SALVATION IN BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF THE LORD
[p. 197] SALVATION IN BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF THE LORD
Hebrews 3: 1 - 6; 1 Peter 3: 8 - 22
I might at the outset refer to a verse in Exodus 14: 30: “Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses”. I have read this to bring under your attention the thought of salvation. It is a simple thing to speak about, but, at the same time, a very important one. A great number of people have their own thoughts about salvation, but those thoughts are often very indefinite. The fact is, that we want not only to talk about it, but to be in that about which we talk. Salvation is not a doctrine, but a reality. If it were simply a doctrine there would be nothing much in it. If there is no reality in salvation, Christianity has not brought us to any end. The end to which we must be brought down here in the ways of God, if God has intervened in grace in regard to man, must be salvation; and we are brought to that point in Christianity, “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men”. Now, my wish is to give you, if I can, a definite idea in connection with salvation, and to point out how and where salvation is now found. It is certain it is not to be found in the world; Christianity has left the outward state of things in the world unchanged; and hence it becomes a question of how salvation is brought in. I think I can understand salvation in connection with the coming of the Lord, that does not present much difficulty. There will be a people looking for His coming, and He will bring salvation to them. I [p. 198] can understand salvation in that sense, but that has not come to pass yet; salvation has come, but the Lord has not come. The wonderful thing is, that salvation can be in the absence of the Lord; for salvation, properly speaking, is not connected with His absence, but with His presence. In Hebrews 9: 27, 28, it is plain enough that salvation is connected with the coming of the Lord — “unto them that look for him” — that is, I suppose, the expectant Jew — “shall he appear the second time, apart from sin unto salvation”. That thought is intelligible in connection with the coming of the Lord, because the coming of the Lord will undoubtedly change everything here upon the earth — the glory and power of man will be completely cast down at the coming of the Lord, and the Lord will come to bring salvation to His people — “to them that look for him”. But that is not what marks the present time. The Lord has not yet come in glory. He came once in order that He might offer Himself in sacrifice; but He has not yet put away sin in this world. Hence in a public way salvation has not yet come in. The point then is, how has it come? How is it we enjoy salvation in the present time? I believe it to be in the house of God, and therefore I want to touch upon what marks the house of God. If I can give you any distinct idea of the house of God, you will see how salvation is necessarily connected with it; but apart from the house of God we cannot apprehend salvation in the present time. The house of God is difficult to define, for things have become so terribly mixed up in the world. The church has come under the power of the world. That being the state of things, it is very important that we should have the truth of the house of God practically in our souls. That is the only way in which we can meet the state of things. When the truth is practically known in the soul, we come more or less into the benefits and blessings that are connected with God’s house, and God’s house is the place of salvation. That point comes out in the passage that I read in Peter: “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him”. I suppose that the house of God down here is the answer to Christ being at the right hand of God. There is a spot on earth where there is the testimony of the glory of the Lord. The Holy Spirit came down as Witness to the glory of the Lord; and in the knowledge of the glory of the Lord we get salvation. Baptism has introduced us into connection, by profession, with the place where the Spirit of God is — into Christian fellowship.
I was speaking last week upon righteousness and the Holy Spirit being the seal of righteousness. In view of circumcision, God has brought us to righteousness, we are accounted righteous — Christ is the righteousness of His people, and the Holy Spirit is the seal of righteousness. I spoke of that in connection with Abraham, who was accounted righteous, and who received the sign of circumcision, the seal of his righteousness. We have circumcision by the presence of the Holy Spirit; and circumcision — that is, the cutting off of the flesh in the power of the Spirit, is the seal of our righteousness. The Christian is said to have put off the old man, and I think putting off the “old man” is a reality in spiritual power. My point now is not righteousness, but salvation. I went last time only as far as righteousness and the seal of it. Salvation could not be without righteousness, but is distinct from it. I will illustrate it in this way: The Israelites, in a sense, had righteousness in Egypt, the blood was to them righteousness, but they did not get salvation until they were through the Red [p. 200] Sea. That is what led me to read the passage in Exodus 14: 29, 30. The hand of God was in favour of the people in order that He might deliver them from the Egyptians; and salvation was that they were delivered from the Egyptians — they “saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore”. I might put it in this way: They wanted righteousness for God, but salvation from the Egyptians, and the purpose of God was to give them salvation from the Egyptians. The blood in Egypt was for the eye of God, and a witness to them that God had provided in His own way for their liabilities; and then God set to work, according to His own purpose, to give them salvation from the enemy.
