August 3, 1893

“Christian Striving” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Christian Striving.-The apostle Paul desired to be able to hear that the Philippians were standing fast in one Spirit, “with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel.” Philippians 1:27. That “striving together” which is done “with one mind,” is certainly not contention and quarreling. The text, therefore, does not teach that they were to strive with one another, but that together they were united to strive for a common object.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 273.1

There was once a very worthy minister of the Gospel, who acknowledged to the writer that for the greater portion of his ministry he had understood the statement, “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness,” to mean that the mystery of godliness is great when there is no controversy, but that controversy would unfold the ministry. Consequently he was always ready for controversy, forgetting the statement made by the same apostle, that “the servant of Christ must not strive.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 273.2

In harmony with the desire expressed by Paul to the Philippians, the Apostle Jude exhorts us to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.” Jude 3. Therefore many think that while Christians must be at peace among themselves, they should lose no opportunity to get into a controversy with unbelievers, in regard to the Gospel. But again we read: “The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:24, 25. The Apostle Peter says: “Sanctify the Lord God in your heart; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is that is in you with meekness and fear.” 1 Peter 3:15.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 273.3

This gives us the correct idea of the strife. It is to be conducted with God in heart. Therefore the “one mind” with which we are exhorted to strive, is the mind of God, “which is also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5. We are to strive in the strength of God, and clothed with the Divine armour; “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12. We are not to contend with men, but with wicked spirits,-evil angels; not with the weapons of carnality, but with those which are “mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 273.4

The striving, therefore, is to be wholly with ourselves, with the evil thoughts and the imaginations that Satan seeks to inspire us with. Those are the only things that can destroy the faith of anyone, and therefore they are the things to be fought against in contending for the faith. One man’s unbelief cannot destroy another’s faith. The Apostle Paul could keep the faith in Nero’s court in Rome as well as with his brethren in Antioch. Because God was with him. If we strive and contend with men, we do not thereby increase their faith, but we have run the risk of losing our own. So “the faith” is never helped, but hindered by laws professedly in its favour, which necessarily depend on force. The Gospel is a mystery, entirely different from things of earth. And so while it is a warfare, it is a strife of peace, and the Captain of hosts is the Prince of peace.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 273.5

“Helping God” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

How natural it is for us to think that what we do is of great assistance to the Lord. In a missionary meeting it was recently stated that “God needs our help in evangelising the world.” No greater mistake was ever made, yet it is a very common one. No man can ever put God under any obligation to Him. Neither can any man do anything to recompense God for what He has done for us. He does not stand in need of man’s work or gifts. He says, “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is Mine, and the fulness thereof.” Psalm 50:12.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 273.6

How can it be said or thought that God needs our help, when He Himself supplies all the wisdom and strength with which we work, and Himself does whatever is done that amounts to anything? The apostle Paul, speaking of his work, said, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new covenant.” 2 Corinthians 3:5, 6. And again: “But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 273.7

Even Christ did not claim to be doing work by Himself. He said: “I can of Mine own self do nothing.” John 5:30. “The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” John 14:10. How much less, then, can we do anything that will help the Lord? “The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 273.8

Who has not seen the little child trying to help its mother? Perhaps it tried to sweep, and though it only moved the dirt from one place to another, and left it, the mother was pleased, and rewarded the child with a kiss. Then she afterwards went and swept the room clean. And the child rejoiced in the great help it had rendered.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.1

Or, perhaps, the child thought to help with its mother’s knitting or sewing. It dropped stitches and tangled threads, yet the mother accepted the work for the love that prompted it, and although the child’s work was done so bunglingly, the job was perfect when finished. How so? Because the mother untangled the thread, and picked up the dropped stitches, and made the work perfect by her superior skill.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.2

We are but children; but, oh, how infinitely greater is the contrast between us and our Father in heaven, and that between our children and us! We take hold of the work of God, and fancy that we are actually doing something, when we are really only dropping stitches, and hindering. Yet God does not call it hindering, but smiles in tender love as He sees our awkward yet earnest attempts, even as the mother catches her child to her bosom and kisses it when its loving efforts make the work worse instead of better. And when work is done, God will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and the work will be found to be perfect, because we are “complete in Him,” and His perfection has made up our deficiency.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.3

“The ‘Borderland’” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Such is the name of the latest addition to the literature of Spiritualism. It is a quarterly journal under the editorial management of the versatile W. T. Stead, and is designed to be to Spiritualism and kindred subjects what his Review of Reviews is too general literature. In connection with it he proposes also to form circles for investigation of the various phenomena connected with Spiritualism. After the plan had been formed in his mind, Mr. Stead sent a summary of what he proposed to do together with a circular letter, to most of the famous men and women of England, who he thought would be likely to express an opinion, asking them what they thought of it. The first number of Borderland contains the answers that were received; and all of the most of those who replied expressed disapproval of the scheme, their letters are most interesting, and showing how well prepared people are, unconsciously to themselves, to be led astray by this masterpiece of deception. Accordingly we give extracts from a few of them.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.4

WAITING ON SCIENCE

The Archbishop of Canterbury did not reply, but he had some time before written to a friend, upon the same subject, and this friend was given permission to hand the letter to Mr. Stead. The Archbishop is very chary about expressing an opinion, as will be seen in the following reference to the accounts of phenomena, which have been submitted to the Psychical Research Society:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.5

“Mr. Stead states that the depositions have now been referred to the investigation of a society which is able to weigh the evidence impartially, the Psychical Research Society.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.6

“When they have had before them all that is alleged, and have reported, we shall be in a better position to judge of the moral character of the actions. But at the present there is little alleged which does not come within the formula called ‘automatic’ or ‘thought transference;’ one ‘spiritualistic’ interpretation of them is repudiated in these articles.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.7

“At present, therefore, it seems to me that we have only to wait until the scientific inquiry has taken place, which is challenged.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.8

But surely the Archbishop could have expressed an opinion without waiting for the “scientific” decision. If not, then the flock that looks to him for guidance in spiritual matters is in great danger; for there is nothing more certain than that, while there have been many frauds, there have been Spiritualistic phenomena that could not be accounted for on any grounds known to science. Now when the scientific report is in, and it appears that some at least of the phenomenon submitted were genuine, and evidently supernatural, those whose opinion hangs upon that report are bound to look upon Spiritualism with a favour that will lead to a full acceptance of it. One who is set to feed the flock, and to watch for their souls, ought to have a definite statement to make upon so live a question as Spiritualism.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.9

The Bishop of Rochester writes thus:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.10

