There are two questions that one naturally wishes to have answered when reading this text, namely, What mourners shall be comforted? and When shall they be comforted?PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.2

Note the fact that the promise is unlimited. Christ said that He was sent “to comfort all that mourn.” Isaiah 61:2. God is no respecter of persons; He does not single out special cases to be the recipients of His grace. This promise is for every mourner.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.3

The first and most natural thought suggested by the word “mourn” is of sorrow caused by affliction and bereavement. That the Lord comforts such mourners, is shown by His whole earthly life, and especially manifest in the case of the widow of Nain, and at the grave of Lazarus. He has comfort for every manner of grief.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.4

But death is a result of sin. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” Romans 5:12. “The sting of death is sin.” 1 Corinthians 15:56. If it were not for sin, there would be no mourning. Therefore the Lord specially comforts those who mourn for their sins.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.5

One thing, however, is necessary, and that is that the mourners should know this promise. It is self evident that in order to be comforted one must know where comfort is to be obtained. The mourner must believe this promise of the Lord, and become acquainted with Him through it. There is absolutely no limit to the promise, and no other qualification than that the mourner should believe and know the Lord. Whoever accepts the word of the Lord in good faith shall be comforted, no matter for what he mourns.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.6

When shall they be comforted? Let the Scriptures answer: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.7

Whoever is afflicted for any cause whatever, may know if he will that he is afflicted with Christ. “In all their afflictions He was afflicted.” Isaiah 63:9. Even though the affliction be directly because of sin, we may have the same assurance for we are told, “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted,” and, “for the transgression of My people was He stricken.” Isaiah 53:7, 8. That thought alone that Christ bears with us the burden of grief or temptation, is enough to make it light. Because it draws our minds away from ourselves.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.8

But Christ cannot be divided. The one who has Christ has Him for all that there is in Him. Therefore if our faith grasps Him in His sufferings,—that is, if we remember that “He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” so that we bear them only in Him,—then it is most certain that we shall have at the same time all the comfort there is in Him. As “the joy that was set before Him” enabled Him to endure the cross, and despise the shame, so the joy that there is in Him enables us to rejoice in tribulation.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.9

“God With Us” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The presence of God with His people is signified by the very name of the Saviour-Immanuel-which means, God with us. He is their strength, their wisdom, and their righteousness. They are His dwelling-place, and He is theirs. 2 Corinthians 6:16; Psalm 90:1. Those who know not this truth know not the Lord.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.10

In ancient times God gave a visible manifestation of His presence with Israel. He went before them in the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, which was to them an aid, a comfort, and a protection. And in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary, there remained always the visible token of His presence, in the brightness above the mercy seat.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.11

All this was but the visible manifestation of what was true before, and has been true ever since it was given; namely, that God was with His people, not merely by a figure of speech, but actually, dwelling in their midst, and giving them aid, comfort, and protection from their enemies. It is as true to-day as it was in the days of Moses.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.12

When the servant of Elisha was afraid because of the army of the Syrians that had come against the prophet, Elisha prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of his servant, and this being done, he saw that “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:17. This was no sudden interposition on the part of God to save Elisha from the king of Syria. Had the servant’s eyes been “opened” at any other time, he would have seen the same thing; and we, had we like power of discernment, would see to-day the host of God surrounding each of His saints. “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” Psalm 24:7.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 193.13

When Elisha’s servants saw the horses and chariots of fire round about them, he was not afraid of the host of the Syrians; he would not have feared any earthly power that could have come against them. And for the same reason precisely, the servants of God do not fear the opposition of any earthly power to-day. If we fear the Lord, we cannot fear man. Though we cannot see the angel of the Lord encamped round about us, we know that He is there, just as He was about Elisha. We know it by faith; faith is the Christian’s sight. By faith we know a thing to be true when God has said it, just as certainly as if it were visible to our natural eyes.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.1

God is the majority; His side is the side of numbers and of power, as well as of truth and right. And only as we lack faith, so that we fail to see this clearly, can we have any fear of the forces arrayed against us.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.2

The wicked, because they have not faith, see this not, and count their side the strong one. They know not the source of the Christian’s peace, courage, and joy, when he seems about to be swallowed up by his enemies. It is the Word of God, which he has received by faith, and has hid in his heart. Like Moses when he was threatened with the wrath of Pharaoh, he endures “as seeing Him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27. Faith does for him what the Divine touch did for Elisha’s servant; it enables him to know, just as if he saw it, that the host of the Lord is round about him to deliver him. And so, in the very presence of his enemies, he says, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and My song; He also is become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.3

“Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Isaiah 12:6; Psalm 46:11.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.4

“Confessions of a Politician” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

It is a sorry confession which Prince Bismarck has to make after his life-long service as a politician and ruler of men. He is one of the most conspicuous figures of the generation, and has tested all that can well come to a man in the way of honours and position and the laurels which the world can give. And this is what he recently said of it all:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.5

I have seldom been a happy man. If I reckon up the rare moments of real happiness in my life I do not believe they would make more than twenty-four hours in all. In my political life I have never had time to have the feeling of happiness. It was continuous fighting and wrestling, and when any success was achieved then the anxiety not to lose it again, and to find out how to turn it to the best advantage instantly cropped up. But in my private life there have been moments of happiness.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.6

The world is a hard paymaster, and the hollowness of it all when fame and what is called success is achieved is strikingly shown by the confessions of the aged statesman. Of the “necessities” of the statesman we read again:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.7

In my diplomatic work I also endeavoured to speak the truth, but circumstances sometimes compelled us both [the late Emperor William and himself] to deviate from the truth a little in public. But how hard that always was for the old Emperor! He always blushed on such occasions and I-could not look at him, and so I quickly turned away.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.8

“It Shuts Every Mouth” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The person who says that the law of God is abolished, or that it speaks only to Jews after the flesh, or who advances some other plea to justify disobedience to it, does not require an argument. The law of God is its own argument; for the law was not only spoken by God in a voice that “shook the earth,” but it is a living word and now speaks with a voice which makes every sinful heart tremble. That is why men seek to put it away.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.9

The proof of this is in the Word. The law of God speaks “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Romans 3:19. God’s purposes are not turned aside, and so we know that every man becomes guilty before God whenever he is brought face to face with the law of God. He may not acknowledge it, but he knows it, for God says it, and the only thing to do is to leave him to listen to the Spirit which convicts. Everyone knows by his own experience that the law is a living thing, discerning even the thoughts and intents of the heart. Therefore it is that in the day of judgment every secret thing will be brought to light. The only place of safety is in Christ Jesus-His power and life working in us to cleanse from transgression and bring into subjection our wicked hearts. Knowing this way of escape, the believer can only urge men to seek the refuge provided. As to the need of the refuge we need not argue with men; for the law of God shuts every mouth and makes every man guilty before God.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.10

“Hynoptism” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Hypnotism is being widely discussed just now, and in view of its possibilities very many think it should be scientifically studied and its use regulated by law. Great things are predicted for it in the cure of certain forms of disease.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.11

Some of its possibilities have been brought out in recent years in unsavory proceedings in European criminal courts. But this use of mysterious power, its defenders say, should be prevented. This is just where they miss the mark, because of the failure to see that what is inherently wicked cannot be turned to good account, and should be left alone.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.12

It is a wicked thing, because whatever makes one person’s will irresponsible, and wholly subject to the suggestions of another can only be of the evil one. It is the worst possible form of slavery; for it is servitude of mind and morals. It is Satan’s own way of working; for He takes possession of the mind that yields itself to him and works to enfeeble the will, and destroy the power of resistance. He works his will in man, and “they know not what they do.”PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.13

Then, too, hypnotism, or mesmerism is not a new thing. Its arts were known to the ancients, and the practice of mesmerism was connected with all the forms of witchcraft and sorcery against which the Lord warned Israel in all its history. Of course men who do not know the power with which they are allying themselves scoff at the notion that hypnotism is of the devil. In the Humanitarian, Dr. G. Kingsbury has an article advocating the use of hypnotism as a curative agent, and which he says, after speaking of those who a generation ago objected to it on the ground that it was of the devil:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.14

I consider it hopeless to suggest any means of answering the descendants of these unreasoning critics; but, for my own part, must say that if I could be cured of some obstinate ailment myself, or could relieve any of my patients, by a compact with their Prince of Darkness, I should not hesitate to form the alliance.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 194.15

