May 18, 1893

“The Fear of the Lord” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 1:9. As the marginal rendering has it, the fear of the Lord is the principal part of wisdom. So in Job 28:28 we are told plainly, “The fear of the Lord that is wisdom.” But we also read, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.” Proverbs 9:13. Also, “by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.” Therefore we learn that true wisdom and knowledge spring from righteousness. “A good understanding have all they that do His commandments.” Psalm 111:10. This is because the commandments can be kept only in Christ, for His life is the living law; and in Him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.1

“The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.” Proverbs 3:19. “He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion.” Jeremiah 10:12. But this is only another way of saying that God “created all things by Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:24. So not only are all power and all true wisdom found only in Christ, but all knowledge of the creation of the heavens and the earth can be obtained only through Christ. He who studies nature in the light of Christ and His work, will arrive at real knowledge; for “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.2

Christianity is the religion of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only manifestation of God. No man knoweth the Father “save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him.” Matthew 11:27. Therefore whatever religion is not the religion of Jesus Christ, is not the worship of God, and must be heathenism. There are only two systems of religion in the world-Christianity and heathenism.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.3

Christianity is the religion of love. “God is love,” and love is the fulfilling of His law. Jesus Christ is the manifestation of God’s love to man; “for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Whatever religious practices therefore do not spring from love, are not a part of Christianity, but are a part of heathenism.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.4

But love knows nothing of force. It cannot be forced. “Does your dog love you?” said a man to a boy. “Indeed he does,” replied the lad; “he knows that I’ll pound the life out of him if he doesn’t. Such “love” as that does not afford any satisfaction to either party. Forced service is not love, but is slavery. Therefore compulsory religious service, not being a service of love, is not Christianity, but is essentially heathenism. But law means force, for a law that cannot be enforced is not a law. Therefore it is absolutely impossible that religion by law can be Christianity. Enforced religious observances, no matter of what kind, are no part of Christianity.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.5

“A Present Salvation” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

As God inhabits eternity, so that all time is present with Him, so all His promises and blessings for men are in the present tense. There can be no future or past time to Him. This makes Him “a very present help in trouble,” for we can live only in the present. We cannot live one moment in the future. We expect things in the future, and have hope of things to come, but the present is all that we can ever have, for when the things hoped for come, they will be present. Indeed, the things which we have reason to hope for in the future, will be only the continuation of the things which we have now. All things are in Christ, and His promise is, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.6

The apostle Paul blessed God because He “hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 1:3. The promises of God for the future must be present realities to us, if we ever receive any benefit from them. “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” 2 Corinthians 1:20. It is by these “exceeding great and precious promises” that we are “made partakers of the Divine nature.” The glories of the world to come will be but the revealing of that which we have now in the personal presence within us of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only hope of glory is Christ in us.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.7

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8. The word of God “liveth and abideth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:23. We do not have to deal with a dead word, which was spoken so long ago that there is no more force in it, but with a word which has the same life as though it were just spoken. Indeed it is of benefit to us only when we receive it as spoken directly and personally to us. “When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of man, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.” 2 Timothy 3:16. It is all in the present.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.8

For this reason we can never outgrow the Scriptures. There is not a single text in the Bible that has become obsolete. There is none that the Christian of the longest experience has outgrown, so that he has no need of it. There is none that can be laid aside. The text which brings a man to the Saviour, is the text which is ever needed to keep him there. And this, too, although his mind has expanded, and his spiritual sight has been greatly strengthened; and the reason is that every word of God is of infinite depth, so that as the Christian’s mind expands the word means more to him than it did in the beginning. The universe appears much greater to the astronomer than it does to the man who has never looked through a telescope. We look at the stars with the naked eye, and they seem very far off. Then we look at them through a powerful telescope, and, although we can see so much farther with it, the distance to the stars seems to be very much greater than it did with our limited vision. So the more one becomes acquainted with the word of God, the greater does it become. The promises of God, which seemed so exceeding great when they first appeared to us, become much more exceeding great the more we consider them and apply them.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 145.9

The word of God is a light shining in a dark place. 2 Peter 1:19. It is the revelation of Christ, who is the Light of the world, therefore it is a lamp. Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 6:23. We have all heard of the young sailor who was left in charge of the helm, with instructions to hold the ship’s head straight toward a certain star, which was pointed out to him, and who, in a few hours called the captain and said that he wanted another star to steer by, as he had sailed past the first one given him. What was the trouble? He had turned the ship round, and was sailing away from the star. So it is with those who say that they have outgrown certain portions of the Bible. The trouble is that they have turned their backs upon it.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.1

What is the Gospel? “It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Romans 1:16. It is present power applied to the salvation of the one who has present faith. From what does the power of God save men? Jesus is the power of God, and of Him it was said, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15. The Gospel is the power of God to save men from sin. But it is present power, for sin is ever present. Its power is applied only while one is believing. “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17. The moment a man ceases to believe, then he is a sinner, just the same as though he had never believed. Yesterday’s faith will not answer for to-day, any more than the breathing of the man yesterday will keep him alive to-day.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.2

The message of the Lord to the church in the days immediately preceding His coming is, “Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked.” Revelation 3:19. Who is there that has outgrown this text? Not one. The blessing comes to the one who acknowledges the truth of the Lord’s charge; for to him the Lord will enter, with a supply for all his need. It is the man who says, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner,” that goes down to his house justified.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.3

And it is only as the man continues to utter that prayer, that he is justified. “For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 18:14. The apostle says: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15. Note that he does not say, “Of whom I was chief;” but “of whom I am chief.” And it was when he acknowledged himself to be the chief of sinners, that in him as chief was exhibited the mercy and longsuffering of God.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.4

Some have wondered whether a Christian ought to sing these lines in Wesley’s blessed hymn:-PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.5

“Just and holy is Thy name,
I am all unrighteousness;
Vile and full of sin I am;
Thou art full of truth and grace.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.6

The man who thinks that he has outgrown those lines is in a pitiable condition, for he is shutting himself off from the source of righteousness. “There is none good, but one; that is, God.” Matthew 19:17. Therefore whatever righteousness is ever exhibited in any soul must be only the righteousness of God. It is only the soul that acknowledges his own sinfulness, that will lay hold on the righteousness of God that is by the faith of Christ. It is only by the obedience of one that many are made righteous. Romans 5:19. And that one is Christ.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.7

“And He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2. The Christian of forty years’ experience is just as much in need of the righteousness which comes through Christ, as is the sinner who is now for the first time coming to the Lord. So we read again, “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:7, 8. The most that anyone can say is that Christ is without sin, and that Christ has given Himself for us. He is of God “made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Corinthians 1:30. But note that cleansing is a present process. We may know that the blood of Christ did cleanse us from sin at some time in the past; but that will do us no good. That life is continually needed, in order that the cleansing may go on continually. We are “saved by His life.” Romans 5:10. For Christ is our life. Colossians 3:4.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.8