“I am interested in what you tell me as to your proposed new Review and Index. I confess I had myself supposed that the journals and occasional papers of the Psychical Research Society were already covering the ground on which you proposed to build; but I am not sufficiently familiar with them to know how far this is a just estimate. I entirely concur with you in deprecating any such attitude towards the mysterious phenomena you refer to as you describe, when you say that, ‘Science has hitherto, for the most part, contemptuously relegated all such phenomenon to superstition.’ I am certain that calm and even reverent investigation of these phenomena is essential to our arriving at any true estimate of their real character.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.11

Here we have another shepherd who is waiting for science to tell him what to believe on the subject concerning which the Bible speaks in no uncertain language. No investigation is needed. The Bible warns against “spirits of devils working miracles,” and that should be sufficient. The Holy Spirit of God will speak to us through the word of God, if we humbly and reverently accept it as the word of God; and angels of God,-not spirits of dead men, but beings who were formed before men had in any existence,-will speak to us in harmony with that word. But when messages are given by spirits professing to be the spirits of the dead, we need not stop to inquire the nature of the message, for “the dead know not anything,” and their thoughts have perished, so that they cannot send messages. Therefore we may know that all such things are from the devil.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.12

TOO BUSY

Here is another minister who is too busy to know anything about Spiritualism. The Dean of St. Paul’s writes:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.13

“I have to spend so large a portion of my time in the practical side of church work that I fear I am not so well qualified as I ought to be to give advice on the important subject about which you ask my opinion. Scientific men do attack Christian truths, sometimes in ways that seem to be most unfair; and if you could secure any competent scientists to deal with subjects of the Borderland in a way which non-scientific people would understand and be interested in, I should think it might be most useful.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.14

There is a man who is already to fall into the snare of Spiritualism, simply because of his indifference to it, and his willingness to submit it to the decision of scientific men. The Bishop of London is really in the same situation, because he does not believe that there is anything to investigate. He believes that the professed phenomena of Spiritualism are all a sham. Therefore when it is demonstrated to him, as it surely will be, that there is something to them, he will be ready to investigate with the rest.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.15

APPROVAL

The Rev. H. R. Haweis writes a lengthy letter of approval, in which the following paragraph occurs:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.16

“The independent spiritual consciousness of man-a something not matter in matter-is about to be established. The survival of human personality after the shock and redistribution of atoms, which we call death, will shortly be proved-proved again and again, and to order.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 274.17

When a man turns away from the Bible, to find proof of a thing which he cannot find in the Bible, there can be no doubt as to the result. Whatever is demonstrated is bound to be a lie, and the man is bound to be deceived.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.1

Miss Willard writes:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.2

“I have never been one of those who hold that there are subjects that we are forbidden to investigate; such a position is false, to my mind, the distemper of superstition. If man’s reason and nature’s phenomena are to be kept apart at any point, then why not at many points? Whatever exists is a legitimate subject of thoughtful and reverent study by man’s illimitable mind. For this reason I have always been sympathetic towards the scientific study of the phenomena with which you propose to deal in the projected magazine called Borderland.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.3

Lady Henry Somerset wrote in very much the same strain.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.4

STRAIGHT TESTIMONY

There are some replies that put the matter in the correct basis, saying that the Scriptures ought to be the guide; but the only one who told the simple exact truth about the business, is, strange to say, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Nottingham. He said:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.5

“The intelligence which uses your hand, and of which you are not conscious, is no other than the Devil; and if you continue to such unlawful intercourse with the unseen, you will necessarily be misled to your ruin by the enemy of God, the murderer of souls, and the liar from the beginning.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.6

And yet the Bishop states positively in the same letter that human souls live after death, a belief which is the foundation of Spiritualism. Without such believe there could be no Spiritualism. And, after all, one cannot see any real difference between avowed Spiritualism, and the professed communion with the dead which the Catholic Church carries on into its prayers to those whom it calls saints. So that really, although the majority seem to be opposed or indifferent to Mr. Stead’s proposal to investigate Spiritualism, that very thing, whose name they reject, has a very strong hold on them.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.7

HOW TO INVESTIGATE

One word as to the propriety of investigating Spiritualism. Is it lawful or not? Most certainly it is lawful; but not in the way proposed by Mr. Stead. The man who refuses to have anything whatever to do with Spiritualism, because of what the Bible tells him about it, knows far more of its nature than does the man who is deceived by it, under the supposition that he is investigating it. The Scriptures are the only place where we can successfully investigate Spiritualism.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.8

Let us illustrate. Here, we will suppose, is a vast, unexplored cave. It is, of course, as dark as anything can be. There is absolutely no delight in it. Here are some men who propose to “investigate” the cave, and they go into it and feel around in the dark. What will be the result? Simply this, that they will fall into some of its deep pits, and lose their lives. But here is a man who does not investigate in any such blind way. He stands outside and flashes a strong searchlight into it, by means of which he discovers its dangerous nature. Is there any question as to which is the more sensible method? It is utterly useless to distinguish between genuine Spiritualistic phenomena and fraud; for since we may know that the genuine are from the devil, there can be no object in studying that which is only an imitation.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.9

“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and to wizards that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living unto the dead? To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:19, 20.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.10

“To Undo the Reformation” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

For the last four years Roman Catholics, under the direction of the “Guild of our Lady of Ransom,” have made an annual pilgrimage to Canterbury, the special object being to visit the spot where Archbishop Thomas á Becket was killed. This pilgrimage was made this year on the 20th of July. The Catholic Times, in its account of the pilgrimage, says:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.11

“These annual visits of the Ransomers and other devout Catholics to the great cathedrals so dear to every Catholic heart, have two objects, and private devotion is a subordinate one. The pilgrimage is a great public act of devotion and prayer for the redemption of England from the evil of the fruits of the so-called Reformation, and a public testimony by Catholics, not only of the faith that is within them, but of the hope that their countrymen and women may be ransomed for the faith for which the blessed martyr St. Thomas died.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.12

While the pilgrims were at the shrine, they were asked to pray earnestly “especially for the reconversion of this country to the faith, in defence of which the blissful martyred died.” Perhaps the readers may not know, or at least may not have fresh in their minds, the nature of the cause in defence of which “the blissful martyr died,” and will therefore give a brief statement of it, that they may see what is desired for this country.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.13

Thomas á Becket was made archdeacon of the diocese of Canterbury, by Archbishop Theobald, and was employed in some difficult negotiations at Rome, in which he distinguished himself, so that when Henry II. ascended the throne, in 1154, he made Becket his chancellor. “He had all the qualifications of a courtier-a fine person, a cultivated mind, a pleasing address, a disposition to engage in the revelry and sports in which nobles delighted, and which ecclesiastics were not severe to shun.”-Knight. “Of unbounded ambition, of over-bearing pride, and we will venture to believe of very doubtful honesty, he followed for eight years the path of secular greatness, having the confidence of the king and his undoubted ability, and securing that confidence by his agreeable qualities. His predilections were not in the least towards that church of which he received the revenues almost in the capacity of lay-in propriator.”-Ib.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.14

