In Bible study observe how constantly the Word couples together statements of God’s power with expressions of His tenderness toward us.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.2

Thus: “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.” Psalm 147:3, 4.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.3

Again: “Great is our Lord, and of great power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifteth up the meek.” Verses 5, 6. He gives assurance of His great power in order that we may trust our little and heavy trials to Him.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.4

Many have an idea that because God is so great He cannot pay attention to such trifling perplexities as come in ordinary life. But that is just the reason why He can and does care for the little things, even to the sparrow that falls, and to the very hairs of the head. He tells us of His great might in order to assure us that He is able to save us.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.5

“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath
said,
Who unto the Saviour for refuge have fled?”PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.6

“‘God Was with Him’” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph in Egypt; but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions.” Acts 7:9, 10.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.7

These are the words of Stephen as he stood before the council full of the Spirit of God, and with a face like an angel.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.8

God was with Joseph. When was God with him? God was with him when his brethren cast him bound into the pit in the wilderness, and when he went down to Egypt as a slave. God was with him when he was a bond-servant in the house of Potiphar, and He was with him when he resisted the temptations of his mistress. God was with him also when he was in prison, no less than when his captivity ended, and he was made ruler over all the land of Egypt. God did not come to him, but He went with him. He did not merely come to deliver him from his afflictions, but He went into prison with him. It was because God was with him that he was delivered.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.9

Let this fact be remembered, that the Lord goes to prison when His servants go there for His sake. Christ said that when He comes in glory He will say to some, “I was in prison, and ye came unto Me,” and to others that they did not visit Him when He was in prison.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.10

There are many people who think much of being with the Lord in heaven, when He comes, but who do not realise the necessity and the blessedness of being with Him here in this present time. And it is a mistake to suppose that we have the presence of the Lord only when everything seems to favour us. When Jacob said, “All these things are against me,” God was with him as much as when he was in Bethel or Peniel, and was preparing, out of those afflictions, the means of his future sustenance.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.11

So very often it is the case that we can have God with us only by suffering affliction. Joseph, for instance, could not have kept God with him without going to prison. He might have kept out of prison if he had been willing to deceive his master, and sin against God, but not otherwise. Now it is certain that if Jesus of Nazareth had been in the place of Joseph, He would have done as Joseph did, and would have been obliged to suffer imprisonment for refusing to sin. Indeed, it was only because Jesus was with him, that he resisted the temptation and went to prison. He had the choice, therefore, of going to prison with the Lord, or of staying out of prison without the Lord. Joseph did not hesitate a moment in choosing.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 577.12

When Jesus was on earth His delight was to do the will of God, whose law was within His heart. Psalm 40:8. He said, “I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” John 15:10. Not one of the ten commandments did He slight, not even the fourth. “As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” Luke 4:16. Every one who reads the New Testament must say, in the words of Canon Knox-Little, “It is certain that our Lord when on earth did observe Saturday, and did not observe Sunday.”PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.1

Now we read of Jesus Christ that He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8. He kept the commandments when He was in the earth, because they were in His heart before He came to earth. They were His life. He did not come to earth to act a part, but to reveal God to men; and this He could do because He was in the beginning with God, and was God. He was the same on earth that He was in heaven, and He is the same in heaven that He was on earth. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.”PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.2

Therefore it is absolutely certain that if Jesus were on earth to-day, in the flesh, as He was eighteen hundred years ago, He would keep “the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” In other words, it is certain that He would keep the seventh day, and would not keep Sunday. What then would be the result?—Just this: If He were in Russia, He would be banished; if He were in America, He would be imprisoned, and driven to work in the chain-gang; if He were in England, He would have His goods sold, if He had any, and if not, He would be thrust into prison, for refusing to recognise Sunday as worthy of receiving in the slightest degree the honour due to the Sabbath of the Lord. Indeed, when He was on earth, He suffered imprisonment, and every form of indignity, simply because of His faithfulness to the law of God.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.3

It is only by the faith of Jesus that any man can keep the commandments of God. Whoever is truly faithful and keeping the commandments of God, even though the laws of men forbid him to keep them, can be so only if the Lord is with him. If for that faithfulness he suffers the loss of all things, or goes to prison, he may have the comfort of knowing that he is sharing the affliction with the Lord. But if he knows the Lord to that point, he will know that poverty and imprisonment with the Lord, are more to be desired than riches and freedom without Him. With Moses, he will find that “the reproach of Christ,” is greater riches than all the treasures of earth.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.4

