Buena Park Conference: 1973, Law and Grace (31:18)
Address—G.H. Hayhoe
Pardon me, The 31St chapter of Exodus. Exodus Chapter. 31. And verse 18. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, 2 tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with a finger of God. Then shall we turn over to Deuteronomy and the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy? And the first verse. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments, which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Now shall we turn over to 2nd Corinthians? 2nd Corinthians, chapter 2. And verse 18. But as God is true, our words, pardon me, chapter 1 and verse 18, but as God is true, our word towards you was not, Yeah. And nay, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Sylvanus and Timotheus was not, Yeah. And nay, but in him was yeah, for all the promises of God in him are yeah. And in him Amen unto the glory of God. God by us now He who establishes us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth, not for that we have dominion over your face, but our helpers of your joy for by faith. Ye stand. Now the third chapter in the first verse, do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? Here our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. For as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the 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 fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to Godward, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament? Not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kill us, but the Spirit give us life. But if the ministration of death, written, and in brave and in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? Now we pass on. The 17th verse. Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, but we all with open face beholding us in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Dear friends. We are all enjoying what we had in the three days of meetings together, a great deal about fruit bearing, producing that fruit that is pleasing to the Lord Jesus, pleasing to God our Father, who is the husbandman. And I was just thinking of the contrast between law and grace. I was thinking of how too God sits before us in this way, how there can be that fruit not only in our lives individually. But in our lives collectively, as a testimony. Gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a privilege it is that we can be a testimony in this way here in this world. And the reason I read these verses in Exodus and in Deuteronomy is because we have the law brought before us there. God gave those 10 commandments to Moses and they were written by the finger of God. They were written on tables of stone. They were God requirements for man in the flesh. And it tells us in this 28th chapter of Deuteronomy that if it were possible for Israel to fulfill these requirements, that they would be set on high above all the nations of the earth, and great blessing would be upon them.
There was a place of responsibility for them. But why was the law written on tables of stone? Well, I believe the written it was written on tables of stone because that's a picture of what the natural heart is. There's no response in stone. You can take a chisel and cut something out in stone, but there will be no response in the stone. It'll be cut out. It'll be able you can read what's there. But I say again, there is no response within the. The stone, it's hard, and that's really what the heart of man is. In fact, when God brings Israel into blessing, as He will in a future day, it tells us that He will take away the Stony heart out of their flesh, and He'll give them a heart of flesh now. That is, they'll no longer have hearts that don't respond to His desires for them. And if there's anyone here tonight who is unsaved, if we were to bring before you God's requirements, it would be like asking you to do something that you have neither the power nor the desire to. How could a person who is yet in his sins, how could a person who has not been born again, love the Lord with all his heart? Why, dear friends, we love him because he first loved us, but that's what the law required. And how could a person who's naturally selfish for all our hearts are like that, love his neighbor as himself? We all know how that more or less that self is what the natural man lives for. In our unconverted days that the way we live, and since we have been saved only in the measure in which the old man is put in the place of death, can we actually live to please God, because the characteristic of this whole world is living for self. In fact, when God speaks about not being conformed to this world in the 12TH chapter of Romans, He brings before us first of all not to think of ourselves. More highly than we ought to think. What is conformity to this world? Well, it's just having a very good opinion of yourself. The whole world operates on that principle, Having a good opinion of yourself. But when we're changed from conformity to the world to conformity to Christ, why then we don't have a very good opinion of ourselves, but we have a very wonderful opinion of the Lord Jesus, and it's our desire then, now that not self would be seen. But as the apostle said, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Now that is, instead of self being set forward, Christ is the one who is set forward. How beautifully the apostle Paul did this, because when the Saints spoke against him and said that, his bodily presence was weak and his speech contemptible. When he turned them away from himself, he didn't want them to be occupied with him. He desired that they would learn of Christ, they would be occupied with him. And that as we have in that epistle, that portion that we read in Corinthians, Christ would be the the one who would be seen in their lives. And so I say again that under the law it was written on tables of stone, a picture of the human heart, and if fulfilled, it would set. The nation of Israel up on high, it would make them to be a testimony in the earth of a people who had such wonderful laws, such wonderful instructions, and carried them out. But what was the result of why there was a curse for disobedience and there was a blessing for obedience. There was a yeah, and there was a nay. And what happened? Well, instead of getting the blessing, they earned the curses. And so the result was that that. Nation was driven out from their land. They were made they were made a hiss and a byword among the nations because their possession of the land was a conditional 1 and they didn't live up to God's requirements. But now they want to bring out. In contrast, what God has done in Christianity. He hasn't pounded out upon tables of stone what he requires us to do. But isn't it wonderful he has given to the. Believer a new life, and now he is writing Christ upon our heart in contrast to the tables of stone.
