A Labour Platform.—“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with I might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:10.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 545.1

No Idlers.-The Lord called no idlers into His work when He chose His disciples. He took, so far as the record goes, men from active work-fishing, repairing nets, sitting at the receipt of custom-all doing just what their hands found to do, and not waiting for some excuse for dropping laborious tasks.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 545.2

Glorifying God.—“Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. This shuts out every wrong employment or practice; for God cannot be glorified by that which wrongs any man. But the blessed lesson of these words is that every duty that comes to hand, working in the fields, the shop, at the desk, or in the kitchen may be done to God’s glory, and He is glorified in the doing of it.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 545.3

The Lord the Master.-When we remember this the most monotonous and irksome tasks cease to be commonplace. And those who patiently suffer wrong and are deprived of reasonable reward for services rendered may look joyfully forward to the grand day of settlement. Therefore, “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; and there is no respect of persons.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 545.4

“‘We Have No King But Cesar’” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

When Jesus was before Pilate, on trial for His life, there was a great question before the people for their decision. They thought that they were deciding whether or not Jesus should live. But that was a mistake. With that they had nothing to do. Jesus had come down from heaven for the sole purpose of giving His life for man, as a voluntary offering. He had said, “I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.” John 10:17, 18. He Himself was life, even everlasting life, because He was the truth, which is eternal.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 545.5

Therefore the people were not settling the question whether or not Jesus should live. That He should live, even though put to death, was a settled fact, beyond the power of man or demons to alter. There was a far different question before the people that day, and that was, whether or not they would accept Jesus, even in His humiliation, as their King, and so share His eternal life. It was a question of service; a question of whom they would acknowledge as their king.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 545.6

The thing for which Jesus was tried was for claiming to be a king. The first recorded question that Pilate put to Jesus was “Art Thou the King of the Jews?” Jesus at first did not answer directly, but after putting a question to Pilate, said, “My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, then I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence.” This was a direct claim that He was a King; for if He had a kingdom, as He here declared, He must be a King. Pilate so understood it, for he asked again, “Art Thou a King then?” Jesus answered, “Thou sayest that I am a King.” Most versions give it as indicated in the margin of the Revised Version, “Thou sayest it, for I am a King.” John 18:33-37.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 545.7

Things are not always what they seemed outwardly. Pilate thought that he was trying a man for his life; in reality he was himself on trial, to see whom he would accept as king. He was not only convinced that Jesus was an innocent man, but the words of Jesus had produced in him the conviction that He was more than a mere man; that He was from above, and not from earth. Therefore he was strongly inclined to let Jesus go. He was even “determined to let Him go.” Acts 3:13. But the Jews cried out, “If thou let this man go, thou art not C?sar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against C?sar.” John 19:12. “When therefore Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat,” and delivered Him up to be crucified. He had made the decision. He chose C?sar, and rejected Christ.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 545.8

But the people, as well as Pilate, were on trial, and they, as well as he, were to render the verdict upon themselves. When Pilate brought Jesus out to them, and said, “Behold your King,” they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him,” and when Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” they answered, “We have no king but C?sar.” John 19:14, 15. It was not for them to decide the fate either of Christ or C?sar; but in deciding which of the two they would accept as their king, they decided whose fortunes they would share.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.1

Every man, from the greatest king to the humblest peasant, has this same question to decide. As C?sar was ruler over the whole world, so he stands for the world; for earthly governments as against the Government of God; for the principles of the world, as against the principles of God.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.2

When Christ declared that He was a King, He added, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice.” John 18:37. The acceptance of Christ as King, therefore, consists in acknowledging and excepting the truth.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.3

The question then is between truth, and error. Truth is of God; for Christ is of God, and Christ is the truth. He is the Son of God, and “the Son abideth ever.” The world is directly opposed to God. “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:15-17.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.4

As men decide for the world or for the truth, so will their fate be. He that decides for the truth does not add anything to it, for it will abide for ever, whatever his decision may be. He simply places himself under its protection, to abide for ever with it. He who decides against the truth, and for the world, does not injure the truth in the least, but condemns himself to the ruin to which the world is already doomed.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.5

In nothing is this decision for C?sar and against the truth more plainly manifested than in the Sunday question. On all sides professed Christian people are calling for stricter Sunday laws, and the more strict enforcement of those that already exist. The mere fact of appealing to the State to “protect” Sunday is a tacit acknowledgment that it is not the Lord’s day, because He is able to protect His own. In this appeal, therefore, we have the echo of the cry, “We have no king but C?sar.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.6

