November 2, 1899

“Front Page” The Present Truth 15, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

“Thou art my Rock and my Fortress; therefore for Thy Name's sake lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; for Thou art my strength.” Psalm 31:3, 4.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 689.1

Did you ever give serious thought to the fact that although the Bible represents us as being in the sorest need and the most pitiable condition of helplessness, it never once intimates that any thing of all that is done for us is for our own sake. It is all for the Lord's own sake-for His name's sake.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 689.2

Why? The reason is suggested in the first part of the text quoted. God is our Rock and our Fortress; He is our dwelling place; “in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” He is our life. Deuteronomy 30:20. “We are His offspring,” who nevertheless even down to old age and grey hairs are not separated from His being, but are borne by Him as part of His own life. Since we are so intimately connected with Him, His reputation, His good name, is bound up with ours. It is to His own personal interest to have us kept from evil.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 689.3

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. This means that God has taken our sins on Himself, for Christ is the shining of His glory, the very impress of His being, and His name is in Him. So in the exhortation to the elders of the church we read: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 689.4

The Lord is personally interested in our salvation. He has “interposed Himself by an oath,” swearing that He would do good, and only good, to us. That means that, like the most indulgent parent that He is, He will give us the desire of our heart. He will not oppose our wills in any respect. If we do not love life, and thrust it from us, He will let us have just what we labour and long for; but if we love life, and choose it, He will give us “more abundantly” of it, “above all that we ask or think.” He gives us wrath, if we will have it, but no more than we have worked for and treasured up; because He has no pleasure in the death of any. But when we choose life and blessing, He bestows it in superabundance, because “He delighteth in mercy.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 689.5

“Thou numberest my steps; dost Thou not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and Thou sewest up my iniquity.” Job 14:16, 17. Is it not a most comforting assurance? How natural that He who numbers the hairs of our heads should also number our steps. He knows just how many steps we have taken in all our lives. He knows how many useless steps we have taken, how many steps in the forbidden places; but He sews up all the wickedness in a bag, and casts it into the depths of the sea, for His own sake. He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. He guides us with His eye upon us. How sure we are in our goings, when we are content to walk in His way.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.1

What a multitude of worn out people there is in the world! How many there are with tired feet, wearied with the numerous steps they have taken, both profitably and uselessly. To all such the Lord promises rest. “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31. What a blessed thing to have our steps so guided by the Lord that we shall not get wearied and faint! Is it possible? The Lord says so; why not believe it, and find the joy of it?PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.2

If to any person these things seem fanciful, it is only because God is to him an unreality. If we regard Him as a Being sitting apart by Himself, far off from us, looking at us with critical eyes, we shall find no practical support or joy; but when we accept Him as He is, “above all, and through all, and in all,” remembering that in the most literal sense He is our strength, we shall experience the joy of His salvation. We expect certain things to be done by the little strength that we assume to be our own; we know that we can do a certain amount of work without getting weary; very well, take God Himself for your strength, live in and from Him, and you will find the results as much greater than anything you heretofore known or thought, as the infinite God is greater than puny man.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.3

“The Outlook at Home and Abroad” The Present Truth 15, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

The following resume of the present state of affairs, by “Historicus” in the Methodist Times, is so simple and so impartial, and withal free from speculation, that we are sure it will be read with interest. The student of the Bible cannot be unmindful of the signs of the times, and everything indicates the final breaking up of nations. We do not profess to say how long it may be delayed; but of one thing we are sure, and that is that affairs will be much worse before they are ever permanently better. That better-best-condition will be when the kingdoms of this world cease to be, and the heavenly kingdom of Christ begins:-PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.4

One of the things most obvious to every one before the present war began was that it would alter our whole position in foreign politics. That alteration has already commenced. The first movements have come from Russia and Germany. We fondly imagine that we are steadily pouring a number of troops into South Africa. We are. But how many of us knew, and how many who know realise, that all the time Russia is steadily pouring a still larger number of troops into China? She has got a great opportunity, and she would not be human if she did not take it. Some time or other “peace” will be restored in South Africa, but Asia, at any rate, will not be as it was before the war. We shall waken up to a great Russian Empire in Asia, open to the sea, possibly including Pekin, covered with railways, filled with troops. We shall not stand where we did in Eastern Asia. It will all be done peaceably, but it will be done none the less.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.5