It is by no means an improbable suggestion that persons may be relieved of maladies by the power of Satan. He works with “all power and signs and lying wonders” as the end draws near. The healing of maladies was one of the attractions of the old pagan shrine. It was Satan who had bound the woman whom Christ healed; and he it is who has the power to inflict pestilence and disease (note the case of Job) where the Lord does not interfere with his workings; therefore, while he has not the power of life, it would be a small matter with him to relax the bands which he had power to bind about his victim.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.1

Would you want to be healed by Satan’s power? Would you ask who did it if only a physical infirmity was removed? Although Satan can appear as an angel of light, it is well to remember that his works are works of darkness. Satan does not give a man increased strength to enable him to do good with it. He is not divided against himself; and the man who knowingly yields himself to Satan to get something has put his life in the hands of the evil one, and must pay the price by his service. Infinitely better is it to suffer patiently than to turn from the Lord to receive temporal gain and spiritual bondage from the great adversary.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.2

“Preparing War” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The rapid growth of militarism as plainly seen on the continent of Europe, was brought home to us last week in the discussion of the army and navy estimates in the Commons. The Chronicle has stated the facts in a paragraph. After saying that it considers the protests against the large increase of military expenditure neither ill-timed nor without justification, it continues:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.3

“On the contrary, it seems to us that if ever the party of economy ought to make a stand, it is in a year when, taking the amount required for the defence of all parts of the empire, we are approaching an outlay of nearly sixty millions. Ten years ago this enormous sum would have affrighted politicians of all types, and would have seemed beyond the wildest estimate of the military and naval needs of our dominions. Moreover, we cannot but feel the weight of Sir Wilfrd Lawson’s warning that these gigantic preparations are going on without any compensating movement in the interests of peace. We talk with a certain easy cant of the virtues of arbitration. What step are we taking in that direction? None whatever. European statesmen wait for us as the Power which is supposed to be pre-eminently industrial and anti-warlike. We, in our turn, wait for European statesmen. In the meantime Italy struggles with bankruptcy, induced purely by her military and naval responsibilities. Russia and Germany are crushed by militarism. France exists mainly for the sake of her army, while as a naval Power she is in close and constant competition with ourselves. That is the spectacle of Christian Europe nearly nineteen hundred years after the birth of the Prince of Peace.”PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.4

“The Real Question” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

When people take their stand to live in harmony with the word of God, even though opposed by popular customs and beliefs, and by the law of the land, they are often ask, What can you do? And because of the evident hopelessness of the prospect for such a change, they seem to consider themselves justified in disregarding the Divine Word, as if it were either impossible or useless to do otherwise while a contrary attitude is sustained by the majority.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.5

This, however, is not the question to be considered. The truth of God does not concern itself with questions of this kind. God never conducts a work of reform in the earth with any reference to the practicability of gaining the “support” of popular customs and beliefs, and the alliance of human law.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.6

His work does not need any such support, and Christians cannot expect any such change to take place. It is God who supports the world, and all living things therein; and therefore no power of men can give any support to Him, any more than a child in the arms of its father can support that father.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.7

Christians cannot change the laws, customs and governments of the world. They can do nothing. They know this; and it is for that very reason that they do not hesitate to take their stand on the word of God, though all the powers of earth may be arrayed against them. If they thought otherwise-if they believed there was some saving power in the arm of flesh-they would seek first to gain that power by the usual means through which it is obtained. But the Christian belief is God’s word, and that word says, “We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Philippians 3:3. It also says, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in whom there is no help.” Psalm 146:3. Put confidence in God-no confidence in the flesh-this is the very essence of the Christian’s faith; and by that faith he lives.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.8

The real question is: What are we going to do? It is not a question of governments, organisations, or majorities, but for individuals. God does not speak to organisations. He does not purpose to save governments or corporations. He speaks to individuals, separately and alone, without reference to any other person or thing. And He is now speaking to you, and declaring to the world His eternal truth. Do you imagine yourself outside the controversy, in the position of a mere spectator? If so, be warned in time; there is no such position, and that which seems so is a delusion and a snare. The work of God, the truth of God, concern no one more than it does you. He has spoken His word. He is causing it to be proclaimed throughout the earth; and He calls on all men equally to hear and obey it that they may live for ever. And the question-the only question-is, What are you going to do?PTUK March 28, 1895, page 195.9

“Forgiveness” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

A refusal to forgive one who has trespassed against us, harms not him, but only ourselves. To forgive an injury is simply to let it drop, and this should be our course toward every thing that is bad. “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” Romans 12:9.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.1

