"THE LORD OF GLORY" AND "THE GLORY OF THE LORD"
“THE LORD OF GLORY” AND “THE GLORY OF THE LORD”
I thought that on this occasion we could consider together “The Lord of glory” and “The glory of the Lord”.
This chapter which we have read speaks of the glory of the Lord, while in 1 Corinthians 2: 8 we find a reference to the Lord of glory. These two expressions are very near akin. Glory must necessarily proceed from God. He is called “the Father of glory”, something which we can see agrees with the presentation of the truth in Ephesians. Stephen saw the glory of God. That I believe stands in connection with God’s way of acting on earth, whereas “the Father of glory” speaks of God’s counsel, so we find this presentation in Ephesians. The God of glory appeared to Abraham. It does not say that God’s glory was revealed to him; but Stephen saw the glory of God and Jesus. God’s glory can now be seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Moses asked to be allowed to see this glory, but he could only see the Lord from behind. He could not see the Lord’s face; but in Christ, anointed of God, was the glory seen in His holy service.
None of the princes of this world knew anything of this glory. Had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The glory is no longer concealed but revealed in Him in connection with the ministry of the new covenant. What Stephen saw was the glory of God and Jesus, and this glory makes an impression on our hearts. The apostle Paul had that before him when he wrote 2 Corinthians 3: the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ had shone into the apostle’s heart and he had therefore been made competent to be a new covenant minister. From this chapter we understand that the presentation of this service of the Spirit is in order that it should be a reality in our hearts.
I believe that the thought in the expression “the Lord of glory” is that the Lord personally is in possession of glory and that it is seen in Him. He has demonstrated the love of God in Himself in going into death. God has now made Him Lord and as the Lord of glory He makes glory a reality in the hearts of men. Paul was therefore a minister of the new covenant, not of letter but of spirit. The letter kills but the Spirit quickens. The Lord is the Spirit, so that the apostle’s service was under the Lord. The proof of his competency was that the Corinthians were written in his heart. He loved them whatever their feelings were towards him, as he says in 2 Corinthians 12: 15, “Now I shall most gladly spend and be utterly spent for your souls, if even in abundantly loving you I should be less loved”. From this we see how the apostle was like Christ. Christ died so that God’s love might be a reality for us and Paul was in this way, as was given to him, an expression of this love. Whatever the Corinthians’ thoughts were about him he still loved them. What a great service the apostle had in connection with the new covenant! How much richer it was in glory than the old covenant!
When we come into the reality of glory as it is presented in this chapter, we will also apprehend “the Lord of glory”. This title brings in that the Lord Himself is above all glory and He is able to make it a reality for us. But from the expression “the glory of the Lord” we understand that He personally expresses things in Himself. So the thought of glory should be introduced into every service at this time. Glory should mark everything which we touch in the service of the Spirit. So it is no wonder that the apostle says, “Therefore, having this ministry, as we have had mercy shown us, we faint not”, 2 Corinthians 4: 1, and “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassingness of the power may be of God, and not from us”, 2 Corinthians 4: 7. The Lord wants to lead us into the understanding of how great this ministry is.
In the second epistle we see that the apostle puts himself side by side with the Corinthians, and we can be certain that no one who does not love the saints can really serve them, for it is a ministry of the glory. The glory is that God is [p. 392] shining out in His nature, so that it certainly is of the greatest importance for all who take up any service to represent Him. It is not only to have something to bring out, but they should be marked by that which the new covenant ministry brings in. Paul was, as we see from 1 Corinthians 1: 17, sent out; but what we have before us in 2 Corinthians 3 is his competence. To be sent out and to be competent are two different things. The apostle says, “Our competency is of God”, 2 Corinthians 3: 5. He had received his competency from God and was in his ministry marked by the character of God. A true servant is thus not only sent out but he is conscious in himself that God has made him competent to carry out the service. That is of great importance.
“The letter kills, but the Spirit quickens”, 2 Corinthians 3: 6, and all ministry should lead to life. We read in John 20: 22 that the Lord “breathed into them, and says to them, Receive the Holy Spirit”. He wished not only to send them out but to make them competent to witness. Then the Lord speaks of remitting sins and of retaining. We are put in a position to go forward in the character of God, and the first thing is remitting. In this way we shall find there is much to forgive and little to retain. Yes, the Jews’ great sin in rejecting Christ is forgiven, but how serious to think these people also rejected the testimony of the Spirit, and that sin is retained.
