March 5, 1896

“The Joyful Sound” The Present Truth, 12, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

“The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; as for the world and the fulness thereof, Thou hast founded them. The north and the south Thou hast created them; Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name. Thou hast a mighty arm; strong is Thy hand, and high is Thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne; mercy and truth shall go before Thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day; and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted.” Psalm 89:11-16.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 145.1

It is thus that the Psalmist sings of the mercies of the Lord, and makes known His faithfulness. See verse 1. The “joyful sound” which is to be proclaimed “to all generations” is none other than the “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Luke 2:10. It is the Gospel, that we have before us, for it alone is the theme of the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 145.2

Let us fix our attention especially upon verses 14 and 15 of the Psalm from which we have quoted: “Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne; mercy and truth shall go before Thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.”PTUK March 5, 1896, page 145.3

First note the words “justice” and “habitation.” The first is rendered from the Hebrew word for “righteousness.” Righteousness is God’s character, which is His law; for He rules by Himself; His own being is the law of the universe. Of this righteousness the law of ten commandments is the summary. “All Thy commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:172. “All unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17), and “sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. Therefore all righteousness is obedience to the law. So we may read that righteousness, or law, is the habitation of God’s throne.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 145.4

But if we look at the margin we shall find “establishment” given as an alternative reading for “habitation.” This brings us a little closer to the idea of the original Hebrew word, which means, “basis” or “foundation,” which is the word given in the Revision. So the sum of the first part of Psalm 89:14 is that God’s righteousness, or His law, is the foundation of His throne. His kingdom is established upon and by righteousness.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 145.5

From this throne of righteousness or law the “joyful sound” proceeds. It is the “throne of grace” to which we are exhorted to “come boldly,” “that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16. It is there that “mercy and truth are met together,” and “righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Psalm 85:10.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.1

But if we should let the story rest here, some sincere souls would be sure to get frightened later on, and others would accuse God of not being equal in all His ways, even as they have already done. So let us read further about this same throne of grace, whence the joyful sound of the Gospel of grace proceeds.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.2

The Apostle John was permitted to see this throne in heaven. That it was the throne of grace, we may be sure from the fact that in the midst of it “stood a Lamb as it had been slain,” and also that at the very time he saw it songs of thanksgiving for redemption through His blood were being sung. See Revelation 5:6, 9. Now read: “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thundering and voices.” Revelation 4:5.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.3

Is that “the joyful sound” of which the Psalmist speaks? Can there be any joyful sound in the thunderings?-It is even so. Examine the Revised Version, and you will see that “the joyful sound” is really “the trumpet sound.” The “everlasting Gospel” of peace is proclaimed “with a loud voice.” See Revelation 14:6, 7. An incident in the life of Christ on earth may help to make it clear. When the hour had come that He should be glorified, He prayed, “Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered; others said, An angel spake to Him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes.” John 12:28-30.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.4

Jesus did not need that assurance from heaven; but the people did. Was it not a joyful sound? Can there be any more joyful news than that God is glorified in the man Christ Jesus? That is salvation for mankind. Yet the people at that time did not know the joyful sound. Some were discerning enough to perceive that it was an articulate voice from heaven; but to the most of them it was ordinary thunder. They did not know the day of their visitation.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.5

“The God of glory thundereth.” “The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” Psalm 29:3, 4. “God thundereth marvellously with His voice; great things doeth He which we cannot comprehend.” Job 37:5. The terrible voice of reproof with which God makes “the pillars of heaven tremble,” is but a small whisper of His greatness. What wonder, then, that no soul could comprehend if He should thunder with all His power. See Job 26:11, 14, R.V.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.6

But “blessed is the people that know the joyful sound” of the thunderings that come from His throne of righteousness and grace. They who do, will be able to say, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is Thy servant warned; and in keeping of them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:7-11. For let it not be forgotten that the joyful sound that proceeds from the throne of God is but the voice of His law. To the unbeliever is a thunder of wrath; to the believer it is the voice of mercy and peace, for God speaks only peace to His people. Psalm 85:8.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.7