Not to forgive the injury is to hold it fast, and to cleave to that which is evil. It is to apply a power and a right in ourselves which we do not possess,—namely, that of dealing with sin. When we surrender the matter we leave it in the hands of God, to be dealt with by Him. When we refuse to surrender it, we imply that we wish to deal with it ourselves. But man cannot deal with sin. The more he has to do with it, the worse off he is. Sin is the conqueror of man, and can be subdued only by the power of God.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.2

The Saviour said: “Take heed to yourselves; if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.” Luke 17:3, 4. “If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” He will not do it because He cannot. The unforgiving person will not let Him. He puts himself in the place of God by refusing to let the trespass against him be dealt with by God, and thus takes himself out of the only position in which God can bestow upon fallen man the gift of eternal life. He who will not forgive his brother is not taking heed to himself. He is cherishing a viper in his bosom which will give him at last a fatal sting.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.3

“Obtaining Grace” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Catholic Times describes “a very efficacious means of obtaining graces both spiritual and temporal,” which is recommended by a French Catholic. “It consists,” says the Times, “in a new devotion to the great Franciscan wonder-worker St. Anthony of Padua. Those who wish to obtain graces from St. Anthony must promise him bread for the poor, which he only gets if he grants the grace that has been asked. One must promise him so many loaves of white bread, or so much in money for bread, every one promising according to their means.” This seems to have the merit of being a very safe commercial enterprise. No favours, no bread. But what the “saint,” who died several hundred years ago, can want of bread, the non-Catholic mind is unable to make out.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.4

“How to Get to Rome” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Last month Lord Halifax, President of the English Church Union, delivered a lengthy address before the Bristol branch of that body, which was published in full in the Church Times of Feb. 15. It occupied four pages of that paper, and was thus editorially commended:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.5

We make no apology for occupying our columns with so full a statement. The subject is too important for that. All we would suggest is that it should be read, and the subject given careful consideration by every thoughtful and earnest Churchman.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.6

Although Lord Halifax is only a “layman,” his position as President of the E.C.U., and the prominence which it gives his address, make his words quite significant of the growing sentiment in the Church of England. After having spoken of the central position that Rome occupied in the early centuries, he said:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.7

In the case of England it was the source from which our Saxon forefathers derived there Christianity. It was to a Bishop of Rome-one of the greatest of the Popes-that the conversion of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers was due. St. Augustine was the apostle of England, and it is to St. Gregory the Great that we owe his mission to our shores. Canterbury was the daughter of Rome.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.8

This of course is simply the statement of a well-known fact, but it figures largely in the argument. The fact that England was originally Catholic is advanced as the strong reason why it ought still to be Catholic, although we cannot see why that follows any more than that it ought to be heathen, since it was even before it was Catholic.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.9

We pass by nearly half of the address, which treats of the break between England and Rome, and come to the consideration ofPTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.10

PRESENT RELATIONS WITH ROME

Lord Halifax says:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.11

Surely there is no one, if he thinks what it would be to see the Western Church once more reunited, her schisms healed, and peace once more existing amongst her members, but must long for the day when the Church of England, our own branch of the Church which we love so well, should again be united in bonds of visible communion with the Apostolic See and all the churches of the West. What would we not give to be able to make our confessions and our communions abroad as we do at home! Who can endure the sense of being separated from those with whom in all essentials of belief and sentiment we are one? And why should we not see the day of such a happy reconciliation? It was never the intention of the Church of England to depart from the rest of the Catholic Church. What is there which should make her desire to remain in her present isolation, which should make such a renewal of her ancient relations with Rome impossible? She counts herself a portion of the visible church, estranged rather than divided from the rest of Catholic Christendom. Her articles expressly assert the authority of the universal church in controversies of faith, and in the institution of rites and ceremonies; while in her canons she has given to her clergy the proper key for interpreting her Articles, by ordering them to be understood and explained only in a sense conformable to the teaching of the Catholic Fathers and Doctors of the undivided church. Some of her most eminent bishops and divines have in a continuous chain ever since the separation in the 16th century yearned for the restoration of unity, and have laboured for that blessed result.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.12