So it is that “every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.” 1 John 4:2, 3. Note again the present tense. It is not enough to confess that Jesus Christ did come in the flesh; that will bring no salvation to anybody. We must confess from positive knowledge, that Jesus is just now come in the flesh, and then we are of God. Christ came in the flesh eighteen hundred years ago, just for the purpose of demonstrating the possibility. That which He did once, He is able to do again. He who denies the possibility of His coming in the flesh of men now, thereby denies the possibility of His having ever come in the flesh.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.9

So our part is with humbleness of mind to confess that we are sinners; that in us is no good thing. If we do not, then the truth is not in us; but if we do, then Christ, who came into the world for the express purpose of saving sinners, will come and take up His abode with us, and then the truth will indeed be in us. Then there will be perfection manifested in the midst of imperfection. There will be completeness in the midst of weakness. For we “are complete in Him.” Colossians 2:10. He has created all things by the word of His power, and therefore can take men who are but nothing, and can make them “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” Ephesians 1:6. “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Romans 11:36.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.10

“The Basis of Sunday Laws” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Those who have read the papers to any extent cannot have failed to notice that the enforcement of Sunday observance is increasing. In Birmingham, in Southampton, in Belfast, and at various other places in the Kingdon, crusades have been carried on against those who have ventured to take Sunday as a business day, instead of a day of rest and worship. These things are becoming so common, and are done so much as a matter of course, that it is necessary again and again to call the attention of the people to the basis upon which Sunday laws rest.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.11

First, however, let us recall a statement concerning the action taken in the Isle of Man. A correspondent of the Christian Commonwealth said:-PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.12

“The Sunday trading question is becoming a vexed one in the Isle of Man. For some time past the sale of newspapers in the streets, and Sunday trading generally, have become distasteful and intolerable to the majority of the Manx people; and on the introduction of the Local Government Act into the House of Keys, Mr. John Thomas Cowell, the member for North Douglas, moved the insertion of a new clause, to the effect that any person publicly crying, showing forth, or exposing for sale any wares, merchandise, fruit, newspapers, or any chattels whatever, on the Lord’s Day, shall at the instance of a constable, be liable to a fine of 40s. for each offence.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 143.13

The clause was carried by a vote of fifteen to five, but was thrown out on being sent back to the Legislative Council. One member declared that he would rather lose the whole Bill than consent to such a piece of legislation. The writer above referred to says: “This will undoubtedly be the case, as the Manx ire is now fully aroused, against the wholesale Sunday desecration of recent years, and things are gradually growing worse. The Council may play the part of obstructionists for a time, but the voice of the people must ultimately be heard, and a strong measure be passed prohibiting Sunday trading.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.1

NO CONNECTION WITH TEMPERANCE

In this connection it may be well to note the fact that the Bishop of Sodor and Man said that during his twelve months’ residence on the island, he has been favourably impressed with respect to the temperance question. “So far as he could recollect, he had observed only one case of drunkenness in a Manxman.” So it will be seen that it cannot be claimed that Sunday legislation is necessary on the ground of temperance.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.2

We have already repeatedly shown that the Sunday observance question cannot in any sense be considered a temperance question. The same number of the Christian Commonwealth which contained the item in regard to the Isle of Man, had an editorial on the drink question. From that editorial we quote the following:-PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.3

“Most temperance advocates believe that Sunday closing ought to be national, and not local. But why do they think so? Simply for the reason that the country is ripe for a national Sunday Closing Bill, and that such a Bill is right in itself. Undoubtedly these are weighty considerations. But we fail to see why Sunday Closing should be made national, and total closing local. The evil influence of the drink traffic for six days in the week must be more than for one day; and yet some who are comparatively indifferent to the former, are sticklers for the latter.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.4

This should be sufficient to settle the question as to the connection of Sunday closing with temperance. There is none whatever. “The whole country is ripe for a national Sunday Closing Bill,” but not by any means for national prohibition seven days in the week. Sunday closing would make but little appreciable difference in the amount of liquor consumed, for the workingmen are as idle on Saturday nights as they are on Sundays, and there is ample time then for them to get rid of their wages, even if they did not lay in a supply of drink for the next day.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.5

NOT A PHYSICAL NECESSITY

We may therefore leave the question of temperance entirely out of our study of the basis of Sunday laws. There are only two other possible grounds on which compulsory Sunday observance may be based, and they are (1) the physical benefit to be derived, and (2) the religious character of the day. We will consider them. But first, again, let us see how much importance is attached to this matter of Sunday observance. The Christian Commonwealth of March 20 said:-PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.6

“If shopkeepers persist in needless Sunday trading, they must be stopped by the strong arm of the law. In Birmingham the nuisance has become so intolerable that a Watch Committee has been formed, and is making a crusade against Sunday trading.... We should prefer Sunday closing to be voluntary, but if this cannot be realised, the only alternative is to make it compulsory.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.7

Take now the idea that Sunday observance is necessary for the physical well-being of people, especially of the workingmen. At the most that can be claimed for a weekly physical rest it is of far less importance than many other things. For instance, it is far more necessary that a man should have a regular amount of sleep in every twenty-four hours. A man may work every day in the week for an indefinite time, if he has sufficient regular daily rest; whereas if he is broken of his rest at night for a few nights, he will be totally unfitted for work. But we never hear of a proposition that labouring men should be compelled by law to sleep seven hours every night, and nobody will ever be foolish enough to advocate such a thing. Laws are not needed to compel people to rest when they are tired; nature will attend to that.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.8

Again, if enforced Sunday rest is only for the physical well-being, then it is most absurd, not to say tyrannical, because all persons do not become weary and in need of rest at the same time. Different kinds of labour induce different degrees of weariness; and to say that all men shall take exactly the same amount of rest, and at the same time, is as absurd as to say that they shall all eat the same amount of the same kind of food, and at precisely the same time. One man’s work does not make another man tired, neither does the fact that a hundred men are working hinder one from resting, and therefore there is no reason why every man shall rest at a given time, simply because a few wish to do so.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.9

But it is often urged that the Government has the right to set apart certain days as holidays. Very true, but that is not what Sunday is desired to be. A holiday is a day on which people are permitted to cease labour if they wish; on Sunday it is desired to force people to cease work whether they want to or not. If a man wishes to dig in his garden on a Bank Holiday, instead of going to the parks, he is at liberty to do so. If there were an attempt to force everybody to stop all kinds of work on a Bank Holiday, there would be such a protest as would put an end to the attempt. Pleasure cannot be forced, and neither can rest.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.10

