August 13, 1896
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August 13, 1896
“The Mind of the Natural Man” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
The Mind of the Natural Man .-Daniel tells how, just before Nebuchadnezzar was stricken and humbled, the proud king walked up the terraces of his palace, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”PTUK August 13, 1896, page 513.1
Memorials of Vanity. -He not only spoke it, but engraved like sentiments in his inscriptions upon the royal tablets, now dug up and read. One of them says: “For the astonishment of men I built this house; all of the power of my majesty encompasses its walls.... In Babylon alone I raise the seat of my dominion.” This vanity is the common frailty of the human mind.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 513.2
The Mind of Christ. -Contrast with this Christ’s attitude as he came into the world to show men how to live for man. He had not built a pile of bricks and mortar, but the very earth and all living things upon it and the heavens were the work of His hands. Yet He said, “I can of Mine own self do nothing.” “I came not to do Mine own will.” “I have glorified Thee on the earth.” Nebuchadnezzar glorified himself as the builder of a great city now buried in the sands. Jesus, in whom all things consist, glorified God. “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who...emptied Himself.” Philippians 2:5, 6, R.V.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 513.3
“‘Wanted: Religious Reciprocity’” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
Under this title, a correspondent of the Daily Chronicle calls attention to the hollow pretence of the Papacy in professing to favour religious liberty. The present Pope lauds religious liberty in lands where papal principles are not fully in the ascendant, but wherever the Papacy has control Protestants are treated as enemies to the civil order. Nor while printing this letter, showing papal inconsistency, can we forebear calling attention to the inconsistency of Protestants who disapprove of Spanish laws seeking to exact deference to Romish ceremonies and observances, but who, at the same time, approve of Sunday laws in England or elsewhere, which are as distinctly religious laws, and as distinctly Roman Catholic, as any of the Spanish regulations. The correspondent says:-PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.1
“Judging by the account given in your issue of Monday of the imposing Roman Catholic public procession, which caused all the vehicular traffic between Farringdon-road and Holborn Town Hall to be suspended for nearly three-quarters of an hour, it is most evident that it is a glorious privilege to reside in a Protestant country. How happy should we be if like liberty were known in Roman Catholic countries! But alas! what do we find? Take Spain-that most Catholic of countries-there, no ism but Romanism is allowed to do anything that can give the public to know that it even exists. At this very moment Protestant chapels remain closed by order of the authorities. In one town which I could name, a goodly band of law-keeping, devout Protestants are strictly prohibited from even meeting together in an “upper room.” For nearly two years these local Roman Catholic authorities have defied the best efforts of British Consul and British Ambassador at Madrid to obtain through the Spanish Government liberty for these Protestants to worship God even in secret.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.2
“Well may our Roman Catholic, Jewish, Greek and other non-Protestant fellow-subjects of Queen Victoria bless God that they dwell under the glorious flag of a free and Protestant England. In most Catholic Spain religious liberty is granted to no one except Roman Catholics. But that is the least of it, for free-born Spanish Protestants are compelled by law to do public obeisance to images, etc., set up by the Church of Rome. Law-abiding subjects are sent to prison and fined for not violating their consciences by kneeling-or, at least, uncovering-in the public streets before the images borne by a papist in procession. ‘Twas but the other day that an immense deputation of grandees waited on the Queen Regent of Spain imploring her, by all things sacred, on no account to allow the members of the Spanish Reformed Church the liberty of meeting to worship God under their own roof.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.3
“We have the Pope sending his best thanks to the Queen for granting liberty of worship, etc., etc., to Roman Catholics; when will the day dawn in which the Queen will be in a position to thank the Pope for even so much as suggesting to Roman Catholic countries that liberty of worship be granted to Protestants? Why should all the liberty be on one side? How can the Pope and his agents with any conscience ask and accept that which they would rather die than grant in their turn?”PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.4
“Understanding the Bible” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
There are two principal causes why people find the Bible difficult, even after they give assent to the fact that it means what it says, and think that they believe it. The first is the power of preconceived opinions. They come to the study of the Bible with certain fixed ideas, and they think that they must find those ideas in it. When they read a certain passage that conflicts in any degree with their ideas, they modify the statement to agree with their ideas. This they do unconsciously. They do not mean to put their ideas in the place of the Bible statement, but they are so firmly persuaded that their ideas are according to Scripture that they think the passage in question must be toned down a little to agree with some other text.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.5
This suggests a principle that must be grasped and firmly adhered to before one can hope to get any real benefit from the Bible; and it this is: The Bible means just what it says in every text. No text can modify another, so as to make it mean less, or anything different from its plain reading. True, no one text tells all that may be said upon any subject, or else there would not be another one written on the same subject; but every text must be allowed to stand just as it is written. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5, 6.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.6