Then there comes a case into court, in which people are declared “guilty” for being loyal to the fourth commandment. Officers and judge will agree that it is a case of human law against Divine law, but add, “Here is the Act of Parliament, and we cannot do anything but enforce it.” So they are overpowered by the cry, “If thou let this man go thou art not C?sar’s friend.” The law of the land, they say, must be enforced “right or wrong.” Thus the “god of this world” is acknowledged, and the God of truth is rejected.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.7

The test is coming to the whole world, to both high and low. The Sabbath question is to be the great test of whether or not men will accept the truth. Over the fourth commandment men decide whether they will live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” or whether they will be content with the traditions of men; whether they will follow Christ, or custom and precedent.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.8

Truth is seldom popular. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is not popular. So unpopular is it that to keep it just as God has said, marks people as “peculiar” and “eccentric.” It would be a very easy matter to acknowledge it and keep it “if everybody else would.” But “everybody else” will not, and the test comes in deciding to obey because God has spoken, regardless of what “the people” say, whether they be rulers or ruled.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.9

Christ was not popular. There was no more unpopular being in the land than He was when He stood before Pilate and “witnessed a good confession.” It would have been so easy for Pilate to let Him go, if “the people” had only ceased their clamouring. It would have been so easy for the people to accept Him if any of the rulers or of the Pharisees had accepted Him. And the very people who wonder that men could have been so blind in the case of Jesus in Judea, make the very same mistake that the people did then, when it is the truth of Jesus in England.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.10

Well it is for men that God does not always take them at their word the first time. Though often rejected, He is slow to leave men to themselves. The very men who “denied the Holy One and the Just,” desired a murderer to be granted unto them, afterwards listened to the words, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted,” and many of them accepted the King whom they had before so shamefully rejected. So now the man who has hastily, either through ignorance, or through pressure from without, rendered judgment against the Lord, may still have an opportunity to reconsider his decision.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.11

Consider the question carefully. Remember that truth is none the less truth because it is unpopular. Jesus was none the less King, because He was poor and despised. “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.12

“Bible Study” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

In Deuteronomy 6:5-9 we have directions as to our duty in regard to the Bible. We will quote it in full:—PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.13

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.14

This is a complete model for Bible study. It was not intended to be local, for the Jews merely, but is for all persons, in all time. Not that we are to wear phylacteries as the Jews did; this passage does not command that. The first part explains the last. The Word of God is to be studied and meditated upon so much that it will have a controlling influence over every act that our hands perform. We should work so that all that we do will bear the impress of the Word. Thus it will be for a sign upon our hands. In like manner the forehead stands for the mind, which is to be stored with the truths of God’s Word. They are ever to be before our eyes.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 546.15

But notice especially the command to talk of the Word when we sit in the house, and when we walk by the way, and when we lie down, and when we rise up. How can this be done? Must we carry a Bible with us continually? That would be very inconvenient, and almost impossible. We could not use it while we were at work, nor in the night. The previous expression explains the whole thing: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.” That is the secret of Bible knowledge. The Bible must be studied so carefully that the words will be indelibly fixed in our mind and heart. Then we can meditate upon them wherever we are, or whatever we are doing.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 547.1

“The Two Forces” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Gospel is the power of God, and never while a person or Church has the Gospel will they try to add to its power. To think of God as one whose power may be increased by alliance with the powers of earth is to dethrone Him altogether. Therefore whenever men have turned aside from the persuasive power of the Gospel they have fought against God and the truth.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.1

Mr. Spurgeon truly said of the attempt which the Puritans made, in the days of the Commonwealth, to establish righteousness by force of arms:—PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.2

The fight was won by carnal weapons, and therefore it has to be fought over again in the Lord’s own way, by the sword of the Spirit and the force of conviction. This historical experience should be a warning to us. Let us every one remember that every inch of ground which we gain by other than truthful, persuasive, justifiable force is a yard lost, to be regained at much more cost than would have been required had we distained to fight unfairly. We purchase present success at a fearful price when we tamper with eternal principles.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.3

In these days the ballot-box and the courts are substituted for the Ironsides by which the strongest party ruled in Cromwell’s days. But the principle is the same. As Spurgeon said:—PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.4