“Religious Legislation Pagan” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

We are plainly shut up to the fact that the only basis of Sunday laws is the religious character of the day. Some people regard the day as sacred, and therefore they want to have everybody compelled to observe it as such. If it were not so, it would not be styled “the Lord’s Day,” and the term “desecration” would never be applied to labour on it. We will therefore proceed on the assumption that Sunday is indeed the Sabbath, and see if we can find in that any just ground for enforcing its observance.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.11

The Scripture says: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27. Therefore it is evident that true religion cannot be forced, any more than the law can compel a man to be sympathetic and generous.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.12

Suppose we take it for granted that the observance of Sunday is required by the law of God. What then? God’s law is love. “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:8. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10. But love is a voluntary thing, and cannot be forced. The use of force shows the absence of love. No force is needed to compel a man to do that which he loves to do; and if he does not love to do a thing that God has commanded, there is no obedience in the forced performance of it. But that which is not obedience is disobedience; therefore to compel a man to do a thing, even though the Lord has commanded it, is to compel him to disobey God.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.13

This is stated directly by the Apostle Paul, in the words, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23. No argument is needed to show that there is no faith in religious acts that are forced. Therefore when it is said, “We should prefer Sunday closing to be voluntary, but if this cannot be realised the only alternative is to make it compulsory,” it is the same as though it were said, “We should prefer to have men voluntarily religious, but if this cannot be realised the only alternative is for the State to compel them to add hypocrisy to their irreligion.” If Sunday observance were commanded ten thousand times over in the Bible, and each succeeding time with increased emphasis, even then to compel men to keep it would be to compel them to sin. Enforced religion is Paganism.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 147.14

Take for instance the commandment, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” This is the basis and the sum of all true religion. The disregard of this commandment is the source of all evil, yet it is impossible to force its observance. If it were attempted to enforce it, the result would be nothing less than general idolatry.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.1

Sometimes it is claimed that Sunday observance is enforced, not with the idea of making men religious, but for the benefit of those who do regard Sunday as the Sabbath, that they may not be disturbed in their devotions. Let us consider this in detail. The fallacy of the argument is seen by the fact that there is not a religious body that does not hold religious exercises upon other days of the week, besides Sunday. Indeed there is not a day in the week, and at some seasons of the year scarcely an hour in the day, when there is not some sort of religious service being held in London, to say nothing of other places. But no one thinks of requesting Parliament to stop all labour while these services are going on. And no one ever heard any complaint that these services were disturbed by the ordinary necessary traffic with which the streets and shops were filled during the hours of these services. How does it happen, then, that Sunday labour is such a disturbance to worship? How can it be that work which is said to disturb the devotions of people on Sunday, has no effect whatever on the devotions of those same people on another day of the week?PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.2

If labour should be prohibited on Sunday, on the ground of not interfering with the devotions of religious people, then by the same rule it ought to be suspended while those same people are performing their private and family devotions. And in that case, it would be necessary that Parliament should regulate the hours of family worship, requiring all families to adopt the same time. There is exactly the same reason for having a uniform hour for family worship, and prohibiting all labour during that hour, that there is for enforcing the observance of Sunday.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.3

“Majority Rule” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

But here we are met with the question, “Ought not the majority to rule?” The answer must always be, “No; nor the minority either.” Neither the majority nor the minority are to rule in matters of religion. What did the Saviour say? When there was a strife among His disciples, as to which of them should be the greatest, “He said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so; but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.” Luke 22:25, 26.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.4

Again, when two of them were seeking for high position of authority, and the others were envious, Jesus said: “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.5

In line with this statement are the words of the Apostle Paul: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:3-7.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.6

The same Spirit speaks thus through the Apostle Peter: “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.7

Again the Saviour said: “But be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:8-12.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.8

Where the idea prevails that in matters of religion the majority must rule, whether it be a majority of numbers or a majority of influence, there must of necessity be judging, and the application of force to the minority, to compel compliance with the wishes of the majority. But here is what the Lord says will be the fate of those who interfere with their fellow-servants: “If that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 24:48-51.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.9

How is it that the evil servant says in his heart, “My Lord delayeth His coming”? It is by the very act of presuming to judge and smite his fellow-servant. God alone is Judge, and He has committed all judgment into the hands of His Son. John 5:22. The Divine injunction is, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” 1 Corinthians 4:5. And again, “Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold, the Judge standeth before the door.” James 5:9. And it is written, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Now those who take upon themselves the work of judging, and condemning their fellow-servants, say by their actions that the Lord is not coming to judge men, but that if such work is ever done they must attend to it themselves. Thus they virtually exclude the Lord from the affairs of His own church.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.10

When God raised Jesus from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, He “gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body.” Ephesians 1:22, 23. “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the Head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.” Colossians 1:17-19.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.11

Christ therefore is the source of all authority in the church. The State has no right to make laws for the church, for then it would be usurping the place of Christ as the head of the church. And the church has no right to make laws for itself, nor for anybody else, for in that case the body would be assuming the functions of the head, and the result would be a monster. The business of the church, and of all in it, is to obey the Head, and not to rule.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.12

And so it may be said, after all, that the majority should rule in matters of religion, for the Lord alone is a majority. “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity.” Isaiah 40:15-17. Let puny men beware, therefore, how they venture to arrogate to themselves the work of the Lord.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 148.13

Men in their zeal for religion say that Sunday labour cannot be tolerated. But God tolerates all sorts of evil on the earth. It is not because He is less pained by it than men are, but because the time of judgment has not yet come. Where sin abounds grace does much more abound. It is with the cords of His everlasting love that the Lord seeks to draw men, and to turn them from evil. When men, therefore, begin to talk about not tolerating irreligion, it means that they cannot tolerate difference from them. It means that they take themselves as the standard, and that all must be compelled to do as they do.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.1

In the account of proposed Sunday legislation in the Isle of Man, it is stated that Sunday trading is distasteful to the majority. Tastes differ, and are sometimes very capricious, and if the fact that a certain thing is distasteful is sufficient ground for prohibiting it, no one can be sure of being unmolested. But note the fact that personal prejudice, and the desire of certain men that everybody shall conform to their ways, is the reason why Sunday legislation is desired. So we have found that the basis of Sunday laws is in the selfishness of unregenerate man.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.2

