for even they were committed to his charge in the words, "Feed My sheep." And so he alone was the doorkeeper, he alone was the shepherd of the fold.'" The quotation is from the Catholic Times of Dec. 7, 1894.

In the fifth chapter of Peter's first epistle we find his testimony on the subject, which is the testimony of God, who put the words in Peter's mouth. He says: "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Verses 1-4.

Those whom Peter addressed were "elders;" he was "also an elder." He stood on a level with them. They were charged to "feed the flock of God," "taking the oversight thereof." This was all that Peter was commissioned to do; they as well as he were shepherds of the flock. And the "chief shepherd" is plainly declared to be Jesus Christ, He who "shall appear," and at whose appearing crowns of glory will be given to the faithful. The testimony of Paul is if possible still more explicit. See Heb. xiii. 20; 2 Tim. iv. 8.

In contradicting Peter, the Papacy contradicts Christ; for Peter spoke only as the mouthpiece of the Spirit of Christ that was in him. All the holy men of old "spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 1 Peter i. 11; 2 Peter i. 21. And as if it were not enough to deny Christ by making Peter the foundation of the church and the one Shepherd of the flock, this catholic quotation affirms that "he alone was the doorkeeper." The wickedness of such a claim appears when we consider the words of Christ Himself,-"I am the door of the sheep." John x. 7, 9. He is the door; and this door must be tended by Peter lest good and bad go in and out at their pleasure! The whole doctrine of popery makes Christ as impotent and inanimate as a door of wood. But He is a living door,-one that needs no keeper; and all who enter in and find pasture must enter alone by Him. Verse 9.

But Christ is more than the door. We enter in by Him, but we do not get beyond Him. Wherever we go in that pasture, we abide still in Him. It is evident therefore that the sheep of His fold find their food in Him. And this is plain from His own words. "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." "He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." John vi. 53, 56. But the literal flesh and blood "profiteth nothing." The Spirit and life are in the words which He speaks. Verse 63. The sheep, therefore, if they are to be nourished, must be fed on the words of Christ; and this fact destroys completely all idea of any inherent authority in Peter or any other, either in his day or in ours, with regard to the church of God. The sheep tasted Christ, not Peter; they heard Christ's voice, not Peter's. If any man speaks with his own voice, the sheep take alarm at once, and "flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers." John x. 3-5.

And thus at every point the papal doctrine of authority in the Bishop of Rome to act and speak as the doorkeeper and shepherd of the flock of God, by virtue of succession to the "chair" of Peter, breaks down under the testimony of Peter himself, speaking the words given him by Jesus Christ; and Christ Himself is seen to be the one "great Shepherd of the sheep," in whom is all authority and power, and who alone can supply the needs of His flock.

"Need of Patience" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

Patience is a much rarer virtue among men than is generally supposed. Very few, comparatively, know what real patience is; and no one can know it save by the revelation of God. It is a Christian grace, and belongs not to human nature. The Apostle Peter expressed the common idea of patience when he asked the Saviour if he should forgive his brother who trespassed against him until he had repeated the offence seven times. The Lord replied, "I say not unto you, till seven times, but until seventy times seven."

The same apostle afterward wrote, "and beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience." Patience is not the starting point of the Christian experience. It cannot be summoned in at a moment by an effort of the will whenever the situation may demand it. It must be developed. "Tribulation worketh patience." Rom. v. 3. We need patience much more than we need pleasure and ease. Better is it that we should experience tribulation than that we should lack this grace. Without it we should fail in the time of waiting for the salvation that is brought by the appearing of Jesus Christ.

People who have not patience easily deceive themselves into thinking that they are, or can be, very patient. But there is only one kind of patience, and that is "the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the

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commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. xiv. 12. Those who have this patience are those who keep the commandments and have the faith of Jesus Christ. In the epistle to the Hebrews we read, "Ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, Ye might receive the promise." Heb. x. 36. Having done the will of God, we may yet need patience to wait the fulfilment of His word. If we have not done His will we are not in a position to receive the reward of patience, and if we have, it is not conclusive evidence that this heavenly grace is sufficiently developed within us.

"The patience of the saints," like all Christian graces, is an attribute of God. It is the patience with which He bears with sinners, and offers them mercy and pardon. It is the patience which Christ manifested when He was mocked and crucified by His enemies. It is patience which "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." It does not become exhausted when a few draughts have been made upon it. The person who "loses all patience" is the person who has no patience of the true sort. And without patience of the true sort, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Therefore when tribulations come, we should welcome them, knowing that "tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope." When patience has had "her perfect work," we are made "perfect and entire, wanting nothing." It is thus that Christ was made "perfect through sufferings." The suffering must not only be experienced, but it must be endured. Only "he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."

"Double-Minded" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

Double-Minded.-The double-minded person is the person who has not the mind of Christ. That mind, and that alone, remains the same "yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." Jas. i. 8. This is evidence that in all his ways he has not the mind of Christ, for that mind is stable. It is the natural or carnal mind that is unstable. The apostle writes, "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded." Jas. iv. 8. It is an impure heart that causes double-mindedness. The heart must be purified, and this can only be done by faith. The person who has faith, is stable. Faith links the soul with God, and as nothing can shake the Lord, so nothing can shake the man of faith. He and he only can be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. 1 Cor. xv. 58.

"Studies in Romans. 'Accepted in the Beloved.' Rom. ix. 19-33" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

In our last study, embracing the first part of the ninth chapter of Romans, we learned something further in regard to God's purpose and election. We learned that the Jews by nature were never any more the people of God than any other people, and that apart from Christ they were as much accursed as were the veriest heathen that ever lived.

We learned also that although God did make choice of certain ones, specially named, who afterwards attained great eminence as children of God, the choice was not arbitrary. Jacob was chosen before he was born, but no more than all other men are. God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ, "according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." Eph. i. 3-7.

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God, that showeth mercy." As proof of this, the apostle cited the case of Pharaoh, who was chosen in Christ just as much as Jacob was, and just as much as we are. He was chosen to the praise of the glory of the grace of God, that he might show forth the excellencies of the Lord; but he obstinately refused to submit. But God will be praised even by the wrath of men, if they are not willing to praise Him voluntarily, and so God's name and power were made known through Pharaoh's stubbornness. It would have been better if the proud king had yielded himself to the design of God, instead of having that design worked out in spite of him. But the lesson that we are to learn is that every man in every nation under heaven has been chosen in Christ, and that none have been chosen in any other way, and that this choice is that they should be adopted as sons. In this choice the Jews have no advantage over others, but are on an equality with them, as is further shown by the remainder of the chapter.

"Thou wilt then say unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction; and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He saith also in Osee, I will call them My people, which were not My people, and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are My people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved; for He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness; because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone; as it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and rock of offence; and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." Rom. ix. 19-33.

We will omit the usual questions on the text, leaving the reader to press that matter as closely as possible, and will proceed at once to note a few of the lessons set forth in the text.

Replying Against God.-This is a very common thing, and its commonness has caused most people to lose sight of its wickedness. The man who begins indignantly to ask, "Why does God do so and so?" or to say, "I can't see the justice in such a course," as though he were especially and personally affronted, makes it impossible for himself to understand even that which a mortal may comprehend of God. It is very foolish and wicked to blame Him because we are not equal to Him in wisdom. The only way to come to the knowledge of

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the little that may be understood of God is to settle it once for all that He is just and merciful, and that everything He does is for the good of His creatures. Reverence, and not clamorous questioning, becomes a creature in the presence of the infinite God. "Be still, and know that I am God." Ps. xlvi. 10.

The Potter and His Vessels.-The one who thinks himself competent to criticise the Lord thinks that he has a sure case against him in verses 21-24 of this chapter. "Surely," says he, "this text teaches us that God has made some men to be saved, and others to be destroyed." Most certainly we find nothing of the kind! There is a vast difference between what the text actually says, and what men imagine that it says. The potter has power over the clay, and so the Creator has power over his creatures, of natural and unquestionable right. Consider the figure: the potter has power over the clay to make one vessel to honour and another to dishonour. Very true; but who in the world ever heard of a potter who busied himself making vessels for the sole purpose of destroying them? He makes vessels of different kinds for various purposes, but they are all intended for use, and not for destruction. So God never made anyone for the purpose of destroying him.

God's Longsuffering.-The fact that God does not plan the destruction of any one is shown in that He hesitates long before allowing any to suffer the destruction which their own evil deeds have justly earned. He "endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." They fitted themselves for destruction after their hardness, by treasuring up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath. Rom. ii. 5. Note that God endured with much long-suffering these "vessels of wrath." Now we are to "account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation." 2 Peter iii. 15. He "is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Verse 9. The fact, therefore, that God endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath, even after they were fitted to destruction, shows that He longed for their salvation, and would give them every possible chance for it.

"Whom He Hath Called."-God's longsuffering is also for the purpose of making known the riches of His glory "on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory." And who are these? "Even us, whom He hath called." And who are they who are called? Are they of some particular nation? "Not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." The entire chapter is a vindication of God's choice of men even before their birth, as illustrated in the case of Jacob; and this verse shows that the choosing of Jacob did not mean that God had special privileges for the Jewish nation, but that He bestows His favours impartially on Jews and Gentiles alike, if they will accept them.

God's People.-This is still further shown by verses 25, 26: "As He saith also in Osee (Hosea i. 9, 10), I will call them My people, which were not My people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people; there shall they be called the children of the living God." God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. The apostle Peter described this visit in these words: "God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." And further, "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." Acts xv. 7-11. And so "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him." Rom. x. 12.

The Remnant.-"Isaiah also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." Therefore "at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Rom. xi. 5. No matter how many there may be who can trace their genealogy to Jacob according to the flesh, it is only they who are willing subjects of the grace of God who will be saved. There is positively no chance for boasting save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gentiles Ahead.-The Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. The Jews professed to keep the law, but did not; the Gentiles were not associated with the law, yet they met its requirements. Now, if the reader will recall Rom. ii. 25-29, he will see that real circumcision consists (and always did consist) in keeping the law. Therefore since the Gentiles by their faith kept the law, and the Jews through their lack of faith did not keep it, it appears that they had changed places; the Gentiles were really "Jews," and the Jews by nature were the same as the heathen.

Missing the Mark.-The Jews followed after the law of righteousness, but did not attain to it. Why not? "Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law." How forcibly this sets forth that of which the entire epistle is a demonstration, namely, that faith does not clear one from its transgression, but that by faith alone can the law be kept! The Jews are not blamed for following after the law of righteousness, but for not following after it in the right way. It is not by works, but by faith, that the works which the law requires can be attained. That is to say, that bad works can not produce good works; good can not come of evil. There is no discount upon good works. They are the most necessary things in the world. They are the result of the keeping of the law by faith. But there can not by any possibility be good works without faith; for "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Rom. xiv. 23.

The Stumbling-Stone.-Do not fail to connect the last part of this chapter with the first part. Remember that the beginning presents Israel according to the flesh as accursed from Christ. To them pertained, among other things, the giving of the law, but they came miserably short of it. Why?-"For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone." What stumbling-stone?-Why, Christ. They were in the very same condition that so many people are to-day, they would not believe that the promises of God to Israel were wholly and solely in Christ. They thought, as many professed Christians now do, that God honoured them for their own sake, without any regard to Christ. Christ is the stumbling-stone over which all stumble who regard the promises to Israel as made to a certain earthly nation, to the exclusion of all others.

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A Sure Foundation.-Strange to say, that very stumbling-stone is a stepping-stone, and a sure foundation. That over which some fall, is the means of lifting up and building up others. "The ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein." Hosea xiv. 9. Christ is a rock of offence to those who disbelieve, but a sure foundation to those who have faith. He is "the Holy One of Israel," "the King of Israel," "the Shepherd of Israel," and at the same time the fold, and the door into the fold. Without Him there could be no such thing as a nation of Israel. Those who think to claim an inheritance in Israel because of their birth and without respect to Christ, will be ashamed at the last because whosoever comes not in at the door, the same will be proved to be "a thief and a robber." But "whosoever believeth on Him shall not be put to shame," because his faith will show him to be Abraham's seed, and thus an heir of God according to the promise.

"'By the Way'" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

"Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?" So said the two disciples after they had travelled to Emmaus in company with the unknown Saviour. That interview "by the way" had been to them a blessed and joyful experience. But is not the same Saviour able and willing to commune with us by the way? Was not that incident recorded for our instruction and our comfort? Yes; if we but will, we may converse with Him "by the way."

No pressure of daily duties can be so great as to shut us away from Him, or banish from our minds His words. The journey to Emmaus will be made all the more quickly and easily for His companionship. The two disciples were not worried and perplexed after they met Jesus, and He began to open to them the Scriptures. They were not fatigued when they reached Emmaus, for they "rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem," a journey of threescore furlongs. Little do we know what we rob ourselves of when we exclude ourselves from the company of Jesus "by the way."

When a man measures the Bible by himself, the book is sure to be wrong; but when he measures himself by the Bible, he is sure to be wrong.

"The Fall of Babylon. Babylon's Overthrow" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week we sketched the scenes that were being enacted in the palace of Belshazzar and in all Babylon on the night of revelry which marked the end of the Babylonian Empire.

As all this was being so wildly carried on in the city, outside of it the Medes and Persians were waiting for the waters to run low enough to allow them to wade in the bed of the river, even as Jeremiah had said long before, "Set up the watchmen, prepare the liers in wait." Chap. li. 12, margin. And thus says the history:-

"Meanwhile, outside the city, in silence and darkness, the Persians watched at the two points where the Euphrates entered and left the walls. Anxiously they noted the gradual sinking of the water in the river bed; still more anxiously they watched to see if those within the walls would observe the suspicious circumstances and sound an alarm through the town. Should such an alarm be given, all their labours would be lost. If, when they entered the river bed, they found the river walls manned and the river gates fast-locked, they would be indeed 'caught in a trap.' Enfiladed on both sides by the enemy whom they could neither see nor reach, they would be overwhelmed by his missiles before they could succeed in making their escape. But, as they watched, no sounds of alarm reached them-only a confused noise of revel and riot, which showed that the unhappy townsmen were quite unconscious of the approaching danger.-Rawlinson.

That the Babylonians should be taken, entirely unconscious of their danger, was just what Isaiah had said in his day: "Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth; and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off; and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shall not know." Isa. xlvii. 11. And Jeremiah had said, "I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord." Chap. l. 24. And that the river gates would not be fast-locked Isaiah had promised one hundred and seventy-four years before: "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut." Chap. xlv. 1.

Jeremiah had also said, "The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars: and they shall lift up a shout against thee." Chap. li. 14. And the history says:-

"At last shadowy forms began to emerge from the obscurity of the deep river bed, and on the landing-place opposite the river gates scattered chapters of men grew into solid columns as the undefended gateways were seized-a war-shout was raised-the alarm was taken and spread-and the swift runners started off to 'show the king of Babylon that his city was taken at one end.' In the darkness and confusion of the night a terrible massacre ensued. The drunken revellers could make no resistance. The king, paralysed with fear at the awful handwriting upon the wall, which too late had warned him of his peril, could do nothing to check the progress of the assailants, which carried all before them everywhere. Bursting into the palace, a band of Persians made their way to the presence of the monarch, and slew him at the scene of his impious revelry. Other bands carried fire and sword through the town."-Rawlinson.

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Jeremiah had said that fire and sword should be carried through the town: "A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote; a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women." "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary." Jer. l. 35-37; li. 58.

Thus fell Babylon, and all the graven images of her gods were broken unto the ground.

But this was not all. The prophets spoke of the utter ruin of Babylon as well as of her fall. Isaiah wrote thus: "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged." Isa. xiii. 19-22.

The city continued to be a place of considerable importance throughout the Persian dominion, although it was injured a good deal by some sieges brought on by the revolt of its inhabitants, and it also suffered damage from the effect of the waters of the river that were turned aside by Cyrus, and never fully turned back. Alexander the Great made Babylon an important point in his expedition. There he held the "states-general of the world," and decided to re-establish it in its old importance, and make it the grand capital of his empire. He set ten thousand men at work to repair the Euphrates, and planned other restorations, but his death put a stop to it all. Soon afterward Seleucus built Seleucia, forty-five miles up the river, which in a comparatively short time became a city of six hundred thousand inhabitants, governed by a senate of three hundred nobles. On the building of Seleucia, Babylon was wholly deserted, and the great temples, the pleasant palaces, and the grand houses were all left desolate, only to be filled with doleful creatures, and to echo with the dismal cries of owls.

The prophet said not only that wild beasts of the deserts should lie there, but that wild beasts of the islands should cry in the desolate houses; yet Babylon was an inland city, more than a hundred miles from the nearest point of the Persian Gulf, and many hundreds from the nearest islands. But the Macedonian kings of the East made Babylon a hunting-park, and kept the wild animals in the desolate houses, letting them out for a chase as occasion required. And for this purpose wild beasts from the far-off islands were brought away inland there and put into desolate houses and pleasant palaces that had witnessed the pomp and the glory of the greatest kings of the earth. The prophecy was literally fulfilled.

Again, Isaiah said: "I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts." Chap. xiv. 23. Mr. Layard, who visited it about 1845, says:-

"Besides the great mound, other shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre the face of the land. The lofty banks of ancient canals fret the country like natural ridges of hills. Some have been long choked with sand; others still carry the waters of the river to distant villages and palm groves. On all sides, fragments of glass, marble, pottery, and inscribed brick, are mingled with that peculiar nitrous and blanched soil, which, bred from the remains of ancient habitations, checks or destroys vegetation, and renders the site of Babylon a naked and a hideous waste. Owls (which are of a large gray kind, and often found in flocks of nearly a hundred) start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackal skulks through the furrows."-Nineveh, p. 484.

The prophecy says, "Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there." The natives regard the whole place as actually haunted, and will not pitch their tents there, nor will the shepherds make their fold their. And so is accomplished in perfect faithfulness the word of the Lord concerning Babylon, and "it shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation." And Babylon has "become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant." Jer. li. 37.

And "this is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" Isa. xiv. 26, 27.

"A Financial Forecast" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

There never was a time when there was greater struggle for wealth than the present; as the Apostle James predicted by inspiration, men are engaged in heaping "treasure together for the last days." And, as outlined in the same chapter, it is accomplished by the impoverishment of the people; so that we have enormous wealth and grinding poverty existing side by side.

But the anxieties and the uncertainties of riches, as well as the perplexities of the conditions of modern life as regards temporal affairs, were never more strikingly manifest than now. The Investor's Review, a well-known journal, this month makes a forecast of the year's prospects, replying to the query, "Is trade going to revive?" and the Chronicle says of it, "We envy the man, whether millionaire or miner, labourer or stockbroker, or even our old friend the 'small investor,' who can read his negative answer without a shudder." Following is the Chronicle's summary of the situation:-

Mr. Wilson first paints his picture of the present state of nations and their industries. Wheat is lower than ever before, and so is cotton. Wool has not risen in price as it was expected to do when placed upon the American free lists. Prices at home, with hardly an exception, are lower than they were a year ago, and it is only lavish Government orders for new war-ships that keep up the iron industry. Central and South America, with the single exception of Chile, are no outlets for our spare capital, because-not to put too fine a point upon it-they are inhabited chiefly by swindlers. "The United States are filled up with railways far beyond the capacity of the trade of the country to make profitable; Canada is sodden with debts, and with the enterprises which, if not already bankrupt, appear on their way to become so." Italy, Spain, and even France and Germany, are in a bad way financially. "The wealthier countries do not want our assistance; the poorer and sicklier cannot be made to look tempting enough to draw money from

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us." The position of the Australian colonies "excites the deepest indignation, or the most profound pity. Slowly, but relentlessly, they are being forced downward into the position of helpless defaulters." In India "the British State is like a weary Atlas crushed to the earth with debt as with a world all too heavy for his shoulders."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

-M. Brisson has been elected President of the French Chamber of Deputies by 282 votes out of 310.

-The December weather in northern Florida was colder than it has been since 1635. Orange and other crops have been damaged to or enormous extent.

-The Portuguese have ceased to obstruct the progress of the African transcontinental telegraph, and the line is expected to reach the Zambesi this month.

-Hostilities still continue between the natives and Portuguese in the Portuguese possessions of Africa. The Portuguese troops are being desimated by African fever.

-The independence of Korea was solemnly proclaimed at Seoul, Jan. 7. A Chinese ambassador is now at the Japanese capital for the purpose of treating for peace.

-The Victorian Government has resigned, owing to the defeat caused by the action of the Labour Members, who bitterly oppose the reduction of their salaries to ?200 per annum.

-An Austrian Arctic expedition, with the main abject of exploring the Arctic region from an artistic point of view, and to obtain pictures of Arctic scenery, will be undertaken in 1896.

-The Liverpool town crier has retired, after sixty years' service, and the office is practically extinct, the newspapers having superseded the bellman. In his time the Liverpool crier had restored 130,000 stray children, all the lost little ones being taken to his house.

-The Delavan House at Albany, New York State, one of the most celebrated hotels in America, and the residence of many members of the New York State Legislature during its Sessions, was destroyed by fire Dec. 30. Five male and four female servants perished in the fire.

-A telegram received at New York from Rio de Janeiro states that on Sunday night, Jan. 6, the ferry boat Tieciera, while crossing over to Nictheroy took fire from an explosion. The vessel was completely destroyed, and 150 passengers perished, among the victims being several Government officials.

-Mr. Harry de Windt, a well-known Siberian explorer, will, according to Reuter's New York correspondent, shortly visit the United States on a three months' lecturing tour, during which he will speak at New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, his object being to refute the statement of Mr. George Kerman in regard to the conditions of prison life in Russia.

-The electric telegraph has made marvellous strides in the little more than half a century of its existence. From the latest statistics it appears that it is the most universally adopted in the United Kingdom. During the year 1892 no fewer than 69,908,600 massages were dispatched in the United Kingdom, compared with 62,887,298 in the United States.

-It is now proposed in the United States to fatten hogs on wheat, as a means of profitably disposing of that now very cheap cereal. By this means, it is said that a bushel of wheat, worth as such only 37? cents, becomes, as pork, worth 55 or 60 cents. This is a sad comment on modern civilisation. The railways, it is said, will be heavy losers should this be done.

-A terrible disaster is reported from the village of Oriu, France, in the mountainous district of Aix les Thermes. A huge avalanche fell from one of the surrounding mountains, completely destroying four houses and twelve borne. Fifteen dead bodies have been recovered from the debris, and eight persons have sustained injuries, while a large number of cattle remain buried in the ruins.

-The distress in Newfoundland caused by the financial panic has led to riots by parties of starving men, who forced open some shops to obtain food. The disturbances have been quelled by the police. The ranks of the unemployed are, however, daily swelling, and much uneasiness is felt. Lady O'Brien, the wife of the Governor, is organising soup kitchens for the temporary relief of the destitute, and has made a public appeal for subscriptions.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

A few days ago the Pope granted a private audience of thirty-five minutes to Prince Lobanoff, the Russian envoy bearing the official notification of the Czar's accession. This shows that the Pope is regarded as an important factor in European politics.

The Roman Catholic bishops have formulated a Bill which is designed to provide for the support from the rates of denominational schools, when such schools are called for in any district by the parents of thirty children. The religious education controversy has only begun.

The Central News says that the editor of the Toronto World has been summoned for publishing an edition on Sunday, describing a great fire which broke out at Toronto. The revival of religious legislation, particularly in the matter of Sunday laws, is world-wide.

Speaking of the Laud commemoration, before it took place, the English Churchman said:-

We confess at once that we have no sympathy whatever with this movement. The circular issued by the Committee appeals for the support of Churchmen, on the special ground that a "great debt of gratitude and reverence is due to the man, to whom, more than any other individual, the Church of England owes her present shape." Well, all that we can say is that the "present shape" of the Church of England is, in many respects, so bad, that we cannot feel any gratitude to the man to whose labours we owe its unhappy condition.

It certainly is in a position to know whereof its speaks.

The religion of the great Powers is very aptly stated by the organ of the German Ministry of War. It says that the longer peace is maintained "the more Germany's military leaders must endeavour to increase and encourage the fighting spirit alike among officers and rank and file." It speaks also of the new regulations which have been written "in a sound bellicose spirit." Some attribute the authorship of the article to the Emperor. It certainly has his approval; and in the same spirit he has declared his purpose to maintain by the power of the sword the religion of the State, and hence in Germany, as in Russia, the Christian who follows the religion of Jesus Christ and refuses to be filled with the "fighting spirit," will doubtless feel the wrath of that spirit of Satan.

The Church Times says: "It is time that the Church of England was set free from the necessity of accepting a bench of bishops, of which the composition depends on the idiosyncrasies, good or bad, of successive premiers." Well, if the Church of England will step down from its place as the "State Church," it will be freed from that necessity; but it is no more than is to be expected, that the State should appoint the officers of State institutions.

In its review of a life of Laud the British Weekly speaks as follows of the idea so prevalent in his days, that the faith requires the support of human power:-

Fancy a man supporting with his own hands the yielding foundations of his faith. Few errors have done more harm than the doctrine that "things which can be shaken" and need human support are fundamental truths.

Therefore it is that we see an ominous sign of the times in the revival of this error, as shown in the demand for Sunday laws and other such legislation.

The breach between the Eastern Church and Rome continues to decrease. Some schismatical priests manifest a desire to return to Catholicism, and "the Pope hopes that the elevation of two of the Eastern Patriarchs to the Cardinalate will increase the number of conversions." It is very likely. By a discreet use of the ecclesiastical prizes and preferments in medi?val times the Church of Rome was often able to "convert" men in multitudes.

The Christian very truly points out the reason why some men are willing to allow others to decide their duty and relation to God:-

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and the people love to have it so." A man may know the truth of the Gospel, but if he does not wish to live it he will willingly be deceived into supposing that he can cast his responsibilities upon a "priest," until the word he knows in his head has ceased to touch his scared conscience and his hard heart.

And it makes no difference whether the man upon whom the responsibility is laid is called a Catholic priest or an Evangelical-it is as easy to make a pope of one as of the other. But "every one of us shall give account of himself before God." What God says to every man is for every man to decide for himself alone, and in the day when the secrets of men are judged according to His word, what some other man has said or done can in no way affect our guilt if we have not yielded to what the Lord has said to us.

In this new year's message to the Salvation Army General Booth said:-

Ultimately we are bound to win the confidence of every Government in the world, and of those occupying every grade of authority. Those responsible for the order and well-being of society must speedily come to see that we are their natural allies, and will welcome us to their side. Already much has been done in this direction, but we are only at the beginning of things.

It is a very fascinating prospect, and as dangerous as fascinating. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God." James iv. 4. "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers unto the false prophets." Luke vi. 26.

"Going to Law" The Present Truth 11, 3.

E. J. Waggoner

The Saviour, in the "sermon on the mount," instructed His followers, to avoid going to law, even though they had to give double the amount asked in order to settle a matter out of court. He said, "If any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also." Matt. v. 40, R.V. The practical wisdom of this is often illustrated. The Daily Chronicle has been giving some attention too excessive law costs, and in a recent number two cases were related by the victims. One case was that of a man who sued for payment for a literary work which he had done. His case was so clear that the counsel for the defence made no attempt to deny it. He was awarded ?50 for his work. Of this sum he received nothing, his costs swallowing it all up; and further, his solicitor told him that they could legally charge him ?40 more!

The other case was still worse. The man sued to recover ?20 which he had loaned. There was really no defence, and the man tells the result as follows:-

My Solicitor (who had previously been unable to get payment of two debts, one of ?9 6s. and another of ?20 from the same man) sent me his bill of costs, amounting to ?92 5s., with an intimation that unless I paid promptly the amount would be substantially increased and a writ issued against me.

This man would have been much the gainer even if he had given his debtor another ?20, and avoided the law. "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

January 24, 1895

"The Catholic Outlook" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

In all the world the Church of Rome is seeking control of political affairs. It very largely measures its growth and strength from year to year according as it succeeds in this; and it is succeeding, being aided by the movement among professedly Protestant circles in the same direction.

The Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion, of Jan. 4, has an article on "The Old Year and the New," in which the status of Roman Catholicism in the different countries is considered. The simple facts are stated, and are well worth considering. We present the main features by countries, in the order that they are noted in the Catholic Times. First in order is

FRANCE

"The relations of France-'the eldest daughter of the Church'-with the Holy See have on the whole been exceedingly satisfactory, and signs have not been wanting to prove that the authorities have recognised that the old policy of 'anti-clericalism' was detrimental to the best interests of the country. If the 'new spirit,' the necessity of which was publicly acknowledged, has not been made apparent by many overt acts, there has at least been no manifest evidence of official hostility towards the clergy or the head of the Church. So far as the general condition of the Church in France is concerned, there is good reason to believe that it has been very sensibly improved by the new policy which the Catholics adopted at the direction of Leo XIII., and that as time advances and the organisation of the Catholics becomes more complete, its position will be more secure and powerful."

SPAIN

"In Spain there has been an attempt by Lord Plunket, the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, to introduce Protestantism by the consecration of a certain Senor Cabrera as Bishop, but the procedure has been universally regarded as a harmless display of Quixotism, and it is certain that never was Spain truer to its Catholic traditions and more loyal to the Holy See than at the present time."

GERMANY

"The Catholics of Germany have, as usual, shown during the past year that in the defence and propagation of Catholic principles they are essentially practical. Their National Congress at Cologne was undoubtedly one of the most successful gatherings of the kind ever held, and in the social programme they adopted they set an admirable example of what may be done by Catholics for the amelioration of the lot of the toiling masses."

ITALY

"In, Italy as well as in France, there has been a change of attitude towards the Church. The growth of Anarchy and the diabolical deeds perpetrated by men who were members of this conspiracy against law, order, and human life, brought home to King Humbert and his Ministers the fact that nothing could be more disastrous to a State than the weakening of the religious sentiment, and, therefore, that to treat the Church with hostility is equivalent to acting the part of an enemy of the country. Accordingly Signor Crispi delivered at Naples an address which sounded somewhat like a renunciation of the policy of persecution and a promise to evince a more conciliatory disposition. Some Liberal journals went so far as to found upon this speech the hope of a complete restoration of harmony between Church and State, and a settlement of what is known as the Roman question. . . . As to the vast majority of the Italian people there is no doubt that they are firm and unswerving in their attachment to the Church."

BELGIUM

"In Belgium the Catholics signalised themselves at the General Elections by a triumph which caused astonishment throughout Europe, and carried dismay into the camp of spurious Continental Liberalism that then received a blow from which it will probably not soon recover. The lesson was much needed, and it has also served to inspire Catholics in other countries with courage in pursuing a combative policy."

In all the above-mentioned countries it is quite a matter of course that Catholics should occupy the leading place; the chief interests, therefore, in this outlook must centre in the two leading Protestant nations. The Times proceeds with the

UNITED STATES

"If from the Continent of Europe we turn towards the Republic of the United States, the prospect is even more cheering. There we see the Catholic Church, abounding in life and energy, taking a noble part in moulding the destinies of a nation which appears fated to be the great Power of the future, and under the guidance of progressive prelates and by the cleverness and soundness of its principles asserting its right to be considered a true pioneer in the advancement to higher aims. We see its ministers establishing points of contact with those outside the Church, opening up a new era of brotherly love, and unfolding fresh aspects of social duty, thus gaining for the Church a degree of authority and a measure of respect which raise it far above all other religious denominations and assure it in the future a position the importance of which it would now be difficult to gauge."

GREAT BRITAIN

"In our own islands the religious horizon during the past year has on the whole been most gratifying. It has become manifestly evident that no serious alarm need be felt at the threatened inroads of atheism and agnosticism. It is now generally admitted that the campaign against religious belief conducted by the late Mr. Charles Bradlaugh was an unmistakable failure, and that since his death the number who profess his views has become almost infinitesimal. Agnosticism, pure and simple, too, has been on the wane, and though it still claims some men of ability, who are intoxicated by the sense of their own self-sufficiency, it is certain that their influence is continually diminishing. On the other hand the leaning of Protestants, especially members of the Anglican Church, towards Catholicism is becoming more and more marked. The number of conversions has also been great. Thanks to the light and leading of the Cardinal-Archbishops and other well-equipped thinkers and guides."

The conclusion which the Catholic Times arrives at from all the above is this:-

"Wherever, then, we examine the signs of the times, we find them plainly indicating that the effects of the so-called Reformation are gradually dying out and that the people are beginning to recognise the evils of religious divisions."

It is certainly high time that those who believe that there was any reason for the Reformation should be asking themselves the question if there is not yet a good deal of reformation to be accomplished. The Bible teaches us that the Papacy is to resume its ancient power before the end comes, and that "all that dwell upon the earth," with the exception of those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life, shall worship the beast; but that does not mean that we should acquiesce in such worship. Rather does it incite us to warn all men of the impending evil, so that none need fall into the snare unawares.

"Watching for Christ" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

The Apostle Peter tells us that the "day of the Lord" will come as a thief in the night, "in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." 2 Pet. iii. 10.

The Saviour's discourse to His disciples upon the Mount of Olives, gives in answer to their query, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matt. xxiv. 3) contains very explicit language upon this point. It gives us a most impressive admonition. "But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Verses 43, 44. In Luke's record we find Him saying, "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." Luke xxi. 34, 35.

Yet no man knows, or can know, the exact time of Christ's coming, or of the advent of the day of the Lord. The Saviour said, "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven but My Father only." Matt. xxiv. 36. Our duty is not to attempt to locate the day, or the month, or the year, which will usher in the day of God or witness the return of Christ in power and glory; but it is to "watch" and be "ready," taking heed to the condition of our hearts. The person who attempts to fix upon the exact date of his Lord's return is not obeying the Lord's command to "watch." To watch for a thing is to look for it, without seeing it or knowing just when it is to appear. There is enough for the Christian to be doing in view of the proximity of so great an event, without speculating in regard to times which God has not revealed.

We are told what will be the attitude of those who are watching and waiting, in harmony with the instruction and admonitions of Christ. Their hearts will not be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life. Luke xxi. 34. They will "walk honestly, as in the day" (Rom. xiii. 11-14); they will be "sober," having on "the breastplate of faith and love," and rejoicing in "the hope of salvation." 1 Thess. v. 8. They will manifest "all holy conversation and godliness." 2 Pet. iii. 11. They will be "exhorting one another," and so much the more as they "see the day approaching." Heb. x. 25. By this manner of life they will be watching and ready for their Lord, though knowing not the hour of His return.

"Ye, brethren," says Paul, "are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. v. 4. Though ignorant of the day and the hour, they are ready for it whenever it may arrive, just as the man who watches is ready for the thief. It is the sleeper who was taken unawares, and suffers a loss. The Christian never sleeps, his spiritual life is ever wakeful and active, for it is the life of God.

Many are asleep who know it not. There are multitudes of dreamers in the church as well as in the world. They hear not the voice of the faithful watchmen, crying, "Now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand." Rom. xiii. 11, 12. Or if they hear the voice, it is with consciousness so dim that they heed it not. The watchman's cry mingles pleasantly with the voices of their dreams. The return of their Lord is not with them a theme of final, burning interest.

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come." Silently, as with the muted step of the thief, the dread day is stealing on with time's swift tread, to come suddenly at an hour when men think not, and take the sleepers unawares. Then there will be an awakening such as never was. Then His appearing will be the theme and the burden of all tongues, and fearful voices will take up the prophet's words, "The great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. vi. 17. Then there will be weeping and mourning throughout all the earth, and a prayer-meeting such as never was, when the voices of kings and peasants, of rulers and bondmen, shall blend in invocation to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." And then also the voices of those who watched for His appearing will be heard in tones of joy, saying, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord, we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. xxv. 9.

"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

"Medo-Persia and Greece. World-wide Empires" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

"Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and might are His; and He changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth kings, and setteth up kings. . . . He revealeth the deep and secret things." Dan. ii. 20-22.

"And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth." Dan. ii. 39.

These were the words which followed the brief statement of the extent and the fall of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. We have already learned that this "inferior" kingdom which was to succeed Babylon in the dominion of the world was the kingdom of the Medes and Persians (Dan. v. 28), and that Cyrus the Persian did actually conquer Babylon, placing upon the throne his uncle, Darius the Median. Dan. v. 30, 31. The conquest of Babylon by Cyrus was effected in B.C. 538, and two years afterward, when Cyrus himself took the throne, he said:

"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." Ezra i. 2.

This shows that all of the dominion over which Nebuchadnezzar had ruled, passed into the hands of Cyrus, king of Persia, and that the Persian Empire was universal. It was not inferior to Babylon in extent, but only in wealth and magnificence. Under this monarchy the prophets which foretold the restoration of the Jews to their own land were fulfilled. Most of the Persian kings, although noted for their cruelty, treated the Jews with great favour. An account of the dealings of the Persian kings with the Jews, is found in the books of Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra. The prophets Haggai and Zachariah uttered their prophecies after the return from the captivity, but before the complete restoration. Not a single prophecy foretelling the return of the Jews after the flesh to Palestine and of old Jerusalem, has any application this side of the decree issued by Artaxerxes, king of Persia, recorded in Ezra vii. Those who are looking to the future for a time when all the Jews on earth will flock to Jerusalem and the land of Palestine, will look in vain.

The prophet dwelt only for a moment upon the empire of Persia. He mentioned its rise, only to foretell its fall. "And another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth." History tells us very clearly what universal empire followed that of Medo-Persia, but we will not forestall the prophecy; the Bible shall be its own interpreter.

In the eighth chapter of Daniel, verses 3-8, is a record of part of a vision which Daniel saw. Let the reader examine the passage carefully at his leisure; we shall here give only a summary of what the prophet saw. He saw a ram standing by a river. The ram was so very powerful and fierce that no beast could stand before him, "but he did according to his will, and became great." While the prophet was still looking, he saw a rough goat with a notable horn between his eyes, come from the west, running with incredible swiftness, so that its feet seemed not to touch the ground. This goat came with fury to the ram, and smote him, and cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him; and there was no power that could save the ram from the wrath of the goat.

In verses 20 and 21 this is explained as follows: "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king." Then since the goat overpowered the ram, the prophecy teaches that Greece succeeded Medo-Persia as mistress of the world.

This is attested by all history. There is no other fact of history so well known as that Alexander the Great conquered the world. "But," says one, "Alexander was king of Macedon, and it was Greece, according to the prophecy, that overthrew Medo-Persia." Very true; but it was as king of Greece, and not as king of Macedon, that Alexander started out on his career of conquest. If he had not had united Greece at his back, even he would not have become master of the world. Grote says:-

"After displaying his force in various portions of Peloponnesus, Alexander returned to Corinth, where he convened deputies from the Grecian cities generally. . . . Alexander asked from the assembled deputies the same appointment which the victorious Philip had required and obtained two years before-hegemony or headship of the Greeks collectively for the purpose of prosecuting war against Persia. To the request of the prince at the head of an irresistible army, one answer only was admissible. He was nominated imperator with full powers, by land and sea. Overawed by the presence and sentiment of Macedonian force, all acquiesced in this vote except the Lacedaemonians.

"The convention sanctioned by Alexander was probably the same as that settled by and with his father Philip. Its grand and significant feature was, that it recognised Hellas [Greece] as a confederacy under the Macedonian prince as imperator, or executive head and arm. It crowned him with a legal sanction as keeper of the peace with Greece, and conqueror abroad in the name of Greece."- History of Greece, chap. 91.

Philip, Alexander's father, had succeeded in securing the headship of the Greeks. But his death followed two years after, so that he made no use of it. Alexander, therefore, is properly styled in the Scriptures the first king of Greece.

We have no space to devote to an account of Alexander's victories at the Granicus, and at Issus, by which he gained Egypt and all of Asia west of the Euphrates, and brought Darius,

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the last king of Persia to sue for peace. Alexander did not wish for a peace that would leave a rival to him: and the last battle, which resulted in the complete overthrow of the Persian kingdom, was fought near Arbela. Of the results of this battle, Grote says:-

"The prodigious army of Darius was all either killed, taken, or dispersed at the battle of Arbela. No attempt to form a subsequent army ever succeeded; we read of nothing stronger than divisions or detachments. The miscellaneous contingence of this once mighty empire, such at least among them as survived, dispersed to their respective homes and could never be again mustered in mass. The defeat of Arbela was in fact the death-blow of the Persian Empire. It converted Alexander into the great king, and Darius into nothing better than a fugitive pretender."

The Grecian Empire, therefore, with Alexander as its first king, was the power that succeeded Medo-Persia. The battle of Arbela, which made Grecia supreme, was fought in the year 331 B.C. The Medo-Persian Empire had therefore enjoyed universal sway for two hundred and seven years, from 538 to 331 B.C.

"Which shall bear rule over all the earth." These were the words by which Daniel described the Grecian Empire, which corresponded to the brazen portion of the image. Does history bear out the prediction of the prophet? and did the empire of Greece actually bear rule over "all the earth"? A few quotations will suffice to answer this question.

Rollin says of Alexander's eager desire to reach Babylon, a few years after the battle of Arbela:-

"He knew that there were arrived in that city, ambassadors from all parts of the world, who waited for his coming; the earth echoing so with the terror of his name, that the several nations came, with inexpressible ardour, to pay homage to Alexander, as to him who was to be their sovereign. . . . So that he set forward with all possible diligence toward that great city, there to hold the states-general, as it were, of the world."-History of Alexander, sec. 18.

Grote says:-

"So widely had the terror of his name and achievements been spread, that several of these envoys came from the most distant regions. There were some from the various tribes of Lybia [west to Egypt]-from Carthage [west of Lybia]-from Sicily and Sardinia-from the Illyrians and Thracians-from the Lucanians, Bruttians, and Tuscans, in Italy-nay even (some affirm) from the Romans, as yet a people of moderate power. But there were names yet more surprising-Ethiopians from the extreme South, beyond Egypt-Scythians from the North, beyond the Danube,-Iberians and Gauls, from the far West, beyond the Mediterranean Sea. . . . The proofs which Alexander received, even from distant tribes with names and costumes unknown to him, of fear for his enmity and anxiety for his favour, or such as had never been shown to any historical person, and such as entirely to explain his superhuman arrogance."-Chap. 94, paragraph 79.

What further proof is needed, to show that the dream and interpretation thereof, which accurately predicted these wondrous changes in the empire of the world scores and hundreds of years before they took place, were given by the "God in Heaven, that revealeth secrets," and who will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets?

"Seeing the Life" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

To the converted man, "old things are passed away; behold all things are become new; and all things are of God." 2 Cor. v. 17, 18. The man of faith is able to see God in all things; for God is in all things, and faith does not teach men fables, but simply enables them to see and know the truth.

And what a source of strength and comfort is this ability which faith gives! All nature then has a voice which testifies of the power of the life of God: and this power is given unto us. The life of God develops in the planted seed, and the shoot, though tender, finds its way through clod and rocky barrier to the light. The sap flows through the trunk of the tree, and it swells and expands with a force which cannot be stayed. The moisture rises from the earth, the clouds form, the rain descends, vegetation grows, the cloud turns water into snow and ice, the sun ripens the fruit and the grain, and in a hundred ways we see nature all around us carrying on her work with a power which no man can check. Having once learned some of nature's laws, we know that whatever they demand, must be. There is no power that can prevent it. And why?-Simply because there is no power that can prevent the Lord from doing His work.

Seen with the eye of faith, all this is encouragement for us; for God, if we but let Him, works in us, and with the same irresistible power. His life is in the growing plant, and His life is also in us; and just as it worked to force the tender sprout through the hard clod up to the surface and the light, so it works in our hearts to do that which it is sent forth to do. And that it will do it is as certain as any law of nature; for the laws of nature are but the laws of God.

When we receive God's word "not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God," it "effectually worketh" in us, and will overcome every obstacle to the accomplishment of its purpose. That is the way God's word works, and in nature we find visible demonstration of the fact. And thus nature speaks to us with a voice of cheer and courage when our ears are but tuned to catch the harmony of God's law.

God's word is Spirit and life. John vi. 63. It is life to the plant, for by it the plant was created and caused to bud and bring forth fruit and seed after its kind. Gen. i. 11. And it is

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life in us, shaping us irresistibly toward the far higher destiny for which we were created.

We should never become discouraged. Let the word into your heart by receiving it in faith, and it will work and will surely accomplish its purpose. It will surely cleanse you and create you new in Christ. The Lord has spoken it. "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isa. lv. 10, 11.

The man that "walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly," and whose "delight is in the law of the Lord," "shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not whither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Ps. i. 1-3. Whether in the visible things of nature or in the human heart, the word of God will work through every obstacle. The life will be manifested and the righteousness cannot fail.

"Archbishop Laud and the Church of England" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

On the tenth day of January, 1645, Archbishop Laud was beheaded as a traitor on Tower Hill. The 250th anniversary of that event was celebrated by the singing of the Te Deum on the site of his scaffold, by some of the Anglican clergy, and many "relics" of Laud are now on exhibition in a neighbouring church to those who wish to pay a shilling to view them.

For some time the Catholic portion of the Church of England has been zealously lauding Laud and his work. It is quite generally agreed that "a great debt of gratitude and reverence is due to the man, to whom, more than any other individual, the Church of England owes her present shape." We have no desire to condemn the man, or to say anything against him; but when he is honoured as having done more than any other man to establish the "present shape" of the Church of England, an impartial statement of his work will serve to show the present position of that Church. This will be found in few words in the following short extracts from Green's History of the English People. The extracts are taken from sections 1003 to 1008.

His resolve was to raise the Church of England to what he conceived to be its real position as a branch, though a reformed branch, of the great Catholic Church throughout the world; protesting alike against the innovations of Rome and the innovations of Calvin. . . . In Laud's view, episcopal succession was of the essence of a church; and by their rejection of bishops the Lutheran and Calvinistic churches of Germany and Switzerland had ceased to be churches at all. The freedom of worship, therefore, which had been allowed to the Huguenot refugees from France, or the Walloons from Flanders, was suddenly withdrawn; and the requirement of conformity with the Anglican ritual drove them in crowds from the southern ports to seek refuge in Holland. . . .

As Laud drew further from the Protestants of the continent, he drew, consciously or unconsciously, nearer to Rome. His theory owned Rome as a true branch of the church, though severed from that of England by errors and innovations against which the primate vigorously protested. But with the removal of these obstacles reunion would naturally follow; and his dream was that of bridging over the gulf which ever since the Reformation had parted the two churches. . . Union with the great body of Catholicism, indeed, he regarded as a work which only time could bring about, but for which he could prepare the Church of England by raising it to a higher standard of Catholic feeling and Catholic practice. The great obstacle in his way was the Puritanism of nine-tenths of the English people, and on Puritanism he made war without mercy. . . . On the death of Abbot, Laud was raised to the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and no sooner had his elevation placed him at the head of the English Church than he turned the high commission into a standing attack on the Puritan ministers. Rectors and vicars were scolded, suspended, deprived, for "gospel preaching."

The suppression of Puritanism in the ranks of the clergy was only a preliminary to the real work on which the Archbishop's mind was set, the preparation for Catholic reunion by the elevation of the clergy to the Catholic standard in doctrine and ritual. Laud publicly avowed his preference for an unmarried to a married priesthood. Some of the bishops, and a large part of the new clergy who occupied the post from which the Puritan ministers had been driven, advocated doctrines and customs which the reformers had denounced as sheer papistry-the practice, for instance, of auricular confession, a real presence in the sacrament, or prayers for the dead. . . . Meanwhile Laud was indefatigable in his efforts to raise the civil and political status of the clergy to the point which it had reached ere the fatal blow of the Reformation fell on the priesthood.

As Laud aimed at a more Catholic standard of doctrine, in the clergy, so he aimed at a nearer approach to the pomp of Catholicism in public worship. . . . Bowing to the altar was introduced into all Cathedral churches.

In their last remonstrance to the king, the commons had denounced Laud as the chief assailant of the Protestant character of the Church of England; and every year of his primacy showed him bent upon justifying the accusation. His policy was no longer the purely conservative policy of Parker or Whitgift; it was aggressive and revolutionary.

The above are the simple facts, very mildly stated. No further comment need be made upon them than this. From a consideration of this work, and the fact that Laud is extolled as the one to whom the Church of England owes its "present shape," it follows that the Church of England is essentially Catholic. In saying this, we are bringing no railing accusation, but stating a simple fact; Churchmen themselves make the same claim. The main reason for the present statement is to point out the fact that if there was ever in the world any necessity for the Reformation, that necessity exists to-day nearly as much as it ever did. In his sermon on Laud, the Bishop of Peterborough said, "He endeavoured to do the Lord's work with the world's weapons." Such work in establishing a church must of course result in a worldly church.

As for Laud's execution, no apology can or should be made for it. He was not a traitor in any ordinary sense of the word. He suffered at the hands of the executioner simply because the professed Protestants who succeeded him in power were, like him, endeavouring to do the Lord's work with the world's weapons, which means that they were doing their own work, and calling it the Lord's. In his case was fulfilled the statement, "They that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Unfortunately history, both sacred and profane, seems to have been written in vain for most people, and so professed Christians of nearly all classes are still found attempting to do the Lord's work by the world's methods.

"Seventh-day Adventists" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

The New York Independent, the leading religious journal in the United States, which keeps itself accurately informed concerning the working of all religious bodies, has, in its first number this year, a summary of the last year's progress of the denominations, from which we take the following statement concerning the Seventh-day Adventists:-

There are two distinct classes of Adventists, viz., those who observe the first day, and those who observe the seventh day of the week. Among the first class are those who occasionally set time for the second coming of Christ; the second class have never engaged in "time setting," but earnestly oppose such interpretations of the prophecies. The observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath is a marked peculiarity of Seventh-day Adventists, which distinguishes them from all other denominations, except the Seventh-day Baptists.

Seventh-day Adventists hold positions on the so-called change of the Sabbath which lead them to regard Sunday as a rival of the Sabbath of the Lord. The repeated arrests and imprisonments of their members for Sunday labour the past year, in different parts of the United States and Europe, help to demonstrate that Sabbath observance with them is not a matter of convenience, or a choice of days, but a question of loyalty to God. It is often said that these people are not compelled to labour on the seventh day, but to refrain from work on the first day. They reply: "It is with us as with the early Christians; they were not prohibited from worshipping Jehovah; they were simply required to honour the gods of Rome."

As to the question of growth: In this connection I am prepared to make definite statements only with reference to the Seventh-day Adventists, whom I have the honour to represent. From reports in my possession I am enabled to give the following rates of increase for the past year: ordained ministers, 13 per cent.; licensed ministers, 11 per cent.; churches, 7 per cent.; members, 15 per cent.; and missionary funds, 4 per cent.

In many respects the past year has been the most prosperous in our history. This is especially true of our educational, publishing and medical work. Missions have been established in Mexico, Honduras, British Guiana, Argentine, Brazil and Jamaica. Missionaries have been sent to the Gold Coast and to Matabeleland, in Africa, with a view to establishing missionary stations there early the coming year. Preparations are also being made for opening missions, at the earliest possible date, in China and Japan. A large amount of funds has been raised for this purpose.

Our missionary ship, Pitcairn, sailed from San Francisco last July, on its third voyage, with a load of missionaries and supplies, to be distributed among the islands of the Pacific Ocean.

One of the most encouraging indications for the future of our work is the growing missionary zeal manifesting itself among our young people. There are at present in our colleges and sanatoriums about three hundred young men and women who have consecrated themselves "for life or death to arduous, humble service in the dark regions of this lost world."

The prospects for our work were never better than for the coming year.

"The Life" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

The only true life is the Christian life. This is so because it is the life of Christ, who is God, and God's life is that which animates all living things. Man can pervert that life by living to himself, but that is not true living. It is struggling against the life, which is God's, and seeking death, which in the end will be obtained.

The proper relation of man to this life is presented in the language of the Apostle Paul: "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." Gal. ii. 20. This is the true standpoint from which life with its various duties and problems is to be viewed: and from this standpoint the view is wonderfully simplified as compared with that obtained from the standpoint of self; because all the imaginary duties, dangers, and difficulties have vanished.

Life, as the Creator ordained it, is a simple thing, as simple as accepting a gift. It is only when a man attempts to live by his own power and wisdom that it becomes complex. When men forget about the Creator, and put their trust in themselves, they find life to be beset by many and strange difficulties. At every turn problems are thrust upon them, which their human ability is neither able to foresee nor to successfully meet. At best, their world is but a world of chance. God does not withdraw His providence from the lives of men when they will not recognise Him, but they frustrate and hide that providence by attempting to provide all things for themselves. The abilities which men possess were not designed to cope with the task of maintaining a pleasurable and successful existence. As much power and wisdom is required for that as for bringing existence out of nothing; which power and wisdom pertains to God alone. And the more men attempt to perform this miracle themselves, the more perplexing and unsatisfactory does their life become, and the more sadly marred by disaster and defeat.

Men are to-day, and always have been, greatly exercised over the maintenance of their "rights." For they have conceived, either rightly or wrongly, to be such, they have sacrificed their fortunes and their lives; they have in the defence of them endured great suffering themselves and brought distress upon others. But how simple this problem which has so perplexed mankind becomes when viewed from the standpoint of the Christian. And that which so simplifies this, as it does the other problems of life, is the fact that from this standpoint, wherever we look, we behold the Lord Jesus Christ,-His power, His interests, His work. It is the standpoint of the man who is crucified with Him; and as the crucified man has no life of its own, so he has no rights of his own. There are only the rights of the Saviour with whom he is identified, and who lives in him. And those rights God Himself maintains. The Christian is His witness, but God is the One who works, and whose power vindicates the right and accomplishes grand results. The Christian thinks not of any rights of his own, but rejoices in the maintenance and exercise of God's right to the love and homage of the beings whom He has created.

People are often much troubled to guard their "dignity" and save their feelings from the injuries to which they are liable from the malice or heedlessness of those about them. But what can be said of the "dignity" and pride of the person who is crucified? How much suffering and inconvenience do dead men experience from hurt feelings? If we are crucified with Christ, and live by His life in us, we shall have no feelings but His feelings. We shall act toward those who persecute and speak evil of us, as He did toward those who persecuted Him; we shall feel toward them as He felt. And He did not feel differently toward men because they maltreated Him; He did not change because men hated Him

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and worked against Him. His nature cannot be affected by sin; He has never changed, but is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." There is no more ill-will or purpose of revenge in the mind of God to-day than before sin entered the universe. We may deny Him, but still "He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself." His love for man has continued unchanged since the days of Adam. "His tender mercies are over all His works." And so will there be love and tender mercy in our hearts toward all His works when we are identified with Christ, instead of the feelings of wounded pride which it costs us so much to bear.

Jesus Christ is "meek and lowly in heart." He tells us this in His gracious invitation to come to Him and find rest. He "humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death." On the night of His betrayal He washed His disciples' feet. But this was not an exhibition of newly-acquired humility. His form was the form of man; but His character was the character of God. He had not changed in character by taking on Himself the seed of Abraham. Nor did He speak and act as a man; but, as He declared, His Father, who dwelt in Him, did the works. In every word and act, God was manifesting Himself through His Son; as well when He washed His disciples' feet as when He raised the dead or rode in triumph into Jerusalem.

And so, from the Christian standpoint-from the standpoint of the recognition of the truth-we see that life has no difficulty and no problem but that of giving free course to the life of God that is in us. When we come to the cross, we find that we have been carrying too many burdens,-that we have been bearing a heavy and needless load; and we drop it and experience that relief which comes from laying a burden down. We cease trying to pervert the stream of God's life into channels of our own choosing. And then we drop so many self-imposed responsibilities that we find we have time enough to attend to those things that pertain to our relation to God. We have time to do some work in His cause. Our time is equal to our opportunities. This is life in its normal state, as it was ordained for man by the Creator. It is the life that Christ has placed within every man's grasp,-the life, indeed, that all men have, if they will but recognise their life as God's, and yield the control of it to Him.

"Christianising Paganism" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

The following statement expresses the general idea concerning the adoption of heathen customs by professed Christians:-

It is possible, as is sometimes asserted, that the Christian teachers at first remonstrated against the festivities which their converts brought into their new faith, but finding their attachment to them irresistible, Christianised them.

Now there is no question but that heathen men may become Christians, but that is a far different thing from heathen practices becoming Christian institutions. The idea that if the Christian Church adopts any heathen custom, that custom thereby becomes Christian, is a subtle fallacy that has deceived thousands, and which needs to be sharply exposed.

Let us take a clear case as an illustration. The violation of the seventh commandment is a very common thing among the heathen. They are very much addicted to it. Suppose now that the Christian teachers had at first remonstrated against the adultery of the heathen, but finding their attachment to it irresistible, had adopted it into the church; would adultery thereby have become Christianised? Would not, on the contrary, the Christian church have become heathenised and demoralised?

In such a case as that, the answer is clear; but the same principle applies to every heathen custom. Sin cannot become righteousness because a hitherto good man begins to practise it. On the contrary, when a good man sins, he becomes a sinner. So a heathen custom cannot become a Christian act simply by being adopted by Christians. No; on the contrary, Christians, by adopting heathen customs, become to that extent heathen. This is really admitted by a writer in the Church Times, who says:-

Many superstitious observances attributed by prejudiced minds to medi?val times are really survivals of paganism, re-clothed and often re-named, but none the less heathen in origin, and sometimes betokening even the continuance of heathen ideas.

There are indeed "many" of these heathen customs still lingering, even in that portion of the church which is called Protestant, among which may be noted the observance of Sunday, Easter, and Christmas. It is a starting fact, but a fact nevertheless, and one which demands earnest attention, that a great deal of what is commonly supposed to be Christianity is nothing else but refined heathenism. If "the church" had not attempted to Christianise heathen customs, it would not now be necessary to work for the Christianising of the church.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

-Fewer miles of railroad were built in 1894 in the United States than in any year since the Civil War.

-Baron Banffy, the new Hungarian Premier, has submitted to the Emperor a list of names for a reconstructed Cabinet, which was accepted.

-The Prague police pretend to have discovered an Anarchist plot. Ten arrests have been made, among those arrested being Wilhelm Kurbor, leader of the Labour party at Prague.

-Nearly 8,000 men, employed as drivers and conductors of the street oars or trains belonging to the various trolly lines in Brooklyn, went on strike Jan. 14. They demand an increase of pay.

-About 3,000 unemployed workingmen met at Montreal, and a deputation waited upon the Mayor. One of the Labour leaders threatened to make use of guns and dynamite, stating that there were 500 Anarchists in Montreal prepared to carry out this threat.

-It is stated from Rome that most of the differences existing in the American Catholic Hierarchy are now on the point of being settled by the determined intervention of the Pope himself. Monsignor Satolli, the "Apostolic" delegate, will remain at his post.

-The "ice-air cure" is being resorted to in Spanish America. The application of ice-air currents to the spine is said to cure catarrhs. Loss of appetite and dyspepsia is are said to be cured by descending into a refrigerating tank, the atmosphere of which is several degrees below zero.

-A polyglot petition against opium and alcohol, which has been signed by four millions of women of fifty nationalities, in forty different languages, will be presented next month to the United States Government, and in due course will be presented to every Government in the civilised world.

-A meeting was held Jan. 12 at the Jewish Working Men's Club, Great Alie-street, under the auspices of the Jewish Sabbath Observance Society, for the purpose of securing a weekly Jewish holiday from Friday, 2 P.M., until Sunday morning, for Jewish workmen employed in the different trades.

-Senor Maura, the Spanish Minister of Justice, stated in the Chamber of Deputies that Archbishop Plunkett had not violated the laws of the land by "consecrating" Seiler Cabrera as Bishop of the Reformed Church in Spain. The Government considered that the set had no political importance.

-A terrible disaster took place at Butte, Montana, U.S., Jan. 15. A fire occurred in a railway depot, where wore stored large quantities of gunpowder, which exploded, killing one hundred persons and wounding an equal number more. The whole town was shaken, and the destruction of property was enormous.

-A pit at Audley, Staffordshire, became flooded by a sudden inrush of water from disused workings, Jan. 14. Some of the miners made their escape, and though pumping operations were carried on, ninety-two others known to be in the pit could not be reached, and it is all but certain that the whole have perished.

-The Italians have recently achieved two important victories over the Abyssinians. The native troops in the Italian service lost 120 killed and 190 wounded during the two days' fighting, while several Italian officers were killed or wounded. The report states that the defeat of the Abyssinians is final and complete.

-Out of the South of France railway scandal there has suddenly developed a grave crisis for the French republic. M. Dupuy's Cabinet was defeated on the question of the State guarantee of interest to railways, and immediately following, to the surprise and dismay of all, President M. Casimir Perier announced his intention of resigning the functions of his office, owing to the attacks made upon him as President, and the failure of his compatriots to give him adequate support. His resignation was formally announced on the 15th inst. Felix Faure has been chosen as his successor.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 4.

E. J. Waggoner

Even the head of the Mohammedan religion, the Sultan, is appealing to the Pope to intercede in his behalf in the Armenian question.

Last week the German Reichstag passed the second reading of the motion repealing the Anti-Jesuit law. The law has failed, as all attempts to oppose Rome by weapons of which she is herself mistress must ever fail. The word of God alone is the thing which she cannot handle.

The announcement is made of the completion of a concordance to Swedenborg's theological works; what a mighty maze these works must be may be inferred from the statement that the concordance has nearly 4,000 pages closely printed. The appearance of this concordance is significant as showing that there are actually people who read Swedenborg's fancies.

In his speech before the National Liberal Federation, Lord Rosebery discussed the question of Church and State, and among other things said:-

We are also told that disestablishment unchristianises the State. Well, all I can say is this, that if it be true the State must be in a very bad way. If a State is in reality Christian it certainly does not need the outward symbol of an establishment to prove it; and if a State is not Christian, an establishment is merely a hypocrisy and a sham.

A prominent Irish Methodist having decided to contest Mr. Armagh in the Nationalist interests at the next general election, the Methodist Times says:-

Mr.-- will, if returned, be a great addition to the Methodist vote in the House of Commons.

Yet the same paper is strongly in favour of the disestablishment of the Church of England. It makes no difference what church exerts a controlling influence in politics, whether it be a Roman Catholic or Methodist. The church in the days of the apostles was the church of Christ, but as soon as it gained political power it became the synagogue of Satan. When the church, or any branch of it as a church, mingles in politics, it becomes a part of the Papacy.

It is significant of much when a deputation of the unemployed, such as waited on the Mayor of Montreal, Canada, last week, openly threaten him in his official residence that if something be not done for their relief dynamite will be used. The familiarity with the use of high explosives in modern times bodes ill for the future with its inevitable conflict between nations and different classes within the nations.

A marble bust of Cardinal Vaughan has been presented to the Manchester Corporation in memory of the Cardinal's twenty-years' episcopate in Salford, and was recently unveiled in the Manchester Town Hall, where it occupies a prominent place. The Lord Mayor in his address said that the ceremony is without precedent in the annals of the City Council. It is no wonder that Catholics feel hopeful over the outlook.

To a religious inquirer a Shinto priest consistently replied, "Obey the edicts of the emperor and follow your impulses." Every false religion thus places human authority and the flesh before God. How widely this leaven of paganism has permeated the religious world may be seen by the readiness with which men, even with the Bible in their hands, follow the customs of the world and their own impulses rather than the word of God.

In the United States even Roman Catholic organs-doubtless for effect-have protested against the animosity with which the professedly Protestant churches have sought to enforce the keeping of Sunday. However religious leaders may act under the inspiration of the spirit of intolerance, some officials of the jails have shown a more humane spirit. The American Sentinel, a New York journal devoted to religious liberty, says:-

Imprisoned Seventh-day Adventists, like Joseph in Egypt, have been blessed with some manly, kind-hearted jailers. When the prison board at Paris, Tenn., voted to work four Seventh-day Adventist victims of Sunday laws in the chain-gang on the Sabbath, the sheriff refused to carry out the order, and threatened to resign if the execution of the order was insisted upon. He had such confidence in his seventh-day prisoners, that he left the key of the jail in their charge, and they locked themselves in at night. Robert R. Whaley and W. G. Curiett, the recent victims of the Sunday law of Maryland, were treated, if possible, better. Mr. Bryan, the sheriff, never locked them behind the bars either day or night. They were given a room and bed in his private apartments, and ate at his table; and, besides, were allowed to go to the post-office after their mail.

There is one thing that love requires, and that is love in return. God is love, and therefore He longs for love, even the love of His creature. What a wonderful thing it is, and how it strengthens the bonds between us and God, to know that we are essential to His happiness. He desires our company, for Christ, expressing the will of the Father, said, "I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." He has gone to prepare a place for His loved ones, and His love for them will bring Him to earth again, to "receive you unto Myself; that where I am there ye may be also." John xiv. 3.

When a man tells me that I am in error, and points me to a portion of Scripture which says so, he does me a favour. But if the scripture which he quotes does not say so, and he must interpret it in order to make out his case, then he imposes on me. He is giving me his own opinion, and trying to clothe it with the authority of the Bible. He is guilty of fraud, in that he uses the reverence with which men have for the Bible to give currency to his own ideas. God says that He has magnified His word above all His name; now since He will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain, how must He regard those who thus take liberties with His sacred word?

The first two numbers of Tidens Tecken,-Signs of the Times,-a bright, new Swedish paper issued from Stockholm, are before us. Its name indicates its character. Its mission is the same as that of THE PRESENT TRUTH. The new paper takes the place of one which was for some years published in Christiania. May it be the means of so "holding forth the word of life" that many in the north country shall be brought to "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Sanhedens Tidende, published at Christiania, is doing the same work for Norway and Denmark.

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you;" but do not chase him when he flees.

January 31, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

When we are reproved for a fault, it does not mend matters in the least to say that our reprover has the same fault. Our neighbour's disease can never cure ours.

The sun blows no trumpet and rings no bells, to call the attention of people to itself. It simply shines. The man who has virtues does not need to boast of them.

There is nothing ever lost by being given to God, whether it be money, time, or talents. That which is placed in God's hands is but yielded to its rightful owner, and placed where it will be put to the best possible use. Only that is lost which is withheld from Him; for all that is not of Him must finally pass away.

"Principles and Perfection" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Principles and Perfection.-"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection." Heb. vi. 17. Leaving the principles does not mean repudiating them, but applying them in the higher branches. One who would be content to spend all his life in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing simple numbers of one figure, would never become a mathematician. He must advance from those first principles if he would attain perfection. Yet he cannot attain distinction as a scholar if he ignores those first principles; and no matter how great a mathematician he becomes, his success will depend wholly on the use of those rudiments. So in the Christian life. While we are to leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ, it is only that in the application of them we may "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savour Jesus Christ," till we come to "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."

"Commands and Promises" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Commands and Promises.-God does not give any commandment that He does not give grace to perform. Nay, more, His word is "living and active," and "His commandment is life eternal," and therefore works effectually in those who believe. Therefore every commandment of God is in reality a promise: if the commandment is given, it carries with it the promise of great grace and strength for its performance. So we find truth in the words,

"How gentle God's command!
How kind His precepts are!"

"The Unpardonable Sin" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

The Unpardonable Sin.-This may be defined in few words. It is simply the sin of unbelief. Faith that appropriates the life and power of God is the only means of salvation. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven the one who believes, for "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;" but he who refuses to believe, shuts himself off from the fountain of life and righteousness. In short, the unpardonable sin is the sin that rejects pardon.

"Rest Not Idleness" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Rest Not Idleness.-Some people have the idea that the Lord's rest is idleness, and that resting in the Lord is the same as laziness. It is a great mistake. Jesus came to give rest, yet He said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." John v. 17. In His most perfect rest, the Lord is intensely active. So the man who is most completely resting in the Lord, will be most active in His service. The man who is not resting in the Lord, makes a great deal of stir, but accomplishes nothing; while the man who rests in the Lord does very much, but without bustle or boasting.

"Laying a New Foundation" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Laying a New Foundation.-The Apostle Paul exhorts us to go on to perfection, "not laying again the foundation of repentance." Why should we wish to? One sure foundation has been laid, and "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. iii. 11. To attempt to lay a new foundation is to build upon the sand; and to attempt to lay the old foundation over again is only to seek to overturn it. The foundation just as it is cannot be improved.

"Worth Telling" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

The patient Job had something worth telling to his companions. He was leading a very monotonous life at the time,-sitting in sackcloth and ashes day after day, crushed and helpless beneath his burden of affliction. But this does not affect the wonderful knowledge that had come to him, or his appreciation of the great truth. So worthy of telling did he think it that he exclaimed, "Oh, that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!" Job xix. 23, 24.

And what words were they that he wished so recorded? "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" The glory of that mighty truth eliminated all the darkness of his surroundings. The two disciples with whom Jesus journeyed to Emmaus, when He had made Himself known to them, rose up and returned in haste to their companions at Jerusalem; and the word they brought

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was the same which Job had uttered,-"I know that my Redeemer liveth!" And what a wonderful message they deemed it! Yet it is no less wonderful to-day to the person who grasps and knows it.

The resurrection of Christ was for ages a fact of prophecy, and for other ages it has been a fact of history; but how few have never known it in truth. It cannot be known but as a revelation from God. And when it is known,-when the individual can say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," he sees it to be the transcendent truth, the one fact of all others most worth telling, and most needful to be learned by a sinful world.

"Studies in Romans. The Glorious Gospel. Rom. x. 1-21" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Let it be remembered that the ninth chapter of Romans sets forth the condition of Israel according to the flesh-they who are called Israel. They are "accursed from Christ." They "followed after the law of righteousness," but did not attain to righteousness, because they sought it not by faith, but by works. The Gentiles, therefore, gained the precedence over them, because they sought righteousness in the right way, namely, by faith. Thus were fulfilled the words of Christ to the self-righteous Jews: "The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you;" and again, "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Matt. xxi. 31, 43.

But the Lord did not cast off His people because they stumbled at the stone which He had placed for a foundation. He endured with much longsuffering even the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. So the apostle continues:-

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt confess with they mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.

20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.

21 But to Israel He saith, All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

This is quite a long portion of scripture, yet it is all so closely connected that it seems necessary to consider the whole at one study. Of course our study must be only in outline, just to prepare the way for further study; and we can afford room for only a few of the usual

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

What was Paul's earnest desire for Israel?

"That they might be saved."

What good thing did he testify that they had?

"They have a zeal of God," or for God.

But in what essential thing was it lacking?

It was "not according to knowledge."

Of what were they ignorant?

"Ignorant of God's righteousness."

What did this ignorance lead them to do?

To seek "to establish their own righteousness."

What was the result?

"They did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God." R.V.

Where only can the end of the law be found?

"Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."

What is the description of the righteousness which is of faith?

"The word is very nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart."

On what terms will anyone be saved?

"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead."

How then does righteousness come?

"With the heart man believeth unto righteousness."

Who will be saved?

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord."

What is necessary in order that men call on the Lord?

That they should believe.

And what is necessary in order that they may believe?

That they should hear.

And how only can they hear?

When some are sent to preach.

Has this condition been met?

"It is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things."

Have men obeyed this Gospel message?

"Isaiah says, "Lord, who hath believed our report?"

How do faith and hearing come?

"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Although they have not all believed, have they not all heard?

"Yes verily."

What evidence is there of this?

"Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

What was the result of this preaching?

"I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me."

Did God therefore leave Israel to their own destruction?

"To Israel He saith, All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people."

Zeal without Knowledge.-"It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing." Zeal is very necessary to the accomplishment of anything;

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but zeal without knowledge is like a wild horse without bit or bridle. There is plenty of activity, but it is of no use. Or it is like the man who displays great zeal and earnestness in reaching a certain place, but who is travelling in the wrong direction. No matter how zealous a man may be, he will never reach a place that is north of him by travelling southward. Ignorance nullifies zeal. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Hosea iv. 6.

Israel's Ignorance.-They were "ignorant of God's righteousness." It is a kind of ignorance that did not cease with the generation then living, and which is not confined to any certain people. But that which made it so much worse in this instance was that this ignorance of God's righteousness was coupled with the highest profession of serving Him.

God's Righteousness.-The righteousness of God is something besides a name. It is something far different from a form of words, or even the mere statement of a law. It is nothing less than the life and character of God. As there cannot be sweetness apart from something that is sweet, so there is no such thing as abstract righteousness. Righteousness must necessarily be connected with some living being. But God alone is righteous. See Mark x. 18. Therefore wherever righteousness is, there God must be active. Righteousness is the essential characteristic of God.

Form and Fact.-The Jews had "the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law;" but they had not the truth itself. The law of God, as written on the tables of stone, or in a book, is as perfect as it could possibly be. But there was just the same difference between that and the real law that there is between a photograph of a man and the man himself. It was but a shadow. There was no life in the written characters, and they could not do anything. They were simply the statement of that which exists only in the life of God.

Empty Righteousness.-The Jews very well knew that the words on the stone or in the book could not do anything; and since they were ignorant of the righteousness of which those words were but the description, they went about to establish a righteousness of their own. This they would never have done if they had not been ignorant of God's righteousness. Of that the psalmist says, "Thy righteousness is like the great mountains." Ps. xxvi. 6. They were trying to produce from themselves the essential attribute of God. Such an effort, no matter how great the zeal, could end only in miserable failure. Saul of Tarsus was "more exceedingly zealous of the traditions" of the fathers than any others of his class, yet when he came to a right understanding, those things that were gain to him he was obliged to count but loss. That is, the more he did to establish his own righteousness, the worse off he became.

Submitting to Righteousness.-If the Jews had not been ignorant of God's righteousness, they would not have attempted to establish a righteousness of their own. They tried to make God's righteousness submit to them, whereas they should have submitted to it. God's righteousness is active. It is his own life. Just as the air will rush into any place where there is an opening, so the righteous life of God will fill every heart that is open to receive it. When men try to handle the law of God, they invariably pervert it, and fit it to their own ideas; the only way to have its perfection appear is to submit to it, allowing it to rule. Then it will work itself out in the life. "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good-pleasure." Phil. ii. 13.

The End of the Law.-"Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." 1 Tim. i. 5. Charity is love, and "love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 10. Therefore the end of the law is its perfect fulfilment. That is self-evident. It makes no difference in what sense the word "end" is taken. Suppose it be used in the common sense of "object." It is very plain that the things which it requires shall be done. Or use the word "end" in the ordinary sense of the farthest extent, and we have the same thing. You arrive at the end of a law only when you reach the utmost limit of its requirement.

Christ the End of the Law.-We have seen that the end or object of the law is the righteousness which it requires. So it is said that Christ is the end of the law "for righteousness." The law of God is the righteousness of God. See Isa. li. 6, 7. But this righteousness is the real life of God himself, and the words of the law are only the shadow of it. That life is found only in Christ, for He alone declares the righteousness of God. Rom. iii. 24, 25. His life is the law of God, since God was in Him. That which the Jews had only in form, is found in fact only in Christ. In Him the end of the law is found. Does any one say that "the end of the law" means its abolition? Very well; when they find the abolition of Christ, they will have found the abolition of the law, and not before. Only a study of the life of Christ will reveal the righteousness which the law of God requires.

To Whom?-To whom is Christ the end of the law for righteousness? "To every one that believeth." Christ dwells in the heart by faith. Eph. iii. 17. The perfect righteousness of the law is found only in him. It is in Him in absolute perfection. Therefore since Christ dwells in the heart of the believer, in Him only is the end of the law attained. "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." John vi. 29. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness."

Doing to Live and Living to Do.-The righteousness which is of the law, that is, men's own righteousness (see Phil. iii. 9), is on the principle of doing something in order to live. The mere statement of the case is sufficient to show its impossibility; for life must necessarily precede action. A dead body does not do something in order that it may live, but it must be given life in order that it may do something. Peter did not tell the dead Dorcas to do some more charitable work, to sew some more garments, in order that she might live, but in the name of Jesus he restored her to life, in order that she might pursue her good works. The man that doeth those things shall live in them, but he must first live before he can do them. Therefore the righteousness which is of the law is but an empty dream. Christ gives life, even the eternal and righteous life of God, which works righteousness in the soul that it has quickened.

Christ the Word.-Verses 6-8 of this chapter are a direct quotation from Deut. xxx. 11-14. Moses had been rehearsing the law to the people, and exhorting them to obedience, and told

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them that the commandment was not "far off," so that they needed to send some one to bring it to them, "but the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." Paul, writing by inspiration of the Spirit, quotes the words of Moses, and shows that they refer to Christ. Christ is the Word, the commandment, which is not "far off," which needs not to be brought down from heaven, nor to be raised from the dead. Let the reader compare these two portions of Scripture very carefully, and he will clearly see that the real commandment of the Lord is nothing less than Christ.

Law and Life.-This truth was not necessarily hidden till the New Testament was written. The thoughtful Jew in the days of Moses could clearly understand that only in the life of God could the righteousness of the law be found. 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 both thou and thy seed may live; that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him; for He is thy life, and the length of thy days." Deut. xxx. 19, 20. In setting the law before the people, Moses set before them the life of God, and that is to be found only in Christ. "I know that his commandment is life everlasting." John xii. 50. "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John xvii. 3.

The Word Very Near.-Remembering that the word is Christ, we read, "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Is Christ so near as that? Indeed He is; for He Himself says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Rev. iii. 20. It is not alone to the good that He is near, but He is "not far from every one of us." Acts xvii. 27. So near is He that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." We cannot reach out our hand without finding Him. Christ is in the heart even of wicked men, waiting for them to recognise the fact that already exists, and will in all their ways acknowledge Him; then He will dwell in their hearts "by faith." He will then direct them in all their ways. In nothing is the love of Christ more fully shown than in His dwelling with sinful men, and enduring all their hatefulness, in order that by His patience He may win them from their evil ways.

Belief in the Resurrection.-"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." He "was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." Rom. iv. 25. And "He died for all." He tasted death for every man. Therefore He was raised for the justification of every man. To believe in the heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, is to believe that He justifies me. The one who does not believe that Jesus does cleanse him from sin, does not really believe that God has raised him from the dead; for we can not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, without believing that for which He was raised. The resurrection of Jesus is much less generally believed than is commonly supposed.

Not Ashamed.-The root of the word "believe" indicates a foundation, something upon which one can build. To believe on Jesus is to build upon Him. He is the tried stone, the sure foundation, the Rock. Isa. xxviii. 16. Whosoever builds upon Him will not be obliged to flee in confusion when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat upon his house; for He is the Rock of Ages.

No Difference.-The keynote of the Gospel call is "whosoever." "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 iii. 16. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. xxii. 17. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." No distinction is made; "for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek." Read again the second and third chapters of Romans, and the fourth also. Indeed, the whole book of Romans gives a death-blow to that wicked idea that God is partial, and that he favours some people more than others. The idea that God has special blessings for one nation of earth that He has not for others, no matter whether that one nation be called Jews, Israelites, Anglo-Saxons, Englishmen, or anything else, is a direct denial of the Gospel of the grace of God.

The Gospel to All.-The 13th, 14th, and 15th verses show the steps necessary for salvation. First, men must call upon the Lord. But in order to call upon Him, they must believe in Him. But they can not hear without someone being sent. But preachers have been sent, yet all have not believed and obeyed, although they have all heard. What have they all heard?-They have all heard the word of God. In proof of this, the apostle says that faith comes by hearing the word of God, and adds: "Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." All in the world have heard, and there is no excuse for unbelief on the part of any. Read again Rom. i. 16-20.

Glorious Preachers.-The Gospel of Christ is "the glorious Gospel." It shines its way into the heart. See 2 Cor. iv. 4. So it is fitting that those who preach it should be arrayed in glory. The sun, moon, and stars are the beautiful "preachers" whose words have gone to the ends of the world. They preach the glorious Gospel of Christ. They are a continual example of the right way to preach the Gospel they shine forth the glory of God. So the apostle says to us who have heard and believed the word, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of the darkness into His marvellous light." 1 Pet. ii. 9. The Gospel is the revelation of God to men. "God is light," therefore the proclaiming of the Gospel consists in showing forth His light. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matt. v. 16.

"Love and Pity" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Love and Pity.-"In His love and in His pity He redeemed them." Isa. lxiii. 9. It is not pity alone that moves the heart of God towards man, but it is love also. There may be a pity without love; but there can never be love without pity for the object if in distress. It is easy to understand how a good God could pity creatures who were in great need; but that He should love with intense desire poor, sinful men,-this is love that passeth understanding.

"Rome. The Fourth Kingdom" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

"In that elder day, to be a Roman,
Was greater than a king."

"And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise." Dan. ii. 40.

We have learned the names of the first three empires symbolised by the gold, the silver, and the brass of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The head of gold represent Babylon, whose universal dominion lasted from 606 to 538 B.C. The breast and arms of silver represented the Medo-Persian Empire, which from 538 to 311 B.C. ruled the territory that had formed the Babylonian Empire. And the belly and thighs of brass symbolised the kingdom of Greece, which, in the year 331 B.C., began to "bear rule over all the earth." Each one of these kingdoms was universal; therefore the fourth kingdom, which was represented by iron, must also be universal. We must expect to see it as much more powerful than either of the preceding as iron is stronger than gold, silver, or brass. This is indicated by the words of the prophet, "And as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise."

The name of this fourth kingdom is not given, but we have the data by which it is easily ascertained. The four universal kingdoms, with the kingdoms into which the fourth was to be divided, cover the history of the world until the end of time, when the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom which "shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." Now since there are but four universal monarchies from the days of Nebuchadnezzar till the end of time, and we have the names of three of them, it is evident that if anywhere in history we find any mention of a universal kingdom other than one of those already found, it will be the one sought,-the one represented by the iron legs of the image. Here, as in the case of each of the other kingdoms, the Bible furnishes us with what we want. It says:-

"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from C?sar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." Luke ii. 1.

One needs only to hear the words "C?sar" and "Augustus," to have Rome brought to his mind,-

"Rome, That sat on her seven hills, and from her throne
Of beauty ruled the world."

Rome, then, is the fourth universal monarchy,-the one represented by the legs of iron.

After the death of Alexander, his empire was divided into four parts, namely, Macedon, Thrace, Syria, and Egypt. The history of these divisions of the Grecian Empire, for the next two hundred years, is one of continual warfare for the supremacy. All this time Rome was developing, and enlarging her borders. The year 171 B.C. found Rome engaged in war with Perseus, king of the Macedonian division of the Grecian Empire. The war continued three years, and its result is thus described by Prof. Arthur Gilman:-

"In 168 the Romans met the army of Perseus at Pydna, in Macedonia, north of Mount Olympus, on the 22nd June, and utterly defeated it. Perseus was afterward taken prisoner and died at Alba. From the battle of Pydna the great historian Polybius, who was a native of Megalopolis, dates the complete establishment of the universal empire of Rome, since after that no civilised State ever confronted her on an equal footing, and all the struggles in which she engaged were rebellions or wars with 'barbarians' outside of the influence of Greek or Roman civilisation, and since all the world recognised the Senate as the tribunal of last resort in differences between nations."-Story of Rome.

In "Prideaux's Connexion" (part 2, book 3) we find testimony to the same effect. In the record of the year 168 B.C., Prideaux tells of the embassy which the Roman Senate sent to command Antiochus to desist from his contemplated war upon Egypt. Popillius, the chief of the embassy, met Antiochus near Alexandria, and delivered to him the decree of Rome. "Antiochus having read the decree, told Popillius he would consult with his friends about it, and speedily give him the answer they would advise; but Popillius insisting on an immediate answer, drew a circle around him [Antiochus] in the sand with the staff which he had in his hand, and required him to give his answer before he stirred out of that circle; at which strange and peremptory way of proceeding Antiochus being startled, after a little hesitation, yielded to it, and told the ambassador that he would obey the command of the Senate."

Picture the scene-Antiochus fully armed, at the head of a vast army, surrounded by his generals, yet obeying the decree that was brought him by an unarmed citizen of Rome!

These quotation serve to corroborate the conclusion already arrived at, that Rome was the fourth universal empire. A very few quotations, out of the many at hand, will suffice to show the extent and power of Rome. Gibbon says:-

"The empire of the Romans filled the world, and when that empire fell into the hands of a single person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies. The slave of imperial despotism, whether he was condemned to drag his gilded chain in Rome and the Senate, or to wear out a life of exile on the barren rock of Seriphus, or the frozen banks of the Danube, expected his fate in silent despair. To resist was fatal, and it was impossible to fly. On every side he was encompassed with a vast extent of sea and land, which he could never hope to traverse without being discovered, seized, and restored to his irritated master. Beyond the frontiers, his anxious view could discover nothing, except the ocean, inhospitable desert, hostile tribes of barbarians, of fierce manners and an unknown language, or dependent kings, who would gladly purchase the emperor's protection by the sacrifice of an obnoxious fugitive. 'Wherever you are,' said Cicero to the exiled Marcellus, 'remember that you are equally within the power of their conqueror.'"

Again, the historian Gibbon, in recording the universal conquest of Rome, makes an unmistakable reference to Dan. ii. 40, in the following words:

"The ambitious design of conquest, which might have been defeated by

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the seasonable conspiracy of mankind, was attempted and achieved; and the perpetual violation of justice was maintained by the political virtues of prudence and courage. The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome."

"'Ice Age Doubts'" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Under this appropriate heading the Chronicle mentions a lecture recently delivered in London by A. W. Clayden, M.A., on the subject of the conflicting theories which have been put forth to account for the great "glacial epoch" of geological literature. It was stated that "the glacial period and its problems have perplexed the scientific mind greatly during the past thirty or forty years, and we appear to be no nearer a satisfactory answer at the end of the controversy than at the beginning."

The Astronomical theory accounts for the supposed epoch upon the hypothesis of "recurrent glacial periods shifting about alternatively from one pole to another every 10,500 years." But this we are told has been practically disproved by the investigations of geologists. This theory fixes the "ice age" at 80,000 years in the past: but on the other hand equally scientific evidence gathered from the gradual recession of Niagara Falls "puts it at not more than 10,000."

The astronomical theory assumes a great and general fall in temperature at that remote period, a rising from some peculiar "position of the earth in regard to the sun;" but again science comes and contradicts this by asserting that even had such a coldness arisen in the relations of the sun with his supposed offspring, this would not suffice to account for the glaciers; for in some of the coldest regions of the earth, as in parts of Siberia, glaciers never form. Not only cold, but a marked elevation of the earth is necessary; and hence the meteorological theory is propounded, which assumes an elevation of a great part of the earth's surface 3,000 or 4,000 feet above its present level, into the perpetual snow region of the atmosphere. But geology deals this theory a knockout blow by declaring that it finds no evidence of such an elevation of the affected regions. It does find, however, "some evidence that Central America had once been submerged;" and it is deemed "quite possible upon this hypothesis to make out that there would have been such a disturbance of aerial and ocean currents" therefrom as would account for a glacial epoch over North America and Northwest Europe. In the face of all this, we are told, the actual existence of such an epoch is "the only well-established fact."

But there is no evidence to support the "well-established fact." The scattered boulders, corroded surfaces of earth, and pulverised dÈbris of rock are found, but the existence of such things proves nothing as to the unknown agency. A man, let us suppose, is suspected of murder; no one saw him do the deed, but it is evident that he had the ability to do it. The body has been found, with the marks of violence upon it; and different theories are put forth as to how the suspected person might have done the deed. All the theories that can be thought of contradict one another, and not one is sufficient to account for the supposed crime; whereupon the judge solemnly declares that in view of all that has been produced upon the case, the one well-established fact is that the accused person committed the murder! What would be thought of such proceedings in a court of law?

The word of God declares that some thousands of years ago, in the days of Noah, there was a flood over all the earth. "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeeth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." Gen. vii. 11. To-day, however, men see no evidences of a flood, when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the waters burst forth with indescribable violence from the bowels of the earth, to combine their destructive power with the fury of the storm above. They see only evidences of a "glacial epoch," by which the record of God's word is contradicted. Peter tells us that "the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished."

Who can imagine a storm in which a world would perish? What imagination can picture such terrific violence of the elements? Who can compute the energy and results of the forces that were then at work? Could the human mind grasp in its nature and details a catastrophe so stupendous, it would be perceived to be fully adequate to account for all the phenomena from which men deduce so many theories contradictory to the Mosaic record. People who are so incredulous to accept the reasonable statements of God's word, are always credulous enough to accept the most absurd and unreasonable theories that originate in the mind of man.

"Intellectual vs. Spiritual" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

The idea prevails that many who desire to see the children and youth better educated in Bible knowledge that the result which the Board school and the church have failed to accomplish, can be obtained by placing the Bible in the public schools. A religious journal comments upon a recent examination of a class of thirty-four young men in an American college, regarding their knowledge of Scripture, by means of a number of selections from Tennyson's poem, each containing some scriptural allusion. It was found that the large majority knew of Hezekiah's prayer, Jonah's gourd, the sheet let down before Peter, Pharaoh's darkness, the mark of Cain, etc. And this the journal points to as a result of the "expelled Bible," and affirms that it "throws a most lurid light on the problem of the Bible and the public school."

But such a statement of the case is wholly short-sighted and misleading. The real question is not whether the youth could, by the means proposed get some knowledge of Bible history, characters, and literature. Undoubtedly they would; but this is not the real thing that is wanted. It is not the lack of mere intellectual knowledge in this direction that occasions the

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popular concern. The real want is for that knowledge which will affect the characters and lives of the youth, and lead them, as they grow up, in the pathway of righteousness. And the short-sightedness which is so commonly displayed in the matter, is in seeing no difference between that knowledge which has power to change the heart, and that which merely adds to the intellectual resources of the mind.

Many infidels have a fair knowledge of what the Bible narrates as ancient history, and many more are familiar with it from a literary point of view, whose lives are an every-day denial of Christian truth. If all the thirty-four young men had shown themselves familiar with the few salient points of Bible history upon which they were examined, that would have furnished no proof on the question of whether their characters were moral or immoral. It would not have demonstrated any knowledge on their part of the power of godliness. It would not have revealed whether the Bible was to them what "it is in truth, the word of God" (1 Thess. i. 13), or whether they received it as they would the word of man.

The Bible is the word of God, and spiritual. It may be viewed merely as a history, or as a book of ancient classical literature. But it is infinitely more than this. It is a Divine revelation of spiritual truth. And that truth must be spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. ii. 14. Spiritual discernment and intellectual discernment are different things. The latter can be promoted by the aid of the public schools; but the former can come only through Divine enlightenment. And therefore the schools are just as powerless as any other human agency to supply the lack that is felt in the moral education of the youth.

It is of but little profit to take the Bible as a text book of ancient character, life, and literature. What the Bible reveals to men is God. And always, this revelation must come through the enlightenment of the Spirit, who is the Guide into all spiritual truth. John xvi. 13; 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. Only that agency which is itself Divine can be the channel of that truth which is able to exert an elevating, sanctifying power upon the life, whether of old or young.

"What Shall We Do with Our Daughters?" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

A question that seems to be perplexing many people at the present day, both in this country and elsewhere is, "What shall we do with our daughters?" Christianity has an answer for this: Give them to the Lord. He wants them and has a right to them; and if they are given early enough, no insurmountable difficulties will stand in the way. People are often at a loss to know what to do with themselves until they give themselves to God; and very often at the end of life they realise with vain regret that they have done the wrong thing; but God never makes any mistakes.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

-Parliament reassembles on Feb. 5.

-Thirty-three fatal accidents occurred in the Alps last year.

-It is reported that gold in paying quantities has been discovered in the Isle of Man.

-The President of the Argentine Republic has signed owing to the Amnesty Law passed by engross.

-The Czar has appointed a Commission to raise the existing regulations governing the foreign rose censorship,

-A lady of high social standing in Antwerp as been charged with poisoning three of her relatives in order to obtain their life insurance.

-News was received Jan 24 of the foundering of the steamship "Chicora" in a gale on Lake Michigan, causing a loss of twenty-nine lives.

-The Kaiser, who has been in turn soldier, poet, and journalist, has now turned artist, and as presented some of his drawings to the Reichstag.

-King Menelek, who claims to be a direct ascendant of the Queen of Sheba, is preparing an army, which he will lead against the Italians the have invaded Abyssinia.

-The Greek Government has resigned, ostensibly on the ground of the interference of the crown Prince, who was received at an anti-Ministerial public mooting with great enthusiasm.

-Nothing has been done at the Diglake pit, forth Staffordshire, for the imprisoned miners, all attempts at rescue having proved fruitless. Subscriptions are coming in rapidly for the fund organised for the relief of the distressed relatives of the entombed miners.

-Severe storms and gales were reported Jan. 13 from many parts of the country, and great damage has been done to property. Calais Harbour was blocked with wreckage from a barque which collided with the pier and was sunk. The Channel service was suspended.

-Cardinal Vaughan has just had an interview with the Pope, which was "of a very cordial character." He did not, however, agree with the latter in regard to the question of Anglican conversions to Rome, and the Pope will, therefore, not submit his project of union to the coming conference of Cardinals.

-Time seems to lay his finger but lightly on some of the peculiar mourning customs of certain classes in Ireland. It is reported that recently an aged woman, a rag-gatherer, died in Galway, and at the "wake" the apartment was crowded with men and women and turned into a concert room. The men danced jigs to the music of a tin whistle, and some of them actually danced with the corpse itself, which had been removed from the bed and placed upright against the wall.

-The question of a Pacific Ocean cable from Canada to Australia, touching at the Hawaiian Islands, is causing much discussion as to the designs of Great Britain toward the Islands, and the proper attitude to be assumed by the United States. President Cleveland has stated that the United States regard Hawaii as a foreign country. But in this view he stands opposed to the American Senate, and doubtless to the great majority of the American people. The recent revolutionary movement at Honolulu has helped to force the present Crisis upon the fledgling republic.

-Notwithstanding the difficulties of the season, the Japanese are prosecuting their war against China with vigour, and advancing toward Peking. Their fleet successfully bombarded Teng-chowfoo, and about 2,000 troops were landed there. At the same time the third Japanese army corps, numbering about 25,000, effected a landing at Yungtcheng, on the other side of Welheiwei, which It is believed will be attacked by the combined land forces and from the sea. As a matter of precaution, sailors have been landed from the British, American, German, and French war-ships at Chefoo, and are patrolling the streets in the European quarter.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

It is estimated that nearly a million and a half of working-men are constantly out of employment in the United Kingdom.

"It is a startling fact," says the Echo, "that vagrancy is increasing by leaps and bounds in the provinces." In Somersetshire it has increased in two years from 29,000 to 40,000, but the chief constable declares that the increase is mainly composed of men willing to work and unable to find employment.

The difference between the priest of "the Church" and the one High Priest is very simple, but it is as great as the difference between heaven and earth. Jesus Christ is priest for the purpose of bringing men to God, and uniting them with Him; the priests of earth serve the purpose of keeping men away from God, uniting them to themselves.

At the annual dinner of the publicans at Wakefield, Archbishop Dunne, vicar of Wakefield, is reported to have said:-

There was a good deal of common ground between the clergy and the licensed victuallers. Neither the Church nor the "trade" was perfect. They both had their difficulties, and the complaint of one was the complaint of the other-they were too much tied by the leg. What they asked in the Church and the "trade" was freedom of action and the power to reform themselves. He bid the good men in the 'trade" be proud of their position, and not be much upset by a little criticism.

Comment on such a speech would be superfluous.

The following words from a standard Roman Catholic work, "Plain Talk for Protestants," plainly state the Catholic view of the Sunday question:-

The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church.

Of course it is. The Lord says the seventh day is the Sabbath. In the days when the great apostasy was developing the ecclesiastical leaders took over the Sunday festival from the sun-worshipping pagans among whom they lived. The Church commands one day, the Lord another, and the Lord says, "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey." Rom. vi. 16.

It is very easy for one to curse the Papacy, and yet unconsciously be a very child of it. The Papacy is simply the exaltation of self above God. When we choose our own way in preference to God's way, as declared in His word, we are exalting self above God, and the wicked self is just as ready to exalt itself in the heart of the Churchman or Nonconformist as of the Catholic.

One of the Protestant weeklies recently expressed delight at the appointment of a certain minister to be magistrate, and said:-

Clergymen of the Established Church sit on the Bench in large numbers. Why not Nonconformist clergymen too?

Yes, "Why not?" That is to say, why not have Nonconformity established as well? Why not obliterate the distinction between the church and world, by having the church do the world's work? The apostasy in the early centuries should be a sufficient answer to the question, "Why not?"

The papers report that Mr. Vanderbilt, the American millionaire, has just opened a new residence which cost him one million pounds. The opening entertainment cost ?5,000. The garden spot adjoining the house cost ?70,000, a house that cost ?25,000 being torn down to make room for the flower-beds and shrubbery.

While wealth is being piled up in this fashion, and the treasures of gold heaped together are cankering and rusting, there come mutterings from desperate and poverty-stricken men who are impatiently bidding their time to possess themselves of some of the hoarded treasure. An evening paper says:-

American millionaires, representing the organised wealth of the country, have been alarmed by the frequent outbreaks and mutterings on the part of the unemployed or Socialists, or both, and are quietly making ready for an evil day, should it arise, by having certain regiments well armed and trained. These regiments are composed entirely of rich men's sons and their friends on whom they can rely, and who are in sympathy with the wealthy members of the community. There armouries are very complete, having been organised regardless of cost.

The struggle will come in every land. The word of God has pointed out the contest along these lines in the last days, and not only warns the rich of the miseries that shall come upon them because of their covetousness and oppression, but also warns the God-fearing poor of the danger of being infected with the same spirit of covetousness, which leads the desperate and lawless to resort to violence. The man who fears God is to suffer patiently "until the coming of the Lord;" "for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

The month of January was fairly full of extraordinary happenings. Unprecedented storms and floods have wrought havoc in England and off the coast; the mining disaster at Staffordshire caused the loss of nearly a hundred lives; a strike in Brooklyn, U.S.A., has been accompanied by the usual amount of lawlessness; in France the collapse of the Government raised grave fears of revolution; and lastly comes the news from Persia that the city of Kuchan was totally destroyed by an earthquake on the 17th, more than a thousand lives being lost.

A correspondent draws our attention to a dangerously ingenious but in our opinion illegal, device. It is a "penny-in-the-slot" apparatus which can be fitted onto a beer barrel. The beer is drawn out in small glasses by putting a penny into the slot. At first sight this might not seem likely to increase the consumption of beer, or to be more harmful than any other way of dispensing it. But when the promoters of this latest invention informed us that "the idea is, that many customers who now send out for their beer in jugs, rather than get into debt, would prefer buying a barrel on the system of paying for the beer as it is used," begin to see that this ingenious device is liable to a vast abuse. A Local Veto Bill would not be of much use if every house had its beer-barrel on tap, subject to the insertion of a penny in the slot. We should like to know what the licensing authorities will have to say to this. When the public-houses are closed, who is to see that persons other than those belonging to the house which contains the penny-in-the-slot barrel do not come in and help themselves on Sundays and week-days alike?-Methodist Times.

Ah, there's the rub! The thing would not be considered so objectionable if it were not that somebody might perchance drink beer on Sundays just the same as on other days. We are reminded of a man whose piety consisted in never swearing-on Sundays. He would swear like a trooper on other days, but to swear on Sundays seemed to him to be a great sin.

February 7, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

"This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." 1 John i. 5.

Christ is the revelation of God to men, and therefore He says, "I am the light of the world." John viii. 12.

The world is darkness, "for, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people." Isa. lx. 2. "The whole world lieth in wickedness." 1 John v. 19.

Between light and darkness there is no affinity. "What communion hath light with darkness?" Where the darkness is, there light is not; and when light shines in, then darkness flees away.

For there can be no union between the Lord and the world. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John ii. 16, 17.

Just as darkness never becomes light, so the world can never become Christian. Darkened hearts may be enlightened, and men may come out from the world; but so long as they form part of the world, they are opposed to God. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him." 1 John ii. 15. "Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James iv. 4.

Since the friendship of the world is enmity against God, it follows that the world itself hates God. Consequently the world must hate God's people. "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." John i. 10. So He says to His people, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." John xv. 18, 19.

Thus it is that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Tim. iii. 12. "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord." Matt. x. 24. Christ could not get out of this world except by the cross, without denying that He was the Son of God. Therefore His followers must expect similar treatment. He who wishes the Christian way made so easy that he will suffer no inconvenience, wishes to be counted a Christian while denying the Lord that bought him.

There is an intensely practical point to all this. The law of God says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," and Christ, by whose life we are saved, had the law in His heart as the spring of His life. He kept the Father's commandments, leaving us an example. It is not easy to keep the Sabbath in this world, because the customs and laws of the world are against it. Many are hesitating about doing what they know to be their duty, because of the inconvenience. But such remember that where Christ is there is the cross, and that religion without the cross of Christ is sin. Then let them say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Gal. vi. 14.

"By What Power?" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

In his last Encyclical, addressed to America, the Pope reminds the Americans that the conversion of the country to the Catholic faith was the first care of the Spanish discoverers, "and was realised by the Franciscan and Dominican monks and the Jesuit fathers."

It would be well if the people of America and all other lands would remember not only the designs of the Church but its methods; for the methods will be practically the same as soon as it is safe to use them. This is shown by the fact that Rome is seeking political power, and of course only to make use of it.

The agents of the Church in Mexico and Peru went in for the conversion of the people in the days of Cortez and Pizzaro; not by the power of the Gospel but by human means. As Prescott says in his "Conquest of Mexico:"

No doubt was entertained of the efficacy of conversion, however sudden might be the change, or however violent the means. The sword was a good argument when the tongue failed.

The Spaniards were surprised to find the Aztecs worshipping a cross, and having other practices strikingly similar to the Roman Church; for they were ignorant of the fact that Romanism had gathered these practices from the ancient paganism of the East. But as the Indians refused to accept the offers of the priests, the Spanish adventurers cut them down by sabre and cannon. Of the first great slaughter, the bishop Las Casas wrote, "This was the first preaching of the Gospel by Cortes in New Spain." It was not

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the last, as the history of those years of blood and perfidy testifies.

The Pope has no Spanish cavaliers to turn loose upon countries which he wishes to convert. But it makes no difference whether the sword is actually used, or whether political power is manifested in some other fashion and the pressure to convert men is worked according to the due process of law. It is a denial of the power of God just the same, and will surely lead to hypocrisy on the side of those who are influenced by it, and to persecution on the side of those who will not deny the power of God.

It is well that the world should be reminded of the past history of the workings of the papal principle, as when men turn from the truth and accept it they do not know to what lengths they will be led; for the devil not only works in the children of disobedience, but deceives them as he works. Rome is the same as ever, and the nations are drunken with the wine of her apostasy. The striving for political power among many professed Protestants, and the hankering for some short way of making people good according to their idea of goodness, has in it the germ of the Papacy. The only power to righteousness and salvation is the Gospel, which is preached only by the preaching of the word of God.

"Mechanical Skill a Gift from God" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

The best qualification for any kind of work is that which is given by the Holy Spirit. The Lord recognises no such distinction as the world assumes between religion and business. The Spirit is as well qualified to give a person mental or mechanical skill, as to teach him how to pray.

When the ancient tabernacle was to be reared up, the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship." Ex. xxxi. 2-5.

These words reveal to us a general truth. Whoever has wisdom and skill has them as the gift of God; and whoever desires them for any line of lawful human endeavour, whether it be managing a farm, directing a workshop, or preaching the Gospel, should seek them from the Lord. All nature attests the constructive wisdom and skill of the Spirit; for it is the Spirit that in the beginning brooded over chaos and developed from it the marvellous works of creation. And the promise of God is, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." Jas. i. 5.

It is because men are so slow to realise that all their skill of every kind comes from God, that they so often take the glory to themselves, and make God's gift a means of separation from Him, instead of a bond of union.

"Studies in Romans. All Israel Saved" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

We now come to the eleventh chapter of Romans, the closing up of the special discussion of Israel. In each of these three chapters we are plainly shown that the Gentiles, if they believe, have an equal share with the Jews, and that the latter forfeit all the privileges of the people of God through unbelief. Nothing could show more plainly than do these chapters that all men are on a level, and that the promises of God are to all who believe, irrespective of birth or nation.

Since this chapter is long, and we wish to present it all at one view, we do not reproduce the text, but urgently request the reader to study the chapter through carefully, reading it several times, before going further.

Not a Castaway.-The Apostle Paul knew that God had not cast off His people, the lineal descendants of Abraham, and his proof was the fact that he himself was accepted with God. If the Jewish nation had been cast off by the Lord, then there would have been no hope for Paul, because he was "an Hebrew of the Hebrews." The words "God forbid" mislead some people. The idea obtains that Paul was praying that the Lord would not cast off His people, lest he also should be cast away. Instead of "God forbid," read, "by no means." Then all is clear. Thus: "I say then, Hath God cast away His people? By no means." How do you prove that? Why, "I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."

Who Are Rejected?-Although God had not cast away His people, they were in a bad way. The fact that God had not cast them off, did not prove that they would be saved. Paul intimated that there was danger that even he, after he had preached to others, might be a castaway. 1 Cor. ix. 27. The case, however, lay wholly in his own hands. There was no danger that God would cast him away against his will. We have the words of the Lord, "Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out." John vi. 37. And all may come; for He says also that "whosoever will" may come. God casts no one off; but if they utterly reject Him, then, since He forces no one, He has no alternative but to leave them to themselves. "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all My counsel, and would none of My reproof; . . . therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them." Prov. i. 24-32. God stretches forth His hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people (Rom. x. 21), and they have it in their own power to say if they will be saved. God accepts everybody; the only question is, Will they accept Him?

The Remnant.-In the illustration from Elijah's time, we learn something further about the matter of acceptance and rejection. It seemed then as though all Israel had departed from the Lord, but there were seven thousand men who had not acknowledged Baal. "Even so at this present moment there is a remnant according to the election of grace." The grace of God appears to all men, and is extended to all. Those who accept the grace are the elect, no matter of what tribe or nation they are. Although the plan of salvation embraces all the world, it is a sad fact that but few of any people or generation will accept it. "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved."

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The Olive Tree.-While there are single expressions in the eleventh chapter of Romans that are difficult to understand, the chapter as a whole is very simple. Under the figure of an olive tree, the people of God are represented, and by the figure of grafting, the relation of all men to God is shown. Before going into the particulars of this illustration, we must for a moment consider the

"The Commonwealth of Israel."-In the second chapter of Ephesians we learn that as Gentiles, the Ephesians had been "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel," "having no hope, and without God in the world." That is, those who are not of the commonwealth of Israel are without God; or, those who are without God are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Now Christ is the only manifestation of God to man, and "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." John i. 11. Therefore the mass of the Jewish nation were without God, just as surely as the heathen were, and consequently were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. The same chapter of Ephesians tells us that Christ came to reconcile both Jews and Gentiles unto God, showing that both were separate from Him. Still further in the same chapter we learn that the commonwealth of Israel is the "household of God," and is composed of saints, those who are reconciled to God. Only such are not "strangers and foreigners" from Israel.

The Origin of Israel.-The name originated that night when Jacob wrestled with the Lord, and finally by his faith obtained the blessing that he sought. He could not gain anything whatever by his physical strength; indeed, one touch by the Lord was sufficient to make him utterly helpless; but it was when, in his utter helplessness, he cast himself in simple faith on the Lord, that he gained the victory, and was named Israel prince of God. This title was applied to all his descendants, although it strictly belonged only to those who had living faith in God, just as we use the term "Christian" of those who are in "the church," with no thought of asserting that they really know the Lord.

A Righteous Nation.-Much is said of the unbelief of the children of Israel; but there were times when they as an entire nation had faith to a marked degree. One instance will suffice at present. "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days." Heb. xi. 30. Thirteen times the whole host marched round the city, seemingly to no purpose, without a murmur. Such faith showed that they were then a righteous nation, in close union with God; because, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. v. 1. Then their name truly indicated their character; they were Israelites indeed. They were walking "in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham."

Severed Branches.-But they did not keep the faith. "We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." Heb. iii. 14. This they did not do, and so they became "without Christ," "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel." Eph. ii. 12. In Rom. xi. 17 the apostle asks, What "if some of the branches be broken off?" etc., not meaning, however, to imply that some were not broken off, as we learn from what follows. For he says, "Because of unbelief they were broken off" (verse 20), and again, "God hath concluded them all in unbelief" (verse 32), thus showing that all were broken off. So we find the people who were "beloved for the fathers' sakes" (verse 28) and who had at one time in their history been "children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. iii. 26) reduced through their unbelief to the level of those who had never known God.

Grafted Branches.-All the branches of the olive tree Israel were broken off through unbelief. To supply their places God took branches from the wild olive tree the Gentiles and grafted them on. This grafting was "contrary to nature" (verse 24), since it was wholly a work of grace. If it had been according to nature, then the branches would have borne natural fruit, and there would be no gain from the grafting, since the natural fruit was bad. See Gal. v. 19-21; Eph. ii. 1, 2. But a miracle was wrought by grace, and the branches that were grafted in partook of the nature of the root. The fruit of the grafted-in branches is no more natural, but that of the Spirit. Gal. v. 22, 23.

A Reunion.-We must remember that God did not cast off His people. They fell away through unbelief. "They also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again." Verse 23. The Jew has as good a chance as the Gentile. "There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him." Rom. x. 12. Christ came "that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross," and "through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Eph. ii. 16, 18.

No Change of Plan.-Let us not forget that in thus grafting in the Gentiles to take the place of rebellious Israel, there has been no change in God's plan. It was all included in the original promise to Abraham. "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached the Gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Gal. iii. 7, 8. In the beginning God made Adam, the father of the human race. Adam was the son of God (Luke iii. 38); therefore all his descendants are by right God's people. He did not cast them off because they sinned. His love embraced the world (John iii. 16), and it did not contract in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The only advantage of Israel was that they had the privilege of carrying the glorious Gospel to the Gentiles, for whom it was always designed as much as for them.

Visiting the Gentiles.-The Gentiles, as well as the descendants of Jacob, were from the beginning intended to become Israel. This was shown at the conference in Jerusalem. Peter told how he had been divinely sent to preach the Gospel to them, and that God put no difference between them and the Jews. Then James said: "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the

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tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Acts xv. 14-18. See also Amos ix. 11-15.

From the above we learn that the "tabernacle of David," the house or kingdom of David, is to be restored through the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles, and that this is according to the mind of the Lord from the beginning of the world. What these scriptures need is not comment, but believing thought.

"The Fulness of the Gentiles."-"Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Rom. xi. 25. Until the fullness of the Gentiles "be come" into what place? Into Israel, of course; for it is by the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles that "all Israel shall be saved." When will the fulness of the Gentiles "be come" in? The Lord himself furnishes the answer: "This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. xxiv. 14. God is visiting the Gentiles, "to take out of them a people for His name." By them Israel is to be made full or complete. As soon as this work of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles is finished, then the end will come. There will then be no more preaching to anybody, not to the Gentiles, because they will all have made the final decision; and not to the Jews, because then "all Israel shall be saved." There will then be no more need of the Gospel; it will have accomplished its work.

All through Christ.-Note carefully verses 25-27. When the fulness of the Gentiles shall have been brought in, "all Israel shall be saved." Indeed, it is only by the bringing in of the Gentiles that all Israel will be saved. And this will be a fulfilment of that which is written, "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Only through Christ can Israel be saved and gathered; and all who are Christ's are Israel; for "if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. iii. 29.

Taking Away Sin.-There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, who shall turn away ungodliness from Israel. Christ is "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John i. 29. "He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John ii. 2. The high priest Caiaphas spoke by the Spirit "that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." John xi. 51, 52. So Peter, speaking in the temple at Jerusalem, said: "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Acts iii. 25, 26. The blessing of Abraham is the forgiveness of sins through Christ; and people of all nations become Israelites indeed by the taking away of iniquity.

All of Faith.-It was through faith that Jacob became Israel. It was through unbelief that his descendants were broken off from the stock of Israel. It is through faith that the Gentiles are grafted in, and only by faith that they stand; and it is through faith that the Jews may become reunited to the parent stock. Faith in Christ is the only thing that makes one an Israelite, and only unbelief cuts one off from being an Israelite; this was fully shown by Christ when He marvelled at the faith of the centurion, saying; "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness." Matt. viii. 10-12.

All in Prison.-"God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all." The word "conclude" means literally "to shut up," as indicated in the margin. He hath "shut them all up together." So in Gal. iii. 22 we read that "the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." And the next verse speaks of all being "shut up" and guarded by the law. Both Jews and Gentiles "are all under sin." Rom. iii. 9. All are shut up in prison together, with no hope of escape except by Christ, "the Deliverer," who proclaims "liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Isa. lxi. 1. He comes as the deliverer "out of Zion," bringing the freedom of "Jerusalem which is above." Gal. iv. 26. All therefore who accept the liberty wherewith Christ makes free, are the children of Jerusalem which is above, heirs of heavenly Canaan, members of the true commonwealth of Israel.

Wonderful Knowledge.-"By His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities," says the Lord. Isa. liii. 11. Thus by forgiving sins He will build the walls of Jerusalem (Ps. li. 18), and restore her captive children. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" Let no one, therefore, presume to criticise God's plan, or to reject it because he can not understand it. "For who hath been His counsellor?" "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things; to whom be glory forever. Amen."

"Useless Wisdom" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

Speaking of the great mental powers of the ancient wise men, a religious journal says: "Of Socrates, it is said that he would frequently remain an entire day and night in the same attitude, absorbed in meditation." Yet what was the wisdom which Socrates was able to evolve from such a superhuman exercise of the mind? Nothing that could brighten the pathway of humanity here, or solve the mystery of the hereafter. The old heathen philosophers, sitting statute-like through long hours of oblivious contemplation, represents the extreme limit attained by the human intellect toward piercing, up by its own visual power, the infinite realms of truth.

Socrates frequently spent the night in meditation; the Saviour frequently spent the night in prayer. Here is the contrast between the true way and the false in the attainment of wisdom,-between God's way and the way of the world. The heathen seeking for truth turns his eyes inward upon his own mind; the Christian turns his eyes upward to God and the contrast in what they behold is the measure of the contrast in what they receive. The real hope of all mankind is to be found in the words, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." Jas. i. 5. The real wisdom is to know God. Only as we know Him can we rightly comprehend the things which manifest themselves in the sphere of our existence.

"Rome. The End of Earth's Empires" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week we sketched the rise and establishment of the great Roman Empire, as the fourth kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. In the metallic image, it was represented by the legs of iron, and "as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things," so the "iron monarchy of Rome," as Gibbon called it, subdued and ruled the world.

But so long as nations are composed of mortal men, they must be subject to change; and so we find that the empire of Rome did not always retain its proud position as a universal monarchy. But we must not anticipate the prophecy:-

"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." Dan. ii. 41-43.

In these words a division is foretold. This is not the place to give details of that division; but that it has been made is evident from the fact that there is no universal empire of Rome to-day. The territory that was once governed by a single man, is now in the hands of several rulers. Suffice it to say that the breaking up of Rome into fragments was accomplished by the vast hordes of barbarians that poured in from the North; that the first edition was made in 351 A.D., after Rome had stood as a universal empire for over five hundred years; and that the last division was made in 476 A.D.

The prophecy indicates that these divisions would seek to reunite, but that such reunion will be as impossible as for clay to become united to iron. "They shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."

The closing act in the great drama of the nations is thus described: "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." Dan. ii. 44.

Here is brought to view the setting up of the fifth universal empire-the kingdom of the God of Heaven-represented by the stone which dashed the image in pieces. That kingdom will not be a temporal kingdom, because it "shall not be left to other people;" the people who are citizens of it when it is set up, will be citizens of it to all eternity, for "it shall stand for ever."

That kingdom will be a real, literal kingdom, as much so as was Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, or Rome. It will have territory and subjects. Moreover, it will occupy the very same territory that those kingdoms occupied, for it is to break them in pieces before it can be established. Yes, it will occupy more territory than those kingdoms did, for when they were at the height of their power, much of the world was undiscovered; but God has said to Christ: "Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Ps. ii. 8, 9.

Thus we see that the object of the prophecy is to bring to our attention the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the throne of His glory, to give reward to His saints, and to destroy them that corrupt the earth. We know not the time of that last great overturning, but we know that, in the nature of things, it cannot be long. From the supremacy of Babylon to that of Medo-Persia was less than a hundred years; from Medo-Persia to Greece was two hundred and seven years; from Greece to Rome was one hundred and sixty-three years; and from the accession of Rome to the dominion of the world till the present time has been over two thousand years.

We say that from the nature of things time cannot last much longer. Degeneration is the word that describes the nations from the creation till now. In Nebuchadnezzar's day gold was a fit symbol of earthly power. A little later, and silver, an inferior metal, was used as a symbol. In a short time brass represented the value of earthly monarchies. Then came the iron, then iron mixed (but not united) with clay, until now the clay seems to predominate. Moral degeneration is likewise going on. Evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse (2 Tim. iii. 13); but soon shall come the time when the Lord shall "send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire." Matt. xiii. 41, 42. Christ's kingdom, the stone cut out without hands, shall break in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold,-the nations "that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel,"-and they shall become like the chaff of the summer threshing floor. The fate of the chaff is to be burned up with "unquenchable fire" (Matt. iii. 12); and so it is said of the ungodly nations, that "as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust." Isa. v. 24.

This does not mean gradual extinction, nor conversion. There is no scriptural warrant for the idea that the stone shall "roll and roll, ever increasing in size until it shall have gathered together all nations, and so shall fill the whole earth." There is no rolling about it. The stone smites the image, and instantly dashes it in pieces. This smiting is not conversion, for when Christ smites the earth with the rod of His mouth it is the slaying of the wicked by the breath of His lips. See Isa. xi. 4. While the wicked are saying, "Peace and safety," and are under the delusion that all things shall continue as they were from the beginning of the creation, then sudden destruction shall come upon them, and they shall not escape. "Then shall

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the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

Thus the Lord makes known to us "what shall be in the latter days;" it will surely come to pass, for "the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." Dan. ii. 45.

"Is Sunday the Sabbath?" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

"What a question! Of course it is; everybody knows that," some will at once exclaim. Well, if everybody knows it, then there will be no difficulty in obtaining an answer. It is a good thing to be sharply questioned on everything, so that we may find out what things we hold that are not true, and may become the more certain of the things that are true.

This question cannot be settled by an appeal to custom. This must be evident to every one who considers that by far the greater portion of the people of the earth make no profession of Christianity. It is not true that the majority of people keep Sunday, or even believe in the Bible; therefore when we go to teach the heathen we dare not appeal to custom or tradition as authority, lest they accept the appeal, and say that custom and tradition prove that the gods of their fathers are the true objects of worship. There is no error that could not be maintained if custom and numbers were proofs of right.

THE ONLY AUTHORITY

The word of the Lord is the only standard of truth, and the only authority. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. cxix. 105. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy word." Verse 9. "Concerning the works of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer." Ps. xvii. 4. The Scriptures alone are able to make one wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus; for "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. iii. 15-17. Let us therefore read them to find the true answer to our question, "Is Sunday the Sabbath?"

ORIGIN OF THE SABBATH

The first chapter of the Bible gives the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and of all things that dwell in them, closing with the words, "And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." The narrative is continued without break in the second chapter, in these words:-

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. ii. 1-3.

THE AUTHORITY FOR SABBATH-KEEPING

The word "Sabbath" means "rest." Therefore since the seventh day is the day on which the Lord rested, it follows that the seventh day is the Sabbath. This is what we are told in the fourth commandment, which is the only authority there is in the world for Sabbath-keeping. Here it is:-

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 8-11.

Although this commandment was spoken to the Jews, it was not designed for them alone. "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark ii. 27. The commandment itself refers to creation as the origin of the Sabbath, thus showing that it was designed for all creation. The commandment which tells us that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and that we ought to keep it, is connected with the commandments which tell us to worship the one, true God, not to take His name in vain, not to kill, steal, commit adultery, etc. It is therefore addressed to the very same persons that those commandments are. Every man who ought to worship God, and who ought not to take His name in vain, nor to kill or steal, ought also to keep the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord.

WHICH DAY IS THE SEVENTH?

Which day is the seventh day? Is it Sunday? We need not be in doubt over this point for a minute, for the Bible affords the clearest answer. When Jesus was on earth He was often accused by the Jews of Sabbath-breaking. Whenever He answered their accusations, He showed that He did not break the Sabbath. It was in connection with such a charge brought against His disciples that He said, "The Sabbath was made for man," and "The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." That is, He recognised the same day of the week as the Sabbath that the Jews did. The Sabbath of the Lord, therefore, the seventh day, is the same day that the Jews have always regarded as the Sabbath, although they have not always kept it. But we shall see further evidence with regard to the day of the Sabbath later on.

Christ's life is the only perfect life. His life on this earth was a perfect pattern of what man's life ought to be. "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked." 1 John ii. 6. It is by His life that we are saved. Rom. v. 10. Christ lived by the Father, and we are to live by Him. John vi. 57. The life which the Father lived in Jesus of Nazareth is the life which He will live in us if we will yield to Him. No other life than that will be a perfect life.

Now there is no question but that our Lord when on this earth observed the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, which the Jews profess to keep. That was the same day that the Jews profess to keep to-day. It was the seventh day of the week, commonly called Saturday. It was and is entirely distinct from the first day of the week, which is called Sunday. Then the fourth commandment enjoins the observance of the seventh day, and our Lord Himself kept that day, calling it the Sabbath, our question is answered, and the answer is that Sunday is not the Sabbath.

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

There are some, however, who suppose that the resurrection of Christ caused a change in the Sabbath, from the seventh to the first day of the week. Now it is utterly impossible that just before He ascended to heaven Christ should proceed to show that during the whole of His life He had been doing something that men ought not to do. Such a thing would be to discredit Himself as a perfect example for mankind. If it were true that we ought not to do as He did when on

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this earth, that would show that He did wrong; but that cannot be. He "did no sin." 1 Peter ii. 22. And we are told that "He cannot deny Himself." 2 Tim. ii. 13. Nevertheless, in order to remove every possibility of doubt, we will read every text in the New Testament which speaks of the first day of the week. If the first day of the week, or Sunday, is the Sabbath, surely we shall find the facts stated in some one of those texts. If on the other hand the New Testament never once intimates that the first day of the week is the Sabbath, we shall need no other evidence that it is not the Sabbath.

The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, and of these eight times six refer to the day of the resurrection. We may therefore group them all together, taking them in the order of their occurrence.

"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." Matt. xxviii. 1.

"And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." Mark xvi. 1, 2.

"Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils." Mark xvi. 9.

"And that day [the crucifixion day] was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." Luke xxiii. 54-56; xxiv. 1.

"The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." John xx. 1.

"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." John xx. 19.

These are all the texts in the Bible, which speak of the day of Christ's resurrection; and what do we find?-The simple story of the resurrection, without the slightest hint that it was ever to be regarded as the Sabbath day. If the day of the resurrection was to be observed as the Sabbath, here was the place to make some mention of it. But we look in vain for it.

SABBATH AND FIRST DAY DISTINCT

We do find something about the Sabbath, however. Read again the text quoted above. The one from Matthew tells us that the women came to the sepulchre immediately after the Sabbath, on the first day of the week.

In Mark we are told that they came "very early in the morning the first day of the week," but not until "the Sabbath was past." The two texts show us that the first day of the week immediately follows the Sabbath; and the last one shows very plainly that no matter how early one arises in the morning of the first day of the week, the Sabbath will already be past.

The quotation from Luke tells us more yet. From it we learn not only that the first day of the week is distinct from the Sabbath, and comes after the Sabbath is passed, but that the women who came to the sepulchre in the morning of the first day of the week, had "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Now the day before the first day of the week is the seventh day of the week. Therefore we learn that they who rest on the Sabbath day "according to the commandment," rest on the seventh day of the week. It is a fact that should startle every one, that no one can keep the fourth commandment without resting on the seventh day of the week.

The fourth commandment is the only authority that men have for Sabbath-keeping. It commands the observance of one day, and of only one day, namely, "the seventh day." This we are most plainly taught means the seventh day of the week. Therefore since the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath, it is most certain that the first day of the week is not the Sabbath.

JESUS MEETING THE DISCIPLES

"But," some one will say, "the text in John tells us that Jesus met with His disciples on that same first day of the week." Very true; and we may note the fact, in passing, that it is the only record we have of His meeting with His disciples on the first day of the week. It is true that He met with them again "after eight days" (John xx. 26), but no method of accounting known to man can make "after eight days" from Sunday night fall on Sunday.

But let us learn something further about the single meeting of Jesus with His disciples on the first day of the week. In Luke xxiv. 13-31 we have the account of two disciples going into the country, and being joined by Jesus, whom they did not recognise. They told Him all about their disappointment because of the crucifixion of Jesus, and of the rumour that they had heard of His resurrection, and in return Jesus opened to them the prophecies which foretold His crucifixion and resurrection.

By this time they had reached their home, more than seven miles from Jerusalem, and they asked Jesus to stop with them, saying, "the day is far spent." Jesus entered, and was made known to them in the action of breaking bread, and immediately vanished from their sight. Then the two disciples "rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together." "And they told what things were done in the way, and how He was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." Luke xxiv. 33-36.

Now read how briefly this story was told by Mark. "After that He appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue; neither believed they them." Mark xvi. 12, 13. This shows that the disciples had not met together to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus: because they did not believe that He had risen. But let us read the next verse.

"Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen." Instead, therefore, of their being assembled in meeting, they were at their common places of abode, eating their supper. If we follow the narrative in Luke (xxiv. 36-43) we learn that Jesus asked them for something to eat, "and they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And He took it and did eat before them." The one instance in which we are told that Jesus met with His disciples on the first day of the week, was when they were eating supper, and He joined them in the meal. But it was not the Sabbath.

ONE FIRST-DAY MEETING

One of the two remaining texts does speak of a meeting on the first day of the week, on this wise. On his way from Macedonia to Jerusalem, Paul came to Troas, in Asia Minor, where he tarried a week. We are not told how that week was spent, but we may

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be sure that Paul employed the time to the profit of the church in that place. "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together." Acts xx. 7, 8.

But notice that this gives no hint that the first day was considered to be the Sabbath. Moreover, since the day according to Scripture begins in the evening, at sunset, it is evident that their evening meeting on the first day of the week was on what we term Saturday night, and that Paul set out on his journey the next morning, in the daytime of the first day. This text therefore gives no warrant to the idea that Sunday is the Sabbath, but the contrary.

SUNDAY GIVING

And now for the last text that mentions the first day. It is this: "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem." 1 Cor. xvi. 1-3. On this we may note the following points.

1. There is no intimation that the first day of the week was regarded as sacred.

2. There is no mention of any public service.

3. Each one was to "lay by him in store," as God had prospered him. This could be done only by taking account of his gains, and laying aside the donations at home.

4. Only one collection is spoken of, and that was when Paul should come. If the people had put their contributions into a box at meeting, they would not have laid it by them in store. This text, therefore, refers only to an ordinary business transaction on the first day of the week.

THE LORD'S DAY

We have now noted every reference to the first day of the week, and find that it is a labouring day, and not a rest day. We might, however, quote Rev. i. 10, since some will think that it should come in. John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." The reader will see that this says nothing about Sunday. What day was it? We may easily see.

1. "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord." Ex. xx. 10.

2. God speaks of the Sabbath day, as the very day which the Jews were commanded to keep, and calls it "My holy day." Isa. lviii. 13.

3. Jesus spoke of the very day which the Jews call the Sabbath, and declared Himself to be its Lord. Mark ii. 28.

Therefore we know without any doubt that the Lord's day is the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.

THE TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT

One point more should be noted. The day which the Jews regarded as the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, is mentioned more than fifty times in the New Testament as the Sabbath. The New Testament was written years after the events occurred. It is the word, not of men, but of the Spirit of God. It was written by Christian men, for Christians. It is the language of Christians. Therefore the name which the Spirit of God teaches Christian men to call the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath or Lord's day.

Again we repeat this question, "Is Sunday the Sabbath?" and the answer is emphatically, No. This is the answer of the Bible, and that is the only authority. With those who do not believe the Bible, or who do not believe that it alone is sufficient to make one perfect, "thoroughly furnished unto all good works," the answer may be unsatisfactory. To such we do not now speak. We speak only to those who believe that the Bible

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and the Bible alone is the rule of Christian faith and practice. And now, reader, if you say that you do believe the Bible, we ask you, Do you obey it? and if not, Why not?

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Romish "propaganda" have determined upon the establishment of an "apostolic vicariate" or Wales.

-The cessation by Mr. Gladstone from publics speaking means, it is said, a loss of ?2,000 a year to one Press agency alone.

-It is announced from Rome that the Triple Alliance will be renewed this year, and that a special military convention of a pacific character will be signed.

-A conference of Australian Premiers has been opened at Hobart. It was agreed that federation vas the greatest and most pressing question in Australasian politics.

-Pentonville Prison is claimed to be the healthiest spot in England. No fewer than 12,050 criminals passed through it during the year, there being only nine deaths.

-The electric light is rapidly superseding gas in business establishments. In London alone last year the number of incandescent lights in use increased from 1,125,000 to 1,600,000.

-The Commission of Inquiry into the Turkish atrocities in Armenia has begun its work by holding a preliminary sitting at Moosh. The Porte still refuses to permit newspaper correspondents to travel in Armenia.

-The Pope, not satisfied with Cardinal Vaughan's adverse report on the question of Catholic Anglican federation, intends to consult the Bishops of Salford, Nottingham and Southwark, who will shortly arrive in Rome, on the matter.

-There has been a terrible upheaval on one of the islands of the New Hebrides group. The crater of one volcano, which is three miles in circumference, is a sea of lava, and another volcano is covering the island with darkness and ashes. The population of 8,000, with few exceptions, have disappeared.

-The French Ministerial crisis has been passed by the formation of a Cabinet by M. Ribot. President Fauer's message was read in both Chambers of the French Parliament, and was favourably received. A vote of confidence in the new French ministry was passed by 529 votes to seventy-nine, and an Amnesty Bill for political offences was afterwards brought in and carried by 511 votes to seven.

-An appalling ocean disaster occurred about fifty miles off Lowestoft early on the morning of Jan. 80, the North German Lloyd steamer Elbe being run into by another steamer, and sinking in a few minutes. There were, it is believed, 240 passengers on board, the crew numbering 160. Of this total of 400 only 20 persons have been saved, these being picked up in a small boat by a fishing-smack, and brought to Lowestoft.

-Owing to the non-coincidence of the earth's pole of rotation with its geodetic pole, and the shifting about of the former, it is pointed out that the frontier between the United States and Canada being marked out in two parts, for 1,200 miles and 250 miles respectively, by parallels of latitude, there is a strip of land, only 60 feet wide, it is true, but large enough in area to embrace 100 big farms, which comes alternately under the jurisdiction of both countries. During April and May, 1890, and May, 1891, it was Canadian by rights; in November, 1890, and December, 1891, it was American.

-Dr. Jamieson, of South Africa, who conducted the recent campaign against the Matabeles, has been addressing Londoners on the subject of the nature and advantages of the newly-acquired annex to the British Empire. The ex-commander-in-chief of the Chartered Company's army, and present administrator of its territories painted a very bright picture of the future of that part of Africa. It is, be declared, a white man's country, containing iron and coal side by side, and payable gold-fields; agriculturally it is self-supporting, and it is an admirable pastoral country. In three years the railway is to run from Cape Town to Buluwayo. After an occupation of only nine months there were, last August, nearly 2,000 white people in Lobengula's old capital.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

The Chinese are said to have found the reason why their armies have been beaten by the Japanese. It is that on the second day of the second moon last year there appeared a double halo around the sun.

Apologists for the Russian persecutions of the Jews say that the question is not one of religion but of race, and therefore it cannot be religious persecution. The hollowness of the claim is demonstrated by the fact that by changing his religion the Jew avoids the persecution.

The power behind the Russian throne, one of the strongest elements of which is priestcraft, does not intend to surrender any of its prerogatives. After all the talk about a liberalising policy, the young Czar has announced to the representatives of the nobility that such talk is foolish fancy, and that he will "uphold the principle of autocracy as firmly and unflinchingly as did my ever-lamented father."

Italy has been fighting the Abyssinians in their own land, and celebrates the victory recently gained quite in the fashion of medi?val Papal demonstrations. The commanding general led a triumphal procession at Massowah to the public square, where an altar was decorated with flags and crosses. "The prefect of apostolic then delivered an eloquent address," we are told, "and a solemn Te Deum of thanksgiving for the success of the Italian arms was sung with much fervour. At the conclusion of the service the prefect apostolic pronounced a benediction."

Reuter's agency says that members of the Catholic party in the German Reichstag have concluded a compromise with the Government whereby they engage to support an Anti-Revolutionary bill provided the repeal of the Anti-Jesuit law is confirmed by the Federal Council. One clause of the Anti-Revolutionary bill makes it an offence to speak against religion, which of course means religion according to the definition of those administering the law. It is by such laws as these that the preaching of the Gospel will be punished in Germany. Not long ago a German judge, having the case of a Protestant minister before him, said that if Luther were now alive and should preach as he did in the sixteenth century, they would probably imprison him for it.

"Regeneration by Politics" The Present Truth 11, 6.

E. J. Waggoner

The great trouble with the majority of the ancient Jews was that they thought that God was altogether such an one as themselves. See Ps. l. 21. They were sure that they could make themselves as good as He (Rom. x. 3), and they thought that the temple which men had built was sufficiently large to contain Him. When Stephen quoted the words of the prophet, wherein God declared that He was greater than the house which they had built, they killed him. Their narrow ideas of God, gave them exalted ideas of themselves. Vain imaginations, which ended in terrible judgments!

But the people of this generation have no reason to boast over them. Many professed Christians have the same distorted views of their importance as compared with God. Only last week a meeting of the Nonconformist Council of London was called to take action in regard to the approaching London County Council election. To support a certain party was declared to be necessary in order to be loyal to Christ, and the climax was reached when the Rev. Hugh Price Hughes said that "in this fight the Wesleyan Methodists would be found shoulder to shoulder with their other Nonconformist brethren, to hasten the time when the city of London should become the city of God." This was greeted with loud cheers by the assembled ministers.

The folly of this proposal is evident when we remember that the city of God is one "whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. xi. 10), and that it is situated in "a better country, that is, an heavenly." Verse 16. Men have nothing whatever to do in preparing it; their part is to yield themselves to God, that He may prepare them for a place in it.

Nothing is more needed at this time than to point out that every proposition to advance the kingdom of God by politics is not the Gospel, but is utterly opposed to it. The Gospel is the power of God, and not of men. It is the power of God to save individual men and women from sin. The ministers who are so zealously labouring to regenerate the city by means of politics, are unconsciously playing into the hands of Rome, because political religion is the very essence of Romanism.

The Romish Babylon's characteristic is that "the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her," and that "the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Rev. xviii. 3; xvii. 2. The extent to which the principles of Romanism have permeated even those who think they are opposed to Rome, is indicated by the two items which follow:-

1. The Nonconformist Council has issued a manifesto to all the Free Churches in London, in view of the coming County Council election, in which it is said that "at the last London County Council election the Free Churches nobly rose to the crisis, and furnished the moral enthusiasm that led to victory."

2. The London Reform Union has issued an appeal to the pastors of London, which closes thus:-

This, therefore, is a crisis in which the religious congregations appear to have a clear duty. The decisive voting power is in their hands. Should you feel able to bring the matter in any form before the members of your church, the London Reform Union will be glad to furnish, free of charge, any information or literature desired. If a speaker is required at any meeting in connection with your church, the London Reform Union will endeavour to supply one.

Men who are drunk do not usually know it. Therefore is there the more urgent need to point out their danger. The religious people of the world are becoming intoxicated with the idea that political power is the agency by which the Gospel is to triumph, and their heads are turned by the thought that they have this power under their control. It was thus that the Papacy was established in the first centuries, and it is thus that it will regain all that it lost by the Reformation. The apostasy was the result of the neglect of God's Word; the Reformation won its victories only by the Word; and it is only as the Word preached in its purist simplicity, and power, that the fruit of the Reformation can be preserved. Let neither Christians nor men of the world be deceived. Good men may err, and the greatest error that good men are in danger of making to-day is the supposition that political work is Gospel work.

February 14, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all the truth." John xvi. 13.

Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth, and the life." John xiv. 6. Therefore the Spirit leads us into the truth by leading us into the knowledge of Christ. So Christ said, "He shall glorify Me; for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you." John xvi. 14.

This is the same that we read in 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

"The deep things" is a term that applies specially to the things of God. "O God, how great are Thy works! and Thy thoughts are very deep." Ps. xcii. 5. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" Rom. xi. 33.

But Jesus said, "All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I that He [the Spirit] shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." John xvi. 15. Consequently "the deep things of God," and His unsearchable judgments, are but "the unsearchable riches of Christ." Eph. iii. 8.

All this serves to show us that truth is infinite and inexhaustible. To limit truth is to limit God. He who thinks that he knows all the truth, thinks that he fully comprehends God; and that is the same as thinking that he is equal to God. This is true not only concerning the whole range of truth, but also of every particular truth. Every thought of God is deep and unfathomable; therefore no one can ever exhaust any truth of God.

Therefore truths that are new to men must be continually shining forth from the word of God. And they must be new to the church as well as to the world; for the church is composed only of men, and there are no men, however good, who know everything, and who can find nothing more in Christ to be learned.

This was what gave the Reformation its power. The Reformers set forth truth that was new to the mass even of professed Christians, and that was all that made it a reformation. And because the truths were new, they stirred the people.

The trouble with the Protestant church of to-day is that it has bound itself by creeds to just what the Reformers preached. But to be true successors of the Reformers, does not mean that we should believe only the things that they did, but that we should be moved by the same spirit. A true reformation never stops; but a reformation consists in the presentation of truth that tends to lift people out of the easy grooves in which they are resting; and it must never cease its lifting.

There is, indeed, much talk of new things, and of progress, but it is not the kind of progress that works reformation. To seek to manufacture enthusiasm by the invention of new theories, is fatal. Sensationalism is spiritual death. Truth is not to be invented, but discovered by searching. It comes not from man, but from the word of God. In the true Reformation there is no straining after effect, but a simple adherence to the word.

The preaching of the word was what began the Reformation. But the word is not exhausted. There is enough left yet to work a revolution not only in the world, but also in the church. Let Christians practise and teach the word of God without any gloss or interpretation, and the results will be marvellous. Let them begin with the fourth commandment, and keep the day which it enjoins, the Sabbath of the Lord,-the seventh day of the week-and there will be such a revival of religion as the world has never seen.

"Faith's Victory" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

The only victory that can be gained in this world is the victory of faith. Faith is the only thing that cannot be defeated. Alexander, C?sar, Napoleon, gained great temporary triumph; but defeat overtook them in the end. The first succumbed to the assassin, the second to his own devices, and the third to the enemies over whom he had long triumphed. Wealth never enabled a person to end his life victories, neither did power, nor fame. But the man of faith, though alone in the midst of his enemies, was never conquered. He might be ridiculed and denounced, but this could not touch his character.

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He might be imprisoned or put to death, but he lost nothing thereby, for he was already dead, having been crucified with Christ (Gal. ii. 20), and the life of Christ, which was his, could not be bound or taken away. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John v. 4.

"Gospel Liberty" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

Gospel liberty is the only full and true liberty. It is liberty both of thought and of conscience. The religious man may have liberty of thought, but he is not at ease as regards his conscience, which perpetually scourges him for his evil ways. He can never secure freedom of conscience until he becomes converted.

On the other hand, some very religious men possess neither freedom of thought nor of conscience. The man who has a pope to tell him how he must think and act in order to be saved,-be it the Pope of Rome or any other-does not have liberty of thought; and without such liberty he cannot have liberty of conscience. His conscience may not trouble him perceptibly, but that is no evidence that it has liberty. It may be dead, or stupefied. To have liberty it must have life. It must be alive, and free to direct the actions of its possessors.

God accepts no half-way service. The first and great commandment is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Matt. xxii. 37. Notice that it includes the service both of the heart and of the mind, and that it is "thy" mind, and not the mind of some other. The mind must set its seal of approval upon that which the heart moves the individual to do. He who tries to serve God merely with the heart, simply willing to think and do as some other person tells him, is at most only an accomplice in what is done. We cannot serve God with all our mind by being merely accessory to deeds thought out and directed by another. Our judgment must approve of the work, in order that it may become, in a full and complete sense, our own.

God has given us our minds, and He has given us a revelation of His will. He has also given us the Holy Spirit as a teacher, to show us all He would have us understand. There is no reason, therefore, for our not knowing and approving, both with the heart and with the mind, the things that pertain to His worship. We are accountable to Him if we do not. All things which He has enjoined are reasonable; but many things which man has directed to be done for the worship of God are not reasonable and therefore not susceptible of approval by any enlightened judgment. And this is characteristic of all religious commandments of men. For, just as an untutored savage could only marr the work of an artist to which he might put his hand, so man, a frail, finite, short-sighted, and ignorant being, can never put his hand to the ordinances of the Creator without perverting them, making unreasonable that which before was reasonable. And so the Saviour declared, "In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." It matters not how good and useful these commandments may seem to the fallen, finite mortals who make them; they are commandments of men, and therefore, according to the words of Christ, vain for all purposes pertaining to the worship of God.

Gospel liberty is liberty in the exercise of all the faculties God has given us. God wishes all men to be free; He has declared that every offering to Him must be a free-will offering. And He is not unjust or inconsistent. He has not required us to serve Him with all our heart and all our mind, and to do all from our own free will, and yet demanded that one or more of our faculties should be bound,-held in abeyance at the dictates of either men or devils. God aims through the Gospel to set the soul free; the devil aims through the law of sin and death, and the commandments of men, to keep it in bondage. To serve the devil we must be slaves; to serve the Lord we must be free men. We are slaves by nature; but to remain so we must reject the liberty which God offers us as a gift.

"Cain and Abel" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

These two sons of Adam were types of the two great classes which were to exist upon the earth, the wicked and the good. And this difference of character was shown in the sacrifices which they offered. Cain brought the fruits of the ground; Abel brought a lamb. God had instructed them in the offering of sacrifices, the essential feature in which was the shedding of blood. "Without shedding of blood there is no remission." Heb. ix. 22.

Abel did according to the word of the Lord; he had faith. Cain carried out the Lord's instructions according to his own views. God had demanded a sacrifice, and he brought one; not, indeed, exactly as the Lord had said, but near enough, he might say, to answer the purpose. The sacrifice was the essential thing, and not the particular thing that was offered. His offering was just as valuable as Abel's, and cost him just as much. But in that departure from the very words of the Lord he showed that he had not faith; for faith takes a thing exactly as God says it. The difference in their offerings was the difference between having faith and having it not.

So it is with the people now. Not all who bring sacrifices to the Lord are counted righteous. God has said, "The seventh day is the Sabbath; in it thou shalt not do any work;" but we hear men say, "The particular day is not essential; what God wants is one day's rest in seven." But faith takes every word of God just as it is spoken, and does not attempt to measure the "substance" of what He says, or discover the "essential principle." Not one word of God can be non-essential. If it could, God would be finite like ourselves. And those who knowingly disregard one word of God show thereby that they have not faith in Him as God. And thus they class themselves with the wicked; for the wicked are simply those who have not faith.

"In the Baltic Provinces" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

Not long ago Brother L. R. Conradi, of Hamburg, visited the Seventh-day Adventist churches in Southern Russia, holding some conferences and learning of the progress of the truth amidst the persecutions which our brethren there are enduring in common with the Stundists. Some churches have been broken up and scattered by the banishment of members, but the truth is only proclaimed afar and near by this as the believers go "preaching the word."

On his return journey, by way of St. Petersburg, Brother Conradi visited some places in the Baltic Provinces, to see what could be done to get some publications into the languages spoken there. How the Sabbath truth was found to be already represented in one province he tells as follows:-

"At Narva, a thirfty town almost entirely German, we crossed into Esthonia. With the change of language there is also a change of customs. While the Germans and Russians live in regularly laid out villages, the

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churches in the midst of them, and the Lettonians on their farms, the Esthonians join their premises promiscuously, thus forming wide-spread, irregular villages, and their churches stand on some lonely spot. I little dreamed, while hearing this strange tongue, that the truth had already found its way into this province, and that some of our publications were already translated into the Esthonian. Some six years ago a colporteur of the British Bible Society embraced the Sabbath, and it was even voted that he should come to Germany to be more fully instructed; but we lost track of him. He returned to his country home in Esthonia, and his relatives succeeded in discouraging him, so that he ceased to observe the Sabbath. But he could not satisfy his conscience; the seed of truth, in spite of all the opposition, burst forth anew, stronger than ever. He began to translate some of our publications, and finally, securing my present address, began to correspond with me, his first letter reaching me shortly after my return from Russia. Thus the Lord prepares instruments to carry the truth into all these nations."

"'One Is Your Master'" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

The Bishop of Manchester, stirred by the activity of Roman Catholics in England, has begun what an evening paper calls a crusade against the Papacy. The Bishop devoted his first sermon to showing that there was no historical evidence that Peter ever was in Rome. But what does it matter whether Peter was there or not? The second sermon denied that the Bishop of Rome succeeded to the "prerogatives of Peter." The whole question is given away by such treatment; for at the best, instead of one pope, this would give us any number of popes, each exercising his "prerogatives." The Scriptures show that neither to Peter nor to any other man were ecclesiastical prerogatives committed which they could pass to others. The whole power of the Gospel is in the word, and the word is still the power.

"Catholic Martyr" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

A Catholic paper objects to the word "martyr" being applied to any outside of the Roman fold, because it is a word "which belongs so peculiarly to the Christian and Catholic Church." If the making of martyrs establishes proprietary rights in the use of the word it certainly belongs to Rome, as she has put to death more of the saints of God than any other power since the world began.

"The Papacy. The Seventh of Daniel" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

"In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed; then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. vii. 1.

Just what year the first year of Belshazzar was, we are unable to determine. It used to be stated, with confidence, that it was the year 555 B.C.; but then it was supposed that Belshazzar and Nabonadius were one and the same person. The name Nabonadius was found in the accounts of the overthrow of Babylon; and, knowing that he began to reign in 555 B.C., chronologists placed 555 in the margin of the Bible, as the first year of Belshazzar. But more recent explorations have revealed the fact that Belshazzar was the son of Nabonadius, and was simply associate king with his father. (See Rawlinson's Seven Great Monarchies, Fourth Monarchy, chap. 8, paragraphs 38-50.) When Cyrus came against Babylon, Nabonadius came out to meet him, but, being defeated, he shut himself up in Borsippa, a few miles below Babylon, leaving Belshazzar in charge of the city of Babylon.

This explains why Belshazzar, on the night of his riotous feast, promised to make Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom (Dan. v. 16), and not the second, if he would interpret the writing on the wall. He promised Daniel the highest place that there was to bestow. Nabonadius was first, Belshazzar himself was second, and Daniel was made third.

"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another." Dan. vii. 2, 3.

The Scriptures never put us under the necessity of guessing at anything that God wishes us to understand. He wishes us to understand the book of Daniel (Matt. xxiv. 15), and therefore we shall look to the Bible for the interpretation of this vision. In this seventh chapter we have the explanation. Verse 17 says:-

"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth." Verse 18.

From this first we learn that these four kingdoms are to be the only universal empires before the setting up of the kingdom of God, of which the saints are heirs, and in which they are to dwell for ever. We found that this was the case with the four kingdoms of Daniel ii. Therefore we know that the four kings of Daniel vii. must be identical with the four kings of Daniel ii. For it is an utter impossibility that two series of universal kingdoms should exist in the earth at the same time.

There are two other symbols, namely; the winds and the sea, but they are easily explained. The four beasts came up as a result of the strife of the four winds of heaven upon the great sea. Winds blowing on the sea produce commotion. But the commotion by which nations rise and fall is war; therefore we must conclude that the four winds blowing on the great sea, represent strife among the people of the earth. We shall see that this is correct.

It must be accepted as a fact that when a symbol was once used in prophecy,

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with a certain meaning, it must have the same meaning in whatever other prophecy it is found. If this were not so, there would be no harmony in the Bible. By following this principle, all is harmonious. In the seventeenth of Revelation, John says that he saw a woman sitting on many waters (verse 1); and the angel told him (verse 15) that these waters were "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." Then the great sea of Daniel vii. must represent the people of the earth. See also Isa. viii. 7, where the people of Assyria are called "the waters of the river." If the sea means people, then of course the stirring up of the sea by winds denotes the stirring up of the people,-strife. In harmony with this, we find in Jer. xxv. 32, 33 that, as a result of a great whirlwind that shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth, the slain shall be from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth. In Rev. vii. 1-3 the winds-the fierce passions of men-are represented as being held so that the earth cannot be hurt.

The prophecy, then, simply brings to view the four universal empires,-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome,-each arising as a result of the ungoverned passions of the people. They were presented in this manner in order to bring out additional features. The first, Babylon, with its power and glory, was represented by a lion, with eagle's wings. Dan. vii. 4. In one place it is described as follows: "For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation. . . . Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; but they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat." Hab. i. 6-8.

Daniel continues concerning this first beast:-

"I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it." Dan. vii. 4. The marginal rendering "wherewith," in place of the first "and," makes the passage more clear thus: "I beheld until the wings thereof were plucked, wherewith it was lifted up from the earth, and [it was] made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it."

The wings upon the back of the lion symbolise the swiftness with which Babylon extended her conquests. (See Hab. i. 6-8, quoted above.) By its wings it was lifted up from the earth, and made to rise above any obstacle that lay in its path, and thus its progress was unhindered. But the glory of the Babylonian kingdom ended with Nebuchadnezzar. The kingdom was as magnificent as ever, but the power to uphold the magnificence was gone. No longer did it surmount all obstacles as with eagle's wings; it then stood still, and extended its conquest no further. Instead of being lion-hearted, Belshazzar was so timid that "the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another" (Dan. v. 6), when in the midst of his blasphemous revel the handwriting appeared on the wall. "Conscience doth make cowards" of all wicked man, when they see the handwriting of God, whether on the wall or in His book.

We will continue the study of this chapter in future numbers.

"Hinduism and the Soul" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

It is announced that "a pamphlet has just been written in English by a Madras Brahmin. . . which is intended to convey to Englishmen some of the leading teachings of Hinduism." An examination of its teachings reveals that the leading one,-the doctrine upon which all the rest are based,-is that of the existence of a conscious undying spirit within but separate from the body. This doctrine is already accepted by the vast majority of the people for whose information this Brahmin pamphlet was written. The Brahmins are deep thinkers, and in a contest maintained by human reasoning

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and philosophy, can hold their ground against any people in the world. That they even have undertaken to do proselytising work in lands called Christian, is not, from the human standpoint, an exhibition of ignorance or folly. There is no reason why it should not prove quite successful among many people, however enlightened, who are not willing to believe that the Bible means what it says when it declares that "the dead know not anything." Eccl. ix. 5.

"Studies in Romans. Some Practical Exhortations. Rom. vi. 33-36; xii. 1-21" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

We have now finished that which might be called the argumentative portion of the Epistle to the Romans. The five chapters which follow are devoted to exhortations to the church. Those in the chapter before us are very simple, but will be much better understood if read in connection with that which immediately precedes. Accordingly, we preface our reading of the twelfth chapter with the last four verses of the eleventh:-

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor? or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things; to whom be glory forever. Amen. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Rom. xi. 33-36; xii. 1-21.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

What is the truth concerning the Lord?

"Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things."

What therefore is the reasonable thing for men to do?

"Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God."

What will be done for us if we thus yield ourselves?

"Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think."

How should men think of themselves?

"Think soberly."

What induces soberness of thought?

"The measure of faith."

From whom does faith come?

"God hath dealt. . . the measure of faith."

To whom has God dealt the measure of faith?

"To every man."

What is the relation of men in Christ?

"One body in Christ, and every one members one of another."

How should Christians feel towards persecutors?

"Bless them which persecute you."

What should be our sympathies?

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."

How far is it possible for me to live at peace with all men?

"As far as lieth in you."

With what is evil to be overcome?

"With good."

A Logical Conclusion.-The closing verses of the eleventh chapter set forth the infinite, unsearchable power and wisdom of God. Nobody can add anything to Him. No one can put God under obligations to Him. No one can give Him something for which He should receive something in return. "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things." "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." Acts xvii. 25, 28. This being so, it is but reasonable that all should yield their bodies to Him, for Him to control. He alone has the wisdom and the power to do it properly. The word "reasonable" is, literally, "logical." The logical result of acknowledging God's power and wisdom and love, is to submit to Him. He who does not yield to God, virtually denies His existence.

Exhorting and Comforting.-It is interesting to know that the Greek word rendered "beseech" is from the same root as "the Comforter," applied to the Holy Spirit. It is the word used in Matthew v. 4, "Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." It occurs also in 1 Thessalonians iv. 18, "Comfort one another with these words." The following passage contains the word several times, as indicated: "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." 2 Cor. i. 3-5. The fact that the Greek word for "exhort," or "beseech," is identical with that for "comfort," may give a new force to the exhortations of the Spirit of God.

There is comfort in the thought that God is all-powerful. Therefore there is comfort in all his exhortations and commandments, since He does not expect us to act in our own strength, but in His. When He utters a command, it is but the statement of what He will do in and for us, if we yield to his power. When He reproves, He is simply showing to us our need, which He can abundantly supply. The Spirit convicts of sin, but is always the Comforter.

Power and Mercy.-"God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Also unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy." Ps. lxii. 11, 12. "God is love." Therefore

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His power is love, so that when the apostle cites the power and wisdom of God as the reason why we should yield to Him, He exhorts us by the mercies of God. Never forget that all the manifestation of God's power is but the manifestation of his love, and that love is the power by which He works. Jesus Christ, in whom God's love is revealed (1 John iv. 10), is "the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. i. 24).

True Nonconformity.-In this country religious people have often been divided into two classes-Churchmen and Nonconformists. Now every true Christian is a nonconformist, but not in the sense that the word is ordinarily used. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds." When those who call themselves Nonconformists adopt worldly methods, and engage in worldly schemes, then they dishonour the name. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God."

How to Think of Self.-The exhortation to every man is not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. How highly ought one to think of himself? "Put them in fear, O Lord; that the nations may know themselves to be but men." Ps. ix. 20. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." Ps. cxlvi. 3. "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?" Isa. ii. 22. "Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity." Ps. xxxix 5. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." 1 Cor. iii. 19, 20. "What is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James iv. 14. "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isa. lxiv. 6. "In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Phil. ii. 3.

Faith and Humility.-Pride is the enemy of faith. The two can not live together. A man can think soberly and humbly only as the result of the faith that God gives. "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith." Hab. ii. 4. The man who has confidence in his own strength and wisdom, will not depend upon another. Trust in the wisdom and power of God comes only when we recognise and acknowledge our own weakness and ignorance.

Faith a Gift of God.-We read that God hath dealt the measure of faith to every man. Faith-trust in God-comes from a knowledge of His greatness and our littleness; of His strength and wisdom and our weakness and ignorance; of His righteousness and our sinfulness. God tells us these things, so that we may trust in Him.

What Faith Is Given.-That faith which God deals to man is indicated in Revelation xiv. 12: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." God does not give faith to the saints only, any more than He gives the commandments to them alone; but the saints keep the faith, and others do not. The faith which they keep is the faith of Jesus; therefore it is the faith of Jesus that is given to men.

Faith Given to Every Man.-Every man is exhorted to think soberly, because God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Many people have a notion that they are so constituted that it is impossible for them to believe. That is a grave error. Faith is just as easy, and just as natural, as breathing. It is the common inheritance of all men, and the one thing wherein all are equal. It is as natural for the child of the infidel to believe as it is for the child of the saint. It is only when men build up a barrier of pride about themselves (Ps. lxxiii. 6) that they find it difficult to believe. And even then they will believe; for when men disbelieve God, they believe Satan; when they disbelieve the truth, they greedily swallow the most egregious falsehoods.

In What Measure?-We have seen that faith is given to every man. This may be known also by the fact that salvation is offered to every man, and placed within his grasp, and salvation is only by faith. If God had not given faith to every man, he could not have brought salvation within the reach of all. Now the question is, In what measure has God given every man faith? This is really answered in the fact already learned, that the faith which he gives is the faith of Jesus. The faith of Jesus is given in the gift of Jesus himself, and Christ is given in His fulness to every man. He tasted death for every man. Heb. ii. 9. "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Eph. iv. 7. Christ is not divided; therefore to every man is given all of Christ and all of His faith. There is but one measure.

The Body and Its Members.-"There is one body" (Eph. iv. 4), and that is the church, of which Christ is the head (Eph. i. 22, 23; Col. 1:18). "We are members of his body, of His flesh, and of His bones." Eph. v. 30. There are many members in the body, "so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." As in the human body, so in the body of Christ, "all members have not the same office;" yet they are so joined together, and so mutually dependent, that none can boast over the others. "The eye can not say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you." 1 Cor. xii. 21. So it is in the true church of Christ; there are no divisions and no boastings, and no member seeks to occupy the place or perform the work of another. No member thinks himself independent of the others, and all have an equal care for one another.

Various Gifts.-"All members have not the same office, and all have not the same gifts. "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . . And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. . . . For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of Spirits; to another divers kind of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one

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and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will." 1 Cor. xii. 4-11.

"The Proportion of Faith."-"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith." As we have seen, there is but "one faith" (Eph. iv. 5), and that is "the faith of Jesus." Although there are various gifts, there is but one power behind them all. "All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit." Therefore, to prophesy or to exercise any other of the gifts "according to the proportion" or measure of faith, is to do it "as of the ability which God giveth." 1 Peter iv. 11. "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

"In Honour Preferring One Another."-This can be done only when one is able "in lowliness of mind" to esteem others better than himself. Phil. ii. 3. And this can be done only when one knows his own worthlessness. The man who "knows the plague of his own heart" can not think that others are as bad as himself. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who . . . made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant."

How to Treat Persecutors.-Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not." To curse does not necessarily always mean to use profane language, to swear. To curse means to speak ill. It is the opposite of bless, which means to speak well of. Sometimes men persecute according to law, and sometimes they persecute without any legal warrant; but whether it is "due process of law" or mob violence, no hard words are to be used against those who do it. On the contrary, they are to be spoken well of. One cannot do this without the Spirit of Christ, who prayed for his betrayers and murderers, and who did not venture to bring railing accusation even against the devil. Jude 9. To hold persecutors up to contempt is not according to God's instruction.

Rejoicing and Weeping.-To rejoice with them that rejoice and to weep with them that weep, is not an easy thing for the natural man. Only the grace of God can work such sympathy in men. It is not so difficult to weep with those who are afflicted, but it is often very difficult to rejoice with those who rejoice. For instance, suppose another has received something which we very much desired, and is rejoicing over his gain; it requires much grace to rejoice with him.

Keeping the Peace.-We are to live peaceably with all men if it be possible. But what is the limit of possibility? Some will say that they tried to keep peace until "forbearance ceased to be a virtue," and then they paid the troublesome one in his own coin. Many think that this verse exhorts them to hold out as long as they can, and not to take part in any disturbance until they have had great provocation. But this verse says, "as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." That is, there is to be no trouble so far as we are concerned. We can not always keep other people from warring, but we can be at peace ourselves. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee." Isa. xxvi. 3. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. v. 1. "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." Col. iii. 15. "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil. iv. 7. He who has this abiding peace of God, will never have any trouble with men.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

-Six cases of cholera, two of which ended fatally, occurred at Constantinople on Feb. 4.

-Twenty-eight lives were lost by a colliery explosion at Montceau-les Mines, in France, Feb. 4.

-The French line steamship "La Gascogne" is several days overdue at New York, and grave fears are felt that she has been lost at sea.

-It is reported from Moscow that a Commission of Experts is about to be summoned to elaborate a scheme of compulsory education in European Russia.

-A boundary line dispute between Brazil and Argentina has just been settled by arbitration. President Cleveland was the arbitrator, and his decision was in favour of Brazil.

-Earthquake shocks were felt in several districts in Norway on the morning of Feb. 6, and an avalanche, thought to have been occasioned thereby, caused eleven deaths in Feinmarken.

-A mad soldier "run amuck" through the streets of Constantinople, Feb. 5, slashing right and left with a naked sword, and killing five men, while eleven men and three women were seriously injured.

-The company at the Cape, who have a monopoly of the diamond production of the world, have sold their whole output during the present year to an English syndicate. The output is estimated at ?8,250,000.

-Much distress prevails among the poor people In Ireland from the failure of last year's potato crop. The local government board has, it is said, offered to advance money without interest for the purchase of seed potatoes for poor tenants.

-The leaders in the recent abortive insurrection in Hawaii have been arrested, and are being tried by court-martial. The ex-Queen, who is also under arrest, has formally abdicated the throne, and proffered her allegiance to the Republican Government.

-An International Exhibition is to be held during the summer at Amsterdam. One of the novelties will be an electric restaurant, where no waiter will be seen, and where, by simply touching a button, the dish required by the guest will rise and descend as desired.

-According to advises from Beyrout, the Christians throughout Syria are in apprehension of another massacre by the Druses, outrage and murder being frequent, and without redress. No Christian, it is said, ventures out after nightfall at Beyrout or Damascus.

-The National Federation of Sunday Societies bar undertaken to secure in Parliament an amendment to the old Sunday law of 1781, under which proceedings were taken last year against the Leeds Sunday Lecture Society, so as to prevent similar prosecutions in the future.

-The Japanese have captured Weihaiwei, after a long and desperate fight with the Chinese forts and a number of Chinese warships under command of Admiral Ting. Two of the largest and best ironclads of the Chinese were sunk and the rest were captured. China is now practically without a fleet.

-The French Government have concluded a bargain with an English company for conveying gunboats and flat-bottomed boats to Madagascar, only one French company having bid for the undertaking, and that at every high price. But the incident caused an exceptionally anti-English display in the Chamber of Deputies, which nearly led to the upsetting of the new ministry.

-The governor of Texas, U.S.A., has proposed a plan for dealing with lynchings, for which that State has become notorious. It is, to make the county in which mob-violence occurs liable to heavy damages to the State; to give the surviving relatives of any victim an action for damages against the county, and against any persons who can be proved to have co-operated in mob-violence; also to provide for the removal of the sheriff from office whenever a prisoner is taken from his custody and put to death by a snob.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 7.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week Lord Halifax, President of the English Church Union, delivered a lecture in which he said the Anglican Church ought to meet the Pope half way in his efforts to bring about union.

It seemed hazardous, he continued, on so great a question, for a simple laymen like himself to make a suggestion, but it seemed to him that if the present Pope were to take steps, for example, for a complete investigation into the question of Anglican orders it might lead to a renewal of relations between Rome and England which might prove the beginning of negotiations that might eventually bring about the reunion of the whole of Western Christendom, in which he included English Nonconformists and German Protestants.

It is being alleged in favour of the Russian Protestants that they are willing to enter the army and promise loyalty to the Czar, about like the Quakers, but they object to the oath. This is a libel on many Russian Protestants; for there are those in Russia who are followers of the Lord and will not take the lives of their fellow-men, when the Lord has commissioned them to preach the Gospel to them. A man ready to take the life of another, for whom Christ died as well as for himself, can hardly with consistency scruple about taking an oath.

People talk about this "enlightened age," as though superstition were a thing of the past. They are sure that even the Catholic Church will never persecute any more, since it has partaken so much of the progress of the age. But what can they say about the progress of "the Church," when a Catholic paper in this enlightened metropolis of the world gravely records the news that "Cardinal Richard has offered Mgr. Perraud a magnificent reliquary containing a portion of the true cross and a fragment of the crown of thorns"? Superstition is as much alive as ever, and persecution is only sleeping.

One of the hindrances to the work of foreign missions is to be found in the readiness with which many missionaries turn to their home governments for protection in any case of violence or disorder. The influence of this is to cause the missionary to be regarded as merely a semi-official agent of a foreign power, rather than as the representative of the Lord of all. It was not the practice of the apostles to call for the punishment of those who opposeed the preaching of the Gospel. It was not thus that the Lord met the violence of His enemies.

An illustration of the modern and unapostolic method of meeting opposition raised by religious prejudice is reported from Constantinople. The Turkish police visited the house of some French Catholic fathers, and upon being refused admission broke down the door, and arrested the Superior. Upon his release this individual lodged a complaint with the French Ambassador. The offending official was dismissed, and French gunboats, proceeding to the village where the priests live, landed a company of the ship's officers who escorted the Superior to his house. Such a display is all very fine to show the natives the power of the French arms, but what idea will the people receive of the Gospel, which comes not to condemn and punish, but to save men, and which stands not in the power of men but of God?

An English military writer anticipates "a most frightful outbreak of pestilence" around Pekin with the return of the warm weather, from the enforced lack of sanitary arrangements in the great Chinese camp which has been collected for the defence of the place, now said to amount to half a million men. It is a well-known fact that it is from similar large gatherings of Orientals that plague and pestilence start out on their devastating march to the various quarters of the earth.

The Catholic Church in Austria has issued a manifesto on the social question. Of course its promises of good to workmen are a bid for support, as the Church in Austria is only one political party. The party declared that "Christ must be the supreme teacher and lawgiver in the life of every man." This means that the Church, as Christ's representative, is to be the lawgiver. The manifesto reads quite like similar pronouncements which are sometimes made by Protestant bodies, declaring that the principles of Christ must be enforced by legislative bodies. They always mean their own conception of the principles, and whether priest or presbyter, it is alike contrary to the principles of Jesus, who said, "If any man hear My words and believe not, I judge him not."

It is human nature to put confidence in the flesh. Even when the Pope at Rome is rejected, it is very easy to expect the council of bishops, or the minister, or some one of influence to take the responsibility of deciding what is right and what is wrong. At Bristol last week the Archdeacon of London, Dr. Sinclair, very truly said:-

The Reformation had the courage and the loyalty and the inspiration to place the Bible in the hands of the people, and it not only repudiated the infallibility of the Pope, but of the Church. It would not be enough to repudiate the infallibility of the Pope if they held that a certain number of bishops, if they came together, would be infallible. In fact, the one might be worse than the other.

We shall not be judged by popes, or councils, or creeds, nor will the men of "influence" be able to pass upon character in the last day. The word of God will be the standard in that day.

"He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." 1 John ii. 6. He left us an example that we should "follow His steps." What then, about following steps in which our Lord has not walked? For example, in his "Sacerdotalism," Canon Knox-Little, of the Church of England, thus answers those who complain that the practices of the Ritualists are contrary to Christ's example and the word of God:-

Their efforts strictly to adhere to our Lord's example to the letter, in spite of the usage of the Church, implies that they know better what our Lord desired than His Church. If they are consistent, as I have said, they must keep Saturday, not Sunday, as the day of rest.

This answers the contention of those who would keep the word in some things, and yet hold to the papal custom and the matter of Sunday. But Christ lived in the flesh that He might point out the path, and He has given us the word that we may know of a certainty how to walk.

When a man loses sight of God, his eyes turn naturally upon himself, and ere long he naturally assumes the position and attributes of deity. Only the constant sight of God can keep men from becoming "vain in their imaginations," as did the heathen of old.

The machine of national finance in the United States seems to have hopelessly broken down, defying the efforts of statesmen to furnish a remedy.

February 21, 1895

"Which Side Will You Choose?" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

This world is the scene of a great controversy between good and evil, and Christ says, "He that is not with Me is against Me." Matt. xii. 30.

The enmity is against God. This is an encouraging thought to the believer when the attacks of the enemy come. "The battle is not yours, but God's." God's honour is at stake, and so for His sake as well as man's He must triumph. The rebellion against His law began before ever man became involved in the controversy.

"And 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, 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." Rev. xii. 7-9.

Although the battle is between Christ and Satan, men cannot be mere spectators. There is no neutral ground where one can be on neither side. Satan succeeded in getting man to join his rebellion against God's authority, and so he makes of every natural heart a citadel of opposition against God. But God, in His love and mercy, did not leave man when he had chosen the side of Satan. "When we were enemies," He gave His life to bring to us deliverance "from the power of darkness," and to translate all who desire it "into the kingdom of His dear Son."

Therefore He calls to every one, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." Every day each one is making the choice. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Rom. vi. 16.

"Without Me ye can do nothing." "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." With Christ, means His life manifested in mortal flesh; to be without Christ means to be against Christ, for the life will inevitably be "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Eph. ii. 2. Every act of disobedience is the direct working of Satan against the truth of God. Every act of obedience is the working of Christ's power in the hearts of those who choose Him. "For it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

Satan not only works disobedience in men, but he works this "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." So it was that when he led the powers of this world to condemn Jesus they knew not what they did. But he knew. And he carried on the war against Christ by turning the wrath of the powers of this world against the followers of Christ. But "they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives under the death." The "god of this world" will continue the warfare to the end; the conflict will become even more severe as the end draws near, and the remnant of the church of Christ will know the power of God to deliver from the wrath of Satan. "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. . . And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. xii. 12, 17. It is the righteous law of God, against which he rebelled in the beginning, that he still hates.

It is therefore no light thing to make the choice. On the side of Christ is the reproach of Christ. But even this reproach was esteemed by Moses greater riches than all the treasures of the world, for with it is the life of Jesus, which works to subdue self to God and to cleanse from sin. The word of God "liveth and abideth for ever." He who builds upon that is founded upon the rock which no storm can shake. To choose disobedience means death; obedience is life, for Jesus said, "I know that His commandment is life everlasting." "Therefore choose life."

"Follow Christ" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

God has said, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." Ex. xxiii. 2. If it is not safe to follow a multitude, it is certainly not safe to follow a few, or one individual. The voice of the people is not the voice of God. The multitudes are not leaders, but followers; they echo the sentiments and strive to imitate the example of their great men. It is a man's voice, a man's wisdom, that guides them, and the great men of the world are not

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safe spiritual guides. In the Christian's calling "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." If we cannot put our trust in princes (Ps. cxlvi. 3), we cannot trust in men of less degree. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Of man is written, "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Rom. iii. 10-12.

We may walk among men, but we must not follow them. This will not deprive us of good company, but will on the contrary insure it to us. The rule given us by inspiration is, "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith." Heb. xii. 1, 2. The Saviour stands in full view of all who will look unto Him in faith. He is our Leader, and we must not allow our sight of Him to become obscured by the interposition of another being between us. This will not be if we keep near enough to Him. But when faith fails, the spiritual side grows dim, and then it is that we fall back and ere long find ourselves following some human leader. The Christian walks "as seeing Him who is invisible." Heb. xi. 27. He who has a visible spiritual leader, is not following the Christian's Guide.

Faith gives us a sight of the invisible, being "the evidence of things not seen." Heb. xi. 1. And faith comes by hearing the word of God. Rom. x. 17. By believing and resting upon Christ's word, we keep Him ever in view. When we go to the earthly oracles for guidance, it is because we have forgotten that they are "living oracles" given us from God. Acts vii. 38. We have forgotten that there is a "word" which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Ps. cxix. 105), and a voice behind us saying, "This is the way; walk ye in it." Isa. xxx. 21. No mystic utterances do these oracles speak forth, as did the heathen oracles of old; no lying voices proceed from them, as from the heathen shrines. The word of the Lord enters into the heart that is open and willing, and is a discerner of its thoughts and intents. Heb. iv. 12. And by that very thing it makes its meaning irresistibly clear to us. The discerning process is not one that takes place in the heart unconsciously. We cannot be unconsciously convicted of sin; and being convicted or justified, we must know the truth by which our way has been measured.

"Beware," writes the apostle, "lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him." Col. ii. 8-10. Each one of us already has the oracles of God, and outside of these there is only "philosophy, and vain deceit, after the tradition of men." Any man who would take the place of the oracles of God to us, has only this to give us. God does not communicate with us by the word of man, but by His own words; and "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." 1 Pet. iv. 11.

Let us look at an incident in the life of Peter,-he from whom the Pope claims to derive authority to speak and act as the world's spiritual guide. Just before His ascension the Saviour met Peter and some other disciples at the Sea of Galilee: and after talking with Peter and telling him of the manner of His death, He said to him, "Follow Me." "Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; . . . . Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me." John xxi. 20-22. The Lord rebuked Peter for such a question, notwithstanding he had just been commissioned to feed the lambs and the sheep of God's flock. Much more would He have rebuked him if he had presumed to tell the disciple what he must do, and take measures to compel him to do it. John was not following Peter but Christ, and no man had authority to be his leader. And Peter, if he had kept his eyes on Christ, would not have essayed to stand between Him and John. And if Peter had no authority or right to do this, there is none to be derived from him, neither has any man possessed it since his day. God looks directly to each one of us; and we must look directly to Him.

"Criticising Mr. Self" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

When you are about to comment upon the failings and weaknesses of your neighbour, pause a moment and think of that other person, well known to you, who actually never did anything worth mentioning; namely, Mr. Self. Is it fair to criticise the one and say nothing about the others?

"The World's Unrest" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

The most superficial observer can hardly fail to be impressed with the state of general strife and turmoil in which our world enters upon the year A.D. 1895. The Great War in the East goes on, with no prospect of speedy and permanent termination. Mexico has been for some time preparing for war with Guatemala, and Argentina is getting ready for a war with Chile. A revolution is in progress in Colombia. France is undertaking an expedition against Madagascar. The Turks have been committing terrible atrocities in Armenia, and Mohammedan outrages are now reported from Damascus and Beyrout, in Syria. The Italian and Portuguese are fighting the natives in Africa. The nations of Europe maintain their attitude of hostile watchfulness of each other. Political and social disquiet is causing the disruption of Cabinets and the downfall of Governmental leaders. And all this is only the surface picture of national strife and commotion, leaving out of view the hidden but no less real unrest of each individual heart arising from the difficulties of its own particular environment.

Civilisation does not mean rest and peace. The resources of men have proved vain for the promotion of human tranquillity. At the highest point of the world's intellectual advancement, it presents a picture of commotion and strife which is actually startling. The state of things is evidently growing worse, and that rapidly. This conviction forces itself upon even the most unwilling minds; and the question arises, What is to be the outcome? From whence shall we look for that which science, civilisation, and statesmanship have signally failed to afford?

The outlook is indeed dark for that era of universal peace for which so many are vaguely looking. If people would look to the word of God, they would find light upon this, as upon many other subjects which agitate the religious world. In that word we are told, "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isa. lvii. 20, 21. And the Psalmist says, "Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. xxxvii. 10, 11. So long as wicked

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people fill the earth, the strife and unrest must continue. There can be no peace till wickedness is rooted out.

The hope of peace for all men is in the Prince of Peace. Wherever He is, there is peace and rest. And He will bring peace and quiet once more to all the earth, by coming to it and making it His abode. The wicked, however, will be blotted from its face, for iniquity cannot endure in the presence of God. Christ is the power that "maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth;" and the work already awaits His appearing. There are wars unto the ends of the earth now, and every passing year brings its additions to the general strife. Sin means war,-war against God and against everything that does not minister to the desires of self. Righteousness, on the other hand, means rest and peace, now and for ever, in the midst of this world's tumults as well as in the sinless world to come.

"Looking Backward" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

This is one point in which the Christian life is distinguished from the life of the world. The Christian has no occasion to look behind him. He may have passed the days of youth, when his body was sound and vigorous, or the period when prosperity smiled upon him with an abundance of temporal blessings; but still he has not to look mournfully back to the joys of other days. His joy remains the same as before; the brightness of his life has not grown dim, because it comes from before him. "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." The climax of his hopes and of his efforts have not been reached and passed, as with the worldly man; but he is ever attaining to the high and glorious purpose of his existence.

It matters not if dark days and trying ordeals may have been met, which would cast a gloom over all the future of a career built upon worldly wealth and fame. No sorrows can bind him with their chains. The rule of his life is, "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. iii. 13, 14. There are many things which it is pleasant to forget, and the Christian life provides that all shall be forgotten that is painful and evil. The time is coming when God will create a new earth, and "the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind," a time when God will fulfil His word concerning His people, that "their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." When God will not remember our sins, none of us will be able to remember them. And even now, "the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" shines so brightly before us, that in the sight of it we count the pain and sorrow of this life as "light afflictions, which are but for a moment."

"Love and the Law" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

The law of God is spoken of as "a fiery law." Deut. xxxiii. 2. Such it was to the congregation of Israel assembled round Mount Sinai, beholding with fearful eyes the lightnings and the smoke and the "devouring fire" upon its summit, and listening to the awful voice which proclaimed in tones of thunder the ten words. Terror-stricken by the terrible display of Divine majesty, they removed afar off, and said to Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." Ex. xx. 19.

And yet this fiery law is a law of love; for we read that "love is the fulfilling of the law," even the "royal law," which says, Do not commit adultery, and, Do not kill. Rom. xiii. 10; James ii. 8-11. It commanded only love, and only by the manifestation of love can it be kept. But this truth the Israelites did not then perceive. This was not the fault of God, but of themselves. The fault was in their hearts. The law spoke to them as it speaks to all who are unconverted-who have not the love of God in them. They received it from the standpoint of the sinner, from which the law presents only its negative or prohibitory side, expressed by the words, "Thou shalt not." It cannot be otherwise; for the law speaks death to sin. But it is a law of life to him from whom sin has been separated.

