Romans chapter 8. You can follow
me as well in your pastor's outline. The outline is in your bulletin.
Romans chapter 8. You have raised our nature. You
have raised our human nature on the clouds to God's right
hand. There we sit in heavenly places
there with thee and glory stand. Jesus reigns, adored by angels. Man with God is on the throne. Mighty Lord, in your ascension,
we by faith behold our own. We're talking about the glory
of God. And we are talking about that
glory of God wherein His people are called to be a partaker thereof. The psalmist here says to Jesus,
you reign and you are adored by angels. And he reflects upon
this magnificent truth. Man with God is on the throne. In heaven. Right now. And then he says, mighty Lord,
in your ascension. You've got to get this thing.
We, by faith, behold our own. I submit to you that there is
no glory to behold apart from Christ. I submit to you that
there is no glory to be had apart from Christ. That there is no
glory to be comprehended, known, or had by any of us apart from
Christ. We've been talking about the
glory of God as that last chain in that unbreakable, that immutable
work of God given to us in Romans chapter 8, 29 and 30 where God
has foreknown his people from before the foundation of the
world and predestined them to be conformed to the image of
his son Jesus Christ and called them in time to the preciousness
of this gospel truth, and justified them freely by the grace of God
and the work that Christ accomplished on Calvary 2,000 years ago, and
declared that every one of God's people right now, every one of
them, in the eyes of God, because of his omniscience, And because
of the finality of the work of Jesus Christ, that once for all
work that Christ accomplished on Calvary has not only secured
the eternal destiny of all who trust him, insofar as God is
concerned, I'm already glorified. That's huge. No matter what you say about
me, I'm glorified. It doesn't matter what devils
say about me. I'm glorified. All my adversaries
can say the last thing that Jesse gets there is glorious, but God
says otherwise. And my responsibility is to see
things the way God does, because the just shall live. Glory What is that? What are we talking about? You've
heard it actually about ten times since the opening of our worship
our elder shared that term with you many times It's a word that
you hear in religion frequently and some of our more charismatic
Existential more exuberant brothers glory glory glory glory glory
It's a wonderful concept needs to go way deep down into your
soul. You need to own it But you need to own it theologically
you need to own it Because glory is what God is all about. The true and the living God is
all about glory. So why this thing of glory? Why
are we here called upon to think through the concept of glory?
That's the first thing we want to consider. Why glory? Why this
issue of glory? Pastor, I admit, I've heard it
so much, I don't know what it really means. Well, you're going
to learn some things today about the term glory as you have learned
about predestination. and for knowledge and calling
and justification, which are all essential gospel truths to
settle your soul down and help you understand that you're all
right with God if you know him in that way. Glory is something
that every child of God needs to spend the rest of their life
working through. Why the glory of God? I'm going
to give you five reasons why God talks about glory so much
in the Bible. The first of which is because
it's what we lost at the fall. Why does God talk about glory
so much because it's the very thing that you and I lost at
the fall All have sinned and come short Of the glory of God
Oh Adam and everyone in Adam that means you and me have fallen
short come short of the glory of God. That's God's assessment
of the whole world outside of Christ. Here's what he says,
you and I not only come short of the glory of God, that's our
problem now. You want to know what your problem is? You keep
coming short. Why do I feel this way? Why do I act this way? Why
am I going through all this? Because you keep coming short.
That's our literal verb form, present indicative verb form.
We keep coming short of the glory of God. Do you believe that?
That's why we're frustrated. That's why the best propositions
never bring us to the ultimate climax. That's why even penultimate
joys are disastrous, anticlimactic experiences because it never
achieves that for which you were originally created. Everything
in your life lies to you about bringing the ultimate satisfaction.
Now, if you've been around for a minute, you know I'm telling
the truth, right? People offer you this and opportunities come
this way and they're telling you it's going to make you happy.
No, it doesn't. That's going to satisfy your soul. It never
does. That's going to give you a state
of sense of security and tranquility and peace. It never really does. Do you know why? Everything in
this universe, apart from God, comes short of the glory. And you and I in our efforts
every day continue to come short. You know how we try to do the
right things, and we keep coming short? You wonder why you keep
coming short. Can I help you out? Because the
target is that way, and you're going this way. Now, if you were
given a bow and arrow to shoot at a target, and the target is
over here, and you're over here, aren't you going to keep coming
short? That's what it means to be a sinner. We have so missed
the mark that we're in the opposite direction. Life is futile as
a consequence of it. So God calls your attention in
mind to what's most important to him And that's this if you
fail to achieve glory the disastrous consequences are unspeakable
Second one the reason why we speak of the glory of God is
because it is the inheritance of the Saints Child of God if
you're trusting Christ today, here is your inheritance its
glory. I That's what God has purchased
for you, provided for you, vouchsafed for you, His glory. All the saints
of God have been promised glory. That's 1 Peter 1, verse 4. Remember
that? He has called us to glory and
what? Virtue. And literally that text
says He has called us to Christ's own glory and virtue. In other
words, the glory and virtue of Jesus Christ is mine. I need
to simply investigate what that means. God's called that to me. Revelation chapter 21 verse 7,
a great promise you need to get a hold of. Revelation 21 7 says
this, He that overcometh shall inherit all things. He shall
be my son and I will be his God and he shall be my son. Do you
see verse 7 mark this now? That's the promise. That's the
promise if you overcome and the only way you overcome is by what
faith if you overcome by faith you Inherit all things now watch
this and God puts you in a status of him being your God and you
being his what? Son, do you know the sonship
of God's people means that we possess all things? We possess
all things mean everything that God has for us we possess in
him that's what the word glory means by the way just to help
you on a practical level so you can get your arms around the
concept of glory so it's not so esoteric glory means everything
that God has and everything that God is is yours that ought to
float your boat till you breathe your last breath some of you
gonna get it today that the idea of being an object of the glory
of God is to be that which God has purposed to bring into the
fullness of everything that God is. To call you his son is to
make you an heir of everything that God has. So when you use
that term glory from now on, you better understand that you
are carrying with that term some outrageous promises. When I say
God's glory, I am talking about all that God is and all that
God has is mine. The other reason for which we
are talking about this whole concept of glory can be understood
this way. It's because it's God's what?