“Sunday Laws Not Sabbath Laws” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Enough has been said to show that we oppose Sunday laws, as well as all laws enforcing any manner of religion, because they are opposed to the Gospel. Their only tendency can be to lower the standard of religion. But there is something more to this matter, and that is that Sunday is not the Sabbath at all. It is purely a human institution. And herein is seen the truth of the statement that Sunday laws grow entirely out of human selfishness. For they are not a manifestation of zeal for God, since God has nothing to do with Sunday observance. Instead of commanding men to rest on the day, He has given it to them as a working day. Mark what He says: “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” Exodus 20:9, 10.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.3

“But did not Christ rise on the first day of the week?” Undoubtedly; but what has that to do with the matter? Nowhere in the Bible is there the slightest intimation that He ever designed that anybody should observe the day in any manner whatever on that account. Many people think that the commemoration of redemption has taken the place of the commemoration of creation; but creation and redemption are the same. Redemption is creation. It is the power of God, by which He made the worlds, working in men to save them. For it was by Jesus Christ that all things were made, and He is the power of God. See John 1-3, and 1 Corinthians 1:24. The Gospel is the mystery of God, and that is Christ in men the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26, 27. Christ is of God made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30), and the Sabbath, of which He Himself is Lord (Mark 2:28), was given to men that they might know that He is the Lord, by whom they are sanctified. Ezekiel 20:12.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.4

Throughout the New Testament the seventh day of the week is called the Sabbath, and the first day of the week is known only by that designation. What does that signify? It means that those are the titles that the Holy Spirit designs that those days shall bear throughout all time. The Bible is the word of God, and when God gives a name to a thing, it means that the thing is just what He names it. So the seventh day is the Sabbath, and so it will always be, no matter what men may do.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.5

Now read the record of what occurred in connection with the resurrection: “And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared.” Luke 23:54-56; 24:1. They rested on the seventh day, for they “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment,” and that says that “the seventh day is the Sabbath.” And they resumed work on the first day of the week.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.6

Now note further what the Holy Spirit says of the relation of the first day of the week to the Sabbath. In the last part of the thirteenth chapter of Mark we find the same thing referred to which is told in detail in the twenty-third of Luke. Having said that the women beheld where Jesus was laid, the record proceeds, “And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.” Mark 16:1, 2.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.7

What may we learn from this? That no matter how early one gets up in the morning of the first day of the week, he is too late to find the Sabbath. The Sabbath is then past. No man can arise early enough in the morning of the first day of the week to find any portion of the Sabbath. The seventh day is the Sabbath; and as soon as the seventh day is gone, the Sabbath is past. This is the statement of the Spirit of the Lord. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.8

So we see that when the State, at the instigation of the church, proceeds to compel men to observe the first day of the week, it is committing a double sin. It is compelling men to rest on a day when God says they ought to work, and thus by indirection seeking to force them to work on the day that He has appointed to be kept holy; and it is presuming to legislate on matters of religion, which pertain solely to God. It is putting itself in the place of God. Although the seventh day is the Sabbath, no power on earth has the right to compel men to observe it. Even God Himself does not seek to compel men to obey Him.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.9

“Opposition to God” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The Sabbath, as we have seen, is the seventh day of the week. It is the Lord’s day, for God Himself calls it “My holy day.” Isaiah 58:13. “The Sabbath of the Lord” must be the Lord’s day. Moreover Christ declared Himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath day. Matthew 12:8. In so saying, He had direct reference to the seventh day of the week, the day which the Jews profess to keep; for He was repelling their false charge that He and His disciples were breaking the Sabbath. The seventh day Sabbath is therefore the only day known in Scripture as the Lord’s day.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.10

But it is claimed that Sunday is the Sabbath, and a very common name for it is the Lord’s day. Indeed, it is as the Lord’s day that its observance is enforced on the people. It comes in as a usurper, taking the place of the Sabbath of the Lord. Hence every attempt to enforce its observance is a direct attempt to oust the seventh day from its rightful place as the Sabbath of the Lord, and to put the first day in its place. Therefore whenever the State makes laws enforcing Sunday observance it is legislating squarely against God. It is not simply ignoring the commandment of the Lord, but it is teaching men that God’s word is to be disregarded for that of the State.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.11

Thus in Sunday legislation we have a direct issue joined between the State and God. And this, too, in a way that is not done by ordinary sins that men commit. All sin is rebellion against God, but it is not always wilful rebellion. “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7. And men are the slaves of this carnal mind, so that they cannot do even the things that they would. See John 8:34; Romans 7:14-20; Galatians 5:17. But Sunday legislation is direct rebellion against God, inasmuch as it strikes at the very foundation of His authority.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.12

The distinctive characteristic of God above all the false gods that are worshipped, is that He is Creator. “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, and He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm 95:3-5. “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; but the Lord made the heavens.” Psalm 96:4, 5. “The Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King; at His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion.” Jeremiah 10:10-12.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 149.13

The things that God has made are the sign of His power and Divinity. See Romans 1:20. And the Sabbath is the memorial of His wonderful works; for He says: “I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.” Ezekiel 20:20, 12. “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious; and His righteousness endureth for ever. He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious, and full of compassion.” Psalm 111:2-4. The literal rendering is “He hath made a memorial for His wonderful works.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.1

The Sabbath, therefore, is the thing by which men may acknowledge the Divine power of God, since it commemorates the creative work of God, and the works which God has made are the sign of His power and Divinity. Consequently, when the State enforces Sunday as the Lord’s day, and thereby exerts its power to obliterate the Sabbath of the Lord, it is using all its power to erase from the minds of men a knowledge of the power and Divinity of God. It is putting itself forward as the thing to be worshipped in the place of God.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.2

More than this. When the first day of the week is put in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord, and its observance is enforced, the State, which by that act becomes not only the Church, but the head of the Church, exalts itself to a place above God, arrogating to itself power that even God does not possess. Thus: When God had made the worlds in six days, He rested on the seventh day. That made that day His Sabbath. If He had been so minded, He could have made the earth in five days, and rested the sixth. In that case, the sixth day would have been the Sabbath. Or He might have made the heavens and the earth in four, three, or two days, and then the fifth, fourth, or third day of the week would have been the Sabbath. If He had wished, He might have made the heavens and the earth in one day, and rested on the second day, so that the second day would have been the Sabbath. But mark this fact, that by no possibility could He have made the first day of the week the Sabbath. If He had created all things on the first day, He could not also on that same day have rested from all His work, so as to make that day the Sabbath.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.3

Thus we see that in choosing the first day of the week as the substitute for the Sabbath of the Lord, Satan has moved man to assume a power that God Himself does not possess. This fact shows that Sunday as a rest-day is the mark of Satan’s power, and not of the Lord’s, for the work of Satan is to put himself in the place of God, and this he could do only by claiming greater power than the Lord. But Satan works through man. So he is “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), he works through the powers of the world; therefore when worldly powers assume control of the affairs of the church and religion, the State Church thus formed is Satan’s church, in direct opposition to the church which is the body of Christ.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.4