The matter ofPTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.13

PAPAL INFALLIBILITY

is of course one of the chief obstacles to union between the two bodies; but Lord Halifax sees a way over it. He proceeds:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.14

Even in regard to the Vatican Council it appears not impossible that mistakes and exaggerations as to its scope and consequences may have been made, and that as time goes on explanations will emerge which may make the difficulties it seems to involve less than they have sometimes appeared. It is certain that the explanations given by Bishop Fessler, the Secretary of the Council, with the approbation of the Pope, were by no means such as some who had pressed for the definition approved. If by papal infallibility it is only meant that the Pope is infallible when acting as the head of the whole church, and expressing the mind of the church, and after taking all the legitimate and usual means for ascertaining that mind, in determining which, the authority and witness of the bishops, as representing their respective churches, must be paramount, and then only in regard to the substances of the deposit handed down from Christ and His apostles, it would seem that the difficulty of a possible agreement is not so insuperable as it has been sometimes represented.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.15

The situation is fully summed up in the following words:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.16

Let me recapitulate our position again. It is essential there should be no mistake about it. In the words of the recent writer, which leave nothing to be desired, We wish for union with Rome; we wish for nothing so much, but such a desire on our part involves nothing inconsistent with a sincere and loyal allegiance to the Anglican communion. We are convinced on the one hand that there is nothing whatever in the authoritative documents of the English Church which, apart from the traditional glosses of a practical Protestantism, contains anything essentially irreconcilable with the doctrines of the Church of Rome. We are indeed members of a body not in communion with the Holy See. We deplore the isolation, and desire to do our best to heal the breach between us. That breach is none of our making.... We have never renounced communion with Rome. There is nothing in the formal teaching of the Church of England which in the last degree implies the desirability of such a separation; on the contrary, it is distinctly repudiated. Priests in Roman orders may minister, members of the Roman communion may communicate, at our altars, we desire from the bottom of our hearts to be allowed to make our confessions to and receive our communions from the hands of the Roman clergy abroad.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.17

Then the steps which the Pope is taking for reunion are referred to as the work of Christ, and the present work of the Church of England is thus set forth:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.18

Meanwhile, on our side the main point we have to insist upon at the present time, is that reunion is to be worked for, prayed for, that the present is an opportunity which, once lost, may never occur again. Do not let us be afraid to speak of the possibility, of the desirability, of a union with Rome. Let us say boldly we desire peace with Rome with all our hearts.... One thing above all others let us do. Let us take the opportunity of the appeal made by the present Encyclical to assure Leo XIII. that we, at least, are grateful for his efforts-that he may rely upon a sympathetic answer to any appeal he may make to the Church of England.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.19

Another speaker at the same meeting said that reunion with Rome must come before anything was done towards reunion with the “separated brethren” at home. They should do all they could to remove existing prejudice, but first of all let them get reunion of all organised Western Christendom, and then they could go out to the various Dissenting bodies, and “with such power that the latter would not be able to resist them.”PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.20

All this applies to a recognised, organic union, and shows that there is a strong sentiment in that direction. Surely the Church of Rome will not longer turn a deaf ear to so pathetic a plea, but will take in the pleaders. But even though the two bodies never became one in name, and Dissenters never formally come back, the real essence of union already exists. And the “separated brethren” also have a short cut to Rome, on a road that will land them there without fail. As an illustration we offer the following extract from a sermon by a clergyman of the American branch of the Church of England. It was preached before the seventeenth annual synod of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., U.S.A., and was printed with the approval of the bishop:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 196.21

It is true that of late years a sect has arisen which seeks to overthrow the Christian Sunday, and substitute, or rather re-establish, the Jewish Sabbath. And it is also true that this sect is rapidly increasing in numbers. The cause is not hard to find. A large number of those who profess and call themselves Christians, have unwisely rallied to the cry of “The Bible and the Bible only, as the religion of Protestants,” and as the change from Saturday to Sunday is neither authorised nor even mentioned in the Bible, they are of course defenceless against the attack of the Sabbatarians. When these advance their arguments, the so-called Bible Christians have nothing to reply, and if they are really consistent, they must leave the denomination to which they belong, and unite with the Sabbatarians. Many of them are doing so; more will certainly follow, and it need not be a matter of surprise if the boundary lines of Protestantism are entirely changed by the attacking forces of this comparatively new sect.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 197.1