The Egyptians did not know that they were sending the Lord to prison when they put Joseph into the dungeon. The Jewish rulers did not know that they were sending the Lord to prison when they shut up His apostles. The princes of this world did not know that they were crucifying the Lord of glory when they condemned the humble Galilean carpenter to death. Yet they might have known, because in every case the penalty of the law was inflicted because of loyalty to the truth, and whatsoever is of the truth is of God.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.5

“A Real Battle-field” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The horrors of war are covered from the people, and even from those who are training for it, by the pomp and display, the music and the fascination of military drill, and high-sounding phrases appealing to the sentiment of patriotism. The real thing is thus described by Channing. When this sort of thing is “blessed” by the benediction of the Church is it by any words of the Beatitudes, with their holy counsels of peace, and of love and goodwill even toward enemies and those who despitefully use us? This is what war is:—PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.6

Repair in talked to a field of recent battle. Here are heaps of slain, weltering in their own blood, their bodies mangled, their limbs shattered, and almost every vestige of the human form and countenance destroyed. Here are multitudes trodden underfoot, and the war-horse has left the trace of his hoof in many a crushed and mutilated frame. Here are severer sufferers; they live, but live without hope or consolation. Justice despatches the criminal with a single stroke; but the victims of war, falling by casual, and directed blows, often expire in lingering agony, their deep groan is moving no compassion, their limbs writhing on the earth with pain, their lips parched with a burning thirst, their wounds open to the chilling air, the memory of home rushing on their minds, but not a voice of friendship or comfort reaching their ears. Amidst this scene of horrors you see the bird and beast of prey gorging themselves with the dead or dying, and human plunderers rifling the warm and almost palpitating remains of the slain. If you extend your eye beyond the immediate field of battle, and follow the track of the victorious and pursuing army, you see the roads strewed with the dead; you see scattered flocks and harvest trampled underfoot, the smoking ruins of cottages, and the miserable inhabitants flying in want and despair; and even yet the horrors of a single battle are not exhausted.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.7

“Deluge Tablets” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

It was of course impossible that tradition should fail to preserve for many generations some memory of the flood; and, as within a few years of this deluge the whole world lapsed into idolatry, these traditions would necessarily be interwoven with the religious notions of the times. In the Chaldean deluge tablets, dating perhaps from the days of Abraham, are many passages which are interesting as showing how many details were more or less accurately preserved to memory, although the moral lesson of the flood and Noah’s life of righteousness was lost sight of.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.8

The tablets represent the gods as having decided to destroy the earth, and the man who survived tells the story. The making of the ark:—PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.9

And on the ground I make the ship which
thou commandest.
On the fifth day two sides were raised
In its enclosure (hull) fourteen ribs
Also fourteen they numbered above
I placed its roof and enclosed it
Sixthly I made it firmly, seventhly I divided its
passages
Eighthly its interior I examined
Openings to the water I stopped
I searched for cracks and the wanting parts I
fixed
Three sari of bitumen I poured over the interior.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.10

The record in Genesis gives the Lord’s command to “pitch it within and without with pitch.” The tablets tell of the preservation of animals and the storing of the ark with food for all. The memory of those who scoffed at Noah was preserved in the lines—PTUK September 12, 1895, page 578.11

The building of this ship which thou commandest
If it be made by me
Then will laugh at me the children of the people
and the old men
Each opened his mouth and spake to me, his
servant
If they laugh at thee, thou shalt say to them
Every one who has turned from me
Shall be punished for the protection of the gods is
over me.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.1

So it goes on, describing the coming of the rain at the appointed time, the cessation of rain, the floating corpses, the sending out of the dove and raven, the setting of the rainbow, and the promise that there would not be another flood.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.2

The fact that the generations of the sons of Noah were able to preserve such records of the great judgment against sin shows how great was their guilt in refusing to keep God in their knowledge and to learn the lesson which the flood was designed to teach. But out from amid a people who were thus turning the truth of God into a lie came Abraham, the Father of the Faithful. All knew enough to turn from their wicked ways, but he alone was willing to be counted as a friend of God.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.3

