That is our hope that that we
will be received into glory because of what Christ has done for us
and So I want to talk this morning to you about glory turn with
me if you would please to Luke chapter 9 Luke chapter 9 And our text for this morning
is in verses 18 to 36 We're in Luke chapter 9 And we'll begin reading in verse
18. And the context here is that
the Lord has just fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes. And according to Matthew and
Mark's accounts, the Lord fed another 4,000 people with seven
loaves and a few fishes. And so this was a clear demonstration
of his power over the things of this world and of all the
forces of nature. And it also points us to the
fact that Christ himself is the bread of life, which has come
down from heaven. In John chapter 6 and in verse
35, the Lord Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. And so, a great multitude has
been fed and even after everyone was filled, there was still plenty
left over. You know the story. And that
speaks of the abundance of mercy and grace that God bestows on
his people for Christ's sake through the gospel. Now, we read
in Luke chapter 9, if you're with me, we read in verse 18
that the Lord is alone with his disciples, and the crowds have
all gone away. And so in verse 18 we read, And
it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with
him, and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?
And they answering said, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah.
It says Elias, but that's Elijah. And others say that one of the
old prophets is risen again. And he said unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? Now, why did the Lord ask them
that question? Didn't he know the answer? Doesn't
the Lord know all things? Well, he asked that question
So that they might understand that the Lord puts a difference
between the world and his people. Who did the people think our
Lord was? They thought he was John the Baptist or Elijah or
one of the other prophets. And our Lord said, but whom say
ye that I am? And verse 20 and Peter answering
said the Christ of God. Now when he says the Christ of
God, he's referring to the Messiah. He's referring to that one who
was spoken of by all the prophets Peter saying you're the one who
was anointed of God to be the deliverer of God's chosen people. Now, in the Gospel of Matthew,
in chapter 16, we're given a much fuller account. When the Lord
asked this question, Peter says, And then the Lord said to Peter,
he said, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this
rock will I build my church. And so the Lord says that Peter's
confession that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ was not revealed
to him by man. It was revealed by the Father.
It was given by divine revelation so that God might receive all
the glory. Yet the Lord still says, Blessed
art thou. God receives all the glory, and
yet the blessing is bestowed on Peter. And so it is with all
those who are given this revelation of Christ. God receives all the
glory, but his people are still blessed. Now think about that. I mean really think about that. Our God is so good and our God
is so wise that he saves sinners in such a way that he receives
all the glory and they receive all the blessing. What kind of
a God is this who bestows such blessings upon sinners for his
own namesake? What can we say about these things?
Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge
of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past
finding out. Now, here in Luke chapter 9,
the Lord asked, whom say ye that I am? And Peter says, the Christ
of God. And we read in verse 21, and
he, that is the Lord, straightly charged them and commanded them
to tell no man that thing. Again, the Lord is not addressing
the multitudes. He's alone with His disciples,
and He's revealing who He is just to them. And He commands
them not to tell anyone that He's the Christ, because His
time had not yet come, and He must suffer many things. It says
here, And He straightly charged them and commanded them to tell
no man that thing, saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things,
and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be slain and raised the third day. And so this is the reason,
this is the whole reason that the Lord has come to make atonement
for the sins of his people by being made a curse and by shedding
his own blood in the place of his people and suffering God's
wrath in their room and their stead. He must first be rejected
of the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be slain
and raised on the third day all according to the scriptures so
that God's holy justice might be satisfied in the saving of
his people. Now, in Matthew's account, we
read that when Peter heard this, he took the Lord and he began
to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall
not be unto thee. But the Lord turned to Peter,
and what did he say? He said, Get behind me, Satan.
He said, Thou art an offense unto me, for thou savorest not
the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Our Lord
was so fixed in his purpose to be the Savior of his people that
he really didn't mince words with Peter, did he? This was
too important. The Lord said the Son of Man
must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and the
chief priests and the scribes. The Son of Man must be slain
and be raised the third day. These things must take place
according to the scriptures. And if that wasn't hard enough
for his disciples to hear, we read here in verse 23. And he
said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow me, for whosoever
will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake, the same shall find it. For what is a
man advantaged if he gain the whole world, and lose himself,
or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed
of me and my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when
he shall come in his own glory, and in his father's, and of the
holy angels. And what is he talking about
here? He's talking about his second coming, when he will come
in his glory, and with all his holy angels to sit on his throne
of glory. and before him will be gathered
all the nations, and he will separate them one from another
as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he'll set
the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left, and he'll
say to them at his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. All those who are not ashamed
of Christ and his gospel will be ushered into the kingdom by
the Lord himself. But what will he say to those
at his left hand, to those reprobate souls who refuse to receive him?
