February 22, 1894

“‘Common Things’” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Common Things.”—How many go on day after day and year after year receiving the light of the sun, breathing the air of heaven, and never think of recognising God in them. These things are regarded as only “natural;” the sun shines because it is natural for it to do so, the air is here as a regular thing, the grain and the fruits grow because that is their nature, and these all are but common things.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 113.1

Common to Heaven.—“Common things!” If it were possible for one who goes on day after day receiving these things from God without recognising them continually and praising God for them,—if it were possible for such an one to get to heaven, he would think it a common thing to seek the glory of God day by day, and would regard the water of life as a common thing. If a man sees the glory of God in His works here, and takes it as a common thing, he would regard the glory seen in the works of God in heaven just the same; for it is the same glory and the same power, only there it will be revealed in fuller measure than the eye of mortal man can endure.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 113.2

“Common Paganism” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Common Paganism.-A man may profess to be a Christian, may belong to the church, and may use the name of God in his prayers every day,—taking His name in vain,—but if he does not recognise God as a present, living Saviour, who in the gifts of food and drink, and air, and sunshine, and everything, is simply giving us His own life and salvation, that man is simply in Paganism. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, “for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16, 17. And the power of God is seen in the things that He is made. Verse 20. Therefore, as the Gospel is the power of God, we should see the Gospel in the things that are made, in the sunlight, air, food, and drink, and all things. The righteousness of God is revealed in them. It was the failure to recognise the power and righteousness of God in the things that are created, that made men base heathen. See Romans 1:18-28.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 113.3

“Breathing in the Gospel” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Breathing in the Gospel.—“The just shall live by faith.” But men live by breathing, whether just or unjust. When God made man He put into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. The ungodly man has all his life been using that breath,—not recognising God in it,—to speak his own words, and even to blaspheme. He has been making the Lord to serve with his sins (Isaiah 43:24), by perverting the breath of the life of God. But when that unjust man takes the breath by which he lives as being indeed the very breath of the life of God, and lives in the recognition of it, then he is living by faith. And faith justifies. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Such a recognition of the life of God, implies a constant yielding to God to direct the life to His own glory. God has multiplied the means of grace, so that in all the things that He has made men may see Him, and believe on Him unto salvation.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 113.4

“A Glorious Gospel” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

A Glorious Gospel.-Should a man ask how he can receive this breath of the life of God, we can say, You have it. “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.” God has given His life to all, and has surrounded all with an atmosphere of life. This is the glorious Gospel, and if it be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the God of this world has pulled a veil over the eyes of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ should shine in. It cannot help shining in if men will let it. We have not to go and search for it. In the power of God His righteousness is revealed, and the power of God is seen in the things that He has made, which are all about us and in us. So if a man will only recognise it, the light of the sun will shine the righteousness of God into the heart. The sun will shine every precept of the law of God into the heart of the man who recognises God in the light, and walks “in the light as He is in the light.”PTUK February 22, 1894, page 113.5

“Religious Liberty” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Religious liberty, freedom from control in religious matters, must have its spring in every individual heart. This liberty is not effected by wholesale, but it is an individual affair. All the favourable law that could be thought of might be passed, but that could not bring it. We might get a majority vote, proclaiming freedom of religion, but that would not be it.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 113.6

Religious liberty comes only from the yielding of the individual mind to the Lord, and from His freedom ruling in the heart. The Lord has made all men free to give themselves to Him. The devil himself cannot prevent us. Although sold to him, and though he holds us with an iron chain, and will still control the flesh, yet the conscience and the will God has set in every man eternally free. Men can choose, and just as soon as he chooses God, he is God’s, because he belongs to God. The Lord has bought him. Christ tasted death for every man, and by His blood purchased the right to every soul. Whoever yields himself to obey, his servant he is to whom he obeys. Oh, the breadth and depth of the plan of salvation! The power of this love is that which wins us to Him. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, and be ye thankful.”PTUK February 22, 1894, page 113.7

“Overcoming Evil” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The heathen way of overcoming evil is expressed in the well-known maxim, “Fight the devil with fire.” This is the method which the human heart seeks naturally to employ, and unfortunately the conditions are everywhere favourable for its practical application. On every side, in affairs both small and great, the results of the application of this principle may be seen; yet evil and deplorable as they are, the natural heart is too blind to see that there is any better method available.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.1

A forcible illustration of the baleful workings of this method of overcoming evil is afforded where crime, real or imaginary, is punished with lynch law, as in some parts of North America. Recently the Independent, in many respects the leading American journal, devoted a large amount of space to the consideration of the nature of this evil and what can be done to remove it; for so frequent have these lynchings become in some of the Southern States that the national reputation is at stake, and many minds are being filled with apprehension and alarm as to what will be the outcome.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.2

The victims of these terrible affairs are almost invariably negroes, and there is no doubt but that bitter race prejudice plays a leading part in actuating those who are most guilty; but even were the miserable victims guilty of the revolting crimes with which they are charged, as in some cases they doubtless are, the method of dealing with them would illustrate no less forcibly the futility and wickedness of this way of overcoming evil. So far from eradicating it, the occasions of such a terrible lawlessness have only become more frequent since the method was first introduced. And this, of course, was inevitable; for all crime grows when it has something to feed on. Lawlessness never cultivated a respect for law. We mention these occurrences only because they afford a striking illustration of the inherent badness and uselessness of the principle we are considering, and which is held by men everywhere, of fighting the devil with fire.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.3

When fire can put out fire, when murder can put down murder, and self can cast out self,—then and not till then will it be either sensible or right to fight the devil, or the evil which he causes, with his own weapons. Satan does not cast out Satan; his kingdom is not divided against itself. And we have much better weapons for overcoming evil than any that Satan could give us. We have the word of God, which is “the sword of the Spirit.” We have Jesus Christ Himself. Only Christ can cast out self, which is the first step to be taken by each individual in the conflict with people. Only God and His power can put evil out of the heart. The only uplifting and reforming power in the world is the religion of Jesus Christ.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.4

“Teaching Children Religion” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

In these days when the matter of religious teaching in schools is the cause of so much controversy, it is worthwhile to consider what religious teaching really is, and how it is to be carried on. As with everything else that pertains to religion, the Bible is our only sure guide, and in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 we find the subject made very plain, in these words:—PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.5

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord woman 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.”PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.6

The reader’s attention is directed to a few of the important truths set forth in the above scripture.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.7

1. The words to be taught are not empty sounds, nor are they simply combinations of certain letters of the alphabet. And they are such words as can be in the heart, and that means that they are life, even the life of God. The life of God, revealed in Christ, is the only law for mankind. The teaching of Bible religion, therefore, does not consist in the teaching of certain dogmas, or statements of doctrines, backed up by certain texts of Scripture, but in presenting Christ so that through the Holy Spirit He may be formed within, the hope of glory.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.8

2. We learn that the duty of teaching religion to children rests with the parents. If they choose to allow others also to instruct their children in religion, that is doubtless there privilege; but no parent can lightly shift upon another his own responsibility. Although the elders or pastors of the church are to feed the lambs as well as the sheep, parents are not thereby released from their obligation to teach their own children. If they are negligent in this matter, the work will never be perfectly done, for—PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.9