The other cause is the impatience of the reader. He cannot wait for an understanding of the text. He must know at once. So he rushes off to a commentary, or to some friend in whom he has confidence, and inquires for the meaning. Having received an answer, he thinks that he knows the meaning; but he does not. Even though the exact truth be told him, he does not know it. By and by some other commentator or friend will give him another explanation of the same text, and then his doubt is greater than before. The poor man sees that learned men differ, and he wonders, “How am I to know which is right?” He could not know, if he were to depend on the testimony of men, for he would never know what men to depend on. But he may know for a certainty, if he will let the Lord tell him.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.7
“For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6. The knowledge of God is found in His Word, and He alone can give the understanding. We do not get light upon the Word of God, but we get light from it. The Word itself is light. If at the first we do not perceive the light, that is no evidence that it is not there. It will be revealed to us if we look long enough.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.8
“Ritualistic Theory” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
According to the Ritualistic theory, the Church of England is the true Church in England, and the Roman Catholic the true Church on the Continent. Rev. R. C. Fillingham, Vicar of Hexton, has been showing how supremely absurd the position is. “Is it not ridiculous,” he says, “childishly ridiculous, to be forced by one’s theory to assert that a man will be damned at Dover for believing what he would be damned for not believing in Calais?”PTUK August 13, 1896, page 516.9
“The Promises to Israel. The Time of the Promise” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
We have Israel in Egypt, and we know something of what that signifies. The bondage, as well as the deliverance, had been foretold to Abraham when the covenant was made with him; and that covenant had been confirmed by an oath of God.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.1
Now let us turn again to some of the words spoken by Stephen when, full of the Holy Ghost, he stood before the Jewish Council. He began his discourse by a positive proof that the resurrection was necessary to the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham; for having repeated the promise, he declared that Abraham had not so much as a foot-breadth of theland that was promised, although God had said that both he and his seed should possess it.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.2
Since Abraham died without inheriting it, as did also a vast number of his descendants even those who, like him, had faith, the conclusion was inevitable that the fulfillment could be only through the resurrection. The only reason why so many of the Jews rejected the Gospel was that they persisted in ignoring the plain evidence of the Scriptures, that the promise to Abraham was not temporal, but eternal. Even so at the present time the belief that the promises to Israel convey an earthly and temporal inheritance, is incompatible with a full belief in Christ.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.3
Stephen next recalled the word of the Lord to Abraham, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and be afflicted, and afterwards delivered. Then he said, “But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt.” Acts 7:17. Then followed the oppression, and the birth of Moses. What is meant by the drawing near of the time of the promise which God had sworn to Abraham? A brief review of some of the Scriptures already studied will make this question very clear.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.4
In the account of the making of the covenant with Abraham we read the words of the Lord to him, “I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.” Then follow the details of the making of the covenant, and then the words, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterwards they shall come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorities is not yet full.” Genesis 15:13-16.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.5
That covenant was afterwards sealed with circumcision, and then when Abraham had shown his faith by the offering up of Isaac, the Lord added His oath to the promise, saying, “By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” Genesis 22:16, 17.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.6
This is the only promise concerning which God swore to Abraham. It was a confirmation of the original promise. But, as we have already seen, it involved nothing less than the resurrection of the dead through Christ, who is the seed. “The last enemy that shall he destroyed is death,” that the words of God by the prophet may be fulfilled, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Hosea 13:14. Not till then will the promise be fulfilled, which God swore to Abraham, for not till then will all his seed possess the gate of his enemies.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.7
To the weeping mothers who mourned the loss of their children that had been slain by the command of Herod, the Lord said, “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.” Jeremiah 31:16, 17. Only through the resurrection can the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob come again to their own border. This was indicated to Abraham when he was told that before his seed should possess the land they should be afflicted in a strange land, and that he should die; “but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again.”PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.8
