Worship the Lord in the beauties
of holiness. Isn't it lovely how that psalm
links these two remarkable things together, the holiness of God
and the glory of God. You'll find in the scriptures
that they are linked together again and again and again. So why don't we turn to John's
gospel and let's read from verses, let's read from
verses 14 down to 18. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John
bear witness of him and cry saying, this is he of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness have
all we received grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at
any time, but the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared him. It is. It is. that in the scriptures, isn't
it, that salvation is knowing God. And you can't know something
that you haven't seen. And in John's gospel in this
opening section where John is laying these glorious foundations
of what he will go on to say, he's writing with a purpose,
isn't he? He's writing with a purpose that those that believe would
continue believing Those who have seen would continue to see. Our God is a God of love. Salvation, the big question in
salvation is who gets the glory? We're here to declare, as the
scriptures declare, that salvation is of the Lord. He gets all the
glory. He gets all the glory for creation.
He created man for his glory. The fall is for the glory of
God. Salvation is all about the display
of the of God. The gospel we proclaim
is the gospel of the glory of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is
called the Lord of glory. The Holy Spirit is called the
Spirit of God and of glory. Faith according to Romans 4,
the faith that Abraham had. Abraham was strong in faith and
he gave promised he was able to perform. Repentance is giving glory to
God. The glory of God and we know, we quote it often,
but it's a glorious, glorious description, isn't it? In 2 Corinthians
4 verse 5, for we preach not ourselves. We're not preaching
men. We're not preaching, we're preaching
him. But Christ Jesus, Lord, and ourselves,
your servants, for Jesus' sake. For his sake, it's all about
his glory. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. This is what
preaching is about, isn't it? That God might shine to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face no perceiving the glory of God
unless you perceive the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have this
treasure in earthen vessels. As I said earlier, the holiness
of God in the scriptures we read about
in Psalm 29. Isaiah, in that passage that
we are so familiar with, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne
high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. This was the
Lord Jesus Christ. The seraphim cried out, holy,
holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. They declare His holiness and
the next words they say, and the whole earth is full of His
glory. See the problem is not the glory
of God, the problem for us is being able to see it. If the
whole earth is full of His glory, then surely when we look around
this earth there is reason for us to say, When events happen, we can say
a glorious God has made this to happen. A glorious God brought
Ben here. A glorious God caused Ben and
Daisy to meet. A glorious God has preserved
them. A glorious God has brought them to this place where they've
made this commitment to each other. in this world, whatever concerns
you in this world, you must say the glory of God in it. So when you finish your conversations
and you've been concerned about what's happening and all the
machinations of sinful men and schemes of men, at the end of
the conversation, you've got to be able to say, God, a glorious
God has done this. A glorious God has done this
for His glory. And if you can't say that, you
haven't been very helpful to your brothers and sisters. We
come, we come as a church into the very presence of God. That's what we claim. That's
our desire, isn't it? That we come into the presence
of God. We claim to own the fact that
God has raised us up for his glory and that we're here to
meet for his glory. And to meet with him is to meet
with him in the due order. I do quote Leviticus chapter
10 very often because it speaks of people coming into the presence
of God. You might recall Nadab and Abihu. They were the sons of Levi, and
if you read the preceding chapters, you'll see the extraordinary
things, not only what they witnessed in Egypt and what they witnessed
at the Red Sea, but what they witnessed in terms of their consecration
as priests for God, to take the census in and to worship God And yet, at the very next act,
after this consecration, after the fire from God falls on the
sacrifice, as it did on the Lord Jesus Christ who consumed us,
the burnt offering on the sacrifice. And then the very next word is
and. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of
Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein. Which is what they were supposed
to do. They were to take censers and put incense in and go into
that holy place. They offered strange fire before
the Lord, which he commanded them not. They didn't get fire
for their senses from the altar of sacrifice. They went into
the presence of God without the blood sacrifice and the offering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what these two priests
did. Having seen and witnessed all
these things, Verse 2 says, and there went out fire from the
Lord and devoured them. The Lord Jesus Christ did this.
