In the third chapter of Hebrews we have noted Christ's faithfulness in God's house, “whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Verse 6. Let us devote a little further study to the nature of God's house.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.1

The house of God is a wonderful building: it grows. Of an ordinary building of brick or stone, we say that it grows from day to day under the hands of the workmen; but God's house grows differently; it grows as a tree or a man grows, because it is alive. See: Christ is the foundation, for “other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11. But He is a living foundation, “a living Stone,“ with power to give life to all that come in contact with Him, so that although we are dead, when we come to Him we also “as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5, R.V. Christ is the foundation, the chief factor in the house, “in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:21, 22.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.2

The Apostle Paul speaks of those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ as “rooted and built up in Him.” Colossians 2:7. Thus we see that the house partakes of the nature of the foundation, the dead material becomes living, and takes root and grows like a tree.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.3

What is the object of God's house? It is for “an habitation of God.” God builds a house in order that He may dwell in it. But when will He dwell in it? Will He wait until the house is completed before He takes possession?—Not by any means; for it is His presence “through the Spirit,“ that gives life to the dead material, and makes it grow, and in Him it is complete and perfect all the time (Colossians 2:10), while all the time growing. Throughout eternity the house will be growing, for where there is life there must be growth. Now is the time when God dwells in His house. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16. “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.” 2 Corinthians 6:16.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.4

THE LIVING THRONE

We have now only to consider what are the characteristics of God's own, real house. There is one portion of Scripture that furnishes all that we need in this line. It is the first chapter of Ezekiel, a chapter which we may meditate on with profit for many a long day. That chapter gives a description, as well as human language can do such a thing, of the throne of God; and as is the nature of the throne of God, such must be the nature of the temple in which the throne is. Let us then read the chapter,—PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.5

Now it came to pass in the thirteenth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God....PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.6

And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.7

Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.8

And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.9

And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.10

Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.11

As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.12

Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.13

And they went every one straight forward whither the spirit was to go, they want; and they turned not when they went.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.14

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.15

And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.16

Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.17

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.18

When they went they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.19

As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.20

And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.21

Whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went thither was their spirit to go; and the wheel: were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.22

When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.23

And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creatures was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.24

And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 643.25

And when they want, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.1

And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.2

And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.3

And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.4

As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.5

“The Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King.” Jeremiah 10:10. Nothing can be in His presence, and not live. His throne is a living throne; from the midst of it flows the river of water of life, and by it grows the tree of life. We have already seen that the temple of God is a living house, composed of living stones, and this description of the throne of God, who dwells in the house, is sufficient to show us the nature of the direction and control of the house.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.6

Read what is said in the twentieth verse of the living creatures that compose the throne of God: “Whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went;” “for the Spirit of life was in the wheels.” Marginal reading. God is not confined to one place; He moves. He “hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.” Nahum 1:3. And wherever He goes, His throne goes with Him. It moves by the influence of His Spirit that pervades it. God thinks, and the thought at once results in action on the part of the living creatures about Him.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.7

Notice that the creatures composing God's throne are all different, as different one from the other as can be imagined; yet there is no disagreement. One does not start off in one direction, and another in another direction, so that there must be a little time lost in settling which way they shall go. That would necessarily be the way, even with the best of instructions, if they each had their own mind; but the mind of God, and that alone, pervades each one, so that all move in unison. It is the perfection of organisation.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.8

The nearest earthly approach to that perfection of united action, is a well-disciplined army. See it in motion; the different divisions move like clock-work, and all the members of any division move as if they were but one man. What causes it?—The word of the commanding officer. He thinks what he wants them to do, and puts that thought into words. At once that thought is transferred to the minds of the men under him, and is transformed into action. Long drill has trained them to hold their minds vacant, so far as their own thoughts are concerned, and to be simply machines moved by the will of the commander. He thinks for them.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.9

THE PERFECTION OF UNITY TO BE SEEN IN CHRIST's CHURCH

That is the nearest approach to God's perfect organisation that man can produce, and men have made the mistake of trying to model the church after the same pattern, and a very good machine they have often succeeded in producing; but it was after all only a human affair, and not the church of God. In the army, and also in the church when it is at the highest point of perfection that human government and regulation can produce we have uniformity; but in the church of God, the house of God, we have unity. All the members are different, with different capacities and different work to do, but all are united as the various members of the body. The Lord is the Head of the body,-His Spirit fills the house,-so that as He thinks, the members of the body, the parts of the house, act. His life is their life.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.10

