Turn back in your Bibles tonight
to that 8th chapter again of the book of Romans. And for one more service, I want
to take you back to that 30th verse. Romans 8 and verse 30. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
and the He there, of course, is God Himself. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." The words in that thirtieth verse
are like a big cluster of grapes. If you remember when the spies
were sent into the land of Canaan, They brought back a pod of grapes
from a place called Eskel, and it was so large that it took
two men to carry it on a pole. And certainly that's the way
that 30th verse is. And the last piece of fruit in
that verse is this word glorified. Them he also glorified. I think most people, as I did,
think that glorification involves a great change that
will take place in us sometime in the future, or they think
of it in terms of heaven itself. But when I began to look at this,
and I've been thinking about this for quite a long time, and
when I began to look at it a little closer, I think there are some
things that we need to learn about this. Is it past? Is it present? Is it future? When you stop and think that
it is clearly that God has done these things, whatever God does,
since He is the eternal God, He does everything at once. He does not dwell in time. He dwells in eternity. And nothing
is a contingency plan with Him. Nothing is an afterthought with
Him. And the only progression that
there is of His purpose is the revelation of it to us. He is always the I AM. This word glorified is used some
over 50 times in the New Testament. And what might surprise you is
that at least and probably more of that 50-odd number of times
where it's used, over 45 times it is used to speak of God Himself. It speaks of God being glorified. And so the first thing that I
have to ask myself in considering what it really means is this,
can God be made better? Or can God be changed for the
better? So when it speaks of God being
glorified, and it speaks of men being glorified, then we need
to know something about what that word really means. I went back and I looked at some
Greek dictionaries, and I found these various definitions, and
that being defined by how it is used in the Greek New Testament. It means to magnify. to celebrate. It means to honor or hold in
honor or adorn with luster and splendor. And then this definition, to cause the dignity and worth
of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged. Can I read that to you one more
time? To cause the dignity and worth
of a person to become manifested and acknowledged. And when I read that definition,
I thought that has to be something close to what this business of
glorified really means. And I say it has this meaning
in light of the fact, as I said, that it is used concerning God
Himself, concerning His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hold your
place here and turn back to Matthew chapter 9. I am going to try
to look these up as you do. and give you time, because I
want you to see this. Matthew chapter 9, where we find
that same word used in verse 8. And it pertains to something
that was done after Christ performed a miracle. Verse 8, But when
the multitudes saw it, They marveled and glorified God." You see that? It's the same word. They glorified
God which had given such power unto men. All right? Look over in Luke's Gospel and
the second chapter. Luke chapter 2. And verse 20, this will be read
many times, I'm sure, in the coming days, probably already
has, although it matters not to any man that nowhere in this
book are we called upon to celebrate anything called Christmas, nor
is there any kind of a Mass or a Christ Mass. But look at what
it says in verse 20 of Luke 2, "...and the shepherds returned
glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had
heard and seen as it was told unto them." They return, same
word, glorifying God. All right, look over in John
chapter 12. John chapter 12, where we find
it again, in John 12 and verse 28. And this time it is Christ
speaking. He says, Father, glorify Thy
name, Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both
glorified it, and will glorify it again." Now, he's talking
here about the immutable God, the unchangeable, perfect God. So what does it mean for men
or whoever to glorify God? Well, look over just a bit farther
in John chapter 17. John 17 and verse 1. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, the hour is come, glorify thy
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." He's talking about the
Father glorifying the Son, and the Son glorifying the Father. Verse 4. I have glorified thee
on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was." In other words, in light of our definition, is calling for the Father in
this hour to make manifest and to reveal and to show before
this world what He was in the sense of the Mediator and the
Savior before the world began. He said, manifest it. make it
known that it might be acknowledged. So to glorify someone is to recognize
them as to who they are and to honor them as such and magnify
and acknowledge and manifest them as such. And so that brings
us back to our text. and that Word, wherein it speaks
