The Cross and the Eternal Glory # 2

Glory: An All-Governing Object and End of God (continued)

We know what we mean by just thinking of the opposite to all these. We know that when there is strife and discord and un-love, hatred, malice, suspicion, and all those things which are just contrary to love, there is NO glory, there is NO glory. It is a wretched situation and no one would call that glorious. Or in any of the other cases, where for some reason or other death, spiritual death, has been allowed to come in and we touch the realm of death and dead things. We get on to some line of conversation where we are touching things that are dead. They do not live with God, there is no glory, we are sorry that ever we touched them, mentioned them, referred to them. Death has no glory about it.

When you and I get into a state of doubting and questioning, questioning the Lord, and begin to waver in our faith, the Glory goes out and it never comes back until we get back to faith and confidence in the Lord. But when sin is allowed to persist, evil is given a place, and there is no Glory. So I think the definition is a sound one, a right one. Glory is just the Divine Nature in expression. And wherever and whenever that is so, then it is Glory. It is Glory. The Glory comes in!

Glory is "initial". Glory is initial: Whenever we get into line with the mind of God. Take the experience of one who comes first to the Lord. Why, a new-born soul, a new convert, one who has really come into the meaning of salvation, right at the beginning that one thinks that they are ready for heaven at once. There is nothing more to be done; indeed, if they have not gone to heaven, heaven has come to them. This is Glory, there is a touch of Glory. That is true, it is initial.

Glory is also "occasional". That is, whenever there is some experience by which we come into a fuller correspondence to the Will of God, there is a new uprising of Glory. It may be through some tremendous spiritual battle; some controversy that the Lord has had with us or we with Him. Something upon which the Lord has put His finger, and we have not just been willing to let go, to yield. Something like that, where everything for the time being has been held up in our relationship with the Lord, or in our spiritual life, and then, as we say, 'We get through, we get through on that, we get that thing settled and cleared up and out of the way.' Immediately there is a new expression of Glory. It fills our hearts! it is "initial". It is "occasional". We can have many times of Glory in our Christian lives.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 3)