And Russia is active in another direction. In Persia and Afghanistan she is slowly and steadily advancing. Since the Penjdeh incident in 1885, her progress in Central Asia has been very much checked. Now she is beginning to move again. When peace has been restored, the Russian Empire may in fact, if not in name, touch the Persian Gulf.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.6

Germany, too, is rousing herself from her quiescence. Samoa is the field of action she has chosen for this move. A very unsatisfactory state of things exists in that lovely group. England, the United States, and Germany form an ill-assorted triumvirate, ever quarrelling among themselves as to the control of these islands. It has been so for a long time, and now Germany thinks that the opportunity has come for getting rid of the presence of Englishmen by a piece of stiff bargaining.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.7

These are the only clouds above the foreign horizon for the moment. France is quiescent, owing to the forthcoming exhibition, which alone keeps her from plunging into the vortex of European foreign politics. Austria is battling with her own troubles, and she has just gone back on the position of languages. The Language Ordinance has been repealed. It permitted the majority of the people in certain provinces to use their own language legally. This irritated the ruling minority, the Germans, extremely. As they turned Protestant in considerable numbers and steadily gravitated towards Germany, the Emperor has repealed the Language Ordinance and restored the tongue of the governing minority to its former position. Whether this will make for peace remains to be seen.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.8

The Balkans, also, are a perpetual trouble to Austria. Foreign politics in mid-Europe resolve themselves, to an extent we little dream of here, into a perpetual struggle for predominance between the Teuton and the Slav. All mid-Europe, from the North Cape to the Mediterranean, was once under ice-stream, this fresh, semi-barbarous, undeveloped giant, the Slav race, presses on its Western neighbours. The Slav is absorbing Finland, which is partly Teutonic and partly Asiatic in its origin; he is threatening Sweden; he is pressing on the German Empire; he is surging up the Baltic provinces, and is slowly and steadily eating up alike the Italians of Dalmatia and the Germans of Austria.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.9

Hungary and Greece struggle for their existence against two foes. The ruling classes of Hungary, the Mongolian land-lords, are between the Teuton rulers of Austria, with the great German Empire lying to the northward as a mighty ally to the Austrian Teuton when the final struggle comes, and their own peasantry who are Slavs, and who are backed by the shadowy, mysterious great empire that lies away to the eastward and the northward, to the confines of the sun and to the Polar Star. That is why Russia, inimical to Austria though she be, helped the Teutonic Hapsburg dynasty to crush the Hungarian struggle for freedom in 1848. Russia does does not want an independent Hungarian State. She wants it as a Slavonic addition to her own Empire.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 690.10

Greece, like Hungary, is between two foes. Her traditional Asiatic foe (she has stood as the bulwark of Europe against Asia for 2,400 years) is the decaying, but still powerful, Turkish Empire, which, aided by the Concert of Europe, played such havoc with her two years ago. But Russia also looks askance at Greek freedom and Greek growth. Whether these two States will be swallowed up is for the future to decide. English Liberalism of the mid-century devoted itself to creating small, free States. Some at least of the Liberalism of the century's end is devoting itself to swallowing them up.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.1

For the present both parties shirk an appeal to the sword to decide which will be paramount in Europe, the Teuton or the Slav. The latter is the fresher, younger, less-civilised nation. Austria is the cockpit of the two contending races, but the war is a war, not of Maxims, but of languages, and the Maxims take the form of “scenes” in the Reichsrath instead of fields covered with dead and wounded men. Some day it may be otherwise; for she present it is peace.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.2

But Russia is utilising the peace to strengthen herself in Asia. Silently, but with astounding rapidity, she has absorbed half Asia, Turkey in Asia, Afghanistan, Persia, India, Burma and Siam, and China, are not yet hers. Last year and this she has taken about one-fourth or one-third of China at one huge bite. She is digesting that just now. Persia, Afghanistan, and the rest of China await their turn.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.3

Pressed by the Slav from the East, Germany in her turn has pressed on all her neighbours. In 1864 she swallowed part of Denmark, 1866 South Germany, in 1870 part of France. Now she looks hungrily at the test of Denmark and at Holland, and on the break-up of Austria she will have some bits. Belgium and Switzerland may then go, and the small States be blotted out from Europe.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.4