What will he say? He will say to them, Depart from
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels. So here in verse 26, the Lord
says, For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of
him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he shall come in his own
glory and of his fathers and of the holy angels. And look
at what he says in the next verse, in verse 27. Now, the Lord is
not saying that there are some standing there that will still
be on earth at the end of the age. He's saying that there are
some standing there who are going to receive a revelation of that
future glory. And in the next verse, we see
the fulfillment of that promise the Lord. takes three of his
disciples look at verse 28 it says and it came to pass about
an eight days after these sayings he that is the Lord took Peter
and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray and as
he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered and his
raiment was white and glistering and behold there talked with
him two men which were Moses and Elijah who or Elias who appeared
says, who appeared in glory and spake of his decease, which he
should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were
with him were heavy with sleep, and when they were awake, they
saw his glory and the two men that stood with him. And it came
to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master,
it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, not knowing
what he said. And while he thus spake, there
came a cloud, and overshadowed them, and they feared as they
entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of
the cloud, saying, This is my beloved son, hear him. And when
the voice was passed, Jesus was found alone, and they kept it
close, and told no man in those days any of those things which
they had seen. Now, the title of this message
is, A Glimpse of Glory. And I believe that that's just
what we need this morning. A glimpse of glory. All week,
we've been dealing with our many responsibilities and our worldly
concerns, and those things are important. But now, as we open
God's Word, my prayer for each one of us this morning is that
God might enable us, by His Spirit, to see the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. Now, there are three things that
I'd like for us to see in this passage of scripture here in
Luke chapter 9. The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the glory
of His gospel, and the glory that awaits all His saints. The
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the glory of His gospel, and
the glory that awaits all His saints. Alright? First, the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? Well, first
of all, He's the Lord. He's the Lord God Almighty, the
creator of all things. He just spoke the word and everything
that ever was and everything that ever will be came into existence. He has no beginning and no end.
He's the Lord God Jehovah. He's the eternal Self-existent
one he is God the son co-equal with the father and with the
spirit the second person of the great three in one but he's also
called Jesus of Nazareth that one who was God from all eternity
who took on human flesh and and set aside that glory that he
had with the Father, that he might become the Savior of his
people from their sins. In Matthew chapter 1, the angel
of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream, saying, Joseph, fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his
people from their sins. And they called his name Jesus.
And all this was done to fulfill that which was spoken of by the
Lord through his prophets. He is the Lord. And his name
is Jesus. And he is the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
means Almighty God, Savior, Messiah, God-Man, Mediator. In Revelations
it says the Lord has many crowns. He has so many names that speak
of His glory, but when we speak of the glory of the Lord, we're
talking about His honor and His majesty and His excellence. We're
talking about His brilliance and His splendor, and we're talking
about His praiseworthiness. He's worthy of all praise. And
when Isaiah saw the Lord, in Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah saw
a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he said, I saw the Lord sitting
upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the
temple. He saw the Lord as He is, as
the King of glory, who sits on a throne of absolute sovereignty. and whose glorious apparel, whose
robe of righteousness, and the skirts of his robe just filled
the whole temple. Isaiah saw above the throne that
there were angels, and each one had six wings, and with two wings
they would cover their faces, and with the second pair of wings
they would cover their feet, and with the third pair of wings
they would fly, and they cried out, Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of hosts. They cried out, the whole earth
is full of his glory. And all the posts of the doors
in that temple, they would shake at the voice of them that cried,
and it was all filled with smoke, and Isaiah was overwhelmed. He
said, woe is me, for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and
I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes
have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. Why was he so shaken
by the sight of the Lord's glory? Because it made him see his own
sin and depravity. Even God's holy angels couldn't
bear to look upon him. They covered up their faces and
their feet in his presence. They covered up their faces because
the sight was too glorious. Even though they were holy, they
were ashamed of themselves in the presence of the Lord. In
comparison to him, even God's holy angels have nothing to boast
of. And yet, man, in his arrogance,
And his pride refuses to give glory to Jesus Christ, but gives
glory to himself. He robs God of his glory and
he sets himself up as his own God and King and he worships
himself. Friends, God will not share his
glory with another. We must be brought down before
he'll ever lift us up. We must be made aware that even
our best works are nothing but filthy rags in the sight of a
holy God. Isaiah saw the Lord in His glory and in all His holiness,
and he said, woe is me, I'm undone. But the Lord in His mercy and
His grace said, Isaiah, thine iniquity is taken away and thy
sin purged. What good news that must have
been to Isaiah. There he is on his face before
God and he's crying bitter tears and then the words hit his ear.
