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CHRIST GLORIFIED

“Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him”, John 13: 31, 32.

The last evening we were looking at the first coming of our Lord, His death, and resurrection. This evening I desire to engage your hearts with Christ glorified. Every believer would own that Christ is in glory, but there is more than that for us to know and to enjoy — it is, that the Son of man is glorified; that is what we have here. There is a Man in the glory. When Judas went out our Lord said, “Now is the Son of man glorified”. In John 11, when He raised Lazarus, He said, “That the Son of God might be glorified”, that you can very easily understand. But the marvel now is, that the One who was here crucified and slain, has been raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. He is gone up into glory; there is a Man in the glory of God, and that Man, beloved friends, is our Saviour. I am not speaking yet upon the benefits that accrue to us from that fact, but I want you to get hold of the simple fact, that there is a Man in glory. You will see that He is the One who died and rose again. “Now”, as is stated here, “is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him”. The simple thing for faith is, that the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, is in glory. What flows from that we shall have to consider.

Now, first to show you that the counsel of God is that it should be so, I turn to Exodus 40: 34, 35, “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation,

^[p. 108] because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle”. I have read this, in order that you might see that God desired to connect His redeemed people (Israel were then His redeemed people) with His glory. You may say it was only in a cloud, but still there it was — the glory filled the tabernacle. And I lay stress upon it, because it shows you that God desired to connect His redeemed people with His glory. The glory filled the tabernacle, as it also did the temple afterwards.

I turn to Isaiah 6. Here a new thing comes before us — that the glory that God had manifested, which He had connected with His people on earth, His intention is to remove it. There is nothing said about the removal, but we get incidentally, that there is a change. Mark the effect upon Isaiah — not an unconverted man, but a prophet — it was that he was “undone”. We should not wonder at its being terrific to a sinner, but it was terrific to a prophet. There was no man in the glory then.

I turn now to Ezekiel 1. Here I get the vision of the glory about to go away. It does eventually go away in chapter 11. The wickedness and perverseness of Israel have obliged God to take away this distinctive mark of His favour — the glory is going away. But I turn to verse 26 with especial interest, for you will see that the glory — that very remarkable token of God’s favour and interest in His redeemed people on the earth — is to be removed because of their wickedness, but before it is removed, the prophet sees, “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it”. Now ponder that passage. In the very brightest spot in the glory about to retire, because of the wickedness of Israel, there comes out a wonderful manifestation. In the very brightest spot ^[p. 109] of the retiring glory, where the spot of amber was, there is a throne, and upon that throne is the figure of a Man. Well, the glory goes away, and it never returned in Old Testament times. Habakkuk is made to feel the sense of it, but it never returned to Israel.

Now, in Luke 2: 9, you read, “And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them”. The glory is come back — I do not say to stay — but to make an announcement. The glory shone round about them, and it is announced, that “Unto you is born this day ... a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”.

Let us pursue the history of this blessed Person — God’s Son come into the world and announced from glory: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”. In Luke 3: 22 you read, “And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven which said, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased”. Now this was after thirty years of private life. But mark this, the heaven is opened and a Voice comes — there is a Man upon earth that is well pleasing to the Father, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. After He had taken His place with the godly remnant in baptism, there comes this announcement from heaven. Upon this Man, whom the glory announced, the Holy Spirit descends in bodily shape like a dove. A Man, thirty years of age, was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, and enters on public service, and this culminates in Luke 9, where, “as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering, and behold there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