In religion it is virtuous to persuade, but vicious to compel. Bribes and fines are ready weapons, but they insure defeat to those who use them. Power can create hypocrites, but persuasion must win converts. The devil deludes many good men into short cuts to success, and these are generally trespasses. The arch-fiend has a cunning way of getting up a cry for casting out devils by Beelzebub, and all with the intent that the aforesaid Beelzebub may have a longer lease of power. Let us be warned by the past, and never do evil that good may come, nor deny any man his right because we fear that he will make a wrong use of it. Laying down the forbidden weapon, let us grasp that which our Captain supplies, and spread the truth by every means in our power.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.5

But it has been when church traditions were contrary to truth, and could not be upheld by appeal to the Word that, in every age since the apostasy, the ruling churches have made use of the power of governments to sustain their position. But every such appeal has left them weaker and more godless, and the end of it all-because, by the Word of prophecy, we know they will continue in the course in which the god of this world is driving them-will be the condition of things described in the first five verses of Revelation eighteen. Who will heed the call that is there given.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.6

“Baptism” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

HOW THE ORDINANCE WAS PERVERTED

The commission which Jesus gave His followers was, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” So the apostles went out preaching the Gospel, and baptizing those that believed; for the believers followed the example of Christ, who was Himself baptized of John in Jordan that He might fulfil all righteousness.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.7

To the believer baptism is a burial with Christ, and a rising to newness of life. Without the living faith which makes the crucifixion and death to sin and the walking in newness of life a fact of experience, there can be no real baptism. As the apostle says, “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” Romans 6:4, 5.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.8

But when the falling away came after apostolic days, the walking in newness of life ceased to be a reality in the great mass of professors, and gradually the “likeness” was lost sight of, so that in the great body of the churches to-day one looks in vain for any likeness of the burial and resurrection of Jesus in the rite which is spoken of as baptism. The late Dean Stanley, who, as a Churchman, certainly had no motive for trying to make out a case against the common practice of the churches, wrote as follows in his “Christian Institutions:”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.9

“For the first thirteen centuries the almost universal practice of Baptism was that of which we read in the New Testament, and which is the very meaning of the word ‘baptize’-that those who were baptized were plunged, submerged, immersed into the water.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.10

Thus the likeness in the mode lingered long after the real signification of the ordinance was lost in the “Catholic” Church; for it is important that it should be remembered, in reading of the perversions of the Gospel in those early times, that the true followers of the primitive faith were found outside of the great system which grew into the Papacy.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.11

As Baptism is the open profession that the individual has yielded up his sins to walk in newness of life, the ordinance is, of necessity, for those only who believe, who are old enough to know what it means to die to self and let the life of Jesus Christ be manifested in them. Of the change which came in this respect Dean Stanley says:—PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.12

“In the apostolic age, and in the three centuries that followed, it is evident that, as a general rule, those who came to baptism came in full age, of their own deliberate choice. We find a few cases of the baptism of children; in the third century we find one case of the baptism of infants. Even amongst Christian households, the instances of Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, Ephrem of Edessa, Augustine, Ambrose, are decisive proofs that it was not only not obligatory but not usual. All these distinguished personages had Christian parents, and yet were not baptized till they reached maturity. The old liturgical service of Baptism was framed for full-grown converts, and is only by considerable adaptation applied to the case of infants. Gradually the practice of baptizing infants spread, and after the fifth century the whole Christian world, East and West, Catholic and Protestant, Episcopal and Presbyterian (with the single exception of the sect of the Baptists before mentioned), have adopted it. Whereas in the early ages, adult baptism was the rule and infant baptism the exception, in later times infant baptism is the rule, and adult baptism the exception.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.13

Like every perversion of the Gospel, the change came in very gradually and naturally. The pagan systems of religion had their “holy water” lustrations, or sprinklings, which were supposed to confer some mystic power of regeneration. As baptism had become but a form for admission into the church in the days of apostasy, the church adopted the pagan idea that the water baptism was the regenerating power.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 548.14

Then as the virtue was attributed to the “consecrated” water it was an easy step to the sprinkling of unbaptized persons upon their dying beds, inasmuch as in the application of the water was supposed to lie the mystic power insuring entrance to heaven. Then the sprinkling of infants was the next natural step; for salvation was made to depend upon the rite, and if the water in the hands of the priest could insure salvation, why risk the eternal loss of the infant? And thus the ordinance, so full of meaning and blessing, was perverted into a rite which became the substitute for faith, rather than the expression of saving faith.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 549.1