If you will look again at the verse in Hebrews 9 you will see the same distinction. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation”. It was one thing for Christ to bear the sins of many, and in consequence of that there is forgiveness of sins, but it is another thing for Christ to “appear the second time apart from sin unto salvation”, which He will do for His people. The people of God — Israel — will come into trouble, there will be the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he will be saved out of it, for the Lord will appear for the salvation of His people. I quite admit the application of this to ourselves, as Christians we are looking for the Lord, and He will “appear to us unto salvation”. This is quite true in regard to us, but as to the literal application, I have no doubt the passage refers to Israel. There is another point of distinction between righteousness and salvation. Righteousness is connected with Christ’s resurrection, while salvation is connected with the Lord in glory. Look at Romans 10: 8, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord [p. 201] Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”. It is very plain in verse 10: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. Salvation and righteousness are very clearly distinct in that passage — righteousness hangs on the testimony of resurrection, salvation on the confession of Christ as Lord; and that at once brings us to the thought of the house of God. Now the distinction ought to be quite plain to all, because the resurrection is God’s testimony to man of the accomplishment of righteousness on behalf of man; righteousness was fully accomplished in the death of Christ, and the resurrection is the witness of it on the part of God, hence no one can be said to be justified who fails to believe in the resurrection of Christ, because he has not yet believed God’s testimony. Then it follows that “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. It is plain from this passage, and from the case of the Israelites, and from the last verse of Hebrews 9, that righteousness is one thing and salvation another. Righteousness hangs upon redemption, that is, our liabilities have been met in the death of Christ, and the resurrection is the witness of it on the part of God.
But Christ has also been exalted, and the answer to that is, the house of God down here. This was brought to pass on the day of Pentecost, in that the Holy Spirit descended; there was a company prepared and waiting, they had been prepared by the ministry of the Lord Himself, and the Holy Spirit descended upon them, and the house of God was formed; and the house of God is thus the witness down here of the glory of the Lord. Nothing whatever can be known of the glory of the Lord except by the report of the Holy Spirit. The last that was seen of Christ was when the cloud received Him out of the sight of His disciples. The Lord in Luke 24 commissioned His [p. 202] disciples, and bade them tarry in the city of Jerusalem, “until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as to Bethany; and he lifted up his hands and blessed them”, and in blessing them, “he was parted from them and carried up into heaven” — a cloud received Him out of their sight; He “has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him”; and the Holy Spirit has come down to report this. The glory of the Lord can only be known by the report of the Holy Spirit. Scripture is very definite as to this, it says, no one can say Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit, hence it is only by the Holy Spirit that we can confess Him as Lord. A man may receive God’s testimony, and believe on the Lord, but to confess Him as Lord is a different thing. It implies an habitual activity of soul, and that can only be in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We have in Hebrews 3 the place of Christ in regard to God’s house. It says, “Christ as Son over his house” (not, ‘his own house’) “whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end”. Then in verse 14, “For we are made companions of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end”. It is very plain that this passage presents Christ in contrast to Moses. Moses was faithful as a servant in God’s house, but Christ is Son over God’s house, and He, too, is the builder, “he that built all things is God”. Christ as the builder of God’s house, proved Himself to be God. Thus the place which He has in connection with the house of God is that He is Son over God’s house, that is, He has the first place. That is what Christ is in regard to the house of God, the Holy Spirit having brought report that He is at “the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him”. He is Son over God’s house. Then we get the present idea of [p. 203] the house of God in the next part of the verse, we (Christians) are it, but it is conditional, “if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end”. I want to come to that point; the house of God is a difficult subject to present to people because the minds of so many have material ideas in connection with God’s house. Many Christians connect the house of God with a building; there was a time when the temple was the house of God, but God dwelleth not in temples made with hands, that was the definite statement of Stephen to the Jews. God dwells in His people — “whose house are we” — and only in His people. God has a house, and that is His household, and in His household God dwells. The same thing is true of myself. I do not think very much of the building which I inhabit, or its surroundings; my household is properly my house; you get the idea of a house in the apostle’s reference to the house of Onesiphorus, the expression meant Onesiphorus and his household. God’s house is His people, and Christ is Son over that house, and the Holy Spirit is residing there, in witness to us of the glory of the Lord. I have no doubt that salvation for us now upon earth depends upon the apprehension of the glory of the Lord, and I do not believe that any person can have the reality of present salvation who does not apprehend that glory. It is a wonderful thing for the soul to lay hold of the truth that the Lord has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels, authorities, and powers being made subject unto Him.
