CHAPTER FOUR
Whilst most christians would readily assent that the highest in God is His
glory (how often have we heard the prayer, often droned out, "And we shall
be careful to give Thee all the glory", yet they will not concede or allow
that the lowest in man is not SIN! Well, what about you ? Do you?
WE ARE NOW COMING TO THE MASTER KEY!' At this point I very earnestly say to,
you - WATCH THE WITNESS! Jesus said of the Holy Spirit: "He will guide you
into ALL truth" (Jn. 16:13).
Because the Holy Spirit is holy He NEVER witnesses to a lie! (1 Jn. 5:10) He
that believeth on the Son HATH THE WITNESS IN HIMSELF (not on paper). Every
man needs a personal revelation of truth and a mental grasp in your head is
no substitute for it! DON'T READ ON - don't cross this line without in utter
helplessness confessing your absolute need of the Spirit of God to give you
light, life and revelation! Surely, dear reader, you know the difference
between a worldly man who knows all ABOUT Jesus and a christian (born again
of the Spirit) who KNOWS Jesus. Don't fall into this trap in thinking you
know what the glory of God is - a mental grasp will be no substitute for the
revelation of the Spirit!
If you admit that the glory of God is the highest in God are you prepared to
make room for this - that SIN is not the lowest in Man? In other words sin
has a come-from - that it is not a cause but a consequence! If sin is number
one in man righteousness is number one in God! If unbelief is number one in
man then faith is number one in God, but if neither of these are number one
then we have an entirely different order - viz. The glory of God or credit
due to Him is number one. The faith of God is number two and the
righteousness of God is number three. Contrariwise, the sin of man is number
three - the unbelief of man is number two and the glory of man - which is
his pride, is number one! Genesis (the beginning) bears this out. "Ye shall
be as gods" (1) ("glory") Eve "took" - to do this she had to reject God's
word in unbelief (2) and thus fell into sin - number three. Face this in
your own life - you were never in sin but first you were in unbelief and you
arrived in unbelief because of the pride or self glory of your heart which
caused you to become your own god and reject God as God! ONE, TWO, THREE!
Notice that God has grace for sin - number three but not for unbelief or
pride! (Number two and number one) He did not many mighty works because of
their unbelief! They could not enter in because of their unbelief!
God resisteth the proud (1 Peter 5:5).
It is vital to know what God WILL do and what He WON'T do! You don't pray
about pride or ask God to forgive you; you humble yourself under the mighty
hand (1 Peter 5).
Is. 42:8 I am the Lord! That is my Name and my Glory will I NOT give to
another! Is. 48:11. "I will NOT give my glory unto another!" Matt. 6:13
Jesus taught His disciples "Thine is the kingdom, and the power AND THE
GLORY forever - Amen! " Roms. 11:36 For of him and through Him and to Him
are all things - to whom be glory (credit) forever - Amen! By glory we mean
credit due! God cannot share the glory because OF HIM are all things. He
would virtually DENY HIMSELF! This He cannot do! 2 Tim. 2:13. If half the
work is God's half the credit is God's - if all the work is God's, all the
glory is God's!
Are you still with me? Thine is the glory! NOT Thine will be the Glory! - it
NEVER leaves His hand! Whilst man seeks to rob God of His glory there is a
divine thermostatic control that operates as soon as man touches it! Was it
not Voltaire the infidel who said, "A hundred years from now the Bible will
only be in a museum".
He defied the Almighty who put breath in his nostrils and expressed his
infidelity as long as the long suffering of God gave him a body to do it
with! And is it not true that Voltaire's old house is now the headquarters
of the Genevan Bible Society? The irony of God! Just as the copper ball in
the lavatory tank rises and controls the inflow of water so God (Of whom are
all things) the God of circumstances has everything under His control. His
glory never leaves His Hand! Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself (Dan. 4:30). Is
not this great Babylon that I have built by the might of MY power? - he
touched the glory and was reduced to the state of an animal bereft of
reason. The great (?) king dwelt with the beasts of the field, his body was
wet with the dew of heaven - he ate grass with the oxen and his hair was
like eagles' feathers - his nails like birds' claws - a lunatic without an
asylum! Stripped! On one principle "Everyone that exalteth himself shall be
abased".
Notice in Acts 12:2 Herod "stretched forth his hand to vex the church and
killed James the brother of John". In verse 21 he made an oration and the
people cried and said, "It is the voice of a god and not of a man and
IMMEDIATELY the angel of the Lord smote him and he was eaten of worms! Why?
Because he slew James? No! Because HE GAVE NOT GOD THE GLORY!!
The Church has never effectively dealt with the sin problem because it has
never got down to the root, the cause! Sin is not the cause of sin - pride
is! For the consequence there is grace, pardon - the blood of Jesus! For the
cause - the onus is on the individual humble yourselves (I Pet. 5:6) All
that God does with the proud is - RESIST (1 Pet. 5:5) he is an abomination
to the Lord (Prov. 16:5) and God abases those who walk in pride (Dan. 4:37).
While ever men beat the big drum on sin or sins - whatever they may be - The
sex problem, lust, vice, drug addiction, hatred, drunken or violent abuse,
etc., etc., they are only dealing with effect and not cause!
To illustrate: I may have one pound, two shillings and three pence e.g.
£1.2.3d.
Now the NUMERICAL value of the three is greater than the numerical value of
the one - three is greater than one; but the STERLING value of the one is
greater than the sterling value of the three - I would rather have one pound
than three pence! In the same way God has an order that it is vital for me
to recognize - £1.1.1 are not the same - there is a different assessment of
grading. There is a one, two three with God - a one two three with man.