Isaiah, thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged. Have you heard the Lord's voice?
as He speaks through His Word, giving you this assurance that
your sins have been purged? Have you heard his voice? If
you have, then rejoice, give God all the glory, and give praise
and thanksgiving to the Lord. All throughout the Gospels we
read that the Lord manifested His glory through miracles and
signs, and yet very few believe that He was the Son of God. Man's
heart is so hard that he will not believe unless God takes
that old stony heart out and puts in its place a heart of
flesh so that he can believe. And when the Lord puts his spirit
into the heart, and when he enlightens the mind of a sinner, then they
see his glory. Now, Moses and Elijah were great
men of God, but the glory of the Lord outshines all men. In
verse 33, we read that Peter said, Master, it is good for
us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee,
one for Moses, and one for Elijah, not knowing what he said. And
while he thus spake, the text says, before he could say another
word, there came a cloud and it overshadowed them. And brethren,
that cloud was not the kind of cloud that we see in the sky
that's made of condensed water vapor. This cloud that overshadowed
these disciples was the presence of God. It's what in the scriptures
is called the Shekinah Glory. That great cloud of light that
would rest above the mercy seat in the tabernacle in days of
Moses, that same cloud of light by which the Lord accompanied
the Israelites in their sojourn in the wilderness, that symbol
of God's presence and God's favor overshadowed the disciples, it
completely enveloped them. And as they stood there in a
daze, overwhelmed by the presence of that Shekinah glory, a voice
came out of the cloud, verse 35, and there came a voice out
of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. In
Matthew's account, the voice said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased, hear ye him. And so, the voice from
the cloud was none other than the Father. And the Father is
well pleased with the Son in all things. So, when the Father
says, this is my beloved Son, hear Him, He's saying that Christ
has the preeminence. Moses and Elijah are only His
servants. And the Lord Jesus Christ must
have the preeminence. He must have the first place
in all things. Just listen to what the Spirit
moved Paul to write. to the people in Colossae, he
said, for by him, this is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul
said, for by him were all things created that are in heaven and
that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created
by him and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence." Friends, Christ
is all. Christ is all. He's all you'll
ever need. He's all you'll ever want if
God gives you His Spirit. And in Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him. Complete in Him. Everything that
God requires of you, if you are in Christ, you possess and you're
complete in Him. Now, here's the second thing.
The glory of His gospel. What is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ? What is it? It is the declaration
of how Jesus Christ satisfied God's justice and redeemed his
people. Here in Luke chapter 9 and in
verse 31, what did Moses and Elijah speak about with the Lord?
As they appeared in glory, they spake of his decease, which he
should accomplish at Jerusalem. They spoke of his death which
he should accomplish. That death that would reconcile
God's people to himself. That death of God's own precious
son in the room and the stead of his people as the sinner's
substitute. Moses and Elijah here represent the law and the
prophets and they spoke of the Lord's death and resurrection
all throughout the Old Testament. In all the types and all the
shadows and ceremonies of the law there was a lamb who was
slain. All the way back in Genesis,
when Adam transgressed the law of God, there was a lamb sacrifice
for Adam's sin. All throughout the pilgrimage
of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, there was always a lamb sacrifice
for sin. All throughout the Old Testament,
in the Psalms, in the Prophets, everywhere you look, you will
find the lamb slain. And it all points to Christ,
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and his decease,
which he would accomplish at Jerusalem. We read in Exodus,
Chapter 12 of the Passover lamb who is slain and whose blood
would be sprinkled on the doorposts of All of the houses of all the
Israelites who are in bondage in Egypt and that lamb was required
to be spotless Without blemish it had to be a male and in the
prime of its life and it had to be separated from the rest
of the flock and it had to be examined and found to be without
fault and And at the appointed time, that lamb would be slain
and it had to be roasted on the fire and then eaten by the whole
congregation. And the blood of that lamb would
be sprinkled on the doorposts. And when God saw the blood, when
God saw the blood, he would pass over the houses which had the
blood on the doorposts, but he would send a plague where he
didn't see the blood. And he would smite the firstborn
of every house in Egypt of both man and beast where he did not
see the blood. How important is the blood? How
important is the blood? The Lord Jesus Christ is without
spot and without blemish. He never sinned once, not in
thought, word, or deed. And before he was crucified,
he went to Jerusalem and he was examined and found to be without
fault. They couldn't find any fault in him. But our Lord was
hated without a cause, and he was delivered up to be crucified
for our good and his glory. It was by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God that our Lord was crucified and slain.