In which Israel failed and they were only a sample of man in the flesh. Instead, He has now given to you and IA new life, a life that delights in pleasing him. That's the force, I believe of that verse in the end of the 12TH chapter of John, it says, and I know that his commandment is life everlasting. That is, God has given us a life, the delight in pleasing him. Everything that he wants us to do. The new life that he has given us delights in doing. And that's why he says in that passage, shall we turn to it again now in Second Corinthians chapter 1? And the 18th verse. But as God is true, our words towards you was not. Yeah, and nay. And that is there was. If we had read the chapters before the 28th of Deuteronomy, we would have seen the blessings and the curses. There was a yay and there was a nay. But he said it's not so in Christianity. It's not. Yeah. And nay, because all blessing depends upon what Christ has done. That blessed and glorious work that he accomplished on the cross of Calvary has so fully met the claims of a holy God that everyone in this room who has put his or her trust in the Lord Jesus is perfectly assured of all that God has in his heart for every believer blessed with all. Spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. There are many who would make these conditional, even to the point of thinking they might be lost again. But Paul said that wasn't our preaching. He said our preaching was not. Yeah. And they. Because all the promises of God in him are. Yeah. And in him. Amen to the glory of God. Because God has been so perfectly glorified in the work of his beloved Son. He has been so perfectly glorified about the whole sin question. And at the moment you put your trust in the Lord Jesus, why, all that comes as a result of that work is yours and yours forever. Oh, how blessed it is to know this. And so that the position of those under law was conditional. But in Christianity, I repeat, it's not. Yeah. And may all the promises of God in him are. Yeah. And then to give assurance to this. It mentions here. As that in the 21St verse. Now he which establishes us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God. Isn't this lovely? It tells us in Revelation chapter one, that we have been made kings and priests unto God and his Father. When the king was chosen for a position, he was anointed. The Spirit of God comes and indwells the believer, and he is the power for testimony. He is the the power or the. By which we can understand the precious things of Christ. For it says, What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him. Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit which is of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. So when you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you're anointed. And then more, it says. You're sealed who hath also sealed us. Isn't this beautiful too? You know if you buy a piece of property, why when that document is completed, there's a seal put on it and that makes it official and God wants you and I to know that we belong to Christ and that we have as it were the very title deed to this assurance. And just as you pull out of your strong box that that title deed and you say, well there it is. That's the proof the property is mine. There's. Upon it the official seal. And isn't it lovely to know that the Spirit of God is the seal for the believer to have this assurance that he belongs to Christ, where his and his forever little hymn says, I am his, and he is mine, forever and forever. And then it says, He has given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. You know, we have the salvation of our souls, but there is something that we're waiting for. We're waiting for the salvation of our bodies. We haven't yet received that. It says in Romans chapter 8 that we wait for the redemption to we wait for the the adoption to whip the redemption of our body. That's what we're waiting for. We have, I say again, the salvation of our souls, but what assurance has God?