May be blotted out. But the curious thing is that it is just these small States that have the most effective barriers to the aggrandisement of the big ones. Germany would find the conquest of Switzerland as big a job as she found the conquest of France, and even Denmark gave her more trouble than she expected. Small peoples fighting for their liberty are apt to be very troublesome. Modern ethics, such as they are, do not permit of the ruthless external-nation of smell conquered peoples. And there is a sense in which a living man is ever unconquered.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.5

“The Gospel of Isaiah. A New Song. Isaiah 42:10-13” The Present Truth 15, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

(Isaiah 42:10-17.)

“Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth; all ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare His praise in the islands. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man; He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war; He shall cry, yea, He shall shout aloud; He shall do mightily against His enemies. I have long time holden My peace; I have been still, and refrained Myself; now will I cry out like a travailing woman; I will gasp and pant together. I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands and will dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I will not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say unto molten images, Ye are our gods.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.6

THE SONG OF DELIVERANCE

This new song is the song of deliverance. The thirteenth chapter of Revelation sets before us the exaltation of the Papacy against God, and the influence that it has and will have in all the earth, inducing even the people not nominally under the Papal yoke to do homage to it, and to make an image to it, enacting that all who will not worship either the Papacy or its counterpart shall be killed. But in the midst of that seeming victory of the forces of evil, the prophet saw victory for the people of God. He says:-PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.7

“I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred, forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps; and they sang as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders; and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth.” Revelation 14:1-3.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.8

THE SONG OF MOSES

That is to say, none could learn that song except those who had been through the experience. Passing on to the fifteenth chapter, we read:-PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.9

“And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.” Revelation 15:1-4.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 691.10

From these texts we see that the new song which the redeemed sing is the song of Moses the servant of God. In the fifteenth chapter of Exodus we find that song recorded. It begins, “I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation.” Then we read, “Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedest out Thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.” Verses 11-13. So we see that the new song is a song of exultation at the power of the Lord over all who exalt themselves against Him, professing to be gods. And inasmuch as God triumphs over all false gods, whether it be in the shape of graven or molten images, or in the shape of men who profess to be authorised to speak and act in God's stead, it necessarily follows that all who identify their cause with His must at the same time triumph also. Therefore the new song is a song of thanks to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.1

THE TIME OF TROUBLE

Read again the texts cited from the book of Revelation, and note that in each case the new song is mentioned in immediate connection with the time of trouble. When the people of God seem about to be overwhelmed, then the prophet sees them singing a new song on Mount Zion. In this he stands as the representative of all God's people. It is to teach us that the new song, the song of victory, is to be sung in the time of greatest danger. In the portion of Isaiah which we are studying, we see that this is so. The call to sing unto the Lord a new song is immediately followed by a description of the going forth of the Lord as a warrior. It is in connection with the time when mountains and hills are to be laid waste, and rivers and pools are to be dried up. At that time all the earth is called upon to sing a new song. The inhabitants of the desert and the mountain are called upon to give glory unto the Lord, and declare His praise in the islands.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.2

THE REASON FOR SINGING

Compare this scripture with the ninety-sixth Psalm:-PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.3

“O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; show forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols [that is, nothing]; but the Lord made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Bring an offering, and come into His courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; fear before Him all the earth. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth; the world also shall be established, that it shall not be moved; He shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.4

This is exactly parallel with the portion of Isaiah which we are studying. It is the triumph of the Lord over all false gods, that is, over every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. It is the same thing that is described in Isaiah 2, when “the day of the Lord shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” “And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols He shall utterly abolish.” It is the day when the Lord in “the glory of His majesty” ariseth “to shake terribly the earth.” In this time the new song is to be sung by the people of God. God's people are to sing best when the cloud hangs darkest.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.5

This is made still more emphatic in the third chapter of Habakkuk. A terrible time is described by the prophet, so terrible that he trembled at the mere vision of it, and prayed that he might be spared from living through the reality. Yet he says: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls [compare Joel 1:10-20]; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.” Habakkuk 3:17-19. No trouble can come on the earth that is so great that God's people cannot sing. It is very common for people to sing when they see no trouble; but it is indeed a new song that is sung when trouble is thickest.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.6