Until the heart is open to God by faith, so that He can come in and dwell there, the law of God will ever appear to the individual as it did to the congregation of Israel at Mount Sinai. It will be a fiery law, speaking Divine wrath and awful judgments upon the transgressors. Yet this very fact proclaims it to be the law of love and life, for to these, sin is utterly antagonistic. Either sin must be destroyed, or love and life must cease. And so in the terrible lightnings and thunders and the devouring fire upon the top of Mount Sinai so terrible to the assembly of Israel, we have a most striking exhibition of God guarding with jealous care the happiness of the universe. The devouring fire for sin, is the preservation of love and life and happiness for every being whom God has made, and therefore but a manifestation of love toward sinful man.

"Love is the fulfilling of the law," and "God is love." This is the very nature of God; and in Him love has its source. He is the fountain of love and of life. He has these in and of Himself; but His creatures have them only because He has put them in their hearts by putting Himself there. Love is a manifestation of the presence of God. It does not come by the exercise of the will, but is God's gift. We cannot love by promising to love or trying to love. We cannot create love by our exertions. Love can spring up in the heart only through its being opened to God, so that He who is love can come in. And this we do by the exercise of faith. "Faith worketh by love," and faith and love are inseparable. And faith is inseparable from righteousness, which is inseparable from life.

No man can by his exertions keep the law of God since He cannot thereby create that love which is the fulfilling of the law. He can keep the law only by opening his heart to God and letting God dwell in him and manifest Himself through him. And he who has the love of God in his heart will love righteousness. The law will be to him the royal pathway, wherein is found life and happiness and peace. He will say as Jesus said, "I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart." He will love the Lord his God with all his heart, mind, and strength, and his neighbour as himself.

"If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching." John vii. 17, R.V.

"The Papacy. From Babylon to Rome" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

"And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it; and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." Dan. vii. 5.

For the expression, "And it raised up itself on one side," the marginal reading would substitute, "it raised up one dominion." This would indicate what was actually the case, that one branch of the Medo-Persian Empire had the pre-eminence. At the first, the Median kingdom was the kingdom, and Persia was only a province. When the Babylonian expedition was begun, it was by Darius, king of Media; his nephew Cyrus, prince of Persia, was simply an ally. When Babylon was conquered, Darius took the throne; but after the death of Darius, the Median portion of the kingdom became secondary. Some historians say that Persia revolted from Media, and gained its pre-eminence by conquest. But however it was, there is no question but that Persia was the leading power in the Medo-Persian dominion. So greatly did it tower above the Median portion, that the empire is often spoken of simply as the Persian Empire.

"And they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." Dan. vii. 5. By this we can see the propriety of having the second line of symbols to represent the four kingdoms. Their peculiar characteristics could not be indicated by the parts of the image, except that one could be shown to be stronger or more magnificent than another. But in this line additional features are indicated. Thus the Medo-Persian Empire is shown to have been characterised by lust for conquest, and disregard for human life. Every reader of history knows that the cruel, despotic disposition of most of the Persian kings, and the vast armies that they sacrificed, fully sustain the character which the prophecy gives to that empire. Prideaux pronounces the Persian kings, after Cyrus, "the worst race of man that ever governed an empire."

"After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it for wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Dan. vii. 6.

The leopard is a very swift-footed beast, and the addition of four wings would give it speed almost beyond comprehension. Nothing could more fitly represent the Grecian Empire under Alexander, whose very name is a synonym for celerity of movement. Says Rollin, "Alexander, in less than eight years, marched his army upwards of seventeen hundred leagues, without including his return to Babylon." And he conquered enemies as he went.

The four heads of this beast can indicate nothing but the four parts into which the Grecian Empire was divided after the death of Alexander. Bear in mind that the Grecian Empire was not divided into four other empires, but that there were four heads to the one empire, just as there were four heads to the leopard. Rollin gives the history of all the kings of the four

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divisions, under the head of "Alexander's Successors."

"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." Dan. vii. 7, 8.

Since the four beasts represented the four universal empires of earth (Dan. vii. 17, 18), it follows that the fourth beast represents the fourth kingdom, or Rome, of whose iron monarchy we studied a fortnight ago.

But Daniel was not completely satisfied with the first answer given by the angel. From his connection with Nebuchadnezzar's dream he must have known the main features of these four kingdoms; but there were some particulars upon which He desired more light. "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." Dan. vii. 19, 20.

The answer to this request was given as follows:-

"Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, . . . and the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings." Dan. vii. 23, 24.

The fourth beast was the fourth kingdom,-Rome,-and the ten horns, it is plainly stated, "are ten kings that shall arise," that is, ten parts into which the Roman Empire should be divided. This division is mentioned in Dan. ii. 41. It was affected by the incursions of the barbarous tribes which dismembered the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries, the history of which is so graphically described by Gibbon.

After the division of the Roman Empire was completed, which was in A.D. 476, another power was to arise, and in its rise was to pluck up three of the first kingdoms by the roots. There is so general an agreement in regard to this "little horn" which had "eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things" (Dan. vii. 8), that we risk nothing in saying at once that it represents the Papacy. Positive proof of the fact will appear as we proceed. It uprooted three kingdoms to make room for itself; and as if to show the fulfilment of the prophecy, the Pope's tiara is a triple crown. Such a crown is worn by no other ruler. The three kingdoms that were plucked up will be named a little further on in our studies.

"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws." Dan. vii. 25.

If we find that these three specification apply to the Papacy, then it will

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be useless to look further for an application for the little horn. We will consider them in detail in our next.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

-Russia and Roumania have entered upon a tariff war.

-Lunacy has of late seriously increased in Ireland, where many of the asylums are over-crowded.

-Last year Australia sent 3,000 tons of butter to England, besides very considerable quantities of poultry and eggs.

-Plans have been prepared for a suggested ship canal 1,000 miles long between the Baltic and the Black Sea. The estimated cost is ?20,000,000.

-It is rumoured that an American protectorate has been declared over the Hawaiian islands, Admiral Beardslee having previously taken possession of Pearl Harbour.

-The Japs estimate that since the beginning of the war, 700,000,000 dollars' worth of property has fallen into their hands. Between 400 and 500 Jape have been killed, and nearly 10,000 Chinese.

-The cruel practice of cropping dogs' ears has, it is said, been given a damaging blow by an announcement from the Prince of Wales that he never allowed dogs belonging to him to be so treated.

-A young woman is in custody in Hungary who is said to have procured her living by poisoning the husbands of wives who were willing to pay for their removal. She has confessed to one murder of the kind, for which crime she received 400 florins from the wife.

-In Colombia the Government forces seem to be getting the better of the revolutionists. A despatch from Colon, Feb. 9, stated that the rebel General Salmiento had surrendered at Tolima with 1,600 of his followers. The insurgents have also been detested at Corozal, and the Government troops have gone in pursuit of them.

-The Russian commission appointed by the Government to consider the question of the advisability of exiling political and other offenders to Siberia has, it is reported, decided in favour of banishing only members of the privileged classes to that region, whilst criminals belonging to the lower classes will be confined in prisons in the mother country.

-A marvellous discovery of gold is reported from Western Australia. The cone of quartz, which is said to be rich with gold, is said to be 70ft. high, 250 yards long, and 20ft. wide at the summit. The seven prospectors who claim to have made the discovery, on their return were arrested and charged with massacring an entire tribe of natives, men, women, and children.

-In accordance with Siamese custom, the body of the recently-deceased Crown Prince was tightly bound up, the chin resting on the knees. It was then placed in an iron urn, which was put into a magnificent urn of gold, studded with precious stones. This was placed on a golden pyramid nine feet high, in a building adjoining the grand palace. Here the body will remain for a year, and then be consigned to the flames.

-The exceptionally cold weather has caused great distress throughout all Europe. For the first time in many years, the River Scheldt is frozen over, and navigation is suspended. Reports come from Italy that children in the snowed-up districts are dying of starvation, while others have perished of cold. In London two hundred thousand men connected with the building trade have been thrown out of work, and there is almost a paralysis of this industry throughout the country.

-At a sitting of the Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm, Feb. 13, M. Andre, the celebrated Swedish aeronaut, explained in detail a proposal made by him for undertaking a voyage to the North Pole in a balloon. In the course of his lecture he expressed the belief that, in view of the favourable conditions which the Polar regions afforded for aÎrial voyaging and the great progress lately made in aÎronautics, a balloon could make the voyage from Spitsbergen over the North Pole in about thirty days. The cost of the enterprise would be about 130,000 kroner (about ?7,220).

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

We are glad to say that our publications are going out from our printing department as never before. During December nearly 18,000 tracts and pamphlets were despatched.

Nearly the whole adult membership of a Sabbath-keeping church in Switzerland is under arrest for refusing to send their children to the public school on the seventh day, as commanded by the new Canton law. They offer to provide teaching at their own expense, but the authorities deny the privilege.

Another item of news from our publishing department will interest our readers. In getting out our larger works-such as are sold only by subscription by our agents in the colonies and the home field-it is customary to print editions of some thousands, and then have them bound in smaller lots as they are needed. In one week recently, binding orders were given for completing 5,000 volumes. This shows that there is a demand for books dealing with the truth for these days.

Rome despatches say that Cardinal Vaughan dissuades the Pope from addressing a public document to England, believing that the attitude of the Anglican Church is not at present favourable to general secession to Rome. He however expects a rapid increase of individual conversions to Catholicism. The Pope, however, seems unable to understand the sentiment which keeps people outside of the Catholic Church while the doctrines and practices of that Church are so fully adopted. He does not give up his scheme of reunion.

Smoking always costs the consumer of the tobacco money that might better be spent in doing good, but in the case of pastors of the Free Church of Scotland it is shown to cause the congregations a considerable amount as well. The Insurance Trust of the Free Church point out in their report that tobacco smoking caused fires in manses which cost the trust ?589-nearly one half of its entire expenditure.

The consecration of a bishop of the Spanish dissenters from Rome by the Archbishop of Dublin was made the subject of condemnatory resolutions in both of the Houses of the Convocation of Canterbury. Archbishop Farrar made a strong speech in favour of showing sympathy for the Spanish dissenters-who are evidently half-way between Romanism and Protestantism-but the Houses maintained the protests of High Churchmen against recognising those who have separated from the Church of Rome in Spain.

"The Sunday Law in London" The Present Truth 11, 8.

E. J. Waggoner

Most of our readers have doubtless already learned, from reports in the newspaper press, that our publishing department has come in contact with one of the numerous Sunday laws upon the statute books. All the newspapers, with few exceptions, reported the trial of the manager under the Sunday clause of the Factory Act. We have space here for but a few notes on the matter, and will deal with the whole question fully in our next number.

The penalty of a few pounds fine was fixed by the magistrate. As the manager could not in conscience pay the fine,-virtually imposed for Sabbath-keeping,-it was intimated that goods in the works would be seized to satisfy the law.

Those who have read the PRESENT TRUTH regularly for some time will recognise this experience as essentially the same as has come recently to observers of the Sabbath in Europe and the colonies, and also in America. It is the working of the same spirit, and the way in which the demand for the enforcement of Sunday laws has suddenly developed so fully in all the world is evidence that one mind is behind it all. For years our printing department has been running every Sunday as on other week-days, but all at once it is decided that the Sunday must be recognised-that having kept the Sabbath of the Lord that department of our work must, to a degree, also pay homage to the institution which has been established in opposition to the Sabbath. Of course this cannot be done.

Expressions of sympathy have come to us from every side-from very many who, while not prepared to recognise the seventh day as the Sabbath, yet recognise the fact that whatever seeks to compel by force the recognition of religious institutions is of the very spirit of the Papacy, and not of the Lord who said, "If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not." John xii. 47.

First of all, let us say that we have no grievance, and no complaints to make against majorities or authorities. Of course fair-minded persons naturally sympathise with those whom they believe to be treated unjustly. But the Lord has not set the believer in the world to contend for his rights, nor to demand justice of the world. The Christian is not concerned with his personal rights. The Divine right of the Lord Jesus Christ to his personal service is the only right he cannot surrender. When the laws of men demand this surrender, he can only say, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." And if men choose to judge that the word of man must stand, the Christian can only speak the word of God and submit his property, his person, or, if to the glory of God, his life. All these things pass away, and amount to nothing, but the word of God stands fast for ever and ever.

Therefore by the principles of the Gospel, to testify to which we are brought to the courts, we disavow all thoughts of urging any complaint or grievance, or inviting personal sympathy. We invite all who have ears to hear to listen to what God says in His word. These things which are coming in all the world, and to which Seventh-day Adventists have been looking forward for over forty years, simply show that the prophetic word is being fulfilled, and that God calls upon all men to search and see whether they are prepared to stand upon the word of God, and remain loyal to God's law when the wrath of the enemy seeks to turn men away from God into sin and disloyalty. Rev. xii. 17.

February 28, 1895

"Interpretation" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

"Interpretation," as applied to the Scripture, means the art of attempting to reconcile the precepts of the Lord with the practices of men.

"Overcoming Evil" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

Overcoming Evil.-The Word of God tells us the only way to overcome evil,-"overcome evil with good." Rom. xii. 21. This means that we are simply to let the good in, and it will drive the evil out. By yielding to the good, we deliver a fatal blow to the evil.

"Guarding Reputation" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

Guarding Reputation.-The man who sets himself the task of jealously guarding his reputation, has a job that will last him a lifetime, and which will give them no opportunity to do anything else. He must needs keep himself informed of everything that everybody says about him, and must give diligence to correct every erroneous statement. The life of such a man must be a burden to himself; most certainly it is to everybody else.

"A Fool's Sacrifice" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

A Fool's Sacrifice.-This is a sacrifice of empty words. No defective sacrifice offered to God was acceptable, and vain words are wholly valueless. The Scripture admonishes us, "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools. . . . Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few." Eccl. v. 1, 2. A fool vows that which he does not pay; he promises what he is not able to perform (verse 4), and with this He satisfies his conscience. But God can be satisfied with nothing but reality.

"Statement and Appeal" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

It is quite well known to all readers of the daily press, as well as the readers of the PRESENT TRUTH, that on the 13th day of February, the Secretary of the International Tract Society, 59, Paternoster Row, with works at 451, Holloway Road, was, in behalf of the Society, summoned in the Clerkenwell Court, and subjected to fine and costs amounting to ?3 18s. for violation of the Factory Act, the offence being that of employing two women and one young person on Sunday. The Secretary informed the magistrate that he could not in conscience pay the fine, and was informed that goods from the works could be seized to cover the amount. So far it seems a very simple affair.

HISTORY OF THE CASE

The International Tract Society, which is the missionary Society of the Seventh-day Adventists, has been doing a publishing business at 451, Holloway Road for about six years. In all that time labour has been regularly performed on Sundays, the Sabbath being strictly observed. At various times Factory Inspectors have visited the works, and have known that Sunday was regularly used as a labouring day. No effort has been made to conceal the fact. One Inspector stated that inasmuch as no work was done on the seventh day, the intent of the Act was fully met. No action was taken with regard to the Sunday work until a few months ago an Inspector informed the manager that the employment of women or young persons in any factory on Sunday was not permitted. He stated, however, that an exception was made in the case of Jews. A form was also sent to be filled out, claiming exemption as Jews. This of course cannot be done, since Seventh-day Adventists are Christians.

After mature deliberation on the part of the Directors of the Society, it was decided that they could not in conscience require any employÈs to refrain from labour on Sunday; but in order not to seem to ignore the authorities in the matter, it was deemed best to send the following resolution and statement to the Home Office:-

In consideration of the facts that we are commanded by God to keep holy the seventh day as the Sabbath, and that we cannot so keep the day holy to the Lord while at the same time regarding the Sunday, which is a rival institution to God's Sabbath, thus yielding homage to the power which established the Sunday in opposition to the law of God and Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath; therefore be it

Resolved, That it be recorded as the mind of the Board of Directors that, having closed our office on the Sabbath, we cannot in conscience also close it to any regular employÈs on Sunday, nor can we refuse to allow such persons to work on Sunday if they desire to do so; and further

Resolved, That those in charge of departments be instructed to see that the provisions of the Factory Act are otherwise, where this principle is not involved, carefully complied with, and further

Resolved, That a statement of the case be prepared for submission to the Home Office, setting forth the reasons for this action.

THE STATEMENT

"The International Tract Society, Limited, is a Seventh-day Adventist Institution, a body whose members regard the Bible as the word of God, and as telling in plain terms our duty to our Creator. As a consequence, they observe the seventh day of the week, in obedience to the fourth commandment which says:-

"'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy works; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the

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Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.'

"By this commandment we are strictly forbidden to labour on the seventh day of the week. Not only so, but we are forbidden to recognise any other day having a religious significance, as a day of rest; for if any other such day be to any degree recognised as a rest day, the distinction between it and the true Sabbath is to that degree broken down, and therefore the Sabbath is not kept holy or separate from other days.

"The keeping of Sunday is therefore a direct violation of the fourth commandment, the day itself being a rival of the Sabbath of the Lord, brought into the church when the Pagan element gained control of it in the third and fourth centuries. We cannot therefore, without disloyalty to God, recognise Sunday in any way whatever as different from the other labouring days of the week, nor as having anything whatever in common with the Sabbath of the Lord.

"On this ground, we find it impossible to make any difference in our work on that day by requiring some of the regular employÈs to remain away from work. This statement is a result of careful consideration of all the principles involved, it is made out of respect to the authorities, so that they may not misunderstand our position, and that we may not appear to be acting evasively in the matter.

"Since the seventh day of the week is recognised as the Sabbath by the cessation of all labour, it follows that, as a matter of conscience, work cannot be performed in our factory on more than six days in the week. No consideration whatever could induce the Society to employ labour on the seventh day (from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night), nor would its employÈs consent to labour on that day if it were required. They are all conscientious in their observance of the fourth commandment, and therefore freely and gladly labour on any and all of the six working days, having rested the seventh. Each individual is free to act upon his or her own convictions as to labouring on the first day of the week; but whether they labour on that day or not, they could not by any possibility labour on more than six days in one week.

"The Directors of the International Tract Society, Limited, feel bound in conscience to observe with the utmost faithfulness every provision of the Factory Act that does not require a violation of the commandment of the Lord. In fact, the object of the Act, insofar as it seeks to guard employÈs against being overworked, is fully met, and must be, as a matter of conscience, even if there were no such Act, since the seventh day must be strictly observed, and since, as Christians, and followers of Him who said, 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,' we are bound to do all that may be pointed out as necessary for the safety and health of those employed; but to recognise Sunday as in any way whatever different from other working days, by ceasing a portion of our work on that day, we may not do, since it would be sin against God."

This was evidently taken as a request for permission to labour on Sundays, and a letter was received from the Chief Inspector, stating his regret that the law made no provision for Seventh-day Adventists. The following Sunday an Inspector visited the works, and found all the hands at work as usual, and in due time a summons was issued, with the result above stated.

THE OFFICE

These statements are made, not for the purpose of eliciting sympathy, but that the readers may fully understand the case, and appreciate what will follow. Without the above statements the reader could not see exactly what is the real offence in this case. For what was the Society, in the person of the Managing Director, convicted? We will first state what it was not for.

It was not for working employÈs overtime. The employÈs labour only fifty-four hours a week, having a half-holiday on Fridays, and doing absolutely no work on the seventh day of the week, when the establishment is strictly closed.

It was not for insanitary surroundings, nor for endangering the lives of employÈs by unprotected machinery; for the Inspector bore witness to the healthfulness of the conditions under which labour is performed.

For what, then, was the conviction?-Solely for employing certain hands on Sunday, after they had rested on the seventh day of the week. It was purely a question of Sunday work.

It should further be stated that these persons are not employed against their will, for that since they conscientiously observe the seventh day, they desire to work on Sunday. To compel them to desist from work on Sunday would be to deprive them of one-sixth of their earnings, since no consideration would induce them to labour on the Sabbath.

It is evident, therefore, that no plea of humanity can be urged for the enforcement of the Factory Act in this instance. On the contrary, its enforcement would be a positive injury to the employÈs whom it seeks to compel to desist from work on Sundays. The sole issue is over the Sunday. It is not a question of protecting labourers, but protecting the Sunday. And now with the facts before us, we may proceed to consider

THE REAL POINT AT ISSUE

The following extract from the Daily Globe, will suffice as a text to show how utterly the real issue is misunderstood:-

However, they would not allow that they were Jews, even in the legal sense, and the English laws do not provide for anybody else being allowed to work on Sundays. The magistrate fined the Society, as he was bound to fine it, but the Secretary explained that the tender consciences of the Directors would not permit them to pay the money, in spite of Mr. Bros' suggestion that the law was likely to prove too strong for them in the end. We will venture to suggest to these worthy people that they had better keep Sunday as well as Saturday, till they can get the law altered, or they will find that the fines will amount to a good deal more than the profits on Sundays.

The question, Why not yield to the law until it can be altered? covers the whole ground, and we will answer it in detail.

THE COMMANDMENT

In a word we may answer the above question by saying that we are positively forbidden to do so. Here is a higher law, which admits of no exception:-

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

This commandment requires us to keep holy the seventh day. "To hallow" and "to sanctify" are the same thing, both terms being a translation of one and the same Hebrew word. Consequently the following rendering of the fourth commandment, found in Deut. v. 12, is identical with that in Ex. xx. 8. "Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it."

MEANING OF "SANCTIFY"

In the account of the preparation for the giving of the fourth commandment we have the word "sanctify" perfectly illustrated. The Lord told Moses to set bounds about the mountain upon which the Lord was coming down, so that the people should not approach it. Accordingly, after Moses

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had ascended the mountain to meet the Lord, and the Lord again charged him to warn the people against coming near the mountain, "Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it." Ex. xix. 23.

From this we learn that the mountain was "sanctified" by being set off from all the surrounding country. The ground that was made sacred by the presence of the Lord was so clearly distinguished from the rest, but nobody had any excuse for not recognising the difference. To sanctify, therefore, or to hallow, means to keep a thing separate and distinct from everything else.

Apply this now to the Sabbath. The commandment says that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and charges us to sanctify it or to keep it holy. We are to keep it separate from other days, by doing none of our own work upon it, while upon the other six days we are charged to do with our might whatsoever our hands finds to do. The great and essential difference between the Sabbath and other days is that it is a rest day, while they are labouring days. If now we should labour on the Sabbath the same as on other days, it is very evident that we should not sanctify it. We should be putting no difference between it and ordinary days. But suppose, on the other hand, that we should rest upon the seventh day, and should also regularly rest upon another day as well; it must be just as evident that in this case we should also be breaking down the distinction between the Sabbath and other days. In other words, we should not be sanctifying the Sabbath. So far as our action was concerned, no one would be able to tell which day is the Sabbath.

Now the reader can see why we cannot keep Sunday as well as the Sabbath, pending some proposed alteration to be considered later on. Just as true worship of the true God is impossible while also worshipping another god, so it is impossible to keep the Sabbath of the Lord according to the commandment, and at the same time regard another day. The commandment which tells us to sanctify the Sabbath day,-the Sabbath of the Lord,-thereby forbids us to give to any other day any of the honour which belongs alone to the Sabbath.

Let it be understood that there is no controversy with those who may not think that the fourth commandment is to be strictly and literally regarded. They are free to think and act as they choose. We are simply taking the commandment as it reads, remembering the words of Christ, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke xvi. 17. By the commandment we are positively forbidden to recognise Sunday as in any way whatever different from Monday or Tuesday. This is why we cannot keep Sunday as well as the Sabbath, whether for a few weeks or for ever.

THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW

"But," it will be urged, "the dignity of the law must be maintained, and it must be enforced; you must not expect that the law can be set aside to suit your ideas; and surely as Christians it is your duty to obey the law, and not to defy it."

Very good; and in reply we have this to say. First, we by no means expect or desire that any exception should be made to meet our ideas. A law that is not good for everybody and at all times, is not good for anything. Second, we recognise the fact that the Christian, of all persons, must respect the law, and must by no means defy it. "He that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God; and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment." Rom. xiii. 2, R.V. God forbid that we should ever be found in a position of defiance or opposition to any earthly Government.

Here, however, is a point which our friends who have so kindly advised us, seem not to have thought of. While we are upholding the majesty of the law, shall we ignore the claims of the law of God? Is English law superior to the law of God? We yield to no one in respect to the English Government and its law; but we are bound to regard the Government of God, and His laws, as higher still. It is not that we regard English law less, but that we regard the law of God more. Let us put the case squarely: Here is a man who acknowledges that there is a God who is above all, and who has laws; now what becomes of this acknowledgement if, when he talks about the majesty of the law, he sets the laws of men above the laws of God?

Let it be understood then, that this is not a case of opposition to the civil law, but of reverence for the law of God. But here is a case where the civil law directly opposes the law of God. We are forced therefore to say to the rulers, as did the apostles, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." Acts iv. 19. The controversy is not between us and Government, but between Government and a law of God.

As before stated, we are bound to obey the law of the land no matter what sacrifice of money or convenience. But this is

NOT A QUESTION OF CONVENIENCE

but solely one of loyalty to God's law. Our adviser has said that if we do not change our course we shall find that the fines will amount to much more than the profits on Sundays. Very likely; but that has nothing to do with the case. If no principle were involved, then it would be simple stubbornness not to give way; but where principle is at stake, then inconvenience or profit has no place. Our duty is clear. We must obey God, and we must not resist the laws of the land. If therefore the laws of the land come in conflict with the law of God, we must take the consequences, whatever they may be.

We have shown that it is impossible for us to keep the Sunday as well as the Sabbath until the law is altered; let us now say a few words as to the fact itself of

GETTING THE LAW ALTERED

Our friends would have us make an appeal to the Government to have an exception made in our favour, permitting us to labour on Sunday without molestation. But this we cannot do. Why not?-Simply because such a course would be insulting both to God and to Parliament. How so? Thus: God Himself has already not only given us permission to labour on the first day of the week, but has commanded us to make a difference between it and His rest day. Surely anybody can see that it would be an insult to Him for us to ask men for permission to obey Him. It would be holding Him inferior to men. It would be to exalt Parliament above God, saying, "We wish to obey the Lord, but we cannot think of doing so without your permission." Or, it would be the same as saying, "Will you not allow us to keep the commandment of the Lord, and protect us in so doing?" would not the infidel well retort, "What kind of a God do you serve? If you have to

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appeal to men to protect you in His service, you would do better to forsake Him, and to serve the men in whom you trust."

Again, to appeal to Parliament to change the law in our favour, would be an insult to it, for that would imply that if the permission were not granted we would not obey the Lord's commandment; and this alternative could by no means follow. To ask permission to keep the commandment and at the same time to say that if the permission were not granted we should obey it just the same, would be the height of disrespect. So we are not allowed to take any steps toward inducing the Government to make any change in its laws, further than may be done by the simple statement of the truth.

Let us repeat that our personal convenience cuts no figure whatever in the affair. Really, the case concerns the people of England. To whom we appeal, far more than it does us. And let it be further understood that we make this appeal not in our own behalf, but in theirs. It is not that we may be saved from inconvenience or pecuniary loss, but that they, or at least some, may be saved from taking sides against God, in opposing His law.

RIGHTS AND RIGHT

Let it also be distinctly understood that we do not arraign the Government in this matter. We do not question its right to make whatever laws it chooses. Christ said, "If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not," thus giving to every man perfect freedom to believe and obey, or not, just as he pleases, and throwing upon him the responsibility of his own choice. That is to say, The Lord gives to every man the right to do wrong, and to suffer the consequences. The privilege that He grants to one man, he grants to all, and to every combination of men. Therefore Governments have the privilege, granted them by God, even to oppose Him if they choose. But the consequences of such choice must be faithfully set before them.

God gives to every man the right to set himself and his rights up against His Creator, but lets him know that such a course is most wrong. The part of the true follower of God is to refuse to choose for himself, and to allow God to choose his way for him; to claim no rights for himself, but to regard the right only of God to his undivided service. While the men of the world may be concerned about his rights, the Christian can be concerned only about what is right.

One has said that the members of the Society are likely to find that the law will "be too strong for them in the end." From one point of view, that may be the case. But it is impossible that the law should be too strong for the commandment of God, and on that we stand. That Word is settled for ever, and he who stands upon it is safe, even though he lose his life.

OFFICIAL RESPONSIBILITY

It is often the case that officers of the law excuse themselves for executing a law which they know to be wrong, and seek to absolve themselves from all responsibility in the matter, by saying, "You know that we are bound to enforce the law; we do not like to do it, but we cannot help ourselves."

That is a mistake. Nobody is forced to do wrong. Nobody can shield himself under the mantle of the Government. "Every man shall give account of himself to God." The men who make the laws are individually responsible to God for their action. If they exercise their right to do wrong, they will as individuals have to bear the responsibility.

The officers of all are in the same position of individual responsibility. Lowell has well and quaintly put it,

"If you take a sword and dror it,
And go stick a feller thru,
Gov'ment aint to answer for it;
God'll send the bill to you."

God has said, "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." Multitudes joined together in any wrong course, do not make it right, and do not lessen the responsibility of each individual. The official is in the same relation to the law as the private citizen. If Government commands him to do a thing that is unjust, he must say, "We must obey God rather than men," and abide whatever may result. Governments cannot absolve any man, whether he be an official or a private person, from allegiance to God.

"ACTING CONSCIENTIOUSLY"

When the magistrate imposed the fine upon the Secretary of the Society, he very graciously added that he had no doubt but that they were acting conscientiously. Now, reader, whether you are a judge or a private citizen, let me ask you a question. Suppose there was a thing which you conscientiously regarded as a matter of vital principle, but the law forbade it, under penalty; Would you stifle your conscience, in order to escape the penalty? or would you be true to your conscience, let the consequences be what they might? Let every man answer this for himself.

The freedom of England is a matter of boast; but if there had not been scores and hundreds of men and women in England in time past who would rather suffer death and do what they were convinced was wrong, liberty would not be found in England to-day even in the dictionary. The very name of it would be forgotten. We have need to beware lest, while we build the tombs of the prophets and martyrs, we give evidence that we are the children of those who killed them. We cannot honour those noble men, no matter how much we boast of their deeds, if we basely yield our consciences into the keeping of another.

PARLIAMENT AND CONSCIENCE

The Inspector who conducted the prosecution of the Society for Sunday work, referred to the fact that it was a matter of conscience, but said, "Parliament cannot make a law to fit every individual conscience," and all seemed to think that that settled the matter. "But," our friends say to us, "do you really think it can?" We reply, No; and therefore it cannot, in justice, legislate with regard to anybody's conscience, since to do so is for it to commit sin, and to attempt to force others to sin.

The idea that a man ought to make his conscience bow to the law of the State, is a most pernicious one. It is to say that the State is the keeper of conscience. It is to make of the State a gigantic priest who shall dole out the measure of faith to every man. It is to say that a man has no business to have any conscience of his own, or even to think anything different from what the men at the head of the Government prescribe for him to think. In short, it is to make a god of the State, and even to set it above God, since God Himself does not seek to compel any man's mind or conscience. Englishmen are justly very jealous of the encroachments of Popery; but if a man must submit his conscience in the keeping of another, what difference does it make whether that other sits in the Vatican or in Westminster?

But after all, to come back to the main point, this is

NOT MERELY A QUESTION OF CONSCIENCE,

nor of interpretation of Scripture, but of fact. The fourth commandment plainly says that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," and there is no interpretation to it. Interpretation is needed only for those things that are obscure; but this language is very plain. It is not a question of how we understand a portion of Scripture, but of whether or not we believe and will obey it. And we do not make any demand that Parliament shall pay any regard to our conscience; but we do ask the people of England, high and low, to have regard for their own conscience, and remember that the word of God is the only true guide of it.

CHRIST OR ANTICHRIST?

But the crowning point of all is that this question is in reality a question of loyalty to Christ. We will avoid everything like involved argument, and will simply make a few statements that a child can follow.

Speaking of Christ, the beloved disciple said, "Whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." 1 John ii. 5, 6. To be a Christian means to do as Christ did, and not to do differently. There is but one standard of Christianity, and that is Christ.

But Christ did not change the Sabbath. On the contrary, He kept the seventh-day Sabbath of the commandment, the same day that the Jews regarded. How may you know this? Search the Scriptures, and see for yourself. The fact that in the whole of the New Testament there is not the slightest hint of any change in the day of the Sabbath, is sufficient evidence that the Scripture warrants no change in the practice.

Further, you will find the term "Sabbath" used many times in the New Testament, and invariably with reference to the seventh day of the week, the original Sabbath. But the Scripture was written by holy men under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God. It was written as the guide for Christians. Its language is the language which the Holy Spirit has given for Christians. Therefore the only Christian name for the seventh day is the Sabbath, and the only Sabbath for Christians is the seventh day.

But in the lack of time just at the present to read the New Testament through in order to find the absence of Sunday, let us read one or two impartial statements, since they are from men who believe in Sunday.

Rev. Isaac Williams, B.D., late Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, in a book entitled, "Plain Sermons on the Catechism," published by Longmans, Green & Co., makes the following candid admissions:-

In the first place we are commanded to keep holy the seventh day: but yet we do not think it necessary to keep the seventh day holy; for the seventh day is Saturday. It may be said that we keep the first day instead; but surely this is not the same thing; the first day cannot be the seventh day; and where are we told in Scripture that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day.-p. 334.

On the next page but one he says that a difficulty to be explained is "how it is that the observance of the seventh day is done away with, although there is no warrant in Holy Scripture for doing so," and gives the following answer:-

The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the Church, has enjoined it.

The writer of the above seems to represent that branch of the Church of England that does not sympathise with Rome; going to the other branch, we find that Canon Knox-Little, in his book on "Sacerdotalism," in which he argues in favour of Romish practices, against the Evangelical portion of the Church of England, says:-

Well, as to certain specific statements of Scripture which are said to forbid the teaching of fasting communion. What are they? The palmary argument of opponents is that our Lord instituted the Blessed Sacrament "after supper." It is difficult to believe that fairly instructed persons who use this argument are in earnest, and sincerely believe what they say. It would be just as sensible to argue that you are a "sacerdotalist" for observing the Lord's day, instead of observing the Jewish Saturday. It is certain that our Lord when on earth did observe Saturday, and did not observe Sunday; but no one, as far as I know, has ever been called a "sacerdotalist" for departing from His undoubted habit of "resting the seventh day."-p. 75.

And again:-

Their effort strictly to adhere to our Lord's example to the letter, in spite of the usage of the Church, implies that they know better what our Lord desired than His Church. If they are consistent, as I have said, they must keep Saturday, not Sunday, as the day of rest.-p. 93.

Here the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is shown to be the crucial test whether with Rome or against her. It is not only admitted that the seventh day, commonly called Saturday, is the only Bible Sabbath, but it is shown that disregarding it involves the acceptance of the ceremonies and authority of Rome.

Now since Christ did not change the Sabbath, but kept it, it necessarily follows that His church did not and cannot change the Sabbath, but must keep it.

"THE CHURCH" AND THE SABBATH

But the church did change its practice in regard to the Sabbath. Yes, that is true, and thereby "the church" proclaimed itself not the Church of Christ, but anti-Christian. Let us read "the church's" own testimony on this point.

In "A Sure Way to Find Out the True Religion," by Rev. T. Baddely, a Catholic priest, I read:-

Lastly, the keeping holy the Sunday is a thing absolutely necessary to salvation; and yet this is nowhere put down in the Bible; on the contrary, the Bible says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Ex. xx. 8), which is Saturday, and not Sunday; therefore the Bible does not contain all things necessary to salvation, and, consequently, cannot be a sufficient rule of faith.

In a book which was written in 1801, entitled, "The End of Religious Controversy," consisting of a series of letters by the Rt. Rev. John Milner, addressed to Rev. Dr. Burgess, Lord Bishop of St. David's, in answer to his lordship's Protestant Catechism, I find the following:-

The first precept in the Bible is that of sanctifying the seventh day: "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." Gen. ii. 3. This precept was confirmed by God in the Ten Commandments: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. xx. On the other hand, Christ declares that He is not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. Matt. v. 17. He Himself observed the Sabbath; and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Luke iv. 16. His disciples likewise observed it after His death: They rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Luke xxiii. 56. Yet, with all this weight of Scripture authority for keeping the Sabbath or seventh day holy, Protestants, of all denominations, make this a profane day, and transfer the obligation of it to the first day of the week, or the Sunday. Now what authority have they for doing this? None at all, but the unwritten word, or tradition of the Catholic Church, which declares that the apostles made the change in honour of Christ's resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, on the first day of the week.-Page 89.

This is simple fact. It is true that Protestants generally suppose that they are following the example of the apostles in observing the Sunday, but the fact is that the Bible gives no warrant for such a supposition. The Roman Catholic Church is the only authority for it.

Once more; in "A Plain Talk about the Protestantism of To-day," I find the following very plain language:-

It is worth its while to remember that this observance of the Sabbath-in which, after all, the only Protestant worship consist-not only has

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no foundation in the Bible, but is in flagrant contradiction with its letter, which commands rest on the Sabbath, which is Saturday. It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage which they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church.

It will be noticed that these Catholic statements concerning the Sabbath and the Bible are precisely the same as those previously quoted from Protestant writers.

THE "MAN OF SIN"

Bear in mind two things. First, Christ did not change the Sabbath, and neither He nor the Holy Spirit ever authorised anybody else to do so.

Second, It was "the church" which arrogated to itself the right and power to do that which Jesus Christ declared that He would not do, and which could not by any possibility be done. Therefore we may add to these two points a

Third, namely, that in presuming to make that change, "the church" put itself above the Lord. The doing of it was the sign of apostasy. For bear in mind also the fact that the Sabbath has never been changed, and never could be changed. God's law is as unchangeable as His throne; but the people have changed.

This apostasy was thus foretold by the Apostle Paul who said that before the coming of the Lord there should be "a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God setting himself forth as God." 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. In presuming to change the practice of Sabbath-keeping, contrary to the commandment of God and the practice of Jesus Christ, "the church" has confessedly fulfilled this Scripture. Not only so, but the State in attempting to enforce the observance of Sunday, puts itself in the very same place, namely, above and against God.

It matters not that this has been

DONE IN IGNORANCE

It is truly said that in proscribing labour on Sunday the Government had no thought of invading anybody's religious convictions. That is why we make this appeal, in order that those who have been led into a wrong course with no evil motive may have opportunity to clear themselves from all complicity in it. An evil is none the less an evil because it is done unintentionally. As much damage may be caused by an infant playing with matches as by an incendiary. But remember that when we speak of the evil, we have not the slightest reference to any inconvenience that we may suffer from the law. Our appeal is

First, to the officers of the law. Will you, for the sake of a position, consent to be the agents of the man of sin? Will you be a party to opposition to God?

Second, to the people generally. Will you, for fear of loss of earthly gain or reputation, follow the Papacy instead of Christ?

ENGLAND AND ROME

There is much talk just now as to Rome's influence in England. Remember this, that separation from the Word of God is in itself union with Rome. A partial Reformation was effected in the days of Wycliffe and Tyndal, by means of the Word of God. As the result of giving the Bible to the people in their own tongue, and teaching them to read it for themselves, England shook off the papal yoke, and became free. The emancipation was never complete, because the Word was not followed fully; but it is a fact that England's present freedom from paying tribute to a foreign ecclesiastical power is due solely to the Bible. Individual liberty is the basis of all liberty. No State gives freedom to its subjects, but the State becomes free in proportion as the men composing it are free. Individual liberty through the Word of God led to the emancipation of England from vassalage to the Pope of Rome. Disregard of that word will rivet the chains again. Therefore this is not by any means primarily a question for the Government, but one for individual consideration. What will you do about it? Men are free only as the truth in Christ makes them free. Will you then choose the freedom of Christ, or the bondage of anti-christ?

ASKED TO DENY CHRIST

One point more may serve to bring close home the fact that this question is, so far as we are concerned, solely one of loyalty to Christ. As stated before, the law does not provide for any but Jews to be allowed to work on Sunday. Why it is right for Jews to work on Sunday, and wrong for Christians, has never been made clear; but we will pass that. The fact is, that if the Directors of the International Tract Society had been willing to sign a paper declaring that they were Jews, they would have been allowed to labour on Sundays unmolested. That is to say, all that was required of them was that they should deny Christ. So that, in very truth, the Society, in the person of its Secretary, has been fined in the Clerkenwell Court for refusing to deny Christ. We simply ask our fellow-Christians, Would you do it at the demand of the State?

This is not a matter of small importance. It is a good deal more than a question of a few pounds, or the convenience of a few people. It resolves itself simply into this, which every man should ask himself in all seriousness, "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?"

"The Two Hopes" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

Speaking of Spiritualism, and its professed manifestations of the spirits of the dead to the living, Professor Barrett, of the Royal College of Science, Dublin, wrote:-

I know and rejoice in the blessing Spiritualism has been to my own faith, and to that of several dear friends of mine. Moreover, I cordially recognise the fact that in bereavement and deep distress numbers have been cheered and consoled by the hope that Spiritualism has set before them.

But how different the hope which Spiritualism professes to give from that set forth in the word of God! "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. . . . . For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. iv. 13-16.

"What There Is in It" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

It is not alone in this country that civil pains and penalties are being imposed upon people who feel conscientiously bound to sanctify the seventh and not the first day of the week. What is just beginning here in this direction, has in some other countries attained a considerable degree of development, and exhibits more clearly the nature and purpose of the movement.

What it has become in one country, it will soon become in every other where it is inaugurated; for the elements

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which enter into it and direct it are the same in all lands. We have already noticed in recent issues the fining and imprisonment of the manager of the Seventh-day Adventist publishing house in Basel, Switzerland, for Sunday work, and later news from that country states that nearly the entire adult membership of one church of Sabbath-keepers there is under arrest, for refusing to send their children to the public school on the seventh day.

Until recently the Canton law gave them the privilege of keeping their children at home on the Sabbath, but now this privilege has been taken away, and although they have made every effort short of a compromise of religious principle to adjust themselves to the situation, even offering to hire the State teachers to give their children extra lessons in compensation for absence from school on the Sabbath, they have met nothing but refusal from the authority; and now, as stated, they are to suffer confiscation of property or imprisonment, or both, for refusing to obey a law that is contrary to the fourth commandment.

The movement is, in its nature and necessary consequences, the same in all countries. It is one which, while it begins with light penalties and mild admonitions, has in it the imprisoning of conscientious Christians who, while careful to conform to all governmental requirements not contrary to the Divine rule of life, feel that it is better to face the wrath of man than the wrath of God. And it has more than this; for in this controversy between the word of God and the powers that have arrayed themselves against it, there is no half-way ground of compromise, or of satisfaction for either side.

The word of God makes no compromise, and a great deceiver who is moving the powers of earth to stand in opposition to God's word, will not stop with any half-way measures against those who hold to and proclaim it. As milder measures fail, the penalties imposed will assume the harshest forms; and death has never been thought too severe a punishment for "heretics" by those who have the power and the disposition to oppose them with the penalties of civil law. And this is what the movement has within it, as shown by history and indicated by the logic of existing facts.

"The Papacy. The Workings of the Papacy" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

In our study of the seventh chapter of Daniel, we have been brought to the 25th verse, describing the character and work of the power that was to arise among the divisions of the Roman Empire.

"And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change the times and the law." Dan. vii. 25, R.V.

We will consider the specifications in detail.

"GREAT WORDS"

1. "He shall speak great words against the Most High." It is a notorious fact that the Pope is styled the "Vicar of the Son of God," indicating that He fills the office of Christ. Paul, speaking of the Papacy, which he calls the "man of sin" (2 Thess. ii. 3, 4), says that he "exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped." This is a parallel to Dan. vii. 25. It is fulfilled in the Pope's claim to have power to grant indulgences, a thing which God Himself has never promised to do. Further, it is fulfilled in the papal dogma of infallibility. This dogma was ratified by the council of 1870, and the following is a portion of the decree:-

"And since by the Divine right of apostolic primacy the Roman pontiff is placed over the universal church, we further teach and declare that he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all causes, the decision of which belongs to the church, recourse may be had to his tribunal, and that none may re-open the judgment of the apostolic see, than whose authority there is no greater, nor can any lawfully review its judgment."-The Vatican Decrees.

Although this dogma was ratified in 1870, it has been held for centuries, as is shown by the following monstrous assertion in one of the Roman decretals:-

"If the Pope should become neglectful of his own salvation, and of that of other men, and so lost to all good that he draw down with himself innumerable people by heaps into hell, and plunge them with himself into the eternal torment, yet no mortal man may presume to reprehend him, for as much as he is judge of all, and to be judged of no one."

Monsignor Capel, who was private chaplain to Pope Pius IX., in a pamphlet entitled, "The Pope; the Vicar of Christ; the Head of the Church," gives a list of titles and appellations that have been given to the Pope in various church documents, and from this list we select the following:-

"Most Divine Head of all Heads."

"Holy Father of Fathers, Pontiff Supreme over all Prelates."

"The Chief Pastor; Pastor of Pastors."

"Christ by Unction."

"Melchizedek in Order."

"High Priest, Supreme Bishop."

"Key-Bearer of the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Supreme Chief; Most powerful Word."

"Vicar of Christ."

"Sovereign Bishop of Bishops."

"Ruler of the House of the Lord."

"Apostolic Lord and Father of Fathers."

"Chief Pastor and Teacher and Physician of Souls."

"Rock, against which the proud Gates of Hell prevail not."

"Infallible Pope."

"Head of all the Holy Priests of God."

"Chief of the Universal Church."

"Bishop of Bishops, that is, Sovereign Pontiff."

These titles, and many others equally blasphemous, including "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah," the Pope receives as his own by right. In our own enlightened age, this title has been given to Pope Leo XIII., by his servile flatterers, in whose eyes "His Holiness" is a divine being. No other power on earth has ever so opposed and exalted itself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that the Pope sitteth in the temple of God, "setting himself

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forth as God." 2 Thess. 2:4, R.V.

WEARING OUT THE SAINTS

2. "And shall wear out the saints of the Most High." When we come to this particular, the evidence is overwhelming. Both time and language would fail to do justice to the matter. Prominent among Papal atrocities is the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day. On the 24 th of August, 1572, was begun in Paris one of the most horrible, cold-blooded massacres that history records,-that of the Huguenots. The king himself, Charles IX., took part in it, shooting down many of those who were attempting to escape the fury of his soldiers. The number slain throughout France on this occasion is placed by the best authorities at seventh thousand. To show Rome's connection with the massacre, we quote the following from Wylie:-

"At Rome, when the news arrived, the joy was boundless. The messenger who carried the despatch was rewarded like one who brings tidings of some great victory, and the triumph that followed was such as old Pagan Rome might have been proud to celebrate. . . . Through the streets of the Eternal City swept, in the full blaze of pontifical pomp, Gregory and his attendant train of cardinals, bishops, and monks, to the Church of St. Mark, there to offer up prayers and thanksgiving to the see of Rome and the Roman Catholic Church. . . . On the following day the pontiff went in procession to the Church of Minerva, where, after mass, a jubilee was published to all Christendom, 'that they might thank God for the slaughter of the enemies of the church, lately executed in France.'"-History of Protestantism, book 17, chap. 16, paragraph 15.

But the saints were to be worn out. This implies more than outright slaughter. We quote one paragraph from the account of the imprisonment of the Waldenses, when, at the command of Louis XIV., who was the obedient servant of the Pope, they had been driven from their valleys:-

"We know not if ever before an entire nation were in prison at once. Yet now it was so. All of the Waldensian race that remained from the sword of their executioners were immured in the dungeons of Piedmont! . . . And how were they treated in prison? As the African slave was treated on the 'middle passage.' They had a sufficiency of neither food nor clothing. The bread dealt out to them was fetid. They had putrid water to drink. They were exposed to the sun by day and to the cold at night. They were compelled to sleep on the bare pavement, or on straw so full of vermin that the stone floor was preferable. Disease broke out in these horrible abodes, and the mortality was fearful. 'When they entered these dungeons,' says Henri Armand, 'they counted fourteen thousand healthy mountaineers, but when, at the intercession of the Swiss deputies, their prisons were opened, three thousand skeletons only crawled out.'"-Wylie.

In the above instance we see how an entire nation was literally worn out, yet we have scarcely more than hinted at the atrocities visited upon the innocent Waldenses.

In his speech a fortnight ago in the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury, when he vainly endeavoured to keep the House from practically condemning those Spanish churches which have separated from the Church of Rome in Spain, Archdeacon Farrar quoted the words of the eminent Roman Catholic historian, the Comte de Montalembert, who said of the Spanish Church:-

"On the day that it began to try and crush and persecute Jews, Moors, and Protestants, then all discussion, inquiry, and research, and initiative, and all liberty of conscience-all was lost."

Continuing, Archdeacon Farrar remarked:-

"It was the Church of Torquemada and Deza; in which between 1491 and 1798, 32,000 'heretics' many of whom were holy men and women, were burned, and 296,000 tortured, imprisoned, and ruined. It was the church in which, at the very time when she was blackening the skies of Spain with the Tophet smoke of burning saints, the lives of the priests were so grossly licentious that Rome had to suppress for very shame the commission of inquiry, which she herself had appointed to look into the horrible abuses of her own confessional. Had the Church of Rome repented of these things? Had she ever disowned her Inquisition? No. . . . In 1882 the Dominican Monsabre openly defended the Inquisition in the pulpit of Notre Dame."

How many millions of martyrs have been put to death in the name of Christianity, by that most unchristian and antichristian power, the Papacy, will never be known until the dead, small and great, stand before God. In this way, perhaps, more than by its wonderful pretensions and blasphemous titles, has the Papacy spoken great words against the Most High; because, since it professes to be Christian, it has caused the enemies of Christ to revile the Christian religion, which they ignorantly supposed to be responsible for so many outrages. The Papacy has done more to make infidels than all other causes combined.

AGAINST GOD'S LAW

3. "And think to change times and laws." The Papacy has not hesitated to lay impious hands even upon the laws of God, and has remodeled the ten commandments to suit herself. To allow for her image worship, she has expunged the main portion of the second commandment, adding the remainder to the first, and has divided the tenth in order to make the number good. She also openly boasts of having changed the fourth commandment, as the following will show:-

The first question of chapter 23 of "The Catholic Christian Instructed" is this:-

"What are the days which the church commands to be kept holy?"

And the answer is:-

"1 st , The Sundays, or the Lord's day, which we observe by apostolical tradition, instead of the Sabbath," etc.

Again the question is asked:-

"What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday, preferable to the ancient Sabbath, which was the Saturday?

"Answer-We have for it the authority of the Catholic Church, and apostolical tradition."

It may be said that there is no undue assumption of authority here, since "apostolical tradition" is given as the reason for the church's celebration of Sunday instead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. But the Catholic Church does not claim that it has any warrant from the Bible for its practice. The next question is:-

"Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for the Sabbath?"

In answer to this, reference is made to three passages of Scripture, in which the first day of the week is mentioned, and then the answer continues:-

"But neither one nor the other tells us that this first day of the week was to be henceforward the day of worship, and the Christian Sabbath, so that truly, the best authority we have for this is the testimony and ordinance of the church. And therefore those who pretend to be so religious observers of the Sunday, whilst they take no notice of other festivals ordained by the same church authority, show that they act by humour, and not by reason and religion; since Sundays and holy days all stand upon the same foundation, viz., the ordinance of the church."

The Catholic Church claims that it has made the change by its own authority, thus arrogating to itself the power

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to undo the decrees of God. That it does expressly set itself above the Bible, is further shown by the following from "A Sure Way to Find Out the True Religion:"-

"Lastly, the keeping holy the Sunday is a thing absolutely necessary to salvation; and yet this is nowhere put down in the Bible; on the contrary, the Bible says, 'Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy' (Ex. 20:8), which is Saturday, and not Sunday; therefore, the Bible does not contain all things necessary to salvation, and, consequently, cannot be a sufficient rule of faith."-Pp. 95, 96.

But the Bible is a more sure and sufficient guide in all things. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. iii. 16. 17. "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Prov. xxx. 5, 6. Whatever varies in the slightest degree from the Scripture standard, must be wrong. He who adds to His words will be found to be a liar. Now, since the Papacy does add to the words of the Lord, and boasts of its power to do so, it follows that it is one with that sytem of religion of which Paul says that its votaries "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." Rom. i. 25. It puts a man in the place of God, and boasts of its power to change the words of God, and to command the consciences of men, contrary to the decrees of God; and thus it exalts itself above God. What greater words could be spoken against the Most High?

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

-A Vienna telegram states that twenty persons were frozen to death in Galicia, on February 18 and 19.

-The German Reichstag passed without debate, a resolution for the repeal of the banishment laws against Jesuits.

-Several witnesses have given evidence before the Turkish Commission at Muesli of the massacring of children in Armenia.

-A telegram from Hong Kong status that 2,000 soldiers are reported to have been killed in an explosion at Takao in Formosa.

-The Paris correspondent of the Chronicle states that a judgment given in the Court of Cassation has finally decided that bull-fighting is illegal in France.

-It is announced from Rome that active negotiations have taken place between Italy and Germany with a view to securing the adhesion of Russia to the Triple Alliance.

-Communications received from the Universities Mission to Central Africa give an alarming account of the locust plague and famine in the Bonde country. An argent appeal is made for help.

-A trial in Paris showed that a bullet does not penetrate a wall of snow six feet thick from a distance of fifty yards, while it would pass through thick earthworks and trees from a much greater distance.

-Rumours have reached Auckland, New Zealand, from Samoa that German warships will arrive there in May next, in order to subjugate and disarm the natives, the Germans afterwards exercising the sole control over the islands. No mention is, however, made of annexation.

-The average annual circulation of Bibles in Russia, by the British and Foreign Bible Society, is over 600,000 copies. In Germany the Society circulates nearly 300,000, and local societies a little more. In France the total is 238,000, in Austria and Hungary 156.000, and in Italy 169,000. The Society employs 106 colporteurs and hawkers in Russia and Siberia, 30 in Germany, 43 in France, 64 in Austria, and 87 in Italy.

-Deposits of saltpetre that promise to be the most valuable yet discovered have been found in Cape Colony. They are said to bo true potassium nitrate, which is one of the chief ingredients of gunpowder and is worth over ?16 a ton. The principal supply at present is from Chile, but the Chile saltpetre has to undergo a costly chemical process before use. The dryness of the South African climate is supposed to account for the richness of the latest find, which, it is stated, will reduce the price of the mineral one-half.

-A Bill has been introduced in the Senate of Tennessee to punish lynchings and mob violence. The Bill provides "that the taking by force of any person from the custody of an officer or while in confinement, and the killing of such person shall be murder in the first degree. Every person connected with or composing any mob shall be guilty of murder in the first degree, likewise all persons present aiding and abetting, or willing to aid and abet, in the killing of any such persons not in the custody of an officer or some one empowered by law." It also imposes severe penalties for inciting to mob violence by voice or pen.

-Some faint idea of the meaning of war may be gathered from the following words of one who was present at one of the recent battles in Manchuria, between the Japanese and Chinese: "During the fight, possibly swing to shells, the town of Sum?ncheng was burnt to the ground, and the unfortunate inhabitants, numbering from 7,000 to 10,000 were left homeless on a bitterly cold night, there being between 30deg. and 40deg. of frost and a strong north wind blowing. What these poor people and the wounded on both sides suffered is terrible to think of. Thousands of women, children, babes and sucklings, sick and wounded men, must have perished, dying of cold and starvation. And now thousands are probably dying slowly in fearful agony of frost-bites and the results of exposure without food, without shelter."

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 9.

E. J. Waggoner

The motion in favour of the repeal of the law against the Jesuits in Germany passed its third reading in the Reichstag last week by a large majority.

The Christian Church Magazine, published in St. Leonard's-on-the-Sea, states that during 1894 the number of "confessions" heard by the clergy (Anglican) attached to that church alone, was at least 1,000. Romanism is making rapid progress in the Church of England.

The Premier has chosen Lord Acton, a Catholic, to fill the vacant chair of Regius Professor of Cambridge. He is said to be the first Catholic since the reign of James II. who has held high office in either of the great Universities. The Catholic Times is quite right in noting this as "a remarkable sign of the times." There is probably not the slightest doubt that "he is free from the defects of historians such as Mr. Froude."

Speaking in the Lower House of Convocation, on the question of securing Parliamentary aid for Church Schools, Mr. Spottiswoode said that "the Church must look about for allies, and the only powerful allies who could assist them were the Roman Catholics." The Anglican Bishop of Chester has also said recently that "he could not help feeling that in this matter the Roman Catholic body and the Church of England and the Wesleyans were naturally allies, and he hoped that the time was not far distant when an opportunity might be found of representatives of their own church and the Roman Catholic bishops coming to friendly communication and ascertaining whether they could not combine their forces." The Roman Catholics know how to make the most of such things.

In the Pope's Encyclical to the American Bishops he said:-

In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic the Church is permitted to exist and act amongst you unmolested, free from legal fetters, and protected against violence by the common law and the justice of the public tribunals.

One would think that such a state of things ought to be quite satisfactory, but not so, for Leo adds:-

But though this be true, it is well to guard against the mistake of thinking it follows that an example of the best condition of the Church can be found in America, or that it is right or expedient that the Church and State should be everywhere dissociated in the American manner.

What the Papacy desires is not equality but supremacy. It is not enough that "the Church" should be free for itself; it must have power to coerce others. And this it will have.

The Methodist Times says:-

We forget the enormous victories of Protestantism in the present century. The principles of Protestantism have now, to a great extent, established civil and religious freedom everywhere except in Russia. Liberty of conscience did not exist a hundred years ago even in England, where Clericalism was in some respects weaker than on the Continent. Now it exists legally and in theory everywhere. For the first time in human history all civilised Governments guarantee to Protestants the right to worship God without political disability, fine, or imprisonment.

Yet what calls itself Protestantism is so infected with the spirit of Rome that during the past year, and even at this very time, observers of the Sabbath have been subjected to fine or imprisonment in London, Switzerland, Australia, and America. And in America even Methodists have been so active and malignant in their use of Sunday laws against Sabbath-keepers as to call forth protests from the Catholic press.

The following from a communication to the Church Times, entitled, "Why Working Men Don't Come to Church," speaks very plainly as to the fact:-

I am a working member of the largest trade union in the world, and a member of the London Trades Council-let this be my credential. I worked in a large factory near London, employing nearly 1,000 hands, from 6 A.M. to 5:00 p.m., and have worked in London in one employing nearly 2,000, and one employing 700, and in these representative factories I have made a religious census. In the 2,000 factory I find three Roman Catholics, one Church of England, one Dissenter only. In the 700 factory, I found one Church of England, one Spiritualist. Where I am now (nearly 1,000) I find one dissenter only. I mix with, and am known to several thousands of men in London in our Society, in political societies, and factories, and yet I can assure you that it is a novelty to meet a religious man, so much so that a new man starting in a factory for the first time is sure to have somebody say to him (on a certain person passing) "there goes our religious man." This is a true picture of the state of religion in London at the present day amongst working men.

The Western Morning News reports a meeting held in Devonport to celebrate the return of a Catholic priest at the head of the poll in the School Board election. It was declared that it was a "Catholic triumph, for it was as a Catholic priest that Father Kent came before the electorate." "It was not Father Kent's personal qualities but his proud position as a Catholic priest" that made his candidature acceptable. It is not surprising that Catholics fight as Catholics for control in public affairs, for it is Rome's own way of doing; and besides, are not Nonconformists and Churchmen seeking to dominate in political and public affairs and thus doing Rome's work for her?

One of our workers in Chile, South America, sends a cutting from the Valparaiso Record giving an account of an attack upon a religious procession by a mob. The Record says:-

The incident is a sign of the times. Thirty years ago, and less, the Church demanded that every passer-by, Chilean and foreigner alike, should uncover and kneel to her processions. Now the processions are openly interrupted, the santos broken, and the priest insulted. We do not hesitate to condemn the disgraceful conduct of the mob, nor do we hesitate to blame the Church leaders for their unhappy policy.

Having taught the mob only intolerance, and having kept them from learning anything from the religion of Christ, the priests are only reaping what they have sown.

A short time ago a large audience assembled in New York to hear distinguished Catholic priests protest against open public-houses on Sunday, and declare in favour of a strict observance of the day. The priests spoke very strongly; but what they said is not so important as what was said afterwards by the Protestant religious papers. The New York Independent, after quoting from the various speeches, said:-

A warmer defence of the Sabbath has not been made by any of its friends. We thank God for such earnest speeches from our Catholic brethren.

The Christian Advocate (Methodists) said:-

We will join Catholics without reserve in the warfare against the saloon; and rejoice to accept them as allies against legalising it on Sunday.

If it were not that Luther is now almost forgotten, people would wonder what he made such a stir about a few hundred years ago.

March 7, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

The cross of Christ is that which lifts men up from the earth; and only as men are thus separated from the earth will they be able to escape the destruction which will overtake it.

There is no greater difficulty to be met in the Christian life than that of simply yielding to God. And that is not a difficulty. The difficult thing is to resist God, or to be forced to yield unwillingly.

No man can be either a free or a good man without having a free conscience. No blow aimed at an individual's conscience ever tended to make him a better man, a more useful citizen, or a more agreeable neighbour.

One of the leading religious journals says:-

We have so long been in the habit of speaking and thinking of civilisation as Christian, and of the great powers of the world as Christian powers, and of identifying civilisation with Christendom, that it may take us a little while to accustom ourselves to the thought, and to recognise the fact that here is Japan fairly admitted into the sisterhood of great nations, making treaties on equal terms with them worthy of their respect, and able with army and fleet to maintain her parity with them, and yet not Christian.

Just think of that last sentence! Japan is able to fight as skilfully and as desperately as any other nation, and yet is not Christian! That shows what a low idea of Christianity is prevalent, and it comes from confounding Christianity with civilisation, and making them synonymous terms. Assyria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome had as high and polished a civilisation as the world has ever known, combined with the most wicked heathenism; and just to the extent that Christianity and civilisation are made synonymous, will civilisation be the means of paganising the so-called Christian nations of to-day.

"A Noble Example" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

Such was the example left us by the men of Berea, to whom Paul preached while on his missionary tour through Macedonia. Of that we read, "These were more noble than they of Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts xvii. 11.

Two things were done by the Bereans. They "received the word with all readiness of mind," and they "searched the Scriptures daily" to ascertain whether the things spoken were true. Such is the attitude of mind and heart displayed by those whom God calls noble. It was one unmarked by prejudice, bigotry, or any meanness of spirit. It is the only attitude which does not bar the way to the entrance of truth and light.

There are but few persons, comparatively, who are willing to receive with all readiness of mind anything that is not pleasing to their own natural taste. When that which involves self-denial is spoken to them, they resolutely shut the door of their hearts against it. This of course cuts off all necessity for the second step-that of searching the Scriptures. The Scriptures cannot be searched with closed eyes. But in thus barring themselves off from the truth, they bar themselves away from eternal life. "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart," and those who are righteous and upright will receive it. Every man puts himself in the class in which he is found. God does not bar anyone away from life, nor will He do so in the day of Judgment. That day will reveal who have barred themselves away, and it will only be left for God to deal with them accordingly.

That which bars the way against truth, however, does not bar it against error. He who shuts his eyes to the light, will see darkness. It is error that shuts out truth, and truth that shuts out error. Truth will attract truth, and error will draw more error to itself.

But if the Bereans had merely received the word that was spoken with all readiness of mind, and stopped there, it would not have left an example worthy of imitation; for though the truth of God may be spoken by men, it must be received as the word of God, or it cannot be made the foundation of true faith. The apostle who preached to the Bereans wrote also to the Thessalonians that he gave thanks to God, "because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God." 1 Thess. ii. 13. Paul did not preach for the purpose of getting honour to himself. He preached the word of God, which is living and powerful (Heb. iv. 12) and wrought wonderful things wherever he spoke it; but it would have benefited neither the Bereans nor the Thessalonians if they had received it as the word of Paul. And why not? Simply because in that case Paul's word would have been the foundation of their belief, and they would have had no faith; for no man's word can be a foundation of faith. Faith lays hold upon God, not man. Faith sees

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God, and not man. It matters not how true the word that is spoken, if it be not received as God's word, it does not connect the soul with Him.

The Bereans searched the Scriptures daily to test the truth of what they heard. They tested what man said, by what God had said. But in our day most people do just the reverse. They test the word of God by the word of man. In other words, the word of man is their authority for what the word of God means. Not knowing what it means themselves, they ask their pastor about it, and whatever he says it means, that they believe. This is making man's word their foundation, and that is no foundation at all. No man is infallible; and no man is unchangeable. Nor are any number of men-such as would constitute a basis for human laws and customs-infallible or unchangeable. But the basis of Christian faith is unerring and changeless,-one that can never be shaken. It is the word of God; for that alone can never fail. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." Matt. xxiv. 35.

We are cautioned to "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John iv. 1. How shall we try them?-Simply as the Bereans tried the words of Paul and Silas. The Bereans had only the Old Testament Scriptures, yet they found them sufficient to test the truthfulness of Paul's teaching; for the Gospel is set forth in them as well as in the New. We have both; so that we are abundantly able to follow their example. They did not take the opinions of one another about the Scriptures, but they searched the Scriptures, and searched them daily. And God approved of their course, and has caused it to be written and preserved as an example for us.

How do we know that we have the faith of Jesus? Who has told us so,-man? or God? God has said, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." 2 Cor. xiii. 6. How shall we do this? Many simply compare themselves with others around them; but this, Paul tells us, is "not wise." God has provided a looking-glass, into which we may look and see ourselves as we are. That glass is His word. James tells us, "If any man be hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James i. 23-25. The "law of liberty," James tells us, is the law which says, "Do not commit adultery," and, "Do not kill." James ii. 8-12. That law is a mirror for the soul. By looking therein, you may ascertain whether you are in the faith. Those who keep the faith are keepers of the commandments. Rev. xiv. 12. Have you examined yourself by that mirror to know what manner of person you are, and whether you are in the faith? Do so, and see if it will not reveal some point wherein your practice and the faith are not in harmony.

"What Can They Do?" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

In its notice of the prosecution of the International Tract Society for Sunday work, the Christian World said:-

Under the circumstances the present punishment seems very arbitrary; but if the authorities insist on the young people keeping two Sabbaths in a week, we do not see what the Society can do.

This saying savours much more of the world than of the Christian. It is very strange that any Christian should not know what to do in such a case. Yet doubtless there are many who do not realise that there is anything else to do but to throw aside the law of God whenever their fellow men "clothed in a little brief authority" command them to do so. The Bible furnishes us not only precepts, but examples, and there is one so pertinent to the case in hand that we must refer to it.

Every schoolboy has heard of the three Hebrew children and Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar was king over all the earth. If there was ever a king on earth "by Divine right," he was the one; for these are the words of God Himself concerning him: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto Me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him." Jer. xxvii. 4-6.

Not only so, but God had commanded the children of Israel to be subject to the king of Babylon, not to rebel against him, and to seek the peace of the country to which they were taken captive. They were to behave toward the king of Babylon just as they would do to a descendant of David, reigning in Jerusalem.

Nebuchadnezzar made a great, golden image, and set it up in the plain, and then issued a command that all the people, and especially every official, should bow down and worship it. The decree was that whoever did not fall down and worship the image as soon as the instruments of music sounded, should be cast alive into a burning furnace. "Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up." Dan. iii. 7.

There were exceptions, however, and they were thus accused to the king: "There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Verse 12.

Note the parallel. The Hebrews were not forbidden to worship the one, true God, if they could do so; they were simply required to worship the god that the king had set up. They could have worshipped the image and the God of heaven at the same time just as well as Seventh-day Adventists could keep Sunday and the Sabbath at the same time.

But Nebuchadnezzar did not propose to be trifled with. He became very angry, and commanded the three men to be brought before him. Then he repeated his decree, telling them that if when they heard the sound of the music again they fell down and worshipped the image, all would be well, but that if they did not, they should be cast at once into the burning fiery furnace; and then he added, "Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?"

Here was a test between the law of God and the pillars of Babylonian law; between God and Nebuchadnezzar. Imagine now the three Jews consulting together among themselves, on this wise: "This is a very arbitrary decree; I really think that the king

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ought to allow us an exemption from it, inasmuch as we worship God faithfully and conscientiously. We have shown our desire to act according to the convictions of our consciences; but the penalty is prohibitory; and if the king insists that we must worship two gods, we do not see what we can do."

That is the way the world talks. But let us hear how these Hebrew Christians talked. "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Verses 16-18.

Bold words! But was it not wicked for them thus to "defy" the decree of the king? The result is the answer. The men had said that they did not need time to consider the matter, and so the second trial did not come off, but they were at once bound and cast into the furnace. There was no lack of heat, because the furnace had been made seven times hotter than usual for this special occasion, and the heat was so fierce that it destroyed the executioners who threw them in. The three

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men fell down bound into the midst of the furnace, when lo, a most astonishing sight appeared. "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Verses 24, 25.

The Lord Himself came down to answer Nebuchadnezzar's question, "Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" Nebuchadnezzar was king, and the Lord had given him his kingdom. But that very fact simply proved that he was the Lord's subject, and therefore just as much under obligation to serve the Lord as the humblest man in private life. And when the king lifted himself up in pride against his Master, and proposed to compel a few poor, despised people to serve him instead of the Lord, the common Master of them both came down to show that He was able to care for His own.

But it would have been just the same if the Lord had not interfered. The Hebrews told the king that they knew that God could deliver them, but that if He did not, it would make no difference. They well knew that God does not settle all His accounts immediately; but He does not forget, nevertheless, for He is a strict bookkeeper. "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." Ps. cxviii. 8.

The Lord's people are on this earth for one purpose only, namely, to witness to the truth. If they fail in that, they are of no use whatever. They might as well, or better, never have been born. Jesus Christ, "the faithful and true Witness," "before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession," and was not frightened from it by the cross. And His word is, "He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me." Matt. x. 38.

The Christian's course is very clear. He is not obliged to wonder what will become of him, and whether it will be safe for him to obey the Word of God. He has only to follow the Lord, and commit his case into His hands. He has nothing to do with results, but only with present duties. And in pursuing this course, even though it be in the face of fierce opposition, there will be no fear or hesitation, but a perfect peace and joy, if he can but say from the heart, "I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

"'Is the Sabbath Sunday?'" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

This is the question that was asked by the Vicar of St. Michael's, Folkestone, in a sermon preached at that place on Sunday, February 3, and which is printed in a local paper. No doubt our readers will be interested in hearing how a churchman answers the question. Here is the question and answer:-

Is the Sabbath Sunday? If a speaker gets up and says it is, attach no weight to his remarks, for either wilfully from prejudice, or else unintentionally from lack of education, he is ignorant of the subject upon which he is so ready to speak.

Let us first of all think of the Sabbath. It was of Divine institution, which, so far as we know, cannot certainly be said of the Sunday. If we refer to the second chapter of Genesis, we shall find there the account of the institution of the Sabbath day. "On the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made, and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Now you see that the seventh day of the week was to be specially set apart as a day commemorative of rest-of God resting from His work of creation, and we find Him bestowing a special blessing upon the seventh day.

Referring then to the man who desires to see Sunday strictly observed as a rest day, whom he erroneously called a "Sabbatarian," the speaker added:-

And the Sabbatarian gets up and says, in a triumphant tone as if the whole question was settled at once-"That's what we claim for the Sabbath day now-rest." Pardon me, sir, you do nothing of the sort. You break the Sabbath day every week of your life. God did not rest from His work on the first day of the week, which is our Sunday, but on the seventh day of the week, which is our Saturday.

But this is not all. Later on in the same discourse the clergyman proceeded to emphasise the case still more strongly thus:-

I see there is a public announcement in the papers that our great and venerable late Prime Minister has written an article on "The Lord's Day," which is to appear in the March number of a magazine. But this much I may prophesy-that with all his great genius, and all his deep and reverent knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, he will not be able to quote a single passage in the New Testament which states that the Christian Sunday is a substitution for the Jewish Sabbath.

And yet people wonder that anybody keeps the seventh day! The real cause for wonder is that any professed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ should keep Sunday. The whole Sabbath question centres round one point, namely, whether or not the Bible is the perfect and only guide for Christians. If it is, then the seventh day, and that only, must be kept as the Sabbath by Christians. The fourth commandment is the test as to whether men will heed the Word of God, or whether they will reject it for the traditions of men.

We shall have more upon this matter next week.

"The Bounds of Heathenism" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

These bounds are set by the word of God; that word alone defines what is heathenism and what is not. Only by that word can be determined whether the principles by which our lives are governed are heathen, or whether they are Christian.

"Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Micah vi. 6, 7. Doubtless we would not think of presuming to worship God by such acts as our spirit enumerated; yet what we do offer Him as worship may fall quite as far short of that worship which is in spirit and in truth.

The worship referred to by the prophet is heathenism. Heathen worship is not inconsistent with the retention of forms and ceremonies instituted by God, or of those which are approximate to them. God instituted sacrifices as an essential feature of His worship, and it was doubtless from these that all other sacrificial ceremonies were borrowed. The heathen looked no further in their worship than the sacrifice itself, and attributed to it all the virtue of obedience to the Divine instructions. It was this that made them heathen. They lost faith, which looked beyond the form and ceremony to the Lamb of God, in whom alone there was virtue for mankind. Heathenism is simply worship not of faith.

This being gone, and human reasoning and speculation having taken its place, perversion of the forms of worship followed as a matter of course, in proportion as the human intellect endeavoured to give them a meaning. God came to be regarded as a being to

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be appeased by the shedding of blood, or-by what was held as its equivalent-the taking of life. Men thought to purchase His favour, and measured the probability of success by the value of the sacrifice which they offered. And thus it came to pass that they offered the fruit of their bodies-their own children-for the sin of their souls. They made their sons and their daughters to "pass through the fire," or sacrificed them upon the burning altar. 2 Kings xvii. 16, 17; iii. 27. It was the most valuable offering they knew how to make, and as such, in their view, the most acceptable. And that view was but the logical outgrowth of the human mind, working upon a system of worship without faith. And thus the very sacrifices by which they thought to atone for sin only added tenfold to it.

The word of God declares, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Without faith there is no real sight of the Lamb of God, and without the sight of Him all forms of worship lose their meaning. Then come in human reasoning, philosophy, and tradition, by which the spiritual sight is utterly darkened, and the commandments of God made of none effect. It was thus that the Jews had become actual heathen in the days of Christ; it is thus that many have become heathen in our own day who imagine themselves Christians. Every individual can determine his own position and the character of his religion by an examination of God's word. That word is the rule of faith, and "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." It is faith alone that sets the bounds to heathenism.

"Whose Word Is Trusted?" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

The following is a portion of an advertisement which appears in a high-class Catholic journal:-

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER PROMISED

that "Whoever would make a Novena in his honour from the 11th to the 12th of March, should obtain whatever favour they ask, if it were according to the Divine will." This Novena, called the "Novena of Grace," will be publicly and solemnly performed in St. Francis's Church, Bedworth, where a relic of the Saint is preserved.

The Lord in His word says that He hears and grants petitions according to the Divine will; that He is more anxious to do this than parents are to give good gifts to their children. But the very essence of Romanism is to put the creature above the Creator, and so, of course, the promise of Xaxier, a dead man, is made of more effect than the promise of God. It is because of this pagan notion that the Supreme Ruler in Heaven must have the help of men to manage His work and see that His promises are fulfilled, that men have been so willing to gather authority and power to themselves to try to do on earth what they think the Lord ought to do.

"Good Words" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

Good Words.-"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Eph. i. 3. The Greek word rendered "blessed," is the word "Eulogise," which means, "to use good language," or speak well concerning. God has used all good words or every good spiritual word concerning us. "But," you say, "I don't deserve to be well spoken of." Of course not; but here is where the glorious part comes in, for when God says a thing it is so. Therefore since He speaks all good words concerning us, those words make us just what they express. He thus gives us not merely a good reputation, but what is better a good character. Since this is so, He surely deserves to be well spoken of by us.

"Fraudulent Business" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

The editor of an important railway journal in America says that when the railways centring in Chicago employed detectives last year to discover the extent to which merchants gave absolutely false statements of the amount of goods shipped, in order to get lower rates, they discovered 200,000 instances in six months. And yet those merchants think themselves and are considered to be honourable men. Their false returns are considered as simply a matter of "business." Their business has so benumbed their conscience that they are not conscious of right and wrong where it is concerned.

"The Papacy. The Paganising of the Church" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

In our study of the Papacy last week we found that it had spoken great words against the Most High, wore out the saints of the Most High, and had thought to change the law of the Most High, exalting its own words above the word of God.

Since the Bible alone is the true standard of faith and morals, it is very evident that when any power sets itself above the Bible, corruption must follow. The history of the Roman Catholic Church shows that this is absolutely true. The power that sets itself above God necessarily sets itself against God; but as God is the embodiment of all goodness, that which is opposed to Him must be the embodiment of all wickedness. Therefore, according to the prophetic declaration concerning the assumptions of the Papacy, we should expect to see in it the very depths of iniquity. A very few quotations will be given concerning the apostasy which resulted in the full development of "that Wicked," "the man of sin." Dr. Wylie, in his "History of Protestantism," says:-

"The moment inspired men cease to address us, and that their disciples and scholars take their place-men of apostolic spirit and doctrine, no doubt, but without the direct knowledge of their predecessors-we become sensible of a change; an eclipse has passed upon the exceeding glory of the Gospel. As we pass from Paul to Clement, and from Clement to the Fathers that succeeded him, we find the Gospel becoming less of grace and more of merit. The light wanes as we travel down the patristic road, and remove ourselves farther from the apostolic dawn. It continues for some time at least to be the same Gospel, but its glory is shorn, its mighty force is abated; and we are reminded of the change that seems to pass upon the sun, when after contemplating him in a tropical hemisphere, we see him in a northern sky, where his slanting beams, forcing their way through mists and vapours, are robbed of half their splendour. Seen through the fogs of the patristic age, the Gospel scarcely looks the same which had burst upon the world without a cloud but a few centuries before."

The Doctor was more charitable than the facts will warrant, in saying that the Fathers were no doubt men of apostolic spirit and doctrine. They were at best but half heathen, whatever their intentions may have been, for they drank from the muddy pool of heathen philosophy instead of at the pure fountain of divine revelation; and their great effort was to assimilate Christianity and pagan philosophy. In this they succeeded but too well. Again we quote from Wylie:-

"The gates of the sanctuary once forced, the stream of corruption continued to flow with ever-deepening volume. The declensions in doctrine and worship already introduced had changed the brightness of the church's morning into twilight; the descent of the Northern nations, which, beginning in the fifth, continued through several successive centuries, converted that twilight into night. The new tribes did change their country, but not their superstitions; and, unhappily, there was neither zeal nor vigour in the Christianity of the age to the effect their instruction and a genuine conversion. The Bible had been withdrawn; in the pulpit fable had usurped the place of truth; holy lives, whose silent eloquence might have won upon the barbarians, were rarely exemplified; and thus, instead of the church dissipating the superstitions that now encompassed her like a cloud, these superstitions all but quenched her own light. She opened her gates to receive the new peoples as they were. She sprinkled them with the new baptismal water; she inscribed their names in her registers; she taught them in their invocations to repeat the titles of the Trinity; but the doctrines of the Gospel, which alone can enlighten the understanding, purify the heart, and enrich the life with virtue, she was little careful to inculcate upon them. She folded them within her pale, but they were scarcely more Christian than before, while she was greatly less so."

Thus was the church becoming paganised, and not long did it take to complete the transformation. Wylie continues:-

"Apostasy is like the descent of heavy bodies, it proceeds with ever-accelerating velocity. First, lamps were lighted at the tombs of the martyrs; next, the Lord's Supper was celebrated at their graves; next, prayers were offered for them and to them; next, paintings and images began to disfigure the walls, and corpses to pollute the floors of the churches. Baptism, which apostles required water only to dispense, could not be celebrated without white robes and chrism, milk, honey, and salt. Then came a crowd of church offices whose names and numbers are in striking contrast to the few and simple orders of men who were employed in the first propagation of Christianity."

That the church should be corrupted was the inevitable result of the methods employed to make converts. Says the historian:-

"As the lower ranks of society are governed by imitation, the conversion of those who possessed any eminence of birth, of power, or of riches, was soon followed by dependent multitudes. The salvation of the common people was purchased at an easy rate, if it be true that, in one year, twelve thousand men were baptized at Rome, besides a proportionable number of women and children, and that a white garment, with twenty pieces of gold, had been promised by the emperor to every convert."

There is not reason to disbelieve this statement, for it is related upon good authority that Gregory Thaumaturgus (Gregory the miracle worker), bishop of Neo-C?sarea, on the anniversaries of the martyrs (and they were numerous) allowed his flock to give a loose rein to pleasure, to indulge in conviviality, and to do all the things that the worshippers of idols were accustomed to do in their temples, on their festival days, hoping thereby to gain the heathen, and thinking that in process of time they would, as "Christian," voluntarily leave off such customs. (See Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, book 1, cent. 2, part, 2 chap. 4, sec. 2, note 3.) This was not an isolated case, for Mosheim says that "the Christian bishops purposely multiplied sacred [?] rites for the sake of rendering the Jews and the pagans

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more friendly to them." Thus was pure Christianity crowded into obscurity, and that which took its name was in reality paganism with all its corruption. Speaking of the barbarians who conquered Rome, Wylie says:-

"These rude warriors, who had overturned the throne of the C?sars, bowed down before the chair of the Popes. The evangelisation of these tribes was a task of easy accomplishment. The 'Catholic faith,' which they began to exchange for their paganism or Arianism, consisted chiefly in their being able to recite the names of the objects of their worship, which they were left to adore with much the same rites as they had practised in their native forests. They did not much concern themselves with the study of Christian doctrine, or the practice of Christian virtue. The age furnished but few manuals of the one, and still fewer models of the other."

How could there be any models of virtue, when the truly virtuous were slaughtered, and the only virtue recognised was adherence to the dogmas of Rome? Henry Charles Lea, in his "History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages," graphically portrays the condition of the Papacy. On this point he says, among other things:-

"Uniformity of faith had been enforced by the Inquisition and its methods, and so long as faith was preserved, crime and sin were comparatively unimportant except as a source of revenue to those who sold absolution. As Theodoric Vrie tersely puts it, hell and purgatory would be emptied if enough money could be found. The artificial standard thus created is seen in a revelation of the Virgin to St. Birgitta, that a Pope who was free from heresy, no matter how polluted by sin and vice, is not so wicked but that he has the absolute power to bind and loose souls. There are many wicked Popes plunged in hell, but all their lawful acts on earth are accepted and confirmed by God, and all priests who are not heretics administer true sacraments, no matter how depraved they may be. Correctness of belief was thus the sole essential; virtue was a wholly subordinate consideration. How completely under such a system religion and morals came to be dissociated is seen in the remarks of Pius II. Quoted above, that the Franciscans were excellent theologians, but cared nothing about virtue.

"This, in fact, was the direct result of the system of persecution embodied in the Inquisition. Heretics who were admitted to be patterns of virtue were ruthlessly exterminated in the name of Christ, while in the same holy name the orthodox could purchase absolution for the vilest of crimes for a few coins. When the only unpardonable offense was persistence in some trifling error of belief, such as the poverty of Christ; when men had before them the example of their spiritual guides as leaders in vice and debauchery and contempt of sacred things, all the sanctions of morality were destroyed, and the confusion between right and wrong became hopeless. The world has probably never seen a society more vile than that of Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries."

Perhaps some may think that the Papacy has improved, since we no longer see crimes so openly committed under its sheltering wing. They think that its wickedness was due to the ignorance of the age, and that "advancing civilisation" has made such wickedness impossible. Such should remember that "Rome never changes." The only reason why crimes are not so openly committed under its protection is because it has not now the power to protect them. As evidence that the seeming improvement in the character of the Papacy is due to lack of power and not to the spread of education, we quote the following:-

"In Italy the revival of letters, while elevating the intellectual faculties, had been accompanied with deeper degradation in both the moral and spiritual condition of society. Without removing superstition, it had rendered scepticism fashionable, and it had weakened the sanctions of religion without supplying another basis for morality. The world has probably never seen a more defiant disregard of all law, human and divine, than that displayed by both the church and the laity during the pontificates of Sixtus IV. and Innocent VIII. and Alexander VI. [1471-1503.] Increase of culture and of wealth seemed only to afford new attractions and enlarged opportunities for luxury and vice, and from the highest to the lowest there was indulgence of unbridled appetites, with a cynical disregarded even of hypocrisy."

The principles of the Papacy are the same to-day that they were five hundred years ago. Give it the same power that it once had, for an equal length of time, and the same state of things would exist. For the low state of morals in the Middle Ages was not due to the ignorance of those times, but the ignorance that existed was due to the depravity, and both were the direct result of the papal policy. The papal system is as corrupt to-day as it ever was, and it cannot be reformed. It is sin itself, "the man of sin," and for it there can be nothing but perdition. The earth will be freed from its curse only when it is destroyed by the brightness of the coming of the Lord. 2 Thess. ii. 8.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Pope has decided that Catholic priests must not go about on bicycles.

-A terrific hurricane is reported to have swept over Fiji, wrecking all the houses and doing much damage on sea as well as on land.

-Recently the Sultan sent three "genuine" hairs of Mohammed's beard to Samarcand as relics, but on their way thither, while crossing Russian territory, they were stolen.

-Notices have been posted at all the collieries in connection with the South Wales and Monmouthshire Collieries Association, terminating all contracts with the men on March 31. This will bring the collieries to a standstill. About 100,000 men are affected.

-Despatches sent by newspaper correspondents who have succeeded in penetrating into the Sassoun district of Armenia, confirm the worst reports of Turkish atrocities in that country. One account describes the massacre of a company of several hundred villagers who had surrendered under a guaranty of protection.

-The Welsh Disestablishment Bill has been again brought before Parliament. The Home Secretary, in moving for leave to introduce it, said the measure was to all intents and purposes identically the same as that of last year. It was stated that Jan. 1, 1897, was the proposed date of disestablishment. As to disendowment, they had to dispose of a gross annual revenue of ?279,000.

-Prince Kung, President of the Tsung-li-Yamen, in an interview with a correspondent, said that the Chinese recognised their military weakness, and were prepared to pay an indemnity, but if Japan insisted upon exorbitant terms they would fight to the last. In view of the approaching peace negotiations, Russia intends to strengthen her military position in Eastern Siberia.

-Some one has been compiling statistics of regular Sunday labour performed by post-office employee in the United Kingdom, the result announced being that out of 32,000 London postal servants, 2,752 were employed on a given Sunday, their labour averaging six hours each; and of the 79,000 employed throughout England and Wales 30,184 were obliged to work about three hours the same day. In Scotland the average was a little over two hours, and in Ireland three hours.

-Influenza has become epidemic at Hamburg and London. At the latter place, while the number of births for the week in which the epidemic appeared was below the average, the deaths were 1,090 above the average in the corresponding weeks of the past ten years. The London mortality was at the annual rate of 34 per 1,000. The lowest death rates were 19 at Derby and Leicester, and the highest, 48 at Liverpool. A curious thing about this epidemic disease is that its nature is not yet well understood by physicians, and no characteristic germ for it has been discovered.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

In a single county in Tennessee, U.S.A., there are at present more than twenty Sabbath-keepers under arrest for Sunday labour.

The Seventh-day Adventist publishing house in Christiania, Norway, has been twice fined for Sunday labour, and has still another summons before the Court.

Several cases of our larger books were sent by our publishers last week to Punta Arenas, on the Straits of Magellan, for one of the workers in that part of South America. We are glad to see the publications going into the uttermost parts of the earth.

A man recently died in Vienna who had kept a daily account of his expenses from seventeen to seventy. He had smoked 628,713 cigars. Over 40,000 cost him nothing, but for the balance yet paid out ?2,500. His tailor's bill was ?1,600. His drink bill was kept for only fifteen years, but in that time he paid for it ?1,288.

The first instalment of the much advertised article by Mr. Gladstone on "The Lord's Day," has appeared, and will be noticed at length in a feature number of PRESENT TRUTH. The main point in the article is where he states that the seventh day has been deposed, and the first day substituted in its stead, without any direct Scripture warrant.

A cartoon in an illustrated weekly shows a man of gloomy countenance, one of whom asks the other, "Had anything to eat to-day, Bill?" "Not a drop," is the reply. The suggestion is too sadly truthful to be humourous. So many men are spending the little money they have to satisfy the craving for stimulants, while their bodies are famishing for real food.

"Sir Edward Grey's announcement in the House yesterday," said the Star last week, "that an officer and two men had been killed at the taking of Nimbi prompted the question:-

Mr. Labourchere: Can the hon. member state how many natives were killed? (Laughter.)

"Laughter! Who laughed? Shame on the men to whom the killing of Africans is food for inhuman cackling."

"He must increase, but I must decrease." This was what John the Baptist said of Christ and himself. It is what every person ought to say, for Christ is sure to increase until He fills all things, and all who will not acknowledge Him will at last cease to exist. How much better, then, to humble ourselves, acknowledging ourselves to be nothing, that, being swallowed up in His greatness, we may live for ever in Him.

Of what is a nation composed?-of men. Then a nation can be Christian only when every man composing it is a Christian. But such a state of things never existed, and never will until the Lord comes and restores all things. No matter though the majority of the people composing a nation were Christians, so long as any of them were not Christians any national profession of Christianity would be a false profession. The only result of such national profession, is to deceive some people into thinking that they are Christians when they are not.

The Church Review tells of a Roman Catholic who attended a High Church service and thought it a Roman Catholic church. He, however, heard the mass said in English, and learned, doubtless for the first time, what was said by a priest in that celebration. Of course this mistake pleases the Ritualists of the Church of England. The Review says, "This is an indication of how much Roman Catholics would appreciate having mass in the vernacular, and it shows how readily our Church is recognised as Catholic when the teaching of the Church is properly set forth."

"How the Case Stands Now" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

Our readers will doubtless be desirous of knowing if anything more has been done in the matter of the prosecution for Sunday work. It will be remembered that to the statement that no fine could be paid, the magistrate said that it could be recovered by the distress of goods. Something over a week after the trial, the following was received from the Chief Inspector:-

FACTORY DEPARTMENT, HOME OFFICE,

February 20, 1895.

GENTLEMEN:

Having ascertained at the Clerkenwell Police Court that up to 4:00 P.M. this day the fines and costs inflicted at the hearing of cases against you on the 13th Inst., and amounting in all to ?8. 18s. have not been paid, I hereby give you notice that if by Saturday next, the 23rd inst., this amount has not been paid by you at the Police Court, I shall on the following Monday apply to the Court in the customary manner for the further enforcement of the payment.

To this the following reply was returned:-

We are in receipt of your letter of the 20th inst., and in reply beg to say that we cannot recede from the position we took in the Clerkenwell Police Court, with reference to paying the fines to which your communication has reference.

Inasmuch as the fines in question were imposed on us for our obedience to the fourth commandment, the payment of them would be a tacit admission of guilt on our part, and would bring us in direct conflict with the law of God, by which every man must be judged. It will therefore be apparent to you that our refusal to accede to your request is not because of the spirit of defiance to the law or to those who are entrusted with its execution, but solely for the reason that to pay the fines that were inflicted would be sin to us.

There the matter stands at the present date, March 3. If it is not clear to any why it would be sin to pay fines imposed for Sunday work in obedience to the fourth commandment, we ask them to think over the matter for a week, and then read the next number of PRESENT TRUTH, where it will be answered in full.

"A Good Name" The Present Truth 11, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

A Good Name.-The Bible tells us that "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." Prov. xxii. 1. This "good name" is too often limited to earthly reputation, that is, to what people think of us. This is a great mistake. A man may have an excellent name among men, and be abominable in the sight of God; and on the other hand some of those who have been most despised on earth had been the Lord's chosen ones. The good name which is so valuable is the "new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name." His is the loving kindness that is better than silver and gold. He who has a good name with the Lord can very well endure any manner of reproach among men.

March 14, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

The highest character is that which is the embodiment of truth; and this is the character that God will give men through the reception of His word. "Thy word is truth." John xvii. 17.

The word is not simply true; it is truth. He who knows the word of God will not have gained merely a knowledge of some peculiar theories relating to one particular part of the domain of human thought, but in every department of thought and life he will have been made wiser. There is no truth which originated independently of God's word. "He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast." Ps. xxxiii. 9.

The purpose of the Scriptures is to make men wise unto salvation. 2 Tim. iii. 15. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. cxix. 105. If the Scriptures are earnestly and prayerfully studied with this purpose in view, they will be found to be the words of eternal life. If they are studied for some other purpose, it will be found not to yield the satisfaction sought.

"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days." Heb. xi. 30. In the record in Joshua we read that at the seventh time Joshua said to Israel, "Shout, for God hath given you the city." Josh. vi. 16. This, then, is the language of faith. The Apostle John writes, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John v. 4. Jericho was the world, representing all its wickedness, cursed, and devoted to destruction. It was the enemy of Israel; and when Israel met it, God had given them the victory over it. So it is with every enemy that stands between us and our entrance into the promised land. The language of faith to us is, Shout, for God hath given you the victory.

"Where Sunday Laws Come From" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

This is a subject of the utmost importance to everybody, because on it must depend our relation to Sunday laws. There is not a soul that it does not concern, and therefore we shall endeavour to place it before our readers in such plain language that no one can misunderstand it.

It must be very evident that Sunday laws come from the same source as the Sunday itself. We shall therefore begin with the Sunday institution, and show where it comes from. And first, in order to clear away some confusion that exists in the minds of many, we shall show

WHERE SUNDAY DID NOT COME FROM

In a word, It did not come from the Bible. The surest way to prove this is to read the Bible through. Whoever does so will find that it contains not one word to sanction the observance of Sunday, and that the seventh day of the week is the only Sabbath known in the Inspired Word.

This fact is acknowledged by men who nevertheless keep the first day of the week. In fact, it must needs be acknowledged, since it is a point the truth of which can be tested by any child who is able to read. Most of the testimony that we shall produce on this point has already been presented in the PRESENT TRUTH, but will have fresh force in this connection, and is absolutely necessary that the fact should be firmly fixed in the mind of every person. First let us have the words of Dr. Thomas Scott, the commentator. In writing on Acts xx. 7, concerning the rest day, he said:-

The change from the seventh day to the first, appears to have been gradually and silently introduced, by example rather than by express precept.

The Rev. Dr. Isaac Williams, in his recently published work, "Plain Sermons on the Catechism" (Longmans, Green & Co.), says:-

In the first place we are commanded to keep holy the seventh day. But we do not think it necessary to keep the seventh day holy, for the seventh day is Saturday. It may be said that we keep the first day instead; but surely this is not the same thing; the first day cannot be the seventh day; and where are we told in Scripture that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day.-p. 3.

And then he tells us that although the observance of the seventh day is done away with, "there is no warrant in Holy Scripture for doing so."

Canon Knox-Little, in "Sacerdotalism" (same publishers as above) says that it is certain that our Lord when on earth did observe Saturday, and did not observe Sunday.

And then he says of those who think it necessary to follow our Lord's example to the letter, that if they are consistent, as I have said, they must keep Saturday, not Sunday, as the day of rest.

The necessity of following our Lord's example strictly ought to be apparent to everyone, since we are told, "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked" (1 John ii. 6), and Christ Himself said, "If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men do gather them, and cast them into the

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fire, and they are burned." John xv. 6. He who does not follow the example of Christ, has no part in Him.

We might multiply testimonies like these just cited, but we do not wish to do more than simply to establish each point. Besides, more evidence will come in as we proceed. We may therefore at once come to the question,

WHO INSTITUTED SUNDAY OBSERVANCE?

In the book already referred to, Dr. Williams says:-

The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the Church has enjoined it.

The question may arise, "What Church enjoined it?" and to that the only answer that can be given is this, It was the Church which sets itself above the Word of God. It makes no difference what name is given to it; that is sufficient designation. It is the church which says that the Bible is not a sufficient rule of faith, and does not thoroughly furnish a man to all good works. The church which has always been specially distinguished by that claim, calls herself Catholic. One of her priests, in a book entitled, "A Sure Way to Find Out the True Religion," has said:-

Lastly, the keeping holy the Sunday is a thing absolutely necessary to salvation; and yet this is nowhere put down in the Bible; on the contrary, the Bible says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Ex. xx. 8), which is Saturday, and not Sunday; therefore the Bible does not contain all things necessary to salvation, and, consequently, cannot be a sufficient rule of faith.-p. 95.

The "Catholic Christian Instructed" contains the following question and answer:-

What are the days which the Church commands to be kept holy?

1st, The Sundays, or the Lord's day, which we observe by apostolical tradition, instead of the Sabbath, etc.

Again the question is asked:-

What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday, preferable to the ancient Sabbath which was the Saturday?

Answer-We have for it the authority of the Catholic Church, and apostolical tradition. . . Therefore those who pretend to be so religious observers of the Sunday, whilst they take no notice of other festivals ordained by the same church authority, show that they act by humour, and not by reason and religion; since Sundays and holydays all stand upon the same commendation, viz., the ordinance of the Church.

SUNDAY COMES FROM PAGAN ROME

We may pass by as unworthy of notice the statements that the observance of Sunday comes from the apostles of Christ. The fact that the Bible nowhere mentions the fact, and nowhere warrants such observance, is sufficient to settle the matter. Besides, the apostles abode in Christ, and therefore they walked even as He walked. Our readers may, however, be interested in the following statement from the Presbyterian journal, the Christian at Work, now Christian Work (New York):-

We hear less than we used to about the apostolic origin of the present Sunday observance, and for the reason that while the Sabbath and Sabbath rest are woven into the warp and woof of Scripture, it is now seen, as it is admitted, that we must go to later than apostolic times for the establishment of Sunday observance.

That Sunday was kept by some professed Christians as early as the second century, may readily be admitted. Mosheim declares, and in this declaration he is in harmony with all other Church historians, that the Christian bishops purposely multiplied sacred rites for the purpose of rendering the Jews and the pagans more friendly to them. . . . A large part, therefore, of the Christian observances and institutions, even in this century, had the aspect of pagan mysteries.-Cent. 2, Part 2, chap. 4, sec. 5.

Dr. Killen, an Irish Presbyterian theologian and historian, in the preface to "The Ancient Church," says:-

In the interval between the days of the apostles and the conversion of Constantine, the Christian commonwealth changed its aspect. The Bishop of Rome-a person unknown to the writers of the New Testament, meanwhile rose into prominence, and at length took precedence of all other churchmen. Rites and ceremonies, of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of Divine institutions.

We have no hesitation, therefore, in admitting that before the days of Constantine Sunday was observed to some extent. Nevertheless, that it was not observed as a sacred day, is very evident from the two quotations which follow. Mosheim says:-

The first day of the week, on which Christians were accustomed to meet for the worship of God, Constantine required, by a special law, to be observed more sacredly than before.

Mark the fact that this special law required that Sunday should be observed more sacredly than before. Now read the law:-

Let all the judges and town people, and all artisans rest on the venerable day of the sun. But let those who are situated in the country freely and at full liberty attend to the cultivation of their fields: because it often happens that no other day is so fit for selling corn and planting vines: lest by neglecting the proper occasion, they should lose the benefits granted by the Divine bounty.

Only town people and professional men were required to rest on the day of the sun; all the country people were given full liberty to work as usual. Yet this law required the more sacred observance of Sunday than before. The reader will have no difficulty in seeing that Sunday was not regarded as a sacred day for at least three hundred years after Christ.

Of this law which we have just quoted, "Chamber's Encyclopedia" says:-

Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that day [Sunday] is known to have been ordained is the edict of Constantine 321 A.D.

At this time Constantine made no profession of being a Christian. "The devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the sun, the Apollo of Greek and Roman mythology; and he was pleased to be represented with the symbols of the gods of light and poetry. The unerring shafts of that deity, the brightness of his eyes, his laurel wreath, immortal beauty, and elegant accomplishments, seemed to point him out as the patron of the young hero. The altars of Apollo were crowned with the votive offerings of Constantine, and the credulous multitude were taught to believe that the emperor was permitted to behold with mortal eyes the visible majesty of their tutelar deity, and that, either waking or in a vision, he was blessed with the auspicious omen of a long and victorious reign. The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine."-Decline and Fall, chap. 20, par. 3.

Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe says of the so-called conversion of Constantine,

It was a political conversion, and as such was accepted, and Constantine was a heathen till near his death. As to his final penitence and acceptance-'forbear to judge.'

In connection with the Sunday law above noted Constantine issued another edict directing the regular consultation of the haruspex, that is the heathen customs of determining the future by the examination of the entrails of animals.

A PAGANISED CHURCH

The fact that Sunday comes from Pagan Rome has been fully established, yet that fact is not at all inconsistent with the claim put forth by both Catholics and professed Protestants, that Sunday was set apart by "the church." We have already had the statement by Mosheim that as early as the second century after Christ a large part of the Christian observances and institutions had the aspect of pagan mysteries. To this we may add that of the late Dr. Merivale, Dean of Ely. He says:-

Paganism was assimilated, not extirpated, and

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Christendom has suffered from it more or less ever since.-Epochs of Church History, p. 159.

The setting apart of Sunday in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord, in direct opposition to the commandment of God, is one of the strongest evidences of the paganised character of "the church." This will appear still more clearly when we consider

THE CLAIMS OF THE CHURCH

We have already read the claims that "the church" puts forth to have of its own authority substituted Sunday for the seventh day of the week. Let us examine it a little more closely, to see exactly what this claim involves.

In his commentary on the Psalms, Eusebius, a bishop who lived in the time of Constantine, says:-

All things whatsoever it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord's day, as more appropriately belonging to it, because it has a precedence and is first in rank, and more honourable than the Jewish Sabbath.

Notice that it is "we" who have done it. And in so doing men have put themselves on an equality with God. Does this seem too strong? Here is the proof. The Bible is God's Word. The ten commandments are most emphatically His Words, since they did not come through human agency, but were spoken by God's own voice in the hearing of all the people. Now here are men, no matter whether they call themselves "the church," or simply "we," who presume to give other commandments, and not only different from the Lord's, but actually contrary to them. Thus they claim to be of at least equal authority with the Lord. Yes, even of greater authority, since to presume to change the laws of another implies the assumption of superior power.

Last week we quoted from the sermon of the clergyman who said of the then forthcoming article of Mr. Gladstone, on "The Lord's Day,"

This much I may prophesy-that with all his great genius, and all his deep and reverent knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, he will not be able to quote a single passage in the New Testament which states that the Christian Sunday is a substitute for the Jewish Sabbath.

I have that article before me at this moment, and concede that that prophecy is fulfilled, just as any Bible student could have told beforehand. Here is the main thought in the entire article:-

The seventh day of the week has been deposed from its title to obligatory religious observance, and its prerogative has been carried over to the first; under no direct precept of Scripture, but yet with a biblical record of facts, all supplied by St. John, which go far towards showing that among the apostles themselves, and therefore from apostolic times, the practice of Divine worship on the Lord's Day has been continuously and firmly established. The Christian community took upon itself to alter the form of the Jewish ordinance: but this was with a view to giving larger effect to its spiritual purpose.

I have italicised the most important portions of the above statement. Notice them carefully. It is admitted that there is no direct warrant in Scripture for deposing the seventh day of the week from its rightful position. True a "record of facts" is referred to. We have not space at present to go into that "record of facts," but will simply say that they are (1) That Christ appeared to His disciples on the evening of the day of His resurrection; (2) That after eight days, which would at the very lowest calculation be the next Monday night, He appeared to them again; and (3) That in the Revelation John mentions "the Lord's day." This is the "record of facts" which we are asked to accept as authority for Sunday observance in the place of the seventh day which stands upon the direct commandment of Jehovah.

Mark this, however, that the most that Mr. Gladstone claims for this famous "record of facts" is that day "go far towards showing" that Sunday observance dates from the days of the apostles. But every candid reader must be forced to admit that however far they go towards showing that fact, they yet fall infinitely short of actually showing it.

I did not design, however, to go into a detailed review of Mr. Gladstone's article. That shall have special attention at another time all by itself. That to which I now wish to call special attention is the

MONSTROUS ASSUMPTION

that is put forth in it as a matter of course. Let me repeat one sentence with special emphasis.

The Christian community took upon itself to alter the form of the Jewish ordinance; but this was with a view to giving larger effect to its spiritual purpose.

Just think of it! Mere men taking upon themselves to alter a commandment of God, with the view of enlarging its spiritual purpose! Do you comprehend what this means? Consider the facts. God spoke the ten commandments with His own voice, in the hearing of all the people. The earth quaked at the sound of that awful voice. There never was any event before or since that has paralleled that one in grandeur. The law thus given is God's own word. Of it the apostle says, "We know that the law is spiritual." How spiritual is it? It is as spiritual as God Himself could make it. And now comes some puny men, calling themselves "the Christian community," and presume to change it, "with a view to giving larger effect to its spiritual purpose"! Could blind blasphemous presumption soar higher?

THE MAN OF SIN

Now it matters not one whit whether those who presume to do this call themselves "the church" or something else. Nor does it matter in the least by what name "the church" or "the Christian community" which makes such assumption calls itself. One thing is most certain, and that is that the thing done is the work of none other than the one who is described as "that man of sin," "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. ii. 4, 5. There is no other possible means by which anybody could exalt itself above God so completely as by presuming to give spiritual enlargement to the spiritual law of God. Therefore "the Christian community," to which Mr. Gladstone refers, was none other than "the man of sin."

The identical work of this "man of sin" is described in the thirteenth of Revelation, and ascribed to the power which is there called "the beast." "He opened His mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven." Rev. xiii. 6.

Now it is a fact that the Catholic Church claims to have effected the change of which Mr. Gladstone speaks, and puts it forth as the badge and evidence of its authority. The "Abridgement of Christian Doctrine" contains the following question and answer:-

Question-How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holydays?

Answer-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of, and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.-p. 58.

A standard Roman Catholic work, "A Plain Talk about the Protestantism of To-day," says:-

The observance of Sunday by the Protestant is an homage which they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church.

Some Protestants may be inclined to dispute this claim that is put forth by the Catholic Church, and may be disposed to say that the change was made before the Papacy was really established. Well, there is no need of stopping to dispute that point, although it can be clearly shown that the Catholic Church is fully entitled to the dishonourable

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distinction; but the fact remains that, no matter what name you give to the power that presumed to make the change, its description is accurately given in 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, and Rev. xiii. 6, 7. And it is also true that there is no power on earth that so completely meets the specifications as that power known as the Papacy.

We have already seen that Sunday originated in Paganism, as "the venerable day of the sun." But Paganism never presumed to substitute it for the Sabbath of the Lord. That was reserved for "the church," after it had, as Merivale says, assimilated Paganism, and had become the Papacy. About sixty years after Constantine's Sunday edict, the Council of Laodicea enacted a canon commanding Christians to rest on Sunday only, and forbidding them, under penalty of anathema, to rest on the Sabbath. It is a fact, therefore, that

SUNDAY LAWS COME FROM THE PAPACY

and that whatever State makes and enforces such laws is acting as the direct agent of the Papacy. The existence of Sunday laws in whatever form on the statute books of any country, is the mark that is subservient, unconsciously, without doubt, to the authority of the Papacy.

It is also just as evident that obedience to Sunday laws goes a long way back of allegiance to the Government which seeks to enforce them. It goes back to the power which is responsible for them, namely, to Rome. Obedience to Sunday laws is nothing else than obedience to Rome. Governments do not know it, but it is a fact that in requiring the observance of Sunday, they are requiring their subject to divide their allegiance, and acknowledge another power, which claims to be above every earthly Government, and above God Himself.

But we have not yet quite done with this matter. In order that we may know exactly where Sunday laws come from, we must not be content with stopping with the Papacy which originated them, but must inquire

THE SOURCE OF PAPAL AUTHORITY

We shall not have to go far to find this. We turn to the thirteenth of Revelation, where we found in the description of the power which has thought to change the law of God, thus putting itself above God. Of "the beast" we read that

"The dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." Verse 2.

That is, the power and authority of "the beast," the Papacy, are derived wholly from the dragon. Now what is the dragon? The preceding chapter tells us that the dragon is "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." Rev. xiii. 9. The devil is therefore the source of papal authority. The Pope of Rome, the head of the Catholic Church, whose blasphemous claim to be called "His Holiness" is allowed by almost all the people of the earth, professes to be the vicar of Christ, when as a matter of fact he is, by virtue of his position, nothing other than the vicar of the devil. To yield allegiance to Sunday laws is to acknowledge the authority of Rome, and to acknowledge the authority of Rome is to yield to the power of Satan.

THE ADVERSARY OF GOD'S WORD

The above language seems very harsh, and indeed it is, but its harshness comes only from its truth. It is in reality nothing more than all professed Protestant Christians allow, only they are not accustomed to seeing it in that form. Let us then examine the matter a little more in detail.

The devil is the adversary. He is represented as like a roaring lion going about seeking whom he may devour. He seeks to destroy the souls of men, and he does this only by seducing them from their allegiance to God's Word. Three instances will suffice to cover the entire field.

When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He said, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Gen. ii. 16, 17. This was a plain commandment, yet "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan," said to Eve, "Ye shall not surely die." In saying this he professed to be "giving larger effect" to the spiritual purpose of God's commandment, because He said if they listened to him they should be like God. Eve was deceived and ate, and gave to her husband with her, and he ate, and so that sin brought death into the world.

Now against what did the devil set himself in that case?-Against the Word of God. If our first parents had been loyal to the Word of God, just as God Himself gave it, they would never have fallen into the power of the devil.

About four thousand years afterward Christ came into the world, the second Adam. The devil tried to make Him fall also, and he tried Him on the very point where he succeeded with the first Adam. Jesus was weak with long fasting, when the tempter came to Him and said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. iv. 3, 4. Three separate and distinct temptations the devil brought to bear on the Lord Jesus, and each one of them was simply an endeavour to induce the Lord to swerve from the Word of God. The devil cared for nothing else but to get Jesus to deviate just a little from the written Word; and Jesus resisted the temptations and gained the victory only by His strict loyalty to that written Word. He met every temptation with "It is written."

Lastly, we come to the description of the last great struggle with the adversary. After telling of the casting down of Satan, the record says, "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Rev. xii. 10-12.

Here also we find that the controversy is about the Word. Satan seeks to destroy men by inducing them to forsake the Word of God, and they overcome him only by their steadfast adherence to it. The devil well knows that they who cling to the Word of God are safe. Therefore his whole effort is to induce them by some sort of deception to forsake it. There has never been a temptation that Satan has brought against mankind that was not a temptation to deviate from the Word of God; and there was never any perversion or alteration of that Word that did not originate with Satan. Therefore when it is claimed that "the church" changed

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the commandment of the Lord, no matter what the excuse alleged, it is as clear as the sun that the change was affected only by the devil working through the agency of that "church," and that to acknowledge that change is to fall into the same snare of the devil, as did our first parents.

THE COMFORT OF CONVICTION

"God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." John iii. 17. Yet God said of His Son whom He sent into the world, "I will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him." Deut. xviii. 18. Accordingly Christ said unto the Father, just before He left this earth, "I have given them Thy Word." John xvii. 14. He gave the straight Word of God, which is to judge the world at the last day (John xii. 48), yet although He spoke in the plainest terms, He condemned nobody.

Now that Christ has gone to the Father; the Holy Spirit has been sent in His place, of whom Christ said, "When He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." John xvi. 8. And yet the Spirit is the Comforter. This shows that plain truth is not for the purpose of condemning, but of comforting.

God knows that all men have been deceived by the adversary, and He pities our fallen condition. To leave us in error would be no kindness. Therefore He sends us the sharp reproofs of His Word, in order that we may repent and be saved. Take the case of Saul of Tarsus. He persecuted the people of God, even unto death, and was so deceived that he thought that in so doing he was serving God. Acts xxvi. 9. Finally God spoke to him, and charged him with his sin. What was that for? Was it in order to condemn and kill him?-Not at all; it was to save him. Paul regarded it as an evidence of the mercy of God. "I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief." 1 Tim. i. 13.

God does not charge against men the sins of which they are ignorant. No man will ever be condemned for doing that which he did not know, and had no means of knowing, was wrong. Christ said of those who rejected Him, "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin." John xv. 22. So those who have been deceived by Satan in the matter under consideration, are not condemned by the Lord until they hear and reject His word of warning.

Still further, there are many thousands of people who have all their lives observed Sunday instead of the Sabbath, and who are doing so still, who are as loyal and loving to the Lord Jesus Christ as they know how to be. Their attention has never been directly called to the fact that they are not obeying the Word. They have read it, yet it has been with them as with the disciples who heard Jesus say plainly that He should be crucified, and yet did not realise that He must die. But they have accepted the Lord, and they are "accepted in the Beloved." Now when the light comes to them that they are not following the Lord strictly, it does not come to condemn them. If they do indeed love the Lord, and walk in the light, there is no condemnation to them. They simply "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

A MERICFUL WARNING

The judgment that has been pronounced upon the Papacy is that "she shall be utterly burned with fire." Rev. xviii. 8. "The beast was taken, and. . . cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Rev. xix. 20. The "man of sin" is "that Wicked," "whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." 2 Thess. ii. 8. Still further the voice comes from heaven, saying, "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation." Rev. xiv. 9, 10.

Now God has many people to-day who have been ensnared by the Papacy, just as well as He had four hundred years ago, before Luther began to preach. And now as the day of the Lord is fast approaching, and the judgments upon the Papacy are about to fall, He sends a special call, saying, "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Rev. xviii. 4. This call is most emphatically given in the truth that is being set forth in these days concerning the manner in which the Papacy has dealt with the law of God, especially the fourth commandment.

CHRIST AND THE SABBATH

It may seem to some that the mere question of whether we shall observe one day of the week or another is so small a matter to serve as the only great test of man's loyalty to God, but as the final preparation for the coming of the Lord. So it would be if it was merely a question of days. But it is a question of loyalty to God's Word, and therefore of loyalty to God Himself. It is a question of whether men will regard God as supreme, and His Word as expressing completely His will, or whether they will divide honours with a rival power. It is a question of whether men will strictly follow the example of Christ, or whether they will follow "the church" which presumes to know the will of God better than He did.

Remember this also: The same Word that says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work" (Ex. xx. 10), and "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honourable, . . . then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord" (Isa. iv. 13, 14), says also, "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else" (Isa. xlv. 22), and "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Isa. lv. 7. It is the same Word also which says, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sin." Isa. xliii. 25.

Do you not see that if we reject the first word, knowing it to be the Word of God, or if we think that we may lightly change it, we have no sure confidence in the other? If I reject the commandment of God, how can I have hope in His promises? If I am not sure that the Lord means exactly what He says when He tells me that "the seventh day is the Sabbath," how can I be sure that He means what He says when He tells me, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee"? Do you not see that the Word must all stand together? If we weaken the force of the commandment, we weaken to the same extent the promises of salvation.

This comes still more forcibly when we consider that the commandments

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of God are in reality promises. "Hear O My people, and I will testify unto thee; O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto Me, there shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god." Ps. lxxxi. 8, 9. Obedience to the commandments of God brings life, because every word of God is life; and when we reverently listen to those words, they work within us the obedience which they enjoin, and the life which they promise. "And I know that His commandment is life everlasting." John xii. 50.

This Sabbath question is therefore simply the question whether or not one believes that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." For a man to cease work on the seventh day of the week, and at the same time to disbelieve that God pardons freely through Jesus Christ, or to cherish hateful and unforgiving feelings, would be to reject the Word of God just as surely as to work on the Sabbath. No one keeps the Sabbath in truth, but he who yields himself humbly to God, accepting in meekness all the reproofs of His Word, and submitting to the will of God through the Holy Spirit.

This being the case, is it not clear that the agitation of the Sabbath question at this time is for the purpose of effecting a thorough reformation in the church of God? Is it not evident that the acceptance of the Sabbath in truth, with all that implies, would make those who do so accept it, thoroughly prepared to stand before the Lord at His coming? Is it not most evident that the Sabbath question is to be the test of whether or not the Bible or "the church" is to be accepted as the guide for Christians? Is it to effect the final decision, not simply as to who will rest on the seventh day and work on the first, but as to who will be the children of light or the children of disobedience, the children of the kingdom, or the children of the wicked one. Surely, it is not a light matter. This question is in the world to stay until it arrests the attention of every soul, and forces each one to decide definitely whether he will follow God's Word or the Papacy, Christ or antichrist.

Wherefore, beloved, "be diligent, that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our God is salvation."

"O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me."

"The Crucifixion of Christ" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

Christ was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. xiii. 8. Not merely in the days of Pontius Pilate, and at the instigation of wicked Jews, has the Son of God been "lifted up." "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 iii. 16. He was given when the opportunity and the need came of believing in Him for salvation; and He was crucified when He was given.

The crucifixion of Christ meant His lifting up. He said "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." John xii. 32. Men were drawn to Him before the days of Pontius Pilate. From the very first, men were drawn to Him, for only thus could any be saved from sin; and they are being drawn to Him in multitudes to-day. But not, either before the days of Pontius Pilate or after them, by any mere statement, prophetic or historical, concerning His death.

The lifting up of Christ was that He might be seen. Only by seeing Him can they be drawn to Him. In all ages, from the very first, men have seen Him lifted up. Just as He had "been evidently set forth crucified" among the Galatian brethren (Gal. iii. 1), so He has been set forth wherever there have been believers, through all time. This has been done through His identification with them. "In all their afflictions He was afflicted." Isa. lxiii. 9. His sufferings began with the sufferings of His people, and with His people He suffers still. They fill up the measure of His afflictions. Col. i. 24.

In his letter to the Galatians Paul speaks of his own identification with Christ, which is the identification of all who believe in Him. He says, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Gal. ii. 20. When Paul was crucified, Christ was crucified; and what was true of Paul was true of all who, like him, died to sin by the crucifixion of the carnal nature. Rom. vi. 6; Gal. vi. 14. In their crucifixion Christ has been lifted up, and by the like experience of His people He is lifted up to-day.

Our identification with Christ means not a loss of His identity, but of ours. "I live," said Paul, "yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." We are lifted up with Christ, yet we are not seen, but He; and men are not drawn to us, but to Him. In proportion as Christ's people die to self, He is lifted up before the world; and in proportion as He is lifted up, does the light of life shine forth.

"Satisfaction" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

Satisfaction.-We are told that God "predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." Eph. i. 5. A synonym of "good pleasure" which equally represents the original, is "satisfaction." That is to say, when God foresaw us as His sons in Christ, He took solid comfort and satisfaction in the thought. It pleased Him well. What confidence this gives us in giving ourselves to Him! It makes Him happy. Surely, if He derives so much pleasure from receiving us as sons, our lives ought to be one continual round of delight in the thought that He is our Father. If God is satisfied with His bargain, we ought to "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

"Secrets" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

Secrets.-"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God." Deut. xxix. 29. But He does not keep them all to Himself, for we are assured that "there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets." (Dan. ii. 28); and "those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children for ever." "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him;" to such He is very communicative. To him that dwells in the secret place of the Most High, the ways of God will be plain; but "none of the wicked shall understand."

"The Papacy. Its Long, Unbroken Reign" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

The prophecy continues: "And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Dan. vii. 25. The "they" of course refers to the "saints of the Most High" and the "times and laws," which are mentioned in the same verse. The "time and times and the dividing of time," then, indicates the period of Papal supremacy, and of the unlimited reign of lawlessness.

In the first place we may notice that in the Douay Bible, as well as in the Revised Version, "time and times and the dividing of time," is rendered, "time, and times, and half a time." We have no need to conjecture what this means, for the Bible is its own interpreter. In Rev. xii. 14 we find the same period of time mentioned: "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Now in verse 6 of the same chapter the same event is brought to view in these words: "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." From these two verses we learn that "a time, and times, and half a time" is only another expression for twelve hundred and sixty days. Then the little horn of Daniel 7 was to have supremacy for twelve hundred and sixty days.

But the question now arises, "Is it possible that 1,260 days, or three years and a half, cover the whole time which the prophecy allows to the Papacy?" We answer, No; and the explanation is simple. The prophecy is symbolic; four mighty empires are represented by short-lived beasts; the Roman Catholic power is represented by a little horn of one of these beasts. It is obvious, then, that the prophecy would not be consistent if it should express the duration of those powers in literal years. The time would be out of proportion to the nature of the symbol representing the power. Therefore it is evident that the time must also be symbolic. We inquire, then, What is the standard of time when used in symbolic prophecy? In Eze. iv. 4-6 we read the answer:-

"Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days; I have appointed thee each day for a year."

Since all prophecy of Scripture proceeds from the same source, and is not of private interpretation (2 Pet. i. 20, 21), the interpretation given to a symbol in one prophecy; therefore the "time, and times, and half a time," or twelve hundred and sixty days, indicate just twelve hundred and sixty years.

The next question to be settled is, When does this period of time begin and end? There are several dates given by various authors to mark the rise of Papal supremacy, but 538 A.D. seems to be the one that has the only just claim to consideration. The prophet, in describing the rise of the little horn, says, "He shall subdue three kings." Dan. vii. 24. This is in explanation of the fact that three horns were to be plucked up before it. Of course the only powers that would be rooted up to make room for the Catholic power would be those who were opposed to it. Now long before 538 A.D., paganism, as a State religion in the Roman Empire, was dead. Since the time of Constantine, Rome had been nominally Christian. The barbarous tribes by which the empire was divided into the ten parts, also embraced the Christianity of the empire. D'Aubigne says:-

"Already the forests of the New had poured forth the most effectual promoters of the papal power. The barbarians who had invaded the West and settled themselves therein.-So recently converted to Christianity were ignorant of the spiritual character of the church, and feeling the want of external pomp of religion, prostrated themselves in a half savage and half heathen state of mind at the feet of the chief priest of Rome."

But not all of these tribes were favorable to the pretensions of the bishops of Rome. Some of them, especially the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths, were professedly followers of Arius. The contest between the Catholics and Arians was bitter and unrelenting, and so long as these powers held Italy and the adjacent country, the Pope could not assert papal authority. In the year 493 A.D., the power of the Heruli was annihilated by the death of Odoacer. From that time it is impossible to trace them in history. In 534 the Vandals were conquered by Belisarius, the general of Justinian; and in 538 A.D., Rome, which until that time had been in possession of the Arian Ostrogoths, was occupied by the Roman army, and the Catholic religion was established. These conquests are described in detail in the thirty-ninth and forty-first chapters of Gibbon.

When the last of these Arian powers was overthrown (A.D. 538), there was nothing to hinder the bishop of Rome from occupying the proud position for which he had so long been striving. Speaking of the way in which the Roman bishop gradually usurped power over other churches D'Aubigne says:-

"To silence the cries of the church, Rome found new allies. Princes, who in those troublesome times often saw their thrones tottering, offered their adherence to the church, in exchange for her support. They yielded to her spiritual authority, on condition of Rome paying them with secular dominion. They left her to deal at will with the souls of men, provided only she would deliver them from their enemies.

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The power of the hierarchy in the ascending scale, and of the imperial power which was declining, leaned thus one toward the other-and so accelerated their twofold destiny.

"Rome could not lose by this. An edict of Theodosius II. and of Valentinian III. proclaimed the Bishop of Rome 'ruler of the whole church.' Justinian issued a similar decree [letter]. These decrees did not contain all that the Popes pretended to see in them. But in those times of ignorance it was easy for them to gain reception for that interpretation which was most favourable to themselves."

To show plainly the object of these wars against the Arian powers, and what was gained by them, we make two brief quotations from Gibbon. After having rehearsed the defeat of the Vandals and the capture of Carthage by the Romans, the historian speaks as follows concerning Justinian:-

"He received the messengers of victory at the time when he was preparing to publish the pandects of the Roman law; and the devout or jealous emperor celebrated the Divine goodness, and confessed, in silence, the merits of his successful general. Impatient to abolish the temporal and spiritual tyranny of the Vandals, he proceeded, without delay, to the full establishment of the Catholic Church. Her jurisdiction, wealth, and immunities, perhaps the most essential part of Episcopal religion, were restored and amplified with a liberal hard; the Arian worship was suppressed, the Donatist meetings were proscribed; and the synod of Carthage, by the voice of two hundred and seventeen bishops, applauded the just measure of pious retaliation."

The victory of Belisarius over the Ostrogoths (A.D. 538) is thus described:-

"The Goths consented to retreat in the presence of a victorious enemy; to delay till the next spring the operations of offensive war; to summon their scattered forces; to relinquish their distant possessions, and to trust even Rome itself to the faith of its inhabitants. Leuderis, an aged warrior, was left in the capital with four thousand soldiers; a feeble garrison, which might have seconded the zeal, though it was incapable of opposing the wishes of the Romans. But a momentary enthusiasm of religion and patriotism was kindled in their minds. They furiously exclaimed that the apostolic throne should not longer be profaned by the triumph or toleration of Arianism; that the tombs of the C?sars should no longer be trampled by the savages of the North; and, without reflecting that Italy must sink into a province of Constantinople, they fondly hailed the restoration of a Roman emperor as a new era of freedom and prosperity. The deputies of the Pope and clergy, of the Senate and people, invited the lieutenant of Justinian to accept their voluntary allegiance, and to enter the city, whose gates would be thrown open for his reception. . . . The first days, which coincided with the old Saturnalia, were devoted to mutual congratulation and the public joy, and the Catholics prepared to celebrate, without a rival, the approaching festival of the nativity of Christ."

These quotations show most conclusively that in A.D. 538 the bishop of Rome did become literally "the Pope," i.e., the father, or head and ruler, of the churches. The last opposing horn had then been plucked up, and the Papacy was free to enter upon that career of ecclesiastical tyranny for which it had long been preparing; and the "mystery of iniquity" which had been working so long was given full liberty.

But since the supremacy of the Papacy was to continue twelve hundred and sixty years, it is evident that it must have been checked in the year 1798 A.D. Let us see if at that time anything happened to justify this conclusion. From "Chambers' Cyclopedia," article "Pius," we quote:-

"At length the [French] Directory ordered the invasion of Rome; Berthier entered the city, February 10, 1798, and took possession of the castle of St. Angelo. Pius [VI.] was called on to renounce his temporal sovereignty, and on his refusal, was seized, February 20, and carried away to Siena, and afterwards to the celebrated Certosa, or Carthusian monastery, of Florence. On the threatened advance of the

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Austro-Russian army in the following year, he was transferred to Grenoble, and finally to Valence on the Rhone, where, worn out by age and by the rigour of confinement, he died in August, 1799, in the eighty-second year of his age and the twenty-fourth of his pontificate."

Thus we see that from 538 to 1798 A.D. there were twelve hundred and sixty years of unbroken power, plainly fulfilling the prophecy. At that time the power of the Papacy was broken; indeed, it might well have been thought to be utterly destroyed. In March 1800, however, another Pope was chosen, and the Papacy has continued ever since, but with diminished power. Immediately after the enunciation of the dogma of Papal infallibility, July 21, 1870, Victor Emmanuel took advantage of the withdrawal of the French soldiers from Rome, to make that city the capital of his kingdom. Accordingly he entered it on September 20 of the same year, and that day marked the close of the temporal dominion of the Pope of Rome, who ever since has sulked in the Vatican, where, in order more effectually to work upon the sympathies of the people, he professes to be a prisoner. From his retreat, like Bunyan's aged pope in his cave, he growls out at those who despise his pretensions, "You will never mend till more of you be burnt;" for his one ambition is the restoration of the Papacy to its former power.

Whether this dream will ever be fully realised is not indicated in the prophecy under consideration; yet that, before the end, the power of the Papacy will increase far beyond what it is at the present, is plainly set forth in these words:-

"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Dan. vii. 21, 22.

For several years it seemed as though every vestige of the power of the Papacy was irrecoverably gone; but "the Scripture cannot be broken," and now, although it has no territorial dominion, there is no kingdom on earth that approaches it in power. The Pope rules not only the vast host of Catholics in every land under the sun, nearly all of whom hold their allegiance to him above that which they owe to their civil rulers, but he rules nations.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

-Paper stockings are coming into extensive use in Germany. They are said to be useful in preventing colds.

-The death rate at Liverpool and Glasgow recently reached the abnormal percentage of 55 per 1,000 of the population.

-After a debate In the German Reichstag on anti-Semitism, a resolution against Jewish immigration was defeated by a largo majority.

-According to Archdeacon Sandford, there is clear evidence that the drink habit is on the increase among the upper and middle classes of England.

-In consequence of the influenza epidemic, the Pope has, in a brief to the Roman Catholic Bishops in England, dispensed with the observance of the Lenten fast.

-A train filled with pilgrims who had been recently visiting a shrine rolled over an embankment In Mexico, killing 130 passengers and injuring eighty others.

-The Chenab irrigation canal in Northern India is said to be the widest canal in the world. It is 110 feet broad, and will be 200ft. broad when completed, with a length of 450 miles.

-A dispute in the boot and shoe trade has culminated in a decision on the part of the boot manufacturers to order a lock-out. The decision was the outcome of a lengthy meeting held at Leicester.

-Sir Henry Rawlinson, Bart., well known for his learning and researches in the field of Assyriology, died at his residence in London, March 5, from Bronchitis and influenza. He was in his eighty-fifth year.

-The civil war in Colombia still continues. At last reports the Government forces had sustained a defeat in a heavy battle near Cuenta, in which 800 were killed on both sides, and the revolutionists had captured the city.

-Twenty-six young men of Tarnopol, in Galicia, mostly students at the Teachers' Seminary there, are to be tried on charges of high treason, the object of the prisoners being apparently to restore the independence of Poland.

-A heavy fell of snow has occurred in the San Sebastian district of Spain. According to reports received from other paste of Spain the present sowings are irretrievably lost, and farmers throughout the country predict a bad harvest.

-The Simplon Tunnel, which is to be constructed under the Alps, will be nearly sixteen miles in length-longer than either the Mount Cenis or St. Gothard Tunnels. In one place there will be over 7,000 foot of solid rook above the tunnel.

-It is reported that an imperial ukase has been issued abolishing the use of the knout as a punishment for offences committed by the Russian peasantry. Three thousand persons are said to have died as a result of this punishment within ten years.

-Li Hung Chang has left Peking with full powers to negotiate terms of peace. It is stated that Li's enemies at Court are in disgrace, and that if the Viceroy returns from Japan successful he will be authorised to make sweeping reforms in China.

-A man who had been placed in a trance was on exhibition in London for ten days. When re-restored to consciousness by the operator the man declared that he felt neither ill, hungry, nor thirsty, and walked from the building as though nothing unusual had happened.

-Fears are entertained for the safety of Hansen, the Arctic explorer. A balloon was seen, and is thought to have been hearing despatches from him, as he intended availing himself of such means of sending news. The balloon, however disappeared and has not been found.

-Several French, Belgian and German bishops have made requests to the Pope to condemn the Christian Socialist party, whom they accuse of revolutionary tendencies. The Pope has designated a priest to make inquiry into the organisation of the Catholic workmen's societies in those countries.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

Past Christian experience gives no life in the present. The Christian is the one whose life is "renewed day by day."

The frequency with which one strike follows another is such that nearly all the time there is industrial war, and consequent suffering among the families of the bread-winners. A great struggle in the shoe trade, which will affect thousands, seems already to have begun.

It is a significant fact that the critics of the Bible are not developed in the missionary fields where the worker knows the need of a more than human power to lift men out of the pit of heathenism, but they spring up generally in comfortably placed pulpits in the home field.

The people of Jamaica, West Indies, are evidently readers. Last week we shipped 1,000 copies "Steps to Christ" and 500 of "Eden to Eden" to that island. During the past 15 months they have taken over 2,500 copies of the "Steps," and over 2,000 of "Eden," and orders are now in for 1,000 more of the latter book as soon as another edition can be brought out.

"But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared; the Lord of hosts is His name. And I put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of Mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art My people." Isa. li. 15, 16.

What a blessed assurance that is to the people of God! It is He, the Lord of hosts, whose power divided the sea, who will perform the work of the Gospel. He does it by His Word, yet He associates men with Him, allowing them to speak it. This assurance is a perfect preventive of discouragement, since the work which He assigns us can no more fail than His Word can fail. But never let it be forgotten that success depends upon our being hidden in the shadow of His hand. His words must be heard from our mouths, but only His hand must be seen.

The Pope has to pay the price of the support of earthly powers, however much he would like to escape the payment. He was asked to condemn one of the Austrian political parties, the anti-Semites, and has hesitated for some time; but now, a Rome correspondent says, he has yielded under the pressure of the Austrian Government.

A member of the Centre, or Catholic party of the German Reichstag has brought a bill before a Committee proposing to go beyond a Government bill which makes it an offence to speak against religion. He wants to put a stop to all discussion, and make men believe by order of the courts. His bill imposes 600 marks fine, or up to two years' imprisonment for denying the existence of God or the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. It ought to make people rub their eyes to see responsible bodies considering such questions as these. The drift is altogether toward the Dark Ages, though it seems hardly probable that the Reichstag can be prevailed upon to pass such a bill just at present.

South America is such a stronghold of Romanism that we are specially glad to receive the encouraging news of the success attending our workers in that neglected continent. We cannot promise to notice every shipment of books to that part of the world, but as last week we mentioned the cases of books sent to the extreme south of the continent, Tierra del Fuego, we may add that during the week our publishers have shipped cases to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Valparaiso, Chili.

"Sunday-Law Fines" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week we promised to tell why it is impossible for Sabbath-keepers to pay fines that are inflicted for Sunday work. The foundation for the answer is given in the article beginning on the first page, entitled "Where Sunday Laws Come From." Whoever reads that will see that Sunday laws themselves are wicked, coming directly from the adversary of all truth and righteousness. Therefore it is sin to have anything to do with them in any way whatever. To obey a Sunday law is a sin against God. To pay fines imposed for disobeying it, would be to recognise the power which is at the bottom of it; and that would be sin. It would in reality be paying the devil for the privilege of worshipping God. Sabbath-keepers cannot in any way countenance Sunday laws of any kind. When God says of Babylon, "Come out of her, My people," He says also, "Be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing."

Some will say, "Well, your property will be taken to satisfy the fine, if you do not pay it, so what is the difference?" There is all the difference in the world. Suppose you were given the alternative of committing suicide or being killed; would anyone say, "You might as well commit suicide, since you are sure to lose your life"? All can see that if you committed suicide the sin would be yours, while if your enemy killed you, you would be free from all responsibility. The same principle applies in regard to the payment of fines for transgressing Sunday laws. It is not a question of losing property; that is of no consequence whatever. It is simply this: Will you be a party to the carrying out of a wicked law, or will you leave others to assume the responsibility, if they dare do so in the face of God's Word? "It is impossible but that offences will come; but woe unto him, through whom they come!" Luke xvii. 1.

"Caricaturing the Bible" The Present Truth 11, 11.

E. J. Waggoner

A play, which professes to be the representation of a scene from the New Testament, has just been performed in a Paris theater. It is in fact a caricature of the story of the beheading of John the Baptist by Herod at the instigation of his mistress. Of course the dancing by the daughter of Herodias lends itself very readily to a theatrical presentation. With the exception of the dancing, the scene, as described, bears about as much resemblance to the Bible narrative of John the Baptist, as it would to a description of a sitting of the Bible Revision Committee in the Jerusalem Chamber. It is said that the production, which was enthusiastically received, will probably be followed by a series which "may reverently delineate the great incidents of the Old and New Testaments." The only result will be to make people think they are getting Bible history when they are getting a gross perversion of it, and to degrade the Sacred Book in the minds of the people to the level of the blood and thunder novel.

March 21, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

We are told concerning our Lord that "in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest." Heb. iv. 17.

It is impossible therefore that any man should ever find himself in any condition where he may not also find the Lord; for wherever humanity has gone, there is "the man Christ Jesus." He is "not far from every one of us." Acts xvii. 27.

But the Lord became man-partook of flesh and blood-for no other purpose than that He might destroy the adversary of mankind, and "deliver them who. . . were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 14, 15. And He gained a perfect victory. Therefore whoever finds Christ finds deliverance and victory.

Of Jesus and His work it was said by the Holy Spirit, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth." Isa. xlii. 4. And this, notwithstanding that "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isa. lii. 6. That is, the whole burden of humanity, with all its weakness and sin and shame, could not and cannot discourage our Saviour, who voluntarily assumed it.

The lesson to be learned from these facts is that there is no condition of sinfulness and failure that warrants anybody in being discouraged. Not merely so, but every man, no matter how weak and fallen, may find in those very circumstances cause for abundant courage and rejoicing. Looking at himself and his own resources, he could find ground for nothing but despair; but looking at his weakness and failures together with Jesus Christ as He is, he finds ground for nothing but joy and hope.

"Clothed with our nature still, He knows
The weakness of our frame,
And how to shield us from the foes
Which He Himself o'ercame.

"Nor time nor distance e'er shall quench
The fervour of His love:
For us He died in kindness here.
For us He lives above."

Read the following, and see if any man could find himself in more abject case: "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, if He delight in Him." Ps. xxii. 6-8, margin.

And now read this: "I will declare Thy name unto My brethren; in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him; all ye seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him, all ye the seed of Israel. For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath He hid His face from him; but when he cried unto Him, He heard." Verses 22-24.

"But," some desponding soul may say, "I have brought my low state upon myself, by my own acts, and deserve all the reproach I receive, while Christ did not." True; but "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; and rewarded us according to our iniquities." Ps. ciii. 10. He took what He did not deserve, in order that we might be saved from what we do deserve. He became poor, that we might be made rich. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, "that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. v. 21. "For the transgression of My people was He smitten:" and "with His stripes we are healed." Isa. liii. 5, 8.

Then "Thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." 2 Cor. ii. 14.

"The Witness of Faith" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous." Heb. xi. 4. In the same way the witness of righteousness must be obtained to-day. Not on some feeling that comes to us we know not how, and then is gone again, not by our works, but by faith, we obtain the evidence of our acceptance with God. We are "accepted in the Beloved," which is Christ. Eph. i. 6. God does not accept anything that is not perfect, or that has upon it the least stain of sin; and only as we are "in Him" can we be made perfect and without sin, as He is who "knew no sin." We are made thus in Him by being created new, through the power of Him who is the Creator. Eph. ii. 10. Thus we are not simply "counted" righteous and perfect without being so, but are righteous in reality, by a new creation in Christ. God never deals with unrealities.

The testimony of faith is the testimony of the word of God. Its testimony is therefore reliable; and in this question of our righteousness or unrighteousness

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we want only such testimony as is reliable. The testimony of mere feeling will never do; and the subject is too deep for human reasoning. We cannot feel our righteousness; we cannot see it; but faith is "the evidence of things not seen." Heb. xi. 1. Christ is righteous,-perfect and without spot; and faith says, "The Lord our righteousness." And thus, if we have faith, we know that we are righteous; but without faith we have no evidence, for there is then no righteousness in us. And faith is not mere assent to the truth of God's word, but it is our "Amen" to it.

"It Cannot Be Shaken" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

At a time when it is so generally believed that religion must be protected, and when even ardent Nonconformists who want to disestablish the Church of England are as zealously working to establish by law religious institutions in which they themselves are interested, it is refreshing to hear on a public platform words which indicate that the speaker fully believes that that which is Divine does not need the protection of puny human strength. In a recent speech Mr. George Russell, M.P., said of the church:-

It is a religious body. It was created-with all reverence be it spoken-at the beginning of the church's history, by the sacred breath and command of the Divine Master Himself, and it is perpetuated by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit; and when men, by their sins and hardness of heart, have driven Him away, and when the church has become untrue to the Gospel of her Master, she is "destroyed" and her candlestick taken away. But no power on earth, neither parliament, nor democracy, nor bishop, nor king, can create or destroy a church. It was created by God, and it is destroyed, if destroyed at all, only by its own faithless acts.

"Setting Up Christ's Kingdom" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

The Saviour said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence." John xviii. 36.

The possession of earthly power is attained as well by votes as by fighting. The power is the same; the only difference is in the manner of getting it. In the one case it is given; in the other it is forcibly taken. Political leadership makes use to-day of both the sword and the ballot; they are but different means of attaining the same end.

Therefore if Christ had spoken these words before an earthly ruler to-day, He might have appropriately said, If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants vote, that I should hold the power of this world, and not be delivered into the power of others. In that case they would actively engage in every political campaign, in order that the kingdom of Christ might be established through the only peaceful means by which earthly leadership is attained.

And therefore any effort that is made to establish the kingdom of Christ by such means, is based upon the idea that His kingdom is of this world. But to this His own words are directly contrary. His kingdom is "not from hence."

The kingdom of Christ is not in any way dependent upon or connected with the exercise of earthly power. It was not power that was wanted for its establishment; the Saviour had an abundance of that. He said in the hour of His betrayal, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?" Matt. xxvi. 53. When the unseen presence that went with Jesus moved between Him and the murderous mob, "they went backward, and fell to the ground." John xviii. 6. And when He was brought before Pilate, He said, "Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee above." John xix. 11. It was by permission of that power that Christ was "delivered to the Jews."

Nor did the Saviour lack popularity. He might have been made a ruler by popular choice; for we read that on one occasion the people had planned to come by force and make Him a king. But He defeated their purpose by departing alone into a mountain. John vi. 15. The Saviour thus deliberately refused to have His kingdom established by force of arms, or by the choice of the people.

There was one other notable occasion upon which Christ refused to be invested with earthly power. When He was tempted of the devil, the latter carried Him up into an "exceeding high mountain," and showed Him "all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them," and said to Jesus, "All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto Me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine." Matt. iv. 8; Luke iv. 6, 7. Nor did the devil speak falsely in claiming the ownership of the kingdoms of earth; for in overcoming Adam, he came into possession of that which Adam had, which was the earth,-a fact which earth's history has abundantly testified. Jesus refused the offer; and had He consented afterward to be made a king, either by force of arms or by popular choice, He would have done tacitly what the devil asked Him to do in the mountain; for to accept a gift, is to acknowledge the authority and right of the giver. Christ could except no gift from "the god of this world."

Had Christ consented to be made an earthly king, it would have defeated the setting up of His kingdom on earth. And every effort made to establish His kingdom by an earthly means, is an effort against His kingdom. Christ will not take the kingdoms of earth as a gift from Satan, He will take them as a Conqueror. And it was through death that He conquered. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. ii. 14. It was by entering into the "strong man's house"-the grave-that Christ conquered and bound the adversary, and spoiled him of his goods,-the mortals whom he had laid therein.

Jesus says to His servants, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. . . . And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. xxviii. 18-20. It is not power, therefore, that is lacking to-day for the setting up of Christ's kingdom. "All power in heaven and in earth" was not given them to be used in overthrowing any of the kingdoms of this earth, but that they might go "into all the earth, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Mark xvi. 15. And that Gospel operates by the power of the cross, upon which believers are crucified with Christ. Gal. ii. 20. The suffering, humiliation, and death to which Christ obtained all power in heaven and in earth, is not yet finished, but is still endured in the persons of His followers. But the "Gospel of the kingdom" is going to-day to every nation, tongue, and people, to hasten the glorious day when all this shall be ended, and when He who has all power in earth shall exercise it as earth's acknowledged King.

But this can never be upon the world that now is, for this world is "reserved unto fire against the day of

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judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter iii. 7. The earth must be prepared for the setting up of Christ's kingdom by the purification of fire, which will rid it for ever of sin and sinners. When the kingdom of Christ is set up, all earthly kingdoms will be utterly swept away, as chaff before the wind. See Dan. ii. 44, 45. It has nothing in common with them, nor assimilates any part of them into its self, but simply sweeps them all away, and takes their place. And then will the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven.

It is the Gospel, and that only, that is working to-day, or can work, for the setting up of the kingdom of Christ.

"Studies in Romans. Christians and the State. Rom. xiii. 1-14" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

We come now to the second of the purely hortatory chapters of Romans, the thirteenth. This chapter contains matter that is of the greatest importance, and which is perhaps the least regarded of any chapter in the book. Without any review we will proceed to read:-

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same; for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For, for this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to wake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

In studying this chapter it is necessary to remember that the Epistle is addressed to professed followers of the Lord. "Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest His will," etc. Rom. ii. 17, 18. And again, "Know ye not, brethren for I speak to them that know the law," etc. Rom. vii. 1. The last part of the chapter also shows the same thing. It is a mistake, therefore, to suppose that this chapter was designed to set forth the duties of earthly rulers, or as a treatise on civil government, or on the relation that the State should occupy to the church. Since it is addressed to professed Christians, it is evident that its object is simply to tell them how they ought to behave towards the governments under which they live.

All Power from God.-"God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." Ps. lxii. 11. "There is no power but of God." This is absolutely true, without any exception. The Roman power, even in the days of the infamous and brutal Nero, was as much derived from God as was the Jewish power in the days of David. When Pilate told Christ that He had power to crucify Him or to let Him go, Christ replied, "Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above." John xix. 11. This fact does not, however, prove that the acts of that power were right, or that God sanctioned them.

This will be the more apparent if we take the cases of individuals. All human power comes from God. It is as true of the heathen as of Christians, that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being;" "for we are also His offspring." Acts xvii. 28. It can as truly be said of every individual as of governments, that they are ordained, or appointed, of God. He has a plan for every one's life. But that does not make God responsible for all their actions, because they are free to do as they choose, and they rebel against God's plan, and pervert His gifts. The power with which the scoffer blasphemes God is as much from God as is the power with which the Christian serves Him. Yet no one can suppose that God approves of blasphemy. Even so we are not to suppose that He necessarily approves the acts of governments, simply because the powers that be are ordained of Him.

"Ordained."-Let no one entertain the idea that this word necessarily implies the imparting of some spiritual power. It means nothing more than appointed or ordered, which we find in the margin. The Greek word from which it is rendered is found in Acts xxviii. 23, where we read that the Jews in Rome appointed a day for Paul to tell them about the Gospel. It could as well be said that they "ordained" a day for him.

God over All.-"The higher powers" are not above the Most High. "Wisdom and might are His; and He changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth kings, and setteth up kings." Dan. ii. 20, 21. He set Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, over all the kingdoms of earth (see Jer. xxvii. 5-8; Dan. ii. 37, 38); but when Nebuchadnezzar arrogated to himself divine power, he was driven out among the beasts, that he might know that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will." Dan. iv. 32.

Resisting God.-Since there is no power but of God, "he that resisteth the power withstandeth the ordinance of God; and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment." This is a warning against rebellion and insurrection. It is God who removes kings as well as sets them up. Therefore whoever presumes to remove a king is assuming God's prerogative. It is as though he knew better than God when the government should be altered. Unless those who rise up against any earthly government can show a direct revelation to them from heaven appointing them to that work, they are setting themselves against God, by seeking to overthrow His order. They are putting themselves ahead of God.

Resisting or Overthrowing.-To resist the civil authority is in the same line as seeking to overthrow it. He who opposes a power with force would overthrow it if the contest were continued and he had the power. This the followers of Christ are strictly forbidden to do.

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Christ's Example.-Christ suffered, "leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously." 1 Pet. ii. 21-23. It is worth while to remember that Christ was condemned on a political charge, and for political reasons, yet he made no resistance, although He showed that He had power to do so. See John xviii. 5-11; Matt. xxvi. 51-53. It may be said that Christ knew that His hour had come. True; but He did not resist at previous times. He continually committed Himself into the hands of the Father. That is an example for His followers. If they are submissive in God's hands, they can suffer no indignity nor oppression that God does not appoint or allow; no injury can be done them before their hour comes. It is easier to profess faith in Christ than to show real faith by following his example.

Another Striking Example.-Saul had been anointed king of Israel by command of God; but had afterwards been rejected because of his reckless course. Then David was anointed king in his stead. Saul was jealous of David's preferment, and sought his life. David did not resist, but fled. More than once Saul was within David's power, but David would not lift up a hand against him. If there is any excuse for resisting a ruler, David had it. In the first place, if he had done so, it would have been only in self-defence; and, in the second place, he had already been anointed king in Saul's stead. Yet when urged even to consent to allow another to kill Saul, David said: "Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless? . . . As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed." 1 Sam. xxvi. 9-11. And yet Saul was a wicked man, who had cast off allegiance to God, and was not fit to rule.

Subject to God.-God's word admonishes us to be subject to the powers that be, but it never countenances disobedience to God. God has never ordained any power to be above Himself. It is the height of folly for us to argue from this chapter that it is the duty of Christians to obey human laws when they conflict with the law of God. God does not grant indulgence to sin; much less does He command us to sin. We are not to be subject to the powers that be instead of to God, but because we are subject to God. "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." Col. iii. 17.

Subjection and Obedience.-Ordinarily subjection implies obedience. When we read that Jesus was subject to His parents, we are sure that He was obedient to them. So when we are exhorted to be subject to the powers that be, the natural conclusion is that we are to be obedient to the laws. But it must never be forgotten that God is above all; that both individual and national power comes from Him; and that He has a right to the undivided service of every soul. We are to obey God all the time, and to be subject to human power as well, but always so that it does not involve disobedience to God.

Cannot Serve Two Masters.-"No man can serve two masters. . . . Ye can not serve God and mammon." The reason is that God and mammon are opposite in their demands. Now everybody knows that there have often been human laws that conflicted with God's commandments. There was once a law in America in the days of slavery requiring every man to do all in his power to return fugitive slaves to their masters. But God's word said, "Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee." Deut. xxiii. 15. In that case it was impossible to obey the law of the land without disobeying God; and obedience to God made disobedience to the human law absolutely necessary. Men had to make their choice as to whom they would obey. The Christian can not hesitate a moment in his choice. The law that contradicts God's law is nothing. "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord." Prov. xxi. 30.

"Every Ordinance of Man."-"Some reader may quote 1 Peter ii. 13 as opposed to this. It says, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." Others may say that we are to submit to every ordinance except when it is opposed to God's law. No exception, however, is implied, nor is any necessary. Neither does the text teach obedience to human laws that contradict God's law. The error arises from a misapprehension of the word "ordinance." It is supposed that this word means "law," but a careful reading will show anybody that this supposition is a mistake. Let us read the 13th and 14th verses carefully: "Submit yourselves to every ordinance [Greek, creation] of man for the Lord's sake." Well, what are these ordinances or creations to which we are to be subject? It makes no difference; to all, "whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him." It is very clear that the text says nothing whatever about laws, but only about rulers. The exhortation is precisely the same as that in the 13th of Romans.

Submissive yet Disobedient.-Let the reader follow on in the chapter last quoted from, and he will see that the submission enjoined does not involve obedience to wicked laws. We are exhorted: "Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king." We are to be subject to rightful authority, whether the exerciser of that authority be good and gentle, or froward. Then come the words, "For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully." 1 Peter ii. 17-19. Now a man could not for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully, unless conscience toward God had compelled him to disobey some command laid upon him. This statement, immediately following the exhortation to be submissive, plainly shows that disobedience is contemplated as a probability when those in authority are "froward." This is emphasised by the reference to Christ, who suffered wrongfully, yet made no resistance. "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." Isa. liii. 7. He was condemned for His loyalty to the truth, which He would not compromise in the least, and yet He was submissive to the authority of the rulers. The apostle says that in this He left us an example, that we should follow in His steps.

Christians and Civil Government.-"For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for the Saviour,

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the Lord Jesus Christ." Phil. iii. 20. Those who through Christ have access by one Spirit unto the Father "are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Eph. ii. 19. Let every man concern himself with the affairs of his own country, and not with those of another. For an American to come to England and presume to lecture Parliament for the way in which it conducts the business of Government, or for an Englishman to go to America and distinguish himself by his advice to the authorities, would be the height of impertinence. But if they should begin actively to interfere in the conduct of public affairs, or should stand for office, they would speedily be shown that they had no business there. Let them become naturalised, and then they may speak and act as much as they please; but then they must hold their peace if they return to the country to which they once owned allegiance. No man can be active in the affairs of two governments at the same time.

This applies to the Government of heaven as related to earthly governments, as well as to different countries on earth. The one who is a citizen of the heavenly country has no business to meddle with the affairs of earthly governments. He must leave that business to those who acknowledge this earth to be their home. If earthly rulers think to regulate the affairs pertaining to the kingdom of God, they are guilty of gross presumption, to say the least. But if they may not of right presume to regulate the affairs of the kingdom of heaven, much less may the citizens of heaven interfere in the affairs of earthly kingdoms.

Making Earth Heaven.-Many Christians and ministers of the Gospel seek to justify their dealing in politics by saying that it is their duty to make this earth the kingdom of heaven. In a recent campaign we have heard much about "the regeneration of London," and "making London the city of God." Such language shows a grave misapprehension of what the Gospel is. "It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. i. 16. Regeneration is accomplished only by the Holy Spirit working upon individual hearts, and can not be controlled by men. The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of Christ, but only "the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." Rev. xi. 15; Isa. ix. 7. There will be a new earth, in which only righteousness will dwell, but it will be only after the coming of the day of the Lord, in which the elements shall melt, and ungodly men shall be burned up. 2 Peter iii. 10-13. It will not be brought about by political action, even though ministers of the Gospel be the politicians. The minister of the Gospel has but one commission, namely, "Preach the word." In no other way in the world can men be made better. Therefore the minister who turns his attention to politics is denying his calling.

Keeping the Peace.-We must needs be subject to earthly governments, for conscience' sake; and for this cause also we must pay tribute and perform every duty of that nature that is laid upon us. Taxes may be heavy, and even unjust, but that does not warrant us in rebelling. The apostle James speaks to rich men who oppress the poor, and his language applies as well when they are in public office as when in private life. He says: "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you." James v. 5, 6. Mark this, the just do not resist. Why not? Because of the injunction: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Rom. xii. 18, 19. As subjects of the King of Peace, and citizens of His kingdom, they are bound to live peaceably with all men. Hence they can not fight even in self-defence. In this, Christ the Prince of peace is their example.

To Whom a Terror.-Only the evil workers are afraid of rulers. Well-doers have no fear. This is not because all rulers are good; for we know that many are not. "The broad empire of Rome filled the world," and the one who ruled it when Paul wrote to the Romans was the most vile and cruel of all the monsters who governed it. Nero put men to death for the mere pleasure of killing them. Well might he strike terror to the hearts of men; yet the Christians could be calm, because their trust was in God. "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid." Isa. xii. 2.

The Whole Duty of Man.-"Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." "Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." 1 John iv. 7. "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." 1 John v. 3. To fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of man. Eccl. xii. 13. Therefore, since he who loves his neighbour from the heart must also love God, and love is the keeping of His commandments, it is evident that the apostle has set forth in this exhortation the whole duty of man. He who heeds this exhortation can never do anything for which earthly governments can justly condemn him, even though he be ignorant of their laws. He who fulfils the law of love will never come in conflict with the powers that be. If they oppress him, they are fighting not against him but against the King whom he serves.

For Christians, not for the Powers.-Some have supposed that verses 8-10 define the limit of civil authority, and show that men may legislate concerning "the second table of the law," but concerning no other portion of the law of God. Two things kept in mind will show the fallacy of this. 1. The epistle is not addressed to rulers, but to individual Christians, as a guide for their private conduct. If the duty of rulers were here laid down, they, and not the brethren, would have been addressed. 2. "The law is spiritual," and consequently none of it is within the power of human legislation. Take the commandment, "Thou shalt not covet;" no human power could enforce that, or tell if it was violated. But that commandment is no more spiritual than the other nine. The language is addressed to the brethren, and the sum of it is this: Live in love, and you will wrong no man, and need have no fear of any rulers.

The End Approaches.-The remainder of the chapter is devoted to exhortations that need no comment. Their special force is derived from the fact that "the end of all things is at hand." Therefore we should "be sober, and watch unto prayer." Although living in the night, when darkness covers the earth (Isa. lx. 2), Christians are children of the light and of the day, leaving off works of darkness.

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Clothed with Christ.-Those who put on the Lord Jesus Christ will not themselves be seen. Christ alone will appear. To make provision for the lusts of the flesh is most unnecessary, since the flesh ever seeks to have its lusts gratified. The Christian has need rather to take heed that it does not assert its own power, and assume control. Only in Christ can the flesh be subdued. He who is crucified with Christ, can say, "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." Gal. ii. 20. And in that case he will conduct himself towards rulers and private persons just as Christ did, "because as He is, so are we in this world."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

-The palm house at Kew Gardens requires four and a third miles of hot-water piping to warm it.

-A new epidemic has broken out in Berlin, being a human form of foot and mouth disease, thought to be caused by drinking the milk of diseased cows.

-A Bill has been read a second time in the New South Wales Legislature imposing penalties on both masters and men who work more than eight hours a day.

-Insurrection is the order of the week in Cuba, fighting between troops and bands of rebels resulting sometimes in favour of the government and sometimes of the insurgents.

-Probably no man over profited more by the vanity of the feminine mind than Mr. Worth, the famous Paris costume-maker, who died last week. His costumes commanded prices ranging from ?30 to ?5,000.

-The prospective figures for the Chancellor's budget of expenditure for the ensuing financial year are ?96,000,000, said to be "the largest sum for which a government has over had to make provision in time of peace."

-General unrest continues is South America. There have been reports of armed risings in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Peru during the past week. It is the usual South American way of conducting political campaigns.

-An Indian chief having invaded the frontier province of Chitral, the Government has begun collecting troops in readiness to expel the invader. The force amounts to 15,000 men, and another "little war" is believed to be imminent.

-It is not uncommon for mothers in China to turn their girl babies over to hucksters, who hawk them about the streets in a basket, selling them for about the price of a spring chicken. Mothers of infant sons buy these girl babies, and rear them as future daughters-in-law.

-A project is now under consideration whereby Russia, France, Japan and Hawaii will join an American company in constructing a telegraph cable from San Francisco to Hawaii, and thence to Japan and the French islands in the Pacific. The negotiations are almost concluded.

-Fears are entertained that the Spanish ship of war, Reina Regente, foundered on Sunday last in the cyclone which ravaged the Spanish coast and did much damage at Cadiz. Some wreckage has been washed ashore. The missing cruiser, it is said, had on board 420 officers and men.

-The great strike in the boot trade has brought out thousands of operatives in Leicester, Northampton, Leeds, Rushden, Kettering, London, and other centres. It is said the factories have accumulated enormous stocks in view of the crisis, and there is likelihood of a prolonged struggle.

-The news which Turkish correspondents continue to send about the Armenian massacres make the story of torture and pillage more and more horrible each week. And the general impression is that the truth has not all been told yet. Apologists of Mohammedanism should note the fact that it was zeal against heretics that urged to the bloody deeds.

-The "Meteorological Office" seems to be an institution of much practical importance, judging from the figures pertaining to its yearly report of work, in giving warning of coming storms on sea and land. The raising of the storm cone in 1893-4 was justified by subsequent gales in sixty per cent. of the cases and by high winds in a further twenty-eight per cent. These signals doubtless averted many marine disasters. The telegrams dispatched during the hay season and exhibited outside the village post-office in nearly 200 selected rural districts in Essex and Northumberland were largely relied on by farmers, and proved a very valuable aid in agricultural business.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

By a majority of one only-13 votes to 12-the Committee of the German Reichstag threw out the clause making it a criminal offence to speak against religion-that is, religion as the State and ecclesiastical authorities define it.

The Swedish Mission Association has just entered a field hitherto untouched by missionary societies. They have established headquarters in Kashgar, from which they will branch out into the populous regions of Chinese Turkistan.

It is stated that a commission of officials from the Synod of the Russian Church will shortly proceed to the South-eastern provinces to inquire into the beliefs and organisation of the numerous sects which have sprung into being in that region. Of course renewed persecution may be expected to follow.

The Roman organ of the Jesuits urges the German Government to repeal utterly all anti-Jesuit laws, promising that the Catholic party will join the government in all anti-Socialist measures, and support its policy of militarism. "The Jesuits alone," they say, "can effectively penetrate the whole internal politics of Germany with a mighty conservative influence."

We have received a pamphlet containing a report of the proceedings of the third annual session of the South African Seventh-day Adventist Conference. The report shows progress in all departments of the work. Two new schools have been established during the year, for the benefit of the youth. These schools together with the Claremont Union College, built two and a half years ago, represent ?6,000 invested in buildings for educational work by our brethren in South Africa.

Another item in the South African report shows that contributions amounting to ?13,000 have been made to the Medical Missionary Benevolent Association, being merely a branch of the Conference, the special work of which is to take charge of institutions designed to extend the Gospel of health and helpfulness. An Orphans' Home has been built during the year at a cost of ?1,700, and a well-equipped health institution is under process of construction in Claremont, a suburb of Cape Town. It is expected to be completed the next year. Its aim will be not merely to make sick people well, but to teach the importance of healthful living in order to keep well, and it will also seek to train nurses and medical missionaries for work in South Africa and the interior.

A Baptist journal has for the subject of its leading article, "Undoing the Reformation," beginning with the statement that "the Vatican has resolved upon taking some vigorous steps to undo the Reformation in Great Britain," against which it enters a protest. Yet in the course of the article the Pope of Rome is referred to in the most matter-of-course way as "the Holy Father," a title which nearly all Protestant journals give him. That very thing shows most clearly that the "undoing" of the Reformation has already made great progress. No one in whom the principles of true Protestantism are firmly and intelligently fixed could ever, even in a moment of forgetfulness, refer to the Pope as "Holy Father" or "His Holiness."

The New York Independent of March 7 contains a brief report of the visit which Rev. Dr. Lunn, editor of the Review of the Churches has just made to America, and especially of his last address to "the clergy" of New York. Of course the theme was Christian unity, which it seems is to be worked for on the basis that each great denomination stands for some peculiar doctrine and teaches some great lesson which enriches the faith of the Church of Christ. Though many of us reject the doctrine of Mariolatry, yet without it some people would fail to know that Divine, almost feminine tenderness of our Lord. If any Roman Catholic order is hated more than another by Protestants, it is probably the Society of the Jesuits, and yet no one organisation represents submission in a more marked degree. We object to the Franciscans, but they teach us the much-needed lesson of poverty. Calvinism stands for the sovereignty of God, Lutheranism for religious liberty, and Methodism for zeal and spirituality. We must recognise the great service each religious body has rendered, and allow to all the honest sincerity we claim for ourselves.

How the Papal prelates must chuckle as they see the Protestant leaders planning to undo all that was accomplished by the Reformation. Christian union is a blessed thing, and will always exist wherever there are Christians; but union of the churches means simply the strengthening of the Papacy.

"Socialists and Sunday" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

Socialists and Sunday.-When the Scriptures are presented showing that the world-wide movement for the enforcement of Sunday laws is in fulfilment of the Word which predicts the temporary triumph of the principles of the Papacy in all nations before the coming of the Lord, many people argue that the great mass of men are irreligious or indifferent, and therefore is unlikely that such laws will be enforced. A significant despatch from Berlin came last week reporting that the Socialist deputy, Bebel, drew from the Postmaster-General of Germany a promise that Sunday labour would be restricted as far as practicable. The demand for holidays and short hours will very naturally fall into line with the Sunday law movement, and from the irreligious as well as the religious will come the demand that no man may buy or sell save those that acknowledge the mark of Papal authority.

"The Second Call" The Present Truth 11, 12.

E. J. Waggoner

Our readers will remember the correspondence that was published in the PRESENT TRUTH three weeks ago, concerning the payment of the fines and costs imposed on the International Tract Society for Sunday work; and they will also remember the reason that was given in that and the succeeding number why the fines could not be paid. They will therefore be interested in hearing that the Factory Inspector has sent to the Society a second call for payment, as follows:-

FACTORY DEPARTMENT, HOME OFFICE,

March 13, 1895.

GENTLEMEN:-

I am directed by H. M. Chief Inspector of Factories to inform you that if the penalties and costs incurred by you in the cases heard on the 13th of February last at the Clerkenwell Police Court, amounting in all two ?8 18s., be not paid before or on Tuesday next, the 19th of March, I have been instructed to take steps to enforce the payment.

Further developments will be noted as they occur.

March 28, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

"Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." Matt. v. 4.

There are two questions that one naturally wishes to have answered when reading this text, namely, What mourners shall be comforted? and When shall they be comforted?

Note the fact that the promise is unlimited. Christ said that He was sent "to comfort all that mourn." Isa. lxi. 2. God is no respecter of persons; He does not single out special cases to be the recipients of His grace. This promise is for every mourner.

The first and most natural thought suggested by the word "mourn" is of sorrow caused by affliction and bereavement. That the Lord comforts such mourners, is shown by His whole earthly life, and especially manifest in the case of the widow of Nain, and at the grave of Lazarus. He has comfort for every manner of grief.

But death is a result of sin. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." Rom. v. 12. "The sting of death is sin." 1 Cor. xv. 56. If it were not for sin, there would be no mourning. Therefore the Lord specially comforts those who mourn for their sins.

One thing, however, is necessary, and that is that the mourners should know this promise. It is self evident that in order to be comforted one must know where comfort is to be obtained. The mourner must believe this promise of the Lord, and become acquainted with Him through it. There is absolutely no limit to the promise, and no other qualification than that the mourner should believe and know the Lord. Whoever accepts the word of the Lord in good faith shall be comforted, no matter for what he mourns.

When shall they be comforted? Let the Scriptures answer: "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." 2 Cor. i. 3-5.

Whoever is afflicted for any cause whatever, may know if he will that he is afflicted with Christ. "In all their afflictions He was afflicted." Isa. lxiii. 9. Even though the affliction be directly because of sin, we may have the same assurance for we are told, "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted," and, "for the transgression of My people was He stricken." Isa. liii. 7, 8. That thought alone that Christ bears with us the burden of grief or temptation, is enough to make it light. Because it draws our minds away from ourselves.

But Christ cannot be divided. The one who has Christ has Him for all that there is in Him. Therefore if our faith grasps Him in His sufferings,-that is, if we remember that "He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows," so that we bear them only in Him,-then it is most certain that we shall have at the same time all the comfort there is in Him. As "the joy that was set before Him" enabled Him to endure the cross, and despise the shame, so the joy that there is in Him enables us to rejoice in tribulation.

"God With Us" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

The presence of God with His people is signified by the very name of the Saviour-Immanuel-which means, God with us. He is their strength, their wisdom, and their righteousness. They are His dwelling-place, and He is theirs. 2 Cor. vi. 16; Ps. xc. 1. Those who know not this truth know not the Lord.

In ancient times God gave a visible manifestation of His presence with Israel. He went before them in the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, which was to them an aid, a comfort, and a protection. And in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary, there remained always the visible token of His presence, in the brightness above the mercy seat.

All this was but the visible manifestation of what was true before, and has been true ever since it was given; namely, that God was with His people, not merely by a figure of speech, but actually, dwelling in their midst, and giving them aid, comfort, and protection from their enemies. It is as true to-day as it was in the days of Moses.

When the servant of Elisha was afraid because of the army of the Syrians that had come against the prophet, Elisha prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of his servant, and this being done, he saw that "the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 2 Kings vi. 17. This was no sudden interposition on the part of God to

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save Elisha from the king of Syria. Had the servant's eyes been "opened" at any other time, he would have seen the same thing; and we, had we like power of discernment, would see to-day the host of God surrounding each of His saints. "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." Ps. xxiv. 7.

When Elisha's servants saw the horses and chariots of fire round about them, he was not afraid of the host of the Syrians; he would not have feared any earthly power that could have come against them. And for the same reason precisely, the servants of God do not fear the opposition of any earthly power to-day. If we fear the Lord, we cannot fear man. Though we cannot see the angel of the Lord encamped round about us, we know that He is there, just as He was about Elisha. We know it by faith; faith is the Christian's sight. By faith we know a thing to be true when God has said it, just as certainly as if it were visible to our natural eyes.

God is the majority; His side is the side of numbers and of power, as well as of truth and right. And only as we lack faith, so that we fail to see this clearly, can we have any fear of the forces arrayed against us.

The wicked, because they have not faith, see this not, and count their side the strong one. They know not the source of the Christian's peace, courage, and joy, when he seems about to be swallowed up by his enemies. It is the Word of God, which he has received by faith, and has hid in his heart. Like Moses when he was threatened with the wrath of Pharaoh, he endures "as seeing Him who is invisible." Heb. xi. 27. Faith does for him what the Divine touch did for Elisha's servant; it enables him to know, just as if he saw it, that the host of the Lord is round about him to deliver him. And so, in the very presence of his enemies, he says, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and My song; He also is become my salvation." Isa. xii. 2.

"Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." Isa. xii. 6; Ps. xlvi. 11.

"Confessions of a Politician" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

It is a sorry confession which Prince Bismarck has to make after his life-long service as a politician and ruler of men. He is one of the most conspicuous figures of the generation, and has tested all that can well come to a man in the way of honours and position and the laurels which the world can give. And this is what he recently said of it all:-

I have seldom been a happy man. If I reckon up the rare moments of real happiness in my life I do not believe they would make more than twenty-four hours in all. In my political life I have never had time to have the feeling of happiness. It was continuous fighting and wrestling, and when any success was achieved then the anxiety not to lose it again, and to find out how to turn it to the best advantage instantly cropped up. But in my private life there have been moments of happiness.

The world is a hard paymaster, and the hollowness of it all when fame and what is called success is achieved is strikingly shown by the confessions of the aged statesman. Of the "necessities" of the statesman we read again:-

In my diplomatic work I also endeavoured to speak the truth, but circumstances sometimes compelled us both [the late Emperor William and himself] to deviate from the truth a little in public. But how hard that always was for the old Emperor! He always blushed on such occasions and I-could not look at him, and so I quickly turned away.

"It Shuts Every Mouth" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

The person who says that the law of God is abolished, or that it speaks only to Jews after the flesh, or who advances some other plea to justify disobedience to it, does not require an argument. The law of God is its own argument; for the law was not only spoken by God in a voice that "shook the earth," but it is a living word and now speaks with a voice which makes every sinful heart tremble. That is why men seek to put it away.

The proof of this is in the Word. The law of God speaks "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Rom. iii. 19. God's purposes are not turned aside, and so we know that every man becomes guilty before God whenever he is brought face to face with the law of God. He may not acknowledge it, but he knows it, for God says it, and the only thing to do is to leave him to listen to the Spirit which convicts. Everyone knows by his own experience that the law is a living thing, discerning even the thoughts and intents of the heart. Therefore it is that in the day of judgment every secret thing will be brought to light. The only place of safety is in Christ Jesus-His power and life working in us to cleanse from transgression and bring into subjection our wicked hearts. Knowing this way of escape, the believer can only urge men to seek the refuge provided. As to the need of the refuge we need not argue with men; for the law of God shuts every mouth and makes every man guilty before God.

"Hynoptism" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

Hypnotism is being widely discussed just now, and in view of its possibilities very many think it should be scientifically studied and its use regulated by law. Great things are predicted for it in the cure of certain forms of disease.

Some of its possibilities have been brought out in recent years in unsavory proceedings in European criminal courts. But this use of mysterious power, its defenders say, should be prevented. This is just where they miss the mark, because of the failure to see that what is inherently wicked cannot be turned to good account, and should be left alone.

It is a wicked thing, because whatever makes one person's will irresponsible, and wholly subject to the suggestions of another can only be of the evil one. It is the worst possible form of slavery; for it is servitude of mind and morals. It is Satan's own way of working; for He takes possession of the mind that yields itself to him and works to enfeeble the will, and destroy the power of resistance. He works his will in man, and "they know not what they do."

Then, too, hypnotism, or mesmerism is not a new thing. Its arts were known to the ancients, and the practice of mesmerism was connected with all the forms of witchcraft and sorcery against which the Lord warned Israel in all its history. Of course men who do not know the power with which they are allying themselves scoff at the notion that hypnotism is of the devil. In the Humanitarian, Dr. G. Kingsbury has an article advocating the use of hypnotism as a curative agent, and which he says, after speaking of those who a generation ago objected to it on the ground that it was of the devil:-

I consider it hopeless to suggest any means of answering the descendants of these unreasoning critics; but, for my own part, must say that if I could be cured of some obstinate ailment myself, or could relieve any of my patients, by a compact with their Prince of Darkness, I should not hesitate to form the alliance.

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It is by no means an improbable suggestion that persons may be relieved of maladies by the power of Satan. He works with "all power and signs and lying wonders" as the end draws near. The healing of maladies was one of the attractions of the old pagan shrine. It was Satan who had bound the woman whom Christ healed; and he it is who has the power to inflict pestilence and disease (note the case of Job) where the Lord does not interfere with his workings; therefore, while he has not the power of life, it would be a small matter with him to relax the bands which he had power to bind about his victim.

Would you want to be healed by Satan's power? Would you ask who did it if only a physical infirmity was removed? Although Satan can appear as an angel of light, it is well to remember that his works are works of darkness. Satan does not give a man increased strength to enable him to do good with it. He is not divided against himself; and the man who knowingly yields himself to Satan to get something has put his life in the hands of the evil one, and must pay the price by his service. Infinitely better is it to suffer patiently than to turn from the Lord to receive temporal gain and spiritual bondage from the great adversary.

"Preparing War" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

The rapid growth of militarism as plainly seen on the continent of Europe, was brought home to us last week in the discussion of the army and navy estimates in the Commons. The Chronicle has stated the facts in a paragraph. After saying that it considers the protests against the large increase of military expenditure neither ill-timed nor without justification, it continues:-

"On the contrary, it seems to us that if ever the party of economy ought to make a stand, it is in a year when, taking the amount required for the defence of all parts of the empire, we are approaching an outlay of nearly sixty millions. Ten years ago this enormous sum would have affrighted politicians of all types, and would have seemed beyond the wildest estimate of the military and naval needs of our dominions. Moreover, we cannot but feel the weight of Sir Wilfrd Lawson's warning that these gigantic preparations are going on without any compensating movement in the interests of peace. We talk with a certain easy cant of the virtues of arbitration. What step are we taking in that direction? None whatever. European statesmen wait for us as the Power which is supposed to be pre-eminently industrial and anti-warlike. We, in our turn, wait for European statesmen. In the meantime Italy struggles with bankruptcy, induced purely by her military and naval responsibilities. Russia and Germany are crushed by militarism. France exists mainly for the sake of her army, while as a naval Power she is in close and constant competition with ourselves. That is the spectacle of Christian Europe nearly nineteen hundred years after the birth of the Prince of Peace."

"The Real Question" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

When people take their stand to live in harmony with the word of God, even though opposed by popular customs and beliefs, and by the law of the land, they are often ask, What can you do? And because of the evident hopelessness of the prospect for such a change, they seem to consider themselves justified in disregarding the Divine Word, as if it were either impossible or useless to do otherwise while a contrary attitude is sustained by the majority.

This, however, is not the question to be considered. The truth of God does not concern itself with questions of this kind. God never conducts a work of reform in the earth with any reference to the practicability of gaining the "support" of popular customs and beliefs, and the alliance of human law.

His work does not need any such support, and Christians cannot expect any such change to take place. It is God who supports the world, and all living things therein; and therefore no power of men can give any support to Him, any more than a child in the arms of its father can support that father.

Christians cannot change the laws, customs and governments of the world. They can do nothing. They know this; and it is for that very reason that they do not hesitate to take their stand on the word of God, though all the powers of earth may be arrayed against them. If they thought otherwise-if they believed there was some saving power in the arm of flesh-they would seek first to gain that power by the usual means through which it is obtained. But the Christian belief is God's word, and that word says, "We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Phil. iii. 3. It also says, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in whom there is no help." Ps. cxlvi. 3. Put confidence in God-no confidence in the flesh-this is the very essence of the Christian's faith; and by that faith he lives.

The real question is: What are we going to do? It is not a question of governments, organisations, or majorities, but for individuals. God does not speak to organisations. He does not purpose to save governments or corporations. He speaks to individuals, separately and alone, without reference to any other person or thing. And He is now speaking to you, and declaring to the world His eternal truth. Do you imagine yourself outside the controversy, in the position of a mere spectator? If so, be warned in time; there is no such position, and that which seems so is a delusion and a snare. The work of God, the truth of God, concern no one more than it does you. He has spoken His word. He is causing it to be proclaimed throughout the earth; and He calls on all men equally to hear and obey it that they may live for ever. And the question-the only question-is, What are you going to do?

"Forgiveness" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

A refusal to forgive one who has trespassed against us, harms not him, but only ourselves. To forgive an injury is simply to let it drop, and this should be our course toward every thing that is bad. "Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." Rom. xii. 9.

Not to forgive the injury is to hold it fast, and to cleave to that which is evil. It is to apply a power and a right in ourselves which we do not possess,-namely, that of dealing with sin. When we surrender the matter we leave it in the hands of God, to be dealt with by Him. When we refuse to surrender it, we imply that we wish to deal with it ourselves. But man cannot deal with sin. The more he has to do with it, the worse off he is. Sin is the conqueror of man, and can be subdued only by the power of God.

The Saviour said: "Take heed to yourselves; if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him." Luke xvii. 3, 4. "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." He will not do it because He cannot. The unforgiving person will not let Him. He puts himself in the place of God by refusing to let the trespass against him be dealt with by God, and thus takes himself out of the only position in which God can bestow upon fallen man the gift of eternal life. He who will not forgive his brother is not taking heed to himself. He is cherishing a viper in his bosom which will give him at last a fatal sting.

"Obtaining Grace" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

The Catholic Times describes "a very efficacious means of obtaining graces both spiritual and temporal," which is recommended by a French Catholic. "It consists," says the Times, "in a new devotion to the great Franciscan wonder-worker St. Anthony of Padua. Those who wish to obtain graces from St. Anthony must promise him bread for the poor, which he only gets if he grants the grace that has been asked. One must promise him so many loaves of white bread, or so much in money for bread, every one promising according to their means." This seems to have the merit of being a very safe commercial enterprise. No favours, no bread. But what the "saint," who died several hundred years ago, can want of bread, the non-Catholic mind is unable to make out.