“The Panorama of a Past Life” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Those who have come very near death, as by drowning or otherwise, and have been rescued at the last moment, have frequently described the strange action of the mental faculties, by which the events of the past life were brought in review before the mind in an instant of time. Admiral Beaufort, who was almost drowned in Portsmouth Harbour, thus describes the experience:—PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.4

Thus travelling backwards every past incident of my life seemed to glance across my recollection in retrograde succession; not however in mere outline, as here stated, but the picture filled up with every minute collateral feature; in short, the whole period of my existence seemed to be placed before me in a kind of panoramic review, and each act of it seemed to be accompanied by a consciousness of right and wrong, or by some reflection on its cause or its consequences; indeed, many trifling events which had been long forgotten then crowded into my imagination, and with the character of recent familiarity.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.5

What an illustration-though a feeble one-of that time when the secret things of the heart shall be revealed, when “every one of us shall give account of himself to God,” even “for every idle word.” “Their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another; in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men.”PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.6

It is a glorious thing that we have an Advocate by whose righteousness the evil things of life may be blotted out of the records, and by whose power we may in this present life, now, “while it is called to-day,” be kept in the way of righteousness. Not only are we to yield up every known sin, but we may pray, “Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.”PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.7

“‘The Holy Catholic Church’” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

There is a feeling of what might properly be called jealousy between the Church of Rome and other religious bodies over the possession of the name “Catholic.” It is claimed again and again that the former body has no exclusive right to the name, and that by applying it to itself an injustice is done to other professed Christians. It may strike some as strange that a name which is contended for so strongly, as though there were some virtue in a name, is not found in the Bible at all; but that is the fact.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.8

WHAT THE WORD MEANS

The word “Catholic” is formed from two Greek words meaning, literally “through the whole,” or universal. According to the old canon, a Catholic is that quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditum est, that is, “what has been believed always and everywhere, and by all.” A very little thought will suffice to show anyone that there has never been, and never can be, any such thing as a Catholic Church, and, least of all, a Christian Catholic Church.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.9

There is not anything in the world that has always, or at any time, been believed by all the people. And from the very nature of man, there never can be such a time. There have been times when the great majority of the world held certain views in common, so much so that, roughly speaking, the belief in that thing was universal. But, nevertheless, there have always been some dissenters. So it will be in the future. Therefore, according to the definition, there can be no such thing as a Catholic Church.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.10

THE BROAD WAY

But there has been, and will yet be, an approximation to a Catholic Church. Even that, however, is not a thing that is so desirable that people should boast of belonging to it. Let us see what the Scripture has to say about the belief of the majority. Christ says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14. Wherever, therefore, the great majority are found, there we may know is the way of death. Whoever would show that there can ever be such a thing as a Catholic Church, in the way of life, must first show that the Saviour’s words are untrue. But if that were done, then there would be no truth at all in which the professed Catholic Church could walk, for Christ Himself is all the truth there is. The claim for a Christian Catholic Church is, therefore, a denial of Christ.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.11

Christ did not say that few would find a way of life because He wanted it to be so, but because He knew men, and saw what they would do. Men are by nature the children of wrath. The gathering of them into one body of professors, whether by legal enactments or by their own profession, does not constitute them the children of God. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14. But as it has ever been, so will it still be, that the majority of men will resist the Holy Spirit. Thus it was in the days of Noah. When the flood came there were but eight persons in the whole world who feared the Lord. Thus it will be till the close of time; for “as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37, 38.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.12

LATTER DAY CONDITIONS

The Apostle John through the Spirit says, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one.’1 John 5:19. The Apostle Paul wrote thus: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:12, 13. But this could not be if there were an universal Church of Christ, and it will be almost universal. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall comment. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 579.13

That will be the condition of the “Catholic Church” of the last days. Not every one who professes to belong to the Catholic Church in these days bears the character there described. God has people everywhere, and He knows them. His call to them is to come out from the world and be separate. The danger is that many will be so carried away with the idea that there must be a “Catholic Church,” that they will compromise with error, thinking that even though the majority of professors hold error, they must in time come out right. To warn some against that danger is the object of this article.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 580.1

“Spiritual Realities” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

One of the most common mistakes that people make in their study of the Bible and of heavenly things, it is to make a contrast between spiritual and literal, or between spiritual and material. The idea is that a spiritual thing is not real. The fact is, however, that the most real things are those that are spiritual. “For the things that are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 580.2