^[p. 110] But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.... And there came a voice out of the clouds, saying, This is my beloved Son, hear him”. Now that is a very important moment, because here the glory salutes Him; “The fashion of his countenance was altered”. “They saw his glory”. Peter makes known “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”; he says, “we were eye-witnesses of his majesty, for he received from God the Father honour and glory”. That is what He was as a Man here upon earth; He had done everything to the Father’s pleasure; He was fit for the glory of God as a Man. He now descends to die. In fact, here comes out the fulfilment of that type of the slave, “I love my wife, I love my children, I will not go out free”. You see this by turning to John 12: 24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”, or many grains. Now note this. May the Lord fix your eye on it. This blessed One came into the world announced by the glory; He pursued His course here till that very glory saluted Him as belonging to it. But He will not abide alone. You have to remember that this blessed One was here, perfectly according to the mind of God; He magnified the law of God and made it honourable; He did His will; He did not confine Himself to the limits of the law, but He embraced the whole range of God’s heart, and He did His will. He showed that when He loved His neighbour, He did not merely relieve him; but He set him on His own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him for ever; all the journey until He returns. He was the one unfailing expression of divine beauty on the earth.

In John 13: 31, Judas has gone out, and the Lord says, “Now is the Son of man glorified”. It was not ^[p. 111] only that He had glorified God upon the earth, but now He will go down into death; and as death was the judgement upon man for having dishonoured God, it was the most distant spot from God; therefore you can understand our blessed Lord saying on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He was at the most distant spot from God, but it was in that spot He glorified God. The burnt-offering typified this. He goes down to the lowest point, which is death, the judgement upon man, and there He maintains what was due to God. It is not merely that He is the Substitute for our sins. That is perfectly true, but you must see more, or you will not understand His words, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life”, John 10. It is impossible to get a good illustration of His act. Suppose a banker had been greatly aggrieved and compromised by a friend of mine, I might say, I will pay all he owes, I will clear him perfectly, but I have another thing, a much greater thing, to do. I have to make reparation to the banker for the outrage and dishonour which he has sustained from my friend. Hence, the Lord here in this passage is not dwelling on the benefit His death will be to the sinner, but He has another and a higher thing before Him. He says, I will glorify God while bearing the penalty on man for dishonouring Him. I will maintain all that is due to Him there. In the most distant spot I will glorify Him. “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him”. I am going down to the lowest spot, and there I will maintain the glory of God. He swerves from nothing; He bears everything that is due to God’s glory. As someone has expressed it, A Man has made God a debtor to Him for glory. Hence you read in Romans 6, “Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father”.

Now I have established what I said at the commencement. You have a Saviour, who has not only shed His ^[p. 112] blood for our sins, but who has unswervingly maintained all that was due to God, when under the penalty on man for dishonouring Him. He glorified God then, and now He has gone up into glory — the trophy of glory. A Man had maintained all that was due to the glory of God. He could say to God, “All thy waves and thy billows have gone over me”. He could say to His enemies, “This is your hour and the power of darkness”. All was let loose upon Him. He had gone down to the sinner’s distance. Are you surprised that He should be raised to the highest place in glory? From the lowest distance to the highest acceptance, the believer finds himself now. The sinner is either at the lowest, or, on believing, at the highest with God: in one or the other he must be. One is the deepest, darkest, infinite distance from God; the other, the highest exaltation it is possible for man to be in. You may say, you are not there; but there is no intermediate place with God. One or other it must be.

Turn now to Acts 7: 55, “He being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus”. Here I would try to explain what the glory is. It is not a place. I believe the glory is the manifestation of God according to His attributes; there is nothing left out. I gather this idea from Exodus 33: 18, where Moses says, “Shew me thy glory”, and God answers, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, There is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by; and I will take ^[p. 113] away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen”; that is, all that had transpired of God. My impression from that passage is, that the glory could not be seen yet; but now, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ. To Moses, He says, My face cannot be seen — the full expression of it — but I can show you the back parts — what has transpired. Therefore I conclude that the glory is the manifestation of God according to His attributes, the expression of the divine satisfaction according to His nature; there is nothing left out. That is brought out now; it was only brought out by the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust that it will be helpful to give this explanation of the glory.