Best to give to us. Now, if someone wants you to
inherit that which they have and they really, really love
you, wouldn't they give you the best Wouldn't they give you the
best? They wouldn't give you second
best. They wouldn't give you tertiary blessings unless you're
such a scoundrel that they just got to give you something. You
know how it is in wheels and stuff like that. The people that
they really like, they give the best. And the ones they just
have to give something to because they're family. They give them
kind of pittance. That's not the way it is when
God saves a sinner. When God saves a sinner, he gives
that sinner The best. The best. The picture is beautiful.
It's of the prodigal son in the gospel of Luke chapter 10. By
the way, you ever wonder who that prodigal's name is? It's
yours. I'm just helping you. In Luke
chapter 10, the prodigal ran off telling his daddy, I want
my inheritance. I want my inheritance. I want it now. I want it now
and he wasn't supposed to get it now. He was supposed to wait
till daddy died And in fact what he was saying to daddy is I need
you to die so I can enjoy my inheritance Very ungrateful on
his part, right? We got kids like that, right?
And they came from us. That's why they doing that This ungrateful son went out
and ruined his temporal inheritance and guess what he discovered
That when you are a son no matter how bad it is. And no matter
how apparent you exhaust all the resources that are presently
at your hand, daddy still has more to give. That young man came back home
crying, daddy, just give me a job. I work for minimum wage. The
father wasn't listening to him. He turned around and he said,
go get the best role. and put it on him. Put a ring
on that man's finger and let the world know, this is my son.
This is the promise to a repentant sinner right now. If you are
a sinner outside of the grace of God right now, there is nothing,
no sin that you can commit that will stop God from bestowing
upon you the best. You heard it in the hymn, didn't
you? He's able to save the vilest sinner, the vilest sinner. He will raise him from the dunghill
and set him on high with princes. The reason we're talking the
glory of God is because we lost it at the fall. The reason we're
talking about it is because it is the inheritance the Bible
talks about, not lands and property, not even good health, not harmonious
unity in the family, not exaltations and promotions, the glory of
God, the glory of God. Fourthly, because it is himself
and all of his enormous worth in the person of Jesus Christ.
Ladies and gentlemen, when you are an inheritor of God, you
are inheritor of the person of God in the person of Christ with
all the fullness of his blessings. You can't get better than that.
Psalm 16 verse 11, which speaks to in his presence are pleasures,
treasures, worth and wealth. unimaginable blessings forevermore. This is what the believer has
obtained when we talk about possessing the glory of God. And finally,
because it is Christ's highest desire for his people. Why are we talking about the
glory of God? Because we lost it. Why are we talking about
the glory of God? Because it's the inheritance
of the saints. Why are we talking about the glory of God? Because
it's the best God could give us We're talking about the glory
of God because it's himself in all of his enormous worth in
the person of Christ and because it is our elder brother's highest
desire for his people. Listen to it. John chapter 17
verse 21. As our Lord is headed to Calvary,
And he, one more time, stands in intercession of his people,
desiring to express to his father his own individual will, which
he only did from time to time, because he did not come to do
his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. This time,
you and I get to look inside the unique singularity of Christ's
own desires. And what do we discover? That
Christ wants us, who are His, to experience everything that
he has. Look at John chapter 17 verse
21. Are you there? I need to start at verse 20.
I do not pray for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their words, that is the disciples in order
that they all may be what as you father are in me and I in
thee that they also may be one where That the world may believe
that thou has sent me Christ is amazing in this petition He
understands child of God that you and I cannot rightly reflect
in joy And offer to lost sinners that for which we have not come
into full conformity yet What he understands is that if you
and I are children of God We must be one in Christ in the
same sense in which Christ was one with the father That's what
he prays for that we would be one in him in the same way. He was with his father I know
that's huge and it has very dangerous implications But what he is teaching
is the fact that he wants us to get a grip on union To get
a grip on this idea that oneness with God Makes us possible to
not only enjoy what God promises for us But to share it with others
that the world might know that the world might know that the
world might know. I want you to do this so that
the world might know. See, if you call yourself a Christian,
that means you're one with Christ. And if you're one with Christ,
then you experience something of the oneness of the Son with
the Father, because you're a son too. And in experiencing that
oneness, you then have the ability to show others this glory of
God of which we are speaking about. And the magnificent thing
about what we're talking about is this is exactly what Jesus
wants for you. He wants you to make the same
kind of impact in the life of lost sinners that he did. And
he knows in order for this to happen, you and I have to be
consciously aware of our unity with God, our dependence upon
God, so that God's fullness can work through us to show men and
women that God is true. Am I making some sense? God cannot
be realized in terms of us being witnesses by us operating independently
of the fullness that comes from God alone. So our mediator, our
high priest, our advocate is praying to the Father. Father,
you do this for them because they can't do it for themselves.
You do this for them. You make them one. Me the way
I was with you so that they can be all that they have been determined
to be so others might know how glorious you are watch it that
they all might be one as you father are in me and I indeed
that they also may be one in us one in us huge That the world
might believe that you sent me verse 22 here it is and the glory
Which you gave me I Have already given them Do you believe in
words? Do you believe that words are
powerful? And that when we hear the word
of God, God is not using exaggerated speech or hyperbole to the extent
that is nothing but a fable or a myth. Do you believe this proposition? You might not know what it means,
but you ought to believe it. And it's worthy of investigating,
isn't it? Because by first hearing it, there are things that are
being stated here that are just over our head. But I want to
know this, don't you? Spirit of God, make this known
to us today. Make this known. Make this known to your people.
Because this is the reason for which you and I don't achieve
the things that we're supposed to in our walk with God. This
is the reason why our priorities are not right. This is the reason
why situations get us, trap us, knock us down, and we don't rise
back up as we ought to. This is the reason why we are
not able to redeem every situation as we ought to redeem it. Because
we fail to understand the importance of walking in a sense of the
awareness of the glory of God that we already possess in Christ.