"How to Get to Rome" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

Last month Lord Halifax, President of the English Church Union, delivered a lengthy address before the Bristol branch of that body, which was published in full in the Church Times of Feb. 15. It occupied four pages of that paper, and was thus editorially commended:-

We make no apology for occupying our columns with so full a statement. The subject is too important for that. All we would suggest is that it should be read, and the subject given careful consideration by every thoughtful and earnest Churchman.

Although Lord Halifax is only a "layman," his position as President of the E.C.U., and the prominence which it gives his address, make his words quite significant of the growing sentiment in the Church of England. After having spoken of the central position that Rome occupied in the early centuries, he said:-

In the case of England it was the source from which our Saxon forefathers derived there Christianity. It was to a Bishop of Rome-one of the greatest of the Popes-that the conversion of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers was due. St. Augustine was the apostle of England, and it is to St. Gregory the Great that we owe his mission to our shores. Canterbury was the daughter of Rome.

This of course is simply the statement of a well-known fact, but it figures largely in the argument. The fact that England was originally Catholic is advanced as the strong reason why it ought still to be Catholic, although we cannot see why that follows any more than that it ought to be heathen, since it was even before it was Catholic.

We pass by nearly half of the address, which treats of the break between England and Rome, and come to the consideration of

PRESENT RELATIONS WITH ROME

Lord Halifax says:-

Surely there is no one, if he thinks what it would be to see the Western Church once more reunited, her schisms healed, and peace once more existing amongst her members, but must long for the day when the Church of England, our own branch of the Church which we love so well, should again be united in bonds of visible communion with the Apostolic See and all the churches of the West. What would we not give to be able to make our confessions and our communions abroad as we do at home! Who can endure the sense of being separated from those with whom in all essentials of belief and sentiment we are one? And why should we not see the day of such a happy reconciliation? It was never the intention of the Church of England to depart from the rest of the Catholic Church. What is there which should make her desire to remain in her present isolation, which should make such a renewal of her ancient relations with Rome impossible? She counts herself a portion of the visible church, estranged rather than divided from the rest of Catholic Christendom. Her articles expressly assert the authority of the universal church in controversies of faith, and in the institution of rites and ceremonies; while in her canons she has given to her clergy the proper key for interpreting her Articles, by ordering them to be understood and explained only in a sense conformable to the teaching of the Catholic Fathers and Doctors of the undivided church. Some of her most eminent bishops and divines have in a continuous chain ever since the separation in the 16th century yearned for the restoration of unity, and have laboured for that blessed result.

The matter of

PAPAL INFALLIBILITY

is of course one of the chief obstacles to union between the two bodies; but Lord Halifax sees a way over it. He proceeds:-

Even in regard to the Vatican Council it appears not impossible that mistakes and exaggerations as to its scope and consequences may have been made, and that as time goes on explanations will emerge which may make the difficulties it seems to involve less than they have sometimes appeared. It is certain that the explanations given by Bishop Fessler, the Secretary of the Council, with the approbation of the Pope, were by no means such as some who had pressed for the definition approved. If by papal infallibility it is only meant that the Pope is infallible when acting as the head of the whole church, and expressing the mind of the church, and after taking all the legitimate and usual means for ascertaining that mind, in determining which, the authority and witness of the bishops, as representing their respective churches, must be paramount, and then only in regard to the substances of the deposit handed down from Christ and His apostles, it would seem that the difficulty of a possible agreement is not so insuperable as it has been sometimes represented.

The situation is fully summed up in the following words:-

Let me recapitulate our position again. It is essential there should be no mistake about it. In the words of the recent writer, which leave nothing to be desired, We wish for union with Rome; we wish for nothing so much, but such a desire on our part involves nothing inconsistent with a sincere and loyal allegiance to the Anglican communion. We are convinced on the one hand that there is nothing whatever in the authoritative documents of the English Church which, apart from the traditional glosses of a practical Protestantism, contains anything essentially irreconcilable with the doctrines of the Church of Rome. We are indeed members of a body not in communion with the Holy See. We deplore the isolation, and desire to do our best to heal the breach between us. That breach is none of our making. . . . We have never renounced communion with Rome. There is nothing in the formal teaching of the Church of England which in the last degree implies the desirability of such a separation; on the contrary, it is distinctly repudiated. Priests in Roman orders may minister, members of the Roman communion may communicate, at our altars, we desire from the bottom of our hearts to be allowed to make our confessions to and receive our communions from the hands of the Roman clergy abroad.

Then the steps which the Pope is taking for reunion are referred to as the work of Christ, and the present work of the Church of England is thus set forth:-

Meanwhile, on our side the main point we have to insist upon at the present time, is that reunion is to be worked for, prayed for, that the present is an opportunity which, once lost, may never occur again. Do not let us be afraid to speak of the possibility, of the desirability, of a union with Rome. Let us say boldly we desire peace with Rome with all our hearts. . . . One thing above all others let us do. Let us take the opportunity of the appeal made by the present Encyclical to assure Leo XIII. that we, at least, are grateful for his efforts-that he may rely upon a sympathetic answer to any appeal he may make to the Church of England.

Another speaker at the same meeting said that reunion with Rome must come before anything was done towards reunion with the "separated brethren" at home. They should do all they could to remove existing prejudice, but first of all let them get reunion of all organised Western Christendom, and then they could go out to the various Dissenting bodies, and "with such power that the latter would not be able to resist them."

All this applies to a recognised, organic union, and shows that there is a strong sentiment in that direction. Surely the Church of Rome will not longer turn a deaf ear to so pathetic a plea, but will take in the pleaders.

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But even though the two bodies never became one in name, and Dissenters never formally come back, the real essence of union already exists. And the "separated brethren" also have a short cut to Rome, on a road that will land them there without fail. As an illustration we offer the following extract from a sermon by a clergyman of the American branch of the Church of England. It was preached before the seventeenth annual synod of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., U.S.A., and was printed with the approval of the bishop:-

It is true that of late years a sect has arisen which seeks to overthrow the Christian Sunday, and substitute, or rather re-establish, the Jewish Sabbath. And it is also true that this sect is rapidly increasing in numbers. The cause is not hard to find. A large number of those who profess and call themselves Christians, have unwisely rallied to the cry of "The Bible and the Bible only, as the religion of Protestants," and as the change from Saturday to Sunday is neither authorised nor even mentioned in the Bible, they are of course defenceless against the attack of the Sabbatarians. When these advance their arguments, the so-called Bible Christians have nothing to reply, and if they are really consistent, they must leave the denomination to which they belong, and unite with the Sabbatarians. Many of them are doing so; more will certainly follow, and it need not be a matter of surprise if the boundary lines of Protestantism are entirely changed by the attacking forces of this comparatively new sect.

But when "the Bible and the Bible only" ceases to be the religion of Protestants, there will be no difference between Catholics and Protestants. Once let it be definitely settled among Protestants that the Bible is not a complete and perfect guide in faith and duty, and there is no escape from either the Papacy or religious anarchy. If the Bible is not sufficient, and human authority must be added to it, or substituted for it, then there must be some man or set of men who will be recognised as the representative of that authority.

But, as the clergyman said, men must either keep the Sabbath of the Bible,-the seventh day of the week, or else cease to recognise the Bible as the perfect revelation of God's will. So that the Sabbath question is the test between Protestantism and Catholicism. Let us put the case sharply in a few simple propositions.

1. If the Bible be not acknowledged to be the perfect and only guide in matters of religion, there is no escape from Catholicism, whether the name be taken or not.

2. If the Bible be acknowledged as the perfect revelation of God's will to men, then the Sabbath of the Bible-the seventh day, Saturday-must be kept, since the Bible gives no sanction to Sunday keeping.

3. If the Sabbath be rejected, and Sunday clung to in its stead, then the Bible is repudiated as the perfect guide in matters of religion, and the one making such a choice is virtually, if not openly, in the Catholic Church.

4. Therefore the truth upon the Sabbath of the Bible is the message by which God calls to those in Babylon, saying, "Come out of her, My people."

Where will you stand? Will you yield wholly to God and His Word? or will you follow the Papacy and tradition?

"God Is Love" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

Jesus said to Pilate, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." John xviii. 57. It is for precisely the same end that all other persons have been born into the world; and it is only for this end that existence can be continued to them. They can bear this witness in all the walks and occupations of life; by deeds, even better than by words. They are to bear witness as Christ bore it, and the truth to which they are born to witness is that "God is love."

"About Flowers" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

We begin to get the lessons that the Lord would teach us in plant life only as we recognise the fact that He is indeed the life of every living thing, and that every flower and every blade of grass is instinct with His own life. Then the blossoming plant can speak to us of the Father's care, and in watching the unfolding of the springing leaf, and the colouring of the petals, we are brought into the direct presence of the working of the life of God. How little can be known of this working, in the imperfection of human knowledge, is thus stated by Sir John Lubbock:-

"The total number of living species of plants may be roughly estimated at 500,000, and there is not one of which we can say that the structure, uses, and life history that are yet fully known to us. Our museums contain large numbers which botanists have not yet had time to describe and name. Even in our own country not a year passes without some additional plant being discovered; as regards the less known regions of the earth, not half the species have yet been collected."

But the fact can be known. God's creative power is working all about us, and by that we may know His power to work in us, to clothe us with the beauty of His holiness, even as the beauty of the Lord's life is manifested in the flower.

THE LIFE PLANT

There is a plant in Jamaica called the "life plant," because it is almost impossible to kill it or any portion of it. When a leaf is cut off and hung up by a string it sends out white, thread-like roots, and begins to grow new leaves. Even when pressed and packed away in a botanist's herbarium it has been known to outgrow the leaves of the book in which it way placed. The only way to kill it is by the heat of a hot iron or of boiling water.

ANCIENT BLOSSOMS

The herbarium of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Gizeh contains specimens of plants several thousand years old. It was the custom to garnish the mummy with leaves and flowers, some of which have preserved their hue to this day. The flowers most frequently met with in the tombs are the lotus (white and blue), wax-like blossoms of the pomegranate, the common red poppy, the crocus, and a chrysanthemum.

PRESSED FLOWERS

The discolouration of flowers when preserved and dried as botanical specimens is said to be due to ammonia in the atmosphere. In order to prevent this action, it has recently been recommended, says Chambers's Journal, to use for pressing absorbent paper which has been baked in a one per cent. solution of oxalic acid, and dried. The use of such paper enables specimens to be preserved with their colours unimpaired.

WILD-FLOWER AIR

"Of all sweet things," wrote Jefferies, "there is none so sweet as fresh air-one great flower it is, drawn round about, over, and enclosing us; as if the dome of the sky were a bell-flower, drooping down over us, and the magical essence of it filling all the room of the earth. Sweetest of all things is wild-flower air."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

-A storm of locusts, lasting over three hours, was reported recently from Cassablanca, in Morocco. It is feared that the harvest is entirely destroyed.

-The skeleton of a mastodon, eighty feet long and eighteen feet wide, has been recently discovered in South Dakota. One of the teeth was a foot in length.

-A recent survey has established the number of glaciers in the Alps at 1,155, of which 249 have a length of more than four and three-quarter miles.

-Peace negotiations between China and Japan are in progress at Simonoseki, Japan. China has appealed to several European powers to aid in preserving the integrity of China.

-According to letters received at Constantinople from the interior, much anxiety prevails among the Christians at Bitlis, Erzeroum, and Van, owing to the aggressive attitude of the Mussulmans.

-A terrible colliery disaster was reported March 21 from Red Canon, Wyoming, U.S.A., from an explosion of coal dust. Sixty-eight persons who were in the mine are supposed to have been killed.

-There is prospect of serious trouble between Spain and the United States, arising from the action of several Spanish warships in firing upon American vessels off Cuba, one of the latter having been sunk, with a loss of sixteen lives.

-All doubt as to the fate of the Spanish warship Reina Regente was ended March 19, the vessel having been discovered submerged near the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar. Her crew is supposed to have numbered nearly 400 men.

-An explosion of about twenty tons of dynamite took place on the Rhine, close to the Dutch frontier, March 20, resulting in great destruction of property and considerable loss of life. Several vessels were sunk, and every house in the vicinity was destroyed.

-An "Extraordinary Grand Jury" were recently appointed in New York City to investigate alleged police corruption in the western metropolis. Their report has now been given, and contains twenty-five indictments, some of the highest officials being implicated.

-There is war in the Philippine Islands between the Spanish forces and the Mohammedans. A victory for the Spanish troops was reported in Mindanao, March 10, after severe fighting, in which the Mohammedans lost 108 men killed, including the Sultan and his son.

-The general lockout of shoe operatives began March 16, and affects about 200,000 workmen. In Leicester alone the number of persons affected approaches 80,000. Great distress is imminent in the boot and shoe centres, there being an almost complete stagnation of business at those places.

-Snow has been so heavy this year in Sicily that it has ruined the pastures, blocked up the villages and caused many deaths. The places on the mountains have naturally suffered most. The flocks and herds have had to migrate to the plains, and never for many years has such a winter been known on the island.

-Lord Hobhouse has undertaken to push through Parliament a Sunday Bill, which is designed to permit the public delivery on Sundays of scientific lectures and of addresses such as that which was the subject of the well-known Leeds prosecution. The measure is designed to amend slightly the Sunday Act of 1781, but will not affect the ancient Sunday law of Charles II.

-Spain is passing through a governmental crisis, growing out of the wrecking of two newspaper offices by army officers at Madrid, for unfavourable comments concerning military matters. The press and the Supreme Court demanded that the officers should be tried in the civil courts, but the minister of war insisted upon a court martial, and as he would not yield, the Spanish Ministry resigned. A number of duels between officers and journalists are said to be impending.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 13.

E. J. Waggoner

It is said that about two hundred-weight of water from St. Winefride's Well, at Holywell, is posted every day in sealed cans to every part of the country.

Our publishers last week booked orders for over three tons of books to be shipped to Australia. Other evidences of the progress of the work in Australasia are furnished by the Bible Echo, of Melbourne, which comes to us every week.

An article in this number makes extended quotations from Viscount Halifax, President of the English Church Union, on corporate reunion with Rome. Last week Lord Halifax arrived in Rome to confer with the Pope about reunion.

Last week's PRESENT TRUTH contained the Factory Inspector's letter calling for the payment of the fines imposed for labouring on Sunday, and stating that if they were not paid by the 19th, steps would be taken to enforce payment. The Times of the 21st states that on the preceding day the Inspector applied at the Clerkenwell Court for a distress warrant, and that the application was granted. Possibly we may be able to record its execution, in our next issue.

The following statement by the Methodist Times, concerning the late Dr. Dale, is one of the best tributes that we have seen to the memory of that minister. It is a sad fact, however, that it is an unconscious tribute. The fact that among professed Protestants such a position on the relation of Church and State is now quite generally regarded as a "fatal delusion," is one of the strongest evidences of the practical union that already exists between Protestantism and the Papacy.

He was so possessed with the fatal Dissenting delusion of the middle of the present century-that the State as such has nothing whatever to do with religion-that he both favoured secular education in day schools and asserted that the Christian Churches as such had nothing to do with the better government either of cities or of kingdoms. When a Nonconformist Council was formed for Birmingham, he stood absolutely alone in resisting the proposal to combine the forces that make for righteousness in the promotion of higher municipal ideals.

There closed in the United States this month an international Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Delegates were present from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and the islands of the South Seas, and from all parts of the States and Canada. The reports of the proceedings indicate a most interesting and profitable Conference, the time being devoted to counsels regarding the carrying on of the work, and to Bible study.

The Conference made provision for beginning work in a number of fields where hitherto little or nothing has been done by this Society, as New Guinea, the Upper Zambesia, East Africa, and the Fiji Islands. Other fields are left to be supplied with workers by the Board of Foreign Missions appointed by the Conference. Additional labourers were sent to strengthen the working force in such places as Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Trinidad, Argentina, British Guiana, Australasia, West Africa, Hawaiian Islands; and other fields were considered which are to be supplied at an early date. Thus the work broadens every year, and we rejoice at the progress of the Word of the Lord in the earth.

The Pope is very solicitous concerning the social question-in Protestant countries. There is a large field for his "burning zeal" for the improvement of the masses to make itself felt in such countries as Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. The fact that he does nothing for them in comparison with his manifestations of solicitude for England, Germany, and the United States, affords the best evidence of the nature of the goal of social perfection at which he aims.

In the Church Times we find the following "argument" for infant baptism: "Lydia probably, being a rich lady, would have had many infants in her household, which must have consisted of scores of slaves." This recalls the story of the discussion of this subject by a Baptist and a Presbyterian, in which the latter based his "argument" for infant baptism upon Lydia's infants. "You are mistaken," said the Baptist, "Lydia's youngest daughter was eighteen years old when her mother received the Gospel." The Presbyterian taken aback by the confident tone of the assertion, asked in astonishment, "How do you know that?" "I know it," rejoined the other, "in the same way that you know that she had any children at all: I guessed it." The rejoinder was sufficient to show the absurdity of the so-called "argument" for infant baptism, and that was all it was designed for. The only subjects for baptism are indicated in our Saviour's words, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Whosoever is old enough to believe, is old enough to be baptized, and they alone are fit for the ordinance.

The religious world is not so much disturbed in this day by infidelity in the Church and even in the pulpit, as by the nonconformity of some people to Church customs and traditions. A person may deny the very cardinal doctrines of Christianity, as revealed in the Word of God, and still be accounted as belonging to come "branch" of the church of Christ; but let him deny some Church tradition not found in that Word and not upheld by it, and he at once meets with scorn and opposition.

While English Church Union is openly pressing a scheme for reunion of the Anglican Church with Rome, the Bishops of the Church of England are silent. The English Churchman says:-

The ominous silence of the Episcopal Bench, as a body, on the subject of the new and, indeed, epoch-making departure of the E.C.U., is giving rise to a fear in the public mind less the prelates themselves should be in favour of the pro-Roman policy of Lord Halifax and his followers. This fear is, no doubt, strengthened by the fact that for years past episcopal patronage has been lavished on prominent members of the Union as a solidarity fairly representative of the Church of England.

There is a movement on foot to prohibit the sale of tobacco to persons under sixteen years of age. Of course so arbitrary a measure could never be enforced, even if it were adopted, although most smokers would doubtless favour it theoretically. Those who use the weed admit that it is injurious to boys, although no one has shown what subtle change occurs in the human constitution at the age of sixteen, which makes it henceforth impervious to the effects of poison. One thing is certain, and that is that a man who uses tobacco can never have any influence in preventing its use by lads.

April 4, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

Is it hard work to lay down a heavy burden? No one will say that it is. Yet it is as hard to do that as to become a Christian; for a Christian is simply one who has yielded to the Lord-one who has laid upon Him the burden he was carrying.

The Lord invites all to cast their burdens upon Him. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." Ps. lv. 22. Your burden is yourself. Before a person knows the Lord, he tries to sustain himself; he tries to hold himself up, as if he were self-existent and capable of maintaining his existence successfully against all the opposing forces around him. He tries to lift himself by himself, and, strangely enough, he imagines at times that he is succeeding. The plane of spiritual truth is, to the natural eye, full of optical illusions.

The effort to do this imposes a heavy burden of care, anxiety, disappointment, and conscious guilt. It is too heavy for anyone but the Lord to carry. The Lord knows this, and so invites all persons to give up their burdens to Him. He has made Himself the burden-bearer. Yet such is the perverting and blinding power of sin upon the natural mind that it seems a great deal harder to lay the burden down than to carry it! So men refuse to accept the Lord's invitation and give Him their burdens, as being too hard a thing for them to do!

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." Cast yourself upon Him, and you become a Christian, for thereby you show that you believe and trust Him. There is rest and happiness for all who will do this. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, all ye that are upright in heart."

"Be Not Afraid" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

Fear is the result of sin. It is an emotion which the Creator did not intend that man should ever feel. "Fear hath torment," and God never designed that man should be in torment. "God is love;" and He designed that His own Spirit, that of perfect love, should rule in the hearts of His creatures; and "perfect love casteth out fear."

God does not wish us to be afraid of Him, nor afraid of anything that is less than God. He meets us with the words, "Fear not." "It is I, be not afraid," was the greeting of Christ to the terrified and storm-tossed disciples on Galilee. Yet He Himself was God, the Creator of heaven and earth.

The power and majesty of God are not displayed to terrify us. When the Israelites removed and stood afar off from the smoking, quaking mountain, with its burning summit and thunders of the law, the Divine word came to them, "Fear not; for God is come to prove you, that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not." Ex. xx. 20.

"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil." Prov. viii. 13. It is not to be afraid of Him and shun His presence, but to hate and shun that which is unlike Him. The love of God is that we keep His commandments. And as hating evil is identical with keeping His commandments, so the fear and the love of God are identical. God wants all men to love Him; and "there is no fear in love."

The devil, on the other hand, employs fear as one of the chief means of accomplishing his ends. He walketh about "as a roaring lion," "seeking whom he may devour." He is constantly trying to make men afraid to walk in the pathway of God,-to scare them out of doing right. And there are many people whom his roar seems to paralyse with fright. If he can paralyse men in this way, or by conjuring up before them some mirage of threatening evil, his purpose is met, since they are then useless in the plans of God. The Christian must be active, engaged in a constant warfare with the forces of evil about and within him. If he fears, he cannot engage in this warfare successfully. The fear of God is incompatible with the fear of anything that is contrary to Him.

And now the purpose of God in revealing His power and majesty is evident. It is that men may trust Him; that they may have implicit confidence in His ability to fulfil His word. Fear to do right means a lack of faith in God. "Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith," were the words of Christ to His disciples on the stormy lake. We only need to know God's power and to believe His promises, to be rid of all the fears that assail us from whatever source, with all the torment which attends them. And our privilege in this respect is also our duty, for such fear is dishonouring to God. It will be fatal to our hopes for the world to come. The "fearful," as well as the unbelievers and adulterers and murderers, will have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone and die the "second death." Rev. xxi. 8.

Are you hesitating because of the

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difficulties or dangers that lie in the pathway of obedience to God? Then hear the word that He speaks: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. . . . They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." Isa. xli. 19-13. "The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." Ps. xxxvii. 18, 19. "All things are possible to him that believeth." Mark ix. 23.

"War as It Is" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

The German Emperor's organ frankly stated the apparent policy of the governments of earth when it said, a few weeks ago, that the war spirit must be cultivated diligently amongst the masses of the people. The god Mars was never more zealously worshipped than he now is in professedly Christian lands.

It is not alone in the public press and in plays, and in books, and in magazines that young and old are taught that the art of killing is a glorious occupation, but even in the religious world the war spirit is very generally regarded as not wholly contrary to the spirit of Jesus Christ. So the Boys' Brigades, which started in this kingdom, are increasing and have taken a firm hold on the popular taste in other lands, and youngsters are being taught to handle weapons of war. And beside all this, it is not supposed to be a blasphemous thing to dedicate a battle-ship with a prayer for the blessing of God upon its mission-the killing of human beings; and the idea is a popular one that one who is killed in the attempt to kill others is not unworthy of being classed with the martyr who lays down his life for others.

War, as it is, is not a waving of flags and plumes, and the performing of glorious, large-hearted deeds. It is barbarous butchery pure and simple, and no man can take part in it who doesn't allow his better nature to sink into the savage. Here is a picture of the battle as it is, described by Mr. W. V. Herbert, who took part in the defence of Plevna, in 1877. The book has just been published by Longmans and is credited with being true to life. When the hand to hand combat came, it was, he says,-

A chaos of stabbing, clubbing, hacking, clutching, shouting, cursing, screaming men; knots of two or three on the ground, still fighting, and clinging to each other in their death agonies; above the surging mass of heads the butt-ends of rifles rising and falling like the cranks of numberless overheated engines; the mounted men with swords working at lightening speed; the colours briefly leading the way; horses charging into solid bodies of men, rolling over, burying beings already mutilated beneath them; frantic faces streaming with blood; the air reeking with the breath of thousands of panting creatures, like the hot winds of the desert-all the madhouses of the world discharging their contents into the seething cauldron of human passion and iniquity. Dante's Inferno let loose, a legion of demons from Hades run riot. As to my personal experience, I remember nothing. The actual contact, the psychological moment of such a charge, last but a minute or so; and such a lifetime of experience is crowded into it that memory is hopelessly at fault. All I know is that I discharged the six chambers of my revolver, but at whom I have no notion; that my saber was stained with blood, but with whose I cannot tell; and that suddenly we looked at one another in blank surprise-for the Russians had gone, save those on the ground, and we were among friends, all frantic, breathless, perspiring; many bleeding, the lines broken, the tactical units dissolved; most of us jabbering, shouting, laughing, cursing, dancing about like maniacs.

Who can say that a Christian has any business in such a place as that? And that is what war is; for men cannot deliberately kill their fellow men until intoxicated and made mad by the spirit of war. The Christian is one who follows Christ, who has the life of Jesus manifested in his mortal flesh; but no man ever followed Christ into such an inferno. After the combat that follows the sufferings of the maimed and dying, and this is the picture in the hospital:-

Imagine a thick, hot, reeking atmosphere, filled with indescribable odours, enough to sicken you by the very recollection. Imagine some hundreds of men-yourself among them, with a raging thirst devouring you, a burning pain in the face, every particle of strength and vitality gone-lying on the bare boards, with bundles of rags or filthy straw for pillows, many insensible, many dead or dying, many in convulsions, some horribly mutilated, all bleeding, most of them groaning, others screaming, or pitifully whining for a drop of water, in half a dozen languages. Oh, that cry for "Su!"-how often have I heard it! After the lapse of seventeen years it follows me into my wildest dreams. Imagine surgeons, with tucked-up shirt-sleeves and bloody hands, giving the first-aid; for this was a temporary ambulance, in rear of the lines. Imagine callous men dealing out homeopathic doses of water, or laudanum, or brandy. Imagine everything that is most horrible, disgusting, sickening, hideous, heart-rending, within the range of your conception, and you will have a faint notion of this hell of man's creation.

The author is not writing against war, but how else could he characterise its work? It is a hellish thing, because it comes from Satan alone. Wherever the war spirit is being inculcated, there is Satan himself working. "They are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." The Gospel of Christ's coming kingdom must of necessity separate the followers of Christ from the strifes of this world, and in this, as in other things, earthly governments will meet in the Christian one who cannot disobey God at the command of men.

"Asking and Receiving" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

The Lord says, "Ask, and it shall be given unto you." Already the Lord has given men everything; 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 iii. 16. And "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Rom. viii. 32. Christ is heaven's greatest gift; and the giving of Him is proof that "all things" have been freely given. Therefore we do not need to importune God to bestow upon us good gifts, but only to express our belief that He has given them, and our gratitude to Him that it is so. This is the prayer of faith.

The fact that people often ask God for things which they do not get, is no evidence that God has not given us liberally as His word has said. God gives men only good things, and He alone knows the needs of the soul. While we pray, "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Rom. viii. 26.

The Spirit "maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Prayer must not be offered according to the will of man, without reference to God's will; and then whatever God sends in answer must be taken as being in harmony with His will, even though it may seem at first quite otherwise. "All things work together for good to them that love God." In this way we can believe that we receive the things we

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ask, as we are told to do (Mark xi. 24), although we may not recognise them in the shapes God's hand has given them for our good.

The devil tries to get people to stop at the mere asking for needed blessings. But an essential step in the process of realisation consists in grasping them. And this must be done by faith. Faith is that by which we lay hold upon the object sought. If we ask and then wait for God to make it apparent to our natural senses that we have the blessing, before believing that it is ours, we are very likely to lose it altogether. This is one of Satan's most successful cheats. Faith says, "Believe that ye receive them;" and if we will do so, we can be as thankful to God as though they had appeared in the form we would have given them ourselves.

It must not be forgotten that the attitude of the receiver toward God must be one of praise. God can work marvellously for the person who will give Him the glory. But He cannot work for the one who would take the glory to himself.

"How Sunday Laws Work Lawlessness" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

On the 5th of last month nine Seventh-day Adventists residing in Graysville, Tennessee, U.S.A., were placed on trial for performing their ordinary labour on Sunday, and were convicted. The fines and costs amounted in each case to over twenty-two dollars (about ?4 10s.) These they, as a matter of conscience, refused to pay, and so they were all lodged in prison.

Among the prisoners were all the teachers of the Graysville Academy. The school is consequently forcibly closed, and the students have been obliged to go to their homes. The Sunday law, in thus opposing education and enlightenment, shows its natural descent from the Dark Ages of papal supremacy and bigotry.

It is quite likely that many people are surprised at such results, and it is certain that many are indignant at them. We understand that local sentiment is decidedly opposed to the action that was taken against those men. Difficulty was experienced in securing a jury, and all the papers have spoken emphatically against it.

But no one need be surprised that any indignity or outrage that is caused by Sunday laws,-and what has already been done is but a promise of the reality that is to follow,-for since the very existence of Sunday laws is in direct opposition to God's laws,-and what has already been done is but a promise of the reality that is to follow,-for since the very existence of Sunday laws is in direct opposition to God's law, it must be that only evil can result from them.

WHY DISREGARD THEM?

It certainly will not be out of place once more to state the fact that the refusal to rest on Sunday after having rested on the Sabbath, is not a matter of caprice, nor are those who do so setting their private interpretation of Scripture in opposition to the law of the land. They are simply obeying a plain and specific command of the Lord, which does not admit of interpretation, or provide for evasion. It says: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 8-11.

This commandment stands as firm to-day as when it was made known to Adam in Eden, and as firm as when it was uttered by the Lord from Sinai, in tones that shook the earth. The integrity of the whole Bible is bound up with it; for all the words of God together are no more firm than every single word. If this commandment may be changed to suit men's custom or convenience, then the whole Bible may be set aside for the same purpose.

It is a fact that the mass of professed Christians have been led into a violation of this commandment, not realising what they were doing. It is a fact that the most of those who have thus been led astray are very jealous of any infringement upon the day which has been substituted for the one sanctified by the Lord. And, further, it is a fact that the fourth commandment is at this present time being brought into greater prominence than any other. And this shows that the fourth commandment is to be the test for Christians, as to whether or not they will live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

This Sabbath question, therefore, is not simply a controversy as to which of two days men shall celebrate as the Sabbath. It means that, and more. It is a question as to whether men will obey God or not; whether they will abide by the Word of God, or will throw it aside for the traditions and commandments of men.

In such a case, no option is left those who have given themselves wholly to the Lord. They must obey God, no matter what the cost.

THE JUDGE CONVICTED

An interesting fact in connection with these Tennessee cases is that the judge expressed his sympathy with the victims, and intimated that he thought they were right in their belief. He also said of the law under which they were condemned, "I have serious doubts as to the justice of the law." The following is the opening part of his summing up and sentence:-

In these cases the defendants have been adjudged guilty, after a trial by a jury of good men, of violating that day which is recognised by the law of our State as the Sabbath, and it becomes my duty-painful though it be-to pronounce judgment upon the verdict.

While my private sympathies are with the defendants, and while I might go even further and say that I believe they have good grounds for their belief as to the Sabbath, yet this is a temporal, not a spiritual, court. We are not trying the question as to whether a particular belief be right or wrong. The only concern we have is to ascertain what the law is and whether it has been violated. As to the law, it is plain, and it is not only our sworn duty to enforce it, but it is also our duty to encourage respect for all law in general. As individuals, we may each have our own opinions as to the justice of a law, but as public officials, entrusted with its administration, our duty is unequivocal. A co-ordinate branch of the government is clothed by the people with the law-making power, and when the power is exercised within constitutional limits, the judiciary can do nothing but enforce the law thus enacted. The Supreme Court of this State, whose decisions must be taken as final by the lower courts, has passed upon the law in question, and we cannot rightfully reverse the decision.

The judge must be allowed the credit of acting conscientiously; but it is very clear that his conscience needs enlightening. At present it is in a fog, but there is hope that the sunlight of truth may dispel it. Since very many other honest-minded people are in the same condition it becomes necessary to make this point clear.

RESPECT OF PERSONS

It seems to be a commonly accepted idea that a judge or other officer of the law is in duty bound to execute a law, although he knows that it is wicked and unjust. A graver error was never entertained. It is precisely the same idea as that of the private citizen who thinks he is in duty bound to disobey the commandment of God if the law of man tells him to.

Here is the Sunday law. It is the law of the land, and it says in effect to every man, "You must not keep the

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fourth commandment." But the man whose conscience is enlightened says, "I must obey God at whatever cost," and does so. The same law says to the judge, "You must see that punishment is inflicted on every man who was convicted of obeying the fourth commandment." But if it would be sin for the private citizen to disobey God even at the command of the State, is it not equally sin for the judge to be the instrument of the State's punishment of him for his loyalty to God?

We do not say that the judges recognise that their act is a sin; they do not; and for that very reason the truth should be set before them. It is no kindness to them to praise their devotion to a mistaken idea of duty. The Bible has a message of instruction even for the kings and judges of the earth. Ps. ii. 10.

But some one will say that the case of the judge is not parallel to that of the private citizen, since the judge has sworn to uphold all the laws, and that he is in reality bound to do so as long as he is in office. That is true; but it is not absolutely necessary that he stay in office. The private citizen loses his employment, and is sent to gaol, for his loyalty to truth; the judge who may know the truth, and be loyal to it, could not sacrifice any more for it; and he ought not to think that his position absolves him from obeying God.

And yet so difficult is it for men to rid their minds of the pagan idea that the State is greater than God, that even those who laud the private citizen for his loyalty to truth, and say that he could not do otherwise than disobey the human law that tells him to disobey God, will at the same time say that the judge who sentences him could not possibly do any differently, although he also knows that he is the agent of a wicked law. The world needs to learn that God has but one law for rich and poor, high and low. The fact that a man wears a wig and a gown does not make him any less amenable to God's law than the man who wears corduroy.

"The rank is but the guinea stamp,
A man's a man for a' that."

HONOURING THE LAW

Most people have very confused ideas about their respect for the law. People think that they are very zealous for the majesty of the law, when, as a matter of fact, they are simply contending for the law that suits their convenience, against one that they dislike.

To say nothing of the way in which human laws are allowed to become dead letters, and are ignored even by those who boast most of their strict adherence to law as law, we need only take the case in question. Here are two laws-the law of God, and a law of man that is in direct opposition. It is obvious that no man can keep both of them, any more than he can go both east and west at the same time. Now can anyone doubt how one can best show his respect for law? Will it be by keeping the human law, and transgressing God's law, or by keeping God's law notwithstanding the fact that the human law forbids it? Every man by his choice will show whether or not he regards God as greater than man.

There is a vast amount of lawlessness in the world, but it is not on the part of those who keep God's law. The devil is primarily "that wicked one." It was he who first rose up in rebellion against all law. Now he works in "the children of disobedience," to make them lawless. In the Papacy the spirit of the devil is incarnate, so that the rise of that system is said to be the revelation of "that wicked," "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped." 2 Thess. ii. 3-8. "That wicked" is literally that lawless one; and the description is exact, because the presumptuous setting aside of the law of God, which the Papacy, prompted by Satan, has dared to do, is the greatest manifestation of lawlessness ever exhibited on earth, and the greatest source of the present lawlessness. If men ignore God's law, how can they honour any law?

The Sunday laws themselves, therefore, which so many think must be obeyed in order to show proper respect for law, are really the cause of the disrespect for law which is so prevalent in Christendom. The more laws are enforced, the more will lawlessness increase.

"THE REMEDY"

The judge who tried the cases in Tennessee said, "I have serious doubts as to the justice of the law, but the remedy is not to be found in disobeying it, but in having it repealed." But we, and those whom he sentenced, have no doubts as to the justice of the law. We know that it is not only unjust, but absolutely wicked, and that to obey it is sin. If the State wishes to repeal the law, well and good. That is its own business. But whether it does or not cannot possibly make any difference with those who know that their first duty is to God. Whether the laws of men oppose or not, they must keep God's law. That man who virtually says to the Lord, "I will obey you next October, when I can do so without any inconvenience to myself," has very little idea of what is meant by honouring God.

We will suppose that the judge is a professed Christian. Even if he is not, many who are take the same position. If he had lived in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and had been present when the command was made that every one should worship the golden image, would he have said, "Obey the law until it is repealed"? Would he have said to Daniel, when the decree was issued forbidding prayers to God, "The remedy is not to be found in disobeying the law, but in having it repealed"?

Here is an illustration that will appeal to every one, whether professed Christian or not. In ancient Babylon there was a law that every woman must at least once in her life prostitute herself in the temple of Venus. If such a law were in existence now, would any man calmly say to his wife and daughter, "You must submit to the law until it is repealed; the remedy is not to be found in disobeying it"? Well, "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" (Rev. xvii. 5), true to her name, has presumed to set aside the fourth commandment, and in so doing has virtually said to men that the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, may be set aside if it suits men's lusts or convenience; and "the Babylonian woe," is as much to be shunned as it ever was. The fact that Rome has made the nations "drunk with the wine of her fornication" (Rev. xviii. 2), so that her rebellion against God has been incorporated into their laws, does not make it any less abominable.

"The remedy" is to be found only in serving God. And this is an individual matter. The repeal of the law would be no remedy whatever; for let it be remembered that the evil of the law does not consist in the fact that it puts a good and innocent men in prison. That is a comparatively trifling affair, only an incident in "the great transgression." The evil is in the fact that it leads men lightly to esteem God's law. If by political influence the wicked law should be repealed, the evil would still exist in the hearts of men; they would still exalt self above God's law.

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To be sure, if such a repeal were the result of conscientious conviction on the part of the law-makers, it would be a thing for which to thank God; but even that would not remedy the evil in the hearts of the people, because they cannot be made good by Act of Parliament.

But even such a repeal could not by any possibility be effected, except as men suffered for the protest which their loyalty to God made against the wicked law, and thus brought the truth into prominence. When the apostles were forbidden by the authorities to preach in the name of Jesus, what folly it would have been to say to them, "Obey their commands; don't say anything about the Lord until they see their error and rescind their unjust decree." All would have perished in their sin. It was the apostles' determination to obey God rather than men that brought men to see the error of their ways.

"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," and the only remedy is the blood of Christ, which cleanses from sin, and which produces the righteousness of the law of God in those who believe His Word.

"Candid Admissions About Sunday" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

This is a time when the Sabbath question is coming to the front, and demanding attention, so that clear, definite statements concerning it are naturally sought for. Since, as Mr. Gladstone says in the article which will soon be reviewed at length in these columns, the people generally, and even the defenders of Sunday observance, "are singularly ill-equipped with consistent or perspicuous ideas of the subject," it must be a cause of rejoicing when a man is found who speaks on the subject in no uncertain tones.

Such a man is found in the person of Rev. Robert Eyton, Prebendary of St. Paul's, and Rector of Upper Chelsea. Mr. Eyton, as will be seen, is a man of some note in the Church of England, and on account of his evangelicalism is in no mean repute among Nonconformists. The following selections are from a little book entitled "The Ten Commandments," published last year, by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., which is composed of sermons preached at Holy Trinity, Chelsea, by Prebendary Eyton. We first quote from him on the

TRUE IDEA OF THE SABBATH

Through all the provinces of human life the same idea ran, viz., that God claimed the world as His own; and the sign that men own that claim was to be through their separation of a portion. On this ground to break the Sabbath was to disown and denied God's claim upon men's time. Hence the serious penalty attached to it,-the penalty of death. The Sabbath was therefore not an arbitrary institution; it was designed to bring out a necessary idea in the education of Israel, viz., that time belonged to God. Without it they would have forgotten God. The Sabbath was the solemn recalling of God to the mind of the people; the weekly rest appealed to them as nothing else could, to remember the God of their fathers.

The real purpose of the institution was lost sight of when, through the teaching of the rabbis, its observance became a bondage and a worry.-Pages 59, 60.

The thoughtful reader will at once conclude that such an institution, designed for such a purpose, must endure unchanged for ever. Surely it is as necessary for men to remember God now as it ever was. God says, "Hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Eze. xx. 20. Mr. Eyton truly says that without the Sabbath they would have forgotten God. Therefore it is self-evident that the turning aside from the Sabbath, and the bringing in of another day but the Sabbath, was simply the great apostasy which culminated in the Dark Ages, when knowledge of God almost departed from the earth.

In connection with the foregoing extract, the author states that the Sabbath rests on the direct command of Jehovah. We now proceed to consider the

GROUND OF SUNDAY OBSERVANCE

and are not at all surprised to find that it really has none. We quote:-

The observance of Sunday in the Christian Church comes to us with quite a different sanction, based on different grounds, from that of the Jewish Sabbath. It rests upon no direct Divine command; no word is said about it in the New Testament; it grew up out of those same necessities in man's nature which had been recognised by the Fourth Commandment, and which were felt to be still existing; but its growth was very gradual. For three centuries at least it was marked by no cessation of work, though from the first was marked by religious worship.-Page 61.

In this connection also the following very naturally comes in:-

To discuss then any questions about Sunday observance, in connection with the Fourth Commandment, is obviously to discuss questions which cannot be settled in that fashion. Sunday comes to us as a great privilege, a magnificent possession; but it has no possible connection with the Jewish Sabbath, as regards its fundamental idea of observance or even as regards its Divine sanction.-Pages 63, 64.

From the foregoing it will be seen that our author regards Sunday highly, and that therefore his testimony to the fact that it has no Divine sanction is not at all that of a prejudiced person.

In immediate connection with the preceding paragraphs we are introduced to some of the

RELATIVES OF SUNDAY,

which serve to point out its origin. Let us read again from the little book:

There may be observances like the observance of Lent, Ascension Day, Christmas Day, etc., which are sanctioned by the custom of centuries, and which deserve our serious recognition; but you cannot go behind the general principle and set up any detail as binding by a direct Divine sanction. Our observance may have behind it the universal custom of the Christian Church; but if the observance of Sunday is urged on that ground, the observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands on exactly the same footing as the observance of Sunday.-Pages 64, 65.

This agrees with the statement in the "Catholic Christian Instructed," that "Sundays and holydays all stand on the same foundation, viz., the authority of the Catholic Church." The man who keeps Sunday, and yet regards Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Ascension Day, etc., is highly inconsistent. But the man who believes that the Word of God is sufficient to make a man "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," is bound to reject them all.

There are two important statements that we have passed by, in order that those of the same kind might be grouped together. We turn back to them and find the admission that

SUNDAY IS NOT A REST DAY

There is no word, no hint in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday.-Page 62.

And since the Old Testament says nothing about Sunday, there is no hint in the Bible about abstaining from work on that day. It follows, therefore, that it is no sin to labour on Sunday. Whoever claims that it is, can do so only on the ground that "the church," not only has the same power that God has, to issue laws, the transgression of which is sin, but that it has a right to go beyond God, and to make laws contrary to His. We have no controversy with those who make that claim, and do not dispute their right to follow "the church" instead of the Bible; we only wish to let it appear very clearly that to observe Sunday instead of the Sabbath is to follow the leading of that "church" which exalts itself above God. We wish this to appear very plainly, so that those who wish to follow the Lord may do so, since there are very many who are perfectly innocent of any wrong intention in keeping the first day of the week instead of the seventh. We wish also to have the truth of this subject so well known that no one can follow "the church" under the impression that he is obeying God's commandment.

But we pass to another statement in immediate connection with the one last quoted, which tells

HOW SUNDAY REST BEGAN

As time went on, the opportunities for Christian communion in worship were secured by abstinence from work. The Church grew strong enough to effect this; and in the time of Constantine the courts of law were closed by the imperial edict, and all workers except that of agriculturalists (in whose favour an exception was made) was suspended. But Constantine's decree was the first public step in establishing the first day of the week as a day on which there should be secular rest as well as religious worship. . . . Into the rest of Sunday no Divine law enters; it has been won as a privilege, it has to be protected as a right.-Page 63.

Constantine was never a Christian

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in the true sense of the word; and at the time when this decree was issued he was as much a heathen as was Diocletian who preceded him, and under whose reign the Christians were so bitterly persecuted. At the very time when this edict was issued, Constantine occupied the heathen office of Pontifex Maximus, and in that capacity he issued an edict the next year regulating divination by means of the entrails of beasts. Therefore since his law was the first public step toward securing Sunday rest, it is evident that when "the church grew strong enough to effect this," its strength was merely the strength of assimilated Paganism.

A PLAY DAY

Two more extracts will suffice for this time. Prebendary Eyton has told us that there is nothing in the Bible that prohibits work on Sunday, and so it naturally follows that any recreation is allowable that is proper at any time. He says:-

If, after joining in worship, you like to refresh yourself in any way by any game that is lawful on any day, whenever it be, so long as it does not involve the employment of others, it is not either a social offence or a religious one.

No commandment of God bids us to do this or not do that on Sunday; we are absolutely free as far as His law goes. . . . But there is a most precious Christian tradition which marks Sunday as pre-eminently the day for public worship, and there is a strong social tradition, though not so early or so wide, in favour of Sunday rest. . . . Only we must not say that rest from work is prescribed by God's command.-Pages 69, 70.

It seems that a man may play as much as he pleases, provided his play does not demand labour by some other person. But suppose that other person desires to work; suppose he derives more satisfaction from labour on Sunday than he would from play; what is to hinder him from working? Mr. Eyton has shown that it is not wicked either to work or to play on Sunday, since there is no Divine command of any sort whatever concerning the day. And the question of disturbance surely cannot come in, since no reasonable person would offer any apology for the hypersensitiveness of the man who is disturbed because his neighbour on one side works on Sunday, but is not in the least disturbed by his left-hand neighbour's tennis playing.

At some future time we shall bring further evidence to show that both work and play on Sunday are exactly in keeping with even the so-called "Christian" observance of the day in the first centuries; but this must suffice for the present. The commandment of Jehovah, spoken with His own voice, in tones which shook the earth, and from which not one jot nor one tittle can by any means pass away, says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." In contrast with this, Sunday, even its own advocates being witnesses, has no Divine authority whatever, and had not even the sanction of human laws until the fourth century.

"How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

-Home rule has been granted by Portugal to the Azores islands.

-Recent municipal elections in Austria reveal a marked increase in anti-Jewish sentiment.

-The controversy in the boot and shoe industry is still apparently far from a settlement.

-The "Religious Freedom Bill" has met defeat in the Hungarian House of Magnates, through the strong influence of the Roman Catholics.

-Reports from the scene of civil war in Colombia state that a great battle was fought March 15, resulting In the defeat of the insurgents, who lost 1,200 men.

-In Paris the Salvation Army have taken to "staging" Bible subjects, the first one represented being the parable of the ten virgins. The costumes worn are described as "quite theatrical."

-Trouble is feared in the Niger district, Northwest Africa, from the presence of two large French expeditions which have found their way into British territory. It is hoped that a prompt withdrawal may avert a collision.

-There was fighting between Mohammedans and "Christians" at Tolcat, in Asiatic Turkey, March 20. About five persons were killed and fifty wounded. A very unsettled state of affairs prevails, and further violence is feared.

-A terrible famine is raging in Eastern Equatorial Africa occasioned by drought and the locust plague. People are dying of starvation over a large tract of country. In many cases they are selling themselves and their children for food.

-The "bubonic plague" has broken out afresh in a virulent form in British Kowloon, which is a part of the colony of Hong Kong, on the mainland, separated only by the harbour from the island. The epidemic will therefore almost inevitably soon be in the densely populated city of Victoria.

-It is announced from Rome that the Congregation of the Propaganda have decided to vote in favour of Cardinal Vaughan's proposal for the education of English Catholics at Protestant universities. It is expressly stipulated, however, that such students must attend special courses of instruction given by Roman Catholic professors appointed at these universities.

-A man and several of his relatives are on trial in county Tipperary, Ireland, for burning his wife as a witch. She had been suffering from influenza, and was first made to swallow several things for the purpose of "exorcising the devil," and was then held over a fire by her husband to make her confess that she was not his wife, but a witch, her injuries resulting in death.

-A formal proposal made in the Reichstag, March 23, that that body should congratulate ex-chancellor Bismarck or the occasion of his eightieth birthday, was opposed by the Socialist members and others, and on being put to vote was defeated. Emperor William, when he learned of the vote, was very indignant. The incident affords a significant indication of the growing influence and power of Socialism.

-The peace negotiations between Japan and China at Simonoseki, have been interrupted by an attack made on the Chinese representative by a young Japanese fanatic, who shot the statesman in the face, inflicting a wound which was at first regarded as slight, but is now said to be serious. Meanwhile hostilities continue, and the Japanese forces are reported to have captured the Pescadores Islands. They have also made a landing on the Chinese coast at Haichow, capturing the city after severe fighting, and are thought to be planning an attack upon the Grand Canal, and a march upon Nanking.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

A well-known preacher said the other day that the "evangelicalism of the early years of the century is yielding to a peddling sort of semi-political sermon, from which sin and salvation seem much eliminated."

Reunionists who urge a federation of all shades of Catholics and Protestants are away behind the famous French preacher, Pere Eyancinthe Loyson. He is preaching "in favour of the union of all forms of religious belief, including Islamism."

"I have the greatest fears," wrote the late Dr. Dale, "of what will come from the present passion of some excellent persons to capture the churches, and to change them into political and municipal caucuses. It will compel a serious reconsideration of the true idea of the church."

The Vatican has authorised the attendance of Roman Catholics at the English Universities, a thing heretofore prohibited. In petitioning for this favour Cardinal Vaughan "pointed out that the hostility formerly displayed toward Roman Catholicism by the English Education Department had almost totally died out."

In his address at the opening of the Free Church Congress at Birmingham, Dr. Charles Berry said:-

A nation is not made religious by the mere constitutional recognition of religion, any more than it is made moral by Act of Parliament. A nation is religious only when the citizens who compose it are so governed by God's Spirit as to regulate all their conduct-personal and collective-according to the mind of Christ. England will be religious only when Englishmen are converted. The road to national Christianity lies through personal regeneration.

That is true; but there is no hope that even on those correct lines there will ever be any national Christianity; "for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. vii. 13, 14.

Fallen man is so victimised by his evil passions that he is always capable of apparently incredible reactions, and once sincere men have put the Church in the place of the Christ, there is no depth of medi?val superstition and daring to which they are incapable of plunging. It is useless to argue with such persons; you might as well argue with a Spanish Inquisitor.-Methodist Times, March 28.

Most true; and that is just the secret of the prosecutions for Sunday labour that are now taking place in various parts of the world. Sunday is an institution of "the church," in direct opposition to the precept of the Scriptures and the example of Christ; therefore when men have fully committed themselves to it as against the Bible, "there is no depth of medi?val superstition and daring to which they are incapable of plunging." We write not to condemn, but to warn; He who turns aside from the plain Word of God has no safeguard against committing evil of the worst sort.

"Seizure of Goods for Sunday Work" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week we announced that the Court had granted distress warrants for the seizure of goods belonging to the International Tract Society, to satisfy fines and costs imposed for Sunday work.

We are now able to report that the seizure has been made, and before this paper reaches its readers in the provinces, the goods will doubtless have been sold. At this writing (March 31) the works of the Society, 451, Holloway Road, are in the hands of the bailiff, until on April 2 he shall remove to the auction rooms such goods as he sees fit.

Many, considering the circumstances of the case, have expressed themselves as confident that the matter would not be carried to such a point. They have thought it impossible that extreme measures could be taken, in England, for a matter of mere Sunday work, when no question of injustice to employÈs, or of disturbance, was involved. Such may now know that Sunday laws work in England exactly as they do in other countries.

We do not make this statement by way of complaint. Nothing has been done that we did not expect. The issue involved is whether the traditions of men, even though crystallised into law, shall be acknowledged as above the commandment of God; and we have no accusation to bring against those who take the side of tradition against God.

The question is still before the people, and we have more confidence than ever in asking them to put themselves on the side of God's truth, because the Sunday prosecutions are but the fulfilment of prophecy which shows that the coming of the Lord is near.

"'What Could I Do?'" The Present Truth 11, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

A little note in the Christian comes in very aptly in connection with the Sunday law question, which is having so much agitation at the present time. A Turkish soldier was interviewed concerning the Armenian outrages. When he was asked how many he killed, he said, "God knows. It may have been five. It may have been seven. What could I do? I had my orders." And when asked if the soldiers liked the hideous work of impaling infants on their bayonets, he replied, with a despairing shrug of the shoulders, "We were soldiers; what could we do?"

Upon this the Christian says, "Although he acted under 'orders,' his conscience gives him no rest; human orders cannot cancel Divine commands." Very true; and this applies to the fourth commandment as well as to the sixth. And it applies to the judge on the bench, and the officer of the law, as well as to the private citizen. The Sunday law forbids obedience to the fourth commandment. The judge who enforces it says, "I am the sworn agent of the law; here are my orders; what can I do?" And too many private citizens say, "The law of the land commands us, and what can we do?" But the law of God says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy;" and "human orders cannot cancel Divine commands."

April 11, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 15.

E. J. Waggoner

When we turn our backs upon the cross, we walk in the darkness of our own shadows; for the cross is light.

Men become athiests only when they try to comprehend infinite truths with finite minds. The apostle says. "We have the mind of Christ." 1 Cor. ii. 16. With that mind we can grasp the truths which God has revealed. That they are not grasped is not the fault of God, but of men who prefer their own natural minds to the mind God has given them in Christ.

We see truth clearly only when we see "the truth as it is in Jesus." He is the light of this world, and in that light truth appears in no uncertain outlines. Those who will not look to Christ, cannot expect to know the truth.

The mistake which people make in "going to law" with one another, is in using the law of man instead of the law of God. The law which would settle all difficulties is that law which says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

"I would have you know," writes Paul, "that the head of every man is Christ." 1 Cor. xi. 3. Would that all men knew and believed this to-day. Can it be thought strange that the world is in such a sad state spiritually and that so little moral progress is visible, when so many men, even in the church, are trying to get along without a head? As well might the body try to get along without a physical head. If we reject Christ, we disconnect ourselves from our Divine Head and are spiritually headless. And if we make some man our head,-be it the Pope or any other-we simply go one step farther and put on a head in the place of the one which has been severed.

"Our Heavenly Parent" The Present Truth 11, 15.

E. J. Waggoner

To have a correct view of the nature of God and of His dealings with mankind, we must view Him as our Parent. This is the light in which He presents Himself to us in His Word. In that Word we are commanded to love Him with all the heart, mind, and strength; and we cannot do this without a correct idea of the relationship between Him and ourselves.

Love of a parent is natural, being the first love that an individual knows. We love our parents for their relationship to us, and not for their rank and position in the world. So we may love God, not because He is a Judge and a King, but because of the love and gentleness which mark His relationship to us as our Father. It is that word which God puts into our mouths as soon as we open our hearts to Him. "Because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Gal. iv. 6.

There is no reason for loving and showing reverence to an earthly parent, which does not apply, with immeasurably greater force, to our relation to God. If we are proud to be known as the sons and daughters of those who are noble, gifted, and philanthropic on the earth, much more should be our delight to proclaim ourselves the sons and daughters of One whom all high and noble attributes dwell in perfection. "We have," says the apostle "had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence, shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live. For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness." Heb. xii. 9, 10. God is a parent who never makes a mistake, and who never deals with us in any other spirit than that of love. No greater reason for love could exist than that which we have for loving and trusting Him.

But God does not compel anybody to love Him. He has not made any person without the power to choose whether he will love Him or not; and therefore He has not made any one without the power to sin, for sin is but the result of not loving Him. And no one who will view God in His rightful position of a parent will wonder for a moment why He has not done so.

What loving parent could be satisfied with a show of love which came not from the child's free will? It would be but a show, and not genuine love, if it did not proceed from the will of the giver. How much less, then, can God be satisfied with that which would not satisfy man? Just as much less, indeed, as His powers of appreciation are higher than ours. "God is love;" and in this fact, divinely revealed to us, God has set the very highest estimate upon the value of love. He has marked it as the most valuable thing in the universe.

Since God loves us, He speaks to us in the voice of love. And that voice is a "still, small voice." Even the human voice, when it speaks in love, is never loud and harsh, but soft and musical, as far as the capabilities of the speaker will admit. But no human voice can speak in the accents of the "

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still small voice" that speaks to the soul. That is tenderness and sweetness without ever a tone that jars upon the ear within. It is the voice of instruction and not of command, and is full of infinite patience.

Some people query why God does not govern the world so as to prevent, by His mighty power, the evil deeds with which it is filled; why He does not give such a display of His majesty and sovereignty as will strike terror to the heart of the evil-doer and compel him to cease from his wrong purpose. Such people forget that God is a Parent, otherwise they could answer their own query by asking themselves why they do not brandish a club over their children and storm and shout at them to make them see that something they are doing is wrong. There is a better way than that to deal with children, and that is to teach them; and no child can be taught anything by first being terrified. God knows the best way of dealing with children more fully than man knows it; and so He teaches us and does not terrify us by thundering from the heavens.

And we have the hope of one day being like Him, and seeing Him as He is. But since He is love, we also, to be like Him, must be love. When we are love, our lives will be but a manifestation of love, as is His life. And we can become love by being filled with Him and created new in Christ, who is also love, like His Father. When we are thus filled with love, or turned into love by the new creation, we become like God. Though still in mortal form, compassed with human imperfections, we are nevertheless in character just what He is. And being like Him now in character, we shall be like Him in form when He appears.

"Preparing War" The Present Truth 11, 15.

E. J. Waggoner

"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong." Joel iii. 9, 10.

In our own day we hear much proclaimed by the prophets of peace. We hear a temporal millennium prophesied, when the art of war is to be forgotten. Such proclamations have only the weight of the words and wisdom of man. We must seek to a higher source for positive knowledge. Such a source is the word of prophecy; and those who are wise will seek to it, and shape their expectations in its light. But that word draws no fine picture for this world, calculated to please and assure those who build their hopes upon it. There are "wars and rumours of war," "famines, pestilences and earthquakes in divers places," "men's hearts failing them for fear," and "tribulation" in many forms, but not "peace and safety" till the Prince of Peace comes again and displaces earthly kingdoms with His own.

The time of which the prophet Joel speaks is shown by the verses following those quoted. "Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel." Verses 12-16.

It is when "the day of the Lord is near" that this proclamation goes forth. As that great day draws nigh there will be preparations of war among the nations. The heathen will be wakened, and made ready for a part in the mighty fray. There will be a general sound and stir of preparation for conflict. This is as Christ predicted to His disciples. When they asked of Him, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" He said, "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Matt. xxiv. 7, 8. The end will be worse than the beginning. It is as if the earth felt and shuddered at its coming doom. Certainly the rulers of its darkness fear and know what is coming, and redouble their efforts as their reign draws near its end. "The devils . . believe and tremble." Jas. ii. 19. The "god of this world," the spirit that "ruleth in the children of disobedience," have greater wrath "because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Rev. xii. 12.

We have but to note the existing conditions in our world to-day, to know that we have reached the time of Joel's prophecy. The nations are armed to the teeth. On all sides is heard the sound of preparation for strife. The ploughshares and pruning-hooks have been beaten into swords; the iron that would have made ploughshares and implements of peaceful industry, has been

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moulded into weapons of war, and the labourers of the fields have been taken from the pursuits of peace. And now the "heathen" are being awakened, the nations of the far East are practising at war, and finding their place among the world's belligerent powers. In the final conflict of the nations, they will be ready to step in. Supplied with the deadly products of the highest military art, the "heathen" may well consider themselves antagonists not to be despised.

At this time, therefore, we cannot look for peace. Peace will not be the outcome of the present strained situation. The great armed camp of Europe will not break up in a bloodless termination of the established military system. God has said, "Prepare war;" He has proclaimed it among the Gentiles, and it is useless for man to proclaim to the contrary. God has not ordained war among men, for this time or any other; but He foresees and proclaims what will come. The war and strife come from the evil that pervades the world, from the lust for power and riches, and for the evil passions that work in unregenerate hearts who reject and despise the law of the Most High. So long as wicked men fill the earth, so long will there be commotion and strife. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isa. lvii. 20, 21. When the wicked shall have been finally removed by the judgment of the day of God, then "the meek shall inherit the earth,"-made new for their abode,-"and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."

As the signs of the great day become more marked, and men's hearts begin to fill them for fear of what is coming, there will be prophets of peace proclaiming "peace and safety," by whom the world will be lulled into false security. But the Word of God tells us, "When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." 1 Thess. v. 3. It becomes us to know what is coming, that we may escape. The light of the prophetic word is shining upon us for this very purpose. And therefore the apostle writes, to such as heed that light, "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief."

"Be not wise in your own conceits."

"'Persecution and Tolerance'" The Present Truth 11, 15.

E. J. Waggoner

PERSECUTION AND TOLERANCE, Being the Hulsean Lectures preached before the University of Cambridge in 1893-4, by the Bishop of Peterborough, Dr. Creighton. Longmans, Green, & Co.

This book is not an apology for the persecutions which blacken the record of the professed church since the days when earthly power was accepted by it. It rather shows how utterly contrary to the spirit and teaching of the Master was the desire for such power, and consequently how antichristian was the exercise of it.

In the first place, it must be remembered that the idea of enforcing uniformity of worship for the supposed good of society and the State comes from Paganism.

It was a matter of political expediency that men should at least profess to hold the same religious opinions. The language of Plato did not materially differ from that of the Inquisitor: "Let this then be the law: No one shall possess shrines of the gods in private houses, and he who is bound to possess them, and perform any sacred rites not publicly authorised, shall be informed against to the guardians of the law; and let them issue orders that he shall carry his private rites to the public temples, and if he do not obey, let them inflict a penalty until he complies. And if a person be proven guilty of impiety, not merely from childish levity, but such as grown-up men may be guilty of, let him be punished with death."

Similar principles were put in operation in the Roman Empire, and as the teachers of the Gospel went out into the empire preaching the doctrine of the Cross, they were persecuted as disturbers of the social order.

The Gospel, teaching that every man must give account of themselves before God, denied the pagan principle that the individual must allow the authorities of the State to be conscience for him. Soon after apostolic days came the "falling away" from the principles of the Gospel in the church, and when the rulers of the church compromised with an assimilated Paganism, they succeeded to the evil principle of enforced uniformity.

The origin of the spirit of persecution is well stated in these words:-

It comes from the universal sense of inconvenience, when we do not at once get our own way. Then follows impatience, irritation, and resentment. Then reason is called in to help passion, and clothe the feelings with the semblance of deliberate action founded on policy and expediency. The love of power comes next, suggesting the future good to be obtained from a prompt display of resoluteness. Power supplies its own justification; for would it be there if it were not meant to be used? And who can blame it when it has succeeded? Then comes "that last infirmity of noble minds," the hope for fame, the gratification that attends success, the proud consciousness of having cleared a difficulty out of the way. All this is so natural, and yet so wrong.

It is wrong, of course, for it is the devil's own way of working. It is the spirit that exists in every heart were self exists. The life of Jesus Christ working within is the only power that can keep the natural man down, and so it is a fact that the spirit of persecution is in the hearts of all men who are not in Christ, and only awaits an occasion to break forth. As the Papacy was founded on the principle of self-exaltation, it was prepared to manifest the Spirit of intolerance to the highest degree. Yet it was not without protest that some church leaders saw the principle carried out to its logical extremes at first, and then, also, not without the argument that always comes in to excuse religious persecution, the plea that the good of society demands it. Dr. Creighton says:-

Uniformity of religious belief was ruled by the State to be necessary, and was enforced accordingly. This was contradictory to the spirit of the church, and was long felt to be so. Yet the church gave way to the supposed necessities of its new position. Paganism was forbidden; heretics were reduced to obedience by the strong arm of the law. When the penalty of death was first inflicted for erroneous opinions, the Christian conscience was profoundly shocked.

But when a wrong principle is espoused the natural man soon gets accustomed to its most rigorous application.

The protest was soon forgotten by those who lived near the time; by the middle of the next century, Leo the Great accepted as a duty the suppression of heresy, and raised no objection to legislation which treated heresy as a crime against civil society, and declared it punishable with death. Thus the Divine law and the human law were put on the same footing, and the truth of God was no longer to be borne in upon the consciences of man by gentle pleading, but to be enforced as part of the necessary framework of social order.

With the history that followed all are more or less familiar. The church and the world were hand in hand. It was not called religious persecution. The church delivered the heretic to the civil power and he was punished as a destroyer of order. Or the church succeeded in getting her ecclesiastical institutions adopted as part of the common law, and then the State was bound to maintain the institutions of the church in order to maintain its laws. When the civil power for political or social reasons wished to engage

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in the suppression of the rights of a people, the church lent her sanction to the secular policy, and pronounced the crusade justifiable on religious grounds as well.

When the Scriptures began to be opened in the beginning of Reformation days, the light of the Gospel of liberty began again to be seen. Yet, as we have seen, the spirit of Rome is but the spirit of human nature and the devil, and so the evolution of the work of reformation has presented strange inconsistencies; and yet perhaps not strange when we remember the gross darkness which the long rule of the Papacy had cast over the earth. Luther denounced the use of force in matters of conscience, and declared that the Word of God alone must contend. But in later years he forgot the principle. "Luther had his reward; his movement fell into the hands of secular princes, who were authorised by theologians to decide controversies among preachers, and put down dissensions by the secular arm." And thus the Reformation in Germany has stood still where Luther left it, and Rome has long been winning back its hold upon the Fatherland. Calvin delivered Servetus to the death, and the once gentle and mild Melanchthon congratulated him on getting the "blasphemer" put to death. The Reformers were not able all at once to throw off the blindness with which the Papacy had smitten in the eyes of all peoples.

Dr. Creighton shows that the modern idea of toleration rests not so much upon the recognition of the principles of the Gospel, as upon the demands of political and social expediency. Such a basis cannot secure lasting results. It is often said that in this enlightened age the intolerance of past ages could never manifest itself. All history shows that this is a delusion. The Bishop says of tolerance:-

It was not won by enlightenment, and it cannot be maintained merely by a trust in enlightenment. Christianity was converted into the basis for social order, and men were bidden to accept it for the maintenance of that order. Opinions which are judged necessary for social organisation tend to be exacting in their demands for entire allegiance. They advance at first by persuasion; then their upholders chafe at the slowness of progress. Why not quicken advance by compulsion? Why not reduce obstinacy by force? The temptation is always present; the spirit of persecution is ever ready to reassert itself unless it be checked by some controlling sense of duty.

But when men throw off the restraints of the Lord and are fighting against His Word and truth the sense of duty is thrown utterly to the winds. Dr. Creighton closes the volume with a warning which is doubly significant in these times when signs are abounding showing that the old methods of securing uniformity are to be revived on the same old plea of maintaining social order.

Meanwhile I do not know that the tolerance which is now praised by the world is very firmly established. It rests at present mainly on an equilibrium of forces which might easily be upset. There is always a temptation to the possessors of power-be they individual, or an institution, or a class-to use it selfishly or harshly. Liberty is a tender plant and needs jealous watching. It is always unsafe in the world, and is only secure under the guardianship of the Church; for the Church possesses the knowledge of man's eternal destiny-which alone can justify his claim to freedom.

But all the history of intolerance since the apostasy in the early centuries shows that it has been "the church" that has led in persecution. Not indeed the church of Jesus Christ, which is composed of all who have the life of Jesus manifested in the flesh, but those ecclesiastical organisations which have sought the favour and power of the world, and have made a virtue of "tolerance,"-these have always been led into using their power to cast down the truth and to silence dissent.

The very use of the term "tolerance" in this interesting volume shows the frailty of the foundation on which the popular idea of religious liberty rests. The wickedness of intolerance is shown, but it is assumed that tolerance is a virtue. The word tolerance may often be incorrectly used by those who would repudiate that which their language signifies. But the idea that tolerance is a virtue must of necessity rest on the assumption that the person who dissents from another's use has committed an offence against him, requiring the exercise of tolerance. Thus in matters of religion the one who "tolerates" assumes a lordship over the other's mind and conscience. In other words he puts himself in the place of God, the very species of self-exaltation which characterises the Papacy. Tolerance and persecution are very closely allied. Tolerance is far from being a recognition of that perfect liberty of conscience which God grants to every man during earthly probation, and which He Himself will not invade. John xii. 47, 48.

"Vanity and Power" The Present Truth 11, 15.

E. J. Waggoner

How foolishly we may act when we attempt to maintain the spurious dignity which vanity exacts in recognition of a little power or authority. A Moscow gentleman made inquiry on a matter of business of the department of the Russian Government, and after long delay received a long official paper, and bearing the signature of several officials, saying that as no stamp was enclosed in his communication he could receive no reply.

"The Sinews of War" The Present Truth 11, 15.

E. J. Waggoner

A writer in Chamber's Journal states some interesting facts about the "war-chests" of the great powers. The withdrawal of vast amounts of coin from circulation, to rust in idleness until the signal is given for combat, can only have one influence, and that of depression in the commercial world. Of this the writer says:-

"We have only lately begun to realise the immense part which the formation of these war-chests has played in the commercial depression from which the whole world has been so severely suffering. It is perhaps no exaggeration to say that the amount of hard cash now reserved by the various Governments in view of a possible outbreak of war, exceeds rather than falls short of one hundred and fifty million sterling, which would not under any circumstances be parted with, even for the most temporary object. It does not require much investigation to prove that the outcome of this must be anything but beneficial. The miser who hoards his gold injures others as well as himself, just as a landowner who deliberately permits his broad acres to lie waste is inflicting a blow upon the community which might live and thrive upon the produce of the soil. For the greater part of the last twenty years, first one nation and then another has played the part of miser, and laid a greedy hold upon treasure which should have been allowed to circulate and increase manyfold the wealth of those through whose hands it passed. Nor could this have happened at a more unfortunate time; for while the output of silver increased by leaps and bounds, that of gold fell away rapidly. Had silver maintained the position it had always previously held in the world's currency, there would have been but a slight disturbance; for even had the gold been hoarded, there would have been ample silver to take its place. The gigantic efforts made to convert Europe into an armed camp have impoverished the people, not merely by demanding their labour, which would have been more profitably employed in tilling the ground and tending the mill or the loom, but by heaping upon them an almost unbearable burden of taxation, which they are so much the less able to meet. While the state of things continues, and these war-chests are being added to, there can be little hope of any relief."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 15.

E. J. Waggoner

-A telegram from Mojanga, Madagascar, states that 16 per cent. of the French stationed there are down with malarial fever.

-The Welsh Disestablishment Bill has proceeded in Parliament as far as the second reading, the motion in favour of which was carried by a majority of forty-four.

-The discovery of a new therapeutic serum, for the treatment of various diseases, including crysipsias, diphtheritic angina, bronchial diseases, meningitis, phlegmon, puerperal fever, etc., is announced from Paris.

-The total revenue of the United Kingdom collected during the financial year ending March 30, amounted to ?101,697,804, and shows, when compared with the corresponding return of the previous year, a net increase of ?3,399,942.

-The recent anti-Semitic victory in Austria has caused much alarm throughout the empire, as it is feared the result will be financial disaster. The Victorious party does not, it is said, represent the best elements of Austrian social or industrial life.

-The British expedition in Chitral is meeting with very great difficulties in the prosecution of the campaign against the hostile tribes of that country, owing to the mountainous nature of the region to be conquered, and the prevalence of terrific storms.

-A French admiral has announced that owing to the opening of the Baltic Canal, France would be obliged to maintain as large a fleet on the northern coasts of Europe as in the Mediterranean. There is no limit for any country to the increase of naval expenditure.

-The announcement of a Chicago doctor that he has died vexed "the microbe of death" will be received by most people, doubtless, with some reserve. The real "microbe" of death is sin. The cause of man's mortality is not visible within the field of scientific investigation.

-Mr. Astor, an American millionaire, whose wife died recently in England and was buried in America, has ordered a New York florist to place over her grave a daily mantle of violets and lilies of the valley for a whole year. As these blossoms will have to be forced, the cost will be about ?200 a day.

-The fifth annual meeting of the Paris Sunday Rest Association was held in that city April 8. Mr. Gladstone has expressed to the Society by letter his hearty sympathy with its object, affirming that the observance of "Sabbath" rest is in the opinion of a great majority of his countrymen a necessity of the spiritual and Christian life.

-The Cuban insurrection appears to be gaining in strength. Recently the Government troop sustained a defeat, and the activity of Spain in sending reinforcements and taking general measures for the suppression of the outbreak, indicates a more serious state of affairs in the island than she would have the world believe.

-A short armistice has been arranged between China and Japan, but it applies only to the provinces of Feng-tien, Pechill, and Shangtung, and does not prevent naval and military operations being carried on in other parts. The Japanese have bombarded the capital of Formosa. The young Japanese who tried to assassinate Li Hung Chang has been sentenced to penal servitude for life.

-Great floods prevail in parts of Austria and Hungary. Owing to a sudden rise of atmospheric temperature the Danube rose enormously and overflowed its banks; in some towns situated on the banks of this river the water reached the height of forty centimetres in the houses, the inhabitants of which had to be supplied with food by boats. The river Save in Hungary likewise flooded the country in its neighbourhood until it looked like a lake; the water mounted in the houses more than a metre high. From some of the villages, where they lie low on the banks of this river, only the roofs were to be seen. The flood is the greatest known there for twenty-nine years.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 15.

E. J. Waggoner

Will not the Pope turn some of his zeal for social regeneration toward the enlightenment of his own witch-burning subjects in Ireland, before he addresses any more encyclicals "to the princes and peoples of the universe"?

We have made a note several times recently of the shipment of our larger books to foreign parts. If we speak of it more frequently than in years past it is only because the calls for publications are coming in more rapidly than ever before.

Last week our publishing department shipped a little more than two tons of books to Australia, New Zealand, and India. These go to fill the orders taken by colporteurs in these fields. The frequency of these large orders shows that thousands are ready to read books calling attention to Bible truths for these days.

We have before reported the success of the workers in South American and West Indian fields, who are engaged in selling our publications. Another order from the island of Jamaica, received last week, calls for 4,000 copies of "Steps to Christ." From British Guiana, also, comes another order for 300 of the same book. As all of these books will set people to studying their Bibles for themselves we are glad to see them going out to the very ends of the earth.

What the "staging" of Biblical subjects by the Salvation Army in Paris, and the production of the "Scripture drama" on the Parisian theatrical stage, it now seems to be a question for serious discussion in the religious world whether the church of the future shall run a theatre, or whether the theatre of the future shall run a church. The fact is a sad comment upon the present attitude of "the church" toward the world. Paul wrote to the Galatian church that Jesus Christ had been "evidently set forth, crucified" among them. Gal. iii. 1. The same is true of every Christian church; for every believer is "crucified with Christ." Gal. ii. 20. That is the church's trauma,-the great, the all-important spectacle which she is to hold before the world for the salvation of souls.

At the late Birmingham Church Congress the fact was set forth for consideration that there is not a town in England in which the majority of the people do not neglect public worship. The same might be said of every other great nation which, in the interests of State support to Church dogmas, is called Christian.

In reviewing a history of the English Church Union, the Church Times contrasts the present triumphant progress of Ritualism with the struggles of thirty-five years ago, and says, "We may wonder not so much why things have levelled up so slowly, but rather how it is that such a widespread and general improvement has come with such wonderful rapidity."

"You have the Word but we have the sword," was the argument with which Bishop Bonner cut short the debate on transubstantiation in Queen Mary's Parliament. This sword is such a convenient argument that error has always been tempted to use it. But somehow it has always failed to settle questions. The reason is that "the Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword."

When Naaman the Syrian was told to go and wash in Jordan seven times to be healed of his leprosy, he loftily replied, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" Here Naaman showed his patriotism; but patriotism was sadly wanting in ability to help him out of his difficulties. Had he followed its dictates he would never have been healed. Patriotism is not Christianity. It can help no one toward recovery from the leprosy of sin.

The idea of a confederation of all religions has a fascination for many minds, but probably few who talk of it see what the end of it would be, and will be. There is one power which would control such a confederacy, "that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth," the Papacy. God's word to the Christian when such confederacies are urged is, "Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A Confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread."

Whenever death places a deanery or a bishopric or some other ecclesiastical appointment in the hands of the Premier, the High and the Low Church organs begin to exhort him to consider the claims of their respective parties. Sometimes he is severely lectured both before and after making the appointment. If it were not a travesty of religion it would be amusing.

A published list of Turkish massacres since 1820, gives the following statement of the nationality and numbers of the victims:-

1822, Greeks, principally in Scio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000

1850, Nestorians and Armenians, Kurdistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,000

1860, Marionites and Syrians, Lebanon and Damascus . . . . . 11,000

1876, Bulgarians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,000

1894, Armenians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,000

Total massacred 93,000

This terrible showing throws a lurid light upon the propriety of the name "destroyer" given in the word of prophecy to the Turkish power. Rev. ix. 11.

The man who is a "mere tool" in anything may be sure that he is not doing work for the Lord. The Lord has no use for mere tools. The person whom He uses must actively co-operate with Him; His will must sanction the use that is made of him. It is always the devil that uses mere tools. He has done his best since the world began to make men mere tools in his hands.

The colony of Victoria, Australia, has dug out of its gold mines ?280,000,000 sterling in fifty-four years, and every shilling of this amount says Mr. Henry Varley, has been spent upon whisky, brandy, and ales.

April 18, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Gal. vi. 14.

The cross is carried with us. The Saviour said, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." All Christians have the same cross, and that is the cross of Christ. There is no other cross to which salvation from God descends to fallen man.

The cross means suffering and death; not once, but daily, as long as we continue in this present state. But this is not all; for at the cross we need also the glory, the power, and the life of God. The world saw Christ's suffering and humiliation, and it sees only this in the cross of Christ to-day. But faith sees the power of God working out for us truth across the eternal and glorious purposes of God.

If we are to glory in the cross of Christ, we must glory in suffering and infirmities which are endured for His sake. We must experience "the fellowship of His sufferings," which is to have fellowship with Him through sufferings. Phil. iii. 10. But it is a glorious thing to have fellowship with Christ. It means walking in light. "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another." 1 John i. 7. The Christian's pathway, therefore, is not darkened by trials and distresses, but through all these it shines "brighter and brighter, unto the perfect day."

In fellowship with Christ through suffering we learn also the power of God. "For in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able also to succour them that are tempted." Heb. ii. 18. "Most gladly, therefore," said Paul, "will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ"s sake; for when I am weak, then am my strong." 2 Cor. xii. 10.

Christians are not the only ones who experience tribulation in this life. That is the common lot of all; but it makes a vast difference whether it is met in "the pathway of the just," or out of it. Upon that pathway is shed the light of the cross, and the peace and joy which the cross has brought to earth. Christ is all along that pathway-a ladder reaching from earth to heaven-and He bears His cross with us. We do not follow Him afar off, for we take the cross together. We are close enough to have fellowship one with another.

So far from being, as some think, an evidence of separation from God, and of His displeasure, trials are to the Christian but a token of the cross that connects him with God, and with the eternal power and life and glory. And therefore he glories in the cross and all that pertains to it. There is glory for fallen man in the cross, and nowhere else. No man creates this, but by coming to the cross he receives it. To the world it appears as darkness, but to the eye of faith it is light. "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ," writes Peter, "happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you." And this is true of all trials that are endured in following Him. They all pertain to the cross.

"Superstition" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

There is nothing so favourable to the development of superstition as ignorance of the Word of God.

Superstition is ignorance. It is a belief of that which is not true, existing in the place of that knowledge which the Word of God supplies. The man who believes the Bible-the man of faith, who knows what the Bible says and accepts what it says as the truth-is never superstitious.

Ignorance of God's Word has created a vast realm of the "supernatural," people with phantasms and vagaries of every sort. There is a proper role of the supernatural, upon which light is cast by revelation from God; but it is not this fact that is responsible for superstition. On the contrary, revelation is the special safeguard against it. Superstition comes entirely from ignorance of the revelation.

From a priest-ridden part of Ireland there has recently come news of such a display of superstition as might only be expected from some of the inmost recesses of "darkest Africa." A sick woman was taken by her husband, some of the neighbours assisting, and deliberately held over a fire till she was fatally burned, to ascertain if she were not a witch; this being the climax to other ceremonies for "exercising" the evil spirits supposed to be in her. The poor woman having failed to disappear up the chimney, thus making a witch-like exit from the scene, the perpetrators of this dreadful act decided that she was not a witch, and buried her like an ordinary

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mortal. The shocking occurrence is perfectly compatible with ignorance of the Word of God. Rome has suppressed the Bible where she has had full sway, and gross superstition is the natural result. But Rome's suppression of the inspired Word is no worse than that suppression of it which comes from wilful disregard or indifference.

The proper and essential place for the Word of God is in the heart. It gives no benefit to the person who has it simply in his hand. Disbelief or indifference will do for the Protestant what priestly vigilance does for the poor souls by whom God's word is never seen.

There are none of us beyond the reach of superstition. Let God's Word be banished from the heart, and the door is open to the entrance of the worst fanaticism. The Lord has told us this in plain words. "For this cause," we read, "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 Thess. ii. 11, 12. "The truth," is the Word of God (John xvii. 17), and the only reason people will not believe it when it is presented to them is that they have pleasure in unrighteousness.

When we know God, let us glorify Him as God by confessing that every word from Him is true; lest like the heathen of old we become vain in our imaginations, and our foolish hearts be darkened. Rom. i. 21.

"Conflicting Voices" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

Many persons are troubled to know how to decide what is the truth, when there are so many voices, each claiming to be the truth, yet all disagreeing. It need not be difficult; Christ gave a sure rule by which we may know the truth, and avoid being deceived. He said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak for myself." John vii. 16, 17, R.V.

This of itself is sufficient. God is anxious to have men saved. Therefore He has made the way of salvation very plain. He has provided that no one who is earnestly seeking after truth in order that he may serve God, shall be deceived. Let the reader stop and think, and he will remember that those who have such difficulty in deciding what the truth is, are those who are seeking some excuse for their rejection of it.

"The Clergyman in Politics" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

In the Jewish Criterion of Feb. 8, an American Hebrew journal, Rabbi Krauskoff had a vigorous article on the church in politics, from which we extract a paragraph. That the rabbi is not prejudiced, is shown by the fact that he is a member of the "Committee of Ninety-five," of which he speaks:-

The Committee of Ninety-five, which, if I am rightly informed, has sprung into existence largely through the influence of the Church, and which is composed of a goodly number of clergymen, has set for itself the ambitious task of cleansing this goodly city of all political corruption, and of selecting and electing the proper man to legislate for us. It seems a noble mission, and yet I dread it, and I said so; and I dread it not so much as for fear of success. More than the corrupt politician do I fear the priest, pastor, or rabbi, and politics. The pass between the clergyman and the fanatic is a very narrow one, and is easily and speedily crossed, and, given the alternative, given the tyranny of fanatics and the rule of the corruptest politicians, I would not hesitate to prefer the latter. One might shield himself against corruption; against fanaticism there is little protection. The Puritan in search of liberty of conscience inspired the thinking world with admiration; the Puritan, in possession of what he sought and for what he had fought, debased his boon into a fanaticism that filled the hearts of men with horror.

ABOUT FIGHTING FOR LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE

In the closing portion of the strong paragraph quoted from the Jewish Criterion, we have an example of the prevailing error in regard to the liberty of conscience. The Puritans never went in search of liberty of conscience; that was not what they fought for, and it was not what they obtained. This is evident from the simple fact that they fought.

Liberty of conscience, or of the will, is a gift from God alone. When that freedom is preserved, the man is free, even though his limbs be bound with fetters of iron. And no man ever loses that liberty unless he sells himself, or gives himself away. "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are." Rom. vi. 16. Sad to say, every man has sold himself, but not beyond the possibility of redemption. "Behold, ye have sold yourselves for naught; and ye shall be redeemed without money." Isa. lii. 3.

Those who possess this liberty of conscience, which is the liberty wherewith Christ makes us free, know better than to fight for it. Christ said, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight." John xviii. 36. To fight for liberty of conscience is like fighting to secure the grace of God, the forgiveness of sins, and an entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

It was because of misapprehension of the nature of Christ's kingdom, that James and John wished to call down fire on the Samaritans, and Peter attacked the murderers of Jesus with a sword. The same misapprehension has led professed Christians since then to "fight for their liberties" or for their "rights." They confounded spiritual liberty with physical and civil liberty, because physical liberty is all that can be gained by carnal weapons. And the reason for this confusion is that the kingdom of Christ is confounded with temporal dominion.

If the Puritans had not fought for their "liberty," they would never have persecuted others after they had gained it. Of all the prominent men of those times, Roger Williams alone occupied the position of true Christian liberty. Instead of fighting to maintain his liberty, he suffered for it. In the depth of a bitter New England winter he was cast out alone, and went forth literally not knowing whither he went, finding among the pagan Indians that kindness and hospitality that could not possibly exist among those whose idea of Christian liberty was that it could be secured by force. As they had used force to gain their "liberty of conscience," even so must they necessarily preserve it, and so they persecuted those whose opinions did not coincide with theirs. But Roger Williams did not fight to gain liberty which Christ had already given him, and consequently he did not, in the colony which he founded, use force upon others.

"Christ and His Church" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

The church of Christ is not a body which makes laws to which man must give heed if they would be saved. It is composed of all who yield themselves to Jesus Christ, allowing Him to fulfil the righteousness of the law in them by the power of His own life. The church does not make laws for God; it keeps God's law.

The church of Christ cannot save men from sin, which is the transgression of God's law. The name of Christ is the only name under heaven whereby we must be saved. The church of Christ consists of those who could not save themselves, and who are willing to confess it, and to accept

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Jesus as the Saviour that He is, to save to the uttermost. Those, then, who could not save themselves, cannot turn round and profess to be able to save others. No; there is "one Mediator between God and men;" not the church, but "the Man Christ Jesus."

The unscriptural character of the claim of those ecclesiastical organisations which set themselves forth as the way of salvation, and which, in keeping with the claim, pass laws for men in contradiction to the very Word and law of God, is well summed up in a paragraph written by Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, and quoted by Dean Stanley in his life of Arnold:-

The simple point is this: Does our Lord, or do His apostles, encourage the notion of salvation through the Church? Or would any human being ever collect such a notion from the Scriptures? Once begin with tradition, and the so-called Fathers, and you get, no doubt, a very different view. This the Romanists and Oxfordists say is a view required to modify and add to that of the Scripture. I believe that because it does modify, add to, and wholly alter the view of the Scripture, that therefore it is altogether false and antichristian.

As the Word is preached, calling men back to the life of Christ as the example, and away from the traditions by which the great apostasy has sought to make void the Word, the real issue will come just here. Is it the "church" that saves, or is it Jesus Christ that saves the church? Have ecclesiastical organisations any life to give, or are we "saved by His life," by believing His Word, which is Spirit and life? The problem is not a difficult one to solve if only the Scriptures are believed. It is the work of the church indeed, those who know Christ's power to save from sin and self, to pass on to others the Word of life, and they that hear shall live.

"The Fulness of the Sea" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and God saw that it was good." Gen. i. 9, 10.

When, as recorded in the last part of the Book of Job, the Lord would convince the patriarch of his weakness and dependence upon God, that he might know that righteousness comes from God alone, He referred to this gathering together of the waters as proof. "Who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?" Job xxxviii. 8-11.

When the Psalmist speaks of the power of the word, by which God created the heavens and earth, he says, "He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: He layeth up the depth in storehouses." Ps. xxxiii. 7. It may be well to notice here, in passing, the words, "And it was so," with which the record of every new step in creation is closed. God said,

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"Let it be,"-"and it was so." His simple word was sufficient to establish it. Let it be remembered that this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto us. Its power has never diminished; it is able to save as it was to create.

It is impossible that anyone who is acquainted to any degree with the Lord should stand by the sea without being reminded of the mighty power of the Creator. Yet many gaze upon the sea day after day with never a thought of its Maker, and even openly defy Him. To such the Lord says: "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at My presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?" Jer. v. 21, 22.

But it is not in order to produce fright that the Lord reminds us of His mighty power that can set bounds for the sea, so that it cannot pass over in its fiercest tumult. No; it is that we may trust Him. Perfect faith and love drive fear away. So the power of God over the sea is referred to as evidence of His faithfulness: "O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea; when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them." Ps. lxxxix. 8, 9. An example of this faithfulness is given in the Gospels. "And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow; and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" Mark iv. 35-41.

This was but a manifestation of the original creative power. He who created the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, retains full control over all. In those words, "Peace, be still," we hear the same voice that said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place." And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto us; so we are to learn from God's power over the sea, which is His because He made it, His power over the waves of strife that surge through human hearts.

For the angry sea represents the wicked. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." Isa. lvii. 20. Christ is our peace. The word which He spoke to the sea of Galilee that night is the word which He speaks to us. "I will hear what God the Lord will speak; for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints; but let them not turn again to folly." Ps. lxxxv. 8. Surely here is comfort for those who have long struggled in vain with fierce passions.

Not only is God's power over the sea a symbol of His power to save men from the tide of sin, but it is also a pledge and surety of their final complete deliverance. It also shows the power with which God is going to clothe the preaching of the Gospel message in the last struggle preceding His second coming. Read the following soul-thrilling words:-

"Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab [Egypt] in pieces, that pierced the dragon? Art thou not it which dried the sea, that made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, even I, am He that comforteth you; who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and hast forgotten the Lord thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he maketh ready to destroy? The captive exile shall

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speedily be loosed, and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail. For I am the Lord thy God, which stirreth up the sea, that the waves thereof roar; the Lord of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of Mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art My people." Isa. li. 9-16.

Surely the fact that "the sea is His and He made it," and that He "hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand," is sufficient grounds for confidence in Him by any of His people, whether it be for deliverance from danger, for overcoming grace, or for help in carrying on the work to which He has called them.

"The Drift of the World" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

In the Investor's Review of last month, the editor, Mr. A. J. Wilson, sketched the drift of current affairs as seen from the point of view of the cautious financier and men of the world. His forecast reads like a comment on the words of Christ concerning the last days. Jesus said that there would be "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity." Luke xxi. 25. And the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy predicts the lawlessness, the greediness, and the fierceness of the strife for the pleasures of life, which make the last days "perilous." Mr. Wilson says of France:-

Little doubt can be entertained that France is now fast hastening towards a catastrophe. Socialism and Anarchism are laying deeper hold upon the minds of the people every week, and, by different ways, both march towards the same goal. The latest budget of the country, presented by M. Ribot, indicates that the end of the existing order cannot be far off. He, like all recent Finance Ministers, has to deal with a deficit which he can raise no taxes to cover, and so he dips his hand into the deposits unclaimed in the Savings Bank.

Of the lesson which this condition of things in France has for England, Mr. Wilson speaks as follows-and it is significant to see a writer on financial problems pointing ominously to the evidences of a lowering of the general moral tone of society:-

Much of the illustrated literature poured out by our newspaper press, and displayed in all news shops and railway stations, bears a character which can only be described as pandering to the taste of the prurient, if not to the lusts of the obscene. We too have feverish restlessness among our labouring classes, a Legislature occupied. . . with Socialistic projects for curing evils. . . ; we also have a poverty-stricken country party bawling out for relief through a tariff of protection, a Lancashire wailing over the decay of its trade, a shipping industry encrusted with bankruptcies, and can only pay our way as a State by hard-drinking. If, then, France is moving fast towards revolution, we are following in her wake, and the catastrophe, in France, at least, may not be long in coming. All the necessary explosives are there gathered together, requiring but the match.

These things which cause anxiety to men of the world are to be signs to the believer by which he may know that the days are reached when he may lift up his head and know that redemption draweth nigh. And the unrest of the world should teach men the importance of cutting loose from the world and building upon the foundation which cannot be shaken when even the heavens and earth pass away, the everlasting Word of God.

"Last Day Scoffers" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

The Apostle Peter tells us (2 Peter iii. 3, 4) that "there shall come in the last days scoffers," who will say, "Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."

As there would be no occasion for scoffing without something to scoff at, it is evident that the subject of their words will in the last days be set prominently before the world. That subject is "His coming,"-a most weighty one indeed to consider, since His coming means an end to earthly things. And that subject is now before the world. With a voice that all can hear, the message of the approaching second advent of Christ is being proclaimed to "every nation, tongue, and people."

Who are the scoffers that Peter mentions? The only designation that he gives of them is that they say, "Where is the promise of His coming?" And this is all that is needed. This fact alone constitutes them scoffers, no matter what may be their social standing, or how respectable the profession which they make. And since "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light," it is nothing strange "if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness." 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15. The "ministers of righteousness" are in the church; hence it is not impossible that these scoffers should be found even there, as the transformed agents of Satan.

Why can they not see the promise of His coming? Is it not in the Word of God? Did not the first recorded prophecy ever made by man-that of Enoch, "the seventh from Adam"-foretell it? Jude 14. Does it not abound in the writings of both prophets and apostles? Certainly, if anyone will look into the Scriptures, he will not need to inquire, "Where is the promise of His coming?"

But God has done more than this. He has written the promise on the face of nature. The scoffers say, "Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." This, however, is not true. Earth gives little evidence to-day of what it was at creation. It has seen many and great changes. The curse has rested heavily upon it, causing it to "wax old like a garment." In the storm and drought and flood nature gives evidence of the unwonted derangement of her forces. The darkened sun and moon and the falling stars have borne mute witness from the heavens, of the approach of the great and terrible day of God.

But all this the scoffers fail to see. And why? It is because, as we read, "this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Pet. iii. 5-7. They are not ignorant of creation, or of the flood, in a limited sense, but they are ignorant of the connection between these things and the word of God. They have such a belief in them as is consistent with "evolution" and the "higher criticism," but not one that is consistent with a knowledge of the power of God's word. They do not know that "He spake, and it was." Ps. xxxiii. 9.

Here is the root which bears the evil fruit of scoffs at the doctrine of Christ's coming. Not knowing the power of the word of God, they are ignorant that by that word "the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water;" that by the power of that word the deluge came upon the earth, and that the same power reserves the present earth under fire, "against the day of judgment and perdition;" and being ignorant of this, they are unable to read the promise of His coming. Both the Word of God and the voice of nature speak to them as with an unknown tongue.

Their ignorance is not the ignorance of those who have never seen or heard

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the promise, but willing ignorance,-the ignorance which comes from closing the eyes and ears against the evidence presented. The power of the word of God is the Gospel, "the power of God unto salvation;" for this power is in His word. Rom. i. 16. Hence those who are ignorant of the power of God's word are really ignorant of the Gospel, however well they may seem to know it; and there is nothing to keep them from taking part with the scoffers.

There are many ways in which men deny the creative power of God's word, while professing and even believing themselves to be His servants. They may be men of high standing and outward piety, whose scoffing will not be in harsh and vulgar tones, but in tones smooth and refined, which have power to lull the conscience. There is no safe place for us but that of those who know "the power of God and unto salvation" by simple faith in His Word.

The word of God to every inhabitant of earth is, "Ye shall know that I am the Lord." There is a day coming in which the Lord alone will be exalted. Isa. ii. 11, 17. He will not only be exalted in His will, but "among the heathen." Ps. xlvi. 10. The power, the wisdom, and the word of puny man will then be at a terrible discount, and utterly unable to sustain the hopes of those who have trusted in them. The Lord is exalted now; but in that day His exaltation will appear in the confessions of men who have opposed Him and disregarded His word. They will then take up the words of the Apostle Paul, "Let God be true, but every man a liar." Rom. iii. 4. In the Judgment of that day God will be vindicated, and all His words found to be words of truth and life. There will be no wisdom in making the confession then, for the day of salvation will be passed; but there is wisdom in making it now.

"Climbing in the Himalayas" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

In the account of his eighty-four days' climbing in the Himalayas, Mr. W. M. Conway speaks frequently of the overpowering sense of the immensity of surrounding things which the traveller feels amid the glaciers and solitudes of the Roof of the World.

"A man coming into a land so new and strange is stricken and overpowered by the impression of the whole. He has no time to contemplate details with the lingering attention that makes the attainment of this or the other point seem desirable. It was the broad western wall in its entirety-the vastness and nakedness of the thing-that imposed itself upon my imagination. Here was Nature working out her own will unhindered and unhelped by man. Few piles of dÈbris veiled even the bases of the rocks; no earth or grass found lodgment upon their ledges. The naked skeleton of the world stood forth with every stratum displayed and every mark of the sculpturing chisel undisguised."

One view on the road from Astor to Gilgit is thus described:-

"When we emerged on the crest of the ridge a wonderful view burst upon our gaze. The notable feature was the Indus valley, coming end on end towards us from the north, bent at right angles, when, after receiving the waters of the Astor river, it had swerved past us, and so going away westwards into Chilas. I had never seen any valley that compared to it either in kind or dimensions. It was barren as an Arabian wady; it was floored with the strewn ruin of countless floods, blanched and blasted by the suns of countless summers; it was walled along by rocky cliffs, a maze of precipices and gullies, untrodden of human foot, bare of vegetation and almost of dÈbris. The river wound through it in a gorge, cut down into the alluvium. The waters resembled a twisted blue ribbon, dusted with white here and there where there were rapids. It was hard to believe that we were gazing at a rushing river two hundred yards wide, so far was it below us. It looked like a sluggish stream that a horse might have leapt. The scale of things had taken another increase, and our eyes required a further adjustment."

At the high altitudes the travellers found breathing difficult when there was necessity for exertion in climbing. Sometimes at the lower altitudes the stagnation of the air made respiration even more difficult than higher up the mountains. The highest point reached was 23,000 feet, and there the tracings of the pulses of the party showed that they could not safely exert themselves to climb higher. The sudden changes in temperature were very trying. As soon as the sun sets it becomes frigidly cold, and when the sun rises it as rapidly sends the temperature up to uncomfortably high degrees. "Biting cold and grilling heat," has to be endured, and the sudden changes night and morning start the avalanches which are continually thundering down the slopes and breaking up the rocks. Here is a picture of a sunset very unlike the quiet effects which we associate with the ending of the day:-

"The sun went down; the hilltops grew first golden, then pink; the clouds in the west caught fire. The new moon peeped over the crest of the mountains, and the auguries were favourable. As the frost obtained power, enormous avalanches began to fall in quick succession, not merely down their orthodox couloirs (gullies or furrows), but enveloping all the width of the hills, burying the minor ridges out of sight, and sending up clouds of dust that were carried two miles and more before they dispersed. I reckoned that one of these avalanches fell 8,000 feet and that its solid part was a quarter of a mile broad at the base. The solid part, however, was hidden out of sight as it fell by a monstrous dust cloud, like a vast downward rolling puff of steam, which muffled the noise and turned it into a fine booming thunder. Such titanic artillery continued to salute till far into the night."

In the solitude of the higher passes no human beings are met with, but the valleys are of course inhabited. The subdued temper of the people may be inferred from a few reported conversations. The party came to the village where they expected to find provisions.

"The men were on the look-out for us, and greeted us as a fawn might greet a tiger. They stood with hands joined, like a priest going to the altar, and answered our questions unhampered by prejudice in favour of veracity. Had coolies been sent to meet us? No, none bad come. Provisions, then-had they been sent? Oh, yes! plenty of provisions. How many sheep? As many as the sahib pleases. Eggs and chickens? Yes! as many as the sahib pleases.

"Well, show us the sheep."

"There are no sheep."

"Why did you say there were? Bring the chickens, then."

"May the sahib be merciful! There are no chickens."

"Nor eggs either?"

"No! no eggs. Nothing has come."

Another time they were inquiring the way to a fort which they knew was near at hand in the Gilgit valley. A native was found.

"Where does the Colonel Sahib live?"

"That way."

"How far off?"

"Not far. A little way."

"A mile?"

"Yes, a mile."

"Perhaps two miles?"

"Yes, two miles."

"Out with it, man! how many miles?"

"As many as the sahib pleases."

Notwithstanding the apparent childish guilelessness of the natives, all displayed the true Asiatic keenness in making a bargain. Mr. Conway speaks a good word for these timid dwellers in the Himalayan valleys. They are unaccustomed to strangers, and their attitude at first is one of fear, but upon closer acquaintance their fears are easily dispelled and "they become the friendliest folk in the world, and will do anything for you." There is great need of Gospel work among these mountain valleys, to turn the people from superstition and fear to serve the Iiving God.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

-It is estimated that there are altogether over 113,000,000 women in India.

-On the coast of Maine a few years ago one barrel of flour would buy 200 lobsters. Now sixteen lobsters will buy a barrel of good flour.

-Obligatory vaccination in Switzerland has been submitted to a popular referendum in the Canton of Berne. It has been rejected by 24,000 votes against 23,000.

-Proceedings have been instituted at Nimes, France, against the organisers of a bull fight which took place there April 7, when six bulls were killed.

-Returns show that cholera still prevails in Podolia and Volhynia, Russia. In the former province there were eleven cases and six deaths March 10-23, and in the Volhynia fifty six cases and four deaths March 10-16.

-A magisterial inquiry has been instituted into the "witch" burning case, involving the death of Mrs. Bridget Cleary, at Clonmel, Ireland. Nine prisoners concerned in the deed have been committed for trial on the charge of murder.

-The woman suffrage movement in America is losing ground in the Eastern States, and gaining it in the Western. Recently it has mot a severe defeat in Massachusetts, but in Colorado women now sit in the Legislature, affording what is said to be the first instance of the kind on record.

-The Armenian Commission is reported to have received a sufficient mass of evidence to confirm the truth of the statements regarding the Sessoun massacres. It is expected that their report will be ready by the beginning of June. Armed bands in Macedonia are causing uneasiness at the Porte.

-The Sunday rest movement is gaining ground in Paris. Letter-carriers have obtained a Sunday half-holiday, and the work of letter-sorter has been greatly lightened. Sunday is now regarded as a day of rest by most business houses. The exceptions are principally those which cater to alimentary needs, like restaurants.

-Christian Mission work among the Jews at Jerusalem is meeting with determined opposition from the rabbis and leading Jews. All Jews who accept Christ as the Messiah are excommunicated, and the same ban or tends to all who manifest any sympathy with such teaching. Jerusalem has not yet learned the day of her visitation.

-There was recently celebrated at the City Temple, London, the thirteenth anniversary of the International Bible Reading Association, an organisation which has branches in nearly every important country in the world. The secretary reported that in 1882 the number of members was 11,000; in 1886 the number increased to 100,000, and to-day the number is 500,000.

-Some unlooked for obstacles it is said, are being met by the builders of the great Transsiberian Railway. Vast spaces of the surveyed route are exposed to terrible snowstorms, which make it difficult to keep the track clear. In some places tigers have attacked the workmen, and an entire military guard was on one occasion put to flight by one of these ferocious beasts.

-The Engineering and Mining Journal announces that a Bill has been laid before the Senate of the United States to authorise the Government to grant a price of ?12,000 to the inventor who, before the year 1900 A.D., shall have constructed an aerian vessel capable of transporting goods and passengers, under conditions of reasonable security, at a speed of thirty miles an hour.

-It is reported that peace negotiations between China and Japan are making satisfactory progress at Simonoseki. The Chinese are meanwhile expecting a Japanese attack upon Canton. It is understood that, the terms of peace proposed by Japan will include the throwing open to foreign trade of a thousand square miles of the richest and most densely-populated portions of Chinese territory, and the flee navigation of some of the principal rivers.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 16.

E. J. Waggoner

The Lord has a post of honour for every individual who is content to be where the Lord puts him.

The first edition of the "Statement and Appeal" was quickly exhausted, and a second edition has been published.

The man who enjoys a controversy about the Bible is seldom the man who likes to have anyone talk to him about practical godliness and the Christian life.

The opium curse has only begun to bear its fruit in India. The rapidity of its development, however, may be inferred from the statement that in Bombay, while the population has increased six per cent. in ten years, the consumption of opium has increased eighty-four per cent.

"Whatsoever is not a faith is sin." And faith can only come by the Word of God. Rom. x. 17. Therefore any religious practice or institution that is not founded on the Scriptures must be given up by the enlightened conscience as sin. That which is unscriptural is of necessity sinful.

An interesting report from Hungary and Roumania, which appears in one of our exchanges, shows that our brethren in those fields are letting the light shine, and the truth is being received among the people. On a recent visit to Roumania, Brother L. R. Conradi, of Hamburg, arranged for a publishing centre in Bucharest, the capital, from which the literature for that field will be issued.

A popular preacher of Liverpool declares that the notion of a future coming of the Lord, "with attendant angels and with blare of a trumpet, has to be given up." As the righteous dead are to be raised "at the last trump," when Christ shall come (2 Thess. iv. 16), this preacher is but repeating the error of Hymenaeus and Philetus who in Paul's day said that the resurrection was passed already, and overthrew the faith of some. "Nevertheless," said the Apostle, "the foundation of God standeth sure."

The Church Times has a paragraph on the origin of Easter. Of the custom of associating eggs with the celebration, it says:-

Porter, in his Travels, says that in the land of Ormuzd and Ahriman, a festival and memory of the Creation is held, about the time of our Easter, lasting for six days, at which an egg is presented to friends, in obvious allusion to the Mundane Egg of the Eastern mythology. The transference of such a symbol to the Feast of the New Creation is both interesting and beautiful. All symbols are edifying when the thing symbolised is true and good.

The same symbolism is found in the Egyptian rites. But the introduction of these things into the Church of course plainly marks the adulteration of the faith by the surrounding Paganism of the early centuries.

Of the term Easter itself, the paragraph referred to states:-

More remarkable is the derivation of the word "Easter," which also appears to have its origin in the very name Ashtaroth, or Astarte, the false deity of whom Jezebel was priestess. The Church rescued the idea from falsehood and put it on a true foundation, by saying, "Here is the true Life; the Resurrection of the Son of God for your justification is the true Astarte."

The idea is that it is a good thing to re-christen heathenism and call it Christianity does not come from the Scriptures. The Lord utterly forbade any approach towards the pagan celebrations. When Elijah was sent in the days of Jezebel to turn the people from idolatry He did not say, "God is the true Baal," nor was there any attempt to turn the rites of Baal and Astarte into the service of God. The message was clear, "If the Lord be God, follow Him." It is the same message which the Word of the Lord has for the people of the world and our own day.

God's Word and works reveal Him as the Creator. And since He is our Creator, He is in the highest and truest sense our Father. He did not create us to throw us on our own resources, but to care for us, to love us and provide for us as no earthly father can; for "God is love." This is what faith teaches; and therefore to those who have faith God is known as a Father. But to those who have not faith He is a Judge. It is in that light that they view Him, and complain of Him as being harsh and severe. But the fault is not with Him, or with the light He sends them, but with the murky atmosphere of unbelief to which they look.

The French expedition to Madagascar is everywhere understood to be a case of simple freebooting. The Hovas never offended the French, nor have the latter a shadow of claim to the land. But the French prelates having enjoined public prayers for the success of the expedition. The taking of Madagascar is to enable the French to suppress the slave traffic in Africa, and thus to "cause the last traces of the crime of treason against humanity to disappear." They are going to watch the slave traffic in Africa if they have to kill all the natives of Madagascar in order to do it.

The voice of Wisdom says, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark viii. 36, 37. Every sin that a man commits is an exchange of his soul-a bargain with death-for something vastly less than the world. The devil never mentions that part of the bargain, but it is there, a hideous reality. The devil never makes a bargain with a person which does not include an exchange of his soul.

A lady who has been investigating the Boys' Brigade, reports that she has asked boys everywhere the question, "What do you learn in the Brigade, and what do you do with it?" and that they have answered, "I hope there will be a war when I am a man, and if I am a general I will be ahead of any of the others." She finds that the one great result of the Brigade is to incite and strengthen the war spirit in the boys.

There is nothing humiliating to a person except sin; and there is no sin that is not humiliating. The proud mortal who seeks to exalt himself is by that very effort working his own degradation. When our understanding is properly enlightened, we shall see humiliation in every sin, and will shrink from the thing that would bring us into condemnation, as much as we have been accustomed to shrink from the steps necessary to take us out.

A great many men are willing that God should walk with them; but what God wants is that men should walk with Him.

April 25, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The Word of God was not given to man to be taken in hom?opathic doses. It is not medicine, it is food, of which no one need ever be afraid of taking too much.

The difference between living for God and living for self is the difference between showing forth the praises of God and trying to show forth our own praises, of which there are none to be shown. The latter is the most difficult task that men have ever undertaken.

God wants to invest all men with power and honour and wealth. This is His purpose towards us in Christ Jesus. All men may be sure of obtaining these things if they will seek them in God's appointed way. And not only this, but He will give man an eternity of life in which to enjoy them. Rom. ii. 7.

"Walking and Working" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

Walking and Working.-The problems of living the Christian life is not one of working, but of walking. The devil endeavours-too often successfully-to deter people from entering the straight and narrow way, by picturing before them a great array of difficult works which he tells them they will have to perform in order to be Christians. But the Scripture says, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. ii. 10. The works of the Christian life are not our works, but God's. They are the works of the life of Christ. Our part is to "walk in them," by faith. And there can be nothing more wonderful and delightful than to walk in the works of God. Of Enoch, who was translated, we read simply that he "walked with God." God invites all men to walk with Him. He asks only their consent to go with Him; He will attend to the works. There will be no trouble about the works so long as man does not try to pose as the worker.

"Bruised and Healed" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

Our little child has fallen and bruised herself badly. The flesh is black and blue and swollen. Her eyes fill with tears, her lips quiver, and her whole body is trembling with the pain and the fright. Her countenance and her very attitude are a pitiful appeal for help and sympathy.

What is to be done in such a case? Every parent knows what is the first impulse, and what brings the most speedy relief. Soothing remedies may be applied, but the greatest relief comes from the folding in the parent's arms, and the love and kisses of sympathy that are bestowed. The little one settles down quietly, the strain is relaxed, the trembling ceases, and soon the pain is forgotten.

What a common occurrence this is, and yet how slow we are to learn the lesson it suggests. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust." Ps. ciii. 13, 14. We are but children. Compared with God, we are far more helpless than our children are compared with us. God deals with us as sons, for we are His children; and His love and pity for us are as much greater than ours for our children, as God is greater than we are.

Think of that statement, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." He pities them in just the same way, only infinitely more. That is to say, He takes us up in His arms, if we will but come to Him knowing that He is our Father, and He soothes the pain and heals the bruise. For "He health the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Ps. cxlvii. 3. Christ says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The Spirit of the Lord is upon Him "to heal the brokenhearted," "to set at liberty them that are bruised," "to comfort all that mourn."

That is just what we need. We have fallen and are sorely bruised. We are "laden with iniquity," "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the soul of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises, and putrefying sores." Isa. i. 5, 6. Our need is desperate.

Believing that the Lord is indeed our Father, we come to Him, and find that His arms are stretched out to receive us. He says, "As one whom his father comforteth, so will I comfort you." Isa. lxvi. 13. What does this mean but that He will take us up in His arms? How else does a mother comfort her babes? When Jesus was on earth He took up the little ones in His arms, and in so doing He was but manifesting the love and tenderness of the Father.

We are sadly battered and bruised by sin. But "He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are

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healed." Isa. lviii. 4, 5. How blessed is the assurance that

"There is mercy with the Saviour;
There is healing in His blood."

"For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man's mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind."

These things are real. They are not figures of speech. They are as real as God Himself. To doubt the reality of God's comfort; to doubt that "underneath are the everlasting arms," and that God does as really fold us in His embrace as the earthly father does his child, is to doubt the reality of the existence of God. We cannot know anything of God except as He reveals Himself to us. To doubt that He is just what He declares Himself to be, is to doubt that He exists at all. But in all His Word He has revealed Himself as the tender, pitting, loving Parent.

Let us then come to Him believing that He is, and that he delights in mercy. Then, having tasted that the Lord is precious, we shall say, "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth; for Thy love is better than wine." Why not allow the Lord to be as real to us as He actually is?

"If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word;
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord."

"Why Men Err" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The reason why there is so much religious error in the world was stated by our Saviour when He answered the objection of the Sadducees concerning the resurrection. "Ye do err," He said, "not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." Matt. xxii. 29. In Mark it is recorded that He told them they did "greatly err." Mark xii. 27.

The Bible was not given to supplement the knowledge and wisdom of man. Man has no wisdom, except in his own eyes. All the wisdom of man is foolishness with God. 1 Cor. i. 20, 21. To them that perish, the preaching of the cross of Christ is foolishness. The mind of man, therefore, can do nothing else but err in its relation to spiritual truth. The person who thinks the wisdom of God was given to supplement his own will as surely err as did the Sadducees; and the error, like theirs, will be great.

The objection which the Sadducees raised against the resurrection is a fair illustration of those objections which the wisdom of man raises against the truthfulness of God's Word. The Word is rejected because in its light the far-fetched suppositions and speculations of man's mind will not appear beautiful and consistent. But all such efforts of the human mind are useless, because it does not know the power of God; and man does not know the power of God until he knows the Scriptures, for God's power is the power of His Word, and the Scriptures are His Word.

What man is prepared to say that the Bible does not mean just what it says-that certain statements made in that Word concerning what is to be, cannot be true?-Only the man who knows that God's power is not sufficient for its accomplishments; and this no man can know, for it is not true. To know God's power we must know the Scriptures, and we do not know the Scriptures unless they are to us the revelation of the power and wisdom of God. The further men turn aside from the Word, the deeper must they plunge into error.

"Gladstone on the Lord's Day" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

A GREAT PERPLEXITY

One of the most striking features of the Sunday question is the perplexity that exists among men as to why it should be observed. If this perplexity were confined to those who make no profession of religion, there would be nothing wonderful in it; but the fact is that it exists in the minds of those who profess to be perfectly sure that Sunday is the divinely-appointed day of rest. Thus the New York Independent, of March 28, begins a review of a recent article by Professor Zahn on the Sunday, with these words:-

One of the knotty problems which the student of New Testament and early ecclesiastical literature must meet deals with the origin of the Christian Sunday as a day of worship, and the why and wherefore of the change from the seventh to the first day of the week as the day for public worship in the primitive church.

In like manner, Mr. Gladstone, in his recent article on the Lord's day says that there are two peculiarities in the defence of the Sunday. The first is that

There are important auxiliaries, who put wholly out of view the revealed sanction and the properly Christian motive.

The other peculiarity is said to be that

Very many of these defenders, whose motives and profession are not secular but distinctly religious, are singularly ill-equipped with consistent or perspicuous ideas of the subject.

And yet again He says on this latter point:-

As to the ideas, it can hardly be said that in our own country, of which alone I speak, the general mind is possessed with any conception, at once accurate and clear, of the religious ground on which we are to observe the Sunday.

A strange condition of things! Here is the Sunday, which is held to be the very chief of Christian institutions, and the observance of which is supposed to be absolutely necessary to the preservation of religion; yet of its two classes of defenders, one is wholly secular, and the religious class do not have any definite idea of the religious grounds for Sunday observance!

Let the reader not fail to give particular attention to this significant fact: that in the nineteenth century after Christ there is no unanimity nor clear idea among professed Christians concerning what is supposed to be one of the most vital points of Christianity. People are everywhere crying out, in substance, "Tell us what we believe, and why we believe in it; especially tell us why we keep Sunday." Could there be any more conclusive evidence that Sunday observance has no real foundation whatever?

A WORTHY CHAMPION

But now we have Mr. Gladstone to the rescue. The first part of his article appeared in March, but we delayed commenting upon it until it should be completed. It was the most widely advertised of any article that we have seen for a long time, but no more widely than the reputation of the author warranted. It is safe to say that no man in the United Kingdom is better equipped for the task than Mr. Gladstone. A Churchman born, a thorough scholar, perfectly at home in every branch of learning, knowing classical literature by heart, and nearly as well acquainted with theological literature as with the classics, a trained and experienced controversialist, a master of language, knowing how to marshal arguments and to put them in the most telling manner,-surely if there is anything in a case, Mr. Gladstone is the man to set it forth. If he fails, it is the fault of the case and not of the man.

We have no disposition to criticise, and the object of this present article is solely to set before our readers the arguments for Sunday, as produced by Mr. Gladstone. If they are satisfied with them, and believe that the foundation which he lays for Sunday observance is sound, that is their privilege. We are anxious only that when men make the choice between the two days,-the seventh and the

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first,-they may perfectly understand the reason why they do so, and may know exactly on what foundation each stands.

SUNDAY AND THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

Having stated that the general mind does not possess any clear and accurate conception of the religious ground on which people observe Sunday, Mr. Gladstone proceeds to say:-

There is a hazy, but still practical and by no means superficial, impression that in some way it has to do with the original command delivered to Moses, so often recited in our churches, and backed there by the definite petition that God will incline our hearts "to keep this law." We do not in due proportion weigh or measure two facts which bear materially on the case. Two changes have been imported into this law; one of them into its form, the other into its spirit. The first has been altered by translation of the commandment from the seventh day of the week to the first; the second, by imparting to it a positive and affirmative, in addition to its originally and prohibitory sense.

Give good heed to several points admitted in the foregoing statement. First, the observance of Sunday is not in harmony with the fourth commandment. Second, the commandment as given required the observance of the seventh day of the week. Third, this is an acknowledgment of the fact that the day called Sunday is the first day of the week, and is not the day named in the commandment, and that the day commonly called Saturday is the seventh day of the week, and is the day named in the commandment. If these points are well grasped, there is no difficulty in arriving at a perfect understanding of the case.

Note further the admission that two changes have been imported into the law of God, namely in its form and in its spirit. That means a complete change, so that in reality Mr. Gladstone agrees with Prebendary Eyton, that

To discuss then any questions about Sunday observance, in connection with the fourth commandment, is obviously to discuss questions which cannot be settled in that fashion. Sunday. . . has no possible connection with the Jewish Sabbath, either as regards its fundamental idea of observance, or even as regards its Divine sanction.

It is obvious that a law that has been changed in both form and spirit is essentially another law; therefore according to Mr. Gladstone, as well as Prebendary Eyton, Sunday-keeping has no connection whatever with the fourth commandment.

It is worth while, in passing, to call attention to the fact that the commandment is not merely negative and prohibitory, but is positive as well. It starts out with the positive injunction, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," and then proceeds to tell what day the Sabbath day is. Therefore it did not stand in need of any change to make it positive.

A FOREIGN IMPORTATION

One other point should be given special attention, and that is that the Bible contains no trace of this amended commandment. The Bible contains only the original commandment as spoken by Jehovah Himself from Mt. Sinai, with a voice that shook the earth. The changes in the law have been altogether "imported;" they are entirely foreign to the Bible and its Author.

This is admitted by Mr. Gladstone, when, after speaking of the failure to recognise "the ascent that the fourth commandment of the decalogue has made, and the development and expansion that it has received under the Christian dispensation," he says:-

Hence perhaps it is that we have but imperfectly grasped what is implied in what we familiarly call the observance of Sunday. Possibly there may have been a concurring cause for this defect in the indisposition of many minds, after the crisis of the Reformation, to recognise any action of the Church apart from the Scriptures.

This point thus admitted is directly stated in the following words that occur later on:-

The seventh day of the week has been deposed from its title to obligatory religious observance, and its prerogative has been carried over to the first; under no direct precept of Scripture.

Now we have the case squarely before us. The fourth commandment requires the observance of the seventh day of the week. That seventh day is the day immediately preceding the day known as Sunday. This commandment has been changed both in form and in spirit. But the change was not authorised by Scripture, and the record of it is not contained in Scripture. It was wholly the action of "the Church." Therefore the change was not in reality ever made in the commandment, which remains exactly the same as it was in the beginning. So that in the Sunday we have an institution of "the Church" put forth as a rival to the Sabbath of the Bible. He who observes the seventh day follows the Bible, while He who observes the first day follows "the Church." The issue therefore is plain. It is the Sunday against the Sabbath,-"the Church" against the Bible. Which will you choose?

A BOLD ASSUMPTION

Again we quote from Mr. Gladstone:-

The Christian community took upon itself to alter the form of the Jewish ordinance; but this was with a view to giving larger effect to its spiritual purpose. The seventh day had been ordained as the most appropriate, according to the decalogue, for commemorating the old creation. The advent of our Lord introduced us to a chain of events by which alone the benefits of the old creation were secured to us, together with the yet higher benefits of the new.

Note this well. God Himself gave the fourth commandment. "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." "For we know that the law is spiritual." Rom. vii. 12, 14. Yet "the Christian community," without any Scripture warrant, "took upon itself" to alter the commandment, "with a view to giving larger effect to its spiritual purpose." That is to say, "the Christian community" presumed to be able to improve God's work. It claimed to be more spiritual than God Himself. Of course there could be no scriptural warrant for such an interference with God's law, since the Scripture says, "As for God, His way is perfect" (Ps. xviii. 30), and, "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever." Eccl. iii. 14. It remained for a so-called "Christian community" to oppose and exalt itself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that it set itself forth as God. It matters not what that "Christian community" is called; the fact remains that it brought about the change in the observance of the day of rest only by doing what is ascribed to the "man of sin," "the son of perdition." 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4.

THE NEW CREATION

Let it be noted that the seventh day never commemorated "the old creation." When the seventh day was sanctified as the Sabbath, the heavens and the earth were new. The seventh day commemorates the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, unsullied by the curse. It commemorates the new creation, when God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good. The Apostle Paul writes, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation." It is even this new creation that the Sabbath is designed to commemorate; for the Lord says that He gave the Sabbath to His people, "that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. xx. 12. And since it is Christ that is made unto us sanctification, the seventh day is the badge and reminder

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of His sanctifying power. The seventh day commemorates the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, and the power of God to create new men to inhabit them. The first day of the week commemorates nothing but the blasphemous presumption of a so-called "Christian community" that "took upon itself" to give larger effect to the spiritual purpose of the commandment of God. The first day as a rest day is therefore simply the badge of antichrist.

THE "RECORD OF FACTS"

But some one will ask if Mr. Gladstone does not claim that there is some warrant in Scripture for the change. Yes, he does, and we propose to give every bit of the evidence that he produces, and in his own words. He says that the change has been made "under no direct precept of Scripture,"

Yet, with a Biblical record of facts, all supplied by St. John, which go far toward showing that among the apostles themselves, and therefore from apostolic times, the practice of Divine woship on the Lord's day has been continuously and firmly established.

It will be borne in mind that by the term "Lord's day" Mr. Gladstone means the Sunday. We shall presently give special attention to this term, but will pass it by for the present, to quote the "record of facts" which the Apostle John is said to give, which "go far" toward establishing the apostolic origin of Sunday-keeping. Here is the entire "record of facts," in Mr. Gladstone's own words:-

On the day of the resurrection itself, in the evening, the disciples were solemnly assembled, with the door shut "for fear of the Jews," (St. John xx. 19), and the Lord, in His risen body, appeared among them, to confer on them their great mission (verses 21-23). Again on the eighth day, or, as we should term it, seven days after the great day of the resurrection, we have a similar assembly and the like appearance, which records the confirmation of the faith of St. Thomas (verses 26-28). The same apostle who had linked together thus markedly these three occasions, introduces the Apocalypse to us, with a proem that shows a deep sense of its dignity and importance; and proceeds to localise it, first in place, by describing the isle of Patmos as the scene, and then in time, by specifying that he was "in the Spirit on the Lord's day" (Rev. i. 9, 10).

This is the complete "record of facts" which Mr. Gladstone says "go far" towards showing that Sunday was kept from the days of the apostles. Notice that he does not claim that these facts actually show that Sunday was observed by them; he simply cautiously claims that they "go far" towards showing it. We will now examine each statement in detail, and then we shall see just how far they go, and how far they fall short of showing any Divine sanction whatever for Sunday-keeping.

A FIRST DAY MEETING

First we have John xx. 19, where after speaking of the resurrection of Jesus, the apostle says:-

"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace unto you."

Now we submit to every candid person that there is not in that verse the slightest hint of Sunday sacredness. If a man entirely ignorant of the Sunday controversy, and therefore unprejudiced, read it, he could gather from it nothing further than that the disciples were fearful lest the Jews should include them in the condemnation of Jesus, and that they therefore huddled together in a room with closed doors, and that Jesus hastened after His resurrection to call on their fears. Scarcely anything more is needed to show the unscripturalness of Sunday observance, than the fact that this verse is relied on to prove it.

"AFTER EIGHT DAYS"

The next fact referred to is given in John xx. 26:-

"And after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them; then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you."

Compare this with the words of Mr. Gladstone concerning it:-

Again on the eighth day, or, as we should turn it, seven days after the great day of the resurrection, we have a similar assembly and a like appearance.

But the Scripture does not say that the appearance was "on the eighth day," nor even "eight days after," but "after eight days." By no method of "reduction descending" known to mathematics could "after eight days" be made the same as "seven days after." That first appearance came on Sunday, the second one, "after eight days," could not by any possibility be earlier than Monday night of the following week. The use of this verse only still further emphasises the absence of Scripture to sustain Sunday observance.

"AT HOME"

But it is a matter of the utmost indifference whether that meeting with the disciples was on Sunday night or Tuesday night; for there is not the slightest hint of any sacredness attaching to the time. Note the expression, "His disciples were within." That is the common form of expression to denote that people are at home. Can it mean that in this instance?-Certainly, and it can mean nothing else. We read that after the disciples had seen Jesus ascended to heaven they returned to Jerusalem, "and when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James." Acts i. 13.

So from these two texts we learn that the disciples, fearing lest the sight of them should stir up the passions of the mob, shut themselves closely at home, where Jesus came to see them on the day of His resurrection, and again sometime in the middle of the next week.

What have we next? The next and the last fact cited is the declaration made by John that he was in the Spirit on

THE LORD'S DAY

Very good; but what has that to do with Sunday? What say the Scriptures? They tell us in plain terms what day the Lord's day is. Thus, in Ex. xx. 8-10 we read:-

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God."

Again, referring to the same day of the week, the Lord says:-

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable," etc.

Note the two texts. One tells us that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and the other tells us that the Sabbath is the Lord's day, and holy. The seventh day, therefore, and none other, is the Lord's day. And it was of this very day that the Saviour declared Himself to be Lord, when He was falsely accused of breaking it. Matt. xii. 8. He therefore claimed it as His day. With what face, then, can any one assume that the first day of the week is the Lord's day?

AN INVENTION TO MEET A WANT

The answer to that last question is found in the fact that "the Christian community" "took upon itself," without any Scripture warrant, to change

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the ordinance of God. Having done that, and wishing afterwards to make it appear that the Bible sanctioned their wickedness, they simply declared that the term "Lord's day" meant Sunday. When asked for proof that Rev. i. 10 refers to Sunday, they merely pointed to their own work. That is, they perverted the Bible to make it appear to sanction their deeds, instead of making their actions harmonise with it. The term Lord's day, as applied to Sunday, is pure invention, with no foundation whatever in the Scriptures.

Looking at the whole of the so-called evidence for the Sunday, it is evident that it is but an afterthought. That is, there is nothing whatever in the Scriptures from which a person coming to them ignorant of the customs of "the Church" could possibly get the idea that the first day of the week is to be, or that it ever was, observed by anybody. No; people find themselves keeping Sunday, without knowing the reason why. They wish to know why, and appeal to those who are supposed to know, who straightway try to find in the Bible an excuse for their custom. No wonder that their efforts bear the stamp of failure. The Christian Commonwealth, which is by no means favourable to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, says that Mr. Gladstone's article "may be regarded as timely," but is nevertheless constrained to add:-

However, it must be admitted that Mr. Gladstone is not at his best in the line of argument for himself in the article under consideration. There is too much "glittering generality" and not enough definiteness in order to carry conviction.

The fault is not in Mr. Gladstone, but in the case itself. Where Mr. Gladstone has failed, who can hope to succeed? His failure was predicted by a minister of his own church, who said:-

This much I may prophesy-that with all his great genius, and all his deep and reverent knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, he will not be able to quote a single passage in the New Testament which states that the Christian Sunday is a substitute for the Jewish Sabbath.

THE REAL GROUND

Another writer, Prebendary Eyton, also of the Church of England, says:

The observance of Sunday in the Christian Church comes to us with quite a different sanction, and based on different grounds, from that of the Jewish Sabbath. It rests upon no direct Divine command; no word is said about it in the New Testament.

And the Rev. Dr. Isaac Williams, also of the Church of England, says:

The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the Church, has enjoined it.

If Sunday defenders will all take up this position, and stick to it, there will very soon be an end of all perplexity over the Sunday question. We have no words of condemnation for those who do so. Indeed, our whole effort is to this end, that all may know the exact grounds on which both the seventh day and the first day are observed. When it is seen and acknowledged that while the observance of the seventh day rests on the fourth commandment and the example of Christ, the observance of the first day rests solely on the authority of "the Church," the Sabbath controversy will come to an end. There will then be just two classes,-those who accept the Bible only as the rule of life, and those who take the Church as the only infallible guide. Then the man who is now perplexed will simply have to decide whether he will follow the Bible or "the Church," and the Lord Himself will judge between the men who make the decision.

"The 'Up-to-Date' Pulpit" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

A well-known clergyman has drawn up in one of the Reviews a statement of the attitude which the new pulpit must assume in order to minister to clever people of this advanced age. It is instructive to see it plainly stated, as it marks the progress of the popular movement which is causing the old-fashioned infidel critic of the Bible a loss of his occupation.

The Old Pulpit said, "The Bible is the word of God."

The New Pulpit says, "The word of God is in the Bible."

The Old Pulpit said, "The Bible is an inspired history."

The New Pulpit says, "The Bible is the history of an inspired people."

The Old Pulpit said, "The Bible is infallibly inspired."

The New Pulpit says, "The Bible is inspired, but not infallible."

The Old Pulpit said, "I believe in the resurrection of the body."

The New Pulpit adds, "I believe in the survival of the ego and the continuity of the individual in some suitable, though at present unknown, form, under some suitable, though at present unknown, conditions, and so forth."

"When the Son of man cometh shall He find faith on the earth?" As the Word is the word of salvation, and as "It is written" is the one defence against the power against the power of sin, it is not strange that Satan's attacks have always been directed against the Word, nor that when "he knoweth that he hath but a short time" he should specially work to undermine the Scriptures in the last days. Over against this statement of the position of the New Pulpit, let us place the apostle's declaration in that epistle which warns against latter-day perils and conditions:-

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word. . . . For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. . . . And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou."

"False Charity" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

One of the characteristics of charity, or love, as mentioned in 1 Cor. xiii. 4-7, is that it "doth not behave itself unseemly." Measured by this rule, much that passes for charity is found to be such only in appearance. Charity always maintains the distinction between the sacred and the common. It never leads its possessor to take the name of God in vain, or to mingle lightness and irreverence with that which pertains to His worship. There is a spurious charity in the world which is not incompatible with great zeal and devotion in the cause which it represents, but which accomplishes nothing in the work of saving souls from sin. When the sacred and the common are mixed, the mixture is common, not sacred. Only that which is sacred can be used in the service of God.

Knowledge is always an essential thing in the service of God. God has given men particular instructions concerning the manner in which He is to be worshipped and served, and He did this because man could not obtain this knowledge by any power of his own. God has never tolerated any departure from these instructions, because there

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has never been any occasion for such departure on man's part. This knowledge He has given to man in His Word; and the reason why so many have a zeal without knowledge, and a spurious charity in the place of the genuine, is that they have neglected that Word. They that worship God must worship both in spirit and in truth. They that pray aright must pray with the heart, and with the understanding also.

To slight the word of a man is to slight the man. Likewise, to slight the Word of God is to slight God Himself. And God cannot be worshipped and slighted at the same time.

When men disregard the Word of the Lord,-when they become too busy in His service to find time to read and study His instructions-the inevitable result is that they mingle their own ideas and ways with His sacred things, and turn His worship into that which is unseemly. Let professed Christians remember that before charity comes knowledge (2 Pet. i. 5-7), and that knowledge comes by the earnest, prayerful study of God's Word.

While we should not think or speak evil of any man or organisation of men, it is of the highest importance that we should be able to discern between the work of the Spirit of God, and that of some spirit which is not of God. And the test is, "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. viii. 20.

"Sons of God" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The religion of Christ is the realisation and enjoyment of our relation to God as His children. It tells us that the relation we sustain to the earthly parent whom we honour and love, also exists between us and the One who created all things.

This is the true religion, and not a mysterious something which has to do with creeds and dogmas, ceremonies, and irksome duties. It is seen by looking, not at the church, but at Christ.

A son is privileged to come directly to his father and speak with him. What kind of a father would he be who would not allow his son to hear his voice, or speak a word in his presence? God is not such a Father to us as that. "God is love."

God is a Father to whom we can come personally and make known our wants. He puts nothing between us and Himself,-no priest, no dead "saints," no church, no minister, no proxy of any kind. We should not enjoy the relation of Father and child if He did. He puts us in His church, where we experience the privileged and the benefit of the association with others who love Him, and to whom He speaks. But He takes us at the same time into the closest and most confidential relationship with Himself.

"As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." John xvii. 21. And "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." No earthly relationship is so close is this.

The devil and all "the synagogue of Satan" would have us believe we are servants,-slaves,-and must stand aloof, fearful and trembling, and only essay to communicate with God through others higher in His favour. But Bible Christianity sweeps all this aside with the declaration, "Ye are sons!" We are sons, and enjoy the favour of sons. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!" 1 John iii. 1. "And because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father." Gal. iv. 6. Let us believe in it and "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. iv. 16.

"'Declined with Thanks' in Chinese" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

One of the most difficult tasks of an editor is to decline the contributions sent in, which for lack of room or ether reasons he does not consider it best to use. The Chinese editor does this so gracefully that the task must be a pleasant one to him. The following is certified to be a true translation of a letter sent by a Chinese editor to a would-be contributor, whose manuscript he found it necessary to decline:-

"ILLUSTRIOUS BROTHER OF THE SUN AND MOON: Behold thy servant prostrate before thy feet. I kowtow to thee and beg that of thy graciousness thou mayst grant that I may speak and live. Thy honoured manuscript has deigned to cast the light of its august countenance upon us. With raptures we have perused it. By the bones of my ancestors, never have I encountered such wit, such pathos, such lofty thought. With fear and trembling I return the writing. Were I to publish the treasure you sent me, the emperor would order that it should be made the standard, and that none be published except such as equalled it. Knowing literature as I do, and that it would be impossible in ten thousand years equal what you have done, I send your writing back. Ten thousand times I crave your pardon. Behold, my head is at your feet. Do what you will. Your servant's servant.-"THE EDITOR."

"Jokes" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

Teach children early to distinguish between fun and mischief, which always has in it an element of evil. Join in their fun as heartily as you can, but beware how you applaud their mischief. Don't let them bear you laughing over the good jokes they have played off on each other, if those jokes have in them, as nearly all practical jokes do, a spice of malice, or if anybody is made uncomfortable by them.

"Birds and Their Eyes" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

Birds, as rule, cannot focus their eyes on an object save at a considerable distance, and then only with difficulty. The reason for this singular fact is found in the position of the eyes in the head, one being planed on each side and looking directly outward, so that they cannot be brought to bear on one object save, perhaps, at a very long distance and directly in front. The truth of this statement may be demonstrated by anyone who has observed ordinary fowls turning their heads on one side when desirous of more closely examining some object which has attracted their attention. When excited by the presence of a strange object, chickens will often be noticed examining it, first with one eye and then with the other, turning their heads for that purpose, thus showing, that they cannot bring both eyes to bear upon it at once. The only exception to the general rule is found in the case of the owl, whose eyes are placed in front of the head, and are capable of being brought to a focus on an object a very short distance in front.

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?"

"Be Punctual" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The following is told as a good illustration of the advantage of punctuality it is the story of a young man named Jackson, who for several years was the favourite of the late King of Wurtemburg. There is a greater reason for forming the habit of punctuality than any such advancement as is here spoken of. It is that the Christian is given opportunities to serve the Lord in all that is done every day, and only by being prompt aid faithful in little things can we improve the time which the Lord sends us to use for Him:-

Some boys and girls are apt to think that a minute after time is just as well as before, but young Jackson did not think so. He went to Germany

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to study music, but sprained his hand by practising too on the piano. Fortunately it was his left hand, and while he could not practise his music, he could write. He obtained some help from the American Consul at Stuttgart, who gave Jackson only one rule-and that was, he must be at his work exactly at nine o'clock each morning.

Every morning exactly at five minutes to nine, Jackson crossed the square in front of the Royal Palace on his way to the consul's office. The King of Wurtemburg was always taking his morning exercise at the time, and without appearing to observe the young man, remarked his promptness. After Jackson had continued his work about two months, the King's confidential friend died. Then the King made inquiries about Jackson and summoned him to appear.

"I have decided to make you my confidential friend," said his Majesty. "From to-day you will take up your residence in the Palace. I have ordered a set of apartments to be fitted up for you near my own."

Jackson was at a loss to understand this, and asked the king to what he owed this elevation.

"To your punctuality," said the king. "I have noticed your habits for the past months, and you have never been one second late or earlier in passing the Palace gate. You are the man I wish for my confidant. From to-day you are Baron Jackson."

Young Jackson removed to the Palace and for years was the constant companion of the king, who loaded him with favours. After a time he gave him a beautiful villa on one of the lakes in Switzerland, where the king is in the habit of going every summer.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

One of the largest life insurance companies refuses to take risks upon the lives of persons who have been habitual smokers of cigarettes between the ages of eight and eighteen. Shopkeepers and business men are discovering that the usefulness of boys who smoke cigarettes is so rapidly impaired that they are likely to prove of little service, and hence decline to employ them.

Recently published statistics show that the working classes in England alone last year spent more money on intoxicating drink than the total rent of all the houses in great Britain.

Intemperance has a fearful hold upon Belgium. It is computed that 200,000 deaths occur in that country annually as the result of strong drink, and that 75 per cent. of all crime is due to the same cause.

-The report of the Challenger expedition to explore the ocean bed by means of dredging, has been completed, and contains 29,500 printed pages, 3,000 plates and maps, and innumerable engravings.

-Missionaries in India are indignant that a firm of European silversmiths should have undertaken recently a contract to make a bull to be worshipped at a Hindoo temple. The bull is to be of sliver and life-size.

-During a bull-fight recently at Barcelona, Spain, one of the animals jumped over the barriers amongst the spectators, causing a panic. A shot fired at the bull passed through its body and killed one of the spectators. The fight than went on as usual.

-Persecution still, goes on in Tennessee, the latest news from Rhea County, in that State, reporting fifteen indictments against conscientious observers of the Bible Sabbath, for work done on Sunday, several of those indicted being already in prison for the same "offence."

-The British Chitral expedition has encountered obstinate resistance from the natives of the district ruled by Umra Khan, and after severe and continuous fighting for several days, during which the command forced its way over hills and mountains in the face of the enemy, the expedition has attained its object, and Umra Khan has been compelled to sue for peace.

-Recent votes in the French Chamber and Senate in favour of a tax on the revenues of religious communities have greatly irritated the Pope. The Osservatore Romano, the official journal of the Vatican, declares that this action inaugurates in France a veritable Kulturkampf. It is understood that the Pontiff will send instructions to the bishops and religious orders to refuse to pay the tax in the hope that the Republic, seeing Leo's attitude of opposition, will beat a retreat.

-A treaty of peace between China and Japan was signed April 17. Although the terms arena officially stated, it is understood that they include the cession to Japan of the Liao-tung peninsula from the port of Newchwang to the Yalu River, the island of Formosa and the Pescadores, an indemnity of 200,000,000 taels (about ?33,000,000), the opening of five or seven treaty ports, including Peking, and a number of commercial advantages which are not definitely announced. The indemnity is to be paid in silver, and this fact is expected to lessen considerably the present prostration of that metal.

-In the matter of the dispute between England and Nicaragua over the claim for damages made by England for the violation of the rights of British subjects in Nicaragua, it is reported that the United States will strenuously insist upon upholding the "Monroe doctrine," which as applied to the present case will demand that whatever may be the outcome of the pending controversy, Great Britain shall not be permitted to seize any territory, that in no event shall there be any cession of territory to her by Nicaragua, and that tinder no circumstances shall Great Britain be permitted to land a naval or military force for either a temporary or a permanent occupation.

-Over an area of at least five degrees of longitude and three of latitude, from the borders of Servia to within the line of the Bavarian highlands, and from the Italian lakes to Vienna, there came, just before midnight of Sunday, April 14, an earthquake which did not cease its shocks, thirty-one in number, for nearly eight hours. It was felt chiefly in Carnicia, in the Upper Valley of the Save, but tremblings are said to have extended as far as Rome and Hungary. Even in Vienna clocks stopped, and at Venice, which is now, like Rome, crowded with English people, the occupants of hotels rushed out at midnight and camped in the square of St. Mark. The worst effects were felt at Laibach, the capital of Carnicia, where nearly every building was damaged or destroyed, and a dozen lives were lost, many other persons sustaining injuries. Such an earthquake in the central portion of Europe is a most unusual occurrence.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

"O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid; Thou hast loosed my bonds." Ps. cxvi. 16.

That is the language of the soul that has learned that "Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful." Verse 5.

But the loosing of bonds is the work of the Holy Spirit; "for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Cor. iii. 17. The Spirit of the Lord proclaims "liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Isa. lxi. 1.

But "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Rom. viii. 14-16.

Therefore as soon as we recognise the fact that God has delivered us, so that we may serve Him, and we acknowledge that we are His servants, and free, He says, "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Gal. iv. 7. When the returning prodigal said, "I have sinned. . . make me as one of thy hired servants," the father said, "This my son was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found."

The Paris correspondent of The Catholic Times, of Philadelphia, speaks thus of the French invasion of Madagascar:-

The Catholic missions there may suffer somewhat, although from a letter just received from Mgr. Cozet, the Vicar Apostolic, I learned that so far the Catholic religion has not suffered on account of the approaching French invasion. The expedition, indeed, from the Catholic point of view is most desirable. The Protestant sects have had their own way there far too long. The time is approaching when our missions will receive a substantial support from that European power which, whatever the faults at home, has never failed to protect Catholic interests abroad. It is the fashion to speak of French policy in Madagascar as a check to England. It is nearer the truth to regard it as a check to British Protestantism.

Last week a party of our friends, seven adults, sailed from Southampton for South Africa, on their way to the Matabele country where they expect to join others who have preceded them in missionary effort.

The Battersea branch of the Social Democratic Federation has just started a Sunday school for the children of Socialists, because it is believed that "such schools will do more to make Socialists than street-corner oratory." Nearly one hundred pupils attend.

The Catholic Times says that "the prospect for the conversion of Wales, for the furtherance of which the new Vicariate Apostolic is to be established, is on the whole fairly encouraging." Most Protestants will doubtless laugh at this expression of confidence; but he who laughs at Romanism usually ends by laughing with it, or else by mourning.

A petition recently presented to the Czar, praying for a relaxation of the laws governing the Press in Russia, has been rejected, the commission to which it was referred, consisting of the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Interior, and the chief Procurator of the Synod of the Russian Church having reported adversely upon it. At the same time, Russia is taking steps toward a more strict enforcement of Sunday observance.

In a recent sermon at the City Temple, Dr. Parker said that men are now trying to protect the Sunday. But he said, "It was useless to try to legislate about the Sabbath. Whip and scourge could not do the Lord's work." This will be acknowledged by all who know the first principles of the Gospel, but the cry for the whip and scourge of human legislation is bound to increase as men learned that the institution has no Divine sanction to uphold it.

Here is another Church of England testimony concerning Sunday observance, which we commend to those who wish to know just why they keep Sunday, and how to keep it:-

It is quite impossible, with the evidence of the Book of Common Prayer in our hands and the fact that our Anglo-Saxon forefathers did assist at the recitation of the choir office as well as at mass, to say otherwise than that the Church desires, though she does not command, her lay members to do more in the way of worship on Sundays than to hear mass only. . . . The man who simply hears mass on Sunday fulfils his obligation of Sunday worship, and if he does not hear mass he entirely fails to fulfil it.-From Essay on "Canonical Sunday Worship," by the Rev. Edmund G. Wood, B. D., Vicar of St. Clement's, Cambridge, in "The Lord's Prayer and the Holy Eucharist," pp. 91, 92.

The fact that the Italian Government is now reduced to such straits that it is seeking aid from the Vatican, is most significant. Indeed obsequiousness to the Catholic clergy is such that the Osservatore Romano, the official organ of the Vatican, considers it necessary to put Catholics on their guard. The following from that journal indicates that the Vatican will doubtless soon be master of the situation:-

We have entered upon a period which may prove really dangerous to the cause we have been defending for so many years at the cost of personal sacrifices. We are no longer derided, despised, or loaded with anathemas. We are, indeed, almost assured that we alone can save suffering in Italy and society, which is in a desperate condition. Let us be on our guard lest this period of blandishments and cajoleries be not followed by deception. Let us take care not to use in an hour of thoughtlessness and blindness all that we have gained in many years of resistance and struggle.

Here is a very brief extract from a letter which we have received:-

Christ said, "The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath day." After His resurrection it was changed from Saturday to Sunday, by Divine inspiration, as I hold, though there is no record of this.

Before our friend can get us to hold with him, he will have to produce the record. When Jesus met the tempter, He did not attempt to do it with notions of His own, for which He had no authority, nor did He say, "I hold that we ought to worship God," but His reply was prefaced every time with, "It is written." Remembering that man cannot live except "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," we dare not ignore one of His words, nor dare we manufacture words for Him. "Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

The cross of Christ is God's unanswerable answer to all the objections from whatever source that can be brought against His government and His Word.

"Plead the cause of the poor and needy."

May 2, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

"The path of the just as the shining light, that shineth more and more on to the perfect day." Prov. iv. 18.

It was in harmony with this fact that the Apostle Paul prayed "that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." Col. i. 10.

The Christian life is a race, and the watchword is, Progress. A race in which there is no advance is simply not a race. So if a professed Christian does not "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," he is not living the Christian life.

The Christian life is also a school, in which Christ is the Teacher. He says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me." Matt. xi. 28, 29. Christ says of Himself, "The Lord hath given Me the tongue of them that are taught, . . . He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as they that are taught." Isa. l. 4. The disciple is not greater than his Lord.

Therefore the man who determines that he will never believe or practise anything more than what he believed and did when he was first converted, deliberately resolves never to live the Christian life. It is the same as though a boy should determine never to learn anything more than he learned the first day he went to school.

The commandments of God are "exceeding broad." The fact that we are familiar with any portion of Scripture, is no evidence that we know all that there is in it. The riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God are unsearchable, so that nobody can ever say that he knows it all. He may know that what he does see is the truth, but he knows nothing as he ought to know it, if he does not know that there is "much more" to learn. Let us therefore all pray, "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law."

"The Second Psalm" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

A LESSON FOR ALL TIME

In this psalm we have questions and answers and exhortations. They are applicable at all times, but most especially at the present time, as we shall see. The psalm begins, with the question,-

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?"

The word "heathen" is the same as "nations." Among men the word "heathen" is usually considered as synonymous with "uncivilised;" but the Bible calls all men heathen who do not serve the Lord, no matter how much they may have of the veneer and polish of what is called civilisation. It will be noticed that in the margin we have "tumultuously assemble" as the equivalent of "rage."

PLOTTING AGAINST THE LORD

What is the cause of the tumultuous gatherings of the people? and what is the vain thing which they imagine. The second and third verses give the answer,-

"The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed, saying,

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."

The reader will see by looking at John i. 41 and margin, that the word, "Anointed" and "Christ" are the same. Therefore we may read, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Christ." This is quoted in Acts iv. 25, 26. The Father and the Son are inseparable. It is impossible to speak against one without opposing the other. It is impossible that there should be such a thing as believing in God but not in Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." John xiv. 6. They are one in redemption, as they are one in creation.

Notice well that the bands and cords of both are the same. Some people like to persuade themselves that in casting away the law of the Lord they are following Christ. They try to believe that Christ came for the purpose of losing men from their obligation to keep the law of God. That is a part of the "vain thing" which the people imagine. He who seeks to cast off the law of the Lord, is rejecting the yoke of Christ. Jesus says, "I and My Father are one." John x. 30. The law of God is the law of Christ.

REJECTING GOD'S LOVE

What is there about the law of God that should cause men to try to shake it off? Is it a burdensome yoke?-Not by any means. Jesus said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly an heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My

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burden is light." Matt. xi. 28-30. Now see how perfectly this agrees with what is said of the law. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous." "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 10. Instead of being a burdensome yoke, the law of God in Christ gives peace and rest. It is a comfort. "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." Prov. vi. 23. "Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them." Ps. cxix. 165.

Since the law of God is love, it is evident that those who seek to cast away God's bands and cords, are rejecting His love. "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have by drawn thee." Jer. xxxi. 3. Christ is He by whom men are drawn (John xii. 32), because in Him is God's law of love. To reject the law of God is to reject Christ.

EVERLASTING CORDS

It is indeed possible for men to cast away from them the loving bands of God's law; but can they break from them asunder?-Never. "The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Ps. cxi. 7, 8. "For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." Ps. cxix. 89. Therefore "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke xvi. 17. The cords with which God draws men are the cords of love, or His law, and this love is everlasting; consequently those cords are everlasting. Men may shake them off, but it is a "vain thing" to think of breaking them.

Men fancy that they have done away the law, when they have only made it void in their own hearts. They think that the law of God has changed, when it is only they who have changed. The Papacy, "the man of sin," has boasted great things against God, setting itself forth in the place of God; but yet the prophecy says that at its greatest it can only "think to change times and laws." Dan. vii. 25. It can go no farther than the thought; it can accomplish nothing except vainly to persuade itself and its dupes that it has the power. The law of God is "like the great mountains." Far better might puny man think to level the Alps or the Himalayas with a pickax and spade, than to overthrow the law of God.

OPPOSITION TO GOD

There is no nation on earth that has not set itself in opposition against God. No argument will be needed to establish this statement so far as it concerns what are called "heathen nations." But what about the so-called "Christian nations"? They have done the same thing. Following the lead of the Papacy, they have every one enjoined the observance of the first day of the week in direct opposition to God's law, which commands the observance of the seventh day. Let a man who is in court to answer for working on Sunday quote the fourth commandment, and he will be told that the court does not recognise that, and that the law of the land must be enforced, no matter what the Bible says. Thus men exalt themselves above God. In setting aside the Sabbath of the Lord for the Sunday of Pope and pagan, governments to-day as really set themselves against Christ as did "Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel."

A LAUGHABLE FARCE

How does the Lord regard these attempts upon His law?-Here is the answer,-

"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision."

It is well known that ants have means of communicating among themselves, and that they have a form of government, and doubtless as perfect for them as human government is for men. Suppose now that we were able to understand their language, and should overhear them plotting to overthrow the English Government, and all other governments. Would there not be a peal of laughter that would sound throughout the earth? The idea is too ridiculous for consideration. But the difference between ants and men is not nearly so great as that between men and God. "All nations before Him as nothing; and they are counted to Him as less than nothing, and vanity." Isa. xl. 17. No wonder that God laughs at the "great swelling words of vanity" that men speak.

Men may rage and storm, but the Government of God is in no danger. Every attack upon it will only recoil upon the misguided men who make it. It is forgetfulness or ignorance of this fact that causes people sometimes to manifest so much zeal in defending the Lord's cause. Many laws have been made by man for the purpose of "protecting" the religion of Jesus Christ. If those men had known the Lord, they would rather have sought His protection for themselves. No wonder that every such law, however conscientiously made, has been a miserable failure. Since it was uncalled for, it was only in the way. The attempts of men to prop up the Government of God are as ridiculous, even if they be not as wicked, as the attempts of men to overthrow it. They show that men vainly imagine themselves to be more powerful than God, and that He is dependent upon them. When God laughs at human designs against His Government, we need not be alarmed for its safety. Our only anxiety should be to seek, and to induce others to seek, its protection.

TROUBLING THE WICKED

What will God do to those wicked plotters?

"Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure."

In the margin we have "trouble" as the alternative of "vex." Notice that it requires only a word from the Lord to throw men into confusion. It is not necessary that He even speak; a look is sufficient. When the hosts of Pharaoh were pursuing Israel through the Red Sea, "it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians." Ex. xiv. 24. We can trust the Lord to defend and protect His own cause and His own people.

A ROYAL DECREE

In the face of all the plots against His Government, the Lord says,

"Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion."

More literally we may read it as indicated in the margin, "Yet have I anointed My King upon Zion, the hill of My holiness."

Men may think to break asunder the bands of the Lord and His Anointed, but nevertheless the proclamation of Christ as King is calmly made in the face of it. And when Christ has thus been proclaimed King, what will be the result?-Here is the announcement which Christ makes, to prove His right to reign:-

"I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession."

"The government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His Government and peace there shall be no end." Isa. ix. 6, 7.

GOD'S EVERLASTING KINGDOM

Let it not be forgotten that only "the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." It is not done by any human agency. It is the Lord God, and not man, who gives to Christ the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth.

When the nations are given to Christ, together with the whole earth, for what purpose is it?-He Himself tells us, and the remainder of the decree which God issued to Him:-

"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

In the second chapter of Daniel the nations of earth are represented as an image composed of various metals. The kingdom of Christ is represented as a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, with the following results: "Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Dan. ii. 35.

That image represented the nations of earth until the end of time. The head of gold represent Babylon, which passed away hundreds of years before the first advent of Christ. The breast and arms of silver, representing Medo-Persia, long since ceased to figure in the affairs of the world. The brass, representing Grecia, crumbled to pieces under the iron monarchy of Rome; and world itself, represented by the legs of iron, went into a decline soon after one of its governors hearkened to the wicked counsels of the people, and crucified the Lord of glory. Then it became divided, retaining some of the strength of the iron, but incapable of united action, and in that condition it has been for about fourteen hundred years. That is a long time as men count, but not long enough for God to forget. We are living in the days when we must expect as the next great event the smiting of the nations, and their utter destruction by the Lord.

AN EXHORTATION

In view of all this, how important the exhortation,-

"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath will soon be kindled."

In this last we have given the literal rendering, as in the Revision. Very soon will the wrath of the Lord be kindled. How are the kings and judges of the earth to kiss, or acknowledge allegiance to, the Son, and thus escape His wrath?-Manifestly by obeying His commands. Certainly not by presumptuously passing laws designed to "protect" Him and His cause. The Lord asked for their submission, not for their support. This is shown by the closing words of this psalm,-

"Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him."

Instead of thinking to uphold the Government of God, men, even though they be kings, are to seek His protection for themselves. This will not be done by their passing laws defining how other people shall worship God, but by their personally obeying the laws that God Himself has made for the guidance of all men, both high and low. When the time comes that the Lord takes possession of His inheritance, and begins to reign, and "the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich man, and the chief captains, and the mighty men," flee to hide themselves in the dens and caves of the earth, saying to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (Rev. vi. 15, 16), each one will be acting only for himself. Even so they must act only for themselves in serving God, if they will yield to Him. No man, even though he be king or judge, can serve God for another. Each individual, however high or low, is called upon to render personal obedience.

The thing that God calls upon men to do is to cease fighting against Him. That message, "Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth," is one which the servants of God are now to bear. "Before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings," the message is to go. It is not a message of denunciation, but of entreaty. Every nation of earth has set itself up against God, and successive rulers and judges have accepted as a matter of course what has been done by their predecessors, and have acted on the same plan. Not all are by any means knowingly guilty of opposition to God. Therefore they are to be shown what is the real power of God, that they may have opportunity to yield to it.

It is natural for men to make much of the fact that cruel persecution results from the laws that have been made to supply a supposed deficiency in the Government of God. But that evil, although great, is only secondary. The primary and the chief evil is the opposition to God's law. If they would deal fairly with God, no injustice could possibly result to men. And the burden of those who love the Lord will ever be, not that they are oppressed, but that God is dishonoured, and that those who are dishonouring Him are in danger in their own souls. The evil with its consequences is to be faithfully set before them, together with the invitation and assurance, "O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."

"More About the Sunday" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

When we tell the people that the seventh day of the week, commonly called Saturday, is and always has been the Sabbath, and that there is no Divine authority whatever for the observance of Sunday, they often sceptically ask, "If this is so, why have not the ministers and learned men found it out?"

The truth is, that they have found it out, and have told it, and we have published much of their testimony in PRESENT TRUTH. This week we have some more of the same sort to present. The late Dr. R. W. Dale, of Birmingham, was a Congregationalist, but as a preacher, a scholar, and a theologian, he was and is held in very high repute by all Nonconformists, and by Churchmen as well. In 1871 a book of his entitled "The Ten Commandments," was published by Hodder & Stoughton, of whom it is said that their imprint is a certificate of orthodoxy, and from that we extract the following:-

It is quite clear that however rigidly or devoutly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath.

The Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday.-Page 106.

Again, on page 107 we read:-

The penalty for breaking the Sabbath was death. There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday.

Notice the words, "the supposed

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sanctity of Sunday." The words were well chosen, for there is no real sanctity to Sunday. The Scriptures contain no suggestion of a penalty for labouring on Sunday, because they contain no suggestion that it should be kept. Therefore it is no more a sin to work or play on Sunday than on Monday or Tuesday. This is admitted by Dr. Dale in these words found on page 112:-

There is no reason to believe that the apostles required their converts to keep the first day of the week as a day of rest.

Of course there is not, since there is no hint of such a thing in the New Testament. Yet the Apostle Paul said, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you," and, "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Acts xx. 20, 27.

Sunday, therefore, being wholly unscriptural, unchristian, and unapostolic, was left to be brought into the church when it has apostatised far enough to reject the counsel of God. So Dr. Dale says:-

As it is difficult to determine the exact time when Jewish Christians ceased to rest on the Sabbath, it is also difficult to determine the exact time when Christians generally began to rest on Sunday.-Page 110.

Mr. Gladstone has said that the general mind has no clear conception of why Sunday is kept. We hope to be able to present the facts so clearly that none need have any doubt as to the reason why Sunday ought not to be observed.

"The Sure Word. God's Final Message to Men" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

In the days of Noah God looked upon the earth in its wickedness and said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Gen. vi. 3. Noah preached a final message to the antediluvians. The flood came, and "the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished" (2 Peter iii. 6); and those who heeded not the message perished with it.

What of the present world? Can we now expect that God's Spirit will always strive with man? His Word tells us. "The heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Pet. iii. 7. A final message will therefore precede the coming of that day,-a message of warning, as in the days before the flood.

God has not left the world to speculate upon this subject. That men do speculate and indulge in fanciful conjectures concerning things to come, is not the fault of the Lord, but is due to the fact that men are more ready to trust in their own wisdom than in His. The Word of God has much to say about "the last days." It tells us what the nature of those days will be, what signs will appear in them, and what final efforts will be made by the great enemy of mankind to secure the homage of all men to Himself. It is our fault if we do not read it, and be made wise thereby.

The end of human probation will be signalised by the terrible visitation of the "seven last plagues," in which is filled up the wrath of God. Rev. xv. 1. But there is a message sent to save men from the fate of being made to drink "the wine of the wrath of God." In the fourteenth chapter of Revelation we read: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Verses 9-11.

These are words of most solemn and awful import. Noah's message proclaimed a coming flood, which would engulf the unbelievers; but here is threatened the wrath of God "without mixture," "filled up" in the seven last plague. To whom are such words spoken? If they concern us, it is time that we knew the fact and understood by what means we may avoid being worshippers of "the beast and his image," and escape so awful a fate.

Do not say that the message of God cannot be understood. God's words are not idle talk, and He does not send men messages they cannot understand. Do not treat it as a matter of indifference. Consider what will be the result to those who hear this message and do not heed it. They will drink of the wine of the wrath of God poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. This settles the question for them, and for us as well. They must understand it. When ignorance means destruction, there is but one path to safety, and that is God's path of wisdom. And we may be sure that when God sends the world such a message as this which warns against the worship of the beast and his image, it will be only wilful ignorance that will keep any person from being enlightened by it.

God does not hold men responsible for what they cannot avoid, nor does He send them messages which they cannot comprehend. But He does not force people to see the truth. There is a wilful ignorance which arises from a heart of unbelief,-from a careless and indifferent attitude toward sacred truth as revealed in the Word of God. Such ignorance is sinful, and avails nothing.

There was much wilful ignorance in the days of Noah, but it afforded no protection against the flood. Although Noah preached faithfully, the people "knew not until the flood came, and took them all away." Matt. xxiv. 39. And Peter tells us that "there shall come in the last days scoffers," saying "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter iii. 3-7. Such will go into perdition if they continue to be willingly ignorant. When God has spoken, wilful ignorance of His Word is a short and sure path to destruction.

It is certain, therefore, that men will not be incapable of understanding that warning that God sends them against the worship of "the beast and his image," and the reception of his "mark." It is certain that God, who has made an infinite sacrifice to save men, will not make them drink of the wine of His unmixed wrath without having given them a full opportunity to escape the threatened doom. It is

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certain that He would not condemn them for not making a right "guess" concerning something which was at best but a matter of conjecture, and for not seeing clearly into a misty field of speculation. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" It is as certain, therefore, as that He will do right, that His Word does not present to men a field of conjecture or speculation at all, but one of positive knowledge.

It is true, men do speculate about the meaning of God's Word and the application of terms and symbols there used; but such work is as needless as it is vain. God has provided that men shall understand what He speaks to them, with a wisdom that never fails. He has given His Spirit to be a Divine Teacher, to guide men into all truth, and to show them things to come (John xvi. 13); and He has left the promise, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbaideth not, and it shall be given him." James i. 5. He who would make the Word of God like the dark sayings of the mystic heathen oracles, must be prepared to prove that the Holy Spirit is not competent to teach men the truth, and that God is either unable or unwilling to give to the humble, prayerful seeker the wisdom that he needs.

With all confidence, therefore,-not in ourselves, nor in the wisdom of man, but in the wisdom and liberality of God,-we may study this most momentous and solemn message of warning against the worship of "the beast" and his "image," and the reception of his "mark." The field of investigation is God's Word. There is the wisdom of God, which is able to make us "wise unto salvation," and "thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. iii. 15-17.

All that we need to know is already revealed to us. God's word to man is not a sealed mystery, but a revelation. The message we are considering is a part of "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass." Rev. i. 1. If we will treat it as a revelation, we shall find that God has spoken the truth, and that "His servants," may indeed learn therefrom things which must come to pass, and which are of vital interest and concern to all the world.

"Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not."

"Not Subject to God's Law" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

One doctrine which has become a very popular one, is that the law of God is abolished. The Scripture teaches that the days before the coming of the Lord are to be characterised by lawlessness. The last days are to be as the days before the flood, when men were so lawless that the earth was destroyed. It is to this condition that the world is rushing at nineteenth century speed.

The preaching of lawlessness must always be popular "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. viii. 7. One of our workers the other day reported coming in contact with professedly Christian opposers of the law of God who had the courage to admit the logical conclusion of all no-law arguments. They declared that they were at liberty to break all of the commandments, to steal or to lie-only they did not want to. This is no new position. In the days of Jeremiah this was a popular doctrine; and those who advocated it were still bolder, and admitted that they practised what they preached. The Lord, by the prophet, said to them:-

"Behold; ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal [sun-worship], and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?"

"Slavery and Freedom" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

God has no slaves. He has anointed Jesus Christ for the special work of blotting slavery out of His universe. Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Isa. lxi. 1; Luke iv. 18. This is the world's proclamation of emancipation, written with the finger of God. Its signature and seal are both Divine.

Some of the leading governments of earth have sought to abolish slavery, and have largely done so within the sphere of power of the civil arm. It is a cherished sentiment and a fundamental principle of British constitutional law that "Britons never shall be slaves;" and any slave who sets foot upon British soil becomes by that very act a free man. Yet Britain contains a multitude of slaves,-many thousands who are oppressed by the selfish avarice of their fellow-men in more fortunate stations, and a far greater number who are slaves to some more merciless demon of sin within them. The world is full of such slaves, from whose souls no human arm can strike the shackles. But God's proclamation of the emancipation is to all, proclaiming liberty to every captive on the earth. The thing most greatly needed is that it be made known to all; for but few know that the glorious proclamation has been made. There is no more important or honourable work for any person than to be the bearer of such a message; and God has a place for all who will engage in the work.

"Protestants and the Roman System" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

In the thirteenth of Revelation the revival of the power of the Papacy is represented as the healing of the deadly wound; and the prophet saw that when the wound was fully healed "all the world wondered after the beast." The Reformation let free the Word of the Lord, and called multitudes out of the antichristian organisation of the Papacy, and placed them upon the foundation of the Scriptures, which was able to build them up. But latterly the attitude of popular Protestantism towards the Church of Rome has modified, and reunion is loudly talked in some quarters. The old leaven of Romanism which was not wholly cast out is leavening the lump.

We have lately commented on the talk of reunion in Britain, and as evidence that the same ideas are working in other countries we print the following words by leading Methodist ministers of America. We clip these significant sayings from Zion's Herald, which gives place to a round-table conference on the question, "What should be the attitude of Methodism towards the Roman Catholic Church?" Remember that it is not the attitude towards individuals that is discussed, but the relation to be sustained to the papal system.

Methodism should recognise the Roman Catholic Church as a branch of the Church of Christ, preserving still much of truth amid its corruptions, superstitions, and idolatries.

The attitude of Methodism toward the Roman Catholic Church should be one of readiness to

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unite with that church or its members in any moral reform or work of Christian philanthropy, where such union necessitates no sacrifice of principle.

Methodism should take toward Romanism an attitude of Christian brotherliness.

It is difficult to maintain a consistent attitude toward this great question. It includes so much. On the one hand due recognition of the Roman Catholic as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, on the other uncompromising hostility to its errors. . . . No unprejudiced person can deny that it is a Christian church; that it contains a larger number of communicants than any other Christian church; that we are largely indebted to it for our present Christian civilisation.

The mighty Roman Church with its unrivalled opportunities and possibilities will not be destroyed. It will be renovated from within. It will be re-energised and purified by that God whom its adherents reverently, however blindly and mistakenly, worship. It will cast off the errors and delusions that now mar it, and take its place as a potent factor in the regeneration of the world.

Of course the call, "Come out of her, My people," cannot be sounded from the pulpit which contributes this last paragraph. An apologists for the veneration of relics says:-

Before me on the desk lies an open Bible, printed in 1550 by one "Dr. Mart. Luther." Do I do wrong to "venerate" the relic that is so eloquent of a magnificent past? What hearts it stirred! What doors it opened it! What history it changed! What glory it let loose on the earth! Clinging to my relics, I have a weakness toward my brother who clings in like manner to his. Perhaps we both may mean something like the same thing.

It was because the Bible to Luther was not a relic, but a living voice, that he accomplished so great a work in turning men from the darkness of the Papacy to the light of the Gospel.

"Helping One Another" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

When sin entered into the world, all creation shared in the curse. So strife and hatred entered into the animal creation. But it is interesting to see the workings of the Divine life still moving animals hearts to kindliness and mutual helpfulness. It is a trace of the same nature that they had in the beginning, when the lion and the lamb lay down together. This intelligent kindliness is of course more frequently manifested between animals of the same species, but very many anecdotes are reported showing that animals are capable of acting on good Samaritan principles. Here are a few clippings which illustrate sagacity and goodwill combined:-

TWO CANINE FRIENDS

A horse trough in one of the suburbs of Sydney was the scene of a funny incident the other afternoon. Two dogs, water spaniels, were trotting along, when they came to this place, and stopped for a drink. They were both thirsty, but neither was tall enough to reach the trough; and they talked the matter over, as dogs will, and wondered why they had not been treated with as much consideration as horses. Presently they solved the problem. One of them ranged himself under the edge of the trough; and the other, resting his hind-feet upon his companion's back was able to reach into the pool and sIake his thirst. When he had finished he hopped down, seemed to say that the water was good, and then in turn ranged himself under the edge of the trough, and the other reached up for the drink he had earned. When he was satisfied they trotted away together, as well contented as any man could be who had met a problem and vanquished it.

EYES TO THE BLIND

A remarkable story of rats' sagacity comes from Batchworth, in the locality Rickmansworth. At that place here is a sewage farm, where it is no uncommon sight to see rats, attracted by the miscellaneous garbage there collected. A labouring man employed it the sewage farm asserts that, when working on this farm he has recently seen, on more than one occasion, an old blind rat carrying a piece of stick in its mouth, and that two other lounger rats, one on each side of the blind one, lead it about with each end if the stick also in their mouths, and that in this fashion they all cross over a wooden plank. This is not only most surprising, but shows very remarkable sagacity on the part of these rodents, which are of the sewer, or water species.

SAGACITY OF A HEN

In consequence of some very heavy gains, nearly all the ground about a poultry yard was covered with water. All this time there was a brood of young thickens in the hen-house. They were on the roosting-place, and could not get down because of the water. In this situation they remained nearly two days, at the end of which time the hen was seen, to convey them one by one, on her bank, wading through the water as well as she could, to a grass-plat near by. Thus were the chickens saved from being either starved or drowned.

SPARROWS TO THE RESCUE

The social contract among the sparrows, whatever its nature, is certainly most efficient. Every one of them takes for granted that he is his brother's keeper. The danger or misfortune of one is assumed by all. One luckless builder of a nest in the front of a church became entangled in a string so that he could not extricate himself. His call for help was sounded down the street, and soon a multitude of his fellow-citizens were on the spot, tugging at the string, turning him about and about, while the air was flied with cries of distress. Their efforts were in vain. Weeks afterward the shrivelled body hung beating about in the wind; but I noticed that every sparrow that came within range of the sorrowful spectacle uttered a plaintive note, as if exclaiming, How dreadful!

SAVING A CAT

A recent writer tells of a dog who was seen to plunge into a rushing stream to save from drowning a cat which some human being had thrown in in order to witness her struggles for life. It is not every dog that worries the cat.

"Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" Matt. vi. 26.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

-It is reported that the "head wife" of King Mwanga, in Uganda, is preparing to be received into the Christian Church.

-Quite a trade in female attire is said to be springing up in West Africa; amongst other things the black ladies have a great lilting for corsets.

-During 1894, 805,715 copies of the Scriptures were distributed in China by the American Bible Society, and 70,211 "gospels" distributed among the soldiers in Japan.

-Emigration from India to Fiji is, it is said fast changing the preponderating religious element in the islands from Christian to pagan, as the immigrants consist mainly of coolie and Hindu labourers.

-Only one church has been built in the Mexican city of Puebla in the last two hundred years, although the population is about 100,000; that one is the Protestant M.E. mission church, recently erected at a cost of ?4,000.

-The largest forest is the world is in Siberia, and is said to be about 1,000 miles in width by 3,000 in length. The trees are latches and fire, and grow close together, nearly shutting out the pale Arctic sunlight and giving to the wooded depths a gloomy and monotonous aspect. A person lost in this forest rarely finds his way out.

-The Belgian Government is about to appoint a commission to inquire into the ravages caused by drink. The licensing system, it is declared, has proved utterly inefficient, the suppression of 88,000 public-houses having resulted in the creation of an equal number of clandestine establishments, and an increased consumption of alcohol.

-The Polyglot Petition for the suppression of the trade in intoxicants, which now contains seven and a half million of signatures, will be presented to the British Government in June, in connection with the meeting of the World's Women's Temperance Union. The signatures have been mounted on a strip of canvas over a mile in length.

-The Queen of Madagascar recently attended a native gathering of 100,000 people at which it was resolved to fight to the death in the war which the French are thrusting upon them. The Queen announced that, though a woman, she would herself lead her troops against the enemy, and would rather perish than survive the ruin and slavery of her people.

-Ashantee envoys are on their way to England to protest against a British protectorate being establishes over their country. They desire to state their grievance to the Queen, but are not likely to be successful, as the British authorities do not admit the so-called king of Ashantee's claim to that title, and Her Majesty, it is pointed out, could not receive a mission from a ruler who, there is good reason to believe, countenances the practice of human sacrifices.

-Some idea of the terrible work being done by the liquor traffic in Africa can be obtained from a statement recently made in the House of Commons by Mr. Buxton, the Under-Secretary for the Colonies. He said that according to the latest returns the spirits annually imported into the Oil River Protectorate were 1,855,000 gallons; into Lagos, 1,680,000 gallons; the Gold Coast, 1,450,000 gallons; Sierra Leone, 695,000 gallons; and the Gambia, 47,000 gallons. This is making slaves of the poor Africans much faster than the united efforts of the Powers engaged in suppressing African slavery, are liberating them.

-The powers of Europe have decided to place a curbing hand upon Japan. A joint protest has been made by Russia, France, and Germany against the terms of peace exacted from China, and in addition, the Russian Government has sent a note to the Japanese Government stating certain treaty conditions which Russia cannot allow to be put into execution, the chief of these being the cession by China of Port Arthur. Japan has replied saying that to give up Port Arthur would be to precipitate a revolution at home, as the Japanese are intoxicated with victory, and would never acquiesce in the surrender. An ultimatum from Russia is anticipated.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

"Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." Ps. lxxxvi. 4, 5.

"Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee." Ps. xxxiii. 22. How much may we hope in the Lord?-There is no limit; it is left for us to hope as much as we please; and however much we hope, we have the Divine assurance that mercy will fulfil the hope. "Hope maketh not ashamed."

In his recent letter to the English people, the Pope complements them on "the strict public observance of Sunday." He also appends a prayer to the Virgin Mary, for the conversion of England to himself, and promises an indulgence of three hundred days to all who "piously recite" it, no matter to what nation they belong.

It is reported, as an item of missionary progress, that the only thing that stands in the way of the king of Uganda's accepting Christianity, and joining the Church, is his unwillingness to give up his favourite sins. There are many millions of people, both in pagan and so-called Christian lands, who stand in the same position.

When Israel had fallen into gross idolatry, the Lord said to Moses, "Let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them." Ex. xxxii. 10. But Moses would not let the Lord alone, and therefore He could not consume them; for God cannot ignore the prayers of His people. Therefore "ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest." Isa. lxii. 6, 7.

Jesus said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Matt. xv. 24. Again; "The Son of man is come to save that which was lost." Matthew xviii. 11. Further, we read, "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 iii. 16. Although He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, He was sent to save the lost in all the world. How can this be? It is very simple, since "the household of God" is "the commonwealth of Israel," and "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greeks; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him." Rom. x. 12.

The medical profession is being forced by the prevalence of trashy literature to take novel-reading into account as one of the causes of nervous diseases. The Hospital recently alluded to facts "observable in every part of the civilised world," proving that a "diet of novel-reading is extremely debilitating." The physical effects are not the most lamentable. The mind that is filled with fiction is poorly equipped for giving attention to serious life and Christian experience.

A struggle is impending in Manitoba, Canada, between Protestants and Catholics over the question of religious teaching in the public schools. The Protestants see that the only way to get rid of Catholicism in the schools is to do away with all religious instruction, and this is the ground they are expected to take in the contest. When "Protestants" see they cannot successfully compete with Rome on her own ground, they abandon it and begin to talk about the just principle of the separation of Church and State; but the inconsistency has then so weakened their cause that the chance of success is very slight.

The Bible speaks of some who are "partial in the law," and we find many in these days who strangely discriminate between the commandments, always to the disadvantage of the fourth. For instance they say, "We do not get salvation by the works of law," and this is thought to be sufficient reason for not keeping the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord. Yet they would never think that it is a reason for taking the name of the Lord in vain, or for killing. We are not saved because we do not swear, but that gives us no license to swear. We shall not be saved because we keep the sixth commandment; yet everybody will admit that it would be a very dangerous experiment to enter upon a career of murder with the expectation of being saved. So we do not expect to be saved because of keeping the Sabbath of the Lord; but that does not mean that we should be saved if we break it. We are saved by faith; but faith "worketh by love," and "this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments."

Daniel and his three companions were only a few of the captive Israelites who were taken into Nebuchadnezzar's palace to be his counsellers, yet these four are the only ones who were afterward noted for wisdom. Why was this?-Because they had a fixed purpose to serve the Lord under all circumstances. Wisdom necessarily follows from such a purpose. "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job xxviii. 28. "A good understanding have all they that do His commandments." Ps. cxi. 10.

"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Ps. xxxiv. 4. The same psalm gives assurance of deliverance from all our troubles, but this verse goes even further, and assures us of salvation from all things that we are afraid of. There is no evil, either near or distant, either real or imaginary, that the Lord does not save those from who trust in Him. "Behold my God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid." Isa. xii. 2.

Last week our publishers shipped over three tons of books to Melbourne, Australia. This week another shipment of two tons goes to the Australian colonies, the greater portion of this last order being called for in West Australia.

A new pamphlet has just been published, being a study of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. It is entitled, "His Glorious Appearing," and is profusely illustrated. An advertisement of the work will be found on the preceding page.

What the Catholic Church thinks of the Reformation, may be learned from the Catholic Times, which speaks of "the rascality of the so-call Reformation." The foundation of the Reformation was the study of the Bible and justification by faith; and yet the Catholic Church stands unqualifiedly opposed to it.

May 9, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." 2 Thess. ii. 13.

What is truth? That is the question that Pilate asked Jesus. Unfortunately, like too many others, he did not wait to receive an answer. But we may hear the answer in Christ's prayer for His disciples: "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth." John xvii. 17.

But Christ Himself is the Word, and He is "the way, the truth, and the life." John xiv. 6. He is made unto was "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption." 1 Cor. i. 30. So being sanctified through the truth is being sanctified through Christ, as He again says of His disciples: "I sanctify Myself, that they also might be truly sanctified." John xvii. 19, margin.