The putting of Sunday in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord, thus putting man above God grows naturally out of the evolution idea that all that is in man is naturally good, so that a man can be righteous by his own works. Natural religion-the religion of “science falsely so called,” teaches that man can bring righteousness out of himself. But that which is in man by nature is sin, and therefore the idea really is that men can make righteousness out of sin. But God Himself cannot do this. He can put away sin, and destroy it by His own righteousness, but He cannot make righteousness out of sin. That would be to deny Himself. Satan has instilled into the minds of men the idea that they are as good as God, and even better, and from this idea very naturally comes the attempt to make a Sabbath out of Sunday. In each case it is simply the manifestation of the “mystery of iniquity,” the development of which forms “that man of sin,” “the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.5

This spirit as it is manifested in human governments, is represented in the Bible under two forms. The first is thus described:-PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.6

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.... And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.” Revelation 13:1, 2, 5, 6.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.7

The power thus described is known as the Papacy. In Paganism, which until the days of Constantine was the religion of the world, the devil ruled the minds of men without any attempt at concealment. It was simple devil-worship. But Constantine saw in Christianity a power that had come up in the face of pagan persecution, and was rapidly overtopping it. Therefore he resolved to unite his empire with this power, as more likely to insure its stability than Paganism. The Bishops of the church, who, as Mosheim says, had purposely multiplied rites and ceremonies, modeling the church after Pagan forms, in order that they might render the Pagans friendly to them, gladly accepted Constantine’s offer of union, if they did not even suggest it to him.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.8

Thus the State, instead of being professedly Pagan, became professedly Christian. But the Christianity was only in form. The religion was that of the world. The power was that of Satan. It was from the dragon, which is “the devil and Satan” (Revelation 12:9), that the composite Church and State beast received all his power and authority. The Pope of Rome, therefore, who poses as the vicegerent of the Son of God, is in reality the vicegerent of Satan. He represents anti-Christ, opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped. And this point is made too plain for any question, when we recall the fact that the Catholic Church bases its claim to the allegiance of all men on the fact that it has, contrary to the Scripture, substituted the first day of the week for the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.9

The other manifestation of opposition to God, under the guise of Christianity is thus described:-PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.10

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:11-17.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 150.11

Here we have the same power working as in the Papacy, only a little more disguised. At the first Christianity, which was a reformation, was joined to the State, making the Papacy, through which Satan worked. So now we have Protestantism, the reformation from Catholicism, linked with the State, so that it becomes an image of the Papacy. As Sunday is the badge or mark of the power and authority of the Papacy, so the exercising of the power of the first beast, in his sight, is the enforcement of Sunday by professed Protestant powers. By compelling men to observe Sunday, professed Protestants are forcing them to receive the mark of the Papacy,-the man of sin.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 151.1

So we see that around the question of Sabbath observance, whether it shall be the seventh day or the first, centres the whole question of whether Christ or anti-Christ shall be worshipped. And since it is a question as to which power shall be recognised,-whether that of God or that of Satan,-it is the central battle ground of the Gospel. If the Sabbath be kept, as the Sabbath of the Lord indeed, then God’s power is recognised and yielded to, and that power is the Gospel, which brings salvation. But if, after a knowledge of the facts, the Sunday be kept, then the authority and power of Satan and his representative is recognised and yielded to, and that is the power of death and destruction.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 151.2

Thousands of people are ignorant of these things. Sincere in their desire to serve the Lord, they are keeping Sunday as the Sabbath of the Lord, with no idea but that they are obeying Him in so doing. Like Saul of Tarsus, they think that they are doing God service, and live in all good conscience. But as the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to Saul, so in these days He is seeking to reveal Himself to all men. Satan has monopolised the attention of almost all the world, but he is not to be allowed to have things his own way. Christ is going to reveal Himself in His Church so fully in these last days, that all men shall know the truth as it is in Jesus. The people of God will acknowledge and worship Him as Creator. Therefore the last message before the coming of the Lord, which is the one that is being given now, since we are in the last days, is the following:-PTUK May 18, 1893, page 151.3

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” Revelation 14:6-10.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 151.4

Reader, which side will you take?PTUK May 18, 1893, page 151.5

“Religious Liberty” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

At the recent annual meeting of the Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control, the one speaker who went to the root of the matter was Dr. Parker. He confined himself wholly to the religious phase of the question, which is the only phase that it can properly have. He said that he cared nothing for majorities or minorities; if only one man was on the side of religious liberty, that man was right. Said he: “The Church of Christ is such that the State has nothing whatever to do with it.” That is true. Not only so, but the Church of Christ is of such a nature that the State cannot by any possibility have anything to do with it.” Jesus, whom Dr. Parker styled “the greatest Nonconformist,” said: “My kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36. Therefore it follows that when Church and State are united to any degree, that church is not the church of Christ.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 151.6

The most of those who are opposed to the Established Church, base their opposition on the fact of inequality and unfairness. They say that it is unfair that the Church of England should be favoured above other churches. This was largely the tone of the speakers at the meeting of the Liberation Society, and it is the tone of most that is written. But that is a low, selfish view of the matter. It is really no opposition whatever to State patronage and control of religion. Those who hold it virtually say that they wouldn’t object to State patronage if the patronage were equally distributed. Dr. Parker took the correct and only consistent position when he said that the case would not change in the least if nonconformity were on an equality with the establishment. State connection with religion is wrong in principle, no matter who is concerned. Those who oppose it on any other ground, offer no opposition whatever.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 151.7

In speaking of the matter of disestablishment, Dr. Parker referred to the fact that it was claimed that it would “secularize ecclesiastical establishments.” While protesting that he did not want to see St. Paul’s turned into a vegetable market, nor Westminster Abbey into a railway station, he said that to secularize them was not the worst thing that could happen to them. “I would rather,” said he, “secularise them than Romanise them.” He might have gone further. He might have stated that they are already both Romanised and secularized. Secular means pertaining to the world. The church of Christ is not of the world, but the State is. Therefore whenever the church forms a connection with the State it thereby becomes secularized,-made worldly. The ecclesiastical establishments that are supported in whole or in part by the State are already secularized. But they are also Romanized, because the essential characteristic of Romanism is professed Christian institutions supported by the State. It is the most natural thing in the world, therefore, and even inevitable, that Romish customs and ceremonies should be introduced into any denomination that accepts State patronage. So the State is asked to let the church alone, not for the purpose of secularizing it, but of freeing it from secularism; in short, it is for the purpose of Christianising the church.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 151.8