When God came from Sinai, and from His right hand a fiery law went forth for His saints, it was because “He loved the people.” Deuteronomy 33:2, 3. “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Romans 5:20. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. Therefore it was that the entering of the law made the offence to abound, or be seen to be “exceeding sinful.” Romans 7:13. At Sinai the law appeared in its greatest majesty and awfulness; therefore it is at Sinai that the awful and deadly nature of sin is seen. “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Therefore the greatest exhibition of the grace of God is to be seen at Sinai.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.8

Yet it was there that the God of glory thundered. “There were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.” “And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.” Exodus 19:16, 19. Mount Sinai was a representation of God’s throne, and indeed, it was for the time His throne; because “the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount” (Exodus 19:20), and it was the embodiment of His law.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.9

“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.”PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.10

Notice that while the people “removed and stood afar off” as God thundered forth His law, “Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.” God did not want the people to be afraid of Him. Moses told them not to fear, because God had come only to prove them. What had He come to prove?-Their faith and trust; for that is what God always tries. He proved Abraham as to his faith, and then confirmed His promise to him with an oath. That test and that oath were for the benefit of all people after him, including us and those who stood at the base of Sinai. They, as well as we, had the history of Abraham and of God’s dealings with him. If they had fully trusted God, and relied upon His oath, nothing could have made them afraid, for they would have known that “He cannot deny Himself.” His oath pledged Himself and His existence to save them and us by His righteousness. It was a token of “His great love wherewith He loved us.” So then though we hear the thunders of His righteousness, we need but nestle the closer to Him in loving confidence.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 146.11

If we have a friend and protector, the more powerful he is the more we can trust him. Every fresh evidence of his power is but an additional cause for us to rejoice in it. So when God at Sinai showed the might of His terrible acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom, it was that the people might know how secure they are when trusting in Him.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.1

The law is not against the promises of God. Galatians 3:21. On the contrary, it is in full harmony with them, since it is a part of them. “I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” Therefore however great and terrible its requirements, we may “know that His commandment is life everlasting.” John 12:50. Though its righteousness be so great that it can be fitly expressed only in a voice of thunder that shakes the earth, it is to all who believe His Word and His oath but a “joyful sound,” because it makes known to us what great things God does for us. The Holy Spirit comes first with strong conviction of sin by the law, but even so He is only a comforter.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.2

“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.” Moses knew the joyful sound. To him the things of God were not idle tales, but they were realities. “He endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” So, trusting in God’s promise and oath, he knew that no matter with how great a voice God spoke, He could speak only peace to His people. Therefore He drew near to the secret place of God, and was shut in with His glory. The Lord talked with him to face to face.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.3

“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shown by reason of His speaking with him.” Exodus 34:29, R.V. He was walking in the light of God’s countenance, because he knew the joyful sound of the Gospel. He knew that in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed to those who believe (Romans 1:16, 17), and so he found the thundering mount to be a mount of blessing; the throne of glory was a throne of grace; the thunder of the law is but a joyful sound to those who accept the Gospel of the grace of God.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.4

It was better that the people should have God speak to them through Moses, than that He should not speak to them at all. It was better that they should get some idea of the glory of God’s face, by the reflection of it in the face of Moses, than that they should see no glory at all. But it would have been much the best if they had been able to listen to God’s own voice, and look upon His glory with unveiled face. And this would have been their privilege, if they had but believed as Moses did; for “God is no respecter of persons.” Instead of that, they could not endure even the glory that shown from the face of Moses, because “their minds were blinded.”PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.5

God’s glory is His character. This is true in every sense of the word. The exceeding brightness that surrounds Him, and proceeds from Him, is from His righteousness. Man was “crowned with glory and honour” until he sinned, and then he came short of the glory of God. Romans 3:2, 3. The glory of the saints in the world to come will be but the shining forth of the righteousness of God which is in them by faith.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.6

This glory, which is but “the light of His countenance,” is for all those who by faith in God’s promise hear only a joyful sound even in the thunders of His law. It is to such a joyful sound, because they know that it does not tell them what God requires them to try to do, but what He has sworn to do in them. “Hear, and your soul shall live.” Hearing the law in that way, they are able to behold the glory of the Lord, “with unveiled face,” and so, “reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.”PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.7

