Glory

The glory of the name, as we have before seen, is moral and spiritual, as well as physical. The glory that Christ manifested during His ministry on earth, consisted in the exhibiting of those “moral attributes,” set forth in the name of Yahweh:—and in the display of that Spirit power, by which He performed those marvellous works;—those miracles of His grace. Part of this glory appeared through His character as a sufferer. The sufferings are referred to by the prophet Isaiah, in chap. liii.—where the “long-suffering,” patience, and forbearance, and meekness of the Saviour are portrayed. The glory attending His exaltation as king of the whole earth, is also described by the same prophet: and a prophetic vision of it is on record in chap. vi. The apostle John makes quotation from both chapters referred to, of testimony concerning the utter faithlessness of Israel, and says: “These things, said Isaiah, when he saw his glory and spake of him” (John xii. 41).

Faithfulness and fidelity, under trial and suffering characterized the spirit of Christ. And would appear to have been symbolized by the form in which the Spirit of glory descended upon Him: even the form of a Dove. The turtle-dove being noted for its quality of fidelity. The long-suffering, patience, meekness, and gentleness of His spirit, appeared most appropriately represented by the lamb. Innocence and purity are also among the qualities prefigured by these creatures. These all were most perfectly exemplified in the life of our Saviour.

The apostle Paul, writing to the saints that were at Colosse, expresses his earnest desire that they might have “all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ: In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. ii. 2, 3). These “treasures of wisdom and knowledge” were a part of the glory hidden during the Mosaic “Olahm.” Infolded in a mystery which was destined to be revealed through Christ, and the apostolic testimony. Thus Paul saith: “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God ordained before the Ages, for our glory. Which none of the rulers of this Age knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. ii. 7, 8). This wisdom of God, manifested through Christ, forms the only foundation for glory in the name;—both in this Age and that which is to come. According to the promise, “the wise shall inherit glory” (Prov. iii. 35). The glory belonging to an immortal existence in the future Age, can only be attained by getting “the wisdom which is from above” in this Age. To this kind of wisdom, the exhortation of Solomon has special reference, when he says: “Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding.” “She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee” (Prov. iv. 7, 9).

“Christ” is styled “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. i. 24); and “Of God he is made unto” all who are in him—“wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (chap. i. 30). If we are able to partake of His wisdom and His righteousness, we partake to a certain extent in the glory of His name. Paul shows it to be a part of the mission of believers to make known this wisdom to the world, in his epistle to the Ephesians. Having spoken of the “fellowship of the mystery, which hath been hidden from the ages in God, who created all things,” he says: “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the ‘Ecclesia’ the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph. iii. 9, 10). By the phrase, “manifold wisdom,” it may be understood that wisdom has many foldings—a multiplicity and diversity of forms; so deep, so rich, so profound and unfathomable, as to lead the apostle to exclaim: “O the depth of the riches, of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out” (Rom. xi. 33).

The Word is the medium through which this wisdom is conveyed to us, in all its varied shades of light. Righteousness is the companion of Wisdom. The Spirit of wisdom personified in the Proverbs is represented as saying, “Riches and honor are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.” “I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment” (Prov. viii. 18-20). “All the words of my mouth are in righteousness” (chap. viii. 8).

Christ being the manifestation of the wisdom of God, He is also the manifestation of His righteousness. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. x. 4). This righteousness is a part of those “attributes” of the Deity constituting the glory of His name. “For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth” (2 Cor. iii. 9, 10). “The ministration of righteousness” brings pardon and forgiveness of sin, and justification through the Faith of Jesus. For, “as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation: even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. v. 18, 19-21). “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. v. 21). The earnest desire of the apostle Paul that he might be found clothed with this righteousness, he expresses thus: “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as naught that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ—the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil. iii. 8, 9). “Even the righteousness of God, which is through the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe,” “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiatory (or ‘Mercy-seat’) through the Faith, by his blood;—to shew his righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime in the forbearance of God. For the shewing, I say, of his righteousness at the present time: that he might be just, and the justifier of him who is of the faith of Jesus” (Rom. iii. 22-26). “For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom. iv. 13).