His interest in religion seemed to begin and end up only in the wealth that came to him from it. The Roman Catholic Church was at that time at the height of its power in England. William the Conqueror had given to the Church the prerogative of acting as supreme judge in all cases affecting an ecclesiastic. Those who belonged to the priesthood were not subject to the laws of the kingdom for the punishment of crimes. The result was that there was really two independent kingdoms in England-the civil and the ecclesiastical; and the ecclesiastical was becoming the more powerful, since in those days the clerical order included the whole of the professional and educated classes.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.15

“The usurpations of the clergy, which had at first been gradual, were now become so rapid, and had mounted to such a height, that the contest between the regal and the pontifical was really arrived at a crisis in England; and it became necessary to determine whether the king or the priest, particularly the Archbishop of Canterbury, should be sovereign of the kingdom.”-Hume. The idea that Church and State could be separated, never once entered Henry’s mind, and neither did he propose to change the system established by William; but he did propose to be king of England, not realising that no civil ruler can be freed as long as there is a priesthood that exercises civil power.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.16

In 1162, on the death of Theobald, Henry made Becket Archbishop of Canterbury, which office he expected that Becket would combine with his chancellorship. Henry’s idea was that, since Becket had as chancellor compelled the priests to pay their dues to the crown, he would be able, as Archbishop, to keep the encroachments of the Church upon the civil power within proper limits. But in this Henry was mistaken. No sooner had Becket been made Archbishop than he resigned the chancellorship, and devoted all his energies to entrench the Church in its iniquitous position. Henry’s determination was that all should be equal before the law; but, says Knight:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 275.17

“The position of the Church presented an inseparable obstacle to the equal administration of the laws. The clergy claimed an exemption from all secular judicature. Whilst the murderer and robber were punished with death, if tried in the court of the crown, the vilest offender, if a clerk, escaped the extreme penalty of his offence, and was often freed from all consequences except that of pecuniary compensation.... It has been stated that in the first years of Henry II. there were reckoned nearly one hundred homicides that had been perpetrated by a priest then living. After the appointment of Becket to the primacy, a priest of Worcestershire committed the infamous crime of murdering a father, that he might be undisturbed in a guilty intercourse with his daughter. Even such a crime would not, under any circumstances of atrocity, have been punished with death in the church-tribunals. This offender was required to be delivered up for the trial in the king’s courts. Becket interposed the shield of the Church between the criminal and the outraged laws; and passed upon him a sentence of degradation only [from the priesthood], contending that the degraded priest could not a second time be brought to trial for the same offence.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.1

This is sufficient to show the ground of controversy between the king and the archbishop. It is not necessary to follow the course of it through. Suffice it to say that at length, in 1170, the king in a state of exasperation let fall some words which four knights understood to mean that he wished to have Becket killed. They therefore set off post haste, and, finding the Archbishop in the Cathedral, killed him before the altar. Of course Becket was lauded as a martyr to the faith, “and the miracles wrought by his relics were more numerous, more nonsensical, and more impudently attested, than those which ever filled the legend of any confessor or martyr.” Two years after his death he was canonised by Pope Alexander, and consequently is now reverenced as “St. Thomas á Becket.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.2

Of course his assassination was a sin and a crime, but that does not make the cause for which he died any the better. He died in consequence of the unscrupulous and wicked ambition of the church with which he was identified. It is for the restoration of that usurpation that Catholics are instructed to pray and work; and the Canterbury Cathedral, now under the control of the “Protestant” Church of England, is freely given for that purpose. The pilgrimage was for the purpose of praying for “the redemption of England from the evil of the fruits of the so-called Reformation,” the chief of which was the taking away from the church the power to build up itself at the expense of justice and civil order. The fact that Catholics desire a return of the times of Thomas á Becket shows that the Papacy is the same to-day that it was seven hundred years ago.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.3

THE IMPENDING DANGER

That which has gone before was not written for the purpose of merely calling attention to the fact that the Papacy is the same enemy of freedom and progress that it always was. In the July number of the Contemporary Review, Archbishop Farrar has an article entitled, “Undoing the Work of the Reformation,” in which he sets forth and protests against the growth of Romish ritualism in the Church of England. He says: “It is now notoriously a common practice of the Anglican ‘priests’-many of whom derive their stock-in-trade of catchwords and formulae from Romanising manuals-to ignore the clergy and the churches of their own communion on the Continent ‘as schismatic,’ and to ‘go to mass’ in Romish churches.” But passing by what he has to say of the aping of the priesthood in the growth of relief in transubstantiation, we will note his vigorous words concerning auricular confession. He says:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.4

“It should be observed that the ignorant and indiscriminate abuse of auricular confession, which may be made in the unscrupulous hands an instrument of the most insufferable and dangerous journey, is even more perilous in England than it is in the Church of Rome. For in the Church of Rome there is, I believe, some limitation put on the right to hear confessions. How are we to assume, in the face of fact, that all ‘priests’ have that gift of ‘spiritual discernment,’ without which the pretence to absolve becomes not only baseless, but pernicious? But in the stress of the unrestrained license to which we have now been reduced and betrayed by supineness in the defence of truth, any silly youth who has barely scraped through a poll degree, and who may have shown in his ordination examination an incredible ignorance of the most elementary facts of Scripture, scholarship, and theology, thinks himself at liberty, as soon as he enters a parish, to pose as a confessor, and to tell men and women, whose very shoes he is not worthy to tie, that they are to come and kneel to him ‘as culprits before their judge.’ He will indeed find a few-and none of any manliness and intelligence-to adopt such abject thralldom to one who may be immeasurably their inferior in the most elementary crushing graces; but he may do-as has been done a thousand times-quite infinite mischief to himself, and to weak and miserable souls. Not to dwell on his utter unfitness to dabble his unspiritual handsPTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.5

‘In the dark dissolving human heart
And hallowed secrets of this microcosm,’PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.6

such a youth, in his self-sufficiency and blindness, made hopelessly poison the peace of families; mayPTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.7

‘Divert and crack, rend and deracinate
The unity and wedded calm’PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.8

of households; may subtly alienate the love of wives from their husbands; may sow discord between the daughter and her mother; may, in sheer incompetence, and without consciously wicked intentions, reduce the whole religious state of the silly and the impressionable to a chaos of hysteric falsities by teaching for doctrines the deceits of men.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.9