“Increasing in Knowledge” The Present Truth, 12, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

Although we may be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, that does not mean that there will ever come a time when we may not learn more. In the very next verse to the one in which the apostle prays that we may be “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,” He also prays that we may “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:9, 10. How can we be filled with knowledge, and at the same time be increasing in knowledge? We could not, if it were our own wisdom with which we were filled. When one is filled with his own wisdom, that effectually shuts him off from learning any more.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.8

But the wisdom of God, like His love, “is broader than the measure of man’s mind.” While a man may be filled with that wisdom, he never exhausts the measure of it. He may know nothing but the wisdom of God, but yet there will be infinite depths of Divine wisdom of which he is ignorant. When God gave wisdom and understanding to Solomon, He also gave him “largeness of heart.” The mind will expand, as it receives the wisdom that comes from God, so it can increase in knowledge. This keeps the men whom God instructs from becoming vain and haughty. The balance keeps even all the time. He who has become acquainted with God, knows that to all eternity he will be infinitely inferior to God, and so the knowledge of God produces humility.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.9

“Despair” The Present Truth, 12, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

Despair.-The military system of Europe, with its mechanical crushing out of personal freedom and its drilling to take life, leads those who are swept into it to put little value upon their own lives, if we may judge by statistics which show that the proportion of suicides is far higher in the army than in civil life. Late statistics show that from 1881 to 1893 no fewer than 105,327 persons in Germany violently terminated their own existence. In all countries, it is true, the rate of suicides is increasing. It is one of Satan’s ways of making sure of his harvest. He lures men away from God and hope, and then leaves them to despair as a reward for serving him. The only bright and hopeful thing in this world is the true Light that shines for all who will walk in it.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 147.10

“Filled with Knowledge” The Present Truth, 12, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

The Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, and for us as well, was that they might be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Colossians 1:9. It is a wonderful prayer, but it was written by inspiration, and therefore it is possible for one to have that amount of knowledge. How many mistakes it would save us. How may we acquire it? Well, one of the first requisites is patience. We are usually in too great a hurry to learn from the Lord. It takes a little time to go and ask the Lord for wisdom, or if we do go and ask, it takes a little time for us to receive it, sometimes. The Lord does not always tell us things in a minute.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 151.1

But we must have the thing settled at once, and so we do not wait for the wisdom that comes from above, and which would guide us right, but we dash ahead, acting, as we say, “according to the best light that we have.” But as that “light” is what we derived from ourselves, it is only darkness. God has promised wisdom to all who ask Him. If we come to a difficult place, and the matter seems urgent, and we ask the Lord for wisdom and do not see the answer at once, that should be an indication that the Lord is not in so great a hurry as we are. He sees that it will be better for us to wait awhile. If we could but learn how to “wait on the Lord,” we should know much more of His will.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 151.2

“Business Success” The Present Truth, 12, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

It is the very common mistake of youth to expect a royal road to success, and of this age, perhaps more than any before it, it is a characteristic to want to be at the top without waiting to climb up. Archdeacon Farrar writes as follows in giving some qualifications necessary to success in any line of work:-PTUK March 5, 1896, page 155.1

A very rich man, who died with a title, once said to me, “Because I have been successful in life, many young men come to me and ask me to give them a start. But they all want to begin more or less where and how I end, not where and how I began. My own history was this: I was the son of poor parents; the only education I ever got was at a free school, which I left at the age of fourteen. I was then put into an office, I did my very best there; but, as I was determined to get on, I looked out for the most eminent man in my profession, went to him, and asked him to let me work for him gratuitously when my business hours were over, simply that I might thoroughly understand the conditions of the business to which I had been apprenticed. He allowed me to come and work in the evening in his office with no salary. I worked hard. By the end of the year I had learned what I wished, but I had also made myself indispensable; and the great man pressed me to enter his service with a good and increasing salary. That was the foundation of my present fortune.” “Yes,” he said, “there is a cheque for a hundred pounds for your church. Don't thank me! I really shall not miss it in the slightest degree at the end of the year. It makes no difference to me.”PTUK March 5, 1896, page 155.2

