The Cross and Eternal Glory - Part 3 — T. Austin-Sparks

The Glory of the New Covenant in 2 Corinthians 3

I want to read the 3rd chapter of the 2nd letter to the Corinthians. 2nd letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3. Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or need we, as do some epistles of commendation to you or from you?

Ye are our epistles, written in our hearts, known and read of all men, being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.

And such confidence have we through Christ, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit.

For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face, which glory was passing away, how shall not rather the ministration of the Spirit be with glory?

For if the ministration of condemnation is glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For verily, that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect by reason of the glory that surpasseth.

For if that which passeth, having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away.

But their minds were hardened. For until this very day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remaineth unlifted, which veil is done away in Christ. But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their hearts.

But whensoever it shall come to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, reflecting as a mirror of the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.

The Coming of the Spirit and the Change of Dispensations

Make a great deal of the ecclesiastical calendar as such, the special time, season, the year, because it's a part of our religion. But sometimes it is good and well to dwell upon the great epochs which lie at the very foundation of our faith, such as the birth of our Lord, His death, the coming of the Spirit in many minds.

Dear friends, nay I am sure that we, the Lord's people, are always in need of both reminders and of fuller instruction, really means. It was indeed a great, a great thing that happened. The whole of the dispensations turned upon us.

The time of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the conditions of one dispensation obtained. From that day the whole dispensation changed and entirely new conditions came in. I say again, we need to know the greatness of the change and the changes which have come with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The chapter which we have just read as a portion of a much larger argument or steady form of truth which ought not to be confined, restricted to the verses marked by chapter three. This chapter embodies something momentous and tremendous of that very change of dispensation from Moses to Christ and from Moses to Christ ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And the difference is marked by the prevailing word throughout the chapter, glory. Glory, underlined in verse seven, verse eight, twice in verse nine, twice in verse ten, verse eleven, three times in verse eighteen.

In eighteen verses, the one word occurring ten times, really indicating what this is about. And then lay aside it, the word or the name Spirit. You find that this is a governing and ruling matter, the Spirit and glory.

And the argument of the apostle is just this, that there was a glory which paid it, which went out in the old dispensation and that dispensation resolved itself into a dispensation which was anything but glory.

By the coming of the Spirit, a dispensation of glory came in and a glory that never was before. A new glory, a fuller glory and a glory with a new meaning. To just analyze and sum up this chapter, we may put over it the statement of the theme here is glory.

The Spirit as the Medium of Glory

Let that be said. The medium of glory is the Spirit. He is clearly set forth here as the Spirit of glory, the medium of the glory, the instrument of the glory, the Word of God. The Word of God becoming alive by the Spirit and producing glory, as we shall see.

The sum of the glory is Christ when it shall turn to the Lord. The veil is done away. The glory breaks out. Or if we pursue this a little further than the mark of chapter 3, we should come on to this.

God who commanded light to shine in darkness and shine into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The sum of glory is Christ. The place of the glory is the heart of the believer, has shined into our hearts, has written on hearts tables of flesh.

The place of the glory is the heart of the believer. The effect of the glory in the heart is transformation. We are being transformed as we behold the glory into the same image from glory to glory. And the power of the glory is liberty.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is or where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty. That's the chapter in brief, in outline. I don't think I'm going to take up all this and comment upon it. It's simply a statement that with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the way of glory has been opened up and the glory has come in.

The Fundamental Contrast Between the Old and New Covenants

But you notice through this chapter and what Paul is writing, there are these fundamental contrasts. These fundamental contrasts which are of such tremendous importance. And dear friends, I do not feel that I can put suspicion, emphasis and stress upon this matter.

It goes far deeper and more into the present situation than most of us realize. My difficulty is to make it clear, make it clear that here we are in the present of something of tremendous importance to Christians.

Because after all, and this I'm sure you will agree with, the real need where we Christians are concerned is that our Christianity shall be glorious. And that we should be glorious Christians in the right sense.

Well, you agree with that? And it is by not only recognizing but coming into the good of these fundamental contrasts which are presented to us in this and the revelation given in Jesus Christ. There's the contrast between tables of stone and heart.

The Letter That Kills and the Spirit That Gives Life

Let us be very clear as to what that mask between the Word of God and the Holy Spirit is. It cannot be that. The letter. The letter. The Word of God. But it is not taking contrast to the Holy Spirit as necessarily bringing death while the Spirit reigns.

I want you to be very clear in your mind about that, you see. When you use that phrase, the letter killing. Don't think for a moment that that means that the... You've got to get it in its setting and understand what it is the apostle is saying.

It is between legalism in relation to the letter or the Word of God and life which comes by a Holy Spirit action upon the Word of God. This is what the apostle is saying here as he has said much more fully in other parts of his writings.

He's saying it here. Because of a state impersonal only comes as a legal state becomes God. It's the same word. It's the same word. It's all the Word of God but it's the effect that it has upon us. Pilate had a lot to say at the beginning.