“Bishop Wilberforce, all his life long an acknowledged leader of the High Church party, declared to his clergy with passionate emphasis for days before his death that the system of auricular confession was baneful to the person confessing; baneful to the person receiving confession; and, above all, baneful to the society in which the practice prevailed; but now the Ritualists are patronised by many bishops in their worst excesses, and all over the country the interests of the Evangelical laity are being trampled down with a contemptuous insouciance which in many cases is really shocking.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.10

“These innovators of yesterday have utterly abandoned Hooker, and gone immensely farther than great old Anglican divines, like Bishop Andrewses and Jeremy Taylor, and even Archbishop Laud. They have even left far behind such Anglican leaders as Keble, Bishop Wilberforce, and Dean Burgon. Dean Burgon told them that they were ‘Sectarians and Separatists,’ who ‘as a party would have been disowned by churchmen of every age and every school.’ Bishop Wilberforce, in his last public speech, described the growth of Ritualism ‘not as a grand development, but as a decrepitude’; ‘not as something very sublime and impressive, but something very feeble and contemptible.’PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.11

“And already, like a swarm of locusts, Ritualistic practices have settled on every green field. In twenty years, if things are suffered to go on at the present rate-if the cause of the Reformation is on every side abandoned and betrayed-the Church of England will be Romish in everything but name. Lord Halifax will have had his ardent wish that there be restored ‘those filial relations that formerly existed between the successors of Augustine in the See of Canterbury and that chair which is now occupied by the successors of St. Gregory the Great’;-in other words, the Church of England will have finally undone the work of the Reformation, and will have been insidiously seduced back step by step, into the corrupt bosom of the Church of Rome.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.12

Unfortunately the Anglican Church is not alone in opening the way for Rome’s revival. While engaged in so-called “scientific” criticism of the Bible,-pulling it to pieces under the plea of a design to free it from its human incumbrances,-the non-conformists are rapidly, although unconsciously, coming over to the Roman Catholic ground of depriving the common people of the Bible. No preaching of masses, auricular confession, etc., can tend to Rome as surely as destroying confidence in the Bible; for with that gone all heresies are bound to come.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 276.13

The Reformation, so far as it was carried forward, not only in England, but in every country, was a result of plain preaching from the Bible, and of putting that book into the hands of rich and poor alike, teaching them that through it the voice of God was speaking to their souls. The Reformation can be maintained, and the advance of Romanism opposed, and not by appeals to Parliament, nor by the calling of the Ecclesiastical councils, but only by a return to Reformation principles,-by giving people the Bible in such a way that they will receive it as the living word of the living God, the only guide to salvation.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.1

“Gifts and Sacrifices” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17. This being the case, it is evident that no good and perfect gift can come from beneath. God alone is good (Luke 18:19), therefore from Him alone can come good things. In man dwelleth no good thing, therefore from him can come no good thing.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.2

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11. This text is the complement of the one in James. Everything that is good comes from God, and there is not anything that is good that He does not give.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.3

What is there then that man can give? Nothing but his own miserable self, and that is not a gift, but an exchange of nothing for everything. When we take a broken watch to the watchmaker’s to have it repaired, we do not say that we have given him anything; for the idea of a gift is that of value bestowed. Much less do we say that we have made a gift if we exchange a poor, worthless article for something of great value. In that case the gift is received by us, instead of giving.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.4

Now that is the way matters stand between us and God. He has everything, and we have nothing. He gives, and we receive. If we give Him ourselves and all that we have and are, as we often say, what have we given Him? How much do we add to the store of His wealth? Nothing. We give Him ourselves in order that He may make us over entirely new. But that is not a gift, for which full value is received. Much less, then, can it be called a gift, when the thing given is not only worthless, but a positive loss, and the thing received in exchange is above all price. We give the Lord ourselves, because He has bought us, paying for us His own life, which He freely gives to us in exchange for our forfeited lives.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.5

And yet people who profess to be Christians, and who know something of the value of the preciousness of Christ, talk about “making sacrifices.” Did you ever notice that there is no such expression in the Scriptures? Are we not to learn something from the fact that while the Scriptures often exhort us to “offer” sacrifices, they never tell us to “make” sacrifices? Perhaps you have not thought of the matter before. If not, stop and think of it, and ask yourself how gifts and sacrifices can be made by those who have nothing to give. People who have made large contributions to the work of the Gospel, are often said to have sacrificed heavily for the cause of God. It is not probable that any one man ever gave more for the cause of God than David did-three thousand talents of gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, besides many other things he gave for the temple. And now hear what he said in his prayer:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.6

“Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all; and in Thine hand is power and might; and in Thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given thee.... O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build Thee an house for Thine holy name cometh of Thine hand, and is all Thine own.” 1 Chronicles 29:11-16.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.7

Notice that when David offered his great store to God, he returned thanks to Him for it. Most people would almost expect God to thank them for such a gift. At least it is very natural for people to think that the cause of God is under some sort of obligation to them for what they give.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.8

The heathen idea of sacrifice is that man must give something to God; the Christian idea is that God gives everything to man, and then only recognises the fact that it all belongs to the Lord. He even thinks that he must deprive himself of something, or undergo some hardship, in order to appease the wrath of his god; the true Christian knows that God gave up everything, and underwent the suffering of death, in order to reconcile man to Himself. Christ’s sacrifice is the only one that can ever be made or required. “For this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” Hebrews 10:12. He, “Through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,” in order that man might have something to offer to God.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.9

“Knowing that ye were redeemed, and not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your father; but with precious blood, as of the lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19, R.V. In this we see why it was that an incorruptible sacrifice had to be made to redeem man. He had to be redeemed from his vain, empty life. That means that he had to have another life that was not vain and empty. So we are redeemed by the life of Christ, which is given to us. In the beginning man received perfection from the Lord, and therefore he owed the same to the Lord. But he lost everything, and therefore God gave to him again His own perfect life, in order that he might render a perfect offering to the Lord again. See how this idea is carried out in the next chapter:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.10

“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 3:1-5.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.11

The only acceptable sacrifice that we can offer is that which we receive in Jesus Christ. “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance unto Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Acts 5:31. Therefore it is that “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” Psalm 51:17. The presence of Christ in the heart gives repentance, and that is an acceptable sacrifice.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 277.12