In other words, it pleased God to kill his son, that he might
pay the sin debt in full for all of his chosen people. And
when God saw the blood, the Lord said, it is finished, and the
sin debt was paid. God's people were justified.
He said, it is finished. It's finished. There's no ambiguity
in that. It's finished. The sin debt was
paid and God's people were justified and the Lord Jesus died on the
cross and was buried and rose again on the third day according
to the scriptures and he ascended up to heaven and he sat down
on his throne in glory at the right hand of the majesty on
high. Now let me ask you this question. Who is going to take
Jesus Christ off his throne? Who's able to do that? Can the devil take the Lord off
his throne? Can man by his own so-called free will defeat the
will of God? Not according to this book. Not
in this book. The Word of God says that His
throne is from everlasting to everlasting. The Word of God
says, "...the Lord hath prepared His throne in the heaven, and
His kingdom ruleth over all." Now, God will have mercy upon
whom He'll have mercy. And He will have compassion on
whom He will have compassion. And whom He will, He hardens.
And apart from God's grace, no man will believe this gospel.
This gospel is glorious to all those who know Christ, but to
those who hate Him, it's nothing but foolishness. And Christ is
a stone of stumbling to all those who think that they're righteous
because of something they've done. There are some in our day
who call themselves Calvinists. And they say they believe in
the doctrines of grace, but they add works to grace. And this
book says that a man is not justified by the law, but through faith
in Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in Galatians for as
many as are of the works of the law are under the curse for it
is written cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the law to do them, but that no man is
justified by the law in the sight of God. It is evident for the
just shall live by what by the works of the law. No, by faith. The just shall live by faith.
Now, God-given faith is an absolute miracle. No one will believe
it apart from God's grace. But to those who believe, this
gospel is glorious. Now listen to what Paul said
in 2 Corinthians. He said, But if our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel 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.
And now listen to what Paul says about the new birth. He says
for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness out
of darkness have shined in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ and belief of
the truth is a work of God's spirit through the preaching
of the gospel. And that brings us to the last
thing this morning that I like for us to see the glory that
awaits all his Saints. The glory that awaits all his
Saints in this vision in Luke chapter 9 in this vision where
are Moses and Elijah. It says they're in glory. Verse
30 says, And behold, there talked with him two men, which were
Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory. Now they have no glory
of their own. Their glory is the Lord Jesus
Christ, and they're with him in glory. And those men were
just sinners who were saved by God's grace. And it's only by
God's grace that they're with Him in glory. But they are in
glorified bodies. Bodies in which there is no sin
and no pain and no death. And they dwell in that perfect
state of communion with God that we lost through our forefather
Adam. God has delivered their souls forever from this awful
warfare between the flesh and the spirit. Are you tired of
the warfare between the flesh and the spirit? These men were
delivered forever from that awful warfare between the flesh and
the spirit. And brethren, let this be an encouragement to us
who believe on Christ. We will get there one day. We
will. By the grace of our God, we'll
arrive on that shore and be greeted by the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And we'll rest from our labors and we'll dwell in his presence
along with all of God's saints who have gone on before us. And
what a day that will be. But brethren, we don't have to
wait until then to have fellowship with God. We can have it now.