The most common mistake among professed Christians is that of reasoning from their own experience, or from that of others. They look to “church history” to see what the church ought to be and do, forgetting that the history of the true church has never been recorded on earth. Or they take counsel of their own experience, and what they have felt or seen, they take as the standard of what ought to be or may be. But with few exceptions, for very short periods of time, “the multitude of them that believed” has never been on earth before the Lord's temple can be the eternal habitation of God. And the world must see it, for that unity is the crowning witness to God's power and goodness. All nature, even though marred by the curse of man's sin, bears witness to God, because everything that God has made is completely subject to Him. Man alone is rebellious. But the witness must be just as complete through man as it is through the lower creation. “ When human agents choose the will of God, and are conformed to the character of Christ, Jesus acts through their organs and faculties.” What a wonderful condition of things! how desirable, and how blessed the assurance that it is a possibility!PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.11

What power the church will have when each individual member is the habitation of God through the Spirit. It will be nothing less than infinite power. Then will speedily be fulfilled the petition, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” That time will come as soon as God's Word, that living and powerful Word, is regarded as the supreme and final authority and is given free course. Then the house on earth, like the household in heaven, will “do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word.”PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.12

“Securing Uniformity in Russia” The Present Truth, 13, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

Enforced uniformity has always been the ideal before the “Catholic” Church, and the wickedness wrought on the plea that the end in view would be for the good of society cannot be told. Still the idea is urged in defence of Sunday laws, and in Russia the clergy with greater power politically carry the wicked principle still further. The Christian World says of the recent activities of the Russian clergy, of which the newspapers have told us:—PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.13

“We from Russia that the clergy are in dead earnest in their revived attempts to kill Stundism. The recent conference at Kazan, where resolutions were passed calling on the Government to aid them in crushing the Protestant movement, is described as a most enthusiastic gathering of the clergy. The resolution which was most applauded was that moved by a bishop of a Southern province calling on the authorities to remove Stundist children from their parents, and to place them under Orthodox guardians.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.14

“It would seem, however, that the Holy Synod does not approve of this drastic proposition, as the Bishop of Kazan, the Chairman of the recent Congress, has received a letter, from that reverend body, saying that the Government cannot consent to kidnapping the children, as they have no institutions at their disposal for their reception, and besides, the excitement in Russia, should such a step be taken, would be dangerous to the peace of the community. Another bishop, this time one of the leading members of the Russian hierarchy, now comes forward with a proposal to confiscate the property of sectaries throughout the empire. To starve the heretics into submission to the Church is the beautiful idea of this Christian divine.”PTUK October 14, 1897, page 644.15

“The First Duty to One's Own” The Present Truth, 13, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

The men of Israel murmured and said that their children would surely perish if they kept on in the way in which the Lord was leading them. Leaving the Lord out of the consideration, their fears were not unreasonable. But it was the height of unreason to leave Him out. The Lord declared that they should perish in the wilderness,—PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.1

“But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.” Numbers 14:31.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.2

Their first duty to their children was to teach them by example and precept to serve and trust God. But they failed because they looked at the dangers and hardships of the way and left out of their thoughts the fact that God who commanded the way was able to command their strength to walk in it.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.3

“Power from on High” The Present Truth, 13, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

The engineer has turned on the power in the engine rooms, and all through the factory the shafting is turning. Not a machine moves. But let the operatives push the levers that make the connection, and the whole factory is quivering with activity.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.4

God's promise is of power from on high for the daily life of overcoming. The power is at work all about us and in us. From out the throne of His power goes the influence that holds all the universe, and the life that flows through every living thing. What we want is to have that power turned into our spiritual lives, so that it may order our ways after the working of almighty power. The lever is the Lord. He is “upholding all things by the word of His power,’” or “His powerful word.” Faith receives the Word into the life and makes the life a part of the living machinery of God's universe. Only think of it; all this power that can control the universe, turned to the ordering of our little lives! Is it not a glorious promise, and one to give us confidence and make glad our hearts?PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.5

“The Tibetan ‘Holy City’” The Present Truth, 13, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

Some of the ecclesiastical vestments of the Tibetan priests are so like the Catholic that the Protestant observer, who does not understand the ritualistic value of special trimmings and shapes, might easily think he was looking at the wardrobe of some Catholic priest. The utensils for holy water, and the prayer beads to be seen in the Tibetan exhibit at the British Museum, suggest further close similarities. It is said that the first Catholic missionaries who saw the rites of the Tibetan Buddhists were astonished to see how similar they were to the Catholic ritual in some things.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.6

The explanation is that Catholicism merely copied some of the same heathen ritual and ideas of the ancient Eastern religions which were incorporated into Buddhism. Mr. Landor, the last of unsuccessful travellers to be driven back from Lhassa, has just written of this centre of Tibetan Buddhism; and notice in the following paragraphs how suggestive it all in of Roman Catholicism:—PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.7