And this last text shows us that the idea of a spiritual sacrifice was not a new thing in the time of the Apostle Peter. There were many sacrifices offered, but none of them were of the slightest consequence unless they came from a contrite heart. It was faith that made the offering of Abel acceptable. Hebrews 11:4. The sacrifices with which God is well pleased are “the sacrifices of righteousness.” Psalm 51:19. That means the sacrifices that come from Christ, who is our righteousness. To the people whose hands were filled with blood, the Lord said, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?” Isaiah 1:11. And again, “Though ye offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fed beasts.... But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” Amos 5:22-24.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.1

The prophet Micah, with a just sense of the requirements of God, said: “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:6-8.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.2

It is a mistake, then, to suppose that in one age of the world the Lord required men to make material sacrifices, but that now He requires only spiritual sacrifices. The fact is that He never required anything but spiritual sacrifices, for no man could ever offer any other. He has prepared the sacrifice, and given it freely to man, so that man may have wherewith to offer an acceptable sacrifice to Him. It was the heart touched by the gift of Christ, that made the offering of value. But now, as well as then, he whose heart has felt the love of God will gladly recognise the fact that everything good comes from the Lord, and will therefore hold whatever material things he may have as the Lord’s, and will not feel that he is making a sacrifice when he yields up some of it, or all of it, to the cause of God.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.3

“Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favour secure;
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.4

“Man’s Freedom” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

There is an important statement made by Mr. Stead in the first number of Borderland, in regard to the way that his hand is used to write communications, and the conditions under which it is done. In the first place he repeats the statement that the communications are given to him, without any conscious direction of his own mind, and without any knowledge on his part of what is written. He holds his pen in the ordinary way, resting the point of it lightly on the paper, and the rest is done by a power other than that of his own mind. Then comes this most important statement:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.5

“These communications come to me at all times and places, but their arrival depends almost altogether upon my volition. That is to say, unless I take a pen or pencil, make my mind passive, and wait for the message, I do not receive any communication any more than I should receive a telephonic message if I never went to the telephone. The analogy between the method of communication and the telephone is very close, but with this difference-in this system it is always the recipient who rings up, so to speak, the transmitter at the other end of the line, possibly others may have a different experience. But I am never rung by the Invisibles. They do not seem to have any means of communicating with me when I am all alone unless I first place my hand at their disposal. They often complain, when I have been too busy to let them write for some time, that I have never given them an opportunity of addressing me.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.6

This is not only important, but it is reassuring. It shows that every man has his destiny in his own hands, and may have whatever he chooses. Although “the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour,” he cannot control anyone who does not submit to him. The will of man has been for ever set free, unless man himself voluntarily puts it in subjection to another. God respects man’s freedom of will, since He Himself has given it to him, and He will not interfere with it; and Satan cannot control it without man’s consent, although he tries to.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.7

The very fact that a writing or other medium is obliged to put his will wholly under the control of another, should be sufficient to teach thoughtful men the evil of the whole business. God is free, and delights in freedom, and He wishes men to be free, and not slaves. We are to submit our wills to God, but in so doing we do not lose liberty, for we simply voluntarily take His will and make it our own, and then we have a better, stronger, and freer will than before. It is true that others have an experience different from that of Mr. Stead, but only because they have been longer in the business than he has. If he continues to yield his mind and body to the control of Satan, there will come a time when he cannot help himself,-when the devil will use him without his consent. Thus the soul is taken captive by the devil at his will. The only way to avoid such a sad fate is to obey, from the very start, the Divine injunction, “Resist the Devil,” in which case we have the sure promise that he will flee. Let the sons of men rejoice in the fact that Satan cannot control them against their will. Even though through man’s compliance he has secured partial control, the power of God can break the chains, for Christ came “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.8

“Defending the Faith” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

When Henry VIII. wrote a book against the doctrine of justification by faith, which Luther preached, the Pope, in an unconscious irony, gave him the title of “Defender of the Faith.” The king was as much pleased with this as a child would be with a coloured paper doll, and could not conceal his delight. His fool asked him the cause of his extravagant joy, and Henry said, “The Pope has just made me ‘Defender of the Faith.’” Whereupon the fool replied, “Ho! ho! good Harry, let you and me defend one another, but take my word for it, let the faith alone to defend itself.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.9

In this case the fool was the wise man. The faith needs no defence. On the contrary, the faith is itself a defence. Among the armour which we are exhorted to put on is “the shield of faith.” Ephesians 6:16. Who ever heard of a man defending a shield? It is the shield that is used as a defence for the man. So those who talk about “defending the faith,” have simply got the matter turned round. They have put themselves in a place of the truth of God. The idea as well as the title comes from the Papacy, which “opposeth and exalteth itself above all that is called God.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.10

It is because of the idea that they are set to defend the faith that legislators pass laws against irreligion. They seem to think that God could not get along without the help of earthly rulers. They imagine that God’s truth will be blotted from the earth if they do not defend it. They even presume to defend God Himself by passing laws against blasphemy, that term being usually in such cases made to include a denial of certain dogmas which the aforesaid men have declared to be God’s truth.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 278.11

There was a time when the worship of Baal had almost entirely taken the place of the worship of God in Israel. One night Gideon, at the command of God, threw down the altar of Baal, and cut down the images. When the men of the city found out who had done it, they demanded that Joash should deliver his son Gideon to be slain for his impiety. But “Joash said unto them that stood against him: Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him let him be put to death while it is yet morning; if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.” Judges 6:31.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.1

There was wisdom. If Baal were not a god, who should want to defend him; and if he were, he could defend himself. If he could not defend himself he was not worth pleading for, much less worshipping.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.2

“But Jehovah is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King; at His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation.” Then we can throw away the vain idea that man, who is not able to defend himself is required to defend God. Rather accept His truth, that it may defend us. “The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion.” “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his refuge.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.3

“Feeding on Husks” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

A gentleman’s attention was recently attracted to some Eton students in a railway carriage who were so absorbed in their books that they could scarcely lift their eyes from them when darkness set in. Admiring their studiousness, he was astonished to find that they were reading penny sensational novels of the most trashy character, whose least fault was their shocking disregard of the laws of the English language. He remonstrated with the youths but to no purpose. This incident sent him to investigating, and he sums up in the Echo the result of his observations:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.4

“Stop ten boys in any London street, and search them, and it would be perfectly safe to wager that, coiled up in the pockets of eight out of the ten, you would find a ‘penny dreadful.’ And also that four out of the eight would possess imperfect vision.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.5

Watch them, and you will see them, as they go on errands or what not, suddenly pause and snatch the thing out, and take a mouthful so to speak. The boy has been conning over in his mind the story as far as he has got, and cannot resist the temptation to find out whose throat is to be cut next. So he crawls along reading, full of anticipatory harmful thrills and gasps, unthinking, unseeing. Not only does this description apply to bored school children, office boys, and others, but to those of high-class schools, in whose satchels lie, cheek by jowl with their lesson books, tales of impossible “Penny Gaff” Pirates, of bushrangers who make their homes in the Himalayas, and dozens of other incongruities sickening to dwell upon.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.6