the Apostle does by the Spirit of God of these that he is talking
about in particular, and he says them he also glorified." Who is he talking about here? These words are spoken in this
verse concerning God's elect. I don't think that probably in
our day there are very many places where you would go to and hear
the people of God as they are spoken of in this book in that
way. God's elect. They'd say Christians. They'd say terms that are generally
generic and acceptable in this hour. But as we read here in
these verses, he's talking about that people that he says he predestinated
or marked off beforehand. He describes them as that people
that he predestined, conformed to his son. He's talking about
these believers that were at Rome. That's who this letter
was written to in the beginning. He's written it to the church
at Rome. But greater than that, He's talking
about those of His people in all of time and all of eternity. He's talking about all who believe. He's talking about you who believe,
and even me, if I'm a believer. He says, then, He also glorifies. And there can be no doubt that
there was in these verses and this Word a sense of that which
is already done, and yet I believe at the same time that which is
being done and maybe even in a greater way shall be done in
the future concerning them. You see, men do things to be
glorified of men, but the only true glorification is of God
by His people and by God to His people. They are the only one
that can truly Be glorified. Let me read you a verse that
is the words of Christ when He instructs us concerning prayer. He says in Matthew 6, Therefore
when thou doest thine alms, when you give, when you pray, do not
sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may have glory of men." In other
words, what they're doing is calling attention to themselves
when they give a gift or do a charitable work. He calls it sounding a
trumpet. And they do that when they give
a gift or whatever, do something for someone, or when they pray
to call attention to themselves, to glorify themselves. And this is what Christ said,
they have their reward. It doesn't matter whether they're
in a big garment parading before this world, to call attention
to themselves in that they are different in some way, or it
doesn't matter whether they do it, wherever it is, they glorify
themselves. And not only that, but false
religion in the whole of it glorifies man as is said of the religious
harlot in the book of Revelation. That's how false religion is
pictured in the book of Revelation as that religious harlot that
lures so many to their death. This is what it says. How much
she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously So much torment
and sorrow give her, for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen,
and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. But God says she and hers will
all see great and endless sorrow, because they glorify themselves. As a matter of fact, in the first
chapter of Romans, the Apostle says that men, having been shown
a clear declaration of God's eternal power and Godhead in
this creation, he says, but because that when
they knew There He is. This did not just
all happen. It didn't evolve. It has a Creator's
mark on it. He stands behind it. That because
when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts was darkened. They looked out in this creation,
they said, well, it just involved, or it just happened, or there
was just a big bang, or whatever it is. Or they may say in a very
outward way, yes, I believe that there's a God and all that, but
they glorified Him not as God. And they became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was dark. But Paul says here to the Lord's
people, He glorified us. Now, I'll tell you that That
is a lot. Whatever it is, it sounds like
a lot to me. He says, He glorified us. Then He also glorified. What does that mean? Well, it
means He distinguished us. And He recognized us and made
us manifest in various times and in various degrees as his
people. He said, I'll be to them a God,
and they'll be to me a people. You stop and think about it.
If this is something like what it means to be glorified, to
cause the dignity or worth of someone to become manifest and
acknowledged, not only by God Himself, but by the world. When He made it known that He
had a people, He glorified them. He acknowledged them as being
His people. He acknowledged them for who
they were. That is, what He had made them. And He did so when He chose us. You think about this now. When
He chose His people from among men, and wrote their names, as
the Bible says, in the Lamb's book of life, before the foundation
of the world, He glorified them. He didn't just say, I've got
a people. He didn't say, one of these days
we'll all find out who they were. He didn't say, I'm not sure about
them yet. But I'll come to a conclusion
somewhere in the consummation of things. He said, I wrote their
names in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the
world. Now, I don't care what a TV preacher
says when he says, if you'll come and do something or accept
Jesus or something like that, He'll write your names in the
book of life. That's not what this book says.