Christ is the Word; He is the truth; and He sanctifies all who believe Him. The Bible is also the Word of God, because the Spirit of Christ was in the men who wrote, testifying through them, and because the Scriptures testify of Christ. It is the truth, and it sanctifies, because Christ is in the Word, and believers find Him there. When Moses by the Spirit said that the Word is not far off, that we should need some one to go to heaven and bring it down, or to the deep and bring it up, that we might do it, he meant Christ, as we learn from Rom. x. 6, 7. Christ cannot be separated from the Inspired Word.

With these facts in mind, we may form a more correct idea of what it is to believe the truth and to be sanctified by it. It is a very common thing for people to get the idea that "the truth" consists in certain facts or points of doctrine, which have been set forth in the creeds and formulas of "the church." Accordingly some men will hold to one set of ideas as "the truth," and others to still different ones, just as they may regard one or another denomination as "the church."

The ancient Jews "limited the Holy One of Israel;" and that is just what is done by those who hold such narrow views of "the truth." The truth does not consist in a few points of doctrine, nor in anything that can be formulated by man, but in "all the fulness of God," which is in Christ. It consists in "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," for all Scripture is profitable, and there is enough of it to make men perfect, "thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

Only those will be lost who "received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thess. ii. 10. Truth itself must be loved and received. It is not our ideas of truth that will save us, but the truth as it is in Jesus. Not our thoughts but God's thoughts are the truth. We have no business to think anything different from what God's Word says. It is to direct our thoughts. And since Christ cannot be divided, and partly believed and partly rejected, but must be accepted as a whole, so we must not expect to find sanctification in accepting some things that are true, and rejecting others. He who is satisfied with anything less than the whole truth, will at last find himself with no truth at all.

"Our Inheritance" The Present Truth 11, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

The language of the Bible is that which the Holy Spirit puts into the mouths of men. Wherever we find an expression of hope and confidence in God, or the acknowledgment of any gifts from God, no matter by whom it is written, it is an inspired statement of what it is the privilege of every man to say. It is with this fact in mind that we should read the Scriptures. With it before us, let us read Ps. xvi. 5, 6:-

"The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."

Think of those words, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance." Truly, that is "a goodly heritage." Do you realise what it means? Surely it means nothing less than what the words say: that God Himself is our inheritance. "My heart and my flesh faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Ps. lxxiii. 26.

Our Saviour has taught us to call God "Our Father." Of course no one will do this unless he believes the Lord; but it is the privilege of every one who believes the Lord to call God his Father, and to know that he is a son of God. Christ "came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John i. 11, 12.

In place of the word "power," in this text, we have the marginal rendering, "

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right or privilege." Those who believe on the name of Christ have the privilege to become the sons of God. It is not simply the right to be called the sons, but the power actually to become sons. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." Rom. viii. 14-17.

As stated above, we have not simply the privilege to be called the sons of God, but the right and power actually to be sons. The words "Father" and "son," applied to God and us, are not simply empty terms, but expressions of actual fact. The relationship between believers in God is as real as that between children and earthly parents. Let us read a few texts on this point.

"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." 1 John v. 1. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." 1 Peter i. 23.

Again we are told that the Divine power of Jesus our Lord has "given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature." 2 Peter i. 3, 4.

We are "by nature the children of wrath" (Eph. ii. 3), because as children of Adam we are partakers of fallen human nature. Every one may truly say, with the Apostle Paul, "For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. vii. 18), and with David, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Ps. li. 5. "By one man sin entered into the world and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. v. 12.

We find ourselves in this world with impulses to sin, which we are not able to resist. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Gal. v. 17. "For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin." Rom. vii. 14. To many it seems unjust that God should hold men accountable for their deeds, and should threaten punishment to the ungodly, since we are not responsible for being brought into the world, nor for the sin and weakness which we inherited from our ancestors. But such do not take into account the better inheritance which we have through the grace of God.

The Word of God brings to us exceeding great and precious promises. Faith in that Word effects a new birth for us, and we thus become sons of God, and partakers of the Divine nature. That is, just as by our natural birth we inherit the weakness and sin of human nature, so by our spiritual birth through the promises of God we inherit the righteousness and strength of the Divine nature. God is our Father indeed, and the new birth is a reality, and not a figure of speech. As by nature we inherit the tendencies and characteristics of our earthly parents, even so by grace we inherit the ways and nature of our heavenly Father. Is not that indeed "a goodly heritage"?

Think of the expression, "heirs of God." That is, as the Psalmist said, the Lord is our inheritance. Not merely do we inherit His property, but we inherit Himself. He Himself is our portion. We receive God Himself. We draw our life from Him, and through faith partake of His Divine nature. God Himself is our portion and our inheritance, and that includes everything that is worth having here or hereafter.

See how plainly this blessed truth is stated in the Scriptures. We know that we are born sinful, and have often felt discouraged because of it, and sometimes even inclined to reproach God for it; but let us instead thank God and take courage as we read: "As by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous." Rom. v. 18, 19.

And again: "As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness." Rom. vi. 19. That is to say, when we yield to God, His power works in us in just the same way that the power of sin worked in us by nature, only to a greater degree, "for if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ." Rom. v. 17.

God does "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." His plan is to give us "an abundant entrance" into the kingdom. He does nothing by halves. As God is more powerful than Satan, so His righteousness is more powerful than sin, and so when we yield to Him the power that works good in us is stronger than the power that formerly worked evil in us. Surely we have no reason to waste time mourning over inherited tendencies to evil.

And God is no respecter of persons. Jesus Christ tasted death for every man. The grace of God brings this salvation to all men. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Christ is "the true Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John i. 9. He has not left a soul without excuse, because His grace is manifested in every soul. Although there is "no good thing" in the flesh, there is no man who is totally depraved, because the Spirit of God works in every heart. Generous and noble traits are seen in even the worst characters,-evidences of what God is anxious to do in them all the time if they will only let Him.

The inheritance of righteousness is ours while we say further with the Psalmist, "I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved." Ps. xvi. 8. We are made partakers of the Divine nature, and changed into the Divine image, only while we steadfastly behold the glory of God; and this glory we find in His Word.

"A glory in the Word we find
When grace restores our sight."

Jesus Christ is "the only begotten Son of God." But in Him "we have obtained an inheritance." Eph. i. 11. The Father hath bestowed the wonderful love upon us, "that we should be called the sons of God," just the same as Christ Himself, so that we are "joint-heirs with Jesus Christ."

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We may be in this world even as He is (1 John iv. 17), and we may know that God loves us even as He loves Christ.

Finally, we have our assurance made doubly sure when we remember that the language of the sixteenth psalm applies to Christ. We know this from the last verses, which are quoted and commented on in Acts ii. 25-31. It is the language of Christ Himself, put by the Holy Spirit into the mouth of David. And so it is also the language of David, and if of David, then of every other man who has a mind to make it his own. In this we see that although Christ is the only begotten Son of God, before all things, and the Creator of all things, yet He identifies Himself with us, and us with Him. "As He is, so are we in this world." He became man, being "in all things made like unto His brethren," so that by the grace of God we have all the advantages that He has. Everything that Christ as the Son of God inherits from the Father, is ours in like measure, if we but receive Him by faith. "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Eph. iv. 7. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift."

"The Life More Than Meat" The Present Truth 11, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

The Gospel is God's good message to save men from sin. It is good tidings to the poor because it teaches them of the inheritance "reserved in heaven" for them, and brings to them the foretaste of the inheritance in a mind at peace with God, and contentment with such things as they may have in this world. Whether abounding or suffering need, there is still the joy of salvation from sin. The modern tendency to make the Gospel consist of a mere scheme for getting more of the things of this world is only Satan's device to rob men of the joy that the true Gospel has for all, rich or poor, free or bond. Against this tendency the Chairman of the Baptist Union entered a protest in his annual address. He said:-

There is a widespread conviction or sentiment that nothing more is needed for the redemption of society than a rearrangement of social conditions; salvation will be wrought by science and sanitation; the heart will be cleansed by an external application; lusts and envies, and hatreds, will cease when the body's cravings are satisfied.

On the top of these vain dreams there comes the clamour for a social gospel, though what that phrase means it is not always easy to define. The preacher is to put into the background the eternal truths that he may cater for temporal wants. He is "to forsake the Word of God and serve table;" he is to forget the soul's hunger in speaking for the necessities of the body. He is to resign the prophet's functions for the more popular arts of the demagogue. We are told even that if Christ were to come again He would come as a social reformer, as the champion of the labour party; to multiply loaves and double wages.

And our answer to all this is that, if Christ were to come again, He would come as He came before, to deliver men from the bondage of the devil and to save people from their sins, whether poor people or rich people. He would compassionate now, as He did then, the sufferings, hunger, ignorance, and wants of the toiling, groaning multitude. He would appeal to those who love Him to busy themselves in relieving every kind of human need. But His great work would still be to convince the world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment to come, to prove to men that the main cause of their misery is not in things external, but in their enmity to God and the evil of their own hearts, and to lift them up by faith, repentance, and regeneration to a new and happier life. And we cannot and dare not preach any other gospel. Our work is moral and not political. Our weapons are spiritual, not carnal.

"The Sure Word. The 'Beast'" The Present Truth 11, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

The "beast" against which the solemn, world-wide warning is given, as described in Rev. xiv. 9-11, is not first mentioned in connection with this message of the "third angel." The prophet here speaks in reference to what has been introduced and described in the preceding chapters; the character and work of the "beast" are already before the eye when the message of the "third angel" is proclaimed.

Turning therefore to the thirteenth chapter, we find a description, beginning with the first verse, of the rise of the "beast," and the characteristics of its appearance. "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." The work and character of this beast are set forth in the verses which follow, to verse 11.

In prophetic language, a beast is the symbol of an earthly government or power. This we are plainly told in the prophecy of Daniel. In the seventh chapter of that prophecy Daniel describes a vision given him, in which he saw "four great beasts," concerning which the angel who explained the vision to him said, "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings that shall arise out of the earth." Verse 17. That they were not symbols of individuals but of kingdoms is evident from the words of the angel, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth." Verse 23.

In the eighth chapter of Daniel also are described a "ram" and "he goat," of which it is said, "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia, and the rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king." Verses 20, 21. "That being broken," the angel said, "whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power."

The beast which John saw arise out of the sea had many and diverse features. It had the body of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. If we are familiar with the prophecy of Daniel we shall note at once a connection between this description and that of certain beasts seen in a vision by that prophet. See Daniel vii. The prophet saw "four great beasts" come up out of the sea, the first of which was like a lion, the second like a bear, the third like a leopard, and the fourth "dreadful and terrible" and evidently quite dissimilar to all created beasts.

As previously noted, the angel explained to Daniel that these great beasts were four kings, which should arise out of the earth; and that the fourth beast should be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which was to be "diverse from all kingdoms" and should "devour the whole earth," and "tread it down and break it in pieces." Verses 17, 23.

In the second chapter of Daniel the four kingdoms are quite explicitly designated in Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Nebuchadnezzar (representing his kingdom was the head of gold of the great image (verse 38), and "after these," said the prophet, "shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth." The fourth kingdom, represented by the iron legs, should "be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things," said Daniel "shall it break in pieces and bruise." The description of the vision of chapter vii. states that the fourth beast had "great iron teeth," and that "it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it." Verse 7.

These four great kingdoms, then began with the kingdom of Babylon which was ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. That kingdom was succeeded by the kingdom of Media and Persia. Daniel lived to see Babylon captured and the kingdom taken by "Darius the Median" (chap. v. 30, 31), and the beginning of "the reign of Cyrus the Persian" (chap. vi. 28). Medo-Persia was succeeded by Grecia, with Alexander the Great at its head, and Grecia was succeeded by Rome. The overthrow of Medo-Persia by Grecia is described in the vision of chapter viii. as we have previously noticed.

When Babylon was overthrown by Medo-Persia, "Darius the Median took the kingdom." The kingdom of Medo-Persia ruled over all the territory of the kingdom of Babylon, and included all the people formerly subjects of it. The kingdom of Grecia, in turn extended over all the kingdom of Medo-Persia; and Rome embraced in her kingdom all the territory of the kingdom of Grecia. Each successive kingdom incorporated into itself all that had existed before it. Thus Rome, the fourth kingdom, and the strongest of all, included the three kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Grecia, symbolised respectively by the lion, the bear, and the leopard. This points very clearly to the identity of the beast of Revelation xiii. 1-13. It is a symbol of the great empire of Rome, which, first as a pagan kingdom under the C?sars, and again as a great spiritual empire-the Papal -

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has trodden down the earth, and broken the nations in pieces.

Some further points of similarity may be noted. In the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the fourth kingdom was shown divided into ten kingdoms (Dan. ii. 41-44), and the fourth beast of Daniel vii., which was the fourth kingdom, had ten horns, and upon the horns ten crowns. Rev. xiii. 1.

It has also an additional feature in its "seven heads." The head is that which governs or directs the body. Rome has had various forms of government since it became a power in the earth. One of these heads was seen by the prophet to be "wounded to death," which wound, as we learned from verse 14, was inflicted by the sword. Such a wound was given to the papal head, beginning in 1798, when the French general Berthier entered Rome with an army and took the Pope prisoner. From that time the power of the Papacy diminished until in 1870 the Pope's temporal power was limited to the Vatican, and his influence among the nations was utterly gone. But the "deadly wound" was to be healed, and this we now see in a fair way of accomplishment. The growing prominence of the Pope in the political affairs of the world, within the last few years, is marvellous, and Protestants seem to be vying with Catholics and showing respect to him. At the present rate it cannot be long until all the world will wonder after the beast, saying, "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?"

This beast received "his power and his seat, and great authority" from the "dragon." The preceding chapter describes this "dragon," and identifies it as the power which sought to destroy the infant Son of God. Verse 4. That attempt was made by Herod, the Roman governor of Judea. But Herod, and the pagan empire which he served, were agencies of Satan, through which he manifested his hatred and his power against Christ and His followers. The "dragon," representing primarily the devil (verse 9) also stands for that which then visibly represented the devil's power in his opposition to Christ, and through which his evil purposes were carried out. That was pagan Rome; and this power gave to the "beast" his "power, and his seat, and great authority." This is exactly what was done for the Papacy when, by the removal of the pagan seat of the empire to Constantinople, Rome, the "eternal city," with all the prestige and authority which were hers from having been for centuries the "mistress of the world," became the seat of the Papacy.

But this beast is still further identified by his character and the work which he does. "There was given him," we read, "a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." Verses 5-7.

The power which, above all others, has spoken blasphemies and overcome the saints is the papal power. It is the "man of sin" "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. ii. 4. The Pope claims titles and prerogatives which belong alone to God. Leo X. was "the Lion of the pride of Judah;" Leo XII., "the Lord our God." Martin V. called himself "the most holy and most happy, who is the arbiter of heaven and the lord of the earth, . . the anointed of the Lord, the master of the universe, the father of the kings, the Light of the world." One of the latest encyclicals of Leo XIII. is addressed "To the Princes and Peoples of the Universe;" and in it he says, "We hold the regency of God on earth;" that is to say, he governs in God's minority, absence,

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or disability! for that is the office of the regent. He assumes to be infallible when he speaks "from the chair of blessed Peter" touching a doctrine of faith or morals. He claims the power to forgive sin. In brief, he sets himself forth as God on earth, a visible head to the Church, supplanting the invisible One who is the church's real head, and who has said to His church, "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world."

The Papacy has made "war with the saints" and "overcome them." During the long dark period when it wielded temporal as well as spiritual power, it put to death scores of millions of "heretics," employing in its terrible work the civil arm, and that instrument of its own creation, the Inquisition. The modern claim of Rome, that she has never persecuted, since it was the civil authority which passed and executed sentence of death upon the "heretics," is as baseless as the claim made by the Jews that their ancestors did not persecute Jesus Christ, since He was put to death by the power of pagan Rome in the person of Pontius Pilate.

This blasphemous and persecuting power was to continue "forty and two months," three and one half years, or 1260 days (thirty days making a month by the ancient Bible reckoning). In prophetic language a "day" signifies a year. Eze. iv. 6. The establishment of the Papacy as a kingdom possessing what it has ever claimed as its right-spiritual authority and temporal power-dates from the overthrow of the last of the temporal powers that opposed the claims of the Bishop of Rome, which was accomplished in A.D. 538. Previous to this the Emperor Justinian had declared the Bishop of Rome to be head over all the churches. But two Arian powers, the Vandals and Ostrogoths, still opposed the claims of the Papacy. A third Arian power, the Heruli, had been overthrown in A.D. 493. Justinian turned his arms against the two remaining powers, subduing the Vandals in 538, and the Goths, who held possession of Rome, in 538.

Thus was "taken out of the way" that which "hindered," and "that wicked," the "man of sin," was "revealed," and left in undisputed supremacy at Rome, where, ever since the removal of the seat of the empire to the East by Constantine, he had been centring upon himself, as its chief person, the glory and prestige which still clung to the "eternal city."

From this date 1260 years reaches to the year 1798; at that date the "forty and two months" end. And in that year, as we have noticed, the French general Berthier entered Rome with an army, took the Pope prisoner, and carried him into exile, where he died. From that day the temporal power of the Pope has waned, until, as he now complains, he is but "the prisoner of the Vatican."

Such are the fulfilments of history which identify the power designated by the remarkable symbol introduced in the thirteenth of Revelation. It is seen first to be a symbol of Rome; and then, by its character and work, to designate Rome in its Papal form,-that great spiritual kingdom which was to rule over men with greater power and authority than pagan Rome had known. And this is the power-the "beast"-after which the world wonders, and against which the warning is given, "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

"The Leper's Friend" The Present Truth 11, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

A writer who describes a visit to one of the leper hospitals of Jamaica, in the West Indies, draws from it an encouraging lesson; for the Lord treats the leprosy of sin as the leprosy of the flesh:-

A more pitiful, loathsome sight we never beheld. There were patients with fingers gone, some with portions of their feet missing, and others with faces one mass of revolting decay. One boy was treating his own decaying foot with a cleansing wash and then applying a balsam. We knew then and now, as never before, what the leprosy of the Bible means. Instinctively we turned away from disease and affliction which it was not within our power to relieve. In Jamaica the leper is free to go whither he will.

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He can remain at this hospital and be made comfortable as long as he chooses so to do, but if he desires to return to home and friends there is no constraint put upon him. The impressions made upon us by our visit to this colony of lepers are imperishable. We find our thought returning to the subject again and again, and particularly as Illustrative of the outgoing love and tender compassion of the Saviour of men for the leper. The Jew proscribed the leper, and the only attention shown him was the eagerness with which he was shunned. It was a violation of the Jewish law for a Hebrew to touch a leper.

"'Room for the leper, room!' And as he came
The cry passed on: 'Room for the leper, room!'
'Room for the leper!' And aside they stood-
Matron and child, and pitiless manhood, all
Who met him on his way-and let him pass.
And onward through the open gate he came,
A leper with the ashes on his brow,
Sackcloth about his loins, and on his lip
A covering, stepping painfully and slow,
And with a difficult utterance, like one
Whose heart is with an iron nerve put down,
Crying, 'Unclean! Unclean!'"

But there was one heart so large that it could not be hedged in, in its ministry, by any ecclesiastical tenet or conventional custom. There was one hand so pure that it could not contract defilement. And so Jesus approached the sufferer, put His own tender hand upon that leprous flesh, and with the calmness of the conqueror, but with the might of God, said, "Be thou clean!" and his leprosy left him for ever.

"A Continuous Miracle" The Present Truth 11, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

Many there are who say that if they could only see a miracle wrought, they would believe; and yet they are surrounded on every side by the miraculous working of God's power-as wondrously exhibited in sustaining as in creating-"so that they are without excuse." The poet Longfellow has truly and beautifully said:-

"Ah, how wonderful is the advent of spring-the great annual miracle of the blossoming of Aaron's rod, repeated on myriads and myriads of branches!-the gentle progression and growth of herbs, flowers, trees-gentle and yet irrepressible-which no force can stay, no violence restrain, like love, that wins its way and cannot be withstood by any human power, because itself is a Divine power. If spring came but once in a century, instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake, and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change! But now the silent succession suggests nothing but a necessity. To most men, only the cessation of the miracle would be miraculous, and the perpetual exercise of God's power seems less wonderful than its withdrawal would be."

The human eye cannot see life nor the machinery of its operations, but the "invisible things" of God, the workings of His life, "are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal Godhead." And God's power is thus manifested to all in the world in order that men may believe that it is His life at work, and believing, find salvation. For the power that causes the roots to grow, and the flower to unfold, is the same that gives us breath and life; and when it is allowed to work in us as fully as in the flowers and all unresisting creation, it will clothe the character with the "beauty of holiness," as surely as it clothes the flowers with a glory surpassing Solomon's.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

-There is a serious outbreak of cholera at Mecca.

-A Munich doctor claims to have found a remedy for cancer, in the blood serum of sheep.

-A new photograph of the heavens which is being prepared by London, Berlin, and Parisian astronomers shows 68,000,000 stars.

-War is threatened upon the British settlements on Lake Nyassa by the chief Zarifa. He has moved to the lake with a large number of armed followers.

-Venezuela is said to be getting ready for an expected war with England, which, should it come, will probably be a repetition of what has transpired between England and Nicaragua.

-The highest point over attained by man above the earth was reached on the 4th of last December, by Dr. Berson, a Gorman balloonist, who ascended in a little over two hours to a height of pearly six miles.

-The son of the Amer of Afghanistan is on his way to England, with a retinue of ninety servants and followers, which will probably make the prince's visit more expensive than pleasurable to Her Majesty's Government.

-Recently at Westminster an aged woman was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment for fortune-telling, her rooms having been besieged all day long by crowds of young women anxious to secure her supposed services in that capacity.

-Intense distress is said to prevail in the city of Laibach, Austria, recently visited by several sharp earthquakes. The entail tremors still continue in mild form, and in their state of fear and uncertainty the people seem unable to recover from their helpless condition.

-The Cuban insurrection still goes on in the form of a "guerilla" warfare between the rebellious natives and the troops, which Is attended with a display of much barbarity. The tide of success seems to be toward the government forces.

-The Papal Nuncio at the Austro-Hungarian Court has been recently on a lecturing tour through the country in the interests of papal principles regarding the subject of Church and State. In this he is deemed by the authorities to have exceeded his powers of office, and an explanation has been demanded from the Pope.

-Sher Afzul, the Chitral conspirator, has been captured by the Khan of Dir, and brought into the British camp, together with about 2,000 prisoners, men, women, and children, who were in a half-starved condition. The expedition has added a largo tract of country to the British possessions in Asia.

-Through the bursting of a great dam, April 27, the waters of the Bousey Reservoir rushed down the valley of the Avi?re, in the French Department of the Voeges, with tremendous volume and force. Whole villages were swept away, and considerably more than a hundred persons are known to have been drowned. The estimated value of property destroyed is about ?2,000,000.

-A mining prospector who has lately returned to Prescott, Arizona, from a three months sojourn in one of the most remote and retired portions of the territory, announces that he made it discovery of wonderful prehistoric remains in the region which he visited. Everywhere were traces of human habitations on hill and in valley. In one place is a street three miles long and sixty feet wide, straight, smooth, and lined throughout by ruins.

-The triple alliance of European powers which are protesting against the treaty of peace secured by Japan from China, presents some rather curious and unstable features, showing, as it does, France allied with her old enemy, Germany, and Germany joined with the Muscovite ally of France. Already public opinion in France and Germany is declaring against such a combination against Japan, under the conviction that their countries ate to be made the cat's-paws of Russia. Meanwhile England is said to be negotiating with the United States for a mutual understanding favourable to a friendly attitude toward Japan.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 19.

E. J. Waggoner

The issues of the year 1894 from the British and Foreign Bible Society amounted to 3,837,222 copies of Bibles, Testaments, and portions.

Discussing the Pope's letter to the English people, and its probable results, the Spectator says:-

To almost all of us we hope it will bring a cordial feeling that, after all, the Pope is a good, and a sincere, and a very devout man, and no more the Man of Sin or Antichrist, or the Beast in the Revelation, than he is the direct mouthpiece of our Lord. It will, we think and hope, tend to produce a friendly and cordial relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the various English Protestant Churches.

The determination of the Papacy to secure an extension of its political power is shown again in Hungary, where the Papal Nuncio at Vienna has been carrying on a regular campaign against the Hungarian Government, and has succeeded in precipitating a grave crisis. The Vatican is constantly proclaiming that its kingdom, unlike Christ's, is of this world.

From the Government revenue returns it appears that the use of tobacco increases three times as fast as the population. The use of coffee is diminishing, but that of tea is vastly increasing. While this helps the revenue, it means the deterioration of the people. It would be well if men would heed Goldsmith's warning about the land

"Where wealth accumulates, and men decay."

Some one, speaking of Seventh-day Adventists and their agitation of the Sabbath question, has said: "by all means let them have their Sabbath, and don't let them take ours away from us."

We have no wish to deprive anyone of anything which he wishes to keep. We would not, even if we had the power, make the slightest move towards preventing anybody from keeping Sunday. Our object is simply this: To set before the people the truth in regard to the Sabbath and the Sunday; to show on what foundation each stands,-that the Sabbath rests on the Word of God, while the Sunday-sabbath comes from men alone, having no connection whatever with God and the Bible. Having done that, we leave the case with them, simply saying, Choose ye this day whom ye will serve."

An edition of the Four Gospels in four penny parts has been published by Mr. W. Walters, 84, St. Paul's churchyard, London. Each part is illustrated by original sketches of scenes in the Holy Land, and has a very inviting appearance. This edition of the Gospels will surely be appreciated by those desiring them in parts for distribution. The publisher will send a specimen set on receipt of six-pence in stamps.

The only perfect and absolutely effective law against evil is the law of God. No evil can survive when brought in contact with that, and sooner or later all evil will be brought in contact with it and destroyed; but what we should do is to let all the evil within us be brought in contact with the law now, by being taken away from us through faith in Christ. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ" gives freedom from sin and death. Rom. viii. 2. But if we do not allow God to separate the evil from us now, the law of God will destroy us with it at the last day.

In the life of Christ in the flesh we behold power given unto men. That was what the multitude saw when Christ healed a man sick of the palsy (Matt. ix. 8), and that is what the eye of faith beholds to-day. Christ was God in human flesh; but God in human flesh is not confined to a single manifestation. In Jesus of Nazareth all of humanity was glorified. In His life was shown the power, the grace and glory, attainable by humanity, both then and now, when "the faith in Jesus" has made the temple of the human body a perfect dwelling-place for God.

No one can read the daily papers without remarking the suddenness with which complications spring up among the nations. They arise in out of the way corners of the earth, and the whole surface of political society appears to be in a ferment. The prophet pictures such a condition of affairs in Rev. xi. 18: "And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." These are the events connected with the coming of the Lord.

The following are some of our contemporaries in other countries devoted to the same work in which the PRESENT TRUTH is engaged: Les Signes des Temps (French) and Herold der Wahrheit (German), published in Basel, Switzerland; Tidens Tecken, Stockholm, Sweden; Tidernes Tegn, Norway; Bible Echo, Melbourne, Australia; Signs of the Times, California; Sentinel, New York; Advent Review, Michigan. In the States there are also publish the following journals in foreign languages for the many thousands who still hold to their native tongues: Christlicher Hausfreund (Germany), Evangeliets Sendebud (Danish), Evangeliebode (Dutch), Zion's Vaktare (Swedish).

The Belfast Witness is the organ of Irish Presbyterianism, and therefore our readers in Ireland will be interested in the following admission made in a book review:-

The dropping of the seventh-day Sabbath and the substitution of the Lord's Day was an innovation accomplished by the Church with sufficient reason, but without any scriptural command.

The inconsistency of the assumption that Sunday is properly called the Lord's Day is shown by the further statement that it is true that "there is no New Testament precept to observe the first day." Thus it is acknowledged that the Scriptures, which furnish the man of God "unto all good works," say nothing whatever of keeping Sunday, and therefore this cannot be a good work. Of course it cannot be; for the "innovation" was accomplished by that mystery of iniquity which had already begun its evil work in the apostles' days.

The late Professor Bishoff, of the University of St. Petersburg, says the Echo, left a sad memorial of his greatness. He had opposed the admission of female students into the University on the ground that a woman's brain being much smaller than a man's, it was not fair to put her on equal footing with her superior. When Bishoff's brain was examined, it was found to weigh less than the average woman's.

May 16, 1895

"Making Haste" The Present Truth 11, 20.

E. J. Waggoner

Making Haste.-It is a grand thing sometimes to be in haste. David said, "I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments." And again, "I will run in the way of Thy commandments." This language was inspired by the Holy Spirit, showing that God is pleased to have people go fast when they are in the right way.

Going to Extreme.-The extremity is simply the end. Going to the extreme is simply going as far as one can go. Ordinarily people are not afraid of going to extremes. For instance, when they start to go to a certain place they are not satisfied unless they get fully there; to stop short of the extreme distance is to them a very mean position. So when one starts on the road to heaven, he ought not to be satisfied to come short of God. Therefore he ought not to be afraid of going to extremes in the Word of God, that is, of going to the full length of the Word. It is impossible to err in the way of going too far in the Word. That which is usually called going to extremes in the Word is in reality the turning aside from the Word, which is a different thing altogether.

Faith vs. Fanaticism.-"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Fanaticism comes by not hearing the Word, or by not heeding what is heard. It is impossible for any man to be fanatical so long as he keeps within the limits of God's Word. The fact that one begins with the Word does not insure him against fanaticism, for he may depart from it or substitute his own ideas and feelings for it. David said, "I have stuck unto Thy testimonies." Therein is safety.

"'Let It Be'" The Present Truth 11, 20.

E. J. Waggoner

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." Eph. iv. 31. How many have read these words, and have thought, "Oh, that it might be so!" And how earnestly they have tried to put away that evil speaking, together with "the root of bitterness" whence it springs, and have failed, because "the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." James iii. 8.

The same trouble has been found with the similar exhortation, "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Col. iv. 6. Oh, yes, if we only could; but how often have we resolved that we would not be betrayed into hasty speech, and have almost immediately been covered with shame because of the foolish things that issued from our mouth "before we thought."

Again we read the Divine exhortation, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil. ii. 3, 5. And similar to this is the exhortation, "Let brotherly love continue." Heb. xiii. 1. What a blessed state of mind this must be; and what a heaven there would be on earth, if such a state of things only existed, even among those who profess the name of Christ. Yet how many who have set this blessed ideal before themselves, find themselves wondering how it is to be attained.

It is the man who is "carnal, sold under sin," who is obliged to say, "To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." Rom. vii. 18. God is just and kind. He is not a tyrant, and He does not set tasks before His people without showing them the way to perform them. He not only shows the way, but supplies the power; the trouble is with our reading of His commands and exhortations. Let us read one more and see if that does not begin to suggest a way out of the difficulty.

"Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye faithful." Col. iii. 15. Surely we cannot control the peace of God. We cannot manufacture it, and put it within our hearts. No; only God can supply peace, and this He has already done. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." John xiv. 27. "I will hear what God the Lord will speak; for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints." Ps. lxxxv. 8. The fact that only God can put His peace into the heart, and cause it to rule there, should indicate to us that it is He who is to fulfil those other exhortations in us.

Once more we read, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom." Col. iii. 16. This, together with the text quoted just before, tells us the whole secret. It is by the word of God that these things are to be done. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zech. iv. 6. The word of the Lord, which sets before us these desirable attainments of thought and speech, is the agency by which they are supplied.

What can the word of the Lord do? Read Ps. xxxiii. 6, 9: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath

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of His mouth." "For He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast." "And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." 1 Peter i. 25. The Gospel is the power, and the salvation, to everyone that believeth; and the power of God is seen in creation. Rom. i. 16, 19, 20. Therefore the power by which the commands and exhortations of the Holy Spirit are to be fulfilled in us is the power by which the heavens and the earth were made.

Turn then to the simple story of creation. God said, "Let there be light; and there was light." Gen. i. 3. Again, God said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place; and let the dry land appear; and it was so." Verse 9. Again, God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so." Verse 11. Once more: "God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light on the earth; and it was so." Verses 14, 15. And thus we read throughout the entire story of creation.

The darkness had no power in itself to bring forth light. The waters could not gather themselves together into one place. The earth could not make a mighty exertion, and send forth the trees laden with fruit. Much less could the sun and moon, and stars create themselves. That which was not, could not bring itself into existence. But at the word of God, saying, "Let it be," everything came into being. The words, "Let there be," so and so, carried with them the power of being. The thing required was in the words requiring its production.

Now "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before prepared that we should walk in them." Eph. ii. 10, margin. And "it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His pleasure." Phil. ii. 13. We are to remember that the exhortations that we read at first are not the exhortations of a man, but that they are the words of God to us. The same One in the beginning said, "Let there be light," and "Let the earth bring forth grass," says to us, "Let all bitterness and wrath. . . be put away from you." Just as the first was done, so must the other be accomplished. "For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." Isa. lxi. 11. Therefore when we read the exhortations to let certain evil things be put away from us, and to let certain graces appear, we are not to regard them as commands for us to put them away, but as the agency by which the task is to be accomplished.

God's power to create is as great now as it ever was. He who in the beginning caused the ground to bring forth fruit, and who made a perfect man of the dust of the ground, can take these earthen vessels and make them "to the praise of the glory of His grace." We are to become so familiar with the fact that God is Creator, that when He says, "Let this be done," we shall at once and continually respond, "Amen, even so, let it be done, Lord Jesus;" and thus the new heart will be created, from which will proceed thoughts and words acceptable in His sight.

"Drinking from the Fount of Paganism" The Present Truth 11, 20.

E. J. Waggoner

In the first chapter of Romans the apostle describes the fruits of the Greek philosophy. The same philosophers talk beautifully of art and culture and morals; but their teachings came from no other source than the natural heart of man, and of course only evil could be the fruit. It is not surprising therefore that there should be protests against devoting so much time to the study of the heathen philosophy in theological schools. The following from the Christian is timely:-

Shall we ever depose the Pagan classics? Their language may be beautiful, but why should our youth be compelled to drink in their heathen ideas and influences? Dr. Forsyth, of Cambridge, has raised the question, and we shall be glad if some useful discussion can be started upon it. If the Greeks sharpened their wits without learning a foreign tongue, might not Englishmen do the same? We know a head master of a large public school who thinks they might. If Greeks discussed moral and philosophical questions in the dim light of reason and conscience, why should not Englishmen always discuss them in the clearer light of the Gospel? It is certain we shall have pagan habits and practices so long as we had pagan teaching. Dr. Forsyth says:-

Invaluable as are the ancient classics to a liberal education, it has been to a large extent a misfortune that the classical element has been allowed to preponderate so much in the education of young ministers, in proportion to the New Testament and other great Christian classical fountains. Many ministers of Christianity know a great deal more about the literature of the classics than they do about the New Testament. Our boys in the public schools are taught in the pagan ideas of heroism-they become young Stoics, and not young Christians.

"The New Creation" The Present Truth 11, 20.

E. J. Waggoner

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." At the close of each day's work "God saw that it was good;" and at the close of the sixth day, when everything was finished, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. i. 31. Man himself was perfect, and all was as good as God Himself could make it.

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. ii. 1-3. "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 11.

The Sabbath was the sign of the power of God's word. He had spoken all things into existence; and now He rested in perfect confidence that His word would uphold that which He had created. The Sabbath of the Lord-God's rest-is therefore the mark of a perfect, new creation.

But man, to whom the dominion of the earth had been given, sinned. He sold himself to the enemy of God, and received death as his reward. By his sin the curse came upon the earth, so that God's perfect, new creation was everywhere marred. But God was not defeated; His purposes cannot be thwarted, for He "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." Therefore His love devised means to insure the carrying out of His original plan.

"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 iii. 16. Christ was given to death, that man might receive the eternal life which had been lost through sin.

But the cross of Christ is "the power of God." 1 Cor. i. 18. The Gospel is "the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth." Rom. i. 16. But ever since the creation of this world the eternal power of God has been manifested in the things that He has made. Rom. i. 20. Therefore the cross of Christ-the Gospel-is the same power that is seen in creation. The same power of God, by which man was created in the beginning, is now manifested through the Gospel to re-create him-to bring him back to the perfection which he had at first.

This is shown very clearly in the Scriptures. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature," or, as the Revision has it, "there is a new creation." 2 Cor. v. 17. Of course there cannot be a new creature without there having been a new creation. So again, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them." Eph. ii. 10, margin.

This new creation is signalised by rest. Christ says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. xi. 28. Whoever comes to Him is re-created,-made new,-and then he finds rest-rest in the Word God.

As this new creation is the same as that wrought in the beginning, and by the same means, the word of God, so it has the same mark, namely, the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day. Notice these points:-

1. In Christ there is a new creation. In Him all things are created in heaven and in earth. Col. i. 16.

2. With the new creation in Christ, there comes rest. Even so it was in the beginning.

3. Christ is of God made unto us "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. i. 30. He is the truth, and He sanctifies Himself, that we may be sanctified

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through the truth. John xvii. 19.

4. The Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, on which Christ rested when He had finished the new creation in the beginning, is the sign of sanctification, which comes only through Christ. We read "I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. xx. 12.

So now, as at the first, the Sabbath is the sign of the perfect, new creation. God has not changed, His power has not changed, neither has His sign changed.

But this is not the end. In the beginning God had a perfect earth as the abode of perfect men. So again He will have a perfect abode for the men who are made complete in Christ,-a new earth for His new men. He says, "Behold, I create all things new." And again, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things." Rev. xxi. 5, 7. "We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter iii. 13.

This will be the same new creation that was in the beginning, at the close of the first six days; for it will be "the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Acts iii. 21. And since it is the same new creation, the same thing, namely, the Sabbath, will mark it; for we read God's sure Word to the new men whom He has created in Christ:-

"For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. lxvi. 22, 23.

If we would be part of God's new creation, we must have it in God's own way, and not refuse to allow God to place His own seal of perfection upon it.

"We need no great opportunities to live nobly," said a German writer. "As the tiniest dewdrop reflects the splendour of the whole heavens, so the most trifling word or action may be filled with the truth and love of God."

The side of right is always the side of might.

"The Sure Word. The Worship of the Beast" The Present Truth 11, 20.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week in this line of study we saw how completely the specifications of the prophetic symbols in Revelation xiii. are met by the Papacy, both as regards character and history. Now, what is the worship of the "beast," against which the world is warned by the loud proclamation of the "third angel." Rev. xiv. 9. And what is the "mark" which, received in the forehead or in the hand of man, will condemn them to drink of the wine of the wrath of God?

The idea of worship pertains primarily to God. All worship is supposed to be given to Him. But God, who sees not as man sees, and who reads the secret motives and intents of the heart, knows the difference between real worship and that which is only form. "God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth." John iv. 24. Form and ceremony alone cannot constitute worship of God. There must be spirit-or sincerity-in it, and there must be truth. And truth is a most essential element. Zeal and dogma without truth make up the spiritual composition of bigots. The difference between Saul of Tarsus and Paul the apostle was that Saul did not know the truth, and Paul did. Saul was trying to worship God in his own way; Paul had learned God's way. "Ye shall know the truth," said Jesus, "and the truth shall make you free." There can be no real worship of God without freedom; for "where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty." And again, Jesus said of the Pharisees, "In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Worship which God cannot accept is not worship of Him, but of something else. Men may think they are worshipping God when in reality they are worshipping that which is enmity against Him. Paul said, "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God." 1 Cor. x. 20. The same apostle also speaks of those "whose god is their belly" (Phil. iii. 19), and of the heathen nations who "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." Rom. i. 25. The truth of God cannot be changed into a lie without a perversion of the worship, so that it is no longer the worship of God. And in this matter "no man can serve two masters;" he cannot worship God and something else, for to worship that which is not God is to deny God. There is but one God, and therefore but one power which can be rightfully worshipped. And to acknowledge the authority of any power that is against God, is to put that power above Him. In just this way "the beast and his image" may be put before God, and so worshipped.

In close connection with the message that warns men against "the beast," is a message which calls upon men to worship the true God. The "third angel" is the third of three which the prophet saw flying "in the midst of heaven," having each a message

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to proclaim to the inhabitants of the earth. He says: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Rev. xiv. 6, 7. Immediately "another angel" followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen;" and "the third angel followed them." The worship of the true God and the worship of "the beast" are put in opposition to each other.

THE SIGN OF GOD'S POWER

To worship the true God is to "worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." The true God is the Creator. "All the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens." Ps. xcvi. 5. How may we know that the one whom we worship is the Creator? What marks us as truly worshippers of Him? Obviously, it must be something connected with that which distinguishes Him as the true God. That, as we have seen, is His power to create. Now He has left men a memorial of His creation. In the Scripture narrative we read: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. ii. 1-3.

The memorial of creation is the Sabbath. It is therefore inseparably connected with the worship of the true God. "He hath made His wondrous works to be remembered." Ps. cxi. 4. When we remember God we remember that He is the Creator, the One who "made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." It was that men might not forget Him, that the Sabbath was instituted. When God finished His work He "saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. i. 31. So on the Sabbath day may we cease from our own work and behold the wonderful works of the Lord, that they are very good.

The Creator placed His memorial in the very bosom of His law. The fourth commandment reads, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 8-11.

Had this commandment been kept, men would not have forgotten the true God, the Maker of heaven and earth. They would not have forgotten that His works are very good, and that He is the fountain of goodness. They would not have likened Him to a stern, harsh judge, whose wrath must be appeased by pains and penances. They would not have forgotten that all life and power proceed from Him, and therefore that in Him, and only Him, all His creatures, always and with all confidence, may put their trust.

That the Sabbath is a memorial of the true God, and its observance a sign, or mark, of our proper relation to Him, is plainly stated. "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Ex. xxxi. 13. The thought is repeated in Eze. xx. 12, 20: "And hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God."

By observing the day which has been set apart as God's memorial, to keep it holy, we signify that the one whom we worship and serve is the Creator. By disregarding that memorial we disregard Him who made it, and by wilfully ignoring it we signify that we have no allegiance to Him. And we may, by observing another day in the place of that which He has sanctified, go even further, and declare that we own allegiance to a power which stands opposed to Him.

The first angel's message calls the attention of men to Him that made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of waters, and must therefore call their attention to the Sabbath, which alone designates Him. All who keep God's Sabbath are worshippers of Him; it is a sign between them and Him. None of them can be worshippers of "the beast and his image," and receivers of his "mark." No person can have the sign or mark of the true God, and the mark of the "beast" upon him at the same time. The two things are diametrically opposed to each other. And since the sign of the true God in His relation with His people is the Sabbath, it is upon the point of Sabbath observance that the distinction will be drawn between those who worship Him, and the worshippers of "the beast and his image."

THE MARK OF PAPAL POWER

What then constitutes the "mark" of the "beast," or the mark of Rome in its Papal form? We need not conjecture about this, for Rome herself has told us. Her own claims and assertions, boldly published, make the matter plain. We cite from her doctrinal text-books. The "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine" says (p. 58):-

"Ques.-How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?

"Ans.-By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow all of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church."

Now, however, even these "other feasts" are rapidly receiving the honour of Protestant recognition.

The "Doctrinal Catechism" says (p. 351):-

"Ques.-Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

"Ans.-Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,-could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority."

Rome points to the "act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday" as the sign of her power and authority. And well she might, if she could in reality effect such a change; for the power that can change or abrogate a law, is superior to the power which made the law; and the power that commanded the observance of the seventh day is God Himself. God points to the Sabbath as the sign of His power; the papacy points to "the act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday" as the sign of her power. And as by keeping holy the day which God commanded to be kept we manifest our allegiance to Him who is the Creator, so by observing the day which the Papacy has set apart to be observed in the place of the Sabbath, we do homage, though it may be ignorantly, to the Papacy in the place of God. And when, with the evidence

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clearly before us that the first-day sabbath rests not upon the authority of God but upon that of "the Church," we choose to observe it in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord, we signify that we own allegiance to the Papacy and not to God.

HOW IT CAME ABOUT

And this evidence is now before us; for nowhere in the Word of God is Sunday mentioned as the Sabbath, or as a sacred day, or a day to be religiously observed, while on the other hand the history of the Papacy plainly reveals the steps by which "the Church" substituted the observance of the first day for that of the seventh. Sunday-the day of the sun-was the great festival day of the pagans, the day most honoured in their worship; and as the purity and simplicity of the Christian worship became gradually lost, and the pagans were brought in large numbers into the Church, still retaining for the most part their pagan beliefs and practices, a strong influence was exerted toward giving special honour to that day.

The strong antipathy felt toward the Jews also moved many who had little regard for either Scripture or reason, to wish to observe a different day from that observed by the Jews. But the Papacy-that principle of self-exaltation which had come into the Church and was seeking to manifest itself, which prompted the disciples of Christ to dispute which should be the greatest, and later on prompted many similar disputes until the controversy was finally settled in favour of the Bishop of Rome-the Papacy found in Sunday a stepping-stone in the direction of that spiritual and temporal pre-imminence to which it aspired, and acted accordingly.

In the year 196, Victor, Bishop (or Pope) of Rome, undertook to compel all the churches to celebrate the Passover on Sunday. This was a claim to supremacy. The historian Bower says of it, "This bold attempt we may call the first essay of Papal usurpation." History of the Popes, vol. 1, p. 18. And Dowling terms it, "the earliest instance of Romish assumption." History of Romanism, p. 32. Although unsuccessful at this time, Rome never abandoned the claim, and finally, at the Council of Nice, A.D. 325, she carried her point.

Another very important step in the elevation of Sunday to a position of supposed sanctity, was the edict of Constantine, commanding cessation from secular business on that day. This was issued in 321 A.D., two years before he became even a nominal Christian, and is pagan in all its features. It said:-

Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades, rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for selling corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by Heaven.

Of this edict Mosheim says:-

The first day of the week, which was the ordinary and stated time for the public assemblies of the Christians, was, in consequence of a peculiar law enacted by Constantine, observed with greater solemnity than it had formerly been.-Mosheim, cent. 4, part 2, chap. 4, sec. 5.

Dean Milman says of it:-

This rescript, commanding the celebration of the Christian Sabbath, bears no allusion to its peculiar sanctity as a Christian institution. . . . But the believer in the new Paganism, of which the solar worship was a characteristic, might acquiesce without scruple in the sanctity of the first day of the week. . . . In fact, as we have before observed, the day of the sun would be willingly hallowed by almost all the pagan world.-History of Christianity.

Still the Bible Sabbath-the seventh day-was regarded as the Sabbath, and continued to be generally observed as such for many years. On this point Coleman says:-

During the early ages of the Church, it [Sunday] was never entitled "the Sabbath," this word being confined to the seventh day of the week, the Jewish Sabbath, which, as we have already said, continued to be observed by the converts to Christianity. . . . The observance of the Lord's day was ordered while yet the Sabbath of the Jews was continued; nor was the latter superseded until the former had acquired the same solemnity and importance which belonged at first to that great day which God originally ordained and blessed. . . . But in time, after the Lord's day was fully established, the observance of the Sabbath of the Jews was gradually discontinued, and was finally denounced as heretical.-Ancient Christianity, chap. 26.

It was at the Council of Laodicea A.D. 364, that the line was at length

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sharply drawn in the matter of Sabbath observance. Bishop Hefele gives the decree of this council thus:-

Christians shall not Judaise and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord's day they shall especially honour, and, as being Christians, shall if possible do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaising, they shall be shut out from Christ.-Canon 29.

Such are a few of the testimonies that may be gathered from the ecclesiastical history concerning the supposed change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. The Sabbath has not been changed, for it rests upon the power and authority of God; but the attitude of men toward it has been changed, and the honour and reverence due from them to the seventh day, it transferred to the first day. We have seen in what way, by what power, and at what time, this change was made. And Rome boldly avows the fact, and points to the change as the proof of her authority and power.

THE ISSUE BEFORE THE WORLD

The Reformation called out the Protestant bodies from the communion of Rome, but did not separate them from all her errors, and to this error the Protestant world has largely clung, in spite of the fact, which the simplest can see for themselves and which eminent men among them have acknowledged, that Sunday observance is entirely without foundation in Scripture. Professing to take as their rule of faith the Bible and the Bible alone, they have, by their persistent adherence to Sunday, exposed to their enemies the fatal weakness of inconsistency, and a point of vulnerability in their spiritual armour which invites attack and overthrow.

And now Rome challenges the Protestant world to prove themselves entitled to the confidence of mankind as the possessors of the true principles and practices of the Gospel of Christ. She has taken her stand upon the vantage ground given her by this Protestant adherence to an institution having no support in the Word of God, but resting solely upon the traditions of men and the authority of "the Church." In thus abandoning the Word of God Protestants have abandoned the only weapon that can give victory against Rome,-the "sword of the Spirit." Eph. vi. 17. When an appeal is made by them to Scripture against any dogma or practice of the Papacy, Rome has but to remind them that there is no Scriptural warrant for the observance of Sunday, and they are obliged to yield their ground. Having indorsed Rome's position, consistency demands that they should be one with her; for if Scripture alone is not a sufficient foundation of faith, there is no reason for refusing the traditions and authority of the Roman Church, since they are as good as any that can be had. Certainly it is not strange, under the circumstances, that a constant and widening stream is flowing from Protestant communions into the fold of Rome.

Every day this issue between the sabbath of Rome and the Sabbath of the Lord-between the sign of the authority and power of Rome and the sign of the power of God-is being more clearly brought before the world. God is calling the attention of men to Himself as the Creator and Redeemer, and to His Sabbath, which marks those who keep it as worshippers of Him who alone has creative and redemptive power; while on the other hand the Papacy is striving to draw the world to herself, and to a confession of allegiance to her.

Not only is this issue before the world, but it is being forced upon the attention of men, and they will be forced to a decision respecting it. There are laws upon the statute books in this and other lands requiring the observance of the first day of the week as a day of rest; and while for a long period these have been for the most part a dead letter, of late there have been marked manifestations of returning life. Scores of conscientious Sabbath-keepers in various countries have within the past few years been indicted and fined for refusing to honour the papal Sunday, and a number have suffered imprisonment. In all nations there is a forward movement in the direction of a stricter observance of Sunday.

And this will not stop here; for the message of God is moving on and speaking in louder tones to all nations, and calling men to worship the true God by keeping holy His Sabbath; and day by day the conflict deepens. Ere long all will find themselves in a position compelling them to decide whether they will knowingly choose to acknowledge the power of "the beast," and thus receive his "mark," or embrace that which is the sign of God's power as Creator and Saviour, and thus mark themselves worshippers of Him.

"Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." The day of choice for good or evil comes to all men; but by their own choice the destiny of man is determined. And happy is he who "this day" decides to honour God by keeping His holy day, and esteems the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of this world.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 20.

E. J. Waggoner

-The barking of a dog on earth can, it is said, be distinctly heard by balloonists at an elevation of four miles.

-About 8,000 deaths have been paused by an outbreak of cholera in the Pescadores islands, the epidemic being now, however, near its end.

-One effect of the war in the far East, it is said, will be a serious curtailment of the world's supply of camphor, under restrictive measures recently emoted by the Japanese Government.

-Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, is a very flourishing city, having nearly 2,000,000 inhabitants, with several hundred daily papers and periodicals.

-The Chamber of Agriculture advises the prohibition of the sale of foreign milk in this country, unless it has been sterilised, and until the Board of Agriculture is satisfied that there is no possibility of the spread of disease.

-Gambling at Monte Carlo appears to be declining. The receipts of the gaming-tables for the past year were nineteen million francs, three million less than the previous year's income, and five million less than that of 1892.

-The first blood has been shed in the French war upon Madagascar. A French telegram from Majunga says that in the French assault on Marovoay, on May 2, the Malagasy had 800 killed, including several important chiefs. The French lost one man only.

-The Austrian Emperor has been visiting the region devastated by the recent earthquake, and expressed his sympathy with the ruined people. At Laibach, out of 1,350 houses, only 156 were intact. Of the 30,000 inhabitants 10,000 had deserted the town, and 15,000 were living in temporary barrack dwellings.

-The Cuban insurrection is said to be practically ended, the rebel leaders having abandoned the cause in despair. Meanwhile a revolution has broken out in Ecuador, a novel feature of which was that at one place the Government barracks were stormed by a band of women and the political prisoners were released.

-The Chinese Emperor has written an autograph letter each to the Tsar and to the President of the French Republic, asking their assistance in bearing the expenses of the war with Japan, and promising in return to grant special commercial advantages. The expenditure of 100,000,000 taels is contemplated in the purchase of ships and outfits.

-In one of the Western States of America the compulsory Sunday observance crusade has taken the form of a proposition that home missionaries, except in emergencies, be not allowed to travel on Sundays, and that the societies ought not only to disapprove of the use of Sunday train service by its missionaries, but refuse financial aid to any church for a pastor whose regular appointments involve Sunday travel by train, even for the purpose of preaching the Gospel. Concerning observances which are sanctioned by Scripture, however, these same parties display a "liberality" which amounts to practical indifference.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 20.

E. J. Waggoner

"You cannot rule men's hearts by breaking their heads," said a speaker the other day, protesting against force in matters of religion. There is an old saying teaching the same truth, "One man can lead a horse to water, but twenty cannot make him drink."

When John Bunyan, in the Bedford jail, was thinking out that wonderful allegory, the Pilgrim's Progress, those who fancied that they had silenced the voice of the preaching tinker by shutting him up little thought that when they were forgotten his book would be read in eighty-seven different languages, as it is to-day.

It is only two years since our work began in Finland. The workers have had to labour under difficulties owing to the attitude of the Russian authorities who rule in Finland, but a report just received states that last year there were over ?1,200 worth of publications sold in the principality, and companies of believers are being established in the truth here and there.

Last week our publishing department placed an order for the printing of a ten thousand edition of "The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan." As this is a work of over seven hundred pages it will be seen that this is a large edition; but the sale of the book makes it possible to give large printing and binding orders.

As this book is a study of the controversy between truth and error since the days of the apostles, sketching the apostasy of the early centuries and the progress of the Reformation which must continue until the end, it deals with present-day issues, and we are glad to see it going to the people. It is now being published in five languages, English, German, French, Danish, and Swedish. The companion volume, "Patriarchs and Prophets," by the same writer, Mrs. E. G. White, is being published in the same languages (the French, we believe, not yet completed) and also in the Dutch and Spanish.

The Pope talks beautifully about peace and concord among nations, but probably there has not been a time during this century when the Vatican was not stirring up strife. Its policy has been to prevent any understanding between France and Italy, and now the troubles caused by the Papal representative in Austria are understood in political circles to have been brought about by "the desire of Rome to detach Austro-Hungary from the Triple Alliance, thereby improving the opportunity of the Vatican to re-capture the temporal power in Italy."

It is a much worse misfortune to lose our patience, or good temper, or any of the virtues of a good character in the sight of God, than to lose merely our reputation among men; for all those virtues are of infinite value, and we ourselves can never replace them after they are gone. Yet do we not sometimes lose both patience and good temper over a matter as small as a sixpence? That is the common way with real humanity. Surely there is no worse way of being "penny wise, pound foolish" than this.

At the recent annual meeting of the "Lord's Day Observance Society" the Chairman declared of various societies which organise Sunday lectures, etc., that they "had not the least chance of having their own way in England; the Lord's Day Observance Society did not intend them to have their own way." Now it is undoubtedly a bad thing for men to have their own way. The Lord invites all men to give up their own ways and take His ways. But the trouble with the Sunday-law movement is that it is founded on the rejection of the Lord's way, and, going further, it seeks to compel men to take its own way.

There is such freedom in Christ that the very bondage which is for His sake is more attractive than what men call liberty, without Him. The Apostle Paul tells in his epistle to the Philippians how this was true of his "bonds in Christ" while at Rome, saying that "many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds," were "much more bold to speak the word without fear." Phil. i. 13, 14. From his very bonds they gathered courage to speak more boldly in the path he had taken; for those bonds only made more manifest "the glorious liberty of the children of God," which they have in Christ. Rom. viii. 21; Gal. v. 1. The only bondage that is to be feared is the bondage of sin.

The truth is not an unlovely thing. The Lord lays no duties upon men to make the way hard for them. "His commandments are not grievous." The way of truth is the way of Jesus Christ, the path in which He loved to walk. To receive the "love of the truth" is to receive the love of God, shed abroad in our hearts. With this every yoke becomes easy and every burden light, and every commandment is a promise of life; for only by the life of Jesus can the Word be fulfilled in us. The Christian life is not an irksome, formal obedience for fear of being lost; but a walking in love, which brings joy and peace. However great the cross which the truth brings, it is in the cross that we daily find the life of Jesus. To shun the cross is to refuse to be crucified with Him, and to refuse to live with Him.

The Standard, referring to the remarkable development of the custom of drinking the teas grown in India and Ceylon, which are much stronger in their character than the Chinese teas, formerly popular, observes:-

Whether the undoubted increase in the consumption of tea is the unmixed blessing which the Chancellor of the Exchequer assumed it to be, is open to question. Doctors tell very sad tales about the growing tendency of women to rely upon the stimulant as a substitute for nourishing food. There is intemperance and other things besides the drinking of beer, and the deterioration of nerves from theine and caffeine may, with some reason, be set against the evils of intoxication.

The New York Observer (Presbyterian), in its issue immediately following Easter Sunday, had the following note:-

The observance of Good Friday increases in New York and Brooklyn. In many of the churches there were morning services in harmony with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and also special commemoration services from noon till three o'clock. The music and indeed all of the exercises were of a simple and solid character, in contrast with those on Easter Sunday. The Easter services in the churches of all denominations, in this city and Brooklyn, were last Sunday usually impressive both as to music and floral decorations. It is evident that the observance of Eastertide grows more and more popular.

As the Observer has always been noted for its pronounced Protestantism, the fact that it seems to acquiesce in this adoption of Roman Catholic customs is quite significant.

May 23, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 21.

E. J. Waggoner

There is a right way and a wrong way of thinking, as there is of acting. The Apostle Paul mentioned an instance of the wrong way, when he said to King Arippa, "I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth." Acts xxvi. 9.

He thought this with himself, not with the Lord. If a man were obliged to furnish his own thoughts, he might be excused for taking a very bad course, as did Saul of Tarsus; he would be obliged to do evil, for thoughts are the seeds of actions, and of himself man can produce nothing good; for God is the source of all goodness.

But God has made provision for man by giving him His own thoughts, so that man may think the thoughts of God. "My thoughts are not your thoughts," He says to us; "for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isa. lv. 8, 9. God has spread His thoughts before us in His Word. And if we do not think them, it can only be because we do not regard them as worth thinking.

How great is the condescension of God, in laying before all men a volume of His own thoughts! Having that volume, we are enabled to think with Him. That is the right way of thinking,-the way which leads ever to truth and righteousness. Thinking with Him, we think upon "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report." Phil. iv. 8. What excuse shall we be able to present to God for thinking our own thoughts in preference to His?

"He Upbraideth Not" The Present Truth 11, 21.

E. J. Waggoner

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James i. 5.

In this statement of fact we have both encouragement and instruction-encouragement in approaching God, and instruction as to how we should treat those who are in need. We learn both lessons at once; for when we know how the Lord treats us, we know how we should treat others.

The natural man's first impulse when there is a case of need is to inquire if the one in need is worthy. How often when in trouble we have heard the reproachful and unfeeling remarks, "Well, you brought it all upon yourself; you are suffering no more than you deserve." Often the best comfort our friends give us is, "If you had listened to me, you would have been saved this trouble. I gave you advice and help, and you neglected the advice and wasted the assistance, and now I have nothing more for you; you must get out of your difficulty the best way you can." How many of us have used similar language! Job's friends have many successors.

Not so does God deal with the erring. If any lack wisdom, he giveth liberally, and "upbraideth not." He does not say, "You ought to have known better." No doubt we ought, but that does not help us now. He supplies the need, and leaves His goodness to lead us to repentance, and to preserve us from similar errors in future.

But one will say, "I know that I am to blame for the condition in which I find myself; I have brought all this evil upon myself, and so I have not the face to ask God to do anything more for me." The promise of God was given for just such cases. If we were not to blame, there would be no need for the assurance that he upbraideth not. A just God would certainly not reproach us for what we could not help. The fact that He assures us that He upbraideth not is the encouragement to those who are blameworthy. We are worthy of blame, but reproaches will not supply our need. So it is enough for the Lord that we are now willing to receive wisdom from Him. "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." John iii. 17. With this assurance we draw nigh in confidence.

Here is the same blessed assurance made more emphatic. "Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses." Ps. lvii. 17-19.

We bring ills of all kinds upon ourselves. Our own foolishness has brought both physical and spiritual sickness upon us. We ought to have known better, but we did not. That makes no difference; we may nevertheless draw near, and ask with boldness. God will not upbraid us, and He will surely give to us. The fact that we acknowledge our foolishness gives us a strong claim upon His wisdom. How can any soul be discouraged, or charge God with heartless

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indifference to the needs of His children?

But this is not all. The same psalm has further comfort for us. Go back to the tenth verse and begin to read: "Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High-therefore He brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder."

In the former case we had God's kindness in helping those whose calamity was the result of their own ignorance and folly; in this text we have God's goodness to those who have rebelled against Him, and who have despised His counsel. By their stubborn rebellion against His words, and their contemptuous rejection of His counsel, they have brought darkness and iron bondage upon themselves. They are chained in the dark cell. Yet in spite of their past rebellion, when they cry unto the Lord, He upbraideth not, but saves them out of their distresses, breaking their bonds, and bringing them out of the dark prison into light. "O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"

In the parable of the prodigal son we have this characteristic of God beautifully illustrated. Read the fifteenth of Luke, and note these points. 1. The son had received his full allowance from his father. 2. He went away and squandered his portion in riotous living. 3. When he went back to his father, he had not a penny left, but was in rags, and starving. 4. His father received him back with joy, running to meet him "when he was yet a great way off." 5. Not a word of reproach was uttered. The father's heart yearned for his son, and he was glad to see him coming back; reproaches might have sent him away again in despair. It is only lovingkindness that draws. 6. But this was not all. It was not enough for the father to receive him without reproaches, and allow him henceforth to abide at home portionless. No, the prodigal was received as a son, and restored to the position that he had before he went away. He was a son, and therefore an heir.

Behold in this a picture of God's dealing with wayward souls. He has given us all things. He has supplied us bountifully. Having received His good gifts, instead of glorifying Him with them, we have wasted them. He has received no better, and we have not been the gainers. With time and talents wasted, we cannot now render unto Him the service that we ought to and that we wish we could. What then?-Why, He who redeems us teaches us also to redeem the time; He receives us as sons, makes us heirs of Himself, and supplies all our need, "according to His riches in glory." Phil. iv. 19. Rejoiced that we are even now willing to serve him, He spends no time in reproaches, but renews His gifts to us as freely as though we had never been wayward, rebellious spendingthirfts.

"O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"

"The Experience of Nebuchadnezzar" The Present Truth 11, 21.

E. J. Waggoner

A LESSON FOR PRINCES AND PEOPLE

Never was there a king who had a clear title to his throne than Nebuchadnezzar had. God Himself said: "I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto Me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him." Jer. xxvii. 5, 6.

Yet, like most men, Nebuchadnezzar did not recognise the hand of the Lord in His gifts. He was a heathen. Nevertheless God gave him a dream which forms one of the simplest, most easily understood, and yet most comprehensive prophecies in the Bible. In connection with that dream, God gave Nebuchadnezzar his first lesson.

When all Nebuchadnezzar's magicians and astrologers were unable to tell him his forgotten dream, much less to interpret it, the faithful servant of God, made the whole thing plain. This was Nebuchadnezzar's first lesson of God's power. He was told that the secret was not in Daniel, but that the God of heaven alone could reveal secrets; yet he seems not to have comprehended this. He saw that Daniel was a valuable servant; but he evidently knew little more of God than the name.

THE SECOND LESSON

The record of the third chapter of Daniel shows that although Nebuchadnezzar had been told that the God of heaven had given him a kingdom, and power, and strength, and glory, and although God's servant had revealed to him things to come, he did not yet have any practical knowledge of God. For we find him making a colossal image of gold, and commanding all men to worship it under penalty of death.

What hope for one who would still remain an idolater after having received such wonderful light from heaven? Who would not have left him to destruction? Anyone would, except the merciful God. He reveals Himself to men, and if they are slow to learn, He is very patient with them, longsuffering, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter iii. 9.

There were three of Nebuchadnezzar's officers who would not worship his golden image. They were very respectful, but Nebuchadnezzar considered their steadfast loyalty to God as a defiance to him, forgetting that since he himself was but a pensioner on God's bounty, he owed the same service to God that they did, and that their loyalty to God was the surest possible proof that they were the best subjects he had. So he said, "If ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" Dan. iii. 16.

Clearly, Nebuchadnezzar did not yet know God. He had heard of Him, but it was only as a name. So when the three firmly refused to worship his image, he had been bound and cast into the furnace. And then he learned something of the difference between the God of heaven and the false gods. The furnace was so excessively hot that the idol-worshipping officers could not get near enough to it to throw the three Hebrews in without being themselves burned to death. Yet while the flames consumed those on the outside, it did not injure those who were in the midst of it. The king saw the three fall down bound in the midst of the furnace, and then saw four men loose, and walking about at their ease. The Lord Himself came down to fulfil in person His promise, "When thou

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walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isa. xliii. 2.

At the king's command the three men came out of the furnace, "and the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them." Dan. iii. 27.

"Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." Verses 28, 29.

One excellent trait the king had, namely, that he was ready to acknowledge when he was wrong. He had a mind open to receive instruction. But his decree shows that he had not yet learned to know God. He knew that He was far greater than any gods of the nations, but he did not know Him as He is. If he had, he would never have made such a decree. Let us note a few points suggested by it.

In the first place, it shows that the king did not know the essential difference between the God of heaven and the idols of men. The latter cannot help themselves, and they have no attractiveness, and so men must needs be forced to worship them. But the Lord is a living God, and is altogether lovely, so that He is able to draw worshippers to Himself. He needs nobody with a sword to secure homage to Him. Nebuchadnezzar did not know that the only acceptable service to God is love, and that such service cannot be bought or forced.

In the second place the decree was equal to saying that the king himself ought to have been cut in pieces, because he had spoken against God. Every decree of that nature is a condemnation of God's longsuffering. That law which says that those who do not render certain service to God shall be punished, virtually charges God with laxness. It declares that His longsuffering is altogether wrong. They who issue such decrees thereby invite God's judgment upon themselves. They really say that God ought not to show mercy to anybody.

But Nebuchadnezzar meant well, although he acted ill. He was yet ignorant of God, but his heart was open to instruction; and so God gave him

THE THIRD LESSON

This is narrated in the fourth chapter of Daniel. It is told by Nebuchadnezzar, and the contrast between this proclamation and the other is so marked that it shows that he had at last come to know God.

The story need not be repeated in detail. But we must read the introduction, which runs thus:-

"Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are His signs! and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation." Dan. iv. 1-3.

And then the king, still in the glory of his kingdom, honoured by lords and counsellors, relates the story of his haughty pride, and his abasement by the God of heaven. David said, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray." Job, after he had grievously suffered, said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee." So Nebuchadnezzar learned in adversity the lesson that he did fail to learn in prosperity. When he had learned to know God indeed, he was again established in his kingdom. Then He said:-

"Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment; and those that walk in pride He is able to abase." Dan. iv. 37.

What a contrast with his previous decree! That was a threat of terrible death to all who spoke against God. This is simply personal experience-a public confession of sin and faith in God. It is unique among the State papers issued by kings. Before he knew God, he was ready to force people to worship Him; when he knew God, he was content to worship Him for himself, leaving his example and confession to influence others.

Can anyone be in doubt for a moment as to which one of Nebuchadnezzar's decrees had the most effect in inducing people to serve God? Men cannot be forced to serve God, for His service is love and love cannot be forced. But love wins. Christ says, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me." John xii. 32. "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jer. xxxi. 3. Tell of the goodness of God, and souls will be drawn to Him. When the song of praise unto our God is heard, many will trust in the Lord.

The lesson for kings and rulers is that God has called them to their exalted position for a purpose. That purpose is that they may glorify Him, and make His name widely known, but not by decrees designed to compel other people to worship Him. They are to glorify Him by their personal obedience, and by their own personal confession of His goodness. In short, they are to serve Him as preachers of righteousness. King Solomon had no higher title than that of "The Preacher." Who could preach the Gospel so effectively as a devoted King, who when he speaks can reach the ears of millions, where an ordinary preacher could reach only a few hundreds? But the preacher on the throne is no more called of God to try to force others to be godly than is the humble preacher who sits on a shoemaker's bench.

There are "not many mighty, not many noble" in the ranks of the disciples; yet there will be some, for the promise is that when the church arises and shines in the light of God, kings shall come to the brightness of its rising. Some will heed the message which God speaks to kings as to men with great opportunities for doing good, but yet as only men,-

"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Kiss the Son."

"The Sure Word. An Image to the Papacy" The Present Truth 11, 21.

E. J. Waggoner

Beginning with the eleventh verse of Revelation xiii., we have in the remaining part of the chapter a description of the nature and work of "another beast" which the prophet saw "coming up out of the earth," and existing contemporaneously with the "first beast." This beast "had two horns like a lamb," but "he spake as a dragon." Of his work we read, "He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Verses 12-14.

An image is a likeness of the thing to which it is made. An image to or "of" the "beast" (Verse 15), which we have seen represents Rome in its papal form, will be a likeness of the Papacy.

What constitutes the Papacy? The essence of any organisation of man consists in the principles upon which it is based. The papal officials, the body of its adherents, its seat of government, its institutions, and the means employed to do its work, have all been changing and transitory, but the Papacy itself has stood unchanged through the centuries, because its principles have remained the same.

That which led to the rise of the Papacy was the exaltation of man in the place of God. The "Bishop" of Rome was made "head over all the churches," which office he continued to hold in doctrine and in appearance for centuries, and claims to hold to-day. But the true Head of the church is Christ. Eph. v. 23; Col. i. 18. The Apostle Paul, in speaking of the Papacy (2 Thess. ii. 3, 4) says, "that man of sin," the "son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

In claiming to be the church's visible head, the Pope denies the invisible One who is its true Head; and in claiming to be the Vicar of Christ, he denies Him who said to His followers, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. xxviii. 20. In claiming the power to change the Sabbath and to exercise spiritual authority over men, the Papacy has likewise exalted man to the place of God.

Connected with this fundamental principle of the exaltation of the human to the place of God, and lending to it the aid of the civil authority, was the principle of the union of Church and State. The Bishop of Rome claims the right to be the adviser of kings in the realm of secular affairs, as well as the director of mankind in spiritual things. He claimed the right to command the secular arm for the

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support of papal dogmas and the punishment of "heretics." In brief, the Papacy is an apostate spiritual power in which man occupies the place of God, dominating the State for the purpose of governing the consciences of men; and the living image of the Papacy will be like it. It will be a power speaking contrary to the Word of God, and using the civil arm to enforce its decrees upon the conscience.

Of the work of the beast with two horns we read further that "he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Verses 15-17. The image first formed from the principle of the Papacy, and then is given life by the power of the two-horned beast, which causes those principles to be put into practical effect.

The image is made by "them that dwell on the earth." As it is not the Papacy itself, though like unto it, it must be formed by those not reckoned as papal adherents; in other words, among those counted as Protestants. That the principles of the Papacy largely prevail among those so counted is an evident fact to-day. The tendency Romeward among them, both in doctrine and practice, is too plain to be denied. There are "Protestant" popes as well as the Catholic ones,-men who put themselves in the place of God by making themselves arbiters upon spiritual questions, speaking contrary to God's Word. It is natural that it should be so in this world. Popery is the religion of human nature, and the religion of all systems of Paganism. It is easier for one to go to an arbiter than to settle the difficulty himself; easier-to human nature-to obtain the pronouncement of the minister upon a question of right or wrong than to seek information from the Word of God. It is easier to get from him an "interpretation" of the Scripture than to settle its meaning by personal study and prayer; especially when the interpretation absolves one from what would otherwise be regarded as a disagreeable duty. But this is nothing more than a papal indulgence in disguise. Many a conscience-troubled Protestant has in this way been "absolved" from obligation to observe God's Sabbath.

SEEKING POLITICAL POWER

There is also throughout the Protestant world a visible movement on the part of the churches toward a close alliance with the civil power. The churches are seeking to regenerate the world by politics. On the Continent, in the colonies, and in our own country, the forces are at work which are to bring the world and the church together in a confederacy to make men religious by the power of human laws. In 1892, in the United States the churches dictated with threats their terms to Congress in the matter of closing the World's Fair on Sunday, and Congress obeyed; and prominent clergymen exultingly said, "We hold Congress in our power." Associations formed in America for the purpose of securing the enforcement of Sunday laws are making their power felt and their influence respected by politicians of every class. The very churches themselves are being organised into political agencies to exercise a controlling influence at the polls.

And what already exists there is only what must follow in other countries from the logical development of the doctrine of Sunday laws. The first-day sabbath being a human institution, has only human power to give it force. No command can be read for it from the Scripture, no weapon from God's armoury used in its behalf. Its observance must be secured by the power of men, which naturally finds expression in human law and the force of the secular arm. If Sunday is to be generally observed as a day of rest, it must be by a close alliance of Church and State, or of religion and the State, which is the same thing.

And now, in the face of this movement in the world, which rests upon the power of man, God is calling attention to His power as Creator, and to His Sabbath both as the sign of allegiance to Him. This is the test to-day. The servants of God will have His mark in their foreheads; they will be men of faith, believing His Word. God cannot be worshipped by mere outward forms without faith within. But men may do homage to the Papacy not only with their minds, by believing in the sign which it sets forth, but outwardly in paying deference to the Sunday at the command of men. The mark of the beast may be received either in the forehead or in the hand. It is thus that even infidel and irreligious organisations may not only receive the mark of the papal power, but join in enforcing it. The Socialists of Germany, for example, who are generally antichristian, are working for the enforcement of Sunday rest. It matters not that they mean only to compel a general holiday. The day is taken because it is the day which the Papacy has established, and behind the powers of this world is the god of this world, the spirit that works in the hearts of all who are not Christ's followers, working to exalt the rival to God's Sabbath. As the Catholic Church says:-

The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church.

And it is true of the atheist or non-Christian, who follows the customs of men in preference to the way of the Lord and the example of Jesus Christ, as it is of the professed Protestant.

THE PRESENT TRUTH

The solemn fact is now clearly before us, that the third angel's message of Rev. xiv. 9-12 is a message for our day and for us. The controversy between the Sabbath of the Lord and the sabbath of that power which opposes and exalts itself above Him, is assuming greater proportions in every land, as the claims of the true Sabbath are more widely and fully presented. Everywhere men are making the choice which determines upon which side of the controversy they will stand. The omnipotent One has set His hand to the work, and it cannot be turned back.

However great the seeming disparity of forces which the controversy presents to human eyes, the issue is not for a moment in doubt. We are told what will be the end. The prophet who beheld these things saw further and beheld heaven opened, and the armies of heaven issue forth under the leadership of their Divine Captain. "His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." Rev. xix. 11-15.

Then the prophet "saw the beast,

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and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army." On earth, the vast majority are ranged on the side of the "beast,"-the side of the enemies of God. Then comes the final scene. "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Verse 20. And in this lake men meet the "second death." Rev. xxi. 8.

The all-important question is before the us. Shall we be sealed with the seal of the living God (Rev. xii. 2, 3), or shall we receive the mark of the beast, and drink of the wine of the wrath of God, poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation? Shall we brave the wrath of man, or the wrath of God? Shall we have our part in the lake of fire, or share in the eternal triumph which awaits God's truth? It is not sufficient for us now to point to the Christians who in past days have followed the tradition of the Papacy thinking it the truth of God. The Lord judges men according to the light they have. The darkness of the papal errors have obscured the vision of men, and so far as men have followed the light as they saw it, "the times of this ignorance," we may say, "God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." The Lord is coming, and therefore the everlasting Gospel of the power of God to save is to go to every nation and kindred, to gather out those who are willing to stand upon the Word of God alone and to accept of His salvation from sin.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 21.

E. J. Waggoner

-It appears that work is to be resumed on the Panama Canal. A despatch from Colon states that a thousand labourers have been engaged for work on the enterprise.

-A curious relic of the epoch of Peter the Great has been presented to the museum of Astrachan. It is a metallic token granting the bearer permission to wear a moustache and board.

-It has been discovered in Ireland that peat can be reduced to fine fibre and spun into woollen cloth. Also, when compressed, peat, it is said, forms a good substitute for ebony, and can be carved into trinkets.

-A committee has been formed and a subscription opened with the object of building a mosque at Paris. The object is to establish closer relations between the capital and the Moslem populations under French rule.

-By means of telephones and an apparatus for augmenting sound, the whole of the service conducted in the Baptist Temple, Philadelphia, is distinctly heard by audiences in all the smaller halls which surround the main building.

-From the mahogany forests of Africa it is said that 12,000,000 foot of timber have already men cut and exported, and they promise to yield an immense revenue to the British and French colonists who have seized open the territory.

-A careful estimate by a writer in a Melbourne paper puts the total amount of the public and private debts owing to Great Britain by the seven Australasian Colonies at ?815,000,000, and the amount of interest paid last year at ?12,750,000.

-It is reported that the Salvation Army is about to undertake an energetic, campaign in the Far East, and that the initial movement will take place in China, where the leader of the movement is a Chinaman and a member of the Salvation Army in San Francisco.

-The movement in favour of an eight-hours' day in Austria is showing fresh signs of life. It has for some years been passively included in the programme of the Labour Party, and now the Austrian miners seem determined to use every effort for enforcing this demand upon their employers.

-News received from Pekin states that Japan has renounced the Liao-tung Peninsula without any demand for compensation, and this liberality is greatly appreciated and praised in China. France, Germany, and Russia have offered to negotiate the loan necessary to enable China to pay the indemnity due to Japan.

-In a manifesto recently issued by the Tailors', Machinists', and Pressers' Union, respecting the making of clothing required for Government departments, it was affirmed that the average earnings of the men for working from 7 A.M. till midnight daily are only 12s. a week, and the average earnings of the woman only from 5s. to 7s. per week.

-It has been calculated that it would take Prince Bismarck, working eight hours a day with unflinching regularity, about eight months to read all the letters, postcards, and telegrams of birthday congratulations that have reached Friedrichsruh. If he tried to answer them all he would have to spend another year and a half over the job.

-For some time past some parties in the United States have been experimenting with a view of making stockings and gloves from paper, and it is announced that the former can be made so as to sell for three halfpence a pair. Solidity and durability are given the texture by a sizing bath of potato starch and tallow, and when finished its appearance is said to be strikingly like the articles made in the ordinary way.

-Recently a lady in Italy went to a spiritualistic seance to consult a "medium" who had promised to communicate with her dead son. By some mishap, instead of the spirit coming forth, flames and sulphurous fumes issued from the back of the cabinet. The mother, regarding the blaze as an indication that her son was suffering for his sins, went raving mad, and is not likely to recover, The medium is to be prosecuted.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 21.

E. J. Waggoner

Next month the Roman Catholics are expected to lay the foundation stone of a great cathedral at Westminster.

The revival of the power of the Papacy is one of the most striking sign of the times, and a sign of the nearness to the end. It is when Rome shall say again, "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow," that her plagues will come; "for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." Rev. xviii. 7, 8.

The Bible Society adds some new tongues every year to the number in which the Scriptures appear. This year they expect to publish the first Pashtu Bible for Afghanistan, and also one in the vernacular of the Mohammedan hill tribes of the district about Chitral.

The word that came to Belshazzar was, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." Dan. v. 27. That is, when weighed in the balances, he was found to weigh nothing. Why was this?-Because he trusted in gods that were the work of men's hands. They were nothing, and the Scripture says, "They that make them are like unto them, so is every one that trusteth in them." Ps. cxv. 8. He trusted in nothing, and so became nothing.

"Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; to be weighed in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity." Ps. lxii. 9. Before God all nations are counted as "less than nothing, and vanity." Isa. xl. 17. Men necessarily become like that in which they trust. Therefore the man in this state who trusts in himself is nothing, and when weighed in the balances will be found wanting.

"The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed." 1 Sam. ii. 3. The balances of the Lord, by which actions are weighed, is His law-His own righteous character. When Christ dwells in the heart by faith, the law of God is in the heart, and the actions are prompted by it. Then the man when weighed will be found "to the praise of the glory of His grace." Therefore "trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."

One of the speakers at a May meeting the other day aptly said: "Paul knew that the Gospel was foolishness to the Greeks, and a stumbling-block to the Jews-but he neither made an attractive musical service nor a Pleasant Sunday Afternoon. No, he preached the whole Gospel, and the result was that to those who believed the word was the power of God unto salvation."

The Psalmist prayed, "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." Ps. xc. 17. It is the prayer of the Spirit, for us as well as for him and ancient Israel. With it take the words of the Spirit by the prophet Isaiah: "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Isa. lx. 1. And this glory "shall be seen upon thee." Shall we then spend time and strength and means in trying to adorn and beautify ourselves? or shall we let the Lord put upon us His beauty? not beauty of person to attract attention to ourselves, but the beauty of holiness to attract attention to Himself.

While the development of the Papacy, "the mystery of iniquity," is a sign of the times, the progress of the Gospel, "the mystery of God," is also a sign of the coming of the Lord. For "this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. xxiv. 14. In the progress of the truth in all the world, as it calls upon men to build upon the Word of the Lord, and in the progress of error, as it leads men to trust in the traditions of men and their own selves, we have a double sign that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, and is even at the door.

Many laugh at the idea that Rome is gaining power, but it is because they have not watched the drift of affairs. The Christian said last week, basing its remarks on the report of a Rome correspondent of Evangelical Christendom:-

The vigour of the Papacy is a fact as tremendous as it is dangerous. Especially is this evident in Rome, where during recent years the Evangelical movement has been so active. The Pope has lost temporal power, but he wields a wider sway; whereas in 1870 Church properties were confiscated and religious orders abolished, it is now stated that the possessions have been regained, and the influence of the Vatican is practically what it was before Victor Emmanuel entered Rome!

Its political power is increasing in every nation, and a more startling sign than this is the rapid development of purely papal principles in circles outside the Roman Catholic Church.

From our California contemporary, the Signs of the Times, we learn that our mission ship, the Pitcairn, recently sailed from San Francisco on its fourth voyage to the islands of the South Seas, with a fresh core of workers who will be left in various island groups where the natives are inviting help. The Pitcairn, as many of our readers know, was named after Pitcairn Island, of Bounty fame, all of whose inhabitants accepted the truth about ten years ago, and directed the special attention of our Society to the islands of the South Pacific.

"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God." A peacemaker is not one who steps in between two persons or parties who are fighting, and makes them cease their battle. One may do that and not be a peacemaker, since people may cease fighting and still not be at peace. To avoid strife is a far more effectual way of making peace than to leave it off after it is begun. The peacemaker, therefore, is the one who is himself at peace. He is the one in whose heart is the law of peace, and whose mind is stayed on God. "The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

In a recent lecture Mr. Curzon told of the remarkable development of civilisation in Afghanistan, particularly shown in the capital, where the Ameer has introduced improvements and established workshops after European models. The sad side of it all is that in copying after European enterprise they copy the great characteristic of the so-called Christian Powers, and their shops appear to be mainly devoted to the manufacture of guns, shells, and all the munitions of war. The Asiatic nations are waking up and learning the arts of war from the European, getting ready for the battle of the great day of the Lord.

May 30, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

"Take heed what ye hear." Mark iv. 24. These are the words of the Saviour, and they are as important now as when first uttered.

But what shall we hear? This is answered by the directions as to what we are not to hear: "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge." Prov. xix. 27.

Thus we are to hear the words of knowledge. And what words are they? Again we read: "For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." Prov. ii. 6. The words of the Lord, therefore, are the words of knowledge.

In Christ are hid "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Col. ii. 3. He speaks the words of knowledge, because He speaks only the words of God. "He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God." John iii. 34. Therefore the word of God concerning Christ is, "Hear Him." Luke ix. 35. His words are God's words; and we are to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. All other words are worse than useless.

But there is still another exhortation as important as the other. It is this: "Take heed therefore how ye hear." Luke viii. 18. A man may hear the right thing, and yet not be profited, because he does not hear in the right way. How then shall we hear?

In the first place, we should hear with gladness. The angels in heaven hearken to the voice of God's word. Ps. ciii. 20. They listen attentively, lest any word should escape them.

In the second place, they listen for the purpose of obeying. "They do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word." Whoever listens in this way will have no difficulty in understanding what he hears; for "if any man willeth to do His will, he shall know the doctrine."

Lastly, it is important that we hear so attentively that we do not forget. There are some from whom the word is snatched away as soon as it is heard. Then it does them no good. "But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected." 1 John ii. 5. That word "keep" means" "to hold." We are to hold the word. Where? In our hearts. Let it remain there so that its life will permeate every portion of the being, and it will make you "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

"'Thou, God, Seest Me'" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

"And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly." Luke xxii. 61, 62.

Consider what was wrought by that look of Jesus. It reminded Peter of his sin. It awoke in him a consciousness of guilt. With that consciousness of sin came contrition. He went out, and wept bitterly. That was also wrought by the look. But "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." Ps. li. 17. Therefore that look, which carried conviction and contrition, also brought forgiveness. For "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John i. 9.

There is healing power in the look of the Lord. Even the beasts are troubled when the Lord hides His face from them. Ps. civ. 29. How much more then must men be troubled when they do not walk in the light of His countenance.

There is also salvation from sin in the Lord's look. When Daniel prayed for his people, he said: "Open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations." Dan. ix. 18. And also, "Cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate." Verse 17. So the Psalmist says, "Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts; cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." Ps. lxxx. 8, 7, 19.

Sin cannot endure the presence of the Lord. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil." Hab. i. 13. So as the bright sunlight destroys disease germs, the light of God's countenance destroys the seeds of sin. What a comfort, then, to be able to say, "Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance." Ps. xc. 8. When the light of His countenance shines upon them, they vanish.

We need not be afraid to have the Lord see us. Rather should we rejoice that He condescends to look upon us. One of the most blessed promises in the Bible is this: "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word." Isa. lxvi. 2.

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and

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holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

"The Evidence of a Future Life" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

At a recent conference of Spiritualists held in London, the president of the London Spiritualist Alliance, who presided, stated that he had been visited by members of various churches, who had confessed to him that they were without evidence of a future life. He contrasted the disposition with that of Spiritualists, whose belief in a future life was based upon their experience in communicating with the dead.

It is not unlikely that such confessions have been made, even by church members; for the evidence of a future life is altogether a matter of faith, while church membership is not. The Word of God plainly declares that there is a life that is eternal; but whether this is evidence to us or not depends entirely upon our faith. If we believe it, then we have the evidence; for "faith is. . . the evidence of things not seen." Heb. xi. 1. If we do not believe it, it is, of course, no evidence to us whatever.

The Spiritualist's evidence is the evidence of the senses; and this is the real materialism which is contrary to true religion. "Spiritualism" is materialism, for it rests entirely upon the evidence of the material senses; there is nothing really spiritual about it. But true religion-the Gospel-while it deals with material things, has its evidence based entirely upon faith, and thus is truly spiritual. The future life is a thing not seen, and of such things faith, and that only, is the evidence.

The Scripture says, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." John iii. 36. The same evidence which assures us that we have a thing, is proof that the thing exists. If we know that we have everlasting life, we have the full evidence of a life to come. And we know this simply by believing God's Word. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." 1 John v. 10. The unbeliever may say, "I do not believe this;" but the believer knows that it is the truth. Faith is real evidence. How it is so we cannot say, for we cannot explain the power of God through which it operates; but that it is real-that it is a link which connects mortal man with the invisible God and with that life which comes from Him, no one who has it can doubt.

All real evidence of spiritual truths must come through faith. The scribes and Pharisees were with Jesus, and saw His miracles; but that was not evidence to them of His Divinity, else they would not have put Him to death. It was evidence only to those who believed, or whose hearts were open to the convicting power of the Spirit. The multitudes thronged Christ, but only the touch of faith given by the woman who sought to be healed of her infirmity, drew forth the physical evidence of His power. So there may be signs and manifestations from God in the physical world to-day, but only he who has faith will see in them evidence of the existence and power of God.

Without faith, all the evidence of the senses touching spiritual truths is unreal; and this is the kind of evidence which believers in communication with the dead have of a future life. For "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word God," and the Word of God declares that no communication with the dead is possible, since they "know not anything" and their thoughts have perished. Eccl. ix. 5. Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4.

All that is not of faith is "gross materialism," and such is Spiritualism, with all that it puts forth as evidence of a life beyond the grave.

"Binding and Losing" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

Readers of the PRESENT TRUTH cannot have failed to notice at various times within the past few months certain statements quoted from prominent ministers concerning the origin of Sunday observance in the church. Invariably the statement is that there is no word of Holy Scripture warranting the change from the seventh to the first day of the week, but that "the church" has made the change of its own authority. This admission we have from both Churchmen and Nonconformists. All agree that the change was effected by the church in the face of the commandment, and of even the example of Christ; yet of course they all claim that the church was fully warranted in its course.

This makes it necessary to consider the authority which the church has. Where did the church get this authority? Was it from the Lord? or was it self-assumed? But before we take up this question, we ought to consider briefly

WHAT THE CHURCH IS

This can be settled in a few words. We are told that God gave Christ to be "Head over all things to the church, which is His body." Eph. i. 22, 22. Also that, "He is the Head of the body, the church." Col. i. 18.

Of whom is this body composed? This question may also be answered in a few words. "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we bond or free." 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Gal. iii. 27.

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This shows that the church of Christ is composed of all who are baptized into the body of Christ, that is, of all believers. It is not composed of the bishops alone, nor of the bishops and deacons, but of every believer, no matter what his position, for in the body of Christ "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all and in all." Col. iii. 11. The fact that every member, however humble, is necessary to the composition of the church, is made still more emphatic in the following passage:-

"For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For. . . God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked; that there should be no schism [division] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another." 1 Cor. xii. 14-25.

The church of Christ, therefore, is composed of all the believers on earth. It is quite common for people to speak of "the church" as something apart from believers, and as being above them, and having power to enact laws for them. They speak of the laws of the church, and call the church "our mother," as though the church were a person and entirely distinct from the people who compose it. But since the church is composed of men and women, and the most humble member is necessary, it follows that if the church makes laws it is simply a case of men deciding for themselves what they will do. To say that the church has authority to make laws for itself, is to say that men are their own masters, and are accountable to nobody but themselves.

We have seen that every believer in Christ is necessary to the formation of the church. Of course the entire body of believers was never together at one time, and never will be until the Lord comes to gather them; but He has said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Matt. xviii. 20. This does not mean two or three officials, but any two or three who may be together in the name of Jesus. A company of bishops assembled together is no more the church than is a company of God-fearing farmers; and the one has no more authority than the other. This brings us to the consideration of

THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH

Here are the words of Christ upon this subject:-

"If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matt. xviii. 15-18. And then follows the statement already quoted, that where two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, there He is in the midst of them; showing that for all practical purposes two or three persons gathered together in the name of Jesus are a church, capable of speaking with as much authority as the entire body of believers; and that authority is the authority of heaven.

Now the only question that can possibly arise is this, Did the Lord pledge Himself to ratify and abide by any and every act of any company of men calling themselves a church? There can be but one answer to this question. There is no person on earth who would claim or even admit that everything that has ever been done by men professing to act in the capacity of the church of Christ, has been sanctioned in heaven; for not only have different bodies been in direct opposition, but the same body of men has often passed contradictory measures.

What then are the conditions under which that which is bound on earth will be bound in heaven? The first is that the company, whether large or small, shall be gathered together

IN THE NAME OF JESUS

This means simply that they shall be indeed a Church of Christ-members of His body. This is evident from the fact that the church is the body of Christ, and people become members of it by baptism (See 1 Cor. xii. 13; Gal. iii. 27, which have already been quoted); and further that those who are thus baptized into Christ are baptized into the name of the Son, as well as that of the Father and of the Holy Ghost. Matt. xviii. 19. To be assembled in the name of Jesus, therefore, is to be assembled in humble subjection to Him as the only Head of the church, and the only one having authority to issue commands to it.

When the Apostle Paul was performing wonderful miracles by the name of Jesus, certain exorcists "took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preached." Acts xix. 13. The result of this was disastrous to the exorcists, for the evil spirits overcame them instead of all obeying them. Even so it needs something more than the repetition of the name of the Lord Jesus, to show that people are gathered in His name. What more is needed is shown by the Saviour's words: "Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say." Luke vi. 46.

The Psalmist said, by the Spirit, "Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name." Ps. cxxxviii. 2. A company therefore which ignores the Word of the Lord cannot by any possibility be assembled in His name. "The disciple is not above his Master nor the servant above his Lord." Matt. x. 24. The body is not above its head. When the body refuses to act in harmony with the head, it is evidence of most serious disease. It shows that the connection is broken or greatly impaired. So when the church takes upon itself to speak and act contrary to the directions of the Head of the church, it shows that it has separated from Him, and is becoming joined to antichrist. Jesus said, "He that is not with Me is against Me."

It must be evident that when anybody calling itself a church speaks and acts contrary to the words and example of the Lord, it is not controlled and directed by "the Head of the body the church," and that since it has no authority to use His name, its decrees are not recognised in heaven, except as they are put down as transgressions of the third commandment. For the Scriptures make it very evident that things bound or loosed on earth are bound or loosed in heaven only when

DONE BY GOD'S WORD

In the first place, we have the example of Christ, the Head of the church. He said: "I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting; whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak." John xii. 49, 50.

Again, He said: "I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things." John viii. 28. And again: "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." John xiv. 10.

Since even Christ, when on earth as man, did not speak or act by His own authority, it is evident that whoever presumes to speak or act by his own authority is not a follower of Christ. And this is just as true of any body of men as it is of a single individual. The word "heretic" means "one who chooses for himself." Whoever, therefore, presumes to speak from himself, and to act by his own authority, is a heretic; and when any body, no matter how great in numbers, presumes to choose its own way, regardless of God's Word, that body is heretical. It may constitute the vast majority,

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but that makes no difference, since the standard is not man, but Christ and His Word.

The work that Christ did by this word was to set at liberty those that were bound. One instance of this is recorded in Luke xiii. 11-13. Another is found in Luke v. 18-26. There are scores of others, but everything was done by the power of the word of God. Even He came not in His own name, but in the name of the Father. See John v. 43.

When Christ spoke to the disciples, saying that whatsoever they should bind or loose on earth should be bound or loosed in heaven, it was not the first time that such power had been given to men. One notable instance is recorded in 1 Kings xvii. 1: "And Elisha the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be rain nor dew these years, but by my word."

But Elijah did not speak thus of his own authority. "And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth." 1 Kings xviii. 1. If Elijah was only God's mouthpiece; his word was simply the word which God had previously spoken.

To Jeremiah God said, "See, I have set thee this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." Jer. i. 10. That was wonderful power and authority to be given to one person who was moreover but a child. But how was it? Simply in this way: God had just said to him, "Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth." Verse 9. He was to speak only what God commanded him (verse 7), and to "diminish not a word." Jer. xxvi. 2. It was this word that was to tear down and to build up; for "the Word of God is quick, and powerful." Heb. iv. 12.

"AS THE ORACLES OF GOD"

It was in connection with the instruction about dealing with the erring, that Jesus said to His disciples, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," etc. If a brother commits a trespass, he is first to be visited by one, for the purpose of regaining him; if this fails he is to be visited by two or three, for the same purpose; and this failing, the whole church is to take up his case. Notice however, by comparing verses 16 and 18, that even the two or three brethren have the power to bind or lose.

Notice the further instruction, implied in this passage, but plainly stated in Gal. vi. 1: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness." Who are spiritual?-It is they who are in harmony with the law of God: "for we know that the law is spiritual." Rom. vii. 14. Therefore it is evident that those who deal with the erring brother are to use only the word of God, and not their own words.

What else could we expect, since they are to reclaim a sinner, and "sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John v. 4. It is by the law that men are to be judged (Rom. ii. 12), so that to keep it is the whole duty of man (Eccl. xii. 13, 14), and therefore those who have erred from it must be brought back into harmony with it. Those who do this work of reclaiming the lost are fulfilling the law of Christ, who gave Himself for the church, "that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word." Eph. v. 26. Therefore if any man speak, he is to speak only "as the oracles of God." 1 Peter iv. 11.

The Word of God is settled for ever in heaven. Ps. cxix. 89. "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke xvi. 17. It loses the bonds of the believing captive, and appoints the presumptuous rebel to his place of bondage under chains of darkness. So those who speak only the words of God may be sure that their words are as fixed as heaven itself.

This is why the words of two or three have as much authority as the words of as many hundreds. The Word of God is just as powerful in the mouth of two men as in the mouth of two hundred. It is why it makes no difference whether those men are bishops or bricklayers; for the Word of God has the same authority in the mouth of one as of another. And it is why ten thousand learned men speaking their own words have infinitely less power to bind or lose than two or three poor, unlearned men, who speak only God's words. Some men may have more knowledge of the Word than others; but the authority is not from man or from any number of men, but only from God's Word.

The Word of God is everything; men are nothing, except as created by it. "All flesh is grass;" "the grass whithereth, the flowers fadeth; but the Word of our God shall stand for ever." Isa. xl. 6, 8.

And so we come to the conclusion of the whole matter. Since Christ is the Head of the church, and the only guide of the body; since even He spoke only the words given Him by the Father, who made Him the Head of the church; since the word that He spoke is the word, and the only word that He gave to the church (John xvii. 14); since the body that acts contrary to the head shows that it is disconnected from the head; and since Jesus declared that those who are not with Him are against Him;-since all this is so, and since it is confessed that "the church" took upon itself to substitute the observance of Sunday for the observance of the Sabbath, without the slightest Scriptural warrant, it follows that it was the act of antichrist, and is a mark of apostasy from Christ; and that it is not recognised in heaven except by way of condemnation.

"Daniel and His Critics" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

"The new scepticism ought to be rational." This is a remark made by the Freeman's reviewer of Dr. Farrar's new book on Daniel. After some scathing criticism of the feeble argument, and of the readiness with which the author throws away the Bible history because some parts of it have not been found in the Assyrian monuments, not five per cent. of which have been deciphered, the reviewer says:-

The linguistic difficulties of his position seem to me insuperable. The language of the book, with its Chaldee quotations, indicate the age in which Daniel wrote, and they are certainly not what would be used by a Jew of the second century before Christ. Had it been written B.C. 184 it would probably have been written, like the books of the Apocrypha, in Greek.

Dr. Farrar's argument that no mention of Belshazzar's disgraceful end has been found in the Assyrian monuments may call for a remark, inasmuch as we frequently hear a similar reason urged with regard to other portions of Scripture. It must not be forgotten that as yet a mere fraction of these monuments have been deciphered, and of those the translation is very uncertain. But we should not expect to find memorials of national disgrace. Already some cases have been brought to light which prove that monumental lying is not a modern art, and kings have erased inscriptions and added others to suit popular opinion or their own glory. When the New Zealander in the

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coming age walks from the ruins of London to examine the inscriptions remaining among the overturned stones of our great city he will look in vain for any mention of the terrible military disgraces our country suffered in the reign of George III. and our shameful discomfiture in America. Nations do not inscribe the disgraceful portions of their history on stone. We have all heard of the changed inscriptions on the Monument of the Great Fire of London.

But apart from this, is there not something deficient in the spirit that looks to pagan monuments for its arguments? No doubt there are difficulties in the Old Testament Apocalypse, difficulties which humble reason and awaken faith. But the archdeacon's method of dealing with them is like amputating an arm to cure a chillblain.

"Protestant or Catholic?" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

This week we have another to add to our list of testimonies from Sunday-keepers, concerning the absence of Scripture. It is from the New York Christian Advocate, the leading Methodist paper of the world. In the issue of April 25 the following is quoted from the Examiner, a Baptist journal:-

The late Thomas Cooper, of England, an eminent popular lecturer, who in mature life became a Christian and a Baptist, once explained the way in which he was led to adopt Baptist views. In conversation with a Christian woman, a Baptist, he said: "I have generally found that, whatever practices or beliefs there may be among the various Christian bodies, they have usually some text which, rightly or wrongly, is quoted to justify them; but I have never heard of any text which authorises the old Romish custom of the christening of church bells." "Really," replied his friend, "that is a very simple matter. The christening of bells is authorised by the very next verse to the one which commands the christening of babies!"-a remark which set Thomas Cooper thinking, with the result above indicated.

Upon this the Christian Advocate makes the following comment:-

Why this was published we can hardly imagine. Is there any person who supposes that all the practices or beliefs of Christians can be sustained by some positive text? Our Baptist friends would find great difficulty in finding a positive text in support of some of their beliefs. Without doubt there is no text commanding the christening of babies. Nor is there any commanding the substitution of the Lord's Day for the Sabbath. Nor is there any text forbidding the administration of the holy communion to anyone who has not been previously baptised. As for Romish customs, their very theory assumes the right of the Church to add customs and even dogmas to what is taught in the Bible.

Merely stopping to note that the Sabbath is the Lord's day (See Ex. xx. 8-10), and that the first day of the week has no right whatever to the title, we would call attention to the fact that the Christian Advocate has not touched the point of all, although it has stopped the Examiner's mouth. But let it be remembered that when one is reproved for an error, it is no excuse for that error to say to the reprover, "Well, you do something else that is just as bad." Wrong never becomes right by being practised by a multitude.

The Advocate truly says that "as for Romish customs, their very theory assumes the right of the Church to add customs and even dogmas to what is taught in the Bible." Well, if Protestants do the same thing, as the Advocate admits they do in the case of sprinkling babies and keeping Sunday, wherein does the Protestant theory differ from the Romish? What is the use of professing to follow the Bible, if one feels at liberty to add to it at pleasure? "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Prov. xxx. 5, 6. The Swedish Bible very forcibly renders this text thus: "Make no addition to His Word, lest He smite thee as a liar."

"The Other Side" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

Perhaps no place in the world is more lovely than Monte Carlo. Nature has smiled royally upon it, and man has done his utmost to turn it into a paradise of the eye. Yet this outward beauty is only a snare to lure men on to gamble at the tables set temptingly forth in the feverish atmosphere. No one will be deterred from trying his luck at the tables by the "croaking" of others, but perhaps one who had taken the following prescription would have little desire even to play and win. Says M. Botham Edwards:-

The traveller is advised to take train to Monaco and arrived at the little station, whisper his errand in the cab-driver's ear, "Drive me to the suicides' cemetery!"

A French cemetery, with its wreaths of beadwork and artificial violets, has ever a most depressing appearance. That of Monaco is like any other; we find the usual magnificence and usual tinsel. Many beautiful trees, shrubs, and flowers, however, relieve the gloom, and every inch is exquisitely kept.

Quite apart from this vast burial-ground, on the other side of the main entrance, is a small enclosure, walled in and having a gate of open ironwork always locked.

Here, in close proximity to heaps of garden rubbish, broken bottles, and other refuse, rest the suicides of Monte Carlo, buried by the parish grave digger, without funeral and without any kind of religious ceremony.

Each grave is marked by an upright bit of wood, somewhat larger than that by which gardeners mark their seeds, and on this is printed a number; nothing more. Apart from these are stakes driven into the ground which mark spots as yet unappropriated.

The indescribable dreariness of the scene is heightened by two monumental stones, garlanded with wreaths and surrounded by flowers. The first records the memory of a young artisan, and was raised by his fellow-workmen; the second commemorates brotherly and sisterly affection. Both suicides were driven to self-murder by play. The remainder are mere numbers.

There are poor gamesters as well as rich, and it is only or chiefly the poor who are put into the ground here.

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The bodies of the rich, if identified, are immediately removed, and by means of family influence, interred with religious rites. Many suicides are buried at Nice and Mentone, and the bodies of many others are conveyed to their family homes in all parts of the world.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

-Five hundred people were made homeless by a fire in St. Albans, Vt., U.S.A., May 20.

-News has been received of the wreck of a Spanish steamer off the Philippine Islands, with a loss of 168 lives.

-Fourteen men were killed and 132 entombed through an explosion at the Monongahela mines in West Virginia, U.S.A., May 31. The latter were afterwards rescued.

-About a million signatures have been affixed to petitions against the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, which have been forwarded to Parliament, while less than a thousand have, it is said, been received in its favour.

-Severe earthquake shocks were felt May 18 at Florence, Bologna, Grassina, Lapaggi, San Martino, and other places in Italy. At San Martino a church was destroyed and a number of people were buried in the ruins.

-It is reported that in a German town where there has been much malicious gossip, a Society for the Suppression of Scandal has been formed, which will take up slanders and run them to earth, the Society defraying the cost.

-In the United States therefore 49,000 Methodist churches and 40,000 Baptist churches. The latter denomination has a membership of about 4,000,000, of which 1,000,000 are blacks. The value of Methodist Church property is ?30,000,000

-It is computed that 400,000 dead larks are sold for food every year in Leadenhall Market alone. It is not surprising, therefore, that a growing scarcity of these beautiful singers should be noticed in the vicinity of London.

-During the tea season just closing the quantity imported from China shows a falling off of nearly six and a half million pounds on that of last year, while the amount from India shows no change, and that from Ceylon an increase of one million pounds.

-In Italy, quails are packed alive in boxes for shipment to the London market, and as a result great numbers of them die on the way from thirst and close confinement. Owing to the outcry raised against this cruelty to animals, France has forbidden such shipments across her territory, and they are now sent by way of Switzerland.

-In America steam is fast being superseded by electricity as a power for locomotion. Several electric railway lines are under construction in various States, and an Inter-Oceanic Electric Railway has been incorporated in Illinois with a capital of 200,000,000 dollars. It will construct an elevated electric railway between Chicago and New York, and finally from Chicago to the Pacific. American engineers seem to he all agreed that steam railways are doomed within a quarter of a century, so far as America is concerned.

-The question of "clerical propaganda" in the French army was recently raised in the French Chamber of Deputies, by a member who alleged that the commander of one army corps compelled his men to attend religious services. In reply M. Ribot, the Premier, said the Government did not desire to make any encroachment on freedom of conscience. Military commanders ought to afford their men facilities to perform their religious duties, but they ought not to exercise any pressure. Soldiers were not permitted to join any association whatsoever, and the Government would not tolerate any proselytism in the army.

-Twenty-nine nationalities are represented in a New York public grammar school. There are in the primary and grammar departments of this school 1,300 children, and at the last census there were represented among them Hebrews, Italians, Germans, Irish, Greeks, Russians, Poles, French, Scotch, English, Welsh, Swiss, Chinese, Sicilians, Assyrians, Tunisians (North Africa), Javanese, Congo West Indians, Cubans, Norwegians, Swedes, Austrians, Hungarians, Herzegovinians, Wallachians, Moldavians, Egyptians, Danes, and Armenians. Not more than ten per cent. of these children speak English in their homes.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

The very ultimate attainment of foolish credulity is the belief that the Word of God is a lie.

The natives of Yoruba country, West Africa, called beer and spirits epe oyibo, which means "the white man's curse."

The Lord never takes back His gifts to men unless they are refused. What He gives us of His love and His Spirit is meant to be ours throughout eternity; and it is His pleasure to add to His gifts continually.

At the annual meeting of the Peace Society Mr. Chalmers, of New Guinea, told of the eagerness with which the native Christians urged him to send one of their teachers to Europe, when the Franco-Prussian war broke out "to tell the people there how wicked it was to fight."

One item from our publication department this week may interest our readers. The retail value of publications set out last month was over ?2,000. As every page is designed to lead people to study the Word, we are glad to see the circulation of books and papers extending. But it is the Word that must do the work. The one object of all the preaching and every page that is written, in true Gospel work, is to call attention to what the Word of the Lord says.

In an interview accorded to a London newspaper correspondent the Queen of Madagascar makes it plain that the only cause of the war with France is that France wants the country and means to have it. "Is it not better," said the Prime Minister, "that each nation should keep to their own land, and that there should be no more war or bloodshed?" Why not? It seems to the simple natives that this is the simplest of problems; but they do not understand the insatiable earth-hunger of the great Powers which must be satisfied even though homes are desolated, and whole peoples dispossessed of the land of their fathers.

A meeting was held in London last week to protest against the report of the Royal Commission on Opium, which was a defence of the traffic. There is of course no defence whatever for it; for opium is a poison, and the effect of the habit in all its hideousness can be seen on every side in India and China.

The blackest record in the history of the opium traffic is that of its introduction into China, where millions of victims are being sacrificed to it. In the last Review of Reviews a writer gave a character sketch of Li Hung Chang, from which it may be seen how the memory of the introduction of the opium curse still prejudices intelligent Chinese people against Christian missionary effort:-

The theory of the body of men and women coming over the seas to strange land and enduring hardships for the good of the people was something that no Chinese intellect could comprehend-not even the intellect of Li Hung Chang. There must be some ulterior purpose. And he would insist upon associating the Gospel with the sword, and see in the devoted persons who stood on the highways and preached Christ the man who had battered down the Taku pride and forced opium upon China. I cannot call it altogether obliquity of vision. It was rather an unfortunate coincidence of circumstance. The faith of the Bible was compelled to bear in his eyes the stain of the sword.

The New York American Sentinel reports the indictment of a Seventh-day Adventist in the State of Georgia for working on Sunday, under a law which provides that

All moneys arising from fines imposed for offences, the gist of which consists in their being committed on the Sabbath day [meaning Sunday] shall be paid to the ordinary of the county, to be by him distributed for the purpose of establishing and promoting Sabbath-schools in the county.

But as Seventh-day Adventists do not pay fines inflicted for Sabbath-keeping, the Sunday-schools of the county are not likely to be enriched by this means, however they may be languishing for funds.

The Apostle James tells us that "the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." Jas. iii. 8. Speaking of men in their unconverted state, the Apostle Paul writes: "Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips." Rom. iii. 13. Thus in the unregenerated nature we have the picture of a serpent, the agency by which Eve was beguiled, and the poison of sin introduced into the world. As the serpent was the agency of Satan in Eden, so the unconverted man has been his agency since that time; and the one agency is very much like the other. Many a proud man and woman carries, unwittingly, a serpent's tongue and fangs, more deadly than those of cobra or asp.

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." Prov. xvi. 32. The heart is a stronger citadel than a walled city, because it is held by Satan; and its capture is a greater victory than was ever achieved by human power. But none need be discouraged, for even while this citadel is in the possession of Satan, God gives us the power to surrender it to Him, and it is this surrender that drives the devil out.

The only One who can conquer Satan is the Lord. Then if the Lord is in you when the devil comes with his temptations, he will be conquered; but if not, you will be conquered. "Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

"The environment makes the man," declared one of the leaders in the Labour movement to an interviewer the other day. The notion that people would be right and do the right if only surrounded by favourable conditions entirely overlooks the real cause of all the misery and evil-sin. Adam and Eve in Eden were not proof against sin when they trusted in self, and all the wrongs of the world were wrapped up in that sin. What men need is what the Lord has provided for all-a Gospel that saves from sin.

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man," although he be the highest dignitary in the Church. Lucifer, as covering cherub, stood next to God; and the angels that put their trust in him, fell; and so will every one who trusts in any other being than the Lord. Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4.

June 6, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Eph. v. 17.

The Lord has given the rule for Bible study in the words, "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things."

This does not say we are to consider what somebody may say that He says. Here is where very many go astray. It is what the Lord says that we are to consider. Go to the fountain head direct.

We are not to consider what we may think He means, nor what some one else says He means. The Lord means what He says, and He tells us that the way to get an understanding of what He means is to consider what He says.

The understanding comes from the Lord, and the Lord teaches the understanding of the truth by putting the truth into the life of the learner. Thus, the Psalmist prayer, "Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts," and in thanking the Lord for answering the prayer he tells us how it was done: "I will never forget Thy precepts; for with them Thou hast quickened me" (or made me to live). Ps. cxix. 27, 98. It is the promise of the new covenant, "I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." Heb. viii. 10.

But if the Lord is to teach by living the word in the learner, the life must be yielded to Him. This is the reason why men are sometimes so slow to understand some of the plainest precepts-they are not ready for the Lord to bring what He says into their experience. But it is a blessed experience, as every one knows who has tried it. Every precept becomes a promise, and every word a treasure house of good things.

"The Sufferings of Christ" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

Christ is identified with His people. They abide in Him, and He dwells in them. That which is done to them, is done to Him. To one class of people it will be said in the day of God, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me," and to the other class, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me." See Matt. xxv. 31-46. The joys of His people are His joys, and their sorrows are His sorrows. He is touched with all the feeling of their infirmities.

Christ suffered in the flesh. He was a "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." He bore the sins of the world; He was "in all points tempted like as we are." He died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God; but His identity with humanity did not cease. He is still made manifest in the flesh; He still feels its infirmities; for He is "touched" with our infirmities, and not only with the knowledge of them, but with the "feeling."

The sufferings of Christ did not end when He ascended in glory to His Father; neither did they begin when He assumed man's form and nature as the babe of Bethlehem. In Moses' day there was "the reproach of Christ," which he esteemed "greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." Heb. xi. 26. This reproach was that which he chose in preference to being called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; and we are told that it was "to suffer affliction with the people of God." Christ identified Himself with His people in their Egyptian slavery. He has been identified with them in all the ages past, and will be in all time to come. So the Apostle Paul, in speaking of his sufferings, says, "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is the church." Col. i. 24. There was a measure of the sufferings of Christ left in Paul's day, and a part of that measure was filled out by his own life. And the life of every Christian since his time has fulfilled the same office. There has been, and is still, some part remaining of the afflictions of Christ, to be filled up by the experience of his followers.

But let us bear in mind that the sufferings are Christ's, that He feels them, and that being His, He is able in us to bear them, and we need not tremble for the result. To be saved we must be identified with Him, and to be identified with Him we must be partakers of His sufferings. This is how the martyrs have been able to endure with fortitude the terrible ordeals in which they have yielded up their lives. Their sufferings were the sufferings of Christ, a part of that which was "left behind" after He rose from the dead, and He bore them in their bodies. "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." The afflictions may be called ours, but it is He that bears them. He lives in us, and our only life is His life. Gal. ii. 20. Therefore it is He feels the sorrows and the pain. We are the members of His body. 1 Cor. xii. 27.

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He is the Head, and as such feels all that affects the body. The seat of consciousness is the head, and Christ is as keenly conscious of all that afflicts His church as the head is of pain or sickness in the members of the body.

But with the sufferings of Christ, there is also joy and glory. We are graven on the palms of His hands (Isa. xlix. 16), but with the marks of the nails of His cross there are also beams of light. In all our tribulation we are comforted by the God of all comfort. "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." 2 Cor. i. 5. In being partakers of Christ's sufferings we are identified as children of God. Heb. xii. 7, 8. "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified." 1 Pet. iv. 14. There is glory with His offerings in us, and as our sufferings are His, so also His glory is ours; and when that glory shall be revealed, we shall also be glad "with exceeding joy." Verse 13.

"A Conversation" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

A. My friend, why don't you throw away that coat?

B. Throw it away! Why should I? It fits me, and is as good as new.

A. Yes; but you might throw it away just to show your independence. It's yours, and you can do what you please with it.

B. That would be very foolish. Besides, this coat was made for me, and given to me, and it would be the height of ingratitude for me to throw it away. It was made specially for me, and I propose to keep it.

A. Well, my friend, I am bound to say that I think you show sound judgment and a good disposition in this matter. By the way, what about the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, about which we were talking the other day. Have you decided to keep it?

B. No; I don't think it is necessary. I read that "the Sabbath was made for man," and therefore we are free to do as we please with it.

A. Indeed! Do you know who made it?"

B. Oh, yes; I suppose the Lord made it. In fact the Bible says that He did.

A. True; and it says also, what you have just quoted, that it "was made for man." Are you not a man?

B. Most certainly.

A. Then the Lord made the Sabbath for you, did He not?

B. I suppose so.

A. Then don't you think that common gratitude, if nothing more, requires you to keep it? Your coat was made by a fellow-man, and it will wear out in a little while, but you keep it because it was made for you; yet you reject the Sabbath for the same reason, although it was made by the Lord, and will last for ever. With what confidence can you meet the Lord when He inquires how you have used His gift? Surely the Sabbath of the Lord is deserving of as much appreciation as a coat made by man. If the Sabbath was made for you, the best thing you can do is to keep it.

"The Spirit of War" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

A noted general, now dead, once said that "war is hell." When we read of the battles of the warrior "with confused noise and garments rolled in blood," of desperate charges in which men become demons, regardless of their own lives, and possessed only with an insane desire to kill, it is easy to see that war could not be correctly described in any other way. It is indeed infernal, and its ruling spirit is the devil.

But it is not alone on the battlefield that the hellish character of war is shown. The spirit of war is Satanic, and just to the extent that one imbibes that spirit does he lose even the instincts of common humanity. An article in the New York Independent of May 9, entitled, "Japanese Women and the War," by Miss Umo Tsuda, head of the English Department of the Peeresses' School, Tokio, shows most clearly the blighting, withering effect that war has upon all the finer sensibilities that make men and women susceptible to influences from above. We quote only a few short paragraphs.

It is hardly necessary to state what is so well known, that Japan is intensely patriotic. "For the Country and the Emperor" is the motto engraved on the hearts of the people, and the war cry on the lips of the soldiers. It is believed that a death on the battle-field is the most glorious one possible. . . . Loyalty and physical courage are ranked as the highest virtues in much the same way that they were held among the Spartans.

That is the sentiment most consistent with war, and most necessary for its success; but it is death to morality. "Loyalty and physical courage" are counted by the possessor and the observer as more than making up for any moral defects; and the thought that "the death on the battle-field has washed out every other stain" necessarily tends to produce recklessness. But this is not all.

The husbands, brothers, and sons, who are sent out to danger and death, are given most ungrudgingly. No woman dares to utter a word of regret. Everything that is said or done must go only to show the joy that any one of the family is given the opportunity to serve his country; and though at heart the burden may be heavy, the anxiety wearing, and the pain of parting unbearable, not a word or gesture goes to show it. It is marvellous to see the self-control and fortitude exercised. Over and over again I have had occasion to notice and admire the wonderful spirit shown by all-young and old, weak and strong.

Every particle of human sympathy must be repressed and dried up; the maternal tenderness of woman must be turned to stone, to propitiate the demon who, by assuming the name "patriotism," makes his deluded victims imagine that he is God. Read further:-

Not even with the shadow of death over the household must there be undue grief shown. The loved one has died in honour and glory, his name remains reverenced, the death on the battle-field has washed out every other stain. According to the highest teachings, to mourn unduly for such an one, or to grudge his life, is to show a want of loyalty to the Emperor and patriotism to the country. The true wife or mother, in order to show her full appreciation of the glory of a brave man staff for his country, must stifle every demonstration of grief or sorrow, and thus, under all circumstances, not only maintain an outward calm and composer, but express in every way her joy in the honour of such a death. Nor am I exaggerating when I say that with the deepest grief there is really mingled only true joy.

Then follows an instance of this hardening. The commander of a war vessel was killed in an engagement. He left an aged mother, a wife, and three young children. As soon as his death was officially ascertained, a messenger was sent to convey the news to the family. The message was delivered to the wife, and before the messenger had left the house, it had reached the ears of the old mother, who, tottering into the room where the officer was awaiting, saluted and greeted him duly, and then, with dry eyes and clear voice said: "So it seems by your tidings that my son has been of some service this time." In this, as in many other cases, the only regret expressed by word or sign was that the loved one had not been spared to do more for his country.

All this is done "for the nation's glory." It is pitiable to think that such a glorification of the curse of war could be written by a woman, and most painful to see that it is published in a Christian paper without one word of adverse comment. When it is remembered that what would be called brutal murder, is patriotism, when nations are involved, and that this same "

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patriotism" is in these days, even by most professed Christians, counted a part, if not the principal part of Christianity, the prospect is most dark. But there is brightness ahead, and that is the assurance that the last battle is fast approaching, when God will make wars to "cease unto the ends of the earth," and will break the bow and cut the spear in sunder and burn the chariot in the fire, and that death and hell will be destroyed at the same time.

"Robbing the Church" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

The Church is the body of Christ, and He is "Head over all things to the church." Eph. i. 22, 23; v. 23. To His church He says, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth; go ye therefore and teach all nations, . . . and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. xxviii. 18-20. These words set forth very plainly the purpose for which the church exists in the earth, and the source from which she is to derive her power.

When the church allies herself with the State, or allows the State to ally itself with her, by direct "establishment," or by the indirect union so popular with even Nonconformists, the establishment of certain religious institutions by law, she thereby severs her union with Jesus Christ; for the State is of the world, and the world is not in harmony with God. The Bible plainly declares that whosoever will be a friend of the world is at enmity with God. James iv. 4. Severed from her spiritual Head, the church is as powerless for all that pertains to the execution of her Divine commission as is a headless man to engage in the activities of life. There are, of course, individuals in every such body who maintain their union with Christ and manifest spiritual life; but just in proportion as the members of a church enter into alliances with the powers of the world, her spirituality and power is lost.

This is the real robbery that concerns and should occupy the attention of religious people. By alliance with the State the church robs herself of that power with which the Lord endows her for the preaching of the Gospel. That power is the Gospel; for the Gospel "is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. i. 16. The Gospel is entirely distinct from any power of earth. And when a church has lost that power which is the Gospel, she has become a menace to mankind and not a help.

Tithes and offerings are due to God for the accomplishment of His work on earth, but not through any alliance with worldly power. The duty to render these is an individual duty between every man and his Maker. "Will a man rob God?" inquired the prophet Malachi of God's ancient people. "Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings." Mal. iii. 8.

It is God who is robbed by the withholding of means from His treasury, and He will take care of the robber. Every offering to God must be a willing offering (Ex. xxv. 2; 2 Cor. ix. 7); and for that reason alone He could not accept any offering obtained for Him through the machinery of the State; for the State represents force, compulsion. To force gifts from our fellow-men, friends and enemies alike, to be presented to us, would be counted by us as an insult; how much more then must such a method of filling His treasury be insulting and dishonouring to God!

"Unsavoury Superstition" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

With its nine million votaries in the United States the Catholic Church feels its need of relics to stimulate the superstitious veneration which is so profitable to the church in Europe. So the American churches have begun to import from Europe the remains of such saints as they can secure. Only a few weeks ago the body of "Saint Peregrinus" was removed from Germany to New York, where it rests in a Catholic church. An American paper says of the new importation:-

"This is the second Catholic church in that city which has a dead saint within its walls, and its members feel highly elated. Other churches will not be outdone, and so we may expect quite an increase of the business of bringing dead saints here. Talk about the "heathen Chinese" who send the bodies of their dead back to China! Here is a heathenism fully as great, and otherwise intelligent Americans participate in it. Dead saints, forsooth! What the world wants are living saints. A dead saint may fan a spark of credulity into a blaze of superstition; but a living saint will kindle a fire of faith that will lead to a better life. An intelligent Christianity would suggest that the dead saints-if saints they were-be allowed to sleep undisturbed until the resurrection, but that living saints should exert all their powers to rescue the perishing, and teach the principles of the Gospel."

"Unsatisfactory Wages" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

The person who labours for popularity and applause receives very unsatisfactory wages. Success brings no satisfaction; for popular reputation is so transient a thing that the life is worn feverish and fretful in the effort to hold it. It was pitiful to read in the reports of the last days of Robert Louis Stevenson, the novelist, that he was greatly worried by the fear that his popularity was waning. And the other day a novelist, who has been successful in capturing popularity with

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works pandering to the modern taste and novels, said to an interviewer:-

Literature is a precarious calling, and success depends on many circumstances. Absolute merit in a book does not of itself ensure success. An external matter, the humour of the public, may destroy a work of genius. Barnum brought Tom Thumb here when Benjamin Haydon was exhibiting his pictures. Tom Thumb became the rage, the interest in Haydon's pictures disappeared, and he went and committed suicide. But my point is that the greatest author may have, and as a matter of fact every famous author of the country has had, a period of eclipse. Scott, Eliot, Dickens, George Eliot, Charles Reads, Wilkie Collins-they all, after they had achieved a reputation, experienced waves of depression and unpopularity.

Oh, the hollowness of it all! Yet the desire for the good opinion of the world, or even of a few associates, is the ruling passion in human nature-that for which men desire wealth, and to attain which they will even sacrifice wealth. It holds people back from obeying the Lord, and makes them slaves to vanity. The Lord has something better than that for us-not slavery, but the freedom of the Lord. He points us to that list of worthies who live not to please the world, but who obtained this testimony, that they "pleased God." There is satisfaction, full and complete, in that.

"Good and Bad Counsel" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

The world is generally ready to give advice to Christians in matters pertaining to their religious life; but those who would lead the life that is pleasing to God would do well to remember that such advice comes from the poorest possible source. Here is an illustration:-

"Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, he fall down and worship the image which I have made, well; but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace."

This was the counsel given by the government of Babylon to the three Hebrew officials who persisted in disregarding the law of the land by refusing to bow down to the king's image. Nebuchadnezzar seems to have been somewhat loth to use these three eminent men, so he offered them a second opportunity, and said if they would then fall down and worship, it would be well.

Well? Yes; there was no doubt about it from the government's point of view. But it would have been anything but well for them if they had followed this eminent advice. As it was, they were cast into the fiery furnace; and what was the result?-A glorious meeting with the Son of God, their Redeemer, in which they walked and communed with Him face to face! The brightest and most rapturous moments of their lives were those which they spent in that fiery furnace.

That was well for them-exceedingly well; but exactly contrary to all results calculated from a human standpoint. The worldly advice given them was friendly and well meant, but it did not come from a competent source. The world is never competent to give advice which will secure real and permanent success in anything. The deed dictated by worldly wisdom perishes; but that done in the counsel of God lives for ever.

If we hearken to the voice of the Lord and heed His counsel, well; but if not, we shall finally be cast into a furnace of fire from which there will be no escape. Matt. xiii. 42. The Lord has counselled us abundantly, for all His Word is counsel, written for our learning and admonition.

Jesus says, "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." Rev. iii. 18. We want that which has been tried in the fire, because only that will endure in the fire; for we must be tried by fire; we have been chosen in the furnace of affliction. Isa. xlviii. 10. This experience is necessary to fit us to stand at the presence of God; for "our God is a consuming fire."

The devil, who was behind Nebuchadnezzar's image making and his decree for its compulsory worship, is still as interested and as active as ever in this line of work. There is still a fiery furnace for those who will not worship the god of gold. But the history of these three men of faith is before us for our encouragement. They are "witnesses" about us, that we may run with patience the race before us. Heb. xii. 1.

Then let us not shrink from the furnace, for there we shall meet with the Son of God and be with Him as we could not be outside. "When thou passest through the fire, I will be with thee." Isa. xliii. 2. And let us not take counsel of the world, which would point out some way by which we might escape. There is no way of escape but will require bowing down to the image. Let us not deliberate or parley with the power that suggests it. We shall be happy and free in the furnace, in the company of our Divine Redeemer.

"'As Others See Us'" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

The poet Burns wrote,-

"O wad some power the fiftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us."

I have never had this opportunity, but last summer I came near enough to it to be able to form a very good idea.

A small party of us were visiting the extreme northern point of Denmark. It is perfectly correct to say "point," because the land, which is there nothing but sand, tapers gradually down until only the merest speck can be seen above water. The coast is exceedingly dangerous, because the sand reefs, which are very numerous, are continually shifting their position, and vessels that ground on them are helpless. Accordingly the Government has erected a lighthouse close by the coast, as a guide to the mariners. This lighthouse is one hundred and fifty feet high, and is provided with a most powerful light.

To ascend this lighthouse and enjoy the grand sea-view that is afforded from the top, was one of the important incidents of our visit. Having feasted our eyes with the glorious sight, we went inside to inspect the light-giving apparatus. The brass lamp which affords the light is in the centre of a reflector about eight or ten feet high, and perhaps as great in diameter. The glass of which it is composed is very thick, and so arranged as to magnify the flame.

As we were examining this fine piece of work, and peering at the lamp inside, our attention was attracted to some of our friends on the opposite side. What strange figures they presented! Their faces seemed greatly distorted, and as they opened their mouths in talking, their teeth seemed like tusks six or eight inches long. They looked so very funny that we involuntarily burst into laughter. At the same time they saw us, and also began laughing. This made them look still more ridiculous, and we laughed the more, and they did likewise. No one could see himself, but we knew that we must present the same spectacle to them that they did to us, so that they were laughing at us for the same reason that we were laughing at them. And the more we laughed at them, the more reason we gave them for laughing at us.

I could not help thinking that there we had an excellent representation of the world in general. We laugh at others, or criticise them for the ridiculous things we see in them, forgetting that they from their point of view can see just as ridiculous things in us. We often condemn them for the very things of which we are guilty.

As for ourselves, we know that we are often misjudged; that we are not as our critics think we are. This should be sufficient to teach us that it is quite sure to be the same way with those whom we judge. When we were in the lighthouse, we knew that our features were as regular as usual; but when we went round to where our friends were, and saw them as they were, we found that they were very good-looking people, with none of the deformities that they appeared to have when we saw them through the glass.

Even so we shall find it to be in the end. "For now we see through a glass, darkly;" but the time is coming when we shall see "face to face." Now we know only in part; but then we shall know even as we are known. Our knowledge is now very limited and imperfect, and we do not see things as they really are; but then our knowledge will be perfect, and we shall see everything just as it is. And this is why we are exhorted to "judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." 1 Cor. iv. 5.

"Tuberculous Foods" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

The excessive use of animal foods is an undoubted evil, and one to which scientific investigators are being forced to give greater attention. The following from the Westminster Gazette conveys a timely warning:-

"Food derived from tuberculous animals can produce tuberculosis in healthy animals;" and "the actual amount of tuberculous disease among certain classes of food animals is so large as to afford to man frequent occasions for contracting tuberculous disease through his food." These are the most important findings of the Royal Commission which has just reported on this subject. Cooking, of course, kills the germs-a fact of which the man who prefers his cut of roast "underdone" would do well to take note. Equally important is the statement of the Commissioners concerning the practice of drinking raw milk-a practice which they unanimously condemn. Milk, indeed, when "pure," has much to answer for in the dissemination of disease, and, whether from a healthy animal or not, is dangerous unless boiled. It would be a good thing if the conclusions of the Commissioners could be printed and sown broadcast over the country, for among the poorer classes the ignorance on the matters with which they deal is complete. Perhaps the vegetarians may seize the opportunity; the Report at all events should prove excellent grist for their mill.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

-Great mortality from fevers prevails among the French troops in Madagascar.

-Cholera has reappeared in Russia, and an epidemic of considerable proportions is feared.

-About 600 newspapers and periodicals are published in India, in sixteen different languages.

-Seven men were killed near Kiel, and six in Lisbon harbour, by explosions on shipboard, May 27.

-It is announced that another parliament of religions will be held in connection with the Paris World's Fair in 1900.

-An international fleet of over 100 war vessels will assemble in German waters next month for the opening of the Baltic Canal.

-The most powerful cruiser afloat is the Terrible recently launched on the Clyde for the British navy. She will have a crew of 900 men.

-Russian engineers are studying a route for a waterway to connect the White Sea with the Baltic. The total distance to be covered is about 180 miles.

-The list of ships captured from China's navy by the Japanese in the late war comprises one ironclad, two cruisers, nine gunboats, and eight torpedo boats.

-News was received at San Francisco, May 28, of the foundering of the Pacific Mail steamship Colima off the Mexican coast, with the loss of 170 lives.

-A Vienna press correspondent states that a grave political crisis is imminent there, which may involve the existence of the Government. The chief difficulty is the state of the franchise.

-A severe earthquake shock lasting a minute was felt at Mombasa, East Africa, May 26. No loss of life or damage to property is reported, but at Malindi, higher up the coast, several houses fell.

-News was received May 28 of the wreck of the French steamship Don Pedro, on the northwest Spanish coast. The ship ran on a sunken rook, and her boilers exploded. It is feared that over 100 persons on board were drowned.

-Affairs in Morocco are stated to be bordering close upon anarchy. The greater part of the Khabyles are in full force against the Imperial authority, and the Imperial Government seems absolutely powerless to establish even a semblance of order.

-The island of Formosa, ceded to Japan by China as part of the war indemnity, has declared itself a republic, relying apparently on the help of Spain or some other European power. A despatch from Shanghai says: "The China Gasette asserts that the Chinese Government has concocted the Formosa rebellion. All the Shanghai papers endorse this opinion, and call upon the Powers to make an end of the present situation by dividing China."

-Recently at Danville, Ill., U.S.A., a mob broke into the county jail and secured two murderers lodged in it, whom they had determined to lynch; and when urged by the Circuit Judge, who came upon the scene, to let the law take its course, replied that while no doubt the law would condemn them to execution, they would be pardoned by the Socialist governor of the State, who had already pardoned similar cases. The prisoners were lynched.

-Considerable excitement has been caused in French naval circles by the published report of a naval officer respecting some recent trials of battleships by a Special Committee of Inquiry, the officer declaring that the investigation revealed that the ironclads were top beery and unstable to a degree which rendered them wholly unsafe for a stormy sea, and were also so vulnerable in certain parts that projectiles of only medium calibre striking them would send them to the bottom.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 23.

E. J. Waggoner

It may seem a very light and easy thing to be a friend of the world; but it involves the infinitely heavy task of being an enemy of God. Jas. iv. 4.

God is the employer who has good employment for every one who comes to Him, gives much better paid than the work done merits, looks after the highest welfare of His employÈs, and never reduces wages.

In spite of the activity of temperance people, intemperance is rapidly gaining. Mr. J. H. Raper, the veteran temperance worker, recently said that in all his sixty-two years' experience he had never met with such appalling instances of drunkenness among men and women of the upper and middle classes as during the last three years.

While in Madagascar Christians are doubtless praying that war may yet be averted and that homes may not be pillaged and friends slaughtered, in France prayers are being offered in the churches for the Madagascar expedition, by which, as an order from Cardinal Richard says, France is accomplishing her mission of diffusing Christian civilisation.

The devil led Eve to sin by causing her to doubt the word of the Lord. His task would have been even easier than it was if Eve had not known what the word of the Lord was; and that is one chief reason why he finds it so easy to lead people into sin in these days. God has given His Word, but for the most part men neglect to inform themselves concerning it.

Some men spend a great deal of time and energy trying to prove that the ten commandments are not now in force. This effort is expended mostly for the purpose of satisfying their conscience for their disregard of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. But the effort itself shows its futility; for if the law were really not in force, and men knew it, they would not be in the least disturbed by the preaching of it. It is the conviction produced by the living force that is in the law of God, which stores men up to combat it. But even this fight against the law is not wholly lost, since many find it hard to kick against the pricks, and yield to its power.

A bill has already passed the lower house of the Legislature of Florida (U.S.A.), making it a punishable offence for any school, public or private, not to allow white and coloured students to be educated together, and also forbidding any white people to teach in the coloured schools. And yet many people imagine that the very name "nineteenth century" stands for enlightenment and Christianity.

The New York Independent, referring to the foregoing, says, "There will be a chance for some minor martyrdom, if this law passes; for we cannot imagine that Christian people will be willing to obey it." Of course they will not, for they could not obey it and still be Christians. The reason why they could not is that the law is directly opposed to the precepts of the Bible. And that is just the reason why seventh-day observers cannot obey a Sunday law. We are glad to see the principle recognised, that it is a wicked thing to obey a wicked law.

A religious contemporarary says:-

Intelligence and learning have little to do with credulity or the absence of it. No one can produce anything so absurd that some highly and informed man has not believed, or so true and reasonable that some learned person has not rejected.

This is a simple matter of fact, and should serve to prevent people from following the wake of some learned man or men. No matter how good or learned a man may be, he is liable to be mistaken. Christ is the only one whose example it is perfectly safe to follow.

When the motion that no committees sit on Ascension Day was under discussion in the House of Commons, one member stated that he supported the motion on the ground that "the great council of the nation in Parliament assembled, ought not to ignore the cardinal points of the Christian faith." Truly things are turned upside down. Things but incidentally mentioned in the Bible are exalted as "cardinal points of the Christian faith," while things positively commanded are ignored as of no importance. The exact day of Christ's ascension is not even stated in the Bible, and much less is there any hint that it is different from other days, yet it is observed; while the Sabbath of the Lord, which He has most particularly marked and sanctified, is utterly neglected. Much that is called Christianity would not be recognised by Christ.

In a recent sermon from Col. iii. 1, Dean Farrar gave utterance to the truth that "baptism, as administered, in the apostolic age, by immersion, represented two acts, namely, a disappearance of sin, and an emergence of righteousness." But he did not tell why this apostolic custom is not now followed. It is passing strange that a church which bases its whole right to insist upon the supposition that its bishops are the lineal descendants of the apostles, should ignore truths and practices which its bishops admit that the apostles held.

In some of the cities of Italy a movement toward Sunday rest has been started. A "Holy League" has been formed at Brescia, with the approval of the Bishop. With a view to having all sign a pledge to close shops and cease from working on all festive days, an indulgence of forty days is offered to anyone who says the prayer of the League. The Protestant minister has said that he and his congregation would join the League if no mention was made of indulgences, and if it was made evident that the pledge referred to Sundays only. But why he accepts the Sunday, and objects to other festivals established by the same authority, he does not tell.

Much is made of the fact that all, whether nations or individuals, who seek to coerce men in matters of religion, are opposing human rights, since God has given to every man the freedom of personal choice. This is all true and good; but it is not the most serious indictment that may be brought against interference in matters of religion. Since God gives men freedom of choice as to whether or not they will serve Him, whoever seeks to deprive anyone of the exercise of that choice, is opposing God, and not man only. To seek to deprive men of freedom in matters of religion is to seek to overthrow the Government and plan of God.

June 13, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

"With God nothing shall be impossible." Luke i. 37.

"Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." Jer. xxxii. 17.

Knowing this fact, we may with confidence obey the exhortation: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." Ps. xxxvii. 5.

And yet we often hear men say, "I know I ought to serve the Lord, but it is impossible. I should like to keep the Sabbath, but it is impossible in my circumstances."

Such words come from lack of confidence in God's power to work in us to will and to do His good pleasure, whenever we yield to His will. Or it may be from a secret fear that if we do yield to Him He will bring it to pass.

When the father of the afflicted child cried out in agony to the Lord, "If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us," Jesus exclaimed, "If thou canst!" to show him that a doubt as to the Lord's power to do whatever He pleased was not to be entertained for a moment, and then added, "All things are possible to him that believeth." Mark iv. 22, 23, Revised Version.

Some people take refuge under the rendering of the old version, "If thou canst believe," and say that it is impossible for them to believe. But that is not true. God has dealt to every man the measure of faith (Rom. xii. 3) by revealing His own faithfulness. No man has ever yet known God to lie, and therefore it is easy to believe Him. His faithfulness is written in the heavens. Ps. xxxvi. 5.

It was impossible for the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea; but by faith in God they passed through it as on dry land. It was impossible for them to take Jericho; but by faith the walls of Jericho fell. So let those who have difficult duties to perform remember those "who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong" (Heb. xi. 33, 34), and remember that the same God who worked in them is as powerful to-day as He ever was.

"Filling All Things" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

In his prayer at the dedication of the temple, Solomon said, "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built!" 2 Chron. vi. 18.

In this question there is no implied doubt of the fact that God dwells on the earth with men. On the contrary, the words that follow the question show most clearly that God does dwell on earth. For if the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain God, it is manifest that He must also dwell on the earth. The point made by Solomon is that no one spot on earth can be God's dwelling-place, since even the heavens are not sufficient to contain Him. Nothing less than the whole universe is sufficient. Therefore the Lord does indeed dwell with men on the earth, as He has from the beginning. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit." Isa. lvii. 15.

No place can be found or mentioned where God is not. "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me." Ps. cxxxix. 7-10.

The only place where God does not dwell is in the hearts of proud, rebellious, stubborn men. And even there He stands at the door and knocks for admittance. Rev. iii. 20. Pride and rebellion usurped God's rightful place in the hearts of men, so that now He stands as a suppliant, pleading for admission to His rightful kingdom. His pleading is not evidence of weakness, but of forbearance and love; for "the longsuffering of our God is salvation." 2 Peter iii. 15. And it is the pursuance of the object for which Christ "ascended up far above all heavens," namely, "that He might fill all things." Eph. iv. 10.

God's purposes will all be fulfilled at last. God will ultimately fill all things, even every heart. What then are those who stubbornly resist Him, and proudly determine that He shall not dwell with them? What will be their portion?-Simply non-existence. For when the time comes that God fills all things, it is evident that those who

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absolutely refuse to allow Him to fill them must be blotted from the universe.

But none will suffer this sad fate except those who refuse God's presence. And since He is seeking to fill all things, all that is necessary is to be open to receive Him. He will come wherever there is an opening for Him, and will fill the trusting soul with "all joy and peace," since in His presence is fulness of joy.

"This Unstable Earth" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

One can hardly glance over the newspaper record of current events without being reminded that we live in a time of "earthquakes in divers places." The foundations of old earth are becoming decidedly shaky, and could they be examined by a corp of expert architects or engineers, the structure which rests upon them would doubtless be pronounced unsafe, though they would be powerless to furnish a remedy.

And indeed, a competent Architect has spoken upon the subject, and given the inhabitants of the earth solemn warning of the instability of the structure on which they live. And this Architect is He who first made the earth, and therefore is competent to speak the truth. See Ps. xlvi. 2; Isa. xxiv. 19, 20; Joel iii. 16; Haggai ii. 6; Luke xxi. 38, etc.

But the same authority has said, "My word shall not pass away;" "the word of our God shall stand fast for ever." Isa. xl. 8. This is our hope, and the only hope of all the world. This is our way of escape; for this word has been given us as a foundation for eternity. Then are you standing on the word? or merely on the earth?

"Caste and Christianity" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

Christianity annihilates caste. Jesus Christ came from the throne of God to the station of the lowliest man of earth, and in this He broke down every barrier between them. He was "meek and lowly in heart," and so poor that He had not where to lay His head. He took upon Him the form of a servant, and was among men as one that serveth, and not as a lord or a "gentleman." Yet in all this He retained His Divinity; for God was in Him, doing the works that He did. John xiv. 10. And therefore there is not a barrier that God has erected or that He upholds between the lowliest station upon earth and His own throne. Men have made barriers between themselves and those they deem their inferiors; and certain distinctions and classes are recognised by "society;" but we are plainly told that there is no respecter of persons with God. Jesus Christ bore down every "middle wall of partition," and left for every man a straight, clear path to the place He Himself occupies upon the throne of the Infinite. Rev. iii. 21.

Not even cherubim and seraphim bar our way; they are no higher caste. The angel that brought the revelation of Christ to John, said, when John fell at his feet to worship him, "See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant; and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book; worship God." Rev. xxii. 8, 9. Any man therefore who puts a barrier between himself and his fellow-men must at the same time barricade himself away from God; for it must be outside of that path which God has opened from earth to Himself; and He will never get into that path until he takes his barrier down.

"'How Can I Tell?'" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

A short time ago we received a letter from an inquiring friend, from which we take the following words, which contain the gist of the whole:-

I desire to do the will of the Lord. How can I tell which day I should keep? If I can be convinced that I am in the wrong, at any cost I'll adopt the other day.

We are sure that there are hundreds of other people who are in the same condition, who will see this paper, and therefore we write for the benefit of them all. There are very many who desire to do the will of the Lord in the matter of Sabbath observance as well as in other things, but who are yet in doubt as to what that will is. We ask such to take up with us a brief study of the subject.

THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY

When we know where we may find an answer to a question, it is half answered. For our part we accept the Bible as the final authority in all matters pertaining to our duty to God and to men. If our inquiring friends accept the same standard, we shall have little trouble in arriving at a solution of the difficulty. The Psalmist says, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. cxix. 105. Therefore we must expect it to shed light upon this question.

Again we read, "Through Thy precepts I get understanding." Verse 104. Therefore if we study the precepts of the Word of God we shall understand this matter as well as others. But in studying those precepts, we must be sure to listen to the voice of the Lord alone, and must avoid listening to the construction of men, and our own included.

Again we read the words of the same psalm, "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." Verse 11. Then if we have that word not simply in our minds, but in our very lives, we shall be kept from all sin. On the contrary, if that word does not control our lives, we shall be sure to sin.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. Therefore if we follow the Scriptures, we shall do everything that is necessary to be accounted perfect before God. No human addition is needed. But no word of God must be neglected, for man cannot live except "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. iv. 4.

With these assurances as to the authority of the Word of God, let us begin our brief search.

IN THE BEGINNING

is the place where we ought to begin. We read that "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen. i. 1. The remainder of the chapter gives the work of each day of creation, and at the close we are told that "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening in the morning were the sixth day." Verse 31. Then the record continues:-

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. ii. 1-3.

Here we have the record of the institution of the Sabbath. The first Sabbath was the seventh day of the first week of time. "The seventh day," not merely a seventh part of time, was blessed and sanctified, because it was the day of the Lord's rest.

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To sanctify a thing is to set apart that thing as sacred to a certain purpose. See the record concerning Mount Sinai and the cities of refuge, in Ex. xix. 12, 23; Josh. xx. 7-9, and margin of verse 7. Therefore the sanctification of the seventh day of the week by the Lord in the beginning, was the appointment of it as the sacred rest day for all mankind. That it was for all mankind is shown by the fact that it was given to Adam, the head of the human race; and to this agree the words of the Lord Jesus. "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark ii. 27.

The record of creation gives the origin of the week. There are seven days in the week, and the Sabbath, the last of the seven, rules it. The measurement of time by weeks is as old as creation, and has continued ever since, and will continue to all eternity, for the Sabbath is to endure that long. See Isa. lxvi. 22. We know also that "whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever." Eccl. iii. 14.

IN THE WILDERNESS

When the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt it was "that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws." Ps. cv. 45. Accordingly when they murmured on account of hunger in the wilderness, a few weeks after leaving Egypt, the Lord said unto Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no." Ex. xvi. 4.

Read the entire chapter, and you will find that the people were to go out and gather manna each morning for that day. They were to leave none of it until the next morning, for if they did it would breed worms, and be offensive. On the sixth day of the week, however, they were to gather twice as much as on other days, and the extra portion was to be kept over for the next day's use, since on the seventh day of the week none fell. And although it was ordinarily impossible to keep the manna overnight, without its utterly spoiling, no such trouble was experienced on the seventh day, for on that day they found that what remained over from the preceding day was sweet and good for food.

"And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." Ex. xvi. 27-29.

From this it appears that the Sabbath is the test of whether or not men will keep the law of God. Whoever will keep the Sabbath in spirit and in truth will keep whole law of God. Whoever refuses to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, thereby shows that his apparent obedience to any other requirement of the Lord is not out of reverence to God, but because of some selfish motive.

AT SINAI

Not many days after the first appearance of the manna, the children of Israel came to Sinai. There, after suitable preparation had been made, the Lord came down in awful majesty, and spoke His law "out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice" (Deut. v. 22) which shook the earth. Heb. v. 26. On that occasion the Lord spoke the ten commandments, and nothing more, and He wrote them with His own finger on two tables of stone. See Deut. v. 22; x. 4. The fourth commandment reads thus:-

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 8-11.

Here we find that the facts of creation are the foundation of the Sabbath. Therefore we know that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is identical with the Sabbath that was sanctified at the close of the first week of time.

A DEFINITE DAY

Moreover we know that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is a fixed, definite day of the week. How do we know this? We know it first from the fact that the giving of the commandment followed very closely after the giving of the manna, by which the Sabbath were shown to be unalterably fixed to a certain day of the week,-the seventh day. By a series of miracles repeated every week for forty years, the Lord showed that His Sabbath was a definite day of the week, and that it was to be honoured above all the other days of the week. During that forty years it was impossible for anyone to be in the slightest doubt as to what day of the week was the Sabbath. It was the day of the week that was thus fixed, and guarded on all sides, that God from Sinai declared to be His Sabbath.

Further, we know from the record of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, that the commandment requires the observance of a certain day of the week,-the seventh,-and not an indefinite seventh part of time. In the Gospel of Luke we are told that the day of the crucifixion "was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared." Luke xxiii. 54-56; xxiv. 1.

From the record in Mark (xvi. 1) we learn that the women came "when the Sabbath was past." But they came on "the first day of the week." Then it is evident that the Sabbath was the day before. But since there are but seven days in the week, it follows that the day before the first day of the week must necessarily be the seventh day of the week. Therefore the day on which they rested was the seventh day of the week. But they rested "the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Therefore it is as certain as Inspired Scripture can make it that the seventh day according to the commandment is the seventh day of the week.

THE SABBATH UNCHANGED

The Scriptures that we have already studied sufficiently point out the true Sabbath of the Lord. There are therefore only two questions that can by any possibility cause any doubt in the minds of any, and they are, first, Has the Sabbath been changed? and second, Can we be certain which day is the seventh day of the week, and thus the Sabbath of the commandment? These questions are not at all difficult, and may be answered in few words.

As to the first, we have the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as He sat upon the mountain teaching the people the

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great principles of His kingdom. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. v. 17-19.

This of itself should be sufficient to settle the question as to the possibility of any change in the Sabbath. But Christ continued, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Verse 20. The scribes and Pharisees were very scrupulous in their observance of the ten commandments, but they cared nothing for having them in their hearts. Outwardly, however, they kept the ten commandments, just as they were written, very strictly. Jesus did not reprove them for their observance of the letter of the law, but for not keeping it in spirit and in truth. He did not warn His disciples against observing the law, but warned them that they must observe it a great deal better than the scribes and Pharisees did. Our righteousness must "exceed" theirs. That is, it must go beyond theirs. It must include not only the observance of the letter of the law, but also the keeping of the spirit and life of the law, as it is in Christ.

When the Lord has once spoken, a thousand repetitions would not make what He says any the more sure. Therefore we can accept it as a settled fact that the law is enforced to-day just the same as when it was spoken from Sinai and written by the finger of God. Not a letter has been changed.

THE DAY NOT LOST

The question if we can be sure that the day commonly known as Saturday is indeed the real seventh day of the week, counting from the creation of the world, seems to trouble some. But it need not, since nothing is more impossible than that the reckoning of the days of the week should have been lost. Single individuals have been known to make a mistake in their reckoning, but they have since been set right by their neighbours. But that an entire neighbourhood should on the very same day make a mistake as to the day of the week, and that all should make the same mistake, is a thing beyond the fancy of the wildest imagination. But if the present seventh day of the week is not the same as the seventh day of creation, then that mistake must at some time have been made not only by one neighbourhood but by the whole world. If there were a disagreement in different parts of the world as to the days of the week, then there would be a certainty that the reckoning had been lost by some people, and there would be room for question as to which party was correct. But since there is no disagreement, the only ground on which it can be supposed that the reckoning of the day has been lost, is that on some Wednesday morning, for instance, all the inhabitants of the world awoke with the notion that it was Thursday. Of course the supposition is most absurd, but it is no more absurd than is the supposition that the true reckoning of the days of the week has been lost.

As we have seen, the seventh day at Sinai is identical with that of creation. God's own Word establishes that. Hundreds of years afterwards the children of Israel were given into the hands of the Babylonians because they had persistently violated the Sabbath, thus showing that it had not been lost; for God would not punish them for a mistake made through ignorance. When the Lord lived on the earth He recognised as the Sabbath the day which the Jews were keeping, so that we know that the count had been kept straight up to eighteen hundred years ago. Ever since the time of Christ the Jews and many Christians have kept the Sabbath day according to the commandment, while from within two or three hundred years of that time the majority of professed Christians have observed the first day of the week. The Jews were soon dispersed, and have ever since been found in every part of the world, and observers of the first day are also as widely scattered; yet everywhere we find the Jews agreed as to which day is the Sabbath, and nowhere have observers of the first day of the week been found trying to enforce the observance of the seventh day under the supposition that it was Sunday. We may rest assured that the day has not been lost.

THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST

"He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." 1 John ii. 6. No one has yet been found with the hardihood to assert, in the face of the Gospel record, that Jesus ever observed any other day than the seventh,-the same day that the Jews observed. It is true that the Pharisees did accuse the Lord of breaking the Sabbath day, because He did not heed their false notion; but He demonstrated His innocence, and in so doing incidentally showed that the seventh day is the true and only Lord's day.

Thus, it was when Jesus and His disciples were going through the fields on the Sabbath day that the Pharisees accused the disciples of breaking the Sabbath, because they plucked and ate the corn as they walked. That day was the seventh day of the week, for it was the day which the Jews regarded as the Sabbath. The seventh day of the week, and no other, was the day under consideration. And it was of that very day that Jesus said, "The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark ii. 28. It is most certain, therefore, that Jesus called the seventh day of the week the Sabbath, and Himself its Lord. Thus demonstrating that the seventh day is the Lord's day.

It was the custom of Jesus to observe the Sabbath day, and to meet on that day for worship with those who observed it. Luke iv. 16. Here is an example for us to follow. Does someone suggest that Jesus did this because He was a Jew, and was living among the Jews? Very well; all that He did on this earth He did as a Jew. It is by His life that we are saved; and all that we know of His life is the life which He lived as a Jew. But let no one dare imagine that because Jesus was brought up among the Jews He lived as He would not have lived under other circumstances. He was not a time-server. There is none of His life that we are to reject. It is as a whole a perfect example.

THE TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT

The use of the word "Sabbath" in the New Testament is incidently one of the strongest evidences that there has been no change in the Sabbath, and that Christians shall observe no other day as the Sabbath than the seventh day of the week. The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles were written many years after the events that they record took place. Yet not only is there no hint given that the Sabbath was to be different from what it had been from the beginning, but the seventh day is spoken of as "the

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Sabbath." There is no possibility for doubt that the day called "Sabbath" throughout the New Testament is the seventh day of the week. But it is never referred to as "the former Sabbath," or "the Jewish Sabbath," or anything of the kind. It is called the Sabbath, just as though the writers had never heard of any change, as indeed they have not.

But the Holy Spirit is the Author and Inspirer of the New Testament. The language of the Gospels is the language of the Spirit of God. One great work of the Spirit of truth is to lead into all truth. Therefore we are bound to accept as truth whatever the Spirit says. Since the Spirit of God calls the seventh day the Sabbath, that is evidence that we are to do the same. In the Book of Revelation we are frequently exhorted, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Shall we not demonstrate that we have ears?

A NEW CREATION

Some people object to the fact that so much is made of the particular day of the Sabbath. They say that the Sabbath is spiritual. So it is, and it should never be considered as anything else. But all must see that we must have a Sabbath day before we can consider its spirituality. "Spiritual" does not mean unreal or non-existent. What use to talk about the spirituality of a thing that has to us no definite existence? If our friends did not raise the question as to the existence of the Sabbath, there would be no need to talk about it; but let no one think that in dwelling upon the definiteness of the Sabbath day we are unmindful of its spirituality. We may abstain from labour on the very day of the Sabbath, and yet not keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord. But that does not warrant us in ignoring the day of the Sabbath. We may abstain from taking human life, and still not keep the sixth commandment; but that does not warrant us in killing men.

In the beginning God sanctified the Sabbath as a memorial of His creative power. He set it apart for the use of men, in order to remind them of His power to sanctify them. See Eze. xx. 12. The Sabbath, which calls attention to creation, and thus shows God's eternal power (Rom. i. 20), makes known the sanctifying power of God, since sanctification is the exercise of creative power. "Create in me a clean heart." Ps. li. 10. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." 2 Cor. v. 17. Or, as the Revision has it, "there is a new creation." Christ is Creator, and He created all things. Col. i. 16. The Sabbath comes to us from Eden, when the earth was new, to remind us of the power of God in Christ to make us new creatures, as perfect as man and all things were in the beginning. And this will be its office throughout eternity; for the Lord says of the time when He shall have made all things new, and shall have made men also new, that they may fittingly inherit His new creation: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. lxvi. 22, 23.

Some of the questions that have been raised concerning special texts, with reference to the Sabbath, will be considered later.

"Eternal Youth" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

Everything that is of eternal value keeps living and fresh. It cannot grow old; it is never lost in that which is buried by the hand of time. Decay and ruin are signs of the presence of sin. Where sin is, there sooner or later must come a burial.

Earth has many burial grounds of the works and devices of man-works that could not endure for the wickedness of their makers-where lie interred many a form of sin and error; but the uncovered monuments of antiquity disclose no buried truth and purity and beauty that can add to the adornment of character or make life more worth living. These exist because God exists, just as light must exist where there is a sun; and the character that is all truth and purity and beauty can therefore know no death. It can never grow old; it can never lose its freshness and beauty.

Therefore the way to keep young and to retain the freshness and beauty of youth, is to be separate from all sin. Sinful flesh must of necessity incline toward decay and the grave; but God will in His appointed time clothe the sinless character with sinless flesh, and then all eternity can never take away from us our youth.

"Affliction in Resisting Temptation" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

We are exhorted to resist the devil "steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." Jas. v. 9. What a great mistake, then, to imagine that afflictions must be an evidence of God's displeasure. This leads also to the error of thinking that one who serves the Lord ought to have a smooth and easy life. Afflictions come from resisting the temptations of the devil, and resisting them "steadfast in the faith." And this is as true to-day as when the words were written by the apostles. Science and civilisation have not smoothed the pathway of the Christian. That still leads to Gethsemane and Calvary. But beyond these is the resurrection and eternal life.

"The 'Barbarous' West" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

In the eyes of many the pugilist may rank above the quiet, industrious workman, and the power that can fight best may stand highest in popular estimation. It is the proper thing now to despise the Chinese, who have shown themselves a nation that cannot fight. But the Echo, in the following paragraph, suggests another point of view, possibly that of the industrious inland population, as they look at the nations that are devoting their men and money to the highest development of the fighting art:-

"The Chinese define a barbarian as one who puts brute force above moral force. Is it wonderful that our civilisation does not dazzle them, and that they continue to regard us as barbarians? Did the sacking of the Summer Palace inspire in them high notions of our morality? Our prowess, our victories, they regard with disdain, and our engines of war do not provoke their admiration. They have used European weapons, it is true, but only for the sake of defending themselves, and remaining still Chinese. The defeat they have suffered will make them more Chinese than ever. Those who predict a great awakening, by which they mean a mimicry of European habits and the adoption and purchase of European manufactures, will probably find themselves disappointed, M. de Saussure is right in saying that we produce the same effect on the Chinese that the hordes of Attila did on a Greek philosopher."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

-Earthquake shocks continue to be reported from Austria and Greece.

-Great damage has been caused to the crops in Spain by recent torrents of rain.

-New reinforcements are to be sent to Cuba from Spain, and it is evident that the insurrection is still formidable.

-Recently at Ottawa, Canada, a large timber raft was swept over some rapids in a river, and thirty-three men on it were drowned.

-Newfoundland has secured a loan of ?500,000, which will enable her to carry on business, and, it is hoped, to tide over her present troubles.

-Bedouins have destroyed the cholera hospital at Jeddah, erected for pilgrims returning from Mecca.

-The revolution in Ecuador still continues, and seems likely to be successful, the Government forces having been defeated in several important battles.

-The oil district in northern Pennsylvania has been swept by a disastrous forest fire, which destroyed several million dollars' worth of property, including several towns.

-A great tidal wave has visited the northern coast of South America, causing an interruption of cable communication between Callao and Africa, and doing considerable damage at Mollendo and other ports.

-The money to pay the Chinese war indemnity is to be furnished by Russia at 5 per cent. interest, who in turn will raise it by a loan from France at 4 per cent. interest, and pocket the balance of interest, which will be over ?150,000 a year.

-The State Bank of Russia will next month dispose by public auction of no fewer than 3,980 estates, upon the mortgages of which the bank has been compelled to foreclose, the owners, nearly all of the noble class, being hopelessly insolvent.

-The church doors throughout the capital of Madagascar were recently covered with placards inciting the people to kill the Queen and her husband, and welcome the French. The mortality among the French troops in Madagascar is increasing daily,

-A crisis has been reached in the Armenian inquiry, owing to the apparent determination of Turkey not to accede to the demands of the European Powers concerning reforms in Armenian government. The Powers, however, are firm, and it is thought Turkey will soon crime to terms.

-From "trekkers" who are on their way to the Lake N'gami region of Africa, news has been received that beyond the Kalahari Desert there is a permanent and plentiful supply of water, and that the country is a magnificent and a healthy one, excelling both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.

-The "republic" in Formosa has collapsed under the attack of the Japanese forces sent to take possession of the island, with heavy loss to the natives who resisted them. The Chinese on the island have engaged in looting and rioting, in the course of which a powder magazine blew up, killing ninety person.

-The condition of public affairs in Macedonia, under Turkish rule, is stated from a trustworthy source to be little better than complete anarchy. The lives and property of Christens in Macedonia are entirely unprotected. Abduction and murder are everyday occurrences, and there is not a province which is not infested with brigands, or a village which has not furnished its victims.

-An extraordinary cloud-burst, attended by serious damage and probably considerable loss of life, occurred June n the Wurtemberg Black Forest district. At Balingen a dwelling-house, with its occupants, was swept away by the waters of the swollen river Eyach, and nine persons are missing. At Frommern four houses were destroyed, and nine persons have disappeared; while 15 persons are missing at Lauien.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

The Pope has addressed a letter to the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, warmly approving of the efforts made in that city for the promotion of Sunday rest.

The annual pilgrimages to Mecca the Mohammedan "holy city," have already begun, and the regular annual outbreaks of cholera is already reported, rather earlier than usual.

A Constantinople correspondent says of affairs there:-

A terrible fear reigns here among the people, especially the Turks. No one is certain about the morrow. Trade has been greatly injured. We do not know how long this will continue; but we pray God that He may use this condition for the advancement of His cause.

A new Society, called the Guild of St. James, has been started by the Episcopalians of America, with a view of promoting "the organisation of an organic religious union of all religious denominations, to present a front against heathenism, and to form a universal church with the Roman Catholic."

It is announced that an American congress of religion and education is to be held in Toronto, Canada, from July 18th to the 25th. It is to be composed of representative clergy and laymen from every country, province, and State of North and South America, including Catholics, Protestants, and Hebrews. The mere fact of such a congress, regardless of what is said and done, will be a great victory for Catholicism.

The authorities of Basel, Switzerland are still agitated over the question of Sunday labour. The director of the Seventh-day Adventist publishing house in that city was, as has been noted in these columns, fined, and his goods sold to satisfy it; then he was sentenced to three weeks' imprisonment, and a fine of 200 francs. He underwent the imprisonment, but the fine is yet unpaid. The office remained open six days in the week, Sunday included, and so, seemingly in desperation, the court has laid a fine of 500 francs upon the Central European Conference, which, by the way, does not control the publishing house. What steps will be taken to collect the fine remains to be seen; but the incident shows how strong the determination is to exalt the Sunday of Pope and Pagan above the Sabbath of the Lord.

It is in free Switzerland that the civil authorities throw the most obstacles in the way of Sabbath-keeping. Not content with prohibiting labour on Sunday, the laws seek to prohibit rest on the Sabbath. The following item comes in a letter:-

Several of our brethren at Bienne have been imprisoned for short terms, the longest being nine days, for not sending their children to school on the Sabbath. One of them was treated like a criminal, being kept on bread and water.

There are some who think that Sunday must needs be "protected" by law, else it cannot be kept; but these brethren are able to keep the Sabbath, even with the laws all against it.

"When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness," says Isaiah; but the prophet adds, "Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness." Isa. xxvi. 9, 10. The following from a letter describing the scenes attending the recent earthquake in Florence illustrates the scripture quoted:-

It was interesting to observe the different ways in which people were affected by the catastrophe. When the first great danger was over men began to show their ordinary characteristics. Parents with their little children around them looked grave, as well they might, but others blasphemed; some joked and laughed; others sang songs; and one group of fellows brought out a table into the piazza, stuck a candle on to it, and sat down to play at cards. I saw no one praying, and apparently very few were suitably impressed, or had an adequate idea of the danger they have escaped, if even they had yet escaped.

The Bible tells us that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless, the ungodly, and for sinners. So it is with God's law; but when men set themselves in opposition to God and His law, putting themselves in His place, they necessarily pervert every principle of right, and the result is that the law in their hands is against only the righteous, while sinners are unmolested. Thus, in sentencing a Seventh-day Adventist in Georgia for quietly doing his ordinary labour on Sunday, the judge said that it would not do to allow a good citizen like the prisoner, and one whom everybody respected, to work on Sunday. The sentence was a year in the chain-gang. So it appears that even now, in some parts of the world at least, it is dangerous to have a good character. Such perversions of justice are what cause evil men and seducers to wax worse and worse.

A letter from Brother Holser, of Switzerland, who has the oversight of the work in Central Europe and the East, contains the following:-

"I have good news from the East. In Ur there are a dozen that have begun to keep the Sabbath as well as they know; they lay aside their work on this day, and study the Scriptures. There is also an increase at Aleppo."

May these and many more from the land of Abraham's early years find a place at last with him and the heavenly Canaan for which he was content to be a stranger and a pilgrim on this earth.

In his sermon at the celebration of the three-hundredth anniversary of the death of Sir Philip Neri, in the Brompton Oratory, Cardinal Vaughan noted the following contrast between the condition of Catholicism in England fifty years ago and now:-

The contrast between the condition of religion in England fifty years ago and what it is to-day is strange indeed. It is not difficult to illustrate this. I remember a friend of my own fifty years ago offering to a Catholic church in London a beautiful image of Our Lady. The priests excused themselves from accepting it on the plea that such a statute would be misunderstood by the Protestant public who came to their services. To-day there is no longer any danger of giving scandal to our neighbours by our veneration for the Mother of God, for we have only to look at the gateway of St. Mary Abbotts in Kensington, at the north door of Westminster Abbey, or at the great reredos in St. Paul's to behold the Mother and Child reared aloft both outside and inside Protestant churches.

This is a striking proof of the growth of Catholicism; but it should be noted that churches which have adopted those Romish idols have thereby lost all claim to be called "Protestant."

"Good Company" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

Good Company.-The Psalmist said to the Lord, "I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts." Ps. cxix. 63. A man is known by the company he chooses. One of the chief qualifications of a bishop is that he shall be "a lover of good men." "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." Prov. xiii. 20.

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 24.

E. J. Waggoner

God wants all His children to be like Him. With men, on the other hand, there is a natural desire for distinction,-a desire to have what other persons have not, for the sake of appearing in favourable contrast with them.

When this distinction is in danger of being lost by the fortune of others in rising to an equal eminence, there comes into the heart the terrible spirit of jealousy. All this is the spirit of the devil, and in marked contrast with the nature of God.

When the devil rebelled against the government of God, he did not aim merely to be equal with others in heaven, but said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." Isa. xiv. 13. He himself was a star, for he was Lucifer, the light-bearer. But he aspired to a distinction above the rest. He endeavoured to reform the government of heaven, and thus assumed superiority to God Himself.

When the devil overcame man in Eden, he infused into his nature the same spirit, and opened the flood-gates of the discord and strife from which have filled the world since Adam sinned. Every feeling of jealousy that ever entered the human heart was from the devil,-an offshoot of the spirit which led him to aspire to pre-eminence in heaven.

The Lord is not only willing that all persons should be like Him and have what He has, but He has undertaken, at an infinite sacrifice, to do the work necessary to lift them to this exalted plane. He gives them His own Spirit,-not sparingly or shorn of its qualities, but with the fulness of His own power and wisdom. He makes Himself their dwelling-place, and them His dwelling-place. He takes them into the closest possible relation with Himself and gives them free access to His own infinite treasures. The more like Him we become, the better is He pleased with us.

The only way for us to become like God, is to let Him make us like Himself. The only way to get the things which will make us like God is to let Him give them to us; for from Him alone can they be obtained. This means that we are to take, with thankfulness, what He gives; for all that He gives is then to promote our growth "unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Eph. iv. 13. The devil told Eve that she would become like God by eating of the forbidden fruit,-taking that which God had not given her; but she found this to be a terrible mistake.

She attempted to become like God by acting in opposition to Him; and from that day forward, men have been seeking honour and wealth and power by opposing some one else. The one who obtains these things from the world, gets them at the expense of other people. But the devil's plan cannot succeed. The world cannot give anything that is of real value to the soul, created with reference to eternity.

God wants all men to know, and in the Gospel is proclaiming it to all, that He is ready and anxious to make them like Himself, and to invest them freely with all that is of infinite value; that no fighting is necessary to obtain this, except "the good fight of faith;" that it is not to be sought at the expense of others, but by seeking their welfare; that it is all His gift, bestowed freely and already given, and therefore to be possessed even now by all who will lay hold upon it by simple faith in Him.

June 20, 1895

"Argument" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

If the Gospel could be propagated by argument, it would be vastly more popular than it now is. If men could be saved by argument and controversy, there would be thousands saved to-day where there are only tens. But the fact is that it is not argument that is needed, but "holding forth the Word of life." A man always weakens his cause when he consents to debate and strive and argue about it. Strife and debate are so firmly embedded in human nature that it takes us a long time to learn this. But if we were to stop and think we should see that it is true.

Men do not argue about that of which there perfectly sure. You would not argue with a man to prove to him that the sun is shining at noon. You point out the fact to him, and if he wishes to see it for himself, he can, and if he does not, you cannot help him by argument. You would not debate with a man to convince him that the twenty-six letters of the alphabet are what they are. If he does not know them, you may teach him, but not by a debate. If he does not wish to have you teach him, but wishes to argue the point, you would simply leave him to himself.

You would not be at all moved by his boast that you dared not debate with him, and that your refusal showed that you did not dare put your belief to the test of argument. You do not

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simply believe, but you know, and it is much better to put knowledge to the test of actual use than to the test of argument. To argue the case would indicate a doubt about it in your own mind.

Now what the Gospel wants is not men who are ready to debate, but who know Christ, and who know His Word. Such men will teach by their quiet lives, and if any want to learn further, they will be ready to point them to the Word, but they will not lower the standard by arguing with those who do not want to learn.

The man who wants to learn never wants to argue. The man who is anxious to argue a point, does not want to learn anything from the one with whom he argues, but he wants, by arguing, to fortify himself in the opinions that he already holds. By repeating his arguments he helps to convince himself that they are true; and if he can out-talk his opponent that proves to him that he is right. Therefore the time spent on him while he is in that condition is wasted. The Christian can afford to let him talk, and even rail, knowing that the truth cannot be injured. This very confidence begets in the other a desire to know what it is that is so sure that you are not in the least afraid that it will be overthrown by argument. Then is your time to instruct him.

So then, argumentative ability is not necessarily a part of the outfit of the servant of Christ. For "the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach [not to argue], patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." 2 Tim. ii. 24, 25.

"The Stone Rolled Away" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

It is unbelief that bars the way to the good we many times would do, but leave undone. The two women who came to the sepulchre on the resurrection morning said, "Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?" Mark xvi. 3. They, like the rest of the disciples, had been blinded to the events that were then in process of fulfilment, and their unbelief saw a great stone in their path, barring their way to the Lord. But the stone was not there; it had been rolled away by Divine power; and thus they found it when they arrived at the sepulchre.

What unbelief was then, it is now; it still sees a great barrier in the way. And thus it deludes and discourages those who allow it to work in their hearts. Let us remember that what is seen by the natural mind in the Christian pathway, is not there. So if the way seems hopeless-filled with rocks and obstacles that we could not surmount-we may know that it is simply unbelief seeking to delude us. The eye of faith will show us what is there in truth. And with that eye see the stone before us rolled away.

"Studying Error to Learn Truth" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

We have read a list of the qualifications of a minister of the Gospel, among which was this, that "he should be well abreast of the latest destructive Biblical criticism, so as to refute its arguments." The idea that in order to refute error men must study it, is altogether too common. It shows itself in the idea that in order to avoid evil, men must go where it is, and learn all about it.

If people reasoned the same way with regard to food, everybody would soon die. If they thought that in order to be able to detect poison, and guard their children from it, they must taste all the poisons that are known, the fallacy would soon be exposed. There are very few men, comparatively, who know all about poisons. What do the people do who are ignorant of poisons?-Why, they sensibly determine to taste nothing which they do not know to be wholesome, and thus they escape all danger.

Some parents make the mistake of warning their children against all sorts of evil, so that they may be able to avoid it. This is well illustrated by the following. A mother called out to her son, "Tom, are you teaching that parrot to swear?" The reply was, "No, I am just teaching it what words it must not say." Of course those would be the very words that the parrot would use. And so it is with children. If they are told all about the evil that is in the world, they will be sure to try it. Let their minds be filled with that which is good, and they will have less tendency to follow the evil. Then when they see or hear of evil practices or teachings, they will be able at once to detect the evil by its contrast with the truth and the good with which they are familiar.

The person who sets himself the task of studying all the forms of error, has an endless task before him. The result will be that he will never get to the study of truth. The minister who studies the works of infidels, and of the destructive critics of the Bible, will be apt to feed the flock on the driest kind of husks. The carpenter does not try to find all the crooked sticks in the world, so that he may recognise a crook when he sees it, but he simply learns the use of the square, and then he can in a moment tell whether or not a stick is straight.

The inspired advice of the apostle Paul should be heeded by all: "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." 2 Tim. iii. 14.

"The Difference" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

The difference between true and false worship is the difference between worshipping the true God and worshipping a false one; and that is the difference between knowing God as we worship Him, and worshipping without knowing God.

Ignorant worship is Baal worship; for Baal means "lord," which expresses the limit of the conception had by ignorant devotees of the object of their worship. They know there is one who is "lord, master, possessor," etc., as the word Baal signifies; but from lack of further knowledge they are obliged to give him a character and attributes of their own. Thus they make a god that is like themselves, only as much worse as the power with which he is invested is greater than theirs.

Baal-worship was the great idolatry of ancient times. But though the word Baal has gone, idolatry still remains, the same now in origin, nature, and effects that it was then. Mere lord worship means Baal worship to-day, as certainly as it did in times past.

The Israelites frequently turn from the worship of God to the worship of Baal; and they did this simply by forgetting God,-simply by losing the knowledge of Him. It was not necessary that there should be any sudden and startling transition from one to the other. The true worship changed to Baal worship just in proportion as the knowledge of God was lost from the minds of the worshippers. When this knowledge had dwindled to the mere idea expressed by the term "lord," the perversion was complete. As the truth ebbed away, error and superstition came in; for Divine truth lost

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never leaves a vacuum. And this error and superstition, clustering around the vague idea of God that still remained, and giving shape to the forms of worship, made Baal worship the fearful thing that it was.

We cannot worship the true God unless we know Him. "They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John iv. 24. Our thoughts and our conceptions of Him cannot supply the place of His own revelation of Himself to us; for our thoughts and conceptions of Him are as much beneath His knowledge, which is the truth, as the earth is below the heavens. Isa. lv. 9. And therefore it is inevitable that gross error should come into that worship in which the revelation of God has begun to be supplanted by the ideas of men.

The Lord has given us a knowledge of Himself. From the very start, the world was not left without a revelation of Him,-of His personality and character. This revelation came in the Sabbath. Men were directed to keep the seventh day holy, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." The Sabbath directed the mind not merely to one who was "lord," but one who created the heavens and the earth; and His works, supplying all man's needs and ministering so fully to his well-being and happiness, testified that "God is love." If the Sabbath had been kept by all, there could never have been any idolatry.

It is not strange then that heathen, idolatrous worship should have had nothing to do with the observance of the Sabbath. The chief day of all pagan worship was the first day of the week,-the day of the sun. That was the honoured day in Baal worship; for the idea of "lord" became naturally attached to the sun, the lord of the heavens.

To-day God calls upon men to worship Him in spirit and in truth. To-day it is the privilege and duty of all men to know the Lord and honour Him as the Creator of heaven and earth, through the memorial of creation which He has given us,-the Sabbath. "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Our God is the Creator; and since to be saved from sin we must be created new in Christ, nothing else than great power can save us, and no one but the Creator can redeem us. How then can we know Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth, and at the same time reject the day He has sanctified and made the Sabbath?

Do we know God as the Creator, or simply as "lord"? By keeping His Sabbath, we show faith in the word of that One who declares Himself the Creator of heaven and earth. But without Sabbath observance, we can give no evidence of our belief in any Creator whatever. And creation is not all past. "My father worketh hitherto," said Jesus, "and I work." John v. 17. Creative power is the power by which God works. When He speaks, the thing which He desires is brought forth. "God said, Let there be light; and there was light." Gen. i. 3. There is this power in every word of God; and when He speaks to us, and we receive His word into our hearts by faith, there is a new creation in us. It is thus we are created new in Christ.

Do we know this power? Do we by this know God as the Creator? If so, we shall be willing to keep the day He has made the memorial of creation,-the seventh day-the Sabbath.

"God's Witness to Asshur" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

GOD NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS

It is a very common idea that in the days of Israel of old the Lord had no care for other nations and peoples, and that they were altogether left out of His benevolent plans for the salvation of men. Nothing could be further from the truth. What the Lord is to-day, that He always has been. He is that He is, and He is "no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him." Acts x. 35.

This was His character when He took Israel by the hand to lead them out of Egypt. He proclaimed His name to Moses then as "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." His mercy and longsuffering had just been inviting Egypt to turn from its iniquity and warfare against the Lord; and the power of the Lord manifested in judgments was as ready to manifest itself in the salvation of Pharaoh as of Moses.

