GRACE AND GLORY
[p. 207] GRACE AND GLORY
My wish at this time is to speak about grace, and to connect with it the thought of glory. These thoughts are intimately connected in Scripture, and inasmuch as we are said to appear in the future to the praise of the glory of God’s grace, it is important we should be acquainted with grace. It is perhaps the most elementary thought in connection with our salvation but the least understood; the full bearing and result of it is its glory. You will find that comments in the New Testament on Old Testament events or persons always throw a flood of light on the events or persons to which they allude. So you get the idea of glory attached to certain Old Testament events. I refer to one specially as supporting what I say, God’s call to Abraham. Stephen, in the power of the Spirit, refers to it. He begins his address by alluding to the “God of glory”. The God of glory beginning to operate had His glory in view, but in order that the glory should be reached there must be a vessel through whom it was to be reached, and in reaching it grace has to be resorted to.
So you find in Hebrews 9 the “cherubim of glory”. The Spirit of God, who knew what was involved in the cherubim, alludes to them according to His knowledge and calls them the cherubim of glory, which overshadowed the mercy-seat. What lay under the mercy-seat referred to Christ, to Christ become Man here with the will of God in His heart. He said, “Lo, I come to do thy will;” it was His pleasure. He descended, becoming Man in order to effectuate that glory. So Stephen’s address leads to that point, he saw the glory of God. Where did he see it? With Jesus in heaven, beyond the reach of the attack of man. What I have to say lies between these points. That blessed Man had been on earth,
[p. 208] the cherubim were not required in heaven, they were required when Jesus was on earth, their outstretched wings overshadowed Christ, hence the glory. Every look of God on that Man had behind it His divine affections for Him. Every direction from heaven with regard to the Babe, the Boy, the Man, had the love of the Father behind it; there, behind the veil, were the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat. The mercy-seat and all beneath it suggested the blessed Man in whom the grace shone forth on earth, so we can understand the expression the “cherubim of glory”. The divine interest in that Man is testified to by the cherubim of glory.
In coming to Luke we are prepared for this; he is the one writer who undertakes to write with method. Every inspired writer had a divine end in view, each spoke according to what he saw. Luke, by the Spirit, had a wonderful vision of Christ; he writes for us a full outline of His sayings and doings; the circumstances of His life are set forth, His boyhood, His manhood, all to enhance for us His grace. Israel had said at Sinai, ‘Let us not hear again that voice’. They trembled, they said to Moses, “Speak thou with us ... but let not God speak with us”.
Exodus 20: 19. God says in Christ, ‘I will take you at your word, the voice, though divine, is to a man’s voice’. Elihu said to Job, “I am according to thy wish in God’s stead;” Job 33: 6. How considerate God is! Elihu says; I am a man as you are, “My terror shall not make thee afraid”, Job 33: 7. That is Luke’s gospel, it is God drawing near in a Man, whose infancy is described, whose mother is introduced, and all that pertains to His boyhood and manhood, and the Spirit gives us His genealogy right back to Adam, and actually says Adam is of God; thus the race is accredited in every possible way.
Is there anything to fear in that Man? Jesus could say, “My terror shall not make thee afraid”. Yet [p. 209] He was truly divine, for Luke is careful of this, “that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God”. The Lord Jesus is carefully identified as regards His supposed parents, He was perfectly Man and His genealogy is traced right back to Adam, and Adam connected with God. God is impressing on us that He would disarm us of every possible fear, so that Jesus goes back to where He was brought up, and there He stands up and reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor”. There is grace in every movement, nothing to repel, nothing to deter man. “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him”, Luke 15: 1. The atmosphere around Jesus was full of liberty and sympathy, there was attraction in it, they drew near to him.
There is a remarkable example of this grace in chapter 7. The Lord is invited to dine with a Pharisee. It was in circumstances that would have forbidden any one to draw near, and yet there was one who had such a sense of the grace that was there, that she drew near; we often call her a sinner, but she was a saint! She drew near to Christ, she anointed His feet, she touched Him with the touch of love; no other can be a priestly touch but the touch of love. She did the service, and the secret of it was that she had learnt grace; she had been forgiven much. That was grace, and she in result loved much, so she does the service, under reproach in the world, under a stigma. Those in official position neglect Christ. He is neglected. Now while attending to Christ you are not to think of people’s opinions. We need no official position in attending to Christ. If you have learnt grace, nothing in the way of privilege is equal in the present time to attending to Christ. Simon spoke within himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have known”.