He cares, I think, very much upon this matter. You remember how in talking to Christians some of the philosophers, some of the great asceticists would have rather concerned. It's no use. Education. He called it.

You handle the Word of God in that way it communicates no life to anybody. It's very wonderful of course. It may be very interesting almost fascinating but after this minister resulted in this transformation into the state and I'm going further.

We may have the most far-going knowledge of the Bible so that we are able in our heads to tell anybody at any moment what is in and yet it may still neither change us nor the people to whom we give it.

And worse than that it may altogether in another realm from what is real it is necessary dear friends for you to recognize this that it is not a matter of Bible knowledge though that is so important. It is not a matter of brain and intellect and scholarship.

It is not at all a matter of our attainments in that realm. However valuable such things may be given the other but it is a matter of God having shined into our hearts to give the knowledge. Another kind of knowledge by the in-shining.

Altogether different knowledge comes by the in-shining. Now I take it that this natural knowledge this natural wisdom of which the apostles spoke in this first letter corresponds to the tables of stone.

After all tables of stone are cold dead things. The flesh are warm living things. And that is the difference between a natural apprehending, grasping and handling of the word of God. However great may be the natural ability in that realm the difference between that and the spirit revealing in his word in our hearts.

The Law Written on the Heart and the Nature of God

They are two different words. I am not talking now about the unsaved on the one hand and the saved on the other. I am discriminating as this word does between the people of God. Israel were the people of God.

But you see there was just this objective attitude to things. They were not spiritual people, spiritual men and women. And when we say not spiritual we mean they hadn't got the Holy Spirit in dwelling and working.

After all everything was outward. And so they came to the law as something written on tables of stone and said now it says thou shalt and thou shalt and thou shalt not and thou shalt not. And it was all there like that cold commandment and so and it killed and it killed.

I don't know how hopeless it is to try and explain this but you see take even the commandments written on the tables of stone. How do they affect you dear friends? How do they affect you? Now you can take any one of those commandments.

Thou shalt not. You feel bad about that? As a Christian you feel bad about that? That terrible rebuke to you and terrible warning that in any way whatsoever and there are 10 ,000 ways in which you can do it.

How do you look at that? What does that say to you? Does it just say thou shalt not? Taken up that with all awe to himself even what belonged to him to say nothing of what belonged to other people and didn't belong to him rather than God himself.

Simply but always thinking rather how he could give rather than get. Stealing embodies a principle. It means you you've got to have yourself willy nilly anyhow and you are going to get that because you want it.

It's a spirit. It's lawfully or unlawfully. Stealing is unlawful but when you lift it into the realm of the spiritual you see something infinitely more than God which doesn't belong to you. Stealing in that ordinary sense.

You see behind behind there's the nature of God. Behind there is the disposition of God. Behind every commandment. Need to have every commandment dealt with in this way to see behind there's a disposition of God a nature of God.

That is that is mediated to us in Christ by the Holy Spirit. But really a Holy Spirit governed life doesn't want to be getting all the time even to the point of taking what they have no right to have but right round the other way right round the other way the really Holy Spirit governed child of God doesn't need to come under an awful weight of condemnation when it said thou shalt not steal or thou shalt not do any of the other things.

The Spirit inside has dealt with that quite all right quite well quite thoroughly and changed the disposition changed the desire but you see something has got to be done inwardly otherwise the letter killing brings death.

The Word Made Alive by the Holy Spirit

But the same letter taken up by the Holy Spirit illuminating brings life. It brings life. Word comes to life and makes that not on tables of spat in our hearts in the hearts along one line there's no glory at all no glory.

Along this other line there is glory. I want you to this one tremendous difference indeed there's all the children of God would lay down their lives for it and yet on the other hand alive by the Holy Spirit and then if you get into the one realm you see you get a dozen more score quotations of the same passage of scripture and you're all at variance.

One says it means this and another says it means that and that's because over there the only way to come to oneness of mind oneness of heart oneness of understanding and to move livingly with the Lord is for the Spirit himself not to go beyond the scripture not what we're talking about extra to the scripture where we really see that out of the mouth where this word is made alive to us by the Holy Spirit may be fascinated with its studies and its subjects and think that's life that's not what I'm talking about.

It may be tremendously interesting but that's not what I mean. Life even the word legal realm all up again into this word glory glory and if you know what I'm trying to talk about you know how great a thing that is you really do come to know the dispensational matter makes a very great deal of difference in which world in which realm we live.

Pentecost and the Believer’s Birthright of Glory

I'm trying to say to you greatest treasure everything the significance of the day of Pentecost the dispensation tables of stone give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus mark you always through the scripture by the word of God.

That's our birthright just believing in the truth that God realized He made living by the Holy Spirit and when it's like that it is glory. The burden goes the strain goes the onus goes now it is a fact even as a Christian believe in the Lord and you have the Lord and you know you're safe yet there's a dome over you.

I've stated the facts I know them to be facts it is glory and it must be like it is glory.