Let's forget our notions of gentle Jesus, meek and mild. This is
the God of glory. There went out fire from the
Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And then,
verse 3 of Leviticus 10, then Moses And God is going to reveal himself
as holy. And before all the people, I
will be glorified. To come into the presence of
this holy God, we must, like Moses, hide ourselves and be
hidden by God in the cleft of a rock. affections holiness is the divine
adjective which means it defines all the nows isn't it God's love
is a holy love God's wrath is a holy wrath his sovereignty
is a holy sovereignty his grace is a holy grace his Angels cry out, holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God of hosts. And God's glory, which I'm hoping
the Lord might help us to see this morning, because the vessel
of clay is very evident when we come into the presence of
God and speak of these things. God's glory is the infinite beauty
of all of his attributes It's His majesty, it's His brightness,
it's the excellency of His being, it's the magnificence of Him. His glory shines. That's what happened on the Mount
of Transfiguration, wasn't it? It shone. His deity shone through
His humanity, and those three apostles happened to see Him. The light The light shineth. The light
shineth. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He set up his tabernacle among
us and we beheld his glory. We beheld his glory. We're going
to sing number 33. Thanks, Norm. I found. Tune my heart to sing
thy grace. every day He says, when I am lifted up,
I will draw you into myself. That's the prayer of all of God's
servants, isn't it? Have you beheld him? We beheld
his glory, says the blessed Holy Spirit, in testimony of what
John saw. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. See, to behold something is more
than just to glance at it. It means to look intently, with
examination, to scrutinize and contemplate with wonderment. The remarkable thing is that in the salvation of sinners,
through the eyes of faith, through the revelation of a new heart,
we here behold the Lord Jesus Christ the children of God here
behold the Lord Jesus Christ as well as and sometimes better
than the apostles who actually saw That's Paul's prayer, isn't it,
to the Ephesians? That the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened by God, a light has shone from God, that you
may know what is the hope of your calling, what is the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to
the working of his mighty power. isn't it? People often think
wouldn't it have been wonderful to go there? Wouldn't it have
been wonderful to walk the dusty streets of Israel? Wouldn't it
have been amazing to be there in Jerusalem and to see the miracles? Wouldn't it have just been wonderful
to be in a boat and have the waters calmed and still? Wouldn't
it have even been more amazing to have been a and hear God the Father speaking
and see Moses and Elijah and be a witness to their conversation. The reality is that the physical
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ was a distraction rather than
a help to salvation of those people who saw Him. Millions
saw Him. Only His, born again, through
the eyes of faith. It says, Peter says in 1 Peter
1 verse 17, for we received from God the Father honour and glory
when there came such a voice to him, the Lord Jesus Christ,
from the excellent glory. Heaven's a place of excellent
glory. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him, In the Holy Mount,
then he says this, these remarkable words from that one who was a
witness, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. We have
a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto you do well that you
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn, with as much revelation of who
he is as the people who saw him then. We have a like precious
faith. We beheld, we beheld him. I love what Matthew is caused
to write about that event that he wasn't a witness to. that
he says on that Mount of Transfiguration, this is what is to behold his
glory, isn't it? After that cloud has gone, after
Moses and Elijah have finished their work in testifying to the
Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified, of speaking of When they'd left, it says, when
they lifted up their eyes again, they saw no man save Jesus only. That's the purpose of raising
him up, isn't it? I want you to see no man save
Jesus only. I want you to see him I want you to see him, as John
declared, isn't it? Behold, you behold the Lamb of
God, who taketh away the sins of the world. To behold him, The great question between those
who have a true witness in their hearts of him and those who are
playing games with religion is simply this matter, isn't it?
Have they beheld him? Have they beheld him? Have they
been in his presence? Have they been captive Have they been taken captive? Have, in a sense, their eyes
been taken captive so they see Him and they've gazed upon Him? Countless multitudes only saw
Him superficially. God's children behold Him. Multitudes can speak about Him. God's children alone behold His
glory. We looked last week at the fact
that that word dwelt means to tabernacle. It was a temporary
dwelling. The tents also were the dwelling
places of those who go to war. Our Saviour came here to seek
and to save the lost and to do battle with the forces of evil
that stood opposed to us. is that it was, from the outside,
a very ordinary looking building. In fact, in those desert sands,
from probably a kilometer or so away, you would have hardly
noticed it was there. And compared to the magnificence
of Egypt, it would have seemed like a very, very small thing. And yet, one of the remarkable
things about the tabernacle is like the flesh of the Lord Jesus
Christ, it seemed very, very ordinary on the outside, and
all of the glory is on the inside. And who gets to go to the inside? The priests of God go to the
inside. And such is the privilege of
the children of God. is that they go into the Holy
of Holies. They're taken into the Holy of
Holies by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Our names written on
His breastplate. He takes us into that and we
see glory. We see glory in the Lord Jesus
Christ that the world never sees. All they see is fleshly things
about Him. Holy of Holies, the priests go