Spiritual things alone will endure throughout eternity. This natural body that we have can hold together but a few years, and is weak at its best. But the spiritual body, which will be given at the coming of the Lord and the resurrection, will endure to all eternity, and will always retain its strength and vigour. So the spiritual blessings that are given to us in Christ are real things. They are actual substance; and he who appropriates them by faith knows that they are much more substantial than the things that his eyes can see and his hands can handle.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 580.3

The lack of vital experience that so many professed Christians exhibit, is largely due to this practice of considering spiritual things as unreal. The poor souls don’t know what to look for and expect one may ask the Lord for His presence and blessing. Let them but realise that spiritual things are solid realities, and the joys of heaven will begin on earth.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 580.4

“Moses’ Choice” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.”PTUK September 12, 1895, page 580.5

Was his choice a wise one? We know well how it must have appeared to the world-loving Egyptians at the time. Moses, with learning and culture, the highest positions the world could offer within his reach, turned from these prospects joining himself to a cause that was under reproach, and made himself one with a people in bondage, enduring penal servitude according to the laws of the land. “What fanaticism!” his highly placed friends must have exclaimed, as they saw him giving up a “sure thing” for such a cause.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 580.6

To-day we look at the ruins of the land of Egypt, and may even look at the mummies of long-forgotten rulers in ancient Egypt, exhibited to the gaze of curious tourists in that land which has become the basest of kingdoms. Was Moses’ choice a wise one? We think of his life of trial and leading a host of murmurers and fault-finders, but also of his unparalleled communion with God, as with a friend, face to face. And then, too, we think of him as he is now-for he was raised to life (Jude 9)-and as he appeared on the mount of transfiguration with Elijah who never died; and how small do the glories of Egypt, which he might have held for a few years, appear in contrast with the eternal glories which are his.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 580.7

It is so always, but when Christ and His truth bring us to the choice now, how large seems a little fragment of this world’s possessions or prospects, and how far off seems the Divine inheritance. It is because the devil blinds the eyes, and men do not believe the Lord. But the faith of Jesus in Moses’ days led him to set the proper value upon this world, and the faith of Jesus now will lead every one who will accept it to make the same wise choice.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 580.8

“Light and Life” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

One of the characteristics of light is that it may multiply itself indefinitely without diminishing itself in the least. A lighted candle may give light to a million candles, and yet its own light be just as bright. The sun supplies light and heat to this earth, and there is enough for all. Each individual gets as much benefit from the sun now as it was possible for anyone to get when the population of the earth was only half as great as it now is. The sun gives its whole strength to each person, and yet it has much heat and light as though it supplied no one.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 581.1

Jesus Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, and the Light of the world. The light which He gives is His life. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. He says, “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. His life He gives for the world. All who believe on Him receive His life, and are saved by it. Just as the light of the candle is not diminished although many others are lighted by it, so Christ’s life is not diminished though He gives it to many. Each individual may have it all in its fulness.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 581.2

“The Growth of Catholicism” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Statistics do not represent the real growth of the influence of Catholicism in the world. The most significant signs of growth are seen in the rapidity with which Roman Catholic principles are dominating the professedly Protestant world. The activity of the manifold agents of the Church of Rome, marvellous as the system is in its workings, does not just now account for so much as the workings of the leaven of Catholic principles and traditions in the world at large, leading to the rejection of the Bible and the example of Christ as the Christian’s pattern, substituting Church customs for the Word, and the power of courts and majorities for the power of the Lord.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 582.1

These things are bringing the world again under the rule of Roman principles, and so far as the principle is concerned it matters nothing whether the one who enforces these principles is called priest or presbyter. The fact is established that the Papacy is again making all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her spiritual corruption.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 582.2

However, according to the following figures, there has been a great growth in numbers also, during the last half-century, in those countries not distinctively Roman Catholic:—PTUK September 12, 1895, page 582.3