THE NEW SONG AND THE OLD STORY

The last text quoted reminds us of the fortieth Psalm. The prophet says that God has made him sure-footed, so that he can walk safely on high places. So we read: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song into my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Psalm 40:1-3. We see therefore that the new song that is to be sung by the saints on Mount Zion is but the song that is sung by them in the wilderness of trial. It is the song of redemption from sin. In the victory over sin, we have the victory over everything.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.7

“When in scenes of glory,
I sing the new, new song,
'Twill be the old, old story
That I have loved so long.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.8

THE SILENT WATCHER

The fact that God is silent, and does not at once strike down injustice and those who practice oppression, is no sign that He takes no notice. It is very hasty judgment that declares that God does not care. How can He help caring, when every wrong that is committed is done to Him? He has identified Himself with mankind, so that whosoever does good or evil to one of the least of them, does it to the Lord. Matthew 25:40, 45. Do not forget that there is no searching of God's understanding, and nothing too small for His notice. He upholds the heavens and the earth. “But they are great things,” you say. True, but they are composed of an infinite number of very small particles; and if God did not have a care over every tiny particle, He could not preserve the whole. God's care for the whole earth is only His care for every atom composing the earth. If he did not look after the fragments, there would be waste. If He did not care for the atoms, because they are small and insignificant, then they would fly off into space, and soon He would have no great things to attend to. So let every soul be assured that the Lord has the same care for him that He has for the whole world.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 692.9

THE PROMISE SURE

Men are saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?” They are saying that the world is governed by chance, or that God is indifferent to the ills of mankind. Thus they are putting themselves against Him in His great case. They are among His accusers. They forget that “the long-suffering of our God is salvation.” 2 Peter 3:15. Mark that word “longsuffering.” God suffers when men suffer. He keeps still, not through indifference, but because of infinite patience and forbearance and self-control. This is to teach men patience. It is for the purpose of giving the worst scoffers time for repentance. But He will finally rise up and scatter His enemies. See Psalm 48. “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.” James 5:7.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 693.1

WALKING IN THE LIGHT

What a wonderful promise is in the 16th verse! “I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight.” Therefore we may with full confidence pray, “Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness, because of mine enemies; make Thy way straight before my face.” Psalm 5:8. That is the day when “the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” Isaiah 29:18. The darkness and the light are both alike to the Lord (Psalm 139:11, 12), so that the night shall be light about His people. Remember that all this time God has His people by their right hand. What matter then if they do not know the way? With God leading, a blind man is far better off than a man with eyes who is walking alone, even though it be in the light. Eyes are of no use to those who do not trust the Lord, for the fact that they do not trust Him shows that they do not know Him, and that proves that they cannot see; for He is everywhere plainly revealed. They are like the idols in which they trust, and shall be turned back, and put to confusion, together with the gods in which they trust. The case of the Lord vs. the false gods is as good as settled now, so that whoever puts himself on the Lord's side is taking no risk.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 693.2

“Partial Infallibility” The Present Truth 15, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

In the sermon in which Monsignor Vaughan exalted the Pope as Vicar of Christ, he said that for a thousand years England acknowledged his supremacy and infallibility, and then added: “I refer, of course to spiritual matters only. In civil matters Catholic England has her differences and her quarrels with the Holy See, like every other Catholic nation. Not in church matters.” Now put with that and extract from the editorial columns of the paper (Catholic Times) which contains a report of the sermon. The editor quotes Dr. Mivart, himself a Catholic, as saying that the condemnation of Galileo by the Church of Rome was an “appalling blunder,” and that “the Pope and Cardinals emitted an authority judgment which was false not only as regards physical science but also as regards the interpretation of Scripture.” The editor says of this: “That is so, but Dr. Mivart must know that such a judgment, lacking the express assertion of the Papal sanction, is not regarded as an ex cathedra pronouncement, and therefore does not affect Papal Infallibility.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 693.3