Man, that He is going to complete that work. He saved our souls, He put the seal upon us, but He's also given the earnest, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory. And to know, brethren, I really enjoyed what is brought before us here, the earnest of the Spirit. And I have thought of it like this, when a person is going to buy a piece of property. Why he puts down a certain. Amount of money, which is called the earnest money, at least that's what it's called in Canada, and that's the assurance that he is going to carry through the deal and that money is the proof that he intends to be sincere and carry through this deal. Well, let us suppose that there was a piece of property that was worth $20,000 and a man comes to purchase this piece of property and the agent asked him to place some money on it as an earnest well. Man writes out a check for $50,000 and he said, why? What did you do that for the the property's only worth $20,000? Well, he said, I really want to have that property and I'm willing to put $50,000 down to be sure that that property is mine. So he writes out this check and he gives it to them. The earnest is greater than the value of the property itself. Oh, isn't this lovely, brethren? What has God done poor, worthless things like we are. And what did he give for the earner? What was the proof that he was going to finish what he had begun? He gave the earnest of the Spirit. Think of the Spirit of God, one of the Persons of the Trinity, who indwells the body of the believer, as though God would give you the grandest and greatest pledge that was possible, that He's going to complete what he has begun. Can't you see the marvelous contrast? Here was the law written on tables of stone. The fulfillment of which would have lifted them up on high. All the nations of the earth, but it showed God's requirements and man couldn't fulfill them. But what is the position of the church as a testimony here in the world? Not to show a people that were able to fulfill God's requirements, but to show a people that had received that blessing, that was in the heart of God, that are walking in this world in the enjoyment of it, and that are a testimony in this world to that blessed and glorious fact that they belong? Christ, oh what a contrast this is. And I believe, brethren, this is what is brought out to us in what is set before us in the 3rd chapter. And I just like to speak a little of this and the consequent result of it as a fruit in our lives. So notice here in the 3rd chapter. Do we begin again to commend ourselves, or need we as some others? Epistles of commendation to you are letters of commendation from you. Well, we know the. Custom that when a person goes to a place where he's not known why, it's the wisdom of God that he should carry a letter of commendation. Now this letter makes it known that he is in happy fellowship where he is, so that he might be received in another place. Well, isn't it a marvelous thing that believers are spoken of in that way, as a letter of commendation in this world? For Christ. Now that is just as that person who carries the letter of commendation is commended to the place where he goes, so the Lord Jesus has gone up on high. But He has left down here in this world of those who would be a testimony as to what He has done for us, what a place He has put us in. And so that letter is written with ink. But what has God done in order that you and I might be attention? For him here in this world, well, He has written not on a table of stone, but he has written Christ upon our heart. And everyone in this room who has really received the Lord Jesus as your Savior, isn't this a lovely thing that God has written Christ upon your heart. Now that is, you really belong to him. You know in baptism it says as many of you as were baptized unto Christ have put on Christ. Now that is, in baptism the name of Christ is placed upon a person. Now that is an outward thing. It isn't really. The salvation of his soul, because a person might be baptized and not be saved at all. But I say it's an outward thing by which the name of Christ is placed upon him. But what is it that makes him really a child of God? Why, the Spirit of God gives to him a new life, and then the Spirit of God comes in and indwells his body. And the work of the Spirit of God is to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts. It's.
Christ upon our hearts to make him precious to us, so that as we read in our chapter in the meetings in the 15th of John, he shall testify of me. Yes, the blessed Holy Spirit of God delights to bring Christ before us. He has won our hearts. He has put away our sins and his precious blood. But just like the Israelites, He was not only safe under the blood that was sprinkled on the lentil and the two side posts, but inside the home there was a feast. He was inside the home feeding upon the roast lamb. And God not only wants us to know that we're secure in Christ. Are we going to stop at the knives that we're secure in Christ? Oh, how important. He's writing Christ upon our heart. He wants us to enjoy in our in most souls. Now what He has done for us so that our very faces would reflect something of the fact that we have found a satisfying portion. The heart in the Bible is a figure of the seed of the affections. And so when one is saved, his heart is 1 for Christ. And that's why it speaks about Christ being written upon the heart. And I say again now this is true of every believer and I believe. We could also say that here in this epistle he is looking at it more in a collective sense, because he talks in the first verse about letters of commendation in the plural and epistles of commendation. But notice when he comes to the second verse, it's in the singular. Ye are our epistles, written in our hearts, known and read of all men. I call attention to that because there is an individual side to it, but there's also a collective side, and God's assembly is to be the pillar and ground of the truth. We are responsible to maintain the truth of God, but we're also responsible collectively to display the character of Christ to the world just as that letter. Affirms and assures the character of the person who carries it, God says. The church here in this world, an assembly gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is to be a commendation to the world of what Christ really means to us. Or isn't this something for us to think about? And it doesn't say that we should be that. It says we are that that someone has put it in these lines. We are the only Bible that careless world will read. Yes, they may not read their Bibles, but I tell you, they watch us. And I don't only watch us individually, but they watch us collectively. They knew, they know that they're a group of Christians who may hear, who are gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what do they expect they expect to see in this assembly? An epistle of Christ. An epistle of Christ. Isn't this something for us to think about? Oh, we might say, well, we seek to stand for the truth of God. Thank God for that. That's most important. We're told about this in. In Timothy, where it says that the Church of the living God is a pillar and ground of the truth. But here he's not talking so much about that side of things as rather the moral character that ought to display itself. And so he first sets before us that he are our epistle written in our hearts. And now there's the public side. Known and read of all men for as much. Ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ. That is. Whether we desire it or not, it is so because as soon as we mention the fact that we are gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, why the world has a right to expect that we would be a letter of commendation to them of the character of Christ, that they would see this in US. And so he said, we're manifestly declared to be this. And he said. Written not with ink. Now that is, we don't have a certain coat of rules. That are written that we're to live up to. But there is a certain character, and so the believer possessing the life of Christ has the capacity now to display that character before the world, even as it tells us in John's epistle. It says he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked.
