‘For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them… “I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the only God? ” [John 5: 18 – 19, 41 – 44]
Often when we pray we ask the Lord to bless our endeavour, or
our ministry, or our service, that God may be glorified in it. I am not saying
that such a prayer is not worthy because I am sure our God understands our
intent for He sees our heart. However, here Jesus, speaking to Pharisees who
prided themselves in their ‘service’, says that He does not receive glory from
men so, in light of that, our prayer, perhaps, misses the mark. I have been
contemplating this for two or three days because I have many times prayed that
prayer.
For months now I have been meditating on glory. If you have
followed my ramblings then you will know that. In Mark 4: 35 - 41 Jesus
suggests to the disciples that they go over to the other side and they invite
Jesus into their boat to cross over. A storm rises up and Jesus sleeps; they
awaken Him and He calms the storm and they fear greatly. In Luke 17: 11 – 19 ten
lepers are cleansed but one returns to give glory to God and is made whole. What
is God’s glory? What was it that compelled the cleansed leper to return to give
glory? Why did he do so? The Holy Spirit’s answer was simple, “Because He saw
the glory of God.” But, what is His glory? What did the leper see?
I have shared this before. In the boat, in the storm, Jesus
slept. How was it that He could sleep in the middle of a raging storm? The Holy
Spirit gave the answer, “Because His head rested on the cushion.” What was the
cushion? It was His Father’s love for Him. The Holy Spirit then said to me, “You,
too, can rest your head there.”
Is His glory His love? This was my question. He then brings
me to the scripture I have quoted above. Jesus said, ‘I do not receive glory
from men.’ Wow! And we all thought that our effort on behalf of the kingdom was
the thing that brought Him glory! But, not so. I contemplated this. The fact is
He has inestimable glory, how can my feeble endeavours add anything to it? So
how can I give Him glory? By seeing and receiving His glory. But what is it? And
then came His confirmation; He said to the Jews, ‘…but I know you, that you do
not have the love of God in yourselves.’ His glory is His love.
Our God has glory that we cannot comprehend. At best we can
scratch its surface to release just an aroma of its wonder, like scratching the
surface of a tree to release the beautiful perfume. Walk into the bush and take
a breath; you will know what I mean.
What does God desire of me? How does He want to be glorified
in me? Oh, yes He loves our response to Him in ministry but is it this that
brings Him glory? No, I don’t think so. So, then, how does He want us to bring
Him glory? Jesus tells us, ‘I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive
Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe,
when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is
from the only God?’ We receive glory from one another willingly but we do not
seek the glory that is from the only God. We fail to see and fail to pursue and
fail to receive the fullness of the glory that is expressed in the coming of
Jesus, who came in the Father’s name. It is important that I see that it is in
the Father’s name that He came, not in God’s name. Why is this important? It is
essentially important because the introduction of God as Father is the
realisation of the absolute truth that ‘God is love.’
Mary, of Bethany, is recorded at the feet of Jesus three
times in scripture. Once in Luke 10: 39 as she ‘was listening to the Lord’s
word, seated at His feet’; once in John 11: 32 as she ‘fell at His feet’ to
receive His love and consolation, and the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus,
Mary’s brother; and finally in John 12: 1 – 8 when Mary ‘took a pound of very
costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet
with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.’
Mary was criticised for her anointing and it was said that the perfume could
have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor but the one who said this
failed to smell the perfume of the anointed One, as the perfume filled the
whole house. It makes me laugh that we bother ourselves with the gathering of the
cost of a pound of pure nard, costly though it undoubtedly was, but miss the
fact, and miss the aroma, of the One who is seated there – who is this One? He
is the declaration of the love of God. He is ‘God is love’ in the flesh. He is
fullness, He is the riches of God, He is God manifest in flesh.
Let me ask a question? Do you want fullness of God? Can I answer
for myself? There is nothing I want more. I want fullness of God. Fullness of
God is His glory. I want His glory!
How am I filled up to all the fullness of God? The answer; by
being rooted and grounded in love…by comprehending what is the breadth and
length and height and depth…of what?...to know the love of Christ which
surpasses knowledge. [Ephesians 3: 14 – 21]
I am in such a quandary at present. How do I attain? How do I
declare? What is there to say?
In John 6: 15 - 21 the disciples get into a boat and a storm
rises up. Jesus comes walking by on the water and they fear. When He says, “It
is I, do not be afraid” they invite Him into the boat and they are immediately
at the other side. They received Him into their boat! Think about it. They
received the expression of the Father’s love and they are immediately at the
other side. He didn’t calm the storm, they just arrived immediately.
Think about the Mark 4 story of the boat and the storm. Jesus
was in the boat and was sleeping in His Father’s love. The Holy Spirit says
that we can also rest our head there. Do you think they boat was going down
with Jesus in the boat? No way! Yes, when the disciples cried out to Him He was
gracious and calmed the storm but consider this; if they had all laid their
heads of the cushion they would have immediately arrived at the other side. We
ask the Lord to calm our storms constantly but what He most desires is for us
to lay our heads on the cushion of the Father’s bosom.
I’ve written enough. My only purpose in writing is because I
like to do it but also that it might lead you into your own place of revelation
because your God wants to show His glory to you also. Do you want fullness of
God? I sure do. I want to ‘know’ His glory, His fullness, His love – just a
scratch of the surface will do but the whole house filled with His aroma would
be better! And it comes with a great promise…
'…we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ [Romans 8: 37 – 39]