3. Religious teaching is to be constant, and not confined to one or two hours of the day. Bible religion is not only life, but it is the whole of life. Everything in nature is to be used to impress the truth of God upon the mind of the child. In the margin of Deuteronomy 6:7, we have as an equivalent of “teach them diligently,” “whet, or sharpen.” The idea is that of repetition. But the repetition is not to be the repetition of a form of words, but of vital truths.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.10

Children can understand the Gospel as well as their elders. It is true that they cannot understand the theological terms, but neither can a grown people. Nobody understands what is meant by theological terms and formulas, and that is the reason why there is so much discussion over them. They are arbitrary terms, and mean to each individual whatever he happens to think about them. But simple, practical Scripture truth is easy of comprehension by a child. Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and knew them to his salvation. 2 Timothy 3:15. Whoever enters the kingdom of God must do so as a child. There is no religious truth that cannot be understood by a child as well as by anybody else.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.11

4. Whoever teaches must first have the words of life in his own heart. Since true religion is not only a life, but the life, it follows that no one can sharpen a child or anybody else in it, unless he himself has the life. The question will arise, “What if the parents are deficient in this respect? shall the children therefore be deprived of religious instruction?” Not necessarily. The true Christian is a missionary, and the church of Christ has no other business on earth but to seek out the lost, both old and young. If Christians do this work in the Spirit of Christ, there will be none who do not hear the sound of the Gospel.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 114.12

It is very evident that this teaching is not such as can be done according to programme. He who has the word of life in his heart, will not need that somebody else should tell him what he should teach, and how he should teach it. And he who cannot teach religion except according to a syllabus, cannot teach true religion at all.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.1

The conclusion of the whole matter is this, that religious instruction must be wholly a voluntary affair, and must be a labour of love. It must aim at direct practical results, namely, the conversion of those who are taught. While the labourer must live, it is evident that true religious teaching cannot be done by one who engages in the work as a profession. He who has the words of life in his heart, will need no urging to make them known, but will be unable to refrain from teaching in some way. The love of Christ constrains them, and they cannot but speak the things that they have seen and heard. The main thing is to have the life in the soul. If the living word abides in the teacher, that word will regulate everything.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.2

“Identified with Us” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Lord has given His life to everyone. “In Him we live and move and have our being.” This was said, not to Christians, but to heathen. It was His life that we have been squandering in fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Only by the power of His life, which He allowed to remain with man when he had sinned, could man work evil, and live on in wickedness. Thus He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” He feels the infirmity, and feels it now; for He still gives life to men. He is one with us.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.3

Then the very fact that we feel the weaknesses of the flesh will be, if we allow it to be so, a reminder of Christ. How He feels our infirmities and bears our weaknesses we do not know, but so it is. It is because He feels the infirmity, and because sin touches His very life, that He makes it known to us, in order that we may free Him from the burden of that sin, and ourselves also may walk at liberty. He felt it, and reminded us of it, causing us to long to renounce it.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.4

We may take this thought as encouragement, that God is not far from every one of us. The enemy has made us think that the Lord was far off, and that has been the source of our weakness. But, so far from having us discouraged at the weakness, the Lord would remind us by that very thing that He is near. When we feel the weakest, then we may be more sure of the presence of the Lord. We know that Christ was without sin, even though He bore our sins; and therefore when the weaknesses of the flesh remind us of His identification with us in the flesh, they also remind us of the fact that He is with us as the power of God. By this we can understand what the apostle means when he speaks of those who “out of weakness were made strong.” Hebrews 11:34.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.5

“The Cross and Crosses” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The failure with many people is that they make a distinction between the cross of Christ and their own crosses. There is no cross that comes to any person on earth, except the cross of Christ. If we will always remember this, it will be life and joy to us.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.6

The Lord does not give us some crosses of our own,—little crosses adapted to different ones,—one having one cross and another another. We cannot separate Christ from His cross. Christ is crucified; He is the only crucified one; therefore whatever cross comes to us must be the cross of Christ; and that cross is with us continually. But in the cross of Christ we find Christ Himself.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.7

UNION WITH GOD BY THE CROSS

What do we get through the cross?—Forgiveness of sins, reconciliation. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:18. “That He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross.” It is the cross, then, that unites us to God, and makes us one with Him. Everything then that is a real cross is life to us, because it brings us to God. Take the things that come to us; new duties, perhaps, are revealed to us; sins, it may be, are shown to us, that must be denied. Different things come up that cut directly across our habits and our own way and convenience. We can take them in a hard and cheerless way, groaning over our religion, and giving everybody that comes near a the idea that it does not agree with us, but that we must endure the service of Christ, hoping that by and by we shall get something better, when we get out of this grinding service. Or we can find joy in the cross, and salvation and peace and rest, by recognising that cross as the cross of Christ.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.8

THE CROSS WITHOUT CHRIST

Suppose we are stingy. Well, we have to make sacrifices for the cause of God, and so we know we must give something. We groan over it, and shrink from it, but finally by dint of hard work, will manage to give something. Then we think afterwards of what a hard cross we have borne.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.9

Or take the Sabbath as a typical case. To keep the Lord’s Sabbath is very inconvenient for our business, and we perhaps stumble over that cross a long time. But there it is plainly before us: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” If we do not keep the Sabbath, we are afraid we shall be lost. So in order to save ourselves from destruction, we agree to keep the Sabbath. It is a weekly cross, and we are always thinking of the inconvenience and hardship. Surely it must be we shall get credit for that because it is so hard to do. Not so; when we take it that way it is our own cross, with Christ left out; and there is no salvation except in the cross of Christ.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.10

With a thousand other things it is the same. We mourn over them, and it is only by will power that we force ourselves up to the rack, and take the bitter medicine, consoling ourselves with the thought that by and by all this will be ended. We shall not have such hard times when we get into the Kingdom.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.11

Possibly we put this rather strongly and yet this is the idea of the Christian life with a great many people who profess to be Christians. We sing of the “resting by and by,” and of joys to come, giving the world the idea that there is no joy in the present. The idea too commonly is that the harder the cross is, the more joy there will be when it is done with.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.12

PAGAN AND PAPAL PENANCE

That is not Christianity at all. It is heathenism. How much more Christianity is there in that than in the case of the man who puts pebbles into his boots and goes on a pilgrimage, so that the worse he can make himself feel now, the better he will feel when his journey is ended? The only difference is in the sort of penance we endure. We take this duty and that as scourges with which to afflict ourselves, thinking we are working out everlasting joy for ourselves by and by.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 115.13

We have all done more or less of this. It is human nature. That is the devil’s way of deceiving people. He does not care how many crosses we endure. In fact, he must thoroughly enjoy seeing people groaning over their religion, and having a hard time of it generally.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.1

Now all these things we have been labouring over may be things that God requires us to do. He doesn’t require us to scourge ourselves with whips, or to go on pilgrimages on our knees; but the only difference between ourselves, when we have made burdens of our duties, and the man who has scourged himself or worn a hair shirt, is that we make our penances out of those things which God requires, and he makes his out of those things which the Lord has not required. Yet we have thought we were better than he!PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.2