“Lhassa is a sacred city: the Rome of Tibet, as it were: and pilgrims from all parts of Asia come to worship at the shrine of Buddha, and to bestow more or less lavishly their money-savings in offerings to the various temples and monasteries of the place. Here in the wider streets of this great centre of Buddhism crowd students and fanatics, who by-and-by will make their way back to their distant homes laden with relics, holy rosaries, prayer wheels, and fossil-bones (called by the natives “lightning bones,“ for they are supposed to possess the wonderful quality of healing wounds and curing various ailments).PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.8

“If we are to believe all we hear, in any of the great temples and monasteries of Lhassa, the art of magic and witchcraft is practised with great advantage and success. Fire-breathing, apparent beheading and other fantastic marvels of the kind attract the religious crowd of simple pilgrims, and no doubt impress them with the superiority and unworldly power of the Lamas; while the wild howls and cries and the diabolical dancing of these Buddhist priests would be enough to terrify the majority of mortals.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.9

“The New Year's festivities, according to Nain Singh's account, are of an extraordinary character. They are not unlike a saturnalia, and the disorderly crowd is supplied with sports and pastimes of such a dangerous and cruel nature as to often result in the loss of much human life. The Lamas seem to encourage these performances, and, indeed, the Grand Lama-the Pope of Buddhism-is generally the chief spectator and high patron at these shows.”PTUK October 14, 1897, page 647.10

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth, 13, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

-All routes to the Klondyke gold fields are now closed by ice.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.1

-Strike riots with bloodshed have occurred in Russian Poland.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.2

-One pound of sheep's wool is capable of producing one yard of cloth.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.3

-Not far short of 900,000 tons of dust is collected in London during the year.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.4

-In the number of murders Italy leads Europe. In the number of suicides Russia is ahead.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.5

-Great forest and prairie fires are reported to be raging in parts of Canada and the United States.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.6

-By a change of ministry in Spain the Liberals have come into power, and it is said they propose to grant a liberal measure of home rule to Cuba.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.7

-Out of a population of 50,000 in Jerusalem says a writer, 30,000 are Jews, and with very few exceptions all live on alms from their co-religionists.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.8

-The Board of Trade report of railway receipts in the Kingdom shows that third-class passengers paid ?35,000,000; second, ?2,000,000; and first, ?3,000,000.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.9

-The British army on the Indian frontier now numbers nearly 70,000 men, a greater number, it is said, than the British troops that faced-Napoleon at Waterloo.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.10

-Further massacres are apprehended in Asia Minor, The Armenian revolutionaries are active, and the Turks are ready to meet any semblance of disorder with violent repression.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.11

-The War Office is about to make an exhaustive test of a new gun, which fires 1,000 shots in two minutes and three seconds, and which can in an emergency fire eleven shots per second.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.12

-The refusal of the employers to arbitrate the questions at issue in the engineering strike and lock-out, is taken to mean that the strife may be prolonged into the winter. The men apparently stand firm, and the employers say that they cannot run their works profitably on the eight-hour day,PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.13

-The wheat king of the world resides in Argentina, He is an Italian emigrant, named Guazone, and his broad acres are situated in the south of the province of Buenos Ayres. His crop occupies an area of 66,270 acres. He numbers his workmen by the thousand, and each one receives a certain share of the profit. When his season's crop is harvested he fills over 3,000 railway trucks with the grain.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.14

-The Lee-Metford bullet has been unsatisfactory to military men because it made so small a wound that men hit were not always at once disabled. It was specially treated so as to break up when striking, and now it is said to work well in the bodies of the Indian tribesmen. But Continental authorities on wounds and war are declaring that its effect approaches so nearly to the explosive bullet that it is contrary to military conventions to use it.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 654.15

“Back Page” The Present Truth, 13, 41.

E. J. Waggoner

“I don't feel like praying,“ is the excuse one gives for not praying. Even if the excuse be not uttered, the refraining from prayer because of disinclination to pray, is very common.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.1

One might really just as well say that he is so hungry that he cannot eat, or too tired to think of sleeping, as to say that he cannot pray because he does not feel like praying; for the disinclination to pray is an indication of the most urgent need of prayer. One never needs prayer more than when one does not feel like praying.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.2

“What is the remedy for this feeling?—Prayer; nothing but prayer and the study of the Word, which must always accompany prayer. It is “invariably the case, that when a person does not feel like praying, he does not feel like reading the Bible. Now the only way to overcome indifference to the Bible, is to read and study the Bible; and the only way to cultivate a desire for prayer is to pray.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.3

