Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

There is no glory where there is self. Just because a person is saved, it does not mean that they are not self-centred. Is not all the trouble in Christian work and all the trouble in the church from this one simple thing?

Turn to John 1:14 — here is the principle of selflessness. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth." He forsook all. He laid His glory aside — His rights, His position, His equality with God the Son. He laid it all aside. And John notes, almost in passing: there was no selfishness in the Son. We beheld His glory — not of man, but glory as of the only begotten of the Father.

Now if you turn to II Corinthians 4:6, we read the same truth put another way. Where are you going to see glory, dear child of God? Not in the devil. Not in this world. Where must you look? You must look into the face of Jesus Christ.

Vessels of Mercy Prepared Unto Glory

Now, having got that clear, let us start another little path. We go back to Romans 9:23, listen to this, "… and that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He afore prepared unto glory." Isn't that wonderful? Vessels of mercy. Are you a vessel of mercy? Well, dear child of God, if you do not know that you are a vessel of mercy now, the longer you live and the nearer you get to God, the more you will know that you are a vessel of mercy. In other words, it was the mercy of God that created the vessel. You are a vessel of mercy; you do not deserve this mercy. We have given God every single right to forsake us, but you and I are vessels of mercy. Why are we these vessels of mercy? God does not just show His mercy to us in a condescending way, as if He is going to say, "Now, I want you all forever after to be crawling around on the floor, grovelling at My feet sort of saying, 'Oh, oh be merciful to us miserable sinners!'" But listen to it, "… that He might make known the riches of His glory, upon vessels of mercy afore prepared unto glory."

When God made you a vessel of mercy, when He took hold of you, the whole idea was glory. Glory. What is glory? Glory is that God should commit Himself to you, not just for a touch, not just for a visit, but as His home. So, when you go on from Romans 9:23, we turn over to a very well-known scripture in Colossians 1:27. Listen to this "… to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Is Christ in you? If He is in you, there is a hope of glory. There is the certain hope of glory.

The Price of Transformation

Do not think that God, who is the Master Craftsman, the Master Workman, will give you too much rope. Do not think He will let you enjoy things in such a way that you are not prepared for the chiselling, the facing work, the breaking work — the work He must do to make vessels of mercy prepared.

You know, we have got this self-instinct so deeply inwrought into our very being that it is the hardest thing in the world for it to be touched. We would be happy to have anything else touched, even our money, anything. Yet, it is true, we would be prepared to give money rather than to have that self-life touched. You know the extraordinary thing, even grown-up Christians, more adult Christians (I do not mean physically, but spiritually) oh, what a fear there is about that self. Do you know, dear child of God, many of our fears about the work of the Holy Spirit are wholly over this? We are so afraid that once we really commit ourselves to the Lord in this way, He might start to tamper with us too much.

You see, the Lord is a very good psychologist in this way. He does not say, "Now, then, you do it or else." He says, "Alright, if you don't want your self-life touched — I have saved you. Enjoy yourself." Of course, you go away and you do not enjoy yourself — and that, if you think about it, is the mark of a good psychologist. You do not enjoy anything. You go into a deep sulk: "You know, it is all so hard." You blame everyone, blame Him, blame everything. But the Lord says quietly, "You don't want your self-life touched — all right."

You and I have to be prepared for the price — there is no way around it. Take your Bible and read it in the light of what has been said and you will find it is true: if we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him. There is an "if." So if you and I are prepared for the way, once we commit ourselves to the Lord we do go through dark times, and we do go a strange way — but the end is glory. Never forget that. Christ in you, the hope of glory.