OPPOSITION TO CHRIST

Both classes are trying to put up a cross that would take the place of the cross of Christ. People ask the Lord to accept their offering for sin. Every cross men bear in that way is hard. If that were all that is in the cross, those crosses ought to have served the purpose; for they were bitter and cruel enough. Then there must be something else in the cross besides hardness. Popularly the idea is that anything that is a discomfort-that a person doesn’t like to do-is a cross, and some men perform their duties as the Catholic wears his hair shirts, to make themselves uncomfortable all the time.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.3

It makes no difference how much people talk about the Lord; how much they say they believe in Christ; how much they call themselves Christians; the setting up of a cross aside from the cross of Christ, is opposition to Christ. Although there is much about Christ and much about crosses, in Roman Catholicism, we know that in the system itself there is none of Christ. Of course many individual Catholics have Christ, and many more would gladly know of Him; but, as a system, with its penances put upon the people, we know that Catholicism tends to eclipse and shut out the cross of Christ; so that each individual is virtually to have his own cross, and atone for his own sins. In many cases the individual is deluded with the idea that what he is enduring is the cross of Christ, and that is worse yet.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.4

Now thousands of professed Protestants are doing what amounts to the same thing, and yet all the time they are preaching and talking against the Papacy. These crosses, men have thought, were going to bring them nearer the Lord. The idea has been, “No cross no crown;” the more we suffer, the more we shall enjoy by and by. This is the time of suffering; by and by we shall have the time of enjoyment. So we will endure it. Certainly, we thought, these crosses will bring us nearer to God.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.5

But as a matter of fact, try as hard as we could, even at things that were right in themselves, we couldn’t get nearer to the Lord than before. We were always wanting to get nearer, and yet finding ourselves afar off. Then we did not have Christ in the cross, although we persuaded ourselves that we were believing in Christ and bearing His cross. For if we had had Christ in the crosses that we bore, we should have been brought near to God. The trouble was that we had a cross in the place of the cross of Christ,—a substitute for it.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.6

SELF IN PLACE OF CHRIST

Who was on that cross?—Self. The power of the cross of Christ is the power of His life,—the power of an endless life. The power in our crosses was only the power of our own life, which is nothing, and could not bring us nearer to God. We were crucifying ourselves on our own crosses; and as we thought that those crosses were the cross of Christ, we were putting ourselves in the place of Christ. We were very antichrist ourselves. And all the time we were doing that, we were throwing stones at the Pope. Christ said those who were without sin might throw stones; and whoever indulges in stone-throwing, thereby tacitly proclaims himself to be sinless.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.7

And those who do as described above are claiming that very thing; because the cross is a sacrifice for sin, and atonement for it, and they are “bearing the cross.” Didn’t we do this duty? Didn’t we perform that uncomfortable service? Didn’t we deny ourselves? And thus by all these crosses, had we not, in our own minds, freed ourselves from sin, so that we could throw stones at other people? Again we put the case rather strongly, perhaps, and yet we are assured that we are giving the experience of the natural heart. Many who have found Christ indeed testify to these old experiences, and there are many who are living through these experiences now, and are finding the way hard and wearisome and deceitful.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.8

ONLY ONE CROSS

There is only one actual cross in the world, and that is the cross of Jesus Christ. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” We have often thought we were denying self, when we were only building self up; we were putting ourselves in the place of Christ. Our talk of self-denial was but Pharisaism. People are apt to get a wrong idea of what a Pharisee was. The word “Pharisee” denoted one who was “separated.” They were the separated once, zealous for the law, and for God, as they supposed. They were not bad as people saw them. The observer might find nothing crooked in the outward life of Saul, the Pharisee; before men he was blameless. But when he came to himself he saw that he was all sin. There is no writer who states the depravity of human nature so vividly as the Apostle Paul. While it was all written by inspiration, he wrote what he had experienced. When he told of the wonderful grace of God, he told exactly that grace that had been revealed to him, as chief of sinners; for the man who sins and calls it righteousness, is of all sinners the chief.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.9

KNOWING CHRIST

The question for everyone is, Do you know that Christ lives in you? Are you joined to Him? There are many who are workers for Him professedly, who dare not say that Christ lives in them; they do not know that Christ is one with them. When we were bearing crosses after the manner we have described, we could not say, “Christ liveth in me.” So we were separated from Him, and thus separated from His cross. It was self in the place of Christ, “a form of godliness but denying the power thereof,” for the power of godliness is the cross of Christ. We denied the cross of Christ, and so denied the power of the Gospel.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.10

THE JOY OF THE CROSS

Christ endured the cross, but He endured it for the “joy that was set before Him.” Hebrews 12:2. Now the joy set before us is the only thing that will enable us to endure the cross, His cross. Remember that the Lord does not have separate crosses for us. There is one cross, the cross of Christ. When we get to that we will find connected with it what He found. When we take it as His and not our own, there is the joy in it which was His strength to endure it.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 116.11

We are not crucified with Christ except we are one with Him in the crucifixion. He must be identified with us in the cross; for it is His. There is no crucifixion of the man that amounts to anything unless he is crucified with Christ. Crucified together with Him, there is virtue to us, because we get the virtue that is in Christ. That virtue is freedom, separation from sin, and redemption, life, joy, peace. So it is not so difficult a thing to bear the cross when we are crucified with Christ. He is with us and in us. Now it is Christ enduring the cross, and to us there is joy in the Lord in it. Christ is made peace for us through the blood of His cross.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.1

RECONCILED BY THE CROSS

Christ was crucified for sin. There was no cross except for sin. He bore our sins. There is wonderful joy that comes to us in this, that while we are yet in sin we are permitted to claim Christ as ours, and to say, “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.” If we could not assert this with all assurance while yet sinners, we never could assert it. But while in sin we may claim Christ as ours, and that He is in us. We know it because the Holy Ghost says that it is so. To the man who believes the Lord and dares assert it, it is everlasting strength. “God who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.” We could not be quickened or made alive together, unless dead together. So Christ identifies Himself with us in death, even the death in trespasses and sins, and it is He who bears the burden in His own body on the cross; and while we are crucified with Him we also live with Him, delivered from sin.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.2

SAVED BY THE LIFE

Christ is the present Saviour of all men. He is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” John says, “If any man sin, we have an Advocate [or Comforter] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation [sacrifice] for our sins.” 1 John 2:1, 2. Him “God hath set forth to be a propitiation [sacrifice] through faith in His blood.” Romans 3:24. His blood is now shed for us; He is now lifted up for us. The knowledge that the cross is set up in every heart, that He is crucified for us, makes a delight of the crosses which come to us, all the burdens to be born, all the habits to be given up, which are as taking our life, because they are our life. The knowledge that now Christ is crucified for us, that now are we crucified with Him, not in fancy but in fact, makes the presence of the cross a joy to us, for there we find Christ, and are brought into fellowship with His death, and live with Him. Being reconciled by His blood, we know we shall be saved by His life. To take up the cross is to take Him. To deny self is to own Him. To crucify self indeed is to take His life, and the life we live with Him is not one of hardness and discomfort, and the performance of disagreeable duties for the sake of joy by and by, but it is the constant springing up of life and joy; so that with joy and not groaning we draw water from the wells of salvation. It makes all the difference when we have His cross. “Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head.” Isaiah 51:11.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.3