If I knew, if I really knew every day, I don't, but if I knew every
day what I really had, I wouldn't act the way I do. If I really,
really knew what I really had in Christ, I wouldn't say the
things I said. If I woke up this morning with
this comprehension of the glory of God, I wouldn't have said
what I said this morning. I'm telling you the truth. I'm
telling you the truth. I got up, I said, Lord, I'm a
mess. But I thank you that your promises
are yes and amen in Jesus Christ. Do you understand what I'm getting
at? And I'm still contemplating this glory, which he has been
poured into me for several weeks now, of which I don't know if
you're going to get. I'll pray for you. But if you don't get it,
I'm sorry. I got it. Got this thing called glory and
you got to get it to because see even when you mess up It
helps you get up a whole lot faster It helps you get on up
right a whole lot faster because what this glory does is it sets
itself over against your stupidity and your stupidity shrinks and
Disappears boom like nothing over against the glory of God
and you have no other Objective but to get on up and keep rolling
them. I'm making some sense. I That they may be one even as
we are one These are the five reasons then we are talking about
the glory of god And I pray that it doesn't become tautology or
useless speech or overuse of terms I pray that we understand
the glory of god this way. It's because we lost it at the
fall It's because it's our inheritance as saints. It's because it's
the best god could give us it's because himself and all of his
enormous worth is in the person of Christ. And if we've got Christ,
we've got all that God has. It's because it's Christ's highest
desire for his people. Are you persuaded that glory
is important? Then let's consider point number
two, the meaning of glory, the meaning of glory. What does glory
mean in the biblical sense of the term glory? Well, first,
The term glory is used prominently the same way both in the Old
Testament and the New. Prominently meaning that it's
not one of these terms that has multiple meanings and varied
meanings and varied applications. It's a singular concept that
makes it easy to grasp. What is the glory of God in the
Old Testament and the New? In the Old, it's the Hebrew word
Chabad from which we get the term weight. Paul uses that analogy,
from which we get the term substance. The writer to the Hebrew uses
that analogy. It's the word from which we get
the term splendor and brilliance and beauty. It's the word that
underscores value and worth. It's used in a verbal form to
bestow honor or to bestow dignity or to yield praise or to declare
that thing or esteem that thing exactly and precisely as it is. It's to ascribe virtue, praise. It's the word that literally
means heavy. In our vernacular back in the
60s, we used to use this. Y'all know what I'm talking about.
I'm already going there. Man, that's heavy. Man, that's heavy. Right? Man, that's heavy. Well,
truisms are always extracted from the Word of God, even though
people don't give God the credit for it. For a thing to be heavy
means for it to bear the weight and substance of its claims.
And when we call God glorious, we are saying that God is weighty
in the substance of His being. But the first thing I want to
call your attention to is the way God demands you and I use
the word glory. He demands that you and I use
the word glory in the sense of ascribing to God His worth. That when you talk about God,
you and I better talk about God worthy of His name. First Chronicles
chapter 16 verse 24. Listen to the way David puts
it. Declare His glory among the what? his marvelous works among
all the nations your job in mind is to tell many women how glorious
God is and all that he does now look at verse 28 listen to this
as it says it in first Chronicles chapter 28 give unto the Lord
you kindreds of the people give unto the Lord what stop right
there I had a brother tell me this about 12 years ago when
he got a little tired of Pentecostal folks talking about glory to
God, glory to God, give God the glory, give God the glory. He
said to me, you can't give God the glory. I said, you better
give God the glory. You can't give God something which he already
possesses. I said, that's wrong. Because while God knows that
all glory has its origin in him, he gave you lips. to let men
and women know He has revealed His glory to you so that you
simply tell people glory belongs unto God. And when you talk about
God, the true and the living God and represent God right,
you better tell men and women that God is a God of glory. He
is a glorious God. And some of y'all don't get this.
God is honored by you telling men and women that He's the God
of glory. God is honored by you acting like you believe it. God
is honored by men and women who act as if they've actually seen
the glory of God. And in the worship of God, if
you don't open your mouth and give him the honor and the praise
worthy of his glory, you dishonor him. Do you hear me? No people on planet Earth gets
to say God is glorious like the people for whom the weight of
his glory has entered into their souls. and set them in a right
way with God. Open your mouth and give him
glory. That's what you do. That's what
you do. Nobody else is doing it. Nobody else is doing it but
the people of God. Nobody else will sing His praise,
laud His name, laud His glory, tell the nations of His work,
tell the nations of His splendor, His power, His majesty, His dominion,
His fullness, His excellencies, His impeccability, but the people
that know Him. No one's going to do it but His
people. This is what he's saying. I love
it. I love it. Let's go a little deeper. I hope
this offends you. I love it. Let's go a little
bit deeper. The meaning of glory then refers to the weight and
substance, the splendor, value and worth, the honor and the
dignity and the glory ascribed to the one who possesses it.
We are called upon to do it. Now, point number three, glory,
glory is intrinsic to the character and being of God. And what do
I mean by that? When we're talking about the
glory of a thing, we're talking about the character of it, the
nature of it, the way it works and functions, what it does because
of what it is. And God is glorious in his attributes. God is glorious in his characteristics.
God is glorious in his work. God is glorious in what he does.
And this is the reason for which in Exodus chapter 33, 18, when
Moses was bringing the children of Israel through the wilderness
and he lost sight of the way God acts. He says, God, I'm in
trouble. My head is not all right right
now because I just was instructed by you to do something that causes
me to wonder who you are. You just had me to kill a whole
bunch of your people because of them bowing down to a golden
calf. Now I'm not quite getting that.
Would you help me understand what that is? And the way Moses
phrased it was, show me your glory. You know what Moses was
saying? Help me understand better your
character. Help me understand better how
you think. Do you know in relationships, in order for you to have harmony
in the relationship, y'all got to know each other? I'm getting
ready to get in your business right now. Can I do that? Because
the analogy is there. We're dealing with the last covenant
paradigm, aren't we, saints? What's the last covenant paradigm?