“Monsignore Loubet, a French missionary, has recently published a book treating of the progress of Catholicism during the present century, which contains the following statistics: In 1850 there were scarcely 3,258,440 Catholics in all the Protestant European countries; there were 8,000,000 in Ireland, 6,000,000 in Germany, 6,500,000 in Poland, and 350,000 in Switzerland. In Turkey in Europe, Monsignore Loubet tells us that there were only 250,000 Catholics. There were 381,600 in Asiatic Turkey, 475,000 in the Indian Vicariate, 310,000 and Indo-China, 6,000 in Korea, 61,000 in the United States, 120,000 in Canada, 105,000 in the West Indies, 38,000 in Texas and California. The Catholics in England have now increased to 1,690,921. There are 1,626 more churches and 2,000 more Catholic schools than in 1850. Germany now counts 16,000,000, instead of only 6,000,000 and Holland 1,488,852, instead of 350,000. Switzerland now accounts 1,800,000, and Russia 2,882,891, the Caucasus 26,815, Siberia 24,316, and Central Asia 1,396 Catholics. In Persia and Asiatic Turkey Catholics increased from 400,000 to 659,690. There were 475,000 Catholics in India in 1890; to-day there are more than 1,692,937. Only five missions existed in China in 1800; there are now thirty-eight, and 576,440 faithful. The United States shows a return of 7,977,778 Catholics in 1890, and Canada 2,000,000.”PTUK September 12, 1895, page 582.4

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-The wheat harvest in England is estimated to be 22,000,000 bushels below last year.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.1

-Turkey appeals to the Powers to support it in putting down the Macedonian uprising.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.2

-Thousands of hop-pickers are busy in Kent just now. The fields are crowded with workers.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.3

-The activity of the Anarchists in Paris lately shows that executions do not deter them from this mad warfare against society.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.4

-A Parliamentary committee has been appointed to supervise the construction of a railway from the East Coast to Uganda.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.5

-It is not good news that India is increasing its output of home-brewed beer; 55 per cent, of it is used by the troops, and 45 by civilians.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.6

-The bad feelings between Hindus and Mohammedans in India led to a riot in Bombay last week, in which a number were killed by a volley from the police.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.7

-The Kurds who have been oppressing Armenians had a now experience lost week. Turkish troops attacked a band of thorn, driving them from the Armenian district which they were pillaging.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.8

-The fruit harvest has been a good one, and in Cambridgeshire especially greengages have been plentiful. Tomatoes are more plentiful in the markets than usual. Some come from so far as Tasmania.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.9

-The insurgents in Formosa still resist the Japanese, and even women are said to fight. So stubborn a resistance has embittered the Japanese, who now grant no quarter to the foe, sparing neither women nor children.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.10

-The German Government is renewing its effort to stifle the Socialist opposition. The Socialist organs have criticised the celebrations commemorative of the Franco-Prussian war, and attacked the memory of the first Emperor William.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.11

-Yet another explosive wash is to “revolutionise war.” A Frenchman has invented an article by which it is claimed each man can carry 240 rounds of ammunition without being over-weighted, and the explosive force is higher than cordite or mélinite.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.12

-The discussion of the occupation of Chitral in the House last week showed that on both aides the opinion was that the Indian frontier still presents sufficient difficulties to make war possible at any time. Russia continues threatening, and the loyalty of the tribes to the Indian Government is very uncertain.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.13

-The final settlements of the Chino-Japanese war are not yet entirely closed. Russia and France still press Japan to withdraw from China, and Japan holds out for a greater indemnity than those Powers wish to see granted. Germany is still wavering between supporting Russia or Japan in the matter, and the Japanese are supposed to be looking toward the support of Great Britain.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 590.14

“Back Page” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Catholic party in the German Reichstag holds 100 seats, and knows well how to use them in Catholic interests.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.1

It is possible to “believe a lie,” but it is not possible to have faith in an untruth. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17), and without the hearing of the Word there can be no faith.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.2

China’s largest province, Kan Su, is in the throes of an insurrection. The Imperial troops have been routed, and the opposition to foreign influence is venting itself freely upon native Christians. The expediency of inviting Russian aid is being discussed in Pekin.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.3

One of our Australian workers, who has been spending some time on Thursday Island, the pearl-fishing station, says that there one meets Japanese, Javnese, Chinese, Cingalese, Siamese, Syrians, Malays, Frijians, New Guinea boys, Kanakas, and Manila men, besides the nationalities ordinarily met with in the colonies.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.4

Those critics who dissect and set at naught the writings of Moses and the prophets and so profess to believe in Christ, forget that all that the prophets wrote was the voice of “the Spirit of Christ which was in them.” 1 Peter 1:11. So Jesus said of Moses, “If ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?” John 5:47. Those writings are His words.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.5

