The Signs of the Times, vol. 14

August 17, 1888

“The Lord’s Prayer. The Doxology” The Signs of the Times, 14, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

“For thine is... the glory.” This is a most fitting climax for a prayer. It is utterly impossible that human language should describe the glory of God. Let one read the first and tenth chapters of Ezekiel, and he will see the inability of human language to give any just conception of God’s glory. Perhaps the best idea, the one conveying the most meaning to our minds, is given in Psalm 19:1; 8:1. In the former we read: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” The other says: “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who has set thy glory above the heavens.” The second statement naturally follows from the first. Since God created the heavens, his own glory must be greater than the glory of the heavens. Therefore when we see the sun shining in its strength, we have only a faint conception of the glory of God. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.1

This point was well illustrated once by a Jew who was asked by a heathen to exhibit his God. The Jew replied that his God could not be seen. When the heathen expressed the opinion that if the Jew had a God he ought to be able to show him, the Jew bade him look at the sun. The sun was at that time in its midday splendor, and the heathen said, “I cannot look at it; it blinds my eyes.” The Jew replied, “Well, if you are unable to look upon one of God’s creatures, how can you expect to be able to look upon God himself?” This was a just and wise answer. God, as Creator of the heavens and the earth, has set is glory above the heavens. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.2

Whenever the priests went into the most holy place of the earthly tabernacle, where the glory of God was manifested, they were obliged to have a cloud of incense go up before them to shield their eyes from the glory, or else its brightness would have caused their instant death. See Leviticus 16:2, 12, 13. But even this precaution was insufficient whenever the Lord manifested more of his glory. Thus we read of the dedication of Solomon’s temple:- SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.3

“Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.” 2 Chronicles 7:1, 2. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.4

When the Lord came down to speak his law, “Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.” Exodus 19:18. “And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Exodus 24:17. So great was the glory of God that the reflected glory that shone from the face of Moses after he had been for a time in the presence of God, was such that the people could not look upon him. Exodus 34:29-35. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.5

When Christ comes to judge the world and to save his people, it will be in all the glory of the Father. Matthew 16:27. Of that glory we read as follows, in Habakkuk 3:3-6:- SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.6

“God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand; and there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood, and measured the earth; he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow; his ways are everlasting.” SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.7

But why say more as to the glory of God? Human language cannot do it justice; the highest flights of the imagination must fall far short of the reality. And what is there of strength or comfort in the contemplation of it? A few texts will answer. Read Ephesians 3:14-19:- SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.8

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.9

A finer passage cannot be found in any book in the world. It would seem as though Inspiration itself could not use human language to furnish a more magnificent climax. Paul prays for the same thing that we ought to pray for, namely, that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith, and that so we may be filled with all the fullness of God; and this is nothing less than that we should be able to resist all evil, and to keep it out of our hearts. But how can we do this, seeing we are weak? Why, God will strengthen us with might by his Spirit. But how much might will he give us by his Spirit? “According to the riches of his glory.” And so when the Christian approaches the throne of grace, that he may find grace to help in time of need, he may remember that all power and glory belong to God; and the thought that his draft upon the supply of strengthening grace will be honored to an amount equal to the inconceivable glory of God, must necessarily tend to make him come with boldness. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.10

The same though is emphasized in a most wonderful manner by the prophet Jeremiah in his prayer to God for the backslidden Jews. He says:- SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.11

“We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against thee. Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory; remember, break not thy covenant with us.” Jeremiah 14:20, 21. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.12

Surely the prophet must have been filled with the Spirit when he uttered that prayer, else he would not have dared say to the Lord, “Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory.” What may we learn from it? Simply this: God’s throne is a throne of grace; it is also a throne of glory, and he has promised to give grace “according to the riches of his glory.” Therefore if he should fail to impart this full measure of grace to those to whom it is promised, his glorious throne would cease to be a throne of glory; it would be disgraced. What confidence we may have when we remember that God’s honor and glory are pledged to the support of those who trust him. What excuse can we have for not overcoming? “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.13

“The Lord will give grace and glory.” Grace now, and glory hereafter. Yet the measure of grace which he will give is according to the riches of his glory, so that, believing in and loving Christ, whom we have not seen, we may “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:8. And so, with Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, being children of God, “to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6), the trying of our faith will certainly “be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:7. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.14