“Only a Mirage” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

We do not refer to the delusive pictures of houses and green trees and streams of water that we have seen floating o’er the shady plains, but we refer to the false visions of life and freedom and beauty and pleasure that we all have been seen floating o’er the deserts of sin.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 154.1

They are only a mirage; they are only a delusion of the devil. There is no life, there is no freedom, there is no beauty or pleasure in sin.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 154.2

Have we not again and again clawed after these phantoms, like a boy after a butterfly, only to find them at last,-just beyond our grasp? Have we ever yet been able to seize it and hold it fast, and prove it true? Never!PTUK May 18, 1893, page 154.3

We have found the very opposite true. Instead of life, we have found ourselves “dead in trespasses and sins.” Instead of freedom, we have found ourselves in the “bond of iniquity,” and so “holden with the cords of our sins” that we could not so much as raise ourselves up. Instead of beauty we have found “ashes,” and instead of pleasures, the “spirit of heaviness,” and the “gall of bitterness.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 154.4

“A Blessed Reality” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

How different is the religion of Jesus Christ! What a blessed reality! No false visions, no rosy-hued paths that end in captivity and death!PTUK May 18, 1893, page 154.5

It binds up the broken-hearted, proclaims “liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” in sin. It comforts all that mourn, and gives unto them “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” It clothes us with the garments of salvation, and covers us with the robe of righteousness. It opens to us the path of life, where there is “fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore.” It lays up our treasures “where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal.” It gives us a crown that fadeth not away, and a mansion in the city “whose builder and maker is God.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 154.6

The religion of Jesus Christ has bread for the hungry, water for the thirsty, garments for the naked, homes for the homeless, and riches for the poor. It brings a Friend to the friendless, a Father to the fatherless, and a Husband to the widow. It sheds light on those in darkness, furnishes a guide to the blind, and opens a fountain for the unclean and a place of refuge for those in danger. It gives rest to the weary, strength to the weak, wisdom to the ignorant, comfort to the mourner, freedom to the captives, and life to the dying.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.1

O reader, taste and see that the Lord is good.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.2

“False Gods in India” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“What ugly looking pictures! What can they be?”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.3

I do not wonder that you think the pictures ugly, but if you could see them, idols in the temple of Juggernaut, in India, you would think them still more ugly than their pictures. And yet you would see something that would seem worse to you than the idols themselves; you would see people bowing down before these hideous looking idols and calling them their gods, and praying to them!PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.4

“And are these the only gods that the people of India know anything about?”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.5

Oh no, there are more gods in India than there are people! There are so many that a person could not worship them all if he should try. Each person therefore chooses the ones that he likes best and worships them.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.6

“Well, are the gods all like them!” you say.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.7

No not just like these, but very many are as bad as these, and some are still worse.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.8

There are “idols of every form and shape, from the little painted clay image in a poor man’s house, up to the huge figure of gold in one of their temples, or to the image of a bull, twenty feet high, cut out of a rock.” Then besides these frightful idols of clay, and stone and brass, and gold, some of them worship demons, which they say are the blood-thirsty spirits of wicked men who have died. Others worship “the sun and moon and stars, the fire which blazes on the hearth, the wind which sweeps across the plains, the stream which flows by their dwelling, the cow which browses in the pasture, the very tools with which they work, the snakes that crawl across their path, the trees that surround their villages, the mountains, hills, plants, and stones, and numberless other familiar objects.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.9

The three greatest gods are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Siva the destroyer.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.10

Siva is worshipped more than the other because the people are afraid of him. He and his wife, Kali Devi, are said to be so bloodthirsty that the people are willing to give them almost anything, not because they love them, but to keep them from hurting them. Siva is represented by a small black bone carried in a silver box around the neck, or fastened to the arm.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.11

Siva’s wife, Kali Devi, is an idol of very dark blue, almost black. “She has four arms, having in one hand a sword, and in another the head of a giant which she holds by the hair, another hand is open to bestow a blessing and with the fourth she is forbidding fear. She wears two dead bodies for earrings, and a necklace of skulls; her mouth is open, and her tongue hangs down to the chin. The heads of several giants are hung as a girdle around her waist, and her tresses fall down to her feet. As she is supposed to have been drinking the blood of the giants which she has slain, her eyebrows are bloody, and the blood is falling in a stream down her breast; her eyes are red like those of a drunkard. She stands with one foot on her husband, Siva, who had cast himself down before her among the bodies of the dead.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.12

Just think of worshipping a god like that! It is said that she can be kept from hurting them in no other way than by giving her plenty of blood. “The blood of a tiger is said to please her for a hundred years, and the blood of a lion, a deer, or a man, a thousand, while by the sacrifice of three men she is pleased a hundred thousand years.” No wonder that the poor people at one time offered human beings to her, and that they still spend so much of their money for animals to sacrifice to her at her yearly festivals. Every year the blood runs in streams before her shrines.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.13

Ganess, the elephant-headed son of Siva and Kali Devi, is also much worshipped. His image is found everywhere, by the roadside, and under trees, and in small temples. “No one sets out on a journey without praying to him, ‘O! thou work-perfecting Ganess grant me success in my journey.’ At the head of every letter, his peculiar mark is made. When a person begins to read he salutes Ganess, and shopkeepers and others paint the image or name of this god over the doors of their shops or houses, expecting him to protect them and help them in their work. Many keep in their houses a small brass image of him and worship it daily. In him they think is found all wisdom. Often is the Hindu mother seen pointing her frightened infant to this hideous idol, and joining its tiny hands together towards the god.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.14

The people live in fear all the time. Those who worship demons dare not even show that they love their children, or take good care of them when they are ill, for fear the demons will see their love and kill their children or cause some other dreadful thing to happen to them.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.15

And what has one of these idols ever done that they should be thus worshipped and feared? Not one thing.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.16

They are but wood or stones or brass or clay made into these shapes. Can a piece of stone or clay hear you when you speak to it? Can it feel when you touch it? Does it know when you are in trouble? Has it power to come and help you? No; and neither can these false gods.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.17

“They have mouths, but they speak not;
Eyes have they, but they are not;
They have ears, but they hear not;
Noses have they, but they smell not;
They have hands, but they handle not;
Feet have they, but they walk not;
Neither speak they through their mouths.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.18

“If they can do nothing to hurt anyone why do so many of the people of India fear them?” “If they can do nothing to help a person, why do they pray to them?”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 155.19

It is because they are following false guide-books. They are told that these are their gods and that bad spirits come into their idols that will do dreadful things to them unless they worship them and give them many offerings. They believe this so strongly that sometimes they go for years without noticing that their prayers are never answered, and when they do notice, they often think it is because they must offer still greater sacrifices, or more sorely afflict their bodies.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.1