“But how can I pray when I do not feel like it? Wouldn't it be simply mockery?”—By no means, unless you use a mere form of words, with no thought of their meaning or phrases that have no special meaning; and that is not prayer at all. Do not say anything that is not true, and that you do not know to be true. Then you need not fear, for there is no mockery in the truth.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.4

Begin with the simplest, fundamental truth. It is assumed that you are a professed Christian, and that the reason why you do not feel like praying is that you feel so sinful and unworthy that you have no heart to come to the Lord and talk about yourself. Well, don't talk about yourself; Christians occupy altogether too much time talking and singing and praying about themselves. Talk about something better; talk about the Lord.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.5

Here is something to begin with: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation; that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15. This is something to be thankful for; then thank God that He sent His only begotten Son to save you, the chief of sinners. Surely your sense of sinfulness and unworthiness cannot possibly hinder you from doing this.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.6

And when you have thanked God for this “unspeakable gift,“ if you have not entirely neglected your Bible, your mind will involuntarily, by the Spirit's aid, revert to that other text: “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?” Romans 8:33. What will be the result?—Try it, and you will find your heart so full of thanksgiving to God for the riches of His grace, that has freely given all things to you, the chief of sinners, even “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3), that you will not know how to cease from praying.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.7

Among the readers of the PRESENT TRUTH are many preachers, and very many more teachers,-religious teachers,-and therefore the following bit from the Archbishop of Canterbury's address at the Annual meeting of the Canterbury Diocesan Conference, may be an interesting and profitable reminder. He said:—PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.8

I have been for many years more or less engaged in teaching, and long ago I came to perceive what is visible very quickly to a schoolmaster, but not always to a preacher, viz., that no man is really a student as well as a teacher he gets a kind of freshness in his teaching which nothing on earth besides can give him. I have listened to sermons over and over again to which no exception could possibly be taken. They were perfectly sound in doctrine, and very clear, but somehow or other, I cannot tell exactly why, the impression created was that these words no longer meant to the man who uttered them what they meant twenty years ago.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.9

We sometimes hear it said that “truth is progressive.” This is a mistake, for truth is ever the same. Truth cannot change; if it did, it would cease to be truth. But men may, and ought to change. While truth cannot be progressive, because it is of the nature of God,-from everlasting to everlasting, and always infinite,-those who hold the truth must be progressive. In intellectual and spiritual things, life is synonymous with growth. He who does not ‘“grow in grace,“ falls from grace. The Gospel is always the same; but he to whom the Gospel means no more than it did years ago, has undoubtedly lost much of what he had. Truth is the same, and the Scriptures do not mean anything more or anything different from what they did when they were written; yet the man who sees no more in any given text, or who has no larger views of the truth than he had forty years ago, has lost the spirit of the truth. He who takes “the sincere milk of the Word,“ grows thereby.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.10

A press despatch from Rome announced the other day that,—PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.11

The Pope is said to have received a few days ago an autograph letter from Queen Victoria, asking him to intervene with the Irish Roman Catholics with a view to the pacification of Ireland. His holiness has replied that he will take advantage of the Roman Catholic pilgrimage to Rome to place recommendations to this end before the bishops and other influential Catholics from Ireland.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.12

Were he himself “subject to the powers that be” instead of being constantly in political revolt against the Italian government, his example might have more influence in Ireland than his words. But if he speaks the word of pacification in reply to this alleged request, it will be for a consideration. Will the consideration be an Irish Catholic University, and a freer use of public money for Catholic schools generally?PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.13

The Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army has recently visited nearly the European countries as a privileged military observer. He says of the situation:—PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.14

What I have seen does not indicate that the millennium is at hand, when swords will be beaten into ploughshares. There never was a time in the history of the world when so much energy, ingenuity, and wealth were being devoted to war purposes.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.15

As the Bible says of the last days, it is a time when “many people” are talking about turning swords into ploughshares (Isa. ii.), and the peace and safety cry is heard; but all the time the spirit of evil is waking up the men of wall and hastening the preparations for the battle of the great day (Joel iii.).PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.16

As an answer to the fancies that Jerusalem is the place toward which all Jews turn with longing, and to which they are eagerly flocking, comes the fact that a number of Jewish artisans, already in Jerusalem, have addressed a petition to the Queen, praying Her Majesty to allow them to establish an agricultural settlement on the island of Cyprus.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.17

Last year the Government revenue from tobacco was nearly eleven millions sterling. This represents a still greater amount paid by the consumer and sent up in smoke, wasted and worse than wasted.PTUK October 14, 1897, page 656.18

October 7, 1897

October 21, 1897