The words, “thine is the glory,” which we utter in the Lord’s prayer, are freighted with a glorious hope for the Christian. Even now are we the sons of God, though it is not yet made manifest what we shall be; “but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.15

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Glorified together with Jesus Christ! Read the description of the glory of Christ, as Isaiah saw it (Isaiah 6:1-10); John 12:40, 41), and then try to realize that the children of God are to be glorified together with him. That means that these faces will shine as does Christ’s, for he shall “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Philippians 3:21. Yes; it means that the glory of Christ, from which even seraphim hide their faces, shall be shared by his now despised followers; for the holy prophet has said that “they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:3. And Christ himself said that when he shall come “then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Matthew 13:43. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.16

The Christian may feel wearied with the battle, and crushed by anguish either of body or spirit, or both. Then he can recall Paul’s words: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18. Paul had experienced far more than the ordinary lot of human sorrow. He had been in labors abundant, even in weakness and trembling. He had been in prison many times. Five times he had received from the Jews the full number of stripes that the law would allow; three times he had been beaten with rods; and once he was stoned and left for dead. He had been shipwrecked, had been in perils of robbers, and worst of all, “in perils among false brethren.” But he had been permitted to see something of the glory which God has in reserve for those who love him and he gave it as his deliberate opinion that all the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Take all the sufferings of this life, and place them in one scale, and place in the other the glory that God has for his children, and the glory would so outweigh the sufferings that no comparison could be made between them. The sufferings could be expressed only by zero. And so the apostle says:- SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.17

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen.” 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.18

Of all this we should be reminded when we repeat the Lord’s prayer, or, indeed, when we pray at all; for that is the true model for all prayers. So the prayer which begins with our Father in Heaven, and passes through all the wants of our fallen humanity, closes with a joyful anticipation of the time when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; when he shall take to himself his great power and shall reign; and when those who love and serve him shall shine forth as the sun in the everlasting kingdom of glory. And as our hearts contemplate the glorious time when we shall receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls, there is in the joy that we feel a foretaste of the glory that shall be revealed in us, and we exclaim with the prophet, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” W. SITI August 17, 1888, page 502.19

“Back Page” The Signs of the Times, 14, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

8.11.-The pamphlet entitled, “The Honor Due to God,” for sale at this office, price ten cents, contains which you want on the subject of tithing. See also “The Tithing System,” by Elder Geo. I. Butler. SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.1

On the last steamer that left San Francisco for Japan, was a Buddhist priest, who had been in this country to beg money with which to build a Buddhist temple. He was returning home empty-handed. It seems strange that he could not find some “liberal-minded Christians” who would have been willing to aid his enterprise. SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.2

In the First Annual Report and Directory of the First Unitarian Church, of Oakland, the pastor says: “There are doubtless Spiritualists, Christian scientists, agnostics, and theosophists in our congregation, as in every other nowadays. But we do not know them as such. We treat them simply as fellow-worshipers and truth-seekers, as our brethren, striving with us to learn the way of righteousness and service, and quicken the faith in the ideal trusts and hopes of the human soul.” SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.3

The Rev. Dr. F. A. Horton, of Oakland, who was sent as a delegate to the Pan-Presbyterian Council in London, in a letter to the Oakland Tribune, has the following to say of the union of the various religious denominations of the world:- SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.4

“In its sessions the council made repeated mention in prayer of the great Pan-Anglican Council of Bishops now in session in Lambeth Palace, seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. A resolution was passed conveying to them formally our Christian regards and salutations. The great bodies of the religious world are drawing closer together. Some in cold disdain prefer as yet to stand aloof, but it is rapidly getting chilly out there. The evening of rank denominationalism is falling, and all will come in out of the damp and cold by and by, if not in organic union at least in effective co-operation.” SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.5

In the last number of the North American Review, which was degenerated into the mouth-piece of blatant infidelity, Ingersoll presumes to tell what Christianity teaches. He says:- SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.6

“Christianity teaches not simply the immortality of the soul-not simply the immortality of joy-but it teaches the immortality of pain, the eternity of sorrow. It insists that evil, that wickedness, that immorality, and that every form of vice, are and must be perpetuated for ever. It believes in immortal convicts, and eternal imprisonment, in a world of unending pain.” SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.7

