We're going to observe the Lord's
table tonight. The Lord said this due in remembrance
of me. I'm still a little bit shaken
up from Sunday school, seeing Kelly. I trust the Lord will
preserve her, but it just reminds me of how fragile life is and
how This could be the moment with any of us. I'm going to attempt to preach
on the Son of Man glorified. I hope I will preach this message
as if it was the last one I would ever preach. And I hope you'll
listen to this message as if it were the last one you will
ever hear. The Son of Man glorified. Verse 31, therefore when he, Judas, was
gone out for this act of betrayal, therefore when he was gone out,
Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified. In John chapter 7, verse 39,
we read Jesus was not yet glorified, which was a reference to the
glory he would achieve on the cross. You know, this thing of glory
is a, I'm afraid, a concept that we have a hard time entering
into the glory of God. Just this concept of glory, the
glory he would achieve on the cross. Now, Judas has gone out
and everything is in place for his betrayal, his crucifixion. And remember, this is God's purpose. The cross is God's It's not God's
response to man's sin. It's God's eternal purpose. It's the reason for the creation
of the universe. You and I, in whatever way God
sees fit, will glorify His Son. We'll either glorify His grace
or we'll glorify His justice. but we will glorify his son. That's God's purpose. Now is the son of man glorified. Would you turn with me for a
moment to 2 Corinthians 4. Verse three. But if our gospel be hid, And
you know, it is hidden to some. Remember when the Lord praised
his father, thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
and revealed them unto babes. Now, if the gospel is hid, it's hid to them that are lost.
Verse four, in whom the God of this world, Satan, hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants.
For Jesus' sake, for God who commanded the light, to shine
out of darkness, speaking of creation, has shined in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure, the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in earthen vessels. And how acutely I feel that even
now. We have the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in jars of clay. Weak, sinful, frail, dying
bodies. And here's why. That the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. The glory of God. God is called the God of glory. Now, how does that resonate with
me? What does that mean to me? I'm sure we've all heard of the
five solas of scripture. Scripture alone. Grace alone. Christ alone. Faith alone. The glory of God
alone. The operative word being alone. We look to the scriptures alone
as our only source of truth. God wrote this book. All scripture
is given by inspiration of God. Somebody says, can you prove
that to me? No. Bible still claims to be the
Word of God. All scriptures given by inspiration of God. If God
can create the universe, he can certainly inspire men to write
a book. We look to the scriptures alone, not creeds, not statements
of faith, not confessions of men, but the scriptures alone. We look to Christ alone. God's salvation is not in response
to something me or you do. It's in response to Christ Jesus.
We look to Christ alone as our only ground of acceptance, not
Christ and. Christ alone. Why will God look
in favor toward me? Christ alone. Oh, we believe
grace alone. Now let me make this real brief. If you believe in grace alone,
you believe in election. Just cut right to it. You believe
that God, before time began, chose who would be saved. And
if you don't believe that, you don't believe grace. So let's
just stay right there. Grace alone. Faith alone. Faith is the only evidence that
God has done something for you. Faith alone, looking to Christ
only, not looking anywhere else. Looking to Christ alone. And the glory of God alone. This is done for His glory and
that is God's reason. The glory of God alone. Now people have called these
the five solas of the Reformation and we diminish these when we
call these the five solas of the Reformation. They were true
a long time before the Protestant Reformation ever came around.
This is the eternal truth of God. Somebody says, well, what
about when the scriptures hadn't been written? Was it true then
when you begin with the scriptures alone? There was a time when
there were no scriptures. It was eternal before it was
penned. Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in the heavens,
eternally. You know, before the Bible was
ever written, the Bible was written. all a part of God's eternal purpose,
the scriptures alone. Teach the glory of God alone. And I hope, I say this with proper
reverence, but somebody once said the fifth, the glory of
God alone is the glue that holds them all together. They all stand or fall together.
You can't have, take away one and have any of them. They stand
or fall together and it's the glory of God that holds them
all together. The glory of God. I love what
David said in Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of God. Psalm 29 in his temple. Does
everyone speak of His glory? The glory of God is the end.