“Kept from Honour” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

In the twenty-fourth chapter of Numbers there is a record which very clearly sets forth the nature and the value of earthly honour. Balak, king of the Moabites, had sent for Balaam the prophet to come and curse Israel; and Balaam had come, but instead of cursing Israel he blessed them. Several times the king attempted to get from the prophet’s mouth a curse upon his enemies, but each time with exactly the opposite result; until finally, in a rage, he smote his hands together, and said to Balaam, “Flee thou to thy place; I thought to promote thee unto great honour, but lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.”PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.4

This reveals the relation between worldly honour and the honour that comes from God: or rather it shows that there is no relation whatever between them. A prophet of God, yet kept “back from honour!” Losing that which Balak had to bestow, and therefore losing “honour”! Thus does the voice of the world always speak to the Christian, to persuade him to give up Christ and grasp as much as he can of earthly fame. Alas, that any are so foolish as to listen to it!PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.5

There was Balak, with all the nation over which he ruled, in mortal terror for themselves and their kingdom, because of the approaching host of the armies of Israel; the wicked king trembling for his very existence, with no flattering prospect of its long continuance, and yet offering to promote Balaam to “great honour”! What honour had such an one to bestow, and what thought had he for Balaam’s welfare?—Simply none at all. All he cared about was the welfare of himself,—to avert, if it were possible, the destruction which threatened himself and his kingdom. He could confer upon Balaam a momentary distinction of honour or wealth in the eyes of men, and that was all. This was what he called “great honour;” and this is what the world designates “great honour” to-day.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.6

The Lord had put Balaam in his position, and now a man offers to “promote” him above the promotion given him by the Lord! This is the “promotion” which the world has to give to its votaries in place of that which is offered by the God of heaven; nothing that is real, nothing that is lasting, nothing that satisfies, or brings happiness and peace to the soul, yet it judges a man very foolish who will not seek for it in place of seeking for the honour which comes from God. The earth is plunging into the gulf of ruin, whirling swiftly across the threshold of eternity, separated by only a hand breadth from the hour of its dissolution; yet offering to promote men unto “great honour” if they will but devote all their time and their powers to its affairs. The honour it has to confer is just that which Balak had to bestow on Balaam.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.7

Those who take earthly honour, cannot have that which comes from God; and those who seek that which God bestows, cannot have the honour of the world. The two will not mix or grow together. The world will not honour righteousness; God will not honour sin. No person ever yet had honour both from the world and from God at the same time.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.8

Those whom God honours are those who honour Him. 1 Samuel 2:30. They are those who serve the Lord Jesus Christ. John 12:26. And how can a man honour God? He cannot honour God as he would honour a fellow-mortal. God gives men all the honour he has, and man’s only way of showing respect and honour to God is to believe His word. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” “Faith which worketh by love,” is the only actuating power by which a man can do service to God.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 117.9

Those who seek worldly honour cannot have faith. “How can ye believe,” said the Saviour, “who receive honour one from another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” John 5:14. It is useless to expect to know the will of God and understand His word while seeking honour from man; for no one can understand God’s word until he first believes it. But relinquishing the honour of the world, he can then believe, and by faith receive the honour that God bestows, which is that of being made a son of God, and a brother of Jesus Christ, and an heir of all things. 1 John 3:4; Romans 8:17; Hebrews 2:11. How much better to be kept back from the worldly honour by God than to be kept back from infinite and eternal honour by the world!PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.1

“Fiendishness” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Here is a horse at the bottom of the hill, with a load as great as he can possibly draw on a level road. Every particle of strength that the poor horse has is exerted to draw the load on the smooth, level road; but notwithstanding that, the merciless driver plies the lash with all his might, to try to compel the horse to draw it up the hill, a thing which is impossible. Could anything be more wickedly cruel? If the horse had sufficient strength, a little application of the lash would incite him to use it, but it cannot impart any strength to him. Whipping a horse never adds to his strength; and so to whip a horse to make him do that which he has no strength to do, is fiendishness. Who would not feel indignation at such cruelty?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.2

Here is a man who is “without strength,” to do that which is right. That weakness he shares in common with all men, “because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7. No man is stronger than Christ was, and He said, “I can of Mine own self do nothing;” “the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” John 5:10; 14:10. And now a company of men associated together in some capacity, decide that that man shall be compelled by all the pains and penalties of civil law, to serve the Lord. They will bring all the machinery of Government to be upon him, to compel him to do that which is utterly beyond his power. If the other is fiendishness, what is this?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.3

Ought not the man to do right?—Yes. Does not God require him to do right?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.4

Most certainly. Then why is it wrong for his fellow-men to try to compel him to do what the Lord requires him to do?—Simply because the Lord Himself does not seek to compel men to do that which is right. He knows that that would be of no use. He knows that man has not the power, and so He Himself supplies the power that the man needs. He comes and works in the man, “both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Surely God’s way is infinitely above man’s way.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.5

“Not a Creed” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Justification by faith, and that means salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ, is not a theory. It can never be put into a creed, a form of words. Every professor of religion who has certain points of doctrine which he holds, and who is satisfied with them just as he has put them into a formal statement, has as iron-bound a creed as any ever imposed by a council.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.6

But the truth of God is ever-growing, ever enlarging. “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18), and we cannot put that light into writing and say, “This is the sum of the doctrine.” We may speak what we know, and write what we know, but this simply calls attention to the truth; there is more and more. There are oceans of light and truth, wonderful revelations that the Lord will make to every soul, beyond what he has ever seen, in the treasures of the grace of Christ, if he will but give up to the Lord continually for Him to live His own marvellous life in him. Continually should the prayer be made, “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” Every difficult thing that we see is but the forerunner of a still more wonderful thing to be revealed, if we will but be open to receive it.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.7

“All Things Given” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

All Things Given.—“What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 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 the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.” The natural conclusion would be, “How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good gifts.” And this is really the way it does end, for the Holy Spirit comprises every good gift. God has given His Spirit freely, has poured it out abundantly to all. If we will but open our hearts to receive it, every good and perfect gift will come in its train, because all good gifts are in the Spirit. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.” James 1:17. This does not mean simply that there is nothing good except that which comes from God; but every good gift cometh down from above. God has withheld nothing; everything that He has comes down to us. There is no selfishness with God. He has not a single good thing in His possession that He has not given to us. Every good gift cometh down,—is coming down now. He gives Himself for us, and everything is in Him; and yet the enemy seems to paralyse the senses so that we seem incapable of comprehending the fact that everything is ours.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.8

“The Works of the Flesh” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“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, revellings, and such like.” Galatians 5:19-21.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.9

The flesh can do nothing good. Its works are sin, and that only. Even though it tries to do something good, as it often does, the result is the same. The flesh is joined to sin, and there is no way in which the two can be separated. When the one is manifested, the other is manifested also. In life or death, the two must go together.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.10