Husband and wife, right? So now, a happy husband-wife
relationship is one where the husband knows the wife, And the
wife what? Knows the husband. We enter into
conflict when we fail to understand each other. Is that true? And
we'll go away from a conflicting situation scratching our head,
won't we? You know what we're saying? Why on earth did she
do that? And we may be presuming that
we know her and that what she did was just stupid. But the
reality is we're really asking the question, who is she? What causes her to think that
way and act that way? That's an aspect of her character
and nature that if I get it, then I will have the truth about
her and I won't be offended by what she did because I know who
she is. That one is good. You better
write that down. That one is good. Stay with me now. That
one is good. Because see, truth be told, the reason you're offended
by the God of the Bible is because you don't know him like you ought
to. If you knew God like you ought to, you wouldn't be so
offended by him being God. But see, what we do is we read
into God our own definitions. And when God doesn't show up
the way we want him to, we don't see him. But if you knew God
like he is in the true, God can do whatever he wants to and you
do like Job did. The Lord gives, the Lord takes
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And when Moses finally saw God's glory in Exodus 34 verses 5 through
9, he realized that God had a right to kill all those people because
God by nature is holy. And that's an aspect of his glory. Are you hearing me, ladies and
gentlemen? In this present church age of which I am a part, one
of the things that boggles my mind is the constant, constant
separation or detachment of the holy nature of God from that
which they are depicting God to be in this generation. They
do not see God as holy. They only see him as love. As
if we only have a proper definition when we emphasize the love of
God to the expense of the holiness of God. When you do that, you
don't know God at all. There is no one in the Bible,
of which we would call a safe saint, who does not know God
and His holiness. There's no one with which you
would want to be with, identify with, live, run with, go to heaven
with, who does not know God and His holiness. Every one of God's
true people knows God is what? Holy. Holy. And because He's
holy, His glory descends from His holy character in the areas
of righteousness and justice and the punishing of the wicked.
and the exacting of justice upon the souls that sin against him,
while at the same time being what? Merciful, and gracious,
and long-suffering, and forgiving of iniquities and transgressions.
Am I making some sense? Stay with me now. See, the true
God of the Bible is both righteous and merciful at the same time.
He's both long-suffering and will never clear the guilty at
the same time This God is holy in his character and his glory
manifests itself in this There's not one sin that won't ever be
punished by God It's gonna all be punished on the other hand
God has such a bounty of forgiveness to pour out to sinners that both
Must be retained if you're gonna say, you know something about
the glory of God. They both must be retained They
both must be retained. If you say you know something
about the glory of God. So, intrinsic to God's character
and being are these views, these attributes. And by the way, in
your outline, I just want you to get this, the Bible explicitly
calls God the Father, the Father of glory. You got that? God the Father is called the
Father of glory, Ephesians 117. What kind of father do we have?
A glorious father. The Bible explicitly calls Jesus,
watch this now, the Lord of glory. What kind of Lord do we have?
A glorious Lord. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse
8. And the Bible explicitly calls the Spirit of God the Spirit
of glory. What kind of spirit do we possess?
A glorious spirit. All three persons of the Godhead
are what? Glorious. This is why when Stephan,
who was the first martyr of the New Testament church, you guys
remember that? How he was called up by the Sanhedrin to give an
account to this gospel he was preaching? In Acts chapter 7
verse 2, guess what Stephan opens up his biblical theology saying?
Brethren, men and brethren, the God of glory revealed himself
to our father, Abraham. Look at verse three. No, there
it is. Here it is. And he said, men and brethren
fathers hearken what the God of glory appears. Do you see it appeared? That's
the problem. We got to work through the day.
If men don't know God, it's because he hasn't revealed himself to
him. If men don't know the God of the Bible, because there has
not been a manifestation of his glory, what Stephen says before
they kill him, is that your fathers met God who revealed himself
and appeared as the God of Chabot, the God of glory. And right there is a whole lot
to consider because what God is doing is showing up in the
brilliance and the splendor and the weight and the magnificence
of his being to reveal himself as true to those that he is drawing
near to himself. God is intrinsically, intrinsically
in his character and being a glorious being. And more than that, point
number four, more than that, God's glory, God's glory is revealed
in the manifestation of his what? I want you to get this now. God's
glory is not only intrinsic to his personhood and his character
and attributes, but is manifested existentially by what he does. Going back to the husband and
wife analogy illustration. If you pay careful attention
to your spouse's actions, you will actually know who he is
and who she is. Because what we do ultimately
is always connected to who we are Now it takes a little work
figuring out why they did what they did But we know they did
what they did because it proceeds from their nature Everything
bears fruit of its own kind. Are y'all following that? I'm
helping you in your relationship because sometimes we want to
think of people one way Watch this now, but they act a certain
other way Now watch this if you want them to stop acting a certain
way You better determine whether or not your motive or desire
for them to act another way, watch this now, is not contrary
to their nature. Because whatever their nature
is, are you ready? That's how they're going to act.
That's what you married. You're gonna have to live with
that for the rest of your life. If you got a chili pepper wife that
gets hot after about 5 seconds, well that's because she was born
with that genetic disposition. She's gonna be hot all her life. The temperature goes up and she
get at it real well. And if you want her to mellow
out, it better be something that is simply rooted in her culture
and not her nature. Because you're telling her to
change her nature, which she can't do for you. If God don't
change our nature, that's what you marry. Are you hearing what
I'm saying? Doing a little pastoral theology
while I'm talking to you about the high fruit of God's glory.
See, because a lot of times we call ourselves Christians, failing
to get our PhD in the glory of God, which are essential characteristics
of his nature. And then we actually want people
to act in a way that's Impossible because we're not making the
connection between who they are and what they do. And since God
tells you to settle down with who he is, he's telling you to
settle down with who she is. Settle down with who he is and
settle down with who they are. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Just settle on down because some of this stuff is going to be
with us till we die. I know that hurts some of y'all
right now. You mean I'm going to have to live with that for the rest
of my life? Yeah, you're going to have to live with it for the
rest of your life. That's just the way it is. So now, since that's part of who
she is, you got to ask God to give you grace to like it. To like it. To like it. Now when you get
transformed, and that's about the ninth point we're getting
ready to get to, when God transforms you in that area, You're going
to be remarkably amazed at how you're going to be able to actually
boast in that attribute that you used to hate in your spouse.