His remarks were only an illustration of the proverb that the crowd is all at the bottom. “There’s plenty of room at the top.”PTUK March 5, 1896, page 155.3

“Note” The Present Truth, 12, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

The Chronicle last week called attention to the horrors of the Australian live cattle trade in rough weather, citing a case in which of a cargo of 381 cattle shipped from Queensland but thirty-two were landed here this month, the rest having died on the voyage. One of the crew kept a diary of the voyage, and the following is one day’s record:-PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.1

“Slaughtered five dying cattle; one of those only in fit condition for corning, two dreadfully cruised and ruptured, one with hip bones knocked into a jelly, one badly bruised and cancered. Have now two very sick cattle; many are suffering from bruises.”PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.2

We need not emphasise the importance of care in buying prepared meats after such a revelation of the ways of the meat trade.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.3

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth, 12, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

-In one season the rice yield in the Rangoon province of India has exceeded 1,000,000 tons.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.4

-There were 11,800 persons in penal servitude in Great Britain and Australia in 1870, and only 4,345 in 1895.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.5

-France, with a population of 39,000,000, has a fighting force of 2,000,000 men able to appear in the field at very short notice.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.6

-The number of horses killed for food in Paris last year was 23,186. Besides this there were 43 mules and 383 donkeys consumed.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.7

-Last year the voluntary contributions to the support of the Established Church were larger than ever before, nearly six millions.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.8

-Vienna has established a circulating library for the blind, for which 400 volumes of German works have been prepared in raised type.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.9

-One item in the list of out-of-season novelties this winter is that ripe strawberries were recently gathered in the open air in the Isle of Man.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.10

-The annual slaughter of larks on the Dunstable Downs for the London markets is close upon 50,000, but the supply this year has shown a falling off.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.11

-A new order has been issued from Scotland Yard to the effect that if a constable sees a drunken man approach a public-house he is to prevent his entrance; and if a drunken man gets inside, to warn the landlord of his condition.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.12

-The British troops in East Africa recently defeated a slave-raiding chief who had taken 600 women and children into slavery. In the autumn of last year 1,184 slaves were freed in the region, provision being made for their independent living.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.13

-Thirty tons of flowers left the Scilly Isles in one day for the English markets. Acres of flowers cut one day are in bloom again in three days, so mild has the weather been. The weather in the Isle of Man has also been phenomenal. Fruit trees are not only in blossom, but apples are actually ripening in the sun.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.14

-It is said that Russia is quietly collecting troops on the northern borders of Korea. Japan and Russia are struggling for supremacy in that country, and the latter power seems to be gaining upon the former in the diplomatic contest. Russian authorities already congratulate themselves on having a southern terminus to the Trans-Siberian railway under complete Russian control. Japan defeated China, but Russia reaps the fruits of the victory.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.15

-A writer in one of the Reviews urges the storing of a vast quantity of corn, under Government control, so that in case of a great war the population of the cities and towns might have food. “Other nations accumulate gold for use in war-time,” he says; “we should have a war-chest of corn.” The plan has been seriously discussed of late, as it is said that interruption of commerce would find the great towns with but a fortnight’s supply.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 158.16

“Back Page” The Present Truth, 12, 10.

E. J. Waggoner

The more Protestant organs in the Church of England regret, and the Catholic organs approve, the election of the Bishop of Derry to the Primacy of the Irish Church. He is said to be the most Ritualistic of the Irish bishops.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.1

The paper on the Eastern Question in this number will be followed by three or four more in succeeding issues. We print some extra copies of this number in order to supply this first of the series to those who desire it later. Agents desiring them should order early.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.2

While the Eastern Question is not so prominently brought before the public in the newspaper press now as it was a few weeks ago, the solution of it is still pending, and the subject cannot fail to be of vital interest to every believer. As the writer of the series was in Constantinople during the riots there, he will be able to speak from personal observation of the situation.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.3