God has set before us a perfect standard. It's true that we fail, and provision has been made for it, but one speaks rather of the position that we are to occupy here in this world. Now I might give you a letter, and perhaps the letter would be sadly blurred and you might find it hard to read. You might look at it and you say, well, something's happened to this letter. Did you drop it in the water or something? I can hardly make out the words, but the words are there. But something happened to blur them. And something can happen to us now that that blurs this true character that has been made known to us. God has reached down to us. And I say again, the law was to make known to man what God's demands were. But the church? Which is a living epistle to the world, is to make known to the world what God's grace has done for us. What He has done in picking us up and saving us, and that we possess a life now that is capable, ye desirous of pleasing Him. For it's not just us finding out well, this is what I ought to do, but it's finding out what is the will of our Father. And so He could say, and not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. Now that is when you write something upon flesh. Why there's a response? Just try to write something on your hand and you'll feel everything. Your heart, your your last response. So he says, writing Christ upon the fleshy tables of the heart. Such trust have we through Christ to Godward. I think this is a most beautiful expression. You know, there were things in the Corinthian assembly that grieved the heart of the apostle very much. You only have to read the First Epistle to see how many things there were that grieved his heart, and yet underneath all its display of the flesh that he had seen. He makes this remark. And such trust have we. Through Christ to Godward. Now, that is Paul had confidence that these were true believers and that they had a desire to please the Lord. And you know, this often gives me great joy in talking to the Saints of God. It gives me great joy in talking to young people because no matter how careless a group of people may be, no matter how worldly they may have become, I have the confidence. That knowing their true children of God, there is within them. A life upon which Christ is written and that it may be, as I say, just like that letter that has been dropped in the water and it may be blurred, but there it is. And Paul said, in spite of all those things that have grieved my heart, in spite of all those things that you've said, he said, I have confidence that underneath it all there is that that new life and that Christ has been written upon your heart. And he said, I want. Behind all this smudging and everything and see that Christ is really there. And isn't this a lovely saying? It's what gives us joy collectively as an assembly. Difficulties and trials come in among the Saints of God. Things where we display the flesh instead of the new man. But O brethren, if there would be with us 4 of this confidence that in everyone in the assembly if truly the Lord. There is Christ written upon their heart. There is a new life that desires to please him. There is the power of the Spirit of God and it tells us in John He give us not his spirit by measure. That is, He doesn't give more the Spirit of God to you than he gives to me. When the Spirit of God comes in, He's the full power. Now you know we may not use the power. You might have a car with a very powerful motor, and you come to a hill, and if you don't step on the gas, your car may still halfway up the hill and there's nothing the matter with the motor, but you just didn't use the power that was there. You just didn't use it. And you have the Spirit of God. God giveth not His Spirit by measure in our translations in the third of John, it says unto him. But in the new translation those two words unto him are left out. God giveth not His Spirit by measure. The Lord Jesus walked in this world and the power of the Spirit of God always doing his Father's will. And as I look into the faces of those who are here tonight. It gives joy to my heart that I can say with the apostles such trust have we through Christ to Godward that there is of that new life. There is that power. And if you and I will only allow the Spirit of God to do what he wants to do with us.