Oh, that all might get hold of the true Guide-Book! Oh, that all might learn of the true God!PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.2

“The Most High God” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The idols of India are called gods because people worship them, but they are no more like the only true God than a piece of mud if like the sun, or a grain of sand is like the ocean.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.3

We have seen that the idols do not know anything; they never have had power to do anything, and never can have power to do anything; they have no beauty, no glory, no life, no goodness, no love; they cannot even feel, or hear, or see. But they are thought to be filled with hateful, cruel spirits that delight to torture, kill and destroy.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.4

But, praise the Lord, there is a true God. There is a living God. One who knows and feels, and hears and sees, and who manifests a good and loving Spirit.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.5

I see flashes of His glory in the sun and moon and sky, and exhibitions of His power in the heavens and the earth. I see the reflection of His greatness in the sea, and examples of His handiwork in the fleecy clouds, balmy air, and downy snowflakes. I see marks of His wisdom, and tokens of His love and thoughtfulness, in the animals and birds and flowers, and in the tiniest thing that He has made. I know of His goodness and His mercy, for I have felt them in my own heart. I find Him all that the Bible says He is.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.6

The more I know of God the more I know that He alone “is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens.” He not only has life in Himself, but He has power to give life. Everything that lives gets its life from Him, for He “made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.7

The most high God lives in heaven, up, up above the starry sky. He has a great white throne, surrounded by a dazzling rainbow, a temple such as this earth has never seen, a glorious city, and shining attendants more than can be numbered. His face is brighter than the sun, and “he dwells in a light which no man can approach unto.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.8

And yet what seems still more wonderful, this glorious being so high and lifted up, is willing to come down and by His Spirit dwell in our poor bodies, cleansing them from sin and using them for His temples,-if we but love Him and invite Him in!PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.9

“How can He come and live in us?”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.10

I am sure I cannot tell. But He says He will if we really want Him to, and I know that He does because I’ve asked Him to, and He has kept His promise; and the peace and joy and comfort that He brings with Him is more than this world can give or take away. When He is within, we can do right, but without Him, we can do nothing right. He can do this thing that seems so impossible to us, because He knows so much more than we, and is so much more powerful.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.11

His love is as great as His glory and His power. He has given us our lives and everything else that we have. He causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall that we may have corn for bread, and water for drink, and fuel for fire, and clothing for our bodies. He surrounds us with life and beauty everywhere, with green grass, bright flowers, shady trees, merry birds, wonderful insects and animals, singing brooks, and lofty mountains. And best of all, when He saw us in sin and without hope, He loved us so that He gave His only Son, whom He loved as His own life, to suffer and die that we might be saved from our sins and live. And He promises that if we will take Jesus as our Saviour, and let Him live in us, He will with Him give us all that we need,-peace and joy and righteousness now, and immortality, a crown of life, and endless happiness on the earth made new. Then we may see Him as He is. Then we may share His glory and shine as the stars for ever and ever.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 157.12

Although God is so great, yet He is so like a loving Father that we need not be afraid to go and talk with Him whenever we wish. “Like as a Father pitieth His children so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He knows all about us, for He sees us all the time. He knows our names and where we live, and everything we do. He sees when we are in trouble, and He feels for us, and hears us when we cry unto Him; and He is able and willing to help us.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.1

God knows that He alone can help us to be good, that no one else is able to care for us and save us. He therefore says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.2

“Why,” you say, “I never could care for an idol!”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.3

Do not be too sure. If you love anything better than you love God, you are making an idol of that thing, and are trusting in it to save you. It may not be an image of stone or brass, but it is an idol, and an idol of any kind cannot save you.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.4

Do not think that you must wait till you are older to become acquainted with this wonderful God. Do not think because you are a child that He does not notice you or care for you. He is not like the gods of India. You need not be afraid to come to Him. Although so wise and great He loves you and longs to save you.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.5

When Jesus was on earth He took little children in His arms and blessed them, and said, “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not.” He loves them now just as much as He did then. He longs to have you come and tell Him when you are tempted to do wrong, and when you are in trouble, for He can help you. He longs to be your best Friend, for He has done more for you than your own father and mother. In His word He speaks to you. There you may listen to His voice, and become acquainted with His goodness.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.6

“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-Disastrous cyclone are still reported from the United States.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.7

-One of the peculiarities of the cocoanut palm is said to be that it never stands upright.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.8

-The present drouth has been the longest continuous dry spell remembered in England.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.9

-Mashonaland has a white population of 1,490 of whom over 800 belong to the local police force.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.10

-In the United States, according to the Eleventh Census, there are 143 separate and distinct denominations.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.11

-The presence of extra police at Hull on account of the dock strike is costing the corporation there about £1,000 a week.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.12

-Serious floods are also reported from China, 400 villages having been submerged by the overflowing of the Yellow River.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.13

-Over 4,000 houses were destroyed by a fire in Manila on Good Friday. Scores of people are reported to have perished.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.14

-Quill toothpicks came first of all from France. The largest factory in the world is near Paris, where several million quills are dealt with yearly. The factory started to make quill pens, but when these went out of general use it was converted into a toothpick mill.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.15

-Another dynamite explosion occurred in Dublin, at the Law Courts, on Saturday night, May 6, but no damage resulted except to window glass.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.16

-A monthly line of steamers is to run direct between New York and South Africa, beginning on the 25th. The enterprise is undertaken by British capital.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.17

-The British and Foreign Bible Society has issued 4,049,756 copies of Bibles, Testaments, and portions of the Scripture, from the London depot during the past year.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.18

-Cholera is said to be raging with frightful effect at Malacea, the average number of new cases daily being about 200, with the result that the population has become panick-stricken.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.19

-On 1st of May the World’s Fair was opened at Chicago. The President and Cabinet, and many noted men from various countries were present. Over 400,000 persons were present.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.20

-At the beginning of the century the Bible was accessible to but one-fifth of the population of the world. Now it may be read by nine-tenths of the people of the globe, so rapidly has its translation been carried on.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.21

-A Bill to make permanent the Irish Sunday Closing Act and to extend its operation to the five large towns, and also to provide for earlier closing on Saturday evenings, has passed the second reading in the House of Lords.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.22

-A report from Lima, Ohio, states that the Lewiston Reservoir, which covers 17,000 acres, and is the second largest artificial body of water in the United States, broke on the 3rd, inundating the country, with great loss of life and property.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.23

-On the 10th instant the record for fast railway travelling was broken by the New York Central Railway as a new engine, “New Columbian,” which, attached to an express train, ran 102 miles in an hour, between Buffalo and Rochester.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.24