On the occasion of the eighteenth anniversary of the Pope’s election, recently celebrated in Rome, we are told that he received “telegrams from all the sovereigns and heads of Governments in the world, congratulating him upon the anniversary, and expressing sincere admiration for the truly marvellous manner in which he has directed the Church in this most troubled, and yet, perhaps, most glorious epoch. These telegrams, be it observed,” continues the Catholic Times, “came from Catholic and Protestant alike, for admiration for Leo XIII. is universal.”PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.4

This expression of admiration on the part of the rulers of earth is due solely to the fact that the Roman Church has political influence, and that this influence which is courted by all centres in the Pope. Let no one fail to remark the significance of these complementary attentions on the part of earthly powers whenever some date occurs that can be made use of for the purpose. It must remind the Papacy of those old times when she was courted by all the world and was able to demand her own price for her influence. The old power is being recovered in such measure that none can fail to see that it may not be long before she can say again, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” But then it is that her destruction comes, “for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Rev. xviii.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.5

A chaplain in the United States army has been corresponding with other chaplains, with the view of learning the religious condition of the army. The first item in the synopsis which he gives is striking. He says:-PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.6

The responses show that the officers are, in the main, indifferent upon the subject of personal religion, some holding the view that war and active Christianity are incompatible.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.7

That shows that those unbelieving officers have a better conception of what “active Christianity” is than the chaplains have. Of course the only thing that the chaplains can do to get those officers interested in religion is to make them believe that war is consistent with “active Christianity,” and that is what the majority of the professed church of Christ now holds. What a travesty upon the Gospel it is to teach that the active service of the Prince of Peace is compatible with the trade of killing one’s fellow-men.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.8

It is held by many people that the appointment of chaplains in the army and navy, by the various Governments, is evidence that those Governments are favourable to Christianity, or rather, that they are Christian Governments. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Christianity is the religion and teaching of Jesus Christ. He taught that men should not resist evil, should not take the sword, and should do no violence to anybody. Christianity is “Peace on earth, good will to men.” To preach the Gospel is to preach peace. Now it is certain that there is not a nation on earth that would pay a man to go into its army and teach the men that it is wicked to fight. On the contrary, they would not allow a man to teach such doctrines to their soldiers, even at his own expense. That is to say that, instead of favouring Christianity by the appointment of chaplains to their armies, the Governments of the earth, without exception, would probably discharge and punish any chaplain who should presume to teach the pure Christianity of Jesus Christ in their armies.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.9

We are informed that the organ of our society in Germany, the Herold der Wahrheit, published in Hamburg, has been prohibited in Russia, the authorities thus cutting it off from circulation among the many thousands of German colonists in that empire. Our contemporary is devoted simply to Bible study, and makes no comments whatever on political affairs; so that the prohibition means that Russia does not propose to allow its people to hear Bible teaching if it can be hindered. Of course this cannot hinder it. No more remarkable progress has been seen in the history of our work than that in Russia, where, in spite of imprisonment and exile the Word had free course and believers have multiplied.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.10

In an article concerning mission work in Armenia, the New York Independent, which is probably the leading religious paper in the United States, and which has been most vehement in calling for vengeance against Turkey, says, in the issue of Feb. 20:-PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.11

The work of missions among the Armenians, Greeks, and Jacobites of Turkey is not so much for the purpose of converting them as building them up into a Christian power which shall in due time overpower Islam.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.12

That is frank. It is self-evident that the natural result of such mission work must be the production of revolutionists, and not of Christians. Let our readers bear this in mind in the perusal of the articles on the Eastern Question. We believe, however, that there are true missionaries in Turkey, who really preach the Gospel, who are misrepresented by the Independent’s note.PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.13

“The laity, as a whole,” says the Church Times, “have no desire to dabble in matters of doctrine and worship, and are content to leave them where they always have been left, in the hands of the clergy.” It is apparently thought that it is the province of the “clergy” alone to “dabble” in doctrine and worship. It is an open confession that what the “clergy” called doctrine and worship are no part of the Christian religion, else why should not the “laity” be as much interested in them as anyone? Do all not need to know the truth and to worship the Lord?PTUK March 5, 1896, page 160.14