The righteousness of Christ, these Scriptures show, can only be attained through the Faith of Jesus Christ. “The Faith of Jesus” comprehends “the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the Name of Jesus Anointed.” The Lord’s command to His apostles, after He was risen from the dead, saith: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved: he that believes not shall be condemned” (Mark xvi. 15, 16). Again, He said unto them,—“Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. xxviii.). The apostle Peter, upon the day of Pentecost, was empowered to use the “keys of the kingdom of heaven, which the Lord had entrusted to him. He commanded those who had become believers, saying,—”Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins” (Acts ii.). “The obedience of Faith is made the condition of righteousness.” . . . . “Having been begotten of the Father of the word of truth, and born of water, the first stage of the process is completed,—and the believer is constitutionally ’in Christ (Elpis Israel pp. 119-121).

Paul prays on behalf of the believers, that they might be “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God” (Phil. i.). And earnestly enjoins upon them to “Put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. iv. 24). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Col. iii. 16). “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith: that being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height: and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,—that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. iii. 17-19). “Having put on the new man, which is being renewed by exact knowledge, according to the image of him that created him” (Col. iii. 10). When the spirit of the mind has become renewed, the moral image of Christ is reflected therefrom. This renewing of the inner man, is a process which is predetermined by the Father. As saith the apostle:—“Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom. viii. 29). These testimonies enlighten us in regard to the meaning of the apostle, where he speaks concerning—“The mystery which had been hid from ages and from generations, but is now made manifest to the saints.” “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. i. 26, 27).

Returning to consider that Spirit of glory which dwelt in Christ, who said: “I proceeded forth and came from God” (John viii. 42),—we are shown that the Father’s word, the Father’s wisdom, the Father’s goodness, grace, and glory, were all beaming out through the character, the doctrine, and the works of Jesus the Anointed One. Abundant confirmation of this is afforded through the glory of that Spirit’s power, exhibited in the wonderful works which he performed. Glory, in this light, is first mentioned in connection with the miracle Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, when He turned the water into wine. “This beginning of miracles, did Jesus in Cana of Galilee; and manifested forth His glory, and his disciples believed on him” (John ii. 11). When about to restore His beloved Lazarus to life again, He addressed his weeping sister thus: “Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”

He sought not His own glory, in the sense of exaltation or honor; but always that of the Father. Saying, as He taught the people: “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” “He that speaketh of himself, seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him” (John vii. 16-18). “I honor my Father,” “and I seek not mine own glory” (John viii. 49, 50). Expression is here given to one of those “moral attributes,” so divine in its character: A perfect subjection of self, that the Father might be honored in all things. Indicative also of the exercise of “will” on the part of Jesus, He said: “I do always those things that please the Father” (John viii. 29). Obedience, requires the exercise of will, in order to do the things that are pleasing to the Father. And the Saviour said: “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John vi. 38).

“The glory of the Lord,” in the sense of physical illumination and corporeal splendor, was only once transiently displayed to three witnesses—Peter, James, and John, upon the Mount of Transfiguration. But this, like the glory that overshadowed the rock in the wilderness, “passed by.” The scene is thus described in the record: “As he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became white and dazzling: And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elijah: who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him” (Luke ix. 29-32). The glory that had been veiled from Moses at the rock, he was privileged to obtain a glimpse of, in the reality of the glorious substance, in the person of Him whom the rock represented. And at a time when those things, prefigured by the stricken rock at Meribah, were about to come to pass. The apostle Peter afterward refers to this scene in his second epistle, when he says: “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount” (2 Pet. i. 16).

In the memorable prayer which Jesus uttered on behalf of His disciples, when nearing the time of His departure, He alludes to the glories of the Name. He prays that they all might be one in Him and in the Father. The Oneness which had been and was to be established between Christ and His disciples, was by their reception of the things He had given them. These are thus stated in His prayer. Addressing the Father, He said: “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.” “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known of a truth that I came forth from thee, and have believed that thou didst send me.” “I pray for them.” . . . . “Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me; that they may be one, even as we are. While I was with them I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me: and I guarded them.” “And now I come to thee.” “I have given them thy word.” . . . . “Sanctify them through thy truth—thy word is the Truth.” . . . . “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me, through their word: that they all may be one: as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” . . . . “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them: that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.” “And I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John xvii.). At another time Jesus taught, saying, “I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” . . . . “I know my sheep, and am known of mine.” “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (John x. 11, 14, 16). That all these might be One in the Word, One in the Name, and One in the Glory, is the earnest breathing of Christ in this prayer, recorded in John xvii. Those who had continued with Him during His ministry upon the earth, were so, as far as these things had been revealed to them; but they were destined to grow up into that fulness of stature in Christ, which should bring them into more perfect oneness with Him. When “the Comforter” came—that holy Spirit of truth, which Jesus promised that the Father would send unto them after His departure, and which should “guide them into all the truth,” the oneness between Christ and His disciples became still more perfect and entire. Thus was developed that moral and spiritual oneness, that comes through receiving the truth in its fulness, and rendering entire obedience to it. This belief and obedience, being the true test of that love, which He requires of all His people. For Jesus said: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John xiv. 23).

