Glory at the End

By T. Austin-Sparks

      Reading: Haggai 2:1-9; Ephesians 3:20,21; Revelation 21:10-11.

      "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former." "Unto him be the glory in the church... for ever and ever." "The holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God."

      It is something of which we should remind ourselves continually, that the end is going to be in glory, with glory - the end will be glory. Sometimes our answer to an interrogation might very well be that of the people in the time of Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai: The present glory is nothing! but "the latter glory... shall be greater than the former". The end will be with glory. We must tell ourselves that, when things look anything but glorious, when the glory seems to be entirely hidden, when there seems to be no glory at all in our experience and we are passing through a deep and terrible time of trial and affliction, this is not the end; it just cannot be the end. Though we think the end has come, it cannot be identified as the end, because the Word of God says that the end is glory. This is not glory; therefore it cannot be the end and we have not arrived at the end yet. We are not going down in shame, in dishonour, in reproach, in despair. We are going up in glory, for the end is glory.

      The Glory of Grace

      What is this glory? Well, quite clearly, according to these passages which we have read, and others, it is the glory of grace. "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former", and in that very connection the prophet says: "He shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace, grace unto it" (Zechariah 4:7). The words from the letter to the Ephesians - "unto him be the glory in the church" - are set in a whole encompassment of grace. The incomparable words concerning grace are found in that letter: "That we should be... to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved" (1:6); "According to the riches of his grace" (1:7); "(By grace have ye been saved) ... that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace" (2:5,7); "Unto me", says the Writer, "was this grace given, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (3:8). The last words concerning grace are in connection with the glory. So it is quite obviously the glory of grace. The Lord, in order to get the glory, will see that everything is kept on a basis of grace, that is, that everything that is not grace will be smitten hip and thigh by Him. In the end there will be no other element whatever in the situation. We shall just have to say it is His grace - the glory of His grace.

      The Battleground of Grace

      The enemy is always trying to get us off the ground of grace. If he cannot do so by accusation, he will do so by false grace, which is presumption. In this way he makes grace a way of living as you like. It does not matter what you do, how you behave, grace will cover anything. "Once in grace, always in grace", so do not be troubled with responsibility. So grace is subverted. In many ways grace is a battleground, not a playground.

      Grace a Power in the Life

      The only answer to these things is this: That while grace is that favour of God which asks for no merit, no earning, and is freely bestowed on us, as Paul says, in the Beloved, grace is also a power in the life. It is a vital force to make us live according to the good pleasure of God, the grace of God not only manifested in our acceptance, but in our lives, the acceptance begetting a response to the pleasure of God. Grace is a character, a nature, as well as a standing; grace unto glory, His glory, primarily the glory of what grace has done in our acceptance, in our standing, in our position, but also what grace has done in conforming us to the image of His Son, what grace is doing in us. It is a working thing. The glory of His grace at the end will be the manifestation of what grace has done.

The Glory of His Sovereign Wisdom and Power

      It will be the glory of His sovereign wisdom and power. You go back to these books of Ezra and Nehemiah and you find a people very much in need of the grace of God by reason of their own helplessness, the remnant being stripped and shorn of everything, unable to provide anything at all, so that it must all be of the Lord. And then you see the enemies, all the enemies. No sooner does God's purpose come into view, and a people in it, than, as from nowhere, enemies spring up. You have never heard their names until now, you never knew anything about them and you did not know of their existence until now. How these people were beset on every hand by opposing forces who would make the work to cease by every means! You know the many forms of opposition in the book of Nehemiah - the enemy comes in from the deepest subterfuge to the most open and violent persecution. But there is a wonderful revelation of the sovereign wisdom and power of God; wisdom in outwitting the cunning of men and devils; wisdom in finding ways for the accomplishment of the purpose which men could never find; yes, and wisdom in turning the very work of their enemies to be complementary, spiritually complementary. Sovereign wisdom and sovereign power - and the house filled with glory at the end. The glory is the glory of that wisdom and power of God. "Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think", which goes beyond our ability to imagine how it can be done, or that it can be done at all, "according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be the glory in the church". The story of the people of God is just that story of the power and wisdom of God, finding ways where there are no ways, finding means where there are no means, outwitting all the cunning of the enemy and turning the enemy's very work to advantage.... "I would have you know... that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel" (Philippians 1:12). The wisdom of God, the power of God, the glory of that is manifested in the end.