[p. 210] The Lord did know. He knows all that is in the heart. He judged accurately about the woman; the greatest sinner that has been forgiven is the greatest lover of Christ. If you love Christ you will attend to Christ, and He notices and will justify you. See the dignity with which He justifies this woman. He used words with intent, with meaning, saying “she loved much”, and when He said much He meant much.
Now in Luke 3, directly the Lord was baptised, we see what He is in relation to God. What comes to light is what He is in regard to God. It says of Him, that “the heaven was opened ... and a voice came from heaven”. The Father would indicate what the relations were to Himself, saying, “Thou art my beloved Son”. Then you have what He was in regard to Satan, and finally what He was in regard to man. I am speaking of these things that you might have an apprehension of Christ. The first point, and most important, is the Father’s estimate of that Man. Luke tells us, He was praying. In that connection I would remark the Lord has great pleasure in a praying person, it is not only that you gain by it, but you are after the pattern of Christ in it. Saul was a man of whom the saints had good reason to be afraid. I am very afraid of men who are in opposition to Christ, men who are brought up in priestcraft, or steeped in lawlessness. I have great fear of such. The Lord knew what the saints would feel as to Saul, and He actually introduced him to the saints. It was a serious matter to introduce a person to the circle of fellowship. Now the Lord did it, in Saul’s case; it shows His care for the brethren, and He did it with this commendation “Behold, he prayeth”. That is, he is after the pattern of Christ.
If I know you are praying for me, I have no fear of you, you will not do me any harm. There is [p. 211] nothing to fear from a praying man. Samuel was a most remarkable man, he said, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you”, 1 Samuel 12: 23. If you love the brethren, you will pray for them, and then they will have nothing to fear from you. The saints had nothing to fear from Saul, the sequel shows they had a great deal to gain, and so it is in measure with every praying man. Prayer moves heaven. The Lord here in Luke 9 prayed alone. He did not pray with them, but they were there. Luke’s point was to show that He was a praying Man. Why was He praying there before them? They were to learn to pray. One of the disciples asked the Lord, “Lord, teach us to pray”, and He taught them. There was a point of correspondence between Christ and His followers, they learnt to pray. The first point is Christ’s relation to God, He is a praying Man, and God announces His personal relations with Him. “Thou art my beloved Son”. This is the Man who is before the eyes of others, praying.
The next point is what He is in regard to the devil, Luke 4. What came to light in this connection is the perfection of dependence on God. Man is to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Mark, by every word. God never says anything aimlessly. There is no word in the book written aimlessly, and it becomes man to note every word. If you are to live a true man in this world, you are to live by every word. We may not feel the need of them, but Jesus did. He regarded every word of God and lived by them, and doing that He bound the devil. He put Satan behind Him, but He put man before Him. Satan is behind Him and is bound, men are all before Him.
The next point is all the race of men are before Him. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”. He preaches to all men, we are all before Him there,
[p. 212] every one of us before Jesus, Satan is behind. He deals with Satan in a demon possessed man, saying to the demon, “Come out of him!” It was as if a citadel were called upon to surrender without any conditions! The devil went out of the man and did no harm. This was not only an act of power, but of grace, for the Lord thought of the man. You may be suffering, the Lord takes account of it, the suffering will do you no harm, but supported by the sympathy of His heart it will do you good.
Next we get the feverish woman, and feverish people are very difficult to get on with, but the Lord touches her and the fever leaves her; she is affected by the grace of Christ, for she arose and ministered unto them. Then He goes on to His own city, and as the sun was setting they bring those who were sick with divers diseases to Him and He healed them all. There was no weariness in Him. Even in John 4 the weariness did not prevent the activity of grace. The Lord must relieve man; being the vessel of grace He must do it. The Lord was untiring in activity, the sun was setting, and then He says, “I must preach to other cities also”. I wanted to enlarge on the Lord Jesus as showing the grace of God to man.