in on the basis of a blood sacrifice. The priests go into the very
presence of God and are not consumed like Nadab and Abiyu. The priests
go in and find their God delighting over them as much as he delights
over his dear and precious son. You see, if we go back in John's
gospel, we'll see what is necessary to behold him. In chapter one,
in verses one, two, and three, and four, we have a glorious
description of the Lord Jesus Christ as the word who is with
God. The word who is God, the word
is the same. The word who is the creator of
all things, the one who has life in himself, and that light is
the light of men. And here we have his activities
towards his people. You see, to be born of God, to
behold his glory, a light must shine. In the midst of all the other
lights in the world, this is a true light and it lights his
people. And this true light comes as
light does to illuminate and to sustain life. Verse 12 is a great description
of what he causes to happen in the hearts of his people, isn't
it? We receive him. Beholding Him that we've received,
beholding Him because He gave us power. It requires nothing
short of a new creation, the very power of God is involved
in the recreation, the new creation of a sinner, the resurrection,
the raising from death to life. To receive Him is to receive
His power, to have His power operated upon us. not of the will of flesh, not
of blood, not of the will of man, to be born of God. And those people see the word made
flesh and he dwells among us. There is a we that the children of God behold the
glory of God and how do they do it? Verse 16 says in his fullness
have we all received this comes as a gift from God we've all
received and it's a grace gift of God verse 17 at the end of
verse 17 grace and truth is came by Jesus Christ. We behold His glory. I want us to just quickly go
through some of the instances where this word is used in John's
Gospel and that we might see how this glory and this beholding
is the result of the Lord Jesus Christ. and dwelling and revealing
himself. You don't have to follow me all
the way through, but I'll read them out to you. In chapter two,
verse 11, this is the beginning of miracles which Jesus did in
Cana, you might recall, it's the turning of water into wine,
and manifested forth his glory. See, where his glory is manifested
forth and his disciples believed on him. You see, you can't behold
him You can't see His glory unless it's been revealed, and where
it's been revealed, faith comes. In chapter 7, verse 18, the Lord
says, But he that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory,
but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true. and not man. You see what the
true servant does? The true servant seeks the glory
of his father. That was the motivation for the
Lord Jesus Christ throughout his life, wasn't it? Father,
glorify your name. Chapter eight, verse 50. And
I seek not mine own glory, says the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is one that seeketh and judges. God the Father seeks the glory extraordinary. I seek not my
own glory, but there is one that seeketh and judges. Our Father,
God the Father, seeks the glory of His Son, and He will make
sure that His Son is glorified. The Father doesn't seek anything
and not find it. Regarding Lazarus, the Lord Jesus
Christ said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. The Lord Jesus Christ loved Martha
and Mary and Lazarus. And so even in the most tragic
events of their lives, when he seemed so remarkably distant
from them, and they were as alone as they could be, and the despair
had reached as high as it could, you. But child of God, God is
going to be glorified. He's glorified in bringing the
events, He's glorified in the events itself and He's glorified
in the way that He comes to His people and He turns what is darkness
in the sight of men into the glory of God. At the end of that
chapter in verse 40 of John 11, Jesus said unto her, I said unto you that if you would
believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God. See, faith sees
the glory of God. Faith's object is the glory of
God. And faith's object is revealed
as the glory of God. In chapter 12, verse 41, he speaks
of Isaiah. in the temple in Isaiah chapter
6. These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of
him. Isaiah saw him by the revelation of
God. And what The very first words that come
out of their mouth is woe unto me. I'm a man of unclean lips. I'm undone. All of my creature
glory is unraveled. There's always going to be humility
in the presence of the glory of God. Even the angels veiled
their faces, didn't they? The angels veiled themselves
in the presence of God. He saw His glory and He spoke
of Him. Those that have seen His glory
will speak of Him. And now we turn to John 17 verse
5. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
at prayer. This is our Saviour at prayer. He says, Glorify Thou me with Thine own
self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. See, the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ is eternal glory. The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
is Him in union with His Father. The great desire of the Lord
Jesus Christ is His Father's glory. the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
in prayer. Verse 22, John 17, and the glory
which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be
one even as we are one. So the only glory man has is
given. And it's not earned, it is not
merited, If God has given you his glory, why on earth would
you want to have anything to do with the glory of creatures
in this world? Worms of the dust thinking that
they can enter into glory. God gives glory to his people. We have the very glory of God
given to us. And it's ours because of our
union with him, our eternal union with him. It's ours because the
Lord Jesus Christ has made us to be perfectly fit to enter
heaven's glory and stand in the presence of God with exceeding
joy. That word doxology is glory. We sing at the end of our services,
we sing that doxology from Jude, don't we? How does he do it? We often sing it and we need
to read it sometimes and read it slowly, but it's remarkable,
isn't it? That's what we are singing. Now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling. He's the only one with any ability.