Oh, that was good. You're going to look up and go,
man, I'm now boasting in that gift. Heart thermometer can go
from zero to 70 in about 1.5 seconds. And that works in certain
situations. See, some situations we got to
get hot real quick, right? Because we need to solve this
problem right away. We don't need two people whose
thermometers take their time rising while the thief is stealing
everything in the house. Y'all both laying in the bed,
temperature rising, but you're too lazy to get up. You get up. No, you get up. You get up. No,
you get up because y'all both cool. Y'all both cool. House
empty by the time you finally get up because y'all both cool.
Somebody got to get hot right away because that's how you get
up and get at the action. and the one who gets up and gets
at the action and save the house when the cameras come and the
police come you'll say you know I got a girl my girl but she
get at business man that's why I married her that's why I married
her because she gets hot real quick you grow you grow you grow
and understanding these intrinsic characteristics that constitute
our glory getting ready to teach you another truth that you've
got to get God's glory is revealed in the manifestation of his actions
And that's why he will use the term glory when he says, now
I'm going to do this and manifest my glory. You remember the children
of Israel were walking through the wilderness. They have been
complaining about water. Then they are complaining about
food. In Exodus chapter 16, we ain't got no food. There's nothing
to eat. What God told Moses was, tell those people to shut up.
And in the morning, they're going to see my glory. And you know
what he gave them? Manna from heaven. That was a
manifestation of his glory. So when we talk about glory,
we're talking about a manifestation of a person's characteristics
and attributes that ultimately does something by which we see
who they are. And that's what God had done
for them. Another way to deal with this in terms of God's glory
being revealed in the manifestation of His actions, and I want you
to see this, is in 1 Samuel 2, verse 30. 1 Samuel 2, verse 30.
This is where God had to let Samuel know. Samuel, I want you to let these people
who have chosen to have an earthly king over me realize that they
have rejected me, not you. Now stay with me for a moment
because I'm getting ready to show you a principle that's going to bless you here.
And what he said to Samuel was this, Samuel, I know that they
are a whole nation and I deal with them as an aggregate whole,
but I also deal with them as individuals. This is going to
help you. So like God deals with us as a church, but he also deals
with us as individuals. This is going to help you, and
it's going to help you and your family too. Because there is still a
necessity, the personal autonomous responsibility of every individual
to walk right with God. Are you with me? Stay with me
now. Now just because your husband act a fool, you don't have to
act a fool. You can pray for him, but you
can walk right with God. Stay with me now. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? Just because you got his last name. Just because
you got hoodwinked to get this last name. And because your kids
look like him. Listen, and he starts going off
the deep end, you don't have to go off the deep end. You can
stand in your life, and you can trust the true and the living
God, and you can honor God. And if you honor God, God will
honor you. Are you hearing what I'm saying? You can pray for
your knucklehead husband. And watch how God deals with
him independently of him dealing with you. Because while you are
one covenantally, you are still individuals before God with whom
the promises are personal for those who hold to them. I'll
show you something right here. Now this is important. This is an
important truth. Do you want to know why God really truly
in a very accurate way blesses some people and doesn't bless
others? It's this principle right here.
So when you see the blessing, I'm talking about biblical blessings,
I'm not talking carnal blessings. I'm talking about biblical blessings,
those intangibles that hallmark the presence of God in people's
life, the favor of God in people's life, God using them to bless
others in a very clear and redemptive sense. I'm going to show you
why this occurs. You don't have to attribute it to, well, she's
got skill sets or he got skill sets or he's a mover and a shaker
or he'd been taught this or been taught that. No! Promotion only
comes from God. Are you hearing me? It only comes
from God. Now watch this. And here's the
key and you can have it. Here's the key. Here's what God
says. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel said, I said indeed
that thy house and the house of your father should walk before
me forever. Who is he talking to? Eli. Because
Eli let his two boys corrupt the temple. Here's what he says. But now, the Lord said, be it
far from me. God cut Levi off, didn't he?
But here's what he laid down. For them that what? I will what? Those two words are our words
for glory. That's our word, Chabad. To glorify God is to honor Him.
To glorify God is to honor Him. And I want you to see the analogy
of it. I want you to get this. You know what it means technically?
It means to bestow upon God all of the honors that are due him. In certain cultures, when an
individual is being honored, they take wreaths, like our Hawaiian
brethren do, and they drape you with wreaths. You guys know what
I'm talking about. And this is done in many cultures.
And if they honor you a lot, boy, you will have all these
things all over your head until they can't even see your face.
You know what they're doing? They're bestowing weight upon
you. the weight of honor, bestowing the weight of dignity, the weight
of character, the weight of fullness. They are saying that to them,
this is how much you are valued. And this is what God says. When
you value God by bestowing weight upon God, guess what he's going
to do for you? He's going to return the favor. He's gonna
take and bestow upon you the same weight that you bestow upon.
Are you guys hearing me? The same weight that you bestow
upon God, God's gonna bestow upon you. I like that deal. I
like that deal, don't you? I like that deal. I want my mind
to be changed. I want my thoughts to be confirmed
to that principle. I accept that reciprocity. That
is, as God graces me to honor Him, He will honor me. Now, I don't wanna be honored
for myself. I want to be honored as an evidence of my honoring
God. Now, ladies and gentlemen, all
that I'm talking about right now is the gospel. Because what
the gospel says is if you suffer with Christ, you will reign with
Him. And as you walk through this
world honoring Jesus, God the Father will honor you. He will
put weight on you. He will put substance on you.
He will make you, in the vernacular, heavy, dude. Heavy. Now I'm getting ready to get
into the more philological and rhetorical element of it because
you and I, by nature apart from God, are shallow. You and I are
shallow. We don't have much substance
in us. The stuff that's in us is fluff. Truth be told, when
you don't know God, you're detached from any real substance. And
we have on facades and all of our worldly accomplishments and
our PhDs and all of our knowledge superficial. Fleeting guess what
and you really do know it and so you put up a front that this
thing that you hold as an occupation or a career or Possessions is
so really empty that you don't want to tell the truth The wealthy
man possessing all of the material goods in the world, but does
not know God has nothing has Absolutely nothing and in his
conscience he knows it He knows when he walks through his marble
house and look at those paintings that are estimated by men at
the millions of dollars. And when he launches onto his
extra wide California king bed and lays on it and looks out
over the ocean and as it were takes in the breath of all of
his human glory. It's nothing. He knows it. It's nothing. It's like a little
plastic toy that he made and told the world this has value
when it's nothing but dust and ashes. Are you guys hearing me?