Now I turn back to Acts 7, and there I see the Holy Spirit upon the earth in a saint. The Holy Spirit came from a glorified Christ, “The Holy Spirit was not yet; because that Jesus was not yet: glorified”; that is one of the consequences. If Christ has the highest place in heaven, He has the greatest power on earth. “Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus”. He saw a Man in the glory. He saw the fulfilment of Ezekiel 1: 26. He turns round and says to the Jews, “I see the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”. They were just as wicked in that day as in Ezekiel’s day, a day older and a day worse, and they stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord. But that is not all; that was the opening out of a new era, because the heaven was opened, the first time heaven was opened to a man, and that to show him a Saviour in glory, and, thank God, it has been open ever since. We are looking now at what has been wrought by a Saviour in glory; but this is not all. Turn to chapter 9, and we find that the Saviour in glory has come down and made Himself known to a sinner on earth. To my own personal ^[p. 114] knowledge, I know some who, while they believe that a saint on earth can look up by the Holy Spirit and see a Saviour in glory, do not see that things are so altered because Christ is glorified, that a Saviour in glory can reveal Himself to a sinner in the greatest possible distance from God. The light is now “The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ”. Hence Paul says, “A light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shone round about me”. He saw the light, and heard His voice; but he was three days learning the work which set him free in the presence of God.

I would dwell on the wonderful change that has taken place. It is not merely the difference between Stephen and Isaiah. Isaiah could not look up into heaven. Stephen can say, I have a Saviour there; the new line is open, and every believer now travels that line; and that is not all, but that a Saviour in glory can be revealed in a light above the brightness of the sun to a sinner, and the chief of sinners. I repeat, that many, who believe in the grace shown to Stephen, do not apprehend the gospel in that largeness in which it is presented in Acts 9.

Now I turn to 2 Corinthians 3: 7: “But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory”. Now what is the argument here? It is very simple. There was a demand for righteousness from the glory of God, so that Moses himself said, “I exceedingly fear and quake”. Again, when Israel saw the glory upon Moses’ face they were afraid, because they were afraid of its demand, so much so that Moses had to put a veil upon his face. Now this is the argument of the apostle: — If the ^[p. 115] demand for righteousness was from glory, and it was the ministry of condemnation, how much more does the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory? The meaning of that is, that the ministration of righteousness now comes from the glory. Instead of a demand for righteousness, there is a ministration of righteousness from the glory; and I need not tell you, that if it comes from the glory it is divine righteousness, God’s righteousness. And the argument of the apostle is that now, righteousness from the glory is ministered. It is not a demand; that was a ministration of condemnation. This is a ministration of righteousness, the ministration of the Spirit. Hence what we find now is, that it is not only that you have a Saviour in glory, but that you are brought in divine suitability to that glory. If you look for the doctrine of it, it is explained very clearly in Romans 5: 18: “Therefore as by one offence, judgement came upon all men to condemnation; even so by one righteousness the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life”.

I am dwelling a little on this point, because some hold to what is called ‘imputed righteousness’. Well, I have no righteousness but Christ’s righteousness, the righteousness of the glorified Man. I have His righteousness because I have His life. Hence you get in Romans 5: 18 “justification of life”. I have His life; and I enter into all that He is. In the end of the fourth chapter of Romans, I am cleared from all my sins: “He was delivered for our offences and was raised for our justification”. But we are beyond, because we have the life of the One who cleared us. Therefore it is “justification of life.” In the end of the fifth chapter of Romans, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”. The excess is, that grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord; Romans 5: 21. I am brought in divine righteousness to the glory. It is ^[p. 116] the righteousness that is ministered from the glory. In that sense, it answers to the best robe brought out from the Father’s house for the prodigal. It was brought out of the house and put on him, that he might enter in, completely suitable to the Father’s pleasure.

