THE GLORY OF THE LORD
[p. 436] THE GLORY OF THE LORD
Some christians have little or no knowledge of the Lord in His present service. Indeed, many could, if questioned, hardly give an account of Him at all; and where ignorance in regard to His present place exists, there is great danger, for saints in such ignorance become exposed to the enemy and to the awful sin of idolatry. It was so with the Israelites of old; they said of Moses, “We do not know what is become of him!”. By way of contrast, the Song of Solomon portrays the desires of one who is typical of a lover of Christ. The Lord alone knows our desires and He knows also the diverse elements in us, even though having love for Him. If there be love in us, He has set it there, but He knows what, alas! is there within us which accompanies it and what discipline is necessary in order to bring that love to light in its own brilliancy and purity.
This is seen in John’s writings, for he presents things exactly as they are. Everything must be of its own kind: there can be no admixture. The divine nature must be brought to light, and so the discipline is necessary in order that all contrary to it may go. Hence Peter said to the Lord, “Thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee”, John 21: 17. The Lord did know, but in order that it should come into evidence the process of discipline had to be introduced.
The feminine speaker in the Song of Songs had to go through discipline, but she was a lover of Christ. It is a song of loves, of reciprocal affections. That is what the Lord is looking for. He would bring us to join Him, and if you read that book, you will see how it is brought about. The bride comes to the point of describing the Object of her affections; she knows Him so well that she can delineate His [p. 437] Person in His absence. She is so absorbed with Him that she can fully describe Him, and so impress others, that they ask, “Whither is thy beloved gone ... ?”. Can you tell, Christian, where He now is? “Whither is thy beloved gone ... ? ... we will seek him with thee”. If we know the Lord and can speak of Him rightly, as she could, others with whom we come in contact, will wish to know Him too, and seek Him with us. She can describe Him, and then tell where He is. “My beloved”, she says, “is gone down into his garden”.
It is as apprehending the Lord thus that we come to understand rightly His present service, the ministry of His love; and that is in view in the glory of the Lord, which we behold. His glory is to make the love of God effective in our hearts. The Lord Jesus knows the love of God perfectly. He has given the fullest expression of it in dying, but He seeks to give present effect to it in our hearts. It is a work delightful to Him to bring the love of God into our hearts and set it there, so that it becomes active God-ward and man-ward, and that is His glory. He garnished the heavens; He upholds all things by the word of His power; but the ministry He is exercising now is peculiarly “the glory of the Lord”.