The worst is, that this is true not only of London, but of other cities, and of other countries besides England. It is proposed that, if parents and masters are powerless to remedy the evil, the State should interfere. But it is impossible that the State can succeed where parents fail. Of course the failure on the part of parents is due to carelessness and indifference; but the fact remains that nothing in this world can take the place of parental control over children. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it,” is a truth that will bear the test; and that “a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame,” is too often demonstrated.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.7

“A Fighting ‘Christian Conscience’” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

In the July number of the Review of Reviews, Rev. F. H. Stead gives his impressions of “The Civic Life of Chicago.” Of course the Sunday opening of the World’s Fair comes in for a notice, and what he has to say of it throws, as he says, “a strange light on the Sabbatarian sentiment of Christian Chicago.” It was at a time when it was thought that the Fair would be opened in defiance of what was thought to be the law. “Religious people confidently look to Mayor McClaughery” (the Chief of Police) to bar the way to the crowds which on Sunday might insist on entering the Fair. We let Mr. Stead tell the rest in his own words:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.8

“The eager advocate of civic reform, to whom I have already alluded, was prepared for the emergency, should it arise. ‘See here,’ he said to me, producing a sheet of signatures. ‘These are names belonging to some of the best families in Chicago. They are names of men who hereby pledge themselves to stand by Mayor McClaughery should the Fair gates be opened on Sunday. He will have a difficult task, and he needs to have his hand strengthened.’PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.9

“I naturally thought of moral support only being thus tendered. My friend seemed to perceive this, and so he proceeded, ‘These are the names of young men, strong men,’ and lowering his voice to a whisper, he added, ‘men who can fight.’PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.10

“I understand it now. This is the way the Christian conscience enrolls its special constables in Chicago. It seems rather strange to British minds, this possible spectacle of stalwart Christian young men, armed with Derringers, going down on a Sunday to ‘stand by’ the Chief of Police, as he endeavours to uphold the law of the Sabbath.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.11

Of course the occasion did not arise, but the incident shows how both “Christianity” and “conscience” are misused. Doubtless those young men would have complacently regarded themselves as giant “soldiers of the cross,” if they had shot down a few people who persisted in disregarding Sunday; and if they had a chance to receive a few shots in return, they would have been considered martyrs. How strange it is that men with Bibles which they read, can suppose that conscience has anything to do with regulating the affairs of anyone besides the possessor thereof, or that the “Gospel of peace” can be advanced by clubs and revolvers.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 279.12

“Going to School in India” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

We learned last week that little Hindu girls do not go to school, unless sometimes to an English or missionary school. So what we say about going to Indian schools will all be about the boys.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.1

When the little boy is about five years old, he is sent to the infant school. “Hindu boys are just as excited as English ones about going to school for the first time.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.2

“When the day comes, the little boy has a bath, and puts on his new clothes, very likely the first clothes he has ever worn, except when he was six months old, and was dressed in silk to be shown to his friends.” Then he pays a visit to a temple, and offers some rice and fruits to the god or goddess of learning, after which his father takes him to school.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.3

His first lesson is the alphabet. He learns the letters by writing them over and over, not on paper as you do, but in the sand on the ground, with a piece of soft stone!PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.4

When he knows all his letters, he is allowed to write on dried palm-leaves with a real pen or a metal style; next he is allowed to write on a wooden slate, and last of all on paper.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.5

Beside reading and writing he must learn the multiplication table very thoroughly. Some of the Hindu boys learn to be good arithmeticians, and to keep accounts well. Instead of learning the multiplication table out of a book, the boy who knows it best says it aloud, and the others repeat it after him in a loud monotonous chant until they know it.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.6

The school-house is generally a rude building with three mud walls on three sides, but quite open on the fourth, and a thatched roof supported by bamboos. No benches or desks are needed as the boys generally sit on the ground when writing.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.7

In order to get the boys to come in time the master has a strange rule. The boy that comes first gets one stroke of the cane, the second boy gets two, the third three, and so on to the one who comes last. If the last boy comes very late indeed the master sometimes makes him stand on one leg for an hour. If he plays truant he may be made not only to stand on one leg, but at the same time to hold a brick in his right hand, or to stand with both his arms stretched out at full length until he feels quite ill.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.8

One punishment for a bad boy is for him to stand in a very stooping posture, with his two feet and one hand resting on a stone, whilst he has to hold a stone in the other hand. How this must make his back ache, when it is continued for hours! But if he should straighten up one moment he would be punished still more, for an assistant stands behind him with a cane in his hand. Sometimes a boy must stand on one leg with his other foot drawn up to his knee, while his hands are joined over his head, or in a stooping posture with his hands passed under his body so as to touch the tips of his ears. “Another very dreadful punishment is to put stinging leaves on to the boy’s naked back, where he cannot get at them to take them off, or even to rub the sore place.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.9

“Oh pity those poor children
In far-off heathen lands,
Who’re taught to worship Dagon
And suffer at his hands.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.10

“I’m told they have no Bible-
No holy Sabbath day;
No teacher, friend, disciple,
To teach them how to pray.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.11

“I’m told that they are ready
To hear the Gospel sound,
Will you not give your penny,
To help send it around?”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 284.12

“Man Cannot Create” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” Psalm 139:6.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.1

Did you ever go out-of-doors on a bright sunshiny day and look up at the clear blue sky? Isn’t it beautiful? The sun, how bright it is! And at night, there are the pretty twinkling stars and the great shining moon. This beautiful place above you that looks so blue, and where you see the sun, and moon, and stars, is called “the heavens.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.2

But the ground upon which you walk and upon which people build their houses, and plant their gardens, this is called “the earth.” It is not flat and level like the floor, but the earth is round like a ball or orange, only it is so large the trees can grow on it; so large that cattle can graze and wild beasts roam, upon it; so large that thousands of men and women can live on it, and many little children do. In some places it is soft and green; in some parts it is covered with tall and thick forests, then again it is steep and rough, covered with great hills, so high that when you look up you can scarcely see the tops of them; but in some parts there are no hills at all, but quiet little ponds of water where the white water lilies grow, and silvery fishes play among their long stems. On other parts of the earth there are no ponds, but there are great plains of sand; and still other parts it is covered with water stretching away farther than you can see on every side; and on other places as you go round the wonderful ball, can be seen drifts upon drifts of snow and mountains of blue ice, even in the summer time. You can see clear round your ball, and can hold it in one hand, but the earth is so large round that you can see only a small part of it at one time, and you can hold but a few grains of it in your hand. Men can go round the earth, and surely as a fly can go round your ball, only it takes a great many days. The earth has many other strange things upon it, which we have not time even to mention.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.3