A TERRIBLE INDICTMENT

In the quotations Dean Stanley speaks frankly, showing how the prevailing practice is totally unlike that which was Divinely ordained. Some may wonder how the Dean explained the Church’s divergence from the Scriptures in this matter. This is his explanation:—PTUK August 29, 1895, page 549.2

“Beginning in the thirteenth century it [infants sprinkling] has gradually driven the ancient Catholic usage out of the whole of Europe. There is no one who would now wish to go back to the old practice. It followed, no doubt, the example of the apostles and their Master. It had the sanction of the venerable churches of the early ages, and the sacred countries of the East. Baptism by sprinkling was rejected by the whole ancient church (except in the rare case of deathbeds or extreme necessity) has no baptism at all.... It is a striking example of the triumph of common sense and convenience over ancient usage of form and custom. Perhaps no greater change has ever taken place in the outward form of Christian ceremony with such general agreement. It is a larger change even than that which the Roman Catholic Church has made in administering the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper in the bread without the wine. For whilst that was a change that did not affect the thing which was signified, the change from immersion to sprinkling has set aside the most of the apostolic expressions regarding baptism, and has altered the very meaning of the word.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 549.3

The Lord left His example and command, and the Holy Spirit used the word which described the ordinance; but when “the church” adopted and adapted the pagan doctrine and form, it was a triumph of common sense! Daring presumption could have gone no further. It is equivalent to saying-we hesitate to write it-that the Lord had not common sense, and that the church of the apostasy knew better what was needed than the Holy Spirit. But the Word of the Lord stands fast, and now, when His coming draweth near, the Lord is calling men to return to the Word, and to the life of the Word. Men perverted the ordinance when they lost the life. Now as the life is received it will manifest itself in loyal obedience, just as it did when Jesus went down and was baptized of John in Jordan “to fulfil all righteousness.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 549.4

“Christ Not Discouraged” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Behold My servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench; He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth.” Isaiah 43:1-4. This is the work of Christ. What a world of comfort and encouragement there is in the statement of it, especially in the last verse. His work is to set judgment, or righteousness, in the earth. Righteousness can be set in the earth only by putting it into the hearts of men.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 550.1

Christ’s work is to take poor, weak, sinful men, and make righteous beings of them; to clothe them with the righteousness of God. Very poor material He has to work with, and no one knows this better than He. But He shall not fail or be discouraged in this work. He knows how difficult the task is; but knowing man’s sinfulness and hardness of heart, He is not discouraged. Then what occasion is there for being discouraged? If He is not discouraged with His task, need we be? Shall not we gather courage from His courage? We may be of good courage, for He has overcome the world, and in Him we shall do valiantly.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 550.2

“A Father’s Prayers” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

John G. Paton, the devoted missionary to the New Hebrides, was the son of a devout Scotch stocking-weaver. Having toiled at his father’s trade through childhood and early youth, he left the parental roof for Glasgow and the world. His father accompanied him a distance as he set out with all his earthly store tied up in a pocket handkerchief. This is the beautiful account that he gives of that walk with his father. As we read it, we cannot but wish that all boys and girls should leave home with such holy memories:—PTUK August 29, 1895, page 554.1

“My dear father walked with me the last six miles of the way. His counsels and tears and heavenly conversation on that parting journey are as fresh in my heart as if it had been yesterday; and tears are on my cheeks as freely now as then, whenever memory steals me away to the scene. For the last half mile or so we walked on together in almost unbroken silence,—my father, as was often his custom, carrying hat in hand, while his long, flowing yellow hair (then yellow, but in later years white as snow) streamed like a girl’s down his shoulders. His lips kept moving in silent prayers for me, and his tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks for which all speech was vain. We halted on reaching the appointed parting-place; he grasped my hand firmly for a minute in silence, and then solemnly and affectionately said: ‘God bless you, my son! Your father’s God prosper you, and keep you from all evil!”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 554.2

“Unable to say more, his lips kept moving in silent prayer; in tears we embraced and parted. I ran off as fast as I could, and when about to turn a corner in the road where he would lose sight of me, I looked back and saw him still standing with head uncovered where I had left him. Waving my hat in adieu, I was round the corner and out of sight in an instant. But my heart was too full and sore to carry me farther, so I darted into the side of the road and wept for a time. Then rising up cautiously, I climbed the dyke to see if he yet stood where I had left him, and just at that moment caught a glimpse of him climbing the dyke and looking out for me! He did not see me, and after he had gazed eagerly in my direction for awhile, he got down, turned his face towards home, and began to return,—his head still uncovered, and his heart, I felt sure, still risen in prayers for me. I watched through blinding tears till his form faded from my gaze; and then, hastening on my way, vowed deeply and oft by the help of God, to live and act so as never to grieve or dishonour such a father and mother as He had given me.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 554.3