The flesh works whenever faith is absent. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23. Where faith is present, God works; where faith is absent, the flesh works. The flesh cannot do the works that God does. This the Saviour declared when the Jews asked Him what they should do in order to work the works of God. “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” John 6:29. By faith, we receive Christ, and then the works that are done are done by Him. Consequently they are the works of God.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.11

The great mistake which men make is in thinking that the flesh can do the works of God. The natural mind is so ignorant of what those works are,— the ways and thoughts of man are so far below the ways and thoughts of God-that we have naturally no conception of what righteousness is. Consequently we go about, like the Jews of old, to establish our own righteousness; and in so doing we miss the righteousness of God. We may get something which looks like righteousness to us, but in the Judgment day we shall, if we depend upon that, find ourselves terribly mistaken.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 118.12

THE FLESH IN BONDAGE

When the flesh tries to do the works of God, there is manifested only bondage. The flesh is in bondage to the law of God, for it is “not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” There can be no harmony between them. The Spirit lusteth against the flesh, and the flesh against the Spirit (Galatians 5:17), so that “ye cannot do the things that ye would.” And this is what reveals the bondage of the flesh,—the inability to do the things that it tries to do, and that God has commanded to be done; the lust of the flesh against them; the utter inability of the flesh to come into harmony with them. When the flesh stops trying to do the works of the law, there comes a sense of freedom, not because the bondage is gone, but because it is not felt. The captive struggling to walk at liberty has a keen sense of the chains that bind him; but when he relinquishes his efforts and sits passively down, the power of the chains is not felt. And if a man were as blind to literal things, he might easily imagine that he was no longer in bondage.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 119.1

The flesh is chained to sin; and whenever it tries to go in a direction contrary to sin the chains hold it back, and the individual realises a sense of bondage. But if he ceases trying to go contrary to sin, he no longer feels the pulling of the chains. The individual may then, in his blindness, imagine himself at liberty, and rejoice at having as he thinks gotten out of bondage into freedom. But he has no freedom, only the freedom that Satan gives. For Satan holds the chains, and leads his victim captive at his will. So long as he moves where Satan wants him to go, he feels not the restraining force of his bonds. The devil will give his captive rope enough so that he will not be unpleasantly conscious of his captivity. But the moment he tries to leave the path of sin and walk in the paths of God, he finds himself in bondage, and try so hard as he may, he cannot set himself free. He finds himself joined to sin, so that he can only go where sin goes also.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 119.2

By the law is the knowledge of sin. Without the law, sin is dead. Romans 3:20; 7:8. The individual is now then conscious of his inability to work the works of God. But when the commandment comes, sin revives. Romans 7:9. The bondage of sin makes itself felt. To the flesh, “the law worketh wrath.” It “gendereth to bondage.” Galatians 4:24. It brings forth bondage, so that it is felt and realised by the individual. “The woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth... So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.” Romans 7:2, 3. The individual who, in the flesh, takes upon him the name of Christ, thus becomes guilty of adultery, which is the first mention of the works of the flesh. For the flesh is the “old man,” the first husband of the “woman,” and this husband must be dead before she can be lawfully joined to another. Thus the very effect of the flesh to work the works of God becomes only an effort to commit adultery. Whatever the flesh does or tries to do, is of course but a work of the flesh; and they which do such works “shall not” we are told, “inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:21.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 119.3

SOME ILLUSTRTATIONS

Abraham tried at one time to work the works of God through the flesh. God had promised him that he should be the father of many nations, and Abraham was anxious of course that the promise should be fulfilled. But as Sarah his wife was barren, he had no son. So Abraham and Sarah set about working out the fulfilment of the promise. The result was Ishmael, the child “born after the flesh,” the “son of the bondwoman.” Galatians 4:29, 30. In this Abraham and Sarah showed a lack of faith, for faith would have believed that God could do what He had promised, even under conditions which would seem to make it impossible. And faith being absent, what they did was a work of the flesh, and the result was a son born after the flesh. The flesh, attempting to accomplish the work of God, simply gendered to bondage.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 119.4

Jacob and Rebekah tried to work out God’s promise for Him when they deceived Isaac, and induced him to bestow the blessing intended for the firstborn, upon Jacob; and the result was a life-long separation, with much suffering and deep repentance on the part of Jacob before he was restored to the tranquility of his early years. Moses thought to work out the promise of deliverance for the captive Israelites by his own might, when he “slew the Egyptian, and hid himself in the sand;” but that was not God’s way, and he was obliged to flee into the desert while the fulfilment of the promise was delayed forty years. And thus it is with every attempt of the flesh to work out the purposes of God. It falls as far short of that which God intends and requires as the mind of man falls short of the mind of God. The promise is never fulfilled, the work never accomplished, until it comes through faith.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 119.5

DELIVERANCE THROUGH DEATH

God has given to us “exceeding great and precious promises;” but we can never know their fulfilment through the works of the flesh. “To Abraham and his seed were the promises made;” and only they who are the children of faith are the seed of Abraham. In the flesh, we are bound to the “old man,” the carnal nature, which is not, and cannot be, subject to the law of God; and therefore we cannot in the flesh be Christ’s. But we can become Christ’s by being crucified with Him. We may meet Him and become united with Him at the cross. Galatians 2:20. At the cross the “old man,” the first husband, is crucified and put to death, and we can then be “married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” Romans 7:4. The flesh cannot be separated from sin; and therefore, in order that sin may cease, it must die. We are then delivered from the “law of sin and death,” the law which bound us to sin while we were in the flesh. “For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead [the law of sin] wherein we were held [because the flesh is dead]; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 4:5, 6.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 119.6

This is the wonderful change that is wrought in us at the cross. The law does not die, but the flesh dies, the law of sin and death is abolished, the enmity between us and the law dies, the bondage ceases, and we become joined to Christ in faith, and the law becomes to us “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” Then the works of the flesh cease, and we work the works of faith, which bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, and are heirs with Abraham of the promises made to him and to his seed.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 119.7

“‘Let This Mind Be in You’” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Creator of heaven and earth in a stable! The King of glory in a manger! How came He there? Ah! that is the wonder. He never would have been there if His mind had been like Satan’s mind, like the mind that you and I so often have.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.1

We sometimes think that because God is the King of all kings, and is so wise and powerful, that He must be proud and selfish like many of the kings of earth. But this is a great mistake, as you will see when you become better acquainted with the babe in the manger.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.2

God is unselfish and altogether lovely. He is not in the habit of looking upon His own things and forgetting whether those around Him have anything or not. But He is always looking upon others to see if they have all that they need. If they have not, His greatest joy is, not to please Himself, but to do something for them, going without Himself if necessary, in order that they may have what they need. Notice carefully and you will see that this is true.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.3

Man, who had been created pure and good in the image of God, had given up his life and purity and all that he had to Satan, the enemy of God and man. The Lord knew that that meant sin, and sorrow, and eternal death for every one of us. For Satan was a hard and cruel master and much stronger than we, so that he would never allow one of us to go free.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.4

It was all man’s fault, to be sure, but God loved us so that in spite of all that, His heart was overflowing with grief when He saw our helpless condition. His heart yearned over us as a mother’s heart yearns over her dying child. The riches and glories of heaven were nothing to Him compared with His love for us. He could not be happy and enjoy them alone; He must have us to share them with Him.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.5