There is a certain dignity upon everyone who has part in the ministry of the new covenant, and no one should take up any service unless he is anointed with the Spirit. The fact that the Lord breathed into the disciples shows that they partook of His spirit. In John’s gospel the Spirit is also typified as water, which means that those who partake of the Spirit have an inner consciousness of it. I believe we see this principle of competence in Moses, when he came down from the mount with the tables of the covenant in his hand. Jehovah had said to Moses on the mount that the people had sinned and that He would destroy them and make him into a great nation. I wonder what man ever had such an opportunity to act selfishly.
[p. 393] But Moses did not take the opportunity to exalt himself. No, on the contrary, he entreated the Lord his God for the people. He loved them so much that he was prepared to renounce his own blessing. How wonderfully the Spirit of Christ comes to light in his word, “And now, if thou wilt forgive their sin ... but if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book that thou hast written”, Exodus 32: 32. God took great account of such a spirit and in reading Exodus we shall find that after this Moses proceeded in moral dignity. When he entreated for the people Jehovah said to him, “I will do this thing also that thou hast said; for thou hast found grace in mine eyes, and I know thee by name”, Exodus 33: 17. God wished to show that Moses in his experience with Him had acquired a name for himself. He had gained a name when he renounced that opportunity to make himself great. It is by proceeding in the same spirit that a brother receives a name among the saints. Onesimus was such a one. The apostle speaks of him as a faithful and beloved brother. Moses proved his faithfulness in destroying the golden calf, but his love is seen in that he was willing to be put on one side for the sake of his brethren. We see this principle set out in the lion and the king, in Proverbs 30: 31. The lion is mighty and the king stands at the head of his people.
After this time we also find that Moses had acquired for himself a name with God which became greater and greater as the wilderness journey proceeded; and in Deuteronomy his renown is to be seen clearly. However much the people opposed Moses, it became obvious that he loved them. In Deuteronomy one chapter after another witnesses to his great love for his people. His name had become glorious and we see his own glory shining out in that book. Deuteronomy begins, “These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel”. It does not say there that it was the word he had been commanded to speak. Had the people’s position been in keeping with what is written in that book it could have been said that they were Moses’ letter, just as Paul could speak of the Corinthians. Restoration had taken place after his first letter to them and in the second epistle [p. 394] he has in mind that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit should be with them. The fellowship of the blood of Christ shuts out fleshly activity and makes room for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We can understand from Moses’ song in Deuteronomy 32 and his blessing of Israel in chapter 33 what he had in his heart. He says, “My doctrine shall drop as rain, my speech flow down as dew, as small rain upon the tender herb, and as showers on the grass”, Deuteronomy 32: 2.
It is a great help for the Lord’s servants to get an understanding of Deuteronomy. There we shall find what spiritual ability really is. Paul was personally in keeping with what he wrote and he puts himself with the saints in 2 Corinthians. This third chapter is the Spirit of the covenant. He had already referred to the new covenant in 1 Corinthians 11: 25 where he quotes the Lord’s own words, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood”, so that in considering 2 Corinthians 3 we should have the Lord’s supper before us, for the Lord’s glory shines out there.
In Deuteronomy 33 Moses looks at the people as those who typically have the Spirit. It is in the light of that that he utters the blessing. In chapter 32 in his song he speaks on the other hand from a historical standpoint and points to the people’s way of acting during the journeys. In this connection he had to say that they were a wicked and perverse generation. They had not the character of children of God. Faithful servants like Moses and Paul do not omit to point out the working of the flesh among the people of God. But we see that Moses also looked at the people in the light that they had the Spirit. Se we understand that Moses speaks in chapter 32 of the people in their practical walk in the wilderness, while we can see that in chapter 33 he looks at them in an abstract way as those who have the Spirit. We can therefore link the first epistle to the Corinthians with Deuteronomy 32; but after that epistle they were restored, so that the apostle has in mind the fellowship of the Spirit in the second epistle. As already remarked, the fellowship of the blood of Christ shuts out the working of the flesh so that there is room for the communion of the Holy Spirit.