It's nothing! It's nothing in the sight of
God. Nothing! Until you and I are attached
to the true and the living God who gives worth to all that we
have. God's intrinsic God's glory is
intrinsic to the character and being of his person God is revealed
in the manifestation of his actions I want you to see this in 1st
Samuel chapter 5 verse 6 and 11 This is the way God uses this
concept of his glory I want you to get it the Philistines had
taken the ark of the covenant from Eli because of his rebellion
and his sons rebellion you guys remember that and And the word
Ichabod was written over the doorpost of the temple or the
tabernacle because God had what? Departed from it. So when God
departs, guess what else departs? The glory. So when God took the
Ark of the Covenant away, gave it to the Philistines, the Philistines
came to know something about the glory of God too, as they
were seeking to peep into the Ark. God's hand weighed heavy
on them. God moved in on the Philistines
who were the enemy of God's people to show them, watch this now,
his glory. Look at verse six. But the hand
of the Lord was what? That's our word. The hand of
the Lord was glorious upon them of Ashdod. And he did what? Do
you see that line right there? There's a day coming when everyone
in the world outside of Christ will know the glory of God. Just
like that. The weight of God's holiness
will settle on the lost sinner with a kind of substance that
will crush him to hell for all eternity. For having spurned
the message and the warning and the overtures to come to Christ
now. The weight of God's glory is
going to weigh so heavy upon the souls of billions of people
in that day. They will know God's glory. But there will be no way for
them to enter into the blessed side of it. All they will know
is the heavy hand of God's judgment. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? This is what this text is teaching. And so when we talk
about the glory of God, we're talking about how God acts. Isn't
it glorious when your kids get out of line and mama and daddy
go into that marvelous act of justice and judgment and rise
up with the sword and switch and extension cord and broom
handle and high-heeled shoes and start executing glorious
judgment upon that knucklehead because he's out of line, the
power that enters into that little bitty four-foot woman, the power,
the strength, and the vigor, watch this, and the endurance.
You thought she couldn't run, she caught you, caught you, caught
up with you, snatched you by the back of your neck and start
exercising glory on you. And you were amazed at how heavy
she was. She was heavy. God had given
her a measure of glory. And you got recalibrated in your
mind. And you said, you know what? That's my mama. That's
my mama. Let me line on up. That's mama. Or that's daddy, when we have
to let our boys know who's the man in the house. Did you get
that? Because if you don't, He's going
to take over and he's going to impose his glory. And things
are all turned upside down once that happens. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? Every now and then, our God has
to do that in our nation when he manifests the heavy hand of
judgment ecologically or economically or socially with diseases and
acts of riot. that help men and women know
that God is still here, even though they have been acting
like God doesn't exist. Are you guys hearing what I'm saying?
I'm talking about glory. I'm talking about people who
really walk in the substance of the way of who God is. If
you honor God, He will what? If you honor God, He will do
what? I want you to get this. Here's the next example of this
weight of glory that I want you to understand that have to do
with the manifestation of his actions. In Romans 9, 17, which
comes out of the book of Exodus, here's what God says about Pharaoh.
Here's the reason I raised you up. I want everybody in the world
to know who I am. The very reason I raised you
up, Pharaoh, is so that everybody in the world could know who I
am. By my heavy hand, of glory on
the whole of your nation. I'm going to make you the greatest
nation in the world. And I'm going to show the whole
world what happens to peon kings when they raise the question.
Are you ready? Who is the Lord? I'm going to use you to show
the whole world who I am. For the scripture said under
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose, have I raised you up that I might
show my what? That's the word glory in the
Old Testament. Glory in you and that my name might be declared
throughout all generations. Ladies and gentlemen, either
you and I are going to be like Jesus, like Paul, or like Pharaoh. One way or the other, God's name
is going to be declared in all the earth by us. One way or another,
God's name is going to be declared in all the earth by us. Either
it's going to be by God's heavy hand of judgment against us.
And the world is going to know about a holy God through a reprobate
nation called America and it's apostate ways and it's silly,
foolish, sinful ways when God pours his heavy hand of judgment
upon us because we think we could live like hell and there are
no consequences. The other, the people around
the world are gonna go, whoa, look at the Lord. Look at what
the Lord did to them. Now I know that the Lord God
is holy by what he will do to a reprobate nation. That dares
bow the knee to god not bow the knee and rises up with the question
simply because of its Learning its education its wealth and
prominence because of its position in the world, you know our nation
It loves the law america's the greatest nation in the world
who said so Will somebody tell me who said america's the greatest
nation in the world? Help me now got a bunch of people
in the house Who was the one who said that? God didn't say
it did god say Is it possible that we have overestimated our
country? Is it possible that you and I have fallen prey to
the idol of nationalism and the deceptive practices of politics
to make ourselves better than we really are? Is it possible
that in our ignorance we have denied God his glory and the
right standards of his holy law? Told God we're gonna be the best
anyway apart from your standards. Is that possible? Is it possible
that we know that we are so jacked up that we are a middle case
as a whole nation I mean we are a middle case Stay with me Saints. I'm giving you the true picture
of America. We're nutty We're absolutely crazy. We're on the
brink of insanity. We are certified nutty here in
America The pastor man, are you being a little hard? No, I'm
not. I'm not being hard at all We're crazy. And I'm not going to detour
into all of the evidence of how nutty we are. But we are absolute
fruity nut cakes in America. We've lost our mind. We're reprobate
and we're ignorant of God. I want to go there, but I shouldn't
go there. I'm talking pagan nations who know more about morality
than we do. who will tell us, don't you bring
your garbage to where we live. We got enough sis to know who
made us, who created us, how we ought to walk. We'll take
your money, but we don't want your morals. Are you hearing
me? Are you hearing me? I'm blown
away that we would call these third world nations less fortunate,
less wise, when they have the fear of God. and they understand
the dignity of their origin being created by God. And they're not
raising questions about their identity because God has not
stolen or taken the glory away from them as he has with us.