And there will be that response in our lives to his claims. There will be those renewed affections for him and for his people. I don't say there ought to be. I say there will be, because that power is there, that life is there, and that's why he speaks in this way. And he says, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament. Here we find the key of the dear servant of God. He said not that we're sufficient of ourselves. This letter that he wrote to the Corinthians was inspired by the Spirit of God. And don't we often feel when situations. Arise, how insufficient we are. We say, oh, I just don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. We're not sufficient of ourselves. We need dependence upon the Lord or we'll do the wrong thing. We'll say the wrong thing, and maybe we'll try to pound out something on a table of stone instead of writing on the fleshy tables of the heart. Because whenever someone speaks to that new man, there's a response. There's a response. And Paul said that I don't have any sufficiency in myself. We often have heard this expression. The flesh never corrects the flesh. And if you see the flesh in me and you try to correct it by the flesh, perhaps you get the flesh back about the Spirit. The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the spirit against the flesh. That is the Spirit of God is able, that gives us the energy and power to keep that old nature in the place of. So that the life of Jesus might be seen. And so, he said, we're not sufficient of ourselves. But God has made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the latter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kill us, but the Spirit and give us life. He's contrasting the law, which was the letter, and the Spirit, which is that which God has given to us. Now in Christianity. Now that is the law made certain demands. I say it was the letter of the law. It must be fulfilled. How about in Christianity? What God desires is that you and I would do. What we do with us out of love for the Lord Jesus now, it doesn't mean that He hasn't made His mind known to us in very many things. But perhaps some of you have heard a little expression my father used to make. He said if we did everything right, nothing would be right unless the motive was right. Supposing I could stand here and tell and to you, well, this is what you should do and you did it. It wouldn't have any value in the sight of God unless you did it out of love for the Lord Jesus. It wouldn't have any value, no, what God is seeking is that which is produced in your heart and mind by the Spirit of God, a heart responding to His claims and oh, how He delights in it. Someone said one time he was so concerned because he knew so little of the things of God, so little of the truth of God's words. And his brother, in replying to him, he said, oh, what concerns me is to carry out what I do know. I asked, brethren, isn't that true as that we might carry out what we do know, that our hearts would respond more readily, and perhaps you might say, well, are there some things I don't see just as you see them, a brother hayhole? Well, perhaps that's so, but what I'm seeking to do is not to minister the letter, but the spirit. Now that is, if there can be that desire produced in your heart to please the Lord. And if you can produce that desire in my heart to please the Lord, then he'll. Show us his mind, He'll show us his mind because He tells us. And if in anything he be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Paul said we don't all attain to the same place in our Christian life, but he said we can all have the same rule. And what is the rule of the Christian life? It's to have.
Christ as our object and His word is our God. Now God always leaves room for growth in the things of God. The object of all ministry is till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. And to the perfect man, it's growing up unto him in all things that's the object of ministry. But I say again, brethren, when I'm seeking to bring before you is not the letter, but the Spirit, because I'm confident of this. And that if we only have more desire to please the Lord and go on in the manifestation of the moral character of Christ, we'll get to see a lot of things that we haven't seen before, that there will be a lot of problems and difficulties that will soon be cleared up because the Spirit of Christ is manifested. Someone made this comment and I was very struck. He said the church was in its happiest state when it knew the least. When it knew the least, yes, on the day of Pentecost, it knew very little of those things that many of us know right now. It was in its happiest state. And why? All because they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Christ was everything to them, and they were all desirous to know His will. And so it tells us. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayer, walking up to the light they had. It says the multitude of the disciples were of 1 heart and one soul. How lovely this was. And that's what the apostle speaks out here. And now he goes on in the chapter and in the 18th, at the 17th verse he says, now the Lord is that spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty is really Speaking of what he has. I might say here that from the beginning of the seventh verse until the end of the 16th verse is really a parenthesis. You have a new translation. You'll notice this so that I'll just read the. Part of the sixth verse here, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. Now the 17th verse. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Now that is, the Lord is that Spirit. That is the Spirit of God always occupies us with Christ. The mind of the Spirit and the mind of the Lord are one and the same thing. And so he says, the Lord is that spirit that. Is he has given us this life and he has given us this new power, and he tells us where the spirit of the Lord is. There is liberty. You say, well, if I tried to please the Lord and everything, I think that would be a life of *******. No, says Paul. That would be liberty. That would be real liberty, because isn't it nice to please somebody? That seeks only your happiness, seeks only. Or good. It's not hard to please somebody who has those kind of thoughts towards you. And so where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty that is pleasing him is true liberty. The Lord Jesus said he shall know the truth and the truth shall make you slaves. No, the truth shall make you free, make you free. A little poem was found in Mr. Darby's Bible when he died. Free from myself. Lord Jesus, free from the thoughts of men, chains of thought that had bound me, never shall bind again, only thyself. Lord Jesus conquered this wayward will, but for thy love constraining I had been wayward still. All it can say to every young Christian and to all of us here in this room, true liberty is to please the Lord. It's bonded to do your own will. Find a person that's doing just what they please from morning till night and you won't find a happy person. You won't find a person that's at ease. But find one who has the desire to please the Lord and you'll find one who has found true liberty. True liberty never asked us to do anything until He gives us something better than what we already have and then gives us the power to do it. Oh, how wonderful. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And I might add too, this isn't only in our lives individually, but this is in God's assembly. There's liberty. Not liberty for the flesh, but liberty for the Spirit to lead us. And what for? Well, to occupy us with Christ. And you know, even the truth of it is much more simple when we look at it in this way. One of sometimes made a little comment like this, that you can make a simple test of any doctrine that is presented by just asking this does this exalt man or does it exalt Christ?