Why did He not send someone to overcome Satan, then, and break his fetters and give man back his freedom and his life of purity? Ah, who could He send? No man could do it for Satan was stronger than any man. Not even the angels could do it, for they had no more life for purity than they needed for themselves; all they had was given them by God. God only was stronger than Satan. And with Him alone was the fountain of purity and life. Nothing could drive out the darkness of sin but the light of His life. Nothing could break the chords of sin with which Satan had bound us, but the righteousness of His life. Nothing could take away the keys of the grave but the power of His marvellous life which could go down into the grave, and pass through the grave, and carry the keys away with it.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.6

But this would mean a life of pain and temptation in sinful flesh, and a cruel death upon the cross-for God! Oh, did He love us enough to give up His glorious home and all His riches and joys in heaven, and come down to earth as the poorest of the poor, and the weakest of the weak, and pass through every pain and temptation of sinful flesh, even to death’s dark door? Yes, He did! God came in His Son to reconcile the world unto Himself.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.7

Look at Him there in the rude manger of Bethlehem.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.8

Look at Him in the lowly home of Nazareth, subject to His parents in all things and sharing all the homely burdens and labours of His father-as the carpenter.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.9

Look at Him in the wilderness without food for forty days and forty nights, and tempted by the devil.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.10

Look at Him thrust out of the synagogues and cities and hunted to the death by those whom He came to save.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.11

Look at Him going about without a home or friends with no place to lay His head, yet with never a murmur, and with always a kind word and a helping hand.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.12

Look at Him in Gethsemane sweating as it were great drops of blood.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.13

Look at Him betrayed by the kiss of one of His professed followers.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.14

Look at Him in the judgment hall mocked, scourged, spit upon, dressed in an old purple robe, and crowned with a crown of thorns.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.15

Look at Him fainting by the way, and oh, look at Him hanging on the cursed cross with His tender hands and feet still quivering from the cruel nails! Look at Him dying of a broken heart because of your sins and mine! “Behold your God!”PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.16

Oh, can you longer doubt His love for you? Can you doubt His willingness to accept you as His child? Can you ever doubt His unselfishness?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 123.17

Follow Him to Joseph’s new tomb, and see Him laid away with a great stone before the door.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 124.1

But look once more. The stone is rolled away. The grave clothes lie there, but our Lord is risen! Death could not hold Him. The glorious work is finished. He has bought us back and has broken the last fetter and unlocked the last door that shut us in with Satan! HE HAS SET US FREE! He has proclaimed liberty to every captive “and the opening of the prison to them that are bound!” In the name of Jesus we may walk out into all the liberty of the sons of God. Satan cannot overcome us or cause us to sin once more if we believe in Jesus and stand fast and rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. As long as we believe that He has made us free and yield to Him in everything, letting His mind be in us, Satan cannot touch us.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 124.2

We, to-day then, are called upon to make the same decision that the angels of heaven made so long ago. “Who is on the Lord’s side?” “He that is not for Me is against Me.”PTUK February 22, 1894, page 124.3

We, as they were, are left perfectly free to choose for ourselves. We need not be on the Lord’s side unless we wish. But, oh, do we not wish to be? Has He not proved Himself to be “the chiefest among ten thousand and the One altogether lovely”? Has He not shown Himself worthy of our confidence? What more could He do to show His love for us than He has done?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 124.4

Having suffered Himself being tempted, He is able to help them that are tempted. He is still touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knoweth our frame and remembereth that we are dust. Although we are so poor and wicked, yet He thinketh upon us, and His thoughts toward us are thoughts of peace. Oh, then, shall we not choose Him for our Master, and let this mind be in us, which was also in Christ Jesus?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 124.5

“Following Jesus” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Jesus called Paul to go to Jerusalem, and Paul was willing to go, though he knew he should be bound with chains. Sometimes we do not like to do what we know we ought to do. Let us learn from Paul to follow Jesus, wherever He may lead us. A child who thinks he must have his own way will not make a good soldier for Jesus, for a soldier must always follow his Captain.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 124.6

“Two Masters” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” Joshua 24:15.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.1

When God created the angels they all were pure and good like everything else that God made. Their hearts were filled with joy and praise as they looked in the loving face of their Creator and thought what He had done for them. He gave them their beauty and wisdom and strength, and let them live in all the light and glory of His heavenly home. Lucifer was the wisest and most beautiful of all the angels. He was with God more than any of the other angels, and was loved and honoured next to Christ. God says that he was perfect in his ways from the day that he was created, till iniquity (sin) was found in him.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.2

And this is the way sin came into his heart. Little by little he began to think of himself instead of God, and began to love himself in place of God. He looked at his own beauty, and thought of his great wisdom, and was too well pleased with the love and honour that was shown him by the angels. Instead of looking at Jesus and praising the wondrous beauty and tender love of Him who had created him and given him all that he had, he looked at himself and praised himself and felt jealous of his Creator. He thought that he ought to be obeyed and honoured as much as God Himself. He became so proud that he thought he knew more than God, and thought he was able to be a better master to the angels than Jesus. Instead of a pure-hearted angel he became Satan; and that means “an enemy.”PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.3

He began to work slyly against God. He secretly talked with the angels and found fault with God, and told things about Him that were not true, until he caused many of the angels to think that he was right, and God was wrong. He caused them to believe that if they would follow him he would be a better leader than Jesus. You see he wanted to be king himself, and have the angels honour him instead of God.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.4

God’s love for Satan and his followers was great. It grieved Him at His heart to see them destroy their own happiness. They were no longer contented and happy, for you remember that no one can be truly happy without Jesus. He bore with it long and did all that He could do to draw them back to Him, but they would not.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.5

Finally Satan got his followers to believe that they were stronger than God and His Son, and could easily overcome them and have the kingdom. Thinking of self he made his heart so ungrateful and cruel that he gathered his followers together and fought against his Creator! “And there was war in heaven,” Jesus and His angels fought against Satan; and Satan fought and his angels. But the One who could create was stronger than the ones created, so the angels who had made themselves so evil could not overcome Jesus. And Satan was cast out of heaven and, as lightning, fell to the earth; and his angels were cast out with him. Once more love and harmony was in heaven. Never again came Satan into the beautiful home that he had left; but it was all his own fault.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.6

God knew that Satan did not deserve to live another moment, but he had done his evil work so secretly that others did not know how bad he was, what terrible thing sin would bring. If God had destroyed him then they would have thought that He was cruel, and would not have served Him because they loved Him, but because they feared Him. So God in His goodness still allows Satan to live that all may see how wicked he is, and what a terrible thing sin is. Then they will know that God does right when He finally destroys him. God has said that by and by Satan and his angels and all his followers will be burned up. Then there will be no more sin or sorrow nor anyone to tempt or trouble the followers of God.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.7

Now which of these two masters will you choose: Jesus or Satan? God says you may follow just which one you please. Jesus loves you and does all things for you. Satan hates you and tries in every way to destroy you. God says, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” He lovingly says to you, “Do not give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27), but “Come unto Me.” Matthew 11:28. If you listen to Satan, he will put his own hateful, selfish mind in you just as he put it in those angels in heaven who listened to him. But if you listen to Jesus and love His words, He will put His pure, unselfish mind in you, and you will think of God and His goodness and live to please Him, instead of living to please yourself. God says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.8