And when by the wonderful deliverance of the Israelites all the nations of the East heard of the power of the Lord, He was ready to manifest that power in their behalf. The one person in Jericho who was willing to let the Lord work the deliverance from sin, the harlot Rahab, found the Lord's mercy and goodness abundantly displayed. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," was the Saviour of men then as now. His purpose was to give the Jewish nation the high honour of preaching the Gospel to the world: but they continually thwarted His purpose by their wicked apostasies from the truth. But at the same time "He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good," sending the rain and fruitful seasons to all. And the word of invitation and warning was also sent.

THE ASSYRIAN KINGDOM

The history of Assyria furnishes an interesting example of God's witnessing to the heathen empires of antiquity. Its history, as we have it, runs parallel with that of Israel; for it was rising to its position of power at the very time of the Exodus from Egypt, and its fall came just before the Babylonish captivity.

When the glory of Solomon's reign attracted the attention of the world, Assyria must have heard of the true God; for we read that "all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart." But just then the Assyrian was too much engrossed in building up the glory of his empire to care to give attention to wisdom that reproved wickedness. Later, in the days of Ahab and of Jehu, Assyria came into conflict with Israel, and Shalmaneser II. says in the annals of his Syrian campaign that Jehu paid him tribute.

About this time the prophet Jonah was sent to Nineveh to speak the words of the Lord, and warn Assyria of the wickedness which was growing with its pride and luxury. And the Lord was no respecter of persons in condemning wickedness, for in those same days He had been sending prophets to Israel calling them to repent of their wicked ways, and to cast away the licentious sun-worship which Jezebel had introduced. At the preaching of Jonah the men of Nineveh repented. A fast was proclaimed, and the judgments which their sins had brought so near did not fall upon them. The Lord pitied the people in their ignorance-"that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand."

THE PRIDE OF ASSHUR

Not long after Shalmaneser, came Tiglath Pileser II., who added to the

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power and military glory of the empire. Israel had then so far rejected the Lord that it joined with Syria (2 Kings xvi.) for an attack upon the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah assured the king of Judah that he need not fear this confederacy, for the Lord would shave Israel "with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria." Isa. vii. 20. So the Assyrian was allowed to come up against the kingdom of Israel to punish it for its rebellion, and frustrate its wicked purpose against the southern kingdom.

The trouble which came upon the northern kingdom of Israel did not lead to reformation, and more than once afterwards their evil ways brought upon them the Assyrians, who at last, in the reign of Hoshea, carried them away into captivity. 2 Kings xvii. 6.

In visiting the sins of Israel the Lord merely used the conquering armies of the Assyrians as the rod of His anger (Isa. x. 5). But the pride of Assyria attributed the downfall of Israel and other kingdoms solely to her own prowess, and she glorified herself, increasing her wickedness. Tiglath Pileser left a record in which he boasts of his victory over Israel, greatly exaggerating his achievements. The Lord, speaking by the prophet Isaiah, rebuked this haughty pride of Assyria, saying:-

"It shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For He saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent. . . . Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" Chap. x.

The Assyrian was glorifying in his power just as Nebuchadnezzar did later, when he said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built?" and learned by affliction that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men and giveth them to whomsoever He will."

The boasting and blasphemous Sennacherib, of Assyria, might have learned the same lesson when he came down upon Jerusalem "like a wolf on the fold," and the Lord smote 185,000 of his men in a night, and sent him back to Nineveh. Isaiah xxxvii. But nations in those times were no more ready to turn from their own ways and the pride of dominion than they have been since. The wealth and luxury which had come with conquest were weakening the empire, and the cup of its iniquity began rapidly to fill up.

LAST DAYS OF NINEVEH

In the reign of Sennacherib's grandson, Asshurbanipal, the storm-cloud of wrath began to hover darkly over Assyria, still glorying in her strength, and careless and unconscious of her approaching doom. Zephaniah then sounded the warning:-

"He will stretch out His hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh but a desolation. . . . This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me." Chap. ii. 13, 15.

The destruction came at a time when Assyria was at the height of its culture and civilisation. Rawlinson says:-

The annals of Asshurbanipal. . . exhibit him to us as a warrior more enterprising and powerful than any of his predecessors. . . . Asshurbanipal is the only one of the Assyrian monarchs to whom we can ascribe a real taste for learning and literature.

But culture and artistic refinement have been shown by the history of every nation to be not incompatible with the deepest vice. Yet again the Lord repeated the warning by the prophet Nahum. The "burden of Nineveh" was:-

"Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; the noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear; and there is a multitude of slain." Nahum iii. 1-3.

The historian says:-

Advancing civilisation, of more abundant literature, improved art, had not softened the tempers of the Assyrians. . . . Asshurbanipal reverted to the antique system of executions, mutilations, and tortures. . . . Glorying in his shame, he not merely practiced cruelties, but handed the record of them down to posterity by representing them in all their horrors upon his palace walls.

Added to her violence were the witchcraft and sorceries, by which she had, like Babylon, corrupted the world. Nahum iii. 4. For these things the Lord said:-

"I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast the abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing-stock." Verses 5, 6.

Along with all these denunciations of sins was sent the invitation of mercy. "The Lord is good," was

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also the "burden of Nineveh," "a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him." Nahum i. 7. The Lord was ready to save to the uttermost. But the reign of pleasure continued, the strongholds of the city, the beautiful palaces, and the apparent strength of the empire seemed to promise lasting prosperity. But the word of the Lord was sure. Soon after Asshurbanipal's death, the forces of Media and Babylon besieged the city, and it fell. Nahum had said:-

"The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved" ("molten," margin).

Ctesias, the ancient writer, says the river Tigris overflowed during the siege, washing down the wall, whereupon the king burned himself in his palace. The great empire fell to pieces with astonishing rapidity; for his vices had enervated the people, and it was full of treachery, though outwardly presenting the appearance of solidity. It was even as Nahum had said:-

"All thy strongholds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs; if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater." Chap. iii. 12.

Its fall was complete. Assyria was the "cedar in Lebanon" in whose spreading branches all the fowls of heaven made their nests, but, says the word of the Lord, "I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall." Eze. xxxi. Its ruin was set forth as an example. "I have driven him out for his wickedness," was the Lord's word to Egypt, as Ezekiel set before Pharaoh the severe judgments which followed corruption.

A LESSON FOR THE LAST DAYS

Over and over again since the fall of Nineveh history has repeated the lesson, and through it all the Lord has been witnessing of Himself, and gathering out of the ruin all the souls who have been willing to trust Him. And at the background of the history of empires the Lord has set the ruins of Nineveh, the careless city, as a gazingstock, a reminder to nations and to men of the terrible results of continuing in sin, and of fighting against the God of heaven.

The lesson has a special significance to men now; for it was from Nineveh, and from her sister Babylon, that the abominations of Paganism went out into all the world. It was by joining in these that the Jewish nation ruined itself. It was by the same pagan abominations that the worldly church was corrupted in the early centuries, and thus the Papacy became by direct succession the spiritual Babylon, the mystic city which now reigneth over the kingdoms of the earth. It is a fact that, whether acknowledging the Papacy directly or not, all nations have drunk of the wine of her abominations, as the Lord says in Rev. xviii.

And now, in these last days, with its doom overhanging it, the world dwells as carelessly as Nineveh of old, glorying in its culture and enlightenment. But the Lord leaves not Himself without witness. Wherever the genuine Gospel of Christ's kingdom is preached the call is sounding, "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached into the heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Rev. xviii. 4, 5. He is still the stronghold in the day of trouble, mighty to save all who are willing to be separated from sin.

"On Which Side?" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army." Such was the scene presented before the prophet John as he was given a vision of the final outcome of the great controversy between the forces of good and of evil. Rev. xix. 19. He "that sat on the horse" is the Lord Jesus Christ, and against Him and His army the apostle saw gathered together, "the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies." Christ is coming to overthrow their kingdoms and set up upon the earth His kingdom, which will last for ever, and they will be gathered together to resist Him. On which side will we be in that last great contest?

No temporal millennium, when all the world will become converted, is pictured here. That doctrine is a pleasing fable, designed by the father of lies to lull man to sleep in the time of sudden destruction. The Lord's side,-the side of truth and righteousness,-will not be in that day the side of earthly wealth, influence, or numbers; and for that reason we should all the more seriously and earnestly ask ourselves upon which side we stand, for if we are on the wrong side now, we should lose no time in changing our position.

Are we on the popular side, the side of the majority, the side which has the support of the world's wealth and power? And if so, shall we be on the same side in that day? for notice it is the side of popularity and power that is represented by those gathered together against the Lord. "The beast [the Papacy], and the kings of the earth, and their armies,"-not much of the civilised world is found outside of these. They are at present the most conspicuous objects on the earth. Current history contains little else beside the record of them and their doings. They represent the world's power, wealth, influence, and respectability. Yet in the prophetic record they are found arrayed against the Leader of the armies of heaven, or the side which goes down in destruction.

It is so natural for the human mind to associate right with might, to measure truth and justice by the world standards, and to give credence to the ideas and doctrines which have only the sanction of popularity, that all are in great danger of being drawn to the wrong side, where in the end they will be found fighting against God. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." Ps. cxlvi. 3. The righteous life is the life of faith, and faith is trust in God, and Him alone.

"Afraid of Moses" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

Many people seem to have a special antipathy to Moses, and to anything that pertains to him. Let anything be quoted from the first books of the Bible, and they will cry out, "O, that's in the law of Moses!" or, "Moses wrote that." Well, what if he did? Does that diminish its value?

Why not as well say when the Psalms are read, "O, David wrote that!" or object to other prophecies because Isaiah or Jeremiah wrote them? Why is there not as much reason in objecting to things quoted from the epistles of the New Testament because they were written by Paul, or Peter, or James, or John? Was Moses inferior to these men? Was he less favored of God?

Hear what the Lord said: "If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all Mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold." Num. xii. 6-8. "And there arose not a prophet

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since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." Deut. xxxiv. 10.

Christ testified that to disbelieve Moses was to disbelieve in Him. See John v. 46, 47. Moses wrote of Christ. He wrote of the sacrifice of Christ, of justification through faith in His blood, of the coming of the Lord, of the resurrection of the dead, of eternal life, and of the glorious reign of the saints in the kingdom of God. Let us beware, lest, in speaking disparagingly of Moses, we be found rejecting the Master, of whom He testified, and whose reproach He suffered.

"The Principle Involved" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

The Rev. Canon Owen, speaking at a Church Defence meeting at Cardiff, showed very clearly some of the inconsistencies of many who are working for Disestablishment on the ground that Church and State should be

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separate. The Church Times thus reported him:-

It appeared to him that this was a most opportune moment for Disestablishment, because they were asked these same men who asked that the church should be disestablished to make men moral by Act of Parliament, and sober by the Act of Parliament. He was a total abstainer himself, and wanted to make men sober in the right way. Their opponents also wanted to make men pure by Act of Parliament, and to use proper language on Sundays by Act of Parliament. Surely this, then, was the wrong time to try to divorce the State from religion.

We fear that it is a fact that but few, if any, of those who are labouring to secure Disestablishment are really opposed to the principle of Church and State union. They are actuated by political reasons rather than by religious. Indeed, it must be so, since true Bible religion is a purely personal matter. The Christian may and must present the truth to all men whom he can reach, but he may not seek to compel another to accept the truth, nor may he seek by force of law to deprive another of any error that he may cherish. No man need be a part of an Established Church, if he does not wish to; but if any number of people wish to have their church joined to the State, it is their privilege; only it should be understood that such alliance with the world is a denial of the Gospel of Christ.

"An Incident in Russia" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

It is according to the Bible rule that one should chase a thousand, and therefore it is not surprising that a few well-instructed believers in a Russian province are regarded by ecclesiastical functionaries as though they were an invading army. There is an amusing side to the spectacle suggested by the extract following. Sheriffs, priests, archbishops, and archimandrites are engaged in chasing a few tracts and papers, and trying to keep a man who knows the Lord from letting his light shine; as though their efforts were not scattering the truth the more widely! Brother Conradi, of Hamburg, tells of a brother in the Baltic provinces of Russia who was receiving publications from Germany, upon whom the authorities recently fell. Thereupon they published the truth abroad according to the following from a St. Petersburg newspaper:-

"The Sheriff has taken pamphlets, journals, and letters in the German from a certain inhabitant of the village, Nowaja Rudnaja (Volhynia), and has given them to the Ispravnik, remarking that this man does receive these writings from Prussia and distributes them among the colonists, whereby he is trying to persuade them that Saturday and not Sunday is the Sabbath. Said writings were then handed to the Archbishop to express his opinion, to ask the Governor to enact that all such writings, etc., should be taken from the colonists and postoffices, and to ask the minister to forbid their circulation. At the same time the Archbishop wrote the following report to the Archimandrite concerning the contents and the aim of these writings:-

"'Said pamphlets and letters are from the Stundists in Prussia, sent to the Stundist here. They bear the very character of a very dangerous Stundism, and, as it appears, are sent all over Russia. In all letters which the German Stundists write to the Russian, they exhort them to bear quietly all the persecutions of the Russian Government, and to follow blindly and zealously Christ their Saviour, wherefore these writings bear a complete Anabaptist character, serve to seduce the Russian people, and prove dangerous not only to the orthodox religion, but also to the Government itself; and their aim is not only to convert the Russian people to Stundism, but to shake the very foundations of the empire, in order to confirm the Russian people fully in Stundism.'"

"Losing Influence" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

Sometimes people are afraid they will lose their influence if they stand firmly for the Lord amidst worldly companions. But the worldly never in their hearts think better of the professed follower of the Lord who denies Him to gain their patronage. Dr. Cuyler has written the following true words on this:-

If all the Christianity in existence were to become bankrupt in character, even the scoffers themselves would be frightened. Sneer as they may, they expect us to stand by our colours. Our desertion of God and of the right would not only disgrace us; it would alarm even the ungodly. "If this world is so bad with the Christian religion," said the shrewd Franklin, "what would it be without it?"

A personal incident will illustrate this secret reliance which the people of the world have upon the people of God. A young man, who was a professed Christian, was seeking to win the heart and hand of a young lady of wealth and fashion. His suit did not prosper, and one day she said to him: "You know that you are a church member, and I am a gay girl, very fond of what you call the pleasures of the world." This led him to suspect that his religion was the obstacle to his success in winning her consent to marry him. He accordingly applied to the officers of his church (which must have been very loose in its joints) for a release from his membership. They granted it. "Now," said he to her, when he met her again, "the barrier is removed. I have withdrawn from my church and I do not make any profession to be a Christian." The honest-hearted girl turned on him with disgust and horror, and said to him: "M--, you know that I have led a frivolous life and I feel too weak to resist temptations. I determined that I never would marry any man who was not strong enough to stand firm himself and to hold me up also. I said what I did just to try you; and, if you have not principle enough to stick to your faith, you have not principle enough to be my husband. Let me never see you again."

"Drawing Out the Sweet" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

It is not the bee's touching on the flowers that gathers the honey, but her abiding for a time upon them, and drawing out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most on divine truth, that will prove the choicest, strongest Christian.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

-Deaths from snake bite are said to be on the increase in India.

-The Canadian Parliament recently decided against woman suffrage.

-During the present year 5,000 boys are to be entered for service in the British navy.

-A monument to Martin Luther, the reformer, was unveiled with public ceremonies in Benin, June 11.

-The number of Jesuits in the United States is stated by a Catholic journal to be 357 "Fathers" and 409 scholastics.

-A permanent Russian legation to the Vatican has been established, to consist of a Minister Resident and a Secretary of Legation.

-It is stated that the Pope will shortly write a new latter on the "conversion" of the Anglo-Saxon races, which will be a complement of that lately addressed to the English.

-Two Danish priests have been commissioned by the Pope to go as missionaries to Iceland, where it is said there is at present but one Roman Catholic family in a total population of 75,000 souls.

-It is proposed at the Vatican to hold a council of the prelates of England, Ireland and Scotland whom the Pope wishes to consult on the question of union between Anglicanism and the Papacy.

-Another tale of witchcraft in the United Kingdom comes from a hamlet in Lincolnshire, where a farmer and his wife accused an old lady living near by of having bewitched his hens, pigs, and cow.

-A Swedish engineer, M. Andre, is soon to attempt an ?rial voyage to the north pole. His balloon will, it is said, be capable of carrying three persons, four months' provisions, a sledge, and a sailing-boat, and will be sufficiently gas-tight to hover in the air for thirty days.

-Central Europe has been visited by severe storms and floods, from the effects of which it is only beginning to recover. At the Austrian village of Kouersdorf forty-two persons were drowned, and thirty others are missing. Eastern and Central Switzerland have also sustained much damage.

-The Roman Catholic cathedral to be erected near Westminster Abbey will cost above ?100,000. An endeavour is being made to make an impressive occasion out of the laying of the corner stone of the foundation. Cardinal Gibbons, from America, will probably be one of the foreign prelates present at the ceremony.

-Telephonic communication was opened June 12 between London and Dublin, a distance of 467 miles. Telephone lines also extend between London and Edinburgh, and between Berlin and Vienna, Kiel and Cologne. It seems only a matter of time when the telegraph will be largely superseded by this form of communication.

-An interesting libel suit was recently concluded in Berlin, brought by Roman Catholics against an innkeeper who published a pamphlet making grave charges against the keepers of a monastery. At the trial the charges were clearly proved, the result being that the monks are now put turn on trial, while no small sensation has been created throughout Germany.

-For a gross outrage committed by Bedouins at Jeddah upon the officials of the British, French, and Russian consulates, the three Powers represented have demanded of the Sultan that all Bedouins entering Jeddah be disarmed. This adds a further complication to the Eastern Question. It is stated that Macedonia will demand the some reforms as are now in prospect for Armenia.

-It is reported from Canton that practically the whole of that province is in a state of anarchy. No attempts at preserving order amongst the Chinese are made by the native officials, and the numerous rival factions into which the populace is divided are perpetually raiding each other's districts, destroying property, and indulging in the wildest excesses. The mission stations are Kioting, Yochou, and Cheng-tu have been completely destroyed.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

The more real wisdom a person has, the meeker he becomes. Jas. iii. 13.

There is a Muslem mosque in Liverpool, and the Shazada of Afghanistan, on his recent visit to that city left a contribution for it.

Criminal statistics reveal the startling fact that of all the convictions in England forty-one per cent., nearly half of the offences are committed by persons under twenty-one years of age.

And now the Pope is reported to be preparing a letter on the subject of the conversion to Roman of the Anglo-Saxon race. He means that the world shall become familiar with the idea of corporate reunion with Rome.

The vast amount of good done by London hospitals in relieving the afflicted poor is shown by a few statistics. About 180,000 children are treated every year, and the number of surgical cases is about 700,000; 600,000 cases have passed through the wards.

In the disorganisation and discontent following the war in China, a number of mission stations have been destroyed by mobs. At such times the temptation is to call for gunboats and reprisals, but the history of missions shows that all such dependence on home governments works directly against the cause of missions. The Christians in apostolic time took joyfully the spoiling of their goods; and apostolic methods are not obsolete to-day.

Consistency is an excellent thing in a man if it is not perverted. The really consistent man is the one who acts in harmony with the truth as it is revealed to him, although it may cause him to act very differently from what He formerly did. The man who thinks that consistency demands that he always continue in the line in which he begins, virtually assumes to be infallible. God is the only one who need not change His course. In Jesus Christ all things consist, so that the only really consistent man is the one who is in Christ; and to be in Christ means a radical change from what we once were.

The word of the Lord invites us to cast all our care upon Him. James v. 7. This care is, for us, a very heavy burden, and we could not cast it upon the Lord unless He were by our side. And that is where He is, and has been, all the time that we were struggling along blindly under our load of difficulties.

The cheapest Bible at the beginning of this century is said to have cost 4s. 6d., and a New Testament 1s. 4d. Now the complete English Bible may be obtained for six pence, and the New Testament for a penny.

While Bibles are multiplying, and are issued at such cheaper rates, it is probably a fact that there never was a time when it was so little believed by the masses of its possessors as now. Only this week we have remarked the specially outspoken attacks upon the Bible-not in secular organs-but in some of the leading weekly religious journals. It is one thing to possess the Bible; it is another thing to believe it and to live by it, as the living Word of God.

In Wales, where Sunday closing is in force, Sunday drunkenness is reported to be rather on the increase. A member of Parliament a few Sundays ago visited a village near Cardiff (just far enough away to make the Cardiff drinker a "bona fide traveler") and this is his report:-

What I saw was simply appalling. There are three public-houses, and each of them was, I will not say crowded, but packed like a sardine box with boosers, who seem to have no other object, as far as I could discover, but to pour drink down their throats. There was a large amount of drunkenness-of that heavy, stolid, sudden drunkenness which is produced by beer. You could see them in crowds between one public-house and another-some of them rolling from one side of the road to the other.

A recent number of the Civilla Catolica, a Jesuit organ published in Rome, laid down that the Vatican will never recognise the validity of Anglican orders. It claims that the question has been irrevocably settled by the declarations of several papal bulls, which condemned such orders. But when has it ever been known that an "infallible" Pope was bound by the decrees of his "infallible" predecessors? A fallible person is under some obligation to be consistent; but an "infallible" Pope is under no such limitations, since by his infallibility he makes wrong right, and turns contradictions into agreements.

Last week we mentioned the fact that a Seventh-day Adventist in Georgia was sentenced to a year in the chain-gang for working on Sunday, after having kept the Sabbath of the Lord. After the sentence some citizen or citizens of the place paid the fine into the Court, and thus the prisoner was released.

It is not alone in Georgia now that Sabbath-keepers are being brought before the Courts under the revived Sunday laws. Last week's American mail brought news of arrests of Seventh-day Adventists in Mississippi, Illinois, and Maryland. In the first of these latter States citizens paid the fine, as in the Georgia case. If anyone wants to know how it happens that these old laws are being revived, the answer will be found in Rev. xii. 17 and in succeeding chapters, describing the last-day controversy between truth and error. When human courts have done all that they can do the law of God still says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God."

The agitation now going forward over the school question shows that the religious education controversy is by no means ended. So long as the Church refuses to do its legitimate work, and demands that the State shall attend to the religious instruction of the children, there will be unseemly strife which no illogical compromises can avert. And out of it all Romanism will come the gainer. It must be so, because the principle of making use of the power of the State to advance religion is purely papal.

Thousands of Chinese families, it is said, at the end of each year dash honey and sugar on the lips of their kitchen household gods, so that these, in their yearly trips to the heavenly regions, may make a favourable report of the conduct of the family during these twelve months. Very closely akin to this is the idea that punctilious attention to religious functions at stated times covers up irritability and gruffness in the home, making the Lord think that all goes well.

June 27, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

If we would but open our eyes, we should see that God has set wonderful things before us, not only within our sight but within our reach, which should fill us full of hope and rejoicing.

It is common to say, We know not what is before us; but this expression is not altogether of faith. The uncertainty is not so much in regard to what is before us, as to what will be our choice, and what course we will pursue. The Lord says, "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil."

These things are as certainly set before each of us as they were before ancient Israel, for "unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them." But whether we will choose life or death, good or evil, is a matter which rests altogether with us.

Of our Saviour we read that He "for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame." Yet through all his earthly life He walked in the shadow of Gethsemane and Calvary. He knew the ordeal that was before Him. Yet he looked not at this, but at the joy that was set before Him. And if He could walk joyfully in the full knowledge that His pathway led to such an awful hour of agony and gloom, certainly we, for the joy set before us, can do the same. For the joy that was set before Him, is also set before us; the faithful will finally enter into the joy of their Lord. Matt. xxv. 21.

It was by faith that the Saviour saw the joy that was set before Him. And the same faith is given unto us; for He is "the Author and Finisher of faith" (Heb. xii. 2), and there is no other faith but His. Faith is not a thing of human manufacture. "It is the gift of God." Eph. ii. 8. The saints "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. xiv. 12.

The faith of Jesus will do for us what it did for Him. And as it enabled Him to see the joy that was set before Him, and thus to endure the cross, despising the shame, so it will enable us, whose conflicts and trials are so much less than His, to walk joyfully in the Christian pathway. In Gethsemane and Calvary the faith of Jesus met the supreme test, and triumphed gloriously. And that was also an eternal triumph for those who follow Him. Having endured the greatest test, that faith will certainly endure all lesser ones. "And this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith." 1 John v. 4, R.V.

The joy, the life, the glory that will never end, are set before us. This we know; it is as certain as that the Word of God is true. But whether we have them or not depends upon our own choice. We may make it a certainty by our decision. There is no uncertainty about it save what we create ourselves.

The very doorway of Heaven is set open before every soul. "These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works; behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." Rev. iii. 7, 8.

"How Christians Grow" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

To us Christ says, as well as to His disciples of old, "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." John xv. 16. But how are we to bring forth fruit? By the same power that causes the natural fruit of the earth to grow. That word which said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit," and whose power we can see manifested in the grass and trees, says to us, "Bring forth fruit;" and if we are willing to be as submissive to the word as is the inanimate creation, the fruit will be as abundant.

THE PLANTING OF THE LORD

The Divine command is, "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." But how are we to grow? Just as the seed grows in the ground. Hear the words of Christ: "So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how." We may not know how the good seed of the word of God springs up within us, to cause to bring forth fruit, but that makes the difference. "God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him." Our part is to yield to the Divine Husbandman; His part is to cause the growth and the perfect fruit.

The growth of plants is again and again used in the Scriptures as illustrating Christian growth. The Apostle Paul says, "Ye are God's husbandry," or tilled land. 1 Cor. iii. 9. So the Lord says:-

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"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; . . . to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." Isa. lxi. 1-3.

Bear in mind that the whole thing is of the Lord. We are His tillage. We are His planting, that He might be glorified. But note further how likeness to the growth of plants is carried out. See how salvation from sin-a life of righteousness-is indeed as when one casts seed upon the earth:

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." Isa. lxi. 10, 11.

PERFECT FREEDOM

It is wonderful what God can do if we will only let Him. Does some one say, "If He is so powerful why does He not have His way in spite of us?" Simply because His power is the power of love, and love does not use force. God wants everybody in the universe to be satisfied, and so He gives to all the right of perfect freedom of choice as to what they will have. He tells them the relative value of things, and begs of them to choose that which is good; but if any are determined to have that which is evil, He lets them have it. He will have free men in His kingdom, and not a race of slaves and prisoners. Such they would be, if He compelled them to have salvation against their will. He wants subjects whom He can trust in any part of the universe; but if He were to compel any to be saved, He would still have to exercise force to retain them in the kingdom. Christ came to preach deliverance to the captives, and He does not propose to deliver them to bondage.

But when anyone wants salvation, no matter how small and weak he is, no matter how insignificant he may be in the eyes of the world, even though he be regarded no more than the grass which is trodden under foot, God can work wonders with him. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe with power the man whom He has made in His own image, if they but submit to Him. That promise that He will clothe us does not refer exclusively to clothing for the body. "The life is more than meat, and the body than raiment." Luke xii. 23. If He gives us that which is least important, surely He will give us that which is of infinite value. So the promise that He will much more clothe us than the grass, refers as well to the garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness, with which we are to be clothed. That power which works so wonderfully in the tiny blade of grass, will work still more mightily in the man who trusts the Lord.

"AS THE LILY"

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." Matt. vi. 28. This is written for our encouragement in our growth in grace. As they grow, so must we. Now read some words of Inspiration, which show clearly that the growth of the lily is but an illustration of the Christian's growth in grace:-

"O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods; for in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy." Hosea xiv. 1-3. There is no doubt but that it is sin and righteousness that the Lord is here speaking of. He tells His people, who have departed from Him, to return, and He tells them what to say when they return. Note that they are to say that they will not any more trust in the work of their hands. Their works are not to be from self, but those that are wrought in God. Now see the assurance that He gives those who thus turn to Him:-

"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for Mine anger is turned away from Him. I will be as

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the dew unto Israel; He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under His shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow [margin, blossom ] as the vine." Hosea xiv. 4-7.

But this is not all. God's people are His vineyard, the branch of His planting, that He might be glorified; and He would not be glorified if through any lack of personal attention they should be destroyed. So He assures them of His constant care.

"In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in Me: who would set the briers and thorns against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together." Isa. xxvii. 2-6.

But what need of carrying the likeness any further? We could not exhaust the Scriptures if we should try. And the only design of this writing is to lead the reader to study the Word more closely for himself, and to appropriate it as the living Word of the living God, which works effectually in all that believe. Do not put the Lord off, but let your faith prove that He is near, even a very present help in trouble. He is a God nigh at hand, and not afar off; and nothing is too hard for Him. He has written His love and His power upon all creation, and wants to speak to us through the things that He has made. In Him all things consist. That same word that spoke the universe into existence, which said to the earth, "Bring forth grass," speaks to us in the words of God's law. But His law is not a hard, lifeless decree, which weak mortals are to strive in vain to keep, while God watches them with a stern eye, ready to taunt and punish them for failure; but we "know that his commandment is life everlasting." That word which says to us, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself," sheds that love abroad in our hearts, just as the word of God brings forth the fruit in the plant. Then well may we sing:-

"How gentle God's commands!
How kind his precepts are!
Cast your burdens on the Lord,
And trust His continued care,

"Beneath His watchful eye
His saints securely dwell;
That hand that bears all nature up
Shall guard His children well.

"Why should this anxious load
Press down your weary mind?
Haste to your Heavenly Father's throne,
And sweet refreshment find.

"His goodness stands approved
Through each succeeding day;
I'll drop my burden at His feet,
And bear a song away."

"The Church and Citizenship" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

The church is an association of Christians. The work of the church is not to make men good citizens, but to spread the light of the Gospel, by which men are made Christians. A Christian is necessarily a good citizen, but good citizenship is not the aim of the Gospel. If it were, it would fall infinitely short of accomplishing what it does to-day. A Christian must be a good citizen; but a good citizen may be no Christian at all.

The foundation of Christianity is faith-"the faith of Jesus." The foundation of citizenship is respect for the rights of others. Christianity deals with the thoughts and intents of the hearts; citizenship deals only with the outward deportment. The majesty of the law may secure in an individual an outward regard for the rights of others, but it cannot make right the thoughts and intents of the heart.

He whose outward deportment does not correspond with the desires and intents of his heart is a hypocrite. The law can change a man's deportment, but not the man himself. When it essays to change character, it succeeds, if at all, only in making men hypocrites.

To bring the force of the Government to bear upon the conscience of men is therefore the worst possible way to attempt to make good citizens; for good citizens are not identical with hypocrites. The man who yields to force and regards not the dictates of his own conscience, will not be likely to regard the consciences of others. No reform in character therefore can come from the ballot box; but only a change in the administration of Government. The reform that is to make men better must be wrought by the grace of God. The one uplifting and transforming power that can be brought to bear upon men in this world is the power of the Gospel.

It is the work of the church to "preach the Gospel to every creature." Mark xvi. 15. This includes ministering to the physical as well as to the spiritual wants of mankind. See James i. 27; Matt. xxv. 31-46. And when the church is doing this, her legitimate, God-appointed work, she is doing all that it is possible for her to do toward making men good citizens.

"How to Be Free from Want" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

Who would not be glad if he could be assured that he could have everything he wanted? How many people there are who are filled with unsatisfied longings! This is a world of want and woe. It is not only those who have no money who are in want. Often those who suffer the most from unsatisfied desires are those whose money is reckoned by millions. They want more.

Well, there is a sure way by which every man may have all that he wants,-may have every desire gratified. Here it is: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwelt in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Ps. xxxvii. 3, 4.

It is a sure thing. Whoever delights in the Lord will have everything he wants. "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly," or sincerely; and those who delight in the Lord will want nothing but that which is good. Christ himself is the surety for the fulfilment of this promise. He says: "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John xv. 7. He has an unlimited supply, for the apostle assures us, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phil. iv. 19. His riches are unsearchable. Why will men persist in being in want, when they might have abundance?

"The Coming Famine" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, and they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." Amos viii. 11, 12.

There is no record that this prophecy has ever been fulfilled; but it will be fulfilled, as surely as there is a God in heaven, whose Word is truth. It will even be fulfilled in the days of people now living.

Men have not generally cared much about the Word of God; if they had the history of the world would not be such a record of continual apostasy and sin as it is. They have never valued it enough to search for it from sea to sea. But there is coming a time when they will value it enough to seek it far and near, but without success; when they will feel the lack of it as keenly as they feel a famine which deprives them of food for their bodies.

It will be a peculiar time when this is so, for ordinarily men will go without the Word of God to the point of spiritual starvation, without feeling any concern. Events will be turned out of their ordinary course. Says Ezekiel, "Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients." Eze. vii. 25, 26.

It is at such a time that men learn to value the Word of the Lord. When King Saul was in sore distress because of the ruin that threatened himself and his kingdom from the host of the Philistines, he would have given much in his perplexity and anxiety for some word from the Lord; but he had so separated himself from God that there was nothing left for him but the divine judgment. "When Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." 1 Sam. xviii. 6. Saul then experienced what the prophet has foretold for the earth in general-a famine for the Word of God.

Under circumstances of general distress and perplexity such as the world has never yet known, men will feel as did the ancient king of Israel. In prosperity men forget God; but when His judgments are upon them,-when they are made to realise their own weakness and the folly of that which they had accounted wisdom, they turn to that which they recognise to be the only source of help. And that time is coming. The Word of the Lord has announced it. Prophets have spoken of it, and the Saviour foretold it when discoursing to His disciples. The Word of the Lord by Joel has said:-

"Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. . . . The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. O Lord, to Thee will I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee; for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness." Joel i. 15-20.

The prophet Daniel wrote: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of Thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. xii. 1.

And Jesus, in His prophetic outline of events reaching down through the centuries to the time when He should come again, said, "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." Luke xxi. 25, 26.

Already the judgments of God are in the land, and there is "distress of nations, with perplexity." The earth is filling up with that wickedness which was foretold for the last days. 2 Tim. iii. 1-5. There is apostasy from God, as there was with Saul. Saul had the Word of the Lord, but he would not heed it, and Samuel said to him, "Hath the Lord as great delight in

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burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and, to hearken, than the fat of rams." 1 Sam. xv. 22. To-day men have the Word of God, but it is slighted and set aside for dogma and tradition. There is plenty of form and ceremony-burnt offering and sacrifice,-but obedience is lacking, because the Word of God is but little read, and less understood.

The experience of Saul will be repeated. As his apostasy ended in distress and perplexity, so will it now in "a time of trouble, such as never was." As Saul's mind was in darkness, so now darkness covers the earth, "and gross darkness the people." Isa. lx. 2. As he sought in vain for some word from the Lord, so will men seek in the time that is near to come. And as he finally obtained, through the witch of Endor, what he thought was the word of the Lord, so now in the coming famine, men will be driven to seek, as Saul did, to the dead, and through an apparent communication with them will receive that which they will accept as light and truth.

If we will receive the Word of the Lord now,-if we will hide it in our hearts and store it up in them, we shall escape the coming famine. But we must walk in the light while we have it (John xii. 35, 36), else the light that is in us will become darkness. Matt. vi. 23. By refusing to let the Word of God shape and control our lives, we are doing as Saul did, and bringing upon ourselves the darkness which came upon him. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 1 Sam. xv. 23. The light of God's Word is given us that we may walk in it; not that we may stand still. We must step out upon the Word of God, with faith in its power to hold us up. Then will our pathway be "as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

"The Light of Life" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

Christ-who is one with His Father-is the "Sun of Righteousness." Mal. iv. 2. What the visible sign is to the physical world, Christ is to the spiritual world. The sun gives light to the physical world, and the Sun of Righteousness gives righteousness to the spiritual world. As we cannot see the sun without having its light upon us, so we cannot see Christ without having His light upon us, which is righteousness. Looking unto Him, we are covered with His righteousness which shines upon us, and thus are made righteous. As the sun is a powerful disinfectant and destroyer of disease-giving germs, so the Sun of Righteousness destroys with His beams all that which brings disease to the soul. "Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings." Sin cannot live in the sight of God, as mould cannot live in the bright sunshine. In the light of God's countenance is life, and that light comes to us through Jesus, the propitiation for our sins. Thus we can look upon it and live, which no man could do were he to behold God's face. That light destroys sin, but not the sinful flesh in which it works. So then we are to "run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith." Heb. xii. 1, 2.

And how can we see Him, and thus stand in the light of the Sun of Righteousness?-Simply by faith, believing His word. Faith exercised to its full extent always brings Jesus into view. By faith we may ever "look and live."

"Natural Growth" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

Coleridge, the philosopher, was once visited by Thelwall, a sceptic. Thelwall maintained that children should not be taught religion; it was interfering with their freedom, and filling their minds with prejudices; they should be allowed to grow up naturally, and then choose for themselves. The two sauntered into his

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garden. Coleridge loved his books more than his plants, and his garden was a mass of weeds; but Thelwall was fond of gardening. "I wonder," said he, "Mr. Coleridge, that your garden is in such a state. Why don't you weed it and plant flowers?" "Oh," replied Colleridge with a smile, "I want my garden to grow naturally. I won't fill it with prejudices."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

-Austria is struggling with a Governmental crisis, the cabinet having resigned.

-Meteorologists shy that there is in progress a gradual change to less settled weather.

-The telegraph lines of the world aggregate 1,069,128 miles. America has more than half-348,882 miles.

-An artificial cotton almost as good as the real article can now be made from the wood of the pine, spruce, or larch.

-The nests of the termites, or white ants, are, proportioned to the size and weight of the builders, the greatest structures in the world.

-A Parsee sacred fire, which is burning in a temple at Leiguie, Persia, is known to have not been extinguished since the days of Rapiboreth, who lived 12 centuries ago.

-Habitual topers are to be photographed in New Zealand towns. Each saloon is to have a gallery of them, and the proprietors who supply liquor to them are to be fined.

-The Ladies' Temperance Society, of Connecticut; U.S.A., has enrolled 1,400 young women who will refuse to marry a risen who Indulges in, or oven drinks a single glass of intoxicating liquors.

-The proportion of crimes due to drunkenness is larger in Scotland than in England, notwithstanding the fact that the English public-houses are open on Sundays and later and earlier on week days.

-Professor Fraser, of Edinburgh, claims to have discovered a genuine antidote for snake-bite which he calls antivenine. He uses the blood serum of animals which have been inoculated with snake poison.

-June 19, in the Italian Chamber, a discussion over the question of amnesty waxed so warm that a number of the deputies, after a vigorous exchange of personalities, engaged in a scuffle, which obliged the President to suspend the sitting.

-It has been computed that the death-rate of the globe is 68 per minute, 87,790 per day, or 85,717,790 per year. The birth-rate is 70 per minute, 100,800 per day, or 36,817,200 per year, reckoning the year to be 365? days in length.

-The Italian military authorities have secured a new magazine rifle which was submitted to them by an infantry officer. Its chief characteristic is that it fires 20 shots automatically, and that the firing may be intermittent or continuous at the pleasure of the marksman.

-The mining industry has at last given civilisation a foothold in the Arctic regions. A railroad has been laid down for the purpose of carrying iron ore from the Gelilvare mines to the seaport of Lulea, extending fifty miles above the Arctic circle. This is the first railroad to penetrate the Frigid Zone.

-One of the principal features of the forthcoming Bordeaux Exhibition will be the largest bottle ever made. It will be 115ft. high, and divided into storeys, the lowest of which will be fitted up as a restaurant. A winding staircase will lead up the neck to a kiosque-taking the place of a cork-where there will be room for 35 persons to sit at a time and look over the exhibition grounds and the city.

-Chicago clergymen have formed a polyglot club, for the purpose of instructing prospective foreign missionaries. In the various foreign languages, President Harper, of the Chicago University, has secured as members of the organisation, representatives of almost every nationality visited by missionaries, and by the reproduction of conversation, the phonograph will take the place of instructors.

-The Porte is exercising itself in devising ways and means to evade the acceptance of the demands made by the European powers for reforms in Armenia, and thus far has succeeded in preventing the negotiations from reaching any definite result. How much longer it can keep this up is the principal question now awaiting solution. Meanwhile Turkish troops have made an incursion upon the frontier of Bulgaria, and that power has made a demand upon the Porte for compensation.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 26.

E. J. Waggoner

Great distress is said to prevail in Armenian provinces which were desolated by the late massacres.

The Stundist or Protestant movement is said to be making headway in Siberia among the exiled colonies.

Recent disclosures in the German courts have shown that some of the Roman Catholic monastic institutions are nothing less than prisons, where those who have offended their superiors may be immured without opportunity to escape or to appeal for justice.

To find the bitterest feelings against Romanism among the masses one has to go to countries where Rome has had full power to work in its native ways. We have received from one of our agents in Chile some copies of newspapers in which priests and all that is of clericalism are attacked most vehemently.

While this anti-Catholic feeling in South America is very largely anti-religious as well, the people knowing nothing of religion save as the priests have represent it, there is no doubt that disgust with Romanism will lead many to listen to the Gospel. We are glad of the success of our agents who are selling our publications on both the eastern and western coasts of South America. Success also attends the preaching of the Word.

The suicidal policy of many Protestants is advancing the chances of Rome. Thus the English Churchman is trying to revive an old law which prohibits Catholic priests wearing official robes and bearing religious emblems appearing in the public streets. This anti-Catholic legislation is purely papal, being simply the weapon of Rome directed against its inventor. Every time professed Protestants resort to these methods they deny Protestant principles and help Rome forward. It is a truth of the Word that "all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." The saddest sight of the times is the tendency everywhere to turn from the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God," to the weapons of the flesh.

In heathenism men merely deified perverted human passions, and the heathen worshipped gods like unto themselves. It is a very easy matter to do this; it is what every man does who makes his own way, the pet traits of his own disposition, the supreme rule of life.

There are many ways of putting self before God. There is an idolatry against which every soul must be constantly guarded by the watchful power of the Lord. The heart is so deceptive that the Lord must do the guarding; else the person may interpret the call of selfish indulgence as the voice of the Lord. The voice of God speaks to the heart, and speaks by the Word, and if we should listen to His voice more we would be less frequently drawn into sin by the suggestions of the natural disposition.

An illustration of how perverted human nature may be deified, and the voice of evil nature be regarded as the voice of God was furnished recently by a member of the Aberdeen Free Presbytery in a speech advocating the Gothenburg plan for managing the liquor traffic. He said:-

He believed it was not in accordance with the Divine will that the traffic should come to an end. God had made the traffic, and He so constituted human nature that there was a natural desire for drink on the part of man.

It is difficult to conceive of a more terrible doctrine than this, which makes the cravings of the flesh the interpreter of the Divine will. It is because perverted nature has acquired a desire for intoxicants that the Lord says, "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink."

South Africa is joining in the hue and cry for Sunday laws. The Cape Argus reports the proceedings of a department organised by the Y.M.C.A. of Cape Town, which demanded of the Government a stricter enforcement of Sunday observance by law, and the total prohibition of Sunday entertainments. This recourse to the law is not calculated to help the Y.M.C.A. of South Africa in what, we suppose, is its earnest purpose, the conversion of those who frequent theatrical entertainments. If Sunday were the Sabbath one of the wickedest things that men could not do would be to try to force men to keep it.

The Catholic press having announced that the band of the Colstream Guards would play during mass at the laying of the foundation-stone of the new cathedral, is indignant at the later refusal of the Government to allow the band to be present. Now it is announced that a London military band will play. It seems an essential part of the religious ceremony to have a military band.

The London Freeman, organ of the Baptist denomination, prints the following resolution adopted by the American Baptist Missionary Union, referring to the prosecution of Seventh-day Adventists in the States:-

Whereas, It has been widely reported that, in some portions of the United States, professing Christians who have conscientiously observed the seventh day of the week as a day of religious rest and worship, and to thereafter on the first day of the week have conscientiously engaged in labour which in nowise disturbed their fellow-citizens who desire to observe the first day, have for this act been arrested and fined and imprisoned and sent to the chain gang, therefore, resolved, That (assuming the facts to be as reported) we earnestly and solemnly protest against this violation of the right of religious liberty, a right for which our fathers suffered imprisonment, the spoiling of their goods, stripes, exile and death itself.

The German Emperor declared that the array of war-ships gathered at the opening of the Berlin Canal might be regarded as a symbol of peace. But when human nature so changes that the peace of a community is concerned by its members going about armed to the teeth, then the time will have come when the arming of nations will make for international peace.

The question of "bad beer" is being discussed. It is time all thoughtful observers decided that all beer is bad, and altogether bad. This can be determined to a certainty by analysis of it, or by the easier method of observing the effects of its use. The British Medical Journal declares the cry for "pure beer" as a temperance message to be "a pure fabrication of the drinking party," and adds:-

People get drunk because they drink, and act by means of the badness or the adulteration of their drink. There is little or no adulteration of spirits or beer. None, anyhow, which can be considered harmful or which produces intoxication. They are now and again watered, but it is not the water which intoxicates.

July 4, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

Here is a sample of the working of medi?val religious laws in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburgh-Schwerin:-

A poor woman had just been sentenced there to fine and imprisonment for having recited a prayer over the body of her child, the minister having failed to appear at the cemetery. It seems that by virtue of a law passed in 1751 it is a penal offence to recite prayers or pronounce a speech at any funeral in the absence of an ecclesiastic.

To an interviewer Mr. Maxim, of machine gun fame, said recently that Madagascar wanted to buy Maxim guns. "But we won't sell them to Madagascar. The French are a great nation and very good customers of ours, and we are not going to sell any guns if we can help it to shoot Frenchman with." But the considerate manufacturers are willing to sell them to the French to use in murdering the defenseless Hovas of Madagascar.

"Beer doesn't injure me," says some one; "it is only when men take too much that the harm is done." But the reason why some people take so much as to cause them to lose control of their senses is that this stuff is a poison, and no one can escape injury in some degree who puts a poison into his system. We never hear of an overmastering craving for bread, or potatoes, or milk which leads a man to sell up his furniture and neglect his family. It is because these things are foods. It takes a poison to pervert the physical organism and make the person a slave to an evil habit.

At the recent convention of the W.C.T.U. in London, "Mother Stewart," described as the mother of the Women's Christian Temperance movement, told how the little band of women started the crusade in the early days by praying in the liquor saloons of Ohio. If only the movement might hold to the early simplicity, and trust to prayer rather than politics, the cause of temperance would be more rapidly advanced.

"Carrying the Light" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

Who has not seen a little child attempt to grasp a handful of sunshine? It would close its hand in the sunlight, and would manifest great surprise when it found, on opening its hand in the shade, that the sunshine had escaped. We are amused at the simplicity of the child, unmindful of the fact that we ourselves often manifest less wisdom in a similar case of far more importance.

For instance, we have learned that the Word of God is light. We perhaps believe that if we only have that Word we shall have light; and so we make attempts to seize and hold it. When the Word is spoken with great clearness, people often jot down the thoughts in their note books, and make a special note of the text of Scripture that was referred to in the hope of carrying the light away with them. But when they have gone to their homes, and have opened their books, they are surprised to find that the light does not shine forth. They thought to show the light to their friends, but it has fled even as the sunshine from the hands of the little child. This time we are not amused, for the case is too serious for amusement.

In each case the desire was most laudable. To "catch the sunshine is one of the most necessary things. To wish to carry it to others is a blessed thought. The child does catch and carry the sunshine, but in a different manner from what it thinks. Living in the bright sunlight it takes up the life-giving rays in its blood, and they are manifested in rosy cheeks, sparkling eyes, sturdy limbs, and a cheerful spirit. It carries the sunshine in its life, and carries it to others too, because "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine." The difference between a child who lives in the sunshine and one who lives altogether in the shade is manifest to every one who sees them. The child of the shade cannot by an occasional run into the sunlight gather up a supply of sunshine in its hands and pockets to distribute to others. There is no other way of carrying sunshine than in the blood.

Even so it is with the light of the Word of God. We cannot carry it in our hands, nor in our pockets, or even in our mouths. Light is life and there is no way of carrying it except in the life. "Out of the heart are the issues of life;" and we are told, "These words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart." Deut. vi. 6. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." Col. iii. 16. When the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness are received and absorbed into the life, there will be no difficulty in carrying them to others.

Of Christ it is said, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." John i. 4. The life of Christ is the only true light, for He says, "I am the light of the world." John viii. 12. Since there is no light except the light of Christ, it is most evident that no man can carry that light except by having the life itself. So Jesus says, "He that followeth Me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." We may "walk in the

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light as He is in the light," and not only so, but we ourselves may be lights. Indeed, we are expected to be lights. "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light." Eph. v. 8. Also, "Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world." Phil. ii. 14, 15.

The sun shines without an effort, because it is light. Christ shines because He is light itself. His life is light, and His word is life. Therefore whoever receives that word into his heart and life, will shine with the same light, and with no more conscious effort than the sun itself makes. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

"Standing Before God" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

Elijah, we are told, was "a man subject to like passions as we are" (Jas. v. 17); he was a mortal having the same nature that we have. But that which made Elijah what he was, and distinguished him from most other men that have lived on the earth, is indicated in the words of his message to King Ahab, which so suddenly introduced him into the Scripture narrative. "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab: As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." 1 Kings xvii. 1.

"Before whom I stand"-these are words that distinguished Elijah from the mass of his fellow-men. Elijah stood before the Lord, and therefore whatever he did was done before the Lord, and as in His presence.

It was true of other men, and is true of men to-day, that they stand before God; but Elijah recognised and realised the fact, while others did not, and his course differed from others accordingly. And that difference could not be slight; for would not our own course of life be vastly different if we were visibly standing and acting before the Lord? Imagine the effect upon ourselves of coming into the actual presence of God, as concerns our thoughts, motives and actions. Every other presence would shrink into nothingness; its influence upon us would be gone; we would have no fear of it, or regard for its words. Our whole interest and anxiety would be concentrated upon the single thought of the will of God, and the relation of our lives to it.

Thus it was with Elijah; for his faith made real to him that which was actual truth, but was hidden from his natural senses, and thus it may, and should be with us; for being a man of like passions with us, we also may be like him in faith. We stand, as truly as he did, before Him who is Lord of all. We act in His presence. And it will be to our infinite advantage if we but realise the fact, and confess it in our actions.

"Studies in Romans. God the Only Judge. Rom. xiv. 1-14" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

It has been a long time since we have had a study in the book of Romans, circumstances having made it seem necessary that other matter should take its place; but we will now resume the study of the book until we finish it. Since the fourteenth chapter consists wholly of practical instruction in Christian living, and has no direct dependence upon the exhortations that have preceded it, we need not now take time to review the previous chapters, but will proceed at once with the text. Let it not be forgotten that this chapter, as well as those which precede, is addressed to the church, and not to those who do not profess to serve the Lord. In the sixth verse it is plainly shown that all who are spoken of in this chapter are those who acknowledge God as their Lord. The chapter therefore tells how we should regard one another as

SERVANTS OF ONE COMMON MASTER

"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things; another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth; for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up; for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way."

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

Who are we not to shut away from out company?

"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye."

But how are we not to receive Him?

"Not to doubtful disputations." Or, as indicated in the margin, and rendered in some versions, "Not to judge his thoughts."

What illustrations of difference of opinion does the apostle give?

"One believeth that he may eat all things; another, who is weak, eateth herbs." "One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike."

In what state should every man be?

"Let each man be fully assured in his own mind." R.V.

How are those who differ in opinion not to regard each other?

"Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth."

Why not?

"For God hath received him."

What is that man doing who judges another man?

He is judging "another man's servant."

To whom is the servant responsible?

"To his own master he standeth or falleth."

But will he really fall, if he is indeed a servant of God?

"He shall be holden up."

Why?

"For God is able to make him stand."

What is the lesson that we are to learn in all this?

"None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."

To whom do we live and die?

"Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord."

Whose then are we under all circumstances?

"Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."

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For what purpose did Christ die and rise again?

"That He might be Lord both of the dead and living."

Why should we not judge or set at naught our brother?

"For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ."

What proof is cited for this?

"It is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

What then must every one of us do?

"Every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

Since God is to judge us all, what reasonable exhortation is given?

"Let us not therefore judge one another any more."

What should we rather judge?

"That no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way."

The School of Christ.-The church of Christ is not composed of perfect men, but of those who are seeking perfection. He is the perfect One, and he sends out the invitation: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me." Matt. xi. 28, 29. Having called all to come to Him, He says, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John vi. 37. As one has said, "God reaches for the hand of faith in man to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that man may attain to perfection of character." The faith may be very weak, but God does not reject him on that account. Paul thanked God that the faith of the Thessalonian brethren grew exceedingly (2 Thess. i. 3), which shows that they did not have perfect faith at the first. It is true that God is so good that every person ought to trust Him fully; but just because He is so good, He is very patient and forbearing with those who are not well acquainted with Him, and He does not turn away from them because they are doubtful. It is this very goodness and forbearance of God that develops perfect faith.

The Pupils Not Masters.-It is not for the pupils to say who shall attend school. It is true that in this world there are schools that are exclusive, in which only a certain set of pupils are allowed. If one inferior in wealth and standing in society should seek to enter, there would be at once an uproar. The students themselves would make so strong a protest against the entrance of the newcomer, that the masters would feel obliged not to receive him. But such schools are not the schools of Christ. "There is no respect of persons with God." He invites the poor and needy, and the weak. It is He, and not the pupils, that decides who shall be admitted. He says, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely," and He asks all who hear to extend the invitation. The only qualification necessary for entering the school of Christ is willingness to learn of Him. If any man is willing to do His will, God will receive him and teach him. John vii. 17. Whoever sets up any other standard, sets himself above God. No man has any right to reject one whom God receives.

Master and Servant.-Christ said to His disciples: "Be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master; and all ye are brethren." "Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, even Christ." Matt. xxiii. 8, 10. It is the master who sets the task for each pupil or servant. It is to the master that the servant looks for his reward. Therefore it is the master alone who has the right to give orders, and to pronounce judgment if there is failure. "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?" If you have not the power to reward his success, you have not the right to judge his failures.

"God Is the Judge."-"He putteth down one, and setteth up another." Ps. lxxv. 7. "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us." Isa. xxxiii. 22. "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; who art thou that judgest another?" James iv. 12. The power to save and to destroy determines the right to judge. To condemn when one has not the power to carry the judgment into effect, is but a farce. Such an one makes himself ridiculous, to say the least.

The Spirit of the Papacy.-The apostle Paul describes the apostasy as the revelation of "that man of sin," "the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God," or, "setting himself forth as God." 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. In Daniel vii. 25 the same power is described as speaking great words against the Most High, and thinking to change times and laws. To set one's self up against or above the law of God, is the strongest possible opposition to God, and the most presumptuous usurpation of his power. The end of the power that thus exalts itself is this: to be consumed by the Spirit of Christ, and destroyed by the brightness of His coming. 2 Thess. ii. 8. Now read in James iv. 11: "He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law; but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge." That tells us that whoever speaks evil of his brother, or judges or sets at naught his brother, is speaking against the law of God, and sitting in judgment upon it. In other words, he is putting himself in the place and doing the work of "that man of sin." What else can result, but that he receive the reward of the man of sin? Surely there is enough in this thought to give us all pause.

All Subjects of Judgment.-"For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." In this statement there is no exception, for it is written, "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." This being the case, it is the strongest reason why we should not judge and condemn one another. Verse 10 gives the fact that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ as the reason why we should not judge nor despised a brother. "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Notice this, that each one is to give account of himself, and not of somebody else to God. In standing before the judgment seat of Christ, we are giving account to God, because Christ is the representative of Divinity in the judgment, as well as in all things. "For the Father judgeth no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father." John v. 22, 23.

The Time of Judgment.-One reason why we should not judge, is that God is the judge. Another is, that "He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained." Acts xvii. 31. The Father Himself judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son. But even the Son does not sit in judgment now; for He says: "If any man hear My words and believe not, I judge him not; for

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I came not to judge the world but to save the world." John xii. 47. Therefore he who presumes to sit in judgment now, not only usurps the place of God, but gets ahead of Him. There will be a time when judgment will be committed to the saints of the Most High, but it will be only when the saints possess the kingdom. Dan. vii. 22. And those to whom judgment is committed will all be saints. 1 Cor. vi. 2. None are to judge, except those who are without sin. The man who judges, therefore, declares himself to be without sin. But God is the only one whose testimony in this respect is of any worth; "for not he that commendeth himself is approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth." 2 Cor. x. 18. "Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come." 1 Cor. iv. 5.

The Word of Judgment.-But although even Christ does not yet judge, He speaks the word by which men are to be judged; and that is the Word of God. He says, "He that rejecteth Me; and receiveth not My words, hath One that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." John xii. 48, 49. Although Christ did not condemn anybody when He was on earth, the word that He spoke often caused those who heard it to be convicted in their own hearts, and self-condemned. "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." John iii. 17-19.

Truth and Condemnation.-From the words of Christ, which we have quoted in the last paragraph, we clearly see that there is a difference between condemning men and speaking the truth. Christ was not sent into the world to condemn the world; but He was sent into the world to bear witness to the truth. John xviii. 37. He did not condemn anybody, yet He declared the truth. So His followers are not to condemn anybody; yet none are His followers except those who speak the truth. If any are not doing the truth, the Word of truth will enlighten them as to their duty. If they then persist in error, the Word of truth testifies against them. But the one who speaks that word utters no condemnation.

Knowledge of Right and Wrong.-In like manner, it by no means follows that a person, in order not to condemn, must not exercise the knowledge of right and wrong, which God has given him. If he did not, he could not be a witness for the truth. Neither could he do the truth. God's Word is truth (John xvii. 17), therefore the follower of Christ must both by words and actions speak the Word of God. That word points out the difference between truth and error. It tells what things ought to be done, and what should not be done. By that word one may, and ought to, declare of certain things, "They are sinful." But in so saying he utters no decision concerning any person. In short, the Word of God condemns sin, now and always; but it does not at all condemn sinners, until the last day. Certainly all can see this clear distinction, and may know what they should do and what they should not do, in order to be in harmony with God's Word.

The Law and the Testimony.-"To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. viii. 20. That is, the testimony which we are always to give, must be according to the law of God. "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." 1 Peter iv. 11. Therefore while we are not at liberty to condemn, we are at the same time not at liberty to disregard the Word of God. We are by no means to assume that it makes no difference what we do; nor are we to give other people the idea that it is of no importance whether they keep the law of God or not. That form of charity which consists in giving away the Word of God, or, rather, in throwing it away, so as not to say anything contrary to anybody's ideas or prejudices, is a form of charity that finds no warrant in the Bible.

Personal Questions.-Sometimes a person will ask concerning some duty pointed out by the law of God, "Ought I do that?" The one questioned can only reply, "You ought to obey the Lord; now when you know what the Lord says, why do you ask me if you shall obey? I cannot absolve you from obeying God; and if you do obey Him, you ought to do it because He says so, and not because a man tells you to." Again, a man sometimes asks, "Do you think that I should be condemned if I do not keep the Sabbath?" We can only say, "I am not the judge; I have nothing to do with condemnation. You know what the Lord commands; decide for yourself whether or not you can reject His Word and be justified." The Word of God is the sole guide, the sole standard of authority. Men must be brought face to face with it, and then left there alone with it.

The Law Not Disparaged.-There are many people who seem to be quite familiar with the words of the first part of the fourteenth of Romans, who evidently very seldom read any other part of the epistle. That is, they know that the Apostle Paul wrote, "One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth everyday alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." But they are so unfamiliar with the rest of the epistle that they suppose that this statement does away with the law of the Sabbath. What evidence have we that these words do not in the least degree intimate that the law of God, which includes the fourth commandment, is a matter of indifference? Note the following points, and you will readily see: First, the apostle says in this same chapter that "we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Second, he says also in the first part of the epistle, that "as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law, . . . in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." Rom. ii. 12, 16. When the apostle says that we are all to stand at the judgment seat of Christ, and the law of God is to be the standard of that judgment, it is very evident that he never intends to be understood as saying that it is a matter of no importance whether or not we keep that law.

The Law and the Sabbath.-The fourth commandment of the law by which all men are to be judged reads thus: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy works; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; it thou shalt not do any work; . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,

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and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 8-11. Of this law Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. v. 17, 18. The Sabbath therefore stands in the law just the same as when it was spoken from Sinai; and the law in which it stands is the law by which men are to be judged at the last day. Therefore it cannot be a matter of indifference whether the Sabbath is kept or not; and must be that the Sabbath, with the rest of the law, is to be proclaimed to all men, in order that they may be prepared for the judgment. This being the case, we very well know that in the fourteenth chapter of Romans the Apostle Paul does not convey the least shadow of an idea that the keeping of the Sabbath is a matter of indifference.

"Every Day."-Some one will of course interpose that the apostle says, "every day," and that therefore he must necessarily include the Sabbath among things indifferent. Not so fast. In the sixteenth of Exodus we read that the people were told that they were to go out and gather a certain portion of manna "every day;" and yet in the same chapter we are told that they should find none at all on the seventh day. We are not to try to catch the Lord in His own words. When He says that a certain work is to be done every day, we are to know that He excepts, as a matter of course, those days on which He Himself has said that work may not be done. When a man says that his children go to school every day, he means of course that they go every school day, and not that they go when there is no school. So when the Apostle Paul, writing by inspiration of God, seems to imply that there are certain days which may be regarded or not, as one may choose, we must know that he does not by any means design to convey the idea that the holy Sabbath of the Lord, which was commanded to all men by His own voice, is among those indifferent days.

"Fully Persuaded."-"Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." So far as the statement is concerned, it makes no difference if it is applied to the Sabbath of the Lord. God desires willing, intelligence service. The man who professes to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, and yet is not sure that it is the Sabbath, is not keeping it at all. The law of God is not to be regarded simply as a thing to dodge behind in order to escape the wrath of God. The man who is not sure about the law, but who thinks that he will keep it so as to be on the safe side in the judgment, if it should chance to be the standard in that judgment, is not serving the Lord, but himself. Let a man be fully persuaded in his own mind that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good," and then let him keep it unto the Lord. If he does not keep it because he knows it to be right, his apparent service is but mockery and sin.

"Christ? or the Church?" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

"To whom shall we go?" This question was asked by Simon Peter, in the presence of the other disciples, concerning the source of that wisdom which leads to salvation. It is asked by many others to-day who would be made wise unto salvation; but not always is it answered as it was by Peter.

Peter's question and answer were addressed to Christ. He said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." John vi. 68, 69. But many now answer the same question by turning to "the church." This was not Peter's answer. He was himself an apostle, and could speak with as much wisdom and authority as any one of the followers of Christ; but both he and the other apostles with him confessed their own spiritual insufficiency in the question, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" Whoever might have come to the apostles for the words of eternal life would not have found them, except as the apostle spoke the words of Christ. And every individual who is a component part of "the church" to-day is just as dependent upon Christ for the words of eternal life as was Peter. And the Saviour is just as accessible to every individual who desires to hear the words of life as He was to Peter.

Peter never invited the attention of those whom he addressed to himself, or to "the church." In his first epistle he writes: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 1 Peter ii. 2-5.

There is laid in Zion a "chief corner stone," which is the Lord Jesus Christ. To that Stone every seeker for salvation must come; to that alone are they invited by the Lord to come. They must fall on the Rock and be broken. The church is but the light which God has placed in the world to show men the way to Christ, the living Stone.

The church existed long before the time of Peter; for the church is the body of Christ, and Christ has been the spiritual Head of His followers ever since the time of Adam. The martyr Stephen said that the great company who went with Moses out of Egypt constituted "the church in the wilderness." Acts vii. 38. So there was the church in the time of Peter and the other apostles, for the same spiritual organisation had been retained from the time of Moses, with its system of sacrifices and beautiful temple, which stood in the place of the tabernacle which Moses built. The "church in the wilderness" was the true church of Christ; for we are told "they drank of that

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spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 4.

Frequently they rebelled against the Lord, and their descendants did the same; but the Lord, though they often rejected Him, did not reject them; so that even as late as the time of Peter Jesus said of them, "The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do." Matt. xxiii. 2, 3. But if Peter had sought to "the church" for spiritual light and wisdom, he would not have been a follower of Christ; for "the church" rejected Him and put Him to death. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." John i. 11.

If Martin Luther and his fellow-workers had made "the church" the spiritual guide, the world would never have heard from them the preaching of the Gospel in the Reformation. Yet they found the Word of the Lord-the Holy Scriptures-and gave that Word to the people, having first received it into their own hearts. They drank from the fountain of life, and then led others to the same fountain. They all as did ancient Israel, "drank of that spiritual Rock that went with them," which was Christ. And Christ Himself is the fountain of life to-day.

"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." Job xiv. 4. Who can bring infallibility out of fallibility? When any number of fallible beings take action together, the result is fallibility still. They can produce only fallible decisions and speak only fallible words. This is an infallible Word which they can hold forth, and that is the word of Christ, which He said should not pass away. Phil. ii. 16; Mark xiii. 31.

There is an infallible Guide, which will guide the believer into all spiritual truth; but that Guide is the "Comforter,"-the Holy Spirit, whom the Father gives willingly to all that ask Him. John xiv. 26; xv. 26; xvi. 13. Thus God has given us His Word, which is the Word of life, and His Spirit, whose office is to guide men into all truth and reveal to them the things of God. All this is free to rich and poor, and to learned and unlearned, alike. And therefore no man can have any occasion or excuse for being led by any other word or guide. If he lacks wisdom he has only to "ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." James i. 5.

The principle of looking to "the church" for spiritual guidance is the principle of the Papacy, and is consistent with papal assumptions and claims,-implying as it does that God is far off from mankind, so that He needs a viceregent here to carry on His work, who must needs demonstrate his infallibility, which is necessary to his acting in God's stead, by a vote of several hundred men, all of whom were fallible. But God is not far off from every one of us, Christ is with His church even unto the end of the world, and His sheep hear His own voice, and know not the voice of a stranger. There is nothing that has any rightful place between the soul and Him.

"Intemperance" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

There is no poorer way to repress intemperance than to make it respectable. The worst feature in the outlook for temperance reform is the picture of the well-furnished, palatial saloon or public-house, frequented by respectable young men who are seemingly so far removed from the "habitual toper." In New Zealand it is proposed to forbid liquor selling to habitual topers; but it would be vastly better if liquor selling were confined to this class alone. Then no more topers would be made, the existing ones would in time disappear, and the youth would be saved. The truth is that the liquor traffic is in itself thoroughly disreputable and Satanic; and this fact should be everywhere made to appear as plainly as possible. This is the most effective way of dealing with intemperance.

"Two Voices on Ritualism" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

In the last week's issue of the Church Times that organ of the more Catholic party in the Established Church speaks of the triumph of the party as follows:-

The number of people who recognise the critical character of the present moment in the history of the Church of England is comparatively small. We have reached a period of calm and rest after a prolonged and angry contest. The Catholicity of our Church has been vindicated, and the Puritanism which had settled on her like a fungus growth has been, if not cut away, at all events deprived of much of its power for evil by being declared a parasitic growth, and treated accordingly. What its opponents call the High Church party, or what we prefer to call the more Catholic members of the Church of England, have been pronounced by high authority to be in the ascendant. A protracted trial, to vary the metaphor, has been conducted, in which the ablest counsel has been engaged on both sides. Precedents, customs, laws, and history have been industriously brought under the light, and judgment has been given for the Catholic defendant.

It is because the appeal was to "precedents, customs, laws and history" more than to the living Word that the more Protestant party has been worsted in the trial. There is no half-way ground. It is either the Bible alone, or it must be precedent, custom, and ecclesiastical law, and purely papal principles. The Church of Rome sees the triumph of her principles-so far as temporal influence and numbers are concerned-and rejoices at it. Thus the Melbourne Argus reports a sermon preached by R. C. Archbishop Carr, in which he said of the movement toward Rome:-

Whatever the result may be, it is certain that many Anglicans are yearning for union with the Roman See. They have been taking back one by one the visible symbols of religion which they discarded with outrage at the Reformation. The Cross again surmounts their Temples. The Crucifix is in the place of honour above the reredos-aye, the Mother and Child once more guard the entrance to England's noblest fane-Westminster Abbey. They have been adopting Catholic practices and devotions to such an extent that a stranger entering one of their churches finds it difficult to distinguish the counterfeit from the real. They have introduced aurricular confession, they believe in the real presence, they recite the Rosary of the blessed Virgin, they pray for the dead. They feel the inconsistency of being at once so near and yet so far from us. They bewail their want of unity, and as a consequence their lack of Catholicity. And now, after 300 years of separation and disintegration, they are turning again to that rightful mother. The words of the Good Shepherd are ringing in their ears:-"And other sheep I have that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Truly a marvellous change has come over the tone and temper of Protestantism with the last fifty years.

"The Angry Nations" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

Of the last days, when the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, the prophet declares: "And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth." Rev. xi. 18.

It was the violence of men, the fruit of the general disobedience to God's law, that destroyed the earth in the days before the flood. And as the last days, the Saviour said, are to be as the days before the flood, we may see in the wars and

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preparations for war now going on, the filling up of the cup of violence on the part of the angry nations. Even men of the world who stop to contemplate the future are appalled at what they see must be the outcome of the preparations for war, and the development of new social and international complications. The Vienna correspondent of the Times sent a despatch to that journal giving the substance of an interview with a Hungarian financier, which has attracted considerable attention. He said:-

"Bismarck's achievements have cost Europe more than 125,000,000,000f., even if account is taken only of the last twenty-five years of peace, or rather of armed terrorism, organised by him with a view to guarantee the conquest of Germany. Twenty-five years have thus been lost, and 125,000,000,000f. have been squandered without anybody having had the courage to go to war. There still exists that forcible mass of destructive engines and explosive material which a mere spark, a clumsy telegram dispatched by one of our great men, might instantly blow up. Modern wars are not of long duration, but they are expensive and sanguinary. Let us admit that six months would suffice to annihilate one or other of the belligerents, or to exhaust both of them. It will cost at least 500,000,000f. a month, or in all 30,000,000,000f., to be added to the 125,000,000,000f. spent on preparations, for it is not true that the present preparations for war will be conducive to peace. When a million of men shall have been massacred in the fearful collision of peoples and races, each man killed will cost a 155,000f.

"Now if only two-thirds of that sum had been employed to increase the general wealth and welfare, and to improve the lot of the working classes in town and country, the social question would not now weigh like a fearful nightmare on all Europe. There would have been moral pacification, and we should not have had these periodical outbursts which shake the nations of Western Europe to their very foundations. One thing is certain-namely, that if the European Powers continue in the perilous path upon which they have entered they will soon have to face bankruptcy, which catastrophe will inevitably be followed by a period of decay like that which overtook ancient Rome and was only to the advantage of the barbarians. Let us not forget that the great invasions in the world's history have come from Asia. The 'yellow peril' is more threatening than ever. Japan has made in a few years as much progress as other nations have made in centuries. It is only twenty-five years since Japan entered upon the era of progress. . . . If the Chinese are roused from their lethargy, if a man of genius comes forward to organise that immense empire, which comprises one-third of the human race and only occupies one-fifteenth part of the habitable globe, the Chinese will be obliged to undertake for their very existence a struggle which will sweep away the famous Wall of China, behind which they have lived for so long almost ignored, and it will effect an exodus towards the West. If Europe were united it would be able to resist this invasion of the yellow race. But its present state of folly will not admit of this. It will lead to ruin, and, as in the fifteenth century, it will open the gates of Europe to the barbarians of the East."

"Reading vs. Study" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

There are many more Bibles in the world than there are readers of the Bible. And there are more readers than students of the Bible. Some one has pertinently said:-

"It is not much good just reading the Bible. The Word itself does not say anything, that I can remember, about reading it. But it says a great deal about searching the Scriptures. And it says a great deal more about meditating on them. I do not know much about pearls, but I have heard that they come from the bottom of the sea. Now, we come up and look at the great stretch of water, and say, 'This is where the pearls come from,' and we take up the water and get nothing but bubbles of foam. But David comes along, and he dives down under the water, and brings up a wonderful pearl; and so he says, 'It's more to be desired than gold.' Reading skims, and cannot find anything but what floats on top; meditation dives down deep and finds pearls."

"Homes" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

Homes are like harps, of which one is finely carved and bright with gilding, but ill-tuned, and jarring the air with its discords; while another is old and plain and word, but from its chords float strains that are a feast of music.

"Singing in Church" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

The man in church who sings heartily knows less of the discords and disagreeable tunes than the other one who sits as a listener. It is so in anything-he who is actively engaged in work, helping with might and main, sees infinitely less to complain of than his lazy brother who is a critic.

"Fallen Plants" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

The flowers of the field are set before us as examples of the beauty of holiness, and as a lesson of trust in the power of God to clothe and sustain His creatures. With few exceptions the flower family reminds us only of loveliness and purity.

But there are exceptions, which go to show that the plant world shared in the curse of sin. That sin that was introduced into the world through man perverted animal life, so that the beasts of the field learnt violence and strife, and many species preyed upon one another.

The same perversion of the life that moves in every living thing has given some of the plants a nature strikingly allied to the carnivorous animals. Hence we have the name, carnivorous plants, describing those which eat flesh.

In the Daily Chronicle science column, not long ago, was an interesting note, showing that this habit in the plant is a perversion of its nature-its divine nature, we may say-and not at all necessary to its life. This is the paragraph:-

"Mr. Meehan, of Philadelphia, notices in some observations on the well-known Darlingtonia of California, notices that the so-called carnivorous plants are just as able to get their food from the earth as other species. The animal nutriment which they devour through their foliage can only be looked upon as 'a gastronomic luxury,' in no way to be classed among the necessaries of life. This is, of course, quite in keeping with previous data, sun-dews and other flesh-eating plants flourishing when deprived of flies or similar organic food."

It awakens a feeling of pity to think of the innocent plant indulging such preying propensities as are common to the animal kingdom, and that, too, in sheer superfluity of naughtiness. Truly the whole creation will have to be purged from the fruits of sin before the time comes when the desert shall blossom as Carmel and Sharon, and the beasts shall lie down together, and none shall hurt nor destroy in all the earth.

HOW THEY LIVE

The life which teaches the plant to take from the soil the elements and quantities required is, in these plants, perverted into the faculty for discriminating in the choice of victims for its depraved appetite. Thus we read of them:-

"The order of flesh-eating plants, of which the well-known Venus fly-trap is a sample, display such a wonderful discrimination in the selection of food, and an adaptation of means to ends, as to afford a striking and wonderful problem in this direction. If a live insect alight upon the leaves of the dionea, the unwary victim is immediately entrapped by its parts closing over it like a thing possessed of life and intelligence; and when the insect's juices are extracted and digested the plant again slowly opens, ready apparently for another victim. Small bits of beef will be devoured in the same manner, but inanimate substances, such as minute stones or fragments of dead moss, will be rejected as completely as by any animal judgment and discernment.

"In common with other varieties of these carnivorous vegetables, the English sundew, a little plant common to soft, marshy places, lives almost entirely on the flies and insects which alight upon it. The outer surface of its leaves is covered with a number of tentacles, terminating in a little knob covered with a soft, sweet, sticky substance to attract its prey, which deceived by a pathway paved with such good intentions, alights upon it to partake of the tempting meal. Then it becomes a case of the biter bit, and the little victim finds himself gradually enveloped in the folds of the voracious plant. As in most other plants of the same kind, pieces of dead matter, and balls of paper, or even a lifeless insect fail to tempt the fastidious appetite of this vegetable 'bon vivant.'"

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

-It is proposed to build a railway from the East coast of Africa to the lake region in the interior, the work to be commenced next spring.

-At the recent conference of the W.W.C.T.U., a document was produced showing that forty-seven clergymen were among the shareholders of a certain brewery company.

-London has an "Early Rising Association," which recently held its midsummer mooting on an eminence in North London, and passed a resolution recommending early rising to all persons desirous of health, wealth, and long life.

-The latest use for the penny-in-the-slot machine seems to have been found by an American, who has produced a machine with the inscription: "Put a penny in the slot and you will gets blessing from, the Pope, in the Pope's can voice, per phonograph."

-June 25 is observed by the Abyssinians as "St. Pilate's day." The festival amounts, it is said, almost to a national ablution. Since Pilate washed his hands and protested himself innocent of Jesus' death, they have thought him a worthy subject for canonisation.

-The sale of brandy for drinking in France is declared to have doubled in the last ten years. Much of the brandy now sold there is said to be made from ethylic alcohol, which is a very poisonous substance, having the effect of rapidly breaking down the will of the unfortunate drinker.

-The danger of collision at sea has been prospectively lessened by the invention of an electrical apparatus, which; attached to a compass, causes the needle to deviate in the direction of an approaching ship when the latter is still a mile distant, and thus to close an electric circuit and ring an alarm.

-Out of 54,946, male criminals confined in English prisons last year, 20,172 had been only once committed, while 8,898 had been in prison ten times and over. The number of males committed doubled that of females, but in the cases of supposed total depravity, shown by over ten commitments, the feales outnumbered the males by about 80 per cent.

-An insurrection against Turkish misrule has broken out in Macedonia, and some fighting has been reported between the inhabitants and Turkish troops. A grave aspect has been given to the situation by the action of Bulgaria, where all political parties are uniting in efforts to give active aid to the insurgents. From Crete there comes news of an encounter between Turkish soldiers and "Christians," in which several of the participants were killed.

-No fewer than seventeen female foretune-tellers, soothsayers, and "witches" of various sorts were recently cited before the Paris magistrates in one week. It was said, during the hearing of one of the charges, that there are at least 800 women in Paris at the present moment who live upon the credulity of their fellow-citizens. One of the biggest sources of profit is made by their "interpretation" of the dreams which are communicated to them by hosts of anxious inquirers.

-Dr. Merriam, the well-known ornithologist, has just issued a useful report to farmers, giving the results of his examination of the food of birds. He shows that the popular notions about owls, crows, and blackbirds, are altogether erroneous Seventy-five per cent. of their food was town to be field-mice, grasshoppers, and crickets, which are more injurious than these birds to fare, crops. He also found that they eat noxious insects, and although 25 per cent. of their food is corn, it is mostly waste corn.

-Stundist exiles are apparently about to enjoy the privilege of emigration. A circular issued by the Minister of the Interior to the Military Governor of the Province of Kutais, Caucasus, states that in consequence of the overcrowding of Caucasia by banished sectarians, and the difficulty of finding dwellings and providing surveillance, it has been decided to sanction emigration where desired, and to grant passports for doing so on condition that the emigrants declare their intention never again to return to Russia.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

The English Church Union, which represents the Catholic party in the Establishment, has on its role of membership over 35,000 names, of which 4,277 are clergymen, including 26 Bishops.

Lord Halifax, president of the E.C.U., addressed the annual meeting last week on reunion prospects. His visit to Rome renders him more hopeful of reunion, and he thinks the dream of Leo XIII. may be realised in his lifetime.

From the far-away colony of Western Australia comes one item of news which shows that many there are interested in religious questions. One agent has sold during the past two years 1,400 copies of the large work, "Patriarchs and Prophets," 150 of "Steps to Christ" and 500 copies of our smaller pamphlets.

At the laying of the foundation stone of the new Roman Catholic Cathedral at Westminster last week the "purple of Monsignori and Bishops, the violet cassocks of clerical assistants, the gold and white of cope and mitre, the more sacred black and white of the pallium, and the crimson of two Cardinals" greatly impressed some of the newspaper correspondents.

Sketches of the proposed cathedral show that it will be a great edifice, and gorgeously decorated. Catholics expect to draw many people into their fold by the pomp and splendour of the services when all is completed. No doubt their expectations will be realised. Sensuous religion is popular. People like to see spectacular displays which they cannot understand, and which appeal to their imagination. But it is easy for anyone to see that these things do not come from the New Testament. The fallen church has taken its pompous ceremonies over from Paganism, of which the "mystery of iniquity" is an exact copy.

Writing from Hungary of the progress of the work in fields over which he has general oversight, Brother L. R. Conradi, of Hamburg, says:-

The work of translating and publishing in foreign tongues steadily increases, and we publish now from Hamburg in Hungarian, Bohemian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Bulgarian, Servian, Roumanian, and Livonian; and as the seeds of truth are sown, Sabbath-keepers of all these nationalities come to our knowledge.

Speaking of the sensationalism of the age one of the reviewers of last month said:-

Preachers, thinkers, writers, and artists of every kind have attracted attention and gained popularity in direct ratio to the novelty of their productions. The very word "old-fashion" is now a reproach which requires no amplification, as "up-to-date" symbolises perfection.

It is the condition predicted: "The time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables."

The thirsty man does not refuse the cup of cold water because he has had water to drink before; nor does the man thirsting for righteousness object to the old story of Christ and His righteousness. The water of life from the well of the Word is ever fresh and new, but not novel and untried. Therefore, while the world is seeking novelties, the Gospel worker is to follow the old and only method of saving souls-"Preach the Word." It is the Lord's direction for just such a time as that described in the preceding paragraph.

The ways of the Mohammedan pilgrim are ways of darkness, as well from a sanitary as from the spiritual point of view. It is from the annual pilgrimages to Mecca that the cholera scourge usually starts. The population of Mecca suddenly rises by from one to three hundred thousand, the water supply is befouled, and, according to Professor Proust, a French sanitarian, the worst feature lies in the sacrificial rites in the valley of Monna, where in 1893 over 120,000 sheep were slain. This valley is narrow, there is no water in it, the heat is tropical, and the superficial burial of the carcasses turns the charnel house into a putrefying scene of desolation.

One of the bishops of the American Methodist Church has been visiting Korea, and is enthusiastic over the progress that the country is making toward Christianity. He says:-

During our brief stay the barbarous practice of beheading criminals and exposing the heads outside the gates was abolished by royal edict, and at the same time Sunday was made a legal holiday and Saturday a half holiday. In fact, the reforms instituted by their alert and energetic allies of the island empire, if enforced throughout the eight provinces, will put new life into this torpid race, and give Korea a creditable place among civilised nations.

Constantine's reputation as a Christian rests upon his Sunday edict, and from that day to this the keeping of Sunday has been very largely accepted as a sufficient substitute for obedience to the commandments of God.

The propensity for making a show is one of the prominent characteristics of weak human nature. Fallen man, the weakest intelligence in the universe, is also the most boastful. The proud Nebuchadnezzar has his successors to-day, among nations as well as individuals, who desire to call the attention of the world to the great Babylon's which they have built. But it is as true now as in his day that "Pride goeth before a fall;" for vanity is only another name for folly, and when vanity becomes so great that it must find vent in boastful displays meant only to glorify man, it is an indication that man's folly has arisen to such a height that it must be humbled by the hand of God.

"Keeping the Peace" The Present Truth 11, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

Keeping the Peace.-The Psalmist writes, "Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them." Ps. cxix. 165. How do they obtain this peace? The Saviour said to His disciples, "Peace I leave with you; My peace give I unto you." John xiv. 27. He gives to His followers the peace that He has Himself. They have but to take it, according to the exhortation, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." Col. iii. 15. The only obstacle to this will be some other ruler in the heart, namely, self. Where self rules, there will not be peace; but the peace of God will rule wherever it is let in. Being God's peace, it has in it His power and His joy. It is infinite, and so "passeth all understanding." And it will "keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." That which controls the mind, will control the body. So there are no persons in the world so peaceful and so truly keepers of the peace, as Christians.

July 11, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." Heb. iv. 9.

This rest, as we learned from the connection, is the Lord's rest. The promise is left us of entering into His rest. Verse 1.

That rest is not something to which we are to look forward, but it is to be enjoyed in the present. It is a rest that "remaineth." It has existed since the days of old, and has not been withdrawn.

Evidence of the truth of this is found in the fact that the rest that remains is the Lord's rest. The Lord is not looking forward to a time when He can rest, but is resting now. He calls us to share His rest with Him, saying, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. xi. 28.

Since what time has this rest been ready for man? The answer is, "The works were finished from the foundation of the world." Heb. iv. 3. A finished work means rest; and so we read in the next verse that "God did rest the seventh day from all His works." The Sabbath day-God's rest-is the sign or seal of creation complete and perfect. "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. i. 31. And then He rested from His work, from that time-from the close of the sixth day-God's rest has been ready for man.

And at that time man-the new man whom God had created-entered upon that rest. "The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." Gen. ii. 15. "Eden" means "pleasure" or "delight." A very literal rendering of the Hebrew would be that the Lord took the man and "caused him to rest in the garden of delight." Work was given him, but it was work without weariness.

But the man did not continue in that rest. He disobeyed the Word of God, and thus lost the rest that was in it. God said, "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground."

Nevertheless God's rest remained. The Sabbath-the perfect rest of the new earth-still was left to man, as an evidence that God had not cast him off, and is a pledge of the rest in the earth again made new.

This perfect Sabbath rest, the seal of a new creation, is found in Christ. "In Him were all things created." Col. i. 16, R.V. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Cor. v. 17. Since man lost his rest only by sin, he recovers it only by the righteousness of God in Christ.

God's rest, however, does not mean lazy idleness. Although God entered into His rest at the creation, Jesus said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." John v. 17. He works by means of His Word, on the strength of which He rested. If that Word works in us, we also shall find rest in labour.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Eph. ii. 10. Just as when God made man He set him to work, yet gave him rest, so when He makes the man new, He makes him do it in order that He may work, yet it is restful work.

And that is what the Saviour's call teaches us. When He invites the weary to come to Him for rest, He immediately adds, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me." Being yoked up with Him, we work with Him, and He works in us. His works were all done by the Word of God. If we, like Him, give heed to every Word of God, we shall do the works, and find the rest. Who will accept the gracious invitation?

"He Longs to Save" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

"God is love." 1 John iv. 16. Hence all that is Godlike is like love; and all that does the work of God works by love. Love wins-never coerces or drives. There is nothing but love in the Gospel; and therefore the Gospel coerces nobody, and all that does coerce is not of the Gospel. Rebellious Jerusalem was a type of the rebellious world,-of all the wicked who will not walk in God's way.

The Saviour wept over Jerusalem, saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Matt. xxviii. 37.

So the Saviour would often have

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gathered all sinners unto Himself, cleansed of all their sin, but they would not. The Saviour loved them, and His love was the power He brought to bear upon them; but they were left free to refuse it, as they did. The same power is brought to bear upon sinners to-day, but they are as free to turn from it as were the Jews. Anything which interferes with this freedom is not the Gospel, and does not operate in the interests of Christianity.

"Beautiful Apparel" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

The Lord said that Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of the lilies of the field. Matt. vi. 28, 29. The reason was that the Lord arrayed the lilies, while Solomon arrayed himself. The contrast is between God's way of doing, and man's way. Man, not the lily of the field, is the crowning work of God's creation; but while the lilies have remained what God has made them, taking their life just as He gives it to them and putting on just that grace and beauty which He bestows, man has "sought out many inventions." He has tried in many things to improve upon God's way, but the result has not been an improvement in the sight of God.

The Creator did not design man to be meanly arrayed, while bestowing such beauty of adornment upon the inferior things of His handiwork. He does not wish man to be ignobly arrayed, even in his fallen and degenerate state. The Saviour said, "If God so clothed the grass of the field, which to-day is and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you?" Matt. vi. 30. And can there be any better apparel any more beautiful and appropriate garments, than those which He makes for us Himself?

We make a great mistake when we refuse to let God clothe us with the garments which suit His taste. And we make that mistake, as the Word tells us, by taking anxious thought about the matter, as though it were one of the main purposes of existence, and studying to be arrayed according to our human taste and fancy without consulting Him. He who apparels the lilies and clothes all nature in her beautiful dress is a wiser and more skillful Artist than any that ever held sway over the fashions of the world.

If we make outward adornment our care and study, we shall prevent the true adornment which the Creator desires us to have. There is the adornment of "a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." 1 Peter iii. 4. There is the "fine linen, clean and white," which is "the righteousness of the saints." Rev. xix. 8. "The Lord will give grace and glory." Ps. lxxxiv. 11.

He who clothes the lilies and the sun will give grace and glory to man, even in fuller measure than before the fall. He will share his own beauty and glory with us, if we will "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." His righteousness is the most beautiful garment ever beheld. He has put the prayer in our hearts, "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us" (Ps. xc. 17), and His answer is, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Isa. lx. 1.

"Studies in Romans. Living for Others. Rom. xiv. 14-23" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

In our study last week we learned that the members of the members of the church of Christ are not judges one of another, but fellow-servants of one common Lord. We are not taught that it is a matter of indifference whether or not we keep the commandments of God; quite the contrary, since we are all to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and be judged by them but we are taught that in those things concerning which the law of God does not speak particularly, one man's ways are as good as another's. We learned even further that even one who may be faulty with respect to an express commandment, is not to be dealt with harshly, and condemned. Such a course cannot help one, and, besides, we have no right to do so, since we are but servants.

"I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of; for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

In order to save time and space we will omit the questions on the text, leaving each reader to question it for himself. Study each statement carefully, and consider its connection as well as the general subject, and what is stated elsewhere in the Bible concerning the same thing. As many errors arise from careless reading of the Bible, and from hasty conclusions from detached statements, as from wilful perversion of the Word. Possibly many more are the result of lack of proper thought than of deliberate wilfulness. Let us therefore always take heed how we read

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN

The Apostle says, "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean." If we consider well the subject under consideration, we shall not wrest this scripture from its connection. The thing presented from the beginning of the chapter is the case of a man with so little real knowledge of Christ that he thinks righteousness is to be obtained by the eating of certain kinds of food, or by not eating certain things. The idea clearly conveyed by the entire chapter is that it is by faith, and not by eating and drinking, that we are saved.

A little consideration of the question of clean and unclean food will help us much. There is a strange idea prevalent, to the effect that things that were at one time unfit for food are perfectly wholesome now. Many people seem to think that even unclean beasts are made clean by the Gospel. They forget that Christ purifies men, not beasts and reptiles.

There were plants that were poisonous in the days of Moses, and those same plants are poisonous now. The very people who seem to think that the Gospel makes everything fit to eat, would be as much disgusted at the thought of eating cats, dogs, caterpillars,

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spiders, flies, etc., as any Jew would have been in the days of Moses. Instead of finding that a knowledge of Christ reconciles one to such a diet, we find, on the contrary, that it is only the most degraded savages who make use of them for food, and such a diet is both a sign and cause of degradation. Enlightenment brings carefulness in the selection of food.

Now there is no one who can imagine the apostle Paul or any other person of good sense and refinement eating everything that he could possibly find on earth. Although most people think themselves wiser than God in the matter of eating and drinking, there are, as there always have been, certain things universally held to be unfit for food. Therefore when the apostle says that nothing is unclean of itself, he evidently confines his remark to those things which God has provided for man's eating. There are people whose conscience is so poorly instructed that they fear to eat even of things which God has given to be eaten; just as there are some who forbid the eating of "food which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving." 1 Tim. iv. 3.

So when the apostle says, "One believeth that he may eat all things," it is evident that the "all things" does not include filth. The idea evidently is that one believes that he may eat everything that is fit to be eaten. But another, having for instance the thought that some of those things may have been devoted to an idol, fears to eat of them lest he should thereby become an idolater. The eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians makes this whole subject plain, as it runs parallel with the fourteenth of Romans.

This throws light also upon the subject of days. Since the apostle evidently confines his remarks concerning food to that which it is allowable to eat, it is more clear that those days which may be considered as all alike are those days only which God has not sanctified to Himself.

THE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Over that kingdom Christ has been set as King, for God has said, "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion." Ps. ii. 6. Now read further the words of the Father to the Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things: "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows." Heb. i. 8, 9.

A sceptre is the symbol of power. Christ's sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness; therefore the power of His kingdom is righteousness. He rules by righteousness. His life on earth was a perfect manifestation of righteousness, so that He rules His kingdom by the power of His life. All those who own His life are subjects of His kingdom. No other thing but the life of Christ is the badge of citizenship in the kingdom of Christ.

But with what was Christ anointed King? The text last read says that it was with "the oil of gladness." Then gladness, or joy, is a necessary part of the kingdom of Christ. It is a kingdom of joy, as well as of righteousness. Therefore it is that every subject of that kingdom must be filled with joy. "A gloomy Christian" is as much a contradiction of terms as "a cold sun." The sun is for the purpose of shedding the warmth of which it is composed; so the Christian is for the purpose of diffusing the peace and joy which is a part of his nature. The Christian is not joyful simply because he thinks that he ought to be, but because he has been translated into the kingdom of joy.

"He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another." He who in what things serves Christ? Why, he who serves Christ in righteousness, and peace, and joy. Or, as some translations have it, "He that thus serves Christ." God accepts such service, and men approve. Not only do Christians approve such service, but unbelievers are constrained to approve. The enemies of Daniel were forced to bear witness to the uprightness of his life, when they said that they could find nothing against him except in the law of his God. But that very statement was an approval of the law of his God, obedience to which made him the faithful man that he was.

UNSELFISHNESS

Peace is a characteristic of the kingdom. Therefore those who are in the kingdom must follow the things which make for peace. But selfishness never causes peace. On the contrary, selfishness is always the cause of war, and inevitably produces war if it is persisted in. Therefore the subject of the kingdom must always be ready to sacrifice his own desires and ideas in behalf of others. The unselfish person will give up his own ways whenever they interfere with the peace of another.

But do not forget that the kingdom of God is righteousness as well as peace. Righteousness is obedience to the law of God; for "all unrighteousness is sin" (1 John v. 17), and "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John iii. 4). Therefore, although by the laws of the kingdom one must necessarily give up his own wishes in order not to interfere with the feelings of others, by those same laws he is precluded from giving up any of the commandments of God. Obedience to the law of God is that which makes for peace, for we read: "Great peace have they which love Thy law." Ps. cxix. 165. "O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Isa. xlviii. 18. Therefore he who is so "charitable" as to give up any portion of the law of God because some people are displeased with it, is not following the things which make for peace. On the contrary, he is rebelling against the kingdom of Christ.

This again shows us that the Sabbath of the Lord is not under consideration, as one of the things which are to be held as matters of mere personal opinion. The Christian has no option with regard to that. He must keep it. It is not one of the days which the subject of the kingdom may disregard if he wishes. It is one of the things that are obligatory. But there are things which one has the right to do if he wishes, but which he is not obliged to do. For instance, a man has the right to eat his food with the fingers, if he wishes to; but if that annoys his companion, the law of Christ requires him not to do so. And thus it appears that the law of Christ alone, will, if carefully heeded, make a man perfectly courteous. The true Christian is a gentleman in the best sense of that word.

There are many things that are allowable, which some people with faith that is weak, because it is uninstructed, think to be wrong. Christian courtesy, as laid down in the fourteenth chapter of Romans, requires that the better-instructed person should

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regard the scruples of his weaker brother. To roughly ignore those scruples, although they may be destitute of reason, is not the way to help that brother into a wider liberty. On the contrary, it is the way to discourage him. "It is good neither to eat flesh, not to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak."

Thus it becomes evident that the fourteenth chapter of Romans is simply a lesson in Christian courtesy and helpfulness instead of teaching that the Sabbath, or anything else that pertains to the commandments of God, may be disregarded at pleasure. Consideration is to be shown for "him that is weak in the faith;" but the one who is offended by the keeping of the commandments of God, has no faith at all.

THE LIMITATIONS OF CONSCIENCE

"Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God." Faith and conscience pertain to single individuals. No man can have faith for another. No man can have faith enough to serve for two. The teaching of the Roman Church is that certain ones have had more faith than they needed, and have been more righteous than was necessary, so that they can divide with other people; but the Bible teaches that it is impossible for any man to have more faith than will serve to save himself. Therefore, no matter how well one man's faith may be instructed, no other man can be judged by it.

We hear a great deal in these days about the public conscience. We are often told that the conscience of one man is outraged by the course of another. But it is with conscience as with faith, no man can have enough for two. The man who thinks that his conscience will serve for himself and for somebody else, has mistaken selfish obstinacy for conscience. It is this mistaken idea of conscience that has led to all the horrible persecutions that have ever been perpetrated in the name of religion. Let Christians all understand that conscience is between themselves and God alone. They are not at liberty to impose even their freedom of conscience upon another; but by the laws of the kingdom of Christ, they are obliged even to refrain at times from exercising their own freedom, out of consideration for others. That is to say, the man who can walk fast, is to help along his weak brother, who is going the same way, but more slowly. But he is not to turn around to please somebody who is walking the other way.

"Two Masters" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

A servant of Satan is not a worshipper of God. The Saviour said, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." John viii. 34. But the servant of sin is the servant of Satan; for Satan is the author of sin. When we obey him, we sin. We cannot at the same time obey both Satan and the Lord, any more than we can serve both God and mammon. And we cannot worship God and at the same time disobey Him.

If we do not obey God-if, in other words, we sin-we do not worship God; but we do worship the power whom we obey; for obedience is an acknowledgment of the right and authority of the power to which it is given. Hence when we sin we do homage to Satan; we acknowledge his way (for sin is his way, which he has set up in opposition to the way,-or law-of God), and thus render to him what we should have rendered to God; that is, worship. Our obedience tells unmistakably whom we worship.

"Heathenism Rampant" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

The Coptic, Greek, Armenian, and Roman churches still continue to quarrel over the "holy places" in Jerusalem, and to this day it requires the active intervention of the Mohammedan soldiery to prevent bloodshed among these religionists, who are there, professedly, to maintain the honour of the Christian faith. A Jerusalem correspondent gives the following description of the scenes on one day during the Easter celebrations:-

"All day long from early light people had been flocking about the tomb of Jesus, where the fabled fire was expected to descend at three in the afternoon. By noon the place was crammed and jammed. Some had spent six hours waiting for the miracle. By half-past two every available place was occupied. Men even tied themselves to pillars. At this time Greek enthusiasm was at its height. It is almost impossible to describe the scene in the gloomy dome and centre of the building, for the lamps had been turned down. The Greeks indulged in shouts and songs in a weird and eccentric way. My position was in the centre of the room near the tomb. Humanity was densely packed. Some young Arabs would mount on the hands and shoulders of their comrades and shout in Arabic: 'This is the tomb of Jesus,' 'Jesus is our King.' My dragoman said they were getting excited and that trouble was likely to come, and he wanted to retire. The shouts increased, at times becoming political. There was clapping of hands and songs. Two or three would be dancing up and down on the shoulders of their fellows.

"At three o'clock passages were cleared by the soldiers for the 'Patriarch's Parade,' who was to march with a large retinue three times about the tomb. Just as the door of the tomb had been reached, the Armenian monks and men endeavoured to push aside the Greek Patriarch and shove their own into the tomb to give the fire. The Arabs were at once wild. They screamed and shouted and made an onset on the Armenians. Greek and Armenian were in instant battle. About four hundred Mohammedan soldiers that were on duty in the church rushed to the scene and endeavoured to separate the noisy contestants. They used the butt ends of their guns in beating them apart, and even prepared to fix bayonets. A trumpeter meanwhile was constantly calling for order with the trumpet. But it was of no avail. The fighting would break out again and again between the Armenians and Greeks. At one point it appeared as though there would be a frightful massacre. Several were wounded, and it is reported that an Armenian monk has since died. The guard and soldiers finally overpowered the Christians of both factions, and order was partially restored. It was an awful sight in a sacred building."

"He Delighteth in Mercy" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

The Lord's ways are not man's ways. Isa. lv. 7-9. This is one reason why the sinner may come with confidence to God. In immediate connection with this statement the Scripture gives an exhortation to the sinner to forsake his ways and return to the Lord, with the promise that He will abundantly pardon. The Psalmist understood this when he besought the Lord for pardon. He said, "For Thy namesake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." Ps. xxv. 11.

It is not thus that we could come to man, for with him our hope of pardon would be in proportion to the littleness of our offence. We should not think of presenting the heinousness of our wrongdoing as a reason for clemency. But it is thus that we may come to the Lord; and therein appears the difference between His way and man's way. The Lord delights in mercy. He delights in making the wretched sinner into a new man, by His creative power, and this is what His pardon

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does, for the pardon of the Lord literally takes the sin away. And "there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, that need no repentance." Thus does God reassure the fearful, trembling sinner; not that he may go on in his sin, but that he may turn to the Lord; for there is no promise to those who do not turn. God will pardon sin for His name's sake; for "God is love," and He cannot deny Himself.

"The Sabbath and the Apostasy" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

For the benefit of a Wimbledon correspondent we will reply to a few points suggested regarding the Sabbath question, although the same have been frequently covered in our columns.

GOD MADE IT

1. He refers to Christ's words, "The Sabbath was made for the man, and not man for the Sabbath," and says, "If my hat is made for my head and the hat does not fit, I would not go to work to make my head fit the hat, but the hat must be adapted to fit the head."

But this would be a charge against the Lord which could not be discussed. The Lord makes no mistakes or misfits. The Sabbath was made for man. Our correspondent is a man. Therefore it was made for him. It is the person who has never tried it on who is sure it will not fit. No one has ever yet truly yielded to the command, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" who has not found the blessing which the Lord placed upon the day when He made it. "O taste and see that the Lord is good."

ONE FIRST-DAY MEETING

2. From the twentieth of Acts our correspondent infers that the disciples, stopping at Troas seven days, held no meetings until "the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread."

This is an assumption wholly groundless. Paul was pushing on toward Jerusalem in such haste that, as recorded in the same chapter, he had not time to go to Ephesus, and sent for the elders of that church to meet him at Miletus, and yet our correspondent would have him waiting in Troas seven days without meetings, in order to give us an example of Sunday observance. The record wholly refutes this supposition. The meeting in verse 7 was an evening meeting on the "first day," and as such, according to the scriptural reckoning of days, must have been at the close of the Sabbath, on what we should call Saturday night; for a Sunday night meeting would be on the second day of the week. As Coneybeare and Howson say in their "Life and Epistles of Paul,"

It was the evening which succeeded the Jewish Sabbath. On the Sunday morning the vessel was about to sail.

Having remained with the church over Sabbath, an evening meeting was held, as it was the apostle's last visit, and on Sunday, as the boat containing his companions was navigated to Assos, the Apostle Paul, to quote Coneybeare and Howson again, "pursued his lonely road that Sunday afternoon in spring among the oak woods and the streams of Ida," having spent the Sunday in a journey on foot of about twenty miles. But wholly aside from this, cannot every one see that a meeting on a day cannot make a Sabbath or a sacred day of it, nor make void the commandments of God? Divine institutions are not so loosely established.

THE WORDS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

3. Referring to Paul's references in his Epistles to festivals and holy days, our correspondent says if these refer to the ceremonial festivals and the various annual sabbaths "then it must be admitted that Paul wrote fourteen Epistles, and never mentioned the Sabbath at all, except when referring to the future he said, There remaineth therefore a rest, or keeping of a Sabbath, to the people of God."

The Study in Romans last week dealt with some of the references to festivals and annual ceremonial sabbaths which the Jews were to keep "beside the Sabbaths of the Lord" (Lev. xxiii. 38), and dealt with the principle involved in all, and the same study in this number touches upon it. As to the rest that remaineth, by a mere coincidence the notes on our first page echo the Gospel invitation to all to enjoy the rest that remains.

A word, then, about the Epistles which do not specifically mention the Sabbath. They are not merely the language of Paul, but the language of the Holy Spirit, and that Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts and throughout the Gospels speaks as plainly of the Sabbath as God"s voice spake of it from Sinai. Moreover, in all of Paul's Epistles he preaches the Gospel of Christ, and of necessity shows that sin is the transgression of the law of God, and that the only salvation for the sinner is that provided in order that "the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." He shows that it is only the carnal mind that is "not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. viii. 7. Not the Gentile mind (nationally speaking), but the carnal mind.

What has this to do with the Sabbath? The same Holy Spirit which in all of Paul's Epistles holds up the law of God as the eternal standard of righteousness, in the Epistle of James says that he that offends in one point "is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill." And He who said, Do not kill, said also, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. It all stands together, and, therefore, wherever the Holy Spirit, by Paul or any other servant, proclaims the law of God by which we shall be judged, the Sabbath is also proclaimed.

BUT ONE GOSPEL

The Apostle Paul did not preach a Gospel of his own. As a servant of the Lord he believed Christ's words:-

"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. v. 18, 19.

Therefore wherever the apostle went he left Sabbath-keeping churches. Our correspondent says that the churches of Judea kept the Sabbath, but not the Gentile churches. But the Holy Spirit says that the church of Thessalonica, composed mainly of Greeks, "became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess. ii. 14.

The Lord has not two Gospels. Every sinner who is saved, Jew or Gentile after the flesh, will have been justified by faith, and to be justified by faith is to have the carnal mind taken away and be made a doer of the law; for that is the Divine definition of justification. Rom. ii. 13.

THE APOSTASY

It was not until long after apostolic days that there was any occasion for controversy regarding seventh or first-day observance. The apostasy had not developed, and the whole world knew nothing of any weekly rest day other than the Sabbath. The heathen world had "times" and festivals, but no rest day. History shows that when the "falling away" came, and the

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festival day of the sun was adopted and christened, the Sabbath was still formally retained as a rest day, and Sunday was observed by professed believers after the manner of the heathen, not as a day of rest, but as Tertullian says, writing about A.D. 200, as a day of special mirth and license. What that means, anyone who has read of the practices attending sun-worship knows.

With the growth of apostasy even a formal recognition of the Sabbath ceased in the great body of the worldly church, and by the Council of Laodicea (about A.D. 361) the body of believers who kept the Sabbath of the Lord and refused to follow the lead of apostasy were anathematised.

THE CALL TO REFORMATION

Now that the falling away has come, and the power that was to "think to change" the law of God (Dan. vii. 25) has arisen and done its work, it is for Christians to recognise the fact that no power on earth can change the law of God. It is more than a mere question of a day. It is a question of the one day that God has blessed, and a question of loyalty to God's law and Government. Now, when the coming of the Lord is drawing near, and the day when every man will give an account of himself before the Judgment Court of God, the Lord by His Word is calling men from tradition back to the Gospel of Christ, as Jesus Himself preached it and lived it. And just as surely as Jesus lived a life of obedience and Sabbath-keeping then, just as surely will He do the same now in every soul that yields itself to Him. This is living by the faith of Jesus.

The fact that Christ is soon to return gives force and urgency to the call to reformation. "We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as He is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law. And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin." 1 John iii. 2-5. And only as we abide in Him, and He in us, can we be kept from sin and transgression. That is the reason why the law of God is a law of liberty to the believer, and not a yoke of bondage. Christ's call, then, to Sabbath-keeping, is but the invitation, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

"Debt" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

It is so much harder to pay for things already eaten or worn, that they seem to cost twice as much as when paid for at the time of their use. Debt is a destroyer of self-respect, of peace of mind, of one's ability to do the best possible with the amount he has to spend. Do without until you can pay is sound advice.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

-There were 249,273 Indians in America at the last census.

-The health of Prince Bismarck is said to be seriously impaired.

-A shower of black ants occurred recently at Winnipeg, Canada.

-A society to combat the use of alcoholic drinks has been formed in France.

-The town of Germany, in Galicia, was destroyed by fire, July 1, many families being left destitute.

-The world's supply of ivory is said to be getting low. Billiard balls are beginning to be made of metal.

-Telegrams from both Western and Eastern Galicia state that no cholera has broken out simultaneously in different places.

-Very serious floods are reported from the island of Java, with great loss of property. It is feared that the coffee crops will be lost.

-A very good harvest is expected this year in the Caucasus, as well as in the Southern and South-Western Provinces of Russia.

-It is now proposed in England to drive tram cars by power derived from huge strings, which can be wound while the whole is in motion or otherwise.

-At a recent great meeting in the Wesley Church, Melbourne, a resolution in favour of union between the Wesleyan and the Methodists of Australia was carried unanimously.

-People who live beyond their means and are very tardy in paying their debts have been black-listed in Vienna by a daring publisher. A book containing their names has met with a big sale.

-As usual at this season, press despatches report many cases of poisoning from imprudent eating, fruit, meat, and ice-cream being the articles which call for the exercise of the most care in partaking.

-So ignorant are some of the Russian peasants that recently thirteen of them attacked and murdered an inoffensive stranger passing through their district, because they regarded him as the personification of cholera.

-The growth of the application of electricity as a meant of propulsion is shown by the fact that 850 electric railways, with 9,000 miles of track are now in operation in the United States, against only thirteen roads in 1887.

-With the change of government at Westminster, a more vigorous British foreign policy is anticipated, which at the present critical stage of affairs in the East, is likely to seriously affect the prospects for peace.

-A strong movement has been started in Western Australia to put a stop as far as possible to the immigration of Asiatics, who are beginning to pour into the country, and are regarded by the Australians as an "intolerable nuisance."

-It has been found that a heavy charge of electricity passing through the human body does not cause death, but only suspended animation. June 20 a man who accidentally received a shock of nearly 5,000 volts from a dynamo at Rochester, New York, was resuscitated after the manner of a drowned person, and was able to be out on the following day.

-The French forces in Madagascar are meeting with but little effective resistance from anything except the climate in their operations for the conquest of the island. In Cuba the struggle continues between the Spanish troops and the revolutionists, with varying success; and in Ecuador a truce has been arranged between the combatants, following a defeat for the government forces, and it is hoped that peace will be restored.

-In the government of Kasan, in Russia, no fewer than 11,034 converted heathen, 5,690 of them women, relapsed from the orthodox faith into their original idolatry last year. During the same period in the same district, 12,188 Tartars, including 5,767 women, gave up the Greek church for Mohammedanism, and the religious authorities believe that the greater part of the converted orthodox Christians are at heart either Mohammedans or heathens.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 28.

E. J. Waggoner

Our friends in the Sandwich Islands have established a Chinese school in Honolulu.

The New York Sentinel reports the arrest of nineteen Seventh-day Adventists in Graysville, Tennessee, under the Sunday law of that State.

A Gospel that is not free to the poor, is not the Gospel of Christ. The rich and poor approach God on the level of him "that hath no money" and "whosoever will." Isa. lv. 1; Rev. xxii. 17.

The seal of the Huguenots, says a writer, had on it a representation of an anvil, surrounded by broken hammers, and this legend:-

"Hammer away, ye hostile hands;
Your hammers break, God's anvil stands."

There will be no "common herd" in heaven. People will not live there in "droves," or general classes, in which all individuality is swallowed up, as it is here. The very purpose of this life is the development, by a right use of the mind and will God has given us, of that individuality which will fit us for the special place God has for us in the purposes that embrace eternity. Each stone in the grand temple of the Lord is designed for a special place, and is been hewed and fitted to it here, as was each stone in the temple built by Solomon. There is no haphazard about our lives; it is all the hewing and trimming of the Divine hand. And the Divine voice saying to us, "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Rev. iii. 11.

The organ of the West London Mission says that in a small group of eighteen very short streets in Soho, there are no fewer than seventy-six public-houses-or an average of more than four per street.

In Holland, a near neighbour of whose affairs we hear so little, the constitution of the State was supposed to have been framed to for ever keep down Catholicism and maintain the Reformed religion "of the State." A well-informed correspondent, writing of present conditions, shows how helpless legal establishments are.

The northern provinces are honeycombed with infidelity and socialism, the State Church presents the appearance of a huge whirlpool, in which all manner of heterogenous tendencies and beliefs are gyrating, and the Roman Catholics, smarting over the oppression of the last three centuries, possess the balance of power in politics.

The coldness and darkness of agnosticism is sadly shown by one of the eulogists of the late Professor Huxley, who died last week:-

It is an old and foolish gibe that our generation has ceased to believe in God but believes in Huxley; still, with him many of us lose almost the only sure counsellor and guide that remained to us. Even he was not very sure that the journey would end anywhere, and he had no hews of its ultimate issue. Only, there was to be no loitering in pleasant byways, no despair that the way was long and dark; above all, there was to be no following of wandering fires. Better walk straight ahead into the darkness than be led by the flickering of marsh lights.

Philosophic doubt has nothing but the darkness and shadow of death to offer in place of the life and immortality which is brought to light in the Gospel.

The Bishop of Exeter, rebuking "unauthorised observances" in his diocese, declared that there were a few who persist in the observance of Romish festivals, such as Corpus Christi day, St. Joseph's day, All Souls' day, and, as they term it, the Repose of the Mother of God, commonly called the Assumption; who bring bambinos into their churches at Christmastide and Epiphany, and who celebrate Requiem Masses for the Dead.

It is not at all likely that the reproof will have any effect, as those who do these things are more logical than their Bishop. They follow-with the Bishop's approval-the ancient Catholic Church in the observance of many festivals, the Sunday included, which are unauthorised by the Scriptures, and will logically say that while observing these they cannot reasonably reject others instituted by the same authority.

The case of a preacher who has been prosecuted for uttering a slander in his prayer suggests to a Church contemporary the "great advantage of using the Book of Common Prayer." We should say, rather, that it suggests the disadvantage of the practice of praying to the congregation instead of to the Lord.

There is only one way to be patient under all circumstances, and that is to have love for the Lord. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." Rom. viii. 28. We can be patient when we know that all things-trials, disappointments, deferred hopes, or whatever else-are working for our good; because, that being the case, things could not be any better for us than they are, and hence no chance for feelings of dissatisfaction can exist. But we cannot see that all things are working for our good, except with the eye of faith. If we love the Lord, we have God's word for it that it is so; and we can rest upon that evidence without the slightest tremor of doubt.

Union with Rome means union with Rome's doctrines, one of which is thus plainly stated by a Catholic writer in Rome, in some comment upon current events:-

The Voce Della Verta remarks that the renascence of piety in the hearts of modern Romans is manifested in many ways, and notably in the late Christian renewal of the pretty custom of placing the image of a Madonna in the shops of Rome, before which a tiny lamp is kept constantly burning. The Madonna del Negosianti was banished from many a tradesman's place of business since 1870; but they are now again turning with humbled hearts towards the Refuge of Sinners.

Are you willing to stake your hopes and prospects for eternity on this kind of a "refuge of sinners"? This is Rome's refuge,-the only one she has to offer the condemned and sin-sick soul. But God offers the Lord Jesus Christ; and for those who would turn to this Refuge, no union with Rome as possible.

Those desiring to get in small compass a comprehensive study of the Sabbath question should send sixpence to our publishers for "Truth Found: The Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath."

July 18, 1895

"The Spirit and the Word" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

The Spirit and the Word.-"He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for He giveth not the Spirit by measure." John iii. 34, R.V.

In the common version the words "unto him" are added, although they are not in the text, as is indicated by their being in italics. However, it makes really no difference whether they are in or not, for the meaning is the same either way. The plainly expressed idea is that God gives the Spirit without measure unto the one whom He sends, and who fulfils his mission by speaking the words of God.

Of course there is no question but that this refers primarily to Christ. God "sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John iv. 10. God had said to Moses concerning Christ, "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words into His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him." Deut. xviii. 18. So Jesus said, "Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak." John xii. 50. And again, "The word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me." John xiv. 24.

It was "through the eternal Spirit" that Jesus offered Himself to God. Heb. ix. 14. It was by the Spirit, therefore, that He spoke. But the word was not simply in His mouth but in His heart. The testimony of Christ was, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart. I have preached righteousness in the great, congregation; lo, I have not refrained My lips, O Lord, Thou knowest." Ps. xl. 8, 9. The word being in His heart, it guided all His acts as well as His speech; so that Jesus both lived and spoke the words of God. And the Spirit was with Him without measure, both to speak and to do whatever the Father required of Him.

But Jesus said of His disciples, "As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." John xvii. 18. He said also, "I have given them Thy word." Verse 14. Because He whom God has sent is sent to speak the word of God. This word of testimony cannot be truly spoken except by the Spirit; for "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. xii. 3.

The word of truth cannot be spoken unless it fills the heart; "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Matt. xii. 34. See also Deut. vi. 6, 7. Therefore it is evident that he who truly speaks the word of God, lives the word of God. Such an one lives "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." He does not slight one precept.

Now comes in the fulness of the promise that he who fulfils the mission on which he is sent, namely, to speak the word of God, will have the Spirit without measure. It is for this special purpose that the Spirit was promised and given. Jesus said, "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Acts i. 8.

The Spirit was manifested in the church without limit, as long as the church held forth the Word of God. It was only when the professed people of God turned from the mission from which they were sent, leaving the Word of God for fables, that the powerful manifestations of the Spirit disappeared. Would you have to the fire the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Give yourself wholly to the Word of God, to hold it forth in its wholeness and perfection, and the Spirit will be given without measure.

"Everything from Heaven" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

When John the Baptist was reminded by some of his disciples that his influence among the people was waning, and that the multitudes were flocking to Jesus, he replied, "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him heaven." John iii. 27.

If the truth of this answer were recognised and believed by all men, there would be a perfect condition of society. It is well worth studying.

In the first place, it shows us the uselessness of seeking a position and influence for ourselves. "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." Therefore he does not really possess that which he has gained, by his own self-seeking. Or, to put it more correctly, that which one gets, by his own selfish seeking, is nothing. Whoever, therefore, seeks position and influence for himself, is pursuing a shadow. Such seeking is worse than useless.

Again, the will of heaven towards us cannot be thwarted by any other person. The reception of the gifts of

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heaven depends solely upon ourselves. If we are willing to receive what heaven has for us, no person on earth can stay it from bestowing them. Therefore it follows that we shall most certainly have everything that the God of heaven wishes us to have. A belief of this would produce perfect contentment in us. Moreover, if any position or influence is taken from us, we may know that it was taken by the will of heaven. We are not to blame men for it. Even the man who may possess it instead of us is not to be blamed. If there be any blame, we are the ones to whom it belongs. God may have taken it away because we did not use it properly. Or there may be no blame at all, but the purpose for which God gave it to us may have been served. But in any case we are not to blame men for what we have lost, since gifts are only at God's disposal.

With these words of John we may place those written by the Apostle James, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James i. 17. Therefore we need not mourn if we lose the position which was good, and which offered such facilities for serving God; because when it goes we may know that it would not be good for us any more. Not only are we certain to have every good thing that God has for us, if we are willing to receive it, but everything that comes from God is good. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." Who cannot see that it is worse than foolish to complain when good comes to him?

"Let good or ill befall,
It must be good for me,
Secure of having Thee in all,
Of having all in Thee."

One thing more should be learned, and that is not to boast. Since a man can receive nothing except that which is given him from heaven, what wickedness it is to boast of any gifts that we may possess. "Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" 1 Cor. iv. 7.

He who remembers that God gives only good things, and everything that is good, and who lives in constant recognition of the fact that he is dependent on heaven alone, and who therefore commits himself to the heavenly keeping will, though poor and unknown, find even on earth the riches and satisfaction of heaven.

"They Do Not Agree" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

The religious papers are now publishing with warm approval a letter from the late Professor Dana the eminent geologist, concerning the relation of evolution to Christianity. Following is a portion of the letter:-

While admitting the derivation of man from an inferior species, I believe that there is a divine creative act at the origin of man; that the event was as truly a creation as if it had been from the earth or inorganic matter to man. I find nothing in the belief to impair or disturb my religious faith-that is, my faith in Christ as the source of all hope for time and for eternity.

But the Bible says that "God formed man of the dust of the ground." Gen. ii. 7. This was written by Moses, of whom Christ said, "If ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" John v. 47. Since the theory of evolution directly contradicts the Scriptures, and Christ identifies Himself with the Scriptures, it is evident that a belief in evolution is utterly incompatible with perfect faith in Christ. He who ignores one plain statement of the Bible, thereby denies the authority of the entire Bible. Evolution and Christianity are as much opposed to each other as darkness and light.

"As in Noah's Days" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man." Luke xvii. 26.

How was it in the days of Noah? The record tells us that "they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." In other words, they were pursuing their accustomed rounds of business and pleasure, as though nothing unusual were coming. And all this time Noah was preaching the message of a coming flood, by which the world would be destroyed. He was proclaiming the word of the Lord; but they regarded it not.

Among those who perished in the flood were many wise men, after the worldly sort,-men of great intellectual power and high mental attainments. The giant strength and long life of the men of that age gave them the opportunity to attain great knowledge; and men trusted in their own knowledge, which laughed at the idea of a flood, rather than in the simple word of the Lord. In this respect, and others as well, the present age presents a parallel with that of Noah.

In the midst of their self-glorification, "the flood came, and took them all away." In this respect, also, the present age will be parallel to that of Noah. When the Son of man comes, there will also come destruction upon the earth, and not a "temporal millennium." God warned the antediluvian world by a special message; He cannot send another destruction without a like warning. A special message must therefore precede the "days of the Son of man." But the world will go on in its accustomed way, planning for a continuation of this present state, justified in its course by worldly wisdom. And when men will be saying, "Peace and safety," sudden destruction will come upon them, and they will not escape." 1 Thess. v. 3.

The all-important question, therefore, for every individual, is, What saith the Word of the Lord? What men say,-even the most learned of them,-is not to be compared with this. "The world by wisdom knew not God," and still knows Him not. The wisdom of man cannot comprehend God, His purposes and His ways. If we trust to that wisdom, we shall surely be overtaken without shelter by the coming storm. We may choose between that and the Word of God to the present world, which is giving them a special message of warning that the end of all things is at hand. The Word of the Lord is plain and simple; do not be too wise to believe it.

"Destroyed from the Lord's Presence" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

The Psalmist, addressing the Lord, inquires, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there." Ps. cxxxix. 7, 8.

But of the wicked we read that they "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." 2 Thess. i. 9. The presence of the Lord, when He manifests the glory of His power, causes the destruction of the wicked; and as His presence is everywhere, and will be manifested in the glory of His power against the wicked in the day of vengeance, the fate of the wicked can be nothing else but utter destruction.

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"Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. xii. 26), and when that fire comes down from God out of heaven upon all the wicked, in the last great Judgment, it devours them as the flame licks up chaff, and makes an eternal end of them and of sin. Rev. xx. 9.

"Consider Jesus Christ" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

In the first verse of the third chapter of Hebrews we have an exhortation which comprehends all the injunctions given to the Christian. It is this: "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." To do this as the Bible enjoins, to consider Christ continually and intelligently, just as He is, will transform one into a perfect Christian, for "by beholding we become changed."

The exhortation to consider Jesus, and also the reason therefor, are given in Heb. xii. 1-3:-

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."

It is only by constantly and prayerfully considering Jesus as He is revealed in the Bible, that we can keep from becoming weary in well-doing, and from fainting by the way.

HOW SHALL WE CONSIDER CHRIST?

But how should we consider Christ?-Just as He has revealed Himself to the world; according to the witness which He bore concerning Himself. In that marvellous discourse recorded in the fifth chapter of John, Jesus said: "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him." Verses 21-23.

To Christ is committed the highest prerogatives, that of judging. He must receive the same honour that is due to God, because He is God. The beloved disciple bears this witness: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John i. 1. That this Divine Word is none other than Jesus Christ is shown by verse 14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth."

The Word was "in the beginning." The mind of man cannot grasp the ages that are spanned in that phrase. It is not given to men to know when or how the Son was begotten; but we know that He was the Divine Word, not simply before He came to this earth to die, but even before the world was created. Just before His crucifixion He prayed, "And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." John xvii. 5. And more than seven hundred years before His first advent, His coming was thus foretold by the word of inspiration: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose going forth hath been from of old, from the days of eternity." Micah v. 2, margin.

CHRIST IS GOD

In many places in the Bible Christ is called God. The Psalmist says:-

"The mighty God, even the Lord Jehovah hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare His righteousness; for God is judge Himself." Ps. l. 1-6.

That this passage has reference to Christ may be known (1) by the fact already learned, that all judgment is committed to the Son; and (2) by the fact that it is at the second coming of Christ that He sends His angels to gather together His elect from the four winds. Matt. xxiv. 31. "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence." No; for when the Lord Himself descends from heaven, it will be "with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." 1 Thess. iv. 16. This shout will be the voice of the Son of God, which will be heard by all that are in their graves, and which will cause them to come forth. John v. 28, 29. With the living righteous they will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, ever more to be with Him; and this will constitute "our gathering together unto Him." 2 Thess. ii. 1.

"A fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him;" for when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, it will be "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. i. 8. So we know that Ps. l. 1-6 is a vivid description of the second coming of Christ for the salvation of His people. When He comes it will be as "the mighty God."

This is one of His rightful titles. Long before Christ's first advent, the prophet Isaiah spoke these words of comfort to Israel: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isa. ix. 6.

These are not simply the words of Isaiah; they are the words of the Spirit of God. God has, in direct address to the Son, called Him by the same title. In Ps. lxv. 6 we read these words: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre." The casual reader might take this to be simply the Psalmist's ascription of praise to God; but when we turn to the New Testament, we find that it is much more. We find that God the Father is the speaker, and that He is addressing the Son, calling Him God. See Heb. i. 1-8.

THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

This name was not given to Christ in consequence of some great achievement, but it is His by right of inheritance. Speaking of the power and greatness of Christ, the writer to the Hebrews says that He is made so much better than the angels, because "He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." Heb. i. 4. A son always rightfully takes the name of the father; and Christ, as "the only begotten Son of God," has rightfully the same name. A son, also, is to a greater or lesser degree, a reproduction of the father; he has, to some extent,

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the features and personal characteristics of his father; not perfectly, because there is no perfect reproduction among mankind. But there is no imperfection in God, or in any of His works; and so Christ is the "express image" of the Father's person. Heb. i. 3. As the Son of the self-existent God, He has by nature all the attributes of Deity.

It is true that there are many sons of God; but Christ is the "only begotten Son of God," and therefore the Son of God in a sense in which no other being ever was, or ever can be. The angels are sons of God, as was Adam (Job xxxviii. 7; Luke iii. 38), by creation; Christians are the sons of God by adoption (Rom. viii. 14, 15); but Christ is the Son of God by birth.

Christ Himself taught in the most emphatic manner that He is God. When the young men came and asked, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Jesus, before replying to the direct question, said: "Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but One, that is, God." Mark x. 17, 18. What did Jesus mean by these words? Did He mean to disclaim the epithet as applied to Himself? Was it a modest depreciation of Himself?-By no means; for Christ was absolutely good. To the Jews, who were continually watching to detect in Him some fault of which they might accuse Him, He boldly said, "Which of you convinceth Me of sin?" John viii. 46.

Christ cannot deny Himself, therefore He could not say that He was not good. He is and was absolutely good, the perfection of goodness. And since there is none good but God, and Christ is good, it follows that Christ is God, and that is what He meant to teach the young man.

It was this that He taught the disciples. When Phillip said to Jesus, "Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us," Jesus said to him: "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" John xiv. 8, 9. This is as emphatic as when He said, "I and My Father are one." John x. 30.

The Jews did not misunderstand Christ's teaching concerning Himself. When He declared that He was one with the Father, the Jews took up stones to stone Him; and when He asked them for which of His good works they sought to stone Him, they replied: "For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that Thou being a man, makest Thyself God." John x. 38. If He had been what they regarded Him, a mere man, His words would indeed have been blasphemy; but He was God.

The object of Christ in coming to earth was to reveal God to men, so that they might come to Him. Thus the Apostle Paul says that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. v. 19); and in John we read that the Word, which was God, was "made flesh." John i. 1, 14. In the same connection it is stated, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (or made Him known). John i. 18.

Note the expression, "the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father." He has His abode there, and He is there as a part of the Godhead, as surely when on earth as when in heaven. The use of the present tense implies continued existence. It presents the same idea that is contained in the statement of Jesus to the Jews (John viii. 58), "Before Abraham was, I am." And this again shows His identity with the One who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, who declares His name to be "I AM."

And, finally, we have the inspired words of the Apostle Paul concerning Jesus Christ, that "it please the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell." Col. i. 19. What this fulness is, which dwells in Christ, we learn from the next chapter, where we are told that "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Col. ii. 9. This is most absolute and unequivocal testimony to the fact that Christ possesses by nature all the attributes of Divinity.

"Faith Works" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

Faith is shown not by words, but by deeds. Jesus said, "Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?" Luke vi. 46. Men may talk very eloquently about Christ and the Christian life, they may discourse beautifully concerning the meaning of Scripture, and make a fine show of doing Christian work; but if obedience is lacking where they know there is a plain injunction of the Lord, they are worse sinners than those who make no profession of serving Christ. For their apparent piety is but a false light to delude others and lead them into the same disobedience. Many who have prophesied in Christ's name, and in His name cast out devils and done many wonderful works, will find themselves at the last day among the workers of iniquity, to whom Christ says, "Depart;" "I know you not." Abraham believe God, and he obeyed Him; and the children of Abraham are known to-day by the same sign.

"Where Rome Rules" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

One of our South American canvassers, who is working in Colombia, sends to a contemporary a copy of a circular letter to the priests in the diocese of Bogota, issued by the Archbishop. It closes with the following directions, which show Rome's real attitude toward liberty of thought in places where she dares speak out:-

In the exercise of our authority, we decree that you persistently communicate and explain to the faithful the following points:-

1st. Apostates from the Christian faith incur the penalty of excommunication, latea sentencia reserved especially to the Roman pontiff, and with them all heretics, of whatever name or sect, and all who believe, harbour, aid or defend them; also schismatics, and all who obstinately depart from the obedience of the Roman pontiff.

2nd. The same penalty is incurred by all who knowingly read, without the authority of the holy see, books of the said apostates and heretics, wherein their heresy is defended, or books of authors which are expressly forbidden, also those who keep, print, or in any manner defend them.

3rd. No Catholic can, without committing mortal sin and incurring the other penalties imposed by the Church, send his sons, daughters, or those dependent upon them, or go himself to any establishment or school founded and known in this city by the name of the "American College for Boys and Girls;" nor can he give aid or help in any like educational institutions.

5th. It is highly unlawful for all Catholics to co-operate or assist in any Protestant ceremony, funeral, etc., performed in the church or out of it.

6th. The faithful who receive or have in their possession, tracts, leaflets, periodicals, such as the Evangelism Colombiano, and El Progreso of New York; Bibles or books of whatever class printed within or out of the Republic, which are distributed or sold by Protestant missionaries, or,

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their agents, or any other bookseller, are positively obliged to deliver said books to their respective parish priest, or send them to the archbishopric.

Of the effect of this our brother says: "The effect of the circular has been to increase the attendance at the college. In my own work it has given the opportunity to more readily place tracts in the hands of the people. Yesterday in one of the parks I gave some tracts to two gentlemen, and meeting them a little later asked them how they liked them. They said they liked those they had read very well. In the course of the conversation which followed one said: 'I had a large Bible and some Latin books which I valued very highly, but one day a priest came to my father's house, accompanied by a policeman, and took my books away.' For a Colombian there is little or no relief in such cases. The Church is the conservator of social order, as is stated in the Constitution of the country; and when it says that anything is contrary to social order the Government must prohibit, as it is bound to protect the Church and see that it is respected."

"Changing Our Mind" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

It is not always an easy thing to change one's mind. The ease with which a step may be taken depends largely upon whether the direction be up or down; and many a person indulges himself in a downward course under the impression that when the danger line is reached he can change his mind and retrace his steps.

Such persons should take warning from the case of Esau. The bent of his mind was shown in the selling of his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage. Afterwards Esau would have changed his mind, when he saw the blessing that would have been his by inheritance, but he could not. We read that "he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." Heb. xii. 17. The margin reads, "no way to change his mind." That which he had lost was gone beyond his recall. He found no way to put himself back again in the place where by his choice he could have made the blessing his. That choice was the choice of faith, and the blessing that which comes to the believer in the Gospel; but Esau did not have faith; he was a profane person, and what God had made sacred, was in his eyes no better than things which were common. It was thus he "despised his birthright." It was no better in his eyes than a mess of pottage.

Any man can of himself step downward-away from God-but only the grace of God can enable any man to step upward. Any man can change his mind so that it will incline more strongly to evil, but no human power can turn it back again to the love of the pure and good. That can be done only by the power of God. And therefore any man who thinks to change his mind at his own pleasure and convenience is counting on a power which he does not possess or control. He is thinking to make the choice of faith by his own will. He is preparing himself to realise the terrible truth of the wise man's words, "His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins." Prov. v. 22.

Profanity-the lowering of that which is sacred to the level of things common-prevails everywhere among men to-day. But few esteem their birthright above the value of the temporal, perishing things of this world. By our choice now we may have the birthright of sons of God. 1 John iii. 1. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things," and eternity will be the period of his employment of them. Rev. xxi. 7. But whether we shall properly esteem this birthright or not, is a question of our faith. If we view it with the eye of faith, we shall see it as it is; but if with the natural understanding only, it will appear to us as it did to Esau, and we shall repeat his folly. And when at last circumstances force upon the mind of the one who does so a sense of the blessing which he might have seen before by faith, he will find no way to change his mind; for faith does not come in that way, but only by yielding to the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit.

Esau desired the blessing; he was greatly troubled, and wept over it; but he did not change his mind. He continued the same faithless, wicked person that he had been before, his first thought for the future being that of revenge upon his brother Jacob. "The sorrow of the world worketh death." There is no virtue in worldly tears and lamentations. There is no way of safety but to listen and yield to the gentle Voice while we hear its pleading. "To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

-Sunday wicket playing on Clapham Common has been prohibited by the London County Council.

-This year is said to be the driest year in IreIand within living memory. The dry weather has suited the potato crop.

-An epidemics of suicide which is alleged to prevail at the present time, is attributed by pathologists to the hot weather.

-About forty persons were killed or injured by a collision of trains filled with Roman Catholic pilgrims near Quebec, July 9.

-Forty workmen perished, July 9, through the sinking of a caisson of the great bridge in course of construction at Nag-el-Hamad, Egypt.

-It is reported that the projected Chinese loan from Russia is likely to prove a failure, owing, it is supposed, to British influence at Pekin.

-A hurricane destroyed the Roumanian village of Olanesci, July 6. About a dozen persons perished by the flooding of the rivers in the vicinity.

-Forest fires have been ravaging the interior of Newfoundland, have destroyed the railway settlement at Norris Arm, and have swept 80 miles of timber lands.

-An extensive plot against the life of the Czar is said to have boon discovered in Moscow. Eight arrests have been made, six of the accused being Nihilists recently pardoned.

-China has begun the restoration of her fallen navy by placing orders for two ironclads of 8,000 tons, and two cruisers of 4,000 tons each, with firms in England and Germany.

-The French Chamber of Deputies have adopted a proposal for the establishment of a permanent tribunal to arbitrate in oases of dispute between France and the United States.

-July 6 and 7, severe storms prevailed in several States in America, in some places assuming a cyclonic character, doing much damage to property, and causing considerable loss of life.

-A disastrous fire has occurred in the Russian town of Sambrow, in the Government of Lomscha. Two hundred and thirty houses were burned down, and over 2,000 persons are rendered homeless.

-Serious disturbances, which involved considerable loss of life and required the interference of the military forces, are retreated between Mohammedans and "Christians" in the island of Crete.

-News from the Cuban insurrection reports several small victories of the Spanish troops over the revolutionists. Marshal Campos, the Spanish commander, has issued an order that all rebels captured bearing arms shall be shot.

-The Kurds are reported to be continuing their depredations in the Armenian district of Van. The funds are being distributed amongst the Sassoun villagers. Fresh insurgent bands are stated to have been formed in Macedonia.

-The husband and relatives charged with burning a supposed witch to death at Clonmel have been sentenced, the husband to twenty years' penal servitude, and the six other men to terms ranging from five years to six months.

-Antiquarians are puzzled over a discovery recorded from Hungary. An architect claims to have unearthed evidences that the ancient Romano understood, as early as the second century, the art of printing and made use of moveable types, some of which are said to have have discovered during excavations at a Roman encampment.

-In Boston, U.S.A., July 4, a Protestant procession carrying a model of a public school building surmounted by the American flag, was regarded by Irish Catholics as an insult to Rome, and was attacked by them accordingly. One person was killed and others injured in the riot that followed. Another riot of like nature is reported from Indiana, at a place where the Catholics were holding a large "picnic."

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

One of our book canvassers in India writes of a native preacher who walked sixty miles to Madras to purchase a copy of one of our books.

Moscow correspondents report that the officials of the Russian Church are holding special inquisitions in some of the southern provinces, and many Protestants are being exiled to the desolate regions of the Transcaucuses.

People very naturally ask, How did it happen that in the early centuries the Sabbath was dropped in the confusion of the great apostasy and the Sunday taken up in its stead? A full and complete study of the question will be found in the pamphlet: "Sunday: the Origin of Its Observance," price 6d., post free.

The Mohammedans are swarming to Mecca, the Buddhist visits his shrines, and this, too, is the season for Roman Catholic pilgrimages to Rome and the many shrines of the Church. This idolatry of place all comes from the same pagan source, the ancient pilgrimages to the shrines of the gods. The Christian does not need to go to some special locality to find the Lord specially near. The word is, "Lo, I am with you alway," and "unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The love that makes the burden light is illustrated in the following story, related by the late Dr. Macgregor. He met in a great Scotch city a little girl carrying in her arms a baby so bonny that she fairly staggered under its weight. "Baby's heavy, isn't he, dear?" Said the doctor. "No," replied the little girl, "he's not heavy; he's my brother."

A few weeks ago we noted the fact that a deputation of ministers and others had waited upon the Government of Cape Town demanding the enforcement of stricter Sunday laws. The Cape Times now reports the proceedings of a deputation representative of the Seventh-day Adventists of South Africa, which waited upon the Premier and Treasurer-General, not to petition for any favours or exemptions, but to protest on Christian principles against all Sunday laws or other religious legislation.

The following paragraph from the Times report shows the principles on either side of the question:-

Sir. G. Sprigg: Do you object to the law forbidding Sunday trading?

The Rev. Mr. Robinson: We object in principle to any Sunday law.

Sir G. Sprigg: You made use of the expression that you object to what you call religious laws. You object, then, to the law which was passed to support religion-to support the principles of religion?

The Rev. Mr. Robinson: Yes.

Sir. G. Sprigg: That is the difference between us, and not simply between us, but between you and the community generally.

One has only to see the statement in cold print to recognise the absurdity of it. Fancy the Lord establishing a faith which requires the support of human laws, or that can be so supported. Christ's kingdom "is not of this world," and none of the powers of this world can support it or legislate for it. No one who knows the things of that kingdom, with its righteousness, peace, and joy, could for a moment think of using the sword in its promulgation, and that is what is done when human law is appealed to. That is what the powers of this world, whenever they have tried to "support the principles of religion," have always supported the religion of the "god of this world," and his religion is to fight against God's law and kingdom.

Idleness is not necessarily lost. There are no people in the world so restless as those who have nothing to do. Even so idleness on the Sabbath day is not a proof that the Sabbath is kept. God is Spirit. His rest is spiritual rest. The seventh day is the Sabbath, or rest, of the Lord. He who truly keeps the Sabbath of the Lord, is the one who finds rest from sin, through the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is a life of restfulness, because it is a life of service of and with the Lord.

The question of religious instruction is just now an exciting one in Canada. It having been decided that it is the proper thing for the State to look after religious instruction, the Catholics having the greatest influence in the Dominion Parliament had decided that Manitoba must grant separate schools for the Catholics, supported from State funds. The province of Manitoba being largely Protestant has refused to obey the order, and a Reuter's despatch says:-

Three thousand Orangemen from Manitoba and the territories unanimously passed a resolution to-day to resist with their blood and their lives if necessary the attempt of the Dominion Government to force separate Catholic schools at the dictation of the Hierarchy of Quebec. Resolutions were also passed, calling upon all English members of the Dominion House of Commons from Manitoba to resign.

This is a hint of the contest and the bitterness of feeling which must certainly follow everywhere with the reviving of the papal idea of making religion and the support and teaching of religion a matter of human legislation to be decided by majorities. When it is decided that religion is to be supported the question at once presents itself, Whose religion shall it be? And with its centuries of experience the Catholic Church can give its professedly Protestant rivals a long start and yet come out ahead in intrigue and political wire-pulling. More than ever before it is the duty of Bible Protestants to proclaim the hopelessness and the wickedness of trying to fight Rome or advance the Gospel by carnal weapons.

"Concerning the Election" The Present Truth 11, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

The Lord Jesus Christ has nominated us as candidates for a seat of honour with Him on His throne, in the new kingdom that is to last for ever; and we are exhorted to give diligence to make our calling and election church. 2 Peter i. 10, 11. We are told also an infallible method of securing this: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside 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 kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." Verses 4-8. This is a matter of pressing importance for every one of us. It takes precedence of every other interest that we can have.

July 25, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

The Italian Government proposes to celebrate the anniversary of the entry of Italian troops into Rome, and the Pope, not less a politician than any other worldly ruler, will, it is said, address a diplomatic protest to the Powers.

The Zanzibar correspondent of the Times says that King Mwanga, of Uganda, has had his son received into the Roman Catholic Church. He himself wanted to become a Catholic again, but the Commissioners observed that it was well known in England that he had already changed his religion three times, and that, should further change result in fresh disturbances, Her Majesty's Government might possibly consider the advisability of displacing him by a king of less disquieting tendencies.

"The Eastward Petition" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

The Eastward Petition.-The Bishop of Exeter charges some of his clergy with transgressing the "Lambeth judgment," which was an attempt at a compromise between "low" and "high" ritual.

For example, he says, it permitted the eastward position, but said that the celebrant must so stand when consecrating the bread and wine that his external acts were seen by the communicants.

The Scripture makes no fine distinctions in the matter of this posturing toward the east. Ezekiel was shown how the priests of the Lord in the temple had become so corrupted by heathenism that they stood "with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east." The Catholic Church got the eastward position from the same source as the Jewish priests, the heathen sun-worship of all Eastern, and in fact nearly all heathen peoples.

"What to Talk About" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

What to Talk About.-"I will speak of the glorious honour of Thy majesty, and of Thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts; and I will declare Thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness." "All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power; to make know to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom." Ps. cxlv. 5-7, 10-12.

"The Soul's Desire" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

"How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." Ps. lxxxiv. 1, 2.

The house where the Lord dwells is a most desirable place. The word "amiable" means lovely and lovable. We often speak of an amiable person, meaning one who is lovely in character, and a desirable and pleasant companion. The word is used nowadays of persons, and not a thing; but from the ordinary use of it we have no difficulty in understanding its use in the verse quoted.

Perhaps there are very few who would dare use the words of the second verse, and apply them to themselves; and yet there are none who may not use them. Indeed, if we dare not use them of ourselves we have no right to use them at all; for we cannot speak for anybody but ourselves. We are not commissioned to speak for David, or any other man. Let David speak for itself. When we read the Bible we ought to put ourselves in the place of the writer. The language which the Holy Spirit puts into the mouth of a man is not for that man alone, but for all men. We are therefore to make it our own, so that it can come, not from our lips only, but from our hearts, as spontaneously as if it had never been uttered by any other man, and had never been written. It is to be our own language as much as though we ourselves had spoken it by the Holy Spirit. It is only so that the Word becomes too us a living Word.

Let us now see if it is not indeed a fact that every man may use this language of the Psalms, if he will.

Nothing is more certain than that in all men there is a desire to change their state. In some form or other we shall find this desire in even the most stolid man. It is natural for man to seek to better their condition. And one very remarkable thing is that the more one obtains the more he desires. As soon as a man begins to acquire wealth, he begins to desire it more than ever before. Men have a feeling of dissatisfaction. They are conscious of a longing for something that they have not, and they seek to satisfy this longing in various ways. Some seek to appease it by the accumulation of money, others seek it in political or social influences, and others seek it in pleasures or dissipation. But in none of these things is satisfaction found. The more of these things they have, the more unsatisfied they become.

Now suppose we should see a man continually eating and yet always hungry. He eats a great quantity of food, and yet it does him no good. What should we say of him?-That he is not eating the kind of food that he

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needs. We should say that his system does not demand that kind of food that he is giving it, and that is the reason it does him no good. His system cannot be satisfied with that which it is not calling for, no matter how much he may give it. Give it the food that it really demands, and it will be satisfied.

Even so it is with the souls of men. They long for something that they have not; but the fact that they are not satisfied with what they ordinarily get, shows that they are not really longing for that. They may think that they are, but the fact that it does not satisfy the desire should show them their mistake. The trouble is, they are deceived. They do not know what is good, and what is not.

This is why the Lord calls out, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and you labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Isa. lv. 1, 2.

Men spend their money and labour for that which is not bread, and which does not satisfy. The Lord promises food that is good. What is it?-Jesus answers, "The bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." "I am that bread of life." John vi. 33, 48. This is bread that satisfies, because it gives life. So we read of those who flee to the Lord, "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house." Ps. xxxvi. 8. Also the Psalmist says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; . . . who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that the youth is renewed like the eagle's." Ps. ciii. 1-5.

Christ is the living bread which satisfies by supplying life. But Christ is God. "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Col. ii. 9. Therefore since the body cries out only for that food which will satisfy its wants, it is true of all men that their heart and flesh are crying out for the living God. Whether they know it or not, it is the fact. Happy is the man who has learned what is good, and what can give true satisfaction, so that he can sing with the spirit and the understanding.

"O Christ, in Thee my soul hath found,
And found in Thee alone,
The peace and joy I long have sought,
The bliss till now unknown.

"Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me;
There's love, and life, and endless joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee."

"To God? Or to Cesar?" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

When the Jews sought to entrap Jesus into committing Himself to opposition to the civil government, by asking Him if it was lawful to give tribute unto C?sar, He asked them to show Him the tribute money, and they brought Him a penny. "And He saith unto them, whose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him, C?sar's. Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto C?sar the things which are C?sar's; and unto God the things that are God's." Matt. xxii. 19-21.

The completeness of this answer was recognised even by the enemies of Jesus; for when they had heard it, "they marvelled, and left Him, and went their way." It settled the question as to what belongs to C?sar, or human governments, and what to God. Everything that belongs to C?sar is to be given to him, and that which belongs to God is to be held as sacred to Him. That is but simple justice; no one can gainsay the statement that every one should have what belongs to him.

From this distinction, what may we learn as to ourselves and our service? The Scriptures furnish the answer, by telling us to whom we belong. The Apostle Paul but repeated the statement of Christ, when he said, "Render therefore to all their dues; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour." Rom. xiii. 7. Yet he did not include himself and his service as belonging to C?sar, and to be rendered to him; for when he was in the hands of C?sar's soldiers, on the way to Rome, he said, "There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve." Acts xxvii. 23.

Writing to the church at Corinth, and to us all, as well, he said, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price." 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.

If we are not our own, whose are we? Why, we belong to Him who has bought us. But that was not C?sar nor any other earthly name. No; "for whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." Rom. xiv. 8.

We are the Lord's because He bought us with a price, and that price was His life. For we were "not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold," "but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter i. 18, 19. He "gave Himself for us." Titus ii. 14.

Jesus gave His life for us. He gave Himself for us in death, and He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Therefore since He died and lives for us, it necessarily follows that "whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." The service of our lives belongs to Him, and if we die, it is to be only to His glory, and not to that of any man or any society of men. All is to be to the glory of God, whose we are.

The Christian, therefore, may, at the demand of the State, give it his money, for that bears the image and superscription of the State. But he cannot give himself to the State, for he bears the image of God. He belongs to God, who has bought him, and he must render unto God that which is God's. To give himself to the State would be to rob God.

It is true of all men that they belong to God; but it is true of Christians in a special sense, since in their case the purchase has been acknowledged and sealed. Not being their own, they are not at liberty to dispose of themselves. God has the sole right to direct their time and their actions. No Christian, therefore, can enter into any service which will put him, as in the case of a soldier, absolutely under the control of some "superior." To say that the giving of oneself to the State, for it to have absolute control of one, is service to God, is to make the State synonymous with God, which is Paganism.

Let no one imagine that this means rebellion or any manner of opposition whatever to earthly governments. Far from it. The God whom we serve is "the very God of peace," and therefore we can serve Him only by living quiet and peaceful lives. Earthly governments may make demands upon us that are obviously unjust, but we are not to judge, nor are we sent to reform government; we must submit even to unjust demands, and not do or say anything to the prejudice of the government or its officers. But when it demands ourselves; when it claims

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supreme authority as to time and service, then we are to remember whose we are. We cannot give ourselves to the State; not because such a demand interferes with our rights or convenience, but because we are not our own to give.

He who best serves God, best serves man. It is becoming more and more common to reverse this order, and to make the service of God consist solely in a service to man. But it is wrong. God is first, and He alone can tell us how we can serve our fellow-men the best. He who puts man first, will fail to serve either men or God. The correct answer to the question, "Whose are you?" Will enlighten us as to our duty in many difficult situations.

"Looking to Others" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

Some people refuse Christianity because others who profess it are not upright; but even were all men upright, it would be fatal to look to them in the shaping of our own course. For when all beings were pure and upright, before sin had entered God's universe, Lucifer began to look at himself and admire his beauty and perfection, and persuaded others to look to him, and by this they fell. The same thing would result no better to-day. We must look to God, and we can all look to Him, for as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, so Christ has been and is lifted up, that He may draw all unto Him. In looking upon Him is life.

"Christ's Coming" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

"In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John xiv. 2, 3.

Note what is involved in this promise. First, Christ will surely come again, for He said so. Second, He will come again, that is, the second time. That means that His coming is to be as real and personal as His first advent. It is not death, not conversion, that is promised, but the literal return of the Lord. Third, His coming is the only way by which His disciples can be with Him. His coming is for the purpose of taking His people to Himself. If they could be with Him without His coming, there would be no necessity for Him to come.

But He will not come in vain. He will come to gather His saints, and He will find them here. "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17.

"Studies in Romans. The Law of Christ. Rom. xv. 1-7" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

The fourteenth chapter of Romans presented to us our duty towards those who are weak in the faith, and who have excessively conscientious scruples with regard to things that are in themselves of no consequence. We are not judges of one another, but must all appear before one judgment seat. If we have more knowledge than our brother, we are not arbitrarily to bring him to our standard, any more than he is to bring us down to his. Our greater knowledge rather throws upon us the responsibility of exercising the greater charity and patience. The sum of it all is contained in these verses: "For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God."

DUTY OF HELPING ONE ANOTHER

"We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on Me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus; that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God."

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

What ought the strong to do?

"To bear the infirmities of the weak."

What ought such not to do?

"Not to please ourselves."

What are we exhorted to do for our neighbour?

"Let every one of us please his neighbour."

In what way are we to please our neighbour?

"For his good to edification."

Who has set us an example in this respect?

"For even Christ pleased not Himself."

What scripture is cited to show this?

"The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fall on Me." See Ps. lxix. 9.

For what purpose were the Scriptures of the Old Testament written?

"Whatsover things were written aforetime were written for our learning."

With what special object?

"That we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

In view of the example of Christ, what exhortation is given?

"Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus."

For what purpose?

"That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God."

In concluding this portion of the subject, what exhortation is repeated?

"Wherefore receive ye one another." See chap. xiv. 1.

How are we to receive one another?

"As Christ also received us."

To what end?

"To the glory of God."

The verses composing this chapter supplement the instruction given in chapter fourteen, and are a continuation of that. Thus, that chapter opens with the exhortation, "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye." The last verse of our present study is, "Wherefore receive ye one another."

How are we to receive one another? The answer is, "As Christ also received us." This again emphasises the statement that the apostle had not the slightest intention in any way of depreciating any one of the ten commandments when in the fourteenth chapter he said: "One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." For Christ did not in the slightest degree make any concessions in the commandments in order to accommodate those whom he would receive. He

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said, "Think not that I came to destroy the law, or the prophets." Matt. v. 17. Again, "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." John xv. 10. Christ's commandments and those of the Father are the same, because He says, "I and My Father are one." John x. 30. When a young man wished to follow Him, He said to him, "Keep the commandments." Matt. xix. 17. Therefore it is evident that in making concessions for the sake of peace and harmony, no concession is to be made in respect to keeping the commandments of God.

This is still further shown by the exhortation, "Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification." We are never exhorted to aid a brother to sin, in order to please him. Neither are we exhorted to close our eyes to a brother's sin, and allow him to go on in it without warning him, lest we displease him. There is no kindness in that. The exhortation is, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; thou shalt in anywise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." Lev. xix. 17. The mother who would be so fearful of displeasing her child that she would not stop it from putting its hand into the blaze, would be exhibiting cruelty instead of kindness. We are to please our neighbours, but only for their good, not to lead them astray.

Going back to the first verse, we find the lesson still more strongly emphasised: "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves." "For even Christ pleased not Himself." Compare this with Gal. vi. 1, 2: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such on one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." In bearing the infirmities of the weak, we are fulfilling the law of Christ. But to bear another's burdens does not mean to teach him that he can safely ignore any of the commandments. To keep the commandments of God is not a burden; for "His commandments are not grievous." 1 John v. 3.

Christ bears our burdens, not by taking away the law of God, but by taking away our sins, and enabling us to keep the law. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." Rom. viii. 3, 4.

One blessed thing in the service of the Lord is that He does not say, "Go," but, "Come." He does not send us away to labour by ourselves, but calls us to follow Him. He does not ask anything of us that He does not Himself do. When He says that we ought to bear the infirmities of them that are weak, we should take it as an encouragement, instead of a task laid upon us, since it reminds us of what He does for us. He is the mighty One, for we read, "I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people." Ps. lxxxix. 19. "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Is. liii. 4, 6.

This is what makes it easy to bear one another's burdens. If we know that Christ bears our burdens, it will become a pleasure for us to bear the burdens of others. The trouble is that too often we forget that Christ is the burden-bearer, and, being over powered with the weight of our own infirmities, we have still less patience with those of others. But when we know that Christ is indeed the burden-bearer, we cast our own care upon Him; and then when we make the burden of another our own, He bears that too.

God is "the God of patience and consolation." He is "the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Cor. i. 3, 4. He takes upon Himself all the reproaches that fall upon men. "The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on Me." Of the children of Israel it is said, "In all their affliction He was afflicted." Isa. lxiii. 9. The words of Christ are, "Thou hast known My reproach, and My shame, and My dishonour." "Reproach hath broken My heart." Ps. lxix. 19, 20. Yet in all this there was no impatience, no murmuring. Therefore, as He has already borne the burdens of the world in the flesh, He is fully able to bear ours in our flesh, without complaining; so that we may be "strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." Col. i. 11.

It is this lesson that is taught us throughout all the Scriptures: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." In the book of Job this is made manifest. "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." James v. 11. In the writings of Moses it is as clearly set forth. Christ says: "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not the writings, how shall ye believe My words?" John v. 46, 47. If the Gospel according to Moses is neglected, it will be of no use to read the Gospel according to John, because the Gospel cannot be divided. The Gospel of Christ, like Himself, is one.

Finally, "Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God." Whom does Christ receive?-"This man receiveth sinners." How many will He receive?-"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." How will He receive them?-"All day long have I stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." And if they come, what assurance have they?-"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." Let us learn of Him; and remember that, wherever you may open the Scriptures, they are they which testify of Him.

"Armed 'Peace'" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

"There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isa. lvii. 21. An armed peace is not the true peace. Europe now has comparative peace, but all the while she is adding to her armies and navies. England has just launched the most formidable implement of death and destruction that ever floated upon water,-well named the "Terrible,"-and other nations are doing their best to keep up with her. This is not peace, whatever may be said as to actual fighting. It is only a continual darkening of the great war

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cloud, that must sooner or later burst.

Actual peace is where there is peace in men's hearts, and men have peace in their hearts only when there is an absence of that selfishness and covetousness which lead to war. "From whence come wars and fightings among you?" Jas. iv. 1. Thus it is evident that there can be no peace unto the wicked, because they have lusts and envyings and jealousies in their hearts. All this must be taken away before real peace can come, and it will be done by the coming of the Prince of Peace, to reward those who have let His peace rule in their hearts, and destroy those who would not let it in, but retained their lust and strife.

"Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. xxxvii. 10, 11.

"The Power of the Pipe" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

The life of Christ is studied in vain to find any examples of the offering of temporal inducements to the people to listen to His Gospel. When some followed Him because of the loaves and fishes He rebuked them. What, then, are we to think of the latest device, which consists in offering the people harmful indulgences if they will attend services? No wonder some of the secular papers are expressing astonishment at the smoking services being started in London, with free tobacco supplied by the clergy. Speaking of the services that the Christian Commonwealth says:-

The incident must be productive of very varied comment. It certainly seems to confirm the idea that the pipe is one of our modern idols. The motive of the Rector can easily be understood and may be commended. But most people will contemplate the proceeding with very mixed feelings, in which humiliation and shame must predominate. The tendency of the time seems to be not to uplift Christ but to drag Him through the mire. If people stooped in poverty will not abandon the pernicious and extravagant habits of smoking there are little hopes that the sermons of smoking persons will help to lift them.

The Gospel calls men to renounce every harmful and extravagant indulgence. The tobacco habit comes in this category; for were it not for the narcotic properties of the weed no one

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would smoke. And the influence of narcotic poisons is indisputably bad. The worst of this new device is that it will have the tendency to make many believe that such indulgence may even glorify God. Not long since another minister, Mr. F. B. Meyer, started a week-day service for men, supplying tobacco free, with the apology-

There is no sin in using what God has given us to His glory.

There is nothing novel in the plea. It has been used to sustain the alcohol habit, and the use of opium, morphine, arsenic, and many other poisons; but its use by those who are supposed to be following Jesus Christ is a novelty. The temper of the times demand a compromise with worldly indulgences, but loyalty to Christ demands of Christians the recognition of the fact that body, soul, and spirit belong to Him, and that He cannot be glorified in any indulgence which injures and enslaves the body and mind.

These things will never be introduced into God's new creation. The Gospel brings men news of present deliverance from habits that have bound them, and it is a mark of a desperate fall from the high level of the Divine life of Jesus Christ when these things are set forth as entirely in harmony with that life.

"A Tight Dress" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

It may be well to consider for a moment what a tight dress is, says a lady physician, writing of the evils of tight-lacing. Dr. Robert Dickinson has tested the pressure of the corset by an ingenious device, and found that in a case where the woman measured twenty-seven inches without a corset and twenty-seven inches with one the same measurement, you see, and you would insist her dress was not tight-the corset exerted a pressure of forty pounds. When her waist measurement was reduced to twenty-five and one half inches, the pressure was seventy-three and one-half pounds. This gives you an idea of what is really a tight dress. We forget that our dresses are usually fitted over empty lungs, thus giving no chance for expansion in breathing. If this occurs in ever so slight a degree, the dress is tight.

"Rescuing the Children" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

The Barnardo Homes, with over fifty branches and receiving stations in London and the provinces constitute a great net cast into the troubled sea of waifdom, drawing in, of course, bad and good, but with a wonderful capacity for transforming the bad into good. A few paragraphs from one of the reports will show the actual work done, and the reader who knows the sufferings and dangers of are helpless and homeless children in our cities and towns will understand what the figurer mean:-

The number of boys and girls who have already been removed from the life of the streets, from the perils of orphanhood, from actual destitution, or from positions of the gravest danger-often from the custody of criminals or immoral people-and sent forth into the world again, after a period of residence in the Homes, now amounts to 26,000. These have all been educated, taught trades, or fitted for domestic service and instructed in household management, and brought, one and all, during their stay in the Homes, under the influences of genuine Christian instruction and example.

Of the large number thus carefully equipped for their life-work, nearly 7,300 have now been planed out in the Colonies, and 600 or more usually go forth in the course of each season. The girls are placed out, and are subsequently visited from the "Hazelbrae" Distributing Home; the boys are placed out and visited from the Toronto Branch; whilst older lasts are settled on the Industrial Farm in Manitoba.

By means of Children's Lodging Houses, in the lowest districts of the Metropolis, destitute little ones, otherwise unsheltered, can obtain comfortable lodging and a warm meal, without being exposed to the almost inevitable contaminations of the ordinary lodging houses. Many of the worst cases of destitution brought to light have been admitted to the benefits of the Homes. Seven branches, under the title of "An Ever-Open Door," have also been opened to act as Receiving Homes in as many large towns and cities in England and Scotland, namely, Bath, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Plymouth.

Altogether, nearly five thousand orphans or destitute children are now in the various institutions, and fresh cases of the most urgent character are being admitted, day and night, at the rate of from forty to sixty every week.

The picture given on this page represents a hay-stacking scene on the Farm Home in Manitoba, Canada, where nearly 10,000 acres are under the Homes management. Such a picture strikingly suggests the possibilities of good in a work which transfers the multitudes of children from the congested slum-districts of our towns and cities to the wide West, where there is abundance of "room" for healthy muscles and honest hearts.

When it is remembered that it requires ?250 per day to care for the Homes it will be seen why an institution that turns away no destitute child that applies, day or night, is open to receive contributions at all times. The annual report shows a reduced income for the year, owing to the general depression, and we gladly give this space to a recognition of the commendable work which is being carried on from the headquarters in Stepney Causeway, London, E.

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

-The German colonists of East Africa are excited over gold discoveries there.

-Even little Egypt must increase its armaments acted, and a new conscription law has been enacted.

-Riding through the country one sees in all directions the drying up of the fields from the drought.

-A bomb was discovered in Rome last week under the colonnade of St. Peter's, near the entrance of the church.

-The marine commerce of the British Empire is ?970,000,000 of which one-seventh belongs to the self-governing colonies,

-The rising in Macedonia continues to cause serious anxiety in Europe. The people are determined to escape from Turkish rule.

-The Bulgarian statesman, M. Stambouloff, who, more than any other man, created that State, was assassinated in broad daylight in the streets of the capital last week.

-All defeat of the parties astonished at the sweeping defeat of the Liberal party in the elections last week. The Liberal majority has been changed into the smallest of minorities.

-Japan is having a struggle to take possession of Formosa, awarded her by the Chinese. The Formosan Black Flags are resisting the occupation, and last week they secured some victories.

-The Japanese are said to be greatly incensed against Russia, believing that it has designs on Korea. They look forward to the prospect of a war against the Northern Colossus at no distant date.

-The French are steadily pushing forward in Madagascar, and although the natives have no effective means of defence, correspondents say that they do not appear to realise that their case is hopeless.

-The new British trade dollar for use in the East has appeared. On the face of the coin Britannia is represented standing erect with a vessel at her feet. The dollar is equivalent in value to the Japanese yen.

-The Spanish squadron visiting Cherbourg has demonstrated the Spanish sympathy with France and Russia. The powers of Europe are grouping together in preparation for the general European struggle which all seem to expect.

-A Bill for the suppression of witchcraft amongst Kafirs has passed the Legislative Assembly of Cape Colony. Witch-doctors and those who profess a knowledge of the use of charms will be liable to fine, imprisonment, or the lash.

-Large numbers of Italians are leaving Italy for South America to escape from the destitution which prevails amongst Italian agriculturists. At the same time the visiting Italian fleet, off Spithead, has been exhibiting the effectiveness of the Italian navy.

-The general verdict seems to hold the Bulgarian authorities directly responsible for the attack on M. Stambouloff. He stood in the way of the pro-Russian policy of the present rulers, and now that he is dead Russia and Bulgaria appear to be rapidly coming to an understanding.

-It is only fifty-five years since the sovereignty of the Queen was proclaimed over the island of New Zealand, and cannibal feasts were held within a short distance of the site of what is now an important city. To-day it is inhabited by 728,000 persons, of whom all but 50,000 are whites.

-The arrests for drunkenness in twelve months in Lancashire towns were in proportion to the population: - Manchester, 1,254 per 100,000: Liverpool, 1,632; Bootle, 2,515; Salford, 1,182; St, Helens, 1,118; Bury, 993; Oldham, 624 Blackburn, 582; Rochdale, 465; Wigan, 436; and Bolton, 304. A singular feature is that Bootle, with the highest rate of drunkenness, has proportionately the lowest number of licensed houses of any big centre in the North of England, while Manchester with only one exception, viz., Nottingham, has comparatively the highest.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

"Round the person of Leo XIII.," says Captain Gambier, in the Fortnightly, "a strength has accumulated unknown to modern Papacy."

The London School Board is again employed in discussing what is called the "interminable religious question." As usual, when religion is thrown into the field of politics, the discussions are not fruitful of anything save increased bitterness of feeling.

The Catholic Times says that the results of the election "should assuredly mean a thoroughly satisfactory and final settlement of the school question." The bishops of both the Roman and Anglican churches are determined to secure the partial support of their schools from the public funds.

We are promised a revival of prosecutions for Sunday work in our manufacturing department. In view of this we are putting through the press a third edition of "Statement and Appeal regarding the Enforcement of Sunday Laws in the United Kingdom," which will be furnished for general circulation at the same special rates granted on the previous editions.

The article in this number entitled "To God? or to C?sar?" covers the principle involved in the Sunday law movement. It is the old, old controversy between the laws of man and the law of God, and before it is done every soul in the world must determine on which side they will choose to stand. When the law of men seeks to compel the recognition of that which is contrary to the law of God we know of no answer to give save that given by Peter, "We ought to obey God rather than men." It is a very simple question; for as no man can serve two masters, so no one can keep the Sabbath of the Lord holy, and at the same time pay deference to the Sunday, by which the Catholic Church in the days of apostasy, made void the commandment of the Lord.

The Word of the Lord is the only thing that is sure and steadfast in this world. Yet many who have never tried the Lord's gracious power think that the one who has the world against him and "only" the Word of the Lord on his side is in a precarious position. Not at all; for there is life in every word of God, and when the earth itself is removed, the man who is standing on the Word will be upheld.

The restoration of the power of the Papacy need not necessarily include the regaining of the temporal power. The influence of Rome has steadily increased since the loss of the temporalities. But the dream of the Papacy is to get back its kingdom, and it trusts to the disruption of Italy in the coming European war to secure this end. The writer just quoted says of this:-

The Vatican need not trouble itself much to bring about the state of affairs. By abstention on the part of the faithful and Italy from all political matters, power is gradually slipping into the hands which must run the country. With authority set at naught and bankruptcy at her doors, resources sucked dry, credit blasted, with the Triple Alliance fading away (her only support), bullied by France, deserted by England, Italy, the Italy of Umberto Orlogi, Budtni, and Co., is tottering to destruction. And this must render restoration of the temporal power a European necessity, for the simple reason that failing an Italian king, no other person except the Pope would be allowed by the other Powers to seat himself there.

When Queen Margaret came to the Scottish throne, early in the eleventh century, she found a great majority of her subjects working on Sunday and resting on the seventh day of the week. In this they evidently followed the teaching of Columba, the apostle of North Britain, who had inculcated a purer faith, while the Romish Church was propagating its perversions of the Gospel in Southern Britain. Queen Margaret, however issued a proclamation insisting on their duty to keep Sunday, saying that the "blessed Pope Gregory lays down," etc., declaring that sins during the week would be expiated by prayers on the day of the Lord's resurrection. "Being unable to oppose anything to these mighty arguments" [?], says Dr. Skene, in his "Celtic Scotland," they changed their practice.

Dr. Skene says traces are found in the history of the early church in Ireland of the custom "by which they held the Saturday to be the Sabbath, on which they rested from their labours." Columba evidently alluded to this as he was dying, saying that the day was called in the Scriptures the Sabbath; "and this is indeed a Sabbath to me," he exclaimed. In his "History of Missions," Dr. George Smith says:-

Columbanus tells us that the Columban Church "received nought but the doctrine of the evangelists and apostles." The ninth successor of Columba at Iona, his biographer Adamnan, declares the foundation of Columba's preaching as his great instrument in the conversion of the heathen, to have been the Word of God.

Thus, following the Word, the Sabbath was honoured, and it continued to receive honour in proportion as the early Columban church followed the teachings of its founder, until the Scots were persuaded that Pope Gregory was right and the Word of God wrong.

Russia sent a delegation of priests on a spiritual mission to Abyssinia, and now it transpires that the mission was political. Of course; for the Russian official religion, like all others, is but a department of State. In treating with Bulgaria now the main part is being played in the name of the "Holy Synod," and the pious Russian press "sees the hand of God" in the assassination of M. Stembouloff.

"A Good Lodging Place" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

A Good Lodging Place.-Speaking of the man "that feareth the Lord" the Psalmist says, "His soul shall dwell at ease." The marginal reading gives the literal Hebrew rendering, "His soul shall lodge in goodness." Ps. xxv. 13. And when the God-fearing soul is lodging in goodness, the fear of man and all evil is shut out.

"The Power of the Pope" The Present Truth 11, 30.

E. J. Waggoner

The Power of the Pope.-In the Fortnightly Review Captain Gambier has a paper discussing the present position of the Papacy, in which he says:-

Reason as we may, blink facts as much as we like, the Pope, and the silence of his austerely furnished room, with his simple fare of paste and cold water, is a power in shaping the destinies of the world greater than the Czar, greater than the Emperor William, greater than all the Foreign Secretaries who fret and fume on the political stage in the length and breadth of Europe. And why? Because he embodies the idea of a persistent, unwavering policy, with one distinct aim, an aim that will outlive him; that will be followed with the relentlessness of a sleuth-hound by his successors.

The "deadly wound" is rapidly healing, and simultaneously with a recovering of the papal prestige the spirit of the Papacy which has permeated all the nations of the world is manifesting itself in increased activity in enforcing the institutions and doctrines received from the Church of Rome. The wise will be watching these developments.

August 1, 1895

"Eating and Living" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Eating and Living.-Some professors of religion excuse their lack of daily Scripture reading by saying they have "scarcely time to eat." But it is just as impossible for one to be a Christian without feeding upon the Word, as it is for one to live physically without eating.

"Increase of Faith" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Increase of Faith.-When the Lord spoke of the necessity of forgiveness, the apostles said to Him, "Increase our faith." Luke xvii. 5. Many people to-day make the same prayer, and make it in vain because they do not recognise the Lord's answer. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Rom. x. 17. If a person desires more faith, he has but to listen more attentively to the Word of God. There is no other place from which faith can come, and so we must go there for it.

Hearing the Word.-But let it be remembered that it is the Word of God, and not that of men, that is to be heard. If men are really sent from God, and preach only the Word, then it is all right; but let it never be forgotten that faith cannot come from hearing the word of men. It is evident, therefore, that when men speak we must be able to discern whether or not they are speaking the Word of God. That means that we must know the Word of God for ourselves. We must study it for ourselves, recognising God's voice in it, to know exactly what it says. If this is done there will be no difficulty in the matter of faith. That man who gives himself patiently to the study of the Word of God, will have faith just as surely as he will have strength if he eats good food and breathes pure air.

"'He Must Increase'" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

The disciples of John were jealous for his sake, and felt that a wrong was being done him in that the multitudes were now flocking to Jesus, instead of to him. But no trace of jealousy was awakened in his breast. He likened himself to the friend of the bridegroom who found his joy complete in the happiness of the one whom he had served. Then he said of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease." John iii. 30.

At first thought it seems as though that was the most easy and natural thing in the world for John to say. We think of the difference between Christ and John,-the latter a mere man, and the former the Son of God,-and it seems very easy to say, "He must increase, but I must decrease." We imagine that we should have said the same thing, not realising that the answer of John furnishes one of the grandest instances of preferring another above self that there is on record. Consequently we lose the lesson that we should learn from it.

Let us not forget that Jesus was here on earth as a man. He was man then, as He is even now in heaven "the Man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. ii. 5. To all appearance, He was only a man. Nothing in His outward appearance, nothing that could be discerned by the senses, indicated that He was "God with us."

John was a great prophet, and he had preached to many thousands. Now Jesus comes, another great prophet, and He has the ears of the people. The disciples of John could see no difference between John and Jesus-no reason why John should not have the same power and influence as Jesus. Even John, who knew that Christ was preferred before him, had not seen Him except as a man among men. Nevertheless his word was, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

This marks the true follower of Christ. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory." Ps. cxv. 1.

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee,"

is more than mere rhyme to the Christian. Self-effacement, that only Christ may be seen, is true Christianity. Christ must be lifted up, and self must be abased.

Now as one thinks of Christ in glory, the leader of a host of heaven, it seems as though one could not think anything else than that He alone should be exalted. But Christ does not yet appear to us in glory. The saints who in glory shall give honour to Christ alone, will have learned to do the same to Him in His humiliation. There is something intensely practical in being able to say, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

"The Word was made flesh." Christ has for ever identified Himself with men. Their cause is His. Whatever good or ill is done to men He counts as being done to Him. Matt. xxv. 35-45. The man who turns the poor beggar away with harsh words, sees nothing but an insignificant man; but Christ says that He is the one who is slighted. The one who in the kindness of his heart receives a needy wayfarer, does not realise that he is sheltering Christ; but so it is. Christ has so completely identified Himself with humanity, that no act can be done to a fellow-man without being done to Him. Our treatment of our fellows

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shows exactly how we would treat the Lord Himself. Not only so, but it shows how we do treat Him.

Now let us say, "He must increase, but I must decrease." What does it mean? It means to be "kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honour preferring one another." Rom. xii. 10. It means obedience to the exhortation, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Phil. ii. 3. It means the regarding of others just as though we could see "the Lord of glory" standing in their place.

There is wonderful help for us in putting ourselves actually in John's place as regards our fellows. When tempted to envy another; when the thought is suggested that another has more honour and attention than we have, and that he even has it at our expense, what a blessed peace and content comes to us when we put Christ in his place, and say from the heart, "He must increase, but I must decrease." It must be so; it is absolutely necessary, from the very nature of things, that Christ be exalted above us. It should be a pleasure to us to acknowledge that fact, since our fulness of joy is found only in His supremacy over all. Remembering this, and also that He identifies Himself with every man, becomes delightfully easy to say of our brother who has more honour than we "He must increase, but I must decrease." Then instead of the demand of unrest that continually gnaws at the hearts of those who are ambitious, "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding" shall keep our hearts and lives. Then indeed will Christ be lifted up even in us, and we ourselves shall be made sharers of His exaltation.

"The Fight of Faith" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

"Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on eternal life." 1 Tim. vi. 12. This fight is an individual affair, not a battle of armies, no other person can have faith for us. It is a dangerous thing, therefore, to learn to lean upon others and look to them for guidance in the Christian pathway.

Jacob fought the good fight of faith when, on the night before his meeting with Esau, he was "left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day." None of the company he brought with him could have aided him in that conflict; they would have been a hindrance rather than a help. For that was a spiritual conflict, where faith and doubt were contending for the mastery. Jacob had the promise of God, made to him years before, and his faith grasped this, and he triumphed.

Abraham fought this fight when, alone with his terrible secret, he went up with Isaac to the top of Mount Moriah. He had the promise of God concerning the seed that should come through Isaac, and his faith grasped this, "accounting that God was able to raise him from the dead."

The Saviour met the temptations of Satan alone in the desert, and His faith in the word of God won the victory. Again, in His last most terrible conflict, He was alone in Gethsemane; but His faith did not fail.

If we win the prize of eternal life, we must certainly fight this fight, and we must fight it as those did who have been victorious before us, that is, by trust in the promises of God. We have His promises given us in rich abundance. We must know them so that we can say to the adversary, "It is written." Faith alone wins the victory, and faith is perfect trust in the Word of God.

"Shutting the Eyes" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

The ostrich, when in danger, it is said, sometimes hides its head in the sand so that it cannot see its foes, and imagines itself secure. This is thought to be very stupid; but it is no more so than the course of people who shut their eyes to the truth and think to pass on in security. We can no more escape truth by shutting our eyes to it than we can delay time by turning back the hands of a clock.

Many persons pursue this course with reference to the truths of God's Word. They find some of those truths very unpleasant; or it may be they are afraid they will find unpleasant truths if they investigate; so they shut their eyes, refusing to look at what God's Word presents, thinking that somehow it will come out all right in the end. But the Lord has never sanctioned willful ignorance.

What they should do is to open their eyes wider instead of shutting them, and investigate fully the truths which come to them out of God's Word, and then they would see that those are not unpleasant truths, as they had thought, but are really "good tidings of great joy." They are each a part of the Gospel, which is the "good news" sent from God to man, the news that He has undertaken to redeem fallen man, restore to him his innocence and purity, and his home in paradise. All the truths of God's Word which relate to man's duty here are pleasant truths to the one who will believe them.

Doubtless there were some people in Noah's day who shut their eyes to the truth of a coming flood, after the conviction had come to them that Noah was preaching the truth. But while they thus "knew not" (Matt. xxiv. 39), the flood came, and they miserably perished. Their example is surely not one to be imitated. It is in love and mercy that God shows us truth, whatever truth it may be. It is only a token that He is going forward in His plan of saving us, and we should receive it as such, and gladly go forward with Him.

"The Real Object of Sunday Laws" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week's American mails brought papers reporting the latest case of Sunday-law prosecution. This time eight Seventh-day Adventists, of Tennessee, were committed to jail for Sunday work. The presiding judge declared:

In pronouncing judgment in these cases I have little to add to what was said in similar cases at the last term. My views, as then expressed, have not changed. I will take occasion, however, to express again my sincere personal regret, that a necessity exists for inflicting punishment upon these people, for it must be patent even to the most casual observer that they are good citizens, who are thoroughly conscientious in the course they have taken. They are not Sabbath-breakers in the ordinary sense of that term. The original intention of the law was certainly not to punish such people.

Here the judge was mistaken. The men who enacted these laws may have had no idea of how they would work; but the whole scheme of making the enforcement of religious institutions a part of the work of the State, as modern States have received it from the Roman State, is of pagan origin. The pedigree of the modern Sunday law is well established. The first Sunday law, Constantine's, was issued by a pagan, in the pagan name of the day, "the venerable day of the sun," and from this has come every succeeding Sunday law.