And you'll notice that false doctrine always brings in something for the exaltation of man. Bring in a man likes to bring in something in which the flesh can glory, and so he introduces into Christianity some of those things in which the the flesh can glory. But you can detect it once that it's wrong if it exalts man because God's done with the first man. Our old man is crucified with him. He's done with him. And what he is now doing is seeking to produce in us by the Spirit of God and through the new life that he has given to us, fruit for God. And it's liberty. And so even in the assembly, what liberty, what a privilege to be gathered in the liberty of the Spirit of God, where he's free to occupy our hearts with Christ, to point us to him. And I think this is important for us to remember in any part that we take in the assembly. It should always be. To exalt Christ, to honor him now, that's what God by his Spirit would have before us. He would occupy us with Him. And now He tells us the secret of it all. But we all with open faith or unveiled faith, beholding us in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Now that is. Now the Spirit of God occupies us with Christ, and as we are occupied with Him, we become like Him. We're changed into the same image, just as He has talked before in the chapter about Moses. Moses went up on the mount. When he received the. Instructions in connection with the sacrifices and the Tabernacle. He came down and his face was shining. But it says he wists not that the skin of his face was shining. Did he try to make it shine? Did he put something on to make it shine? Did he practice in front of the mirror to make his face shine? No, he didn't even know it was shining. Why? Well, he's been in the presence of the Lord and the revelation of his love and His grace. Reflected in his faith. It reflected, I say, in his faith. And now you say, well, I must try and be more Christ like. Oh, says the apostle, you just get your eyes upon the Lord and you won't have to do something about your faith. It'll show. It'll show. If you ever notice in that beautiful 42nd Psalm, the first Psalm in the second book of the Psalm, and there's a person and he's really cast down. He's really discouraged. Things seem almost. Insurmountable to him. And he says, Why art thou cast down on my soul? Why art thou disguided within me? Then he says, Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. He found help from his countenance, but as you read on through the Psalm and you come to the last verse, it's a little bit different. It's almost word for word, but he repeats it in a little different way. He says, Why art thou cast down on my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him who is the help of my countenance and my God. Notice in the fifth verse of that Psalm he talks about. The health of. His countenance, For when he comes to the last verse verse, he says, He's the health of my countenance. What had happened? well-being in the presence of the Lord. Lifted above the difficulties that were casting him down, something happened in his own countenance. And isn't this blessed are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. And I like this expression from glory. To glory, you know, sometimes we were older, we want to we want to make changes take place too quickly, but in this gracious on the part of God and speaking here, he says from glory to glory. We think perhaps some young person should just change overnight. But you know it says from glory to glory that is occupation with him. You see more and more conformity to him, just as it says about. Samson, his parents were watching him and the first thing that they noticed, it says the Spirit of God began to move him. The Spirit of God began to move him. What a joy that must have been to their hearts. And if we're looking for us, we'll see the Spirit of God begin to move and we'll be thankful. We may not see it all at once, but in occupation with him we're changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. So.