Our God has been pleased through the death of His Son to reconcile
us to Himself and to call us His sons. And so even now, in
this life, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. But then when we arrive on heaven's
shore and we see our Redeemer there in all of His glory, and
when He comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory
with His angels and the sound of a trumpet, and when He gathers
His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the
other, we will see His glory and all the suffering and the
sorrows that we've experienced in this life. All the trials
and all the sorrows and all the tears that we experience in this
life, they'll fade away forever into everlasting bliss as the
Lord ushers us into His kingdom. Paul said, "...for our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at
the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporal, they're here today
and they're gone tomorrow, they're only temporary. But the things
which are not seen are eternal." What are you living for? What
are we living for? For the things of this world
or are we living for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? The
Lord gave his disciples this vision of his glory that they
might be encouraged in their trials and tribulations. That
they might not faint and grow weary. That they might behold
him and find him to be their all in all. Here in Luke chapter
9 and in verse 36 we read this, Mark puts it this way, Who is
Christ to you? That's all that matters. Who
is Christ to you? The Lord asked his disciples,
Whom say ye that I am? And Peter said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. Has the Lord given you a
glimpse of his glory? Is he your all in all, or is
he nothing to you? In closing, I want to read in your hearing
1 Peter chapter 1. Turn with me, if you would please,
to 1 Peter chapter 1. And in consideration of all the
things that we've heard about the glory of the Lord and about
the glory of his gospel, and about the glory that awaits all
his saints, my prayer is that this epistle will be a comfort
to those who love Christ. I, in 1 Peter chapter 1, and
we'll read the whole chapter without comment, and then I'll
bring this message to a close. 1 Peter chapter 1, Paul is writing
to the church, I'm sorry Peter's writing to the church and he
says in verse 1 Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers
scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ grace unto you and peace be multiplied." And we
can take this greeting to ourselves. We are the elect, we who believe
on Christ, we are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father. This letter is then written to us and he says in verse 3,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you. who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for
a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, ye love. whom having not seen ye love
in whom though now you see him not yet believing you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory receiving the end of
your faith even the salvation of your souls of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you Searching what or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed that
not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the
gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which
things even the angels desire to look into. Wherefore, gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning
yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner
of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am
holy. And if ye call on the Father,
who without respective persons judgeth according to every man's
work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as
ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot. who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world that was manifest in these last times
for you." For you. who by him do believe in God
that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your
faith and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your
souls and obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure
heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. for all flesh is as grass and
all the glory of man as the flower of grass the grass withereth
and the flower thereof falleth away but the word of the Lord
endureth forever and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you now I'm not even going to comment
on that. I believe that if you love the Lord Jesus and you're
awaiting, if you love His appearing, and if God's given you His Spirit,
then that first chapter of that epistle fills your heart with
joy and anticipation. And I don't know what else to
say about it except that I want to ask you this question. Has
the Lord given you a glimpse of His glory? Has He shown you
that He's your all in all? We live in this life and every
day is full of problems, is full of troubles. Every minute of
every day is full of troubles and we have many sorrows and
griefs and all of these things are ordained by God for the good
of His people and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of preachers and a lot
of churches talk about practical godliness. You know, they say we shouldn't
just focus on these things that are way up here. We should bring
it down to a practical level and really talk about the nitty-gritty
of how we live in this life and stuff. If God will give you a
vision of the glory of Christ, that will be all you need to
provoke you to good works, to provoke you to be forgiving and
kind to one another. What more do you need? Has He
given you a glimpse of His glory? If He has, if He's shown you
that all your sins have been put away as far as the East is
from the West, then why would you not forgive those who do
harm to you? That's as practical as it gets,
is it not? This Gospel is glorious. The Lord Jesus Christ is glorious.
His Gospel is glorious. And brethren, Think about the
glory that awaits all His saints. We are going to be with Him in
glory. This vision that He gave His
disciples was just a preview. It was a vision that was there,
it was just for a time, and it went away. But the glory that
awaits us, His people, is eternal. It's eternal. No one can take
it away. Not as long as Jesus Christ is
on His throne. I hope that comforts you. I hope that gives you peace.
I hope that the Lord will be pleased to really just sow that
seed into your heart, that we all might go on in our day and
for the rest of our days just praising God, leaping with joy
like the man that the Lord healed, who had never walked in his life.
Oh God, I pray that he might touch us all, that he might inspire
us to give him all the glory. For He is worthy of all glory
and praise. Thank you for your time and God bless you in the
name of Christ.