The glory of God is the purpose. The glory of God is the reason
for everything that is and is not. God's glory. It's not about me. It's not about you. This is about the glory of God. That's God's motive. That's God's
purpose. That's God's reason for what
he does. His own glory. And that's why Paul actually
said, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. What does that mean to me? What
does that mean to you? The glory of God. When Moses
said, I beseech you, Show me your glory. This was the desire
of his heart. Show me your glory. Now he'd
seen the parting of the Red Sea. He'd seen the plagues. He'd even
seen the giving of the law. He'd seen all these things. But
he says, what is your glory? God said, answering Moses, I'll
make all my goodness pass before they. Listen to me. God is good all the time. Everything he does
is good because God is good. I'll make my goodness to pass
before thee. I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee. This is Exodus 33, 19. I'll make
my goodness pass before thee. I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee. Now, what does that mean? Well, the name of
the Lord is the person behind the name. It's not just articulating
his name, Jehovah. The name of the Lord is his attributes,
it's his characteristics. I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy to whom
I will show mercy. That's God's glory. His goodness. Now what that tells me is every
attribute of God is good. God's sovereignty good sovereignty
because God is good. He controls everybody and everything,
every event. He's in absolute control of,
and he's good. God's wrath is good because it
is. And we bow to this. God's wrath on how fearful to
think of hell. where God's justice is meted
out against those who are not in Christ. It's good because
God is good. God's power is good. His omnipotence. What if God
was evil? It'd be awful scary for an evil
being to have omnipotence, wouldn't it? But God's good. Everything
he does is good. His independence is good. He doesn't need anything from
you for him to do something for you. Isn't that glorious? God's good. God's immutability
is good. He's changelessly good. He can't
be anything but good. He's eternally good. He's good. His wisdom is good. He's made
the way to be just and justify the ungodly. Goodness is his
attributes. God's goodness is his grace. He said, I will be gracious. Why is God gracious? Because
he is gracious. I will be gracious. And it's
sovereign grace to whom I will be gracious. Somebody says, well,
shouldn't he have mercy on everybody? All of a sudden we become God's
judge when we say things like that. Whatever God does is right,
just, holy, and true. You got a problem with it, you
got a problem. God is good. Everything about him is good.
Everything he does is good. And God brings good out of evil. There's so many things in Providence
we don't understand. God is good. And God always brings
good out of evil. The glory of God. In 1 Timothy 1.10, turn with me there, 1 Timothy Verse 8, but we know that the
law is good if a man use it lawfully, knowing this. that the law is
not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers
of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers,
for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing
that is contrary to sound doctrine according to the law. glorious
gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust and
that can read just as easily according to the gospel of the
glory of the blessed God. The gospel of the glory of the
blessed God. Paul condemned all that was contrary
to sound doctrine according to the gospel of the glory of the
blessed God. Now, gospel means good news. The good news of the glory of
the blessed God. You know, it's not good news
to everybody. To some, it's a meaningless concept. To others, it's irritating. But to some, it's good news.
the best news they've ever heard. Who's a good news to? Everybody
that loves Him. They know in His salvation, He
must get all the glory. And it's good news for two reasons. Number one, it's good news because
He deserves all the glory. Is there any part of your salvation
you can say, that came from me? I did this, I did that. Well,
if there is, you've missed Christ altogether. It's good news because
He deserves all the glory. And let me tell you why else
it's good news. Because if He gets all the glory, that means
He did it all. And my salvation is not contingent
upon anything I do. If he gets all the glory, that
means he did it all. And that's good news. Because
if he didn't do it all, salvation is by works. And there's nothing
good about that. If salvation is dependent upon
me in any way to any degree, that's bad news. But thank God
he does get all the glory. That means he did it all. He
doesn't share His glory. He did it all. And that means
my salvation is completely dependent upon what He did, not what I
do. And I find such safety and security
in that. God getting all the glory. Now, to speak of the Son of Man
being glorified and God being glorified in Him doesn't really
have a starting or ending point. So what we're going to do for
a few moments is consider this in light of the Gospel of John.
What John has to say about his glory. Now, the Lord said, is
the Son of Man glorified? And God is glorified in him.