A New Name

 By Marcus Dods

"And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone" (John 1:42). 

 Coming in this mood, he is greeted with words which seem to say to him, I know the character identified with the name "Simon, son of John;" I know all you fear, all the remorseful thoughts that possess you; I know how you wish now you were a man like Andrew, and could offer yourself as a serviceable subject of this new kingdom. But no! thou art Simon; nothing can change that, and such as you are you are welcome; but "thou shalt be called Rock," Peter. The men standing round, and knowing Simon well, might turn away to hide a smile; but Simon knew the Lord had found him, and uttered the very word which could bind him forever to Him. And the event showed how true this appellation was. Simon became Peter,--bold to stand for the rest, and beard the Sanhedrim. 

By believing that this new King had a place for him in His kingdom, and could give him a new character which should fit him for service, he became a new man, strong where he had been weak, helpful and no longer dangerous to the cause he loved. Such are the encouragements with which the King of men welcomes the diffident. He gives men the consciousness that they are known; He begets the consciousness that it is not with sin in the abstract He undertakes to do, but with sinners He can name, and whose weaknesses are known to Him. But He begets this consciousness that we may trust Him when He gives us assurance that a new character awaits us and a serviceable place in His kingdom. He assures the most despondent that for them also a useful life is possible.

Psalm 29

By Henry Law



Jehovah's voice is mighty. It sounds in the storms of nature, in the outgoings of grace, in the terrors of the dissolving world. May our listening ears be ever open!


1, 2. "Give unto the Lord, O you mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."


The high ones of the earth are called to wisdom. They are counseled to estimate rightly their real state; to lie in lowliness before Jehovah's majesty; to acknowledge His high supremacy; to see in Him the source of all their earthly greatness; to ascribe due glory to His all-glorious name. Especially they are called to Gospel-worship, adoring Christ in the sanctuary, where all is beauty, and all the beauty is pure holiness. Would that each crown were placed at Jesus' feet!


3. "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon many waters."


The rising of a storm is vividly portrayed. The eye of the spectator rests upon the sea. From its waters a distant rumbling is heard. The sound becomes exceeding loud. The thunder roars. The God of glory speaks in dreadful tone. The God of glory still speaks terribly when the roar of thunder proclaims the Gospel truth. The terrified conscience hears and quakes. It was so on the day of Pentecost. It is so still in the recesses of many hearts. The full consummation draws near. Then, in the Prophet's words, "The Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake."


4. "The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty."


As the storm thickens, the majestic power of the Lord is more appalling. When the Gospel-voice goes forth to subdue the heart, the might is irresistible. It rides forth terrible in majesty. They who now yield will calmly smile when this voice shakes terribly the earth.


5, 6. "The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon's mountains skip like a calf and Mount Hermon to leap like a young bull."


The storm moves onward towards the north. It thickens over the vast forests of Lebanon. It shatters the strong cedars of those hills. The mountains seem to tremble in frightened agitation. The nimble boundings of the calf and bull are figures of their trembling motion. Thus the Gospel, working with power, lays low all lofty thoughts. Then the heart trembles, and the conscience quakes. These emblems are weak to show the terrors of the great day, when the earth shall reel to and fro, and its deep foundations tremble in affright.


7. "The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire."


The forked lightning now flares. Divided flashes dart fire on the earth. It is the voice of the Lord which sends them forth. Let Jehovah's power be adored. Here the wonders of the day of Pentecost are clearly seen. The Spirit comes in tongues of fire, and rests on the Apostles' heads. Thus His rays penetrate the heart, give light, and purify. May the Spirit enlighten all our darkness! May we be kept watching, for the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth, also, and the works in it shall be burned up.


8. "The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh."


The storm envelops the whole heavens from north to south. It rages through the wilderness below Judea. There are no limits to its fury. The voice of the Gospel has no boundaries. It goes forth into all the earth. By the Spirit's power it will gather in converts from all lands. Universal, also, will be the wonders of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

Savior But Not Lord?