Chapter We have what we are in this world, where the epistle of Christ, we have the solemn fact that the world is watching and reading this epistle were known and read of all men. Oh, you say, but I'm afraid they see a pretty blurry example in me all that, says the apostle, Do you want me? You want the image to be what it should be, he says. Then you just turn and get occupied with Christ, and that image will be produced. You'll be changed into his image. Perhaps I could just go back here and call attention to a little point here that. It says in the. Uh, 4:15 First, for even unto this day when Moses is read, the veil is upon their hearts, nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now perhaps you've noticed here in the 13th verse of this chapter it speaks of the veil being over Moses faith. Now that is God was not fully revealed in the Old Testament. There was a partial revelation of God, but not a full 1. And so the veil was on Moses face. But now God has come out and fully revealed himself in Christ. And so God says about Israel, they're not in the same position. When Moses came down, the veils had to be put over his face, but he said not. So now the veil is upon their heart. The veil is upon their heart. There's no veil. On the face of him, because he has died, he has risen, he has glorified God, He has told out the heart of God in all its fullness. And if there's any veil on your heart, and if there's any veil on your heart and mind, it's not because it's on his face, it's on our hearts. What's the remedy, will you say? If I could just, I think I've got a lot of veils in my heart and I've got a lot of things covering up my affections that they don't respond. And it's a very simple answer. The Lord says, he says, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil should be taken away. Think of that marvelous moment when Israel will look into the face of him whom they pierced. And they realized that in spite of all that they did, that He loved them. And He's come to deliver them and bless them. And the veil be gone from their hearts at once. And you and I couldn't be occupied for 5 minutes with what the Lord Jesus has done for us. But we wouldn't find some veils getting lifted off our hearts. The veils are there because. We haven't turned to the Lord. We've looked at circumstances, we've looked at troubles, we've looked at people, we've looked at misfortunes and sorrows that have come in life. But when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now I just like to call attention before we close to a few little points as to this character displayed in the 5th chapter of of this Second Corinthians and the 14th verse. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all. That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. And we also turn over to the 8th chapter and the ninth verse. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. That he through his poverty, might be rich. Now the 10th chapter and the first verse. Now I, Paul myself, beseech you by the meekness. And gentleness of Christ. And now let's turn over to the 12TH chapter. And the ninth verse. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. The reason I've read these few verses because I mentioned at the beginning that I just like to say a little bit about the fruit of the Spirit and how it can be manifested in our lives. And after the Spirit of God through the apostle has occupied us with Christ, then he brings before us some of this precious fruit, love, grace, meekness, gentleness, and resultant power. And I think this is very lovely, the way it's brought before us in this second epistle, because if we are occupied with Christ as it's precious fruit, then we'll be seen.
And just as we remarked in the beginning. The assembly is to be the epistle of Christ. And what ought the world to see? Well, they ought to see a people who are constrained to live for Christ because he loves them, who aren't doing things. I remember in the office where I worked, there was something came up and one of the girls said to me, does your church say that you can't do that? And I said, well, it's not that. I love the Lord Jesus and I want to please him. Well then, all that's the way the world looks at things. They they have certain rules, you know, they have the letter. But in this lovely the love of Christ constraineth us, that we should not live unto ourselves, but unto him. Yes, it doesn't say the love of Christ should constrain us. If I had a magnet here and I had some nails, I wouldn't say the magnet should pick up the nails. I'd say the magnet does pick up the nails. And So what does the love of Christ enjoyed in the soul do with us? Why? It just has the effect of drawing us after the magnet. That is, I bring the magnet down and those nails don't go where they want to go. They go where the magnet takes them. They're constrained. They're pulled along by that magnet. They might be rusted, but if they're the right kind of material, they might have shining brass ones, and they wouldn't be attracted at all to the magnet. But as long as they're steel, they may be dirty, they may be greasy, they may be rusty. But as soon as you bring the magnet, something happens. They begin to move and they begin to follow the magnet. And so you see love constrained. And wouldn't it be nice if as the world looked on us, they say, well, there's a people that really enjoy the love of Christ and it seems to affect their life. It seems to make a new power and motive in their lives. The love of Christ constraineth us. Well, what are the rules of the group? Well, I don't think they have any rules. But they just say they want to please the Lord. They just want to please the Lord. Oh, isn't this beautiful? If we want to please the Lord, if His love captivates our hearts, why we're constrained not to live unto ourselves, but unto Him. And then we come to the next one in the eighth chapter. And the ninth verse. For you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that she through his poverty might be rich. What is grace? Well, it's the undeserved favor of God. And we didn't deserve his goodness at all. And this is the way we are to act with one another. You say, well, the way that person acted, I, I don't feel like showing very much kindness to him. Well, what? How had we acted? Oh, we had gone on in our sins, we had lived in our sins, we had gone on with hearts that had no response to all his love and all his grace. But he became poor. He came down to this world. He said, show me a penny. He was born in a Manger. He took the lowest place among men. And why? To make us Wretch. To make us rich. Want to be grand? If we show this character, always say the person didn't deserve us. Well, it's not a question of that. I didn't deserve anything either. Nothing but judgment if you talk about deserving something. But how does the Lord act to me? Well, he became poor, that I might be unspeakably rich. The unsearchable riches of Christ. That's another one of the characters, one of the graces, one of the fruits of the Spirit that ought to be seen in US. And so here we have. We have love, we have grace, the way we deal with one another. Are to be seen by others. Now that we the world says, well, he treated me unkindly, I'll treat him the same. Well, they ought to see something different in us. They ought to see those who are willing to make sacrifices because we love one another, not because the person deserves it, but because we want to show the character of Christ. He's been written on our hearts and we're bearing a testimony which the world is watching. Do they see the grace of Christ? And then we come to this 10th chapter, and here was Paul writing to these people, and they had said that his bodily presence was weak and his speech contemptible. How would you feel if somebody said that about you?