Now in John chapter one, would you turn with me there? John
chapter one. Verse one. In the beginning,
before there was a creation, before there was a universe,
before there was time, before there was space, all there was
was God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God as a distinct person from God, and
the Word was God. Jesus Christ is eternal God. Now look down in verse 14. 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 full of truth. Now, this is one of five times
Christ is called the only begotten of the Father. Here's His glory. He is the only begotten of the
Father. Now, what does that mean? The
only begotten of the Father. The only begotten Son of God. It means He is the soul representative
of the being and the character of the one who sent him. All you'll ever see of God is
Jesus Christ. This glory is that unique relationship,
the unoriginated relationship between the father and the Son,
and this begetting was not an act done in time. It's eternal. It's eternal. There wasn't a
time when it took place. He's the eternal, only begotten
Son of God. He, a person, possesses every
attribute of pure Godhead. Colossians 2, 9, in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. He said in John chapter
14, 1, you believe in God, believe also. Even so, believe in me. Whatever you say of God is true
of me. I am eternal God, possessing
every attribute of God. That's his glory, who he is. John 9, verse 4, in reply to
the foolish question asked by his disciples, Master, who did
sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? He said,
neither. But that the works of God should be manifest. And in John 11, 3 and 4, he whom
thou lovest is sick. He said, this sickness is not
unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might
be glorified thereby. That is the reason for everything. Let me repeat. That is the reason
for everything that the son of God might be glorified thereby. That is God's eternal purpose. Now turn to John chapter 17. This is the Lord's great high
priestly prayer for his people. He will be arrested to be crucified
just after this takes place. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour has come. And don't miss that. The hour
for which the universe was created. the hour that I have come to
die on a cross. Revelation chapter 13, verse
eight, he's called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He came to die and that hour has come. Father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. Look down in verse four. He said,
I have glorified thee on the earth. Well, how did he do that? I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. What was the work the father
gave him to do? It's a good question, isn't it? Be real clear, what was the work
the father gave him to do? Well, in Matthew chapter one,
verse 21, the very opening chapter of the New Testament, we read
these words with regard to the work the father gave him to do.
Thou shalt call his name, Jesus. For he shall save his people
from their sins. When he bowed his head and said,
it is finished, it's no longer he shall save his people from
their sins. He hath saved his people from
their sins. And why did He do this for the
glory of His Father. Now, what are we talking about? God does everything for His own
glory. Anybody got any problem with
that? Somebody says that seems kind of egocentric, doesn't it?
Well, if I did it, it would be, but not him. He's good. Everything
about him is good. Everything about us by nature
is bad. Everything about him is good. And for him to act for
any reason less than his own glory would be beneath the dignity
and glory of his character. He does what he does for his
glory. And he sent his son. Why did he send his son? Well,
to save his people, but God manifests to us who he is by this. I can't
know God apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
manifested His glory. He manifested everything He is. All of His attributes are glorified
in the cross of Christ. Think about His justice. God's no respecter of persons.
Even when sin is found on his son, God kills him because God
is just. He is no respecter of persons. You bow before the awesomeness
of his justice. He will not let sin go unpunished. Yet you see his love in giving
his son to die for sinners. How his love is glorified. how
His wisdom is glorified in the way He's made a way to be just,
totally just, absolutely just, impartially just, and yet justify
someone who's a sinner. How does He do that? Through
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now understand this, the cross
makes me sinless. That's what Jesus Christ accomplished
on the cross. What power He manifested in putting away sin and making
everybody He died for sinless, without guilt, so I stand before
God having never sinned. What power that manifests in
God to be able to do that, to take my sins and Place him in
his son and cause his son to be guilty of the commission of
those sins when he never sinned and put them away and gives me
his very righteousness. How this glorifies the sovereignty
of God. Remember there were two thieves
by him. There's a purpose for that. One God in his sovereign
mercy saved. that glorifies grace and the
other he passed by as an act of his justice, his sovereignty
is demonstrated, his independence. I love that scripture when he
by himself purged our sins. He didn't need any contribution
from you or me. He did it by himself. Oh, the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ is a complete manifestation of the character of God. How God's goodness is seen. That he would save me in my badness. How good he is. Turn to John chapter 11 for just
a moment. I've glorified thee on the earth,
I've finished the work thou gavest me to do. That's why when Judas
had left, he said, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be
glorified. Everything is in place for me
to come and die on Calvary's tree and glorify my Father. Now look here in John chapter
11, verse 40. Jesus saith unto her, said I not unto thee? that
if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God. If I do not see the glory of
God right now, it's because I do not believe. That simple. Somebody says, I don't see any
glory in this. Then you do not believe. If you would believe,
The Lord said, you'd see the glory of God. He that believeth
on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned
already because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten
son of God. There that word is again. And
there is no greater crime. than to not believe on the name
of the only begotten Son of God. But if you believe, you see, we saw his glory. As of the only begotten Son of
God, full of grace, full of truth. Now, back to John chapter 17. This again is the Lord's great
high priestly prayer for his people. Verse 22, and the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them. When I stand before God in judgment, at that great white throne judgment,
I'm going to stand before Him robed in the glory of Jesus Christ. The glory Thou gavest me, have given them. This glory is a glory that's
on the outside and on the inside. I'm not going to stand with a
beautiful garment covering me on the outside so you can't see
what's on the inside. Psalm 45, 13 says the King's
daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. I'm going to stand in the glory
of Jesus Christ inside and out. Condemned? It can never be. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. In Isaiah chapter 42 verse 8,
he said, my glory will I not give to another. Now there he's
talking about sharing his glory. He doesn't share his glory. He's the author. They're not
co-authors. He's the author. He does not share his glory because
he did it all. But he gives his glory. to His people. Doesn't mean they
share in the glory. He gets all the glory. But every
one of His people are clothed in His glory. Accepted in the Beloved. Look in verse 24 of John chapter
17. Father, I will Now, hold on. Me and you never say, Father,
I will. He's God. We don't tell him what we will
do or that we will for him to do. But he, as equal to the Father,
the eternal Son of God, says, Father, I will. that they also whom thou has
given me. Do you know seven times in this
chapter, he refers to those the father gave him. What he says in verse nine, I
pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou has given me. God's elect. Oh, how the son
delighted in the fact that the Father gave him a people to represent
and to save. Now, look at verse 24. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. What more could you want? Is there anything better than
this? To be with Him. And here is their blessed employment,
that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me. For thou lovest me before the
foundation of the world. Heaven. is being with Him and beholding
His glory. Amen. Heaven on earth is being with
Him and beholding His glory. John chapter 12, Now is the Son of Man glorified. Verse 37, But though He had done
so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him,
that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which
he spake, Who hath believed our report?