It says His people, their names,
their individual names. which He knows because He chose
them and set His affection on them when He wrote their names
in that book of life before the world began, before time ever
was. He glorified them. He made them manifest. He acknowledged
them as His people. And He chose us It says in Ephesians
1, in Christ, and blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in Him before time ever was. And He did so not because they
were special in themselves, but because He had made them
to be the objects of His free and sovereign grace, and to be
made in Jesus Christ the very righteousness of God, He, in
exalting them in Christ, glorified them. I don't have any problem seeing
in the light of this how it could be said quite easily in the past
tense that them he also glorified. As a matter of fact, God glorifies
His people by glorifying Himself in them. That's oftentimes spoken of in
the Scripture. Listen to this out of Isaiah
44. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord
hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, ye
mountains, O forests, and every tree therein. For the Lord hath
redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel." First of all, that means that
God, through a nation of people, a small nation of people that
lived on this earth, that we read about all through the Old
Testament. He, through that people, identifying
Himself with that people and identifying them as His people,
He glorified Himself by glorifying them. He gave every profit through
that people. He blessed them with revelations
of Himself beyond anything that has ever been known to any other
nation of people. He glorified them by doing marvelous
things in preserving them and delivering them and feeding them
and protecting them. Why? because they were simply
a picture and type of his spiritual people. That people that he calls the
circumcision, Paul, who was himself of that very people nationally,
said, we are the true circumcision who worship God in spirit. who rejoice in Jesus Christ and
who have no confidence in the flesh. That's the true Israel
of God. And He glorifies His people through
what He says of them in His Word. The living God acknowledges a people from among
the peoples of the earth, a people out of every nation and kindred
and tribe and tongue, he says, he acknowledges these people
who are in themselves nothing but sinners. As the very objects of His everlasting
love. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. Therefore, with these cords of
kindness and love, I've drawn you. He speaks of them all through
this book. Not simply of the nation of Israel,
but of these that make up this spiritual nation. He calls them,
My sheep, My people, My beloved. He speaks of them as given to
Christ by the Father. He speaks of His Israel, His
Zion, His true Jerusalem. He glorifies Him. And it's just like He said of
Israel, the nation. He says, But against any of the
children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against
man or beast, that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a
difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And he brought that people, that
earthly people, out of Egypt. He shut the mouths of every barking
dog so that they would not bark against any Israelite or any
of their creatures, and he says he did it. so that men would
know that He puts a difference between His people and those
Egyptians. And all through this life, all
through the history of this world, He did so throughout all the
Old Testament, making it known that such as Noah and Abraham
and many others that they were His servants. He said, I don't
talk to anybody but Moses. I don't dwell among any people
except in the Holy of Holies in that tabernacle. And He made
them known. among many people, and in many
places, and even in the hearts of some who were kings and such,
and he showed himself to be in the midst of his people." There
was a king about to take Abraham's wife, Sarah, because he had lied
and told this king she was his sister. And this king was about
to take her for his wife. God just woke him up and said,
hold on, you don't take this woman because she belongs to
my servant Abraham. He glorified his people. That's
just one of a zillion times, and there are many, many more
occasions. whenever He did so, that we don't
have any record of it, right down to the experiences of His
people in this very day. But He did so also, and most gloriously, when the
Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross. You know, men have real questions
about who Jesus Christ died for. As if it's a big secret or something. But he never made any secret
of it. He said, I give my life for my
sheep. Then he turned to those Pharisees.
He said, you believe not because you're not of my sheep. When the priest went into that
Holy of Holies, that must have been an awesome sight. But he
went into the Holy of Holies, and he could only go in once
a year, and when he did, he had to go with a particular sacrifice,
and he had to go wearing this special garment. Priests are not to wear such
garments. Now, there are no priests. Why?
Because all those priests were just simply pictures and type
of the one priest who would come, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible
says, is the great high priest of his people forever. But when he went in, he didn't
go in like representing everybody on the earth. He went in and
he wore this garment. He wore golden plates on his
shoulders. And on those plates were inscribed
the names of those twelve tribes of Israel. And he wore a big
golden breastplate. It must have been awfully heavy,
I would think. And it had in the midst of it,
in a real order, twelve particularly precious stones. representing those twelve tribes
of Israel, showing that He went in for His people particularly, and all of them without exception. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
went to the cross, and He went to that cross as our priest to
offer the sacrifice, He went, He said, I go to lay down my
life for the sheep. He acknowledged them in distinction
from the whole world. He acknowledged them in this
way. He glorified them in John 17
when He prayed for them. He said, I pray not for the world,
but for these, Father, that You've given me out of the world. Let me read you a verse from
1 John 4. In this was manifested, demonstrated,
revealed, the love of God toward us, because
that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might
live through Him." Here's the love of God. come into this world to die in
the place of and to satisfy all that was necessary for His people. I've told you many times that
if you just go to Matthew chapter 1, and read one verse and ask the Lord to give you
an understanding of what it means. But more than that, to give you
grace to believe it in spite of what men say. It would be
a marvelous blessing. And they'll read by it during
this time of year. They'll read the Christmas story,
no? The angel gave this instruction
to Joseph concerning what that holy thing in Mary's womb, that
child, was to be named. He said, Thou shalt call his
name Jesus. Boy, that's a common name in
our day. It's on the lips of people just
like it was no more than than Gary or Billy or whatever it
is. But it means Jehovah's Savior. Thou shalt call His name Jesus
for or because He shall save His people from their sin. He'll do it alone. He'll do it. He shall. There's no possibility
of Him failing. He shall save that to the uttermost,
His people, from all their sins. And when He went to that cross,
He glorified them, and in doing so, glorified Himself in the
full and complete salvation of their souls. He said to those disciples, And this shows also
that he also glorifies his people when he brings them through all
things to hear the gospel that glorifies him alone. Christ said to some men, blessed
are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that
many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things
which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things
which you hear, and have not heard them." When he brings a sinner to hear
and to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, he glorified them. When they confess Christ, He
brings them to be glorified, to acknowledge Him, and He acknowledges
them. He glorifies them and makes them
manifest when He brings them by a work of His Spirit to believe. That's right. You see, everybody doesn't have
faith. And nobody has faith apart from the gift and grace of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. So He acknowledges His people.