Well, I just hate to look at that person. He really is A and it just makes me upset to look at him. And when you hear him talk, it's just contemptible to hear him talk. Would you feel pretty friendly and kind toward that person? Here's the way Paul acted. He he wrote to them and he says, I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. All that precious Savior who said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. Think of all the things that were said about Him. And yet He died for the very one that spoke against him. He died for the very disciples that forsook him and fled. He ever returned a good for man's evil, and then gentleness. The world says, oh, but you have to stand up for your rights about the Christians. Is to display this other character gentleness. We see it disappearing pretty much in the world today. People are becoming more and more violent in standing up for what they want about the Christian is to manifest the Spirit of Christ. And so I say again that through this epistle, the apostle, after bringing before them the character of the assembly in the world, after bringing before them the possibility that this was. This could be done by occupation with Christ. Then he unfolds. That's the love of Christ, the grace of Christ, the meekness. And the gentleman. And then it comes to this last chapter, this 12TH chapter where we read rather, and the ninth verse. And now here's something that isn't included in the fruit of the Spirit as spoken of in Galatians 5. It's power. It's power. Oh, how often we mourn that there isn't power. Difficulties come up and we say there's no power to deal with this, there's no power to deal with that. But here, I believe, is the result. If you and I, individually and collectively, are walking in the enjoyment of Christ and in a manner displaying that character before our brethren and before the world, there'll be power to meet the situation. There'll be power. And so. Paul said here that the Lord said to him, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. The little assembly of Philippi, God says about them, they had a little strength, but they kept His word and didn't deny His name. And what it is that gives spiritual power is to be walking in communion with the Lord and in a practical way manifesting the fruit of. Earth, or how many the difficulties and problems would be cleared up if each one of us had this desire then as an assembly going on together. We were seeking to walk in the good and enjoyment of it, conscious that there is a testimony being born publicly to this world, just as I say again, as the law and the nation of Israel became a public testimony of God's requirements. And the church is to be a public testimony in this world. Of the wonderful love of God displayed upon poor sinners like you and I, and picking us up and bringing us into such a place, and manifesting in US the life of Jesus, making us epistles of Christ. And so they would see a power, an ability to meet the difficulties of life. The world is unable to meet the new situations that are constantly arising. Use delinquency crime. Breaking up of homes and men who are in positions of power say, what can you do? What can you do? Everything that's become so slack, we don't know how to handle these new situations that arise in our nation, that arise in the world. But here there's a display of power where in those who are the epistle of Christ in the world, who show now that there is a way in this world, a pathway through it. Where Christ is manifested, see it in the pathway of the Lord Jesus, all that blessed one in his whole pathway, manifesting the character of God his Father, and always superior to every situation. May God grant that there may be in that practical sense in your life of mine, more of the manifestation of that. I say again, brethren, we are the epistle of Christ. But maybe it's blurred. But the cure is to turn.
Upon Jesus look full in his wonderful faith, and I believe if we do, there will be more of the manifestation of these beautiful characteristics and there will be power to meet the situation of this confused age and of this difficult age, whether it's in our home life or a business life or assembly life. He says My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.