And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore
they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, he hath
blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said
Isaiah, when? When he saw his glory. And what did He do when He saw
His glory? He spake of Him. Now how do I know when someone
has seen the glory of God? I know what they'll speak of.
They'll speak of Him. Now let me tell you what that
looks like. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 2, Paul said,
I determined, not to know, not to care about, not to esteem
anything as important or even worth talking about. As a matter
of fact, look, turn there. I want you to look, I want you
to see this with your own eyes. These things said Isaiah when
he saw his glory and spake of him, First Corinthians chapter two,
verse one. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, he's talking about the first time he came to Corinth.
I came out with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring
unto you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I determined that the only subject
of my preaching, of my speech, will be Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Anything else is unnecessary.
Anything else is really not true. Because the whole Bible has this
one message. Jesus Christ, who He is, and
Him crucified, what He did. This is the only message of Scripture. And if I've seen His glory, I'll
see that. And I will rejoice in that. My standing before God is Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Do you know He agreed to be my
surety before time began as the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. He took full responsibility for my salvation before I was
ever born, before the creation of the universe. He became fully
responsible for my salvation. How I love that! He came to this
planet. The Word was made flesh. In the
flesh, He kept the law for me. He is my righteousness. He died
for me. He bore my sin, put them away,
He did it for me. He was raised from the dead for
my justification. Jesus Christ and Him crucified
is the only message. Paul had seen His glory. That's
why I said this. Our text says in John 13, you
don't need to turn back there, but I'll read it. I want to look
at one last scripture. Therefore, when it has gone out,
Jesus said, now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified
in him. And if God be glorified in him,
God shall also glorify him in himself and shall straightway
glorify him. Now, five times the word glory
is mentioned. Five times, five's the number
of grace. When Aubrey was a child, she
would begin singing, this is the song that never ends. It
goes on and on, my friend. And she would keep repeating
that and I would keep getting more and more irritated because
it did seem like a song that never ended. Please be quiet,
Aubrey. You know, I don't like that song. Someone started singing it without
even knowing it. See, I still remember the words.
They're ingrained in me, the song that never ends. But beloved,
there is a song that never ends. Would you turn with me to Revelation
chapter five? Verse nine. And they sang a new song. And this song is always new. It's always new. It doesn't get
old. It's not yesterday's news. It's
new today, the best news a sinner's ever heard. It's a new song. Saying thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and
has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and
tongue and people and nation and then made us unto our God
kings and priests and we shall reign on earth and I beheld and
I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the
beasts and the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times
10,000 and thousands and thousands saying with a loud voice, Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing in every
creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth
and such as are in the sea and all that are in them. Heard I
saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that
sitteth upon the throne. and to the Lamb forevermore. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and 20 elders fell
down and worshiped Him that liveth forever and ever. This is the
song that never ends. And I pray that this song is
going on in my heart and in your heart, even now by His grace. Now is the Son of Man. glorify. Let's pray. Lord, we are completely dependent
upon you to take your word and bless it to our hearts. Lord, we ask in Christ's name,
that high and holy name of the son of God, that you will teach
us what it is to glory in the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ,
and teach us what it is to rejoice in your glory. and to have confidence
that because you get the glory in all things, that's because
you did all things and we are accepted and complete in what
you have done. Bless this word for your glory,
for our good. Lord, we would once again remember
Kelly. We pray for your blessing and
grace on her. In Christ's name we pray, amen.