There can therefore be no doubt but that God designed that the return of Israel from Egyptian bondage should be the time of the resurrection and restoration of all things. The time of the promise drew nigh. How long it would have been after the going forth from Egypt, before the full restoration would have taken place, we have no means of knowing. There was of course much to be done in the way of warning the people of the earth; and the time depended upon the faithfulness of the children of Israel. We need not speculate upon how all things would have been fulfilled, since the Israelites were not faithful. All that concerns us now is the fact that the deliverance from Egypt meant nothing less than the complete deliverance of all God’s people from the bondage of sin and death, and the restoration of all things as they were in the beginning.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 517.9
“Peace and Safety!” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
The general view of the condition of affairs throughout the world, given in the columns of almost any morning paper, is scarcely assuring, one would think, to those who look for men and nations to develop into perfection through their own efforts, and establish an earthly millennium.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.1
The decision of the court as to the legal guilt of the South African raiders, and their condemnation to terms of imprisonment, only serves to emphasise the fact that the peace of that district which they disturbed shows no evidence, as yet, of being re-established. It seems to be now acknowledged that but for this abortive conspiracy, of which the ride of these raiders is the part now known to all the world, none of this native uprising with all its consequent slaughter, suffering, and disaster, would have occurred. The gusto with which the soldiery, in published letters, speak of hunting natives and shooting them down, shows a spirit just as ignorantly bloodthirsty as that of the wild Matabele themselves. An arid, infertile country, cattle plague, drouth, and locusts, all add to the unfavourable picture.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.2
On the Nile and in the Soudan there is nothing to show as yet the approach of suspension of military operations; in the meantime, heat and cholera are even more destructive than the ferocious fighting Dervishes. In Crete nothing yet happens to stop the mutual slaughter that is going on. In Armenia, apparently, nothing will bring about a cessation of butchery but a lack of men, women, and children to murder. The sanguinary civil war in Cuba shows no signs of coming to an end. In Madagascar, despite the technical victory and possession by French arms, there is still war and violence.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.3
Add to this the terrific catastrophes for which man is not responsible, such as earthquakes and tidal waves in the East, and the frightful storms which with increasing frequency devastate parts of America, and which have lately been felt in modified form in different places on the Continent,-take all these things into consideration-the forces of evil which are working in man and in nature,-and one wonders how men can think they see any possible chance for the amelioration of the condition of mankind, and the world, short of the personal intervention and second coming of the Saviour of mankind, according to His promise.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.4
“Sights of the Battle-field” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
So long as Christendom glorifies war, and so long as the religious world explains away the teachings of Christ in order to make it appear that the Christian can become a part of the machinery of this world’s administration, and bear the sword, which is the symbol of political power, it will be necessary not only to repeat the doctrines of Christ, but to show what a hideous thing war is. It is so outrageous a thing that only one possessed by the very spirit of Satan could justify it if he knew what it is on the battle-field.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.5
The editor of Good Words, Dr. Donald Macleod, prints a conversation he had with two German military men, who told him of some of the sights to be witnessed in battle. We do not apologise for printing such things, though they make terrible reading, for this is what nearly all Christendom seeks to justify every time the rights and integrity of the empire or country are threatened. It is only where the doctrine that men are bound to maintain their rights in this world must lead every one who does not recognise the higher right of living at peace with God which Christ’s life illustrated for us. This is part of the interview with the two German officers, who were speaking of the late Franco-German war. And these are only a hasty glance at one or two incidents, repeated with variations all over the field of carnage:-PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.6
“It is terrible to think of it. Do you remember, W—-, that at the bridge of Orleans? Himmel! what a thing it was! We had been cannonading the bridge and had driven the French across; but when following them up, when I reached the nearer end of the bridge, I saw there a French soldier propped up against the side of the bridge. All his stomach and entrails had been shot completely away, but he was alive and apparently conscious, and looked up at me with such a pleading look. What could I do? His wound was mortal-worse than mortal-it was hideous, so I called to an army doctor who was near me and said, ‘For heaven’s sake, give that poor man something which may put an end to his sufferings, for he cannot live, and it is too awful to leave him.’ ‘My duty, sir, is to save life, not to destroy it.’ ‘But you can't save him, and it will be the greatest mercy to give him release.’ ‘That, sir, I dare not do.’ Well, there was nothing for it but to get a soldier’s blanket and to tie it tight round him, and to give him something to wet his lips with, and, having done this as rapidly as we could, we left him; but I could not get over the look of his eye following me as I went away.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.7
