The Signs of the Times, vol. 21

July 25, 1895

“Our Teacher” The Signs of the Times, 21, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

Our Teacher. —“Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.” Psalm 27:11. “Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.” Psalm 25:4. This is a prayer that all need to utter continually, because “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps;” and God’s way, which is infinitely higher than man’s way or his comprehension, is the only right way. SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.1

We are so ignorant and so dull of comprehension that we have need to pray with emphasis, “Make thy way straight before my face.” Well for us is it that we have a Teacher who is very considerate, “who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way.” Even though we have neglected, or even despised, previous instruction, he is still patient to give wisdom, “and upbraideth not.” SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.2

Here are some good promises for our encouragement: “What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.” “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” Psalm 25:12, 14. “If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching.” John 7:16. “The meek will he guide in judgment; and the meek will he teach his way.” Psalm 25:9. Moses was the meekest man, and “He made known his ways unto Moses.” Who can estimate the favor of being taught the way of the Lord, and being allowed to share his secret? SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.3

But there is one indispensable requisite to gaining this knowledge, and that is meekness. “Be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5. Who has this clothing?—Nobody, for meekness and humility are foreign to human nature. All men are by nature “wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” But God provides white raiment, and he himself will take away the filthy rags, and clothe us with “change of raiment.” That is, the Lord teaches his people, and himself provides the clothing necessary for attending the school. E. J. W. SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.4

“God’s Glory His Gospel” The Signs of the Times, 21, 29.

E. J. Waggoner

When Isaiah saw the Lord on the throne, high and lifted up, surrounded by the seraphim, he heard those beings cry one to another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3. These words were spoken hundreds of years ago. Are they true now, and is the earth now full of the glory of the Lord?—Most certainly; all the while the word has been, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isaiah 60:1. SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.5

The whole earth is full of the glory of God. He has revealed it in every blade of grass, in every flower, in everything that he has made. “His glory covers the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.” The plant springing up and yielding its fruits, is showing forth the glory of God; for when at Cana in Galilee Christ accelerated the process, and, instead of waiting six months for the rain to come down and be taken up into the vine and converted into the juice of the grape, changed the water into wine by the power of the same word which sends the rain and is the life of the plant, it was written that this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, “and manifested forth his glory.” SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.6

Power and Glory

The power of God is the glory of God. He showed his mighty power in the resurrection of Christ from the dead; but Christ was raised from the dead “by the glory of the Father.” The power of God is also shown in the things that he has made, and the Gospel, which is this power manifested unto salvation, is the “glorious Gospel” of God. The Gospel is glory; it is also power. And the whole earth is full of it. The earth preaches no set sermons. It does not begin with firstly, secondly, thirdly, and deliver an artistic address. What does the earth do?—It receives the life from God, and manifests it forth. It simply receives the gifts that God sends upon it, and glorifies God in returning the fruits of the life. That is the Gospel. The Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth,” “for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.7

Why All Do Not Glorify God

Some one may ask, “Then why am I not as much to the praise of God as the heavens?” Simply because you do not desire to be. We are exactly what we wish to be. It is a fact that God satisfies the desire of every living thing. The trouble with some is that they do not want to be satisfied. SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.8

If you really want to know the Lord, nothing in the world can hinder, because the Lord wants you to know him. There is no use in standing off and saying we want to know the Lord, and want to serve him, when for many years he has been seeking for us, and knocking for us to open the door and let him in and has been speaking to us in very way he could. He has spoken to eyes, and ears, and to every sense we have; for there is not a thing in heaven or earth that does not proclaim the power and the glory of God. SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.9

Therefore, as soon as we are willing to believe that the Lord is better than we are, then he is more at peace and rest than we are, he shall have him; for we shall then be willing to give up our ways and our poverty, our unrest and disquietude, and have the peace and rest of God, and the riches and righteousness which he has given to us. But this is a giving up of all there is of self. To give up our ways means to confess that we do not know as much as we thought we did, and that is hard. It is a difficult thing to say that we are mistaken, and that we have no wisdom, or might, or anything that is good and worth having. This hurts; but it is our saying that the Lord is greater than we are and that we are willing that his life in us shall manifest forth his glory, that we all may be to the praise of the glory of his grace. E. J. W. SITI July 25, 1895, page 446.10