But when “the Bible and the Bible only” ceases to be the religion of Protestants, there will be no difference between Catholics and Protestants. Once let it be definitely settled among Protestants that the Bible is not a complete and perfect guide in faith and duty, and there is no escape from either the Papacy or religious anarchy. If the Bible is not sufficient, and human authority must be added to it, or substituted for it, then there must be some man or set of men who will be recognised as the representative of that authority.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 197.2

But, as the clergyman said, men must either keep the Sabbath of the Bible,—the seventh day of the week, or else cease to recognise the Bible as the perfect revelation of God’s will. So that the Sabbath question is the test between Protestantism and Catholicism. Let us put the case sharply in a few simple propositions.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 197.3

1. If the Bible be not acknowledged to be the perfect and only guide in matters of religion, there is no escape from Catholicism, whether the name be taken or not.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 197.4

2. If the Bible be acknowledged as the perfect revelation of God’s will to men, then the Sabbath of the Bible-the seventh day, Saturday-must be kept, since the Bible gives no sanction to Sunday keeping.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 197.5

3. If the Sabbath be rejected, and Sunday clung to in its stead, then the Bible is repudiated as the perfect guide in matters of religion, and the one making such a choice is virtually, if not openly, in the Catholic Church.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 197.6

4. Therefore the truth upon the Sabbath of the Bible is the message by which God calls to those in Babylon, saying, “Come out of her, My people.”PTUK March 28, 1895, page 197.7

Where will you stand? Will you yield wholly to God and His Word? or will you follow the Papacy and tradition?PTUK March 28, 1895, page 197.8

“God Is Love” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Jesus said to Pilate, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” John 18:37. It is for precisely the same end that all other persons have been born into the world; and it is only for this end that existence can be continued to them. They can bear this witness in all the walks and occupations of life; by deeds, even better than by words. They are to bear witness as Christ bore it, and the truth to which they are born to witness is that “God is love.”PTUK March 28, 1895, page 199.1

“About Flowers” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

We begin to get the lessons that the Lord would teach us in plant life only as we recognise the fact that He is indeed the life of every living thing, and that every flower and every blade of grass is instinct with His own life. Then the blossoming plant can speak to us of the Father’s care, and in watching the unfolding of the springing leaf, and the colouring of the petals, we are brought into the direct presence of the working of the life of God. How little can be known of this working, in the imperfection of human knowledge, is thus stated by Sir John Lubbock:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 204.1

“The total number of living species of plants may be roughly estimated at 500,000, and there is not one of which we can say that the structure, uses, and life history that are yet fully known to us. Our museums contain large numbers which botanists have not yet had time to describe and name. Even in our own country not a year passes without some additional plant being discovered; as regards the less known regions of the earth, not half the species have yet been collected.”PTUK March 28, 1895, page 204.2

But the fact can be known. God’s creative power is working all about us, and by that we may know His power to work in us, to clothe us with the beauty of His holiness, even as the beauty of the Lord’s life is manifested in the flower.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 204.3

THE LIFE PLANT

There is a plant in Jamaica called the “life plant,” because it is almost impossible to kill it or any portion of it. When a leaf is cut off and hung up by a string it sends out white, thread-like roots, and begins to grow new leaves. Even when pressed and packed away in a botanist’s herbarium it has been known to outgrow the leaves of the book in which it way placed. The only way to kill it is by the heat of a hot iron or of boiling water.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 204.4

ANCIENT BLOSSOMS

The herbarium of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Gizeh contains specimens of plants several thousand years old. It was the custom to garnish the mummy with leaves and flowers, some of which have preserved their hue to this day. The flowers most frequently met with in the tombs are the lotus (white and blue), wax-like blossoms of the pomegranate, the common red poppy, the crocus, and a chrysanthemum.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 204.5

PRESSED FLOWERS

The discolouration of flowers when preserved and dried as botanical specimens is said to be due to ammonia in the atmosphere. In order to prevent this action, it has recently been recommended, says Chambers’s Journal, to use for pressing absorbent paper which has been baked in a one per cent. solution of oxalic acid, and dried. The use of such paper enables specimens to be preserved with their colours unimpaired.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 204.6

WILD-FLOWER AIR

“Of all sweet things,” wrote Jefferies, “there is none so sweet as fresh air-one great flower it is, drawn round about, over, and enclosing us; as if the dome of the sky were a bell-flower, drooping down over us, and the magical essence of it filling all the room of the earth. Sweetest of all things is wild-flower air.”PTUK March 28, 1895, page 204.7