Here is the Son of man gone up into glory; and consequently, not a demand for righteousness, but a ministration of righteousness — the greatest moral revolution. The glory rests on a Man. God always had love, but He could not show it, because, righteousness was not revealed. Jesus so satisfies the holiness of God, that the moment He died, the veil was rent from the top to the bottom; it is not merely that we may draw nigh, but God can come out consistently with His nature, and take a poor prodigal into His arms. And the prodigal is not only reconciled, but brought in divine righteousness — divine suitability — into the Father’s house.

There are three things that result from a glorified Christ. One is that the Holy Spirit has come down from the glorified Man. Man in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ must be set in the highest place, before the greatest power can be sent down to man on earth. When He was exalted to the highest place with God, God then sent down the Holy Spirit, to His own, to maintain for Him in the very place where He was rejected. And necessarily so. If the world rejects Him, God exalts Him, and when God exalted Him, the Holy Spirit came down to His own, in the very place where He was rejected. Christendom has lost sight of this altogether. If you do not believe in the exaltation of Christ, you do not believe in the manifestation of the power of the Spirit in the place of His rejection.

The second is, there is divine righteousness ministered from the glory. It is not clearance only; that, thank God, we have, but there is a ministration of righteousness from the glory. It is not like Isaiah ^[p. 117] trembling before it, and it is not like even Moses who could not see it, but what we have is this — a righteousness which suits the glory.

Then there is the third, which is 2 Corinthians 3: 18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”. Now the right reading of the passage is, “Beholding the glory of the Lord with unveiled face”. Moses had a veil on his face; but there is no veil on Christ’s face, as you read in the next chapter, “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. I believe every ray of divine glory rests in that blessed One. His work is the ground for its manifestation, not that it was not there before; but until He, the Son of man, died and was glorified, it could not be manifested to us. God’s love is now declared; He always was love; but now His love can come out, because His righteousness is established; there is nothing wanting to complete the circle of His attributes — everything divinely balanced. I think when we come to practice we shall understand it better. A person is sometimes too loving, sometimes too righteous. It may be a very good thing that you have, but you are too one-sided; you could not be one-sided in the glory; there all is even, every virtue equipoised. The glory of God rests upon the Man who has done all His pleasure, and, thank God, that Man is our Saviour. Are you beholding the Lord’s glory?

Now the third consequence of beholding the Lord’s glory — not beholding the Lord, as people sometimes say, nor beholding the glory; that will not do; because I think there is an immense importance connected with the simple fact, that I am looking at Him as the bearer of God’s satisfaction, according to all His attributes; and the effect upon me is that I am brought into moral correspondence with it; nothing less could suit the Father’s pleasure. Therefore the true state of a believer now is, 1 John 4: 17, “Herein is love with us made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world”. This is his present state. God could have no lower standard than Christ, and nothing can satisfy His love except His own standard. And if His love is perfected with you — if God’s love has shone into you, it has had this peculiar effect on you, it assures you that as Jesus is accepted up there at God’s right hand, so are you sitting in this room. You may say, It is marvellous. So it is; but it makes us narrow-minded if we look at the gospel only as it relates to ourselves: you must bear in mind God’s interest in the gospel. Hence it is, when His love according to its true character (that is the force of the word) shines into you, it tells you this — that nothing less could satisfy that love than that you should be in the same acceptance before Him, as Christ is at His own right hand. It is not the question of how you feel, it is the question of what that love is — and this explains the marvellousness of the grace.

Let us examine more in detail the effect consequent on Christ being glorified. Turn to 2 Corinthians 4: 3, 4: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”. “The glorious gospel” is not a correct reading, but “the gospel of the glory of Christ”. It is that now the light comes down from the top, from the finish of the work, to the bottom where the sinner is. Doubtless to make the sinner sensible, That is light; but not to condemn him, or to demand of him — not at all; but to conduct him to the top, to the finish. I ask you earnestly, Has your heart travelled that road? The light comes down to the bottom where the sinner is,

^[p. 119] to lead him to the top. It is like a man in a dark forest, he is on the verge of a precipice, and a light shines on his path. Satan tries to blind him. You get the intensity of malice here, as you do at the cross, in the presence of the consummation of goodness. Satan would blind him that he may tumble down the precipice; God’s light shines to save him, and to direct him to the spot from whence it came. The light has come to invite us to the glory where our Saviour is. It used to repel, now it invites. This is the greatest moral revolution. Not merely are our sins forgiven, but we belong to the glory.