The Scripture shows that in all Paganism was the "god of this world," working to overthrow the truth; and in the Sunday tradition we have the device by which he seeks to make void the commandment of the Lord and turn all men away from the Sabbath. While men who framed the Sunday

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laws may have been ignorant of the true Sabbath, there was one behind this line of legislation who did know exactly what he was doing. Just the use that was to be made of these laws is shown in Rev. xii. 17: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

This is the reason of the discrimination against Sabbath-keepers, of which one secular paper in Tennessee complains:-

The grand juries that indicted them ignored the "lawlessness" of the 400 or 500 men who work within sight of the court house every Sunday, and went five miles away to find indictments against a little band of Seventh-day Adventists down at Graysville. Their neighbours of other religious beliefs say the Adventists are admirable citizens, and they denounced their persecution in the most unmeasured terms.

But as to this, Seventh-day Adventists urge no grievance. It is just as wicked to try to force an unbeliever who keeps no day to recognise the Sunday, as to try to force a Sabbath-keeper to do so. This is the reason why Seventh-day Adventists cannot plead for special exemptions in their favour. To ask for exemption from the operation of a wicked law, is to consent without protest to the wrong which the law will do to those not included in the special exemption. The work of the Christian is to preach the Gospel, and so he can only warn all men against paying homage to traditions which make void God's law and demand allegiance to men, rather than to Jesus Christ the Lord of the conscience.

"The Secret of Contentment" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Some very pertinent observations as regards the problem of shorter hours and higher wages, for which the labour organisations are so earnestly striving, are these of Sir William Harcourt, made at a recent temperance demonstration:-

We hear of an eight hour day, but what is the use of an eight hour day if the other hours are spent in drink? We hear of high wages, and we wish to see them; but what is the use of high wages if they are spent in drink? Why, there are few men in this country who cannot raise their own wages if they like by the pursuit of temperance.

The trouble is that human foresight and power are too weak to penetrate to the root of the difficulty which is making existence miserable for so large a portion of mankind. After higher wages and shorter hours have been secured, there will still remain the evil propensity of the heart, to spend those hours and wages in a way that will make the condition of the individual worse instead of better. There can be no sure amelioration of an individual's condition without a change of heart, and this can be accomplished only by the power of the Gospel.

The language of a follower of Christ is, "I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Phil. iv. 11-13. And this is not the language of sloth and indifference, but was written by one who laboured and toiled as few men have ever done. But it is the language of peace and contentment. The Christian is always content with his lot. And well he may be, for he has Christ and eternal life. Christ is the one great panacea that all men need.

"Studies in Romans. Confirming the Promises. Rom. xv. 8-33" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

With this number we finish our study of the book of Romans. While the study has covered a long time, and there have been many articles, it has not nevertheless been exhaustive. Indeed, it is impossible to have an exhaustive study of the Bible; for no matter how thoroughly we study any portion of it, we shall still find ourselves but upon the threshold. The more we study the Bible, the more will our best study seem to be only preliminary to further study that will be seen to be necessary. But although we cannot expect ever to exhaust the truth, so that we can say that we have it all, we may be sure that as far as we have gone we have only the truth. And this assurance arises not from any wisdom that we have, but solely from adhering closely to the word of God, and not allowing the alloy of human ideas to mingle with its pure gold.

The portion of Scripture which we have before us in this study, namely, from the eighth verse of the fifteenth chapter of Romans to the close of the sixteenth chapter, is long, but it is difficult to find any place for dividing it, especially since much of it is devoted to personal matters. On account of the length of it, we have not reprinted the text. Many verses will however be found in the course of the lesson, and it is expected that the student will carefully read the entire portion from the Bible itself.

"A Minister of the Circumcision."-Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision. Bear this in mind. Shall we learn from it that He saves only the Jews? By no means, but we must learn from it that "salvation is of the Jews." John iv. 22. "Jesus Christ our Lord" was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh." Rom. i. 3. He is the "root of Jesse," which stands "for an ensign of the people," to which the Gentiles seek. Isa. xi. 10; Rom. xv. 12. The Gentiles who find salvation must find it in Israel. None can find it anywhere else.

"The Commonwealth of Israel."-In writing to the brethren at Ephesus, Paul refers to the time before they were converted as the time when they were "Gentiles in the flesh," and says, "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Eph. ii. 11, 12. That is, outside of Israel there is no hope for mankind. They who are "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel" are "without Christ," and "without God in the world." In Christ Jesus we are brought to God. But being brought to God we are "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Verses 18, 19. Therefore we have two things most clearly and positively taught, namely, That none are saved unless they are of the house of Israel; and, That none are of the house of Israel except those who are in Christ.

Confirming the Promises.-"Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." That shows that all the promises of God to the fathers were made in Christ. "For all the promises of God in Him are yea, wherefore

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also through Him is the Amen." 2 Cor. i. 20. "To Abraham and His seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to Thy seed, which is Christ." Gal. iii. 16. There was therefore never any promise made to the fathers which was not to be obtained only through Christ, and therefore through the righteousness which is by Him.

Christ Not Divided.-Jesus Christ is declared to be a minister of the circumcision. Suppose now we hold that the promises to the fathers mean the natural descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; we should then be shut up to the conclusion that only those natural descendants, those who are circumcised, can be saved. Or, at least, we should be driven to the conclusion that Christ does something for them that He does not do for the rest of mankind. But Christ is not divided. All that He does for one man He does for every man. All that He does for any He does through his cross; and He is crucified but once. "God so loved the world, that He gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Therefore since Christ is the minister of the circumcision to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, it is evident that those promises included all mankind. "There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him" Rom. x. 12. "Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also; seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith." Rom. iii. 29, 30.

The "Tabernacle of David."-At the time when the apostles and elders were assembled in Jerusalem, Peter told how he had been used by the Lord to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles. Said he, "God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." Acts xv. 8, 9. Then James added, "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Acts xv. 14-18. That is, the house of David is to be built up only by the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles, and the taking from them of a people for God. And this was the purpose of God from the beginning, as the prophets tesity. "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." Acts x. 43.

"The Blessing of Abraham."-Again we read that "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; . . . that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Gal. iii. 13, 14. The curse that Christ was made for us, was the cross, as is stated in the words omitted from the text just quoted. Therefore we learn that the promises to the fathers were assured only by the cross of Christ. But Christ tasted death for every man. Heb. ii. 9. He was "lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John iii. 14, 15. Therefore the promises made to the fathers were simply the promises of the Gospel, which is "to every creature." By the cross, Christ confirms the promises made to the fathers, in order "that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy."

"One Fold, and One Shepherd."-In the tenth chapter of John we find some of the most beautiful, tender, and encouraging words of the Lord Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the gate by which the sheep enter into the fold. He gives His life to save them. Then He says, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd." Verse 16. Therefore when His work is completed, there will be but one fold, and He will be the Shepherd. Let us see who will compose that flock.

The Lost Sheep.-In the fifteenth chapter of Luke, that wonderful bouquet of blessed illustrations of the love and mercy of the Saviour, Jesus represents His work as that of the shepherd going to seek the lost and wandering sheep. Now who are the sheep that He is seeking? He Himself gives the answer: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Matt. xv. 24. This is emphatic. Therefore it is evident that all the sheep whom He finds, and whom He brings back to the fold, will be Israel. And so it is just as evident that the "one fold" will be the fold of Israel. There will be no other fold, since it is to be "one fold." And He will be the Shepherd. To-day, as well as in the days of old, we may pray, "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth." Ps. lxxx. 1.

The Characteristic of the Sheep.-Those who are following Christ are His sheep. But He has "other sheep." There are many who are not now following Him, who are His sheep. They are lost and wandering, and He is seeking them. What determines who are His sheep? Hear him tell: "The sheep hear His voice." "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice." "Ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear My voice." John x. 3, 16, 26, 27. When He speaks, those who are His sheep will hear His voice, and come to Him. The word of the Lord is the test as to who are His sheep. Every one therefore who hears and obeys the word of the Lord is of the family of Israel; and those who reject or neglect the word, are eternally lost. "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. iii. 29.

"One Faith."-We may now stop to see how this that the apostle has said connects with what he has said in the fourteenth chapter, about Christ's being the minister of the circumcision, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, in order that the Gentiles might glorify God. "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations." Mark this: They who are to be received "as Christ also received us to the glory of God," are those who have the faith. Now there is but "one faith," as there is but "one Lord." Eph. iv. 5. And faith comes by hearing the word of

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God. Rom. x. 17. Since there is to be but one fold, and Christ, the one Shepherd, is not divided, there must be no division in the fold. Disputings, which come from human wisdom and human human ideas, are to be left out, and the word of God alone followed. That allows of no disputing, since it tells ever one and the same thing. This is the rule: "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." 1 Pet. ii. 1-3.

Faith, Hope, Joy, and Peace.-"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Here we have faith and hope, joy and peace. The God of hope is to fill us with all joy and peace in believing, and this is to be by the power of the Holy Ghost. This connects the present instruction with that of the fourteenth chapter, where we are told that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

The Gospel Commission.-When Jesus was about to leave this world, He told His disciples that they should first receive power by the Holy Spirit, and then, said He, "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts i. 8. "To the Jew first, and also to the Greek," but to all alike, and the same Gospel to all. So Paul declared that his work as a minister of the Gospel consisted in "testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts xx. 21. So in our text he tells us that as "the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God," he had "through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God" "fully preached the Gospel of Christ" "from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum."

Partaking the Same Spiritual Things.-The apostle, speaking of his desire to visit the Romans, said that he hoped to see them when he took his journey into Spain. "But now," said he, "I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things." A very simple statement, but it shows that the Gentiles received nothing spiritual except that which came from the Jews. The spiritual things of which the Gentiles had been made partakers came from the Jews, and were ministered to them by Jews. Both partook of the same spiritual meat, and therefore the Gentiles showed their gratitude by ministering to the temporal necessities of the Jews. So here again we see but one fold and one Shepherd.

The God of Israel.-Many times in the Bible God is declared to be the God of Israel. Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, immediately after the healing of the lame man, said to the people, "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus." Acts iii. 13. Even in this age, therefore, God is identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel. God desires to be known and remembered, and so we read His words, "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." Ex. xxxi. 13, 16, 17. God is the God of Israel. True, He is the God of the Gentiles also, but only as they accept Him, and become Israel through the righteousness by faith. But Israel must keep the Sabbath. It is the sign of their connection with God.

Greetings.-Two-thirds of the last chapter of Romans consists of greetings. "Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in the Lord." "Likewise greet the church that is in their house." "Greet Mary, who hath bestowed much labour upon us." "Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen." "Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord." "Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved." "Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them." And so the list runs including both men and women impartially. Let one but read that blessed list, realizing that it shows not only the largeness and heartiness of Paul's sympathy, but also the special care which the Holy Spirit has for each individual member of the household of faith, singling them out by name, and there will be no questioning as to why such things were written.

But one thing is very significant and that is the fact that there is no mention of Peter, who is claimed to have been "the first Bishop of Rome." We may sometimes learn as much by what the Bible does not say as by what it does say. From what is not said in this place we may learn that so far from being Bishop of Rome, Peter was not in Rome at all when Paul wrote, and that if he was ever in Rome it was after the Epistle to the Romans was written, and long after the church was established and flourishing there. For it is most certain that in saluting the members of the church by name he would not have omitted the name of the chief person in it, whose hospitality he had once shared in Jerusalem for fifteen days. Of course there is abundance of the most positive evidence that neither the church of Christ nor the church of Rome was founded upon Peter; but if there were no other, this testimony of the sixteenth chapter of Romans would be sufficient to settle the matter.

In Conclusion.-"Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith; to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen."

What a magnificent conclusion! It reaches from eternity to eternity. The Gospel of God is the thing of the ages. It was kept secret in the mind of God from times eternal. Christ "was

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foreordained before the foundation of the world." 1 Peter i. 19, 20. But now the mystery is "made manifest." Not simply is it made manifest by the preaching of the apostles, but, "according to the commandment of the everlasting God," "by the Scriptures of the prophets" it is "made known to all nations, for the obedience of faith." The Gospel plan originated in the mind of God in the eternity of the past; patriarchs, prophets and apostles have worked in unison in making it manifest; and "in the ages to come" it will be both the science and the song of the redeemed "of all ages to come" it will be both the science and the song of the redeemed "of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," who shall gather with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God, and will say, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

-Germany sends us ?2,000,000 worth of toys annually.

-The mortality from snake bite increases every year in India.

-Large quantities of tomatoes are shipped to the London markets from Tasmania.

-Strikes, requiring the calling out of troops, occurred last week in Spain and Austria.

-The last weekly returns showed Brighton to have the lowest death rate and Liverpool the highest.

-The scarcity of water in the East-end of London has caused great distress and ill health, some deaths being attributed to it.

-The Brazilian Government is protesting against the occupation by the British of a small island off the coast of South America.

-Russia in Europe has now about 85,000 miles of navigable rivers and canals, or about 6,000 miles more than all the rest of Europe.

-The Conservative majority is so large that doubts are expressed as to their being able to find seats on the Government side of the house.

-Japan demands of China a further indemnity of seven and a half million pounds for giving up the Liaotung Peninsula, on which the citadel of Port Arthur is situated.

-The Paris press declares that the treaty of alliance between Pamela and France provides unconditionally that one power is to support the other in case of attack or danger.

-Within easy reach of the bed in the Queen's saloon carriage is a handle on the floor, by pulling up which Her Majesty is able to apply the brakes to the whole train at any moment.

-The trouble in Macedonia continues, and all last week news of fighting and preparations for it came in. An uneasy feeling pervades Europe in view of this re-opening of the old-time Eastern Question.

-Trouble between Indians and whit; in the Far West led to the sending of troops to the scene last week. A Washington despatch says "the troops have been ordered to stop the fighting and protect the red men from the whites."

-Baron Blanc, the Italian Foreign Minister, made a statement in the Chamber last week on the position of Italy in Abyssinia. It is thought that another war is imminent, and the Corriere states that ten alliance has been formed between Italy and England.

-A remarkable sequel to the Liverpool election was disclosed at the local police-court. A man was brought up for murder, and the solicitor had to ask for a remand, it being impossible, he said, to go on with the ease, all the witnesses without exception being drunk.

-The ships on the British East African station have been punishing one of the tribes on the coast. The punitive expedition met some opposition from men armed with clubs and arrows, but "two Maxim guns scoured the hills like a steam hose" and the natives retreated.

-It was thought that the question of the boundary line between British and Russian spheres in the Pamir regions was soon to be settled. A hitch has occurred, however, and Russia insists upon the evacuation by Afghanistan of certain points before discussing the question.

-Stalin Pasha, one of the prisoners of the Mahdists in the Soudan, who escaped recently, says that under the Khalifs who succeeded the Mahdi the native tribes of the Soudan have been disillusioned, and are ready to revolt, but are overpowered by the Western Arabs, who hold all the Soudan in their hands.

-Spain is finding the Cuban insurrection a very serious affair. With an army of 64,000 men the Government has been unable to suppress the rising and despatches indicate that the revolutionists are increasing in numbers, having a force of 16,000 men. The system of taxation which Spain has maintained has alienated the people of Cuba, who are largely in sympathy with the rebel cause.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

It is said that the Vatican has received intelligence from Egypt of the return in mass of several thousand Copts to Catholic unity.

A number of our workers have sailed recently from Liverpool for various parts of South America. Two of the number are German brethren who will work in the German colonies.

The Danish Parliament has made a grant of money to enable a priest of the Lutheran Church, the State Church of Denmark, to go to America to organise a Danish Lutheran Church in the United States.

As we feared, the unrest in China succeeding the war, has given rise to attacks upon missionaries in some quarters. The authorities have connived at the display of spite against the teachers of the "foreign religion," and missionaries have had to flee for their lives. But these things, we know, cannot shut the Gospel out of China.

That little work "Steps to Christ" is just being brought out in the Polish language. Our German brethren are also bringing out other publications in the Polish, Bohemian, and Levonian, and are preparing others for the Esthonian and Lettish tongues, spoken in the Baltic provinces, where there are already calls for our literature and teachers of the Word.

Of the work of John the Baptist we read that he was "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight." Luke iii. 4. In this present day, however, we read in religious journals that "good civil government makes a straight path for Christianity." But such work as John's has nothing in common with the work of civil government, for his work was to preach "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Verse 3. Has God's plan changed since John's day? or have men changed? Is God's plan still the right one? or have men invented a better way?

Modern intervention promises to afford facilities for increasing the papal income unknown in the days of Tetzel and his collecting box. Thus it is said that a penny-in-the-slot machine has been produced with the inscription: "Put a penny in the slot and you will get a blessing from the Pope, in the Pope's own voice, per phonograph."

There is talk of forming a Protestant party in Parliament, to further Protestant interests and defeat measures subversive of Protestantism. But appeals to Parliament mean simply appeals to force and majorities, and this is not Protestantism, if by Protestantism we mean the Gospel of Christ. Whenever Protestants have put their trust in princes or in the sons of men, "in whom there is no help," Protestantism has been defeated in the end.

One of our workers in Brazil says that at Rio de Janeiro one morning he heard a noise in the street like the beating of a drum, and inquired what it meant. Friends told him it was the ceremony in which the priests profess to carry the Holy Spirit through the streets for the veneration of the people.

We looked out and saw several carrying a stick, or pole, with a few wreaths and a dove on one end of it. The people ran out to kiss it. The time has come to make known to the people the latter rain that does not need to be carried by man, but that is given like showers of rain to quicken the faint, to strengthen the weak, and to carry those that cannot walk.

A despatch from Rome says that a conference on the union of the German Protestant and Catholic Churches will commence there in October. It would be interesting if some German delegate would read the Protest which was presented at Spires, giving the name Protestant to the Reformation. But as the principles which are set forth in that historic Protest are long since abandoned there is no likelihood that any member of the conference will act as though there had ever been a Reformation.

Coroners remark the unparalleled number of suicides and tragedies, and judges complain that the multitude of divorce cases block the courts. One of the influences helping to demoralise the minds of the people is undoubtedly the foolish and often viciously foolish literature which pours out in a steady stream from the press, giving its readers unreal and morbid ideas of life. It is time for parents to know what kind of mental food their children are getting in their reading. The evil is not confined to the penny novelties, by any means.

"Good Cheer" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Good Cheer.-"In the world," said Christ, "ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." The good cheer rests upon nothing we have done or can do, but upon what he has done. Therefore there is good cheer for the Christian all the time.

"Rome Rebuking Protestants" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Rome Rebuking Protestants.-The use which some Protestants in America are making of the Sunday laws has brought upon them the rebuke of the Catholic press. While we do not approve of the tone of censure in the following from the Catholic Monitor, it is nevertheless interesting:-

We do not believe that there is a Catholic paper or a Catholic citizen in this country that approves of this persecution of the Seventh-day Adventists. If there be such a paper we are ashamed of it, and if there be such a Catholic he is a bigot. This persecution is a disgrace to the States that permit it, and if it occurred in Catholic countries it would be taken up by all the Protestant sects and heralded to the world as an example of papal intolerance. But because it occurs among the dear, good, liberty-loving Methodists nobody seems to consider it anything extraordinary.

When Rome rebukes Protestants for their zeal in enforcing Roman institutions, it is like the father who punishes his son for following the paternal example.

"Abyssinia and the Sabbath" The Present Truth 11, 31.

E. J. Waggoner

Abyssinia and the Sabbath.-While we are hearing about the visits of Russian ecclesiastics to Abyssinia to turn the remnant of the old Abyssinian churches into the Greek fold, it is interesting to remember that the history of this Ethiopian church furnishes a striking testimony to the Sabbath. These churches in Africa were surrounded by enemies and cut off from all touch with the Roman world in early centuries, before the apostasy was fully developed. They were lost sight of for a thousand years, and when rediscovered by the Portuguese navigators were keeping the Sabbath, as an ambassador of the king of Ethiopia declared at the court of Lisbon, "not in imitation of the Jews, but in obedience to Christ and His holy apostles." No sooner had the Emperor been brought to submit to the Pope of Rome, early in the seventeenth century, than the Pope commanded, under extreme penalties, that they should give up observing the Sabbath.

August 8, 1895

"Salvation for All" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

Salvation for All.-"This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who willeth that all men should be saved." 1 Tim. ii. 3, 4, R.V.

Every Man.-God can desire to save all only as He desires to save each one. If He wants to save each one He must think of and care for each one. Then He is thinking of you. And all those who are finally lost will be lost because they would not let the Lord save them.

Can You Breathe?-If you are ever tempted to think the Lord has forgotten you, draw a breath. Where does it come from?-From God, who made the earth and "giveth breath unto the people upon it." If He were to forget you for one moment you would perish. If He sends you breath every moment, He knows where you are, and your need of Him. The fact that He gives you the breath of life shows that He cares for you. Thank Him for it.

Over all Flesh.-In His prayer to the Father Christ said of Himself, "Thou hast given Him power over all flesh." John xvii. Here is hope for that one who is discouraged over some trait of character, some habit against which he has struggled in vain. It is one of the evils of the flesh. Christ has power over all flesh. Then He has power over your flesh. Let the struggle be to believe it constantly, to yield yourself a helpless sinner to Jesus Christ, and His power will work the deliverance.

"Cost of Standing Armies" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

"During the most peaceful years," says Science Siftings, "the world has 3,700,000 soldiers who are withdrawn from productive occupations to pose as soldiers. The pay, equipments, food and clothing of these men cost the world's tax-payers nearly ?1,600,000 a day." When we consider this with the other huge sums expended needlessly or for that which is positively harmful, we find no cause to wonder at the prevailing distress and dissatisfaction reported among the masses throughout the world.

"'Another Day'ó'To-Day'" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

"Again, He limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after so long a time; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Heb. iv. 7.

God had promised rest to the children of Israel, and He took them out of Egypt to lead them to it. Then, as now, rest could be found only by learning of the Lord. Matt. xi. 28, 29. But they rebelled against Him, refusing to learn of Him, although they saw His works marvellously wrought out before their eyes. The promise of anything does not profit anyone unless it is accepted; but the children of Israel did not believe the Lord, and "so we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." Heb. iii. 19.

But the unbelief of men cannot make the faith of God of none effect; therefore there still remains the rest of the people of God. Though men believed not, yet He abideth faithful. The same promise of rest still remains,-nay, the rest itself remains,-and "we which have believed do enter into rest." The rest is all prepared, and was ready even in the days of ancient Israel, for "the works were finished, from the foundation of the world." The evidence of this is found in the statement that "God did rest the seventh day from all His works." Heb. iv. 4. When works are all finished, rest must necessarily begin. So the rest began on the seventh day of time, when "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. i. 31.

What were the works that were finished when God rested the seventh day?-The heavens and the earth had been newly created. A garden had been planted, in which man had been caused to rest, and the dominion of the whole earth had been given him. But through unbelief that rest was lost. Man sinned; and sin brought unrest and weariness into the world, for, "the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest." Isa. lvii. 20.

Man lost the rest, but God did not. His rest is eternal, unaffected by any action on the part of man. Moreover, God did not forsake man, nor utterly take from him the rest which he had forfeited. He gave His only Son, who "is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. i. 30. "By Him were all things created" (Col. i. 16); and the Sabbath, that memorial of creation, and the proof that the rest of God is ready for men when they believe, is left to us, that we may know that He has the power to sanctify us. Eze. 20:12. The Sabbath, the identical rest into which God entered on the completion of creation, is the rest which was given to man in the new earth. It is God's rest, and can be gained and kept by man only as he has faith in Christ. He who keeps it through faith in Christ, has

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the sure pledge of final possession of the earth again made new.

It was to this possession that God was leading the children of Israel. But they could not enter in because of unbelief. Joshua did not give them rest. Heb. iv. 8, margin. But God had sworn by Himself that the rest should be given, and so "it remaineth that some must enter therein." Therefore since they to whom it was first preached did not enter in, He still holds out the offer to all who will accept it. If the children of Israel had been real children of faithful Abraham, the rest would have been given in their day, and so the day of salvation would have closed. But they were not faithful, and since God's promise and oath to Abraham must be fulfilled, and his seed must be as the sand on the seashore, another day of salvation was offered.

What is this other day? Read the first text again: "Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief; again, He limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after so long a time; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Heb. iv. 6, 7. That other day is to-day. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. vi. 2.

Notice the statement that God "limiteth a certain day." In speaking of "another day" God limited the time to "to-day." Since the ancient people of Israel refused the rest which the Lord offered, God holds out another day in which we may heed the gracious call: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," and that day is to-day. "To-day" is the only day that God has ever promised to man in which he may accept salvation. He has offered no time of repentance after death; He has not offered some time next year, nor next week, nor even to-morrow; but only "to-day."

There are many who hear the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation, who think that at some future time they will accept it. They do not think that they can do so to-day, because it is not convenient. Some would like to have their own way a little longer. Others have important matters of business that they think must be attended to before they can accept. They think that they must have their plans all perfected in this world, which is soon to pass away, before they can accept the other world, which is to endure forever. They are unconsciously like the child who refuses to run from the tide which is rapidly coming in, because he has not yet completed the little house that he is building in the sand. Like the child, they forget that when the tide comes in, it will sweep away the house of sand, so that it will be the same as though it had not been built.

Vast interests centre in to-day. In one day an eternity of rest may be gained or lost. Think of it! God has given us one day in which we may gain an endless day. Eternity against to-day. Why should anybody hesitate as to the choice? "This is the day which the Lord hath made." It is a glad day, because in it righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost may be obtained. Let us therefore "be glad and rejoice in it."

"Come, weary soul, and here find rest;
Accept redemption, and be blest;
The Christ who died, by God is crowned
To pardon on redemption ground."

"They Cannot Be Separated" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

In the days of Jesus of Nazareth there were many who did not believe in Him, but who professed to believe in Moses. Some of them said, "We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is." John ix. 29. To the one who stood up for Jesus, they said, "Thou art His disciples; but we are Moses' disciples."

But what was the actual fact?-They did not believe on Moses any more than they did on Christ. He said to them: "There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" John v. 45-47.

The highest testimony given to Jesus as the One sent from God, is this which the Lord spoke to Moses: "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him. And it to come to pass, that whoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him;" he "shall be destroyed from among the people." Deut. xviii. 18, 19; Acts iii. 23. It is evident therefore that anybody must believe in Christ if he really believes Moses.

But there is another side. In these days we find many who profess to believe in Christ. They have no sympathy for the Jews who refuse to accept Him, and they wonder at the blindness of that people. But they do not profess to believe very much in Moses. Many of them openly appreciate his writings as out of date. If the authority of Moses is not openly discredited by them, he is at least slighted. Yet these same persons profess the most implicit faith in Christ.

What is the position of these last?-It is precisely that of the Jews of old. Listen again to the words of Christ: "Had ye believed Moses, you would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" In vain are all professions of faith in Christ by those who discredit Moses. The two cannot be separated. He who believes the one must believe the other also, and he who denies the one denies the other as well; for both were sent by God with the same message. To deny Christ while professing to believe Moses is exactly the same as denying Moses while professing to believe Christ. Happy will that man be who in the Judgment shall not be condemned either by the words of Moses or of Jesus.

"Christ's Second Coming" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

"He comes not an infant in Bethlehem born,
He comes not to lie in a manger;
He comes not again to be treated with scorn,
He comes not a shelterless stranger;
He comes not to Gethsemane,
To weep and sweat blood in the garden;
He comes not to die on the tree,
To purchase for rebels a pardon.
Oh, no; glory, bright glory
Environs Him now."

"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John xiv. 1-3.

These words were spoken by our Saviour Himself, in His talk to His disciples, in the evening of the day on which He was crucified. He had been with them in constant companionship for over three years, and besides the tie of personal love which bound them to Him, they had given Him reverence as "the Christ, the Son of the living God," and had "trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel." They had looked for a speedy deliverance from the Roman yoke, and now consternation and grief had taken hold of their hearts as they listened to His words: "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek Me; and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you." John xiii. 33. Peter voiced the common desire, and said, "Lord, whither goest Thou?" and to this question the Saviour replied, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards." And then He proceeded to comfort their troubled hearts, telling them how and when they could follow Him and be with Him.

The "glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus ii. 13), is the "blessed hope" that is set before the church of Christ. It has been the hope of the church in all ages. The ancient prophets foretold in minutest detail "the sufferings of Christ," and at His first advent the "sure word of prophecy" was fulfilled to the letter; but "the glory that should follow" was no less the theme of inspired penmen, and the followers of Christ were pointed forward to the time when His glory should be revealed, as the time when they also should "appear with Him in glory," and "be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Peter iv. 13; Col. iii. 4. It was with this hope that our Saviour comforted His sorrowing disciples.

"I will come again." This means "another time; once more." Not thousands of times, as they would have us believe, who claim that in fulfilment of His promise He comes whenever a saint dies, but only once more will He come again, to consummate the great plan of salvation. To this the apostle bears emphatic testimony, in these words: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. ix. 27, 28. It is appointed unto men once to die; in order that men might have life, Christ was once offered for sin, bearing "our sins in His own body on the tree;" and so, when His work for sinners shall have been finished, He will come once more-"the second time"-not as a sin-bearer, but for the salvation of those, who by means of His sacrifice and mediation, have "put away sin."

THE MANNER OF HIS COMING

As the disciples stood gazing up into heaven after their ascending Lord, two shining ones-messengers from the heavenly courts-appeared and said to them: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts i. 11. And how did He go into heaven? Even "while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight." So His coming will be personal and visible. Said the angels, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Paul says, "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." 1 Thess. iv. 16. It will be the same one who was baptized by John in the Jordan, and who from that day "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil;" the same one who, wearied and faint, sat by Jacob's well, and found refreshment in revealing to a poor sinner the fountain of living water.

It was the knowledge that Christ Himself would come in person, that animated the patriarch in his deep affection, when he said: "For I know that My redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another." Job xix. 25-27. "Whom I shall see for myself, and not a stranger," is the reading according to the margin. And this serves to connect the hope of the patriarch with the promise of Christ. The disciples mourned the anticipated departure of the Saviour, as that of a dear friend and companion, as well as the one who should redeem Israel; and the patriarch triumphed, even in His sore distress, and the thought that when his Redeemer should stand at the latter day upon the earth, he should see in Him a friend, and not a stranger. Happy is the man whose acquaintance with Christ is such that He can look forward to His return with the same fond anticipation.

Jesus "shall so come in like manner" as He went into heaven. How did He go? While they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Then when He comes a cloud will attend Him, and He will be seen. And the beloved disciple testified: "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him." Rev. i. 7. Again he says, describing his prophetic

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vision: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." Rev. xiv. 14. Christ, speaking of the events connected with His coming, said: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matt. xxiv. 30.

He will come as He departed. But whereas only a few saw Him go away, "every eye shall see Him" when He returns. He will come "in the glory of His Father" (Matt. xvi. 17), accompanied by "all the holy angels." Matt. xxv. 31. He will then "sit upon the throne of His glory," and "a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him." Ps. l. 3. He shall descend "with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God" (1 Thess. iv. 16), and "the heavens and the earth shall shake" (Joel iii. 16). None will be able to hide from their eyes "the brightness of His coming;" "for as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall also the Son of man be in His day." Luke xvii. 24. Surely the question, "How will He come?" is sufficiently answered.

THE PURPOSE OF HIS COMING

Why will He come? Because if He should not come the second time, His first coming would have been in vain. Said He, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." He comes to take to Himself the purchase of His own blood. He has gone to prepare a place for those who become His friends indeed, and He will come and take them to it. His coming will be the great consummation of the plan of salvation. In vain would be all His sufferings for men, if He should not return to complete that which He has begun.

Christ's words imply that if He should not come, His disciples could not be with Him. Notice: He said He would come to receive them to Himself, that (in order that) where He was there they might be also. The object of His coming is to take His people to Himself. Now it is evident that Christ does not do things that are unnecessary, but it would be unnecessary for Him to come for His people, if they could be with Him without His coming. Not only so, but it would be the height of folly for Him to come for His disciples if they went to be with Him when they died, hundreds of years ago. So the fact that Christ will come for His people, is evidence that they cannot be with Him until He comes.

Since Christ's followers cannot be with Him until He comes, then they all will receive their reward at the same time. To this the apostle bears witness, when, speaking of the faithful of past ages, he says: "These all, have obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Heb. xi. 39, 40. And again the Apostle Paul says: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv. 15-17. "So," that is by the resurrection of the dead and the translation of the living, at the coming of Christ, will the Saviour's promise be fulfilled, to take His people to Himself, to be with Him.

But the taking of His people to Himself involves something else. The earth is the kingdom which God prepared for His people "from the foundation of the world." Compare Matt. xxv. 34 and Gen. i. 26; Ps. viii. 6.

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To the meek it is promised that they shall inherit the earth. Matt. v. 5. They "shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. xxxvii. 11. But this cannot be done while the wicked remain upon it; for "there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." Therefore before the righteous can delight themselves in "the abundance of peace," the wicked must be removed from the earth. And so when, in prophetic vision, John saw the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, he heard the elders around the throne in heaven say: "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them that corrupt the earth." Rev. xi. 17, 18, margin. Christ Himself said that when He should come, it would be to "reward every man according to his works." Matt. xvi. 27. So, then, His coming means the salvation of the righteous, and the destruction of the wicked.

THE EVENTS OF THE END

A few words as to the manner in which the final redemption of the righteous will be effected, may be in place. The Apostle Paul tells us that it will be by the resurrection of the dead, and the translation of the living. To the Corinthian church he wrote:-

"Behold, I show you a mystery: 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. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor. xv. 51-54.

Thus the righteous enter into their eternal reward; but not immediately do they dwell on the earth. The earth must still be fitted for their dwelling-place, by the destruction of those who have corrupted it. When Christ appears in the clouds of heaven, in power and great glory, the righteous, because they are righteous, are strengthened to behold His glory; but the wicked cannot endure it. Says Isaiah: "He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked." Isa. xi. 4. And the Apostle Paul, speaking of "the man of sin," the lawless one, says that he is the one "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." 2 Thess. ii. 3.

This, however, is not the final destruction of the wicked, and the cleansing of the earth, for the millions who have died in sin lie all this time in their graves, unconscious of the wonderful events that are taking place on the earth. Not at that time do they receive the recompense for their evil deeds. Neither do the wicked who are alive at the time of Christ's appearing, and who are slain by the brightness of His coming, receive their punishment at that time. They simply drop dead, unable to endure the dazzling glory of Christ's presence. "And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." Jer. xxv. 33.

The condition of the earth at that time is thus described by the prophets:

"Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled; suddenly are my tents spoiled, and My curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? For My people is foolish, they have not known Me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. [Compare Gen. i. 2.] I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." Jer. iv. 20-27.

"Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited." Isa. xxiv. 17-22.

The earth will then be in its original chaotic state; in the condition described as "the deep," "the abyss" or the "bottomless pit." Upon the dark, dreary, desolate place, Satan will be left for a thousand years. See the prophet:-

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season." Rev. xx. 1-3.

Unable to practise any of his hellish deceptions upon men, because there are no living men upon the earth, he is most effectually bound. No humble convict in solitary confinement in the dark cell was ever more surely deprived of liberty.

During the thousand years the righteous will be in heaven, engaged with Christ, in passing judgment upon fallen angels and wicked man. See Rev. xx. 4; 1 Cor. vi. 1-3. This period of one thousand years comprises the "many days," at the end of which the wicked are to "be visited." At the end of that time Satan shall be loosed from his prison, because the wicked will then be raised (Rev. xx. 5), and they will have opportunity to practise for a little season the deceptive arts which are his very life. The holy city, the New Jerusalem, will have descended from God out of heaven, and Satan will gather the hosts of the wicked round it, making them believe that they can capture it for their own. Rev. xx. 8, 9. And then fire shall come down from God out of heaven and devour Satan and all his hosts. That fire shall burn as an oven and the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble; and the fire shall

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burn them up, and shall leave neither root nor branch. Mal. iv. 1.

The same fire that causes "the perdition of ungodly men," will also melt the earth, and purify it from the curse, so that from it shall come forth a renewed earth, fitted for the abode of righteousness. 2 Peter iii. 7, 9, 12, 13. The righteous, safe in the city of God, and thus enabled to "dwell with everlasting burnings" (Isa. xxxiii. 14, 15), shall "meditate terror" which shall not come nigh them; for only with their eyes shall they behold and see the reward of the wicked. Then when the wicked shall have been consumed "like stubble fully dry," and the fire cease for lack of fuel upon which to feed, the righteous shall go forth to inherit the land for ever; "they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall prepare the waste cities, the desolations of many generations;" yes, "they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them;" and then they "shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." "Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." Then the "people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places." Isa. xxxii. 16-18. "For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like a garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein; thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord."

"The Life" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

Christianity is a life, and not a mere system. There can be system without life, but there cannot be life without system; for all life is from God; He is the Lifegiver, and He works through system and order. Man may invent a system, but no man can impart life to that which he makes. And God does not impart life to man's system, but to His own. Man may multiply offices in the church and appoint persons to fill them; but this is not a manifestation of Christian life. Christian life is Christ life, and Christ life is just what was seen when Christ went about in Judea, teaching the people the Word of God, preaching the Gospel to the poor, and relieving physical and moral distress. The church which does most of this work is most alive.

"The Ladder and the Tower" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

Christianity needs no human support. The ladder that Jacob saw in his dream, when he fled from his home, reached from earth to heaven. It could not be supported upon earth, but was let down by the Lord from heaven, and its support was in heaven. That ladder represented Christianity. Christ Himself is the ladder let down from God to fallen man, by which he may ascend to God, and upon which descend and ascend the angels.

There was an attempt which men made to mount up to heaven by that which had human support, which was represented by the tower of Babel. But it came to nothing. It served only to illustrate the folly of the idea which it embodied. It was broken off midway, and ended in confusion.

The two represent two gospels; the one the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the other, the man-made "gospel," supported by human laws, human efforts and resolutions, and which teaches that heaven can be attained by works.

Jesus Christ had no support from man; the powers of earth were all against Him, and at the most critical hour of all even His own disciples forsook Him. Yet He triumphed gloriously; for with Him was the power of God. Even had men given Him their support, it would have availed nothing against the powers of hell,-the devil and his host,-which opposed Him. Only the power of God could carry the work of salvation forward to a successful termination.

It is sad that men should be much more occupied to-day with building towers of Babel than with setting their own feet and inducing others around them to set their feet, upon the ladder let down from God. Yet such is the case. The old idea still prevails that men can build up a way of righteousness-a way to heaven-by human enactments. The individual enacts a moral code for himself which he is resolved to maintain in his life, and through the machinery of civil government certain men are allowed to enact moral codes for other men, which must be obeyed by the latter without even the help of a good resolution. So the work progresses and the tower ascends, until the short limit of human wisdom and power is attained; then confusion comes and the work stops, a monument to the folly of its builders.

The ladder that reaches down from the highest heaven is strong enough to save a world. It is as strong as God Himself. The weakness is not in it, but in the man whom it is designed to save. It will protect them, but it needs none of their "protection." No man can destroy it; the whole power of Satan's confederacy of evil cannot move it a hair's breadth from its place, for it is held there by an omnipotent power. It reaches from the highest heaven to the lowest vales of earth, that "whosoever will" may mount upon it up to the throne of God. And there it will remain till the work of God for man is done.

Christianity is perfect. God's moral code is perfect, and is, through Christ, perfectly adapted to the weakness of human flesh. Let it be our care to put on and keep on the perfect garment of righteousness given us in Christ, in which not a thread of human manufacture is woven; and to lift Him up, that others also may look to Him, and find life.

"War About a Bucket" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

Every one knows that a very small matter may grow into a quarrel, when two small people feel quarrelsome. And when grown people allow pride and selfishness to rule their hearts they quarrel about as small a thing as children. So nations may fall out and fight, spending large sums of money and many lives over a very little thing. The following shows what "standing up for their rights" may lead men to do:-

"In the year 1005 a soldier of the commonwealth of Modena ran away with a bucket from a public well belonging to the State of Bologna. The bucket might have been worth a shilling; but it produced a quarrel which was worked up into a long and bloody war. Henry, King of Sardinia, assisted the Modenese to keep possession of the bucket, and in one of the battles he was made a prisoner. His father, the Emperor, offered a chain of gold that would encircle Bologna, which is seven miles in compass, for his son's ransom; but in vain. After twenty-two years' imprisonment, he pined away. His monument is in the Church of the Dominicans. The fatal bucket is still exhibited in the Cathedral of Modena, enclosed in an iron cage."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

-Spain has another insurrection on her bands in the Philippine Islands.

-The estimated population of the world on January 1, 1895, was 1,500,000,000.

-The committee of the Hospital Sunday Fund had ?44,410 to distribute last week.

-The coal production of the world last year amounted in weight to 658,700,000 tons.

-China now has eleven daily newsmen, nine of which are pointed in Chinese, one in French, and the other in English.

-Russia to establishing commercial and political relations with Abyssinia, and Russian officers are serving in the Abyssinian army.

-It is said that the harvest is generally poor in England this year. The rains name too late, and the grain is not up to the usual standard, and there is very little straw.

-At the Geographical Congress which has been sitting in London, Herr Audree described his plan for trying to explore the polar regions by balloon. His expedition is to start next summer.

-By comparing the statistics of English and Scotch Universities in a given year it was found that Scotland, with a population of 3,725,400, had 6,500 University students, while England had only 6,000 students out of a population about six times as great.

-In a recent speech in the Chamber Signor Crispi defended the Italian policy in Africa, saying Italy would give up nothing there, and adding: "From Africa, as from the East, might come the first spark which would kindle the general conflagration of a European war."

-The number of words sent over the cables between England and America last year was 23,000,000. Mr. Henniker Heaton declares that it would be feasible to telegraph the whole of the letters now exchanged between the two countries for the sum now paid the mail-steamship lines.

-Dalziel's St. Petersburg correspondent states that the Government has decided to have church cars constructed for use on the Trans-Siberian Railway. These cars will travel up and down the line in such a way as to enable the inhabitants in the region traversed to enjoy religious services at frequent intervals.

-Steamers bring to Durban news of a French reverse in Madagascar, a detachment of native allies being surprised and destroyed by the Hovas. The French troops with their Maxim guns continue to advance, however, the only great enemy being the climate. The British vice-consul has advised all British subjects to leave the capital.

-Remarkable specimens of ancient Egyptian jewellery have been recently taken from the royal tombs discovered near the White Pyramid. One mummy was that of a princess, who still wore the jewels with which she was burled 5,000 years ago. The emeralds in her necklace and bracelets were found glittering in a perfect state of preservation.

-An English statistician in one of the reviews shore that as the result of improved agricultural machinery four American farmers an produce and deliver to the bakers as much flour as will feed a thousand persons, at twelve ounces of broad daily, for a whole year, In other words, one man can feed two hundred and fifty, whereas in Europe one man feeds only thirty persons.

"Before the Court" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

It will be remembered that in February last the International Tract Society, carrying on a publishing business at 451, Holloway Road, N., and publishing the PRESENT TRUTH, was fined in the Clerkenwell Police Court for employing women on Sunday. At that time the matter was quite fully set forth in these columns, and the reasons were given at length, both as to why work was done on Sunday, and for not paying the fine. In that case the fines and costs, amounting to over ?6, were recovered by distress.

Since the question was one of obedience to the commandment of the Lord, of course the Sunday work was continued as before. No further action was taken by the authorities, however, until June, when visits were again made by the Factory Inspectors. It is but fair to say that they were very courteous, and that they did their best to persuade the Directors of the Society not to employ the women on Sunday, with a kindly intention of saving the Society from prosecution. This being in vain, five charges of employing women on Sunday were brought, which the Managing Director was called to answer on Friday, the 2nd inst.

Before these charges were brought, however, the Directors, who had been specially requested by Her Majesty's Inspector to meet and give the matter further consideration, addressed to him the following letter:-

The reason why we cannot compromise the Sunday as well as the Sabbath, is this: God declares that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord," and commands us to keep it holy. This command . . . same time recognising our Saviour established by human authority in opposition to the Sabbath of the Lord, even as no man can worship the Lord and at the same time regard other gods. The Catholic Church truly and authoritatively declares:-

"The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay in spite of themselves to the authority of the (Catholic) Church."

As followers of the word of God we cannot, therefore, take the responsibility of compelling any of our employÈs to cease working on Sunday. To do so would be to compel them, as far as our jurisdiction extends, to pay homage to the Sunday, thus placing ourselves on the side of tradition which makes void the commandment of the Lord. We make no contention for our right; but God's right to our service is not ours to surrender. The controversy, therefore, is not between us and the law, but between the law of God and the law of men; and when commanded to do that which is contrary to the Divine law, we can only say, with all deference and respect to those in civil authority, "we ought to obey God rather than men."

Mr. Cameron, who prosecuted on behalf of the Home Office, stated the facts that we have here given, and said that as the Society had refused to change its course he was compelled to ask the Court to assist him in the administration of the Factory Act. In response to a statement by Mr. Gibson, who had been summoned in behalf of the Society, both the Inspector and the Magistrate stated that there was no charge whatever that the persons employed had been overworked, or that they had worked against their will, or over time. The charge was simply that they had worked on Sunday, when the Factory Act says that they must not work. It is simply a question as to the time when they worked. If they worked but eight hours a week, and any or all of those hours were on Sunday, the charge would be brought just the same. The Magistrate said all he had to do was to consider the facts that the law had been broken, and decide upon the penalty.

Mr. Cameron then stated that he had no personal motive whatever in the case, but he would point out that the Society had already been before the Court, and that had not put a stop to its defiance of the law, and he therefore asked the magistrate to give the full penalty in each case.

Mr. Gibson:-"Mr. Cameron will pardon me, but we do not take a position of defiance to the law. We respect the Government, but this is a question between the law of God and the law of men."

Mr. Cameron:-"Yes, of course, that is what I mean."

The Magistrate:-"Well, you see I am here to administer the law of the land."

Mr. Cameron stated further that the Society had taken no steps to get the law altered, although there had been a Factory Act before Parliament, which afforded an opportunity for so doing. He conveniently forgot that he had already stated to the Court that at the time of the first case, last winter, Mr. Asquith, then Home Secretary, had been written to in regard to the matter, and had replied to the effect that the number of people represented by the Society was so small that it was not expedient to make special legislation for them.

Mr. Gibson stated that the Society could not go before Parliament and ask permission from it to obey the law of God. The law of God must be obeyed anyhow.

The magistrate again stated that the only question for him to settle was whether the law had been broken or not, and that if it had been, he would not be doing his duty if he did not impose a penalty. There was no denial of the fact that the persons named had worked on Sunday, and the full penalty-?3-was imposed in each case, making the entire fine ?15, besides ?1 0s, 6d, costs. Mr. Cameron asked that distress might be granted at once, as he was informed that the Society would not pay the fine. His request was granted.

Such is the brief story of the case. There are several points in it on which we wish to comment at length, as they illustrate most important principles; but these comments must be reserved for the next issue of PRESENT TRUTH. But there is one fact that we wish to leave with the reader, and that is this:-

The case is not one of the State vs. the International Tract Society, but one of the State vs. the law of God. The Society is before the Clerkenwell Police Court; but that Court has to deal with a higher Court, even that of the Most High.

To some it may seem that the International Tract Society is getting into difficulty, but such is not the case. So long as its members stand upon the immovable Rock of God's Word, they are safe; the danger is for those who mistakenly suppose that their duty to man is greater than their duty to God.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

Amongst newspaper comments on the prosecution, touching the principles of the case, the following from the Standard's evening edition is worth reprinting:-

The magistrate who has to deal with cases of this sort is not to be envied. It is indisputable that the seventh day, not the first, was set apart for rest and worship. There is nothing more than tradition to explain how or when or why the early Christians exchanged the seventh day for the first. Mr. Haden Corser did wish-to refuse all argument, insisting upon the law,-so did Pilate, his victim might explain. These "Seventh-day Adventists" are urged to claim exemption upon the terms allowed to Hebrews; but they indignantly assert their Christian faith. It is no use talking, however. If they must go on breaking the Factory Act, the law must go on punishing them, right or wrong.

August 15, 1895

"Using the Breath" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

Using the Breath.-The Psalmist closes the book of Psalms with the words, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord." This is the right use of breath.

Cause for Praise.-Sometimes we find discouraged souls who think they have nothing to praise the Lord for. But they can praise Him for breath; they have that. And when men use the breath God gives them to thank Him for it they will find sufficient causes for praising the Lord. The breath is the breath of life, the breath of the Lord given to all men, just as truly as when God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life in the beginning.

Anxiety.-Anxious thought about the future wears out more people physically and spiritually than present distresses. Another name for this anxiety is unbelief, and a cure for it is to read Christ's words in Matt. vi. 27-34, and believe them. Faith knows that God who has all power will do all the caring for the one who seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Thank Him.-Whether we thank the Lord for bearing our sin or not, He bears it; for upon Him is laid "the iniquity of us all." If we do not thank Him for it, it makes no difference to them; He bears it just the same, only by our ingratitude we cling to the burden of it also. But to thank Him is to confess the sin, and to confess it is to give Him the joy of forgiving the sin, and to give ourselves the peace and joy of forgiveness.

"On Trial" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

In last week's issue of PRESENT TRUTH we gave a very brief account of the appearance of the Managing Director of the International Tract Society-the missionary agency of the Seventh-day Adventists-before the Clerkenwell Police Court, to answer for Sunday work. In that article the bare facts were given; in this we desire to show what is really involved in the case.

In the first place, let it be clearly understood that these facts and statements are not published for the sake of eliciting sympathy for the Society. Much less is it for the purpose of arousing any feeling against the authorities, who are so courteous in the performance of what they conceive to be their duty. We would ask our readers to leave us and the amount of the fine entirely out of the question, and think only of the truth involved, and their own relation to it. It is not the International Tract Society, but the Truth of God, that is called in question. But when truth is put upon trial, if it be indeed the truth it becomes the judge, before whom even judges and kings, in common with the people, are called to render account.

When Jesus Christ, who is the Truth, was before Pontius Pilate, that question which that governor asked was, "What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?" Matt. xxvii. 22. The people cried out, "Let Him be crucified." Thus the people, as well as Pilate, acted as judges in the case. Against Jesus, "both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together." Acts iv. 27.

Truth is the final judge of all. It is a trite saying that nothing is ever settled until it is settled right: but nothing is ever settled right until it is settled according to truth. Every judgment, therefore, which is contrary to the truth will at last be reversed. In this life truth is on trial, not simply before civil courts, but before all the people. Each one for himself is called upon to decide what shall be done with the truth. But while the truth is thus on trial, it is in reality the people themselves who are on trial; for as they judge the truth, so will the truth judge them. The day of Judgment will simply be the announcement of the judgment which people have in this life pronounced upon themselves in their dealing with the truth.

This case, therefore, instead of being the International Tract Society before the Clerkenwell Police Court, is the Truth before the People, and it is before this court that the truth appears to plead. What then is the truth in the case?

CLEARING THE WAY

In order to get at the exact truth, it is necessary to clear away any mistaken ideas that may exist. Therefore

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let it be emphasised that there is no question of "sweating" employÈs, or in any way whatever infringing upon their rights. In making the charge before the Court, the Factory Inspector said that the persons who were mentioned in the charges were "protected persons," and that it was forbidden to employ them on Sunday. But the fact is, that in this case at least, it is Sunday alone that is sought to be protected.

The young women in question do work that is ordinarily done by women in a printing house. They work at their own desire. Like the women who followed Jesus to the cross and the tomb, they rest the Sabbath day according to the commandment (Luke xxiii. 55, 56), and in harmony with that same commandment they labour on the first day of the week. If the Society should refuse to employ them on that day, they would work upon it just the same, wherever they could find proper work to do. It is evident, therefore, that it is ridiculous to speak of such persons as being "protected" by the Factory Act.

WHAT IS THE TRUE REST DAY

The real question at issue is incidently stated in the Chronicle's comments upon the case. We quote from its issue of August 3:-

The Managing Director of the eccentric body known as the Seventh-day Adventists was again before Mr. Haden Corser yesterday for putting the peculiar principles of the body into practice by employing women on Sunday. It is the established faith of this particular sect that it is sinful to work on Saturday, and accordingly its employÈs make holiday on that day. This, of course, is purely a matter for the Adventists themselves; but when they seek to restore a balance which they conceive to be wrong by making Sunday an ordinary working day, Her Majesty's Inspectors would be neglecting their duty if they did not take note of the circumstance.

We have emphasised the words in the Chronicle's statement which indicate the real question at issue. It is not primarily a question of whether or not certain individuals shall be employed at a given work, but it is whether or not Sunday shall be made "an ordinary working day." This is the real case, and we will now proceed with evidence, which is all upon one side.

THE COMMANDMENTS

God came down upon Mount Sinai "with ten thousands of saints," and "Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." "Out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness," God spoke the ten commandments "with a great voice." Here is the fourth:-

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 8-11.

SANCTIFYING THE SABBATH

God blessed the Sabbath day, the seventh day, and sanctified it. He made it holy, and He calls upon men to keep it holy. Not that men can by any act of their's diminish its holiness, but by profaning it they bring sin upon themselves.

To sanctify is to set apart for a sacred use, and to distinguish the thing sanctified from everything else. By His own Word God has distinguished the seventh day of the week from every other day of the week, and has said that cessation from secular labour on that day is to be the mark by which its sanctity is recognised.

It is evident, therefore, that the seventh day cannot be kept holy according to God's command, unless it is regularly observed as a rest day, and every other day of the week is habitually used as a working day. Work on Sunday is not for the purpose of restoring the balance conceived to be wrong, but in simple recognition of the explicit command of the God of the universe.

TO WHOM GIVEN

"The Sabbath was made for man." Mark ii. 27. The Sabbath commandment, therefore, is for every man, no matter what his position in this world.

Moreover it was made at the creation, and given to the head of the human family. It is the memorial of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and consequently a mark of the power of the Creator, calling to mind His power to create men anew in Christ Jesus. The fourth commandment therefore demands the obedience of every soul on earth.

A MATTER OF FACT

It should be noted that the question of the Sabbath is not one of somebody's belief or interpretation, but of fact. Those who have the matter of the day of rest before them, whether they be law-makers, judges, or working men, have not to take account of men's opinions or beliefs, but of hard and plain facts. They have not to deal with what people may think, but with what God says. The commandment is so explicit that there is no chance for misunderstanding it. That this is so may be shown by some

ADMISSIONS

made by people of widely differing profession. None of them, however, observe the seventh day, which makes their statements all the more forcible.

THE "STANDARD"

To begin with the latest that has come to our notice, we quote from the Evening Standard of August 3. In speaking of the case in question it said:-

The magistrate who has to deal with cases of this sort is not to be envied. It is indisputable that the seventh day, not the first, was set apart for rest and worship. There is nothing more than tradition to explain how or when or why the early Christians exchanged the seventh day for the first. Mr. Haden Croser did wisely to refuse all argument, insisting upon the law;-so did Pilate, his victim might explain.

MR. GLADSTONE

In his article on "The Lord's Day," in the March number of the Church Monthly, Mr. Gladstone said:-

The seventh day of the week has been deposed from its title to obligatory religious observance, and its prerogative has been carried over to the first; under no direct precept of Scripture.

THOMAS SCOTT

In commenting on Acts xx. 7, concerning the rest day, Mr. Scott wrote:

The change from the seventh day to the first appears to have been gradually and silently introduced, by example rather than by express precept.

CANON EYTON

In a series of sermons on "The Ten Commandments," preached at Holy Trinity Chelsea, and published in 1894 by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubuer & Co., Mr. Eyton, after having stated that "the Sabbath was the solemn recalling of God to the mind of the people," said:-

The observance of Sunday in the Christian Church comes to us with quite a different sanction, based on different grounds, from that of the Jewish Sabbath. It rests upon no direct Divine command; no word is said about it in the New Testament. . . . There is no word, no hint in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday.-pages 61, 62.

Again:-

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Into the rest of Sunday no Divine law enters. page 63.

Still further:-

The observance of ash Wednesday or Lent stands on exactly the same footing as the observance of Sunday.-page 65.

REV. ISAAC WILLIAMS, B.D

In a book entitled "Plain Sermons on the Catechism," published by Longman's, Green & Co., 1894, the above-named Churchman makes the following statements:-

Where are we told in Scripture that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day.-page 334.

The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the Church, has enjoined it.-page 336.

CANON KNOX-LITTLE

This eminent Churchman, in his book on "Sacerdotalism," in which he pleads for certain customs not warranted by the example of Christ, says:-

It is certain that our Lord when on earth did observe Saturday, and did not observe Sunday; had no use, as far as I know, has ever been called a "sacerdotalist" for departing from His undoubted habit of "resting the seventh day."-page 75.

And again, referring to those who urged the example of Christ against the rites which the Canon upholds, he says:-

Their effort strictly to adhere to our Lord's example to the letter, in spite of the usage of the Church, implies that they know better what our Lord desired than His Church. If they are consistent, as I have said, they must keep Saturday, and not Sunday, as the day of rest.-page 93.

THE LATE DR. R. W. DALE

In 1871 a book entitled "The Ten Commandments," written by this eminent Congregationalist, was published by Hodder & Stoughton, of whom it has been said that their imprint is a certificate of orthodoxy. In that we read:-

It is quite clear that however rightly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping Sabbath.

The Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday.-page 106.

There is no reason to believe that the apostles required their converts to keep the first day of the week as a day of rest.-page 112.

As it is difficult to determine the exact time when Jewish Christians ceased to rest on the Sabbath, it is also difficult to determine the exact time when Christians generally began to rest on Sunday.-page 110.

"ECCENTRICITY"

Time and space do not permit us to quote all the admissions of a similar nature which we have in hand. What is the evidence?-Simply this, that the Scriptures of God enjoined the observance of the seventh day of the week as a sacred day of rest, and the use of Sunday as an "ordinary working day." And yet a body of Christians who follow the Word of God and the example of Jesus Christ, are styled "eccentric" for so doing. Well, it is better to be eccentric than disobedient. Why these men from whom we have quoted do not observe the Sabbath of the Bible instead of a day for which there is no Divine authority whatever, is for them to settle with the Lord. But the fact that they excuse themselves from obeying His plain command is no warrant for others to do likewise.

THE HUMAN AGAINST THE DIVINE

From what has preceded, it is very evident that the question to be settled is one of authority; it is a question of whether God or man is a source of authority.

It is as true as God's Word, that the seventh day of the week is the only rest day God ever appointed, and that by His command all other days of the week are ordinary working days.

It is also a fact that men, solely on their own motion, have presumed to substitute another day for the Sabbath of the Lord. It is not necessary just now to inquire into the origin of this change; it is enough to know that it was done by men, without any Divine authority, and in the face of God's commandment.

The magistrate said that Parliament had made the Factory Act, which requires the recognition of Sunday as a rest day and that he would not be doing his duty if he did not impose a penalty for the violation of it. The inspectors also say that they would

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not be doing their duty if they did not prosecute for the neglect to regard it. Now those men would be perfectly right, if Parliament were supreme; but there is another side to the question.

God has sanctified the seventh day as the Sabbath, distinguishing it from all other days by making them ordinary working days. Now we say that we, including magistrate, officers, and people with ourselves, are not doing our duty if we do not obey the Lord. Parliament itself is composed only of men. They are not God, but are subject to Him. It is as much the duty of members of Parliament to obey the Lord as it is that of the humblest man. And no man is absolved from his duty to God because members of Parliament have been so unmindful of their duty to God, as to enact laws in direct opposition to His law. With all respect to Parliament, we are bound to consider it as infinitely inferior to God, and its authority as nothing as compared with His. We say therefore, "We ought to obey God rather than men." And this duty rests upon magistrates and other officers of the law as much as it does upon us.

DEFIANCE OF THE LAW

It has been said that the International Tract Society in continuing Sunday work notwithstanding the prohibition of the Factory Act is defying the law. This comes from taking a very superficial and narrow view of the case. Let us look farther and deeper.

God is supreme. He is the Creator. His law existed before there was a man or a nation. It is the law for all mankind and the universe. Now if it seems to the magistrate and to others that a simple failure to comply with a human law that prohibits labour on Sunday is defiance of that law, what will they say of the making of that law in open opposition to the law of God? Is not that where the defiance of the law comes in? The very existence of Sunday laws on the statute books is an open insult to God, and a defiance of His authority.

Let us make this matter clear by an illustration. Here is a family of a dozen children. The father sets them all at work, giving express directions as to how the work shall be done. In order that no mistake may be made he writes out directions very plainly.

Very soon they become careless, and almost before they are aware of it they find themselves doing exactly contrary to the directions. Only one has been faithful. The rest say, "Well, our way is just as good, and we will continue it." But this is not all. Not content with disobeying orders, they pass a formal vote that their way shall be followed by all, and then because the one still clings to the original instructions they accuse him of defying them. Anyone can see that the fact is that he is not defying them, because they have no authority in the matter, but that they are guilty of a most daring act of defiance.

The application is easy, and the parallel perfect. God has made of one blood all nations of men. He is the Father of all, both high and low. All men, no matter what their birth or station, are all alike subject to His authority. His law says that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and that the other days are labouring days. But certain men have taken it upon themselves (that is Mr. Gladstone's language) to alter His ordinance, and to say to their fellows, "You must recognise another day as the Sabbath." Some, however, continue quietly to obey the law of the Lord, and they are charged with defying the law!

But what are the facts? Simply this, that the law which thrust itself into the face of God's law has no jurisdiction whatever. To disregard it is not to defy a law, but is the only way in which one can be truly law-abiding.

When our fellow-mortals forget or despise the claims which God has upon them in common with us, and enact laws contrary to His, they are simply presuming to act where they have no jurisdiction. It is no one's duty to obey such a law, and much less to enforce it upon others. On the contrary, it is the duty of all to obey God rather than men. When human law opposes the law of God, it is the solemn duty of every man to break that human law, since only by doing can they obey God. Not England, but the God of the universe, expects every man to do his duty.

GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY

It was stated in the papers that the Managing Director in behalf of the Society pleaded guilty. Perhaps the Court took it so, but it was not the case. He was not asked to state whether he was guilty or not. He was simply asked if he admitted the charges that certain persons had been allowed to work on Sunday, and as an honest man he could do no other than to say that he did. But that was not an admission of guilt. He could not by any possibility have pleaded guilty, since no manner of guilt attaches to Sunday work, or to the employment of willing labourers on Sunday.

But the great court day is fast approaching, when the Judge of all shall sit, and all men "small and great" shall stand before Him, to hear the decision of their cases. In that day no allowance will be made for the fact that a man held an office in civil government; for God, "without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work."

The law of God will be the sole standard in that Judgment. As the result of what it says, every mouth is stopped, and all the world stand guilty before God. All have broken that holy law. Legislators, in passing laws, have simply been doing in a formal way what every man has done in his heart, for all have rebelled against God's authority. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." "Who then can be saved?"

With men it would be impossible, but God's infinite love and wisdom make it possible for "whosoever will." The case is thus: We are guilty. If we, whether kings, judges, officers, or common people, continue until the Judgment day to put human will and human authority above God's will and authority, we shall have no power to plead, for our mouths will be stopped. "Guilty" will be stamped upon our faces.

But if now we plead guilty, acknowledging our wicked rebellion against God, and our usurpation of His authority, we shall be guiltless in that day, for "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world," for the sins of rulers and judges as well as for those of the most obscure in this world.

The invitation, therefore, which we extend to all in this time when men are being tried to see on whose side they will elect to stand at last, is to come to Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath day, and find in Him true Sabbath rest, the sanctification from sin.

"Sin and Death" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

Sin and death are inseparable. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James i. 15. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. vi. 23. Wages are a just claim, and must always be allowed in a universe where justice prevails.

Man has identified himself with sin, and must therefore experience death. The life that is identified with sin must pass away. But there is another life, which has been brought to man by Jesus Christ. He "hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel." 2 Tim. i. 10. And this life is given to man now in Christ, so that in losing the life which is identified with sin, he still has life, and a life of which death has no power.

But this life was secured to men only by the death of Christ. Christ took upon Himself the nature of the seed of Abraham, and thus identified Himself with sinful flesh. Heb. ii. 16. Though sinless, He felt our weaknesses and temptations, being "in all points tempted like as we are." He was numbered among the transgressors, and "died unto sin." In the garden of Gethsemane, as the sins of the world were rolled upon Him, He sweat "as it were great drops of blood." That blood was His life, and in that terrible struggle He was yielding up His life. Even so must we yield up our sinful lives, and reckon ourselves to be "dead indeed unto sin." Rom. vi. 11.

Christ identified Himself with the seed of Abraham, that that seed might be identified with Him. And in this we must be identified with Him in the struggle of giving up His life, and in His crucifixion. Then we shall also be identified with Him in His resurrection and eternal life of glory. He might have held onto His life, which was sinless, and gone back to His Father; and it was in refusing to do this that He experienced the struggle in Gethsemane. And so we may hold on to our life, which is sinful, and will bring us to eternal death; and in yielding it up comes our struggle. But that life must go, for it is identified with sin; we must either have that death, or the death that will blot us out eternally. There is no separating death from sin.

This striving against sin, which is the struggle of giving up our sinful life, that it may be crucified and destroyed, is not so great a struggle as that which our Lord experienced in Gethsemane. "Ye," says Paul, "have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Heb. xii. 4. We do not in the struggle yield up our physical lives, as He yielded His life. Jesus had no sinful life; the life that He gave was sinless. We have by nature only a life that is identified with sin; but the power of God takes away that life and puts in its place the life of Jesus. The physical life continues as before, but now God is manifested in the flesh, as He was in Jesus of Nazareth, living the life of righteousness. "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Gal. ii. 20.

Now we may die unto sin, and still live unto God. Rom. vi. 11. Now we may lose our life, and yet find it unto life eternal. Then let us die now, yielding up our life of sin, that we may not finally, with the wicked, cut off from God and His eternal life, yield up our lives in the lake of fire which is to blot out the life of sin, and so terminate without hope our existence.

"'Give Ye Them to Eat'" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

Jesus and His disciples had gone away by themselves into an uninhabited portion of the country, but the people, hearing of it, flocked to Him out of the cities by thousands. The day had been spent in healing the sick, "and when it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now passed; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals."

"But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat."

"And they say unto Him, We have here but five loaves and two fishes."

We can easily picture the astonishment of the disciples when Jesus said to them, "Give ye them to eat." They never had a day's provision ahead for themselves, and here were five thousand hungry men, besides women and children equally hungry. The food that they then had in their possession was not sufficient to provide each one of that multitude with a very small taste; and yet the disciples did give them food so that "they did all eat and were filled."

How was it accomplished?-Just in this way: Jesus "took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake and gave the loaves and two fishes to His disciples and the disciples to the multitude." See Matt. xiv. 13-21.

There are greater multitudes to-day who are hungering for the bread of life. Few of them are conscious of the fact that it is the bread of life that they are longing for, but they do not know what will supply that need. And

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though they are out of the fold, the Lord has not cast them off, and they are among those to whom He refers when He says, "Feed My sheep," and, "Feed My lambs."

The Lord says to His disciples, "Give ye them to eat." If we cry, "Who is sufficient for these things." The answer comes, "Our sufficiency is of God." We are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, and "the words which man's wisdom teacheth" are empty and vain; but Christ has "The words of eternal life," and "He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God." Receiving the bread of life fresh from His hands, we may give them to the hungry people, who, eating them, will find them to the joy and rejoicing of their hearts.

"'In the Faith'" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

We are exhorted, "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith." 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Much depends upon how we shall make this examination. It does not mean that we are to turn our eyes inward upon ourselves, and endeavour to take an inventory of our faults and virtues, and so to discover whether we are in the pathway to eternal life. No true reckoning can be taken anywhere by looking downward. Self cannot see its own faults. It can make no comparison between sin and righteousness, for of the latter it knows nothing. It has no view of the field of faith. Its favourite method of examination is to compare itself with its fellows,-a method which is always much more favourable to self than the truth of the case would justify.

We cannot get a correct view of ourselves or of the standard of righteousness, by our own understandings, darkened and perverted as they are by sin. But God has provided a mirror into which we may look, and see ourselves as we are. "If any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer," says James, "he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James i. 23-25. The "forgetful hearer" is he who forgets the Word of God, and he who forgets the word does not know what manner of person he is. It is the Word that shows us, as we look into it, what we are.

This is so because in looking into the Word we see Christ; and seeing Christ, we see the light of the glory of God reflected in His face. 2 Cor. iv. 6. And this is the light that reveals things as they are, and not the feeble light of our own understandings,-the "sparks" of our own kindling. In this light, and this only, are we able to obtain a correct estimate of ourselves. Only by this light can we know whether we are in the faith.

Looking unto Jesus, and seeing Him with the eye of faith, we lose sight of earthly things. Self is lost in Him and becomes as nothing,-crucified with Him, while we still live by the power of His endless life. Gal. ii. 20. So in ascertaining whether we are in the faith, we look not to ourselves, to try to make a comparison between our lives and our own ideas of the standard of righteousness; but we look to that light which reveals the standard God has set up; and that light shines from His throne and is reflected in the face of Jesus. We simply look unto Him; and we do this by simply looking into the Word of God, where He is revealed. But we must look in faith, or we shall see nothing. If then self sinks out of sight, lost in Him, together with all our former confidence in the flesh, we are in the faith. But if there is aught visible between our eyes and Him-either self or some other person-so that we do not see Jesus only, we are not in the faith, and shall not be there until whatever obscures His face is put away.

"A Pledge of Universal War" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

The chaplain of one of the war vessels that assembled at Kiel to assist in the ceremonies of the opening of the ship canal, wrote an account of the affair to a religious paper, and after telling of the Emperor's review of the vast line of ironclads, he said:-

No wonder he declared this assemblage of navies "the pledged guarantee of universal peace;" for out of this appalling enginary of destruction science has wrought the most impressive and effectual shield to the world's safety and happiness.

This is not merely the opinion of one man, but is the expression of a common sentiment, and shows how readily people shut their eyes to impending dangers. When the multiplication of breweries, distilleries, and public-houses becomes the guarantee of universal abstinence; when the training of professional burglars and the increased manufacture of burglars' tools become a pledge of the safety of our property; when schools of vice, and the widespread circulation of obscene literature becomes the assurance of universal purity;-then, and not till then, may we look upon engines of destruction and the education of men in the art of war, as a pledge of universal peace.

"Only a Voice" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

When Moses was recounting to the children of Israel the dealings of the Lord with them, and especially the circumstances under which the law of God, that perfect revelation of God's character, was given to them, he said, "The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice." Deut. iv. 12.

The reason why they saw no form, but heard a voice only, is given in the following words: "Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire; lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female." Verses 15, 16.

We have an instance of this in the case of John the Baptist. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who art thou?" He replied, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias." John i. 22. In the case of the giving of the law we have the voice of God from His own mouth; in the case of John the Baptist we have the voice of God by the mouth of His prophet. The word that John spoke was as truly the word of God as was that spoken from Sinai. It is true that John was a man, whose form could be seen; but it is none the less true that he was only a voice,-the voice of God. And the explanation

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of this is that John was so humble and unassuming, and was moreover so filled with the message that he bore, that no attention was attracted to his person. Those who went out into the wilderness did not go out to see a man clothed in soft raiment. It was his message that drew them.

In like manner God's truth is to be presented to the people in this time, when the ransomed of the Lord are about to return and come to Zion with everlasting joy upon their heads. God says to His servants, "I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared; the Lord of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of Mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art My people." Isa. li. 15, 16.

It is not pleasing to the natural heart to be hidden under the hand of God. Many think that it is a calamity to have God's hand upon them. They read, "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me" (Ps. cxxxix. 5), and imagine that such treatment must be exceedingly severe, not knowing that the hand is the hand of a tender Father, and that it means protection. We have the choice of keeping ourselves out from under the hand of God, so that we may be seen, and thus be exposed to fearful dangers, or to be hidden under that hand, and be protected from every real ill. Ought there to be any hesitation in the choice?

"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth's sake."

"Tea and Coffee" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

It used to be thought that the introduction of tea and coffee drinking would lessen spirit drinking. But the milder stimulant only establishes a habit which calls for stronger stimulation. In every country, in recent years, there has been raised among medical scientists a cry of warning concerning the increased consumption of tea and coffee, and the results of its use, especially amongst women. The habit of washing food down with drinks is a bad one, in itself; but if it must be kept up the wise will do well to substitute something for the tea and coffee, whose active principle is a deadly poison. Hot water, hot milk, hot water and milk, or some form of the grain coffees (made from wheat or other cereal) may seem insipid to an appetite under the control of the stimulants mentioned, but they will not lead to indigestion and nervousness.

"Christ fought the battle upon the point of appetite, and came off victorious; and we can also conquer through strength derived from Him."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Macedonians last week secured a second victory over Turkish troops.

-Last year the Russian authorities banished 11,500 prisoners to Siberia.

-Spain is raising a force of 30,000 men to reinforce those already in Cuba, who have thus far failed to suppress the revolutionists.

-The agents of Russia, India, and Afghanistan are at last engaged in marking out the boundary lines of these Powers in the Pamir regions.

-The character of the Chinese administration may be inferred from the statement that the troops sent to guard the mission station, where the first massacres occurred, looted the premises.

-The De Boers Company have just entered into what is said to be the biggest diamond transaction on record. They have sold in advance to a syndicate, for the sum of ?4,000,000, the whole output of diamonds during 1800.

-The French ministry is being severely ariticised owing to the slow progress of the Madagascar expedition. Maxim guns are no protection against the tropical climate during the rainy season, and bad reports come in as to the health of the troops.

-The number of millionaires in the world, and their nationality, is thus estimated in a recent statistical work: Great Britain leads with 200 persons who possess a million pounds; United States, 100; Germany and Austria, 100; France, 75; Russia, 50; India, 50; all other countries 125.

-While uncertainty prevails as to the next step in the effort of the Powers to liberate Armenia, it is certain that the agitation is increasing the ill feeling between Turks and Armenians. In Constantinople a spy mania is possessing the Armenians, and several suspected Armenians have been murdered.

-Russia and Japan continue to disagree in the Chinese settlement, Russia insisting on the prompt evacuation of the Liaotung Peninsula, on which Port Arthur stands, and urging the reduction of Japan's indemnity demands. The Japanese are said to be strengthening their navy and army in view of possible conflict with Russia.

-The disturbances in Macedonia continue, and fresh Turkish troops are being cent into the disturbed districts. Armenia's success in attracting the attention of the Powers has made the Macedonian's determined that their cause shall be included in the plans of the Powers for the protection of the Sultan's non-Mohammedan subjects.

-The Chinese despatches state that there is every evidence to show that the local officials are responsible for the murder of the eight ladies and two men, near Foochow, by a sect known as "Vegetarians," who are specially violent against missionaries. It is a part of the general agitation against foreigners. Reports from many inland stations state that the native converts are being harried and persecuted.

-According to the reports from the London coroners for July it is shown that the number of inquests held were greatly in advance of the number held in July for many years. There is a vast increase in tragedies, whilst the list of suicides has never before reached the present number. On the other hand accidents have been less, but the deaths from measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and diarrh?a have increased in an alarming manner.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

The growth of our work in Central America and amongst the West India Islands is such as to demand a small ship for use in the Gulf of Mexico and the West Atlantic, and we are glad to know that this need is speedily to be supplied.

In a recent terrible murder case the jury added a rider to their verdict: "We consider that the Legislature should take some steps to put a stop to the inflammable and shocking literature that is sold, which we are of opinion leads to many a dreadful crime being carried out."

The Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, speaking of the Chinese massacre, says it is contrary to the principles of the Society to demand the punishment of the enemies of the Gospel. It is greatly to be feared that the punitive measures being fiercely called for by the press will in the end react upon mission effort. Of course Governments see in it only a question of enforcing respect for their subjects, but missionaries of the Gospel, who are ready to give their lives to carry the truth to the people, have a very different mission in times of persecution.

The following paragraph appeared in the London Echo last week:-

The London branch of the Seventh-day Adventists is not the only section of that committee prosecuted for breaking the law. In Rhea County, Tennessee, the other day, several of the members of that branch were convicted for working on the Sabbath Day [it was on Sunday], and fined. On principle they refused to pay, but unlike the London case, no distress was issued. The offenders have had to work out their fines on the county roads. The leader of the band is E. R. Gillett, a venerable man of seventy and a native of Batavia, New York, where he volunteered as a Union soldier in the Civil War, serving three years. The members of the sect are allowed to rest on Saturday, or the seventh day, which they observe scrupulously from sunset of Friday to sunset Saturday. Sympathy is strongly enlisted in their behalf as against further persecution.

One person lately tried in America for Sunday work, and sentenced to imprisonment testified in the court to the fact that while a member of the Baptist church he had worked regularly and openly every Sunday for a coal company, and did so unmolested. But having been converted, and beginning to keep the Sabbath, he is now prosecuted for Sunday labour. The significance of this-and it is not the first case of the kind-is very apparent. The real offence is Sabbath-keeping and not Sunday work.

The political sky still continues to darken. One cannot fail to note by the newspapers the extreme touchiness of all the Powers, and occasions of disputes are multiplying. In addition to the old Eastern Question, which the present situation in Bulgaria brings to the fore again, there has been added the Far Eastern Question, and now all the Powers concerned have differences in Africa about which to continually threaten one another.

A short time ago an Armenian colporteur in Turkey was set upon and beaten nearly to death. His assailants thought that he was an Armenian preacher who had preached in the village some months before, with the result that several persons had been converted. "When will these Turkish outrages on Christians cease?" the reader doubtless asks. Oh, this was not a Turkish outrage. The assailants were themselves Armenians-professed Christians-and the man whom they sought to kill was one whose offence consisted in teaching people the Divine command, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." Comment is unnecessary.

Still the current moves along. A Sunday Rest Association has been formed in the city of Venice, composed of influential professional and business men, who have unanimously resolved to petition the House of Deputies and the Senate to pass a law making complete observance of Sunday compulsory. It is stated that this movement is "due to personal, although royal, example and influence, and that it promises to result in statutory enactment."

The Berlin correspondent of the Chronicle says:-

Dr. Stocker, the well-known ex-Court preacher and leader of the Christian Socialist Party, expresses dissatisfaction at the bondage in which the Church in Germany is held by State officials, and gives this as a reason of the Church's apathy and inactivity. The Vossische Zeitung in a leading article declares that Dr. Stocker's demands for freedom from control are impracticable as long as the clergy draw their support from the State.

Now, while not only in the Establishment but in Nonconformity there is a determination to use the power of the State to support religious institutions, it is well that the fact should be emphasised that whoever turns from the power of the Lord to the power of the State puts himself and his conscience into bondage to the State.

"They Know What It Is Made Of" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

They Know What It Is Made Of.-A firm of Canadian distillers, the largest in America, refuses to allow their employÈs to drink. They have also successfully resisted every effort to establish a public-house in the place. In earlier days this rule was not in force, and the effects of intemperance were such that the present policy was adopted. They are temperate out of self-defence, in order that they may be able to manufacture the fiery poison for other communities.

"In the Far North" The Present Truth 11, 33.

E. J. Waggoner

In the Far North.-As an excuse for not keeping the seventh day people sometimes say the Lord cannot mean any definite day, as in the Far North the sun does not disappear for months, and then again is out of sight for months-as though the Lord had made a world and a Sabbath which could not go together, although the Sabbath is a memorial of the creation! Referring to this, Brother H. P. Holser, who has been attending the annual meetings in Norway and Sweden, says:-

This theory, accepted by so many in place of the plain Word of God, will not hold. Our brethren about North Cape have no difficulty whatever in keeping the Sabbath; they know as well as we who are farther south when the day begins and ends. The existence of Sabbatarians in the land of the midnight sun, and in Hammerfest, the city the farthest north of any in the world, will always stand as a fitting rebuke to those who try to supplant God's Word by sophistry.

August 22, 1895

"The Malady of Sin" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

"And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them." Luke v. 17.

The Malady of Sin.-On this occasion Jesus showed the people that the greatest need of all was to be healed from sin, and that the power by which the sick were healed was the power of the forgiveness of sins. "That ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (He said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise."

Help for All.-The poor man had his sins forgiven and was healed of his infirmity. All of the Pharisees and doctors of the law were just as needy of help. They knew that they were sinners, even as every man knows that he is a sinner, though not all would honestly acknowledge it. But they were not healed of sin because they did not believe that the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Without Excuse.-Some one may say, But they were without excuse; for they saw the power manifested before their eyes, giving life to a palsied man. True; and we, too, are without excuse if we have not forgiveness of sins and the power of His life working obedience in us. The miracles of Christ were recorded-not for those people back there,-but for us. "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." John xx. 31.

The Power Now Present.-Every man sees the power of the Lord working before his eyes to-day. "We are saved by His life." The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from sin. But "the blood is the life." The power of Christ's life is the power of forgiveness and cleansing, and the power which works the will of God in the believer. But that life is present with every man. Every sinner, no matter how wicked, lives by His life every day. "In Him we live and move and have our being." Every soul that has life, or power to move, has evidence in itself that Christ's life is given to him. And if he will only believe it, lay hold upon it by faith, that same life will cleanse from sin. The power of the Lord is present with every man to save him from sin and work righteousness in him if he will only let it be done. It is wonderful, but it is true.

"'Duty'" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

This is a word which, like "charity," is often made most literally to cover a multitude of sins, in a way never intended by the Scripture. For the name most people have an enthusiastic admiration; for the actual thing itself there is less zeal.

There are, however, many people who are very strict in the discharge of what they conceive to be their duty. Unfortunately, however, there is too often a total misapprehension of what duty is. When one is in the right way, there cannot be such a thing as a too faithful discharge of duty, for duty simply means what is due, or what one ought to do. The most rigid discharge of real duty, therefore, can never work hardship or injustice to any person, since injustice is not due to any one, and nobody ought to do it.

It is when people who are conscientious in the performance of duty have mistaken ideas of what their duty is, that they wrong not only others, but themselves. Paul said: "I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem; and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities." Acts xxvi. 9-11.

ENFORCING THE LAW

When Paul was doing that work of persecution he was simply enforcing the law. He was not a man to do that for which he had no warrant. He was "more exceedingly zealous of the traditions" of the fathers than were any others of his time. Yet who is there that will say that he was doing his duty in thus persecuting and wasting the church of Christ?

Take the case of the persecution of Christians by the heathen. Neander says:-

All the ancient religions were national and State religions, and this was especially the case with the Romans, among whom the political point of view predominated in everything, not excepting religion. The public apostasy of citizens from the State religion, or a new one not legalised by the State, appeared as an act of high treason. In this light was regarded the conversion of Roman citizens or subjects to Christianity. "Your religion is illegal," was the reproach commonly cast on Christians, without referring to the contents of their religion; to this was added the striking difference between Christianity and all that had hitherto been denominated religion. Thus it was said to Christians, "While all other religions are so many sanctuaries for distinct

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nations, handed down from venerable antiquity, on the contrary, your religion existed from the first with disturbance; it was a revolt against religion of the Hebrews, which was venerable for its antiquity, though blameworthy for its intolerance; that was its origin, and now it threatens to overturn everywhere the established sanctuaries, and the order of things confirmed by sacred customs and usages." . . . Accusations and reasons such as in later times have been urged by the Roman Church against Protestantism, were then brought forward from the standpoint of heathenism against Christianity.-"Memorials of Christian Life," chap. 3.

It will be seen that when the Roman magistrate crushed the fingers of a Christian, or had him crucified, or beheaded, or sent to the mines, he was simply doing what he thought he ought to do, because the laws bade him do it. He would say that he was only "doing his duty." He might be a humane man, and averse to causing misery, yet his mistaken sense of duty spurred him on, so that the most conscientious man became the worst persecutor.

WAS IT DUTY?

Now will anybody claim that Saul of Tarsus was "doing his duty" when he persecuted the disciples with the sanction of the highest authority in the land? He himself came to look upon it as a great sin, and such it was.

Can there be found a man in all England who will defend the Roman governors and magistrates for their merciless persecutions of Christians? Impossible. Yet those men were simply carrying out the law of the land. Ought they to have enforced those laws? Certainly not; and some of them, when Saul of Tarsus, ceased to be the instruments of unrighteous laws, and in turn suffered the persecution which they had inflicted upon others.

NO CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES

Strange how differently most people will regard the same action when done at different times! Even in law-loving England there is not a man who will applaud the ancient Romans for their devotion to laws which were directly opposed to the truth, and which resulted in torture and death, or, at the least, in confiscation of goods for the Christians. And there is not a man who will not applaud the magistrate or executioner who refused to be bound by such laws, even at the risk of his own life. Yet when certain laws in England stand in direct opposition to the commandment of God, and men are punished for obeying God in spite of those laws, those same men will say, "It is too bad, but the laws must be enforced." Yet these English laws are opposed to the law of God, are but a part of those same laws of heathen Rome, for the violation of which Christians were put to death.

Read again what the Standard said concerning the recent fining of the International Tract Society for Sunday work:-

The magistrate who has to deal with cases of this sort is not to be envied. It is indisputable that the seventh day, not the first, was set apart for rest and worship. There is nothing more than tradition to explain how or when or why the early Christians exchanged the seventh day for the first. Mr. Haden Corser did wisely to refuse all argument, insisting upon the law:-so did Pilate, his victim might explain. These Seventh-day Adventists are urged to claim exemption upon the terms allowed to Hebrews; but they indignantly assert their Christian faith. It is no use talking, however. If they must go on breaking the Factory Act, the law must go on punishing them, right or wrong.

The Chronicle, in saying that "Her Majesty's Factory Inspectors would be neglecting their duty if they did not take note of the circumstances," but echoed the words of the magistrate and the Inspector. And doubtless there are thousands of others who, while they feel sorry for the victims of the law, do not see how it can be helped as long as the law stands as it does.

WHERE THE EVIL LIES

Now let one thing be made clear, namely, that the evil in the days of ancient Rome did not consist in the fact that some Christians were tortured or put to death. The evil consisted in the fact that the laws of Rome were directly opposed to the law of God. People allow their sympathy for the suffering martyrs to obscure the real issue. The sin was in the laws themselves. They were just as sinful when nobody was killed, as when persecution was at its height. So in the case now before us, as well as in those other countries, notably in America, where Seventh-day Adventists are working in the convict gang, the great evil is not that innocent people suffer hardship, but that God is dishonoured.

MAN'S FIRST DUTY

The one thing that all men need to have impressed upon them is that their first duty is to God. "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Matt. xxii. 37-39.

Duty to man can never conflict with duty to God, for we do our duty to men only when obeying God. Therefore when men make a law which is in opposition to the law of God, and which cannot be obeyed without disobeying God, it is nobody's duty to obey that human law. Neither is it anybody's duty to enforce it. The reason is plain. It is because to obey or to enforce such a law is sin, and it is nobody's duty to sin. On the contrary, it is everybody's duty to do right. So while we may admire the disposition of a man who will unflinchingly do what he believes to be his duty in the enforcing a wicked law, we must be none the less faithful in warning him that he is committing a grievous sin, and doing the opposite of his duty.

Let no one think that this means a crusade against wicked laws, or of any resistance of human government. The example of Christ and the apostles is sufficient proof of this. They did their duty to God just as though no laws contrary to His ever existed, and that was all. And in so doing, they work no ill to any human being.

Let us therefore hear the conclusion of the whole matter: "Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man," or, as the margin of the Revision has it, "This is the duty of all men." Either statement involves the other. A human law cannot absolve us from duty to God, since we are not to be judged by man, but by God. "For God shall bring every work in the judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. xii. 13, 14.

"Tradition and the Monuments" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

How easily the knowledge of the events of creation and the fall could be passed by word of mouth from earliest time to the days following the deluge, can be seen at once when it is remember that Noah lived hundreds of years with Methuselah, who was contemporary with Adam. And the children of Noah must have imparted to their children whatever knowledge they possessed, and they themselves lived in the days of the oldest of the patriarchs, who had lived in the days of Adam. And besides all this, and more than all, God spoke to men by prophet and teacher, the witness of Enoch, "the seventh from Adam," and of Noah, the "preacher of righteousness," being mentioned in Scripture.

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As this knowledge was handed down from generation to generation it would of course become perverted as the world lapsed into idolatry, refusing to retain God in their knowledge. The ancient tablets which are being dug from the sands of Assyria and Babylonia show that this was exactly what occurred.

Thus there are tablets giving accounts of the creation, the institution of the Sabbath, the fall, the deluge, and the dispersion of the descendants of Noah, showing in a striking manner that the most ancient heathen world possessed traditions-twisted and corrupted to meet the pagan polytheism, it is true, but nevertheless traditions which have started with a gradual perversion of the truthful story of the events, as narrated in Scripture.

To the believer the Scripture needs no confirmation, and these records are interesting merely as evidence of the extent to which the nations had departed from the knowledge of God which they once possessed as the apostle shows in the first of Romans. But unbelief-always unreasonable and capable of the strangest freaks-reverses the true and natural course of tradition, and learned Assyriologists gravely say that the plain statements of Scripture, which we know are the words of the Holy Spirit, are derived from the mystical traditions of these tablets of primitive times. Could anything illustrate more completely the disposition of the times to explain away the Word of God?

"What Europe Teaches Its Youth" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

A single paragraph sometimes reveals to perfection the hideous workings of the war spirit, which transforms good-natured men into very demons, exulting in the thought of killing. A war correspondent tells how he met a young fellow just leading his company back from a charge on the field of Mare-la-Tour, the thirteen officers above him having been killed in it.

He told me all about what fun it was to be in command, and that he was sure to get something now, and that he meant to have another go in directly, etc. He was the most thoroughly English-German boy I ever saw. We stood under a tree together, and I gave him some cigars and left him. Two hours afterwards I saw his dead body laid out with others in a row, the cigar still stuck between the buttons of his coat.

This was in the Franco-German war of 1870-71, which was to settle the differences between these countries. Of course it did not; and ever since both of these civilised nations have been training their young men for war, and doing their best to put into their hearts the same fierce war spirit. And all the other Powers are following more or less closely behind. In every honest, pleasant-faced, and lusty young fellow the Continental Powers see the possibilities of a fighter, and claim the right to take him from school or business in order to teach him how to kill his fellow-men, yet these are called "Christian" nations.

"'Not Under the Law'" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

There are a few texts of Scripture, or rather, a few fragments of texts, that almost everybody seems to be familiar with. One of them is the statement that we are "not under the law, but under grace." The following extract from a letter which makes a very kind reference to the PRESENT TRUTH, shows the object for which that portion of Scripture is usually quoted:-

What you say concerning the Sabbath as a law to be observed by Christians is not scriptural; for we are not under the law, but under grace.

This is but a sample of numerous communications that come to us, or of statements which we frequently hear. So general is the idea that we are not to keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, because the apostle says, "Ye are not under law, but under grace," that it deserves special attention.

One strange thing is that we never hear that text applied to any other than the fourth commandment. But the fourth commandment is only a part of the law; and if the fact that we are not under the law absolves us from keeping the Sabbath, then it just as surely frees us from obedience to the other nine precepts of the law. Suppose therefore we make the application.

The eighth commandment says, "Thou shalt not steal." But when the thief is reproved for his dishonest practices, and is told that he should live by labour, and not by fraud, he may retort, "Your argument is not scriptural, for we are not under the law, but under grace."

The violent man whose hand is against every man, when told that hatred and violence are murder, and that the commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill," has as good a right to use the text to justify himself, as the man who uses it against the Sabbath. "We are not under the law, but under grace," he will say, as he makes an assault upon his neighbour.

Our friend sees a man who is going to the house of the woman whose "steps take hold on hell," and he admonishes him to turn back, quoting to him the commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." But this man has heard our friends say that it is unscriptural to keep the fourth commandment, because we "are not under the law, but under grace," and so he says, "Have you forgotten your text so soon? Don't you know that we are not under the law, but under grace? Instead of reproving me, you had better come along with me, for surely so conscientious a man as you are does not want to be in opposition to Scripture." What can our friend reply?-Nothing whatever that will have any effect upon that man, unless he says, "I was mistaken; I made an unwarranted use of those words." Let us hope that he would do so.

Our friend goes as a missionary to China. He teaches the heathen that the Bible is the Word of God, and to be obeyed, and an honest-minded heathen who has read the Bible for himself begins to keep the seventh-day Sabbath, "according to the commandment." Our friend is shocked, and says, "That is not at all right; you must not keep the Sabbath; we are not under the law, but under grace." The poor Chinaman does not see it clearly; but since it is much more convenient not to keep the Sabbath than to keep it, he allows custom and convenience to make up for the obscurity, and yields to his new teacher.

But the next day our missionary friend is shocked to find his new convert making obeisance to a hideous idol, and burning some strange smelling stuff before it. "What!" he exclaims, "Have you forgotten that the great God who created all things has said, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,' 'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, . . . thou shall not bow down thyself to them'?" And the simple-minded man will reply, "Me no forget; me 'member your teaching velly well; not under law, under grace." By what arguments will our friend make it plain to him that while the expression, "not under the law, but under grace," takes away the obligation to keep the fourth commandment, it does not in the least diminish our obligation to keep all the others?

We have not drawn a fanciful picture. Many hundred years ago the same argument was used that we have put into the mouth of our friend.

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Read in Jer. vii. 8-10 the reproof which the Lord gave to Israel of old:

"Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?"

As a matter of fact the words, "not under the law, but under grace," are not now used, at least not to any great extent, to justify disobedience to any other commandment than the fourth. And why not? There is but one reason, and that is, that in this country it would be unpopular to do so. This would be a severe accusation if it were not for the fact that those who make use of the excuse do not know what they are doing. They may say, and with truth, that they do not wish to steal, and murder, and commit adultery; that such things are abhorrent to them. Quite so; but that only proves that it is not the commandment of God that restrains them, but the impulse given them by their training and by public opinion. If it were popular to do those things, and they had been brought up to do them, they would plead the same excuse for them that they now do for not keeping the Sabbath.

Now let us consider what the Scripture really does say, and thus we shall know what it means. The text is Rom. vi. 12-15, and reads thus:-

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."

Note these obvious facts:-

1. Those who are not under the law are those over whom sin has no dominion. But "sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John iii. 4. Therefore,

2. Those who are not under the law are the ones who are not transgressing the law, but who are keeping it.

3. It is not stated, as a universal fact, that all men are not under the law, but under grace. The words, "Ye are not under law, but under grace," are addressed to those who have been "baptized into Jesus Christ," "in the likeness of His death," and have been made "alive from the dead," "in the likeness of His resurrection." It is therefore not at all true of the transgressors of the law that they are "not under the law, but under grace." Such persons are still under the law.

4. But "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Titus ii. 11. Its object is to save men from sin-from the transgression of the law. Those who accept this grace are brought out from under the law, to walk in it without fault before God. For "God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. viii. 3, 4.

Let us take heed not to trust in vain words that do not profit, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose delight it was to do the will of God, whose law was in His heart.

"Missionaries and Governments" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

The massacres in China have led to a chorus of protest in the press against missions. One journal says:-

The good these missionaries do is counterbalanced by the evil results. Many of these missionaries are more zealous than discreet. It is simply ridiculous that nations should be under constant risk of going to war in order to protect the missionaries.

There are missionaries and missionaries, but the true missionary does not ask his home government to protect him. The less he is associated in the minds of the people with foreign governments the better off he is, and much of the hatred that is treasured up against the preacher is due to the interference of foreign powers. A writer stated in one of the Reviews a short time ago that even Li Hung Chang to this day persists in seeing in the English missionary the representative of the power that battered down the Taku ports and forced opium upon China.

The triumphs of the cross in heathen lands have been won by men who put their lives in the hands of those for whose souls they prayed and worked, trusting the God whose voice many times has said to fierce and barbarous hearts, "Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm." Sometimes, it is true, the Lord has allowed life to be taken, and then the blood of martyrs has been the seed of the church, and savage natures have been won to Christ by the patient sufferings of those whom they persecuted. How different the situation when heathen peoples understand that around the missionary are the bayonet and the cannon. He then loses his distinctive character as an ambassador of Heaven, and becomes in the eyes of the people, and in fact, the semi-official representative of a foreign religion.

For this reason the missionary of apostolic mould, not only does not ask protection of his home government, but protests against it. Here is one of the paragraphs in the prospectus of the Soudan and Upper Niger Mission, by its heroic founders, Brooke and Robinson, which breathes genuine Christian courage, and sets forth the true principle of the Gospel worker:-

POLITICAL STATES.-As the missionaries enter the Moslem States under the necessity of violating the law of Islam, which forbids anyone to endeavour to turn Moslems to Christ, they could not, under any circumstances, ask for British intervention to extricate them from the dangers which they thus call down upon themselves. But also, for the sake of the natives who have to be urged to brave the wrath of man for Christ's sake, it is necessary that the missionary should themselves take the lead in facing these dangers; and should, in every possible way, make it clear to all that they do not desire to shelter themselves, as British subjects, from the liabilities and perils which would attach to Christian converts from Mohammedanism in the Soudan. They will, therefore, voluntarily lay aside all claim to protection, as British subjects, and place themselves, while outside British territory, under the authority of native rulers.

"'Present Truth'" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

In 2 Peter i. 12 we read, "Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth." What is present truth? It is truth that is with us; and the revisers have given an exact rendering of the original in these words, "Wherefore I shall be ready always to put you in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and are established in the truth which is with you." To whom is this addressed? "To them that have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ." That is, to all Christians in every age.

What is this present truth, or this truth which is with us? Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." John xiv. 6. Moreover, He

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is always with us, for He says, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. xxviii. 20. And He is always the same, for we read again, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Heb. xiii. 8. This, then, is the present truth, the truth that is ever present with us. He who grows in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is growing in the knowledge of the truth. To proclaim this truth is the sole object of this paper.

"A Press Opinion" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

Returning to a case in the State of Georgia (U.S.A.), where a man was sentenced to a year in the chain gang for quietly performing his work on Sunday, after having "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment," a New Orleans daily journal says:-

A State which retains on its statute books laws that punish an industrious man for keeping his Sabbath on the seventh day, and working on the first day of the week, is a State whose civilisation and whose Christianity are of a questionable and medi?val character. There is an ancient statue known to most people, which says, "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." We have not heard that this ancient statue, given by Jehovah Himself to the leader of His chosen people, has ever been officially or authoritatively repealed; nor are we aware of any logical reason why people calling themselves Christians should take it upon themselves to maintain all the other commands of the Decalogue intact, and interfere, for their own convenience, with this statute alone. Indeed, we are of the opinion that people calling themselves Christians are considerably unchristian when they punish their fellow-citizens for keeping one of the commandments of the moral law, which they themselves are in the habit of breaking.

"Dragging Skirts" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

If a woman who wears a dragging skirt as to street dress could walk behind herself and see how it looks sweeping the pavement she would surely discard this habit for a more rational one. The Lancet says:-

"Granted that the germs of disease abound in a given quarter, no ordinary means could more effectually insure their disappearance than the broom-like action of a flowing skirt."

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes put the following speech on this question in the mouth of one of his characters in "The Professor at the Breakfast Table:"-

"Because a queen or a duchess wears long robes on great occasions, a maid-of-all-work or a factory girl thinks she must make herself a nuisance by trailing through the street, picking up and carrying about with her-pah! That's what I call getting vulgarity into your bones and marrow. It any man can walk behind one of these women, and see what she rakes up as she goes, and not feel squeamish, he has got a tough stomach. . would not let one of them into my room without serving them as David served Saul at the cave in the wilderness-cut off his skirts, sir! cut off his skirts! . . . Don't tell me that a true lady ever sacrifices the duty of keeping all about her sweet and clean to the wish of making a vulgar show. There are some things that no fashion has any right to touch, and cleanliness is one of these things."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

-Heavy mortality is reported among the French troops in Madagascar, owing to the climate.

-The Blank Flags of Formosa still continue to oppose the Japanese occupation of the island.

-The Pope, it is said, h as abandoned his purpose of advising the Catholics of France to rally to the Republican Government.

-The Russian authorities have ordered that the English language be substituted for the German in the high schools of Central Asia.

-The Ammer of Afghanistan has written to say that he will never doubt the friendship of England, aster the cordial reception which his son received in this country.

-One of the largest of the firma of shipowners now stipulate that their captains shall be total abstainers. The loss and danger involved in having drinking captains has led to the now ruling.

-A Venezuelan gunboat fired on a British schooner the other day. The territorial dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela is causing irritation, of which the incident mentioned is a symptom.

-Assaults on Englishmen in Egypt continue with increasing frequency. France declares its purpose of raising in October the question of the evacuation of Egypt, and Russia is to support the French protest against longer British occupation.

-The German colonial authorities are planning for the building of a railway in their East African territory. The snort of the locomotive is now heard in many parts of Africa where a few years ago the cry of wild animals was the only sound.

-The average of 120 deaths per day for several weeks has been the record of the effects of yellow favor among the Spanish troops in Cuba. The rebels are strengthening their forces, and it is still a question whether Spain will hold or lose her chief colonial possession.

-A French military journal declares that Germany is preparing for a possible war with France in 1896. The new military orders come into force then, and new arms will then be in the hands of the army. This suspicion causes France to urge on its preparations for the struggle-and the people pay the bill.

-A Peace and Arbitration Conference was held in Brussels last week, to discuss the best ways of bringing States to the point of submitting disputes to arbitration. One orator, whose speech was applauded, said that war would never cease as long as there were two men in the world. True enough, if the men were unconverted.

-At a public conference on the national bread supply held last week, mostly consisting of medical men, it was urged that more stringent regulations should be in force to insure proper quality in bread, many outbreaks of illness being traced to bad bread supply. One speaker created a sensation by declaring that sawdust was now being made. into flour.

-A leader of the Garman missions In China states that the population near Foochow ordinarily only waited for a chance to mob and plunder, and the disappointment occasioned by the outcome of the recent war furnished the opportunity. He points to the fact that German missions have not suffered, while English and French have, as indicating political animus, Germany never having performed acts of aggression while England and France have.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

Wales has been constituted a Roman Catholic see, and the new Bishop of Wales will, it is said, have his seat at Oswestry.

A whole cargo of Russian "holy pictures," it is said, is to be sent to Abyssinia to supply the churches of that country.

The Pope has organised a mission to Iceland, where hitherto the Lutheran Church has reigned supreme. "This far-reaching propaganda," says the Chronicle, "is a sign of the times which should not be lost sight of."

Sometime ago our brethren in Mexico established a medical mission in Guadalajara, which has had such success that they are compelled to plan for providing accommodations for paying patients. The staff of workers is to be increased, as well as the facilities for caring for the sick.

The annual conference of our churches in Denmark was recently held in Frederikshavn, attended by about three hundred representatives of the work, including some of the labourers in the neighbouring conferences of Norway and Sweden. From the fact that over eight thousand pounds' worth of publications have been sold in the Scandinavian countries during the year, it may be seen that the work is prospering there.

News from Russia from time to time shows that the Stundists and other dissenters from the State Church are having no easier way than in the days of Alexander III. Yet the truth continues to make progress, and the exertions of all the clergy are powerless to keep it from entering new districts. Occasional reports from our exiled brethren in the Transcaucuses and Siberia show that amidst tribulation they continue preaching the Word, and not without results.

The New York Independent states that the Pope has just issued a decree allowing working people in the United States to eat meat on fast days, with certain exceptions; but the bishops are directed to give the people the advice that on those days in which they take advantage of this indulgence they should perform "some other act of penance, for example, abstain from intoxicating liquors." It is just to add that the bishops do not all agree in publishing the indulgence.

With one voice the Pope counsels peace, but true to its traditions the Roman Church favours war whenever there is prospect of advancing its power by this means. A Dalziel's despatch says that the Bishop of Madagascar gave a lecture before the Geographical Society of Lyons, in which he stated that it would be a mistake to try to treat with the Hovas. "A treaty imposed by force was necessary." It is necessary because France and the ecclesiastical rulers in France will never be satisfied until Madagascar is deprived of all its rights and liberties.

"Official 'Conversion'" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

Official "Conversion".-The strange idea of conversion which passes in statecraft is illustrated by a Rome despatch regarding the young Bulgarian prince:-

Prince Ferdinand has declared to the Vatican that he will never consent to the conversion of his son to the orthodox religion.

But for the father's protest, his infant son might have been officially "converted" without being conscious of it, and Russia would soberly have proclaimed its reconciliation with Bulgaria.

"Satisfying the Law" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

Satisfying the Law.-Last week the bailiff was nominally in possession of our printing works, and before this paper reaches its readers goods sufficient to satisfy the recent fines imposed for Sunday work will doubtless be removed for sale at public auction. One can feel nothing but pity for those who have to deal with the matter. Thus the poor bailiff said that he didn't want to do it, but he was "but a tool." That is the very nature and purpose of Sunday laws, or of any laws by which the god of this world seeks to propagate his religion of force. Every man must decide whether he will be God's willing instrument, or an unwilling tool of traditions and customs opposed to God's Word.

"Very Embarrassing" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

Very Embarrassing.-That eminent French scholar and senator M. BarthÈlemy Saint-Hilarie, speaking in the French Senate a few years ago, said:

From what motive has the Sabbath, which is Saturday, become in the Christian Church the Sunday? I have sought in vain the reasons for this act in the best authorities, such as the decrees of the Council of Trent, of Montpellier, and of Meaux, edited by the great Bossuet; I have not found them. It is, in effect, very embarrassing to explain a thing of this nature, which is the result of a kind of tradition. . . . Much as you may believe that you are obeying a Divine commandment laid down in the sacred Book, and which is, more or less profoundly, respected by all intelligent and philosophical men, still I say that it is not the commandment of God that you observe or pretend to observe.

The embarrassment of explaining why one's practice is contrary to the Word ought not to come very many times to anyone's experience.

"True Prayer" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

True Prayer.-Many people think that prayer consists merely in asking. That is the reason why it is so often done mechanically. The fact is that true prayer consists in asking and receiving. Every true prayer is offered in the name of Christ, and the promise is, "If ye shall ask anything in My name I will do it." John xiv. 14. And again, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark xi. 24. True prayer is thus enjoined: "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known." Phil. iv. 6. The thanksgiving is for the reception of the things asked, which faith grasps. When it is understood that the same prayer that conveys our request to God, brings in return His blessings to us, prayer will be pleasure, and will be fresh with praise and thanksgiving.

"Activity in Pitcairn" The Present Truth 11, 34.

E. J. Waggoner

Activity in Pitcairn.-The following communication, which has reached the outside world from one of our brethren on Pitcairn Island, is of more recent date than the long letter which we printed last week, and shows that some improvements in the island are under way:-

We shall soon have a large building completed for a boarding-school. We are trying to improve the water facilities. We have a windmill in operation, to which we have attached a mill for grinding our breadstuff, and also a turning lathe. We have raised one crop of Indian corn and have another on hand now in good roasting ear. A week ago last Sabbath we had the captain and one lieutenant of the British man-of-war Hyacinth with us at Sabbath-school of which they spoke very highly. I was invited to go on board the vessel on Sunday and talk to the men, which I did, and followed it up with about two hours' answering questions on scriptural points. They were anxious to read, so we furnished them with a large amount of reading matter. In the afternoon they gave us a parting salute with one of their big guns, and went on their way.

August 29, 1895

"A Labour Platform" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

A Labour Platform.-"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with I might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Eccl. ix. 10.

No Idlers.-The Lord called no idlers into His work when He chose His disciples. He took, so far as the record goes, men from active work-fishing, repairing nets, sitting at the receipt of custom-all doing just what their hands found to do, and not waiting for some excuse for dropping laborious tasks.

Glorifying God.-"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. x. 31. This shuts out every wrong employment or practice; for God cannot be glorified by that which wrongs any man. But the blessed lesson of these words is that every duty that comes to hand, working in the fields, the shop, at the desk, or in the kitchen may be done to God's glory, and He is glorified in the doing of it.

The Lord the Master.-When we remember this the most monotonous and irksome tasks cease to be commonplace. And those who patiently suffer wrong and are deprived of reasonable reward for services rendered may look joyfully forward to the grand day of settlement. Therefore, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; and there is no respect of persons."

"'We Have No King But Cesar'" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

When Jesus was before Pilate, on trial for His life, there was a great question before the people for their decision. They thought that they were deciding whether or not Jesus should live. But that was a mistake. With that they had nothing to do. Jesus had come down from heaven for the sole purpose of giving His life for man, as a voluntary offering. He had said, "I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father." John x. 17, 18. He Himself was life, even everlasting life, because He was the truth, which is eternal.

Therefore the people were not settling the question whether or not Jesus should live. That He should live, even though put to death, was a settled fact, beyond the power of man or demons to alter. There was a far different question before the people that day, and that was, whether or not they would accept Jesus, even in His humiliation, as their King, and so share His eternal life. It was a question of service; a question of whom they would acknowledge as their king.

The thing for which Jesus was tried was for claiming to be a king. The first recorded question that Pilate put to Jesus was "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus at first did not answer directly, but after putting a question to Pilate, said, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, then I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence." This was a direct claim that He was a King; for if He had a kingdom, as He here declared, He must be a King. Pilate so understood it, for he asked again, "Art Thou a King then?" Jesus answered, "Thou sayest that I am a King." Most versions give it as indicated in the margin of the Revised Version, "Thou sayest it, for I am a King." John xviii. 33-37.

Things are not always what they seemed outwardly. Pilate thought that he was trying a man for his life; in reality he was himself on trial, to see whom he would accept as king. He was not only convinced that Jesus was an innocent man, but the words of Jesus had produced in him the conviction

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that He was more than a mere man; that He was from above, and not from earth. Therefore he was strongly inclined to let Jesus go. He was even "determined to let Him go." Acts iii. 13. But the Jews cried out, "If thou let this man go, thou art not C?sar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against C?sar." John xix. 12. "When therefore Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat," and delivered Him up to be crucified. He had made the decision. He chose C?sar, and rejected Christ.

But the people, as well as Pilate, were on trial, and they, as well as he, were to render the verdict upon themselves. When Pilate brought Jesus out to them, and said, "Behold your King," they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him," and when Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" they answered, "We have no king but C?sar." John xix. 14, 15. It was not for them to decide the fate either of Christ or C?sar; but in deciding which of the two they would accept as their king, they decided whose fortunes they would share.

Every man, from the greatest king to the humblest peasant, has this same question to decide. As C?sar was ruler over the whole world, so he stands for the world; for earthly governments as against the Government of God; for the principles of the world, as against the principles of God.

When Christ declared that He was a King, He added, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice." John xviii. 37. The acceptance of Christ as King, therefore, consists in acknowledging and excepting the truth.

The question then is between truth, and error. Truth is of God; for Christ is of God, and Christ is the truth. He is the Son of God, and "the Son abideth ever." The world is directly opposed to God. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John ii. 15-17.

As men decide for the world or for the truth, so will their fate be. He that decides for the truth does not add anything to it, for it will abide for ever, whatever his decision may be. He simply places himself under its protection, to abide for ever with it. He who decides against the truth, and for the world, does not injure the truth in the least, but condemns himself to the ruin to which the world is already doomed.

In nothing is this decision for C?sar and against the truth more plainly manifested than in the Sunday question. On all sides professed Christian people are calling for stricter Sunday laws, and the more strict enforcement of those that already exist. The mere fact of appealing to the State to "protect" Sunday is a tacit acknowledgment that it is not the Lord's day, because He is able to protect His own. In this appeal, therefore, we have the echo of the cry, "We have no king but C?sar."

Then there comes a case into court, in which people are declared "guilty" for being loyal to the fourth commandment. Officers and judge will agree that it is a case of human law against Divine law, but add, "Here is the Act of Parliament, and we cannot do anything but enforce it." So they are overpowered by the cry, "If thou let this man go thou art not C?sar's friend." The law of the land, they say, must be enforced "right or wrong." Thus the "god of this world" is acknowledged, and the God of truth is rejected.

The test is coming to the whole world, to both high and low. The Sabbath question is to be the great test of whether or not men will accept the truth. Over the fourth commandment men decide whether they will live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," or whether they will be content with the traditions of men; whether they will follow Christ, or custom and precedent.

Truth is seldom popular. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is not popular. So unpopular is it that to keep it just as God has said, marks people as "peculiar" and "eccentric." It would be a very easy matter to acknowledge it and keep it "if everybody else would." But "everybody else" will not, and the test comes in deciding to obey because God has spoken, regardless of what "the people" say, whether they be rulers or ruled.

Christ was not popular. There was no more unpopular being in the land than He was when He stood before Pilate and "witnessed a good confession." It would have been so easy for Pilate to let Him go, if "the people" had only ceased their clamouring. It would have been so easy for the people to accept Him if any of the rulers or of the Pharisees had accepted Him. And the very people who wonder that men could have been so blind in the case of Jesus in Judea, make the very same mistake that the people did then, when it is the truth of Jesus in England.

Well it is for men that God does not always take them at their word the first time. Though often rejected, He is slow to leave men to themselves. The very men who "denied the Holy One and the Just," desired a murderer to be granted unto them, afterwards listened to the words, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted," and many of them accepted the King whom they had before so shamefully rejected. So now the man who has hastily, either through ignorance, or through pressure from without, rendered judgment against the Lord, may still have an opportunity to reconsider his decision.

Consider the question carefully. Remember that truth is none the less truth because it is unpopular. Jesus was none the less King, because He was poor and despised. "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve."

"Bible Study" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

In Deut. vi. 5-9 we have directions as to our duty in regard to the Bible. We will quote it in full:-

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

This is a complete model for Bible study. It was not intended to be local, for the Jews merely, but is for all persons, in all time. Not that we are to wear phylacteries as the Jews did; this passage does not command that.

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The first part explains the last. The Word of God is to be studied and meditated upon so much that it will have a controlling influence over every act that our hands perform. We should work so that all that we do will bear the impress of the Word. Thus it will be for a sign upon our hands. In like manner the forehead stands for the mind, which is to be stored with the truths of God's Word. They are ever to be before our eyes.

But notice especially the command to talk of the Word when we sit in the house, and when we walk by the way, and when we lie down, and when we rise up. How can this be done? Must we carry a Bible with us continually? That would be very inconvenient, and almost impossible. We could not use it while we were at work, nor in the night. The previous expression explains the whole thing: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart." That is the secret of Bible knowledge. The Bible must be studied so carefully that the words will be indelibly fixed in our mind and heart. Then we can meditate upon them wherever we are, or whatever we are doing.

"The Two Forces" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

The Gospel is the power of God, and never while a person or Church has the Gospel will they try to add to its power. To think of God as one whose power may be increased by alliance with the powers of earth is to dethrone Him altogether. Therefore whenever men have turned aside from the persuasive power of the Gospel they have fought against God and the truth.

Mr. Spurgeon truly said of the attempt which the Puritans made, in the days of the Commonwealth, to establish righteousness by force of arms:-

The fight was won by carnal weapons, and therefore it has to be fought over again in the Lord's own way, by the sword of the Spirit and the force of conviction. This historical experience should be a warning to us. Let us every one remember that every inch of ground which we gain by other than truthful, persuasive, justifiable force is a yard lost, to be regained at much more cost than would have been required had we distained to fight unfairly. We purchase present success at a fearful price when we tamper with eternal principles.

In these days the ballot-box and the courts are substituted for the Ironsides by which the strongest party ruled in Cromwell's days. But the principle is the same. As Spurgeon said:-

In religion it is virtuous to persuade, but vicious to compel. Bribes and fines are ready weapons, but they insure defeat to those who use them. Power can create hypocrites, but persuasion must win converts. The devil deludes many good men into short cuts to success, and these are generally trespasses. The arch-fiend has a cunning way of getting up a cry for casting out devils by Beelzebub, and all with the intent that the aforesaid Beelzebub may have a longer lease of power. Let us be warned by the past, and never do evil that good may come, nor deny any man his right because we fear that he will make a wrong use of it. Laying down the forbidden weapon, let us grasp that which our Captain supplies, and spread the truth by every means in our power.

But it has been when church traditions were contrary to truth, and could not be upheld by appeal to the Word that, in every age since the apostasy, the ruling churches have made use of the power of governments to sustain their position. But every such appeal has left them weaker and more godless, and the end of it all-because, by the Word of prophecy, we know they will continue in the course in which the god of this world is driving them-will be the condition of things described in the first five verses of Revelation eighteen. Who will heed the call that is there given.

"Baptism" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

HOW THE ORDINANCE WAS PERVERTED

The commission which Jesus gave His followers was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." So the apostles went out preaching the Gospel, and baptizing those that believed; for the believers followed the example of Christ, who was Himself baptized of John in Jordan that He might fulfil all righteousness.

To the believer baptism is a burial with Christ, and a rising to newness of life. Without the living faith which makes the crucifixion and death to sin and the walking in newness of life a fact of experience, there can be no real baptism. As the apostle says, "Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." Rom. vi. 4, 5.

But when the falling away came after apostolic days, the walking in newness of life ceased to be a reality in the great mass of professors, and gradually the "likeness" was lost sight of, so that in the great body of the churches to-day one looks in vain for any likeness of the burial and resurrection of Jesus in the rite which is spoken of as baptism. The late Dean Stanley, who, as a Churchman, certainly had no motive for trying to make out a case against the common practice of the churches, wrote as follows in his "Christian Institutions:"

"For the first thirteen centuries the almost universal practice of Baptism was that of which we read in the New Testament, and which is the very meaning of the word 'baptize'-that those who were baptized were plunged, submerged, immersed into the water."

Thus the likeness in the mode lingered long after the real signification of the ordinance was lost in the "Catholic" Church; for it is important that it should be remembered, in reading of the perversions of the Gospel in those early times, that the true followers of the primitive faith were found outside of the great system which grew into the Papacy.

As Baptism is the open profession that the individual has yielded up his sins to walk in newness of life, the ordinance is, of necessity, for those only who believe, who are old enough to know what it means to die to self and let the life of Jesus Christ be manifested in them. Of the change which came in this respect Dean Stanley says:-

"In the apostolic age, and in the three centuries that followed, it is evident that, as a general rule, those who came to baptism came in full age, of their own deliberate choice. We find a few cases of the baptism of children; in the third century we find one case of the baptism of infants. Even amongst Christian households, the instances of Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, Ephrem of Edessa, Augustine, Ambrose, are decisive proofs that it was not only not obligatory but not usual. All these distinguished personages had Christian parents, and yet were not baptized till they reached maturity. The old liturgical service of Baptism was framed for full-grown converts, and is only by considerable adaptation applied to the case of infants. Gradually the practice of baptizing infants spread, and after the fifth century the whole Christian world, East and West, Catholic and Protestant, Episcopal and Presbyterian (with the single exception of the sect of the Baptists before mentioned), have adopted it. Whereas in the early ages, adult baptism was the rule and infant baptism the exception, in later times infant baptism is the rule, and adult baptism the exception."

Like every perversion of the Gospel, the change came in very gradually and naturally. The pagan systems of religion had their "holy water" lustrations,

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or sprinklings, which were supposed to confer some mystic power of regeneration. As baptism had become but a form for admission into the church in the days of apostasy, the church adopted the pagan idea that the water baptism was the regenerating power.

Then as the virtue was attributed to the "consecrated" water it was an easy step to the sprinkling of unbaptized persons upon their dying beds, inasmuch as in the application of the water was supposed to lie the mystic power insuring entrance to heaven. Then the sprinkling of infants was the next natural step; for salvation was made to depend upon the rite, and if the water in the hands of the priest could insure salvation, why risk the eternal loss of the infant? And thus the ordinance, so full of meaning and blessing, was perverted into a rite which became the substitute for faith, rather than the expression of saving faith.

A TERRIBLE INDICTMENT

In the quotations Dean Stanley speaks frankly, showing how the prevailing practice is totally unlike that which was Divinely ordained. Some may wonder how the Dean explained the Church's divergence from the Scriptures in this matter. This is his explanation:-

"Beginning in the thirteenth century it [infants sprinkling] has gradually driven the ancient Catholic usage out of the whole of Europe. There is no one who would now wish to go back to the old practice. It followed, no doubt, the example of the apostles and their Master. It had the sanction of the venerable churches of the early ages, and the sacred countries of the East. Baptism by sprinkling was rejected by the whole ancient church (except in the rare case of deathbeds or extreme necessity) has no baptism at all. . . . It is a striking example of the triumph of common sense and convenience over ancient usage of form and custom. Perhaps no greater change has ever taken place in the outward form of Christian ceremony with such general agreement. It is a larger change even than that which the Roman Catholic Church has made in administering the sacraments of the Lord's Supper in the bread without the wine. For whilst that was a change that did not affect the thing which was signified, the change from immersion to sprinkling has set aside the most of the apostolic expressions regarding baptism, and has altered the very meaning of the word."

The Lord left His example and command, and the Holy Spirit used the word which described the ordinance; but when "the church" adopted and adapted the pagan doctrine and form, it was a triumph of common sense! Daring presumption could have gone no further. It is equivalent to saying-we hesitate to write it-that the Lord had not common sense, and that the church of the apostasy knew better what was needed than the Holy Spirit. But the Word of the Lord stands fast, and now, when His coming draweth near, the Lord is calling men to return to the Word, and to the life of the Word. Men perverted the ordinance when they lost the life. Now as the life is received it will manifest itself in loyal obedience, just as it did when Jesus went down and was baptized of John in Jordan "to fulfil all righteousness."

"Christ Not Discouraged" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

"Behold My servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench; He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth." Isa. xliii. 1-4. This is the work of Christ. What a world of comfort and encouragement there is in the statement of it, especially in the last verse. His work is to set judgment, or righteousness, in the earth. Righteousness can be set in the earth only by putting it into the hearts of men.

Christ's work is to take poor, weak, sinful men, and make righteous beings of them; to clothe them with the righteousness of God. Very poor material He has to work with, and no one knows this better than He. But He shall not fail or be discouraged in this work. He knows how difficult the task is; but knowing man's sinfulness and hardness of heart, He is not discouraged. Then what occasion is there for being discouraged? If He is not discouraged with His task, need we be? Shall not we gather courage from His courage? We may be of good courage, for He has overcome the world, and in Him we shall do valiantly.

"A Father's Prayers" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

John G. Paton, the devoted missionary to the New Hebrides, was the son of a devout Scotch stocking-weaver. Having toiled at his father's trade through childhood and early youth, he left the parental roof for Glasgow and the world. His father accompanied him a distance as he set out with all his earthly store tied up in a pocket handkerchief. This is the beautiful account that he gives of that walk with his father. As we read it, we cannot but wish that all boys and girls should leave home with such holy memories:-

"My dear father walked with me the last six miles of the way. His counsels and tears and heavenly conversation on that parting journey are as fresh in my heart as if it had been yesterday; and tears are on my cheeks as freely now as then, whenever memory steals me away to the scene. For the last half mile or so we walked on together in almost unbroken silence,-my father, as was often his custom, carrying hat in hand, while his long, flowing yellow hair (then yellow, but in later years white as snow) streamed like a girl's down his shoulders. His lips kept moving in silent prayers for me, and his tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks for which all speech was vain. We halted on reaching the appointed parting-place; he grasped my hand firmly for a minute in silence, and then solemnly and affectionately said: 'God bless you, my son! Your father's God prosper you, and keep you from all evil!"

"Unable to say more, his lips kept moving in silent prayer; in tears we embraced and parted. I ran off as fast as I could, and when about to turn a corner in the road where he would lose sight of me, I looked back and saw him still standing with head uncovered

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where I had left him. Waving my hat in adieu, I was round the corner and out of sight in an instant. But my heart was too full and sore to carry me farther, so I darted into the side of the road and wept for a time. Then rising up cautiously, I climbed the dyke to see if he yet stood where I had left him, and just at that moment caught a glimpse of him climbing the dyke and looking out for me! He did not see me, and after he had gazed eagerly in my direction for awhile, he got down, turned his face towards home, and began to return,-his head still uncovered, and his heart, I felt sure, still risen in prayers for me. I watched through blinding tears till his form faded from my gaze; and then, hastening on my way, vowed deeply and oft by the help of God, to live and act so as never to grieve or dishonour such a father and mother as He had given me.

"The appearance of my father when we parted,-his advice, prayers, and tears,-the road, the dyke, the climbing up on it and then walking away, head uncovered, have often, often, all through life, risen vividly before my mind, and do so now while I am writing, as if it had been but an hour ago. In my earlier years particularly, when exposed to many temptations, his parting form rose before me as that of a guardian angel. It is no Pharisaism, but deep gratitude, which makes me here testify that the memory of that scene not only helped, by God's grace, to keep me pure from the prevailing sins, but also stimulated me in all my studies, that I might not fall short of his hopes, and in all my Christian duties, that I might faithfully follow his shining example."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

-The French press is daily arousing public feeling on the Egyptian question.

-The reports from Macedonia show that the rising is by no mane suppressed.

-Quite a number of the islands along the coast of Scotland are in the property market now.

-Parliament last week discussed the prospective railway from the East Coast to Uganda.

-Of deaths in London at this season infants under one year furnish nearly a third of the number.

-French, English, and Italian forces have recently been punishing native tribes in various parts of Africa.

-Since the outbreak of cholera in Japan 25,000 cases have occurred, and of these 16,000 have terminated fatally.

-The situation in Russia among the peasantry and the artisan population is said to be verging on revolution. Restlessness and discontent prevail.

-The reports from China indicate that lawlessness is spreading in the inland districts, and many native Christians are being hunted from their homes.

-Round about Foochow the people are reported to be parading, the streets with cries of "Drive out the foreign devils." In China this is doubtless called patriotism.

-The usual South American election seems in progress in Ecuador. The two parties are at war, and one day reports come of the defeat of the Government troops, and the next day of the defeat of opposition troops.

-The estimated population of the earth, according to the latest statistics, is 1,800 millions, distributed as follows, the figures standing for millions; Europe, 381; Africa, 127; Asia, 354; Australasia, 5; America, 183.

-Earthquake shocks, mostly slight ones, have been reported from widely separated regions nearly every day. In Southern Europe, South America, New Zealand, and the East the occasional quakings remind us that the things of earth are not so firmly established as many think who put their trust in them.

-The East Coast and the West Coast railways to Scotland are engaging in rivalry to see which can land passengers from London in Edinburgh in the least time. A correspondent describes a run of 60 miles an hour "up hill and down dale," and "with a steadiness of motion which was almost alarming at times." He says they did the 821 miles from Grantham to York in 70? minutes.

-Three chiefs from Bechuanaland are on their way to England, among them Chief Khama, the head ruler, who has gained such a reputation by his efforts to keep his tribe from the demoralisation which has come upon most native tribes. There are no drinking saloons in his capital, which has a population of 30,000, and oven white men who bring liquor into his territory are liable to heavy penalties.

-The delay of the Shahzada of Afghanistan, the Ameer's son, it getting away on his homeward journey is described as "the great London puzzle." Strong hints have to be given that it was long since time to go, but it is said the Ameer presses that he shall not return until the Government agrees to show Afghanistan to deal directly with the home authorities instead of with the Indian Government.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

About 18,000 pilgrims a day are visiting the Roman Catholic shrine at Lourdes.

The name Immanuel is "God with us." Mark the significance of the fact that it is not "God with Him," but "God with us."

The way that leads to life is strait and narrow, "and few there be that find it"-not because it is difficult to find, but because the multitude do not want to find it. "He that seeketh findeth."

One of the London evening papers reports that the recent annual conference of our churches in Switzerland, held as a camp-meeting, in St. Blaise, about fifty family tents were pitched, with two large tents for the preaching services, one for the French, and the other for the German-speaking members. The meetings continued one week.

The Roman authorities have been gravely discussing the admissibility of lighting churches by electricity and of using telephones in convents. Telephones may be used on "grave occasions," and churches may be illuminated by electricity, though candles only are to be employed in the service. Such questions show how completely religion in the Roman Church is divorced from that which pertains to life and righteousness.

Man shall live by every word of God. Then there is life in every word. We cannot, therefore, pick and choose, taking some words and rejecting others; for whosoever rejects one word rejects the life of God.

Our brethren in Australia have begun work on school buildings, in New South Wales, to provide educational facilities for the Australian and New Zealand conferences. The plans provide for the erection of a college, and two buildings for Girls' and Boys' Home. The school will have an industrial department also, and land has been secured for gardening and farming.

The first number of The South African Sentinel and Gospel Echo, hailing from Cape Town, has just reached us. It is a monthly journal started by our friends in South Africa to meet the needs of their work. It is a very creditable first number, and we trust that it may do good service for Bible truth in that field. An edition nearly, though not entirely, parallel to it will be published simultaneously in the Dutch language.

The Tablet (Roman Catholic), speaking of the French invasion of Madagascar, says: "Were the Hovas capable of sustaining a well-organised guerrilla warfare, the advance of the French, entangled in trackless swamps and jungles, would have been impossible; but this the military instinct as well as the material is lacking. Though an interesting and capable people, they are not sufficiently far advanced in the scale of civilisation for creating any organisation capable of meeting the new emergency that has come upon them."

So generally does the war spirit prevail, that the extent of a nation's civilisation is now measured by its ability to fight successfully. At the same time civilisation is supposed to be synonymous with Christianity. This is very suggestive as to the future.

When the Russian authorities, under the influence of the Church, harry and punish the Jew or Stundist until in weakness it yields, and outwardly conforms, they make of him a hypocrite. That is the only thing that can be made by force. And, mark this as invariably true, the person who can be pleased at the thought of having forced such a result must be a hypocrite himself, and is pleased that he has made others as he himself is. And does anybody think it is wicked only when a Russian or a Roman inquisitor does it?

"The Latest Case" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

The Latest Case.-In Baltimore, Maryland, a Seventh-day Adventist has been brought to account for working inside his own house on Sunday. The police officer who arrested him testified that he had been instructed to watch the house for violation of the Sunday Act.

The next witness was a Catholic, who had been heard to say that he would see Faust behind the bars yet. He had played the spy, going to Brother Faust's house to look through the windows on Sunday. The third and last witness was Mr. Kelley, who stated that he was a Methodist. He had also acted the spy on Brother Faust's premises, and on the occasion in question this man had gone to his place and waited to find some evidence against him, and after informing the officer, he went down the street and spent the larger part of the day at a club-house. He was employed by a manufacturing firm, and laboured for wages a part of every Sunday in the year, according to his sworn testimony.

"Incense" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

Incense.-In reply to a correspondent the Church Times said:-

We do not say that the apostles used incense in the worship of the apostolic church. It is quite possible that they did, although the tendency at first in the early church was to discontinue a rite which was associated with heathen worship in the minds of converts who had come over from Paganism.

This hints at the very clear origin of the use of incense. Of course it was not used in the early church, nor until the church fell away and, as Cardinal Newman acknowledged, adopted heathen practices in order to win over heathen peoples.

"A Patronising Critic" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

A Patronising Critic.-When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He met every attack by the living Word, quoting each time from Deuteronomy. The modern critic, wiser in his own conceit than the Lord, would scarcely think of using Deuteronomy as authority. However, the last critic is very patronising. Professor Driver has just brought out a commentary on the book in which he says that the author of this portion of Scripture "cannot be held guilty of dishonesty or literary fraud," and "there is nothing in Deuteronomy implying an interested or dishonest motive on the part of the (post-Mosaic) author."

"Bleeding Armenia" The Present Truth 11, 35.

E. J. Waggoner

Bleeding Armenia.-The Armenian horrors have aroused the keen sympathy of the whole world. But it is not sufficiently emphasised that the sufferings of the peaceful and upright Armenians in that sadly misgoverned country have been greatly increased by political revolutionists, who, under the name of persecuted Christians have planned to bring about a revolution. More than two years ago Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, a veteran Turkish missionary, was told by a member of an Armenian secret society:-

"We are determined to be free; Europe listened to the Bulgarian horrors and made Bulgaria free; she will listen to our cry when it comes up in the shrieks of women and children." Dr. Hamlin said: "This scheme will make the very same Armenia hateful among all civilised people." He replied: "We are desperate; we shall do it."

September 5, 1895

"Thy Kingdom Come" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

We are taught to pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

The only part of this earth in which we are directly responsible that the will of the Lord shall be done is in our own hearts. Therefore it is impossible to pray this prayer unless the heart is surrendered to the Lord for the working of His own will.

"As It Is In Heaven."-One Scripture which shows how the will God is done in heaven is Ps. ciii. 20: "Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word." The attitude of the angels is that of waiting and listening to catch the first word of the Father's command, then hastening to do His will. There is no hesitancy; for they go and return "as the appearance of a flash of lightning." Eze. i. 14.

"So In Earth."-The believer's attitude is to be the same-heart yielded in willing obedience to the Master, the clamour of self silenced, and ears open to hear the first whisper of the Divine voice, then with feet swift to run in the way of righteousness. That strength that excels is for us also; for we are to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." With "His glorious power" working in the heart "mightily" (Col. i. 29), there can be no doubtful hesitating over the question of how the work can be done. As the Word is received the strength comes, and we may hasten joyfully forth to do His commandments.

"'Grace for Grace'" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

Speaking of Christ the Word who was in the beginning with God, and who is God, the Creator of all things, the beloved disciple, His intimate friend, says by inspiration, "And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." John i. 16.

Some versions give it, "grace upon the grace," or "grace instead of grace," all conveying the one idea that when God gives He simply adds to His own gifts. That is, God bestows good things upon us, not because we have done something to merit them, but because He has already given us good things.

There is no one who has not received much from the Lord. "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." Acts xvii. 25. "He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." Luke vi. 35. He "giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." James i. 5. Now the very fact that we all, no matter what our past life has been, have received gifts from the Lord, instead of indicating that we have no right to expect more from Him, gives us the strong claim upon Him. He gives for His own sake. He gives, not as payment for what we have done for Him, but as a reward for our willingly receiving what He has already given us.

Therefore when we begin to realise that even when we have been warring against God, He has been heaping good things upon us, and we exclaim, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" The answer comes, "Take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord." Ps. cxvi. 12, 13. That is, if we would repay the Lord for His benefits to us, we can do nothing except take them as freely as He gives them, and ask for more. We say, "Lord, what shall I do to repay Thee for all Thy gifts?" And He replies, "Take some more."

"He delighteth in mercy." Micah vii. 18. He "hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant." Ps. xxxv. 27. He gives us good things because He is good, and His nature can be satisfied only by doing good.

Let no one, therefore, hesitate to call upon the Lord. Let not a sense of unworthiness cause you to fear to come before Him, for "His mercy endureth for ever." Let us say, "I love the Lord because He hath

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heard my voice and my supplications. Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live." Ps. cxvi. 1, 2.

"Men Whom God Can Use" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

When those who profess the truth of God have allowed self to become so thoroughly dead that only Christ shall appear in all they do, then there will be mighty works done. Then may be fulfilled the words of Christ, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My father." John xiv. 12. But those works cannot be done as long as there is any likelihood of any one's taking any of the credit to himself.

Those who do them must have this spirit which was in Christ: "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the work." Verse 10. When men allow the Spirit of Christ to dwell in them and control them, and are willing and anxious that He alone should be glorified; when, like Samson, they can rend a lion with the strength given them of God, and tell neither father nor mother of it,-then will the kingdom of God come with power. Through such men God can work.

"What Intercession Is" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb. vii. 25. Let the reader disabuse his mind of a too common idea of the word "intercession," as applied to the work of Christ. It is a grievous error to suppose that Christ intercedes to appease the wrath of God, and to induce Him to regard man with favour. God was not so angry with the world that it took the death of His Son to appease His wrath. No; "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." God was man's friend; man was God's enemy. God did not need to be reconciled to man; but man needed to be reconciled to God.

The primary idea of "intercede" is to pass between. How involuntarily our minds turn to the statement in the Hebrews, that "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, interposed Himself with an oath." Heb. vi. 17, margin. It is that oath that gives us confidence in coming to Christ. Christ has pledged Himself-His own existence-for our salvation. His own life is the surety for our safety. So long as our faith holds on to God, the enemy cannot get us till He gets past God, for God has interposed Himself.

It is the life of God in Christ, that is our security. He has interposed His own life between us and the enemy of our souls. Before Satan could destroy a soul that trusts in God he would have to kill God. But that is an impossibility. Satan tried that once and failed. He could not touch that life, but Christ voluntarily laid it down. He laid it down that He might take it again, and having taken it, He holds it for ever. "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore."

"Spiritualism" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

When Spiritualism first began its modern manifestations-the thing itself is as old as the demon worship of Nineveh and Babylon-it made no profession of Christianity, or even of common morality. It derided the Lord, scoffed at the Bible, and showed the cloven hoof generally. But latterly a change has come in the attitude of the movement, and now it masks itself in the guise of religion, and is quietly taking possession of the outworks of the popular religions of Christendom. Canon Wilberforce is quoted as saying:-

Those who are following Spiritualism as a means and not an end, contended warmly that it does not seek to undermine religion or to render obsolete the teaching of Christ; that, on the other hand, it furnishes illustrations and rational proof of them such as can be gained from no other source; that its manifestations will supply deists and atheists with positive demonstration of a life after death, and that they have been instrumental in converting many secularists from scepticism to Christianity.

"Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." He must be so transformed, else he could not deceive the whole world, as the Scriptures declare that he will just before the end, by signs and wonders; "insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

The knowledge of life and immortality is not to be found in Spiritualism. Christ "hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel," and only in the Gospel is it brought to light. The only way to know that life is to know its power now, in the forgiveness of sins and the life of faith. The Gospel reveals life to come by giving life now. Paul desired to know the power of the resurrection life day by day, in order that he might "attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil. iii. 10, 11.

The manifestations of spirit life in Spiritualism can be none other than those "spirits of devils, working miracles" which the prophet declared would come in the last days. But the enemy has so cunningly perverted the truth, turning men from the Word and from the doctrine of the life and resurrection, that nearly all Christendom is ready to fall into the snare when the time comes for the great deceptions which are to crown Satan's final efforts. 2 Thess. ii. 8-12.

"'As He Walked'" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

The "disciple whom Jesus loved," and to whom some of the deepest things of God were revealed both by Jesus in person and by the Holy Spirit, has written by inspiration of the Spirit, concerning Christ, "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked." 1 John ii. 6. In like manner the Apostle Peter has written that "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps." 1 Peter ii. 21.

To be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. The Christian is one in whom the life and character of Christ are reproduced. This is universally admitted, because the very name implies it; and yet there are many professed Christians who at times will talk as though the one thing necessary for a Christian was to be as unlike Christ as possible. On certain occasions they will argue to the effect that if Christ did a thing that is of itself sufficient reason for our not doing the same thing.

As an illustration of this, we quote the following from a letter written us by one who expresses the utmost astonishment that we should keep, and teach others to keep, the Sabbath of the fourth commandment-the seventh day of the week. He says:-

According to your contention Christians are still under the law, whereas it is evident to readers of the New Testament they are under grace, the Christ having fulfilled the law for them.

We quote this because it expresses a very common idea. Perhaps nine out of ten who object to keeping the Sabbath of the law of God, will give as

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their reason for not keeping it the fact that Christ kept the law.

"NOT UNDER THE LAW"

Before taking up this point, however, we must state again that we do not teach nor believe that Christians are under the law. Most emphatically they are not. And the reason why they are not is that they keep the law, even as Christ did. The Psalmist wrote, "I will walk at liberty; for I seek Thy precepts." Ps. cxix. 45.

"Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John iii. 4. Now the Apostle Paul writes, "Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." Rom. vi. 14, 15. There is no necessity for any misapprehension as to what it is to be under the law, for the apostle says that those who are not under the law do not sin; that sin has no dominion over them. That is to say, they do not transgress the law. The man, therefore, who is not under the law is the man who keeps the law. Christians are under grace, and the grace of God saves from the transgression of the law.

FULFILLING THE LAW

Come now to the thought that we do not need to keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, because Christ kept or fulfilled the law. This is an acknowledgement of two things, namely, that the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and that Christ kept it. But let us see how it will work to say that we are absolved from the duty of keeping the Sabbath because Christ fulfilled the law.

"What is written in the law? how readest thou?" Remember that there is more in the law than the simple keeping of the Sabbath, and that it all stands together as a unit. The answer which the Lord approved, and which He Himself gave on one occasion, is this: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Luke x. 26, 27. This is the whole law.

Now let us for a moment accept as true the statement that we need not keep the seventh day, according to the law, because Christ fulfilled the law, and see to what it leads us. It is true that Christ fulfilled the law. It is also true that the principal part of the law is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart" etc. Now it is certain that Christ fulfilled this commandment. What then must we conclude, according to the theory before us?-Why, simply this, that we do not need to love the Lord our God, since Christ did it for us!

The second great commandment of the law is, "Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself." But Christ fulfilled the law for us; therefore we do not need to love our neighbour at all!

Or to go into particulars, the commandment says, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." But Christ fulfilled the law for us, reverencing the name of the Father; therefore we may curse and swear! The commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill," and, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." Christ fulfilled this part of the law also for us, and so Christians may murder and lie!

"No, no," says our friend, "that is no part of Christianity." And so say we. Our friend will say that Christians must reverence the name of God, must honour their parents, must not kill, steal, commit adultery, bear false witness, nor covet; and so say we, because the Bible says so. The fact that Jesus Christ loved the Father, was obedient to His earthly parents, did no violence to any person, and always witnessed the truth, is no reason why Christians should not do the same, but is the strongest reason why they should obey those commandments. So the fact that Jesus kept the Sabbath,-the very day enjoined by the fourth commandment, the seventh day,-is the strongest reason why Christians should keep it also. There is no argument against the Sabbath that does not strike equally against every commandment of the law. The law is one, and he that offends in one point "is guilty of all."

CHRIST'S LIFE IN US

Christ fulfilled "all righteousness." What for? Was it in order that we might be free from righteousness? Far from it. We were already free from righteousness; He fulfilled all righteousness in order that we might be freed from all sin. God sent His own Son, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." Rom. viii. 3, 4.

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Rom. v. 10. But bear in mind that the life of Christ does us no good unless it is in us. "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5. So that if the life of Christ is not "made manifest in our body" (2 Cor. iv. 10), we are not Christians at all. It is not the

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mere fact that Jesus kept the law eighteen hundred years ago that saves us, but it is the fact that He still lives, that His life now is the same as it was then, and that He lives in us, and fulfils the law in us, not outside of us.

"By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous." Rom. v. 19. Notice that it is not simply that by the obedience of One we are accounted righteous, but that it is by Christ's obedience that we are actually made righteous. His obedience is not a substitute for our disobedience, but it is actually our righteousness. Oneness with Christ is the Christian standard. We are "crucified with Christ," "buried with Him by baptism into death," "risen with Christ," in order that we might also "live with Him." He set the example when He was on earth, and now He is to walk over the same road in us.

There is altogether too much failure to recognise what true Christianity is. Too many seem to think it is sufficient to acknowledge that Jesus Christ once came in the flesh, was crucified, buried, and raised, forgetting that true Christianity is the present life of Christ in human flesh. "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." 1 John iv. 2, 3. It is not enough to confess that Jesus Christ once came in the flesh; we must confess that He even now is come in the flesh, even ours, and that He is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever" (Heb. xiii. 8), and that therefore His life in us must be the same that it was eighteen hundred years ago in Judea and Galilee.

Let us not therefore think that since Jesus fulfilled the law we may ignore any part of it, but rather remember that "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked."

"History Repeating Itself" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

A correspondent in the Midlands sends us a copy of one of the New York morning newspapers containing several columns on the trials of Seventh-day Adventists in the Tennessee courts, under the Sunday law, and giving, among other sketches illustrative of the case, a picture of our brethren at work with the chain-gang.

The account says that, as the guards had perfect confidence in our brethren and know they will make no effort to escape, they are not required to wear the chain, and are even allowed to return to their homes each week to spend the Sabbath, reporting themselves the following Monday.

It is very sure, however, that the principle animating the Sunday law will in future cases demand its full due for any present leniency. When the Christians in early centuries were brought before the courts of pagan Rome many magistrates dealt leniently with them at first, and tried by favours to win them from what they considered fanatical, though perhaps honest, disregard of established religious customs. Of the end of these efforts on the part of the magistrates one writer says:-

When the Christian replied that he could not under any form or pretence whatever worship any other God than the Father of our Lord Jesus; nor honour any other by any manner of offering; nor call the emperor lord in the manner of the statute, then, the governor understanding nothing of what the Christian called confessions, and seeing what he considered the kindest possible offers counted of no worth, his proffered mercy was often turned into wrath. He considered such a refusal an evidence of ingratitude and obstinacy unworthy of the slightest consideration.

It was because the laws were in themselves wicked, and not because those who were charged with enforcing them were more brutal than average men, that such wicked results followed. And human nature and religious laws are the same to-day. From the Sentinel, the New York organ of our society, we learn that the judge in Tennessee who formerly declared the law unjust dealt lightly with previous cases, even recommending the governor of the State to "pardon" those convicted, now, in these latest cases, imposed fines from three to five times the amounts formerly set. Our contemporary says:-

"Had heavy penalties been imposed upon the Rhea County Adventists for the first offence, public sympathy would have been aroused in their behalf, and the so-called law might have been swept from the statute books; but the sympathy of the judge, the kindness of the sheriff and his deputies, the pardon by the governor, all serve to create a feeling that having been treated with such a marked consideration, the Adventists ought to be willing to compromise, to surrender their consciences; and the fact that they will not compromise in the least, that they remain loyal to God and to conscience, is taken by many as an evidence of contumacy, and their further punishment is regarded as well merited.

"We have little hopes of influencing the State of Tennessee in this matter, or of even lightening the persecution of the Adventists there. Forewarned by the Word of God, we have long looked for such things in this country, and we expect them to increase rather than diminish. The return to the maxims and methods of the Dark Ages has begun, and the goal is certain. We expect to save from the ruinous course upon which they have entered neither the State of Tennessee nor yet the United States, which has in many ways approved the wicked principle which Tennessee has adopted; but we do expect to save honest-hearted individuals from participation in the wrong."

"News of the Week" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

-Affairs in Morocco are very unsettled, and there is fighting among the tribes.

-By a revolt in Ecuador the Government has been defeated and insurgents have captured Quito, the capital.

-Another Armenian district has been harried by Turks and Kurds, and the populace fear another massacre.

-The estimates of the grain product of the world for this year show a considerable reduction below last year's figures.

-Russia is planning a canal to connect the Baltic with the Black Sea. The land is so level that it is said but two looks will be necessary in the whole distance.

-The peasantry in Sicily are in revolt. They say they can only starve at the present wages. Proprietors say that to grant the demands of the labourers would ruin themselves.

-The Sultan complained to France and Russia that Great Britain was pressing too severely for Armenian reforms. But those powers refuse to interfere, and Lord Salisbury declines to moderate his demands.

-Cholera is raging in Pekin, 40,000 deaths occurring during August. A few cases have been reported in Europe, but thus far there is promise that it will not come westward this year to any serious degree.

-Lincolnshire farmers say they can scarcely remember a time when harvest labour was so plentiful. A larger number than usual have come from Ireland and other districts in search of work, and thus labourers command less wages than usual.

-The Czar evidently knows how to give presents that will please those Balkan States which Russia desires to dominate. He has just sent 30,000 rifles, 15,000,000 cartridges, and cannon, machine guns and dynamite as a present to Montenegro.

-Germany has been celebrating the campaign of the Franco-German war with festivities and military and religious pomp. While Germany is rejoicing over her victory, her neighbour France is pledging herself to wipe out the humiliation of the defeat some day.

-There seems to be little to choose between Bulgarian and Turkish methods. Further particulars of the Bulgarian attack upon a Turkish village, show that the houses were blown up by dynamite bombs while the inhabitants were sleeping, and nearly 800 are reported killed.

-News during the past week shows that the French are getting well on toward the Madagascar capital, and it is said that the Queen and Court, thoroughly demoralised, are giving way to foolish dissipation and gambling. The Times correspondent says the French have armed a tribe of Sakalavas, half savages, who are preceding the expedition in raiding hordes.

-After considerable temporising the Chinese authorities have allowed British and American representatives to be present at the commission of inquiry into the recent massacres, and it is said the real criminals are being discovered. Usually some criminals or paupers entirely innocent of the offence charged have been executed by the mandarins to satisfy the demands of the powers in such outrages as these.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

Many in South Africa, we hear, are protesting against the tax on breadstuffs while Cape brandy is free from excise. They say brandy is cheaper and bread dearer than in any other part of the world.

Canada joins in the cry for Sunday observance by authority of the police court, the Divine authority being lacking. A Seventh-day Adventist in Ontario has been sentenced to prison for thirty days for work done on a farm.

The great Catholic Congress closed last week in Munich with a parliamentary session attended by seventy members of the Catholic party in the Reichstag. Resolutions were passed in favour of the re-establishment of the Pope's temporal power, and in favour of more complete Sunday observance.

The question of the marriage laws in the Crown colony of Malta is again being agitated. Even after all these years no marriage can be celebrated there save by a Catholic priest, under pledge that all children of such marriages shall be brought up in the Catholic religion.

It is to those who "look for Him" that Christ will appear the second time without sin unto salvation. "Every eye shall see Him," but only those who truly look for Him will be abiding in Him and "not be ashamed before Him at His coming." The signs of the times are to tell when He is near, "even at the door;" "but of that day and hour knoweth no man."

There are two possibilities that it is best for us to bear in mind when we think that our abilities are not recognised, and that we are rated by others lower than we deserve. The first is, that others may be able to judge of our ability better than we ourselves can; we may have over-estimated ourselves, while they may judge accurately. We are fully as liable to be mistaken in our estimate of ourselves as others are in their estimate of us. The second thing to consider is that they may be wrong; we may really have more ability than they think we have. In that case, their estimate cannot make any difference in the fact, and time will demonstrate their error. The combined result of keeping in mind these two possible conditions will be that we shall preserve our peace of mind, and shall not be betrayed into unseemly behaviour.

Added to its social troubles, which make an uprising of the peasants imminent, poor Rome-cursed Sicily has now to reckon with the advent of a "Messiah" after whom the ignorant and superstitious people are gathering in hundreds.

The proposed change in the religion of the baby Bulgarian prince is seriously discussed by Catholic organs, which speak of the "suggested apostasy of the infant heir." When he gets older it may be explained to him how near apostasy he was.

"He that is not with Me is against Me." If Christ is not given dominion in the heart, to live His life, there is no possible means by which we can escape having Satan in possession. There is no place for the man who does not do right, but who does "nothing very bad." Not being with the Lord is rebellion against Him.

An unbelievers says his religion is to treat others as he wants them to treat him. That is good; it is the religion of Jesus Christ. But none but the Christian can follow the Golden Rule. Thus, the Lord is constantly treating the unbeliever kindly, giving him life and breath and all things, and in return he will not so much as thank the Lord for His goodness, nor give to the Lord his service, although God is constantly serving him.

Our printing works were again visited last Sunday by the Factory Inspector, and the visit will doubtless be followed by an early prosecution.

In advocating the truth simply by calling attention to what the Lord says, no one need feel anxiety at the opposition which may come. It can only work for the truth, as what God says in the Word will remain after all that may be set against it. One of the workers in the island of Jamaica, to which we have sent thousands of books, says:-

Our work and books are being spoken against by both religious and secular papers, which only increases the desire to hear. To illustrate: one minister who read the reports, called and asked for the book spoken against, read it through, and said it was an excellent book.

"Religion In Buttons" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

Religion In Buttons.-There are many ways in which a church possessing governmental power may force itself upon unwilling people. In Russia there is considerable agitation just now among the students of the higher educational establishments over a law requiring the wearing of a semi-military costume, on the buttons of which are stamped the arms of the Holy Synod. Trouble is anticipated in enforcing the law, but the dignity of the Synod must be upheld, and the buttons must be worn.

"The Pope as Arbitrator" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

The Pope as Arbitrator.-A Rome despatch states that the presidents of the two West Indian republics of Hayti and San Domingo have written to the Pope expressing their willingness to accept his decision in the matter of a territorial dispute between the two countries, and the Pope has undertaken the role of arbitrator. Of course it is well understood that these matters are arranged by the agents of Rome, and the meaning of it all is well stated in the article in another column which shows how Rome papal has inherited and continued the policy of Rome pagan.

"'We have a Law'" The Present Truth 11, 36.

E. J. Waggoner

"We have a Law."-That is what the leaders of the Jewish church said when Pilate declared Christ innocent. "And by our law He ought to die." A newspaper in Tennessee, where a company of Seventh-day Adventists are at work in the chain-gang for loyalty to the Sabbath, has interviewed leading clergymen of the place on the question of Sunday laws. The Rev. Thomas C. Warner, D.D. said:-

The question of righteousness should never decide whether an existing law is to be enforced or not. Is it the law of the land? That question settled in the affirmative, then let the law be enforced. If the law is unjust, if it works hardship to innocent persons, still let it be executed so long as it remains upon the statute books.

This Doctor of Divinity is as unconscious of the fact that he is helping to fulfil the prophecies of Scripture concerning the final conflict before the coming of the Lord, as were the Jewish Doctors of the Law when, "because they knew Him not, nor yet the voice of the prophets," they "fulfilled them in condemning Him."

September 12, 1895

"An Ancient 'Stickler'" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

An Ancient "Stickler".-"I have stuck unto Thy testimonies." Ps. cxix. 31.

In Bible study observe how constantly the Word couples together statements of God's power with expressions of His tenderness toward us.

Thus: "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names." Ps. cxlvii. 3, 4.

Again: "Great is our Lord, and of great power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifteth up the meek." Verses 5, 6. He gives assurance of His great power in order that we may trust our little and heavy trials to Him.

Many have an idea that because God is so great He cannot pay attention to such trifling perplexities as come in ordinary life. But that is just the reason why He can and does care for the little things, even to the sparrow that falls, and to the very hairs of the head. He tells us of His great might in order to assure us that He is able to save us.

"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath
said,
Who unto the Saviour for refuge have fled?"

"'God Was with Him'" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

"And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph in Egypt; but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions." Acts vii. 9, 10.

These are the words of Stephen as he stood before the council full of the Spirit of God, and with a face like an angel.

God was with Joseph. When was God with him? God was with him when his brethren cast him bound into the pit in the wilderness, and when he went down to Egypt as a slave. God was with him when he was a bond-servant in the house of Potiphar, and He was with him when he resisted the temptations of his mistress. God was with him also when he was in prison, no less than when his captivity ended, and he was made ruler over all the land of Egypt. God did not come to him, but He went with him. He did not merely come to deliver him from his afflictions, but He went into prison with him. It was because God was with him that he was delivered.

Let this fact be remembered, that the Lord goes to prison when His servants go there for His sake. Christ said that when He comes in glory He will say to some, "I was in prison, and ye came unto Me," and to others that they did not visit Him when He was in prison.

There are many people who think much of being with the Lord in heaven, when He comes, but who do not realise the necessity and the blessedness of being with Him here in this present time. And it is a mistake to suppose that we have the presence of the Lord only when everything seems to favour us. When Jacob said, "All these things are against me," God was with him as much as when he was in Bethel or Peniel, and was preparing, out of those afflictions, the means of his future sustenance.

So very often it is the case that we can have God with us only by suffering

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affliction. Joseph, for instance, could not have kept God with him without going to prison. He might have kept out of prison if he had been willing to deceive his master, and sin against God, but not otherwise. Now it is certain that if Jesus of Nazareth had been in the place of Joseph, He would have done as Joseph did, and would have been obliged to suffer imprisonment for refusing to sin. Indeed, it was only because Jesus was with him, that he resisted the temptation and went to prison. He had the choice, therefore, of going to prison with the Lord, or of staying out of prison without the Lord. Joseph did not hesitate a moment in choosing.

When Jesus was on earth His delight was to do the will of God, whose law was within His heart. Ps. xl. 8. He said, "I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." John xv. 10. Not one of the ten commandments did He slight, not even the fourth. "As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke iv. 16. Every one who reads the New Testament must say, in the words of Canon Knox-Little, "It is certain that our Lord when on earth did observe Saturday, and did not observe Sunday."

Now we read of Jesus Christ that He is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Heb. xiii. 8. He kept the commandments when He was in the earth, because they were in His heart before He came to earth. They were His life. He did not come to earth to act a part, but to reveal God to men; and this He could do because He was in the beginning with God, and was God. He was the same on earth that He was in heaven, and He is the same in heaven that He was on earth. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."

Therefore it is absolutely certain that if Jesus were on earth to-day, in the flesh, as He was eighteen hundred years ago, He would keep "the Sabbath day according to the commandment." In other words, it is certain that He would keep the seventh day, and would not keep Sunday. What then would be the result?-Just this: If He were in Russia, He would be banished; if He were in America, He would be imprisoned, and driven to work in the chain-gang; if He were in England, He would have His goods sold, if He had any, and if not, He would be thrust into prison, for refusing to recognise Sunday as worthy of receiving in the slightest degree the honour due to the Sabbath of the Lord. Indeed, when He was on earth, He suffered imprisonment, and every form of indignity, simply because of His faithfulness to the law of God.

It is only by the faith of Jesus that any man can keep the commandments of God. Whoever is truly faithful and keeping the commandments of God, even though the laws of men forbid him to keep them, can be so only if the Lord is with him. If for that faithfulness he suffers the loss of all things, or goes to prison, he may have the comfort of knowing that he is sharing the affliction with the Lord. But if he knows the Lord to that point, he will know that poverty and imprisonment with the Lord, are more to be desired than riches and freedom without Him. With Moses, he will find that "the reproach of Christ," is greater riches than all the treasures of earth.

The Egyptians did not know that they were sending the Lord to prison when they put Joseph into the dungeon. The Jewish rulers did not know that they were sending the Lord to prison when they shut up His apostles. The princes of this world did not know that they were crucifying the Lord of glory when they condemned the humble Galilean carpenter to death. Yet they might have known, because in every case the penalty of the law was inflicted because of loyalty to the truth, and whatsoever is of the truth is of God.

"A Real Battle-field" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

The horrors of war are covered from the people, and even from those who are training for it, by the pomp and display, the music and the fascination of military drill, and high-sounding phrases appealing to the sentiment of patriotism. The real thing is thus described by Channing. When this sort of thing is "blessed" by the benediction of the Church is it by any words of the Beatitudes, with their holy counsels of peace, and of love and goodwill even toward enemies and those who despitefully use us? This is what war is:-

Repair in talked to a field of recent battle. Here are heaps of slain, weltering in their own blood, their bodies mangled, their limbs shattered, and almost every vestige of the human form and countenance destroyed. Here are multitudes trodden underfoot, and the war-horse has left the trace of his hoof in many a crushed and mutilated frame. Here are severer sufferers; they live, but live without hope or consolation. Justice despatches the criminal with a single stroke; but the victims of war, falling by casual, and directed blows, often expire in lingering agony, their deep groan is moving no compassion, their limbs writhing on the earth with pain, their lips parched with a burning thirst, their wounds open to the chilling air, the memory of home rushing on their minds, but not a voice of friendship or comfort reaching their ears. Amidst this scene of horrors you see the bird and beast of prey gorging themselves with the dead or dying, and human plunderers rifling the warm and almost palpitating remains of the slain. If you extend your eye beyond the immediate field of battle, and follow the track of the victorious and pursuing army, you see the roads strewed with the dead; you see scattered flocks and harvest trampled underfoot, the smoking ruins of cottages, and the miserable inhabitants flying in want and despair; and even yet the horrors of a single battle are not exhausted.

"Deluge Tablets" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

It was of course impossible that tradition should fail to preserve for many generations some memory of the flood; and, as within a few years of this deluge the whole world lapsed into idolatry, these traditions would necessarily be interwoven with the religious notions of the times. In the Chaldean deluge tablets, dating perhaps from the days of Abraham, are many passages which are interesting as showing how many details were more or less accurately preserved to memory, although the moral lesson of the flood and Noah's life of righteousness was lost sight of.

The tablets represent the gods as having decided to destroy the earth, and the man who survived tells the story. The making of the ark:-

And on the ground I make the ship which
thou commandest.
On the fifth day two sides were raised
In its enclosure (hull) fourteen ribs
Also fourteen they numbered above
I placed its roof and enclosed it
Sixthly I made it firmly, seventhly I divided its
passages
Eighthly its interior I examined
Openings to the water I stopped
I searched for cracks and the wanting parts I
fixed
Three sari of bitumen I poured over the interior.

The record in Genesis gives the Lord's command to "pitch it within and without with pitch." The tablets tell of the preservation of animals and the storing of the ark with food for all. The memory of those who scoffed at Noah was preserved in the lines-

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The building of this ship which thou commandest
If it be made by me
Then will laugh at me the children of the people
and the old men
Each opened his mouth and spake to me, his
servant
If they laugh at thee, thou shalt say to them
Every one who has turned from me
Shall be punished for the protection of the gods is
over me.

So it goes on, describing the coming of the rain at the appointed time, the cessation of rain, the floating corpses, the sending out of the dove and raven, the setting of the rainbow, and the promise that there would not be another flood.

The fact that the generations of the sons of Noah were able to preserve such records of the great judgment against sin shows how great was their guilt in refusing to keep God in their knowledge and to learn the lesson which the flood was designed to teach. But out from amid a people who were thus turning the truth of God into a lie came Abraham, the Father of the Faithful. All knew enough to turn from their wicked ways, but he alone was willing to be counted as a friend of God.

"The Panorama of a Past Life" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

Those who have come very near death, as by drowning or otherwise, and have been rescued at the last moment, have frequently described the strange action of the mental faculties, by which the events of the past life were brought in review before the mind in an instant of time. Admiral Beaufort, who was almost drowned in Portsmouth Harbour, thus describes the experience:-

Thus travelling backwards every past incident of my life seemed to glance across my recollection in retrograde succession; not however in mere outline, as here stated, but the picture filled up with every minute collateral feature; in short, the whole period of my existence seemed to be placed before me in a kind of panoramic review, and each act of it seemed to be accompanied by a consciousness of right and wrong, or by some reflection on its cause or its consequences; indeed, many trifling events which had been long forgotten then crowded into my imagination, and with the character of recent familiarity.

What an illustration-though a feeble one-of that time when the secret things of the heart shall be revealed, when "every one of us shall give account of himself to God," even "for every idle word." "Their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another; in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men."

It is a glorious thing that we have an Advocate by whose righteousness the evil things of life may be blotted out of the records, and by whose power we may in this present life, now, "while it is called to-day," be kept in the way of righteousness. Not only are we to yield up every known sin, but we may pray, "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults."

"'The Holy Catholic Church'" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

There is a feeling of what might properly be called jealousy between the Church of Rome and other religious bodies over the possession of the name "Catholic." It is claimed again and again that the former body has no exclusive right to the name, and that by applying it to itself an injustice is done to other professed Christians. It may strike some as strange that a name which is contended for so strongly, as though there were some virtue in a name, is not found in the Bible at all; but that is the fact.

WHAT THE WORD MEANS

The word "Catholic" is formed from two Greek words meaning, literally "through the whole," or universal. According to the old canon, a Catholic is that quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditum est, that is, "what has been believed always and everywhere, and by all." A very little thought will suffice to show anyone that there has never been, and never can be, any such thing as a Catholic Church, and, least of all, a Christian Catholic Church.

There is not anything in the world that has always, or at any time, been believed by all the people. And from the very nature of man, there never can be such a time. There have been times when the great majority of the world held certain views in common, so much so that, roughly speaking, the belief in that thing was universal. But, nevertheless, there have always been some dissenters. So it will be in the future. Therefore, according to the definition, there can be no such thing as a Catholic Church.

THE BROAD WAY

But there has been, and will yet be, an approximation to a Catholic Church. Even that, however, is not a thing that is so desirable that people should boast of belonging to it. Let us see what the Scripture has to say about the belief of the majority. Christ says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. vii. 13, 14. Wherever, therefore, the great majority are found, there we may know is the way of death. Whoever would show that there can ever be such a thing as a Catholic Church, in the way of life, must first show that the Saviour's words are untrue. But if that were done, then there would be no truth at all in which the professed Catholic Church could walk, for Christ Himself is all the truth there is. The claim for a Christian Catholic Church is, therefore, a denial of Christ.

Christ did not say that few would find a way of life because He wanted it to be so, but because He knew men, and saw what they would do. Men are by nature the children of wrath. The gathering of them into one body of professors, whether by legal enactments or by their own profession, does not constitute them the children of God. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Rom. viii. 14. But as it has ever been, so will it still be, that the majority of men will resist the Holy Spirit. Thus it was in the days of Noah. When the flood came there were but eight persons in the whole world who feared the Lord. Thus it will be till the close of time; for "as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. xxiv. 37, 38.

LATTER DAY CONDITIONS

The Apostle John through the Spirit says, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one."1 John v. 19. The Apostle Paul wrote thus: "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." 2 Tim. iii. 12, 13. But this could not be if there were an universal Church of Christ, and it will be almost universal. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall comment. For men

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shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." 2 Tim. iii. 1-5.

That will be the condition of the "Catholic Church" of the last days. Not every one who professes to belong to the Catholic Church in these days bears the character there described. God has people everywhere, and He knows them. His call to them is to come out from the world and be separate. The danger is that many will be so carried away with the idea that there must be a "Catholic Church," that they will compromise with error, thinking that even though the majority of professors hold error, they must in time come out right. To warn some against that danger is the object of this article.

"Spiritual Realities" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

One of the most common mistakes that people make in their study of the Bible and of heavenly things, it is to make a contrast between spiritual and literal, or between spiritual and material. The idea is that a spiritual thing is not real. The fact is, however, that the most real things are those that are spiritual. "For the things that are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. iv. 18.

Spiritual things alone will endure throughout eternity. This natural body that we have can hold together but a few years, and is weak at its best. But the spiritual body, which will be given at the coming of the Lord and the resurrection, will endure to all eternity, and will always retain its strength and vigour. So the spiritual blessings that are given to us in Christ are real things. They are actual substance; and he who appropriates them by faith knows that they are much more substantial than the things that his eyes can see and his hands can handle.

The lack of vital experience that so many professed Christians exhibit, is largely due to this practice of considering spiritual things as unreal. The poor souls don't know what to look for and expect one may ask the Lord for His presence and blessing. Let them but realise that spiritual things are solid realities, and the joys of heaven will begin on earth.

"Moses' Choice" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt."

Was his choice a wise one? We know well how it must have appeared to the world-loving Egyptians at the time. Moses, with learning and culture, the highest positions the world could offer within his reach, turned from these prospects joining himself to a cause that was under reproach, and made himself one with a people in bondage, enduring penal servitude according to the laws of the land. "What fanaticism!" his highly placed friends must have exclaimed, as they saw him giving up a "sure thing" for such a cause.

To-day we look at the ruins of the land of Egypt, and may even look at the mummies of long-forgotten rulers in ancient Egypt, exhibited to the gaze of curious tourists in that land which has become the basest of kingdoms. Was Moses' choice a wise one? We think of his life of trial and leading a host of murmurers and fault-finders, but also of his unparalleled communion with God, as with a friend, face to face. And then, too, we think of him as he is now-for he was raised to life (Jude 9)-and as he appeared on the mount of transfiguration with Elijah who never died; and how small do the glories of Egypt, which he might have held for a few years, appear in contrast with the eternal glories which are his.

It is so always, but when Christ and His truth bring us to the choice now, how large seems a little fragment of this world's possessions or prospects, and how far off seems the Divine inheritance. It is because the devil blinds the eyes, and men do not believe the Lord. But the faith of Jesus in Moses' days led him to set the proper value upon this world, and the faith of Jesus now will lead every one who will accept it to make the same wise choice.

"Light and Life" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

One of the characteristics of light is that it may multiply itself indefinitely without diminishing itself in the least. A lighted candle may give light to a million candles, and yet its own light be just as bright. The sun supplies light and heat to this earth, and there is enough for all. Each individual gets as much benefit from the sun now as it was possible for anyone to get when the population of the earth was only half as great as it now is. The sun gives its whole strength to each person, and yet it has much heat and light as though it supplied no one.

Jesus Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, and the Light of the world. The light which He gives is His life. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." John i. 4. He says, "He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John viii. 12. His life He gives for the world. All who believe on Him receive His life, and are saved by it. Just as the light of the candle is not diminished although many others are lighted by it, so Christ's life is not diminished though He gives it to many. Each individual may have it all in its fulness.

"The Growth of Catholicism" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

Statistics do not represent the real growth of the influence of Catholicism in the world. The most significant signs of growth are seen in the rapidity with which Roman Catholic principles are dominating the professedly Protestant world. The activity of the manifold agents of the Church of Rome, marvellous as the system is in its workings, does not just now account for so much as the workings of the leaven of Catholic principles and traditions in the world at large, leading to the rejection of the Bible and the example of Christ as the Christian's pattern, substituting Church customs for the Word, and the power of courts and majorities for the power of the Lord.

These things are bringing the world again under the rule of Roman principles, and so far as the principle is concerned it matters nothing whether the one who enforces these principles is called priest or presbyter. The fact is established that the Papacy is again making all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her spiritual corruption.

However, according to the following figures, there has been a great growth in numbers also, during the last half-century, in those countries not distinctively Roman Catholic:-

"Monsignore Loubet, a French missionary, has recently published a book treating of the progress of Catholicism during the present century, which contains the following statistics: In 1850 there were scarcely 3,258,440 Catholics in all the Protestant European countries; there were 8,000,000 in Ireland, 6,000,000 in Germany, 6,500,000 in Poland, and 350,000 in Switzerland. In Turkey in Europe, Monsignore Loubet tells us that there were only 250,000 Catholics. There were 381,600 in Asiatic Turkey, 475,000 in the Indian Vicariate, 310,000 and Indo-China, 6,000 in Korea, 61,000 in the United States, 120,000 in Canada, 105,000 in the West Indies, 38,000 in Texas and California. The Catholics in England have now increased to 1,690,921. There are 1,626 more churches and 2,000 more Catholic schools than in 1850. Germany now counts 16,000,000, instead of only 6,000,000 and Holland 1,488,852, instead of 350,000. Switzerland now accounts 1,800,000, and Russia 2,882,891, the Caucasus 26,815, Siberia 24,316, and Central Asia 1,396 Catholics. In Persia and Asiatic Turkey Catholics increased from 400,000 to 659,690. There were 475,000 Catholics in India in 1890; to-day there are more than 1,692,937. Only five missions existed in China in 1800; there are now thirty-eight, and 576,440 faithful. The United States shows a return of 7,977,778 Catholics in 1890, and Canada 2,000,000."

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

-The wheat harvest in England is estimated to be 22,000,000 bushels below last year.

-Turkey appeals to the Powers to support it in putting down the Macedonian uprising.

-Thousands of hop-pickers are busy in Kent just now. The fields are crowded with workers.

-The activity of the Anarchists in Paris lately shows that executions do not deter them from this mad warfare against society.

-A Parliamentary committee has been appointed to supervise the construction of a railway from the East Coast to Uganda.

-It is not good news that India is increasing its output of home-brewed beer; 55 per cent, of it is used by the troops, and 45 by civilians.

-The bad feelings between Hindus and Mohammedans in India led to a riot in Bombay last week, in which a number were killed by a volley from the police.

-The Kurds who have been oppressing Armenians had a now experience lost week. Turkish troops attacked a band of thorn, driving them from the Armenian district which they were pillaging.

-The fruit harvest has been a good one, and in Cambridgeshire especially greengages have been plentiful. Tomatoes are more plentiful in the markets than usual. Some come from so far as Tasmania.

-The insurgents in Formosa still resist the Japanese, and even women are said to fight. So stubborn a resistance has embittered the Japanese, who now grant no quarter to the foe, sparing neither women nor children.

-The German Government is renewing its effort to stifle the Socialist opposition. The Socialist organs have criticised the celebrations commemorative of the Franco-Prussian war, and attacked the memory of the first Emperor William.

-Yet another explosive wash is to "revolutionise war." A Frenchman has invented an article by which it is claimed each man can carry 240 rounds of ammunition without being over-weighted, and the explosive force is higher than cordite or mÈlinite.

-The discussion of the occupation of Chitral in the House last week showed that on both aides the opinion was that the Indian frontier still presents sufficient difficulties to make war possible at any time. Russia continues threatening, and the loyalty of the tribes to the Indian Government is very uncertain.

-The final settlements of the Chino-Japanese war are not yet entirely closed. Russia and France still press Japan to withdraw from China, and Japan holds out for a greater indemnity than those Powers wish to see granted. Germany is still wavering between supporting Russia or Japan in the matter, and the Japanese are supposed to be looking toward the support of Great Britain.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

The Catholic party in the German Reichstag holds 100 seats, and knows well how to use them in Catholic interests.

It is possible to "believe a lie," but it is not possible to have faith in an untruth. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. x. 17), and without the hearing of the Word there can be no faith.

China's largest province, Kan Su, is in the throes of an insurrection. The Imperial troops have been routed, and the opposition to foreign influence is venting itself freely upon native Christians. The expediency of inviting Russian aid is being discussed in Pekin.

One of our Australian workers, who has been spending some time on Thursday Island, the pearl-fishing station, says that there one meets Japanese, Javnese, Chinese, Cingalese, Siamese, Syrians, Malays, Frijians, New Guinea boys, Kanakas, and Manila men, besides the nationalities ordinarily met with in the colonies.

Those critics who dissect and set at naught the writings of Moses and the prophets and so profess to believe in Christ, forget that all that the prophets wrote was the voice of "the Spirit of Christ which was in them." 1 Peter i. 11. So Jesus said of Moses, "If ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" John v. 47. Those writings are His words.

Whenever an ecclesiastical appointment is to be made it is pitiful and fairly astonishing to read the threats and prayers by which one portion of the Church of England press tries to move the Prime Minister to "do Evangelicals a good turn." Yet somehow the Sacerdotalists get most of the appointments. But by what right do these papers claim to speak for a free Gospel while parties to an arrangement which makes the offices of the church subject to mere politicians, who may or may not be even professing Christians?

The eleventh of Hebrews speaks of those "who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions." We may not have to face lions, but the faith that stop the lions' mouths is needed every day to work righteousness and obtain promises. It requires just as much faith to trust God and obey Him on the bare promise of His word, when everything appears hopeless, as to work those deeds which are commonly regarded as wonderful.

"Inconceivable" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

Inconceivable.-Sometimes we hear men speak of certain things contained in the Bible as inconceivable. Again, we hear those who are combating certain forms of error in regard to the work of God, say that such things are inconceivable. "We cannot conceive of God's doing such things," they say. All this may be so, and yet it does not affect the case in the least, one way or the other. The works and ways of God are not to be measured by man's finite conception. Let us beware of putting our ignorance as a substitute for the knowledge of God.

"Deprived of the Bible" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

Deprived of the Bible.-One of our workers in British Guiana writes of a visit to a Leper Asylum there by invitation of three inmates who, by reading our literature, had accepted the truths advocated. There is great rivalry between Presbyterians and Catholics who have charge of the religious instruction among the lepers. Both however unite against the truth, and regard the Bible as unsafe in the hands of one who believes and follows its teaching.

While conversing with the three Sabbath-keepers, I learned that the minister had warned the rest against them, and that the Bible had been taken away from them. They evidently consider the Bible a dangerous thing in the hands of Sabbath-keepers. Three individuals come together every Friday evening for prayer and study, and also upon the Sabbath.

"Russian Quakers" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

Russian Quakers.-The Chronicle gives an account of the persecution of a colony of Christians, a kind of Quakers, in Transcaucasia. They refused to serve in the army, and a mock execution was devised to terrify them. But this failed, and then Cossacks charged a company of them repeatedly, killing some. No resistance was offered, and finally scores of them were flogged, the operation lasting six days, after which many families were banished, no one knows where. The report says:-

The unpleasant thing for the Government is that there was no meeting, no riot-nothing which a commander can put down with a troop of Cossacks. There is only something which one cannot shoot or hang-the eternal living Spirit of Christ.

And how helpless all the powers of earth are in the face of that Spirit. Let it be remembered that the authorities are only maintaining the law. But as Christians these people refuse to go in training to kill their fellow-men, while the commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill."

"The School Question" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

The School Question.-Those who are after public money for denominational schools are confident and active. Cardinal Vaughan declared recently that Catholic schools were very certain of having justice done them. Of this the Christian says:-

The "justice" he means is the privilege to use public money for teaching Romanist dogmas; and the same is desired by the Sacerdotalists of the Church of England. Would this be just to Protestants? If the principle be conceded we shall indeed have a dark day in England.

And the dark day has been hastened by the inconsistent position of Protestants who demand that public money shall be used to teach religion, drawing the line only at what they call the dogmatic teaching of the Sacerdotalists and Romanists. Cannot every one see that this concedes the very principle? And when those who wish to go only as far as pleases them are unable to keep the Government from going far enough to please the more advanced party, they are merely beaten at their own game.

"Strange but True" The Present Truth 11, 37.

E. J. Waggoner

Strange but True.-The New York Christian Advocate, doubtless the most widely circulated Methodist journal, speaking of the motley company in the Brooklyn Penitentiary, says:-

In that prison there are but ten or twelve bank presidents, besides bookkeepers and cashiers, some of them alumni of colleges. Prominent members of Christian churches of almost every denomination are there. . . . These people would not be there if they had kept the Ten Commandments.

There are now no Seventh-day Adventists there, but-it is strange but true-it is extremely probable that before long some of our brethren in New York will be in this prison for keeping the Ten Commandments. Sabbath-keepers are serving terms in other States for loyalty to the fourth commandment; and unless the Advocate changes its policy, it will utter no protest when it comes to this in New York.