Pride, unbelief and sin are NOT the same - neither is righteousness, faith
and Glory! The worst in man is not his sin, the highest in man is not his
righteousness - "except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
Pharisees" said Jesus. Remember the story of the righteous Pharisee
strutting in the presence of God as he boasted of his fasting and tithing?
His righteousness was the filthy rags of SELF righteousness - it was not "of
faith" it was not to the glory of God!
The publican without righteousness was accepted - "Me a sinner!" Why?
Because he humbled himself! Beneath man's sin is unbelief - no man ever
sinned who was not first in unbelief - no man ever arrived in unbelief but
what first he exalted himself in pride and thus chose his own glory instead
of God's - to be a god instead of having a God! Self righteousness is a
spurious coin that is not accepted at the counter of heaven's bank because
it did not come from the royal mint!
Anything that puts honor on flesh MUST be wrong - anything that puts honor
on God basically MUST be right! What is the government's attitude to a man
who says "Me? Oh, yes I am a rich man! Money? Fivers? I've thousands of them
- I make my own - here - catch - have a bundle!"
This man is a danger to the structure of our society - he is a forger - his
money is counterfeit and he must be put in prison! He that climbeth up SOME
OTHER WAY the same is a thief and a robber! (Jn. 10:1) If you are not living
to the glory of God - if you are seeking your own glory you are robbing God
of His Glory! You are a thief and a robber! Every bank note must have the
official water mark on it and the name of the cashier appointed.
"This is He that came by water and blood even Jesus Christ" (1 Jn. 5:6).
There is no other name - no other way! I used to feel sorry for the man in
the New Testament who was turned out of the marriage feast because he had
not got a wedding garment on. I thought "poor man, he perhaps could not
afford to buy one!" It seems a bit hard on him - and then someone pointed
out to me that in the east the wedding garment is provided by the host
consequently there was no greater insult to the host than not to accept his
provision. Do you get the point? The word of God declares "With the heart
man believeth" Roms. 10:10. So then, the function of man's heart is to
believe! The function of my ear is to hear, the function of my eye is to
see! This unseen action or function of the heart is either to bow to God or
else in pride and defiance to lift up against God.
This goes on all the time in every man like the function of breathing from
the lungs or the physical function of the heart in pumping blood as it beats
- at each beat expelling four ounces of blood. The heart is a ceaseless
organ, day and night, and pumps in a day the equivalent of 200 (two hundred)
tons one foot high! Wondrous as the physical accomplishments of the heart
might be, how much more the SPIRITUAL effect in the course of a life-time -
every moment I am either bowing or rising - bowing and glorifying God - or
rising and glorifying myself! So then finality is GLORY - either man's or
God's. The Lord Jesus declared "THINE IS THE GLORY!" to His Father! I cannot
see a sunset, a foggy morning, a roast beef dinner, a sink full of dirty
dishes, or a pretty girl without some sort of reaction from within; I may
see God in His creation, provision and grace and glorify Him as I bow and
give thanks. I may be challenged by a situation that calls upon me to bow to
the infinite wisdom that permits what the almighty power could prevent! I
come against a situation that I would never choose if I ordered my own life.
If I see God I bow - if I don't rise - this is going on every day - nay
every moment in every life! This is going on in YOUR life! Blessed are the
pure in heart for they shall SEE GOD!
Now then, upon every judgment that I pronounce - every function of my heart
wherein I bow or rise God puts His seal or witness either pleasure or
displeasure - "Let the Peace of God rule in your heart!" (Col. 3:15). There
is purpose in the Peace! It is not just nice feelings to be enjoyed but a
direct indication of the mind of God on my judgments - it is an umpire that
tells me when I am out - a referee, a thermometer that operates inside me
for the Glory of God. By pain or pleasure, God expresses in me an
independent witness that tells me when I am out and when I am in - when I am
bowing or when I am rising. The four and twenty elders and the four beasts
fell down (bowed) and worshipped God ... saying Amen and Alleluia (Rev.
19:4). This constitutes the whole of life! If I meet and see God in my
circumstances two words suffice - AMEN - ALLELUIA! This is where Jesus lives
- "I and My Father are One!" So strangely enough the fall of man is actually
the rise - where I refuse to bow! This breaks communion - God resists the
proud and EVERYONE that exalts himself shall be abased! Monotony, boredom,
frustration, irritation, fear, depression, gloom, anger, envy, worry,
hatred, etc., etc., are all very much feelings in me expressing the
resistance of God - a sign of His disapproval against judgments that my
heart has "PASSED" on the dealings of God with me! My heart has risen up
AGAINST GOD!! In the same way there is a corresponding peace or joy which
tells me when I am "IN" with God! So then every moment of my life I know
whether I am "IN" or "OUT"' with God! Thou wilt keep him in perfect PEACE
whose mind is STAYED ON THEE (Is. 26:3).
What is that which harms thee if thou sayest amen,
Every grave a cradle of fresh bliss again,
Let not understanding look upon each grave,
Faith has better eyesight than all Nature gave.
Amen has within it, power as yet unknown,
Unfound faith is hiding long before its grown,
Amen has much sweetness while things are still sour,
Amen is the father of the gladsome hour.
Who withholds his Amen finds the source of pain,
'Tis a river flowing, pain and pain again,
Amen once repeated finds itself in glee,
Flowing, flowing, flowing through Eternity.
Amen is the finger opening to our sight,
Anthems loud and glorious made for darkest night,
Amen touches heartstrings, long at rest in sleep,
Making chords so wondrous rise from every deep.
H. Webster
Small wonder that the Name of Jesus is the AMEN!
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