Now in Luke 9 He says, “Whom say ye that I am?” He wants to know what they have learned. Peter says, “The Christ of God”. What is your estimate of Him? What do you say? Peter says, “The Christ of God”. He was correct and entirely in accord with the Lord’s mind. The Lord had in every way magnified the grace of God to man. Peter gives an address on that later on. Now, what is your estimate of Jesus? That is the question that precedes the glory. If you have not formed an estimate of Christ you will not see the glory. Peter had an estimate. Nicodemus said, “We know thou art a teacher come from God”. Peter said, “The Christ of God”, that is very much more. He, as it were, says, ‘You are the Man whom God has taken up to show His grace’. This is all the Spirit records here as to Peter’s confession. In Matthew there was more, but here it is just this, Peter has an estimate of Christ according to grace.
When it comes to glory you have the Lord’s sovereign selection. Think of our being selected sovereignly by Christ in order to go up! Men who have formed a right estimate of Him here are to go up! How can we be to the praise of the glory of His grace unless we have formed an estimate of Him down here? He puts the question, “Whom say the people that I am?” Then He makes a sovereign selection. He says, “There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God”. It was not to be seen then in the sense of active power down here in this world, but the kingdom of God in the sense of majesty and glory. We all understand it in natural things. In the colonies they see the kingdom; that is, they get its protection and prove its power and benefit, but the glory of the kingdom is really seen in London; so the Lord Jesus makes a sovereign selection. We all are to go up to see His glory, but we go up as those who have an estimate of Christ as the vessel of grace, and it is essential that we should have this estimate if we are to be for the glory of His grace.
Two men record for us what was seen. I like to read Scripture as recorded, and then what a person says: for example, in Acts 10 you have Peter’s sermon and in chapter 11, Peter gives an account of it, it is interesting to compare them. It is the same thing here. You get Luke’s account of the transfiguration, and in 2 Peter 1: 17 we have Peter’s account of it. He says, “there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son ... . And this voice ... we heard”. Peter had [p. 214] been asleep on the mount, but he is not asleep when he writes his epistle. Many of the Lord’s people are asleep now! You need both eyes open to see the glory; when they were fully awake they saw it. It had been there before, for we are told, “as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered”, that was grace. That countenance was to be looked at by men; His raiment was changed. Three men were there, for Jesus was to have companions in glory. Peter and John and James were asleep, but when they awoke they saw His glory and they heard the Father’s voice.
The apprehension of grace qualifies us to ascend; being there you see the glory of Christ. I do not think this is beyond the reach of Christians. You are never right until you apprehend the glory of Christ; until you get a glimpse of the glory of Christ you are exposed to the influence of the world. One glimpse of the glory of Christ and the Father’s voice heard will set you free for ever, your heart is fixed. The office of the Spirit now is to bring that before the Lord’s people. Paul says, that we all with unveiled face behold it. Do you behold it? There will be nothing different in heaven to that lovely face seen on earth, the glory of God will be seen in that face, that face will be distinguished from all others in the glory, it sustains the glory. What a view! The Lord prayed “that they may behold my glory”. We shall behold that, but there is that which is peculiar to Him as a Man carrying out the divine will, and that is seen now by the power of the Spirit. We all with unveiled face behold it and the effect is that there is a race down here like Him morally; we are changed into the same image. Beholding the glory has a transforming effect that goes on from glory to glory. How many glories are there? Paul says “from glory to glory”. As you behold it there is constant change and there is increasing grace.
[p. 215] We become more gracious to each other. The Lord gave Paul all that were in the ship, it was the moment of grace and Paul appreciated that. We do not want to lose the saints; if God gave Paul all, he values them. God gave Paul all, and in spite of the wreck he wanted to present the assembly to Christ. You want all the saints, we do not want to lose one. The Lord would preserve the truth and preserve us with it. How? By mutual consideration. What is the mystery? It involves our relation to one another. Paul knew he would not be with us always, but if we all know the mystery, then Paul can go home.
The one who prays has the saints on his heart, he does not want to lose one, and the Lord will give you every one you seek, and there will not be one lost. All the saints will get to land somehow, it may be in a humiliating way, but Paul will get his “all”.
May we learn the grace of Christ, and knowing the grace we shall see the glory.