1. Who created the beautiful angels? Colossians 1:16.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.9

2. When God created them how many were pure and good?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.10

3. What did God give them?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.11

4. Where did He allow them to live?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.12

5. Must not that have been a beautiful home?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.13

6. As long as they all looked to Jesus and remembered His love, how did they feel?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.14

7. Which was the wisest and most beautiful of all the angels? Ezekiel 28:12; Isaiah 14.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.15

8. How was he treated by the other angels?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.16

9. How did sin finally come into his heart? Ezekiel 28:12-15, 17; Isaiah 14:12-15.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.17

10. Then when we think more of ourselves than of others, and praise ourselves instead of praising God, like whom are we becoming?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.18

11. What kind of mind has Jesus?—Unselfish; He is always thinking of others instead of Himself, and trying to make others happy. Philippians 2:5-8; Acts 10:38.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.19

12. What will Satan do if we listen to him?—He will put his selfish mind into us. Philippians 2:5; Revelation 3:20.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.20

13. Why?—Because he hates us and wants us to be destroyed.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.21

14. What will Jesus do if we let Him?—He will put His unselfish mind into us. Philippians 2:5; Revelation 3:20.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.22

15. Why?—Because He loves us and wants us to be saved.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.23

16. What does God say that you should do this very day? Joshua 24:15.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.24

17. How has God felt when He saw His brightest angel destroying his own happiness and leading others astray?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.25

18. What did God and His Son and the good angels all plead with him to do?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 125.26

19. Would he do it?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.1

20. How did he finally treat the One who had made him, and given him all that he had? Revelation 12:7.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.2

21. Where were he and his followers cast? Revelation 12:9.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.3

22. Whose fault was it?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.4

23. Why did God not destroy him then?PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.5

24. Will Satan always tempt and trouble God’s people? Revelation 20:7-10.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.6

“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-Large Dervish reinforcements have lately reached Dongola from Omdurman.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.7

-A dispute has arisen in the Newcastle building trades, which has resulted in the looking out of 2,000 men.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.8

-The Salvation Army has now in its ranks more than 200,000 “soldiers,” 10,237 local officers, and 3,258 bandsmen.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.9

-A rumour emanating from native sources is current at Tati that Lobengula is dead. Runners have been sent out to verify the report.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.10

-Cholera, which had almost completely disappeared from Constantinople, has again broken out. Some fifteen fresh cases and several deaths have been reported during the last three days.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.11

-The French official version of the second and least important conflict between British and French forces in West Africa has been received in Paris, and tends to throw the blame upon the British.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.12

-Statistics compiled by the Census Bureau show that in the United States there are 14,969,467 horses, or one horse for every four inhabitants; mules, 2,295,532; cows, 16,511,950; swine, 57,409,583; and sheep shorn, 32,126,868.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.13

-Despatches from Honolulu, dated February 3, state that the position of Mr. Willis, the United States Minister, is growing uncomfortable. The Hawaiian newspapers call for his retirement, and if a Republic is formed it is thought likely that he will receive his passports.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.14

-A striking departure in Chinese education was inaugurated at Tientsin on the opening in December of the Imperial Medical College by His Excellency the Viceroy of Pechihli. The college cost 30,000 taels, and will be under the administration of an English doctor.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.15

-Admiral de Gama, the Brazilian insurgent leader, is reported to be dying from wounds received in a stubborn engagement between his forces and the government troops at Nictheroy, in which the former were repulsed in an attempt to advance upon Rio Janeiro.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.16

-Hom?opathy has made rapid strides in the United States, where at the present time there are 1,000 hom?opathic practitioners, 22 special hom?omopathic newspapers, and 76 hom?opathic hospitals, one of which, that at Middletown, has 1,800 beds.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.17

-Fighting is still going on in Nicaragua. President Vasquez succeeded in driving the insurgent beseiging forces a mile from Tegucigalpa, and reopened communication; but later despatches state that he is again closely hemmed in by the insurgents and their allies.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.18

-The Swiss Federal Council has decided to expel from Switzerland six Italians, six Germans, and one Austrian as being the instigators of the riotous demonstration of sympathy with the population of Sicily which was made on January 28, in front of the Italian Consulate at Zurich.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.19

-The following is the actual cost of maintaining for a year the specified parks under the control of the London County Council: Victoria, ?11,091; Finsbury, ?6,535; Clissold, ?1,878; Battersea, ?10,520; Kennington, ?1,408; Brockwell, ?2,483; Dulwich, ?3,272; Southwark ?3,461; Ravenscourt, ?1,619; and Waterlow, ?2,541.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.20

-The French Government has sent a congratulatory telegram to Captain Philippe, commanding the French force at Timbuctoo, in recognition of his recent services. Three hundred men of the Foreign Legion have received orders to hold themselves in readiness for departure to the French Soudan in case their services should be required.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.21

-A despatch from Mauritius reports that a fearful cyclone devastated Diego Suarez, on the north coast of Madagascar, on the night of Feb. 5. The military and civil buildings were greatly damaged. The hospital, school, clench, market, and warehouses were entirely destroyed. Two-thirds of the houses were overthrown, and the in-habitants were left without shelter.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.22

-It is announced that the German Government has semi-officially requested the Vatican to exert its influence with a view to inducing the Centre party to vote for the Bill ratifying the Russo-German treaty of commerce. The Vatican however, has not received the advances favourably, and will, it is stated, leave the members of the Centro free to vote as they choose.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.23

-Another terrible bomb explosion took place in Paris, the perpetrator being a young man, who was captured while running away. The scene of the explosion was the café of the Hotel Terminus, situated opposite the St. Lazare railway station. The café was crowded at the time, and terrible havoc was wrought by the bomb, one person being killed on the spot and about fifteen others wounded. The perpetrator affirms that anarchist motives prompted him to the deed.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.24

-Brigandage, which has been rapidly spreading of late in many parts of southern Spain, is now assuming especially alarming proportions in the Mancha, the southern portion of the Province of Ciudad Real. The Governors of this province and of the neighbouring Province of Toledo have been ordered by the Minister of the interior to unite the whole of the available gendarmery forces of their two provinces, and to cooperate in a reconnaissance into the Toledo Mountains, with a view of driving out the brigands now infesting them.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.25

-The great wall of China was recently measured by Mr. Unthank, an American engineer engaged on the survey of a Chinese railway. His measurement gave the height 13ft. Every few hundred yards there is a tower 25ft. high. The foundation of the wall is of solid granite. For 1,300 miles the wall goes over plains and mountains, every foot of the foundation being of solid granite, and the rest of the structure solid masonry. In some places the wall is built smooth up against the bank, or crosses a precipice where there is a sheer descent of 1,000ft.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.26