If you look at the passage in Peter it says, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us”. I think all will understand that baptism can never be more than a figure, it is not the substance, no one could make baptism the substance; the substance of everything in Christianity is in the Holy Spirit. You may get forms and letter and ordinances, but these [p. 204] are not the substance of Christianity; if these were the substance, Christianity would be nothing much in advance of Judaism. In Christianity there is substance, namely, that which is in the power of the Holy Spirit — the presence and work of the Holy Spirit have brought in substance in contrast to shadow. But baptism has its place as a figure; and what is set forth in baptism is the thought of dissociation. Those who came under baptism were dissociated from that in which they had been previously. You can understand this in regard to the Jew — the Jew was dissociated from Judaism, and the heathen from heathenism, and through baptism they came into a certain association here upon earth, and that was Christianity. You may remember the appeal of Peter to the Jews, where he urged, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation”; the effect was, “They that gladly received his word were baptised”. That is, they dissociated themselves from that with which they were connected, and the practical result was that they were figuratively cleansed from that in which they had been, and were brought in to the place where the Holy Spirit was, and there it was they found a good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This marks the house of God; the Christian can be in peace in the presence of God. I should say that is the foundation of salvation. I cannot understand salvation apart from that. The idea of a good conscience is, that you can lift up your heads in the presence of God without fear. We begin by believing: “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness”; then that same resurrection becomes the ground of a good conscience. I cannot speak of anything more important than the recognition of the Spirit of God here. The apostle appeals to the Corinthians. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” And the Spirit of God has never been withdrawn from that day to this; the household of God is upon the earth, and it is in [p. 205] that household we are entitled to a good conscience. It is impossible that sin can be imputed to us, “We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins”, according to His grace. It is important to keep a good conscience in regard to the details of life down here; but this is not the thought in Peter, there it is in regard to the presence of God. That is the idea of the house of God. It was realised in early days; those who were brought into the Christian company enjoyed a good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now I want to come to the real meaning and power of the glory of the Lord. I will call your attention to a verse or two in Luke 14: 21 - 24. I refer to that passage because it brings in the thought of God’s house. I have no doubt that God’s house is the correspondence down here to the glory of the Lord in heaven. We have to remember that Christ has been received into heaven with acclamation, that is, He has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels, authorities and powers being made subject to Him. He has been received in heaven, as He will be received in Jerusalem hereafter; and the Holy Spirit has come down to bring tidings of the rejoicing in heaven, and it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that has established the house of God down here, and God will have His house to be filled, if the Jew will not come in, God will have the Gentile; but in any case He will have His house filled; therefore in the house, that is, in the sense of the presence of the Spirit, we ought to have an idea of the joy with which Christ has been received in heaven. That is what is proper to the house of God, that we should behold the glory of the Lord. Now a word or two about the latter. I think the Lord ought to be the first object of the affection of every Christian, because He has been pleased to bring to us not simply the authority but the love of God. The apostle Paul says,
“[p. 206] If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha”.
All authority, all administration belongs to Christ; but at the same time He brings to us the authority of love, and we bow the knee to Him, we bow the knee to the One who came forth that He might express to us the love of God; all that you can know of God, you must learn in the Lord Jesus Christ. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich”. Now, I want all to take that home, for nothing can be more important than that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Son over God’s house, should have His own proper place in the affections of His people.
And He is supreme in authority. There are authorities in this world, kings and great people, and there are authorities, too, in heaven, angels and principalities. But mark, angels and authorities and powers are made subject to the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, He is above them; the One in whom the Christian believes, and who is the Object of the Christian’s affections, is above all principalities and powers. I do not care whether it be Pharaoh and the Egyptians, or the devil, or what not; the great point is this, that angels, authorities and powers are subject to the One whom the Christian loves. If he does not love our Lord Jesus, he is under a curse; if, on the other hand, he does love our Lord Jesus Christ, He loves One to whom all is made subject. Now, think how great that is. Most of us would be awed by the presence of some one of the great potentates of the world; and if I had to come into contact with such, I would treat them with all due respect. Well, there is no power in the world, or in heaven, so great as Christ, who is at the right hand of God. Who can be so great? Who can pretend for a moment to such greatness as that? But the One who is there is entitled to be there; He is the One [p. 207] who came down from heaven to make God known to us. Now He has gone back as man crowned with glory and honour. The application is this: supposing we have to come into conflict with the powers of evil, what is the position? Well, the Lord stands by us, the One to whom angels, authorities and powers are made subject, One who is greater than all. When Paul was brought into the presence of the Roman emperor (and he was a great potentate in that day), he could say, “No man stood with me, but all forsook me ... Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me”.
Now, if you want to come into the enjoyment of present salvation, the way of it is in beholding the glory of the Lord; and every one who has part in the house of God, properly speaking, beholds the glory of the Lord, because you have the witness of it in the Holy Spirit who dwells in the house; and our souls ought to be stirred by the witness of the glory of the Lord, and our hearts attached to the Lord. Well, then, we are here in the presence of evil, we do not know what we may have to encounter, or what another year may bring forth; but the Lord will stand by us in every trial and exigency. I think one of the sweetest words that can be found in Scripture was when, in regard to the darkest moment which the apostle had to meet here upon earth, he could say: “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me”. Salvation to us means that you can lift up your head in the presence of anything and everything here. We want righteousness to enable us to be in peace in the presence of God — and we have it; but we want salvation from the power of the enemy — and having salvation, we are not afraid of anything we may have to meet. That is the power of salvation in the soul of the Christian at the present time. I do not think the Lord concerns Himself with what is passing in the world: the time will come when He will concern Himself very much [p. 208] with the world, but that does not mark the present time. He stands by His people in their need and weakness; and hence the Christian need not fear, for the One who stands by him, and whose glory he can behold, is greater than all.
I pray that the glory of the Lord may have a much greater place in every one of our hearts.