The Glad Tidings

by E. J. Waggoner

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”

The Will of God.

All this deliverance is “according to the will of our God and Father.” The will of God is our sanctification. 1 Thess. 4:3. He willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Tim. 2:4. And He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” Eph. 1:11. “What! do you mean to teach universal salvation?” We mean to teach just what the Word of God teaches,—that “the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” Titus 2:11, R. V. God has wrought out salvation for every man, and has given it to him; but the majority spurn it, and throw it away. The Judgment will reveal the fact that full and complete salvation was given to every man, and that the lost have deliberately thrown away their birthright possession. Thus every mouth will be stopped.

The will of God is, therefore, something to rejoice in, and not something to be accepted with a wry face, and merely endured. Even though it involves suffering, it is for our good, and is designed to work “for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 4:17. In the law His will is revealed (Rom. 2:18), and we should, therefore, study it, saying with Christ, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God.” Ps. 40:8.

Here is the comfort of knowing the will of God. He wills our deliverance from the bondage of sin; therefore, we can pray with the utmost confidence, and with thanksgiving; for “this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” 1 John 5:14, 15. Blessed assurance! Let us ever with glad and humble hearts pray, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

To God Be the Glory.

Not simply, “To Him be glory,” as in the common version, but “To whom be the glory,” as in the Revision. “Thine is the kingdom; and the power, and the glory.” All glory is God’s, whether men acknowledge it or not. To give Him the glory is not to impart anything to Him, but to recognize a fact. We give Him the glory by acknowledging that His is the power. “It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” Ps. 100:3. Power and glory are the same, as we learn from Eph. 1:19, 20, which tells us that Christ was raised from the dead by the exceeding greatness of God’s power, and from Rom. 6:4, where we learn that “Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.” Also when Jesus by His wondrous power had turned water to wine, we are told that in the performance of the miracle, He “manifested forth His glory.” John 2:11. So when we say that to God is the glory, we are saying that the power is all from Him. We do not save ourselves, for we are “without strength.” But God is the Almighty, and He can and does save. If we confess that all glory belongs to God, we shall not be indulging in vainglorious imaginations or boastings, and then will God be glorified in us. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 5:16.

The last proclamation of “the everlasting Gospel,”—that which announces the hour of God’s Judgment come,—has for its burden, “Fear God, and give glory to Him;” “and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Rev. 14:6, 7. Thus we see that the Epistle to the Galatians, which says, “To Him be the glory,” is the setting forth of the everlasting Gospel. And it is emphatically a message for the last days. Let us study it, and heed it, that we may help to hasten the time when “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Hab. 2:14.

A Critical Case.

The abruptness with which the apostle plunges into the midst of his subject shows how urgent was the matter that called forth his epistle. His spirit seemed to be on fire, and, seizing his pen, he wrote as only one can write who feels upon his heart the burden of souls about to rush to destruction.