We are stupid and ignorant because the glory of God has departed
from our nation. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Stupid, crazy, 5150 nutty. You see the programs? Don't y'all see the program's
title on the program? Tell it all. Dating naked. Isn't that crazy, Matthew? Dating
naked. Who want to see your nasty body? And you want the whole world
to see it. You're out of shape. You need a tan. Ain't no glory
there. No glory, no glory. no good you're
not a model for me uh-huh I hear and we think that this is honor
see we're crazy we're nutty in America can I keep going so the
the the God of glory reveals himself and manifests himself
in this way this is the reason why we believe that Jesus Christ
is the God-man because when he came He not only possessed the
character and nature of this holy God, being intrinsically
righteous and holy and just and at the same time merciful, kind
and long-suffering and patient, did he not bear the precise and
exact representation of his Father and his attributes? You couldn't
look at Jesus and not know you were dealing with whom? The Father.
If you've seen me, you've seen the Father, right? In terms of
His attributes and characteristics displayed in His personality.
Christ made it very plain. Which one of you can convince
me of sin? I haven't sinned anywhere. I'm
perfectly holy. And this is how we know the Father.
But we know the deity of the Son not only by His character,
but by His work. That brother turned the first
party that he went to, which was a wedding, remember that?
Big old pots of water. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
All six. From water to what? Wine. Now that was his glory. Isn't that what the text says?
And this was the beginning of the glory of God that he had
revealed to his disciples. Now you know you're dealing with
a sharp cat when he tells you to go fill up six big old barrels
of water and all he does is touch them and they turn to wine. He
was manifesting his glory. Was he manifesting his glory?
And then he goes down the street, and he sees a casket going by,
and he touches the casket and says to the little boy, get up.
And the little boy gets up. And he sees another one, he says
to the young girl, girl, get on up. Go feed her, she's hungry. You know what he's doing? He's
manifesting his what? His glory. His glory. His glory. And you know why he's doing it?
That we might honor the Father. So the Son is honoring the Father
so that we might honor the Father. I want you guys to see this thing.
It's important for you to get. It's very critical for you to
get. So what we say is that God's glory is revealed in the manifestation
of His actions and they are centrally, point number five, this is going
to help us turn the corner, they are centrally manifested scripturally
in whom? Jesus Christ. Now we're getting
ready to come into the final leg of our consideration of the
glory of God. And some of you, for the first
time in your life, have actually had a biblical consideration
of God's glory. We are at a major apex here,
and this is important. While I have shared with you
what the Bible says grammatically, while I have shared with you
what the Bible has said historically and textually about the glory
of God. Now I want you to understand that the whole of the glory of
God for every Christian has its origin and residence in the person
of Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ is the glory
of God. That if you do not understand
this and experience this, you are yet not a Christian. that
Christianity is nothing less than a revelation of the glory
of God in the person of Christ. I'm gonna say that once again.
Christianity is nothing less and nothing more than God having
revealed His glory to you in Christ. Christianity is nothing
but a revelation of the glory of this glorious God in the person
of Christ. For you Your knowledge of God
is only true in so much as you see God in Christ So let me move
forward with that proposition the central manifestation of
his glory scripturally is in Jesus Christ That's John 1 14
and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father full of grace and what true that's what John tells us
to understand that we must fix our eyes on the person of Christ
if we are to drink in God's glory and if they have an impact in
our life don't go anywhere watch this now and when we are talking
about the glory of God in the person of Christ I am talking
about his redeeming glory his redeeming glory here before I've
shared with you the glory of God in terms of his his ontological
nature and the extension of his work and creation and the subduing
of nations and destroying nations and judging his own people. Now
we're moving closer to that aspect of God's glory for which you
can ask the question, now what is this all about with regards
to me? God's glory in Christ is designed to redeem you from
your sin and bring you into a saving relationship with him. God's
glory in Christ. You can know something externally
and objectively about God's glory and go to hell. But when you
and I are serious about heaven, we must see the glory of God
in Christ. And God puts in an enormous amount
of energy to demonstrate his redeeming glory in Jesus Christ. When John says, and we beheld
his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the truth, of the
Father Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth, 1 Peter chapter
1 verse 10, pull it up. Here's what the scripture says
about the Bible, about your Bible. That the prophets of old preached
and taught what they did in their generation, at their time, to
their people, with one objective in view. To show the glory of
Christ and to show the sufferings of Christ so that those who hear
the message of Christ might be saved by the one who suffered
and died for them. Listen to what it says, of which
salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you. Verse 11, watch this,
here it is, here it is. Searching what, or what matter
of time? The spirit of Christ. Which was
what? In them did what? Signify when
it what? Testify beforehand what? The sufferings of Christ and
what? The glory that should follow. See verse 11? We call that a
hermeneutical paradigm. Stay there! That's a hermeneutical
paradigm. That is a hermeneutical paradigm
of which only informed Christians understand. You can know all
about the history of Genesis, still be lost. You can know all
about national Israel, still be lost. You can know the Torah,
the law, in and out, still be lost if the law, if the Torah,
if the Genesis account, if the nation of Israel does not sum
up in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Do you see that?
The prophets prophesied by the Spirit of Christ concerning two
things, his suffering and his what? His what? Suffering and
his glory. His suffering and his what? I want you to get that now. If
you understand that hermeneutical paradigm, you will see in the
Old Testament typology Christ suffering and Christ being exalted. Christ suffering and Christ what? Being exalted. Christ suffering
and Christ being exalted. Christ suffering in Abel. Christ
being exalted in Enoch. Enoch walked with God and was
not because God what? Took him. Christ suffering in
the ark with Noah. Christ exalted with Abraham,
I'm going to make you a king of kings and of many nations.
Christ suffering by the sacrifice that was offered up every time
by the people of God. Christ exalted with Joseph when
he was made Prime Minister of Egypt. Are you guys following
me? The Old Testament typology then teaches us of the sufferings
and the glory. Of the sufferings and the glory.