“And there was still a worse spectacle-if such there could be-at the other end of the bridge, for there was another soldier who had had a part of his skull shot away, and he was leaping in the air, as you may have seen a wounded hare do, leaping up and then tumbling down, leaping high up and then tumbling. ‘Ach!’ I said to the doctor once more, ‘here is a still more fearful case. Give him something, do give him something to put him out of his agony.’ ‘It is impossible, sir, for me to do so.’ What shall I do? I thought, but as I was thinking, he gave one great leap which sent him over the bridge into the water, and I was so thankful that he at last got release in death....PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.8
“After the engagement I was sent out to visit the out-posts. Such a mission, after a great battle, forms one of the most trying of experiences. Never shall I forget those cries coming in the dark from every side, and heard over long stretches of country, from the woods, from the fields, from everywhere, always the same pitiful cry, ‘Water! water!’ in French and German, one piteous wail after another from the parched lips of the wounded. It was impossible to do more for them than we were doing, because the demands on the ambulances were so enormous, and the numbers of wounded not only great, but widely scattered. When riding along I came upon a great barn or shed, and, looking in, found it crammed with German and French wounded, poor fellows! all the bitterness of war was forgotten in the comradeship of a common suffering. It was shocking to see the various ways in which these brave men had been injured, and the ghastly methods in which they had tried to staunch their wounds, but worst of all were the loud entreaties for ‘Water! water!’ which came from all.”PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.9
Oh, who but men incarnating the very spirit of demons could contemplate perpetrating such ghastly mutilations of their fellow men, who are of one blood, brothers, if they only recognised it. And what is it all about?-Rights of territory, trade, political rights, or some other such object. The Christian is entirely out of it all. Christendom is into it because it is overwhelmingly pagan and worldly in spirit, when Christians get out of the world-spirit they leave the contentions and methods of the world behind. All the kingdoms of this world are maintained by the sword. That is the reason why Christians, who are forbidden to take the sword, remain in this world merely as ambassadors of another kingdom, having no part in the quarrels and political animosities agitating those whose possessions and interests centre in the kingdom of men. We seek a better country, that is, an heavenly.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 518.10
“A Pertinent Question” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
A Pertinent Question .-The Missionary puts this pertinent question: “Would it not be well for even Christian people to study afresh those bits of wonderful missionary history from the Book of Acts? Paul is now a hero, and his name surrounded with a halo of glory. In every pulpit and in every Christian home his name and career are a watchword and an inspiration. Yet he lived that wonderful life amid human surroundings just like ours, and if he were here to-day, and proposed to go to Kucheng, China, or the New Hebrides, or the heart of Congo, how many, even of God’s people, would cry, ‘Tempting Providence! Why this waste?’”PTUK August 13, 1896, page 519.1
“Poison in the Pot” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
It is but a short time since a large seizure of tinned meats was made in London, under circumstances which showed that its unwholesome condition was well known to those who had purchased and were using it. From the surroundings it was also evident that a systematic business was being carried on in re-cooking, and so spicing and preparing this poisonous material as to conceal its dangerous character, and make it marketable to cheap eating-houses and dealers, to whom low price, rather than high quality, was the first consideration.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.1
The lesson which should be learned from such an incident as this is emphasised by the following extract:-PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.2
In conversation with a Lloyd’s reporter yesterday a London medical officer of health stated that the trade in poisonous foods was far more extensive than the public had any idea of. The mode of procedure by those engaged in the nefarious trade was for them or their agents to go round to the wholesale importers of tinned foods, and buy up all the cast-away tins damaged in transit. In some instances these buyers represented themselves as manure manufacturers; and when, on that distinct understanding, they acquired possession of the tins, they set to work to sort and re-sell the best of them and make the contents of others up into “soups” or “potted meats.” The tins were easily known by the traders by being bulged out with the air, but some of the dealers had a method of expelling the air, and then soldering over the small pin-holes, which unless looked for easily escaped the notice of buyers. Sometimes the meat went bad through being undercooked and improperly tinned abroad, but bad importations were easily detected. The public would be surprised to know at what a cheap rate this putrid meat was bought, and how, in many instances, it was treated with chemicals, spices, or condiment, and sold all over the country as “potted meat” or soup. Tradesmen were often imposed upon, and bought stock only to find themselves compelled to destroy it. The evil was so great and so much unsuspected sickness was caused by it, added the officer, that he believed he might with certainty say it would have to be sternly grappled with in the near future by the authorities.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.3
“The Meat Bill” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
The total quantity of dead meat, including rabbits, imported into Great Britain in the month of May last was 5,458,002cwt., as compared with 4,907,800 cwt. and 4,301,394cwt. for the corresponding periods of 1895 and 1894. For meat imported alive we have paid in the last five months ?4,414,091, and for dead meat, including poultry and game, ?10,183,332.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.4