I will now give you two scriptures to illustrate the way we are transformed into the same image. The more you are exercised, the more you will understand it. I turn to 2 Corinthians 12, and I find that Paul has come down from the highest place where he had been most wonderfully received. Nothing adds more to the character of the gospel than the great intimacy in which “a man in Christ” is received in paradise. This man returns to earth, and a messenger of Satan buffets him. He turns to the Lord (and rightly) to remove it; he did not want it to be removed for any worldly purpose, but that he might use his abilities for the Lord. He goes to the Lord once — no change; he goes twice — no change; he goes three times, and the third time a most wonderful change comes over him, he is brought round to the mind of the Lord, he is transformed into moral correspondence with His mind. Now instead of being dissatisfied with the thorn, he says, “I take pleasure in infirmities”. What a change has taken place! how wonderful! he is brought into moral keeping with God’s own mind. He is not merely resigned, but he can say, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”.

Well, that is one example. You get the same in a lesser way in Psalm 73. The psalmist goes into the ^[p. 120] sanctuary, and he is led into God’s judgement. In Paul’s case the man is transformed.

I will give you one example more, in Philippians 4: 6. We all know something of this, and the more conscientious we are, the more we know it. I suppose there is hardly a day that we are not sensible of a pressure which we cannot remove. What can I do? I go to the Lord about it; perhaps He will remove it, but if He does not remove it, He will transform me. I do not say I know much about it, but I believe it thoroughly. I believe that very often this verse is quoted when it is not realised; and some think they have the peace of God when they have not, because there is nothing can surpass the peace of God; it “passeth ALL understanding”. “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God”. Mark the word; we use two words in the English to convey the meaning of the original, because it is not simply knowing it, but I know that He knows. For this you must be near Him: you have had an audience, and you have told the Sovereign fully your need. I know the Sovereign knows it. It is not that I know God knows it by His omniscience, but I know I told Him. Well, we have the wonderful privilege of drawing near to God and “making known” our requests; and He transforms us into moral correspondence with Himself. Though we may not receive the desired answer to our requests, we receive a far greater thing, even “the peace of God which passeth all understanding”. It is not merely uncomplaining acquiescence with the will of God. It is divine tranquillity. I cannot conceive a more wonderful transformation. I meet a man in the morning, much distressed because of some great trial; and later on I meet him and say, Are things all right with you now? Has the mercy of God been shown you? No; things are just the same, but a wonderful ^[p. 121] change has come over me; I have been to God about my trial, and I am now in unspeakable tranquillity, “the peace of God”; it passeth all understanding. “It is he that sitteth on the circle of the earth”, and ruleth over all — and I am in moral correspondence with Him. I suppose every exercised person amongst us knows the attractiveness of anything philanthropic, benevolent. That is what often ensnares a Christian. I look at man, man’s interest, and I think of some benefit. That must be all right; but I go to the Lord about it, and I do not find that He takes much notice of it, and I go perhaps four or five times, and I learn that He does not approve of it; I give it up. A conscientious man must have either God or man before him. You say, But I have to deal with man. Yes; but you have to deal with man from God, otherwise it is not faith, it degenerates into mere benevolence. There is nothing so attractive naturally. What you have to do in a world where God has been dishonoured is to maintain strictly and implicitly for God only; and you may be sure that the more distinctly you are for God, the better you will be for man. The more I behold the Lord’s glory the better I test every desire of my heart, and thus assure my heart before Him.

The Lord grant that each of our hearts may have a deep increasing enjoyment of the simple fact, that we have a Saviour in glory.

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