He acknowledges those that He's loved. He's acknowledged those
that Christ died for when He brings the gospel to them and
them to believe the truth. Faith is His gift, and He gives
it to His elect that they might glorify Him. That's what it says
in Acts 13. It says when the Gentiles heard
this, what? The same message that those Jews
in that hour totally rejected, despised Paul for preaching it. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the Word of the Lord. and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And He glorifies them as He preserves
them and maintains them through many great tribulations and trials
and troubles. Why don't they faint? Why don't
they die? Why don't they do as Job's wife
told him to do, just curse God and die? Because He preserves them. He
keeps them from falling finally and utterly away. He lifts them
up. He chastens them, but that's
the sign of sonship. He gives them great deliverance
from their enemies. He preserves them in spite of
their own weakness. And when the world is made known
by all of these things, that these people have God's hand
on them. There He is. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. One day a man by the name of
Balaam was hired by a king by the name of Balak to curse Israel. And when he didn't curse Israel,
instead of going out and cursing Israel, all he could do was bless
Israel. That made Balak mad. But he said, Behold, I have received
commandment to bless and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse
it. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord his God is
with him, and the shout of a king is among God will always identify with
His child. I don't care what's put on them.
I don't care the persecution that they're brought, that's
brought upon them for believing the truth or for standing for
the gospel. I don't care what it is. David said, they cried out, the
heathens said, where is now your God? He said, He's in the heavens. He's done whatsoever He's pleased.
Absolutely. And God will certainly glorify
them at Christ's coming and forever. Look back at that 18th verse
in Romans 8. Remember what Paul said? He said,
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. I don't know what that will involve.
But Paul says in Thessalonians that when he shall come, to be
glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that
believe." He didn't say, and to be admired
by all them that believe, although they certainly all do admire
him at that hour, but they already admired him. He says, when He shall come to
be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that
believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that
day. And the Bible says that they
will be made to sit with Him in His throne. I don't know how much of a change
He will bring about in making us conform to Christ. But I believe that glorification
has less to do with that and more of the fact that He will
publicly and eternally and gloriously make them manifest for who they
are and have all men to acknowledge them as such. One day, not only are all men
going to glorify God as God, but they'll also have to glorify
that people that have been His people in Christ forever and
ever. Let me read you just one more
verse. He's speaking of the tares, the
wheat and the tares. He says, the enemy that sowed
the tares is the devil. The harvest is the end of the
world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore, the tares
are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end
of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth
His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things
that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace
of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their Then shall the righteous," who's
that? Those that God, by His grace,
has made righteous in His Son, Jesus Christ. Then shall the
righteous shine forth. He'll make them manifest. This
is the kingdom of My Son. Then He also glorifies. Father, we thank you for your
blessed Word. We know that we cannot plumb
the depths, nor measure the heights, nor go to the far expanses of
all that you have simply written in this book. But we thank you
for the revelation that you give us. and most especially for making
manifest all those things that you freely give to those who
look to Jesus Christ alone. Those who cast off every other
hope. Those who repent of their works
that they might be saved altogether by your grace. Lord, we thank
You for our Savior, for Your goodness to us in Him, and we
thank You that You have and will glorify Your people because You
glorified Your Son. Watch over us, we pray. Help
us. Teach us. Cause us to be those
who give all the glory to You. receive our thanks, help us in
all our difficulties, these that have been mentioned and many
more, Lord, we pray for. And we ask it all through the
precious blood, through the sacrifice and work of Jesus Christ and
Him alone. Amen.