September 19, 1895

"Interpretation" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

Interpretation.-To interpret means to explain what is unintelligible,-to put that which is vague and mysterious into plain language.

The Bible Plain.-But the Bible does not stand in need of this. It is simple and plain to those who are simple enough to believe just what it says, without trying to make it fit their ideas.

Light.-David said, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. cxix. 105. A light is for the purpose of making other things clear; but a light which could not be seen without the aid of another light, would not be much of a light.

All Light.-Even the most difficult portions of the Bible are for the purpose of giving light. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." 2 Pet. i. 19. "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Matt. xi. 25.

The Difficulty.-How is it, then, that people find such difficulty in understanding the Bible? It is because there is a settled conviction in the minds of most people that the Bible does not mean what it says. Accordingly people will go everywhere except to the Bible, to find out the meaning of the Bible. They get from some source or other an idea of what the Bible means, and then try to fit the language of the Bible to that idea. This makes necessary a "system of interpretation;" and as different classes of people have different ideas, so there are different systems of interpretation, and all tend to obscure the light.

Teachers.-Is there, then, no need of teachers? Indeed there is. The gift of teaching is third in order of the gifts of Christ, and is above the gift of working miracles. See 1 Cor. xii. 28. But remember that it is a gift of the Spirit. Teaching the Bible properly does not consist in "interpreting" it by human wisdom, but in "comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Cor. ii. 12, 13), by the aid of the Spirit, whose office it is to guide into all truth. John xvi. 13.

Example of Christ.-Jesus, the great Teacher, who was anointed with the Holy Spirit for the purpose of preaching the Gospel to the poor, occupied His time in directing the minds of the people to the Word. They could not understand it because they had glossed over so much with human speculation and tradition. See Matt. xv. 3, 6-9; John v. 46, 47.

The Walk to Emmaus.-When He walked with the two disciples to Emmaus, "He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke xxiv. 27. That is, as they had been slow of heart to believe, He set the Scriptures so plainly before them that they could not help seeing them as they were, and, referring to the matter, they said, "Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?" Verse 32.

The Opened Word.-That is what is wanted. Let the Scriptures be opened. "The opening of Thy words giveth light." Ps. cxix. 130. For they themselves are light. "It giveth understanding to the simple." What is necessary is that we should consider what the Lord says, and He will give us "understanding in all things." 2 Tim. ii. 7.

Rest on the Word.-Before the crucifixion Jesus had told the disciples these things. He had spoken plainly of His coming decease. But the difficulty was that they did not listen to what He said. Their thoughts were on their own plans, their own ideas as to how it ought to be, and notwithstanding the plainest statements, they

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did not hear what He told them. Now, when the Lord had been removed from their sight, and they failed to recognise Him on the walk to Emmaus, He directed their minds to the Word, and they saw what they could not see before because they listened to it without preconceived opinions and plans of their own. It is evident that "their eyes were holden that they should not know Him" in order that their faith might rest on the Scriptures alone, and that having found Christ and His life in the Word their faith might stand when His visible presence was removed from them.

"'Good Things'" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

Sometimes people get discouraged because they do not receive from the Lord the things they think they need. But nearly every one knows what it is to think they need a certain thing at one time, and then to find later that it was a good thing they did not get what they desired at first.

The Lord wants to give us good things. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him." When we ask in our ignorance for the stone or the scorpion, our heavenly Parent does not give us the evil thing, and afterwards we always find that He knew best. It will save as much fretting and discontent if we remember that all the time He is giving us only the good things.

"Substituting Mars for Jehovah" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

In the fiftieth Psalm, which is a psalm of the second advent, the Lord finds fault with men because, as He says, "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself." It has always been the trouble with men. It is because fallen nature substitutes self for God, and the desires and hatreds and strifes of the natural heart are taken as movings of the will of the Lord Himself.

So when nations quarrel, as when individuals quarrel, it is natural for each to claim the Lord as an ally, and we have the spectacle of two professedly "Christian" nations, each thirsting for the other's blood, and chaplains on each side praying to the same God for victory. Could anything show more clearly the utter heathenism of war?

Germany has been celebrating, with religious ceremonies, her victories over her enemies, French pulpits have resounded with the praise of those who fought to repel the German army. Speaking of a service in Notre Dame, a Catholic paper says:-

To say that he preached would be hardly correct, for what he delivered was an "allocution" on the battle of Gravelotte. The enthusiasm with which he described the events of the day would, considering the place, seem strange indeed elsewhere than in France where military heroes are made to wear almost a halo of sanctity.

Thus war is made religion, and in these three countries the follower of Christ who refuses to worship at the shrine of Mars, the god of war, is punished as a criminal. So completely has Satan persuaded the greater part of mankind that God is such an one as themselves.

"Self-salvation" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

The Catholic religion, as every religion of human nature, rests on self-justification. And as it is the effort of men to save themselves, very naturally there follows the idea of punishing self for its failures and misdeeds. In modern times the zealous believer in the doctrine is ready to go as far apparently as in the medi?val days. Even outside the Roman Catholic fold-though really inside it in all but name-among Anglo-Catholics, there is such a demand for instruments of self-torture as to furnish a steady employment to the nuns in a French convent, who manufacture the articles.

A London magazine gives pictures of some of these instruments in use amongst Ritualists of the Church of England. Here are some descriptions, and a price-list:-

For self-flagellation you may buy a "discipline" for 4s. 6d. or more, according to the number of knotted thongs, or you can get the same thing in knotted steel, with which you may drench your back with blood. You can have a wristlet for 1s. 6d., or 2s. 6d., or an anklet for 10s. 6d. large enough to wrap round any part of your leg, or a cincture which will enwrap your waist for 16s. These are made of steel wire, and at the intersections of the links there are sharp-hooked steel points for the tearing of your skin at every movement of wrist, or leg, or body. Hair shirts can also be had at various prices.

This is the logical end of the effort to get good out of an evil heart. How it emphasises the Gospel, with its power to change the heart and mould the life, as we contrast it with the substitute, which by punishment tries to make the evil bring forth good. And the logic of the doctrine leads directly to the Inquisition, with its scheme for making men religious by punishing them. "With His stripes we are healed," and not by stripes upon our sinful, helpless flesh; and His is the one who alone has "power over all flesh."

"Sabbath Traditions in Ancient Babylonia" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

Amongst the tablets dug up in the East showing the descendants of Noah preserved traditions of the creation and the deluge, there are records, also, showing that the knowledge of the institution of the Sabbath had not been entirely lost by the great nations of antiquity, although the world lapsed into the darkest idolatry within a few years of Noah's day. Mr. Boscawen, in his "Bible and the monuments," just published, gives the following translation of one of the most ancient Babylonian calendar tablets, supposed to be as old as the days of Abraham:

The seventh day is a resting day to Merodach and Zarpanit, a holy day, a Sabbath. The shepherd of mighty nations must not keep flesh cooked at the fire or in smoke. His clothes he changes not. A washing he must not make. He must not offer sacrifice. The king must not drive in his chariot. He must not issue royal decrees. In a secret place the augur a muttering makes not. Medicine for the sickness of his body one must not apply. For making a curse it is not fit. In the night the king makes his free-will offering before Merodach and Istar. Sacrifice he slays. The lifting of his hand finds favour with his god.

This is interesting merely as a mark of the progress made at that early time in forgetting the Lord and the Sabbath, and changing "the truth of God into a lie." Rom. i. 25. When the descendants of Noah who knew God refused to retain Him in their knowledge (Rom. i. 28) they also willfuly forgot the Sabbath, which is the sign of the true God.

"Some Sabbath Miracles" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

The reason why we have the record of so many of the miracles of Jesus, is thus given: "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." John xx. 30, 31.

In the teaching of Jesus and the apostles we are told the way of life; but in the miracles which God wrought by them we have visible manifestations of the reality of the life, and of its power. There is not a spiritual truth set forth in the Epistles, that does not find an illustration in some of the miracles performed in the bodies of men.

God gave to Jesus "power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life" to all who come to Him. By the power which He had to deliver the bodies of men from disease, He showed power to release their souls from sin. "For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then He saith to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men." Matt. ix. 5-8.

Some of the most striking of the miracles of Jesus were done on the Sabbath day, and to a few of these we wish to call special attention. First we read the story of the healing of

THE MAN WITH A WITHERED HAND

"And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that He entered into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him, whether He would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against Him. But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, He said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so; and his hand was restored whole as the other." Luke vi. 6-10.

The right hand is one of the most necessary parts of the body, especially to the labouring man. Very difficult indeed would be to work with the right hand hanging useless at the side, and many kinds of work would be impossible. What Jesus did was to give that man power to work. The man stretched forth his hand in faith, and was made strong to work, thus illustrating the words of Jesus, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." John vi. 29.

THE MAN BLIND FROM BIRTH

"And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing." "And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." John ix. 1-7, 14.

By this miracle Christ gave a visible proof of the fact that He is the light of the world. The blind beggar listened to the words of Christ, and so received his sight. From this we may know the truthfulness of Christ assertion: "I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness,

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but shall have the light of life." John viii. 12. When the blind man's eyes were opened he was able to see the light of the sun, but nevertheless Christ was his light, showing that the light which the sun in the firmament sheds upon the earth is only the light which it has received from the Sun of Righteousness.

We cannot see Christ, and it is impossible for our minds to comprehend how His life can be given to us, so that we may have eternal life and righteousness; but we do know the fact that the sun gives light to the earth, and that in its light there is life; and since in the miracles of giving sight to the blind we have the evidence that this light and life come from Christ, we may in like manner know the fact that He can impart to us His life of righteousness. It is just as easy to believe in Christ as the Saviour from sin and death, as it is to believe in the sun as the cause of life and fruitfulness to the earth.

Sin is darkness. The hearts of men became darkened when they did not glorify God as God. Rom. i. 21. They had "the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God." Eph. iv. 18. Christ gives the light of life, so that just as He gave sight to the blind, He takes away the darkness of sin from all who accept Him in truth.

HEALING THE INFIRM WOMAN

"And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? And when He had said these things, all His adversaries were ashamed; and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him." Luke xiii. 10-17.

This woman had been bound by Satan. The loosing of her, therefore, was a striking illustration of Christ power to free from sin; for "whosoever committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin" (John viii. 34), and "is of the devil" (1 John iii. 8); and "of whom a man is overcome, of the same is He brought in bondage." 2 Peter ii. 19.

The woman could not lift herself up. So every sinner may truly say, "Mine inquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up." Ps. xl. 12. But the same sinner, seeing the power of Christ on the infirm woman, may also say, "Thou, Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head." Ps. iii. 3.

The woman "had a spirit of infirmity." Christ had compassion on her and healed her. So we may know that "we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Heb. iv. 15), and we may also know that His sympathy is of a practical kind. In this miracle and the one preceding, we have a blessed illustration of the power that is in Christ to open the eyes of men, "and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan and to God."

THE IMPOTENT MAN HEALED

"After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered. . . . And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool; but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked; and on the same day was the Sabbath. . . . And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." John v. 1-17.

The man had no strength. Moreover, it was sin that had reduced him to that condition, as we learn from Christ's words to him, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." Verse 14. This is a practical lesson for us, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Rom. v. 6. We have no power, but He is able to strengthen us with might by His Spirit.

WHY DONE ON THE SABBATH?

It will be observed that the fact that these miracles were done on the Sabbath is specially noted. Take notice also that in none of them was the need so urgent that the healing might not have been deferred another day. The blind man could have waited another day without special inconvenience. The man who lay by the pool was not in such imminent danger that he must necessarily be healed immediately. So also in the other cases, their infirmities were not immediately endangering their lives. Besides, none of them were expecting to be healed, so that they would not have suffered any disappointment if Jesus had said nothing to them until the Sabbath was past.

But Jesus did not delay an hour. Moreover He healed them on the Sabbath day, knowing full well that it would offend the Pharisees, and increase their hatred for Him. These things show that He had a special object in doing these miracles on the Sabbath day, and that the Holy Spirit had a purpose in calling our attention specially to the day in which they were performed. What was that object?

The answer is easy. We may dismiss at once the supposition that Jesus acted in a spirit of bravado, to show His contempt for the Pharisees, or that He would unnecessarily stir up their hatred towards Him. The miracles were done for the same purpose that they were recorded, "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name."

Neither did Jesus do these miracles out of disrespect to the Sabbath day, for He kept all the commandments. Some have the mistaken idea that Jesus did them to show that the Sabbath may be broken in case of necessity. But Jesus did not break the Sabbath, although the Jews falsely accused Him of so doing. It is never necessary to break the Sabbath, but Jesus Himself said, "It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." Matt. xii. 12.

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We learn therefore that Jesus, instead of breaking the Sabbath, as the blind Pharisees suppose, was showing its true meaning. True, He worked upon it, but how?-It was by His Word. Ever since the creation of the world, when the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host, and "God did rest the seventh day from all His works," He has still continued to work by the Word of His power, which upholds all things.

God gave the Sabbath that we might know that He is the God that sanctifies us. Eze. xx. 12. So in performing those miracles on the Sabbath day, Jesus were showing that the Sabbath is to free man from bondage, and not to be a bondage to them. It commemorates creative power, by which all who believe are made new creatures in Christ. "For we which have believed do enter into rest," even God's rest.

God rested when He had finished His work. He rested upon His Word of power. So we find rest through work,-not our work but God's work. "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." John vi. 29. But believing, as we have seen, gives us rest. The work of God gives us rest from sin, for we triumph in the work of His hands. Ps. xcii. 4.

So by these miracles Christ teaches us that the Sabbath, even the day which the Jews held as the Sabbath, but which they did not keep according to God's commandment, is the crowning glory of the Gospel. Kept as God has given it to us, it enables us to see Christ as both Redeemer and Creator,-as Redeemer because He is Creator. The Sabbath of the Lord-the memorial of creation-reminds us of the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth. It reveals to us, as nothing else can, Christ as the anointed by the Holy Spirit "to preach the Gospel to the poor;" "to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke iv. 18, 19.

"Struggles of the Blacks" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

No more pitiful picture can be presented than that of native tribes who, because their territory is desirable, find themselves slowly and surely going down before the vices and intemperance of the white races. Chief Khama, of Bechuanaland, is now in England petitioning that his country may not be handed over to the Chartered Company, of South Africa. For many years he has fought the drink traffic which he saw ruining other tribes, and he pleads that his work may not be defeated now "simply because their skins are black." His petition is touchingly simple and direct:-

"Your petitioners have heard that you are about to hand their country over to others because it costs you too much money to protect it. They see that you have spent much money in maintaining soldiers, who have done harm and not good in their country; and they would point out that no quarrels or disorderliness has ever occurred in their tribe to call for the interference of the soldiers. . . . Your petitioners do not know much about the Chartered Company, except that it does not protect the natives from the white man's liquor, but your petitioners have heard much of the injustice and oppression which the Chartered Company inflict upon the tribes who live in the north; and your petitioners fear very much lest they should be killed and eaten by the company. For your petitioners see that the company does not love black people; it loves only to take the country of the black people and sell it to others that it may see gain. Your petitioners have already given the company the right to dig for minerals in their country, and they say, 'Let the company be satisfied with minerals, and, as for us, let us continue to be the children of the Great Queen.'"

"When Jericho Fell" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

When the spies entered Jericho they were protected by Rahab, the harlot, whose house was on the wall of the city. Rahab, wicked woman as she was, had heard of the wonderful march of Israel, and knew God was with them. All the inhabitants of Jericho found their hearts melting for fear, but only this woman was willing to allow that God was "God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." Joshua ii. 11. She accepted the ray of light that came to her, and turned her face toward the Lord.

What was the result? When the walls of Jericho fell down flat-and remember that "her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall"-Rahab's house was preserved, with all her kindred. The Lord watched over the doomed city of Jericho, and saved out of it the one woman who was willing to be saved, with her kindred. He knows, then, in every crowded city, and in all the world, as it is rushing on to the great day of destruction, every heart that is turning toward Him, and longing for something better than the service of self. He has the power to save very such heart from destruction. He can hold us up when all about us is falling if we abide in the refuge of His Word.

In Rahab's case we have the story of a great sinner who had but little light; but she accepted what she did see and trusted the Lord, and found Him the Friend of sinners indeed.

"Items of Interest The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Shahzada of Afghanistan is making the pilgrimage to Mecca, while on his way home.

-Russian railways are introducing naphtha as fuel for locomotives instead of coal, and it is said to answer the purpose excellently.

-The inquiry into the missionary massacres in China is being obstructed by the officials. In Wenchow the British consul was stoned by a mob last week.

-France is engaged in its annual army man?uvres with about 120,000 men under arms, rather more than Germany has just had in the field for its yearly drill.

-The war against Socialism continues in Germany. Several editors are under arrest, and papers have been confiscated for remarks derogatory to the Emperor.

-A well informed press correspondent who is in Cuba declares that the rebels have had the best of it so far, and that Spain can retain the island only by granting a complete measure of self-government.

-Six persons lost their lives, and 150 cattle were buried by an avalanche in Switzerland a week ago. Over a million and a half cubic yards of ice and boulders are estimated to have fallen 10,000 feet into the valley.

-A despatch from Australia last week said that owing to the long continued drought, which is of a very severe character, the Government of New South Wales had ordered last Sunday to be observed as a day of humiliation and prayer.

-One has to stop to think a moment in order to satisfy himself that the great railway industry of the world has sprung up within the lifetime of a man. Last week the oldest engine-driver in the country died in a London hospital. He had been the driver of the "Rocket," Stephenson's first invention.

-"I have lost my interest in politics," said Bismarck recently. "What is far more important to me now is the weather and the harvest. I occupy my time now with agriculture. That is a far more grateful employment than politics. In politics ingratitude is the rule; in agriculture it is the exception."

-It is wonderful how small the world is getting to be. A few weeks ago Brazil was excited over the occupation of a little uninhabited island in the South Atlantic by Great Britain, and recently the French papers have talked strongly about the rumoured raising of the British flag on a pile of rocks near the Channel Islands.

-The evening schools conducted by the Board Schools in London began their fourteenth session this week. Nearly 50,000 pupils were enrolled last session, which shows how great benefit the evening classes are to those who can attend. Classes in cookery, dress-cutting, and laundry work are arranged for women and girls, and classes for instruction in woodwork for men and boys, in addition to the usual course of instruction.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

The Sunday visits of the Factory Inspector to our printing works still continue regularly, and when next the case is brought into court a larger number of indictments will be presented than at any previous trial.

Last week a party of four adults sailed from Liverpool to reinforce the work of our Society in the West Coast of Africa. Another party sailed from the same port for South America to increase the labouring forces in Argentina and Chile.

The Herold der Warheit, the organ of our German work in Europe, comes to us this week from Hamburg. It was formerly printed in Basel, Switzerland, but owing to the operation of the Swiss Sunday laws its publication has been transferred to Hamburg, the headquarters of the work in Germany.

The lines of Sunday legislation have been drawn so closely in Austria that bakers and tradesmen, and workers generally are agitating against compulsory Sunday-keeping. They do not want the "protection" which the Clerical party forces upon them. The public are said to sympathise with the revolt.

The Roman Catholic order of the "Sacred Heart," devoted to the education of girls of higher classes, possesses personal property to the value of ?4,000,000. It would be interesting to know how much of this wealth has come through daughters of professed Protestants whose parents thought the kind of school to which they sent their children was a matter of little importance.

At the Clifton Catholic Congress it was made very plain that help for Catholic schools would be demanded from the public funds, and objectors will be met with the report that rates already go to schools which give religious instruction.

The increased frequency of the earthquake ought to remind men of the world that something more stable and secure than this earth is needed to trust in. Old earth is groaning under the curse which has been devouring it for six thousand years. By the Word we know that these things must increase in frequency until the last great shaking which brings the "great day of His wrath."

Early in this month the Central American State of Honduras was the scene of an earthquake by which some hundreds of people lost their lives. The Chronicle says of it:-

Imagination finds it hard to picture the horrors of the earthquake in Honduras. Shocks extending over three days, a roar as of a heavy cannonade, a stream of burning lava engulfing cattle and men and houses, a pillar of flame in the mountains, and towns rocked like cradles-these were the dread accompaniments of the visitation. "Then shrieked the timid and stood still the brave," wrote Byron in describing the last moment of a shipwreck. But death, coming in such a form as at Yotapan, might well o'ercome the stoutest heart.

"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me." Man can rob God by withholding tithes and offerings, by refusing to yield up the sins which Christ has purchased, or to give the service which is due from one who has been redeemed with a great price. And man can rob God by taking the day which God has reserved as His own-"My holy day"-and turning it to his own use.

Think what must be the character of a religious institution when preachers tire of attaining their end by moral suasion, and by successful combination secure the services of the police to force men to pay regard to it. This is the character which the Sunday institution is given by the New York Independent, the leading religious journal of America, which says: "We believe that the cause of Sunday rest is gaining immensely by the activity of our police in enforcing Sunday laws."

"Chinese Calendars" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

Chinese Calendars.-When missionaries go to China and place the Bible in the hands of the people, telling them to follow it and the example of Christ they have no ground for complaint if the Chinese do follow it instead of the customs by which the Word is made void, and keep the seventh day as God commands. One of the "difficulties" which those meet who do not follow the Word is thus alluded to by Dr. G. E. Morrison, of Scotland, as quoted in one of the Birmingham daily newspapers:-

Difficulties are inevitable, and success must be retarded where missions are working, as they are in China, not in a "band," but with little apparent concord and often at complete variance. Let me give an instance-trivial, no doubt, but instructive. It came to my notice on the last occasion on which I had the pleasure of travelling in the company of missionaries in China. My companions were two most excellent, worthy men, members of that American Protestant Mission which somewhat arrogantly styles itself "The Christian Mission." We were selling Chinese illustrated wall calendars printed with appropriate Scriptural texts. We were fairly successful. We would have been more successful, the missionaries explained, had it not happened that a week before a missionary brother from Shanghai, of the Seventh-day Adventists, had gone over the same ground-in the province of Chah Kiana, from Shanghai to Soochow-also selling Scriptural wall calendars. Our calendars marked the Sabbath on the usual day. The rival calendars represented the Sabbath on a totally different day. And the unhappy Chinese who bought the foreign goods are, I understand, still puzzled as to which were the honest vendors, the Seventh-day Adventist or "The Christians."

"Springing up in India" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

Springing up in India.-A worker in India writes that an organisation has been formed there to secure, by legislation and other means, the observance of Sunday amongst "Christians and non-Christians." The whole world is to be urged to honour the Papacy in this way, and that is why the warning against this recognition of the power of the Papacy to change God's law is sent to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." Rev. xiv. 6-12.

"A Present Experience" The Present Truth 11, 38.

E. J. Waggoner

A Present Experience.-"Whosoever believeth. . . is born of God." It is always a present experience. When one is not believing he is not born of God. The new life is a constant springing up of the life of God, and believing is simply the receiving of the life. Sometimes people are troubled to know whether they were really converted at some time in the past. That can make no difference in the present. Do you believe the Lord now? To believe is to build on the Word of the Lord.

September 26, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

"All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. vii. 12.

Here is a portion of Scripture with which everybody agrees, in theory. It is hardly possible that any man, no matter how opposed to Christianity, has ever found fault with this precept. However far men are from obeying it, they all agree that it is the correct principle, and that it would be a grand thing for the world if it were universally followed.

Every schoolboy knows that it "isn't fair" for one to be seeking or even quietly accepting favours from others, which he is not willing to return. The man or boy who seeks all good things for himself, and is not willing to do as well by anybody else, is voted "mean." Now it is a fact that nobody in the world likes to be ill-treated. People can endure it, but nobody would prefer to be ill-used. Therefore the person who does not do the good to others that he would like to receive from them, is not acting with common fairness.

Read the words once more: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." It is not that we should do to others as we can endure that they should do to us, nor even as we may be willing that they should do, but that we should do to them what we should like to have them do to us-what we are anxious to have done to us. And this not only to one man, but to everybody.

Recall the fact already noted, that this is universally admitted to be just and right; as being only common fairness. Now note the Saviour's comment upon the rule: "for this is the law and the prophets." That is, it includes all that the Scriptures require; it is Christianity. The man who does to everybody just what he would like to have everybody do to him, is a Christian. But since it is admitted that not to do so is not fair, it follows that the man who is not a Christian is not acting with common fairness.

The Scriptures tell us that to serve the Lord is but our "reasonable service." Rom. xii. 1. The most reasonable thing in the world is to be a Christian, a follower of Him "who went about doing good." Acts x. 38. The one who does to all as he would like them to do to him, is a Christian; "for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Gal. v. 14.

This does not exclude love to God, but grows out of it, because "love is of God." Only by the love of God can we love one another. 1 John iv. 7. And this indicates how we may do that which is seemingly impossible, namely, love our neighbour as ourselves. Christ went about doing good, because "God was with Him." He gives freely His Holy Spirit, and all "good things" to those who ask Him, and "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Rom. v. 5.

And this shows why the "golden rule" is introduced by the word "therefore." The Saviour had just been saying that if we ask we shall receive, and had shown how willing our heavenly Father is to give "good things," even the Holy Spirit, to those who ask Him. Matt. vii. 9-11; Luke xi. 11-13. Parents give food and clothing to their children without being asked. So God does good, and sends rain from heaven (Acts xix. 17) "on the just and on the unjust," and makes His sun "to shine on the evil and on the good." Matt. v. 45. The free gift of God to us are ample reason why we should do good to our fellow-men (See Matt. xviii. 23-35); how much more, then, do they demand our service to Him from whom every good and perfect gift comes.

"Doing God's Work" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

The work of preaching the Gospel, by whatever means, is very properly called the work of the Lord. People who engage in Gospel work are said to be engaged in the Lord's work. How often do we think what that means? Because the force of the expression is so much lost sight of, a great deal of work is not the work of the Lord at all. Only the Lord Himself can do the Lord's work. Jesus said of Himself, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." John iv. 34. But He also said, "The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." And again, "I can of Mine own self do nothing." John v. 30. How much more, then must this be true of us?

Suppose a man goes to work in his own strength, and calls what he does the work of the Lord; what is he really claiming for himself? Simply this, that he represents God on earth; that he himself is capable of doing as well as God Himself. That is the spirit of the Papacy. It is the beginning

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of the manifestation of "that man of sin, who. . . sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God." The difference between him and the Pope of Rome is only one of degree. It is not meant that all who do work in their own strength are consciously acting the part of the Pope. They think that they are doing the work of the Lord. Even so it was with the Papacy in its beginning. Men were deceived then, and the same deception works to-day. None of us are so safe from the possibility of being thus deceived that we do not need to be sharply reminded of our danger. Let God do the work in us, and let Him have the glory.

"The Wars of Israel" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

When the wickedness of war is pointed out, and it is shown by the precepts of Christ that Christians can have nothing to do in settling the quarrels of the powers of the world, it is often urged that the wars of the children of Israel constitute a justification of war.

But the wars of Israel were not personal or national quarrels. The Lord was casting out the inhabitants of Canaan for their iniquity and destroying them, as He will destroy all the nations of this world at His second coming. Death did not come, as in modern warfare, to innocent and guilty alike, to men in sin cut off from all chance of a possible future repentance. The Lord sent Abraham's seed into Egypt to wait for four generations for the time of possessing the land, because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full. Gen. xv. 16. Not until the wicked inhabitants have rejected every offer of mercy, and the Lord could do nothing more for them, did He "drive them out;" and the Lord did it, who knew the hearts of all.

When the Israelites came to a city, they were first to "proclaim peace unto it," and in the case of Rahab, in Jericho, we see how the Lord interposed to save even one of the wicked inhabitants of the city when she was willing to accept His salvation. Thus not one soul who would by any means be saved was allowed to be destroyed. The Judge of all the earth, who can do no wrong, was using Israel as an instrument of His judgments against sin, even as He will use the elements and the brightness of His glory and the armies of heaven when He comes the second time to destroy sin and sinners from the earth.

He reads carelessly who makes the Lord responsible for all that Israel did, and many things the Lord suffered them to do because of the hardness of their hearts. But the fact that the Lord destroyed Sodom by fire does not justify a man or a nation in venting hatred against an enemy by firing his house or a city. God is no respecter of persons or of nations, and when the nations quarrel, just as persons do, over a bit of land or about their rights, filling the earth with violence, it matters not whether it is China and Japan, or Germany and France, the slaughter is alike pagan and Satanic.

All "the kings of the earth and their armies," when the Lord comes will be "gathered together to make war against Him." Rev. xix. 19. There will be no Christians in those ranks, and now, while Satan is stirring up strife and urging the powers of this world on to the "battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Rev. xvi. 14), it is high time that Christians should recognise the fact that their "citizenship is in heaven," and that their service is due to that "better country, that is an heavenly." Where the peace of God rules in the heart there must be peace.

"The 'Religious Life'" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

"All English Catholics are agreed that the revival of the religious life for man in the Church of England is most desirable."

Thus writes a "priest" of the Church of England, to the Church Times. The statement will be assented to by very many people who are not "Catholics" of any kind, and who are not even Churchmen. Indeed, we should go much further, and say that the revival of the religious life is most desirable, not only for men, but also for women, and not only in the Church of England, but in every denomination.

But we read further, and find that the "religious life" to which the writer to the Times refers is a religious life of a special kind. He signs himself as head of the "Brotherhood of St. Paul," and says: "I have now three or four promising men waiting for reception into the Novitiate, but am unable to receive them, simply because I have only a very small roof to shelter those already with me, and can take no more men until I have more accommodation; ?250 will enable me to build cells for nine novices." So we find that this "religious life," the revival of which is thought so desirable, is simply the revival of monkery.

Now without saying a word against the character of monks themselves, or of any order of monks, and even admitting that they are sincere and honest, and wholly engaged in works of charity, the fact still remains that the evils wrought by such orders is infinitely greater than all the good they can possibly do.

How so? Simply because they give the people in general utterly false ideas as to what constitutes a religious life. A false standard of religion is raised. The idea is given that in order to live a religious life one must withdraw from ordinary business and from family and social relations, living wholly apart from the rest of mankind, except when he meets them in the discharge of the duties of his order.

It is evident that when such an idea of the religious life prevails, the inevitable result must be that common working people will think that they cannot be religious, and will make no effort. There are then two classes of people in the community,-the religious class and the working class, and the business of being religious is left, with the exception of a few ceremonies, to the former class. It is a fact that wherever monkery has flourished, there the general morality has been lowest.

The probability of there ever being any great revival of such a "religious life" in England is so small that it would not be worthwhile to write about it if it were not a fact that as a result of the teaching of "the Church" in time past, the idea is still quite prevalent that it is much more difficult for one to be a Christian when engaged in the ordinary duties of life than when living alone with little to do except to read, sing, pray, and meditate.

"UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD"

The Bible tells us that "pure religion, and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James i. 27.

Notice this, that it does not say to keep out of the world, but to keep unspotted from the world. Christ prayed for His disciples: "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil." John xvii. 15. They are to be in the world, but not of it. But a man may be of the world in a monk's cell or in a cave, just as much as if he were in a place of business.

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"The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" is of the world. 1 John ii. 16. An unconverted man is of the world though he may live like a hermit, and a truly converted man is not of the world, though he be surrounded by the crowds of the city. It is what is within a man that determines whether or not he is defiled. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man." Mark vii. 21-23. The only way to keep "unspotted from the world," is to have Christ within. Without that there can be no pure religion.

FREEDOM FROM TEMPTATION

Many people imagine that if they were by themselves, with no one near to bother them, they would be free from temptation. Well, suppose they would? The truly religious life does not consist in not being tempted, but in resisting temptation. Temptation is not sin, but the yielding to it is. Christ was tempted, but He did not sin.

The man who has never been tempted to commit a certain sin may feel very well satisfied with himself, and yet he may know far less of the religious life than the man who in the midst of temptation has gained the victory over it through Christ, even though he fell many times before he learned how to stand in Him.

But the fact that a man is alone and released from the responsibilities of active life, does not free him from temptation. It is from within, not from without, that sin comes. It is utterly impossible for any person to be on this earth in the possession of his senses, and be free from temptation. No person ever becomes so good that he has no temptations to sin. The One who lived entirely free from sin, was tempted more than anybody else ever was tempted.

It is possible, however, to live a righteous life, no matter where one's lot may be cast. But in order to do it one must get away from himself, and this he cannot do simply by living alone. He takes himself with him. The only way is by putting off the old man, and putting on the new man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then one can be a Christian wherever he is. Christ was a carpenter till He was thirty years old, and was always, with the exception of certain periods of retirement, in the midst of busy, social life; and He most surely lived "the religious life."

"THE SALT OF THE EARTH"

If the Lord had designed that men should live by themselves, shut away from human society and fellowship, He would have made them like snails or oysters. But that was not His design. Jesus says to His followers, "Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost its savour wherewith shall it be salted?" Matt. v. 13. But if the salt were to be kept shut up closely in a box, it would make no difference if it had no savour. It is of use only as it permeates a substance. So Christians are of no use in the world if they are not really in it. Yet as salt retains its savour, and does not cease to be salt even when in use, so Christians must be Christians in the world.

Again, "Ye are the light of the world." A light is of no special use if it is surrounded by thousands of other lights equally brilliant. Its loss would not be felt if it were removed. The light is needed where there is darkness. Christ, the light of the world, shown in the darkness. So Paul exhorts us to "be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world." Phil. ii. 15.

RELIGION IN WORK

The Bible tells us to "pray without ceasing;" but that does not mean that we should be continually in the closet on our knees; for the command is to all, and some at least must work. We are also told to be "not slothful in business; fervent in Spirit; serving the Lord." Rom. xii. 11. The Apostle Paul also wrote, "Let ours learn to profess honest trades for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful." Titus iii. 14, margin. He himself practised what he preached, for although he was the chiefest apostle, he worked at his trade as tentmaker. Acts xviii. 3. The man who cannot pray while his hands are actively employed does not know how to talk with the Lord at any time.

There are many hard-worked housewives whose time is closely occupied with the care of a large family, who are so influenced by the old monkish idea that they imagine that they are doing no religious work, and they either fear lest they shall fail at last to hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant," or else they become indifferent. If such ones are not making unnecessary work for themselves, but are simply doing the necessary work that comes to hand, they are serving the Lord as truly as a missionary who is teaching the heathen.

When the Lord was about to come down upon Mount Sinai, to proclaim the ten commandments in the assembly of the people, He gave them certain directions, among which was this: "Let them wash their clothes." Ex. xix. 10. That is a commandment of the Lord, and is as important as any other. When the Israelites were washing their clothes, they were serving the Lord just as well as when they were standing in the congregation listening to the proclamation of His law. Cleanliness is as essential now as it was then. Therefore when the God-fearing woman is washing the clothes of herself and family she is serving the Lord just as truly as when she sits with her family in those same clean garments and sings and prays.

Let those who are doing honest work that naturally falls to them, remember that they can do it "to the glory of God." 1 Cor. x. 31. "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ." Col. iii. 22, 24.

GRACE SUFFICIENT FOR THE NEED

Finally, as to the idea that it is much more easy to serve the Lord in some situations than in others. It is very true that it is more easy to serve the Lord when we are in a place where He wishes us to be than when we are in a place where He has not sent us. Suppose Jonah had been allowed to finish his journey to Tarshish, and to work there in quiet; he might have led a very quiet, contemplative life, but it would have been more difficult to serve the Lord there than in the busy streets of Nineveh. In fact, he could not have served the Lord at all in Tarshish. If God places a man in the midst of ungodly and scoffing shopmates, he may serve the Lord there, and live the religious life just as well as he could in the quietest place in the world.

God "giveth more grace." "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Rom. v. 20. The Christian has the promise of "grace to help

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in time of need." Heb. iv. 16. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. He works and upholds by "the word of His power." And it is no more difficult for Him to speak the word that upholds the universe, than to speak the word that carries the thistle-down. So when we are in a specially trying situation, if we cast all our care upon Him, the burden will be no greater for us than if we have but a light load to roll upon Him.

The true religious life, therefore, is the life of Christ. It is lived only by Christ dwelling in the heart of the one who is yielded to Him. And just as Christ Himself could live a sinless life in any part of the world, and under the greatest temptation, so can He, by the power of His life, keep every soul who puts his trust in Him, and can present him "faultless was before the presence of His glory."

"The Ransom of Rome" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

The Ransom of Rome.-For want of something better to talk about one of the London daily papers has started the discussion of a scheme by which a writer "well acquainted with the policy of the Vatican" proposes to ransom Rome from Italian rule. Italy is badly off financially and needs money, and it is proposed that "Catholic countries and peoples of the world should combine" to raise ?200,000,000 to buy off Italy, and secure a little kingdom of this world for the Pope. Of course it is all talk, but it is worth remarking that more and more attention is being given to the Papacy and its influence. The Chronicle, discussing this scheme of its contemporary, suggests that as the Pope is now He "wields an influence admittedly greater than nearly any pope since the Reformation. His empire is in men's minds and hearts." However the temporal power question may come out, it is a fact that more and more every day the Papacy is regaining its influence in the world, and parties and power taking its policy and attitude into account in framing political and social policies. Rome, too, knows how to play one party against another, when her aims can so be furthered.

"Ecclesiastical Displays" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

Some time ago in a note about the new Westminster Cathedral, we alluded to the pomp and display which figure so largely in the Catholic religion. An Anglican correspondent takes us to task for this calling attention to the "great solemnity" of the cathedral services and decorations, and says: "Look at our noble St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey; we seem to feel more holy when we step into one of such places."

That is why these displays have been introduced. They make people "feel" holy, and holiness and religion become a matter merely of sense and feeling, and not of the heart. This appeal to a feeling is the strength and mystery of all Paganism. And it is openly confessed by intelligent Catholics that these things were adopted from Paganism for the purpose of attracting to the church the same heathen classes who had felt the drawing power of the religion of the senses in the services of the pagan temples.

When one is willing to open his eyes and see things as they are, one does not see in these ecclesiastical trappings anything to regard as sacred. During the Tractarian controversy, when some Anglican writers charged Rome with having in its religion a large measure of the ancient Paganism, Cardinal Wiseman retorted by showing that the Church of England had taken the same things. He cited the pagan characteristics appearing in the building and services of St. Paul's Cathedral, and declared that "if a Roman pagan were to be raised to life and brought to St. Paul's he would recognise the likeness to his ancient faith on every hand."

Cardinal Newman declared that "the very instruments and appendages of demon worship" were brought into the Church in the early centuries. When we know that faith is not feeling, and that the Word of God is the source of faith, the one faith of Jesus, and when we read of God's warnings to have no fellowship with the practices of heathen worship, we can feel no solemnity about the sensual display which attend high services. The Lord does not desire His Church to adopt the livery of Paganism in His

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service, and He calls, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing."

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Jewish New Year 5656 was celebrated the 19th.

-England works up ?1,700,000 every year into jewellery.

-Macedonian insurgents are still giving the Turkish troops trouble.

-The British Army uses up nearly 25,000 black bear skins every year in caps and trappings.

-Great Britain has had, it is estimated, 66,000 acres of land added to it by the Wash in 1,700 years.

-Pirates still ply their vocation on the Moorish coast. Last week a British ship was boarded and plundered.

-2,907,236,000 is a large number, but it represents the number of letters, etc., handled by the Post Office this year.

-France and Brazil are having a quarrel over boundary lines between Brazil and French Guiana. Fighting is expected.

-The labour world is quiet, but not altogether settled. Strikes are impending in the weaving, baking, and ship-building trades.

-The high price of the sable skin is due to the scarcity of the animal, but 2,000 skins come annually into the English market.

-There have been more than the usual number of disasters to passenger boats round the coast lately, one closely following another.

-71,589,069 telegrams were sent in the United Kingdom last year. This means of rapid communication is used more frequently every year.

-Last year, ?36,000,000 worth of butter, cheese, eggs, ham, bacon, fowls, ducks, and other farm produce was imported into this country from the Continent and America.

-As a result of the presence of official military representatives from Russia at the French army man?uvres it is expected that those two powers will be still more closely allied.

-Seven Chinese have been executed for taking part in the massacre of missionaries. It is not certain whether they are guilty or whether, as is often the case, they are substitutes for the guilty ones.

-Affairs on the Mekong, where the French and English are facing one another over the division of portions of Burmah and Upper Siam, are rather critical. The French have occupied some of the disputed territory.

-The Thames is continually enriching Essex at the expense of Gloucester and Oxford. Every year it carries down sufficient solid matter to create twenty-four acres of good land six feet deep at the mouth of its estuary.

-The official report of a Select Committee on Adulteration shows that there exists systematic adulteration in the production of the foods most commonly used. Frauds of all kinds and degrees are practised, and honest traders are handicapped by dishonest rivals.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

Two of our workers left London this week on their way to Calcutta, India. Others will soon follow to the same field.

During the past week our publishing office has sent considerable shipments of books to Burmah, Austria, and South Africa.

In the news that three thousand of the French troops have died in Madagascar of climatic ailments one cannot help seeing something of retributive justice, following a campaign of robbery.

In a notice of the Factory Inspectors continued Sunday visits to the office of the International Tract Society, and of the prospect of another prosecution, a Church of England paper, The Church of To-day, says:-

The Adventists, let it be remembered, are not Sabbath-breakers, and pay the greatest regard to Saturday; but they decline, on conscientious grounds, to be bullied into keeping Sunday.

In Belgium the Clerical majority are making it compulsory that every school receiving State help shall teach the Catholic religion. Heretofore they have worked under a compromise, but the end of all compromises must come sooner or later, and the party in power will have its way. When religion is made a branch of politics it will inevitably become merely an instrument of party machinery, and Rome will in the end be the gainer, because the Gospel is not preached in this way, whether in Belgium or England.

The Bible tells us that in the last days the word will be "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; . . . let the weak say, I am strong." Joel iii. 9, 10. There has never been a time when the very air seemed to be so charged with the spirit of war as now. War is being elevated by the religious press to the rank of a Christian institution. Not long ago a Church paper said that war ought to be conducted "in the spirit of worship;" and now one of the leading religious journals in the world publishes on its first page a poem entitled, "In Time of Battle," the first portion of which thus extols war and suicide:-

It is a seemly thing to die in battle,
Ensanguined for the Right;
The sudden swoon, the ominous death-rattle
Mere phantoms in the fight
Against the music and the Victor's cry,
'Tis noble so to die.

And if one fall, 'tis hell in such disaster
Like Saul to end the day.

If that is Christianity, can anybody tell what Paganism is?

Referring to the Pope's letter on Unity, the Archbishop of Canterbury in a recent pastoral says: "For the unquestioned kindness which now invites our common prayers, already gladly offered, we are thankful." The Archbishop earnestly desires reunion with Rome, but he is not willing to have it except on condition that Anglican orders are recognised as valid, a condition which Cardinal Vaughan says can never be granted. It will be worth while to watch to see which party will yield. Of one thing we may be sure, that any compromise that may be effected will not be to Rome's disadvantage.

The Osservatore Romano, the organ of the Vatican, speaking of the Archbishop of Canterbury's pastoral letter, in which he says of the Pope's letter that "recognition might have lent a meaning to the mention of reunion," says that the Archbishop has a wrong view of the question since "the Pope addressed himself either to the pseudo-episcopate nor to the pseudo-clergy of Anglicanism, but to the English people, calling on them to unite with the Roman Church." It adds, "The question is not whether the Anglican Church should unite with or submit to the Roman Church, but that Anglicanism should disappear, when the Anglicans become Catholics."

Friday, the 20th inst., was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the entry of Italian troops in Rome. One of the features of the celebration was a speech by Signor Crispi, at the unveiling of a monument to Garibaldi, in which he gave the Pope some good advice, giving evidence that the statesman knows more about Christianity than the man in the Vatican does. Among other things he said:-

The enemies of Italian unity have sought to interpret these f?tes as an insult to the Pope, but it must not be forgotten that Christianity, Divine in its nature, had no need of cannon to defend itself.

And again:-

Prayer and religion are not and cannot be affairs of State. In no other country, moreover, does the Church enjoy as much liberty and respect as in Italy, the only nation which has set the example of renouncing all claim on behalf of the State in ecclesiastical matters.

In showing how much the Pope's influence had increased since the loss of temporal power, Signor Crispi stated a significant and most alarming fact. He said:-

Protestant Sovereigns, and even those who are outside the religion of Christ, bow respectfully before him and defer to his judgment.

And that shows that they are not Protestant at all.

"Fulness of Joy" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

Fulness of Joy.-"In Thy presence," says the Psalmist, "there is fulness of joy." And again he asks, "Whither shall I flee from Thy presence?" No one can escape from the presence of the Lord. Therefore it is not simply in heaven, but in earth also that there is fulness of joy for every one who will believe it.

"Search for Heretics" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

Search for Heretics.-A German paper publishes the text of a letter addressed to the Russian authorities by that Grand Inquisitor, the Procureur-General of the Holy Synod, urging that a minute inquisition be made into the views of Sunday-school teachers in order that persons suspected of teaching heterodox social and political views may be removed from the schools as quickly as possible.

"That Precocious Infant" The Present Truth 11, 39.

E. J. Waggoner

That Precocious Infant.-The infant prince of Bulgaria is again receiving attention on account of his religious views. A despatch says:-

According to intelligence from Sofia, Prince Ferdinand has decided to have his son, Prince Boris, converted to the Orthodox Church. The act of baptism will soon take place.

What strange ideas of conversion must be held when the press and statesmen can discuss such a farce as this seriously.

October 10, 1895

"Fleeing for Refuge" The Present Truth 11, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

When the children of Israel settled in the land of Canaan, they set apart, according to the command of the Lord, six cities of refuge, to which any man who had unintentionally killed another might flee, and be safe from the pursuit of any who sought to kill him in return. Read the whole account in Num. xxxv. and Joshua xx.

These cities were well known, and were so situated that they could be easily reached. Once within one of the cities, the slayer was absolutely safe; the rulers of the city were answerable for him as long as he remained there; but if he went outside the city walls during the life of the high priest, he was at the mercy of his enemy.

The story of the cities of refuge is one of the things written aforetime "for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scripture might have hope." Rom. xv. 4. We find ourselves continually beset by enemies. This is no figure of speech, but an actual fact. Everybody knows that he possesses evil habits and traits of character that are positive enemies to him, often destroying not only his happiness here, but his hope of the world to come. And what is worse, they are stronger than we, so that we cannot successfully fight against them.

From all these enemies, more dangerous than any earthly foes, we have a sure refuge. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Ps. xlvi. 1. David wrote, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." Ps. xviii. 2. And every soul may say this as truly as David could.

The seventh psalm is a vivid picture of fleeing for refuge from a fellow who is seeking to destroy. Instead of "put my trust," in the first verse, read "take refuge," as in the more literal rendering in the margin of the Revised Version: "O Lord my God, in Thee do I take refuge; save me from all them that pursue me, and deliver me; lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver." Verses 1, 2.

Of the safety of those who take refuge in God, we read: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Prov. xviii. 10. "The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble. And the Lord helpeth them, and rescueth them; He rescueth them from the wicked, and saveth them, because they have taken refuge in Him." Ps. xxxvii. 39, 40.

This refuge is real. The walls of Shechem and Hebron did not protect a refugee from his enemy so securely as God keeps those who flee to Him from the sins that beset them. True we cannot see Him with our natural eyes; but we have His Word, which He has exalted above all His name (Ps. cxxxviii. 2); and His Word is backed by His oath. "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." Heb. vi. 17, 18.

Try it. When the enemy presses upon you, lay hold upon the promises of God, and they will be to you a wall which no temptation can pierce. Satan himself in person cannot get through them to lay violent hands on one who is behind them. The God of heaven is infinitely more real, although invisible, than all the gods that can be seen; so His Word is a rock infinitely more real and more enduring than Gibraltar.

And this refuge will never fail. The men who fled to one of the cities of refuge found a welcome and would stay there till the death of the high priest. So we may be sure of a welcome, even though foully guilty, for the Lord says, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John vi. 37. More than this, our High Priest will never die; He is "alive for evermore." Rev. i. 18. So the soul that

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flees to Him for refuge, is for ever safe. "The eternal God is the refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deut. xxxiii. 27.

"Unshaken as the sacred hills,
And fixed as the mountains stand.
Firm as a rock like the soul shall rest
That trusts th' Almighty hand.

"Not rock nor hills could guard so well
Fair Salem's happy ground
As those eternal arms of love
That every saint surround."

"Where Heathenism Came In" The Present Truth 11, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

When it is pointed out that certain religious observances commonly recognised are of heathen origin, the question is often asked, "What difference does it make, if only they are used in the worship of God?" A few of the things "written for our learning" will answer the question.

When God called Israel away from the idolatry of Egypt in order that they might serve Him they were warned against the rites by which the inhabitants of Canaan worshipped their gods.

"Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree; and ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God." Deut. xii. 2-4.

The Lord knew the tendency of the human heart to substitute self-service for His service, and forewarned them against the specious plea that some were sure to urge, that the rites of the heathen might be used in His worship.

"Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them." Verse 30. The ceremonies of the heathen worship, like garments tainted by the contagion of a deadly disease, were sure to infect those who touched them with the cursed plague of paganism. Therefore He said, "What things soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Verse 32.

Just here the people failed. They did not destroy the traces and instruments of the false worship, and soon after the death of Joshua they were following the "gods of the people that were round about them." Judges ii. 2, 12. Again and again in the history of Israel the Lord raised up some reformer to deliver them, and again and again they fell away. In the days of Ahab the religion of the Phoenicians, the worship of the sun-god Baal, was introduced into both Israel and Judah, and from that time on to the destruction of Jerusalem the worship of Jehovah was seldom free from the corruptions which turned it into the worship of the pagan gods. And as Satan is the originator of every false thing, the apostle, speaking by the Spirit, declares that this service was the worship of devils. 1 Cor. x. 20.

This apostasy destroyed the people of Israel, and it is all traceable to the adoption, little by little, of heathen ceremonies, adding to and taking from the Word of God until what was professedly His service became in reality paganism.

REPEATED AFTER APOSTOLIC DAYS

The Spirit of God, by the apostles, warned the early church of the dangers before it in the great "falling away," which was to reveal the man of sin, the spirit of lawlessness. The failures of Israel were written as a lesson for those in this danger. "They are written for our admonition," said Paul to the Corinthian church, and in the same connection he warned that church against having fellowship with the heathen ceremonies. 1 Cor. x.

If that lesson of Israel's failures had been taken to heart by those who came after the apostles what a different story would be told of the history of the last eighteen centuries. The apostles taught the church to build on the Word, as the complete rule of conduct and service; for the mystery of lawlessness was even in their day at work in their midst.

As soon as they were gone-even as it was with Israel when Joshua and the elders that were with Joshua had died (Judges ii. 7)-the great majority began to compromise with the heathenism that was round about them.

To attract the heathen and to silence their objections, "the Christian doctors thought it necessary," says Mosheim, "to introduce some external rites, which would strike the senses." Having lost the power of the Gospel and its purity, they must needs appeal to the senses. And what rites so useful in this as those which were familiar to heathenism?

Cardinal Newman frankly says of this time, about the third century:-

Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmit the very instruments and appendages of the demon-worship to an evangelical use, and feeling also that these usages had originally come from primitive revelations and from the instinct of nature, though they had been corrupted; and that they must invent what they needed, if they did not use what they found; and that they were moreover possessed of the very archetypes, of which paganism attempted the shadows; the rulers of the Church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace, as well as the philosophy of the educated classes.

This is soberly written in a book of great repute ("Development of Christian Doctrine," page 371). What the development really is every reader must decide, weighing the Lord's own words against the apology of the theologian.

The rapid spread of this policy of compromise is thus confessed by the same writer:-

In the course of the fourth century two movements or developments spread over the face of Christendom, with a rapidity characteristic of the Church; the one ascetic, the other ritual or ceremonial. We are told in various ways by Eusebius that Constantine, in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen, transferred into it the outward ornaments to which they had been accustomed to in their own. . . . The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; holy days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessing on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Elysion, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church.-Page 373.

These heathen abominations, introduced by the falling church, were essentially the same as those by which Israel anciently fell. The centre of them all was the same Methraic sun-worship which had spread over the world from the East. Thus it was that the introduction of the heathen festivals, alluded to by Cardinal Newman, included, as chief among them, the "venerable day of the sun," the Sunday which has been substituted for the Sabbath of the Lord.

In another part of this book the Cardinal answers the objections of Protestants to the Romish doctrines not founded on the Word of God by asking them in turn what prominence the lawfulness of bearing arms, or infant baptism, or "the substitution of the first day of the week for the seventh" has in the New Testament.

Thus the Church of Rome boasts of having added to and taken from the words of the Lord, and frankly confesses the adoption of the heathen times and seasons in place of the Sabbath, just as Judah and Israel "observed times" when they forsook the commandments of the Lord, and despised His holy day.

Instead of sanctifying these pagan practices by adopting them, the fallen

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church was itself paganised. And now what is to be done? "Preach the Word," is the Divine answer. "Cry aloud, and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression." The Gospel message for the last days, just before the coming of the Lord (Rev. xiv. 6-14), is burdened with this special warning against the corruptions of the papal power.

Does it make any difference whether one wears the uniform of heaven or the mark and livery of the Papacy? The difference is that between life and death, God and Satan. There is life in every word of God, and salvation from sin. There is freedom for the sinner, and rest for the weary. It is to this that God invites men as He warns them against the abominations of heathenism.

We live in no ordinary time. Before the Lord comes a whole world is to be awakened by the Word to make the choice between God and His truth and Satan and the systems of error by which he has sought too successfully to hide the truth. Men and women are now making that choice, and the Lord invites every soul to build upon His Word. There is safety, and there alone. Will you build upon the sure foundation?

"Some Thoughts from Psalm XX" The Present Truth 11, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

"The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble." In the Revision, as in other translations, we have the word "answer," in the place of "hear." That is the exact rendering of the Hebrew. The Hebrew Lexicon gives the following in the definition of the Hebrew word which in this verse is rendered "hear" in our version: "to answer, to respond; of one who answers to another calling-to call back-which the Hebrews did by the word hinni," which means, "Behold me," or "Here am I."

Remember that this is not simply a pious wish on the part of David, that the Lord may hear us in the day of trouble, but it is a promise of the Holy Spirit, who spoke by him, and whose word was in his tongue. 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. One of the offices of the Holy Spirit is to teach us how to pray, and what to pray for, and this He does by bringing to our minds promises and statements of what God is willing and anxious to do for us.

The Spirit makes intercession for us, "according to the will of God." Rom. viii. 26, 27. Now we know that when we ask anything according to His will He hears us, and grants us the things we ask for. 1 John v. 14, 15. Therefore we know that whenever in praying to God we use the language of the Spirit of God, our requests are already granted. True prayer is to remind God of His promises, or rather, to claim them as our own. And there are many more promises in the Bible than most people are aware of.

So in this first verse of the psalm, we have the promise that when we are in trouble, and call upon the Lord, He will say, "Here I am." As He elsewhere says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shall glorify Me." Ps. l. 15. He will not simply answer from afar, nor will He promise to come to us; but He will let us know that He is already close by, and has been near all the time. "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. xxviii. 20. So in Isa. xliii. 2, properly rendered, "When thou passest through the water, I am with thee." He is always the "I AM," as well as the One who is to be.

But who may claim this promise? Whom does the Lord promise to hear? There is no limit; the only qualification is that one shall call upon Him. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Rom. x. 13. It matters not that they have brought the trouble upon themselves. He "giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not." Read in Ps. cvii. 5-20, that "such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High," "cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and shadow of death, and brake their bands asunder." Read further also that "fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses." Let no one fear that, because his own foolishness has brought him into trouble, therefore the Lord will not hear and help him.

"The name of the Lord of Jacob defend thee." Here is another promise that the Spirit gives us. It is an assurance that God's name will protect us. Why, even a man's name is often sufficient to guarantee one's safety; how much more, then, the name of God! If one is travelling through a hostile country, the name of the ruler of that country will protect him from violence. God's name is known in all the earth; even the devils tremble at it; and if in any part of the earth it is not recognised, as was the case with Pharaoh, then God is able to make it known in a way that it will be recognised.

What is the name of "the God of Jacob"?-Read Ex. iii. 13-15, where we learn that the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is "I AM THAT I AM." "This is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations." That is, His name is THE ONE WHO IS PRESENT. He is the One who is always at hand to defend. And He is able to protect, because "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Prov. xviii. 10. That name is also "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." Ex. xxiv. 5-7.

"The name of the God of Jacob defend thee." Better still, as in the margin in the Revision, "The name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high," or on a high place. "In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock, and now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about." Ps. xxvii. 5, 6. Our enemies throng round us, and press upon us, and God places us up out of their reach. He even makes us "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion." Eph. i. 20, 21; ii. 6.

"Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion." What help will He send from the sanctuary?-Round about the throne of God in heaven are "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands" of angels (Rev. v. 11); they are "mighty in strength" (Ps. ciii. 20), and they are "all ministering spirits,

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sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." Heb. i. 14. Of those who trust the Lord, Jesus said that "their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven." Matt. xviii. 10. So there is a direct communication between earth and heaven, because "the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." Ps. xxxiv. 7. Moreover, the number sent to any person may be increased indefinitely; for Jesus assures us that the Father loves us just the same as He does Him (John xvii. 28), and when one of His disciples was proceeding to defend Him with carnal weapons, He said, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more then twelve legions of angels?" Matt. xxvi. 53. There is abundance of help in the sanctuary for those who put their trust in the Lord.

Why should anyone desire any other protection than this? Very much is said just now about governmental protection of missionaries in China. To their honour be it said that none of this talk comes from them. We have not heard that any missionary has been petitioning his government for protection. Neither have any complaints come from them, that they have not been sufficiently protected. If they made such complaints, they would be unworthy the name of missionaries of Christ. He sends them forth, and He is fully able to protect them. Those who are sent out by earthly governments may consistently look to those governments for protection; but those who are sent out by the God of heaven, should not dishonour Him by implying that He is not able to defend His own, but that His servants must depend upon earthly power. The "Gospel of peace" can never be helped by any weapon in the hands of man. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal." 2 Cor. x. 4.

Christ is a King, above all the kings of the earth. But His kingdom is not of this world, therefore His servants cannot fight. John xvii. 36. When Peter thought to defend His Lord with a sword, Jesus said, "Put up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." If the sword could not be used in defence of the Lord Himself, how can it be used in support of His work or His servants? It is utterly impossible; it may be unwisely drawn in their behalf, but always to their disadvantage. The servants of the Lord are forbidden to fight, for He says, "I say unto you, That ye resist not evil," meaning, of course, evil done to us. "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord." "Overcome evil with good." Rom. xii. 19, 21. But since they cannot fight even in their own defence, it is very evident that they cannot ask others to fight for them.

What is the result of trusting in earthly powers, as compared with trusting in the Lord?-Here is the answer: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen; but we are risen, and stand upright." Verses 7, 8. They who trust in chariots and horses are overthrown, while the ones who trust in the name of the Lord are made to stand. So we see that it is not an arbitrary thing, but simply the statement of a natural consequence, when the Lord says, by the prophet, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river." Jer. xvii. 5-8.

"We will rejoice in Thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners; the Lord fulfil all thy petitions." A banner is an ensign, a standard, something round which to rally. What then is the banner that is to be set up in the name of our God? "In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign for the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious." Isa. xi. 10. Let Christ be lifted up as "the Prince of peace." Let His servants be content to preach "Christ and Him crucified," and they will prove that the power of the cross is saving power. Spiritual power, do you say? Yes, certainly; but the greater includes the less. He who is able to save from "all the power of the enemy," meaning the devil, is certainly able to save from all earthly foes.

Very well, we have learned the lesson: "Now know I that the Lord saveth His Anointed; He will hear Him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand." That is power enough on our side, for both the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly." "But," some one will say, "this promise is to the Lord's Anointed, meaning Christ." Very true, and since He sends His servants forth just as the Father sent Him forth (John xx. 21), with the very same message, and clothed with the same authority (2 Cor. v. 19, 20), it is very evident that the same protection that the Father accorded to Him will be granted to us, if we continue to be identified with Him. When we truly pray in the name of Jesus, it is the same as if Jesus Himself were praying, and we may be as sure of being heard as He was.

Notice that this very thing appears in the psalm. The promise that the Lord hears His Anointed from His holy heaven, is the same as that which is in the second verse, and which is unlimited in its application. Christ was on this earth in man's place. He was "made in all things like unto His brethren." Heb. ii. 17. He had originally every advantage over man. But He "emptied Himself," when He came to earth, so that as man He had no advantage that the meanest son of Adam may not have. As He was heard and protected, so may we be. He said to the Father, "Thou hearest Me always." John xi. 42. So we have the wonderful promise, "The Lord. . . grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel." Verse 4. This is a large order. "If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it." John xiv. 14.

Lastly we may consider the promise that the Lord will "Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice." No wonder the Psalmist here inserted "selah," which means "silence," as much as to say, "Stop a little, and think of that." Instead of "accept thy burnt sacrifices," read the more literal rendering, "makes fat thy sacrifice." The offerings that we bring to the Lord are poor at the best. We can bring nothing to Him except that which He gives to us. When the Jew of old offered a lamb as sacrifice,

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he was required to bring the best of the flock. But if he had a large flock of fine animals, it was simply because the Lord had given them to him, and made them fat. So that however much he might give, he must say with David, "All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee." 1 Chron. xxix. 14. But his neighbour, a poor man, would have but little to bring. His flock might be small and feeble. Nevertheless if he brought the best he had, the same God who had made the other man's offering fat would count his as fat also." If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." 2 Cor. viii. 12.

This is shown in the case of the widow's two mites. The rich men cast large sums into the treasury, out of their abundance, and she dropped only two mites, equal to a farthing. But it was all she had, and Jesus said, "This poor widow hath cast in more than they all." Luke xxi. 3. The loving heart and the willing mind make the gift of valuable, for in the mere offering itself, no matter how great the amount, there is nothing that is of any real value, nothing that can add to His store. He requires an offering from us, not for His benefit, but for ours.

This is our encouragement when we offer Him ourselves, the only offering that He desires; since without the gift of ourselves any other offering is mockery. So we will, with a sincere heart, give ourselves, including all that we have. But what is the value of the gift? "Every man at his best state is altogether vanity." Ps. xxxix. 5. We are poor, vile, and worthless. But here comes in the blessedness of giving ourselves to the Lord: He takes our offering, and makes it good. That which was but a disgrace, becomes transformed as soon as He looks upon it, and is found to be "to the praise of His glory." Then whatever earthly things there are that men think worthy of confidence, let us make mention only of the name of the Lord our God.

The moment a man knowingly does anything wrong, he hates the light.

The fact that God can be seen in us ought to be enough to make us willing to be unknown and misunderstood all our lives.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

-In Berkshire the dairyman get 1? d. per quart for the milk that sells at 4d. in London.

-The wealth of the United Kingdom, if divided among the inhabitants equally, would give ?350 to each person.

-Of thirty ships leaving Bristol for trade on the West Coast of Africa twenty-live are loaded with gunpowder and rum.

-A war is imminent between Italy and Abyssinia. Russia is said to have sent arms and money to assist the King of Abyssinia.

-The warm weather the last of September started fruit trees and Homo forest trees into a second budding and blossoming in some parts of the country.

-Pictures represent the Queen as wearing her crown on any and every occasion. It is said, however, that she has not worn it more than twenty times during her whole reign.

-The race question in the Southern Staten of America has been given a now and more serious aspect by the proposition to disfranchise all negroes who cannot road or write in South Carolina.

-The revenue returns show that trade conditions are improving. More business transactions are being entered into, postal, telegraph, and customs returns are increasing, and-not so encouraging-the consumption of spirits is also increasing the revenues.

-The storm last week wrecked many vessels along the coast, and stirring accounts of rescues have come in from the lifeboat stations. Many lives have been lost. At Padstow, where the men failed in launching the boat, the women came to their aid, and by their united efforts a shipwrecked crew were saved.

-A German editor has been sentenced to five months' imprisonment for criticising the Emperor. It is stated that the terms of imprisonment of members of the Social Democratic Party in Germany during the year, if added together, produce a total of over eighty-three years. Germany has a bitter fight before it.

-The Emigration Society issues reports dealing with the demand for labour in foreign parts. A report just published shows that in all the Australian colonies there is an over-supply of labourers, and in New Zealand, while the general depression is not so great as it has been, there is little demand for general labourers and skilled workmen. No demand in South Africa for mechanics, save for bricklayers and carpenters in Natal.

-At the Temperance Congress, Chester, last week, Dr. Walmsley, of the London Idiot Asylum, had a paper in which he declared that insanity was one of nature's penalties for her broken laws, and that alcoholic intemperance was responsible for much of the increase of mental diseases. Pauper lunatics in London wore increasing at the rate of 500 a year. This increase would necessitate building a new asylum every four years at the cost of half a million.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

"No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem." This is what the imminent coloured man, Booker T. Washington, is telling to his people in America. It is as applicable to individuals as to races.

Referring to the chorus of denunciations of China, and the demand of not the secular press only, but the religious as well, for reprisals, the New Age very pertinently says:-

What has the religion of Jesus of Nazareth to do with ultimatums, backed by ironclads? The propagation of the faith by the sword is, we believe, a principle of Mohammedanism, but it seems to us to be rather late in the day for Christians to adopt the methods of the Prophet of Mecca.

An Odessa despatch says that about 5,000 of the Russian Quakers have been forced to leave their homes in the neighbourhood of Kars owing to their refusal to bear arms. Russia is doubtless acting only as Germany or France would; but what a comment it is on the official profession of the powers of this world to be Christian nations when those who follow the precepts of Christ are exiled for following them.

Telegraphic news from Turkey is not very reassuring from day to day if we look for signs of peace and quiet. However, a correspondent who is attending the Bible institute being held in Constantinople, for the benefit of our Armenian and Greek workers, wrote us just before the riots:-

Matters here in Turkey seem quiet; the Armenian question has dampened business, but the position of Armenians seems to be improving. Our brethren think that the result will be more freedom for them. Ten years ago, the Armenians had much more freedom than of late; and it is hoped that those times may return.

Experiments show that when alcohol is applied to plants even in extremely minute proportions, it prevents or retards germination, and kills or stunts the growth of seedlings that are developed. The deadly effect of alcohol on plant life is very marked even with so small a proportion as one of alcohol to 800 of water. Imagine then, if you can, the terrible effect of alcohol on the human system, when taken in much larger quantities. The "moderate drinker" has no immunity. At the National Temperance Congress at Chester, Dr. F. H. Walmsley said, "Taken to excess, alcohol is in its passage through the organism everywhere equally a destroyer." But from the above facts it is evident that it is impossible to take alcohol except in excess.

Catholics quote the command to "hear the church," and infer from it that their church cannot err in doctrine. Not at all; for the church of Christ can only speak "as the oracles of God." As Christ spoke only the words of God, so the church can speak with authority only as it speaks the words of God. And God has given us His word in order that every one may know whether that which professes to speak for Christ is indeed His body. As the Catholic Church asks people to take its voice instead of the Word, we know it does not speak the words of God.

A recent book Review tells us that "the Pauline authorship of both the Epistle to the Romans and the Epistle to the Ephesians has been disputed by scholars whose researches cannot be ignored by serious students." In this we see the out-cropping of one of the meanest faces of human nature, namely, readiness to seize upon a suspicion. The fact that a man has once been accused of a crime, no matter how falsely, is taken as evidence that he is not what he ought to be. It requires no legal ability to bring an accusation against a man; so it is no evidence of scholarship to dispute any part or the whole of the Bible. This fact needs to be emphasised, because many people are thrown into confusion by strong assertions and denials, which they are led to suppose must come from great learning.

Let it be remembered that it is faith, not scholarship, that finds out God. "After that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." 1 Cor. i. 21. "By faith we understand." Remember also that there is a vast difference between "scholarship" and real knowledge. A man of vast scholarship may reason like a parrot. Much of the "scholarship" of five hundred years ago is a thing for laughter even among men to-day. Even so is much of the "scholarship" of to-day with God. "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool. That He may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." 1 Cor. iii. 18, 19. "For the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." A humble-minded man with no "scholarship" whatever, who is content to take God's thoughts as his wisdom, knows far more about God's truth than a learned man who thinks the Bible a thing for him to sit in judgment upon.

Russia insists that nowhere is religious liberty more zealously guarded than in her territories. That means liberty to profess the Russian religion. Every year the authorities seem to be getting stricter. A Reuter's despatch says:-

All German books and tracts which the sect of Stundists in Russia are in the habit of importing for the purpose of propagating the principles of their faith among the orthodox, are henceforward to be confiscated on the frontier.

This will doubtless add to the difficulties of our own work in the Russian German colonies. But the "Holy" Synod can never put up a barrier that will be allowed to check the work of the Gospel in Russia.

Work is a blessing, not a curse. Activity is life. Exercise means development. Idleness means stagnation and death. It is for this reason that the Lord graciously allows, rather than requires, His people to engage in His work. A bit of work faithfully done, whether with hand or brain, or both, is so much added to one's capital, not simply for this world, but for the world to come. What matter, then, if somebody else does get the credit for it from men? He cannot get the discipline from you. And on the other hand, how foolish, not to say wicked, it is to seek to get credit for that which we have not done. It is as foolish as it would be to be content with the credit of having eaten breakfast, when you have eaten nothing. The applause of men is an empty thing, after all. Only He whom the Lord commendeth is approved; and the Lord commends only him who has "well done."

We noticed that in one of the States of America the Spiritualists, with a keen sense of the fitness of things, have just held a camp-meeting at Devil's Lake.

October 17, 1895

"Deliverance from Prison" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

"The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." Ps. xxxiv. 7.

This was demonstrated in a most marked manner in the case of Peter. Herod had already killed James, and had taken Peter, intending to kill him also. Sixteen soldiers were detailed to keep the apostle till the time of execution, and the night before the event was expected to take place he was in a cell, bound with two chains to two soldiers who were inside with him, one on each side. Surely there is no hope that Peter can escape the will of his enemies.

But Peter had many influential friends who were interested in his case, and who exerted themselves to secure his release. So they got up a grand petition in his behalf. Not to Herod, for that would have been useless. The need was too urgent to warrant their wasting time on a stubborn and rebellious under official, so they addressed their petition direct to the highest authority. "Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." Acts xii. 5. I have said that Peter's friends were influential, and so they were, even in the highest circles; for "the supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working." James v. 16, R.V.

What was the result of this petition?-"Behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison; and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord; and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews." Acts xii. 7-11.

That is only one out of many deliverances. At one time the chief priests and the rulers of the Jews "laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught." Acts v. 18-21. Later on, when the ruler sent to bring them to court, the keepers were found foolishly guarding an empty prison.

Yet again, Paul and Silas had been cast in the prison, and the goaler had been charged to keep them safely; "who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God; and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's hands were loose." Acts xvi. 23-26.

And so we might proceed, recounting

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wonderful deliverances by the angel of the Lord. There were the three Hebrews who were delivered from a fiery furnace. The Lord Himself came to their rescue. Mark the statement that "the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him." The Lord Himself came down to share the flames with them. So the angel of the Lord was in the cell with Peter before he was delivered. When those who fear the Lord are cast in the prison for His sake, the angel of the Lord is with them, and no prison bars and bolts and soldiers can keep them one minute after God decides that it is best for them to come out. Until that time they are content to stay, as shown by the peaceful sleep of Peter, and the joyful songs of Paul and Silas.

This calm confidence in God comes only from a knowledge of His power to effect still greater deliverances. The promise is, "There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Rom. xi. 26. He "gave Himself for us, that He might deliver us from this present evil world." Gal. i. 4. "For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose them that are appointed to death." Ps. cii. 19, 20.

Those who know the power of this deliverance from sin, and all may know it if they believe God's Word, need not and will not have any fear of what man can do to them. We may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Heb. xiii. 6. "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is; which keepeth truth for ever; which executeth judgment for the oppressed; which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners; the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind; the Lord raiseth them up that are bowed down." Ps. cxlvi. 5-8.

"Praying to Be Excused" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

There is no more dangerous practice than that of praying to the Lord for permission to disobey Him.

Yet this is often done. Some duty or service is revealed in the Word which brings the cross with it. It seems too hard a thing to do, and weak, faithless human nature asks to be excused.

Sometimes people feel that the Lord hears them and excuses them from doing what He says. The prayer to be excused is a confession that the command is there; and God cannot contradict His own Word

But the Lord does not force man's choice. When the heart is set to disobey He allows the desire of the fleshly heart to have its way. "Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols." Eze. xiv. 4.

It is a terrible thing to be left to one's own way.

"Feasting or Fasting?" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

"Church life must," says the Church Times, "be at a very low ebb at Barry in Chismorganshire, if, as the local papers state is the case, the funds of St. Mary's Church can only be replenished by a public ball at a restaurant. One of the magistrates, before whom the application for an extension of hours came, very properly protested against the abuse, and was indignant that any section of religious society should hold an all-night dance to raise funds for religious purposes. After hearing of such an application, we cannot be surprised at the report which has reached us of the moribund condition of the Church in Barry, nor that the place should have provided anti-Establishment writers with a forcible text. If instead of a dance and extended drinking hours, the clergy and people tried a little fasting and prayer, we are inclined to think that the financial position would suffer no loss; and certainly the scandal would be less."

"The Fruit of Offended Dignity" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

Every Bible reader is familiar with the story of the choosing of Saul as king over Israel, and of his fall and sad end. From a modest, gentle youth, who would allow no harm to be done to those who had mocked at his being chosen king, he degenerated into a hard, cruel, vindictive man, who had no scruples as to the means He used to seek to murder one whom he unjustly regarded as his enemy. Not a man can be found to offer any apology for his persistent efforts to take David's life.

Not only did he seek David's life, but his causeless hatred of David was so great that He slew those who even unconsciously aided David to escape from him, as well as those who worked in any way connected with them. The spirit of murder possessed him. Eighty-five innocent and defenceless priests, with their families, were slaughtered by Saul at one time, because one of their number had been hospitable to David.

What was the cause of this? What had they done to Saul, that so roused his enmity?-Nothing whatever; he had been Saul's faithful servant, and Saul had loved him for his good qualities. One little thing led to this train of murders. When Saul and David were returning after David had slain Goliath, the women came out with instruments of music to celebrate the victory, and sang,

"Saul hath slain his thousands
And David his ten thousands."

That was enough; envy and jealousy took possession of Saul; "and Saul eyed David from that day and forward."

Hear what he said: "They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands." Well, what of it? No fact was altered by what they said. David himself had laid no claim to any honour. If Saul had been more valorous than David, the song of a few women would not affect the fact; and if he had not, then the envy was so much the more causeless.

But self-love is an extremely sensitive plant. We naturally have an exaggerated sense of our own ability or importance. Then we are anxious to have others think better of us than we know ourselves to be; and if they should by any chance estimate us below our real value, that is fatal. How often we see Saul's pettishness duplicated. One person is offended because another is preferred before him. Somebody is given a position which he thinks he ought to occupy. "I'm as good as he is," or, "I'm not treated fairly," is said or thought, and bitter feeling is cherished against the favoured one, who may be entirely innocent of any self-seeking.

Not just as surely as Saul sought to kill David, and murdered many innocent people in his mad attempt, just so surely is there murder in every man's heart when he becomes soured because somebody else is honoured, and when he has a feeling of envy against one who occupies a place which he thinks he himself ought to

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have. Hear what the Word says:-

"If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." James iii. 14-16.

There we have the truth of the matter. The men whose feelings are ruffled because he is named second, or has to accept an inferior place, has in his heart not only murder, but "every evil work." And withal there is some discontent and dissatisfaction that do not cease even when the coveted honour is gained. Only wisdom's ways are pleasantness; and the word of wisdom is, "Be kindly affection to one another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another." Rom. xii. 10.

"'After Mine Own Heart'" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

Sometimes scoffers quote the words of the Lord, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart" (Acts xiii. 22), in connection with David's great sin, in order to show that the God of the Bible is not the God of truth and righteousness, forgetting or not knowing that the words were spoken long before that event, with reference to David's general disposition, and that the sin of David was signally rebuked by the Lord, and acknowledged by David. Let us, with that same statement about David in mind, study a few points in his character, in order that we may see with what sort of disposition God is pleased. In so doing we shall get profit to ourselves.

A KING TENDING SHEEP

In the sixteenth chapter of 1 Samuel we have the account of the first public appearance of David. The prophet Samuel had been directed by the Lord to go and anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be king in the place of Saul, whom He had rejected. Seven sons of Jesse passed before the prophet, but the Lord's choice was not among them. "And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep." At Samuel's order, he was sent for, and as soon as he appeared, the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he." 1 Sam. xvi. 11, 12.

Immediately "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David." What did David do then? Did he assume a lordly air, and demand to be treated as a king? Did he at once place himself before the public, proclaiming the fact that the Lord had chosen him king, and attempt to seize the authority, or demand at least to be consulted in regard to public affairs?-Nothing of the kind; he made no claim whatever in his own behalf, simply because the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. If he had put himself forward, he would have shown himself unfit to lead the Lord's people.

Read onward in the chapter, and you will find that some time afterwards a musician was needed to play before Saul. Then some one recommended the son of Jesse, and Saul sent messengers, saying, "Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep." So we see that David had returned to his sheep, after he was anointed king, as though nothing had happened. An anointed king keeping sheep! How natural it would have been to persuade himself that he was wasting his talents, and that it was his duty to be leading men instead of sheep. But he did nothing of the kind, because he was a man according to God's heart, and the Lord is "meek and lowly in heart." Here we have a sample of the kind of men whom God uses in His work.

A KING AT SERVICE

"And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer." 1 Sam. xvi. 21.

At last David is at court. It looks as though there was now more prospect that he might fill the position for which he had been anointed, than when he was tending sheep. But still he is only an armour-bearer, a servant. Now we shall expect to see him begin to work himself forward and push his claims to the allegiance of the people. Ah, that's because we don't know the Lord. David was a man according to God's own heart, and God's heart is love, and love "vaunteth not itself," and "seeketh not her own." 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5.

Instead of seizing upon the throne, which was his by Divine right, "David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem." 1 Sam. xvii. 15. The special object for which he was called to Saul seems to have been accomplished, and the anointed king returned contentedly to his father's sheep in the wilderness.

But he did not stay there. There was war, and three of his brothers were in Saul's army. The brothers, who had been passed by in the choice of a king, were in the army, where there was some chance of distinguishing themselves and becoming known while David, the one chosen and anointed, was an unknown shepherd boy. At last he also was sent to the army, but only as a messenger to carry provisions, and to come again. See 1 Sam. xvii. 17, 18.

Suppose that David had proudly refused to do such menial service. What should he, the anointed king, act as an errand boy? Thousands of people do far less ability than he, and having no such evidence as he had that the Lord has called them to the work, have refused to do humble work that they thought was beneath them, and have complained bitterly that they were not elevated to the position to which they felt sure that God had called them. But then they were not chosen ones, according to God's heart. If David had refused to perform that humble task, he would have missed the opportunity of doing a thing which brought his name before all Israel, and fastened the eyes of the nation upon him. We often miss a high place, because we think ourselves already too high to occupy a low place.

Goliath was slain, and David was in high favour. "And Saul took him that day, and would let him no more go home to his father's house." "And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants." 1 Samuel xviii. 2, 5. Here at last was a position more in keeping with his real calling; nevertheless he was only a servant.

But "favour is deceitful," and Saul's regard for David soon cooled. The people's regard for David aroused Saul's jealousy, and so "Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand." 1 Samuel xviii. 13. Although called upon to step down to a lower position than he had occupied, there was no complaint; but "David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him." That was why David behaved so wisely; for Christ, when He was in the form of God, "counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant." Phil. ii. 6, 7, R.V. By his willingness to serve, David was demonstrating his fitness to reign.

A KING IN HIDING

Finally David was compelled to flee for his life from the presence of Saul. But why did he submit to such

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injustice? Why did he not stand his ground, and claim his rights? The throne was his by right, and the people respected and loved him. Why did he not assert his right to the throne, rally the people around him, and take possession of the place to which God had anointed him? The reason why is that "God was with him," and he was a man after God's heart. Christ was the manifestation of God to men, and He, "when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously." 1 Peter ii. 23.

Thus did David. Twice Saul was completely within his power, yet no advantage did he take of it. It was not because David restrained himself, that he did not kill Saul, but because he had no desire to do so. This is shown by the fact that when at one time he had cut off the skirt of Saul's robe, his heart smote him even for that. The Lord hath anointed David to be king, and David was determined to leave it wholly with the Lord to bring him to the throne.

It is easy for men to say that their case is in the Lord's hands, and at the same time to persuade themselves that God has left all the details to them. The pagan idea that "God helps those who help themselves," has a large place in the creed of many Christians. So the friends of David tried to persuade him. When Saul was in the cave where David was, they said, "Behold, the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee." But David was not to be persuaded to take the Lord's work out of His hands. God had said that David should be king, and it was the Lord's business to perform His own promise.

On another occasion David found Saul asleep. "Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day; now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, and with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time." 1 Samuel xxvi. 8. How many of us are there who could have resisted so specious an argument? How natural it would be to persuade ourselves that in refusing to act we should be neglecting the clearly-indicated will of God. But David knew the Lord better than that. He said:-

"As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed."

"Christ glorified not Himself to be made an High Priest." Heb. v. 5. He "made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant," and "humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him." Phil. ii. 7-9. He was the One in whom God was well pleased, and it was because of the same spirit in David that God exalted him.

Let us not forget that no one but a learner is fit to teach, and no one who is not always willing to serve can ever reign with the Lord. God calls us all to a place in His work; but it is that we may be instruments in His hands, and not He an instrument in our hands. There can be no real advancement except directly from God; for "whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."

"Compulsory Religion" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

The very essence of the Christian religion is perfect freedom. No one can serve the Lord by constraint-other than the constraint of love, which draws but does not compel against the will.

The idea of forcing men against their wills to go through religious services in order to make them religious is grotesque enough. But it is very common wherever churches are able to control legislation. And every one who knows anything about human nature and the Christian religion must know that such practices can only turn men away from any true religious experience.

In the current Nineteenth Century a clergyman has a paper on "The Religion of the Undergraduate," in which he mentions, as one influence tending to make the university man a confirmed sceptic, the compulsory attendance at chapel.

Look at the ordinary morning service in a college chapel: the men lounge about in various irreverent attitudes, but making no pretence of attention to the service. The Don who officiates, painfully aware of the ghastly mockery of the scene, gets through it as fast as he possibly can. Perhaps three times a term on a Sunday morning there is a sermon, usually on some obscure point of Biblical criticism, which profits its hearers about as much as would half-an-hour's reading aloud of Bradshaw's railway guide.

He says it is sad but true that most of the undergraduates are thoroughly agnostic. With the "higher criticism" of the university professors, who are supposed to be expositors of the Scriptures, and the formalities of official religion is not to be wondered at that real religious life does not thrive.

"'He Heareth Us'" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

What a glorious truth it is that God is no respecter of persons, and that His ear is ever open to the cry of those who need help and deliverance. Jesus, the Friend of sinners, died that "He might bring us to God."

But the Catholic doctrine of God, and of sin, and of the intercession of Mary completely shuts away from men this truth. It makes God a being who cannot receive sinners, it makes them a thing of which one must purify himself, and it substitutes Mary for the Lord to bring us to God.

In preaching on prayer the other day Cardinal Vaughan made the following plea for the Catholic forms of prayer:-

Will the "Our Father" be in any way enhanced or strengthened by the addition of the "Hail, Mary"? Certainly not. The petition is perfect. But what about the petitioner? The petition may be perfect, but it may be rejected on account of the state and condition of the petitioner. If a poor man, a criminal, was to endeavour to force his way into the royal presence, holding in his hand a petition drawn up with all the requisite formalities, is it likely that he would be permitted access to the sovereign? No. His petition might be perfect, but the petitioner himself might be so far a criminal and so far unworthy as not to obtain access to the sovereign? Well, now, the "Hail, Mary" is simply this, that when we offer up the "Our Father" to God upon His throne of mercy, we ask the Blessed Mother of God, who is in heaven, and who is our Mother also, to accompany us, to pray with us, to take us by the hand, as it were, and lead is up to her Divine Son, and present us to the Eternal Father.

What a different picture of the Father's love from that which Christ reveals. Such a paragraph is useful in that it puts in plain speech some of the thoughts which so frequently come in the heart of unbelief.

Unbelief says that God does not love sinners. Unbelief in the days of Christ said that, "This man receiveth sinners," and considered it a most serious charge against Him.

Unbelief suggests that a man must put away his sin before he comes to Christ, and therefore, as every honest man will admit that he is a sinner, unbelief suggests that some human being, as a priest, or Mary, or whoever else it may be, must gain the access to God for us.

No. "Through Him"-Christ, not Mary-"we both have access by one

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Spirit unto the Father." Eph. ii. 18.

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." Heb. vii. 25.

God's court is not like that of the Vatican, accessible only on the recommendation of some favourite, or to those who bring properly certified credentials. God invites all to come, "And him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."

"The Growth of Faith" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

The Apostle Paul wrote thus to the church of the Thessalonians: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly." 2 Thess. i. 3. How many there are who are longing for a like experience, and are praying, "Increase our faith," without realising that the answer to their prayer rests with themselves. Let such read the following bit of experience, and profit by it.

Mr. Moody says that when he was president of the Young Men's Christian Association in Chicago, he used to say: "What we want is faith; if we only have faith, we can turn Chicago upside down. I thought that some day faith was going to come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans: 'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' I had closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since."

To expect to grow in grace without Bible study is as idle as to expect to increase in physical strength without eating.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

-A Leeds barber was fined last week for shaving on Sunday.

-Belgium has now five wars on hand with the natives and Arabs in the Congo State. This is called civilising the natives.

-The French column has at last reached the capital of Madagascar, and the Queen and court have fled to a town about 100 miles south.

-The governing body in Iceland has decided to purchase a steamer to establish direct communication with England for mails and passengers.

-The past fortnight has been a veritable reign of terror in Turkey. Armenians have murdered Turks, and Turks have slaughtered Armenians.

-There is a church at Moscow which cost eight hundred thousand pounds. Of that sum two hundred thousand pounds was for gold used in plating the dome.

-A speaker at the Church Congress declared that it cost four shillings a bushel to produce wheat in Norfolk, but many farmers had had to sell it this year at three.

-The mineral production of the United Kingdom, in spite of many adverse circumstances, increased by more than 10 per cent, in value during 1894, as compared with 1898.

-Out of 200,000 rabbits sent to England from Australia in one shipment, 25,000 were condemned by the London inspectors, as decomposition had begun. The state of the rest of them also may be inferred.

-Public feeling in Japan is against the entire evacuation of China by Japanese troops. The suspicion prevails that Russia would take advantage of such evacuation, and Japan is urged to strengthen the army of occupation and the fleet.

-A whole village of well-to-do Italians, speaking English with an accent, is one of the most astonishing things that Italy offers to the tourist. They are retired organ-grinders, who have acquired comfortable fortunes in this country, and have gone back to their native land to live in affluence.

-Missionaries declare that the officers of the Congo Free State treat the natives most barbarously, punishing frequently by cutting off a hand. The natives are forced to trials India-rubber for the State, and the whole thing is declared to be an unscrupulous money-making concern. In this respect it is not unlike most of the companies masquerading in Africa and other parts as civilising agencies.

-China has always so carefully guarded Tibet that no Grand Lama has been allowed to reach the age of eighteen for many years. At that age he is supposed to become the ruler of Tibet, and so the Chinese have taken care that he should be "re-incarnated" before that age, and an infant substituted. But now the present Lama has reached the age and has assumed power, taking advantage of Chinese embarrassments to notify that country that he is not the servant but the lord of Chinese officials. Possibly this may lead to the opening of Tibet.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

The Church Congress was severe in its censures of the Sunday newspaper. As one newspaper says, however:-

As a matter of fact, there is a great deal less of Sunday work on a Sunday newspaper than on the paper that comes out on Monday morning.

The Christian Leader says that a clergyman recently made the following announcement: "Next Sunday, in this church, the Rev. Mr. -- will renounce the errors of Rome for those of Protestantism." Unfortunately that is what too many actually do.

One of our German labourers in Brazil reports that in one province he finds over a quarter of a million German-speaking people. Another German minister sailed from Hamburg last month, with his family, for Brazil. Wherever our books and publications have gone in South America the people call for the preaching of the Word.

On another page we reprint a new leaflet. It is sure to lead many to study their Bibles, and we desire it to have a large circulation. Some who may not be able to engage personally in scattering it may desire to contribute to a fund by which it may be supplied to those who can distribute more than they are able to pay for. Any such contributions we shall gladly receive.

An old saying is, "Of two evils choose the least." Doubtless when the saying originated the word "evil" was used in the sense of calamity, as accident or sickness. In that sense it is of course but simple and common sense, for if two dangers threaten, anyone would naturally choose the least harmful. But the saying has come to be used as meaning that of two sins or errors we should choose the least sinful, and as such it is the devil's own counsel. He who attempts to weigh two evil practices, so as to choose the least sin, will always find at last that his balances were faulty, and that he chose the greater. Of two sins, shun both. We are to avoid even the appearance of evil.

The controversy in the London School Board as to the kind of religion that shall be taught in the schools is on again as hot and bitter as ever, which leads the Telegraph to remark:-

It seems to be a mournful discovery of these later days that Christian instruction, or religious teaching, or whatever they must be assigned to that modicum of Bible-education which is to be taught in our Board schools, is to be regularly revolutionised every three years. Whenever a fresh set of members are elected by the popular vote, the earliest question which comes up for discussion before the new board is the extent to which the previous system, its exponents and its teachers, are to be corrected or modified, doctored or dragooned.

The religion of Jesus Christ is like its Author, "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Religion by law, however, no matter to what degree, is always dependent upon the caprice of the party in power. This of itself is sufficient to show that religion enforced by law is never Christianity.

"Thinking Upon the Bible" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

Thinking Upon the Bible.-The thoughts of any man upon the Scriptures are worth just as much as the man himself, and no more; but no matter how pious or learned the man may be, the thoughts are at the best only the thoughts of a man. They are not God's thoughts; and as it is impossible for anything to add to the brilliancy of the sun, so the thoughts of men upon the Bible cannot make it more clear. If they do not obscure it, they do the most that can be expected of them.

Thinking From the Bible.-But when we have thoughts from the Bible, we have God's own thoughts, no matter how insignificant the man who presents them to us. We are not to put our thoughts upon the Bible, but to let the Bible put its thoughts upon us. What a man thinks about God is of much less importance than what God thinks about him.

Listen to the Lord.-When we meet a master in any branch of learning, we are not continually intruding our opinions upon him, but are glad to be quiet, that we may have our little minds enriched from his superior stores. Surely it is not fitting that we should be more presumptuous in the presence of God than in the presence of man. "Be still, and know that I am God." When God speaks, man ought to be content to lay his hand upon his mouth, and listen in silence.

"The Bible and the Monuments" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

The Bible and the Monuments.-At the Church Congress Sir Charles Warren truly said that no discoveries in the sands of the East could affect the credibility of Scripture. "An old inscribed brick might be very interesting, but it could not build up faith." Of course some of these discoveries show the critics of the Scriptures that on many points they knew nothing, and those who believe the Bible know that the critics are just as foolishly ignorant on all their points of objection against the Word of God. But these researches have not led the critics to give up their opposition. They simply change its base. Sin and unbelief are at the bottom of the so-called higher criticism, and though the critic is brayed seven times in a mortar, so to speculate, it is his folly not depart from history if the critic will read the Word to learn how he may be delivered from his sins, he will speedily find how foolishly empty and vain is the "scholarship" of unbelief.

"Truth Is of God" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

Truth Is of God.-The English Churchman refers to Cardinal Vaughan as a dignitary of a "foreign" church. Church organs delight to speak of the Roman Catholic Church as "the Italian mission." But can they not see that this only weakens their case? Truth is of God. The idea of a national church of Christ is absurd, as anyone will see who considers what the church really is-the body of Christ. The talk about national religion, foreign religion, etc., only shows that the Roman idea of the church has still possession of the minds of those who use these terms.

"Mace and Grimace" The Present Truth 11, 42.

E. J. Waggoner

Mace and Grimace.-"The Archbishop was present," says a Church of England paper describing the Archbishop of Canterbury's share in a recent service, "attended by his chaplain, who carried His Grace's jewelled cross, and another attendant, who carried the silver mace." Now what would be thought of a business man, as a banker or a merchant, who in going about his work should have men marching before and behind with maces and other gewgaws? Such a spectacle could only cause grimaces. But somehow in religion these fantastic evolutions are expected to be seriously taken. The religion of Jesus is too serious a matter for such displays.

October 24, 1895

"The Word of God" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." John i. 1-3.

Who Is He?-That this Word means Christ, there is no room for doubt. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." Verse 14. Again, John writes of the Word of life, "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." 1 John i. 1. And when the same writer saw a vision of Christ, the "Faithful and True" (see Rev. i. 5; iii. 14), the "King of kings and Lord of lords," coming to judge the world in righteousness, he saw Him as "The Word of God." Rev. xix. 11-16. The One of whom we are reading, therefore, is the One who dwelt on earth in the flesh as Jesus of Nazareth.

"In the Beginning."-The Word, the only begotten Son of God, was "in the beginning." When was that?-It cannot be located. Let the mind run back to "the beginning" when God created the heavens and earth, and there we see Him. Just before His crucifixion Jesus prayed, "And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." John xvii. 5. If we could find the beginning of all created things, "whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers," we should still see that "He is before all things." Col. i. 16, 17. Yes, He Himself is "the beginning of the creation of God." Rev. iii. 14. Finite minds can never span the space between "the beginning" when the Word was with God, and the present time; His "goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," even "from the days of eternity." Micah v. 2, and margin. He is "from everlasting to everlasting."

The Word of Wisdom.-Jesus Christ is the One "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Col. ii. 2, 3. He is "the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Verse 22. The Hebrew word here rendered "possess," is the same as that rendered "gotten" in Gen. iv. 1, where we read that Eve said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." Christ is the only begotten Son of God. In Prov. viii. 22 there is no preposition in the original, so that a more proper rendering of the verse would be, "The Lord possessed Me, the beginning of His way, before His works of old." This is indicated in the margin of the Revised Version. Christ was not only in the beginning, but He "is the beginning," (Col. i. 18) even the beginning of the way of the Father. Without Him there was nothing.

"The Word Was God."-"Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." Heb. i. 4. The Son must inherit the name and titles and estate of the Father. Whatever titles belong to God the Father belong equally to Christ. They are His by right. By birth He is "heir of all things." The Apostle Paul writes of the glorious appearing "of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus ii. 13. The Father Himself addresses the Son as God, saying to Him, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Heb. i. 8.

The Word and the Thought.-A word is not merely a sound; it is a thing. The ancient Hebrews had but one

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term for both "word" and "thing." So in the Hebrew Bible the word which is rendered "word" is the same that is rendered "thing." A word is the expression of a thought or an idea. The Word of God is the expression of the thought of God. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." John i. 18. Christ is the expression of God's thoughts to man; and since the thoughts of God toward us are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jer. xix. 11), Christ "came and preached peace." Eph. ii. 17. Why is it that men do not understand God, but think of Him as stern and hard?-Simply because they do not know Christ. It is impossible for anyone to know and believe in the one true God, without knowing Jesus Christ, for "no man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." Matt. xi. 27.

The Word Spoken.-"No prophecy ever came by the will of man; but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter i. 21. But it was the Spirit of Christ in the prophets. 1 Peter i. 11. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable." 2 Tim. iii. 16. An inspiration is a breath. Inspiration of God means the breath of God. Scripture inspired of God, is Scripture breathed of God. Thus we read, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." Ps. xxxiii. 6.

The Scriptures the Word of God.-Since the Scriptures are God-breathed, they are the Word of God. This is what they claim to be. To Jeremiah the Lord said, "Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth." Jer. i. 9. God said, "He that hath My word, let him speak My word faithfully." Jer. xxiii. 28. To Ezekiel He said, "Thou shalt speak My words unto them." Eze. ii. 7. Again, "Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them." Eze. iii. 4. And over and over we find this statement in the prophets, "The word of the Lord came unto me;" "The word which the Lord spake by" this or that one. David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue." 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. Paul thanked God that the Thessalonian brethren received the word which he spoke to them, "not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God." 2 Thess. ii. 13. Again he wrote, "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." 1 Cor. xiv. 37. David said to the Lord, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. cxix. 105. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against Thee." Verse 11. But time and space would fail to repeat all the instances in which the Holy Scriptures are declared to be the Word of God. That is the claim that they make for themselves. Just as surely as they are true, so surely are they the Word of God.

Christ and the Written Word.-Some people imagine that to call the Scriptures the Word of God is derogatory to Christ. They think that since He is the Word of God, the Scriptures cannot be. They forget that that is the very reason why they are God's Word. Through the Scriptures, which we can see, we become acquainted with Christ, whom we cannot see. The unity of Christ and the written word may be learned by comparing Deut. xxx. 11-14 with Rom. x. 4-8. We cannot take space to quote them in full, but you can read and compare them for yourselves. The commandment, we are told, is not hidden, nor far off. It is not in heaven, that we should say, Who will go up and bring it to us? nor is it in the deep, that we need to bring it up. The Apostle Paul uses this same scripture, only inserting Christ in the place of commandment. When Moses said that it was not necessary to go up to heaven to bring the commandment down, it was the same as though he had said that we need not go up to bring Christ down. He has come, and He is risen,-the Word of life,-and the words which He speaks are spirit and life. John vi. 63. Whoever reads the words of the apostles and prophets as the Word of God, finds Christ.

The Creative Word.-"All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." The Norwegian translation expresses the emphatic declaration of the original: "Without it [that is, the Word] is not even a single thing made." "For in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things have been created through Him, and unto Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." Col. i. 16, 17, R.V. And yet there are people who deny that the Son had an existence before He was born a baby in Bethlehem! To deny that is the same as to deny His present existence.

Creation by Wisdom.-The Father, addressing the Son, says, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands." Heb. i. 10. God "made the worlds" by Him. Verse 2. We have already seen that Christ is "the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Now read, "The Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King; . . . He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom." Jer. x. 10-12. And then read again the words of wisdom, "When He gave to the sea its bound, that the waters should not transgress His commandment; when He marked out the foundations of the earth; then I was by Him as a Master Workman." Prov. viii. 29, 30, R.V. The common version has it, "as one brought up with Him," which is also the truth. "The same was in the beginning of His way." He was "the beginning of His way." He was the Architect, the Master Workman, without whom nothing was made.

The Power of God to Salvation.-It is not as a matter of mere curiosity that the Scriptures set Christ before us as the power of God,-the One to whom creation owes its existence. It is that we may know His power to save us from sin. The Word of truth is the Gospel of our salvation. Eph. i. 13. The eternal power of God is seen in the things that are made. Rom. i. 20. But the cross of Christ is also the power of God to them who are saved by it. 1 Cor. i. 18. There is the manifestation of one power by which all things were created and still exist. We have redemption, even the forgiveness of our sins, through the blood of Christ, "who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation; for in Him were all things created." Col. i. 14-16. Christ is Redeemer because He is Creator; the power by which

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He redeems is the very same power by which He creates.

The Word of Peace.-Christ is the Word of the God of peace. So "He is our peace." Eph. ii. 14. When He came to earth, He came speaking the words of God, who said to Moses, "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in His mouth." Deut. xviii. 18. So He "came preaching peace." That was the word that He spoke when the storm was raging on the Sea of Galilee. "He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Mark iv. 39. The winds and the waves recognised the word of the Creator. Power over the elements,-creative power,-was manifested in that word "peace." It is the same word which by the Gospel is preached unto us; for Christ says, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." John xiv. 27. "These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John xvi. 33. The "peace of God" rules in our hearts only when "the word of Christ" dwells in us richly in all wisdom. Col. iii. 15, 16. It is the word that creates, because in Him we have peace, and "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Cor. v. 17.

Rest and Peace.-"Come unto Me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," says the Saviour. Matt. xi. 28. Both peace and rest are found in Him, because "in Him were all things created." The firmer our foundation, the more securely we can rest. We rest upon the word of God, and find perfect rest there, because it is the word that created all things. "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed." Ex. xxxi. 17. He rested upon His own word, which is living and active, and which continued to uphold that which was created. The seventh day, therefore-"the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,"-is the rest of God. It is the rest which Christ gives to us; for since Christ created all things it was He who at the close of the six days' work rested on the seventh day. The seventh day is emphatically the Lord's day,-the pledge of the rest that Jesus gives; and our acceptance of it in spirit and in truth is the sign of our accepting the rest that He offers us.

Sanctification by the Word.-The Saviour prayed, "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth." John xvii. 17. That is the word of Christ, the word by which all things were created. He Himself is the Truth (John xiv. 6), and He of God "is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption." 1 Cor. i. 30. Now hear what the Lord says of His people who had forsaken Him: "I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. xx. 12. God has made Christ sanctification to us, and He has given us the Sabbath in order that we may know that He does sanctify us; therefore it follows that our highest knowledge of God in Christ is found in the Sabbath. To know that God has given the Sabbath, and then to reject it, is to reject complete sanctification.

Perfection and Growth.-Consider this point further. At the close of each day of creation, "God saw that it was good." Everything was perfect as He went along. But suppose He had stopped at any point of time before the Sabbath, and done no more; what would have been the result?-Evidently an imperfect, unfinished creation. The Sabbath was the crown, the mark of a perfect and complete creation. So with men. They may have come to Christ, to learn of Him. They may have made great progress in His school. It is all good. Sanctification is through obedience, through the Spirit, and if they are mindful of all that He shows them, they are as perfect through the little that they know as if they had known everything. But suppose the Sabbath, "as the truth is in Jesus," is made known to them, and they reject it. They then stop short in their growth and are imperfect, no matter how excellent they may have been. The saints of God are the planting of the Lord, "that they might be called trees of righteousness;" but the tree that stops growing is dead.

Knowing God.-"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John xvii. 3. But we do not know God unless we know Him as Creator, and we cannot know Him at all except as we learn of Him in Christ, by whom all things were created. It is a terrible error to deny the existence of Christ before He came to this earth in the flesh; but the only evidence of His pre-existence is the fact that He created all things. To deny Him as Creator, is to deny His existence at all. To neglect to honour Him as Creator, is to "neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord." And we cannot honour Him as Creator unless we accept without questioning the word which tells us about His creation work, and of the rest that follows. And the only way to know this indeed is to share that rest with Him, as we read again, "Hallow My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Eze. xx. 12. Let us then "go on unto perfection," finding in Christ sanctification and redemption according to the measure of His power as Creator, and rejoicing in the Sabbath, the sign which He has given us of creation perfect and complete.

"The Reason Why" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

It may be that some one who read the little tract which was reprinted in PRESENT TRUTH last week, containing statements of eminent men as to the unscripturalness of Sunday, may feel like asking this question: "How is it that you publish those testimonies, when you say that the Bible, and not the testimony of men, is the only thing to be quoted in establishing any point of truth?"

The question is easily answered. The reader will notice that the testimony of men is not quoted in support of the Sabbath; for that there is ample positive testimony in the Scriptures. But the tract in question deals with the fact that the Bible affords not the slightest warrant for Sunday observance. Now it is evident that in such a case the Scripture cannot be quoted. We can only declare the fact that there is no Scripture evidence for Sunday. But some might question this statement as being prejudiced; so to quote from men who cannot be expected of being prejudice against Sunday, inasmuch as they keep it, we seek to induce others to keep it. While such men say that the Bible contains no authority for Sunday observance, all must know that their testimony is impartial.

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But we do not ask anybody to accept the fact even on the authority of those men. The object of citing them is simply this: To arouse people to search the Scriptures and demonstrate the question for themselves. It is an easy matter for anyone to know for himself that there is no more warrant in the Bible for Sunday than for the mass, or for observing Good Friday or Ash Wednesday. Then they can do as they please about acting on their knowledge. If they are willing to risk their salvation on tradition of men, in opposition to the Word of God, that is their privilege. We can only plead with them to listen to God rather than to men, and warn them of their danger. If man is to live only by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the living God, how can we expect to have life if we ignore them?

"One of Earth's Dark Places" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

The Chronicle has had a correspondent writing up the situation in the Congo Free State. So great an interest does the State profess in the welfare of the natives that there is talk of having one State religion, in order that the native mind may not be confused by the great variety of creeds taught by the various missions. The correspondent says:-

There are almost as many missions as there are differences of religious creeds at home, and amongst these many varieties of belief the unintelligent African is apt to fall back again on the bed-rock of primitive fetishism. One almost regrets that the State does not in its arbitrary way set up some one State religion, and punish all Non-conformists with banishment from its territory. But this again will sound very absurd when read in an English atmosphere, though it is discussed with all solemnity here, and seems entirely feasible.

The suggestion is not so new as may be thought; for this is what we have in most countries already, to a degree. The laws recognise the mark of one religion, the observance of Sunday, and punish those who cannot recognise the State as above the Lord in the matter.

But the same correspondent gives us a picture of the manner in which the natives are treated by the Congo State, which shows how the darkness in Darkest Africa grows still deeper under Belgian rule.

"The Government troops and carriers are," he says, "unfortunate negroes pressed into the service by rifle and bayonet." When short of carriers a raid is made on a village, and the women and children are seized. Then carriers are demanded for the return of the women and children. When the village has not sufficient men to supply the demand the villagers themselves are compelled to go raiding on a neighbouring village.

"But there is a meaner way still. Captains of river steamers are given 5f. a head for every man they can bring into Leopoldville, and no questions are asked as to how or from where. The fee is euphemistically called the negro's fare, the captain representing his man as a stowaway who tried to steal his passage for nothing. The process which these piratical gentry use is delightfully simple. They pitch upon some barbaric village on the Aruwimi or one of the out-of-the-way creeks and go ashore with a crew of armed black rascals at their heels. They raid the village of bananas, manioe and anything liftable, force a squad of likely-looking men to cut them enough cords of wood to feed the furnaces on the next stop; and then kidnap them on board, cast off moorings, and steam away. There is a white man of my acquaintance now returning home to enjoy in northern Europe a pleasant competency won from this species of industry. He is entirely open about the matter, and riots in details. 'Keep my name out,' says he, 'and you can publish to your heart's content. The State will deny everything and you cannot prove it. The tracks are hidden with cleverness. But the thing's every bit of its true for all that.' And so every one admits, quite as a matter of course."

It is a glad thought that Christ is soon coming, and then these dark places, "the habitations of cruelty," will be for ever swept away.

"The Fruit of the Vine" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Speaking of the address which the Women's Total Abstinence Union has issued, requesting the churches to use non-intoxicatingly wine in the communion, the Church Times expresses the prevalent idea in saying: "A liquor that is not fermented is not wine, and without wine the original command to 'Do this,' cannot be obeyed."

That is a specimen of how loosely the Lord's commands are read. It is no wonder that they are so loosely obeyed. Read the accounts of the Lord's Supper, as given in Matt. xxii. 26-29; Mark xiv. 22-25; Luke xxii. 19, 20; 1 Cor. xi. 23-26, and you will find that the word "wine" is not once used. The question, therefore, whether or not liquor that is not fermented can properly be called wine, does not come in at all. We do not at all admit the assertion that wine must necessarily be fermented; what we do point out is that it is unnecessary to argue as to what kind of wine shall be used at the Lord's Supper, when nothing is said about using any kind of wine whatever.

Right here some one may wish indignantly to ask, "Do you mean to intimate that it makes no difference what liquid is used in the Lord's Supper? that milk, or water, or tea may be used if one wishes?"-Not by any means. Neither do we wish to be considered as quibbling over the omission of the word "wine." We wish simply to clear the subject of all speculation, and to get down to just what the Lord did say.

"Well," some one will say, "what if the record does not contain the word wine; it says that He took the cup, and that of course means wine." Not so fast; the Lord Himself settles the question for us. Read Matt. xxvi. 27-29:-

"And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."

What did "the cup" contain?-Only the "fruit of the vine." What is the fruit of the vine?-Nothing except the pure, unfermented juice that is hermetically sealed up in the grape skins. No vine on earth ever bore fermented liquor of any kind. Fermented liquor is the fruit of the vat, and not of the vine. The use of fermented liquor, no matter what name is given it, in the Lord's Supper has no more warrant in Scripture than the use of jelly, or anything else into which grape juice might be manufactured. Fermented wine is no more the fruit of the vine than is alcohol and water. The pure unfermented grape juice is the only fruit of the vine. It may be kept indefinitely when placed in a vessel as impervious to the air as is the skin of the grape. That, and that only, may be used in the Lord's Supper. To use fermented wine is no more a following of the Saviour's command and example than to use brandy or ale.

The fact that the use of fermented liquor might awaken or revive a craving for drink, is not by any means the real reason for not using it. The real reason is that it is a perversion of the sacred emblems, and does not represent "the precious blood of Christ," which is not corruptible. He is both

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the Lamb of God and the True Vine. Anyone can see that for a Jew to have offered the putrid blood of a lamb upon the altar would have been sacrilege. If lamb's blood that had been allowed to putrefy, or ferment, by exposure to the air, would not represent the blood of the Lamb of God, why should it be thought that the blood of the True Vine can any more be represented by juice that has undergone a like change?

There is a broad and deep principle involved in this question. It is the principle that man must "live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The perversion of the Lord's Supper is due solely to the substitution of man's notions and practices for the plain Word of God. It is the same way of dealing with Scripture which has led to the observance of Sunday for the Sabbath of the Lord.

"Faith Knows No Failures" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

The history of missions in modern days has many a record of those who seemingly failed, but whose apparent failure was success. The man who goes forward in the path of duty, even though he perish in it, has left a life story that still testifies the power of faith.

When Captain Allen Gardiner died in Terre del Fuego he had no results of his mission to the savages there to encourage his last hours, but the promises of God were his then, and the results have followed since.

It was the mission to the Yahgans of this cheerless region that drew from the naturalist Darwin an acknowledgment of the power of missions to lift up the degraded. He had seen these natives on his voyage with the Beagle, about 1880, and considered them about the lowest forms of human life. But after many years of Gospel work Darwin saw them, and was so surprised at the change that he became a subscriber to the mission.

It was the early account of the pitiful condition of the people that led young Gardiner to organise an expedition to carry them the Gospel. The natives received them with hostile demonstrations, and after months of exposure to the pitiless climate the party actually starved to death.

When a relief expedition went to visit them the next year, an inscription on a rock, still said to be visible, "Go to Spaniard Harbour," directed the searchers to the place where the remains of the missionaries were found. The diary and papers left bore witness to the privations endured, and urged that the pitiless natives should not be abandoned.

The heroism of their lives inspired friends at home to redoubled effort, and thus changes have been wrought in Tierra del Fuego which have drawn from unbelievers a confession of the power of the Gospel to lift up those who were supposed to be utterly abandoned. There is but one power that can save to the uttermost.

"'I Will'" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

The man who was "full of leprosy" came to Jesus worshipping Him, and saying, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." Jesus immediately replied, "I will; be thou clean."

"If Thou wilt" is the same as, "If Thou art willing," or, "If you wish to." "I will," is but another form of "I am willing," or, "I wish to." The leper said, "Lord, you can make me clean if you wish to," and Jesus replied, "I wish to."

"We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." Why not?-"For that He Himself also is compassed with infirmity." We have not to appeal to Him, and stir Him up to sympathy with us, but He has the sympathy already. We have not to labour to secure the good will of the Lord, because He wishes to help us. Christ "gave Himself for our sins, . . . according to the will of God." Gal. i. 4. He "went about doing good," and was always looking for the opportunity. Every appeal found Him ready and willing.

"Submitting to His Will" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Christ gave Himself for our sins, "according to the will of God." It is "the good pleasure of His will" that we should receive the adoption of sons. Eph. i. 5. His will is that all men should be saved. 1 Tim. ii. 4. And yet men talk about submitting to the will of God, and enduring it, as though it were a grievous burden, and something contrary to us.

The leper submitted to His will, and did not find it burdensome. On the contrary, he found it a lightening of his burden. He found delight in the will of the Lord, and so will every one who knows His will, for the earnest wish of God is to do the best for man that can be done.

Some people misapprehend the prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. He said, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt." Matt. xxvi. 39. They imagine that He was seeking to evade the will of God. But all that He wished to be assured of was that it was the Father's will, and He was satisfied. He said, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart." Ps. xl. 8.

We are told, "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess. v. 18. God does not require anything arbitrarily. Since it is His will that we should in everything give thanks, it is His will that in everything we should have something to be thankful for. And so we shall, if our will but coincides with His. Nothing can be impossible when our will and the will of God are the same.

It is true that "evil shall slay the wicked." They will suffer "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish," but only because they reject the will of God. His will is that all men should be saved; if men reject His will, they choose destruction; and in their destruction they cannot bring any complaint against God, since even in that He allows them to have their own way, yielding His will to theirs. "As for God, His way is perfect." And the best thing that any man can do is to inquire the will of God, that He may do it.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

-Australia has over a fifth of the total number of sheep in the world.

-Human sacrifices are still made in Coomassie, the Ashanti capital.

-There is a prospect of a little war with Ashanti, which refuses to receive a British resident.

-There is trouble in the Korean capital. One faction has raided the palace and killed the queen.

-The income of the industrial population of Great Britain has grown in fifty years three times faster than the population itself.

-Excitement prevails in Syria owing to the conflicts between the Mutualis, Mohammedans, and the Druses. Altogether discontent and unrest is manifesting itself in all Turkey.

-The evidence of the unsettled state of affairs is seen in the fact that during Lord Salisbury's short term of office in this administration he has issued three ultimatums, to China, Turkey, and to Ashanti.

-Owing, it is said, to the poor quality of the crops on which the dairy farmer relies for feed for his cows, the yield of milk, butter, and cheese this year is nearly eight million pounds sterling less than last year.

-A scientific journal prints a photograph and description of a potato grown in Colorado, which weighed over eighty-six pounds. The field in which the giant tuber was grown produced 430 bushels of potatoes on one acre.

-Along the line of the Siberian railway are many scattered settlements without churches, and the Russian church authorities have fitted out five churches on railway trucks, the cars having two priests each. The cars visit about twenty settlements weekly.

-It is curious to see what the price of bread has been even within the present century. In 1800 the quartern loaf was 17?d., and for a few weeks as much as 22?d.; in 1805, 12?d.; 1810, 15?d.; 1812, 21?d.; 1814, 12?d.; 1820, 11d.; 1880, 10?d.; 1840, 9d.; 1854, 11d.; 1867, 10?d.; 1870, 7d.

-The Turkish crisis seems to have been temporarily averted by the publication of a scheme of general reform for all Turkish subjects. The demands of the British Government have been greatly modified owing to the fact that Russia refused to join Great Britain in the use of force. Little is expected of the reform scheme, and the whole question is only postponed for a little while.

-The discussion of the slave question reveals the fact that the very ships of the East African squadron which patrol the seas for slave ships are coaled by slave labour in Zanzibar. A correspondent states also that the cathedral in Zanzibar was built by slave labour. The society organised for the abolition of slavery in all British protectorates is pressing for the prompt freeing of these slaves.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

A Portuguese translation of that helpful little work, "Steps to Christ," has just been brought out.

The French papers already talk of a Catholic prince as tributary ruler of Madagascar, and Protestant Mission efforts are to be held in "abeyance."

A journal devoted to Spiritualism prints a portrait of the Pope as frontispiece of the current number. It is a hint of the time when Rome and Spiritualism together will unite in those miracle-working deceptions which precede the coming of the Lord. 2 Thess. ii. 8, 9.

The Catholic Times gives prominence to a report of an address on "Church and State," in which it is stated:-

The Church has the right of enforcing obedience from its children, and that chastising rebellious subjects by spiritual or bodily penalties, either for their own amendment or for the example and preservation of others.

This is a frank avowal of the methods of the Inquisition, which is just as much alive as it ever was. It is only slumbering. The Church of Christ can only urge obedience to God, and can never enforce obedience. Enforced obedience is no obedience, but only hollow mockery.

We often see statements of how many verses the Bible contains, how many words, and even how many letters. The same curiosity hunters also tell us what is the middle word in the Bible. Such "research" may possibly be better for the one who amuses himself at it than for him to be doing nothing; but when such things are classed as "Biblical knowledge" they have a pernicious effect, because they give an utterly false idea of what Bible study is. Such things have no more relation to Bible study than walking from London to Liverpool along the railway, and counting the ties, would have to studying the history of England.

"Ritualism Spreading" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Ritualism Spreading.-"The excitement once caused by Ritualistic developments in the Church of England is now so long past," says the Echo, "that it is almost forgotten. But the movement does not seem to have died out. On the contrary, it has increased even within the last year or two to a considerable extent. A statement was made at a recent meeting of an advanced High Church organisation showing that whereas in 1892 mass vestments were used in only 810 churches in England, they were in use in 960 churches in 1894. Altar lights were used in 1,846 churches in 1892, and in 1894 the number had increased to 2,282. Incense appears to be a development of more tardy growth, but it is augmenting. In 1892 incense was burnt in 146 churches, and in 1894 in 193."

"'Accounted Mad'" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

"Accounted Mad."-The New York Sentinel reports the case of a Sabbath-keeper who was called to court on the charge that he was incompetent to have the care of his children. The prosecution showed that the man had actually resigned a position in the New York Post Office at ?6 per week, in order that he might keep the Sabbath, and was now earning but ?3. The action failed, we surmise from the report, but doubtless the man's prosecutors are still unable to believe in the sanity of a man who will serve the Lord when it costs something. "Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil is accounted mad." Isa. lix. 15, margin.

"The Eastern Question" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

The Sultan's "submission" to Lord Salisbury's demand for reforms in Armenia has not been as complete as was desired. In fact, the impression seems to be that the real point at issue has been evaded. And there are no guarantees for what has been promised. The comments that are made upon it in the press show how complicated the situation is, and how fearful of each other are the powers between which "friendly relations" are supposed to exist. The Chronicle's commissioner in Turkey says:-

Probably the British Ambassador has done the best that was possible without causing a serious breach between England and Russia. After all this deadly vacillation better terms could not have been obtained without the appearance of the British Fleet in the Dardanelles, which would have involved the instant destruction of the triple intents and probably the occupation of Armenia by Russia. At the same time, the terms fall far short of what Lord Salisbury demanded some time ago.

To this the Westminster Gazette adds:-

In other words, what is now obtained is the utmost that could be got with the consent of Russia. Nothing more could be obtained without an act of war on our part alone against the veiled if not active hostility of Russia. The moment the British fleet appears in the Dardanelles, the Armenian Question vanishes and the Eastern Question appears. While nominally putting pressure on the Sultan for the sake of the Armenians, the Powers would from that moment be engaged in a struggle among themselves for the dismembered corpse of Turkey. Where this would end, or if it could end short of a general war, it is impossible to predict. Whoever wishes the ends wishes the means. No one, it seems to us, is entitled to blame the Government for not going further than it can go with the consent of Russia unless he is willing to face these consequences.

All the correspondents agreed that the situation is still "most critical." It is easy to see that the peace of Europe, and of the world, hangs upon a very slender and brittle thread.

"Sunday Laws and Lynchings" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

Sunday Laws and Lynchings.-It is sometimes stated that the existence of Sunday laws upon the statute books, and earnestness in their enforcement, are evidence of a strong Christian sentiment. Not at all; for Sunday laws are anti-Christian, purely. And it is worth just a paragraph to call attention to the fact that those parts of America where Sunday laws have been most zealously used against Sabbath-keepers are the various sections from which the greater part of the news of lynchings and other like atrocities has come. The sentiment behind the Sunday law is lawlessness; for the Sunday is the mark of the power of that lawless one who has exalted himself above God and His law. Not all who favour Sunday laws know this, and therefore it is the work of the Gospel to let them know it.

"The Lourdes Shrine" The Present Truth 11, 43.

E. J. Waggoner

The Lourdes Shrine.-Catholic papers have advertised the cures alleged to have been effected at Lourdes this season more than ever before. Now, however, a French literary man, a devout Catholic, who has investigated the working of this profitable clerical scheme, has learned so much of its fraudulent character that he is bent on exposing it for the good of his church. He expects the Pope to put an end to the use made of the superstition, just as Luther expected at first to find the Pope anxious to stop the scandals which first opened the eyes of the German Reformer. The Frenchman will of course be disappointed, and, let us hope, disillusioned.

October 31, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

"People talk of the sacrifice I have made," said Livingstone, "in spending so much of my life in Africa. Say rather it is a privilege. I never made a sacrifice."

It was a wise saying of Milton's that we should not judge our cause by our success, but our success by our cause. To do the right is success, whether the results are apparent or not; and to do evil is to make a failure even though the cause of evil may seem to prosper.

When Judson had worked in Burmah for ten years he had one church of eighteen converts. The missionary board wrote to him asking, "Well, Judson, how about the prospects?" "Prospects all right," said he, "bright as the promises of God." He knew how to find in the promises the results, and all who are familiar with the history of missions know of the remarkable fruits of that apparently fruitless labour.

"How Much He Knew!" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

How Much He Knew.-A missionary journal says that a candidate for baptism, at Orissa, India, presented himself, saying with tears:-

"I know but little. I am a poor, ignorant man; how can I be expected to answer? If you asked a question about my loom, how I prepare my cotton, how I weave, I could explain it all; but in religion, all I know is that I am a sinner without salvation or any hope of it in myself, that Jesus has died for me, that He is willing and waiting to save me, and that I have given Him my heart; this I know, and nothing more."

"Religious Freedom and Freedom of Religion" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

There is a vast difference in the meaning of these two expressions, although they are usually confounded. The term religious freedom, or religious liberty, is commonly used when only liberty or freedom of religion is meant. Thousands of people are zealous workers for freedom of religion, who have not the slightest idea of what religious freedom is, although they make use of the term. Unfortunately, many people who understand and possess religious liberty often make the mistake of applying the term to freedom of religion, the inevitable tendency being to cause others to think that if they have freedom of religion they need nothing more.

Freedom of religion means simply freedom in the exercise of religion. The two countries where it exists in the greatest degree are England and the United States of America, the former country doubtless taking the lead. Here every form of religion and non-religion is not simply tolerated, but is absolutely free. It is true that there is an established church, but that does not at all interfere with the freedom of other churches. The fact that one body is singled out by the State for attention, does not in England nullify the fact that the others are left alone to do as they please. People are free to congregate wherever they please, provided they do not obstruct the public ways, and hold forth any system of belief or unbelief. Even the worst phases of anarchy may be advocated, and the speakers will not be molested, if they do not attempt to put their theories of murder and destruction into practice.

In Russia and Turkey freedom of religion is almost unknown, except for the established religion of the country. That is to say, those who form the majority, and who have the power in their hands, are very naturally unhindered in the exercise of their religion. That power, however, they use to hinder others in the exercise of a like freedom. Other European countries have freedom of religion in varying degrees. It depends entirely upon the laws of the country, and is a very pleasant thing to have, although it is not in the least degree essential to religious liberty.

Religious liberty is an individual matter; it is granted only by the Lord Jesus Christ, to every one who believes, and cannot be granted, protected, or taken away by the State. The difference between the two things, religious freedom and freedom of religion is

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clearly indicated in the following portion of Scripture:-

"Jesus therefore said to those Jews which had believed Him, If ye abide in My Word, then are ye truly My disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered unto Him, We be Abraham's seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man; how sayest Thou then, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin. And the bondservant abideth not in the house for ever; the Son abideth for ever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John viii. 31-36, R.V.

THE BONDAGE OF THE JEWS

The Jews possessed freedom of religion. In every city they had synagogues. A long time after this the Apostle James said, "Moses of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogue every Sabbath day." Acts xv. 21. Jerusalem abounded in synagogues, and the temple service was carried on with as much freedom as in the days of Solomon. The Jews were free to come up to Jerusalem to worship from every part of the earth, and to return. So when they understood Jesus to imply that they were not free, they resented it.

Jesus did plainly intimate that they were not free, because He said that if they continued in His words they should know the truth, and the truth would make them free. If they had been free already, He could not have spoken of making them free. Then when they indignantly denied that they were in bondage, Jesus said, "Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin." A bondservant is a slave; those who commit sin are slaves of sin, as is indicated in Rom. vii. 14: "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin." The evidence of this slavery is shown by the statement which describes the condition of every enlightened sinner, "What I would, that do I not; but what I would not, that do I." Verse 15. "I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." Verses 22, 23.

It was in this bondage of sin that the Jews were. It is the lot of every man who is not in Christ. Only He can give freedom from it. For we read further in the seventh of Romans, the bitter cry of the man to whom the bondage has become a burden, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?" and the reply immediately comes, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Verse 24. And then we have the joyous cry of the emancipated slave, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law sin and death." Rom. viii. 1, 2.

Here is religious liberty, of which the apostle says in another place, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." Gal. v. 1. It is the only real freedom that there is in the world, and especially the only religious freedom; for mark the words of Christ, "If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Indeed means in fact, in truth, in reality. Other translations have it, "Ye shall be really free." He whom the Son of God makes free is really free. What then of him whom the Son does not make free?-Evidently he is not really free; he has at best only an apparent freedom. But of what value is it to seem to be free, or to imagine oneself free, when really in bondage?

MANY RELIGIONSóONLY ONE THAT GIVES LIBERTY

There are many different religions in the world, even as there are "gods many and lords many." But there is only one true religion, even as there is only one true God, and one Lord Jesus Christ. "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." Eph. iv. 4-6. So as there is but one true God, the religion of Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, it is the only true religion.

But it is only the truth that makes men really free. Everything that is not truth makes men slaves. Therefore since the religion of Jesus Christ is the only true religion, it alone can give religious liberty. False religion is incompatible with religious freedom, because "no lie is of the truth," and only the truth can make men really free. Men may have freedom of religion,-freedom to practice every form of false religion, and every perverted form of the religion of Christ, or no religion at all,-but they have no religious liberty. That is something that is found alone in Christ. Without this, the man who boasts of his freedom is simply mistaking the clanking of his chains for the ringing of the bells of liberty.

The Jews possessed freedom of religion, but they had no conception of religious liberty. They had made the service of God a yoke of bondage. Their rulers bound heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and laid them on the shoulders of the people, while they would not move them with one of their fingers. Matt. xxiii. 4. But that does not show that only the people were in bondage, and that the rulers were free. The fact that the religious leaders led the people into religious slavery, shows that they themselves knew nothing of religious liberty. No man who knows the freedom which Christ gives can ever impose any sort of bondage on another.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN CHAINS

The apostles and the early disciples, on the other hand, did not have freedom of religion. The laws were all against them, and they were forbidden to teach or preach in the name of Jesus. Their assemblies were broken up, their dwellings were entered by armed men, and they were hunted from one city to another. Yet they rejoiced in the most perfect religious liberty, which they offered to their persecutors.

When Paul stood before Festus and Agrippa, he was bound with a chain. He was in bonds for the sake of the religion of Christ. His freedom of religion was cut off. Yet he was absolutely free in the Lord, and with boldness offered freedom in the name of Jesus, to those who held him captive. They were sitting in all the pomp of the Roman State. They were apparently absolutely free, for they could do what they pleased. Yet if they had been not only almost, but altogether such as Paul was, even including his chain, they would have been infinitely more free than they were.

Paul and Silas rejoiced in their religious liberty while their feet were in the stocks; and from their prison cell they proclaimed liberty to their gaoler.

It is a sad mistake to confound freedom of religion with religious liberty. It is true that even freedom of religion is never granted unless the rulers are influenced, unconsciously in most cases, by the Spirit of Christ; but that is not the end for which Christians are to work. Men may labour with great zeal and untiring energy to secure freedom

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of religion, and have only a selfish motive in it all. The disciples of Christ have not time to waste in labouring for anything less than the highest results. Suppose they should all unite in working to secure freedom of religion, and should succeed, the work for which Christ sent them into the world would even then remain undone. They would have made little if any progress toward leading men into the religious liberty which is Christ's one great gift. On the contrary, their labour would have had the tendency to make men rest satisfied with a semblance of freedom, and not the reality. Men may proudly sing,

"Britons never shall be slaves,"

and at the same time be forging the chains of their bondage.

On the other hand, no man can work for the cause of religious liberty with any selfish motive. He is not seeking anything for himself, because he already possesses everything that he wants, for as He works He sings,

"Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
More than all in Thee I find."

He must be in this condition, or else he cannot accomplish anything in the cause of religious liberty. It is the very joyousness of this freedom that has the most influence in winning others to the liberty that is in Christ. The joy of the Lord is his strength.

Then let all Christians give themselves to this grand work. If as one of the side results of their preaching of Christ, rulers are sufficiently influenced by His Spirit to grant freedom of religion, let them thank God for that, and labour in the only work that He has given them to do. Let them hold the standard so high that civil rulers will never get the idea that they can by any possibility confer favours on the cause of Christ, but will understand that it has favours for them. Let it be fearlessly proclaimed that the mightiest king who breaks God's law is but a slave, while the poorest peasant who through Christ keeps its precept is at liberty, even though he be in a prison cell.

"Sabbath Labour" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

The New York Independent notes the fact that the cessation of business on the Jewish Day of Atonement gave some of the principal streets of that city the appearance of Sunday, on Saturday. It then adds:-

It was proved possible for Jews to keep one Sabbath in the year; and if one why not all? The Russian Jews are said to be the most orthodox of their race, and yet we are informed that the larger part of the Russian Jewish girls work on Saturday, for they "have to." And we are also informed that irreligion to the extent of atheism is becoming quite common among those Jews. It is no wonder that the rabble say that the Sabbath is the root of the Jewish faith.

The fact that it is possible to keep every Sabbath in the year needed no such proof. In every part of the world, in the large cities, as well as in the villages and the country, there are Seventh-day Adventists, who observe every Sabbath faithfully, and they do not starve. The only thing that makes people "have to" labour on a day which they profess to consider sacred, whether it be the Sabbath or the Sunday, is the fear that they will not make quite as much money as their neighbours.

"The Bible Its Own Evidence" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

"When God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swear by Himself." Heb. vi. 13. No one could go security for God, because there was no one greater than He. A man with a very small property would not be asked to go security for a man of great wealth. If we wish security for the fulfilment of a promise, we invariably seek for some one with at least equal power to the one who made the promise. But such an one could not be found to go security for God; so He swore by Himself. He is His own security.

Just as God is His own security, so His word is its own evidence. As no one can be found greater than God, so we can find no work of equal value to His. What folly, then, to look for evidences of the truthfulness of Scripture outside of Scripture itself. Some may say, "What about the fulfilment of prophecy?" Why, that is simply God's Word fulfilling itself. The noting of the fulfilment of prophecy is not the bringing of evidence in support of the Bible, but is simply the act of looking where it points us. He who does not believe the prophecy from its own statement, will not look where it points, and will not believe it when he sees it fulfilled.

To expect outside evidence and proof of the Bible, is therefore to deny that it is God's Word, and to dishonour God. It is to deny that God is above all, and ask for a greater than He. Whoever does that, will invariably be deceived, since he is turning to the darkness to find something to augment the light. "Eye have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10. The Spirit is given to all who believe; therefore "he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself," but not from himself.

"Moses and Elias" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

A Spiritualist organ asks, with the air of one who has an unanswerable argument, "How can the appearance of Moses and Elias at the Transfiguration be accounted for, if there is a possibility of intercourse with the dead?"

Very easily indeed. Elijah never died, but was translated. It is not remarkable that one who never died should be alive and appear on one occasion before the resurrection of the last day.

And as Moses died and was buried, we know that he must have been raised. That he did have a special resurrection is shown by Jude, who describes the controversy which Michael, the Archangel, had with Satan over the body of Moses.

By the same Word of the Lord we know that Spiritualism is what it has always been since the earliest records of witchcraft, intercourse with-not the dead-but the "spirits of devils." It is such a terrible deception, and is condemned by the Lord as so great an abomination in His sight, that it behoves those who know what it is, and the extent to which its principles are accepted in the religious world, to speak out plainly about it.

"Standing for His Dignity" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

It is very natural for one to feel slighted and offended at some lack of attention or recognition. This is human nature, because naturally man is foolish and wicked. When one who desires to follow the Lord finds himself cherishing such a feeling-whether affront has been intended or not-it is evidence to him that self is not dead and that he must repent of his own wickedness instead of feeling aggrieved at another's conduct.

This disposition is common to all as men, whether professors of religion or not. It is the universal religion of human nature to display self. But as the Papacy in its very essence is the exaltation of self, it has followed that, as an organisation, it has taken over these natural traits and made a religious

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system of them. And therefore when the Pope feels that he is not properly recognised he is bound as the head of the system to resent the omission.

Of course it is childish and foolish, but the system is founded in opposition to the principles of Christ and that charity which does not take offence. The King of Portugal wishes to visit his uncle, the King of Italy. But the reason why he will not is thus stated by an official organ in Lisbon:-

The news that King Carlos would visit Rome induced the Pope to express through its Cardinal secretary, not summons or warning, but only the deep regret with which he would regard the visit of the King to Rome. His Holiness would consider it a personal affront which he did not deserve at the hands of a country to which he had shown so marked a sympathy in difficult circumstances. And in view of this the king of a Catholic nation could not hesitate between a simple and complementary visit dictated by bonds of affection and a gratuitous insult.

Thus irritation has been aroused between Italy and Portugal, and friendly relations imperiled. As one of the best informed morning papers remarked, if the Pope acts on this principle "he may one day be responsible for European war." Many a man starts a little war in his household or neighbourhood by standing for his "dignity," as his vanity improperly describes it, and it is entirely probable that the dignity of the head of the great Catholic religion will count as a factor in the next great war.

"Laying Hold of Man" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

Although Jesus could heal any disease with a single word, He was not content with that when the man full of leprousy came to Him, saying, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." The words, "I will; be thou clean," would have been amply sufficient to do the cleansing, but more was added. "Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him." The word showed the power of the Creator, who "spake, and it was;" the touch showed the omnipotent Creator hand in hand with weak humanity.

The first definition of the Greek word rendered "touched" is "to fasten, or bind to; to fasten oneself to, cling to, hang on by, lay hold of, grasp, touch." So we need not imagine Jesus stretching out His hand, and touching the leper with one of His fingers, at arm's length; but we may see Him coming close to the afflicted one, and laying His hand upon his shoulder, as brother with brother.

In this we have an illustration of the statement that "He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham." Heb. ii. 16, R.V. It showed what was the actual fact, namely, that Jesus, the Son of God, identified Himself with humanity. So in the same chapter which tells of His touching the leper, we read that He healed all that were sick, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Matt. viii. 16, 17.

Sympathy lightens suffering, although human sympathy is powerless to take it away. But the sympathy of Jesus is a veritable sympathy; it is really a feeling the same thing. He is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." He takes them upon Himself, that we may be freed from them.

"The Word was made flesh." John i. 14. What flesh was the Word

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made?-Human flesh, and not the flesh of some particular man or race, to the exclusion of others, but He was made the flesh of human-kind, which is the same in all, for "there is one kind of flesh of men." 1 Cor. xv. 39. In all things He was "made like unto His brethren." Heb. ii. 17. At every age of life, at every point of human experience, in every ill and infirmity, He touches us. "Both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren." Heb. ii. 11.

There is healing in the touch of the Lord. He comes down to our level, that He may elevate us to His level. And He did not sever His connection with humanity when He ascended on high. The same flesh that He had during His earthly ministry, was nailed to the cross; it was that very flesh that was not allowed to see corruption; in that flesh He rose from the tomb; and to all eternity the scars in His hands and feet, and the wound in His side, will show Him be "the Man Christ Jesus."

He was made to be sin for us. 2 Cor. v. 21. Therefore we can come to Him in confidence, even in our lowest state of degradation, knowing that He cannot despise us, since He is one with us. That is His name, "God with us." Let us gladly receive Him, that from the companionship we may receive all the blessing that God designs for us.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Russian press is said to be showing more than usual unfriendliness to the country.

-The Government of Ceylon is contemplating the bridging of Polk's Strait, separating the island of Ceylon from the mainland of India. The Strait to forty-one miles broad.

-Big-gun practice on the coast is said to so terrify lobsters that their claws drop off from sheer fright. Other fish leave the locality of the range in millions to take refuge in the deep sea.

-Last year's drink bill in Victoria was ?3,739,000 for 1,174,000 population. A Melbourne justice reckons that this comes to ?16 per year for each adult male, exclusive of members of abstaining societies.

-The Times last week published nearly a page on the Russian persecution of the sect which refuses to bear arms. Count Tolstoy says that more than 460 families have been banished from their homes.

-The insurrection in Central China is giving the authorities something to do, and apparently more than they will overdo. The imperial troops sent to quell it number 60,000, while their foes are 800,000 and well armed.

-An army of locusts was seen a short time ago on the frontiers of Idaho and Utah in the United States, about twelve miles long and half a mile broad, devastating the country it passed through. Streams were crossed by swimming, or willows were climbed, the weight of the insects bearing down the twigs to the bank on the other side and forming a bridge.

-Reports from Turkey show that the trouble there is causing grave anxiety daily. Agitation is under way among the Turks for reform of administrative abuses, and altogether the Sultan is threatened on every side. And the Powers must sustain him or fight among themselves for his possessions.

-Cruisers are gathering about the Korean coast to be ready for any emergency there. Russia is bound that no other country shall gain controlling influence in Korea. In Japan the feeling is said to be growing in favour of alliance with Russia for the division of Korea between the two countries.

-At the beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria the population of the British Empire as a whole stood at sonic 124,000,000, of whom 25,650,000 inhabited the British Isles, whim the Colonial subjects of European descent numbered some 1,900,000, and the Asiatic race in India some 96,000,000. In the jubilee year the total was some 307,000,000, of whom 37,000,000 inhabited the British Isles; the Colonial subjects of European descent numbered 9,000,000, and the population of the Indian Empire was 256,000,000. During the same period the area of the Empire has increased from some 5,000,000 square miles to quite 9,000,000, of which 1,570,100 were included in the Indian Empire, 7,000,000 in the Colonial, and the rest in various protectorates.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

Reports from Matabeleland state that our missionaries there are hard at work and of good courage.

This is patriotism in Russia. The organ which often directly inspires the Czar's policy declares: "As soon as we clearly comprehend this and detect England with all the might of our national genius, then will our national genius and growth begin."

The Hungarian House of Magnets, after serious deliberation, and by a very narrow majority, have decided that it is permissible to leave or join any communion, or to make a declaration of not professing any particular creed. Only fancy the religious condition of a people every one of whom is compelled to profess a religion!

Last week the Managing Director of the International Tract Society, Ltd., which publishes the PRESENT TRUTH, was served with fourteen summonses for violations of the Sunday clause of the Factory Act. He is required to appear in court to answer them on Friday, November 1. This will be the third prosecution for Sunday labour. The next issue of PRESENT TRUTH will contain a report of the trial, and in that and following issues we shall again set forth some of the principles involved in the case. We ask our readers to aid us in giving them a wide circulation.

"An Offer Refused" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

The Grindelwald Reunion Conference last summer made a reply to the Pope's letter to the English people, and the President of the Conference, Dr. J. S. Lunn, has been to Rome to present it to the Pope. The reply bore the signatures of Deans Farrar, Freemantle, and Pigou, and the Presidents of the Free Church Congress and the Baptist and Congregational Unions. Dr. Lunn had an interview with Cardinal Rampolla, who undertook to convey the address to the Pope. The letter expressed his gratitude for the very kind expressions contained in the address, and said that as far as the union in prayers was concerned he was at one with the Conference; but he could not receive the address on account of its doctrinal errors, nor could he receive Dr. Lunn in his official capacity, although he should be glad to receive him personally. The Pope has thus given the Grindelwald Conference a very polite snub. The zealous but misguided workers for reunion must learn that the only way they can unite with Rome is by giving their personal allegiance to its doctrines and to the Pope. They are in a fair way to effect the union they desire, and the Pope knows it, but he proposes that it shall be done according to his plans, and he usually has his way.

The address of the Grindelwald Reunion Conference to the Pope, which is signed by the leading Protestant ministers of England, including representatives of the Anglican, Presbyterian, come Congregationlist, Baptist, and Methodist bodies, is couched in the most affectionate terms, Leo. XIII. being constantly called "your Holiness."

In the address the following expressions are found: "We desire to acknowledge the Christian courtesy and the devout aspiration of your Holiness's letter." "We acknowledge with gratitude to Almighty God the evidence of a real spiritual unity underlying our differences." "And lastly, we implore the Father of all mercies that He would in His infinite compassion increase in us all that spirit of brotherly love for our fellow-Christians, which breathes through the letter addressed by your Holiness to the English people."

It is true that the address recognises the fact that "our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the only possible centre of Christian unity," and that it demurs to "the absorption of Christians in any one communion of the divided Catholic Church;" but this faint demurrer is qualified by the statement, already noted, that spiritual unity does now really exist. Their appeal for reunion, therefore, really amounts to a proposal for a federation.

These ministers are of course at liberty to make what proposals they please, and we do not dream of criticising them for it. But we do wish to call attention to the significance of their action. It shows that Protestantism is rapidly ceasing to be more than a name, and that even the name is being repudiated. Two hundred years ago, and even much later, there was a vast and irreconcilable difference between Protestantism and Catholicism. Catholicism has not changed, and if Protestants are seeking reunion with it, they have only to apologise for the course taken by the Reformers. As the Daily Chronicle says: "Either English Nonconformity and English Churchmen have some account to render of themselves for having adopted distinctive forms and beliefs, or else they are in a position to fall into the hands of the great Roman communion." The latter seems to be the case.

"A Rising of Christians" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

A Rising of Christians.-A Reuter's telegram of October 23 says: "The state of affairs in the provinces of Aleppo and Adana is such as to inspire grave fears of a rising of Christians, and consequent bloodshed." Impossible. When Christians rise no blood is shed, not by them at any rate. A real "rising of Christians" would be a grand thing in any part of the world. Indeed such a rising is absolutely necessary, for the Scripture says to them: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." Isa. lx. 1-3. That is the only rising that is possible for Christians. If there is a rising of people, and consequent war and bloodshed, it may be set down as a fact that no Christians have any part in it.

"Some Costly Letters" The Present Truth 11, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

Some Costly Letters.-It is often the case that old letters of some distinguished man who has passed away, bring quite large sums of money, and are thus valuable, in a pecuniary sense, to their owners. But the costly letters to which we refer are the letters "D.D.," after the name of a minister. It transpires, in connection with the refusal of the Bishop of Norwich to receive the degree, that the fees for gaining the right to place those two letters after one's name, amount to ?78. The Bishop wisely thinks that he can use his money to better advantage.

November 7, 1895

"On Rock or Sand?" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

According to the words of Christ, we build upon the rock by hearing and doing His words.

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock."

"And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Matt. vii. 24-27.

Abraham is a wonderful example of building on Christ by believing His word. God made a promise to Abraham, which, like all the promises of God, was in Christ. Then the record says of Abraham, "And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him to righteousness." Gen. xv. 6. There is something very peculiar about this expression "he believed in the Lord." The word rendered "believed" is from the Hebrew word "Amen." This word "Amen" in the Scriptures is not translated but simply transferred.

The root idea of the word is firmness. The idea of solidity and stability attaches to it. It has a variety of definitions, all carrying this thought. One definition is "to build, or depend, on." So, literally, Abraham built upon God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.

This gives a better idea of the Bible meaning of belief than is commonly held. People generally think that to believe is nothing more than assent. But believing the Lord is

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much more than this. It is to count that Word as the surest thing in the universe, since it is that which upholds the universe, and to press the whole soul, and all the hopes, upon it, even though everything appears contrary to it. It is to walk where there seems to be nothing, provided the Word of the Lord is there, knowing that it is a firmer foundation. The poet Whittier has thus expressed it:-

"Nothing before, nothing behind;
The steps of faith
Fall on the seeming void, and find
The rock beneath."

But note the fact that when Abraham built on the Lord it was counted to him for righteousness. The Lord never makes any mistakes in His reckoning. When Abraham's faith was reckoned to him for righteousness, it was because it was indeed righteousness. How so? Why, as Abraham built on God, he built on everlasting righteousness. "He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." He became one with the Lord, and so God's righteousness was his own.

"The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of fire, purified seven times." Ps. xii. 6. Therefore he who builds upon the Rock Jesus Christ, by accepting His word in living faith, builds upon a tried foundation. So we read: "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded." 1 Peter ii. 1-6.

The force of this is not so clearly seen until we read the passage of Scripture which is quoted by the apostle, in connection with the one that we quoted from the Saviour's Sermon on the Mount. Recalling the latter, we read from the prophecy of Isaiah:-

"Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. And I will make judgment the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to understand the message." Isa. xxviii. 16-19, R.V.

Christ is the tried foundation. Righteousness is the plummet by which He is laid. His character is perfectly true and right. Satan has exhausted all his arts in trying to lead Him to sin, and was unsuccessful. He is a sure foundation. We build upon Him by believing His Word, as He Himself said. The floods will surely come. There will be an overflowing scourge that will sweep away the refuge of lies, and all who have built on a false foundation. The house built on the sand will certainly fall. When the storm begins to beat with fury, those who have made lies their refuge will flee for their lives as their foundation begins to totter; but the flood will carry them away. This is the picture presented by the two passages of Scripture.

But far different will it be with those who have built on the Rock of Ages. That sure foundation will stand every blast. Nothing can shake it. Those who have built on it cannot make haste. They have often proved that it is a sure refuge, and so they can calmly watch the torrent. They do not need to flee for their lives. Having built on the rock, they are as secure as the rock itself. And why? Because they are really a part of the Rock, for the Rock builds up all who build upon it.

Listen to the words of the apostle: "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." When one builds upon the Rock, the Rock itself, being a living Rock, grows up into them, so that the foundation and the building are all one piece. This is shown by many passages of Scripture, some of them which will at once occur to the reader. It is a wise man who now, every day, is building upon the Word. The storm is gathering, and it is for every one who would be safe in that day to make sure of his foundation.

"A Danger to Mission Work" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

CHAINED TO A CHAPEL

The cause of missions has been in no way helped in China by the demand which has been made by missionary conferences and the religious press for the punishment of wrong-doers and the interference of governments to make the lives of missionaries safe in the interior of the great empire. The cry for vengeance is not of the Scriptures, and the worst of it is that those in position to trust in police or military protection will, by their appeal for the exercise of such power, drive the natives further from Christ, and render the work of their fellow-workers in the interior still more difficult.

Just before the recent massacres a professor in Peking University described the punishment meted out to revilers on one occasion in that city. Imagine, if you can, anything more directly contrary to the example of Christ, "who, when He was reviled," suffered it, than the action of the missionaries

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who allowed themselves to become parties to such a punishment as that described. The man An is a policeman whose praise, as a convert, Professor Headland is sounding in his letter. Five men having interrupted in a service they were requested to leave the chapel, and obeyed.

The five went outside, and just as they got outside the door where An happened to be standing, one of them began to revile me, my ancestors, sisters, and all my family. An caught him at once.

"Who are you reviling?" said he.

"What do you want?" said the fellow; "do you know I'm a soldier?" and he hit An a box on the ear.

"Do you know I'm a soldier?" said An; and before the fellow and his companions knew it, he jerked a little chain from under his large coat and wound it round the fellow's neck. His companions, of course, ran, and took him to the police station.

While he was doing that we had our prayer-meeting, not even knowing what he had done, for we did not go out. When we finished our meeting he came back bringing the fellow's hat, and asked me to go with him and the preacher to see the official. I went, but put the whole matter into their hands; and the punishment they decided upon was to chain him to the chapel doorpost two days, making him tell every one who asked why he was there. They also sent thirty men to see that order was kept while the chapel was open.

These things helped to fan the fires of hatred against the Gospel, and the poor missionaries in the provincial towns have to suffer for the indiscretions of their comfortably-placed comrades. The same spirit which is manifesting itself at home in seeking to make men "Christian" by police-court processes is getting into the mission fields, as evidenced by the call for gunboats and bayonets. The Christianity of Christ is not preached by these means, either at home or abroad.

"Which Master?" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

At a recent meeting of the Established Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, the question of "Sabbath Observance" came up for considerable discussion. In the talk about the increasing irreverence for Sunday, and the amount of Sunday work done by members of the church, the real nature and origin of Sunday laws was incidently shown. We quote one paragraph from the published report, which contains the sum of the matter.

Mr. Lawrie, Fairbairn Memorial Church, said that last Sunday night he was meeting with young communicants. A wife was joining the church. Her husband was a very decided man, but being in the tramway service he could not go to church. He (Mr. Lawrie) knew that ex-Baillie Dickson stated that it was open to any man to say whether or not he would work on Sunday, and that therefore those who chose could go to church. But that was a statement from one end. There was another statement from the men's end. He knew facts; he would not give names because personal interests were involved. He knew of elders who had to resign their office because of Sunday labour. He knew of Sabbath-school teachers who had had to give up their classes and their church-going, their children doing likewise, because of employment under the Town Council. He knew of numbers of such cases, which he had got from the people themselves direct. The Church, he thought, had a Christian responsibility in the matter. It was not the case of private employers. It was a case of every voter in Glasgow being responsible. It was not a case merely of those who did not care for the Church, or who did not prize the Church, but it was a case of church members, Christian people, office-bearers having pressure brought to bear on them. Everyone knew the position of a working man with a small family with no union to back him up. He did not suppose that the vote which was given in the Town Council would have been lost had the Church clearly and distinctly said-"We want to save the Sabbath Day and protect the people." Just fancy this! An elder said-"It is very hard on me to be out on Sunday conducting another elder and his family to church while I can't go myself. I have to leave my seat in the church and my family in order to do this." They talked of working people turning their backs on the Church. Did they think, however, that working men did not understand the meaning of the action which produced such a state of matters? It was not in the tramway service alone that such things took place. He would like to know at the present moment how many servants in the employment of Glasgow Town Council were compelled to work for such hours that they could not attend church.

Is it not a pitiful picture? "Yes," some one will say, "it is most sad that cruel corporations will force earnest Christian men to work when they want to be at church, on the day which they regard as holy." Oh no, we did not refer to that; the pitiful picture, to our mind, is the spectacle of the church council gravely and seriously protesting that Christians cannot attend church on "the Sabbath," because their employers keep them at work! Before making any further comment we wish to present

A PARALLEL CASE

in the fourth century. The historian Neander thus gives it:-

Owing to the prevailing passion at that time, especially in the large cities, to run after the various public shows, it so happened that when the spectacles fell on the same days which had been consecrated by the church to some religious festival, they proved a great hindrance to the devotion of Christians, though chiefly, it must be allowed, to those whose Christianity was the least an affair of the life and of the heart. Church teachers, such as Chrysostom, were, in truth, often forced to complain that in such competitions the theatre was vastly more frequented than the church. . . . . Moreover, by the civil relations of those times, many were obliged, on account of their particular place among the citizens, to take part in the arrangements necessary for the support of the public shows, and had to be interrupted in their devotions against their will. Hence, the North-African church resolved, at an ecclesiastical convention, held at Carthage in 401, to petition the emperor that the shows might be transferred from the Sunday and from feast days, to some other days of the week. Owing to the prevailing passion for the shows, but this petition could not be granted, perhaps, without considerable difficulty. First, in the year 425, the exhibition of spectacles on Sunday, and on the principal feast days of the Christians, was forbidden, in order that the devotion of the faithful might be free from all disturbance. In this way the church received help from the State for the furtherance of her ends, which could not be obtained in the preceding period. But had it not been for that confusion of spiritual and secular interests, had it not been for the vast number of mere outward conversions thus brought about, she would have needed no such help.

That is just it. If it had not been for the great number of "mere outward conversions," the church would not have needed the help of the civil law to secure the attendance of its members. But that help having been secured, the matter was made worse; for when things are so arranged that people can be religious, and can perform their religious duties, without any inconvenience to themselves, then their Christianity is nothing but a mere outward form.

Those whose Christianity is in reality "an affair of the life and of the heart," will do their duty whether circumstances are favourable or not. But when Christianity is not an affair of the heart and life, then the practise of the forms of Christianity is worse than useless; for it either constitutes one a conscious hypocrite, or else deceives him with the idea that Christianity is nothing but outward acts which one is to perform if it costs nothing.

"SUNDAY SLAVERY"

In the cases cited in the meeting of the Glasgow Synod we have an illustration of what is commonly termed "Sunday slavery." The "Pearl of Days," a publication of the "Workingmen's Lord's Day Rest Association," has a pitiful plea from one of the "slaves to Sunday labour," which it copies from The Christian. It is from a railway man, and is done in verse as follows:-

"I fain would use Thy holy day
To worship at Thy feet,
Within Thy courts to watch and pray,
And with Thy children meet.

"But I have masters to obey
Who care not, Lord, for Thee,
Who run their trains on this Thy day,
And thus make work for me."

It is pitiful, isn't it? Most pitiful, that Christian teachers should thus encourage people in the idea that they cannot serve the Lord unless the way is made perfectly smooth for them. Pitiful that those who as Christ's ambassadors are commissioned to proclaim liberty in Christ, should take it for granted that man must always be slaves.

For is it not evident that those men are really slaves? To what are they

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slaves?-To Mammon. They demonstrate the truth of the Saviour's words, "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Matt. vi. 24. The servant of Christ is a free man, no matter what his condition in life. 1 Cor. vii. 22. He who knows the truth and holds to it, is free indeed. But the man referred to in the foregoing are slaves of the world. God calls them to serve Him, and they say, "We should like to,

'But we have masters to obey
Who care not, Lord, for Thee,'

and they refuse to allow us to serve Thee." Thus they proclaim their slavery; and professed ministers of the glorious Gospel of Christ agree with them that they cannot serve the Lord as long as any hindrance is laid in their way.

Suppose that laws were secured guaranteeing every man the privilege of resting in going to church on Sunday without any fear of losing his employment, or of suffering the slightest inconvenience by so doing; would that make them free?-Not by any means. They would be slaves as much as ever. Their "masters" would simply have given them license to go to church; but if those "masters" should withdraw that favour, then they would acknowledge the yoke of bondage as before. The men who serve the Lord because they can do so as well as not, will cease to do so as soon as the least difficulty arises. And that shows that they have not in reality been serving the Lord, but only their own convenience.

"Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Rom. vi. 16. Now the essential wickedness of all efforts to secure laws so that men can serve the Lord without any effort, lies in the false idea of Christianity which is thus created. But such laws are inseparable from the Sunday, because it is but a human ordinance at best. So that there is a sad reality in the expression "Sunday slavery." The Sunday institution itself stands for slavery to human customs in opposition to God's law. It is the mark of the "man of sin," and sin is the worst kind of slavery.

SABBATH FREEDOM

On the other hand, the Sabbath of the Lord is the standard of freedom. The perfect law of God in Christ, of which the Sabbath is a part, is the "perfect law of liberty." James i. 25.

Christ is free. He alone can give true freedom. Whoever follows Him in truth, has absolute freedom, even though he be bound with chains. And when we say that he is free, we mean that he is so free that no power on earth can force him to do what he does not wish to do. He may suffer death, but not defeat, for He is a victor even in death.

The Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day of the week, on which the Lord rested after having created the heavens and earth in six days, is the memorial of God's creative power. It is the sign of the power by which He makes men free. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Rom. i. 16. The power of God is seen in the things that are made. Verse 20. So the Sabbath is the sign of God's power to save. Therefore he who knows the Sabbath as God has given it, has no need to ask for the way to be made easy for him to keep it, because in the keeping of it he finds the way. It marks the measure of God's power, who can make a way through the midst of the sea.

CHRISTIANITY AND HEATHENISM

The difference between the two is that the first is trust in a God who cannot be seen, while the second must have a god which can be seen. The Christian who endures "as seeing Him who is invisible" (Heb. xi. 27), does not need to see the way before him; but the heathen, who cannot get along without a god his natural eyes can see, must be able to see the end before he will begin, since he has to walk alone. He who must "see his way" before he will begin to walk, is the same as the one who must see his god. If the Israelites had insisted on seeing their way before they proceeded to cross the Red Sea, or the Jordan, they would never have reached the promised land.

The Saviour, after showing how God feeds the birds, and clothes the grass, and pointing out that He will much more clothe us, said: "Be not anxious, therefore, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. vi. 31-33, R.V.

In these words the Lord shows us that Christianity means trust, while distrust is heathenism. And herein we see that while the Sabbath is the mark of Christianity, the Sunday pertains to heathenism. For no one who knows what the Sabbath really is, ever thinks of such a thing as asking for a human law to enable him to keep it; the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ" is not only his authority but his power. But on the other hand, human laws are inseparable from Sunday, because it is only a man-made institution, having no Divine authority. Wherever you are in the world, there you find Sunday observers demanding a civil Sunday law, so that people can be free to keep the day. That shows that the god of Sunday is not "the Lord God Omnipotent." It is a god who has no greater power than the State.

DEATH DOES NOT END ALL

But someone will say that we do not touch the real point. They do not fear man, but it is a question of life or death. We know that there are many who see their duty to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, but who are deterred by the fact that the keeping of it would almost certainly mean the loss of their situation. One man writes to us: "The thought of hearing my children cry for bread is a very great difficulty in my mind." We sincerely sympathise with such, and we know that there are many. But when such ones see the Sabbath not merely as a duty, but as a blessed privilege, as the introduction of the Lord Himself, who owns the earth and its fulness, such difficulties will vanish.

It is indeed a sad thing to hear children crying for bread; but He who "giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry" (Ps. cxlvii. 9), will not disregard the cry of children.

Some one will say, "Since people find it difficult to keep the Sabbath on account of their business, what becomes of your statement that the Sabbath belongs to Christianity, and the Sunday to heathenism?" That is easily answered. With the Sunday there is no promise of God to help the man out of his difficulty, which is real; while the Sabbath, which rests on God's Word, carries with it all the promises of God's Word to support the man who embraces it. It is the great

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test of trust in God's Word, and thus the great seal of Christianity.

"But would you counsel a man with a large family depending on him, to begin to keep the Sabbath when it will mean the loss of his sole means of earning a living?" We would simply counsel a man to obey the Word of the Lord, and to trust in the promises of the Lord of the Sabbath. God has said that He knows what we need, and that He cares more for us than earthly parents care for their children. The question is, Do we believe Him? A man must believe Him sufficiently to trust his life in His hands, or else his observance of the seventh day would not be true Sabbath-keeping. The man who says, "I will keep the Sabbath if you will provide the employment whereby I can make a living," does not yet know what the Sabbath is, and therefore could not keep it. A man might as well not profess to keep the Sabbath, as to profess to keep it well trusting in man instead of in God. No one but God can ensure a man a living.

Everything comes from God. Even the wicked derive their support from Him. "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." Acts xvii. 25. Now since He provides even for those who blaspheme His name, is it not reasonable to suppose that He will care for His own? We may reason thus: "All these years I have been disobeying God, yet He has fed me; surely He will not cast me off now when I turn to Him to obey Him."

Let it be remembered, however, that the promises of God are not simply for this life. "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." 1 Tim. iv. 8. But what God has promised for the present life, He has not promised that it shall continue for ever. In other words, He has not promised immortality before the coming of Christ. He has had faithful followers in all ages, but except in a few cases they are all dead. Let no one think therefore that it is an absolute necessity that this present life should be preserved at all hazards. Jesus said, "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Matt. xvi. 25, 26.

God alone knows the life and times of men. No man who serves Him can by any possibility die till He wills it, and when God is willing that one of His servants should cease from labour, it is well. So if by any possibility a man should starve to death as a consequence of serving the Lord, that would not be the worst thing that could befall him, although it would be the first time such a thing ever happened. "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."

Although God does not allow His servants to starve to death, He does suffer them to die for His sake. Thousands of men, with families depending on them, have died at the stake rather than disobey God. Their names and memories are honoured; yet many who honour will refuse to serve the Lord if it means inconvenience. It is quite likely that if you should talk with the members of that Glasgow Synod, they would discourse eloquently of how their fathers died for the truth's sake; yet they themselves are doing their best to lead men to think that they cannot serve the Lord if it will cost them anything.

Now all this talk about people's not being able to serve God, because they are likely to lose their working if they do, is really an outgrowth of the heathen idea that death ends all. Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, because he felt that he was about to die, and he thought, "What good will this birthright do me?" He had no conception of any inheritance beyond the grave. But the promises of God are for this present life only to the end that men may "lay hold on eternal life." The man who dies in the service of God, gains his life in losing it. God is the living God, and He gives life. His servants know that the present life is of no profit whatever, except as it is the means of gaining the life to come; and if they lose this in gaining that, they have got full value out of it.

Sunday laws are therefore pagan on this count also, since they lead men to think that it is useless if not impossible to serve the Lord if such service interferes with their earthly prospects. The logic of Sunday laws is that if men lose the good things of this world they lose everything. But men who really know the true God, know better.

So to-day the Word of the Lord says to people as it did of old, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." Happy is the man who can say in the face of the greatest difficulties, and even of death itself, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

"Why Some Hate the Word" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

Why Some Hate the Word.-The world is constantly hearing of criticisms of the Bible from theological professors in Germany. Those who do not know what is required in a teacher of theology in German State institutions may sometimes wonder how it comes that those supposed to teach the Bible spend their time in criticising it. It must be remembered that the State religion in Germany is a branch of politics, and men are appointed to chairs of theology as to any other office under the State. In the Homiletic Review Dr. D. S. Gregory, who evidently knows of what he speaks, declares that often the professor hates the Bible and earnest Christians because they are a perpetual rebuke to the corrupt and beastly life he leads. If he fills a professor's chair in such a theological institution, where drunken brawls are not unknown, and where licentiousness is rife and often open, to attract attention, he must have something striking to present in his teaching. Hence the theological vagaries, etc.

"Dedication" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

In a sermon preached at the dedication of a new church, called the "Church of Our Holy Redeemer," Cardinal Vaughan said:-

The Book of the Gospels is not a closed book, it is not confined to foreign tongues, and not given only to the clergy; it is written in our own language, it is published in the cheapest form, and all are invited, nay, pressed, to read and study it. The Gospels are the great source from which to learn, and there is no devotion in the Church of any king that is higher, better, or even to be compared with devotion to the Most Holy Redeemer. Nay, more; if any devotion could draw away hearts from our Saviour it thereby stands self-condemned.

We have no right to suppose that the Cardinal was not sincere in his statement, and we are glad to record it. His eulogy of devotion to the Most Holy Redeemer would have been more pointed, however, if the building which he was dedicating had not contained altars to "the Sacred Heart," "Our Lady," "St. Joseph," and "St. Francis."

"An Oft-Misquoted Scripture" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

How many times we hear it said of something which is thought to be easily understood, "It is so plain that he that runneth may read." But the text of Scripture does not read this way. Here it is: "Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run that readeth it." Hab. ii. 2. The prophecy is a double one, looking forward to the great advent movement of the last days. The writer of Hebrews quotes verses 3, and 4, and applies them to the second coming of Christ. See Heb. x. 37, 38.

The prophet declares that he would stand on the watch, and set him on the tower, that he might have the wherewith to answer when he was "reproved" or "argued with" (margin). The Lord answers: "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it."

The idea is that he who reads God's message therein set forth may carry the tidings to others. This very thing is set forth as a characteristic of the last days by Daniel.

"Nearness to God" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

Some one has said: "Never separate yourself from God. How sweet it is to live always near those who love us." But it is sweeter still to live near those whom we love, and the reason why we do not delight more in nearness to God is not because God does not love them, but because of their lack of love for Him. Let the Christian meditate on the wonderful love of Christ, and the sacrifice made by Him to save and bless lost, ruined sinners, until the fire burns in his heart, and he can say in sincerity and truth, "The love of Christ constraineth us." Then we shall find it sweet to feel that we are near to God. Then we can sing,-

"Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me."

Then, if perchance some sin committed by us has hidden His face, like the psalmist we shall soon be found crying out, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?"

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

-The Salvation Army self-denial week has yielded over ?30,000.

-France now claims that in the event of war she can put an army of 4,000,000 soldiers into the field.

-Over 100 specially constructed steamers are engaged in carrying frozen meat from the colonies to England.

-Russia counts on German neutrality in the Far East, and the active support of France is assured her.

-It is estimated that 6,000 slaves are imported yearly into Zanzibar and Pamba from the African mainland.

-It is said that Gustav Jovanovitch, a cattle king in Russia, has 85,000 shepherd dogs to look after 1,500,000 sheep.

-It is said that there are now about twenty million square miles of surface on the earth which have never been explored.

-The violent attacks on England in the official Russian papers has disturbed business on the Continental stock exchanges.

-Well informed financial journals predict that the rush for South African mining shame will be followed by a financial crash ere long.

-The Ashanti king has rejected the ultimatum and defies Great Britain. In a few weeks an expedition will start from Cape Coast Castle for his capital.

-The Siberian railway is now In complete running condition and open to Omsk, 2,200 miles from St. Petersburg, and four days and a half are occupied in making the journey.

-The principal county in England for fruit cultivation is Devon, where there are 26,955 acres of orchards. Hereford comes next with 26,688 acres; Somerset, 24,520; and Kent, 23,260.

-The acreage of orchards in England, Wales, and Scotland is now more than 218,000, Last year it was only a little less than 214,000. The market gardens cover now 92,887 acres, as compared with 88,210 last year.

-The Chinese secret societies are said to have joined the Mohammedan insurgents, who are defeating the Chinese troops in every direction The Mohammedans propose to found an independent kingdom of their own.

-Between Madagascar and the coast of India there are numerous islands, only a few of which are inhabited, Yet it is stated that in most of the islands a man can support a family in luxury without working more than twenty-five days in a year, nature does so much.

-A landlord in East Kent has received notice to quit from the whole of his farm tenants, who assent that at present prices they could not farm at a profit if they had the land free. On another Kentish estate fourteen tenants are leaving, and in the Isle of Thanet thousands of acres must go out of cultivation unless people can be induced to occupy the holdings recently vacated.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

In this paper we give a brief reference to the latest Sunday case. Next week, God willing, we shall deal with the matter more fully, setting forth exactly what the Sunday clause in the Factory Act means, and what is yet to come.

"In Court Again" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

On Friday last, November 1, the publishers of PRESENT TRUTH were for the third time called to appear in court, and were fined for not compelling certain of their employÈs to cease working on Sundays. There was no charge that the women were overworked, or that they had suffered the least injustice; but, as the prosecuting inspector said, Sunday is a protected day. That is the secret of the whole matter. The Sunday clause in the Factory Act is not for the protection of labourers, but for the protection of Sunday.

The story of the "trial" is soon told. There was no attempt to conceal the fact of Sunday work. Why should there be? No one would think of denying that he had told the truth. So the magistrate imposed the heaviest penalty in his power, namely three pounds in each case. As there were fourteen cases, the entire fine was ?42. The costs were ?2, but the distress warrants, yet to be issued, and the seizing and selling of property will materially augment the cost, so that the fine and costs will ultimately amount to upwards of ?50.

The magistrate was in a facetious mood, and waxed witty at the expense of the few people who were so old-fashioned as to believe that God's law is above man's. But the case is not yet ended. The Supreme Court of the universe has yet to pronounce upon the case, and we know that its decision will be according to truth.

"'We Have a Law'" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

When Jesus Christ stood before Pontius Pilate and the mob who were clamouring for His death, and the Roman governor was desirous of saving His life, the Jews cried out, "We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." 1 John xix. 7.

The cause for which Jesus stood has made such progress that to-day many powerful nations, among which England stands first, count it the highest honour to be known as "Christian nations." Whether or not they deserve the title is another matter; the fact is that by claiming it they bear witness to the general acceptance of the belief that Jesus Christ was right, and that the people were wrong.

Yet the people stated only the fact when they said, "We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." But Jesus was the Son of God. He might have saved His life if He had denied that, but "He cannot deny Himself." It was the truth, and He came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Therefore it was impossible for Him to avoid being in conflict with their law.

That being so, it follows that their law was wicked, and against the truth. Every one who acknowledges that Christ was right, thereby admits and claims that the people were wrong. It was wicked for them to have such a law, and, having it, it was wicked for them to execute it.

The authorities who have to do with the prosecution of the International Tract Society for Sunday labour, have only one plea, namely, "We have a law." They know that the commandment of God says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work"; and they know that the Society acts strictly in conformity with that law. But in obeying the law of God, which is the truth, it necessarily is out of harmony with their Sunday law. And just as surely as God's law is right, the law which forbids anyone to labour on Sunday is wrong.

The claim of the people is that their laws must be enforced, even against the truth. But if it be so, that a law of the people must be enforced, even though it be a bad law, then the priests were justified in demanding the death of Jesus Christ. Whoever therefore justifies the enforcement of a Sunday law, simply because it is a law, although positively in opposition to God's law, thereby justifies the condemnation of Jesus Christ. Whatever government, therefore, has and executes Sunday laws, thereby proclaims itself not a Christian nation.

Let the reader bear in mind that in the foregoing no comparison is made between Christ and the International Tract Society. It is not the Society, but the truth, that is on trial. Christ is the truth, whenever His truth is on trial, and is condemned, He Himself is rejected. Iniquity is nonetheless wicked because it is framed into law.

"Two LawsóOne Duty" The Present Truth 11, 45.

E. J. Waggoner

"We have a law," the people cried to Pilate. By that law the Truth was condemned. "We have a law," the people say still, "and it is our duty to enforce that law, right or wrong. We must do our duty."

Very well; devotion to duty is a grand thing; and to be obedient to law is undoubtedly one's duty. But there are laws and laws. The Bible speaks of "the throne of iniquity" "which frameth mischief by a law." Ps. xciv. 20. That is one law. Then there is the throne of God, whose "law is the truth." Ps. cxix. 142.

Here are two diverse laws, but only one of them has anything to do with duty. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. xii. 13. Therefore it is no one's duty to obey or enforce a law which opposes God's law of truth. To have anything to do with such a law, whether it be to make it, to keep it, or to execute it, is to commit sin; it is to go contrary to duty. Obedience to such a law is not duty, because the law itself is lawless. Lawlessness is sin; and to sin is contrary to duty. In order to be really law-abiding, one must disregard laws that oppose God's law.

The commandment of God says, "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." By this commandment it is as clearly one's duty to disregard Sunday as it is to observe the Sabbath.

Magistrates and officers are very zealous for duty. If they are really so, they should honour loyalty to the highest law. They say that they are bound by the laws, and cannot do anything else than enforce them. They then ought to be able to understand the position of those who know God's law to be greater than human laws, and are bound by it, so that they cannot do other than obey it.

November 14, 1895

"God Cannot Fail" The Present Truth 11, 46.

E. J. Waggoner

The disciples were rowing across the sea one night, when a tempest arose and threatened to engulf their little craft.

Jesus was also a passenger with them, and worn out with the work of the day was in one end of the boat "asleep on a pillow," even while the water was dashing over their sides.

"And they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest Thou not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm."

"And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" Is it, then, an evidence of no faith for men to be alarmed when their boat is filling with water in a boisterous sea? Yes, for the Lord was with them. They thought they were about to drown, and that the Lord was about to drown with them. And He seemed to pay no heed to His danger nor to theirs. They were thinking of themselves, but they had no conception of the Lord as other than themselves in such an extremity; no faith in His Divine mission and the power of His life.

Faith would have said, "The Lord is with us. His is the power of an endless life, and His is a Divine mission in the world which no fury of the elements can cut short." Their unbelief suggested that the Lord was as helpless as they.

The lesson is for us. Whenever danger or trial comes we are to remember that God is alive. When circumstances would seem to overwhelm, and the enemy is raging, unbelief suggests that God is helpless, and that we must perish. But the believer who holds to the promises of God can no more perish than the Lord Himself. God has pledged His own existence that His promises shall not fail nor desert one in trial.

"For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swear by Himself." And this was that we might have "strong consolation" who flee to Him for refuge. Heb. vi. It is just as impossible for God to forsake us in trouble, if we will but take His promises, as it was that Jesus should sink to the bottom of the sea before His work was done.

How the load of care and perplexity will roll aside if we but remember that God lives and that there is no danger of His perishing. This fact believed, there is but one question to be settled, What is His will? and knowing that, the results and consequences may be left entirely with Him. He who has the power to work the good pleasure of His will in us has all power.

"Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

"Where is the fury of the oppressor? He that is bent down shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail. For I am the Lord thy God, which stilleth the sea, when the waves thereof roar: the Lord of hosts is His name." Isa. li. 14, 15, R.V., margin.

"Through waves, and clouds, and storms,
He gently clears thy way;
Wait thou His time, so shall this night
Soon end in joyous day."

"Compensation" The Present Truth 11, 46.

E. J. Waggoner

Amaziah, king of Judah, had hired a hundred thousand men, of the kingdom of Israel, to fight with him against his enemies. The prophet of the Lord warned him that this would weaken rather than strengthen him; for the Lord was not with the men of Israel, because of their wickedness.

"And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the

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hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."

Men sometimes say nowadays, But what of my business? What of the capital invested in business which will have to be relinquished if I obey the Lord? What of the loss if I do not fulfil the contract under which I am bound to give my services to my employer?

To all of the excuses which are made for not obeying the voice of the Lord, which put the claims of men or of business investments before the claims of the Lord, the words of the prophet replied, "The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."

God may not always pay in earthly inheritance, but the "much more" is sure in that inheritance that is incorruptible and cannot pass away, "reserved in heaven for you." Will you accept the compensation?

"Law-Making and Law-Breaking" The Present Truth 11, 46.

E. J. Waggoner

For the third time the publishers of the PRESENT TRUTH have been before the court in London, and have been fined for not compelling certain employÈs to cease labour on Sundays. The cases have been very quickly disposed of in court, all of them together occupying less than an hour. To the magistrates it has seemed a very simple affair: the Sunday clause of the Factory Act has been violated, there was no denial of the fact, and of course the penalty must be imposed. That case disposed of, the next was called, and the court routine went on. To the officials it doubtless seemed a trifling matter,-a case of a few individuals with a fad, thinking themselves superior to the laws, and being defeated. Let us see.

THE ONE GREAT LAWGIVER

"There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." James iv. 12. This is absolute. "For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us." Isa. xxxiii. 22. God is the only real lawgiver. He is Lord and King over all the inhabitants of the world, "both low and high, rich and poor together." He is the Lawgiver for princes as well as peasants, for judges as well as common people. To Him they all alike owe allegiance, even as a child does to its father; "For we are also His offspring." Acts xvii. 28. "The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will." Daniel iv. 25. "Wisdom and might are His;" "He removeth kings, and setteth up kings." Daniel ii. 20, 21. It is decreed that the nation and the kingdom that will not serve Him shall perish. Isa. lx. 12. Hence the exhortation, "Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way." Ps. ii. 10-12.

THE ONE SUPREME LAW

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. xii. 13, 14. So the message which goes forth "to peoples, nations, tongues, and kings" (Rev. x. 11), even "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," is to "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of the waters." Rev. xiv. 6, 7.

God is the supreme Lawgiver, because He alone is able to save. Therefore "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. xix. 7. That law, which was one spoken by God Himself, in tones which shook the earth, is composed of ten precepts, as follows:-

1. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

2. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments."

3. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain."

4. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all Thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

5. "Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

6. "Thou shalt not kill."

7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

8. "Thou shalt not steal."

9. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

10. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."

It was of this law that Jesus said, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke xvi. 17. He said, "Think not that I came to destroy the law, or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfil." Matt. v. 17. The law was within His heart (Ps. xl. 8), and He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, in order "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." Rom. viii. 4.

This law is summed up in two great commandments, the first of which is, "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." And the second is like unto it, namely, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Matt. xxii. 37, 39. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 10. "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. vii. 12. Therefore it follows that the man who faithfully keeps the law of God, fulfils every obligation to men. "Love is the fulfilling of the law," and "love is of God"; therefore he who loves God, must love all men. So to fear God and to keep His commandments is the whole duty of every man. There is nothing that can be required outside of that.

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No man can serve two masters. Whatever is contrary to God's law, even though it be framed into law, is lawless and wicked, and must be shunned and ignored by every one who does his duty. There is no danger that this will lead to anarchy; for to love God supremely is the first commandment, and he who does that will necessarily love men.

THE SEAL OF THE LAW

"In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 11.

At the close of each day's work "God saw that it was good." Each step was perfect as He proceeded in the work of creation. At the close of the sixth day "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. i. 31. Creation was then both perfect and complete.

Then God rested from all His works. A perfect dwelling-place was prepared for a perfect people. In Heb. iv. 1-4 the fact that the perfect rest for the people of God was ready from the foundation of the earth, is proved by the statement that "God did rest on the seventh day from all His works." The seventh-day Sabbath is therefore the seal of a complete and perfect new creation. Now note carefully what follows:-

1. Salvation from sin means a new creation. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Cor. v. 17. "By grace are ye saved through faith; . . . not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Eph. ii. 8-10. The Gospel is "the power of God unto salvation," and the eternal power of God is seen in the things that He has made. Rom. i. 16, 20. Redemption therefore is creation.

2. The Sabbath, being the sign of creation complete and perfect, is the sign of perfect and complete salvation. So God says of His people, "I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. xx. 12. The Sabbath of the Lord is the sign and reminder of His power to save.