[p. 395] In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul speaks of God’s faithfulness in connection with the anointing, his seal upon us, and the Spirit as the earnest in our hearts. Then he brings forward the ministry of the new covenant, which is not of letter but of spirit. What he had before him to work out was that God’s love should be a reality in the hearts of the saints by the Spirit. He speaks in the first epistle of a building which was not yet finished. He shows us the framework of the building there; but from the second epistle it is plainly seen that they should be filled with glory as it says in 2 Corinthians 4: 4: “The radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God”. The covenant is undoubtedly a personal thing for every one of us; every single one of the saints has the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit. We therefore come into a scene which shall be filled with glory. The people of God should thus be here on earth, representing Him in glory. Even in such a thing as sending help by brothers, it is seen in 2 Corinthians 8: 23 that they are “deputed messengers of assemblies, Christ’s glory”.
When the apostle in 2 Corinthians 3: 6 brings in the truth that the Spirit quickens, he interrupts with certain comparisons between the old and the new covenants until verse 17. Verses 7 - 16 are a parenthesis, so that verse 17 is a continuation of verse 6. The Lord Himself is the Spirit, therefore He quickens. Those who are brought into this glorious scene are quickened by Him. The apostle says that the Corinthians were written in his heart by the Spirit of the living God. He is the Spirit of life who makes us free. We need spiritual freedom in our meetings and freedom is only found where the Spirit of the Lord is. Note that it does not say here the Spirit of Christ; but the Lord is the Spirit. Christ is the anointed; but as Lord He has rule in His hand and He alone is powerful to direct us into freedom. That was something which Moses was not able to do. If the best things in the universe are to be brought into our hearts by His rule, it is clear that the more we come under His authority the better. The Lord’s authority uses all its power and might to bring the hearts of the saints into the [p. 396] love of God. It is His glory that He is able to do this. It is as it were a heart matter with Him. “But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”, 2 Corinthians 3: 18. It is divine love which has the life-giving power, something which we see distinctly in the way in which the apostle sets out his ministry. To be changed from glory to glory is to be lifted higher and higher in spiritual realms. The saints are placed on a high level, and it is remarkable to see that the thought of glory has such a prominent place in this epistle. It is undoubtedly because the Corinthians had earlier been occupied with the splendours of the present world. Even the glory of the old covenant had no glory compared with the extreme glory of the new covenant. How then can we regard the splendour of this world?
The apostle says in 1 Corinthians 15: 41 that “star differs from star in glory”, and it is God’s intention that every single one of us should so look on the glory of the Lord that we should be completely changed. We are lifted up into a spiritual and elevated scene separate from the world. It is certain then that we will be marked by glory to the degree in which we have looked on the glory of the Lord. It is thus that we make ourselves a name as we have seen that Moses did. The Lord knew him by name. “He counteth the number of the stars; he giveth names to them all”, Psalm 147: 4. Astronomers have not yet got names for all the stars but God knows them all by name. The psalm undoubtedly speaks of the people of God. He gives them all names to show the particular glory of each one. Psalm 19, I believe, can be looked as a type of the new covenant. It draws attention first to that which is above, and the result of being occupied with heavenly things is seen in the next part of the psalm, which speaks of the praise of the Lord.
When Jesus came to this world He brought the glory here in His own person. He taught His disciples to pray thus, “Our Father who art in the heavens, let thy name be sanctified, let thy kingdom come, let thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth”, Matthew 6: 9, 10. That was [p. 397] a reality here in Jesus, He who completely did the Father’s will. The ministry of the new covenant is to bring us into this glorious position. The Lord Jesus not only did all God’s will, but He revealed the nature of God, as it says, “The radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God”, 2 Corinthians 4: 4. The Lord gave Peter a name in Matthew 16 because of what he was, whereas he got his name in John’s gospel for his appearance. “Jesus looking at him said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas”, John 1: 42. The thought in Matthew’s gospel is what Peter was in his confession, and in John what he was in the Lord’s sight. What we now have before us is in connection with the side we have in John, our appearance. We can understand from Deuteronomy what Moses looked like spiritually. What would an upright Israelite, like Caleb for example, have said when the people at the end of the wilderness journey were encamped by the Jordan, if anyone had asked him what he thought of Moses? Would he not have spoken of the patience, power, wisdom and love which Moses showed in the journey through the wilderness in the course of forty long and tiring years? Deuteronomy does not close without saying what a man he was. “And there arose no prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom Jehovah had known face to face”, Deuteronomy 34: 10. He was then in the last year of his life and even if he was 120 years old he was working untiringly to the goal that Israel should come into the promised land.