And in His Temple Everyone Says: Glory!
1. In the temple, the Glory of the Lord is seen in the blood of the sacrifice, the forgiveness of sins, and the presence of the Lord in the Holy of Holies (Lev. 9:23; 2 Chron. 7:1).
2. In the temple, the Glory of the Lord's presence is only seen through the blood of the sacrifice (Lev. 16:2-3).
3. In the temple, the Glory of the Lord is seen in the High Priest bearing the names of God's people over his heart when he goes into the holy place of the Lord's presence (Exodus 28:29).
4. The glory of the names of God's people carried over the heart of the High Priest is only brought into the glory of the Lord's Presence through the glory of the blood shed for the glorious forgiveness of sins (Lev. 16:15-16).
5. Therefore, the glory of the Lord in the temple of the Lord cannot be seen apart from the sacrificial blood.
6. The church is now God's temple (Ephesians 2:20-22).
7. Therefore, the glory of the Lord will only be seen in the Church through the blood of the Lamb. No blood, no glory.
8. There is no way into the glory of the presence of the Lord without the blood of the cross.
9. There is no way to know the loving care of Christ, our Great High Priest, carrying our names upon His heart in the presence of the Father, apart from His shed blood for the forgiveness of our sins.
10. It is in His death in our place on the cross that Jesus was lifted up and glorified (John 3:14-15; 12:23-33), and so the atoning death of Christ on the cross is the great revelation of the glory of the Lord.
11. Thus, in the church, the glory of God's presence, and the glory of Christ's loving care, cannot be found in any other place than where we find the glory of the forgiveness of sins: in the glory of Christ, and Him Crucified.
12. Therefore, any attempt to find the glory of God's presence that moves beyond or away from the blood of the cross is a search after false glory, which is no glory at all (no matter how glorious it may appear). "For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14).
Short Version: If you want to know the glory of the Lord, then look to the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. No blood, no glory.
Or, as Samuel Rutherford put it:
The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel's land.