Still, the sentence of death rested within the mortal body. And all those were, in the course of time, called to sleep in the dust of the earth. Yet the promise is sure, that saith: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory” (Col. iii. 4). Then His glory will be revealed in fulness: and those who have become one in His Word, and one in His Name in this life, will be privileged to be made perfect in oneness with the glory which the Father will give him in that day, “Who will fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.”

Jesus said, “I and the Father are One” (John x. 30). Philip saith unto Him, “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” The Spirit-word saith unto him, “Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father: Believest thou not, that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else, believe me for the very works’ sake” (John xiv.). This indwelling oneness, revealed in the New Testament Scriptures, is part of that “mystery” contained in the Name of the Old. The Spirit of Yahweh, through the prophet Isaiah, tells of it, in a certain formula of the Memorial. “Thus saith Yahweh, king of Israel, and his redeemer. He who will be of hosts, I, the first One, and I, the last One; and without me no Elohim” (Isa. xliv. 6). [Eureka, Vol. I., p. 112].

The testimony of the apostle Paul is in perfect harmony with that of the Lord Jesus, teaching the same doctrine of unity and onseness. He saith: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Cor. v. 19). “He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Tim. iii. 16). This manifestation and oneness, the Scriptures teach, came by means of the Holy Spirit. “This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts” (Zech. iv. 6).

Since the withdrawal of the Spirit’s glory, in the form of spiritual gifts and powers from the earth, believers can only attain to the “unity of the Spirit” through faith in the written Word, and obedience to it. This unity the apostle Paul exhorts the believers to attain to. In his epistle to the Corinthians, he saith: “Now, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing,” “and that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. i. 10). “Stand fast in one Spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel” (Phil. i. 27). Writing to the Hebrews, he saith: “For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one” (Father), “for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren: saying, I will declare thy Name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto thee” (Heb. ii. 11, 12). For “to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Cor. viii. 6).

Christ, in His prayer for all, to the Father, said: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Only in so far as believers believe and obey the “word of truth,” will they be able to partake of the Spirit of Christ now. When our Lord shall come in the “glory of his Father with his angels: then shall he reward every man according to his works” (Matt. xvi. 27). Those who, upon the principle of faith and obedience, have become “One” in that “Constitution of Righteousness” provided by Christ, will be counted for the true “seed of Abraham.” As saith the apostle, “The children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Rom. ix. 8). The faithful ones, who will be approved as worthy by the judge, to be “clothed upon with their house from heaven,” that “mortality may be swallowed up of life,” will then be born of the Spirit, and therefore be Spirit, upon the principle which Jesus taught, “that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit” (John iii. 6). Therefore Spirit-bodies—in which the gift of immortality confers the power of shining forth in splendor like the sun—are made “like unto the Body of his glory.” A glorified Body, made one in nature with their glorious head. Then will the “Father, who is above all,” be “in all and through all” by His Spirit. In the preparation for this glorious life, we “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone: in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye are also builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. ii. 20-22).

In prayer to the Father, on one occasion, Jesus said: “Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying: I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again” (John xii. 28). Thus the Scriptures reveal a glorious manifestation of the name of Yahweh in the future Age. “The First One,” in “the Last Ones” will be revealed. The One Father manifested in and through a great multitude of redeemed ones, taken out from “every kindred and tongue and people and nation.” Christ “is the head of the body” (the “Ecclesia”): “who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead: that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.” “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. i., ii.).

Christ and the saints will then, in organized, indissoluble unity, constitute that “MULTITUDINOUS Name” “which is to rule the world during the millennium.”

This name in the present life, exists in a state of suffering, trial, and probation: awaiting the time of Christ’s second appearing, for its manifestation in glory.