This reminds us of the hunter who boasted that he never missed his mark, but who fired at a cafe long distance away, mistaking it for a deer, and missed it. Upon being laughed at for is the year, he said that he fired so as to hit it if it was a deer, but to miss it if it was a calf. Surely he who is able to judge in that which is greatest, ought to have no trouble in that which is leased. “If the world shall be judged by you, are ye unable to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not to that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3. The people who acknowledge Christ Himself,-not a pretender,-will not set themselves against Him in any particular. Christ's promise to be with His people alway, even unto the end of the world, makes unnecessary any vicar, even if such a being were possible.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 693.4

“Church and Truth” The Present Truth 15, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

It was Bacon who said: “The man who believes because the Presbytery or the church have told him, is a heretic, even though it be the truth that he believes.” His belief is really nothing. He who accepts a truth simply because some person or society says that it is truth, would accept an error just as readily. It is the privilege of every person, from the least to the greatest, to know the truth for himself.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 695.1

“For Little Ones. ‘The Light of the World’” The Present Truth 15, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

“Search the Scriptures.” The Jews to whom Jesus said these words had been searching the Scriptures all their lives. This was before the New Testament was written, and the Scriptures of which Jesus spoke were what is called the Old Testament.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.1

Every Jewish child was taught the Scriptures from his earliest infancy, for God had said: “These words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt walkest of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” So of most of them it might be said, as it was of Timothy, “From a child thou hast known, the Holy Scriptures.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.2

It was of these Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus said: “They are they which testify of Me.” And He said that if the people really believed the writings of Moses, “they would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.3

Does it then seem strange to you that when Jesus came among the people who had been learning about Him all their lives, they should not know Him, but should persecute and crucify Him as they did?PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.4

Paul, who had Himself been one of the persecution of Jesus, tells the reason why “they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers,” had rejected and condemned Jesus. It was because they know not “the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day.” And he tells also why they did not understand these “voices of the prophets,”-the Holy Scriptures which God had given to teach them of Jesus and prepare them for His coming. He says it was because “their minds were blinded;” and then he tells just what blinded them: “For even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their hearts.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.5

How much could you see of any thing, if you tried to look at it with your eyes covered? Yet this is just how many, in the most, of the Jewish people, looked at the scriptures. Their sin and unbelief covered their minds and hearts with a thick veil, so that they could not see Jesus, whose glory was really shining forth upon them from the sacred writings.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.6

The Word of God is “a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path,” because it all teaches us of Jesus, who is the Light of the world. It is not, then, how much we have read, or even learned of the Holy Scriptures, but how much we see of Jesus in them, that makes them a light and a blessing to us. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.7

There is only one thing that can take the veil from our hearts, and so open our eyes and teach us to see Jesus. This is His own Holy Spirit, whose special work it is to reveal Him to all who really want to see Him, just as Jesus said: “He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.8

Read the eighth chapter of Acts, where we have the story of the Eunuch who was sitting in his chariot reading about Jesus in the book of Isaiah, but he was not able to understand “the voices of the prophets.” Then the Holy Spirit told Philip to go and talk to him, and help him to see Jesus in the Word that he was reading. So Philip began at the very Scripture that the Eunuch was reading, and full of the Holy Spirit, “preached unto him Jesus.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.9

How soon the veil from the eyes of this man, and the light of Jesus shown into his heart, when he was taught by the Holy Spirit. When they came to water, he wanted to be baptised at once to show his faith in the One of whom he had been ignorantly reading for so long.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.10

Now we are going to talk over together for a few weeks some of the old familiar stories of the Old Testament, and shall we not, as we do this, ask Jesus to make us pure in heart, that there may be no veil of sin upon our minds, but that we may see more of Him in them than we ever have before. Pray that His Holy Spirit may glorify Him by taking of His and showing it unto us.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.11

There are many who study the Bible and can repeat whole chapters and even whole books of it, but it does them no good, because their minds are not lighted up by the Holy Spirit. While there are others who know very little, and perhaps can repeat only one verse, and yet the little that they know is able to make them “wise unto salvation” because in it they see Jesus.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 698.12

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth 15, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

-Bubonic plague is officially announced to exist in Rio de Janeiro.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.1

-The Mormons have made the larges gains during the past year of any sect in the United States.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.2

-There was an unsuccessful attempt made last week to re-open the religious question on the London School Board.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.3