“The appearance of my father when we parted,—his advice, prayers, and tears,—the road, the dyke, the climbing up on it and then walking away, head uncovered, have often, often, all through life, risen vividly before my mind, and do so now while I am writing, as if it had been but an hour ago. In my earlier years particularly, when exposed to many temptations, his parting form rose before me as that of a guardian angel. It is no Pharisaism, but deep gratitude, which makes me here testify that the memory of that scene not only helped, by God’s grace, to keep me pure from the prevailing sins, but also stimulated me in all my studies, that I might not fall short of his hopes, and in all my Christian duties, that I might faithfully follow his shining example.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 555.1

“News of the Week” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-The French press is daily arousing public feeling on the Egyptian question.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.1

-The reports from Macedonia show that the rising is by no mane suppressed.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.2

-Quite a number of the islands along the coast of Scotland are in the property market now.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.3

-Parliament last week discussed the prospective railway from the East Coast to Uganda.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.4

-Of deaths in London at this season infants under one year furnish nearly a third of the number.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.5

-French, English, and Italian forces have recently been punishing native tribes in various parts of Africa.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.6

-Since the outbreak of cholera in Japan 25,000 cases have occurred, and of these 16,000 have terminated fatally.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.7

-The situation in Russia among the peasantry and the artisan population is said to be verging on revolution. Restlessness and discontent prevail.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.8

-The reports from China indicate that lawlessness is spreading in the inland districts, and many native Christians are being hunted from their homes.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.9

-Round about Foochow the people are reported to be parading, the streets with cries of “Drive out the foreign devils.” In China this is doubtless called patriotism.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.10

-The usual South American election seems in progress in Ecuador. The two parties are at war, and one day reports come of the defeat of the Government troops, and the next day of the defeat of opposition troops.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.11

-The estimated population of the earth, according to the latest statistics, is 1,800 millions, distributed as follows, the figures standing for millions; Europe, 381; Africa, 127; Asia, 354; Australasia, 5; America, 183.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.12

-Earthquake shocks, mostly slight ones, have been reported from widely separated regions nearly every day. In Southern Europe, South America, New Zealand, and the East the occasional quakings remind us that the things of earth are not so firmly established as many think who put their trust in them.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.13

-The East Coast and the West Coast railways to Scotland are engaging in rivalry to see which can land passengers from London in Edinburgh in the least time. A correspondent describes a run of 60 miles an hour “up hill and down dale,” and “with a steadiness of motion which was almost alarming at times.” He says they did the 821 miles from Grantham to York in 70? minutes.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.14

-Three chiefs from Bechuanaland are on their way to England, among them Chief Khama, the head ruler, who has gained such a reputation by his efforts to keep his tribe from the demoralisation which has come upon most native tribes. There are no drinking saloons in his capital, which has a population of 30,000, and oven white men who bring liquor into his territory are liable to heavy penalties.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.15

-The delay of the Shahzada of Afghanistan, the Ameer’s son, it getting away on his homeward journey is described as “the great London puzzle.” Strong hints have to be given that it was long since time to go, but it is said the Ameer presses that he shall not return until the Government agrees to show Afghanistan to deal directly with the home authorities instead of with the Indian Government.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 558.16

“Back Page” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

About 18,000 pilgrims a day are visiting the Roman Catholic shrine at Lourdes.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.1

The name Immanuel is “God with us.” Mark the significance of the fact that it is not “God with Him,” but “God with us.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.2

The way that leads to life is strait and narrow, “and few there be that find it”—not because it is difficult to find, but because the multitude do not want to find it. “He that seeketh findeth.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.3

One of the London evening papers reports that the recent annual conference of our churches in Switzerland, held as a camp-meeting, in St. Blaise, about fifty family tents were pitched, with two large tents for the preaching services, one for the French, and the other for the German-speaking members. The meetings continued one week.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.4

The Roman authorities have been gravely discussing the admissibility of lighting churches by electricity and of using telephones in convents. Telephones may be used on “grave occasions,” and churches may be illuminated by electricity, though candles only are to be employed in the service. Such questions show how completely religion in the Roman Church is divorced from that which pertains to life and righteousness.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.5