Whenever an ecclesiastical appointment is to be made it is pitiful and fairly astonishing to read the threats and prayers by which one portion of the Church of England press tries to move the Prime Minister to “do Evangelicals a good turn.” Yet somehow the Sacerdotalists get most of the appointments. But by what right do these papers claim to speak for a free Gospel while parties to an arrangement which makes the offices of the church subject to mere politicians, who may or may not be even professing Christians?PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.6

The eleventh of Hebrews speaks of those “who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.” We may not have to face lions, but the faith that stop the lions’ mouths is needed every day to work righteousness and obtain promises. It requires just as much faith to trust God and obey Him on the bare promise of His word, when everything appears hopeless, as to work those deeds which are commonly regarded as wonderful.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.7

“Inconceivable” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Inconceivable.-Sometimes we hear men speak of certain things contained in the Bible as inconceivable. Again, we hear those who are combating certain forms of error in regard to the work of God, say that such things are inconceivable. “We cannot conceive of God’s doing such things,” they say. All this may be so, and yet it does not affect the case in the least, one way or the other. The works and ways of God are not to be measured by man’s finite conception. Let us beware of putting our ignorance as a substitute for the knowledge of God.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.8

“Deprived of the Bible” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Deprived of the Bible.-One of our workers in British Guiana writes of a visit to a Leper Asylum there by invitation of three inmates who, by reading our literature, had accepted the truths advocated. There is great rivalry between Presbyterians and Catholics who have charge of the religious instruction among the lepers. Both however unite against the truth, and regard the Bible as unsafe in the hands of one who believes and follows its teaching.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.9

While conversing with the three Sabbath-keepers, I learned that the minister had warned the rest against them, and that the Bible had been taken away from them. They evidently consider the Bible a dangerous thing in the hands of Sabbath-keepers. Three individuals come together every Friday evening for prayer and study, and also upon the Sabbath.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.10

“Russian Quakers” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Russian Quakers.-The Chronicle gives an account of the persecution of a colony of Christians, a kind of Quakers, in Transcaucasia. They refused to serve in the army, and a mock execution was devised to terrify them. But this failed, and then Cossacks charged a company of them repeatedly, killing some. No resistance was offered, and finally scores of them were flogged, the operation lasting six days, after which many families were banished, no one knows where. The report says:—PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.11

The unpleasant thing for the Government is that there was no meeting, no riot-nothing which a commander can put down with a troop of Cossacks. There is only something which one cannot shoot or hang-the eternal living Spirit of Christ.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.12

And how helpless all the powers of earth are in the face of that Spirit. Let it be remembered that the authorities are only maintaining the law. But as Christians these people refuse to go in training to kill their fellow-men, while the commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill.”PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.13

“The School Question” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The School Question.-Those who are after public money for denominational schools are confident and active. Cardinal Vaughan declared recently that Catholic schools were very certain of having justice done them. Of this the Christian says:—PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.14

The “justice” he means is the privilege to use public money for teaching Romanist dogmas; and the same is desired by the Sacerdotalists of the Church of England. Would this be just to Protestants? If the principle be conceded we shall indeed have a dark day in England.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.15

And the dark day has been hastened by the inconsistent position of Protestants who demand that public money shall be used to teach religion, drawing the line only at what they call the dogmatic teaching of the Sacerdotalists and Romanists. Cannot every one see that this concedes the very principle? And when those who wish to go only as far as pleases them are unable to keep the Government from going far enough to please the more advanced party, they are merely beaten at their own game.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.16

“Strange but True” The Present Truth 11, 37.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Strange but True.-The New York Christian Advocate, doubtless the most widely circulated Methodist journal, speaking of the motley company in the Brooklyn Penitentiary, says:—PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.17

In that prison there are but ten or twelve bank presidents, besides bookkeepers and cashiers, some of them alumni of colleges. Prominent members of Christian churches of almost every denomination are there.... These people would not be there if they had kept the Ten Commandments.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.18

There are now no Seventh-day Adventists there, but-it is strange but true-it is extremely probable that before long some of our brethren in New York will be in this prison for keeping the Ten Commandments. Sabbath-keepers are serving terms in other States for loyalty to the fourth commandment; and unless the Advocate changes its policy, it will utter no protest when it comes to this in New York.PTUK September 12, 1895, page 592.19

September 5, 1895

September 19, 1895