Did you ever see a man building a house? How many things he must have before he can build it! He must have stone and timber, and nails, and slates or tiles, and brick and mortar, and hinges, and knobs, and glass, and locks, and many, many other things. Before he can make a fence he must have wood, or wire, or stone, or iron. The shoemaker must have leather before he can make your boots. Your mother must have cloth before she can make your clothes, and flour before she can make up the bread. Look around the house and see if you can tell what men had to have before they could make the chairs, and tables, and stove, and grates, and dishes, and carpets. Men and women and even little children can make many fine things, but did you ever think that they always have to have something to make them out of. No man or woman or child knows how to make things out of nothing.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.4

And yet we read in our Bible that this great earth upon which we live, and the beautiful heavens above us, were all created; and that means that they were made out of nothing! Who could have done it? Surely not man, for he does not know how to make even the smallest thing out of nothing. It must be some one who is much wiser and greater than man. Do you remember who it is?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.5

1. What do we call the beautiful place above us where we see the sun, and moon, and stars?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.6

2. Have you a ball? What kind?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.7

3. Is it flat like a book, or of what shape is it?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.8

4. What do we call the great round ball of ground upon which we live, and build our houses, and plant our gardens?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.9

5. Which is larger, your ball, or the earth?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.10

6. How large is the earth?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.11

7. Name some of the things that we see on the earth.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.12

8. What did the man need before he could make your ball?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.13

9. What must a man have before he can build a house?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.14

10. What did the shoemaker need to have before he could make your boots?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.15

11. What must your mamma have before she can make up the bread?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.16

12. Did you ever make anything?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.17

13. What did you have to have before you could do it?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.18

14. Did you ever create anything, that is, make it out of nothing?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.19

15. Did your father?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.20

16. Did your mother?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.21

17. Why not?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.22

18. Cannot some of your friends create things? Why not?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.23

19. Of what does the Bible say the beautiful heavens and earth were made?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.24

20. Then was it created by man?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.25

21. Who did it?PTUK August 3, 1893, page 285.26

“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-A crisis is reported to exist in the Servian Cabinet.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.1

-Fresh cases of cholera are being discovered daily at St. Petersburg.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.2

-King Otto, of Bavaria, is critically ill, and his death is looked for hourly.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.3

-It is reported that Great Britain has annexed the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.4

-Trouble is threatened between the French and the Hovas in Madagascar. The latter are arming.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.5

-An epidemic of dengue fever prevails among both natives and Europeans on the island of Zanzibar.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.6

-Thomas Spurgeon, son of C. H. Spurgeon, now occupies the pulpit so long filled by his illustrious father.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.7

-The world’s record for a twenty-four hour bicycle run was recently made at Herne Hill. It is 426 miles and 440 yards.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.8

-The annual budget statement for Queensland, Australia, delivered in the legislature, July 25, reports a deficit of £1,500,000.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.9

-It is now regarded as practically certain that Lord Herschell will succeed the Marquis of Lansdowne as Viceroy of India.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.10

-The new comet is now visible to the naked eye. It is situated in the region extending below the constellation of the Great Bear.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.11

-In 1830 the whole tonnage of the British Empire reached but 2,500,000. To-day the tonnage register is 6,000,000 of steam and 4,250,000 of sailing.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.12

—The steamers Pearl and Archibald Finnie collided near the coast of Down in the Irish Sea, with the result that the latter sank, with seven of the crew.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.13

-News from the scene of the revolution in Nicaragua reports a battle near Mateare, in which 5,000 men were engaged. The result of the fighting is not known.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.14

-The Russian army is being supplied with a new small-bore rifle, which will necessitate a new system of drill. Several new cruisers are in process of construction.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.15

-Some miscreant sent an infernal machine by post to Mr. Richard Richards at Broadstairs, July 22, which while being opened exploded, inflicting upon him fatal injuries.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.16

-Cases of cholera continue to occur in the South of France. A German says the cholera bacillus will live three days in milk, eight days on cooked meat, and one day on bread-and-butter.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.17

-The court-martial with regard to the loss of the Victoria ended by the Court finding that the disaster was due to Admiral Tryon’s order, and Captain Bourke and the other survivors were acquitted of all blame.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.18

-A plague of scorpions has overwhelmed the city of Durango, Mexico, where the authorities are paying bounty for each of the pests killed.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.19

-Several cases of cholera are reported from Smyrna, and all arrivals from that port to Athens will be subjected to a quarantine of eleven days.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.20

-Intelligence from Rio Janeiro announces that another revolution has broken out in Brazil, in the State of Santa Catharina, supported, it is said, by the national forces. Its purposes is the overthrow of the government.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.21

-A terrible famine is reported from the province of Shansi, in China. The dispatch states that children are being sold by their parents for $2 each, and the most revolting scenes of cannibalism are witnessed among the natives.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.22

-A French journal states that M. Charles de Lessepps, of Panama Canal infamy, is shortly to be released from prison. M. Bloudin, a fellow culprit, now serving out a two-years’ sentence has had one year of his term remitted.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.23

-The financial crisis in America is growing more serious, and a feeling of great uneasiness pervades trade and commercial circles. Bank failures are reported daily, and many manufactories are running on short time or closing down altogether.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.24

-Serious trouble is apprehended from the miners’ strike in Missouri, U.S.A., and eleven companies of militia have received orders to be in readiness to march to the scene of disturbance. At Weir City the stockades are manned by 600 negroes.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.25

-Sunday closing again prevails at the World’s Fair grounds in Chicago. This is not, however, out of any regard for the day, but because so large a part of the fair was closed on Sunday that the attendance was too small to make Sunday opening profitable.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.26

-News has been received from Hong Kong that the Spanish steamer San Juan, which sailed from that port on the 29th June last, has been totally destroyed by fire. Out of 230 passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 221 are stated to have perished.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.27

-The last sitting of the present French Chamber of Deputies was held July 22, when the Budget was finally passed, after some final modifications had been made in it by the Senate. The general election to the next Chamber will take place on August 20.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.28

-A clergyman of the Church of England, when being examined as a witness in a matrimonial suit, refused to divulge the substance of a confession made to him by a wife. As it was not considered necessary to press the matter, no penalty was attached to his refusal.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.29