Man shall live by every word of God. Then there is life in every word. We cannot, therefore, pick and choose, taking some words and rejecting others; for whosoever rejects one word rejects the life of God.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.6

Our brethren in Australia have begun work on school buildings, in New South Wales, to provide educational facilities for the Australian and New Zealand conferences. The plans provide for the erection of a college, and two buildings for Girls’ and Boys’ Home. The school will have an industrial department also, and land has been secured for gardening and farming.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.7

The first number of The South African Sentinel and Gospel Echo, hailing from Cape Town, has just reached us. It is a monthly journal started by our friends in South Africa to meet the needs of their work. It is a very creditable first number, and we trust that it may do good service for Bible truth in that field. An edition nearly, though not entirely, parallel to it will be published simultaneously in the Dutch language.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.8

The Tablet (Roman Catholic), speaking of the French invasion of Madagascar, says: “Were the Hovas capable of sustaining a well-organised guerrilla warfare, the advance of the French, entangled in trackless swamps and jungles, would have been impossible; but this the military instinct as well as the material is lacking. Though an interesting and capable people, they are not sufficiently far advanced in the scale of civilisation for creating any organisation capable of meeting the new emergency that has come upon them.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.9

So generally does the war spirit prevail, that the extent of a nation’s civilisation is now measured by its ability to fight successfully. At the same time civilisation is supposed to be synonymous with Christianity. This is very suggestive as to the future.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.10

When the Russian authorities, under the influence of the Church, harry and punish the Jew or Stundist until in weakness it yields, and outwardly conforms, they make of him a hypocrite. That is the only thing that can be made by force. And, mark this as invariably true, the person who can be pleased at the thought of having forced such a result must be a hypocrite himself, and is pleased that he has made others as he himself is. And does anybody think it is wicked only when a Russian or a Roman inquisitor does it?PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.11

“The Latest Case” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Latest Case.-In Baltimore, Maryland, a Seventh-day Adventist has been brought to account for working inside his own house on Sunday. The police officer who arrested him testified that he had been instructed to watch the house for violation of the Sunday Act.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.12

The next witness was a Catholic, who had been heard to say that he would see Faust behind the bars yet. He had played the spy, going to Brother Faust’s house to look through the windows on Sunday. The third and last witness was Mr. Kelley, who stated that he was a Methodist. He had also acted the spy on Brother Faust’s premises, and on the occasion in question this man had gone to his place and waited to find some evidence against him, and after informing the officer, he went down the street and spent the larger part of the day at a club-house. He was employed by a manufacturing firm, and laboured for wages a part of every Sunday in the year, according to his sworn testimony.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.13

“Incense” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Incense.-In reply to a correspondent the Church Times said:—PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.14

We do not say that the apostles used incense in the worship of the apostolic church. It is quite possible that they did, although the tendency at first in the early church was to discontinue a rite which was associated with heathen worship in the minds of converts who had come over from Paganism.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.15

This hints at the very clear origin of the use of incense. Of course it was not used in the early church, nor until the church fell away and, as Cardinal Newman acknowledged, adopted heathen practices in order to win over heathen peoples.PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.16

“A Patronising Critic” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

A Patronising Critic.-When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He met every attack by the living Word, quoting each time from Deuteronomy. The modern critic, wiser in his own conceit than the Lord, would scarcely think of using Deuteronomy as authority. However, the last critic is very patronising. Professor Driver has just brought out a commentary on the book in which he says that the author of this portion of Scripture “cannot be held guilty of dishonesty or literary fraud,” and “there is nothing in Deuteronomy implying an interested or dishonest motive on the part of the (post-Mosaic) author.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.17

“Bleeding Armenia” The Present Truth 11, 35.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Bleeding Armenia.-The Armenian horrors have aroused the keen sympathy of the whole world. But it is not sufficiently emphasised that the sufferings of the peaceful and upright Armenians in that sadly misgoverned country have been greatly increased by political revolutionists, who, under the name of persecuted Christians have planned to bring about a revolution. More than two years ago Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, a veteran Turkish missionary, was told by a member of an Armenian secret society:—PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.18

“We are determined to be free; Europe listened to the Bulgarian horrors and made Bulgaria free; she will listen to our cry when it comes up in the shrieks of women and children.” Dr. Hamlin said: “This scheme will make the very same Armenia hateful among all civilised people.” He replied: “We are desperate; we shall do it.”PTUK August 29, 1895, page 560.19

August 22, 1895

September 5, 1895