All of which is just the opposite of what Christianity teaches. There is not a passage in either the Old or the New Testament that teaches that sin must be perpetuated for ever, or gives any hint of immoral convicts. From the very beginning to the end the Bible teaches that sin and sinners will ultimately cease to be, and that only righteousness, peace, and joy shall be found in the universe throughout eternity. Mr. Ingersoll should keep to his business, that of peddling second-hand infidel ideas. He is very well posted in infidelity, but he doesn’t know the first letter of the alphabet of Christianity. SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.8

An active revival is said to be in progress among the Japanese in Honolulu. From the report of a San Francisco, clergyman who has just returned from there, it seems that the converts had not yet been emancipated from the heathen superstition. They seem to think that the act of baptism, or that which they are taught to believe is baptism, is the charm that will protect them from all ills here and hereafter. The converts do not consider themselves at all safe until that ceremony is performed; but the moment it is done, they are all right. One of them, instead of eating his communion bread, asked that it might be sent to his relatives in Japan for their spiritual good. It is a question whether such Christianity is any better than heathenism. It did not prove to be in the early centuries of the church’s history. SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.9

“Can the word ‘generation,’ in Matthew 24:34, be construed to mean nation? I have just been reading a translation of the prophecies, which says that the word ‘generation’ should be ‘nation,’ meaning that the nation of the Jews should be extinct till all these things be fulfilled. S.H.” SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.10

The word is correctly rendered generation; there is no consistency in translating it nation, for to do so would make Christ’s answer most indefinite and absurd, when he intended it to be definite. The disciples had asked him, “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” This question the Saviour proceeded to answer, and the discourse in the twenty-fourth of Matthew was for no other purpose than to make known, as nearly as it is possible for man to know, the time of the Lord’s coming. The Lord took his disciples down the stream of time, step by step, noting certain events and signs by the way, until he came to the last great sign-the falling of the stars. In other words, he brought them down, prophetically, to the year 1833, and stopping there, he said, “This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.” That was in answer to their question. He did not tell them the date or the hour of his coming, but he told them the generation. But if he had said, “This nation shall not cease to exist till all these things be fulfilled,” it would have been no answer of all. It would have been equivalent to saying, “The world shall not come to an end until the coming of the Lord and the end of the world,” which would have been trifling with them. SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.11

The Rev. Morgan Dix, of New York, is setting forth some of the follies and vices of modern society in their true light, and as a consequence is being honored by the hatred of those who make up the “best society.” Among other things, he has the following to say of a class of people who are becoming altogether too numerous:- SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.12

“And meanwhile there comes up another class whom we arraign as the moralizers of the public and dangerous to the social order-the sentimental philanthropists, who, after a little while, in every case of capital sentence, appear on the scene. These are they who forget the murdered, and lavish their nauseous sympathy on the murderer, who draw up petitions for pardon or commutation of sentence, who visit the condemned cell with bouquets and light reading, and ask for autographs and locks of hair, till we are ashamed of the human nature which develops these absurd beings, and wonder at the feebleness of moral sense which can thus forget the sin and lift the most cruel, the most brutal, the most vicious of transgressors, into an object of admiration and regard.” SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.13

It does not take long to tell the origin of this mawkish sentimentalism. It arises from a disregard for law,-a growing feeling that law is tyranny, and that justice is cruelty. Those who show such morbid sympathy for brutal criminals, show that the only difference between them and those whom they fawn upon, is brute courage. Both have an equal contempt for law, but the sentimental philanthropist lacks the brute force to openly violate it, and so they render homage to those who are really their superiors. SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.14

“News from Elder Cudney” The Signs of the Times, 14, 32.

E. J. Waggoner

In a letter written at Honolulu, H.I., July 19, Elder Cudney says: “We sail at noon to-day, going first to Tahiti, where I expect Brother Tay is waiting for me; then we will go direct to Pitcairn, as fast as the wind will carry us.” After speaking of the vessel, which, in the providence of God, one of the Honolulu brethren had generously provided, Brother Cudney continues: “An English captain, of extensive experience, whose wife is a Sabbath-keeper, goes as sailing master. He speaks the principal languages of the South Seas. A Swede goes as mate. He can speak five languages. Two men go before the men as far as Tahiti, free. One goes for ten dollars per month, and another for fifteen; so our help is costing but little. Besides this we have had several substantial donations.The crew are strangers, but most of them seem to be exceptionally nice men, and I trust that some of them will learn to love the truth before the voyage is over.” SITI August 17, 1888, page 512.15