-It is estimated that ?80,000,000 in gold and jewels lie at the bottom of the sea on the route between India and England.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.4

-The expenses already incurred in naval and military preparations in connection with the South African crisis exceed ?6,000,000.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.5

-Mrs. Clara Barton reports on her recent return from Cuba to America that there are now 50,000 destitute orphans running wild in the towns of Cuba.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.6

-It is not very encouraging to American civilisation to know that since the defeat of the Spanish at Cavitic, 464 American drinking solutions have been established in Manila.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.7

-A consignment of no fewer than 60,000 live quails has just been received in London in crates from Egypt. They are intended for the London trade, and bring about to shillings each.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.8

-The United States is now maintaining in the Philippines an army of 71,000 men, including 6,000 marines blue-jackets. The naval force consists of forty-five vessels, ranging from battleships to gunboats.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.9

-A Belgian engineer has invented an apparatus on the principle of aerial telegraphy, whereby it is claimed that vessels fitted with the instruments can be warned of their new approach to each other, and thus avoid collisions in fog.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.10

-Much anxiety is felt for the safety of an American transport bringing home discharged soldiers from Manila. She is long past due, and nothing has been heard of her for some time, and it is feared she has been lost in a typhoon.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.11

-The leading salt firms of Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire have entered into a combination, the avowed purpose being “to prevent severe competition, whereby profitable working has been impossible, and to advance prices.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.12

-The National Temperance Federation has just held its annual meeting in Manchester. They maintain their own platform of the entire Sunday closing, opposition to municipal management, and the power of the direct local veto without compensation.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.13

-Since last spring there have been over 300 cases of smallpox in Hull, in two days last week thirty-six new cases were admitted to hospital. Two additional structures have been required to afford temporary relief, the number is increasing so rapidly.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.14

-On October 23rd it was reported that for five days an extraordinary blizzard had then been raging in one section of Montana, U.S.A., with great loss to the live-stock interests. In one county alone twenty shepherds and over 20,000 sheep perished.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.15

-A great petition is said to have been prepared in America containing the names of many prominent men, asking the President to offer the services of the United States to Great Britain as a mediator in the Transvaal, in accordance with the rules of international right agreed upon at the Peace Conference. But this is just what the United States is stopped from doing, by having itself adopted England's policy.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.16

-The Missionary Alliance held a missionary meeting in New York one day last week, that is reported as an extraordinary one. Many thousand pounds were subscribe, and when the call was made for funds, the Chronicle states that the women took off rings, bracelets, and hearings, and men gave up watches and pins. Savings-bank books and clothing were thrown upon the stage. Several substantial business men who had no money with them pledged themselves to amounts varying from ?1 to ?1,000.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.17

-The Roumanian Ministers of Public Instruction has just issued the following circular to the heads of all the educational institutions for young ladies throughout the country there: “As it has been proved, practically as well as scientifically, that the corset is an article of anti-hygienic toilet, from the fact that it constitutes a permanent obstacle to the development of the body, and it interferes with the functions of the pectoral organs, the undersigned suggest that the wearing of corsets by the pupils of educational institutions for young ladies be rigorously prohibited.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.18

“Back Page” The Present Truth 15, 44.

E. J. Waggoner

The Secretary of the Church Army, Mr. Edward Clifford, declared that the Church Congress that from the factory girl to the smart Society leader the drinking of stimulants is increasing enormously among women.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.19

Some time ago the Russian Astronomical Society decided to revise the calendar, so as to bring it into harmony with the duration of the year, and to bring Russia into line with the rest of Europe. It still clings to the Julian calendar, so that its dates are twelve days behind those of other countries. The attempt at revision has, however, been abandoned, owing, it is said, to “the impossibility of establishing an agreement between the dates of the religious festivals appearing in both calendars.” Thus does superstition and prejudice gain the day.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.20

On Wednesday, October 25, “the Army, the Navy, the Church, and the State, to say nothing of the Lord Mayor of London,” went to Colchester to indulge in the annual oyster feast. The report says that “the consumption of oysters was prodigious.” There was true Church and State union in devouring the scavengers of the sea. The highest dignitary of “the Church,” took advantage of the occasion to make an official announcement. “Cardinal Vaughan said the oyster was the greatest propagator of civilisation in the world, and that human progress was always heralded by the oyster shell.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.21