And the sufferings of the glory. And that glory starts in Genesis
and makes it way all the way up to when Jesus shows up in
John 1 29 where John the Baptist says, Behold the Lamb of God
which takes away the sin of the world. Are you guys following
me so far? I want you to get this now because Christians failed
to understand why you come to church. You come to church to
hear the gospel, to see the glory one more time, and be reminded
one more time that just as Christ was, so are you in him. And if
Christ suffered, guess what you're going to do? But since he also
is glorified, guess what you are already? Do you guys see
that? This is what has to float your boat through the preaching
of the Word of God. Sunday in and Sunday out. So then let's
move to our next point so we can go on. As we understand the
central manifestation of God's glory scripturally is in Christ,
it's his redeeming glory that brings you and I into a place
of salvation. You were rejoicing when our elder
quoted the hymn, he's able to take the violent sinner. Is that
true? Because the gospel is a sinner's
gospel. He's able to take the vilest
sinner. What makes Jesus so marvelous is that he takes his place with
the vilest sinner. With the vilest sinner. To bring
the vilest sinner to where he is right now. This is the beauty
of the gospel. So let's work it through with
our last few points. There are typical patterns that
run all the way through the scriptures. We've touched on them. Points
number 6, 7, and 8. This is amazing. I made this
statement last week, and I'm going to draw this to a close
now because I've got about five minutes, but I can do this. Glory
is started in our conversion. Did y'all hear me say that last
week? I want you to get this now. Some of you are wondering,
what's this thing about glory? You would know it if you're born
again. Because when you're born again, God deposits into your
heart the glory of Christ. So it's resident with you. Am
I telling the truth? From the moment you're born again,
Jesus on the inside of you is the light shining. Is he the
light shining? Colossians chapter 1, 27, 28, don't go there. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. When God saves you, doesn't he
give you a hope? Isn't that hope illuminated and sustained and
strengthened by the presence of the glory of God in you? This
is how we know. When you and I are born again,
you and I are in the beginning stages of what is called glorification
through that initial work of sanctification. What does that
mean, pastor? There was a day when you were
blind. God opened your eyes. He gave you new eyes. There was
a day when you were deaf. God opened your ears. He gave
you new ears. There was a day when your heart
was so hard against God. He took out that stony heart.
He put in a heart of flesh. There was a day when you was
ignorant as a goose in a snowstorm and you were talking bad about
God and everybody else. God started writing his law on your heart
and on your mind and out of the abundance of the heart that the
mouth speak, you began to tell men and women about the glory
of God and you turned around and said, man, look at what God's
doing through me. Now you are declaring the glory of God. You
are experiencing the glory of God as you suffer for Christ
and you endure it patiently. You didn't even used to understand
why you had to suffer. Now you're learning that suffering
is designed to conform you to Christ. 2 Corinthians 3.18. I want you to see it here. This
is absolutely amazing. 2 Corinthians 3.18. I know we
have this text, but watch this. We all with open face. Do you
see that line, open face? That was an act of God's glory
in your life. You had a veil over your face before God came
to you. You were walking around blind. He pulled the veil back.
That's glorious. He lets you begin to see something
about God. Watch this. And beholding as in a glass, what? The glory
of the Lord. Who is the glory of the Lord?
Jesus. Watch this. And because you are
beholding in the word of the Lord, or what we call the gospel,
you are being changed into the same image. Is that true? Watch this now. This is an amazing
concept. It's through teaching. and through
preaching that the Spirit of God is working to gradually change
your heart and your mind. Anybody know what I'm talking
about? Isn't that why you come and fill this building up and
sit by strange people you don't even know don't like? Some of
y'all don't even smell right? But you're going to come again next
week? Why? Because you want that glory to
continue changing your life. Because you know the only thing
that changes you is the word of the gospel of the glory of
Christ. And it's changing you little
by little by little. By and by, I'm being changed.
I am not changing myself. It's in the passive verb form.
I am being changed. And it's amazing to me how God
is gradually working in me the will and to do of His good pleasure,
opening my understanding, giving me a little bit more patience. Not a lot, a little bit more
patience. But it's glorious. because he's
actually fulfilling his word in my life. You and I are presently
in that initial stage of glorification. When we physically die, we go
to be with the Lord in what we call that intermediate state.
Remember Moses and Elijah was on the mount of transfiguration
with Jesus? And in Luke's gospel, it says
they appeared with him in glory. When you and I die, our body
goes to the ground. and we immediately are dispatched
to heaven. Are you following me? Into a state of glory in
our soul. But that's called the intermediate
state. Because our bodies are still
in the ground. But your body and mine is designated for glorification
too. Is that right? So the body drops
for a season and our soul goes to be with the Lord in heaven.
That's a glorious time. But it's an intermediate state
because God's not finished. There's one more critical act. that has to take place of which
we preach. And do you know what that is?
Jesus is coming again. He's coming again. Jesus is coming
again, and he's coming with all of his saints to be glorified
in his saints. Second Thessalonians, chapter
110. Watch this. Watch this now. I know I pushed you a little
bit. You guys had to come to Bible study twice today, but that's
okay. You won't be able to say you don't know. What paul says
in second corinthians chapter 1 10 is our second thessalonians
1 10 is when jesus comes again He's coming with the specific
purpose of being glorified in all his saints Do you see that? Now watch this. I want you to
see this christ is already in his glory He's already at the
right hand of god He's already possessor of everything His longing
is to have us with him in the totality of not only our soul,
but our body. Can you imagine what's going
to happen when he comes back? Can you imagine what's going
to happen when we return with him if we die and go to be with
the Lord as Daniel is right now, our brother Daniel? Can you imagine
when we start to descend with him and he tells our bodies,
get on up out of the ground, get on up, get on up and quicken
those bodies, glorify those bodies and makes those bodies attach
itself to our souls? so that in that moment Romans
chapter 8 verse 21 and 22 are being fulfilled rather verse
23 the glorious manifestation of the liberty of the sons of
God will be seen by everybody in the world everybody in the
world will see you glorified right along with the Lord Jesus
you know what's gonna happen on that day on that day we all
will get to say to everyone who rejected this gospel take a look
take a look I'm with him It's because of Him. But I look good
now. Don't I look good? All the saints
will be able to glory in Christ because of the glory of Christ
that they share in when Christ comes. Now, saints, I'm done
here. You have to understand that that's
where your hope is. It's not in anything else but
the glory of God. Amen.