-San Francisco dispatches report a terrific powder explosion at Canton, China, by which every village in the vicinity was wrecked. In one village, separated from the powder factory by a narrow stream, four hundred houses were destroyed. Several hundred people were killed end injured.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.30

-At a meeting of the Northumberland Miners’ Association, July 22, it was resolved to make an application to the owners for an advance of 11 per cent. At several of the collieries in the north prices are to advanced from 2s. to 3s. 6d. per ton, and London coal merchants have withdrawn all their price-lists which are subject to hourly change.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.31

-The trouble between France and Siam, which it was expected would involve a declaration of war, continues without any material change in the situation. France lays claim to the left bank of the Mekong river up to the Burmese frontier, which Siam disputes, and China is said to regard the same territory as a part of her own possessions. France threatens a blockade of the Siamese coast, and has a fleet of twelve war vessels in Siamese waters, with which her threat may be carried outPTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.32

-What was probably the most undignified scene ever witnessed in the House of Commons, occurred July 27. Sir Chamberlain, in a speech on the Home Rule Bill, compared Mr. Gladstone to “Herod,” and Mr. O’Connor retaliated by applying to the speaker the term “Judas.” A scene of confusion followed which culminated in a personal encounter between members of the Irish party and the friends of Mr. Chamberlain, and for the first time in its history, the House of Commons became the scene of a vulgar meleé which there was a free exchange of blows. Order was finally restored without any member having sustained serious damage.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 286.33

“Back Page” The Present Truth 9, 18.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

As a result of the French blockade of Siam, it is stated that the Siamese Government has accepted the French ultimatum.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.1

The uncertainty of things in which men mostly put their trust is indicated by the fact that there were 301 bank failures in the United States, between May 1st and July 22nd.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.2

The epidemic of English cholera at Belfast has assumed such alarming proportion that, acting on the advice of the superintendent medical officer of the city, the Public Health Committee of the Corporation has issued an elaborate statement urging upon inhabitants the importance of strict attention to food and drink as well as to the cleanliness of their persons and homes. The greatest mortality is among children and youth.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.3

On Friday, July 28, the coal miners’ strike begun in England, when 280,000 miners, and others engaged in the work of getting out coal, ceased work. This number has doubtless been increased by the present time by at least 60,000 more. Practically, the whole of the coal trade in Lancashire, Cheshire, North Wales, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Notts, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, and Cumberland is stopped. It is expected that this will be the greatest labour war ever fought in England.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.4

While regarding the miners’ strike as inevitable, Mr. John Wilson, M.P., secretary to the Durham miners, deplores the fact, because, in his opinion, strikes have never brought the miners any real good. He says that war is barbarism, and that a trade war is no exception to the rule. All of which is truth. While there is no question but that labourers suffer oppression and extortion, and have many times just cause of complaint, it is just as certain that grievances are not redressed by force. A “victory” may be gained in some instances, but in the end the results are the worse. Christ’s injunction, “I say unto you, that ye resist not evil,” seems to the natural mind unsuited to the case; but those who follow Christ will know that He did not speak at random. Christians cannot engage in such a thing as a modern strike. They may seem for a time to be foolish because of their non-resistance, but to the Christian labourers whose higher is kept back by fraud, Inspiration says, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.” James 5:7.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.5

In a recent charge the Bishop of Bath and Wells said:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.6

“When I have put together as carefully as I can all the facts of the case, and have weighed as fairly and impartially as I can all the considerations which the ‘Higher Criticism’ brings before us, I only return with greatly increased confidence to the ancient faith, and to an implicit reliance upon the truth of Holy Scripture as given by inspiration of God.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.7

The fact that a scholarly man believes in the full inspiration of the Bible, does not add one whit to its truth; but it is well once in a while to remind people that not all the scholarship is running to infidelity.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.8

Someone says that “the reunion of Christendom is an impossible dream, and would be useless and mischievous even if it were possible. For Christendom is that field wherein the enemy has sowed tares, which cannot be united with the wheat, but must be gathered out by the angels at the end of the age, and bound in bundles for burning.” This is but another way of saying that “Christendom” is not the same as “Christians.” Christians do not need reunion, for they are united already, by virtue of their communion with Christ.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.9

Who has not, when going upstairs in the dark, proceeded on the assumption that he was at the top, when he lacked one step of being there? And what has been the inevitable result? A stumble, perhaps a severe fall. The same thing will befall him who, while still below “the major of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” imagines that he has reached the top. How can such a result be avoided? By remembering that the mistake of supposing you are at the top when you are not, is made only when you are in the dark. Learn, then, to walk in the light, even the life of Christ, who is meek and lowly in heart.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.10

“The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart.” 1 Timothy 1:5. He who does not attain to the end of the commandment, comes short; and he who comes short is as bad off as he who does not start. Anything short of the end of the commandment is a violation of the commandment. But the end of the commandment is attained only by a pure heart. Commandment-keeping can come only from a pure heart. It is impossible therefore, to purify the heart by trying to keep the commandments, because the heart must be pure before any acceptable service can be rendered to God. He will cleanse the heart freely by His Spirit, and then the end of the commandment will be the natural result of His life. “For of Him, and through Him, are all things.” Romans 11:36.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.11

“It is not to politics, and it is not to science, and certainly it is not to the interests of men, or the utopias of dreamers, that we must look for the salvation of France or of the world. Our salvation must come from Christianity alone. But to work this miracle, Christianity must regain its true character; it must be the religion of the Gospel, the religion of justice and charity. It must tear itself free from the superstitions which degrade it, from the sects which would rend it into fragments, from the clergies and the governments who enslave and exploit it.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.12

Thus speaks Pere Hyscinthe Loyson, and very truly, too. Christianity is going to be seen in just that condition before long,-the manifestation of the life of Christ among men. But it will not result in the salvation of France, nor of any other country, but only in the culling out of the people from every nation, who will follow Christ. Sad to say, there are many now, as in the days when Christ was on earth, to whom He is obliged to say, “Ye will not come unto Me, that ye may have life.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.13

And in his article in the Contemporary Review, on “Undoing the work of the Reformation,” Archdeacon Farrar says:-PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.14

“Disestablishment will be one of the first consequences of the triumph of Ritualism; and immediately after disestablishment will come the necessity for, and the certainty of a New Reformation to re-establish the truths which Ritualism endeavours to overthrow.”PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.15

That New Reformation has already begun. It is the everlasting Gospel, set forth in the following message: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:7. It teaches that “the Head of every man is Christ,” that the Scriptures are able to make men “perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,” and that God is able to speak through them to every person individually, without the intervention of any man or body of men.PTUK August 3, 1893, page 288.16