-In spite of all the appeals of the Emperor and Count Caprivi, the German Army Bill was rejected by vote of 210 to 162. Immediately on its rejection Caprivi read an imperial mandate dissolving the Reichstag. The new elections will take place in June.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.25

-Horrible cannibalism is reported from the Congo. An explorer who has just arrived in Liverpool says he saw slaves tied together, with marks on their bodies. The poor creatures were to be killed on the following day, and the marks on their bodies were made by persons who had purchased those particular “joints.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.26

-The continued rise of the Mississippi River is spreading consternation among the cotton planters in all parts of the valley, who have not yet recovered from the disastrous effects of the overflow of last year. The heavy rains have already inundated the plantations along the Arkansas, the St. Francis and Red River, and replanting will be necessary.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.27

-A German journal puts the milk production of the chief countries of Europe as follows, in kilo litres: Germany, 14,218,000,000; France, 10,117,000,000; England, 8,925,000,000; Austria, 8,807,000,000; Sweden, 2,203,000,000; Low Countries, 1,250,000,000; Belgium, 1,201,000,000; Switzerland, 1,109,000,000. The kilo litre is the equivalent of 220 gallons.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.28

-A young student, who was recently murdered by two of his companions in a wood in the neighborhood of St. Petersburg, is said to have been “executed” by his fellow students for leaving the society of which he was a member. There is reason to believe that a great many secret societies have lately been formed amongst the students and educated classes of Russia. The frequent suicides among some Russian students are attributed to the fact that these unfortunate young men belong to secret societies, which sentence their members to self-destruction in the event of their not carrying out the duties expected of them.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 158.29

“Back Page” The Present Truth 9, 10.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

On Friday, the 12th, the first clause of the Home Rule Bill, which contains the gist of the whole matter, passed the House of Commons by a strictly party majority of forty-two.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.1

The new Cunard liner, the Campania, on her return trip from New York, made the quickest passage ever made across the Atlantic. Her time was five days and fifteen hours, and she took the longest route. On one day of the voyage she made 517 knots.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.2

A joint committee of the two Houses of the Convocation of Canterbury have made an elaborate report on Sunday recreation and the Sunday opening of museums. In the main they make no objection. They thought, however, that it is vital to the safety of the “English Sunday” that no library, museum, gallery, etc., should be open for payment. They think that free opening, to a moderate extent, is incompatible with the spirit of the fourth commandment, but utterly fail to indicate how there can be any possible connection between the fourth commandment and the English Sunday.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.3

The following from the Chicago Advance is very pertinent to the circumstances on this side of the water:-PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.4

“We are heartily sorry for those churches which report an endowment, furnishing a handsome income, left them by some rich parishioner. It is a good deal with churches as it is with individuals. Nothing is so likely to stunt healthy growth or to paralyse energetic effort as being heir to a fortune.”PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.5

The most of the Christian work that has been done in this world, from the days of Christ until now, has been done by the offerings and labour of the poor. “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?” James 2:5.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.6

At the recent eight-hour labour demonstration in Hyde Park some of the most noted leaders declared that while they now ask for an eight-hour day, they meant in turn to ask for seven hours and six hours, and would not be content until they had as much leisure as the inhabitants of Mayfair or Belgravia. And if they succeed they will be no happier than the inhabitants of those sections are now, nor so happy. People cannot be made wise, happy, or contented by Acts of Parliament. This effort is in line with those made in the last days of the Roman Republic, and under the Empire by which the Government was made bankrupt, and the people were made paupers. The false idea that the labour leaders are instilling in the minds of the people, namely, that all the evils to which they are subject can be cured by Parliament, are exactly in harmony with the idea held by so many religious leaders, that all moral evils can be eradicated by legal enactment.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.7

“The objects of the society are to declare and defend Christianity as a Divine revelation; to controvert the errors of atheists, agnostics, secularists, and other opponents of Christianity; to counteract the energetic propagandism of infidelity, especially among the uneducated, to meet the difficulties, and strengthen the faith of the doubting and perplexed; and to instruct the young in the evidences of Christianity.” What society is it that is thus defined? It is the “Christian Evidence Society,” which is composed mostly of ministers, doctors of divinity, and bishops. One cannot help wondering what there is left for the church to do. The Church of the living God is “the pillar and ground [or stay] of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15. The church is the only agency ordained by God to carry on the work of the Gospel. No other institution, no matter how good the intentions, can have the life of God in it. If in any of these societies heavenly life is manifested, it is only because the members, or a part of them, are members of the church of the living God, and in that case they ought to do their work as simple Christians, and not let human organisations eclipse the glory of the church. The godly lives of true followers of Christ form the best and only evidence of Christianity to the world: “that they all may be one; ... that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” John 17:21.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.8

In a pastoral letter recently issued, the Bishop Potter of New York reminds the clergy that any minister or congregation failing to use the revised and official order of prayer, as determined by the General Convention of 1892, will be liable to censure. The Bishop says, among the other things: “The day for individualism in the public worship of the churches is past.” Then the Bible must be a thing of the past, for it deals with men as individuals. The Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Romans 1:16. Christ left “to every man his work.” Mark 13:34. “Let him that heareth say, Come.” “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5. “The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” 1 Corinthians 12:7. There are many gifts, but they are all ministered by “that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.” Verse 11. “The head of every man is Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:8. The Gospel deals with and elevates man as an individual; the Papacy deals with men as an ecclesiastical establishment.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.9

There is nothing in the tenets of the Church of England that makes it worse for it to be connected with the State than for any other denomination. That religious dogmas held by the Roman Catholic Church do not make its connection with the States any more dangerous than the connection of any other sect with the State, or of all religious bodies without regard to sect. The danger and the wickedness lies in the connection of any form of religion with the State. Professed Christianity united with the State was what made the Roman Catholic Church. In like manner to-day, the union of Christianity as professed by Protestants, with the State, will make either Roman Catholicism or an exact image of it.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.10

The Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” Romans 1:16. The introduction or institution of any other power is a perversion of the Gospel. Power is necessary, but it must be Divine and not human power. There is no Gospel where there is no power to save, and there is in man no power to save. Therefore the connection of religion with earthly powers is the destruction of the Gospel. The life is in the power, and so, although a body of men may hold the Gospel in its purity and perfection, the moment they attempt to unite that with secular power, that moment the vitality leaves it, for there is no power in man. “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him; for the redemption of their soul is costly, and it must be let alone for ever.” Psalm 49:6-8, R.V. “Power belongeth unto God.” Psalm 62:11. Therefore it is that only to Him belongeth to the Gospel, even the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:25. Concerning His Gospel God says to all earthly powers “Hands off!” It “must be let alone for ever.” God alone can redeem.PTUK May 18, 1893, page 160.11