3. God is the only Lawgiver, because He is the only one who can save. "There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." He has a right to the service of man, because He is the Creator, and we are dependent on Him for this present life and for that which is to come. Therefore it follows

(4) That the Sabbath is the seal of God's power, and of His authority as Lawgiver. To despise the Sabbath is to despise God's authority. To substitute another sabbath in the place of God's Sabbath is the most bold and glaring defiance of God that could be devised.

THE GREAT LAW-BREAKER

There is a being known as Satan, or the adversary, who was once an angel of light in heaven, having the name Lucifer or light-bearer. The cause of his fall from heaven is thus described: "Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High." Isa. xiv. 13, 14.

That which turned him from the light-bearer into the prince of darkness was the exaltation of himself. He set himself forth as greater than God.

Having seduced man from his loyalty to God, Satan became "the god of this world." He is such because men have turned "every one to his own way;" and to choose our own way in preference to that of God, is to be ruled by Satan. The way of self is the way of Satan. The development of this Satanic spirit among men is thus set forth by the Apostle Paul, in speaking of the coming of Christ:-

"Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4.

"That man of sin," is literally, as rendered by Young, "the lawless one." He is the lawless one because he sets himself against God and His law. So in Daniel vii. 25, we have the same lawless one described as one who "shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change times and laws."

The beast of Revelation xiii. also answers to the same description, in that "he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven, and it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them." Verses 6, 7.

That earthly power which completely meets these specifications, is the Papacy. All men are by nature in opposition to God, and there are many forms of organised opposition to Him; but in that vast system, the head of which is the Pope of Rome, we find the most complete development of the Satanic principle of the exaltation of self that can possibly be found among men.

Of this power it is said in Rev. xiii. 2, that "the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." Not that the dragon resigned his own power and authority in favour of "the beast," but that all the power and authority which "the beast"-the Papacy-has, it is given it by the dragon. But the dragon is "that old serpent called the Devil and Satan." Rev. xii. 9. Therefore the power of the Papacy is the power of the devil; and the Pope, who professes to be the vicar of Christ, is, on the contrary, the vicar of Satan.

THE MARK OF LAWLESSNESS

The Papacy arose through the substitution

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of the teaching of men for the Word of God. The great claim of the Papacy to-day is that of infallibility, that it is superior to the Bible, competent to sit in judgment upon it, and to decide what is authoritative and what is not. Now the one thing above all others upon which the Papacy depends to show its power and authority, is the substitution of the Sunday for the Sabbath. A few extracts from standard Catholic works are sufficient to show this.

From the "Catholic Christian Instructed," sixteenth addition, James Duny, Sons, & Co., Dublin, we quote the following:-

Q. What are the days which the Church commands to be kept holy, or observed as days of particular devotion?

A. 1st. The Sunday, or Lord's day, which we observe by apostolical tradition instead of the Sabbath. . . .

Q. What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday preferably to the ancient Sabbath, which was Saturday?

A. We have for it the authority of the Catholic Church and apostolic tradition.

Q. Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for the Sabbath?

A. . . . the Scripture does not in particular mention this change of the Sabbath. . . . In fact, the best authority we have for this ancient custom is the testimony of the Church. And therefore those who pretend to be such religious observers of the Sunday, whilst they take no notice of other festivals ordained by the same authority, show that they act more by humour than by reason and religion; Sundays and holidays all stand upon the same foundation, viz., the ordinance of the Church.

In "The Faith of Our Fathers," by Cardinal Gibbons, "twenty-fifth carefully revised and enlarged edition," London: R. Washbourne, we find the following evidence that the Catholic Church exalted itself above the Word of God:-

The Scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practise. Not to mention other examples, is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday, and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorising the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.-Page 111.

Christ declared, in the words of Scripture, that man must live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The Catholic Church on the contrary, coolly boasts of setting aside the Word of God, and thereby proclaims itself Antichrist, opposing and exalting itself "above all that is called God, or that is worshipped."

Again, in a Catholic work entitled, "Abridgement of Christian Doctrine," we find the following:-

Ques. How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?

Ans. By the very act of changing the Sabbath and the Sunday, which Protestants allow of.

Exactly in harmony with its Roman Catholic testimony is the following from professed Protestants:-

Canon Eyton says: "There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday." "No commandment of God bids us do this or not do that on Sunday; we are absolutely free as far as His law goes." "The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands on exactly the same footing as the observance of Sunday."-The Ten Commandments.

The late Dr. R. W. Dale said: "The Sabbath was founded on a specific, Divine command. We can plead no such command for the observance of Sunday."

Dr. Isaac Williams, of the Church of England, says: "We are commanded to keep holy the seventh day; but we do not think it necessary to keep the seventh day holy; for the seventh day is Saturday. It may be said that we keep the first day instead; but then surely this is not the same thing; the first day cannot be the seventh day; and where are we told in Scripture that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day."-The Church Catechism, p. 334.

On the next page but one he adds: "The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the Church, has enjoined it."

Let it be observed that these statements are almost identical with those quoted from Roman Catholic writers. All agree that the substitution of Sunday for the Sabbath is contrary to Scripture. "The Church" is the sole authority for the change. Now it matters not by what name that church is called; the fact is that the substitution of Sunday for the Sabbath, contrary to the Scriptures, marks it as apostate and identical with "that lawless one," and the "beast," which opens its mouth in blasphemy against God.

This conclusion, therefore, is as clear as that two and two make four: The substitution of Sunday for the Sabbath of the Lord is the badge of authority of that power which claims to be superior to God, in that it claims to be above His Word. Sunday is, therefore, the mark of the beast.

A WARNING

Against the receiving of this mark the Scripture utters the following warning: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." Rev. xiv. 9, 10.

Evidently it is not a light thing that the Papacy has done in substituting Sunday for the Sabbath. It strikes directly at the authority of God. In no other way could so bold a claim be made to supremacy above God. It is a denial of His supremacy as the one only Lawgiver.

There are many thousands who have never thought but that in keeping Sunday they were obeying God; it is for the benefit of such that the warning is given, that they may save themselves from the coming danger. God does not punish any except those who disregard His gracious warnings. It is when men persist in following the traditions of men, knowing that they are contrary to God;s Word, that they have the mark of the beast so as to be subjects of the threatened punishment.

THE WORLD FOLLOWING THE BEAST

The Scripture says that all that dwell on the earth shall worship the beast, except those whose names are in the book of life. It is only necessary for us to take a glance at the so-called "Christian nations" of earth, in every one of which Sunday laws are a prominent feature, to see how nearly universal homage to the Papacy, although often unconscious, has become.

In the position that the civil authorities and even ministers of the church take in regard to the enforcement of Sunday laws, we see the spirit of the Papacy. When the fourth commandment is quoted to a magistrate, so that he can see that the Sunday law is in opposition to it, he will say, "I am here to enforce the laws as they are, whether right or wrong. This is a law of the State, and it must be enforced." That is to say, "It matters not what God's law may say; the law of the State is above it." That is putting the State above God.

A New York minister who has

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gained a world-wide reputation as a "reformer," Dr. Parkhurst, of Anti-Tammany fame, made a typical utterance a few weeks ago, when he said, "The enforcement of the law, and the wisdom of the law, are distinct." "I care very little comparatively what law is on the statute books. But I will fight till I die for the enforcement of such laws as are there." So it is often said that the best way to get rid of a bad law is to enforce it. That is simply to do evil that good may come. But the whole world has a perverted idea of law and duty. Men fancy that they are law-abiding because they will enforce even a bad law, because it is a law of the State, not realising that to enforce a bad law is sin, a violation of the law of God.

THE QUESTION AT ISSUE

The case in hand is simply this: There are two or three women who are regularly employed in the publishing work of the International Tract Society. They do work that is ordinarily done by women in all printing offices. They work six days in the week, one of them being Sunday. They do this because they honour God's law, which says, "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work."

But the Factory Act says that women must not be employed in factories on Sundays, and a printing office is classed as a factory. The Society is prosecuted because it will not compel these women to cease working on Sundays. Remember that they are not compelled to work; they wish to work, for that is their living. They work on Sunday, and rest on the Sabbath, from conscientious conviction. Neither are they over-worked, since they actually work fewer hours than are prescribed by the Factory Act. The only trouble is, they work on Sunday.

Now why do not the managers of the publishing work cause these women to stay at home on Sundays?-Simply because they do not wish to be a party to enforcing the mark of the beast upon them. "But," some will say, "the women could find employment elsewhere." Perhaps so, and perhaps not. That is not the question. Even though they could find work by which they could make up for the loss of the day at their regular employment, the fact would remain that by refusing to let them work in office on Sundays the managers would be doing all that lay in their power to compel them to keep Sunday. All can see this.

"ONLY A FACTORY ACT"

One view of the matter is that since the law in question is only a Factory Act, having no religious intent, there could be no compromise of religious principle in complying with it. Thus the Glasgow Herald of Nov. 4 says, at the close of its report of the case:-

If the case were one of persecution on religious grounds, it might fairly be said that the International Tract Society were being hard dealt with. But this is not so. A general statute, framed without any reference to religious tenets of any kind, prohibits the employment of young persons on Sundays, because it is held that they should have one day of absolute rest from work, and Sunday is selected in accordance with the general practice and convenience of the community. If, the International Tract Society were permitted, through regard for their particular crotchet, to defy the law, the way would be open for an unlimited disregard of its provisions. So, until they can procure a special legislative exemption in their favour, they must be content to pay the penalties of their conduct.

To this we have to say that we have nothing to do with the intent of the law, nor with the motives of its makers. All we are concerned with is the fact that the law requires us to treat Sunday, to a limited extent, just as the fourth commandment requires us to treat the Sabbath; and this we cannot do. We are not defying the law of the State; it is the State that is defying the law of God.

WHY SPECIFY SUNDAY?

It is strange that those who think that the Factory Act has no religious significance, do not stop to question why it is that Sunday is specified as the day when certain ones must cease work. Why is it not Monday or Thursdays? The answer is that Sunday is the day that is commonly set apart for leaving off work. And how did this happen? Simply because the apostate Church has made that the badge of its authority, and "all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Rev. xviii. 2. If it were not for that, Sunday would never be mentioned in factory legislation. So although the makers of the law may be ignorant of it, the Sunday clause of the Act is a concession to the influence of the Papacy. The makers and enforcers of the Factory Act may not know what they are doing, but we do. The fact that they mean nothing wrong does not warrant us in doing what we know to be wrong.

W. M. Ramsey, in "The Church in the Roman Empire," speaking of the early persecutions, says that "there was no express law or formal edict against Christians in particular." Most of their persecution was due to the fact that the practice of Christianity brought them in conflict with laws that had been framed with no reference to them, and with no thought of persecution. That did not relieve the situation for them. The great uproar against Paul at Ephesus (see Acts xix. 23-41) was a trade union affair, stirred up because the silversmiths were losing custom.

But that this Factory Act does affect religion, and that the makers thereof knew it, is shown by the fact that the Jews are exempt from its provisions. If it does not affect religion in any way, why was it necessary to exempt them on account of their religious practices?

WHY NOT ASK AN EXEMPTION?

Why do not the Seventh-day Adventists ask for the same exemption that the Jews have? They might, if their own convenience were all that concerns them. But in that case they would not be seventh-day observers at all, and so would need no exception made in their favour.

But the fact is, Sunday laws of every kind are wrong in every particular. For Sabbath-keepers to ask for and be content with an exception in a Sunday law, in their favour, would be to consent to the enforcement of the law upon other people. They cannot consent to be bribed into acquiescing in the enforcement of the mark of apostasy on others.

The matter can be clearly understood if we suppose the case of Christians in a heathen country, where the law required worship to be paid to an idol. All can see that for them to ask that they might be exempted from the law, on account of their belief, would be to agree that others might be forced to worship the false God. But such consent would show that they were unworthy to be called Christians. The only use that there is for Christians in this world is to warn everybody against sin.

Let it be remembered that this Sunday question is not a mere fact of belief, but of fact. We are not asking either the Government or the people to take our belief into account, but to fear God, and keep His commandments. It is their duty to keep the Sabbath, as much as it is ours. The Christian's

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duty is to turn men to God, and not to himself.

It might be stated in passing, that when Mr. Asquith was Home Secretary, he was approached on the subject of granting seventh-day Adventists the same exemption that the Jews have. The request was made by disinterested and influential parties, of their own motion, the Adventist themselves having nothing to do in the matter. The petitioners were told that the Adventists were too few in number to warrant any special legislation in their behalf.

A QUESTION OF SABBATH OR SUNDAY

In spite of the fact that the law under which these prosecutions come is only a Factory Act, everybody knows that it is not at all a labour question, but a religious one. It is a question of whether the Sabbath of the Lord, or the Sunday of the Pope, shall be observed. Thus, the Glasgow Herald, in the same article in which it insists that it is not a case of religious persecution, says of the Society, "Its members not only will not work on Saturdays, but insist that they are entitled to work on Sundays even with the terror impending over them of fines and distress warrants." Whatever it may be with the civil authorities, it is a very practical religious question with the Seventh-day Adventists.

The Daily Chronicle in its notice of the case said, "Such sphere of usefulness as the International Tract Society has filled, will be materially curtailed if it persists in its intention to observe Saturday as a day of rest, and treats Sunday as an ordinary working day. There is no suggestion that the employÈs of the Society have any constraint put upon them to begin their working week on Sunday, and to rest on the day of the Jewish Sabbath, but as the Society has been made painfully conscious of the fact, by several previous convictions, that the law does not permit the employment of young persons [nor women either] on Sunday, it knows at least the risk it runs."

Here the true issue is stated. It is whether or not the seventh day shall be used as a day of rest, and the Sunday treated as an ordinary working day. Well, the Bible says that both days must be used in just those ways, and it must be obeyed. In Ezekiel xlvi. 1 the Sabbath is mentioned in direct contrast with "the six working days." The issue is clear: The Bible says that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and must be kept, and that the first day of the week must be treated as an ordinary working day; and the State, following the lead of the Papacy, says that the Sunday must not be used as an ordinary working day. In this case we have only to say, "We ought to obey God rather than men," let the consequences be what they may. Man's only duty is to obey God, and He will look after the consequences.

THOUGHTLESS OBJECTIONS ANSWERED

It is a sad commentary on the readiness with which principle is set aside when self-interest is involved, that in spite of the acknowledged fact that the question at issue is whether the commandments of God shall be regarded above the traditions of men, some will still say, "It isn't as though the law required everybody to cease working on Sundays. If it included all it would be different; but since it involves only two or three women, you might comply with it."

We have only to say to this that the commandment of God applies to women as well as to men. Sin and righteousness are not matters of sex. For a woman to break the commandment is just as bad as for a man; and to compel a woman to receive the mark of the beast is as sinful as to enforce it upon a man.

But still some one may say, "It cannot be that the law has any religious significance, or else it would prohibit all from working on Sunday, and not women and young persons alone." We have already shown that the law is contrary to the law of God, and that is sufficient. If there were a Sunday law specifying only one single individual, and requiring him only to keep it, it would be as wrong for him to obey it as though it embraced everybody.

The first Sunday law ever enacted, that of Constantine, A.D. 321, was only partial in its application. It required only people in towns to rest, but allowed all agricultural labourers to work as usual. Whenever man puts himself in the place of God, he not only legislates contrary to God, but he assumes power that God has not, namely, that of granting dispensations and indulgences.

But people forget that the devil is a deceiver. He does not label all his wares. If there should be at once a law framed, entitled, "An Act to Compel Everybody to Keep Sunday," there would be a great outcry against such an attempt against the liberty of English people. Even conscientious observers of the Sunday would protest against it. Such laws are as sure to be enacted in all the world, not with that exact title perhaps, as the Word of God is true. But the people must be accustomed to such legislation by degrees. So here we have a seemingly innocent Sunday clause in a Factory Act. That is readily accepted as a humane act. In the next Parliament a Bill is to be introduced, still further amending the Factory Act, "prohibiting manufacturing processes being carried on from Saturday noon to Monday morning." That will involve all factory operatives; but since it will be "only a Factory Act," people will accept it as a good thing as readily as they do the present one.

What will be the next step that must inevitably follow?-Simply this, a law prohibiting any labour of any kind on Sundays, even in private shops at home, because such labour would be unfair competition with those who are compelled to rest. The Sunday-law rule is, "The liberty of rest for some is the early law of rest for all." The thin end of the wedge having been inserted without protest, the whole would as easily follow, and we should then have the condition described in Rev. xiii. 16, 17, "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." All this will be done professedly "in the interest of labour," and those who are doing it may see nothing more in it; but those who do know the wickedness that is concealed in it, are bound to do all they can to sound a warning.

"Infantile Apostasy" The Present Truth 11, 46.

E. J. Waggoner

While the infant Prince Boris is innocently voicing his joys and sorrows in the universal language of babyhood, nations are stirred over the question of his religion. The other day it was rumoured that the Bulgarian cabinet was about to resign on the question, but a truce was brought about, and it is understood that the infant will ultimately leave the Church of Rome for the Greek Church. A Rome telegram says:-

Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria has recently written several letters to the Pope asking his Holiness's consent to the conversion of Prince

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Boris to the Orthodox faith. The Pope, however, remains inflexible, and declares that he will never consent to what he regards as an act of apostasy.

A pagan ruler once said that if there were no religion it would be necessary to invent one, as it was an essential in governing men. So modern States, following the pagan idea of religion, see in it merely a useful superstition which may be turned to account in holding the allegiance of the people. So far as any idea of that religion of Christ, which no government of earth can adopt or administer or patronise, is concerned, it is lacking just as much as though the discussion were over the policy of giving the infant a new toy of Greek or Roman manufacture.

"The Resurrection" The Present Truth 11, 46.

E. J. Waggoner

"When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked." The scholars of Athens heard Paul up to that point, but that was too much.

Had the apostle spoken of life in the spirit world after death they would have listened; for the pagan notion of life after death was just that.

But it was not the pagan philosophy that Paul preached. He preached "Jesus and the resurrection." He knew that life and immortality are brought to light only in the Gospel (2 Tim. i. 10), and that the immortality is conferred only at the time of the last trump, when "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. xv. 52.

It is for that glad time that the saints of God which "sleep in the dust of the earth" are waiting. Job declared, "If a man die shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come."

Will it seem a long time to wait? Not an instant; for there can be no sense of time to one who sleeps in death. To Adam or Abel the time of waiting till the voice of the Lord at His coming awakens them can be no longer than to the last saint who falls asleep in Jesus.

And it is a glorious thought that not one of all those who have served the Lord, however lowly the sphere of service, will be forgotten in that day. Then it is that Paul will receive the "crown of life" (2 Tim. iv.), and all the saints of God, from Adam down, will "together" be raised to meet the Lord. 1 Thess. iv. 15-18. And there is comfort in these words.

But there is no place for a resurrection in the pagan philosophy. Every man was supposed to possess immortality of himself, and death was but a passing into another state of life, a state of bliss, or perchance of purging or torment. No wonder they mocked at the resurrection, when they refused to receive Jesus and the life by Him alone.

And how is it now? When the church fell away and gathered to itself the superstitions and errors of the pagan world, it adopted this very same pagan idea of immortality, and hence it comes that the very ideas which caused the men of Athens to mock Paul are almost universally received to-day. No wonder, then, that the doctrine of the resurrection is being set at nought, even in pulpits and the religious press. Yet it is the grand Gospel of life, and the power of Christ's life in the believer is the pledge of the resurrection from the dead. Phil. iii. 10, 11.

And this truth of life only in Christ, and by the resurrection from the dead at the last day, is to guard against all the delusions of Spiritualism which are sweeping into the churches in all the world. For as there is no life after death save by the resurrection, it follows that all manifestations claiming to come from the dead are from the devil direct. Therefore, whether men believe or whether they mock, as did the foolish wise men of Mars Hill, the preacher of the Gospel can preach the life to come only by preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 46.

E. J. Waggoner

-Trouble continues in the Turkish interior. Sometimes the Armenians are on the defensive and sometimes on the offensive.

-The Chinese Government has paid Japan the first instalment of the indemnity by a cheque for over eight million pounds, which was duly signed at the Bank of England.

-Another slight earthquake shock alarmed Rome last wok. These convulsions ought to remind dwellers of the "Eternal City" that nothing that is of earth is enduring.

-The rabbit pest in Australia has long been a serious question. A writer describes having soon recently a body of them running across the land and extending two or three miles in a mass as solid as they could be to run conveniently.

-Foreign Jews are only admitted to Palestine for thirty days, to enable them to visit Jerusalem and other places. They are required to give satisfactory assurances that they will not remain in the country before they are allowed to land at Jaffa.

-The discovery of a large area of coal is reported from Newfoundland. It is twelve miles long by six wide, and the quality of coal is good. The find has caused rejoicing, as it is hoped that it will brighten the prospects of the colony, which has been passing through severe financial depression.

-A negro was last week burned in Texas by a mob. It is said that 7,000 people witnessed the atrocity, which shows that there are 7,000 as benighted savages in the vicinity as ever roamed in the wilds of Africa. The veneer of civilisation is everywhere very thin, and the primitive savage very easily breaks out.

-The great strike on the Clyde seems to be an assured fact now. If no means of conciliation are discovered it is thought likely it will extend. This time the ship-builders and master engineers have struck against their workmen, out of sympathy with the masters in Belfast, whose men are on strike against them.

-In the Vienna municipal elections the Anti-Semite party elected a burgomaster who is violently hostile to the Jews and liberals. He had also denounced Hungarian aspirations, and ton thousand Hungarian merchants pledged themselves not to break oft relations with Vienna in ease his election wore confirmed. The Emperor has refused to sanction the election, and a bitter fight between the clerical Anti-Semites and their opponents is predicted.

-German newspaper editors are not allowed the latitude of criticism which is possessed in most countries. Nearly every day some journalist is reported under arrest, and frequently editions of hostile papers are suppressed. The dissatisfaction is only smouldering, and one day it seems probable Germany will need its army to put down its own Socialist subjects. But when it comes to that it is a question whether the army will be on the side of the throne. The governments of this earth are not so stable as many suppose.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 46.

E. J. Waggoner

During all the recent riots in Constantinople, a Bible school was being conducted by brethren Holser and Jones in the midst of the Armenian quarter in Stamboul, and although all the attendants were Armenians, they suffered no disturbance.

One result of the Bible school, besides the strengthening of the brethren and sisters, was the increase of the force of labourers in Turkey by six. The membership of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Constantinople is now seventy, and is increasing.

From the first of our work in Turkey, the Protestants have denied before the Turkish authorities that we were Protestants, hoping thus to hinder the spread of the Sabbath truth. Of course neither the Greeks, nor Catholics would own that we were even Christians, and so the Turks were for a time suspicious of our brethren, since they are mostly Armenians.

But all this was the best thing that could have happened. Bro. Holser writes:-

Now we are known as Sabbatarians, and as harmless to the Government. We are known to the authorities through the imprisonment of brethren. The present troubles of the Government are due to the efforts of Protestants, and were we known as of the same class or name, we should be regarded as the rest. But as it is, we are known as a separate class of Christians, whom Protestants deny. Brother Jones and I, with B--, visited the Minister of Police, a member of the Cabinet; he received us very cordially, and as we explained to him our position on Church and State, he said that he understood that already; he knows, too, that this is one of the reasons why Protestants do not own us.

It had seemed as though there would be difficulty for our brethren in travelling from one place to another, since no one can travel in Turkey without a passport, and no one can get a passport without a certificate from his representative. None of the Christian representatives would own our brethren; but even this has turned to their advantage, since the Minister above mentioned agreed to grant passports to them directly, as Sabbatarians, and has notified the provinces. So the Sabbath, which is the seal of God, is the distinguishing mark and the safeguard of our brethren in Mohammedan Turkey.

"What we do know," says the Chronicle, "is that any moment may see us face to face with the gravest problems in the Levant." Nobody knows what turn things will take, but all know that in any case there is bound to be trouble.

The following paragraph from the Christian World evidently refers to one of our German brethren:-

German military circles are greatly exercised about a young soldier called Trott in the little town of Insterburg. This lad, after learning his drill, and showing that he was a thoroughly efficient and intelligent soldier, was ordered on Saturday last to mount guard as a sentry. He refused on the ground that he was a Second Adventist, and that work or duty of any kind on that day would be contrary to his convictions. Trott was at once arrested, and his case reported to headquarters. We shall watch with considerable interest the decision arrived at in the conclusion between the iron pot of German militarism and the frail earthen pitcher of the poor Second Adventist.

It is remarkable how common is the idea amongst professors of Christianity that the man who has only the Lord for him and all the power of an earthly government against him has very frail support. They have yet to learn who the Lord is.

Some have said, "It is certain that the women whom you are employing on Sunday will soon be forced by the law to cease work, since it will shut up your establishment; why then can you not cease to employ them before it comes to that? The result will be the same at last."

To this we need only quote, "It must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh." Matt. xviii. 7. The weak plea, "If I don't do it, somebody else will," has served to reconcile many a man's conscience to the commission of evil; but it does not clear a man in the sight of God. "He that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; and there is no respecter of persons." Col. iii. 25. We choose to let the responsibility for the wrong rest on the other person, if he is willing to assume it. We will keep the other person from committing the sin, if we possibly can; but we do not propose to step in and commit the sin ourselves, in order to keep somebody else from doing it.

Dr. Robertson, of Venice, points out to his co-religionists at home that all the sentimental talk about reunion and the effusive letters to the Pope are increasing the difficulties of Evangelical workers in Italy.

We are glad to learn from the South African Sentinel, published by our society in Cape Town, that its list increases encouragingly. It anticipates reaching a 10,000 circulation by the end of the year, a very good figure for less than a half-year's existence.

Speaking of mission effort in the newly opened South African districts, one of the missionaries accompanying one Chief Khama says that in Mashonaland the missions are mainly in the hands of the ritualistic party, while he alludes to the fact that Seventh-day Adventists have established industrial missions amongst the natives in Matabeleland.

Who should know Greek if not the Greeks themselves? There are people who would have us believe that the Anglicised Greek word "baptize" does not necessarily mean immerse. A work issued by the Greek Synod, declares that "baptism" without immersion is a contradiction of the etymological signification of the words which serve to designate it. It says that the Western Church "is guilty of an abuse of words and ideas and practising baptism by aspersion, the mere announcement of which is a laughable contradiction."

In Stock Exchange gambling, as in other forms of the vice, it is the shrewd promoter and now and then a chance investor who make money out of the many who foolishly put their little in expecting great returns in vain. Speaking of the general "rout" in the City last week a morning paper says:-

Up to the present, promoters of South African and West Australian gold-mining companies have lured hundreds of thousands of pounds from confiding speculators and investors on no more solid ground than dazzling reports from interested and other ignoramus mining engineers. But the gold actually produced by the mines has only been a mere fraction of that subscribed by the public.

November 21, 1895

"Results of Finding a Bible" The Present Truth 11, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

When Josiah came to the throne of Judah the people were so corrupted by heathenism that they had actually lost sight of the Scriptures. While repairing the temple, however, a copy of the "book of the law" was brought out from some corner where it had lain neglected. 2 Kings xxii.

When this was read the king and the elders saw how far they had departed from the truth, and they began to put down the idolatrous worship; the chariots of the sun and the altars dedicated to sun-worship were destroyed, together with the emblems of deities associated with the central sun-worship.

This is what the finding of the Scriptures led to in Josiah's day. Now the Scriptures are plentiful in our land, but far too many are covered with dust, and are laid aside forgotten. And then again when they are read the dust of tradition and custom is allowed to obscure them. People now need to find the lost Bible. It is God's voice to us now; and it warns just as of old against the corruptions of heathenism which have stolen into the Church.

Let the Word be truly found, and it will be seen that there is necessity now to destroy the symbolism of the ancient sun-worship, and turn from practices which are of heathen origin, and whose influence is the same as in all past time.

"A New Name for Persecution" The Present Truth 11, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

The newspapers have published intelligence from Pachucha, Mexico, stating that at a small town named Texacapa ten persons have been burned as heretics, by order of the auxiliary town judge.

We should be slow to credit this story, if the Catholic Times itself did not intimate the possibility of its being true. The paper states that the bishop had made large preparations for the coronation of "Our Lady of Guadaloupe," and that "these peaceful designs were threatened with failure by the imprudent zealotry of a band of ultra-Protestant missionaries;" but that the bishop "rejoiced" to hear that they had given up or deferred their crusade. His rejoicing, the Catholic Times says, was because he feared for the missionaries and their friends if they should persist in their design.

So the Catholic Times thinks that the story of the burning may be a mistake, but admits the possibility of it in these words:-

But who knows what blind impulse has still in the face of prophetic and friendly admonition goaded these foolish Gospellers into suicidal activity-suicidal because so unreasonable?

Read this, you who think that the persecutions of the Middle Ages are impossible in these "enlightened" times. It is true that the burning may not have taken place, and that if it did it was in Mexico; but the fact remains that a leading Catholic paper in the metropolis of the world does not doubt but that it took place if the "missionaries" were so foolish as to be present at the ceremony and to protest, and takes it for granted that the burning of "heretics" is so much to be expected as a matter of course that he who makes himself obnoxious to Roman Catholics in power is simply committing suicide!

"The Word of Life and Light" The Present Truth 11, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

After mentioning the Word which was in the beginning with God, and which was God, by whom everything was created, the apostle continues:-

"In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John i. 4-9.

The Life of the Word.-Christ is the Word, and He "is our life." Col. iii. 4. His life is the life of God, for "the Word was God;" and God is "from everlasting to everlasting." Ps. xc. 2.

So Christ's power as Priest is "the power of an endless life." Heb. vii. 16. On earth He was simply the manifestation of the life of God. "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)." 1 John i. 1, 2.

Life in the Word.-We have previously seen by comparing Deut. xxx. 11-20 and Rom. x. 6-10, that Christ is in all the Scriptures, so that they are indeed the Word of God. Whoever reads the Scriptures without finding Christ in them, reads them in vain; he gets only the outward form, or shell. But he who takes the Scriptures for what they are in truth, the Word of God, finds that they have the very life of Christ. "The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life." John vi. 63. To feed upon the Word, is to eat the flesh and blood of Christ.

Life from the Word.-Christ, who is the Word of Life, came to give life and to give it abundantly. John x. 10. "He that hath the Son hath the life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life." 1 John v. 19, R.V. In the love of God for the world, Christ was sent, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John iii. 16. He that rejects Christ has eternal death for his portion. To say that a man may live for ever without Christ, even though it be in misery, is to deny the necessity of Christ's sacrifice for man.

It may be said that the claim that men who reject Christ may live for ever does not deny the necessity for His sacrifice, since that was necessary in order that men might have righteousness. But, "the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Rom. viii. 10. Christ gives righteousness only in giving His life. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." Rom. vi. 6-8.

The Life of Faith.-"The just shall live by faith." No Christian will deny that righteousness comes to Christ alone. "By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous." Rom. v. 19. But this obedience of Christ, by which we are made righteous, is the obedience of Christ's own life in us. "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

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me, and gave Himself for me." Gal. ii. 20. Righteousness by faith is nothing but life by faith. "Conditional immortality" is only conditional righteousness, that is, conditional on faith in the crucified and risen Saviour.

The Life of Righteousness.-Life and righteousness come from Christ; but since Christ is in the Word which the prophets and apostles wrote, it follows that life and righteousness come through obedience to what is written. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. iv. 4. God's Word is the truth (John xvii. 17), and the Apostle Peter says to the saints of God, "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit." 1 Peter i. 22. Every word of God is life, and a single word is sufficient to give life, if that is all one has; but the very fact that every word is life, shows that the wilful neglect or rejection of one word of God is the rejection of His life.

The Reality of this Life.-This is shown in the resurrection of Lazarus, and of all the others who were brought to life by the word of Christ. When the poor palsied man, whose life was almost gone, was brought to Jesus, the Lord gave him righteousness by His word, saying, "Thy sins be forgiven thee." Matt. ix. 2. And then, in order to show the reality of the new life which was conveyed to the man in those words, Jesus caused him to rise and walk in perfect health. "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." John xx. 30, 31.

Hearing and Living.-Jesus calls and says, "Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live." Isa. lv. 3. When the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, they live. See John v. 25, 28, 29. So it was with Lazarus and the others. The moment they heard the word, life was theirs. They obeyed the voice that told them to arise. It was impossible that they should hear the word and not arise. So hearing, in the Scripture sense, is obeying. He who really hears the word of God, obeys it. Not to obey, is to refuse to hear. So whoever does not turn away his ears from hearing the law, but who listens to God's words all the time, and who is careful not to let one of them escape his notice, will inevitably possess the life and righteousness that is in them. As he lives by them here, so will they be his life in the world to come.

The Life that Creates.-"In Him was life." So "in Him were all things created," and "in Him all things consist." Col. i. 16, 17, R.V. All things are created in Him, because life is in Him. By the power of His life were they created, and do they exist. "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." Acts xvii. 28. Not only are men His offspring, but all the rest of creation as well. In Ps. xc. 2 we read of the mountains having been "brought forth:" literally, as given in some versions, "Before the mountains were born." God's breath is life; and "by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." Ps. cxxiii. 6. Since all things are created in Him, because in Him is life, and it follows that "if any man be in Christ he is a new creature." 2 Cor. v. 17. Redemption is a new creation by the power of the life which is given to us on the cross.

The Light of Life.-"The life was the light of men." This is most literally true, for since all things were created and still exist by His life, the light of the sun, moon, and stars is simply the light of His life. In this, as in the resurrection of the dead, the Lord teaches us by those things that we can see, of those things which we cannot see. As the light of the sun is not diminished by being shared by hundreds of millions, so Christ's life is not lessened although He gives it to many. As each one gets the full strength of the sun, so each soul gets the fulness of Christ's life. Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John viii. 12.

Light from the Word.-In the Word is light, and since it is the same Word that we find in the Scriptures, it must needs be that "the opening of Thy words giveth light." Ps. cxix. 130, R.V. We do not get light on the Word. That would be like getting light on the sun. The light is there already; all that is needed is to open it, and the light will shine forth. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. cxix. 105. Then follow the Word; for "if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John i. 7.

Light In Darkness.-"And the Light shineth in darkness." When Christ came, then was fulfilled the word of the prophet, "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." Matt. iv. 16. "Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light." Gen. i. 2. Just as God commanded the light to shine out of darkness, so He shines in the darkness of our sinful hearts, "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. iv. 6. The place for light to shine is in the darkness. So when darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people, Christians, into whose hearts light has come, are to hold forth the Word of Life and "shine as lights in the world." Phil. ii. 15, 16.

The Incomprehensible Light.-"The darkness comprehended it not." Darkness can never comprehend light. There is nothing in common between them. "What communion hath light with darkness." 2 Cor. vi. 14. Darkness does not become light, but light shines in darkness, and drives it away.

But the word "comprehend" means to contain, to enclose, as in Isa. xl. 12, where we read of the dust of the earth comprehended in a measure. Darkness cannot shut in the light. As nothing is hid from the heat of the sun, so "the Sun of Righteousness" shall dispel all the darkness, and bring in the perfect day. In that day when the darkness is for ever dispersed, those who have loved darkness rather than light, will be scattered with it, so that no place will be found for them; but the children of light will "shine forth as the sun."

Light for All.-Jesus is the Light of the world; so He is the true Light, "which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Or, as some render it, In coming into the world, He lights every man. The point is that all do have the light. To them that sit in darkness light is sprung up. That

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life-giving light has shone upon all, and is still shining. "By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Rom. v 18. God's love embraces all the world, and every man in it. To all He has given "His unspeakable gift." What a sad awakening it will be at last when men realise what was within their grasp, and what they let go. Let all give good heed to the words of Christ: "Yet a little while is the light with you; walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. . . . While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light." John xii. 35, 36.

"Terrific Force" The Present Truth 11, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

Terrific Force.-No modern industry commands such profitable and constant employment as the manufacture of weapons of war. It could scarcely be otherwise when the leading governments of the world spend far more on military and naval outfits than on education to fit their subjects for the arts of peace. The degree of perfection attained in rifle manufacture has been practically illustrated in the war in Cuba. The Spanish troops are armed with one of the latest rifles, and the general commanding reports that the insurgent is not safe behind a large tree. On occasions the rifle bullet has pierced the tree and killed the man behind it. What carnage when the hatreds which are growing bring large bodies of men face to face, armed with such deadly weapons!

"Books and Morals" The Present Truth 11, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

It is said that an average of three novels a day come from the presses of London. This is aside altogether from the small serial novelettes and "penny dreadfuls" which pour forth in an increasing stream.

About the influence of these latter abominations much has recently been said in the public press. Even journals which devote large space to unsavoury divorce court details and to betting and gambling news unite in condemning the "penny dreadful."

But these same journals devote columns to reviews of novels which are as full of poison-to judge by the reviews-as ever a "penny dreadful" could be. The kind of books which have been coming out with an unparalleled frequency of late, dealing with "problems," so-called, and depending for circulation mainly upon the space devoted to "moralising" about immorality, are unquestionably exerting widespread influence of the basest character.

The talk about morals and ethics sometimes gains notice for these books in the religious press, but let it be remembered that purity is not taught by depicting impurity. The classical philosophers of Greece and Rome wrote of morals and beauty, and helped at the same time to drag the people down to the deepest moral corruption.

The mind that feeds on the maudlin sentiment of the average novel must inevitably form a distaste for the Scriptures and for the sober, serious duties of life. This kind of literature is surely one of the influences which are at work to fulfil the prophecy which declares that the last days will be as the days before the flood and as the days of Sodom.

"Speaking with Authority" The Present Truth 11, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine; for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Matt. vii. 28, 29.

In the teaching of Jesus there was no conjecture, no speculation, no doubt. He did not give the people various theories, from which they might choose, indicating the one which He thought most plausible. Neither did He quote the opinions of others, to add weight to His own views. He did not prepare the minds of His hearers for future doubt, by telling them that this was the way the matter looked to Him, or that He believed so and so, and He spoke only that which He knew, and thus He could speak with authority. He spoke facts, not fancies; truths, not theories; and the power of simple truth spoken with the earnestness of actual, experimental knowledge produced conviction.

Jesus said to His disciples before He left the earth, "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." John xx. 21. The commission of every true follower of God is that of Christ Himself. "He whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God." John iii. 34. Therefore He whom the Lord sends must speak with the same authority as Christ Himself. "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself," and now, as though God did beseech men by us, we are to pray them in Christ's stead, "Be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. v. 19, 20. Verse 19, literally rendered, as is indicated in the margin, reads that God "hath put in us the word of reconciliation." So the Lord says to those that "follow after righteousness," "I have put My words in thy mouth." Isa. li. 16. If our acceptance of Christ is such as to make that true of us individually, we cannot but speak with authority.

It is very common for people to refer to learned and pious men as authority for their belief. When questioned about any point of doctrine, they will tell what "our church holds," or what Dr. So-and-so has said. Now the opinion which they quote may be correct, and the man to whom they refer may be sound in the faith, so that they may not be teaching error; but they who refer to them do not know for themselves whether it is true or not. The fact that they began by telling what somebody holds or has said on the subject, is the strongest proof that they do not know for themselves.

To illustrate: suppose I am travelling through the country, and I ask a boy the way to a certain town. He begins with, "My father says," or "Dr. B. maintains," or, "It is commonly held by the best judges," or something of that kind, and then proceeds to tell what they say about the way. Now it may happen that his directions are correct, but the very first words of his answer convince me that he himself knows nothing about the way. He has heard it told until he can repeat it, but he does not know it for himself. The probability is that few travellers would wait for him to repeat his story, but would pass on to inquire of some one who would speak with authority. But if he should promptly reply, "Take the first turning on the right, and the second on the left, and keep straight on," I should conclude that he knew what he was talking about.

"But suppose he should be mistaken; would it not be better for him not to speak so positively?"-No; it would be better to say, "I don't know." It would be a serious matter if, in order not to appear ignorant, I should direct a man west when the place which he seeks is east. Everyone will agree that the one who directs the traveller on his way must speak with authority. He who cannot speak thus, must confess his inability, and say nothing. Guesses are good for nothing, and to repeat to me the conflicting opinions of different men only puzzles me the more.

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Positiveness is as much more necessary in religious matters as eternal life is more important than trivial matters of this life. But may we speak with positiveness on spiritual matters?-Certainly, even as Christ and the apostles did. We may know God by personal acquaintance. The Apostle Paul said, "I know whom I have believed." 2 Tim. i. 12. Knowing Him, we know Him to be faithful and true, and so we may know for a certainty all that His word declares. Only a positive testimony can produce conviction and conversion. Get acquainted with Christ; learn of Him; and all hesitancy and doubt will disappear.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

-Berlin has had 708 suicides this past year. London, with double Berlin's population, had only 500.

-Southampton has now a rival in the Trans-atlantic passenger trade. The German-American line now stops at Plymouth on the homeward voyage instead of Southampton as formerly.

-For a long period of time the glass workers at Carmaux, France, have been on strike. They are now taking measures to start a glass factory of which the workers shall be the proprietors.

-The lookout on the Clyde, it is said, has already lost the country some orders for ships, the orders going to Germany and elsewhere. The Government have a number of warships on the stocks and now at a standstill.

-Johannesburg, which, ten years ago, was a place with twenty native huts, is now a town of 100,000 persons, 60,000 Europeans and 40,000 natives. The cemetery already has 4,000 occupied graves, mostly the graves of young men.

-Photography has shown how little was formerly known of the number of stars. Herschell estimated the number visible up to the 14th magnitude as five million. Now, Mr. Lockyer said in a lecture, the number made visible is nearer 500 million.

-It is stated that some publicans in Manchester and Salford carry on Sunday lotteries. Cups are filled with beer, into certain of which threepenny bite have been dropped. Men who fail to secure the prize in the first pint are encouraged to try their luck a second and a third time.

-Amongst the princes at the reception of the King of Portugal in London last week, the papers mention Cardinal Vaughan as having been attired in resplendent colours befitting the dignity of a prince of the Catholic Church. On every possible occasion the Church of Rowe shows its oneness with other earthly powers.

-The Agreement with Chief Khama is said to provide that he shall have the right of prohibiting the importation of "the white man's drink" into his country. A British resident will live with him to watch affairs. The Chief and other chiefs are to give wide strips of land to enable a railway to be built to Matabeleland.

-The press is asking that Russia means by her quiet preparations for war in the Transcaucasian provinces. Garrisons are being reinforced, stores of grain and provisions are being established, and quantities of ammunition are being sent southward. These things are regarded as indicating Russia's purpose of advancing into Asia Minor when her moment for striking comes.

-One of the promoters of African mines stated the other day that the export of diamonds from Kimberley had risen from a million and a half sterling in 1876 to five millions this year, while the production of gold had risen from 1,470,000 ounces in 1893 to 2,230,000 ounces in 1895. He predicted that within the next five years the gold-fields of the transvaal would yield an amount equal to twenty-four millions sterling.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

A few weeks ago we gathered together in a leaflet the testimony of a number of well-known writers on the unscriptural character of Sunday observance. The first edition of the leaflet, 100,000, was quickly exhausted, and a second edition has been issued.

The growing modern idea of Christianity is that incidently indicated in an article in the Review of Reviews on "The Conquest of Madagascar":-

It may be very unreasonable, but I cannot help being somewhat disappointed with the London Missionary Society. Their missionaries have been preaching the Gospel to the Hovas for the last forty years, and at the end of it all there does not seem to have been a pennyworth of fight in the whole Hova army.

The Greek Church has replied to the Pope's encyclical on reunion, rebuking the Church of Rome for its unscriptural innovations. Unfortunately for the Stundists and our Sabbath-keeping brethren in Russia and other parts where the Greek Church dominates the civil power, there is little difference between the two great bodies when it comes to following the Scriptures indeed.

Who has not gone to a public meeting to hear a speaker-with whose remarks perhaps one did not himself agree-and being disappointed because of the interruptions of some who had not the courtesy to restrain their feelings of dissent? The reports of some of the great meetings in a recent great Church Congress are full of "hisses," "interruptions," etc., coming from both factions in the meeting.

It was a struggle to see which side could overpower the other in making unseemly demonstrations. Is it not time to recognise the fact that the public meeting is not a place where a Christian can be boorish and noisy any more than any other place? The spectacle of a man trying to hiss or hoot down a speaker with whom he may not agree is one to make a man blush for his kind. Truth is not advanced nor error opposed by such methods.

The Archbishop of York declares that he believes the churches lose rather than gain financially by bazaars, taking it all together. Of course they must, as it is a deliberate attempt to teach people that they cannot give unless receiving some material return, whether it be pincushions or tea and cakes. The effect is to dry up the spring of liberal giving which is the sure accompaniment of real religious life.

A religious weekly says that "missionaries abroad as well as religious teachers at home are feeling the necessity for a restatement of Christian doctrine, in view of modern biblical and scientific research." This may well be the case with those who teach for doctrines the creeds and commandments of men; but for those who obey the injunction to "preach the Word," there is no such necessity. The work of the minister of the Gospel is not tell the people what he thinks about the Bible, but what the Bible says about them.

The editor of Truth makes the following comments on some recent Sunday prosecutions for Sunday trading:-

For some inexplicable reason the chief constable of Walsall has lately taken it into his head to institute a series of prosecutions under the Lord's Day Act of Charles II., and he has gone so far as to summon a couple of youths for aiding and abetting in the violation of that preposterous statute by making purchases at a confectioner's shop on a Sunday. . . . In these days nobody fit to be at large can for a moment suppose that what the authors of the Act unctuously described as the cause of "piety and true religion" is to be prompted by the persecution of small shopkeepers for trading on Sundays any more than it would be by that other amiable practice our ancestors had, of flogging people through the perish at a cart-tail for not going to church.

He further comments as follows in regard to a point that needs more consideration than has yet been given it:-

Magistrates generally make a point of the fact that so long as the Lord's Day Act remains it must be enforced, but that, of course, is nonsense, for other foolish and oppressive laws which are still unrepealed have been allowed to become a dead letter.

Very true, but that only states that such laws need not be enforced, but does not tell why they ought not to be. The fact is, that to commit an unjust or wicked act by law, is as wicked as to do it contrary to law. Sunday laws are wicked from the beginning to end, not simply because they work injustice, but because they are contrary to God's law. That is the only reason why they work injustice. God alone is great, and magistrates and officers as well as common people, will find that they cannot keep a law of man as an excuse for violating His law.

In a recent sermon in Westminster Abbey, Canon Wilberforce stoutly defended prayers for the dead. He said that such prayers are Scriptural, which he did not prove, and that they are "in accordance with the conclusions of modern psychology," which needs no proof. He further declared that nothing prevented the general recognition of prayers for the dead, but "a stupid, stolid, unenlightened prejudice." Thus we have another indication of the "progress" of the church towards paganism.

There is a demand, says the Chronicle, "for some more decent regulation of the ugly business of the slaughter-houses." The Abbatoir Society has sent out a circular calling attention to some evils, which states that "there is too much reason to believe that the practice of skinning animals before they are dead is still very prevalent." We have no difficulty in believing this. The practice of taking life necessarily tends to produce indifference to suffering. No one can make a business of it, no matter what life it is that is taken, without becoming hardened and brutalised.

The Catholic Times says of the election of a member of Parliament for Dublin University:-

Mr. Lecky who is contesting Dublin University, and being asked whether he is an Agnostic, declines to answer, and says he would rather lose the election than be a party to establishing religious tests for parliamentary candidates. That is quite right, but it is also right to test a candidate as to how he would vote on religious questions that might arise.

One can well understand Mr. Lecky's action. The trouble is, and the scandal is, that religious societies, Protestant as well as Catholic, should insist on having a religious question sent to Parliament for settlement. If all believe that it is no part of the work of the Church to scheme for political advantage, members elected to a civil office would not be required to spend a good proportion of their time in meeting or evading religious issues.

November 28, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

One likes to flatter himself that it was because some one else treated him badly that he felt irritated and impatient.

It is well to remember that it is not the wrong that another does that leads to evil feelings on our part, but the wrong that is in our own heart stirs up the resentment at an affront.

Not the devil and the other man but the spirit of the evil one in us is the cause of the irritation. A dead person can feel nothing, and if self is dead it will not feel slighted and hurt, even when an affront is intended. Irritability and anger come from within and not from without.

Whenever, then, we find ourselves harbouring the aggrieved feeling let us remember that it is merely the warning signal telling us that the old self is asserting its sway, and that it is for us to repent of the evil thing in our heart rather than allow ourselves to be diverted by the enemy into warring against the person who has given the offence. It is very natural to lay the blame of our failures on others, or on circumstances, but the evil heart is the heart of the difficulty. And, thank the Lord, we may have His peace to guard both heart and thoughts in Christ Jesus. Phil. iv. 7.

"Hope of the Promise. The Old Testament and the Future Life" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

A sample of the common idea as to the teaching of the Old Testament with regard to the resurrection and the life to come is found in the following statements from an editorial in a leading religious paper:-

The Old Testament, we say, is almost silent on the subject of the future life. We have to gather its hope of the world to come from hints and developments of its language. . . . The Old Testament nowhere indulges in the triumph of the hope of the world to come which illuminates the whole New Testament with the thought that to go and be with Christ is far better.

It is not a small matter to have such an opinion of the Old Testament, for according to the Saviour's words he who does not find the resurrection and the life in the Old Testament will not understand or appreciate it in the New. Jesus says of the Scriptures, meaning the Old Testament, for that is all that was in existence when He spoke, "They are they which testify of Me." John v. 39. But He is "the resurrection and the life." John xi. 25. Therefore since the Old Testament testifies of Christ, it must testify of the resurrection and the life.

Further, Jesus says, "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for He wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" John v. 46, 47. That is to say, that if we do not find Christ in the writings of Moses we shall not find Him at all; if we do not perceive Him, the resurrection and the life, in the Old Testament, we shall not be able to grasp the real significance of the words which Christ spoke in person.

Let us now study a few passages, to see how accurately the Gospel of life is set forth in the Scriptures from the very beginning.

Take first the statement that "the Old Testament nowhere indulges in the triumph of the hope of the world to come which illuminates the whole of the New Testament with the thought that to go and be with Christ is far better," and compare it with three passages of Scripture. The first is Job xix. 25, 27:-

"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; . . . whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another."

The other two are from Ps. xvi. 9-11 and xvii. 15:-

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"My heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; 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."

"As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness."

Where in the New Testament can you find any more triumphant expressions of hope in the resurrection and the future life?

See in what clear and confident words the resurrection is set forth in the book of Job. The question is asked, "If a man die, shall he live again?" and immediately the answer 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 xiv. 14, 15. This is as clear as the words of Jesus, "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the grave shall hear His voice, and shall come forth." John v. 28, 29. The "change" of which the patriarch Job spoke is described in 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.

PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES

The apostles and early disciples "went everywhere preaching the Word," the Old Testament being all they had, and "they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Acts iv. 2.

When Paul went to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews, he "went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead." Acts xvii. 2, 3.

People forget that the Christians of the first century were not converted by the writings of the apostles, but by their preaching. The epistles were written to those who were already Christians, and who had become Christians by means of the teaching of the Old Testament.

And when the apostles did write, they drew very largely from the Old Testament Scriptures. Take for instance that wonderful chapter on the resurrection, and the triumphant close of the argument is a quotation from the prophets. "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. xv. 54, 55. These expressions are taken from Isa. xxv. 8 and Hosea xiii. 14. In the former passage we find those beautiful words used by John in Rev. xxi. 4, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

So we should find throughout the Bible that the Old Testament not only proclaims the resurrection and the future life as clearly as does the New, but that some of the brightest passages of the New are drawn from the Old. The prophets ministered the very same things that the apostle afterwards did, and by the same Spirit. See 1 Peter i. 11, 12.

THE PROMISES TO THE FATHERS

While there are many other direct statements in the Old Testament relative to the resurrection and the future life, some of the strongest evidence is found in the promises to the fathers, which formed the basis of the hope of God's people of old.

The Apostle Peter tells us that in the last days there should come scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 2 Peter iii. 3, 4. This suggests a connection between "the fathers" and the promise of the coming of the Lord.

The apostle then proceeds to show that those who disbelieve in the coming of the Lord, and who say that there has been no change since the creation, are wilfully ignorant of the facts. He reminds us that the earth of creation was once destroyed by the flood, and that the same word which created it, and which caused its destruction by the flood, still keeps it "reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

Then He reminds us that "the Lord is not slack concerning His promise." Not promises, but promise, having special reference to "the promise of His coming," mentioned in verse 4. The fact that God delays the fulfilment of His promise for what seems a long time to men, is no evidence that He is slack in performing it, for time is nothing to Him. But the day of the Lord will come, "wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter iii. 12, 13.

Here we find a positive statement that our hope of the future life is based on the promise of God to the fathers. Let us turn, then, and note that promise very briefly. Take the brief summary given by Stephen in Acts vii. 2-5:-

"The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran; and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child."

Here we have a promise unfulfilled. Can it be that God was slack in this instance? Impossible; for the promise was confirmed by the oath of God, who swore by Himself, "that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us." Heb. vi. 13-19. So we see that instead of God's promise to Abraham having failed, it is all our hope and consolation.

Note the facts: God promised to give Abraham an inheritance in the land of Canaan, yet Abraham died without receiving it. Now since it is impossible for God to lie, the only possible explanation is that God meant that Abraham should receive it at the resurrection. And this is just what Abraham expected, for not only he, but his children also, "died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Heb. xi. 13.

The fact that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died "in faith," without having received the promised inheritance, but "were persuaded" that they should, shows that they had not expected it in this present life. If they had, they would have died disappointed, instead of in faith. If we turn to Gen. xv. 15, 16, we shall find that God plainly told Abraham that he should die before the inheritance was bestowed, thus leaving him no other ground of hope but the

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resurrection. This hope was his consolation through life and in death.

THE HOPE OF THE PROMISE

This hope of the resurrection was the only hope of the patriarchs and prophets of old. We say "the only hope," not because it was a meagre one, but meaning that it filled their whole lives. Read the Apostle Paul's witness to this effect when he stood before Agrippa in chains because of his loyalty to Christ and the Gospel:-

"And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" Acts xxvi. 6-8.

Thus we see that the hope of the resurrection of the dead was the hope of the promise of God to the fathers, and that this was the hope that engrossed the thoughts of the true Israelites day and night. We know that Paul was persecuted only for preaching the resurrection of the dead through Christ, yet he himself declared, "For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." Acts xxviii. 20.

A TEST AND A PROMISE

When God told Abraham that his posterity should be as the stars of heaven in number, although Abraham was then old and had no child, "he believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness." Gen. xv. 5, 6.

Righteousness comes only through faith in Christ; therefore Abraham's faith was in Christ, since it was counted to him for righteousness. Therefore also the promise of a vast posterity was a promise in Christ. "For how many soever be the promises of God, in Him is the yea; wherefore also through Him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us." 2 Cor. i. 20, R.V.

This is further shown by the fact that faith brings the blessing. It brought the blessing of forgiveness to Abraham (Rom. iv. 6-9), and "they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." Gal. iii. 9. Further, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree; that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ." Gal. iii. 13, 14. The blessing of Abraham comes upon us through the cross of Christ. This shows in whom Abraham and all the other faithful ones trusted.

But Abraham had wavered once, and so the Lord tested him, saying, "Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Gen. xxii. 2.

We need not stop now to dwell upon the temptations that must have assailed Abraham when this command came to him. It was a test not only to his parental love, but it was a test of his faith in the promise of God, for everything depended on Isaac. To cut him off was to all human calculation to cut off all hope of the promise.

But Abraham knew how the promise was to be fulfilled, and that the birth of Isaac had been a manifestation of God's power to bring life from the dead. So we read that Abraham started the next morning with Isaac and two of his servants. "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you." Gen. xxii. 4, 5.

Note that statement carefully. Abraham said that both he and Isaac would go and worship, and would come again. Both were going, and both were coming back. How could that be, when he was going to offer Isaac as a burnt offering? Read Heb. xi. 17-19:-

"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called; accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure."

It was Abraham's clear grasp of the resurrection that made him stand this test. Note the statement made that he "offered up his only begotten son." That which enabled him to do this, was his knowledge of the fact that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." If all professed Christians in these days had as clear a knowledge of Jesus and the resurrection as Abraham had, the world

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would soon see that Christianity is something more than a name.

But we must not forget.

THE PROMISE

in connection with this test.

"And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies." Gen. xxii. 15-17.

That last promise is a most sweeping one. Who are the seed, to whom it was made?-The answer is in Gal. iii. 16, 29: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." "And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

The seed, therefore, means Christ and all His people. What are their enemies? The greatest of all enemies, and the leader of all, in fact, the source of all enemies, is the devil. 1 Peter v. 8. His power is death. Heb. ii. 14. Now in the chapter which is entirely devoted to the coming of Christ, when "they that are Christ's at His coming" shall be raised from the dead, we read that "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. xv. 26. Christ has conquered, and has the keys of death and the grave (Rev. i. 18), where many of His people are now entombed. But the promise to Abraham includes all the seed,-all who are Christ's,-and so it includes nothing less than the final resurrection of all the saints at Christ's coming, when death shall be swallowed up in victory. It was the hope of this promise that sustained God's people of old in all their tribulations.

"TILL HE COME"

After describing the Lord's Supper the Apostle Paul declares, "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come." 1 Cor. xi. 26.

How many are there who realise all that the Lord's Supper means? It means more than a mere belief in the fact that Christ died. It means an appropriation of His death, so that we know that we are crucified with Him, and thus "freed from sin." Rom. vi. 7.

But it means more than simple belief in Christ's death. It means His resurrection also; for He is not dead, but alive. To preach Christ crucified, it is necessary to preach Christ risen. So when we show His death, by the same act we show His resurrection.

But just as surely as Christ died and rose again, so surely will He come again. His own word says, "I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John xiv. 2, 3.

Christ's coming is just as necessary to the completion of the plan of salvation as was His death and resurrection. He is to come to take us to Himself, in order that we may be with Him. This shows that without His coming we cannot be with Him, for He does not come unnecessarily. He will come "with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17.

The Christian's hope, therefore, centres in the coming of Christ and the resurrection. It is "that blessed hope." So our faith in His death necessarily includes His coming.

But the bread and the wine of the Lord's Supper stand for the very same thing that the flesh and the blood did, of the lamb slain in ancient sacrifice. Christ is the Lamb as well as the true Vine; so the blood of the lamb and the blood of the vine both represent His own precious blood. The ancients, therefore, by their offerings of lambs, showed the very same thing that we do in the Lord's Supper. Their offerings meant nothing except when they were offered in faith in His death. But His death means His resurrection, and His resurrection means His coming again. So when we read that all the ancient sacrifices pointed to Christ, we must know that they pointed to Christ crucified, raised, ascended, and returned.

"Do you suppose that all who offered sacrifices saw all this?" some one will ask. By no means. They were undoubtedly about the same as people in these days; and who will dare say that all who partake of the Lord's Supper realise all that it means? But we know that many of them saw Christ, and rejoiced in Him, even as Abraham did; and there is no reason to doubt that the proportion of intelligent worshippers was as great then as now.

It is as clear therefore as the Word of God, that from the days of Abel to the time of Paul, the one hope before the true children of God was the coming of Christ and the resurrection. All the prophets wrote of "the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow." 1 Peter i. 11.

THE GRAND SUMMING UP

"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection." Heb. xi. 32-35.

What more could any Christian minister desire of his flock than that which Paul says to us, concerning those ancient worthies:-

"And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end; that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

"The Lord's Tenth" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

At a recent Memorial Hall meeting and council regarding foreign and home mission work Dr. Joseph Parker said some good things about the financial problem which confronts every society and curtails their work. His remarks have been somewhat widely copied in the press, and it is to be hoped many will be led to put the plan into practice. This is his suggestion regarding the financial problem:-

Now, I tell you how to do it. Devote one-tenth of your income to the Cross every year, and the treasury of every society will overflow. There is the answer. Why all these conferences, discussions, committees, and sub-committees? Unless we are right in our consecration to the Cross we never can be right in our day-to-day life, but we shall be fretted, and filled with anxiety, and irritated in all kinds of ways, and thinking we are always giving.

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We are doing nothing of the kind. We are always receiving. We have nothing that we have not received. And until the church gets to that idea and practice of consecration she will have great difficulty over many matters; but the moment she can say under the dropping of that red heart-blood, "I will give one-tenth of all my income to the service of my Master," then she is the owner of millions, then she is master of the situation.

The consideration must take place in each mind, the dedication must take place in each life, and the dedication must not take place after the appeal has been lodged, it must take place at the beginning of the year, and in a face-to-face interview with the Man of Sorrows. Having laid that by, woe be to him who touches it, except for the consecrated purpose! If all the Christians of the world would do this, instead of whining over our financial difficulties and making Christ a mendicant in His own church, we should have gold upon gold, millions thick, and waiting for the appeals to which we may respond in the name and the power of the Cross of Christ.

The problem is before you, and the answer is at hand, why hesitate to apply the answer to the problem? We can wriggle out of it if we like, we can state cases in casuistry, we can wonder what is to be done under such circumstances or other circumstances. I would say to my own heart, try the plan and let the difficulties come in the course of the trial of it; do not anticipate the difficulties, work the plan, and God will bring it to a glorious consummation.

Every man who knows anything of business success knows the value of system, and those who make it their first business to serve the Lord will appreciate the value of systematic giving. But the fact that the plan is founded on business common sense is not the main thing in its favour. It is the Divine plan.

The tithing system did not originate with the Levitical ordinances. When God "preached before the Gospel unto Abraham" He must have taught him the Divine plan by which men were to recognise the fact that all comes from the Lord; for Abraham the Father of the Faithful gave the tithe to Melchisedec, and Jacob, as of the seed of Abraham, devoted the tenth unto the Lord. Even the Levites paid tithes to the Melchisedec priesthood. "Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For He was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him." Heb. vii. 9, 10.

Not only does the Lord give us all we have, and name us as stewards now, but we live under a priesthood of the order of Melchisedec-even that of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest. Then if by the faith of the same Gospel preached to Abraham we are the children of Abraham, why should we not do the works of Abraham? "The tithe is the Lord's," and when a man recognises the Lord's proprietorship of all that he has he will find he cannot stop with one tenth. Not only tithes but offerings are due the Lord, and the acknowledgement of the Lord's dues is not a duty merely but a blessed privilege. All the promises of God are for the children of Abraham in Christ, and the promises to those who render to the Lord His own are not the least glorious of all the bright promises.

"Why They Applauded" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

The Protestant Alliance has been holding a series of lectures in West Kensington as a reply to the lectures which the Catholics have been holding in all parts of London during the past year. Dr. Wright, of Liverpool, has spoken well, and the lectures seem to have been enthusiastically received.

But in a recent lecture some Roman Catholic asked about the Sabbath question, suggesting that Sunday observance has no standing if the Bible alone is the rule. Just here the lecturer betrayed his whole position. The test is just there, and because the great body of those who aim to stand for Protestantism fail to maintain consistency the Roman Catholics are rapidly gaining strength. In reply to the question Dr. Wright said:-

The Old Testament enjoins the keeping of the seventh day of the week; that is Saturday. The Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross kept the last Sabbath of the Old Testament. He rose again from the dead; therefore, the day He rose again was kept by the Christian church. And why? Because the priesthood was changed-(applause)-the covenant was changed, and a priesthood being changed and the covenant being changed, and other things being changed, it was necessary also that this day should be changed, which celebrated the covenant, the day which celebrated the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt, which is given in Deuteronomy as the reason for keeping the Sabbath. In the Book of Exodus the reason given is because God rested on the seventh day; but St. John's reason is because when Christ went down into death He came up again on the first day of the week. Therefore, the apostles and Christians everywhere met on the first day of the week, and it was natural that they should do so. (Applause.)

Why the applause? Not a word of Scripture having any logical relation to the question was referred to. The intimation that John refers to any change of the Sabbath is absolutely without foundation, as every one knows who has looked for the evidence. The change of God's law is only referred to in Scripture when the prophet Daniel predicted the rise of that power (the Papacy) which should "think to change times and the law." The reference to Deuteronomy is absolutely beside the mark, as the Lord there cited the fact that He was their God and deliverer as a reason why they should serve Him, do justice and judgment, pity the poor and the strangers and keep His Sabbath.

Now why did the people applaud. Simply because the speaker said something which they did not understand. Challenged to show that the Bible was the rule of faith and practice on the Sabbath question he gave his case entirely away, and the people applauded. It was thoughtlessness, but thoughtlessness is sinful when it concerns the truth of God. The minds of the people must be aroused to think, and they must know the ground on which they stand if they are to stand in the times that are before us.

Another pitiful thing at the same great meeting, as reported in the English Churchman, was Mr. C. H. Collett's reply to another Romanist who challenged the consistency of Protestants who keep Sunday.

Question: Who made the alteration, and for what purpose? I cannot find in the New Testament any authority for the first day of the week.

Mr. Collett: There is a note in the New Testament of the Roman Catholic showing that the change of the Sabbath from Saturday is proved by the Scriptures.

The proof in a question which anyone can see is crucial to the whole position is merely a foot-note in a Roman Catholic Testament!

In every country Rome is making use of this inconsistency to reassert her position as above the Word, just as she did at the Council of Trent, when the Reformation principle-The Bible alone-was condemned on the same ground.

"Ecclesiastical Assumption" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

By the same evil disposition which leads the unregenerate heart to exalt self above God, a collection of unregenerate hearts, taking the name of a church, unite in exalting their collective selves above God and the Word. The Church Extension Association, an Anglican body, issues a catechism in which we find the following:-

Q. How are we to know the meaning of the Bible?

A. We learn it from the Church.

Q. Why are we bound to believe what the Church believes?

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A. Because she is the Pillar of the Truth.

Q. Who guides the Church into all truth?

A. God the Holy Ghost.

Q. Are we to obey the Church?

A. Yes; for Christ has said to the pastors of the Church, "He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me."

But Jesus sent His disciples to speak His words, not to substitute their own interpretation for them, as though the Holy Spirit could not speak in language to be understood.

The Bible rule is, "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." God means what He says, and He gives the understanding.

The purely papal assumption is that as the Gospel was committed to the church, therefore the body assuming to be by direct ecclesiastical succession the church, cannot fail to have the Gospel. But when Christ sent men out in the beginning to preach the Gospel, it was to be preached only "by the Word." 1 Peter i. 25. And He not only sent the messengers, but He sent the message, and the original Word is preserved to us. The message can be delivered only by the Word. And by the Word anyone can determine whether the messenger is delivering the message as it was first delivered.

This is why the messengers who have departed from the Word seek to shut it away from the people. It is the test which exposes every false profession. "He that heareth you," Christ said, "heareth Me," because He commanded them to teach only His Word. And when any body attempts to put itself between the sinner and the Word we may know that it is fighting against the Lord and His Gospel to men.

"The Christian Hope" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

It is not a vague longing, nor an earnest wish that all may end well at last, but it is a certainty. "I know whom I have believed," said Paul, "and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." 2 Tim. i. 12. It is based on "the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," and it is as sure as that. The New York Christian Advocate, after speaking of the fact that multitudes nominally belong to Christian congregations, who have no definite Christian experience, and no sure hope, but only "diffused expectations," discourses to the point as follows:-

Whoever possesses the Christian hope knows that it does not in any respect resemble these vague, diffused, contagious expectations. It is "a lively hope," an "anchor of the soul."

Looking beneath the surface, it appears that many Christians by profession bear neither loss of health, friends, property, old age, and its infirmities, nor any disappointment or sorrow any better, or at any time exhibit more consolation or joy, than the world at large, other conditions being similar. Many of them have the same doubts, yearnings, and questionings, that others have, sorrow as those that have no hope, or succumb as reluctantly to the inevitable. Where such as these speak of their hope, there is often a lifeless dulness which no one ever exhibits when really interested, or a lightness the sure sign of superficiality, or a dependence upon the state of the meeting for anything like a triumphant testimony to Christ formed within them "the hope of glory."

The command to the Christian is, "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." But if an intelligent person, who knows that he has no such hope, should act upon the assumption that the Christians in his neighbourhood are thus ready, is there reason to believe that he would find many to meet his expectations? Should he continue, doubtless he would discover in every community some Priscilla or Aquila who would "witness a good confession" and bring him to Jesus; but would he not be liable to many failures?

But this is what in a typical town, containing one Presbyterian, one Protestant Episcopal, two Methodists, two Congregational, and three Baptist churches, befell a gentleman of wide acquaintance, who humbled a newly settled pastor who sought to interest him in a personal religion. Said he: "I find very little real religious warmth or interest. I find students in the sciences and men in every trade, business, or profession, who are enthusiastic; they are always ready to take me aside for conversation, always have something novel or curious in the peculiar line of their studies to present. Mechanics, merchants, and politicians are full of zeal, ready and anxious to converse. Indeed, it is difficult to avoid them. If I am in haste and wish to terminate the conversation, they are likely to be pertinacious and take up my time.

"But I find none who are enthusiastic in what you call personal religion, men who wish to converse on that subject. When I tried to talk with leading men who will speak with ardour on other topics, they seem to weary speedily of this. What," said he, "is your experience in that respect in connection with the many professors and ministers of religion whom you know? Do they overflow with enthusiasm about their experience, however they may talk about church edifices, organs, debts, collections, colleges, or eloquent sermons?"

The conclusion seems almost irresistible to a person, with the New Testament open before him, not possessing the hope, that those who will converse upon every subject except the Christian hope do not possess that hope, or that the account of its characteristics in the Book which men call holy, is romantic.

It would be well for the reader to take counsel with himself whether day by day the Gospel hope springs in his breast, whether he could meet his business partner, his best friend, his wife, or his child, and with confidence testify of the glorious hope, with a burning love for Christ and for the one who asks for a reason. If the years are passing without concern for his destitution of the hope, is not the time to fully come for searching his own heart to ascertain whether the spirit of the age may not have despoiled him of the "earnest of the inheritance"?

"Children's Stories" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

At this season of the year the book reviewers are praising the new holiday books for children. Why it should be necessary to make children's books up of all sorts of impossible fancies and nightmares it is impossible to say. But it is very generally taken for granted that the book must deal with hobgoblins and fairies, with the most outrageous illustrations to accompany them.

It is too bad that it should be thought necessary to fill the little mind with nonsense when it would be as easy to turn the thoughts to that which would be useful and uplifting. Life is too short to forget the rubbish which is drifting about to fill the tiny mind unless wise parents see that it is filled with that which is good. A writer gives the following suggestive hints to mothers on story-telling for the children:-

Nothing is more fascinating to a child than the plain, unvarnished narratives of the Bible, provided these are the first presented to him. I cannot vouch for children, who, from the earliest dawn of intelligence, are compelled to swallow large draughts of "Mother Goose."

But if the story of Samuel, for instance, is read to a child-and do not judge me visionary if I say this may be done before three years, just as it stands recorded in 1 Sam. ii.,-watch his eyes, as he is evidently picturing to himself the child Samuel, his "little coat,"-the reading should begin with verses 18 and 10 of the previous chapter,-the good priest with his dim eyes, the little Samuel laying himself down to sleep, but rising with alacrity, running, when he hears himself called-you may be sure he sees all these far more plainly than we whose minds are lumbered with so many other things.

A little quiet talk afterwards about the story, adding no embellishments, but often referring to the open book and repeating from it the identical words here and there, will fasten the nail in a sure place. The very quaintness of the Scripture phraseology catches and holds the attention of a child.

I have known a child of but three years to become so familiar with the last chapter of the Gospel by John, through the frequent hearing of it, as to notice the omission of a single word inadvertently left out; and he was by no means a precocious child. He would call for it over and over again through the day, and never tire of it.

A little preparation is needed on the part of the mother in selecting passages, and connecting them if not continuous. For instance, take the last chapter of Luke, commencing with the thirteenth verse, and read without any omissions till you come to the last two verses; omit them, but substitute in their place Acts i. 9, last clause, reading on through verse twelve.

No attempt at simplification will make the story more captivating. If you have never tried it, you will be astonished at the interest manifested after a few readings. Persevere, and you will soon find that the Bible is the Book of books to your child, and its words, "sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb."

And what better can you desire for him? Searching "the Scriptures" for this purpose, you will find more sweet morsels for your little ones than you at first imagine. In your daily reading note such passages that you may never be at a lose. Note the story of Peter, in Acts xii. 1-19; Moses, in Ex. ii. 2-10; David, in 1 Sam. xvii; the "holy child Jesus," Luke ii. 40-52, etc.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

-A statistician estimates that the total money in circulation in the world amounts to ?1,780,582,000.

-British rule extends over an area of 8,567,658 square miles, or more than one-sixth of the world's lend surface.

-King Prempeh, of Ashantee, against whom a British expedition is being sent, has exactly 9,892 wives allowed him, by law.

-Perfumed butter is becoming fashionable in New York. Wrapped in choose cloth, the butter is allowed to stead in a bed of roses or violets.

-The Czarina has given birth to a daughter, another addition to the Queen's long list of great-grandchildren. The infant has received the name of Olga.

-In Norway a law has recently been passed, it is said, which makes girls ineligible for matrimony until they are proficient in knitting, baking, and spinning.

-Asbestos towels are among the curiosities of the day. When dirty, it is only necessary to threw them into a red-hot fire, and after a few minutes dray them out fresh and clean.

-Sandwich is one of the very few places where the curfew is rung night and morning. There is a proposal to discontinue the morning bell, which is rung at five o'clock, it being regarded as a nuisance.

-Rustem Pasha, the Ottoman Ambassador to Great Britain, died in London last week. He was one of the best known of all the diplomats of Turkey, and had the confidence of the powers as no other servant of the Ottoman power has possessed it.

-There is extraordinary activity in the navy yards on the Neva. Thousands of men are working night and day upon the new battleships. The Czar is said to have given orders to proceed with the work of construction at the utmost speed, owing to possible complications is the last.

-Although New York is America's largest city, it is by no means American in population, four-fifths of its inhabitants being foreign born, or the children of foreign-born parents. It stands third in the list of German cities in the world, Berlin and Vienna alone having a larger German population.

-Serious disturbances are reported in the Yo-ruba country, West Africa, where there his been bloodshed. The British resident in the north of the country is warring against native factions. Altogether the native African may as well make up his mind that the Powers of Europe are the rulers of Africa as well.

-The hope that the difficulties with King Prempeh might be arranged without the use of getting guns and other murderous weapons is encouraged by Mr. Chamberlain's answer to Lord Suffield and Mr. Sutherst when they interviewed him on behalf of the Ashanti Envoys. The latter, who are not officially recognised at the Colonial Office, have given assurances that the English demands will be complied with.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

At this season many remember friends by gifts of books. Those desiring a truly helpful work for such a purpose will find "Steps to Christ" (Illustrated, 1s 6d.,) a book of rare value, whether the presentation is to believer or an unbeliever.

By a merciful Providence it appears very certain that the war with Ashanti will be averted. The people of Ashanti did not want to be slaughtered, and at last their envoys who have been trying to get a hearing in England for weeks have been heard, and this Government will, it is probable, escape adding another chapter to the dark tragedy of European conquest in Africa.

The little place of worship belonging to the Wesleyans in Vienna was closed by the authorities sometime ago, since in that city the Wesleyans are not recognised as a religious body, and it is contrary to law for them to hold religious services. The place is now open, however, as a member of the body sends the following statement to the New York Christian Advocate:-

We are still under a cloud; the meetings, which we took up again without being authorised to do so, are as illegal as they were of old, and the slightest frown of some fanatical Roman Catholic priest or Lutheran clergyman would suffice to draw the anger of the authorities down upon us again. No kind of law protects us, but we stand in the strength of the Lord of hosts; we know, that His everlasting arms are underneath us, and this thought enabled us to take up the meeting again, so as to proclaim that free and full salvation which is preached nowhere else in our town.

That has the right ring; the privilege of worshipping God, and the commission to preach the Gospel, come from God, and not from earthly governments. But why do not some of those who say we ought to obey the laws of the land even when they oppose the fourth commandment, protest against this "defiance of the law" by the Wesleyans in Vienna?

The Times correspondent in Madagascar says that the Christianity of the Hovas was little more than skin deep, and multitudes already talk of taking up their old heathenism again. That may all be, and yet, doubtless, in Madagascar, as everywhere else where the Gospel is preached, there are honest hearts that know the Lord. Those who now go back to pronounced heathenism or go over to the Roman Catholics, who will have the ruling power behind them, are the ones who have professed Christianity because it was professedly the religion of the Court. Now that it is not so popular many will see that it does not pay to profess it, and the natural religion of the human heart will prevail. Madagascar is not very unlike every other country; the natives merely have a little different way of manifesting the religion of self.

In Russia the authorities disavowed any thought of religious persecution. They merely enforce certain usages of the State Church which they consider necessary to the good of society. The result is that they fear the man who serves the Lord more than the vicious criminal. It is the logical end of all efforts to legislate religion into men. A Russian correspondent of a newspaper says:-

If a man wants a license in this country for a drink shop, or a cafe-charter, or a dancing salon, or a brothel, he can obtain it without difficulty. If he wants permission to preach the Gospel to his fellows he is hauled off to gaol, and after weeks or months there in the society of robbers and blackguards he is ignominiously transported with a prison gang to a strange country where he may rot or starve for all the authorities care.

Deluded, but often sincere, people who seek to advance the cause of religion by the avenue of politics little understand that they will license vice and outlaw virtue in the end. But it has always been so and always will be.

"They Use It" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

They Use It.-The position of advantage which the practice of Sunday observance gives the Catholics is everywhere being made use of. In a new publication called "Questions and Answers," published for the benefit of Protestants, the writer fancies himself conversing with one who professes to follow the Bible only, and puts this hard question to him:-

You say your reason for being a Protestant is belief in the Bible only and nothing else, and yet you are obliged to go against the Bible in several instances, notably in keeping Sunday instead of Saturday-where is your authority for that?

"The Factory Sunday Law in Action" The Present Truth 11, 48.

E. J. Waggoner

Once more the publishing office of the PRESENT TRUTH is in the hands of the bailiff, and by the time this paper is in the hands of the readers, property to satisfy a fine and costs amounting to upwards of ?50, will have been seized and removed from the building.

Since previous seizures have resulted in the removal of nearly everything upon which hands could easily be laid, it is quite probable that the machinery will next fall a prey.

Thus this anomaly presents itself: A law which is professedly for the protection of women and young persons, will not be satisfied until those same persons are thrown out of employment, and deprived, so far as it had power to do so, of the means of earning a livelihood. That is literally protection with a vengeance.

Although the inevitable result will be the temporary closing up of the manufacturing department of the International Tract Society, and the consequent loss of work by the employÈs, the work of the Society will not be diminished in the least; and none of the readers of PRESENT TRUTH will miss a single copy. We go to press earlier than usual this week, in anticipation of a probable seizure of the press or engine. This number will therefore be out of the way before the seizure is made, and the next number, if necessary, and succeeding ones will be done outside.

We have no words of reproach for those who are engaged in this work of spoliation. They are to be pitied rather than blamed. We are sure that personally they dislike the business, but are moved by a mistaken sense of duty. They are in the toils of the Papal system, which has infected all nations, and which puts earthly governments in the place of God, and so they imagine that they are "compelled" to enforce laws regardless of how much they conflict with the law of God.

The end is not yet. God is not dead, nor asleep, nor indifferent. "He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness." Then that Divine law, which is now so lightly set aside by legislators and judges, will be the accuser, and "the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." "The mighty man shall cry there bitterly." Who will be wise in time to have God's truth a protection instead of a destruction?

December 5, 1895

"The Love of God" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

"We love, because He first loved us." 1 John iv. 19, R.V.

This is the literal rendering, instead of, "We love Him, because He first loved us." While this is true, it is not the whole truth, as given in the text. The love of God causes us to love, not Him alone, but all men. But for the love of God, there would be no love whatever in the world.

This is shown by the seventh verse of the same chapter: "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." Note also that when men wholly lose the love of God, they are "without natural affection." See Rom. i. 28-31; 2 Tim. iii. 1-4.

Love is the whole duty of man; "for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments" (1 John v. 3); and to "fear God, and keep His commandments" is "the whole duty of man." Eccl. xii. 13. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 10.

This is more fully set forth in the words of Christ to the lawyer who asked Him, "Which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus replied, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt. xxii. 35-40.

There are not two kinds of love, but only one. The law is not divided into two parts; it is one perfect and indivisible whole. The Saviour did not say that one part of the law contains love to God, and another part of it love to men. What He tells us is that all the law is fulfilled in loving God and in loving our neighbour.

Since "love is of God," it is evident that no one can truly love his neighbour except the love of God is in his heart. "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." Therefore loving our neighbour as ourselves is but a part of loving God with all our heart. Love to God embraces everything.

The last six commandments, which speak of our duties to our fellow-men, define our duty to God as well. That is, to refrain from injuring our neighbour in any way is a duty which we owe to God. When Joseph was tempted to break the seventh commandment, he said, "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Gen. xxxix. 9.

Similarly we read that covetousness is idolatry. Col. iii. 5. The covetous man is an idolater. Eph. v. 5. A man cannot break the last commandment without at the same time breaking the first. Violation of the tenth is violation of the first. Love, even the love of God, is the whole law.

We have already seen that "love is of God," and that therefore no man can love his neighbour unless he has the love of God in his heart. God's love is for the world (John iii. 16), even for His enemies. Rom. v. 8. Therefore whoever has the love of God must necessarily love his neighbour. On the other hand, no man who does not love his neighbour can love God; "for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" 1 John iv. 20.

Let us not then be "partial in the law." Let us not think that we can set bounds about it, or parcel it out. It is as boundless as God Himself. It is "everlasting love," which is always the same; when it is shed abroad in man's heart, it is the same as when in the heart of God. Love to men is not a substitute for it, but is the very love itself. But it comes from God alone. He who thinks to have a religion of love to men only, will love neither God nor man. He who devotes his whole mind and soul to loving God will love his neighbour even as himself.

"The Lord's People" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

Who are the Lord's people, and where may they be found? The answer is easy-every one and everywhere.

"The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Ps. xxiv. 1.

If you are a dweller in this world you belong to the Lord. It is not a question of whether you have ever given yourself to Him or not; for all men are His by purchase. He bought us when we had not power to give ourselves, and ransomed us with His life.

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Now the question is, Will you let Him do what He will with His own? All belong to the Lord; not all will let Him have His own. That is all the difference there is between men. The Lord paid no more for one than He did for another. He has no favourites. But while the favour is equally extended to all, few in every generation have been willing to own the fact that the earth is the Lord's and that all who are in it belong to Him. The acknowledgement must be a personal one, and this text must for ever put away that miserable wail of the hymn:

"'Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought;
Do I love the Lord, or no?
Am I His, or am I not?"

"Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his ye are to whom ye obey?" Rom. vi. 16. He who feels a doubt if he is the Lord's may set his mind at rest on that point; he is the Lord's but has not acknowledged God's claim on him. And he who does not know that he loves the Lord, may be very sure that he does not, because he does not know Him. Whoever knows the Lord, loves Him.

"The Higher Power and the Highest Power" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

More than one of the London papers have noticed the case of the young German who refuses to drill on the Sabbath. It seems to be taken for granted that he will have to give in. Many people have no idea that no power in the world can compel a man to sin if he does not want to. But it is true. However, this is not the first case in Europe, nor even in Germany. The account of one case, reported by our brethren in Germany, will be of interest just now, when some are watching the present case.

Some months ago a young German was called up to drill. As he steadfastly refused to perform the exercises on the Sabbath he was threatened with death.

His answer was, "My Saviour died for me; why should I not be ready to die for Him and for His commandments? I fear more to transgress God's law than that of the Emperor, for if I sin knowingly, the result will be the second death in the lake of fire,"-showing them the text. After being questioned before several, he was brought into a large hall, where thirty officers were assembled as a court martial, before whom he had to defend himself. He told them that he had one hundred texts for the Sabbath, but if they could show him one passage for Sunday, he would submit. They called for the chaplain who spoke with him for some time. But all present saw that this brother was in the right. Often they said that the Bible did not say so; and then he had to turn up the passage quoted, and read it. To the question who had taught him this, his reply was, "The Bible." When asked whether he had any publications containing this doctrine, he said, "Yes," and distributed the forty copies he had, but that did not suffice. Some gave him their addresses, requesting him to send them copies likewise. When he was to be led out, he said that he would not leave until they had proved Sunday to him, and if they punished him for keeping the Sabbath, then they ought to punish all others for keeping the other nine commandments. In their perplexity, they finally wrote in his papers, "Not fit for military service on account of hallucinations," and therefore entirely dismissed him. When he remonstrated against being declared a lunatic so long as he was sane, they begged of him to rest satisfied, and to go home.

"How to Win 'Converts'" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

The old ecclesiastical chroniclers tell wonderful tales of the help rendered by relics of the saints and other charms in some of the bloody campaigns of the children of the Medi?val Church. The day for such tales is not past. The Tablet, the organ of high class and intellectual Catholicism says that it is related in Nagasaki (Japan) that when a battalion stormed the heights of Port Arthur a body of Japanese Catholics were among the storming party. We read:-

All returned injured, with their scapulars on their breasts. Their comrades, seeing them thus unscathed, begged also for these invaluable talismans to protect them from the enemy's fire, and were anxious to be received at once into the Catholic Church.

Anything that was supposed to enable a man to slaughter his enemies with safety to himself must have appeared a very valuable religious accession to the fighting Japanese.

"Swords and Ploughshares" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

In a recent lecture in London a military authority declared that the wars of the future could not endure long campaigns, owing to the enormous industrial strain which would ensue when the greater part of the workers were called from their work to the camp. A war between France and Germany would, he estimated, cost one and a-half million sterling per day.

What a verification modern militarism furnishes of Joel's prophecy of the latter-day demand, "Beat your ploughshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears." The source of all wealth is the soil, and when the nations call the people from tilling the ground and from workshops where earth's products are prepared for use they are literally turning the fruits of the ploughshare into swords. A St. Petersburg despatch says that only last month the Russian authorities called an additional million (and a few thousands over) of youth into the army.

Great areas of territory are "coming into the market," as the Times says, in reviewing Lord Salisbury's speech. All the nations are preparing to get what they can of this territory, and are prepared to fight over the distribution of it. It is human nature's way, and the nations are but composed of sinful men. The only way for civil governments to exist in this world is to fight, or be prepared to fight. That is the reason why the Gospel separates believers from the world, and makes them citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. While strife and enmity are preparing the nations for the destruction of the last day it is for Christians to keep the peace of God in their own souls, and preach the message of peace to others.

"Secret Prayer" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee." This is one of the most definite and assuring promises of the Word of God. What a comfort it is as one goes to the place of sacred prayer, to know that God hears him, and that his petition is sure to be granted. When one is by himself, with no one near but the Lord, he cannot pray as he might in public. If he is indeed in secret with the Lord, he will ask for only such things as he knows are right. Face to face with God, it is impossible to pray merely for the sake of multiplying words. The soul makes humble confession to God, and, in spite of its failures in the past, boldly claims mercy and grace to help in time of need, and goes away with the positive assurance that the things asked for are his.

"Salvation and the Sabbath" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

Salvation and the Sabbath.-"Do you think that keeping the Sabbath will save anybody?" No; impossible. It is utterly impossible because only the man who is saved from sin can keep the Sabbath. Sabbath means rest, and the "Sabbath of the Lord" is the rest of the Lord; and no one can truly keep the Sabbath who does not know it to be to him just what God says it is-a sign of God's sanctifying power.

"Master and Servant" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

"O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid; Thou hast loosed my bonds." Ps. cxvi. 16.

From this we may learn that the Lord's servant is a free man. The Lord looses the bonds of those who acknowledge themselves to be His servants, and that freedom which He gives them is what binds them more closely to Him.

Every soul on earth might, if he would, say with the Psalmist, "O Lord, truly I am Thy servant," for the Lord has purchased all mankind with His own blood. He "gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us." Titus iii. 14. "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price." 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold," "but with the precious blood of Christ." 1 Peter i. 18, 19. And He has proclaimed liberty to all who are bound. Isa. lxi. 1.

It matters not who the man may be, he is the Lord's servant; for Christ has bought all. He tasted death for every man. Heb. ii. 9. But there are two classes of servants,-those who serve, and those who do not serve,-the "good and faithful" servants, and the "wicked and slothful" servants. The fact that a man does not acknowledge himself to be a servant, does not diminish his obligation to serve.

He who does not acknowledge himself to be the Lord's servant, is a slave. "For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin." Rom. vii. 14. "Everyone that committeth sin, is the bondservant of sin." John viii. 34, R.V. "Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is He brought in bondage." 2 Peter ii. 19. "Ye have sold yourselves for nought, and ye shall be redeemed without money." Isa. lii. 3.

This last text shows not only that all who do not serve the Lord are slaves, but also that those who serve Him are free. Whoever says from the heart, "O Lord, truly I am Thy servant," may also as truly say, "Thou hast loosed my bonds." "He that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's free man." 1 Cor. vii. 21. So the sum of the matter is that all men, from the greatest king to the humblest peasant, are in truth the Lord's servants; those who do not acknowledge the Lord as their Master, are slaves, even though they be kings; while those who yield themselves to the Lord's service, are free, even though they be servants.

"One is your Master, even Christ." Matt. xxiii. 10. He is the only rightful Master. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Matt. iv. 10. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. xii. 13. The rendering in the margin of the Revision is equally true: "This is the duty of all men," "for all live unto Him." Luke xx. 38.

This is what is written in the law: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Luke x. 27. We are not obliged to distinguish between different lines of duty, for the law is one, and love is its fulfilling. Loving our neighbour as ourselves is part of our duty to God. If we do not love our fellow-men, it is because we do not love God. Our one anxiety should be to seek the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. The kingdom of God is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost"; and "he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men." Rom. xiv. 17, 18.

Let it not be forgotten that the Lord is the only Master. This is shown by the fact that we are to serve Him with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind. So if we do our whole duty to God, we have no strength for any other service than His. If all our strength is given to the Lord, there can be none left for any one else. And to this end the Apostle Paul says: "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." 1 Cor. vii. 23.

Yet the same one who wrote, "Be not ye the servants of men," wrote also, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ" (Eph. vi. 5); and "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but in singleless of heart, fearing God." Col. iii. 22.

There is no contradiction here. The secret is found in the last clause of each verse quoted, and in what immediately follows. "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ." Col. ii. 22, 24. And so also in Ephesians where servants are exhorted to serve "in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men." Chap. vi. 6, 7.

If all servants acted on this plan, regarding themselves not as servants of men, but as servants of Christ alone, no employer would ever have occasion to complain of unfaithful service. With such a servant it would make no difference whether his master were present, or not; his real Master is Christ, who is always present.

There is in this thought encouragement for every labourer, no matter what his employment. Somebody has well said, "Whatever you know how to do best, God knows how to do it better." That is, God knows far more than we do, even of that of which we may think ourselves masters. The master of workmen in any line of work is one who knows all about that work. If he is a competent master, he knows more about it than any of those who are under him. But the Lord is the Master of us all, so that no matter what the business may be, if we are in trouble we may go to Him with confidence that we shall find "grace to help in time of need." To give us confidence in coming to Him, He came to this earth as a servant, and passed a thorough apprenticeship as a labourer. He knows how to help.

The dignity of service depends

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much on the Master whom one serves. The servant partakes of the dignity or dishonour of his master. If one serves a mean master, then his is a mean service. Without any play upon words, we may truly say that such service is menial. But the one who realises that in all things he serves the Lord Christ, can never have any degrading work. The humblest service is noble and dignified, when done to the Lord, and not to man. As George Herbert quaintly put it:-

"A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine;
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws,
Makes that and the action fine."

"No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Matt. vi. 24. The servant who thinks to follow two lines, making a distinction between service to Christ and his Master according to the flesh, will become hopelessly confused. No matter what our grade of service, nor what the rank of our earthly master, we have only to consider what will please the Lord. He who does this, will render to man every service that he has any right or duty to give.

If two servants are together, and one of them is unfaithful, that is no excuse for the other one to be unfaithful also. If a dozen servants refuse to serve, that does not warrant another in neglecting his duty. Even though the others, being in a majority, persecute the faithful servant, and threaten him with the worst kind of treatment, it is evident that he is not justified in neglecting his duty. "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." It makes no difference whether the enticement be in the shape of gifts if we yield, or of threats of vengeance if we do not, we are forbidden to be a party to sin.

Remember now that all men are alike servants to God. After the exhortation to servants, the apostle addresses masters, saying, "Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." Col. iv. 1. Still more emphatically, "Ye masters, do the same things unto them, and forebear threatening; knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no respecter of persons with Him." Eph. vi. 9, R.V. Both masters and servants are therefore servants of one Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. If some servants do not acknowledge their obligation to serve Him that does not in the least diminish the obligation.

Suppose that the master so far forgets his duty to the one Master, as to demand that his servant shall do that which is sinful, and shall offer large inducements for such acts; we have the injunction, "If sinners entice thee, consent thou not." The fact that the servant who is entrusted with greater responsibilities refuses to serve, does not warrant the more humble servant in neglecting his duty.

We have the following instruction for such a case as that: "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God." 1 Peter ii. 18-20.

If a servant did everything that even the wicked master told him to do, he would have no occasion to suffer. But the fact that he is exhorted "for conscience toward God" to "endure grief, suffering wrongfully," shows that one may be obliged to refuse obedience to some command, since it will involve sin against God. If he is indeed a faithful servant of the Lord Christ, that very fact will keep him from yielding to a simple requirement. In that case, he must suffer patiently the buffeting that may follow. The Lord, the real Master of both, will settle the case when He comes, for He has told what shall be the fate of that evil servant who smites his faithful fellow-servant.

These principles apply equally in the case of rulers and subjects. Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is "the Prince of the kings of the earth." Just as servants are exhorted to be obedient to their masters according to the flesh, "with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ," so with kings. "Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Ps. ii. 10, 11. If they do not serve the Son, then destruction will be their portion.

Jesus Christ is anointed King upon the holy hill of Zion (Ps. ii. 6, 7), "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." Eph. i. 21. "The head of every man is Christ" (1 Cor. xi. 3), and not any earthly power. To Christ, both rulers and people alike owe allegiance. The service of the humblest peasant is due directly to Christ, and to none other.

This obviates the necessity of laying down rules as to how far we may go in our duty to civil rulers, without infringing on the rights of God. That way of putting it implies that earthly rulers are to be considered before God. The fact is, that Christ is the direct head of "every man." He is Lord and Master of all. To Him is supreme allegiance due, and whoever faithfully discharges his duty to the Lord, will never fail in any particular of respect that is due to any that are "in authority" on earth. He will never be found in the ranks of anarchy and lawlessness in opposition to government; for he delights in the law of the Lord, which tells him not to resist even oppression, to "honour the king," and to "speak evil of no man."

But suppose those servants who are "in authority" refuse to serve the Lord, or, professing to serve Him, ignore and trample upon His law, and threaten punishment upon those who will obey it in all particulars; what then?-"If sinners entice thee, consent thou not." If some servants refuse to serve, that is no reason why others should forsake the Lord's service.

This settles the whole question of Sunday laws. God's law says to all men, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." Ex. xx. 8-10. It places the first day of the week commonly called Sunday, among "the six working days" (Eze. xlvi. 1), which are to be habitually devoted to labour, in distinction from "the Sabbath of the Lord," which is to be invariably devoted

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to rest from ordinary labour. A clear distinction must be observed between it and them.

But the governments of earth, being infected with the spirit of the Papacy, have presumed to defy this law of God, and to prohibit the use of the first day of the week as "an ordinary working day." The amount of deference which they require paid to the Sunday differs in different places; but whatever the amount, it is in direct defiance of the one "Lord over all." If now some one says that, no matter what the law of the land is, we must obey it, we have only to reply, We must serve Christ. If His servants in the highest places refuse to serve Him, that will not justify us in being unfaithful to Him.

"But it is so common to keep Sunday; almost everybody keeps it." What of that? The Lord has anticipated that condition of things, by saying to us, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." Ex. xxiii. 2. It is true that many do not know that they are doing evil. So much the more reason for faithfulness on the part of those who do know.

Once more, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." The line of duty is very simple, when we know that we have but one Master. Then we need not and shall not have any fear of the consequences, for His servants are as free as He Himself. Even when in prison for His sake, they are free; for since He has the power to deliver them at any moment, it is evident that they remain there only during His pleasure. In such case they may, with Paul, rejoice that they are prisoners of the Lord.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

-Devonshire grows oranges, lemons, and citrons in the open air.

-On very dark nights a white light can be seen farther than any other colour.

-It is said that the Prince of Wales receives two hundred begging letters, on an average, every day.

-Cases made of paper pulp, for preserved products, are now being used as substitutes for the ordinary tin can.

-The sellers of intoxicating liquors in England and Wales are about 20,000, a loss number than twenty years ago.

-Less people are engaged in agricultural labour in England and Wales than twenty years ago by about 30,000.

-A new volcano, which is omitting immense quantities of smoke, lava, and fire, has been discovered at Jalcotan, Mexico.

-A medical journal has been studying the influence of occupation on long life. The most short-lived people are publicans, butchers, factory operatives, quarrymen, and doctors.

-In 1894 Great Britain imported agricultural produce to the value of nearly 163 millions sterling. It is estimated that we live 190 days in the year exclusively on imported produce.

-The British Museum library has thirty-two miles of bookshelves. Truly "of making many books there is no end," and yet how few of the books that have ever been published are to be found in this great library.

-The coronation robe of the Czarina of Russia, which is being made in Paris, is to cost ?40,000-and the peasantry, who are taxed to pay for it and the military displays which will attend the coronation, would be glad of sufficient clothing to keep themselves warm.

-The Balloon expedition to the North Pole, which will take place under the auspices of the King of Sweden, in 1896, is said to be progressing favourably. The balloon will be filled on one of the islands north-west of Spitzbergen, and weighted to float about 100ft. high.

-The influence of forests in protecting the water supply is well illustrated in the case of Greece. In ancient days she possessed 7,500,000 acres of forest. To-day she has hardly 2,000,000 acres, and the scarcity of water and other injurious climatic effects are traceable to the destruction of the trees.

-A journal bewailing the fact that so few now enter the trades and work with their hands, says that the slavery of those who are mere dependent clerks and assistants is getting worse and worse, owing to competition. Two hundred clerks applied for an insignificant post advertised in one of the papers the other day.

-Much is being said in political circles of Japan's competition in the markets of the last. Nearly every line of industry is being started by the Japanese who work intelligently and industriously. The cheapness with which they are able to do work threatens to make them formidable rivals of Western nations.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week's issue of PRESENT TRUTH announced the bailiff in possession of the office, to collect fines for Sunday labour; we have now to announce that he has gone, taking his booty with him.

Three rooms-the accounting office, the manager's room, and the editorial room, are almost entirely stripped of their contents, even to the carpets and linoleum on the floors. All the tables and chairs have been taken from the folding room. Other rooms have been stripped of what was movable. By an act of grace on the part of the bailiff, one chair was left in the entire building.

But the last act in the affair is the seizing and removing of the engine. The other machinery is left, but the power being taken away, the business of manufacturing necessarily stops. Her Majesty's Inspectors have at last succeeded in stopping women and young persons from working on Sundays, by depriving them, as far as they can, and others as well, of the means of working at any time. Thus it is demonstrated that the Factory Act is really protective-of Sunday.

Of course the work of the International Tract Society will go on as usual, and with increased vigour and volume. The contest, as has often been stated, is not between the Society and the Government, but between the civil authorities and the fourth commandment. Really it is a question of whether God or the State is supreme. For a moment the State may seem to have prevailed; but God is still in heaven, the Judge of all the earth. He will win in every contest, by the simple power of His own righteousness. When all the kingdoms of earth shall have passed into oblivion, His Word will stand-the Rock of Ages. The Word of the Lord endureth for ever, therefore although the world passeth away, "he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." He who is established on God's Word is safe, while those who fight against it, will wear themselves out by their own efforts.

The French established a protectorate over Madagascar. The Hovas not wanting to be protected, there was a war. Now the French Foreign Minister announces in the Chamber that the Madagascar expedition has been gloriously accomplished. The rebellion of the Hovas against a French protectorate has been overcome. The war provoked by them has ended with the capture of their capital and the submission of Queen Ranavalona.

"But there must be no tampering with the Eucharist," says the Church Times, "by fanatical temperance reformers." This refers to the desire which many temperance workers in the Church of England have expressed to see intoxicants banished from the Lord's Supper. It is strange that there should be such objection to using "the fruit of the vine," the pure juice of the grape, in place of the product of fermentation and decay, the fruit of the vat, which has so largely been substituted for the Scriptural beverage.

Results in soul-saving cannot be tabulated and estimated as the world estimates results. One soul saved in the Kingdom will live in eternity as long as the added lives of all who have ever lived since Adam, and then will only have begun to live. A poor woman in Bengal, when dying, a few years ago, said, "My Keeper for eternity is Christ. I have laid all my load upon Him." Even were this the one solitary triumph of the Gospel in India, would any Christian say that the means and labour and lives expended in missionary work in India during the last hundred years were too much for the result-one soul rescued for eternity?

"We are now living in the closing scenes of this world's history. Let men tremble with the sense of the responsibility of knowing the truth. The ends of the world are come."

"Statement of the Case to the Home Secretary" The Present Truth 11, 49.

E. J. Waggoner

The following communication and remonstrance has been addressed to the Home Secretary by the Secretary of our Board of Directors:-

"The Board of Directors of the International Tract Society, Limited, beg respectfully that you will allow them to call your attention to the following facts, showing the operation of the Sunday clause in the Factory Act in the case of our printing works, situated at 451, Holloway Road, N.

"By the seizure of machinery and materials to satisfy fines imposed for allowing certain women and young persons to work on Sunday we are compelled to close the factory.

"For six years in our present factory our work was allowed to proceed without interference. Visiting Inspectors recognised the fact that the spirit of the Act was complied with, and that the violation was only technical. We being observers of the seventh day of the week, and all our employÈs being of like faith, our works have been entirely closed on the Sabbath, and opened on Sunday.

"Further, had we been able conscientiously to sign the Jewish exemption form we might have continued without interference. But we are Christians-the International Tract Society, Limited being one of the publishing branches of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination-and cannot truthfully enter ourselves as Jews under the Act thus the administration of the law discriminates against us as Christians, forbidding that which would be allowed us did we falsely declare ourselves Jews.

"We have not been contending for our rights nor for our convenience in doing business. But God's right to our obedience to the Fourth Commandment is not ours to surrender, nor can we obey that commandment to keep the Sabbath holy and at the same time keep the Sunday,-an institution established by human authority in opposition to the Sabbath,-even as we could not serve God and at the same time recognise other gods. In effect the law has sought to compel us to recognise a religious institution which loyalty to the Law of God requires that we should not observe.

"We acknowledge the uniform courtesy of Her Majesty's Inspectors who have taken this new departure regarding our relation to the Factory Act, but we have felt it not disrespectful to address you this note of remonstrance against the action of the law by which the work of our factory is stopped and our factory employÈs deprived of this means of earning a livelihood. In the Act these are named as 'protected persons,' but by the operation of the Act they have been shut out from their work.

"We respectfully submit that this is an injustice not contemplated by the framers of the Act."

December 12, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 50.

E. J. Waggoner

"Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." Prov. iii. 31.

It is so natural to envy such men that the exhortation needs to be often repeated. Again we read, "Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them." Prov. xxiv. 1.

Why does anybody envy wicked men?-The Psalmist tells why he envied them: "I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. . . . Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart can wish." Ps. lxxiii. 3-7.

But why should we envy "the ungodly, who prosper in the world," who "increase in riches"?-Again the answer comes, coupled with a repetition of the exhortation: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." Ps. xxxvii. 1, 2.

On the other hand, it is "the poor of this world, rich in faith," who are heirs of the kingdom of God. James ii. 5. "Evildoers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. xxxvii. 9, 10.

"The world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John ii. 17. To choose this world, or to envy those who do choose this world, which is quite the same thing, shows a failure to make a right estimate of the value of things. He who knows that he has "in heaven a better and an enduring substance" (Heb. x. 34), will not be moved to murmur at his own poverty in this world, nor to envy the prosperous wicked. The man who has gold in the bank does not envy the poor imbecile who plays with a glittering toy, and fancies that it is a diamond.

People often wonder why the wicked should so often be allowed to prosper in this world, while godly people are in distressing poverty. Why should it not be so? They do have "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven" for them (1 Peter i. 4), can afford to own nothing in this life; but those who have no hope in the world to come and who will have no inheritance there, surely ought to have all they can possibly enjoy in this world. The true Christian can never envy them. Thus the Christian's hope in the future, brightens up the darkness of the present.

"Hezekiah's Weakness and Strength" The Present Truth 11, 50.

E. J. Waggoner

There is an interesting contrast in the history of Hezekiah's conflict with Sennacherib, the ruler of Assyria. It shows how weak a man is when in the wrong, and how strong when in the right.

The Ekronites had rebelled against Assyria, and Hezekiah had made himself a partner in the revolt. Therefore

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Sennacherib, after punishing Ekron, came against Judah.

"And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear.And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria." 2 Kings xviii. 14-16.

The next invasion of Judah by Sennacherib ended far differently. Doubtless the proud Assyrian expected that the same humiliating submission might be exacted a second time. But this time Hezekiah said to the people:-

"Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him; for there be more with us than with him; with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah." 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8.

What made the difference? Before, Hezekiah was in the wrong, and now he was in the right; and all the strength of the right was his. Assyria represented the greatest power on earth, but all the pride of the arm of flesh was humbled in a night by one angel, who smote the thousands gathered about Jerusalem. More power was with Hezekiah than with Assyria.

The Lord lives to-day, and it is a blessed truth that the humblest and weakest man or woman who is in the right with God is stronger than the combined strength of all the world. And the world is powerless to coerce into sin. It is the sin within that makes one weak in the day of trial, not the forces without.

"Going the Wrong Way" The Present Truth 11, 50.

E. J. Waggoner

The editor of one of the great London religious journals some time ago told an interviewer that, in his opinion, the Christian press will have to consider the drama; that is, review plays and discuss theatrical matters.

It is too great a force, and has too much hold upon the people the preacher addresses, to be ignored. The pleasant fiction that church members do not go to the theatre can no longer be kept up.

It will be a bad day when, from merely ignoring the stage, the religious press and the pulpit pass to patronising it. For the fact is too evident that it is not the stage becoming converted to morality, but the conversion of many professors to worldliness that is breaking down the barrier which of old was supposed to separate the Christian from the throngs who find their temple in the theatre and music hall.

One has only to see the announcements staring the public in the face from hoardings, or to note the story of the plays in the press, to see that altogether aside from the emptiness and unprofitableness of that which seeks only to amuse, the whole tendency of the stage is vicious and degrading.

"Will They Do It?" The Present Truth 11, 50.

E. J. Waggoner

At the annual meeting of the London Nonconformist Council, the president, Dr. Clifford, said in the course of his address that the business of the Free Churches is "to inform as well as to quicken the conscience of men everywhere, . . . to put into the category of sins all violations of the laws of God, though they might be sanctioned by the customs and upheld by the inherited prejudices and traditions of men."

Very good. The question is, Will they do it? If they are sincere, let them begin at once to put Sunday observance and Sabbath desecration into the category of sins.

The seventh commandment says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," and the eighth says, "Thou shalt not steal;" and violations of those commandments are quite generally put into the category of sins; but neither the seventh nor the eighth commandment is so explicit and plain as the fourth, which says:-

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

Now on what ground of consistency can those who put violations of the seventh and eighth commandments into the category of sins, refuse to put violation of the fourth commandment in the same category?

Some one will say, "We do put violations of the fourth commandment into the category of sins, for we call it a sin to labour on the first day of the week, or Sunday." But to such we will let the Churchman, Dr. Williams, reply:-

In the first place we are commanded to keep holy the seventh day; but we do not think it necessary to keep the seventh day holy; for the seventh day is Saturday. It may be said that we keep the first day instead; but then surely this is not the same thing; the first day cannot be the seventh day; and where are we told in Scripture to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day.-"The Church Catechism," p. 534.

This is simple fact, and nobody can gainsay it. To it we may add the admission of the late Dr. Dale, who is counted as a pillar of orthodoxy:-

The Sabbath was founded on a specific, Divine command. We can plead no such command for the observance of Sunday.-"The Ten Commandments," Hodder & Stoughton.

Or Canon Eyton:-

No commandment of God bids us do this or not do that on Sunday; we are absolutely free as far as His law goes.-"The Ten Commandments," Trubner & Co.

The facts are, as admitted by the most eminent Sunday-observers, that the fourth commandment of the law of God does require the faithful observance of the seventh day of the week; while neither that nor any other commandment of God requires any kind of observance of the first day of the week. It is simply classed among "the six working days." Eze. xlvi. 1. Hence the observance of the first day of the week instead of the seventh is a direct and positive violation of the fourth commandment, and is sanctioned only "by the customs and upheld by the inherited prejudices and traditions of men." Dr. Williams, previously referred to, says:-

The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh, is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the Church, has enjoined it.

Nine out of ten persons with whom you talk will defend the observance of Sunday on the ground that "everybody keeps it." Custom and tradition form its sole support. To be sure they say that "the church" enjoins it; but that is only emphasising the statement that it is "upheld by the inherited prejudices and traditions of men." The "church" which enjoined Sunday observance is the same church that enjoined the observance of "Ash Wednesday," "Good Friday," "Ascension

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Day," etc., so that the "Catholic Christian Instructed" well says:-

The best authority we have for this ancient custom is the Church. And therefore those who pretend to be such religious observers of the Sunday, whilst they take no notice of other festivals ordained by the same authority, show that they act more by humour than by reason and religion; since Sunday and holidays all stand on the same foundation, viz., the ordinance of the Church.

We take the churches at their word. The "Free Churches" say that they desire to have all violations of the law of God, no matter how strongly entrenched in custom and tradition, put into the category of sins, which means, of course, that they do not intend to be guilty of such violations. The Church of England has the ten commandments read every Sunday, with a prayer after each and after them all together, that their hearts may be inclined to keep this law. Both Churchmen and Nonconformists are therefore committed to commandment-keeping; and leading men in both communions admit, what any child can easily see from the Bible, that the seventh day of the week is the only Sabbath of the commandment. The question then is, Will they be consistent with their profession, and keep "the Sabbath day, according to the commandment"?

"The Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee; they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" Deut. v. 28, 29.

"Believing and Receiving" The Present Truth 11, 50.

E. J. Waggoner

WHAT INFIDELITY IS

Christ, the Word, who was in the beginning with God, and who was God, in whom all things were created,-as the life and the light of the world,-"was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John i. 10-13.

Worldly Ignorance.-"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." "The world by wisdom knew not God." 1 Cor. i. 21. The wisdom of this world does not reveal Christ, but conceals Him. No man can ever learn of Christ by worldly wisdom. It is Mr. Worldly Wiseman that turns Christian out of the right way. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." 1 Cor. iii. 19.

The Depths of Ignorance.-"The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider," says the Lord. Isa. i. 3. Therefore the wisdom of this world does not rise to the level of the intelligence of brutes. Yes, it sinks men below the level of brutes, when it is given full chance to develop; because when men "became vain in their imaginations," "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." Rom. i. 21-23. It is impossible that men should rise above the object which they worship, and the description which follows the scripture just quoted shows that the worshippers of beasts and creeping things did actually fall below them. But all that was simply the full development of worldly wisdom.

True Wisdom.-The Bible does not discredit wisdom or science. It is only "science falsely so called," and the boasted wisdom of the world, which is not wisdom at all, but only foolishness, that is spoken against. "The Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous." Prov. ii. 6, 7. "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job xxviii. 28. "If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know." John vii. 17. It is by faith that we understand. Heb. xi. 3.

The Cross and Knowledge.-Wisdom comes from God alone. To know Him embraces everything that is worth knowing or having. "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me." Jer. ix. 23, 24. But by the Spirit of the Lord Paul said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Gal. vi. 14. Since we can glory only in the knowledge of God, and only in the cross, it follows that it is only in the cross that we can learn to know God. The world knew not Christ, because they wanted glory without the cross. Whoever shuns or rejects the cross, refuses to know God. Whenever in anyone's Christian experience a cross presents itself, and he refuses to accept it, he thereby says, "I know as much of the Lord as I wish to," and then he begins to lose even that which he has.

"His Own."-"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." In the Greek there is a clearly marked distinction between the two expressions, "His own," the first being neuter, and the second masculine. The "His own" to which He came is distinct from the "His own" who did not receive Him. The English does not show this difference, except by a more full rendering, as is given in the Revised Version: "He came unto His own, and they that were His own received Him not." He came to His own inheritance, but His own people rejected Him. Jesus set this forth most clearly in the parable of the vineyard which was let out to husbandmen, who killed the heir when he came. See Matt. xxi. 33-44.

The Inheritance.-"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein." Ps. xxiv. 1. The earth was given to man in the beginning, for a possession. But it was given to a perfect man, not to a fallen man. Man lost it when he fell. But Christ has purchased it. Eph. i. 14. We see Jesus, because of death, "crowned with glory and honour" (Heb. ii. 9), just as man was when the dominion was given him. It is His by right, although those to whom it has been entrusted for a little while cast Him out when He came to it.

Rejected of Men.-"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." Isa. liii. 3. Mark this, He not only was despised, but "He is despised and rejected of men." It is a thing still going on. Multitudes of those who delight to be called by His name, are rejecting Him. How?-In rejecting His cross. They are willing that He should suffer, but they are not

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willing to suffer with Him; and in rejecting the cross, they are rejecting Him.

The World Unchanged.-The world is not converted, and never will be. There is an everlasting difference between Christ and the world. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God." "Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James iv. 4. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John ii. 16, 17. Therefore the world ever rejects Christ. The world is as much opposed to Christ to-day as it was eighteen hundred years ago. His people are chosen "out of the world." John xv. 19; Gal. i. 4.

Believing and Receiving.-"As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." And who are they who receive Him?" Them that believe on His name. "Whoever believes, receives. Whoever receives Him becomes thereby a son of God. Therefore every one who is not a child of God is rejecting Christ.

What Is Infidelity?-Many people think that it consists in a railing against God and Christ and the Bible. But there are thousands of infidels who have never said a word against Christ, and who would be shocked at the suggestion that they do not believe the Bible. The word "infidelity" is the Anglicised form of the Latin infidelitas, through the French infidetite, meaning unfaithfulness. Infidelity is simply lack of faith. Now whoever has faith has Christ, for the text says that those who believe Christ receive Him. Eph. iii. 17. Therefore that man in whose heart Christ does not dwell as "the hope of glory" (Col. i. 27), is an infidel, even though he be a professed Christian. "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Instead of reviling those who do not profess to be anything except infidels, it becomes professed Christians to keep the exhortation of the Spirit, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith."

Waiting to be Received.-Jesus, "the faithful and true witness," 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." Rev. iii. 20. How shall we open the door?-Simply believe Him. If we believe Him, we receive Him. How often He has knocked, and we have sent word that we were "not at home." Let us no longer be false to our most faithful Friend. Let this day be our day to receive. "To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts."

From Servant to Son.-When we receive the Lord Jesus, then He dwells in us. His presence transforms us. Remember that we receive Him believing Him. We feed upon Him by taking the Word. By the "exceeding great and precious promises," we become "partakers of the Divine nature." 2 Peter i. 4. Thus it is that receiving Christ makes us sons. "If children, then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." Rom. viii. 17. In the parable of the vineyard (Matt. xxi. 33-44), the servants slew the heir, in order that they might seize on the inheritance, and thereby they lost it and their own lives as well. If they had only known the day of their visitation, and had received the heir, they might have received the adoption of sons. "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Gal. iv. 7. How little those who reject Christ, in order to win the world, know what they are losing! In rejecting Him that they may win all, they lose all.

Born of God.-Those who in simple faith receive the Lord thereby becomes sons of God. Not only are they called sons, but they are actually sons, since they are made "partakers of the Divine nature." "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John i. 13. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." 1 Peter i. 23. This receiving of the Word makes God our Father as actually as is the father by whom we were begotten according to the flesh. Just as our earthly parents transmitted to us their nature, so in the new birth God transmits to us His nature, and this is "renewed day by day" while we believe it. We are heirs of God Himself, and therefore all that is His. With what joy, then, the true believer may sing:-

"Blessed assurance-Jesus is mine!
Oh, out what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God;
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood."

"The Three-Fold Confederacy" The Present Truth 11, 50.

E. J. Waggoner

ROMANISM, FALSE PROTESTANTISM, SPIRITUALISM

Reunion ideas are in the air. We are familiar enough with the question through the efforts that are being made to bring the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches together. And the Nonconformist Churches have not been entirely left out of the programme. It is the dream of the Papacy to see herself once more the recognised queen of Christendom.

The details of the scheme are really non-essential. Uniformity may come only in a few great principles. But this we know of the Papacy, that before the coming of the Lord "the wine of the wrath of her fornication" will have corrupted all nations, so that the Spirit and principles on which the Papacy is founded will sway the world.

The issues which are bringing professed Protestantism into line with Rome, and leading to the enforcement of the mark of Rome's authority-the Sunday-in Protestant lands, have frequently been set forth in these columns.

We have outlined in Rev. xiii. the work of the Papacy, something just like it, though distinct from it, even as that action of professedly Protestant peoples in enforcing an institution of Rome in an exact reproduction of the workings of the Papacy. And in connection with this, the prophecy speaks of the wonder-working power by which the people are deceived and led to the bitter end in the fight against God and truth.

The miracle-working power of Satan has always been manifested in sustaining his deceptions. Wherever in ancient times we find sun-worship and idolatry, there also is found witchcraft, sorcery, etc. It was one of the sins of Nineveh and of Babylon. It is not surprising, therefore, that this is the agency employed in the gathering of forces for the last conflict. The Papacy was the result of the corruption of the

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church by the errors which prevailed in ancient Babylon, and which spread from Chaldea into all the heathen world. Along with these errors come the old error which is the foundation of Spiritualism-the belief in the conscious state of the dead.

Thus Rome and the great body of Protestantism are ready for the doctrines of Spiritualism; in fact they are already thoroughly permeated with them, unconsciously often, but none the less really. One may hear purely Spiritualistic teaching from the pulpits on every side. And when Rome and Protestantism join hands in setting aside the Word (and it is beginning to be done in earnest over the Sabbath question), it awaits only the full manifestation of the third partner, Spiritualism, and then under the influence of this three-fold confederacy the forces of the world will unite against God. Rev. xvi. 14.

And not a few bold pioneers in the confederacy are already willing to go the full length, till the "reunion" cry takes in not merely Roman Catholic and Protestant, but all the pagan world as well. Thus the editor of the Review of Reviews declares that "Borderland" principles alone will meet the case, and that means, as most people know, the principles of Spiritualism. Thus he says:-

It seems to me that what the Pope and the Primate and other good men are fumbling after, while it is a very good thing in itself, it is an unattainable thing, and even if it were obtained it would leave more than one-half of the human family out of the fold of the unity of the faith. The true goal is a Catholicism that will be really catholic, a unity that will be universal. On no Apostles' Creed nor on any such narrow foundation can we hope to rear the temple of the federated faiths of man. To us of the Western World the Apostles' Creed may be the highest attainable embodiment of the maximum of Divine truth which we are able to assimilate. But to the Hindoos it may be foolishness and useless for good compared with familiar formulae in which their own saints and sages have embodied the same essential truth. . . . The Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, Redemption through Sacrifice, the Ministry of Unseen Intelligences, and a Future Life in which the soul will have to answer for the deeds done in the body-the key to these things is to be found in the Borderland across which we must venture boldly if we would re-establish the waning faiths of man in the existence of the soul.

All the religions of paganism are based on "Borderland" principles, and Spiritualism is the bond that will link all together. The world is ready for just such a federation, and it will come. Those who know what it means should sound the warning against it by telling what the Word of the Lord declares. The prophet Isaiah left a record for a time just such as this, when every spirit of evil is seeking to draw the whole world into the great confederacy of final apostasy from the Word.

"Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces. . . . Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand; for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear. . . .

"Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. . . . And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? [R.V., "on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?"] To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. viii. 9-20.

There are these two voices in the world, one saying, A confederacy, and turning men toward the abominations of witchcraft, or Spiritualism; the other cries: "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit. . . . Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sin, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Rev. xviii. 2-4.

These voices will sound with ever-increasing volume to the end. Let each one know for himself which is the voice of the Lord, and follow it though all the world opposes.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 50.

E. J. Waggoner

-Nearly 70,000 gallons of fresh milk and cream were imported from Holland into Great Britain last year.

-The wealth of this country is estimated to be ten thousand million pounds, and it is increasing at the rate of 150 million sterling yearly.

-Many lives have been lost in Russia by terrific storms, which have recently desolated the districts about the Black Sea, and the Caspian.

-England has now, for the first time, a larger population than France, the deaths in the latter country of late years greatly outnumbering the births.

-It is expected that the Mikado of Japan will visit England next year, and will be the that representative of that ancient dynasty to leave his dominions.

-A collection of water lilies was sent to the Queen by an Australian florist in August. They were frozen in a cake of ice, and a fortnight ago were presented at Windsor, the flowers being perfectly preserved.

-Next year will be recognised as the tercentenary of the potato, three centuries having passed since the first tubers produced on English soil were grown in a garden at Holborn, then a rural suburb of London.

-The quantity of wheat required for our use per annum is over twenty-five million quarters. In 1863 we grew seventeen millions, but this year the estimate is less than five millions, consequently the nation's reserve of wheat at the present time must be very small indeed.

-It is estimated that the money circulation of the world is ?874,978,000 gold, ?475,212,000 silver, nickle, and copper, and ?930,872,000 paper, making a total of ?1,780,582,000, besides ?446,915,000 gold and ?233,372,000 silver hold by banks and States principally to secure paper issues.

-The use of apples is increasing. In the past ten years we have imported over thirty-three and one-half millions of bushels of apples, valued at about nine and one-half millions sterling. In the same period the area under orchards in Great Britain has increased by 20,000 acres, the total for 1884 being returned at 214,187 acres. The area devoted to the cultivation of small fruit is 65,487 acres.

-The Lancet declares that the idea of bringing a supply of sea-water to London for drain-flushing purposes has much to recommend it. As things now stand 10,000,000 gallons of purified drinking water are used every day for the conveyance of sewage. One advantage of using sea-water, besides the great saving of water suitable for drinking, cooking and cleansing purposes would be that in case contamination of water supplies occurred, the presence of saline matter would decide the question of pollution, and the leak could readily be traced. Salt-water again would modify the offensive character of sewer emanations, and would render typhoid germs less dangerous.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 50.

E. J. Waggoner

It has been discovered that the present Pope, while a cardinal, wrote a book which was placed in the index as unsound.

Workers in the island of Trinidad, West Indies, report that a good interest in Bible truth is springing up among the coolies, or Indians, many of whom are found in the West Indies.

A letter from a correspondent in Hamburg says that it is probable that the young German Sabbath-keeper in Danzig, who refuses to drill on the Sabbath, will have to spend some years in military prison. If the Lord wills it so it means that our brother can preach truth more effectively there than at liberty. The letter states that he is of good courage, and well he may be.

Rulers and statesmen who hold the helm of State know that storms are ahead. Last week the German Emperor plainly hinted at the possible need for his army at home as well as abroad. Earthly powers which are encouraging the war spirit under the name of "patriotism" cannot avoid reading, to their own sorrow, the fruits of the spirit of hatred and strife and lawlessness which they hoped to turn upon foreign enemies.

The fashion of displaying feathers in the headgear is common enough among barbarous peoples, but so far as we know, no tribes of wandering nomads ever reached such a refinement of fashion as to demand the feathers from a living bird. The other day a Chronicle correspondent wrote on the subject, and an editorial comment on the matter sets out the cruelty of the modern practice as follows:-

We have received some letters from our readers enforcing the words of Mrs. Aria as to the cruel price that has to be paid for the ospreys' feathers which are in vogue just now in woman's headgear. Mrs. Phillips writes to point out that these feathers can only be obtained at breeding time. The plumage is torn from the living parent birds on the nest, which are then flung aside to die, while the young birds are left to starve. Could anything be more horrible! There are whole heronries-the osprey is a species of heron-in Florida, which have been swept away in this fiendish search for the latest fashion. A bare recital of these facts should be enough to put an instant stop to such a merciless trade.

There is a matter for thought in the words of a missionary in Calcutta, "The devil has gone out of many things in India as a barbarous demon, but he has come back as a polished and civilised fiend; and he is more difficult to fight in the latter guise." Civilisation is not by any means Christianity, although it is often thought to be. The highest civilisation is in itself nothing but polished heathenism. The devil as an angel of light is more dangerous than when he appears as the foul fiend Apollyon. Not civilisation, but "Jesus Christ and Him crucified," is the one thing needed in all lands.

The Catholic deputation to Lord Salisbury last week declared that Roman Catholics would never rest until the whole expense of the secular education of their schools was borne by the State. The religious education controversy has been doing a good work for Rome. These demands could never have been made so openly had not the Churches as a body compromised themselves by insisting that the State is qualified to teach religion in its schools, and is justified in paying for religious instruction out of the public funds. The Romanists ask only that the State pay for the secular education, leaving them free to devote all their strength to religious teaching.

A popular preacher recently said that the Bible is the greatest of all books, and gave as proof of its vitality the fact that it has remained unshaken by the panics which every now and then seemed to overcome the Christian Church. As an instance of the panics which it has passed through, he said that "when it was discovered that the world was not made in six days, great multitudes of people were terribly alarmed."

That "discovery" was not made in the Bible. The Bible tells us more than once that the world was made in six days. "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. xx. 11. Therefore the boasted modern "discovery" that the earth was not made in six days amounts to a plain declaration that the Bible is false; and yet the Bible remains unshaken. What other book could remain unshaken after it had been "proved" to begin with a false statement?

And yet it is a fact that the Bible does remain unshaken, and ever will, for "the word of the Lord abideth for ever." "For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." Has nothing then been shaken? Oh yes, the people, even many of the professed church of Christ, together with the ministers, have been shaken by a "wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error." Eph. iv. 14, R.V. God's Word is "true from the beginning" (Ps. cxix. 160), not excepting the first chapter of Genesis and the fourth commandment; and the "discovery" that the world was not made in six days, is simply one of Satan's lies, which he has induced people to swallow.

In the same connection the speaker told his hearers that "if they wanted to learn theology the last book to go to was the Bible." He said that "theology was a science," not derived from the Bible, but "the pure work of reason." That was a frank admission, and lets us know the tendency of this theology; for the first chapter of Romans gives us the history of the "pure work of reason," and that in connection with the question of creation, too. Read Romans i. 20-32. The choice which the Church must make is between theology and the Bible.

There is a reason for denying the truthfulness of the scripture which says that the world was made in six days, although many do not know what it is. It is that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment rests upon that fact. The Sabbath is the memorial of God's creative power-of His Divinity and His power to save. It is given that men may know that He is the God that sanctifies. Eze. xx. 12. It is for this reason that Satan has directed his subtle attack against the first chapters of Genesis. Let it be clearly understood that the Sabbath question is simply the question of the truthfulness of the Bible. It is the question of whether men shall follow the Word of God or their own inventions. Which do you choose?

December 19, 1895

"Mission Work in Madagascar" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

Now that the French have taken Madagascar it will be with deep interest that many will watch their treatment of English missionaries. The trouble has been that in many fields missionaries have forgotten that they were ambassadors of no earthly power, and have allowed national prejudices to compromise their character of missionaries of the Cross which knows no national distinctions.

For the sake of the educational lesson to the native Christians and the honour of the Gospel, as well as for their own good, we hope the Madagascar workers at this critical time have kept from the danger that has destroyed so much of the good accomplished in other mission fields. But the home society has imperiled their usefulness by acting on that mistaken notion that the Christian must fly to earthly powers for protection whenever danger comes. Thus the Freeman, the Baptist organ, says:-

Is trouble brewing for the missionaries? M. le Myre de Villers has described the representatives of the London Missionary Society as "the irreconcilable adversaries to French dominion in Madagascar." Thereupon, under the lead of the Rev. R. Wardlaw Thompson, the society affirms the neutrality, if not friendliness, of its missionaries to the French, and appeals to Lord Salisbury to safeguard their interests. We fear the outlook is doubtful.

It is a doubtful outlook, it must be confessed, when a missionary society, working in French territory, specifically appeals to the British Government to protect it, thus linking itself with a foreign power. What complaint can the society make if the agents are treated as foreign and hostile in case trouble between France and England should arise? It places the missionaries at a great disadvantage.

The idea of having Governments and gunboats and the sword behind the religious reformer is characteristic of this time. The great majority of Christendom have decided that there is so little power in the Gospel that the arm of flesh must support it. Reforms are to be carried now by legislation and police power.

We hope the Madagascar missionaries will remind their home board of the fact that as theirs is not a national mission they may rest confident that God, who has placed them in the field, can protect them in it without resort to the power of the sword. And every appeal to earthly power for protection is an appeal for the sword. This is not the lesson the Christian is placed in the world to teach.

"The Word Made Flesh" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." John i. 14.

God in the Flesh.-We have already learned that the Word was in the beginning with God, "and the Word was God." Therefore when we are told that "the Word was made flesh" we know that it is the same as though it said, "God was made flesh." This is most sacred ground, and no one should presume to think of it, much less to speak or write of it in any other language than that of the Scriptures itself. Untold evil has resulted from the attempt to define and explain God in human creeds.

Which Flesh?-"All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes." 1 Cor. xv. 39. Of course there is no chance for thought that the Word was made any other flesh than that of men; but the point to be noted is that there is but one flesh of man, so that when the Word was made flesh, He took a nature common to all man, high and low, rich and poor. He was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh." Rom. i. 8. He is "the Man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. ii. 5.

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The Nature of the Flesh.-"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like." Gal. v. 19-21. No man has any reason to despise another. Whenever we hear of a brutal crime, or see a man grossly degraded by sin, we may know that it is simply the natural working of the flesh which we share in common with him. It needs this view before us, to enable us to comprehend the wonderful love that would lead the pure and holy God to come into such flesh. But this was the very flesh which the Word was made.

"Yet Without Sin."-Although the Word was made flesh, even our own sinful flesh, He was "full of grace and truth." He was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. iv. 15. God made Him "to be sin for us," yet He "knew no sin." 2 Cor. v. 21. He was made to be sin, yet He "did not sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." 1 Peter ii. 22. It is these two things combined that make Him a sympathising Saviour, in whom we may freely confide. No one can sympathise with another's failings, if he has not been tempted in the same way. Moreover, those who are guilty of any sin are the quickest and fiercest to condemn others for the same sin. Sinners excuse sin, but have no sympathy for fellow-sinners. It is only those who are cleansed from sin, who can exercise charity for the erring. Christ was tempted to the uttermost, and was always pure from the slightest taint of sin; therefore we may trust Him as one who knows and who cares.

Able to Help.-"In all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted." Heb. ii. 17, 18. And He is "able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him." Heb. vii. 25.

People sometimes imagine that because Christ never sinned, He cannot so fully sympathise with us in our sin; but that is just why He can. He knows the strength of temptation as no one else does, for He felt all the power of Satan. The one upon whom the enemy exerts all his power in vain, knows the extent of that power more than the one does who yields to it. The man who pulls against the tide knows its strength better than the one who floats with it; and the man who successfully breasts the current knows its strength better than the one who is swept back by it. So Christ not only knows all our need, and cares for it, but He is able to deliver.

For Whose Benefit?-It is quite commonly assumed that the Word was made flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth eighteen hundred years ago, in order that He might learn man's condition and needs, and thus be able to sympathise with and help them. That this is a mistaken idea can be seen by a moment's reflection, as well as by plain statements of Scripture. The Psalmist says, "He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust." Ps. ciii. 14. Again, "O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether." Ps. cxxxix. 1-4. It is He upon whom men must depend for a knowledge of themselves. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins." Jer. xvii. 9. "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Jer. x. 23.

All this was as true eighteen hundred years before Christ as eighteen hundred years after. God knew men as well, and sympathised with them as much, four thousand years ago as He does to-day. When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, "in all their affliction He was afflicted." Isa. lxiii. 9. The prophet could say of a truth, seven hundred years before Christ, "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." Isa. liii. 4. God was in Christ, not that He might know men, but in order that man might know that He does know them. In Jesus we learn how kind and sympathising God has always been, and have an example of what He will do in any man who will fully yield to Him.

Still in the Flesh.-"Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." 1 John iv. 2, 3. To confess Christ, it is not enough to believe that He once lived and suffered and died and rose again. We must confess not merely that He did come in the flesh, but that He "is come in the flesh." He is a present Saviour. As in all the afflictions of the Israelites of old He was afflicted, so now "we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." Heb. iv. 15. He still feels everything that touches us, for He is still in the flesh. Even in the heavenly places. He is still "the Man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. ii. 5. He is our forerunner, that is, one of the brethren who has gone before to prepare a place for the rest. When He comes again, He will come in the flesh for His flesh did not see corruption and the same flesh that went into the grave also ascended to heaven. "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that He might fill all things." Eph. iv. 10.

In Every Man.-The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, literally, "tabernacled in us." But since all human flesh is the same, and Christ took the flesh common to humanity, to show how closely God is identified with the human family, it follows that He is in all, just to the extent that any will allow Him. Remember that "the life was the light of men," and that it "lighteth every man that cometh into the world." "He is not far from every one of us," which means that He is very near to every one of us, so near that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." Acts xvii. 27, 28. The demonstration of the fact that the Word is in all flesh, is seen in that all know themselves to be sinners, and that even the wickedest men have at times prickings of conscience, and desires and even determinations to live better. This is the work of the Spirit, Christ's representative, striving with them.

Still further, we have the words of Moses, in Deut. xxx. 11-14, quoted by the Apostle Paul in Rom. x. 6-8.

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From these two texts we learn that "the Word" of which Moses speaks is Christ, the same Word of which John writes. So we read, "The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart." Rom. x. 8. This is not spoken to those who are perfect, but to those who are being exhorted to hear and do the commandments of God. "The Word is very nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." Deut. xxx. 14. It is not there because we have done it, but in order that we may do it. Therefore it must be in every man, since God is no respecter of persons, desiring that all shall repent and live.

Yet again we read, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobate?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5. The reprobate is the one who is rejected as worthless. But God does not reject anyone who has not first rejected Him. He will never leave any man who has a desire for His presence. He does not leave men to themselves until they drive Him away. Christ, therefore, the Word who is God, is in every soul that comes into the world, lingering there until ordered out.

Confessing Christ.-We have read that every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Now read once more Rom. x. 6-8, which tells us that the Word, even Christ, is very nigh us, in our mouth, and in our heart, and read onward, "that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." To confess Christ, therefore, is to acknowledge that He is in us with power, even the power of the resurrection, and that He has a right to be there, having purchased us by His death; and that means to yield ourselves to Him fully (for He will not use any force), that His life may be manifested in us in its perfection, and not fitfully in the intervals when we do not repress it. "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Prov. iii. 6. Then we may say, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Gal. ii. 20.

Free Course for the Word.-We have read that the Word is very nigh us, in our mouth and in our heart, waiting for recognition. What is wanted is that Christ may dwell in the heart by faith. Eph. iii. 17. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Rom. x. 17. If we hear the Word and believe it, then Christ, the Word, dwells in the heart by faith; and in those who believe it works effectually. But in spite of the fact that the Word is living and active, powerful, it can do nothing in us contrary to our will, because it is love. Therefore upon us depends whether or not the Word shall work effectually in us. So the Apostle Paul asked the brethren to pray for him and his companions, that the Word of the Lord might have free course and be glorified, even as with them. 2 Thess. iii. 1. The Word is living water, and must be allowed unhindered flow, or else it ceases to be life to us.

Holding Back the Word.-In Rom. i. 18 we read of men who "hold the truth in unrighteousness." That does not say that they merely have the truth in unrighteousness, but that they hold it. It ought to be allowed to run; they hold it back. If that repressing is persisted in, the Spirit of the Word will finally be driven out, and the light that is in men will become darkness. But if we confess our sins, as the Word shows them to us, the Word of God will grow mightily, and prevail. See Acts xix. 18-20.

The Practical Result.-We have seen that Christ, the Word who is God, is inseparable from the written Word. If we believe the Scriptures, Christ dwells in the heart by faith. The mystery of God made flesh is to be repeated in us. "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. i. 27), is the mystery of the Gospel. Since Christ is in the Word, when it is received in faith, we have the Word made flesh, even our flesh, by yielding ourselves to do all the requirements of the Word. Christ said, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart." Ps. xl. 8. He is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Heb. xiii. 8. Therefore if He dwells in our heart by faith, He will render in us the same obedience to the law that he did of old. The righteousness of the law will be fulfilled in us. We shall be doers of the Word, and not hearers only; its precepts will be things of life, vitalising our flesh; and we shall live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

"The Lion and the Lamb" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

For some years Protestants in the United States-and in all the world, for that matter-have been wooing the friendship of Rome. The papal policy has been consistently directed to the encouragement of the fraternising spirit. It has been very largely forgotten, when it was convenient to join in some scheme of advancing religion by political action, that there was mortal antagonism between the principles of Protestantism and Romanism.

Protestant leaders have so far dropped the principles of the Gospel which led their fathers to leave Rome, that there has been much talk of brotherhood in faith, and of the bonds that should bind together all "branches" of the Christian Church. A great deal has been made of union meetings and congresses in which the keen clergy of the Roman Church have condescended to appear alongside the Protestant clergy, yielding nothing, but encouraging Protestants in their effort to forget that their very name suggests a positive and undying protest against the papal system.

Now, however, the time has come for a bolder stance. The lion has been humouring the simple lamb, and now if a lamb lies down with its playful companion it must be inside the lion's capacious maw. This is the significance of the Pope's recent letter to Cardinal Satolli, his legate in America:-

We have learned that in the United States of America conversations are sometimes held in which people assemble promiscuously, Catholics, as well as other denominations, to treat upon religion as well as upon correct morals. In this we recognise the desire for religious things. But although these promiscuous conventions have unto this day been tolerated with prudent silence, it would, nevertheless, seem more advisable that the Catholics should hold their conventions separately, and that lest the utility of those conventions should result simply to their own benefits, they might be called with the understanding that the admissions should be open to all, including those who are outside of the Church.

There is still the same brotherly desire for union-only now these Protestants whose joy it is to fraternise with Rome must go into strictly Catholic conventions as outsiders. Rome is for reunion, but the outsider must get inside.

"The Boycott" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

The organised boycott is a true child of the Papacy, though the Catholic Church did not call it by that name. At the Council of Tours, in 1163, the following decree was issued:-

We commend all bishops and priests to keep a watchful eye upon the heretics, and to forbid all men, under pain of excommunication, to harbour, or assist, or trade with them, that so, through deprivation of the benefits of society, they may be forced to repent of their error. And whosoever shall attempt to oppose the decree shall be smitten with the same anathema.

It was the common treatment meted out to "heretics." Now, when by flattering labour with dreams of a social millennium, the religious world succeeds in getting compulsory Sunday rest, and gets accustomed to the use of oppressive power, it will be an easy matter to set going the great religious boycott. Having wilfully rejected the Sabbath of the Lord, and chosen to enforce the institution which Rome holds forth as the mark of her authority over the Word, it will come naturally that the old weapon of the boycott will be added to the usual dragooning processes by which religious bodies in power have always tried to force men into conformity. The Scripture shows that this very thing will come:-

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. xii. 16, 17.

But God Himself will break the great boycott, and the overflowing scourge shall sweep away the refuge of lies.

"In Finland" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

Our work in Finland was started by some of our Swedish brethren, and during the few years in which workers have been labouring in this interesting Russian province the truth has made good progress. A report from Norway speaks as follows of the way in which efforts to hinder have been overruled to the advancement of the work:-

"In Finland the church authorities, being exhorted through the press to investigate our work, have held councils as to what to do with us, and they published the report of these meetings in one of the largest city papers. They gave the name, and I think the price, too, of each of our books and pamphlets which we have issued in both the Swedish and Finnish languages. This was a splendid advertisement. They also said that some of our missionaries 'were unlearned and ignorant men.' One, they said, had been a farmer, the other a book-keeper, and the third a stone-mason, but as they were very pious and good Christians, they considered our work dangerous, especially for farmers and the uneducated.

"The next day the paper contained a long article in our favour, stating what we believed, and adding that in their opinion it would not be difficult for us to prove our position from the Bible. Since then we have heard nothing in that line, but a few days ago I received a letter informing me that a Swedish preacher who differs very little from the State church had been ordered away. This man is convinced of the Sabbath of the Lord, and perhaps the Lord in this manner will teach him to trust Him. Our labourers there fear that they also will be ordered away or sent back to Sweden; but if that should be the case, we will send others over there."

"Thirsting for Blood" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

In saying good-by to the second detachment of troops leaving for Ashanti the Duke of Connaught said:-

I know you all hope, and I hope to, that you will have a chance of discharging your carbines and rendering a good account of the enemy. If you have the opportunity I am confident that you will not be slow to take advantage of it. Now I wish you all a pleasant journey and good luck when you land on the West Coast of Africa. In this expedition I am sure you are all animated with the same loyal spirit of devotion to Queen and country, and desirous of giving a good account of the foe if only he gives you the chance.

"Said one distinguished general officer to his son who commands a squad, 'Good-by, good luck, and a fight.'"

The references to the desired opportunity for fighting of course arose from the chances that peace may be concluded. The first detachment of soldiers going out were much depressed by the possibility of a peace being arranged, and cable despatches say that they cheered lustily when hearing at the first port they touched that there had been no peace concluded.

Only the intoxication of the war spirit can explain how men who are possibly genial and kindly gentlemen in London can find delight in the chances in favour of using their guns on the natives of any tribe. It only shows what a truly devilish thing war is.

The same number of the Chronicle which printed these good-by speeches was eloquent in denunciations of "sportsmen" who proudly publish their record of so many thousand head of game killed in a day. Attention was also called to the fact that many head of game at these killings are only maimed, and crawl away into the bush to die in slow agony. It is cruel to think of it; but what, oh, what can be said of the horrible cruelty of war, when human beings-fathers, and brothers, and sons-are the killed and wounded? The paper speaks casually of little wars, with so many killed and wounded, and it seems very generally to be taken just as an

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item of statistics. But even though the victims are "blacks" it means quivering flesh and gasping lips and the agony of death without hope. It is fearful. And God is no respecter of persons. Civilisation is essentially pagan still.

"The Pence that Make the Pound" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

The automatic penny-in-a-slot machines are very familiar figures in the railway stations now. Three thousand of them are said to be in use at the stations, and the railway companies received last year ?7,244 for the rent of the space they occupy. It seems a large sum, but the owners can very well pay it. The machines delivered last year 6,794,810 packets of chocolate and 5,127,594 packets of sweets. This means that very nearly twelve million pennies were dropped into slots, or nearly ?50,000.

The pennies, one by one, make the

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pounds. And it is worth while remembering that probably a large proportion of this ?50,000 was dropped in, not because the persons who bought the packets really wanted or needed them, but because they had nothing to do while waiting for the train, and invested the penny to while away the time. It would scare some people if they could see in pounds the amount they spend in pence during ten years for little things that happen to strike the fancy, but which they do not really need.

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

-A cannon ball fired from one of the great Krupp or Armstrong guns travels at the speed of 2,887 feet per second.

-A Bill is being prepared for next Sessions of Parliament for powers to provide London with a supply of sea water by pipes from Lancing, near Brighton.

-After the Franco-German War it was calculated that the proportion of killed to the bullets spent in endeavouring to kill them was as one to one thousand three hundred.

-In France a newspaper entitled "Le XXe. Si?cle" is published once a year, for the purpose of securing a copyright of its title, to be used when the nineteenth century is no more.

-From 1884 to 1894 the Transvaal produced 7,250,000oz. of gold, of which no less than 6,500,000 came from the Rand, while last year the same district, of which Johannesburg is the centre, raised 2,000,000oz.

-A tablet made of Nile mud, recently found in the British Museum, contains in cuneiform characters the marriage proposal of a Pharaoh for the hand of the daughter of the King of Babylon. It was written about 3,500 years ago

-A writer in the Times states that 100,000 elephants are killed in Africa every year. A few years ago it was calculated that there are annually killed in Africa a minimum of 65,000 elephants, yielding it production of raw ivory worth ?850,000.

-An experiment is to be tried this winter in the streets of Paris in providing warmth and shelter for the poor. In all but the richer quarters there are to be awnings, under which enormous braziers will be kept constantly burning.

-The Board of Trade returns show the exports of British and Irish produce for the eleven month ending November 30, to be ?200,989,686. The year before the figure was ?198,693,654. The imports of foreign goods for the same period was ?379,720,125 this year, and ?375,399,574 last year.

-Two new battle-ships, said to be the finest in the world, were added to the navy last week, in the Channel Squadron. The speed at which they have been constructed (the time was two years) is said to have stirred Russia up to consider how her shipbuilders can be made to turn out more work.

-The Desert of Sahara is not all desert. In 1892 more than nine millions of sheep wintered in the Algerian Sahara. The Sahara nourishes also 2,000,000 goats and 260,000 camels. In the oases palms, citrons, and apricots abound; there are cultivated also onions, pimentos, and various leguminous vegetables.

-The disaster to the Italian troops in Abyssinia, reported last week, has led to considerable increase of the Italian army in that country. The Abyssinian army is large and active. No one seems to know what use the Italians can make of the country when they conquer it, but the lust for African dominion explains many otherwise unexplainable campaigns against African peoples.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

It is stated by a missionary from China that fifty years ago there was not a single opium den in the city of Chung-King, where there are now 3,000. All this degradation is due to the efforts of "Christian" England. "Where is boasting?"

An observer of bird life says that in his opinion the nightingales, when they have ceased singing, "croak like hoarse frogs." We cannot tell if it is true of the nightingale, but it is true of the Christian. There is no more melancholy croaking than that of the Christian who has forgotten and ceased to sing the new song.

From revelations made in the course of an ecclesiastical libel suit, it appears that devil-worshippers now form a well-defined sect in France. The tenets and rites of devil worship are taught and performed in four conventicles, with priests, choir boys, etc.; and there is an official organ of Satanism, The Bulletin du Diable. It is stated that the Pope has ordered a prayer to be recited to St. Michael after every Mass, with the view of combating Satanism.

A few months ago a law was passed in Florida, prohibiting the teaching of white and coloured pupils in the same school, or the teaching of coloured children by white teachers. The Christian World rightly calls it an "infamous law," and says that the American Missionary Association of the Congregational Churches, which has schools for the coloured people in Florida, is determined to ignore the law, and adds, "For the present the threaten schools are going on in an open disregard of the law, which thus far remains quiescent, though no one knows how soon the lightning may strike."

Christian people could do no otherwise than disregard such a law, and it is doubtful if an Englishman could be found who would not agree with the Christian World, that they are doing right in disregarding such a law. But the only reason why they should disregard it is the very reason why we disregard Sunday laws, and counsel all others to do the same, namely, because such a law is wicked. Any law that is contrary to God's law is sin; and to obey such a law is lawlessness. No greater contempt for law can be shown than to make or to obey a wicked law.

As some four hundred "declared Wesleyans" accompany the Ashanti expedition, a Wesleyan chaplain has been appointed to accompany them. We hope he will preach to them the words of Christ regarding the treatment of enemies, and insist upon the sinfulness of killing those to whom all Christians are sent with the command to preach the Gospel of peace and salvation. But Governments do not pay chaplains to tell people that it is wrong to fight.

"Infallibility by Vote" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

Infallibility by Vote.-It has been announced that the present Pope, Leo XIII., has his name in the Index Expurgatorius (that is a list of books which no good Catholics can read or publish) for a book on the Virgin Mary, which he wrote when he was Cardinal Pecci, but which was disapproved by Pope Pius IX. Thus it was settled by infallible authority that he who is now Leo XIII. was at that time fallible. It is not to be supposed, however, that as Cardinal he was any more fallible than his fellow-Cardinals. Therefore the infallibility of Leo XIII. rests on the fact that he received the votes of a majority of the Cardinals, all of whom were fallible like himself. He was fallible until the vote was declared; immediately afterwards, he was infallible! Out of multiplied fallibility, comes infallibility!

"He Served a Higher Master" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

Last week the venerable Canon Howell, of Norfolk, celebrated his eighty seventh birthday, we are glad to mention the fact in order to call attention to one of his acts which is worthy of all praise. A newspaper says:-

The Canon created some controversy in Church circles a year ago over the question of clerical magistrates. He was elected first chairman of the new district council, and became consequently an ex official magistrate. But he declined to serve on the ground that a servant of Christ has other and better means of bringing offenders into the right path than by sending them to prison,-a statement that brought down upon him the wrath of large numbers of clerical magistrates.

It is not often that a clergyman, professedly a representative of the Lord of Heaven, does not feel it a great honour to sit as a petty magistrate. Not long ago a Methodist paper argued that Nonconformist ministers should be more frequently honoured by being raised to the magistrate's bench.

"The Best Protection" The Present Truth 11, 51.

E. J. Waggoner

The Best Protection.-One of our missionaries in the island of Trinidad, reporting successful results of a series of meetings in the town of Conva, tells the following incident in their experience, which shows how much better it is to go to the Lord for help than to flee to police protection:-

Some of the baser sort have been stirred up to provoke us in disturbing our meetings with their noise in the street and by throwing stones on the house. But as we took no notice of these things, they have been more quiet the last two nights. In this manner other evangelists have been driven to seek protection from the authorities, always with the result that the rowdies were fined or had a term in prison. How thankful we are that God has taught us to trust in Him rather than in the civil power. These things have caused the company to seek God more earnestly, and the result is that they are having deeper experiences.

December 26, 1895

"Front Page" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." Ps. xxxvii. 23.

Let no one say in discouragement, "Then the Lord will not order my steps, because I am not good." Remember that the good man's steps are not ordered by the Lord because the man is good, but that the man is good because the Lord directs his steps.

"What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall He teach in the way that He shall choose." Ps. xxv. 12. "If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know the doctrine." John vii. 17. "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." John vi. 29. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." Phil. ii. 13. The good man is the man who is constantly willing that God should use him in His own way.

Such a man's steps are ordered by the Lord. There is no use in making difficult what God has made easy. When the Bible says that the good man's steps are ordered by the Lord, it is folly to try to find some fanciful interpretation of the words. They mean just what they say. When even the hairs of our head are all numbered, why should it be thought a thing incredible that God literally directs the steps of those who commit their ways to Him.

There are no accidents in the life of such ones. Their feet do not wander aimlessly. How many times a man has moved a few steps, seemingly without any purpose, and certainly without knowing why, just in time to escape some terrible calamity. What confidence it gives to know that we are constantly guided by Him who knoweth the way that we take.

But there is a still further promise to the good man whose steps are ordered by the Lord: "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand." Ps. xxxvii. 24. He can say, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemies; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." Micah vii. 8. There is no depth to which men may fall, where the Lord does not hold out hope to him. "These things I write unto you, that ye sin not, but if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

"Washing One's Hands" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

To wash one's hands has been from old-time a symbol of innocence, or of declining any responsibility in a matter. To wash one's hands of an affair, is a familiar expression. When Pilate at last yielded to the clamour of the priests, and consented to the crucifixion of Jesus, "he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it." Matt. xxvii. 24.

When Moses built the tabernacle in the wilderness, he was directed to make a laver of brass, and place it in the court, and between the tabernacle and the altar. This was to be filled with clean water, and the directions were: "Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat; when they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord; so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not." Ex. xxx. 19-21.

This was to signify that those who engage in the Lord's work must be clean, not physically, merely, but morally and spiritually. It is written, "Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord." Isa. lii. 11.

But that washing was only emblematical. Ordinary water cannot cleanse spiritual defilement. All the water of the Jordan could not have cleared Pilate from the guilt of condemning an innocent person at the demand of the people. It was but mockery for him to say that he washed his hands of the affair, when at the same time he delivered Jesus to their will. Even so the water in the brazen laver could not make a guilty priest innocent. The most that it could do was to indicate that they were already spiritually pure, if that were the case. The symbol without the fact was but a farce.

There is a priesthood now, whose duty it is "to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 1 Peter ii. 5. This priesthood does not consist of a single earthly family, but is composed of the whole household of faith-"a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people." Verse 9. It is as necessary for them to be clean when they engage in the Lord's service, which is a continual service, as it was for the priests of old. We read, "Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor. vi. 16-18.

The Psalmist was well acquainted with the priests' custom of washing at the laver before they went to the altar, and so he said, "I will wash my hands in innocency; so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord; that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works." Ps. xxvi. 6, 7.

Here is washing that is effective. Washing in innocency; how may it be done? There is but one fountain of innocency, and that is "the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter i. 19. This blood is the water of life; for when the Roman spear pierced the side of Jesus, "forthwith came there out blood and water." John xix. 34. Now "there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three agree in one." 1 John v. 8, R.V. We know that "the Spirit is life" (Rom. viii. 10), and therefore the blood and water are life. In that stream, emblem of the river of life flowing from God's throne, we may all wash and be clean. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John i. 7.

May we know that we wash in this fountain and find cleansing?-By believing the Word of the Lord. Christ gave Himself for the church "that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the Word." Eph. v. 26, R.V. The margin has, "Greek, laver," for washing, showing what was symbolised by the laver in the earthly sanctuary. Some versions have it, "cleansed by a water bath in the Word." If we believe the Word, we have the witness of the Spirit.

But the Lord always makes everything very plain for us, so that we may comprehend even the infinite mysteries that pass all understanding. We all wash every day. Washing with water the hands and face at least, if not the whole body, is the first thing that is done in the morning. Whence comes that water?-From the same source that everything in the world comes-from the Word of the Lord. All created things are simply the living Word of God made visible. The water which we drink, and in which we bathe, is but one manifestation of the Word of the Lord.

Now we know that water cleanses. Nothing is more familiar than this fact. Therefore since the water in which we bathe is but one form of the Word of the Lord, every time we put our hands in water should be a reminder and an assurance to us of the power of God's Word to cleanse from all defilement. Just as surely as water will wash away the outward impurity, so surely will God's Word when received in this simple faith, cleanse us from all sin. If we continually believe, living a life of faith, we are continually cleansed. What a blessed assurance!

"Come to this fountain so rich and sweet;
Cast thy poor soul at the Saviour's feet;
Plunge in to-day, and be made complete,
Glory to His name!"

"The Educational Muddle" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

In the current Nineteenth Century Mr. Lyulph Stanley has a paper on the proposals of the Roman Catholics and the extreme Church of England party regarding State-aided denominational schools. The danger which he sees in these extreme proposals is the danger which was apparent in the proposals of his own party, and has been apparent all along in the whole controversy.

Instead of taking a stand squarely on the principles of religious liberty, and recognising the patent fact that the teaching of religion is the work of the parent and of the church, working under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, all the parties have, with individual exceptions, discussed compromises, and sought to determine how much religion or of what kind should be taught by the State. The Catholics and the Anglicans merely demand that the State shall go further. This is Mr. Stanley's view of the possible result:-

"We shall, if this goes on, see the re-establishment of the Test Act, not by law, but by the abuse of patronage. The Church training colleges and Church managers are accustomed to ask of applicants, 'Are you a communicant?' and when School Boards have, according to Lord Salisbury's advice, been captured by the Church party, there will be found servile teachers who, even if the question be not asked, will make a parade for professional purposes of their presence at the most solemn rite of the Church of England.

"For the moment it looks as though the ecclesiastical forces of reaction, with the help of those who resent the present cost of education, were going to bear down religious liberty and local self-government. The Church press thunders like Hannibal at the gates of the capital. To gain their object and to prevent the people from getting any more power over what should be their own schools, the Archbishops are willing to put themselves under further subjection to the central authority. Should anything of the sort take place, should a bureaucratic centralised system supersede the free initiative of local management, the old fable of the horse, the stag, and the rider will be reproduced, to the destruction of all vitality and progress in education."

"The Author of War" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

War is the devil's own element. As soon as he fell, amidst all the glories of the paradise of God, "there was war in heaven." He was cast into the earth, and there has been war in the earth ever since he put his own hatred into Cain's heart.

The last work he does before the coming of the Lord is to send his agents forth to all nations gathering them to battle against each other and against the Lord. Rev. xvi. 14. When the destruction of the wicked at the second advent leaves Satan a thousand years upon the desolate earth he still plots war. And the first thing he does after the second resurrection, at the end of the thousand years, when the wicked are raised, is to go out again among the myriad hosts of the wicked "to gather them together to battle." Rev. xx. 8.

He is the author of national enmities and of the theory that killing an enemy in behalf of one's nation is a meritorious deed. He is still "the god of this world," and the fact that the nations are arming as never before shows that he knows that the time for him to work with all his might has come.

"The Specious Plea" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

When the Lord's chastisement had led Manasseh, King of Judah, to repent of his abominable ways, he set about purging the temple and Jerusalem from the symbols of heathen worship. "He repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel." 2 Chron. xxxiii. 16.

But the Reformation was only half-hearted on the part of the people. "Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in high places, yet unto the Lord their God only." Verse 17. They did not want to give up all the

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heathen symbolism, so they kept the high places; and-notice the specious plea by which they salved their consciences-surely, they thought, it will not be so bad to keep just this much of the pagan religion and use it only to serve the Lord with.

The reason why they wanted to keep the wicked institution was because of their own wicked hearts, and the consequence was that they fell right back into the old heathenism.

Herein is a lesson for people nowadays who are compelled by the evidence to admit that institutions and ceremonies now common in the great body of the churches are of pagan origin, and were associated with the ancient devil worship. But now, it is urged, they are used in the service of the Lord. "We will still keep them, only unto the Lord our God," is the plea.

No; the Lord is a jealous God, and when His Word warns against seeking to compromise with the world by bringing the symbols of paganism into the church it will be well for men to listen to what He says.

"When Did It Begin?" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

A friend has sent the following inquiry, which we have replied to by letter; but which we insert here together with a more full answer, for the benefit of many others who may wish every information upon the same subject:-

Would you kindly inform me at what date the first day of the week was observed instead of the seventh, and by whom it was authorised?

It may at first thought seem strange to some when we say that this is a question that cannot be answered, except by saying, We do not know. Yet if they will but reflect that Sunday observance is a thing for which there is no Scriptural authority, and upon which the Bible is absolutely silent, their cause for wonder that no one can give the date of its introduction will be gone.

We need not at this time repeat the statements that have often appeared in these columns from first-day observers, to the effect that for Sunday observance there is no Divine command whatever. Let our readers take their Bibles and demonstrate the fact for themselves. But the fact that there is no such command is sufficient to show us that it would be impossible that there should ever have been any well-defined beginning for the custom. As the commentator Thomas Scott says:-

The change from the seventh day to the first appears to have been gradually and silently introduced, by example rather than by express precept.

Since it is a custom that finds no warrant in the Scriptures, and which is in direct opposition to the fourth commandment, it is evident that it is a part of the apostasy or "falling away" of which the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thess. ii. 3. Now apostasy is always gradual. It was beginning to work in the church when Paul wrote (see verses 6-8), but did not attain any great proportions until after his death.

In his address to the elders of Ephesus, Paul said, "I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Acts xx. 29, 30.

Even so they did. Mosheim, writing of the second century after Christ, says:-

There is good reason to suppose that the Christian bishops purposely multiplied sacred rites for the sake of rendering the Jews and the pagans more friendly to them.

After relating a number of particulars, he adds:-

A large part therefore of the Christian observances and institutions, even in this century, had the aspect of pagan mysteries.

The spirit that actuated the leading bishops being one of compliance, we need not be surprised at any heathen custom that we find in the church. The whole story of the first three centuries of apostasy is thus summed up by Dr. Killen, an Irish Presbyterian theologian and teacher of Church history, in the preface to his book, "The Ancient Church":-

In the interval between the days of the apostles and the conversion of Constantine, the Christian commonwealth changed its aspect. The Bishop of Rome-a personage unknown to the writers of the New Testament-meanwhile rose into prominence, and at length took precedence of all other Churchmen. Rites and ceremonies of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of divine institutions.

Of course so prominent a heathen festival as the day of the sun could not fail to be gradually absorbed into the church that was so anxious to make friends with the heathen. The first time that Sunday came prominently to the front was in the year 196 A.D., when Victor, Bishop of Rome, undertook to force all the churches to conform to the Roman custom of celebrating Easter on Sunday. The churches in Asia were in the habit of celebrating it on the day corresponding to the ancient Passover, on whatsoever day of the week it might happen to be, and they refused to be led by Victor. Accordingly he anathematised and excommunicated them, but they nevertheless continued their old practice until the time of Constantine's Nicene Council in 325 A.D., when all were ordered to observe Easter on the same day that the Church of Rome did. It is worthy of note that Constantine's reason for the change was that they might "have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd."

But the Easter controversy was only an incident in the elevation of Sunday. Although professed Christians more and more adopted the heathen Sunday festival, it was not as a Sabbath, nor as a substitute for the Sabbath, which all recognised to be the seventh day of the week. Heathen customs were adopted as an addition to real, Christian observances, as "Leo the Great speaks of Christians in Rome, who first woshipped the rising sun, doing homage to the pagan Apollo before repairing to the Basilica of St. Peter."-Schaff, volume 2, section 74.

In this connection it is worthwhile to note a passage which Mosheim quotes from the life of Gregory Thaumaturgus, to the effect that when that bishop saw how much attached the simple multitude were to their ancient customs, "he allowed them at the sepulchres of the martyrs on their feast day, to dance, to use sports, to indulge conviviality, and to do all things that the worshippers of idols were accustomed to in their temples on their festival days, hoping that in process of time they would spontaneously come over to a more becoming and more correct manner of life."-Eccl. Hist., Cent. 2, part 2, chap. 4, note 3.

Bear this in mind while we note the first Sunday law ever issued. It was Constantine's decree, A.D. 321, which Canon Eyton says "was the first public step in establishing the first day of the week as a day on which there should be secular rest." Now that law ran thus:-

Let all the judges and townspeople, and all artisans rest on the venerable day of the sun. But let those who are situated in the country freely and at full liberty attend to the cultivation of their fields.

Mosheim says that in consequence of this law Sunday was "observed more sacred than before." It is evident, therefore, that previous to A.D.

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321, Sunday had not at all been observed as a day of rest. There is no doubt but that religious services had to some extent been held upon it before that date; but when we consider the decree itself, together with what is told of Gregory Thaumaturgus, whose practice probably was much the same as that of other bishops, we are shut up to the conclusion that the observance of Sunday in those days corresponded very closely to that of a Bank Holiday in these days.

The so-called "conversion" of Constantine gave the worldly, time-serving bishops the ascendancy, not only in the Church, but in the empire, so that from that time apostasy swiftly passed to the full development of "that lawless one" of whom Paul wrote. The Council of Laodicea, about fifty years later, enacted a canon to the effect that Christians must not Judaise and be idle on Saturday, but that they should especially honour Sunday, and, if possible, do no work on that day. Those who persisted in resting on the Sabbath were to be "shut out from Christ." Constantine's sentiment, "Let us have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd," doubtless contributed much to this result.

Here we have in brief the history and the cause of the introduction of Sunday into the Church. It insinuated itself so gradually that no one can tell when it first began. There is no date upon which we can put our finger and say, Here Sunday-keeping began. And even after the Sunday was established by law it was not regarded as a Sabbath day. It was not until after the Reformation, in 1595, that the idea was first broached that Sunday was the Sabbath. This was done by Dr. Nicholas Bound, for the purpose of concealing the fact that Protestants were following a purely Roman Catholic custom.

"Wretchedness of the World" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

Says a newspaper, speaking of the East and West of London:-

That is the double prospect that appals every beholder nowadays. At the West, luxury and selfishness enervating and emasculating the rich and high-born; at the East, privation and disease crushing out the last remnants of health and manhood from the dregs of our people. And every remedy we try for these sores is but a plaster which hides their rottenness, but does not relieve it.

And London's problem is only that of the whole world. It is not that the work of the many self-denying workers in the poor districts and the rich ones is useless. Many souls are snatched from the misery of sinful ways by such efforts. But the great mass of the world refuse the Gospel, which alone can deal with the problem. The only remedy is the coming of the Lord, which will bring the reign of sin to an end and bring in the everlasting reign of righteousness in the earth made new. The sadness of the wretchedness of the world, as well as the gladness of the great day of the Lord's coming must put in every heart that loves the thought of the coming of the Lord the prayer, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

"All About a Title" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

The quarrel between Gregory, called the Great, and the Patriarch of Constantinople over a question of title is an interesting episode in the history of the exaltation of the Roman bishopric.

The primacy of the Bishop of Rome had been practically acknowledged and was stoutly maintained by Rome, but the Patriarch, John the Faster, taking courage by the fact that Constantinople was the seat of the empire, assumed the title of "Universal Bishop."

Thereupon Gregory wrote epistle after epistle roundly denouncing the pride of his episcopal brother. He himself claimed the primacy, and declared that it was for Peter's prerogatives, not his own, that he protested, but he quoted Christ's words, "Be not called Rabbi," and said that John was imitating, not His humility, but the pride of His great foe. Of course John could not see it, as he wanted the honour of the first place as much as Gregory himself, and the emperor, Maurice, as well as his successor, Phocas, failed to find any way of suppressing the title, that "wicked word," which Gregory declared plainly indicated that the full manifestation of Antichrist was at hand. The sequel is thus told by Professor Hodgkin, in "Italy and Her Invaders":-

"The issue of the controversy, which shall be finally stated here, was so illogical as to be almost amusing. Notwithstanding a decree of Phocas, the successor of Maurice, confirming in strong terms the primacy of the see of Rome, the Patriarchs of Constantinople continued to use the objectionable title, and at length the Roman Pontiffs, finding that they could not inhibit the use of it by their rivals, decided to adopt it for themselves.

"About the year 680 two Pope's began to style themselves, and to allow others to style them, Ecumenical Bishops or Ecumenical Popes; and in the two succeeding centuries the title, as used by or of the bishops of Rome, was a frequent occurrence. The world had thus the curious spectacle of two rulers of the Church, each of whom claimed universal jurisdiction, though not yet at open war with one another; and the Church of Rome saw Pope after Pope assuming a title which, in the judgment of their greatest predecessor, was a distinct note of the precursor of Antichrist."

"How It Is Done in Canada" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

The following papers have just been served upon me:-

Canada. Province of Ontario, County of Kent.

To A. O. Currill, of the Township of Chatham, and the County of Kent.

Whereas, You have this day been charged before the undersigned, Geo. A. Watson, a Justice of the Peace in and for said county of Kent, for that you on the third day of November, A.D. 1895, at the Township of Chatham, in the County of Kent, did exercise worldly labour, being the Lord's Day (the Sabbath Day), by working at the carpenter and mason work.

These are therefore to command you in Her Majesty's name, to be and to appear before me on Thursday, the fifth day of December, A.D. 1895, at ten o'clock, at the old Townhall in Ridgetown, or before such other Justice or Justices of the Peace for the same County of Kent and shall then be there, to answer to the said charge and to be further dealt with according to law. Herein fail not.

Given under my hand and seal, this twenty-second day of the November in the year 1895, at Ridgetown, in the County aforesaid.

GEO. A. WATSON, J. P.

P. M. Howe and William Simpson, both preachers of the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, are summoned to appear on the same charges; also Brother Thomas Griffith, for chopping wood on the same Sunday. A. O. BURRILL.

Selton, Ontario.

We are able to add to our correspondent's letter the intimation that the work done was in the process of building a meeting house in the vicinity of Chatham, Ontario. The opposition first set fire to the timber prepared for building, and several thousand feet of it were consumed. This failing to hinder the work of building, the opposition watched for an opportunity of preferring a charge under the "Lord's Day" Act. The Chatham Justice of the Peace refused to receive the charge, but it was taken by the Justice of a neighbouring village, as the summons indicates.-ED. P. T.

"The Temperate Miller of Billericay" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

Orin of the regular correspondents of the Christian World, "Christopher Crayon," has written for that paper about the ancient town of Billericay, in Essex, and its quaint buildings, with some notes of notable people who lived there long ago, some of whom suffered martyrdom for the faith of Jesus. Of one of them he says:-

Not a little notoriety was attained in his day by Thomas Wood, known as the Ghastly Miller of Billericay. The miller is said to have been very powerful; he could carry two sacks of flour with ease, was of a masterful disposition, an enthusiastic and successful bee-keeper, fond of the birds in his garden, who were very tame with him. He was a great floriculturist, always carrying a nosegay in the buttonhole of his coat.

I suppose he was called ghastly because at a time when every one believed in beer he gave up the use of it. There was a time when Wood ate a great deal more fat meat and drank more strong beer than was good for him. When be was about forty, in consequence, he began to grow very stout. Three years after he began to have gout, rheumatism, epileptic fits, and suffered from constant thirst and a sense of suffocation. A friend lent him Connao's celebrated work on long life. The book convinced him that intemperance in eating and drinking was the true cause of his complaint. He reduced his allowance of beer and beef. In a little while he went a step further and gave them both up. The result was that, to use his own expression, he was transformed from a monster to a mortal of ordinary size from being a decrepit and unhealthy old man he regained the vigour and activity of youth, and could carry weights to which before he had been unequal. It was thus I fancy, he gained his nickname of the Ghastly Miller. At that time every one believed in beer. To live without it was absurd.

In his way Wood was an innovator and reformer; and the world has always nicknames for innovators and reformers-men who have the misfortune to be a little wiser, or, at any rate, to have more common sense ban their neighbours. In a little while wisdom is justified of her children, and the laugh is the other way. Abstainers like the miller are to be met with in every town, in every street; and if now we rejoice in civil and religious liberty, it is because in such towns as Billericay there were men who feared God rather than man, and who had the courage to die as martyrs rather than live as slaves. If in these days the martyr-spirit has died out among us, if it has given place to the love of money, of respectability, of position, the world and England are all the poorer.

We wish it were a fact that abstainers like the miller are to be met with "in every town, in every street: in almost every home;" but we fear that they are more rare than that. Indeed, there are doubtless villages where such a man would be a novelty. Nevertheless there are many such, and although they are often thought to be foolish, "wisdom is justified of her children."

"Items of Interest" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

-Canada is nearly thirty times as large as Great Britain and Ireland.

-Private companies in Japan have submitted to the Government plane for over 2,000 miles of new railroads.

-A report shows that marriages, like births, are diminishing in France, while divorces are on the increase.

-Lord Rayleigh and Professor Ramsay have been awarded by the French Academy of Sciences 50,000 francs for the discovery of argon.

-The City of London, proper, has 27,827 inhabited houses. The night population is 34,881, and the day population about 815,400.

-It is very probable now that the King of Ashanti will fight, and he is said to be making alliances with other chiefs against England.

-The average Scotsman, it is said, stands 5ft. 8 6/8in., the average Irishman 5ft. 7 7/8in., the average Englishmen 5ft. 7?in., the average Welshman 5ft. 6 5/8in.

-A young woman in Holland has now been asleep for over 220 days. The doctors, who say it is a genuine case, regard it either as chronic hysteria or auto-suggestion.

-The holiday season in the North finds the great shipbuilding lookout and strike still unsettled, and all the time a danger that it will spread. But responsible parties on both sides are hopeful that a settlement will be arrived at after New Year.

-Thames shipbuilders are taking action to see if they cannot bring some of the Government orders for ships to the slips along the Thames, some of which have long been deserted. The North has secured most of the Government work for years. The lock-out may turn it southward again.

-It is a peculiarity of Ashanti, says a writer, that the common names, seven in number, correspond to the days of the week. "Kwasie" indicates a man born on Sunday, "Kudjoe" on Monday, "Kwabina" on Tuesday, "Kwaku" on Wednesday, "Yao" on Thursday, "Koff" on Friday, and "Kwamina" on Saturday. These are all accented on the final syllable.

-France has secured from the Shah of Persia the exclusive privilege to unearth whatever archaeological treasures lie buried in that ancient empire. The Louvre already contains many valuable antiquities dug up at Shushan-coloured bricks of Artaxerxes' palace, life-size reliefs of archers of the different races of Asia and Africa, etc.-and the work has scarcely begun.

-The talk of war with this country, which has arisen in the States over the refusal of arbitration in the boundary dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela, has been the great subject of discussion in the press this week. Very generally it is taken as nothing that can lead to serious conflict, but when the war spirit gets possession of nations no one knows what will come, and the most unnatural strifes are possible.

"Back Page" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

This is a season of the year when people are usually talking of "peace on earth," and "good will to men." There is no reason why peace and good will should be more prominent as a topic at this time of year than at any other, but so it is, and we may console ourselves with the reflection that it is better to talk peace once a year than not at all.

But this year we seem to hear less of it than usual. Indeed, it seems to have been almost entirely crowded out by talk of war. Not for years, even when fierce war raged in America, or when the Franco-Prussian or Turkco-Prussian war was being waged, has war-talk been so nearly universal.

Passing by the little wars which powerful "Christian" nations are all the time planning or waging against the weaker heathen tribes that need to be "protected" and "civilised," we find that the spirit of war seems to be breathed everywhere. Just now all classes of people, but especially ministers of the Gospel, are clamouring for war with Turkey, and lastly comes strong talk-which we may with good reason hope will be all there is to it at present-of war between Great Britain and the United States over a bit of land in South America. No one really supposes that these two nations will actually fight over the question of the Venezuela boundary; but the fact that the President of United States could suggest it, and that the suggestion should rouse so much enthusiastic "patriotism" among the people, is most significant of the spirit that is working among the masses.

At a meeting last week in the City Temple, which was called by the London Nonconformist Council, the purpose of which was to demand that the English Government proceed alone against Turkey, if the other powers will not co-operate, a letter was read from one of the leading ministers in the kingdom, who was detained at home because of illness, in which he said, "The righteous indignation of a nation must certainly rest upon any Minister who allowed his country to be humiliated." This was received by the assembly of Christians with "loud cheers."

In the same Spirit was the prayer of the chaplain of the United States Congress at the opening of the session a few days ago. He said, "Let peace reign within our borders. Yet may we be quick to resent anything like insult." No other comment is needed than that of the American paper from which we quote it: "Praying to God to help them to do the very thing that the whole Bible and the whole spirit of Christianity opposes! That's the kind of Christian nation we are." And the same may be said of every other.

One of the speakers of the anti-Turkish meeting already referred to, a Member of Parliament, said that he was the treasurer of the Peace Society, yet in spite of this He was compelled to admit that the time was coming when force must be used. We are not apologising for Turkey, but are simply showing how the spirit of war prevails. There are very few people in the world who are not for peace until they think there is cause for war. But if it were the fact that only inoffensive Christians were slaughtered in Turkey, and that only because of their Christianity, where could we find any warrant in the teaching of Christ for making war about it? The spirit of popular Christianity to-day is not the spirit of the Prince of Peace.

Herein lies the cause for alarm. We are not afraid of being called alarmists, for God has said, "Sound an alarm in My holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, it is nigh at hand." These "wars and rumours of wars" are signs of its approach; but they do not proclaim it nearly so much as does the spirit of war which pervades the people. The spirit of war is the spirit of Satan, and its manifestation now is an omen of the time when "the spirits of devils working miracles" will "go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty."

The arming of a nation costs money. "Between 1892 and the current year," we are told, "the Imperial expenditure of Germany has increased by 120,000,000 marks, of which all but 20,000,000 is due to the demands of army and navy. Meanwhile, the revenue has increased by only 32,500,000 marks, the balance has been met by borrowing."

"A Practical Protest Against the War Spirit" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

The Daily Telegraph of Dec. 14 contained the following item of news from France:-

At Mans, another court-martial has sentenced a soldier named Jules Goutandier to two years' imprisonment for disobedience. His defence was that God and his conscience forbad him in any manner whatever from co-operating in fratricidal contests. The accused was at one time in America, where he became a member of the Salvation Army. Later on he joined an extraordinary sect who call themselves the "Seventh-Day Adventists." When the prisoner appeared before the court he acknowledged the charges brought against him, but added that nothing would induce him to give way. He not only refused to take his place in the ranks, but declined to go on fatigue duty.

That is a refreshing change from the hot breath of war that is now coming from the four corners of the earth. We shall see and hear of many more such an effective protest as time goes on; but "Christian nations" will have little sympathy for those who believe that the precepts of Jesus were meant to be practically followed. Nevertheless the peace of God will be with them and keep them.

"An 'Obsolete' Law" The Present Truth 11, 52.

E. J. Waggoner

One day last week a lad was brought before the magistrate at Camborne, charged with selling newspapers on Sunday. A policeman bought a paper of him, and then promptly arrested him. The case was dismissed, the chairman of the bench saying that this was a prosecution under what was practically an obsolete Act of Parliament. Newspapers were sold on Sundays in almost every town in England, and no action was taken in the matter.

The Daily Chronicle also says editorially that all sensible people know that the Act forbidding the Sunday sale of newspapers is obsolete. Nevertheless it is still an Act of Parliament. What then about the "pillars of English law" which received such a shock when the International Tract Society pursued its ordinary work on Sunday? What about the sacredness of law, which must be enforced though the heavens fall? We have simply a demonstration of the fact that for law, as law, people care very little, only desiring the enforcement of such as suits popular sentiment or prejudice.