You don't have any of your own. Don't ever think you do. The
moment you think you do, just rest assured and write it down
somewhere. I am about to fall. Every time anyone in the scripture
said, I will, the very next thing they did was fall in a great
big heap. Even Thomas said, I will not believe, unless I can touch
him. I will not believe. Thomas believed. Even our negative
wills are wrong, aren't they? Our positive ones are even worse. Anyway, now to him that is able
to keep you from falling, I present you faultless. Faultless. Faultless. Perfect. Complete. Before the presence
of his is joyful. He commands joy in his people,
doesn't he? Rejoice always, again I say rejoice
with exceeding joy. It's one of the things we lost
in the fall was any notion of the goodness of God and the glory
of God and the joy of God. With exceeding joy, for the joy
set before him he went to the cross. He was no victim at the
cross. To the only wise God, how wise
is he? He's the only one that is wise.
He is our wisdom. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only wisdom we have. Everything else is foolishness.
The only wise God, our savior, be glory and majesty. Dominion and power, both now
and forever. Does he have glory right now?
Of course he does. Does he have majesty right now?
Does he have dominion? Let's go to verse 24 of chapter
17. The prayer that he has for us, our Saviour. This is heaven.
This is what heaven is about. Where I am that they may behold
my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before
the foundation. Heaven is about beholding the
glory of God. Beholding the glory of God. See the glory as a theological figure to be
examined. It's not good enough for the
child of God. The Lord prays, he wants us to
be with him where he is. That's his prayer, is it answered? I'll never, ever, ever, ever
leave you nor forsake you is the promise of our God. He wants
us to be with us. He never has any unfulfilled
desires. He was rejected by men, but we
beheld his glory. He wasn't comprehended by men,
but he dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. His own people
received him not. We beheld his glory. We behold him coming, dwelling
among us for sinners. That's why he came, didn't he?
He came for his bride. He came for sinners. He went to the cross for sinners. He went to the tomb for sinners.
He went back to heaven's glory for sinners. He laid aside his
heavenly glory and majesty and he did it on purpose and he did
it willingly and he did it from his heart and he did it with
a complete and perfect knowledge of everything that he was doing.
What infinite condescension John is wanting us to behold in the
glory of our Saviour. He lived for his people every in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything
he did was for the glory of God. Everything he did was for the
wellbeing and the salvation of his bride and her glorification. That's why he's come. That's
why he's come. His whole history can be summarised,
isn't it, by that statement that they made at the cross. He saved
others himself he could not save. I pray that the Lord's prayer
for us is a prayer that we pray for each other, that God being
glorified is the chief delight of the Son of God. God being
glorified is the chief delight of those who have beheld his
glory. We beheld his glory, glory inherent
in his being. and our shepherd, and our husband,
and our redeemer, and our friend, and our surety, and our brother. Surety is the elect one in whom
all the elect are elect. Glory is the son of man incarnated. Glory. Do you see glory in his
shame? I see riches in his poverty. I see great power in his weakness. I see triumph in his conflict. I see life rising out of his
death. to behold him, that light that
shineth in the world, shines in the hearts of his people,
and we behold the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we love the fact that he's
our prophet, he brings the word of God to us. The word became
flesh, and he's our priest. by his offering to God. He's perfected forever. His children, they come to God
by him. We behold his glory as our king. Have you beheld His glory? He says, look. Stop your doing. Just look. Stop your looking
at yourself and just look. Stop looking at the circumstances
around you and behold Him. Behold Him. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your word. We thank you for that word. cannot fail. We praise you for
the glory of our dear Son, that it is in His glorious work, our
Father, that we can come to you and call you our Father. The
blessed Holy Spirit, because of the perfect finished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ, can come and dwell in us and show
us the glorious things of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, our Father,
bless your word to the hearts of your people. And as we now
come to celebrate with Ben and Daisy, Heavenly Father, we pray
that they might be a couple who behold your glory. In all the
circumstances of their lives, Heavenly Father, may they lead
each other to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless
them, Heavenly Father, for Christ's sake, and bless their families,
and bless us, your church family, that we might be a cause for
them to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and send us
out, Heavenly Father, to be witnesses to his glory. For we pray in
Jesus' name, our Father. Amen. Can we sing that last hymn and
then we're going to celebrate Ben and Daisy's engagement. Finish early so we can all go
home to Mother's Day wherever Mother's Day is. So we're delighted
you're here with us again Miss Daisy. And we'll be praying. Yes.