By A.W. Tozer


In the New Testament salvation and discipleship are so closely related as to be indivisible. They are not identical, but as with Siamese twins they are joined by a tie which can be severed only at the price of death.

Yet they are being severed in evangelical circles today. In the working creed of the average Christian salvation is held to be immediate and automatic, while discipleship is thought to be something optional which the Christian may delay indefinitely or never accept at all.

It is not uncommon to hear Christian workers urging seekers to accept Christ now and leave moral and social questions to be decided later. The notion is that obedience and discipleship are unrelated to salvation. We may be saved by believing a historic fact about Jesus Christ (that He died for our sins and rose again) and applying this to our personal situation. The whole biblical concept of Lordship and obedience is completely absent from the mind of the seeker. He needs help, and Christ is the very one, even the only one, who can furnish it, so he takes Him as his personal Savior. The idea of His Lordship is completely ignored.

Remember My Song in the Night

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

"I call to remembrance my song in the night" (Psalm 77:6).

I have read somewhere of a little bird that will never sing the melody his master wishes while his cage is full of light. He learns a snatch of this, a bar of that, but never an entire song of its own until the cage is covered and the morning beams shut out.

A good many people never learn to sing until the darkling shadows fall. The fabled nightingale carols with his breast against a thorn. It was in the night that the song of the angels was heard. It was at midnight that the cry came, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him."

Indeed it is extremely doubtful if a soul can really know the love of God in its richness and in its comforting, satisfying completeness until the skies are black and lowering.

Light comes out of darkness, morning out of the womb of the night.

James Creelman, in one of his letters, describes his trip through the Balkan States in search of Natalie, the exiled Queen of Serbia.

"In that memorable journey," he says, "I learned for the first time that the world's supply of attar of roses comes from the Balkan Mountains. And the thing that interested me most," he goes on, "is that the roses must be gathered in the darkest hours. The pickers start out at one o'clock and finish picking them at two.

"At first it seemed to me a relic of superstition; but I investigated the picturesque mystery, and learned that actual scientific tests had proven that fully forty per cent of the fragrance of roses disappeared in the light of day."

And in human life and human culture that is not a playful, fanciful conceit; it is a real veritable fact. -Malcolm J. McLeod

Members of One Another

 
 

"Open Windows" by T. Austin Sparks

We, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (Romans 12:5)

We are a part of a Body. Many of our sufferings are not on our own account at all. Many of the sufferings of the children of God have nothing whatever to do with their own faults or their own failing. They are suffering in a related way, they are suffering for the Body’s sake, they are entering into the battle; the conflict of this one great testimony. Sometimes it is almost uncanny when the Lord has something in view in relation to His testimony of Life, how for no reason whatever, on no account at all, we discover that we are involved and ours is not an isolated experience. All sorts of people all over the place are having the same kind of experience — a terrific sense of pressure, upset, annoyance, anything to frustrate — it is happening all round, testifying that in the spiritual realm, in the realm of the Spirit, there is a fine, sensitive oneness which matters to the Lord, and therefore matters to the enemy.

Do not always take your sufferings as some controversy that the Lord has with you. That is the twist the enemy often gives. Be open to the Lord to be checked up on anything, but do not always take it that the things which are happening to you and causing you trouble and suffering are due to your own failure or wrong. You are involved in something very much more than that.

By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Testimony of the Christ - Chapter 7

The Commission Of The Call

By Oswald Chambers


'Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake.'
Colossians 1:24

We make calls out of our own spiritual consecration, but when we get right with God He brushes all these aside, and rivets us with a pain that is terrific to one thing we never dreamed of, and for one radiant flashing moment we see what He is after, and we say - "Here am I, send me."

This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with. If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way! But when He uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, and makes those the crushers, we object. We must never choose the scene of our own martyrdom. If ever we are going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed; you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.

I wonder what kind of finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you, and you have been like a marble and escaped? You are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you, the wine would have been remarkably bitter. To be a sacramental personality means that the elements of the natural life are presenced by God as they are broken providentially in His service. We have to be adjusted into God before we can be broken bread in His hands. Keep right with God and let Him do what He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.