“News of the Week” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-A storm of locusts, lasting over three hours, was reported recently from Cassablanca, in Morocco. It is feared that the harvest is entirely destroyed.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.1

-The skeleton of a mastodon, eighty feet long and eighteen feet wide, has been recently discovered in South Dakota. One of the teeth was a foot in length.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.2

-A recent survey has established the number of glaciers in the Alps at 1,155, of which 249 have a length of more than four and three-quarter miles.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.3

-Peace negotiations between China and Japan are in progress at Simonoseki, Japan. China has appealed to several European powers to aid in preserving the integrity of China.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.4

-According to letters received at Constantinople from the interior, much anxiety prevails among the Christians at Bitlis, Erzeroum, and Van, owing to the aggressive attitude of the Mussulmans.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.5

-A terrible colliery disaster was reported March 21 from Red Canon, Wyoming, U.S.A., from an explosion of coal dust. Sixty-eight persons who were in the mine are supposed to have been killed.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.6

-There is prospect of serious trouble between Spain and the United States, arising from the action of several Spanish warships in firing upon American vessels off Cuba, one of the latter having been sunk, with a loss of sixteen lives.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.7

-All doubt as to the fate of the Spanish warship Reina Regente was ended March 19, the vessel having been discovered submerged near the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar. Her crew is supposed to have numbered nearly 400 men.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.8

-An explosion of about twenty tons of dynamite took place on the Rhine, close to the Dutch frontier, March 20, resulting in great destruction of property and considerable loss of life. Several vessels were sunk, and every house in the vicinity was destroyed.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.9

-An “Extraordinary Grand Jury” were recently appointed in New York City to investigate alleged police corruption in the western metropolis. Their report has now been given, and contains twenty-five indictments, some of the highest officials being implicated.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.10

-There is war in the Philippine Islands between the Spanish forces and the Mohammedans. A victory for the Spanish troops was reported in Mindanao, March 10, after severe fighting, in which the Mohammedans lost 108 men killed, including the Sultan and his son.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.11

-The general lockout of shoe operatives began March 16, and affects about 200,000 workmen. In Leicester alone the number of persons affected approaches 80,000. Great distress is imminent in the boot and shoe centres, there being an almost complete stagnation of business at those places.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.12

-Snow has been so heavy this year in Sicily that it has ruined the pastures, blocked up the villages and caused many deaths. The places on the mountains have naturally suffered most. The flocks and herds have had to migrate to the plains, and never for many years has such a winter been known on the island.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.13

-Lord Hobhouse has undertaken to push through Parliament a Sunday Bill, which is designed to permit the public delivery on Sundays of scientific lectures and of addresses such as that which was the subject of the well-known Leeds prosecution. The measure is designed to amend slightly the Sunday Act of 1781, but will not affect the ancient Sunday law of Charles II.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.14

-Spain is passing through a governmental crisis, growing out of the wrecking of two newspaper offices by army officers at Madrid, for unfavourable comments concerning military matters. The press and the Supreme Court demanded that the officers should be tried in the civil courts, but the minister of war insisted upon a court martial, and as he would not yield, the Spanish Ministry resigned. A number of duels between officers and journalists are said to be impending.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 206.15

“Back Page” The Present Truth 11, 13.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

It is said that about two hundred-weight of water from St. Winefride’s Well, at Holywell, is posted every day in sealed cans to every part of the country.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.1

Our publishers last week booked orders for over three tons of books to be shipped to Australia. Other evidences of the progress of the work in Australasia are furnished by the Bible Echo, of Melbourne, which comes to us every week.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.2

An article in this number makes extended quotations from Viscount Halifax, President of the English Church Union, on corporate reunion with Rome. Last week Lord Halifax arrived in Rome to confer with the Pope about reunion.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.3

Last week’s PRESENT TRUTH contained the Factory Inspector’s letter calling for the payment of the fines imposed for labouring on Sunday, and stating that if they were not paid by the 19th, steps would be taken to enforce payment. The Times of the 21st states that on the preceding day the Inspector applied at the Clerkenwell Court for a distress warrant, and that the application was granted. Possibly we may be able to record its execution, in our next issue.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.4