There is a movement among some of the Jews of London in favour of holding services on Sunday instead of on the Sabbath. The first of these was appointed for last Sunday, in Whitechapel, but we have not heard with what result. Mr. Simon, one of the leaders in the movement, says that the desire is to form “a bridge of religious fellowship and common worship across the gulf which so far has separated monotheists who are Jews and monotheists who are not Jews.” It was this same spirit of compromise,-the desire to form a bridge between Paganism and Christianity,-that led the Christians of the early centuries to substitute Sunday for the Sabbath. When bridges are formed between truth and error, the stream of travel is always toward the error. There is no need for any “rules of the road,” for the travellers meet nobody. When people pass from error to truth, they do not go by a bridge.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.22

He who can tell all he knows, does not know very much; for no human speech can express the deep realities of life. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath reveald them unto us by His Spirit.”PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.23

It is not uncommon to hear Sabbath-keepers referred to as “people who keep their Sunday on Saturday.” This is, of course, an absurdity, for such a thing is impossible, and Sabbath-keepers do not keep Sunday at all. But the inhabitants of the island of Raratonga, in the Pacific Ocean, have virtually been keeping Sunday on Saturday, because when white people first settled there they made a miscalculation, and took the last day of the week for the first. The local Government has just passed a Bill transferring the rest day from Saturday to Sunday. Although the people have for years been resting and attending worship on the seventh day of the week, which is the true and only Sabbath, they were really Sunday-keepers, and not Sabbath-keepers. Sabbath-keeping means the observance of the seventh day in recognition of the Creator, who made the heavens and earth in six days, and rested on the Sabbath, and of His creative power which still upholds all things, and makes new creatures of all who trust Him.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.24

The following paragraph is from a tale of early Christian life in Corinth, in the English Churchman:-PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.25

It was the first day of the week. The Christians who had been converted by St. Paul had, of course, no church in which to assemble. It was not for many generations afterwards, when the age of persecutions had ceased, that places of worship could be built. Nor was there a day of rest. The Jews, indeed, observed their Sabbath the day before; but for Gentile Christians there was no such day of rest until the edict of Constantine in the fourth century.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.26

As a matter of fact, the Christians had, of course, a day of rest, the Sabbath of the Lord, the day before the first day of the week-the same one which the Jews rested. But the paragraph is worth noting as a frank admission of the fact that Sunday had no standing in the church until the reign of Constantine, who enacted the first law ever made in its favour. God never made any law concerning it, except to command people to work on it together with the other working days of the week, and no earthly ruler ever legislated concerning it before Constantine. He did it in pursuance of his purpose to unite Paganism and Christianity.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.27

In one of the engagements in the Transvaal a drummer boy aged fourteen shot three Boers with a revolver. For this he was carried through the camp on the arms of the soldiers, his deed has been lauded in the newspapers, and in at least one of them his picture has appeared. He has become famous because he killed three men. If he had killed by one man in London, even though that one man were a Boer, he would now be in prison, expecting a sentence of manslaughter, if not of murder. Strange what a difference distance and numbers make! How many youths in England will be seized with a desire to become famous in like manner? When the lust for notoriety seizes a weak-minded person, he does not always stop to consider time and circumstances, and so these tales of war abroad tend to rouse a spirit of murder at home.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.28

We are glad to learn that the Bishop of Winchester, in his charge at Porteca, concerning the communion, condemned the use of certain manuals on that subject, in which children are warned to wash their mouth the night before they take the communion, lest if it were done in the morning a drop of water might accidentally be swallowed. One says:-PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.29

If you swallow even a drop of water that is breaking your fast. To make your communion after breaking your fast dishonours Jesus; it is a sin against the Holy Ghost if done wilfully, and against light it is a mortal sin.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.30

The fact, however, remains that such things are taught in the church, in spite of the fact that the one celebration of the communion from which we get all the knowledge we possess on the subject, was at night, after supper. It is sad to say it, but it is a fact, that a large portion of the church calling itself Christian has always strenuously laboured to avoid everything that the Bible enjoins, and to teach almost everything of which it says nothing or which it forbids.PTUK November 2, 1899, page 704.31