When it is remembered that this represents the meat bill for imported meats alone, it will be seen that the people pay out a large sum during the year for flesh foods. What would be the difference in the price of food and the condition of nourishment which the people would show if all this money, as well as the time and money spent in producing flesh food, were expended on grains, fruits, and vegetables?PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.5
“Items of Interest” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
-The Czar is to visit Paris in October.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.6
-Affairs in Crete are going from bad to worse. A Mussulman force pillaged Heraklion last week.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.7
-The Matabele forces sustained a severe defeat in their stronghold last week, with a loss of about 300.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.8
-Dock and ship labourers are meditating an international strike if their terms are not accepted.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.9
-A newspaper paragraph reports that a man has been fined for betting in the streets of London on Sunday.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.10
-It is said that camel meat, supplied from Algona, is now being consumed in Paris. The hump is said to be the choicest cut.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.11
-The tidal wave, which recently destroyed 4,000 lives in the Chinese coast, is said to have travelled at the rate of 550 miles per hour.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.12
-The East, End of London has been suffering from water famine, the water company failing to get, sufficient supply for domestic use. Disease has greatly increased.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.13
-The Cuban insurgents have eighty thousand men under them. Spain is making preparations to send several thousand soldiers to reinforce her forces already in Cuba.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.14
-Fish have been discovered in an artesian well sunk some time ago in the desert of Sahara. They are of a variety of carp which live at a depth of two hundred to five hundred feet, and could not have been brought there across the desert.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.15
-The weekly census of metropolitan paupers, taken at the instance of the London Local Government Board, shows that on the last day of the fourth week of July there was within the metropolitan area a total of 97,011 paupers who were in the receipt of relief.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.16
-A whirlwind, quite limited in influence but of considerable force, lately occurred on the sea-front at Eastbourne. Several row-boat, were carried into the air and blown about like paper. A number of people were thrown down or carried along by the wind, but no one seriously injured.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.17
-If we can tryst the telegraphic statement, the most enormous meteorite ever yet reported fell to the earth last month in the district of Chihuahua, Mexico. It is said to have struck the side of a mountain that fell, bringing down with it in its course...as of the cliffs, and finally plunging many feet into the ground. It destroyed the house of a miner, killing his two children. This is not the first ease on record in which a meteorite has destroyed a house.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.18
-Two ocean steamers have reached port lately much buffeted era battered. The stories which both tell are quite striking. In southern aims the steamship Seminole ran into a school of whales, and was attacked by them, coming out of the conflict with battered sides and inner furnishings upset and broken by the force of the concussions from the blows of charging whales. In the North Atlantic the steamer Etolia fell in with a school of icebergs, from collision with which it suffered severely.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 526.19
“Back Page” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
We have received from the Calcutta branch of our Society some new literature in the Bengali language.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.1
Notwithstanding the German Emperor’s advice to preachers to stick to their pulpits and keep out of politics, the “Christian Socialist” party seems to be growing and active.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.2
A new edition of the little work, “Who Changed the Sabbath?” Quoting a Catholic and Protestant testimony has recently been prepared. The price is 1d., by post 1 1/2nd.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.3
The late Cardinal Manning was a humane and naturally kind-hearted man, and these qualities as a man only throw in a clear relief his sentiments as an ecclesiastical. Possessed by the spirit of the Papacy, which, having no hope of a kingdom in the world to come, is struggling for a place amongst the kingdoms of this world, the Cardinal once told Mr. Price Hughes that “he would be willing to deluge the whole of Europe with blood in order to destroy the unity of Italy, and recover the temporal power of the Pope.” To such lengths an evil principle will drive the one who is dominated by it.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.4
While here and there the ancient Sunday law of Charles II. is being enforced, at Manchester it seems it is realised that there is something incongruous either in the law or its enforcement, as is shown by the following newspaper paragraph:PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.5
Manchester City Council yesterday referred back to the Watch Committee for further consideration a resolution recommending that no proceedings be taken against barbers to open their shops on the Sunday. The chairman of the committee said they had found it impossible to get convictions for Sunday trading by the magistrates. The whole question ought to be dealt with under a new Act, that of Charles II. having become obsolete.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.6