The following statement by the Methodist Times, concerning the late Dr. Dale, is one of the best tributes that we have seen to the memory of that minister. It is a sad fact, however, that it is an unconscious tribute. The fact that among professed Protestants such a position on the relation of Church and State is now quite generally regarded as a “fatal delusion,” is one of the strongest evidences of the practical union that already exists between Protestantism and the Papacy.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.5

He was so possessed with the fatal Dissenting delusion of the middle of the present century-that the State as such has nothing whatever to do with religion-that he both favoured secular education in day schools and asserted that the Christian Churches as such had nothing to do with the better government either of cities or of kingdoms. When a Nonconformist Council was formed for Birmingham, he stood absolutely alone in resisting the proposal to combine the forces that make for righteousness in the promotion of higher municipal ideals.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.6

There closed in the United States this month an international Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Delegates were present from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and the islands of the South Seas, and from all parts of the States and Canada. The reports of the proceedings indicate a most interesting and profitable Conference, the time being devoted to counsels regarding the carrying on of the work, and to Bible study.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.7

The Conference made provision for beginning work in a number of fields where hitherto little or nothing has been done by this Society, as New Guinea, the Upper Zambesia, East Africa, and the Fiji Islands. Other fields are left to be supplied with workers by the Board of Foreign Missions appointed by the Conference. Additional labourers were sent to strengthen the working force in such places as Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Trinidad, Argentina, British Guiana, Australasia, West Africa, Hawaiian Islands; and other fields were considered which are to be supplied at an early date. Thus the work broadens every year, and we rejoice at the progress of the Word of the Lord in the earth.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.8

The Pope is very solicitous concerning the social question-in Protestant countries. There is a large field for his “burning zeal” for the improvement of the masses to make itself felt in such countries as Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. The fact that he does nothing for them in comparison with his manifestations of solicitude for England, Germany, and the United States, affords the best evidence of the nature of the goal of social perfection at which he aims.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.9

In the Church Times we find the following “argument” for infant baptism: “Lydia probably, being a rich lady, would have had many infants in her household, which must have consisted of scores of slaves.” This recalls the story of the discussion of this subject by a Baptist and a Presbyterian, in which the latter based his “argument” for infant baptism upon Lydia’s infants. “You are mistaken,” said the Baptist, “Lydia’s youngest daughter was eighteen years old when her mother received the Gospel.” The Presbyterian taken aback by the confident tone of the assertion, asked in astonishment, “How do you know that?” “I know it,” rejoined the other, “in the same way that you know that she had any children at all: I guessed it.” The rejoinder was sufficient to show the absurdity of the so-called “argument” for infant baptism, and that was all it was designed for. The only subjects for baptism are indicated in our Saviour’s words, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Whosoever is old enough to believe, is old enough to be baptized, and they alone are fit for the ordinance.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.10

The religious world is not so much disturbed in this day by infidelity in the Church and even in the pulpit, as by the nonconformity of some people to Church customs and traditions. A person may deny the very cardinal doctrines of Christianity, as revealed in the Word of God, and still be accounted as belonging to come “branch” of the church of Christ; but let him deny some Church tradition not found in that Word and not upheld by it, and he at once meets with scorn and opposition.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.11

While English Church Union is openly pressing a scheme for reunion of the Anglican Church with Rome, the Bishops of the Church of England are silent. The English Churchman says:—PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.12

The ominous silence of the Episcopal Bench, as a body, on the subject of the new and, indeed, epoch-making departure of the E.C.U., is giving rise to a fear in the public mind less the prelates themselves should be in favour of the pro-Roman policy of Lord Halifax and his followers. This fear is, no doubt, strengthened by the fact that for years past episcopal patronage has been lavished on prominent members of the Union as a solidarity fairly representative of the Church of England.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.13

There is a movement on foot to prohibit the sale of tobacco to persons under sixteen years of age. Of course so arbitrary a measure could never be enforced, even if it were adopted, although most smokers would doubtless favour it theoretically. Those who use the weed admit that it is injurious to boys, although no one has shown what subtle change occurs in the human constitution at the age of sixteen, which makes it henceforth impervious to the effects of poison. One thing is certain, and that is that a man who uses tobacco can never have any influence in preventing its use by lads.PTUK March 28, 1895, page 208.14

March 21, 1895

April 4, 1895