The Glory That Does Not Pass Away

The Glory That Does Not Pass Away

“But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech.” 2 Cor. 3:7-12.

All glory in the old covenant passed away because it was an external and earthly glory. But Christ came with a better hope for mankind, and He has become a surety of a better covenant. He came with an everlasting priesthood whose glory will never pass away. “The Lord has sworn and will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’” Heb. 7:21. Since Christ was appointed as a priest forever, then those who are kings and priests together with Him have also been appointed forever, and their ministry results in an everlasting glory. Paul writes that since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose hope. And since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech.

However, only those who have enlightened eyes of the heart can see any glory in the ministry of the Spirit. For all the others it has a foolish and unbearable effect.

Who could see any glory in Paul’s ministry? It was carried out under persecution, scourgings and beatings, “in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.” 2 Cor. 11:23-28.

Paul looked into something glorious—something that the majority of people simply cannot comprehend. He knew that all earthly goods would perish, but that the souls of men are eternal beings that could be led from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God by his ministry, and that furthermore, they could be transformed into the image of Jesus from glory to glory. Compared to this ministry, he correctly reckoned that everything else in this world was but loss and dung.

He glorified Christ through his ministry, and he gathered treasures in heaven for himself, so that he had a reward for his life’s work in the eternal mansions. How foolish it is to have one’s entire life’s interest and work in the things that will perish, when it is possible to partake of that which does not perish!

The law produced a glory in the old covenant. There was glory and rejoicing in Israel when they feared God and kept His commandments. Then the land overflowed with grain and wine, and they were blessed in all their ways. Therefore the ancients sang holy songs of praise about the Lord’s commandments and statutes. The psalmist sings, “My lips shall utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes. My tongue shall speak of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness. Let Your hand become my help, for I have chosen Your precepts. I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight.” Ps. 119:171-174.

Seeing that the saints of former times sang such songs about the Lord’s laws and commandments, how much more should we sing songs of praise with a glad heart about the laws of the Spirit of life that produce a far greater, even an exceedingly abundant glory that will not pass away!

The true saints throughout all the ages, from the days of the apostles on, have also sung like this in their hearts about the laws and commandments of Christ, as these laws were being written on the tablets of the flesh of their hearts by the Spirit in life’s many trials. It is this holy flock that sings songs of praise who will stand on Mount Zion together with Jesus and sing the new song.

The old man can never sing anything else but the old, well-known murmuring and complaining song. Just as Israel’s songs of praise exalted God, so Satan himself is exalted by all this terrible music. It must be cursed from our life.

It is absolutely impossible to attain to a genuine and lasting glory without the obedience of faith to the commandments of Christ. However, these laws are frightening to the harlot; they are a burden and a plague to her. The harlot is attempting to produce her own glory without the laws of Christ by an external religious glitter and splendor; yet all these things will collapse like a house of cards and go up in flames.

The worship of God in the new covenant is not accompanied by an external glory. It does not take place in costly temples that radiate of gold and precious stones, and the priests are not decorated as they were in the old covenant; it transpires in a weak vessel of clay and is hidden under a cover of reproach. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and this is our spiritual service: to present our body daily as a living, holy, and acceptable sacrifice to God. Rom. 12:1.

For those in the old covenant the sacrifices were offered outside their bodies in the form of animals and birds, but in the new covenant the sacrifices are brought from within us. We ourselves have to go on the altar. But this is something that only a few people see as great; therefore there are also only a few who find the way to this exceeding abundance of glory. This glory consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, and we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Eph. 1:3. This glorious life with Christ does not vanish in difficult times—in adversity and in trials—if we are faithful. On the contrary, it will increase relative to our obedience to the faith.

Obedience of the faith to the laws of the Spirit of life also produces a blessed and unbreakable fellowship in the Spirit. Wherever an assembly is not bound together by these noble, divine laws which are the bond of perfection, the people are constantly struggling to keep everything together with religious entertainment. But all entertainment results in competition during the performances, giving rise to envy, jealousy, and all kinds of friction, thereby giving room to the devil.

The glory of the old covenant was in the creation, whereas the glory of the new covenant rests in the invisible. The visible things are temporal, but the invisible things are eternal. 2 Cor. 4:18. The very source of life is in the invisible. That is where the Father and the Son are, along with the innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. Those who live a life of faith in the invisible are able to look through and judge those whose life is in the visible, but the opposite is not the case. This awakens hate, and those who are spiritual are persecuted just as Jesus was persecuted by the Pharisees and the scribes.

Christ surpasses all knowledge, and His glory is immeasurable and unsearchable. Now we can be filled with His fullness relative to our knowledge of Him. Let us, therefore, by faith let go of the glory that is destined to perish, and lay hold of the glory that does not perish.