The trouble with this aged Act of Charles II. is not so much that it is obsolete as that it is, and always was incongruous with justice and true religion. The question ought not to be dealt with under a new Act, however obsolete the old may have become, for the reason that it is not a question for legal action at all,-and it is because this is so that the Act of Charles II. has become so nearly obsolete as it has.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.7
At the recent great conference of Wesleyan Methodists it was stated by those in touch with the people in various districts of England that betting and gambling had become almost as terrible a curse throughout the country as the drink evil. The mad rage for amusements was also an increasing evil. Good words were spoken as to the necessity of personal Gospel work in fighting these evils, which legislation can scarcely touch.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.8
In 1882 the Queen of Madagascar officially proclaimed Christianity the religion of the country. But the proclamation made no one a Christian. The preaching of the Word by consecrated missionaries has brought many to the knowledge of the Lord, but multitudes of those who were only officially “Christians” have taken advantage of the overturn of affairs to act out the innate paganism of their natures. A missionary of the Norwegian Mission says of the present conditions:-PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.9
The people are rebelling against the French in several places and murdering many Europeans. It is not only a rebellion against the French authorities, but also a rising against Christianity. The old idols are restored, the churches burned, and missionaries, as well as their faithful adherents, persecuted and killed. Churches and school-houses are burned, Bibles and other books destroyed.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.10
An organisation called the National Federation of Afro-American Women has just been formed in the United States. At its first annual convention, held in Washington, Mrs. Douglas Sprague, a sister of the late Frederick Douglas (and, by the way, a member of the Washington Seventh-day Adventist church) in speaking for her race expressed these practical needs, as quoted by the Christian World:-PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.11
Our wants are numerous. We want homes in which purity can be taught, not hovels that are police-court feeders; we want industrial schools where labour of all kinds is taught, enabling our boys and girls to become skilled in the trades; we want the dram shop closed; we want the pool rooms and gambling dens of every variety swept out of existence; we want kindergartens and schools established; we want reform schools for our girls in such cities where the conscience of the white Christian is not elastic enough to take in the negro child.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.12
“The End Coming” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
The End Coming .-“He shall come to his end, and none shall help him,” is the prophetic assurance regarding the Ottoman Power in the latter days. Weakening everywhere, the end even now hastens. Says a morning paper:-PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.13
While this power and that is straining its diplomatic energies to preventing the disruption of the Turkish dominion it is breaking up before the eyes of all men. And one of these days we shall find that but one Power is ready to face the catastrophe. What that Power is our readers need not be conformed.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.14
But the triumph of that great Power will be short-lived, for the prophet says: “At that time...there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” Then follows the end, not only the Ottoman Power, but of all the kingdoms of men, and the coming of the Lord and the resurrection. Daniel 12:1-3.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.15
“‘For the Truth’” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
“For the Truth.” -Last week we mentioned the fact that three Seventh-day Adventists have been committed to gaol in Tennessee for Sunday work. About the same time another was released from the same gaol, having served his time for the like “crime” of refusing to observe Sunday. Rather, he had, by mistake of the authorities, served thirty days more than the legal time. Of his case the New York American Sentinel says:-PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.16
The Scripture declaration that “we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth,” is illustrated in the action of the Tennessee authorities against J. W. Lewis, just released from Tiptonville Gaol. It appears from his own statement, made in a private letter, that three of his fellow-prisoners have been converted and commenced the observance of the Sabbath, as the result of his association with them in bonds. This must seem rather discouraging to the authorities.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.17
“The Tares” The Present Truth, 12, 33.
The Tares .-In the late work of Mr. Gladstone, entitled “Studies Subsidiary to Butler’s Works,” occurs the following sentence, in reply to the question as to whether human character is developing for good or ill:-PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.18
The cruelty of Christians is more cruel; the lust of Christians is more lustful; the animal greed of Christians is tenfold more greedy; and the pre-Christian times afford us no panorama of Mammon worship to compare for a moment with our own. The luxury and the worldliness of old were but child’s play in relation to those of modern times.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.19
This is a true indictment of false Christianity. He who is the father of all falsehoods is the father of it. The evil and the good, the wheat and the tears, must grow together until the harvest. As they develop and ripen they must become more and more like their Master whose purposes they serve. The evil will grow more Satanic, the righteous will develop into purer, nobler, and more Godlike lives.PTUK August 13, 1896, page 528.20