-Dr. Dawson Burns gives some interesting statistics in the Times in relation to the annual drink bill. He says that as between the three kingdoms, the expenditure per head on intoxicating liquors is highest in England, Scotland being second, and Ireland third, the figures being ?3 18s. 5d., ?3 Os. 5d., and ?2 2s. 9d.; but as between the kinds of liquor the expenditure is very unequal. Beer takes ?2 12s. 3rd. from each inhabitant of England, of Scotland 19s. 9d., and of Ireland 15s. 7d. With regard to ardent spirits it is different, England paying 18s. 5d. per head, Scotland ?1 14s. 2., and Ireland ?1 1s. 5d.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.27

-A terrific blizzard, which is said to be more severe than any during the last ten years, is reported from all parts of the Central States of North America. Property has been destroyed to the extent of millions of dollars, and scores or lives have been sacrificed to the storm and the cold. In Oklahoma the effects of the blizzard were most severely felt, owing to the unprotected state of the inhabitants, many of whom were living in tents or rude huts. One hundred persons are estimated to have perished there, and many other deaths are reported from neighbouring States. The loss of live stock is almost unprecedented.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.28

-A statistician has calculated that a week’s work in Birmingham comprises among its various results, the fabrication of 11,000,000 pens, 6,000 bedsteads, 7,000 guns, 300,000,000 cut nails, 1,000,000 buttons, 1,000 paddles, 5,000,000 copper or bronze coins, 20,000 spectacles, 6 tons of papier mach? wares, over ?30,000 worth of jewellery, 4,000 miles of iron and steel wire, 10 tons of pins, 5 tons of half pins and hooks and eyes, 130,000 gross of screws for woodwork, 500 tons of nuts and screw bolts and spikes, 50 tons of wrought-iron hinges, 350 miles of wax for vestal, 40 tons of refined metal, 40 tons of German silver, 1,000 dozen fenders, 1,500 bellows, 800 tons of brass and copper wares, to say nothing of the myriad other articles, such as pianofortes., reed organs, fog horns and signals, ammunition of all kinds, cylinder castings, perambulators, wheels, axles, railway carriages and waggons, safes, locks, etc.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 126.29

“What Doubt Is” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

What Doubt Is.-Doubt is the difficulty which men find in the attempt to make the Scriptures harmonise with their ideas and experience. For instance, we read that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. But some one says that he has not experienced all blessings, and so he doubts the statement. In order, however, to seem to avoid the reputation of unbelief, he will declare that he believes the thing that the text may mean, but that it does not mean what it says. Another reads “the seventh day is the Sabbath;” but he has not been accustomed to observe that day, and he cannot make it harmonise with his plans and convenience, and so he straightway begins to doubt the statement. He, too, declares that it does not mean what it says. Doubt arises simply from the unwillingness of men to have their lives transformed, and fashioned after the Divine plan.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.1

“Board School ‘Bible Teaching’” The Present Truth 10, 8.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

For the benefit of those who think that there is no possible hope for the salvation of children unless they are taught religion in the Board Schools, we give two incidents that have come under our immediate notice, so that they may see the kind of “religion” that is sometimes taught.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.2

One teacher was giving a lesson on the days of the week. Having elicited from the pupils the fact that Tuesday is the third day of the week, she asked, “Which do we keep as the Sabbath?” The reply was, “Sunday.” On being asked what day of the week that is, the children replied that it is the first day of the week. Then the teacher continued, “But the Bible says that the seventh day is the Sabbath; why do we not keep that day?” The children very naturally could see no reason for not doing as the Bible commands, and so the teacher informed them that although the Bible tells us to keep the seventh day, “we” keep the first day instead, because Christ rose from the dead on that day.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.3

It is not likely that any member of the Board, whether in favour of “compromise,” or zealous for denominational teaching, would find any fault with the above. And that shows what they mean by desiring to have the Bible taught in the Board Schools. The last thing in the world that they desire, is to have the Bible really taught. If that teacher should teach the Bible just as it reads, in the matter of the Sabbath, and in many other things as well, she would not be able to keep her position.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.4

In the above instance the Bible was squarely ignored. The teacher set forth the undeniable fact that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and then gave the children to understand that it makes no difference what the Bible says, if people choose to do differently. And this is called Bible teaching!PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.5

The other instance illustrates another phase of so-called “Bible teaching.” The lesson for the day was indeed the eighteenth chapter of Genesis, which begins thus: “And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre; and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.” The teacher proceeded to draw on her imagination after this fashion: “Abraham was sitting in his tent door in the evening, resting himself after his hard day’s work, and I suppose he was smoking a long pipe to refresh himself; don’t you?”!!!PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.6

Ignoring the statement that it was “in the heat of the day,” the teacher allowed her “warm, ungoverned imagination” to picture the scene as evening; and then, to cap the climax, pictured Abraham, the patriarch and prophet, “the friend of God,” smoking a long pipe! Here her imagination seemed to fail her, for she did not represent him as hospitably offering pipes to his heavenly visitors, so that they might refresh themselves after their journey.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.7

Here we have an illustration of the two most common methods of “Bible teaching.” One is to contradict the Scripture statement, or to teach that it is of no importance, and the other is to read a text, and then soar into the realms of fancy. Perhaps some people may think that it is better to have the Bible “taught” in that way, than that the children should have no “Bible instruction;” but we most emphatically dissent. We think that all who regard the Bible as the sacred word of the living God, will agree with us that it is better to leave the soil of the mind free, than to cumber it with such stuff.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.8

“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.” Proverbs 30:5, 6.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.9

In the foregoing we have looked at the matter only from the Bible point of view. We have not said anything about the impropriety of leading the children to think that smoking is both decent and helpful, nor the wickedness of making the Bible appear to sanction the pernicious and degrading habit. Of course the children, as well as grown people, take the imaginings of their Bible teachers as being Bible truths.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.10

It is worthwhile, also, to note how indulging one’s fancy in regard to the Bible, is at the expense of other things as well. In this instance the teacher’s fancy led her wholly to ignore the fact that tobacco is a native of America, and was unknown to the Eastern Continent until about three hundred years ago. “Civilsation” is indebted to barbarism for the tobacco habit. The following facts are taken from the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” art. “Tobacco“:—PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.11

Although the fact has been controverted, there cannot be a doubt that the knowledge of tobacco and its uses came to the rest of the world from America. In November, 1492, a party sent out by Columbus from the vessels of its first expedition to explore the island of Cuba, brought back the information that they had seen people who carried a lighted firebrand to kindle fire, and perfumed themselves with certain herbs which they carried along with them.... The practice of tobacco-chewing was first seen by the Spaniards on the coast of South America in 1502.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.12

While the plant came to Europe through Spain, the habit of smoking it was initiated and spread through English example. Ralph Lane, the first governor of Virginia, and Sir Francis Drake, brought with them in 1586, from that first American possession of the English crown, the implements and materials of tobacco smoking, which they handed over to Sir Walter Raleigh. Lane is credited with having been the first English smoker, and through the influence and example of the illustrious Raleigh, who “tooke a pipe of tobacco a little before he went to the scaffolde,” the habit became rooted among Elizabethan courtiers. During the 17th century the indulgence in tobacco spread with marvellous rapidity throughout nations.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.13

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This is a truth that is not very much regarded; but it is a fact that the ignoring of strict Bible truth is a sure way to foolishness in general matters.PTUK February 22, 1894, page 128.14